2015 10 May 15th Silver Lake, Gabriel's Farm Fishery, Edenbridge

Another Friday and another trip this popular fishery. Silver lake was my target for the day. I was looking to improve my performance of a fortnight ago. Could I do it?

I arrived at the fishery just before 7 am. I parked up, loaded up the trolley and headed off to peg 1 which is my favorite peg on the lake.

First I mixed some ground bait and then set about setting up my match rod. Today I was going to use a waggler, 4 lb main line to initially a size 18 hook with 3.8 lb hook length. I felt that this would give me some fun with the silvers and also it could handle any passing carp.

I was ready to make my first cast at 7:45. For bait, initially I was on single maggot. After the first 10 roach I switched to corn and caught another two before the first hour was up.

The next hour I spent more time on the corn. This resulted in only five more roach however the ones on the corn were of a better quality.

This family kept me company for much of the day.

For the next hour I went on the corn full time. Five more reasonable roach made it to the virtual net plus this bonus perch.

The hour before lunch brought another five roach. The 'highlight' though was a massive crayfish! I haven't seen one for about three years.

By 14:00 I'd added 2 more roach and two of the lake's bream.

This family of ducks also kept me company during the day.

During the morning I'd set up my Shimano float rod so that I could at some point during the day attack the swim using banded pellets. At 14:00 I decided that the time was right to give it a go.

I had four hours on the pellet. It was enough time to bring in five carp and three roach. The carp weren't enormous but were good little scrappers. Here's one I caught at 16:20.

I decided to pack up at 6 pm but before I did I thought I'd try a piece of cocktail sausage. It was the only meat I had on me. I flicked out the float and less than the 30 seconds later it disappeared and I was into a 6 lb 1 oz carp! Here it is:

So it was the end of another day. I enjoyed it - 41 fish caught. I shall be back.

2015 9 May 8th Hare Lake, Gabriels Farm Fishery, Edenbridge

Today was my second visit of the year to Gabriel's Fishery. This time though, my target lake was Hare.

The weather was reasonable as I started the drive to Edenbridge. Because of this I was feeling optimistic for the day ahead. I'd had too many cold days recently.

I arrived at the fishery dead on 7 am. I unloaded the car and made my way round to Hare lake, It isn't very wide and the swim I chose is where the lake is the narrowest. It's perfect for flicking a float out in front of the opposite reed bed.

Bait wise today's attack was maggots and sweetcorn because from previous experience it was going to be roach and bream all day with a few small (less than a pound) carp.

As I was only going to use one rod again today I was easily set up and ready to make my first cast at 8 am.

Here is the swim in question:

And here is my set up!

With a single maggot on the hook I didn't have to wait long before the action started. True to the script the first three fish in were very and I do mean very small roach. I decided at that point to switch full time to corn to avoid being pestered by these roach all day. I was rewarded with a small carp.

Here is the carp:

The next sixty minutes produced only another of the lake's small carp. They are about a 1 lb but do pull when you use a match rod so I did have some fun.

The next hour was as slow as the previous one. Just the one fish, this time it was a bream.

Did I say the weather was lovely? Well it was. The sun was shining and it really was quite pleasant. Did it affect the fishing? I think so as I only caught one small carp in the next hour. It was noon now and I'd only caught seven fish.

After lunch the clouds came and began to deposit their content. Just what I needed. It didn't affect the fishing though, another hour another small carp.

The rain seemed to galvanise the fish, by 15:00 I'd added another four fish to the virtual net, three carp and just for a change a small roach. Here's one of them:

I then decided to have a complete change of tactics. I set up my Shimano float rod with 6 lb main line and a size 16 banded pellet hook with the view that I would go for the lake's larger carp. I had nothing to lose I wasn't catching much anyway.

The plan sort of worked as in the last three hours before I packed up I caught eight carp, problem was they were all of the small variety. Yet again I was beaten by the lake's bigger inhabitants.

In conclusion I caught 20 fish all but four were carp. Where were the roach, spawning I guess. I shall be back to have another go at this lake.

Here's a view of the lake from my left side:

2015 08 May 1st Silver Lake, Gabriels Farm Fishery, Edenbridge

Today was the first day of the club's close season so I had to visit another fishery. Today I chose Gabriel's Fishery which is on the far (south) side of Edenbridge.

Weather wise the thing I was worried about today was rain rather than the low temperature as the sky was very cloudy when I left the house at around 6:20.

I arrived at the fishery dead on 7 am which was great because that is the time the fishery opens. I had to wait a few minutes before I was let in. The mile or so bumpy drive to the lakes passed quickly and I was soon at the car park.

There was one other car parked by the gate, a very flash BMW whose owner I never saw all day. There are three lakes at this fishery that I like to fish, Silver, the match lake, Hare, the mixed fishery and Swallow which has an abundance of small carp. Today I chose to fish Silver.

Peg 1 has always been my favorite as it is a corner peg surrounded by reed beds. You don't have to be the world casting champion to get to the likely fish haunts. There is also plenty of space on the nice flat platform for all my gear.

Just the one rod today. A waggler set up with 4 lb main line and a size 18 hook. Initially I started on a single maggot but hoped to progress to corn if the fish were biting.

At 7:50 after ground baiting the swim I was ready to make my first cast. At this time there was no wind but there was a chill in the air.

I didn't have to wait long for the lake's small silver fish to arrive. Nine fish in the first hour, seven roach and two small perch.

For the last fifteen minutes of the hour I did try a piece of corn but there were no takers.

The second hour was almost a repeat of the first, eight small fish caught. No perch this time however a rudd or two did make the net.

Hour three brought nine more fish, eight roach and my first gudgeon of the season, a mighty devil of at least half an ounce! I was still trying corn for the last fifteen minutes of the hour. Unlike the previous hours I was successful this time. The hungry critter was one of the aforementioned roach.

The next hour brought another six fish, Five roach and another rudd. This time I caught two of them on corn.

By 13:00 I'd added another eight fish to the net. As well as roach there was a perch and a gudgeon, When the gudgeon came in I switched full time to corn. This accounted for five of the six roach caught.

The first hour solely on corn brought four roach. These were slightly bigger than the ones caught on maggot.

Three more roach came in on corn and then just before 15:00 my first carp of the day fell victim to a piece of corn. It wasn't huge barely 2 lb but at that point it made my day.

Since midday I'd been loose feeding halibut pellets into the swim with the intention of trying for the lake's bigger carp using banded pellets later on in the day. I'd also set up my Shimano float rod with 6 lb main line to hopefully cope with anything that took the bait.

At 15:00 I made the switch to pellets. The first hour was quiet although I was getting knocks all the time. My assumption that it was the small roach was borne by the fact that I did catch one fish in the first hour and that was indeed a small roach.

About twenty minutes later when the float went I struck expecting another roach, so imagine my surprise when the fish shot off to the left taking line easily from the reel. I managed to turn it and was slowly bringing it back when the hook was spat out. I was gutted.

After another small roach I had a long wait until my next true bite. When it came it was my second smallish common of the day. This was followed at around 18:00 by my third and final carp, a mirror of about 2.5 lb.

I ended the day with a total of 52 fish, the majority were roach however I enjoyed myself which is the main thing.

2015 07 April 17th Nursery Fields, Edenbridge

After the relative disappointment of last week's visit to Chittenden I decided today to return to my favorite swim at the club's mixed fishery at Nursery Fields.

As usual I arrived at the fishery at 7 am. This time I was the first there. I loaded the trolley and headed up the lake towards my chosen swim. At this stage there was no wind, the water was as calm as a millpond.

I set up my usual float and feeder rods. Today's flavored boillie was going to be tutti fruitti. I was ready to make my first casts at 8 am.

I started with single maggot on the float rod. I'd seen signs of small fish in the swim almost immediately after I groundbaited the area so I wasn't surprised to be into the small roach straight away.

I caught seven of them in the first hour. Surprisingly and surely a good omen for the day I also nabbed a couple of the pond's tench on corn late on in the hour. Highlight of the first hour was this crusian of 1.25 lb caught on the feeder rod.

I decided to stay on the corn which slowed the catch rate a bit however I still managed a roach, a couple of bream and two more crucians. The feeder rod waded in with the day's only barbel and another tench.

The wind had now picked up and was blowing in from my left. It was making bite detection more difficult and it also affected my casting. I still managed to catch a tench and bream on the float rod and another tench on the feeder in the next hour.

The next hour brought an even split, two fish from each rod. A roach and tench from the float rod and two tench from the feeder rod. That tutti fruitti flavor was proving a winner!

As is normal for Nursery Fields the swim started to die late morning early lunchtime. It only yielded a tench. The feeder rod was still producing though, another two tench made the net.

By two in the afternoon I began to suspect that I should have changed baits to either pellets or maggots as the swim appeared to be dead. Only two bream made the net in the previous hour. The feeder rod was still producing tench, another two of them.

Aside from a solitary tench on the feeder rod the next sixty minutes were barren. The wind was now quite strong and I was starting to get cold.

I'd been feeding the reed bed to my right all day long and at 16:00 I decided to switch my attention to that swim. Between  then and 18:00 when I eventually packed up I caught fifteen fish, ten were roach and five were tench. The last fish of the day was a small bream on the feeder rod.

As the day came to a close I'd caught 49 fish. Twenty of them tench ranging from just under two pounds down to three or four ounces. It was a shame that none of the pond's carp showed but it didn't spoil the day.

2015 06 April 10th Chittenden, Edenbridge

Another Friday and another visit to the club's carp lake at Chittenden. I was feeling confident today for two reasons, the first, was that during the week the weather had warmed up to such an extent I was sure I was going to take my coat off and secondly because this time last year I caught my personal best carp.

I left home at 6:25 with the temperature in the car reading 7 degrees. Lovely. I arrived at the fishery at 7 am on the dot. There were two cars in the car park already. I did a quick scan of the pond to determine whether or not my swim was free. Good news, it was!

When I arrived at the swim and unpacked my gear I discovered that my feeder reel had an empty spool on it! So, only one rod, the float one would be used today. What a silly boy.

Undeterred I set up my heavier float rod with a 3 bb waggler, 6 lb main line with a size 18 hook on a 2.8 lb hook length. For ground bait it was brown crumb, some red attractor, corn, hemp, halibut pellets and some castors that I had left over from last week's session.

I made my first cast at 8 am. Initially I used a single red maggot. Usually the pond's bream are the first to show and then as the feed builds in the swim the carp move in. It was no surprise then that the first fish in the net was a bream. The second was a small roach. That was it for the first hour.

I was still using maggots on the hook in the second hour. Good job I did because the next time the float dipped the rod bent over and the fish swam away! It wasn't huge by the pond's standards but I still played it carefully. My reward was this perch of 2 lb 9 oz. I didn't know the pond held any perch!

I decided the time was right for a change of bait when I got no other interest in the maggots after the perch was caught. I went on corn. For two hours there was no interest shown in the corn either. Good news though, I'd taken my coat off!

Finally the float went away and I knew straight away I was into a carp. I took my time as the hook length was only 2.5 lb. Eventually my patience was rewarded when the carp came to the surface and then the net. It was 7 lb 8 oz. A welcome relief I can tell you.

The first hour in the afternoon was slow again. I did get a fish though, it was another bream.

It was another sixty minutes before I caught another fish. True to form it was another bream.

The next four hours remained very quiet only one more bream made the virtual net. At 18:00 I decided to call it a day. I'd caught seven fish which wasn't what I'd expected. I will have to try again at a later date.

2015 05 April 4th Nursery Fields, Edenbridge

For my first outing of April I thought I would pay a return visit to the club's mixed fishery at Nursery Fields. It hadn't been a spectacular start to the year so far, due in the main to the weather. I hoped things would be different today as the temperature had risen a degree or two of late.

I arrived at the pond at exactly 7 am to find there was not another soul there. Strange for Easter weekend I thought. As I was loading up the trolley another angler turned up.

I made my way up the lake to my intended swim at the top. The reed beds which surround the island had grown a bit in the 2 weeks since I'd last been there. A sign that spring had indeed started.

It was going to be the usual two rod attack again today. The only change was the flavor of boillie. Today it was going to be pineapple.

I made my first casts at 8 am and then settled back to await the day's action to begin.

As usual for this time of year I started my day using single maggot on a size 20 hook. It seemed that the pond's roach were hungry today as in the first hour I landed three small ones. A good start.

The next hour was even better than the first, eight roach made the virtual net. Also the feeder rod sprang into action for the first time of the year. The culprit was one of the pond's small tench.

The next hour was even better than the last, I still caught 8 roach but this tally was augmented by a small rudd. The feeder rod produced as well, this time it was a bream.

The last hour of the morning came and the feeder rod decided to have a rest. The float rod did not. Ten more roach and another rudd made the net. One of the roach was a stamp above the others, I landed this one using a single castor.

The fish and I decided to have a rest and in my case some lunch. The result was that the next hour brought me only two more roach.

I was back on it for the next hour, five roach and a rudd. The feeder rod was still silent.

How many small roach does this pond contain? My tactics of a single maggot on the hook and loose feeding hemp every cast was certainly paying off. This hour four more roach made the net.

By 16:00 five more roach had been added to the total and for good measure another tench fell victim to a pineapple boillie on the feeder rod.

All day I'd been feeding the area close to the reed bed to my right with sweetcorn every time I caught a fish. At 16:00 I decided to abandon my first swim and for the remainder of the day I would concentrate my efforts on the reed bed swim. I also switched baits to corn and bread (alternately not together!).

I didn't have long to wait for the action to begin. After a roach of about 3 ounces I caught this good one (see below). That was followed by my first crucian of the day (also see below).

The next hour brought a roach and a rudd. I was seriously thinking about packing up as it was 18:00 and I was tired. Before I could make my mind up the buzzer went off and the rod headed for the water. I managed to get it and a very lively carp onto the bank. The carp fought much harder than the one from Chittenden the previous week despite only weighing 4 lb 7 ounces. My mind was now made up - I was going home.

My day was not over however as when I was putting away the feeder rod the float went under and I landed my only tench of the day on the float rod. It fell to a piece of bread flake.

Finally after a slow start to the season I'd had a good day. I'd caught 57 fish (mostly roach). I will be back.

2015 04 March 27th Chittenden, Edenbridge

Today was going to be my first visit of the year to the club's carp lake at Chittenden.

It was slightly warmer (the ice warning indicator wasn't on) when I left the house at 6:20 for the trip to Edenbridge. For the second time in two visits I arrived at the fishery to find another member opening the gate. Could this be a good omen for the day ahead?

My chosen swim was the one directly behind the island. You can see it from the car park. I've had some success from that swim before.

It was going to be a two rod attack again today. A feeder rod with a small lead and a 10 mm halibut boillie fished about three quarters of the way across to my left and a standard waggler set up fished the same distance straight in front of me. On the float road I used a size 20 barbless hook on 3 lb nylon with 4 lb mainline.

I was set up and ready to make my first casts at 8:00 am. I then sat back in the early morning sunshine to wait for the day's action to begin.

I had to wait about 30 minutes or so before the float disappeared. The culprit on this occasion was a tiny skimmer bream.

Things didn't improve too much in the next hour as I only bagged two small roach. The feeder rod remained silent.

Between 10 and 11 am I only landed another small roach. I'd come to the conclusion by now it was going to be another hard day.

Undeterred I kept going. The last sixty minutes of the morning session brought only, yes you've guessed it another small roach!

For the next four hours and twenty minutes the swim completely died. I wasn't getting any knocks on either the float or feeder rod. The wind was now up and it was cold enough for me to start shivering.

As I was beginning to think about packing up the float went away and I struck. This was no roach. Initially I thought I was hooked on the bottom because it didn't move. Then it began to swim away not far but far enough to take line and to put a bend in the rod. I can't say it fought like Mike Tyson but I still concentrated hard and finally it was in the net. A nice mirror of 6 lb 15 ounces. My first real carp of the year.

I decided at that point to call it a day. My total for the day was six! My worst day ever at Chittenden. I will be back.