2018 12 May 11th Chittenden, Edenbridge, Kent

Today, I decided to pay another visit to the club's carp lake at Chittenden near Edenbridge in Kent.

I arrived at the lake around 7am. I quickly unloaded the car and made my way down the lake to my favourite swim at the dam end.

It was the usual attack tactics today, one float rod to my immediate left and one leger rod fished where the overhanging tree used to be on my right.

After feeding the swims and setting up, I was ready to make my first casts. The time was 8:10.

For bait on the float rod I started with two pieces of corn. I didn't have long to wait for the action to begin. When the float disappeared I knew it wasn't the expected bream straight away. The culprit was a carp of about 7lb. Good start.

I also captured the mandatory Bream during the first hour which made my total for the day, two!

I lost another carp in the second hour which, aside from that, was unproductive.

The third hour of the day was also very quiet although I did get a bite on the leger rod which I promptly lost.

Things were not going well, by 12:20 all I'd added to the virtual net was a small Bream.

I did have some company though.

That hour was followed by another hour where absolutely nothing happened! Not what I was expecting at all.

For the next hour I changed hook bait from corn to small cubes of meat and was rewarded with two of the lake's Bream. Total for the day was now a paltry five.

Another blank hour followed, I began to suspect that this wasn't going to be my day.

At 16:30 I caught my last fish of the day, yes you've guessed it, another Bream.

So that was it for what was a pretty poor day by my standards - never mind things can only get better.

2018 11 May 1st, Nursery Fields, Edenbridge

It had been a couple of weeks since I'd last been to the club's mixed fishery at Nursery Fields and so I decided it was going to be the venue for today's session.

The car park had a few cars in it so I wasn't sure where I would end up. After unloading the car I made my way round to the far side of the lake. On arrival I found peg 13 vacant. I'd had good sessions before there and so I was content with that.

Two rod attack today, a float line fished between 1/2 and 3/4 of the way to the island and a small leger with a 10mm boillie fished just past the lily pads.

After setting up and feeding the swim it was 8:20 when I was ready to make my first casts.

I started on corn as I only use maggots in March and April. I didn't make the wrong decision as 11 fish made the net in the first hour. These consisted of an Ide, a Perch, a Bream, a Rudd and 7 Roach.

The next hour was a tad slower, only yielding a Roach, a Crucian Carp and two Ide. I was content with that.

From 10am to 11am it really slowed a lot. So much so that only one fish made the net, a nice looking Tench.

By 12:30, the swim still wasn't setting the world alight. One Roach and an Ide falling victim to the corn. The feeder rod did chip in with it's first fish of the day, another Ide.

I switched to meat for the next hour in the hope that this might give the fish an incentive to feed. Alas, it did not. Only a small Ide made the net.

This fella was feeding though:

Another slow hour followed, 1 Ide and 1 Roach made the net. It wasn't going to be one of those special days today. The session's total was 22.

Until packing up time, which was around 5:30, I decided to go all out on the meat. 

My prize for this change of tactics were 2 reasonable Bream.

The only other fish that were interested were the Ide, three of them to be exact.

So that was it for a fairly uneventful session. I wasn't complaining though, 27 fish in a day isn't bad.

2018 10 April 23rd, Silver Lake, Gabriels Farm, Edenbridge

Today was going to be my first visit of the year to Gabriel's Farm Fishery on the outskirts of Edenbridge in Kent.

I arrived at the fishery a little after opening time at 7:10.

I made my way down the mile long track to the fishery's car park to find it completely clear of cars.

I unloaded the car and made my way over to Silver Lake, the fishery's match lake.

It was just the one rod today - the waggler fished close to an outcrop of reeds. I'd fished it before and been quite successful.

As I was only setting up one rod I was ready to make my first cast at 8:10. I'd already fed the swim with a generous helping of free offerings.

I started on double maggot and was into a variety of fish straight away. In fact, twenty made the net in the first hour. These consisted of, 2 Chub, 2 Perch, 1 Rudd and 15 Roach. Lovely.

This fella kept an eye on me all morning.

The next hour I changed to corn and had one bite. It must have been a carp by the way it took the line however today wasn't the day when it would make a visit to my net.

I alternated between maggot and corn for the next hour but the fishing still stayed slow. Two Roach made the net, one on maggot and one on corn.

I did have this fella for company though.

I stayed on the corn until noon but perseverance didn't pay off in my case as I only managed to nab one small Chub.

Another hour passed with very little action, the only disturbance to the day's total was a small Rudd!

I decided at this point that a change was needed. I decided to give 6mm halibut pellets a go. In the next hour I lost one carp of about 3lb and captured one of about 6lb. Good decision then.

My fortunes swung back to the unproductive side as I sat for another hour without a bite. Very strange day - no consistency at all.

By 16:20 having spent the rest of the afternoon on pellets I'd added a Gudgeon, Bream and a Carp of 2lb to the net. My total for the day was now 28.

At 18:00 when I decided to call it a day, I'd added another three fish to the net. This consisted of 2 Carp and one Roach. A very strange day indeed.

2018 9 April 16th, Nursery Fields, Edenbridge

Today, I was going to pay another visit to the club's mixed fishery at Nursery Fields, near Edenbridge in Kent. After the good session I had last time there I was filled with a good feeling of optimism.

It was just after 8am when I arrived at the fishery. There was one or two cars in the car park so that meant I was going to get an almost free choice of swims.

I unloaded the car and set off on the trek up the lake to the top swim. I like this swim as it is the shortest distance from the bank to the island.

I intended to fish the float line about 3/4 of the way across to the island and the leger rod about as close as I could get to the corner of the island.

I was ready to make my first casts at 9:30.

I started on double maggot and this proved a wise decision as the swim got off to a flyer. Fourteen fish comprising 2 Ide, 1 Crucian Carp, 1 Gudgeon and ten Roach made the virtual net. Not to be left out the feeder swim chipped in with a nice Tench.

As I felt I was on a roll I decided to switch to corn for the next hour. Alas, not much of a success. Only one of the lakes' Bream made it to the net. The feeder rod gave up an Ide and my first Barbel of the year.

I don't know why but I decided to stay on the corn for another hour. What a difference. 3 Ide, a Bream, 3 Crucian Carp and 2 Roach made the net. My total for day was now 27.

The next hour was the best of the session not because of the Ide, Roach and Bream that I caught but for the Crucian Carp which weighed in at 2lb 3oz, a personal best!

The next hour reverted to the day's  norm, one each of Roach, Crucian Carp and Rudd and a couple of Ide from the float swim. The feeder rod supplied a Tench and a small Carp. Total for the day now stood at 39.

By now it was 15:40 and the net's total stood at 43, having just added a Roach, Crucian Carp, an Ide and a Barbel to it.

An hour and twenty minutes later the net was bulging with 58 fish! Three Tench were from the feeder rod. The rest, consisting of, a Tench, 2 Crucians, an Ide, a Bream, 2 Roach and five Rudd were from the float swim. The corn was working well today.

I'd been feeding the margin to the right of me all day with one or two pieces of corn. At 17:00 I reeled in the feeder rod and shortened up the depth of the float rig and had a look down the side. Over the next half hour or so I caught 2 Ide, a Tench, a Crucian and a carp of about 5.5 pounds.

I decided after the catching the carp to call it a day. The net was bulging with 63 fish, one of which was a personal best, so I went home a happy man.

2018 8 April 12th Chittenden, Edenbridge, Kent

Today was going to be another one of my visit's to the club's carp lake at Chittenden near Edenbridge in Kent.

I arrived at the fishery about 7:45 to find the car park empty. As is the norm I loaded up the trolley and headed down the lake to my favourite swim.

As it was still spring, some would say still winter, my attack on the float line would be predominately maggots today. It would be small 10mm boillies on the feeder rod as usual.

As I was setting up I generously fed both swims with maggots, hemp and boillies and pellets respectively.

I was ready to make my casts at 8:45.

The lake's bream were quick to latch onto the maggots with five of them making the virtual net by 9:45.

For the next hour I decided to have a dabble on the corn. This was a complete failure as by 11:10 I'd caught precisely nothing.

In the last hour of the morning session the fish suddenly went mad for the cord. Seven bream and a carp of around 3lb made the virtual net.

Another hour passed with no action on either rod. The feeder hadn't moved all morning which was unusual.

By the time the clock had ticked over to 14:30, the float line had gone mad. I caught another bream, lost and caught two carp. The first was 8lb 12 and second a tad bigger at 8lb 15.

By the time I packed up at 17:45 my total for the day was 21 as I managed to add a further 7 fish to the net. Some were carp however they were not as big as the ones above.

2018 7 April 9th, Nursery Fields, Edenbridge

Today I decided to pay another visit to the club's mixed fishery at Nursery Fields near Edenbridge in Kent.

As I parked the car in the empty car park I made up my mind to give peg 13 another bash as I'd been fairly successful last time there.

I loaded up the trolley and headed off up the lake, around the top and down to peg 13. A fair old trek.

It was the usual two rod attack today, one float rod and a feeder rod. The float line would be straight ahead of me about 1/2 to 3/4 of the way across. The feeder line would be just passed the lily pads on my left.

As I was setting up I fed the float line swim with maggots and hemp, hoping that the fish would gain some confidence before I started fishing.

I did the same with the feeder line except that it was pellets and small boillies that I fed.

I was set up and ready to make my first casts at 9:10. I then settled back into my chair to wait hopefully for the action to begin.

And begin it did. The float line on double maggot delivered 16 roach and rudd and the feeder rod gave up one of the lake's hard fighting tench. Great start.

I stayed on double maggot for the next hour and the result was 3 crucian carp, 1 ide and seven more roach and rudd. Twenty eight fish already, can't be bad.

As I'd been feeding corn on top of the maggots all morning I decided the time was right to switch to corn on the corn. As expected the fishing slowed however I stilled managed 1 crucian carp and four more roach and rudd.

It was the next hour that the corn really kicked in, 2 Gudgeon (!), 1 Bream and 12 more roach and rudd. The feeder rod chipped in with a crucian carp. The time was 13:45 and the total form the day stood at 49.

The next hour was a bit slower for the float line. It only produced four fish, 4 roach and rudd. The feeder chipped in though with a bream and a barbel.

By 16:01 the float line had gone mad for the corn and produced, 2 Bream, Ide and 5 Crucian Carp.

The end of my day came at 18:30. The feeder's last contribution was a Bream and a Tench. The float rod's was a Bream, an Ide, a Rudd and some more Crucian Carp. My total for the day was 72 very satisfactory.

2018 6 April 3rd Chittenden, Edenbridge, Kent

Today was going to be my first visit of the year to the club's carp water at Chittenden near Edenbridge in Kent.

It was about 8:10 when I arrived at the fishery. The car park was empty so I had a choice of swims. As this was my first visit of the year I decided to load up the trolley and head off down to the dam end of the lake where my favourite swim was.

As I got to the bank I saw that the water level was very high and that the water was extremely coloured. Having seen the same at Boulthurst Farm a few weeks back I feared the worst.

When I arrived at my swim I was taken aback by some of the alterations that had been done. Nearly all the bank side trees had been cut down including the overhanging one that I used to fish under. Also a lot of the vegetation behind me had been removed. On the plus side the new boarding around the swims was much better than the old slippery platforms.

It was the usual two rod attack today, the feeder and my Shimano float rod replacing my match rod as there are some big ones in here!

I was set up and ready to make my first casts at 9:10.

On the waggler rod I started with a size 18 hook with 2 maggots. I fed two or three maggots every subsequent cast to ensure a trickle of feed went into the swim. A the end of the first hour the only occupants of the virtual net were 3 skimmer bream.

Another hour passed with only two more bream making the net. I did see one or two carp jumping in the distance so that raised my spirits somewhat.

The next hour and the bream kept coming although this time they were joined by a solitary roach.

Between 12 and 1pm I decided to switch hook baits from maggot to corn. Nothing showed any interest at all.

I was back on the maggots for the next hour. Seemed to work as three roach and two bream made the net. The feeder rod was silent.

I tried corn again for the next hour but once more the landing net remained dry.

From 15:10 to 17:15 when I packed up the waggler rod produced just one more roach however the feeder rod's buzzer sounded for the only time of the day. The result was a carp of 3lb or so.

I finished the day on 14 fish, a bit disappointing but that's life.