2018 4 March 22nd, Nursery Fields, Edenbridge

Today was my second visit of the season to the club's mixed fishery at Nursery Fields near Edenbridge in Kent.

It had warmed up somewhat in the last couple of days after the latest (and hopefully last) cold snap of the winter so I was hopeful of a good day.

It was about 8:20 when I arrived at the fishery. The car park was packed, well seven cars and that counts as packed by my standards. As I was heading off to the far bank today so I wasn't too bothered about not getting a swim.

I unloaded the car and made my way to peg 13 on the back stretch.

Two rod attack, a leger placed on the far side of the lily pads and a waggler rod fished between half and three-quarters of the way across to the island.

Waggler swim - a dark and dreary day.

Feeder swim:

I fed the swim with maggots every few minutes while I was setting up which I thought would give the fish confidence to feed before I actually cast in.

It was 9:40 when I made my first casts. Now it was time to sit back and wait for the action to start.

It was only a few minutes before the float disappeared and I was into my first fish. It turned out to be one of the lake's skimmer bream. This was quickly followed by two nice sized Ide. This made my total for the first hour, three.

The next hour was a real bumper one for me, 1 bream, 2 roach and 2 more of the Ide. My total for the day was now 8.

Much the same for the next hour except that it was totally dominated by roach, four of them to be exact.

The next hour brought me a shoal of roach and rudd. Fifteen of them consisting of 10 roach and 5 rudd some of which were caught on corn. My total for the day had now risen to 27.

Just as quickly as they arrived they disappeared as evidenced by the fact that I only caught one roach in the next hour and three more Ide.

One of the Ide:

By 17:50 when I decided to pack up for the day, another seven fish had made the net, all of them Ide.
My total for the day and one that I was pleased with was 38.

The feeder rod, with the exception of a few line bites, never moved an inch all day.

2018 3 March 14th Boulthurst Farm, Holland, Surrey

Today I thought I would pay my first visit of the year to Holland A. S. small carp pond on Boulthurst farm near Oxted in Surrey.

It was about 8:15 when I arrived at the pond. As it was March 14th, the last day the pond was open I found it strange that the car park was empty.

There are only 4 swims on the pond so before deciding which swim I was going to fish I went down and had a look around. The first thing that struck me was that the water was very brown, not it's usual colour at all. I put this down to the amount of rain we'd had the previous few weeks. I wondered if it would affect the fishing.

I settled on the swim on the far right. It was just the one rod today so I was set up and ready to make my first cast at 8:40.

For today I decided that as the pond contained mainly carp to about 7lb I would try the following set up. My rod was a Shimano float rod designed for commercial carp fisheries, a reel with 6lb main line and a large waggler. For hook bait I was going to use 10mm boillies. I intended to fish a line about 3 rod lengths out.

I knew today was going to be a waiting game so I wasn't surprised when there was no immediate action. There was a lot of wind blowing across the pond so I had to change the float several times before I found one that I could easily see the tip of.

Thirty minutes after I'd settled down the float went under and I was into a fish. Unfortunately the hook came out of it's mouth and it was gone. Still it gave me confidence that my method was working.

It was back to the waiting game again. At 10:17 I got the bite I'd been waiting for. It didn't feel too big as it never really fought much however when I weighted it the scales read 8lb 2 oz! Success.

I continued to feed the swim with pellets and boillies throughout the day but by 15:00 in the afternoon there was no further action.

During the afternoon I spotted this fellow on the far bank.

I'd seen activity in the swim all day but assumed they were some of the pond's roach. For the last few hours I decided to switch to 2 pieces of corn as the bait.

I was right about the roach, by 16:30 when I packed up I'd caught 6 of them, all in the 3 to 4 ounce range.

2018 2 March 12th, Nursery Fields, Edenbridge

Today was my first visit of the season to the club's mixed fishery at Nursery Field, near Edenbridge in Kent.

I arrived at the fishery about 8:15 to find the car park empty. I wasn't surprised as it was a bit chilly and there was rain in the air.

I unloaded the car and made my way up the lake towards my intended swim which was at the end of the island.

Two rod attack today, the first a waggler fished three quarters of the way across on the match rod and a small leger on the feeder rod fished tight to the island.

I was set up and ready to make my first cast at 9:15. First out was the feeder rod. The leger landing about 2 feet from the island, good enough for me. I had fired some maggots into the intended waggler swim while I was setting up.

I cast the float out and within a couple of minutes the float went under and the rod bent! I wasn't expecting this. The fish then took line, I definitely wasn't expecting that. The culprit was a carp of about 4lb with a liking for a single maggot on a size 20 hook.

The first hour was completed by the following, all caught on single maggot: 1 perch, 1 Ide, 1 crucian and 2 roach. A satisfying start to the day.

During the next hour the rain came in a big way to such an extent that I had to cocoon myself under the brolly. The fish must have liked it as much as me because I only caught one roach in that time.

Things took a turn for the better in the next hour when another Ide and four roach made the virtual net. I was still catching them on maggots.

Although there was only one other angler on the lake I wasn't lonely as I had these two for company all day long.

The leger rod had been silent all day. Experience from the last couple of years at this time of the season told me not worry. When a bite did come it would be a good one. At 13:40 I was proved right when the alarm went off and so did the fish. Unfortunately I lost it almost straight away. I was not a happy bunny.

By 13:40 my total for the day had risen to 23 with the addition of 2 rudd, 1 bream and 8 roach.

Around this time I decided to forego the maggots and have a go with corn. Well for the first hour after it worked a treat - on rudd anyway. Six made the virtual net in that time.

About 16:00 I cast the waggler up the adjoining tree and decided at that point that I would pack up that rod and concentrate on the leger rod.

This fellow came to try his luck on my unused bait.

While I was watching the tip there was an almighty splash directly in front of me. So much so that it made me jump out of my skin. After I few seconds I saw it was this fellow.

At 16:30 with my total on 29 for the day I decided it was time to pack up. To be truthful I was freezing!

2018 01 March 7th Dunks Pond, Holland, Oxted, Surrey

My 2018 season started off today with a visit to Holland Angling Society's pond near Oxted in Surrey.

I hadn't fished the pond for many years however I did know that it contained predominately roach and perch plus a few carp to around 3lb. Of course things could have changed in the intervening years.

I arrived at the pond about 8:15. The weather wasn't great - it was raining nice and steady however the forecast said that it was due to stop about 11am. It wasn't really cold so that was good.

I unloaded the car and carried my gear to my swim (didn't need to use my trolley as the walk was short).

As this was my first outing of the season I wanted to keep things simple so I decided to only use one rod today. Before I started to set up I fired out some maggots about 2 rod lengths from the bank.

My set up today was a match rod with 4lb main line to a size 20 with a  2.5lb hook length.

I was set up and ready to make my first cast at 9:15.

I was into small roach almost immediately. I was firing out a few maggots every cast and this seemed to keep them interested. By the end of the first hour I'd caught 5 roach, a pleasing start for the time of year.

For the next hour I fed maggots and hemp, not a great amount but enough to keep them interested (or so I thought). By 11:30 my total for the day had risen to 12 with the addition of 4 roach and 3 perch.

I followed the same pattern for the next hour with the exception that at the beginning of the hour I fed the swim with grains of corn. This was my slowest hour so far as only 1 roach made the virtual net.

I stuck to my guns for the next hour and was rewarded with a perch and three roach. The sport wasn't great but it was enough to keep me alive in the conditions. The rain stopped when it said it would so I was glad of that.

At 15:00 I made the decision to have a try with corn. I'm glad I did as the float on hitting the water went down almost immediately. The result was a carp of about a 1lb.

Between 15:00 and 16:35 when the weather finally got to me and I decided to pack up, my total for the day had risen to 25. This consisted of 1 perch, 1 roach and 5 small carp, all caught on corn.

2017 14 July 2nd Chittenden, Edenbridge, Kent

Today was going to be another afternoon/evening session at the club's carp fishery at Chittenden near Edenbridge in Kent.

As usual for this type of session I arrived at the fishery just after 1 pm. There were cars in the car park but not as many as I was expecting considering the heat.

I made my way down to peg 1 which was the scene of my last really successful outing here. The sun, for once, was really blazing down.

I was only going to use one rod today as there really isn't enough room in the swim to use two especially as there was another angler in peg 2.

I had set up the feeder rod and was ready to make my first cast by 14:00. I was hair rigging meat as my choice of bait today.

Throughout the very hot afternoon I didn't get as much as a tickle. It was at 18:06 when the tip went round for the first time. The result was my first catfish of the season, the bad news was it only went about a 1lb!

Less than ten minutes later and I was in again, this time it was a small bream that took a liking to my bait.

Just before 6:30pm I landed my first carp, a nice specimen which I estimated to be 6lb or so.

I had to wait nearly 45 minutes for my next bite, however it was worth waiting for. It was a strong bite but I knew it wasn't a carp. When it broke the surface I saw it was a very good bream. A personal best equalling one at that as it tipped the scales at 3lb 8oz.

My last fish of the session came at 19:30 and was another carp. This one went 10lb 12oz. Another double for the season.

So a good end to a strange session. Only 5 fish caught and all in the last 90 minutes!

2017 13 June 9th, Long Lake, Warwick Wold Fishery nr Redhill Surrey

Today I thought I would try a different venue. I had seen Warwick Wold Fishery from the M25 several times and quite liked the look of it.

As the fishery didn't open until 7am it wasn't a problem for me to be there dead on opening time. The gate was open and two other anglers were there however the bailiff wasn't!

When the bailiff eventually turned up I paid my money and told him I was new to the venue. He explained the rules and pointed me in the direction of Long Lake.

As it was a new venue I decided to only use my match rod today. Also the lake was quite narrow so I could easily fish close to the reeds on the far bank.

I was set up and ready to make my first cast at 7:46. It wasn't good as I put the float straight into the reeds. The second attempt was much better though. I started with corn as the hook bait.

The fish were on the feed straight away, The first hour yielded 2 roach, a tench and 4 small carp. A good start. Alas I also lost a float in the reeds so when I set up again I took the opportunity to change the bait to pellets.

An hour later the combination of pellets and better casting brought 7 small carp to the virtual net. My total for the day was now 12.

A mix of pellets and corn for the next hour in attempt to lure a bigger fish. Alas, this didn't work. Nine more small carp made the net though bringing my total to 21.

For the next hour I tried strawberry pellet and was rewarded with a further 7 fish, two tench and 5 small carp. My total for the day was now 28 and it was still a few minutes before noon.

The next hour was the best so far, numerically speaking anyway, one tench and eleven small carp made the total now 40.

Just before one in the afternoon I switched back to halibut pellets and in the next hour I was rewarded with my first 2 chub of the day, another tench and nine small carp. My total was now 52.

Never change a winning hand they say but I did, halibut out crab in. The result was my slowest hour to date. One roach and one carp improved my total but only to 54.

Is this the smallest carp I've ever caught?

A change was needed so it was back to strawberry flavoured pellets for the next hour. It did get better but not by much as I only caught four carp. My total for the day was now 58.

Here's one.

In the next hour the swim came alive ago as fourteen fish made the virtual net, 2 rudd, 4 carp, 3 tench and 5 roach. Total for the day was now 72!

By the time I packed up at 18:00 my total for the day was 86, bolstered by a combination of tench, chub, rudd, roach and carp. These were all caught on the near bank close by my feet.

So that was it for my first visit to this venue, I will return.

2017 12 June 2nd, Nursery Fields, Edenbridge

Today it was back to the club's mixed fishery at Nursery Fields near Edenbridge in Kent.

Another early start saw me arrive at the fishery around 6:15. There was no one in the car park so I could afford to take a leisurely stroll around the lake whilst I made my swim selection.

After a bit of a think I chose peg 15 which is about midway on the back stretch of the lake.

As you can see from the photo above I intended to spend the day fishing down the margin.

As my primary target was the non carp species I decided to set up the float rod first and then if the fishing was slow I would use the feeder rod as well.

I started at 7:15 with corn as the hook bait and was rewarded with a roach and tench in the first hour. At least the fish were feeding today.

Two hours later, and back on the corn after a fruitless change to meat, I'd added another 4 fish to the virtual net, 1 roach, 2 crucians and a bream. The total for the day was now six.

I tried meat again for the next hour and was rewarded with a tench and another crucian.

I was back on the corn for the lunchtime session and managed to get another of the lake's crucian carp, not massive but nice looking.

At 13:15 the feeder rod, which I'd set up about 10 o'clock, sprang into life and produced a nice tench.
I had also decided at that point in the session to switch to pellets.

By 14:30 the pellets had attracted one roach and a tench. The feeder rod had also chipped in with a tench.

The next hour was very slow, only one roach made the net.

My last fish of the day turned up at 17:20 and was predictably a tench with a liking for meat.

So that was it for the day, 15 fish split between four species. Not really a sensational day.