Timberland Fishery 28-12-2013

I had great difficultly deciding where to fish today. I could have gone back to Finch Farm which always guarantees a few bites, I could have tried Southend Farm (a new venue for me), but for a change I decided to go to Timberland Fishery in Harlow. I’m not sure when I fished there last, but it was a good few years back. What attracted me was the head of F1s which feed well even in the coldest of weather and the chance to see how the fishery had matured.

So on a cold, frosty morning I headed off to shallowest blondest Essex (I used to say deepest and darkest Essex, but apparently that’s not PC anymore). I had decided to stop off for some breakfast on the way to fill the tank up, but when I got to the café it was closed. So a nearby Greggs filled the void.

I was first in the queue at 8am when the gates opened, and having had a look around the place decided to fish peg 14 (ish) on Baggers Lake with my back to the warehouse which would give some shelter if the wind picked up and offered a snag feature to the left and right margins. On balance this wasn’t a bad call, but it did mean I was in the shade almost all day, further up the short arm of the lake might have been a better decision in hindsight.

The right hand margin

I set up light (for me) with two K2s on 0.13mm line to 0.08mm hooklinks and 18 hooks. One 4x12 for the margins (about 3ft deep) and a 4x14 for the 11m line where it was 4ft deep.

By the time I’d tuned the rigs, potted in some maggots and a pinch of 4mm pellets on all three lines (left and right margins 2+2) and 11m it was 0835 – time for some  fishing.

Single white maggot at 11m and within a couple of minutes the float buried and produced a micro-roach. Three more put-ins produced more tiny roach, two of which didn’t stay on during shipping in, so I tried the left margin. Nothing.

Right margin. Bite. Solid resistance and a spirited fight produced a nice little F1 carp that went 3lb 8oz. That was more like it. A few more decent roach followed then another carp of 4lb and I was motoring. And then it all went dead. I fed a little extra and went back to 11m.

Micro roach again. 

I tried a 4mm soft pellet at 11m (partly out of hope and partly out of experience – pellet had got me through the micro fish on my last visit) and waited. It was only 5 mins or so and the float sailed away and a 3lb f1 was my eventual reward – they take a few minutes to land on a no 6 elastic.

10 mins later a repeat and suddenly I had 14lb of fish to my name. I was starting to do the mental arithmetic to see what I might do today – 4 fish an hour for 10lb for 5 hours… you get the idea.

15 mins later and nothing. And before I knew it (having had a look at the inside line) I’d not caught for over 30 minutes.

I played with maggot again at 11m for more micro roach, and one better fish that shed the hook, before  I started to pick up the odd fish through quiet periods. Putting a maggot on the hook helped bites, but they were always small fish (mostly one ounce type fish).

During on these periods I started flicking maggots to the left hand 2+2 line and after 15 minutes I had a look. Straight away a roach – but a nice roach of 6oz or so. I fished this line out for 20 minutes or so, this produced a good selection of quality roach in the 6-12oz bracket, one carp of 4lb and one better roach that shed the hook (I’d love to know how big that was, but it was easy a pound). Then it went quiet. 

One of the better fish - there were several that went 4lb

Out to 11m, small fish and one carp. Back to the left a few fish, and the roach were still better than on the far line and at 2 or 3 fish to the pound they made my estimated weight tick along.

As the left hand line started to die and had a look back at the right (it had been pretty dead since the early start). A quick quality roach followed so it was time to see what would happen if I fed a little more. Well, it turns out it was all about presentation – drop the rig in and you’d get nothing, lay the rig in and just as it settled it’d sail away with a roach or occasionally a fat gudgeon as the culprit.

By this time, I was starting to run low on maggots (a pint doesn’t last long if you’re feeding three lines) so I concentrated on the left until the bait ran out. I gave in ten minutes on pellet and missed one bite and then called it quits. A hard fought 35lb. Not bad for a freezing day in December.  

Some of the walks from your car to your peg at Timberland can be exhausting

Catch List:

Common carp - 2

F1 carp - 7

Rudd - 1

Perch - 3

Gudgeon - 8

Roach - 59

Total weight 35lb

Finch Farm 22-12-2013

Having finished work for the year, I had a chance for a few hours fishing. The weather forecast was dry with some sun (but very windy) so I headed off to Finch Farm for a few bites.

Lech the bailiff was there on my arrival, I paid my tenner and got a free cup of tea (most welcome I might add) and set off with my gear.

You can usually find some shelter there and with larger numbers of small fish present you can usually bag a fish or two, although the average size is a bit small. But hey, it's December and any fish is a good fish. 

I had the intention of fishing a different part of the lake to normal, but there was shelter on my usual island peg (hiding behind two pampas grasses) so that would do. 

The plan was to fish maggot and small pellet and catch what I could. I set up a pole rig with an old favourite, the Tubertini K2 float with the aim to fish light (no.6 elastic on a pulla, to 2.6lb line through to an 18 hook). I started at about 10 m, just where the far slope settles down. The far bank here has collapsed and the bottom is very steep, there's a shallow shelf tight for about 6-12 inches and then it drops off to 4ft or so very quickly - so much so that the plummet usually rolls down towards you if you're not touching the far bank. 

The plan was to fish to the right and left (where there's a bush) and hopefully move onto soft pellet as the day went on.

I settled for the deeper part, potted in a few maggots, added the cad pot to the pole tip and went for it.

 

First put in and the float went under as I brought in a nice roach of about 6oz. A good start. More bites followed as I put in a pinch of maggots via the cad pot each time, a chub, a goldfish, a rudd, an F1 carp of about a pound and a half - I felt like I was making good progress. 

One of the many plump goldfish in the lake

I was missing some bites, but by the time the first hour was up I was on 12 fish. Not bad for this time of year. 

Then, disaster, the hook pulled out of a goldfish under the top 3 and the rig flicked off behind me, never to be seen again. 

I re-rigged and started producing a run of more fish, but somewhat slower. I tried the bush a few fish, up the shelf (a few roach) down the shelf (odd bite) and so it continued. 

It was frustrating, just when you thought it was happening the bites would slow. Or I'd have a patch of bites that I couldn't hit or I'd pull out of a fish under the top 3. And a few times I'd connect with a big fish (probably foul hooked) and lose it as soon as it'd gone a few yards. 

I played with pellet - just the odd knock, but nothing special, so it was back to maggot to catch whatever was present. 

Perseverance kept the fish coming, but the rate was slow and intermittent.

Surprise fish of the session was a nice perch of 1lb 11oz, which is a fair but bigger than I've caught here before and one of only two perch on the day.

1lb 11oz stripey

At 1:15pm I lost my rig to a far bank bramble, so decided to give the pellet a bash on the far shelf on a new rig.

First put in a 4lb F1 - my best fish of the day. Next put in a mirror of about a pound. Then a quiet spell. Then another F1. A couple of small fish added and a few more bites missed. 

Best F1 of the day - 4lb

I was just about to call it quits when the float went under and one of the pools larger residents took the pellet. And shot straight under the bush. It shed the hook and left me tethered to the snag. I pulled for a break and called it quits. It would have been nice to have landed it, but with light gear and so many snags in the peg it was always going to be a challenge. 

Not a bad session for late December. 

Catch List:
F1 carp - 12
Mirror carp - 1
Goldfish - 20
Gudgeon - 1
Perch - 2
Chub - 2
Rudd -1
Bream - 2
Roach - 20

Total weight - 25lb

River Cherwell 9-8-13

In a moment of madness I fancied a change (not exactly an uncommon theme on this blog, but bear with me), so I found myself charging up the M40 towards the River Cherwell near Kidlington.

I'd done quite well on my previous visit about a year back, but as the water was tanking through at time, I thought a visit when the flow was more normal was in order. Plus I had a new toy to try out and I was very keen to ensure that I had a chance of catching and secondly, that I wouldn't have an audience if it all went Pete Tong.

In case you're wondering, the new toy was a centrepin that SWMBO had kindly bought me. It was a Matt Hayes jobbie, and it seemed ok for what it was.

I arrived on a beautiful misty morning - the kind of thing us anglers take for granted, and a great many people never see. I hoped this was the sign of things to come.

I set up a reasonably heavy stick float (4BB) plumbed up to find about 5ft (the Cherwell is quite deep) and threw in a handful of maggots.

I took a few fingers of line, swung the rig out and dropped in mid-river for my first trot on the pin. It must have gone all of 6ft when the float dipped and a small chublet was swung to hand - my first centrepin fish. Job done.

More runs through and a dabble on the inside was fairly unproductive, the fish were few and far between - a roach and a few bleak, so I moved on.

Next swim on the bend got a few small fish, but again it was slow.

Next drop in was a long channel which was unfishable on my previous visit - the rig just went through too fast - but today with the reduced flow it was perfect. I even managed to find a narrow ledge on the inside where I could stand ankle deep in the river, which aided presentation and control. Trotting on this swim was a delight to behold.

Thankfully, the fish thought so too. If I ran through carefully I could pick up fish about 5-8 rod lengths down. Nothing special, but roach, dace and chublets featured. I cant say that I'd got the 'pin working perfectly (far from it), but I was catching some fish.

I had a habit of over-rotating the 'pin, which meant the line starting wrapping around the drum in the wrong way, but I was learning (I think) albeit slowly.

The bites eased off, so I moved off downstream to try a few other spots.

Next spot (where I had the barbel last time) was a blank.

Next spot - a large slack on the inside - produced two fish in two put-ins. But I lost both on the way in. I found that as I reeled in, I didn't have the same rate of retrieve as a fixed-spool reel, and the fish would shed the barbless hook as it broke the surface. Frustrating, but not disastrous.

A couple more fish followed from a slower peg further down, but it was hard work. So back up to nice trotting swim to work my way back to the car. A few more fish, a few more tangles, until a complete 'pin disaster.

Line around the back of the drum and a complete lock-up. Not to mention I was also without my fishing scissors, so cutting my way free was out of the question. It was the end of the 'pin for the day.

Resorting back to my usual fixed-spool reel produced a few more fish and that was it for the fishing.

What was interesting though was the appearance of a crayfish in the water in front of me (just where I'd been standing previously). It's actually the first time I've seen one in the water - as opposed to on the end of my line. It may have gone some way to explaining why there were so many holes in the near side bank, and why there were so many bank collapses nearby. Not a great thing to see, but another place where the chub and perch might be getting a bit bigger. Food for thought there.

I took a photo of the crayfish, but you can just about make it out (towards the top, left of centre). I'll leave you to judge.

So, overall and interesting little session. Nothing special, (I think a 6oz roach was my best fish) but nice to be out and try the 'pin. I clearly have a lot more to learn, and it'll take a while before it feels in any way natural, but a good day on the bank never the less.

Catch List:
About 20 fish - 3lb or so.

Club Lake 28-8-13

So now for something completely different.

A family outing and the kid's first time fishing. I was a little nervous to say the least.

The plan was simple - a short whip, a few maggot and hopefully a chance for my two kids to catch a fish or two, without anyone falling in, upsetting the other anglers or generally committing too many angling faux pas.

We went as a family to the local club lake, heart in mouth that it would be ok - it was. No weed, no other anglers, no problems.

We set up in one swim, a 3m whip and a few maggots, with the plan to let each of the boys fish for a short while and then swap over. It seemed a little easier that way, so they'd be constantly on the go.

A few maggot fed while I set up (the rig was already attached, it just needed plumbing up), and there were bubbles straight-away.

So, Otis major was called up (4 years old). Sat down, handed the whip and we watched the float. And, it sank. A few seconds later his first fish, a pristine rudd of 3oz or so.

First fish - a rudd

Then it was the turn of Otis minor (three years old). Could we manage a repeat performance? Swing out the rig, let it settle and watch the float. It sank again! But not a rudd - this time a perfectly formed crucian carp.

First fish - a crucian carp

Well suffice to say, the next hour and a half whizzed by - catch two fish, and then change places. Total catch was 16 fish each:

Otis major - 1 rudd, 14 crucians and a tench

Otis minor - 1 rudd, 15 crucians

Two carp lost (boo) and a great little session was had by all. (I'm going back with an elasticated top set at some point.)

So two new apprentice fishermen.. roll on the next trip.

The only tench of the session

 

Look at the bend in that whip

 

A meeting of the minds

Boddingtons 26-8-13

Not much to say really. 

I came, I fished, I conked out. 

First 60 mins on the pole on peg 72 produced 8 mirror carp for 63lb (the best going 14lb). Two more fish followed in the next hour to take it up to 80lb. 

Then nothing but roach for 5 hours. 

Straight lead lost one fish, pellet waggler failed, margin line failed, pole failed. Went home beaten by Boddingtons again. 

Catch List:

Mirror Carp 10

Roach 25

Total weight 84lb

River Colne 11-8-13

All-in-all a rather mixed session. 

I'd headed down to the weir with mixed intentions - 30 mins on the feeder (big halibut pellet) and 30 mins trotting. Then, I'd see how things went.

First 30 mins on the tip - nothing. 

Waiting for that bug barbel bite

30 mins trotting - plenty of nice roach with dace etc mixed in. 

Nice trotting conditions

Second 30 mins on the tip - a few rattles and wham. A very good fish. Straight into the snags and my 10lb mainline was shredded. Boo.

More trotting - more small fish, and down to the next trotting swim. Unlike my June visit the water level had dropped and I could wade out in my wellies to the gravel bar and trot through nicely. 

Bit of a disaster as my welly sprang a leak

More roach, one decent chub (10oz) one small barbel (4 oz) and three nice brown trout (4oz to 8oz). A very nice surprise, I'd caught one before (in many visits) but three in a session is nice. All were put back to fight another day. 

Catch List:

Barbel 1

Brown Trout 3

Roach 25

Chub 4

Dace 8

Perch 3

Minnow 5

Bleak 3

Gudgeon 2

Total weight 10lb

Picks Cottage Fishery 18-8-13

http://www.pickscottagefishery.co.uk/

So the quest to try another new venue saw me arrive early at Picks Cottage Fishery near Chingford, a few miles inside the M25. I’m made the decision at the last minute and wasn’t sure what to expect, but the website looked nice, so onwards and downwards.

I arrived early to find I was the only person there and head off to the Top or Match Lake as it I known - a spacious 1 acre pool with a large island (well out of pole range) and 15 or so well-spaced pegs. I headed round to the far side where there were a few lily pads and I set about a light pellet attack on the pole, with a view to feeder across to the pads later on if required. 

 

11mm pellet on the pole line in 5ft of water produced a bite second put-in, a common of 2lb. Then a short wait, and a tench of 4lb. Then a little later a bream of 3lb. Not bad for half an hour or so. 

4lb Tench

Then it went quiet (I seem to be saying that a lot lately). I tried the left hand line to the pads (nothing), I messed around with the depth (I suspect there was some weed on the bottom in places) nothing. A couple of knocks came to nothing.

Then a couple small carp - all 3oz of them.

Lots of baby carp

I tried a few different things, but the bites wouldn’t come. The inside line on maggot blanked, which was a surprise, so out again on pellet.

Another angler turned up, but it was his first visit too, so no advice from him. So I swapped back to 6mm soft pellet on a 16 hook. And the knocks turned into bites… from more 3oz carp. I was about to try something else when a 3lb carp appeared, then a few babies, then a 3lb tench, and barring a few quieter patches this became the pattern for the day. Small carp, odd better fish, quiet patch.

After a while I had a chat with the bailiff, apparently the baby carp were spawned on site, and moved up as eggs from the specimen pool – it’s nice to see and in a few seasons they’ll be cracking little fish.

At this point I would have tried the trusty feeder to the island, only I’d left the feeder rod in the quiver. Doh. So I pushed on.

In the end it was a few nice carp to 4lb, 5 tench (4 at 3lb, 1 at 4lb) and 3 bream at 3lb each, plus a load of small carp for 40lb. Not bad for 6 hours on a new venue.

Can’t wait to see what it’ll be like in a few years’ time, or indeed in the winter on light gear and maggots. 

There are two other lakes on site - these are more specimen carp waters, but I thought I'd grab a few photos while I was there (see below).

 

Nice clean venue, friendly bailiff, great-conditioned fish, nice pegs – I can see me going back there some point soon. 

Catch List:

Bream 3

Tench 5

Common carp 35
Mirror carp 1

Total weight 40lb