2012 07 April 30th Broxham Pond, Edenbridge, Kent

Due to the closure of EBAS’s two major fisheries I have been forced to look elsewhere for my weekend angling fix. One of the venues I’d looked into to was the club’s fishery in Bloxham.

I knew next to nothing about this venue other than it’s the only club water that is open every and all day. I wasn’t even sure where it was in relation to the other venues around Edenbridge.

I left home around 6:30am, the outside temperature was 5 degrees and it was pouring with rain. I arrived in Edenbridge about 7am and that’s when the fun started. Firstly you have to go from the B2026 to the B2027. Sounds simple doesn’t it? Well the signpost was so well hidden I had to go past it and come back on myself to actually find it. Secondly, according to the EBAS book “once on the B2027 the fishery is 100 yards on the right after the 40mph sign”. Well after going up and down the road I discovered that the sign should have read 70mph because the 40mph was on the other side!

When I finally arrived I saw another car in the car park but no sign of a pond! Leaving the gear in the car I set off to find the pond. I went up the hill and then right into a wood. No obvious sign of the pond so I made my way left until I saw the other angler walking around the pond with all his gear. Turned out it was B(ill)LARGUS on his way home! Ho told me he’d been there awhile and hadn’t had a sniff.

Undeterred I returned to the car and loaded up my gear onto the trolley in preparation for the long trek to the pond. In the summer (or more accurately when it’s dry) you can drive up to the pond. A few minutes later and somewhat out of breath (it’s uphill) I arrived at the pond.

I then had an exploratory look round and decided that the most attractive swims were on the piece of land that almost cuts the pond in two. I couldn’t get the trolley fully loaded to the swim so had to make a couple of journeys before I was able to start to set up.

After unloading I discovered that I’d left my groundbait mixing bowl behind. I would have to use corn, maggots and hemp as the attractors.

I decided I would use two rods, the first the normal 2bb waggler set up fishing a rod length or so directly in front of me and a second one set up with a very small bomb with a 10ml strawberry boillie.

Disaster number two happened when I was attempting to put the baiting needle through the boillie, it slipped off and went straight into my finger! I didn’t cry I promise despite the fact I couldn’t get it out. I tried to shake it out before deciding on just turning it. This was successful and painful. As I type this I can see it’s nicely swollen.

I made my first cast at 8:55(!) and sat back under my umbrella and waited.   

The feeder rod rig I cast into the channel between the two ponds.

Boy did I wait. I never got, in the first three hours any indication that there were fish in the swim and looking further afield any in the pond.

Around 11am the float dipped and I struck, the rod bent and the fish turned and ran away taking line with it. However just as I was getting ready for the fight the fish (presumably a carp) spat the hook and was gone. I wanted the earth to open and allow me to jump in! The fish took a single red maggot.

I baited the swim and hook again and re-cast out. Twenty minutes later the float went again and I was into a good one. I took my time with this one. I didn’t want to lose a second one. The carp (I saw this one) pulled left and right for several minutes before I determined it was ready for the net. Bad news though because just as I was reaching for the net it snapped the hook length and was gone.

I was now thoroughly soaked and totally despondent. Never one to give up though, I baited up and cast out again in the hope that perhaps I would get lucky a third time.

At 2:30 the feeder rods tip flew round and I was into a good fish. After 10 minutes of patiently playing the fish it was ready for the net. It was now that I discovered the weak spot of the swim; I couldn’t reach the fish from the bank with the landing net. In the end I had to get as close to the water as I could and stretch as far as I could before the fish was captured.

I was very pleased with the result – an 8lb common! The day hadn’t been a complete failure.

 With renewed hoped I cast the feeder rig out again. Alas that was it for the day. I did stay until 5:30 before deciding to head off home for a well earned hot bath.

In conclusion a wet and miserable day and because of that I feel I didn’t learn too much about the pond. I will have to return at some point in the season for another go.

Wildlife Update:

Nothing wild made an appearance today (can’t blame them) however as the pond is in a sheep field I was kept awake by their bleating all day. 

2012 06 April 21st Silver Lake, Gabriels Fishery, Edenbridge

Due to large amounts of alcohol consumed on the previous Thursday I decided to go fishing on the Saturday instead of my usual Friday.

I also hoped that the extra day might give the weather a chance to improve a bit.

As the Edenbridge main waters were still closed my venue of choice was Gabriels Fishery, the lake I wanted to fish was the match lake, Silver.

I arrived at the fishery at 6:50 and discovered that I was the only 'non carper' there so I had the choice of swims on the fishery's three non specimen lakes.

I made my way to peg 1 on Silver which currently is my favourite swim. The immediate area in front of the swim has been dug out and enlarged from last year which is ok however the reeds and lilies seemed to have gone as well which is a shame as you could tempt a carp or two out of there during the session.

My set up was pure waggler. A highly visible orange 2bb one due to the light conditions was my choice of the day. To complete the set up I used a size 18 hook, 2.5lb hook length and 4lb main line.

My groundbait was the usual mix of brown crumb with pieces of corn and meat. I also had some hemp and some old maggots/casters to use as loose feed.

I made my first cast at 7:50 bang on an hour after my arrival. For hookbait I started on single red maggot.

Almost immediately the float dipped and in came the first roach of the day. Not a specimen by any means but satisfying to know that they are around.

By loose feeding 3 or 4 maggots a cast I kept the fish coming in. The first hour yielded 1 gudgeon, 7 roach and 2 rudd. None of them were massive but all appeared to be hungry.

I was by 9am pretty confident that if I stayed on maggot I would catch fish all day so I began to experiment with the hookbait to see if I could filter out the small fish and get into something of better quality.

Unfortunately the only bait that 'worked' was castors but to be honest the fish caught weren't any bigger. By 10:15 the virtual net had grown by 2 rudd, 3 roach and 1 gudgeon.

I wasn't deterred by the lack of results on the bigger baits. I persisted with the by then established game plan, hourly groundbait feeds, 3 or 4 maggots or a few hemp seeds every cast and a rotation of hook bait. Maggots, corn, meat and casters were the baits of choice.

I continued to catch a variety of silver fish (plus one very small carp) all afternoon and was considering my disappointment of the previous week happy with the results.

Around 2:30 the float dipped in the normal way, I struck and nothing moved! My initial reaction was that I was caught on the bottom however after a moment I felt some movement. Again because of the apparent lack of response I thought I was into a largish bream but once the fish came to the surface I could see it was a good carp. Once I could see the fish it came to life and fought a lot harder. Sadly for me on this occasion it won because it came off the hook.

Now that I knew the carp in the lake were feeding I switched hook bait to bread flake. At first the float showed signs that the smaller fish were pecking at the bread but then it began to move across the surface. I struck and off went my quarry. Remembering that I only had 4lb main line I took my time playing the fish. I was rewarded for my patience with a nice 6lb'er.

The next hour or so brought 3 more carp, one 6, one 4 and one of 2.75lb. These like the first all fell to bread flake.

Now I come to the incident that soured the day for me. As previously stated because I was on 4lb main line I made sure that I played each of the fish very carefully. The result to an onlooker would have looked like I was taking too much time. While I was playing the last carp which turned out to be the second 6lb one a group of 5 people assembled behind me to watch the proceedings.

After I landed the fish (around 4:45) they asked me when I was leaving. I replied that as I was on a roll it wouldn't be for some time. One of the group said that I was in the swim he wanted (I was at that point the only person on the lake). They then went (all 5 of them) into the adjoining swim and began to cast all around my swim (including the trees!) in an attempt to move me on. I went into stubborn mode and sat it out for about an hour before calling it quits. Needless to say I got no more bites.

Anyway in addition to the above I did get 2 rudd, 7 roach, 1 small carp, 1 perch and a bream.

2012 05 April 13th Sidewinder Lake, More House Farm Fishery,Haywards Heath Sussex

I’d been looking forward a lot to today’s outing to More House Farm’s Sidewinder lake because I’d always had great days out there and because it was the venue where I achieved my first ever double figure carp.

The fishery advertises an online swim booking system whereby you send them your visit details and they send you a confirmation text – well I did this and guess what? Yep I’m still waiting for it.

The fishery opens at 7am so I left Croydon around 6:30 for the journey. The temperature on leaving was 4.5 degrees however by the time I arrived it had gone down to 1.5! Add a fog to the mix and you can imagine the scene that greeted me when I arrived.

I was the first one there so I had the choice of swims. Peg 14, the first peg on the front stretch so to speak was where I caught my double so it was this one I chose for today’s session.

As usual I mixed a small amount of groundbait and fed the swim with two golf ball size portions and with loose fed maggots and corN.

I made my first cast at 8:20 and then sat back to wait for the action to begin.

I only paid for one rod so my set up decision was easy today. It was a 2BB waggler to a size 18 hook with 2.5lb hook length and 4lb main line.

For hook bait I started with single maggot but was prepared to try sweetcorn, bread and even meat if the occasion called for it.

First cast went in at 8:20. For what seemed like an age I waited for the action to begin. By 9am I was still waiting.

With still no bites at 9:20 I was faced with a dilemma, normally I would feed another ball of groundbait after an hour’s fishing but today I didn’t know whether it would attract or distract any fish. I decided to stay with my normal pattern and so in went another ball and a few maggots.

The decision seemed to be a good one when the float started to move across the surface causing me to strike into a very small carp. I was happy that I would not be blanking!

Around 10am there was some good news, the fog finally lifted and I was able to see further than the far bank (it’s a snake lake so the far bank isn’t very far away).

I’d always had success with corn at this venue so I thought I would spend an hour on that which to be honest was more in hope than anything else. I was rewarded with a couple more carp of the small variety.

During the morning 4 other anglers arrived with the intention of having a match to determine whether the venue was suitable for a proper match. Anyway judging by the comments that I picked up most of them weren’t anymore successful than I was.

Never one to give up I persevered all through the remainder of the day until 5:30 when I decided to pack up. I didn’t have a choice on that as the fishery closes at 6pm.

By the end of the day I’d caught 11 fish, all carp between a couple of ounces and a pound. I am putting my failure down to the abnormal weather conditions. I will go down there again in the near future.

In conclusion, results wise it wasn’t a great day however I know that this place is good so I will definitely return later in the season.

Wildlife Update:

I didn’t see any llamas today. I think perhaps they were in the barn keeping warm. I did see a water rat hanging around my swim all day though. At one point he darted across in front of me only to run straight into the board with the peg number on it! It gave me a laugh.

2012 04 April 5th Silver Lake, Gabriels Fishery,Edenbridge, Kent

Due to the temporary closure of the club’s two main waters I was forced into looking for an alternative venue for today’s trip. After much deliberation I decided to give Silver Lake at Gabriel’s Fishery in Edenbridge a bash.

I knew as soon as I got out of bed that today was going to be different from my last two outings. It was dam cold! Still the decision had been made so I duly loaded up the car and set off about 6:30. The fishery opens at 7am so there was no mad panic to get there.

On Silver Lake there is a nice little bay on peg 1 where you can easily fish two or three different areas during the day and it was this swim that I hoped to get today.

I arrived as expected dead on 7am. I drove the half mile or so up the track to the fishery car park only to find 4 cars already there! I loaded the trolley up and headed off to the lake. I could see also immediately that the swim was free – my luck was in.

As the weather was so cold I didn’t think I would have to feed much today so I made up a small amount of groundbait featuring brown crumb, some small scopex pellets and a few grains of corn. For hook bait I intended to use single maggot.

I made my first cast at 8:00. To my complete surprise the float went under straight away and in came a Rudd of about 3 ounces! No blanking for me today then.

By 8:53 I’d added 3 roach, a gudgeon and another Rudd. Apart from the constant shivering I was off to a good start.

I was catching enough to keep me interested but for the sake of my health I had to put my waterproofs on as the wind was bitterly cold. By 10am I’d paid my £2 and added 3 more gudgeon, 2 Rudd and 2 roach to the virtual net.

At 10:30 I was confident enough in the swim to have a change of bait. I tried a small piece of bread flake. Almost immediately the float went away and I struck. This was no roach, it never moved so I thought it was one of the lake’s larger bream. When it did come to life and I managed it get a look at it I saw that it a mirror carp! To say it was a mighty tussle would be an exaggeration but they still have to be landed and I managed to net this one. It turned out to be a nice four pounder and my first of the season.

The morning session finished with 5 roach and 2 gudgeon as there was no more action on the bread and I’d switched back to maggot.

During the morning I’d been feeding a couple of grains of corn into the reeds to my left each time I landed a fish. I’d had a look during the morning but hadn’t had any signs of fish activity. After lunch I tried with a piece of bread flake. The float dipped and then shot away and I was into another carp. This one fought a bit harder but not by much. The result was another mirror weighing in at 3.75lb.

I’d also during lunch picked up my first perch of the day.

The early afternoon period was numerically my most productive as by 14:15 I’d added 5 roach, 3 gudgeon, 1 perch, 1 Rudd and my first bream. It was a tad warmer by now but not enough to remove any layers of clothing.

As the afternoon wore on people began to leave. I decided to give it until 5pm and it was starting to get really cold again. As luck would have it at 16:50 I got into an almighty tangle and that as they say was that!

I finished the session with 6 more roach, 4 gudgeon and 3 egg filled perch.

So in conclusion I would say apart the weather it was an enjoyable day. I’d caught 46 fish including my first two carp of the season. I will have to go back when the weather improves.

Wildlife Update: At one point during the day a robin landed on my rod as I was holding it. He looked at me shivering away and his eyes seemed to say “I have no choice being out here – what’s your excuse?”

2012 03 March 30th Nursery Fields, Edenbridge, Kent

Outing three of the season was to be another visit to the club’s Nursery Fields water.

I decided that due to the good weather continuing that I would leave earlier this time and so just after daylight broke I loaded the car and set off on the 15 mile or so journey to Edenbridge.

When I arrived at the fishery there was yet again just one other person there. I unloaded the car and set off for my today’s swim of choice.

I had decided to give the swim at the top of the lake another go as I felt that I had had a good day there two weeks earlier and that with the warmer weather continuing I might have an even better one today.

I used my normal 2 rod set up, one waggler with a size 18 hook and a feeder rod with a size 16 hair rig to house a 10mm strawberry flavoured boillie.

For the first time this season I mixed up some groundbait which consisted of brown crumb, some attractor, a few feed pellets and some corn. My plan was to use this sparingly, a golf ball size every hour or so.

After feeding the first ball of groundbait and some maggots into the swim I made my first cast at 8:14.

The first cast resulted in a skimmer bream as did the second. By 9:00 in total I’d accumulated 4 bream, 4 roach and my first tench of the season.

The swim was apparently alive with fish as the next hour produced a further 5 roach and 4 bream. The bream were small skimmers however the roach were of the 2 to 3 ounce variety not the really small ones that I was getting at Chittenden.

Once I’d determined that the fish were feeding today I began to throw 2 pieces of corn in front of the weed bed just to the right of me. At 10:00 I had a look but got no sign of fish activity. However at 11:00 the float dipped and I thought I’m in here. Seconds later the float shot away and I was into something larger than the bream and roach! It wasn’t a monster but it was a very nice crucian of 1.25lb!

Between 10 and 11 I’d also had 1 more bream, roach and tench on the single maggot.

It must have been the commotion of catching the crucian that caused the swim to slow down a bit because the hour leading up to noon only produced 2 skimmers.

Nigel, the bailiff told me that the fishing completely died in the afternoon of the previous day so I was hoping that the change of pace was just a blip and so it proved because by 13:00 I’d added 7 more bream and my first Rudd.

Up to this point there had been no activity on the feeder rod even though I’d been feeding the swim continuously throughout the morning however this changed during the lunch period when in came a nice tench and up to that point my best bream of the day. On the waggler I had 4 further bream and another tench.

For the next 4 hours I decided to abandon the single maggot, yes I would have carried on catching that much I was confident of but I wanted to see if any other bait would work.

I knew was working (that’s what the crucian took) so I tried that first. The result was a tench.

After 30 minutes or so without a bite I changed to bread. A used a small piece of flake and this proved a good decision as I took 2 roach and 5 more bream before I packed up at 18:00. The bream were all around the pound mark which just shows what a change of bait can do!

I hadn’t seen much carp activity during the day but as I packed away a white (ghost/koi) carp of a least double figure size passed just in front of me!

Wildlife update 1.

The result of the mating frogs of 2 weeks ago was all around the reed bed. Seemed like a few pounds of spawn to me.

Wildlife update 2.

For most of the day a very brightly coloured pheasant walked up and down behind me. He’ll be safe if he stays in the fishery I should think.

Wildlife update 3.

Woodpeckers building nests on a fishery can really be loud. This chap seems to be working on his home all day!

2012 02 March 23rd Chittenden, Edenbridge, Kent

As the unusually warm weather seemed to be continuing I decided to go to the Club's carp lake at Chittenden.

I headed off to the venue about 7:30ish. The temperature was already 6 degrees or so - a lot warmer than on the previous Monday.

The swim I wanted to fish was the one behind the first of the islands. I had fished it for the bream in the summer and had a good day so I was optimistic about my chances.

I arrived at the venue just before 8am to find one other car in the car park. Before I loaded my trolley I had a quick look at the lake to see where the other person was. I couldn’t see him but I could see that the swim I wanted was free so I loaded up and set off.

The trek to the swim only took about 5 minutes but using the trolley sure saved me some backache!

On arrival I couldn’t help but notice that the island vegetation (bushes and trees) had all been cleared. It looked like Kojak’s head!

Today was going to be a two-pronged attack. One waggler set up targeting the bream and a feeder rod down the channel targeting any carp that might be on the move.

Bait wise, it was single maggot on the hook for the bream with maggots and hemp being used as loose feed and 10mm strawberry boillies for the carp.

I made my first cast at 8:50 and settled back in my chair to wait for the action to start.

I had to wait almost an hour before the first and second bites. The result was a bream and a tiny roach. I took confidence from the fact that there were fish about.

This confidence turned out to be misplaced as the by 10:40 I’d only added a further 2 roach and another bream.

Unfortunately that very much summed up the rest of the session. I did try corn for an hour but with no success. By the time I'd packed up at 17:30 I'd caught five more roach and three bream. One of which was on bread.

What about the feeder rod? I hear you ask. Well I didn't get a sniff until about 17:00 when the tip went round and I was into a carp of about 2lb. I'm estimating because the terror spat the hook out!

I must say although the fishing wasn't the best sitting on my chair in March in a t-shirt was great!

2012 01 March 19th Nursery Fields, Edenbridge, Kent

Today was the start of my 2012 season and I was heading off to test myself against the club’s Nursery Fields Lake near Edenbridge in Kent.

I woke to find one of the worst frosts I have seen this winter. Undeterred I loaded up the car and set off around 7:30 am for the venue.

I arrived at the fishery at 8:10 to find one other hardy soul out for a days sport.

The temperature had risen to 4 degrees by this time and the frost was almost a distant memory.

I then loaded up my brand new trolley (a very happy birthday present and a much needed one at my age) and made my way to the top of the lake.

On arrival I found that the water was dead calm. I immediately fed the swim with a few maggots and then began to set up my rod.

Today's line of attack was single maggot all the way. At this time of year on a non commercial it seems the best method to adopt. For loose feed I also had a couple of pints of hemp - I didn't intend to use it all, any surplus would be frozen for use on later sessions.

I made my first cast at 8:50. I only had to wait 30 minutes for the first fish of 2012 to turn up. The victim - a mighty gudgeon.

Each cast I fed either 5 or 6 maggots or a few hemp seeds and this tactic seemed to pay off as at 9:30 I had added a further 2 gudgeon and the first roach of the year.

The next hour was my most productive of the day, 1 Rudd, 2 Crucians, 2 roach, 2 gudgeon and a perch. The only downside was that none of them warranted the use of a net!

The next hour and half only produced three fish, a Rudd and a Crucian and my best fish of the day a bream of 1,5lb! A chance to wet my net!

I decided to take a lunch break at this point. It's hungry work doing all this fishing! Anyway by the end of the lunch break period I'd only added 3 more gudgeon, a bream and another perch.

The afternoon session was a major let down. I had anticipated that as the day warmed up the fishing would improve or least stay the same however when I packed up I'd only added 2 gudgeon, 2 roach and a Rudd.

I packed up around 16:30 and headed off home.

In conclusion I enjoyed myself and that is all that matters. I spent a march day sitting in the sun without once putting my big coat on and watching a load of frogs going at it right in front of me. Also I did see 3 or 4 big carp cruising up the middle of the channel in front of me so I may go for them next time.