Well, its been a while since my last entry on here so i suppose i had better try and make this one worth reading.
Smeatons Weekend.
Saturday-Intro.
It was Midday by the time i finished work on saturday, it was cloudy, it was raining, and it was downright miserable to be honest... Got home and was told by the parents that we wouldnt be going till about 3 o clock as we had to pick up the new car, so of we went to the bait shop.
Ended up spending 25 quid, on line, bait and groundbait.
My plan of attack for this weekend was to fish the Waggler on both days in the hope of catching some Roach, Bream and Tench. I had with me, a pint of casters, numerous pellets in various sizes, a bag of aniseed atomic cloud and some Sensas magic Groundbait, also had some VDE Gold Pro and supercup left over from a few weeks back, combined with a few tins of corn and Hemp i was ready to go.
THE FISHING.
It was 4.30pm by the time i got fishing, i got set up on the feeder on Reed Pond, the deepest of the 3 lakes and the most open to the elements. It was blowing a gale, i found myself chucking out the feeder and having to wind back nearly in front of me just to get my line from bowing. In the end, it was impossible, i packed up and went for a curry at about 6pm.
after my Curry, i looked out the Caravan windown and could see a small bay in the corner, Reed lined and flat calm, with my waggler rod set up, 4lb line a size 18 hook, a pint of maggots and a bucket of groundbait i set off round the corner. Have to say, this was one of the nicest short sessions i have had in a while, it was about half an hour gone when i had my first bite, i found i was having to feed a golf ball of groundbait every put in just to keep the Very small skimmers on the Deck. ended up catching about 15 skimmers to 6oz in about 2 hours. Very enjoyable.
Sunday- Burrows Pond. Roach Galore.
On sunday i awoke at 8 am with not much intention of going fishing, the weather was glorious outside but i just couldnt bring myself to set up.
A dog walk later and a look at Burrows pond made me change my mind, fish were topping all over the place, it was flat calm and i had the perfect peg lined up, a peg with 2 sunken trees either side and a lovely piece of open water straight out ahead.
This weekends main aim was to fish simple and to enjoy it, i had bought with me my 12 foot Ron Thompson match rod, it had to be 10 years old, but its still going strong. My setup was not much different from the night before, i had 4lb Ultima Power steel line ( which i have to say i was incredibly dissapointed with), to a size 16 hook and a 1.5g+2bb Waggler.
I plumbed up straight in front of me and found a ledge which dropped to about 8 foot, i fished about and inch overdepth and started with 2 balls of groundbait laced with caster and 3mm Betaine Micro's. It wasnt long until my first bite came along and i landed a lovely 5oz Roach. I continued this way for the best part of an hour and a half, feeding casters little and often. I had a little trick up my sleeve though, for the last hour i had been feeding 6mm pellets next to the tree on my right hoping to draw in a few bream and maybe some Tench, the depth was much the same so i slinged out my double casters and ended up catching plenty of bigger roach up to 1lb. it was then i realised that the Roach werent having the Caster, they were bloody Pellet Heads.
For the next 6 hours i fed 6mm pellets straight in front of me, about 5 every cast with a banded 6mm fishmeal pellet on the hook, the bites were finicky but easy to hit and i ended the day with about 15lb of Roach averaging about 6oz. the bream did not show up but i have to say this has been one of my most enjoyable sessions ever on simple rigs, old rods and a lovely venue.
Monday 22 June 2009
Sunday 22 March 2009
WEEKEND AT SMEATONS LAKES.
Introduction
this weekend i was to be fishing a venue about 20 miles from home called Smeatons Lakes, the complex itself is a caravan site with excellent facilities, a small shop for all your basic needs and some brilliant walks and bike rides.
Normally, Me, Mum and Dad would go on a friday night and have all weekend to chill out, this weekend we couldnt be at the campsite until 3pm on Saturday as i was at work in the morning. Upon arrival we were happy to see the sun shining and weather nice.
The Venue itself consists of 3 ponds,
The Reed Pond- firstly i will tell you that all of the ponds are Gravel pits, Reed Pond is up to 25 foot deep in places and is a big featureless lake home to some collossal fish, noted catched include plenty of bream over 10lb, some Big Tench, Pike, Perch, Roach and pretty all fish to specimen sizes.
The Burrows Pond- So called because of the amount of Rabbits which burrow here, at one point the burrowing became so bad that the bank nearly collapsed on the far side of the pond. This pond is much smaller than Reed Pond but again is home to some big fish. Most notably, Carp, Tench, Bream and Perch. Fishing on the whip or pole will get you bites from silvers all day while Fishing on the feeder has provided both me and other Fisherman with some cracking bream and Tench!
There is also a specimen pond on site, and whilst both the other ponds are still home to big carp up to 30lb the carp in the specimen pond are rumoured to go even bigger! Smeatons also own a Stretch of the Trent ( about 7 pegs) and this is notorious for Barbel, not to mention the " finger ponds" which are also owned by smeatons, cant say ive fished these much but boy do they look brilliant!
Anyway, enough of my Ramblings, lets talk about my day.
Saturday Evening ( Reed Pond)
come half Past 3 the caravan was all set up and i was given the go ahead to start fishing, this weekend i had only travelled light, id took with me my 1.75 TC Barbel Rod, my Seatbox and a Daiwa Carryall full of odds and ends and my bait.
View From the Caravan, Overlooking the lake.
As you can see the pond was very Choppy today, the pictures dont really show just how bad it was.
Heres the View of my peg.
After setting up my rod i proceeded to set up my rig for the day, this consisted of 4lb Ultima mainline, with a Drennan Loaded Insert Waggler ( 1.5g + 1bb) and 2lb Daiwa TDR Rig line.
Chose this line for my Hoolink as the Breaking Strain is very good for the diamater and ive found it to be very good. if im going to picky i will say that the knots on it arent too good, i find the line kinks when tying the smallest of knots!
The Business end was a size 20 Drennan specialist Hook With a single maggot.
I plumbed up and found that the depth went from about 1 and a half foot in front of me, straight down to about 8-10 foot, the wind was so bad i was forced to fish just over a rod length out ( still a good 8 foot deep!!). I fed little and often with maggots but found that they just werent having it tonight and after a few hours i packed up after having only one bite which was missed! :(
Sunday Morning- Burrows Pond
Ahh, After a blissful night sleep i was up at 5:45 ready for my Session on Burrows, today i was planning on bagging up on Roach and maybe going after a few decent sized ones as well, having gathered my gear i made my way to peg on the other pond. The Peg in question is pictured below, in summer lilly pads bloom to your left And to your right and it makes it a brilliant place to fish, not only in terms of scenery but also you can really bag up!
Baitwise today i had ,
A bag of Dynamite Baits 3mm Swim Stim Pellets
Frenzied Hemp
Maggots
Casters
Worms
my Setup Today consisted of 4lb Ultima Power mainline straight through, normally i wouldnt use such a beefy setup for small fish but there is a big chance of hooking a Tench or a Bream.
Fished this with a smaller Insert Waggler ( 1g +1bb) as Burrows tends to be quite sheltered against the wind, to a size 20 hook which would hold either single caster or maggot.
Plumbed up around 6 foot at 2 rod lengths out, not too bad i suppose seeing as some pegs can be 10 foot deep. First put in i fed a dozen micros , a few Casters and a pinch of maggots just so i could alternate hookbaits throughout the day. within minutes i was rewarded with a swift bite which was missed. this was followed by another 3 before i eventually hooked one and lost it at my feet ( Small perch ).
Having kept feeding a dozen micros or casters my Swim completely died, i had the same problem last week on a commercial water where i either overfed them or they just switched off. i kept getting little nudges of the float but it was no good.
Come 9 o clock i was getting a bit frustrated, id had a go on the feeder but not even managed a nudge after fishing with it an hour, so it called for extreme measures.
Out came the spare spool with 2.5lb line, straight through again to a size 20 hook.. Again. my plan was to fish caster Shallow for the Roach. and it worked, i didnt go home empty handed and i was rewarded with 2 5-8oz Roach and a very small Rudd. must have missed about 30 bites, it wasnt until i changed to a size 16 hook that i managed to hit a few!
Was happy with today, its been a long time since ive been able to relax and fish, i find you cant do this while fishing the pole, i always managed to spot some local wildlife in the form of a Mink, theres a few of these abotu at smeatons, and whilse some people think they are a nuisance i quite like the little things.
Heres a few pics i managed to get.
Just near the Tree on this one.
And this is my Favourite, i managed to get right up close and got a stunning shot of him( or her) i reckon.
Lovely! :)
Anyway, hope you enjoyed the read, i will be returning sometime later in spring to have a go at the Tench.
more info on the venue.
http://www.smeatonslakes.co.uk/
this weekend i was to be fishing a venue about 20 miles from home called Smeatons Lakes, the complex itself is a caravan site with excellent facilities, a small shop for all your basic needs and some brilliant walks and bike rides.
Normally, Me, Mum and Dad would go on a friday night and have all weekend to chill out, this weekend we couldnt be at the campsite until 3pm on Saturday as i was at work in the morning. Upon arrival we were happy to see the sun shining and weather nice.
The Venue itself consists of 3 ponds,
The Reed Pond- firstly i will tell you that all of the ponds are Gravel pits, Reed Pond is up to 25 foot deep in places and is a big featureless lake home to some collossal fish, noted catched include plenty of bream over 10lb, some Big Tench, Pike, Perch, Roach and pretty all fish to specimen sizes.
The Burrows Pond- So called because of the amount of Rabbits which burrow here, at one point the burrowing became so bad that the bank nearly collapsed on the far side of the pond. This pond is much smaller than Reed Pond but again is home to some big fish. Most notably, Carp, Tench, Bream and Perch. Fishing on the whip or pole will get you bites from silvers all day while Fishing on the feeder has provided both me and other Fisherman with some cracking bream and Tench!
There is also a specimen pond on site, and whilst both the other ponds are still home to big carp up to 30lb the carp in the specimen pond are rumoured to go even bigger! Smeatons also own a Stretch of the Trent ( about 7 pegs) and this is notorious for Barbel, not to mention the " finger ponds" which are also owned by smeatons, cant say ive fished these much but boy do they look brilliant!
Anyway, enough of my Ramblings, lets talk about my day.
Saturday Evening ( Reed Pond)
come half Past 3 the caravan was all set up and i was given the go ahead to start fishing, this weekend i had only travelled light, id took with me my 1.75 TC Barbel Rod, my Seatbox and a Daiwa Carryall full of odds and ends and my bait.
View From the Caravan, Overlooking the lake.
As you can see the pond was very Choppy today, the pictures dont really show just how bad it was.
Heres the View of my peg.
After setting up my rod i proceeded to set up my rig for the day, this consisted of 4lb Ultima mainline, with a Drennan Loaded Insert Waggler ( 1.5g + 1bb) and 2lb Daiwa TDR Rig line.
Chose this line for my Hoolink as the Breaking Strain is very good for the diamater and ive found it to be very good. if im going to picky i will say that the knots on it arent too good, i find the line kinks when tying the smallest of knots!
The Business end was a size 20 Drennan specialist Hook With a single maggot.
I plumbed up and found that the depth went from about 1 and a half foot in front of me, straight down to about 8-10 foot, the wind was so bad i was forced to fish just over a rod length out ( still a good 8 foot deep!!). I fed little and often with maggots but found that they just werent having it tonight and after a few hours i packed up after having only one bite which was missed! :(
Sunday Morning- Burrows Pond
Ahh, After a blissful night sleep i was up at 5:45 ready for my Session on Burrows, today i was planning on bagging up on Roach and maybe going after a few decent sized ones as well, having gathered my gear i made my way to peg on the other pond. The Peg in question is pictured below, in summer lilly pads bloom to your left And to your right and it makes it a brilliant place to fish, not only in terms of scenery but also you can really bag up!
Baitwise today i had ,
A bag of Dynamite Baits 3mm Swim Stim Pellets
Frenzied Hemp
Maggots
Casters
Worms
my Setup Today consisted of 4lb Ultima Power mainline straight through, normally i wouldnt use such a beefy setup for small fish but there is a big chance of hooking a Tench or a Bream.
Fished this with a smaller Insert Waggler ( 1g +1bb) as Burrows tends to be quite sheltered against the wind, to a size 20 hook which would hold either single caster or maggot.
Plumbed up around 6 foot at 2 rod lengths out, not too bad i suppose seeing as some pegs can be 10 foot deep. First put in i fed a dozen micros , a few Casters and a pinch of maggots just so i could alternate hookbaits throughout the day. within minutes i was rewarded with a swift bite which was missed. this was followed by another 3 before i eventually hooked one and lost it at my feet ( Small perch ).
Having kept feeding a dozen micros or casters my Swim completely died, i had the same problem last week on a commercial water where i either overfed them or they just switched off. i kept getting little nudges of the float but it was no good.
Come 9 o clock i was getting a bit frustrated, id had a go on the feeder but not even managed a nudge after fishing with it an hour, so it called for extreme measures.
Out came the spare spool with 2.5lb line, straight through again to a size 20 hook.. Again. my plan was to fish caster Shallow for the Roach. and it worked, i didnt go home empty handed and i was rewarded with 2 5-8oz Roach and a very small Rudd. must have missed about 30 bites, it wasnt until i changed to a size 16 hook that i managed to hit a few!
Was happy with today, its been a long time since ive been able to relax and fish, i find you cant do this while fishing the pole, i always managed to spot some local wildlife in the form of a Mink, theres a few of these abotu at smeatons, and whilse some people think they are a nuisance i quite like the little things.
Heres a few pics i managed to get.
Just near the Tree on this one.
And this is my Favourite, i managed to get right up close and got a stunning shot of him( or her) i reckon.
Lovely! :)
Anyway, hope you enjoyed the read, i will be returning sometime later in spring to have a go at the Tench.
more info on the venue.
http://www.smeatonslakes.co.uk/
Sunday 15 March 2009
15/03/2009 Sherwood forest Farm Park Fishery.
First Session Of 2009!!
Date- 15/03/2009
Venue- Sherwood Forest Farm Park Fishery.
Pond- Langdale Channel
Goal- Bag full of silvers to boost the confidence for the Summer ahead!
The Venue-
We were to be fishing Langdale Channel in the sherwood fishery complex, it is so called because the pond is oval shaped and rather than fishing from the bank you fish off an island, the pond is max 5 foot deep and is reed lines, filled to the rim with silvers and small carp and there arent many big fish in here at all, however a 4lb eel was once caught!
First blog entry ever guys so bare with me its poor!
Today i was planning on fishing a venue close to home with a mate, every year me and Toddy make the trip to sherwood Fishery and fish their silvers pond just to get into the rythm and catch some fish, which is basically guaranteed here..... But things arent always that simple.
After a chat the night before we had decided that we would start fishing at around 8 am and then just see what happens from there. was up at 6:30, had a cuppa and made sure everything was Tip-top and ready to rock! However, forgetting to take my pole to my mates house and having to run back for it made me think that this could be a tough day.
Arrived at the venue at 8am, fished the same pegs we had the previous year where we had both caught vast amounts of Crucians, Roach, Skimmers and Tench!
TH RIGS!
Today was going to be the chance to test out my new pole ( Trabucco dream team), my two top kits both came out the tube, one with a 6-10 hollo elastic and the other with Black hydro and out came the cupping kit with it.
I had chosen to fish two lines today, one down the middle for silvers and hoping to pick up the Odd tench or bream and the other to the far bank tight to the dead reeds hoping to pick up some Small carp.
Silvers Rig-
My Silvers rig consisted of 2lb Daiwa TDR Rig line straight through to a size 18 G-point Hook, the float would be a Gerrys Of Nottingham Pellet and Punch Float ( .4g ) i chose this float as it has a fairly thin but visible tip and is very light!
For this rig i planned to feed little and often with micro pellets and fish 4mm expander or 6mm expander hard on the deck.
Far Bank Rig-
This rig consisted of 3.2lb ultima power match line, Straight through to a size 16 Preson PR27, this would hang below a KC Karpa Margin Pole float 4x10. For this i planned on potting in some 4mm Pellets and Micro Pellets and to fish 6mm Expander or 4mm Expander over the top.
How The Day Went!!
Finally got set up at about 8:15Am, Started off by potting in half a small pot of Micro pellets and 4mm hard feed pellets to the far bank whilst i fed half of a small pot of micro pellets to my silvers line, after half an hour on the silvers line i switched to the far bank line and was Straight away rewarded with a small ide of about 6oz, after this the action pretty much dried up for hours!!
Decided to stop feeding as much on my silvers line and concentrate more on my Far bank Line towards dinnertime, after placing another pot of 4mm pellets in i was rewarded with a 3-4lb Mirror carp which fought well on my black hydro! After this i shipped straight back out with a couple of 4mm pellets catapulted over the top, Bang! float zipped under and i lifted into something bigger, i had retensioned my elastic just seconds before as i felt it was to easy for the fish to get into the reeds, the tightened elastic resulted in a hook pull though.
Again the action dried up, towards about 2 o clock my mate made up some groundbait and was soon catching a few chub and skimmers so i followed suit and was rewarded with a lovely chub of around 1lb-1.5lb.
Packed up around 3pm, after a frustrating day where the fish were on and off the feed all day i managed 3 fish, whilst my mate managed 6. not too bad i suppose!
for more information on the venue visit here
www.sherwoodfishery.co.uk
And if you want to add anything that would improve my catch rate please feel free to do so!
:)
Date- 15/03/2009
Venue- Sherwood Forest Farm Park Fishery.
Pond- Langdale Channel
Goal- Bag full of silvers to boost the confidence for the Summer ahead!
The Venue-
We were to be fishing Langdale Channel in the sherwood fishery complex, it is so called because the pond is oval shaped and rather than fishing from the bank you fish off an island, the pond is max 5 foot deep and is reed lines, filled to the rim with silvers and small carp and there arent many big fish in here at all, however a 4lb eel was once caught!
First blog entry ever guys so bare with me its poor!
Today i was planning on fishing a venue close to home with a mate, every year me and Toddy make the trip to sherwood Fishery and fish their silvers pond just to get into the rythm and catch some fish, which is basically guaranteed here..... But things arent always that simple.
After a chat the night before we had decided that we would start fishing at around 8 am and then just see what happens from there. was up at 6:30, had a cuppa and made sure everything was Tip-top and ready to rock! However, forgetting to take my pole to my mates house and having to run back for it made me think that this could be a tough day.
Arrived at the venue at 8am, fished the same pegs we had the previous year where we had both caught vast amounts of Crucians, Roach, Skimmers and Tench!
TH RIGS!
Today was going to be the chance to test out my new pole ( Trabucco dream team), my two top kits both came out the tube, one with a 6-10 hollo elastic and the other with Black hydro and out came the cupping kit with it.
I had chosen to fish two lines today, one down the middle for silvers and hoping to pick up the Odd tench or bream and the other to the far bank tight to the dead reeds hoping to pick up some Small carp.
Silvers Rig-
My Silvers rig consisted of 2lb Daiwa TDR Rig line straight through to a size 18 G-point Hook, the float would be a Gerrys Of Nottingham Pellet and Punch Float ( .4g ) i chose this float as it has a fairly thin but visible tip and is very light!
For this rig i planned to feed little and often with micro pellets and fish 4mm expander or 6mm expander hard on the deck.
Far Bank Rig-
This rig consisted of 3.2lb ultima power match line, Straight through to a size 16 Preson PR27, this would hang below a KC Karpa Margin Pole float 4x10. For this i planned on potting in some 4mm Pellets and Micro Pellets and to fish 6mm Expander or 4mm Expander over the top.
How The Day Went!!
Finally got set up at about 8:15Am, Started off by potting in half a small pot of Micro pellets and 4mm hard feed pellets to the far bank whilst i fed half of a small pot of micro pellets to my silvers line, after half an hour on the silvers line i switched to the far bank line and was Straight away rewarded with a small ide of about 6oz, after this the action pretty much dried up for hours!!
Decided to stop feeding as much on my silvers line and concentrate more on my Far bank Line towards dinnertime, after placing another pot of 4mm pellets in i was rewarded with a 3-4lb Mirror carp which fought well on my black hydro! After this i shipped straight back out with a couple of 4mm pellets catapulted over the top, Bang! float zipped under and i lifted into something bigger, i had retensioned my elastic just seconds before as i felt it was to easy for the fish to get into the reeds, the tightened elastic resulted in a hook pull though.
Again the action dried up, towards about 2 o clock my mate made up some groundbait and was soon catching a few chub and skimmers so i followed suit and was rewarded with a lovely chub of around 1lb-1.5lb.
Packed up around 3pm, after a frustrating day where the fish were on and off the feed all day i managed 3 fish, whilst my mate managed 6. not too bad i suppose!
for more information on the venue visit here
www.sherwoodfishery.co.uk
And if you want to add anything that would improve my catch rate please feel free to do so!
:)
Monday 9 February 2009
2009- A Year to Remember?
Hi all,
decided to make my first post short and sweet and let you all know what i have in store for 2009, last year for me was very succesful catching no less than 10 pb's and some of decent size! you can see these in my signature on Maggotdrowning.
With the arrival of my new pole this week, Trabucco Dream Team Carp, a new box , and other top of the range gear i aim to finally get into match fishing.
Targets-
*Win a match
* Win a match with at least 50lb
* Catch a double figure fish ( 9lb 11oz last season!!)
* Bag up on the gravel pit ive struggled on for 3 years!
Ill keep you updated as to how my fishing goes on this year and hopefully we will all learn some new stuff!?
Crowder
decided to make my first post short and sweet and let you all know what i have in store for 2009, last year for me was very succesful catching no less than 10 pb's and some of decent size! you can see these in my signature on Maggotdrowning.
With the arrival of my new pole this week, Trabucco Dream Team Carp, a new box , and other top of the range gear i aim to finally get into match fishing.
Targets-
*Win a match
* Win a match with at least 50lb
* Catch a double figure fish ( 9lb 11oz last season!!)
* Bag up on the gravel pit ive struggled on for 3 years!
Ill keep you updated as to how my fishing goes on this year and hopefully we will all learn some new stuff!?
Crowder
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