Been a long time since my last post and not much fishing being done.
But Robbie and my Daughter Caitlin have been pestering me to go Camping for months and when i saw a fishing Holiday advertised on a farm taht had lots of unusual animals it seemed perfect so booked a night and set off.
Rhea Farm is an eco friendly campsite near Axminster in Devon it's a lovely site with Large pot bellied pigs, Giant Tortoises, Ostriches.Emus, Goats, Chickens and Ducks plus some Rhea's
It has a 1 1/2 acre lake that used to be part of a quarry and doesn't seem to be an overly fished lake.
We arrived and were shown to a couple of swims where we could fish and set up including a lovely corner swim normally reserved just for the Owners.
WE set up campquickly and saw a lot of small fish topping and a few Carpcrashing unfortunately they were to the left of us andout of reach.
We set up some very standard carp gear as i'm not really a Carp fisherman but a bottom rig went out first with a cell boiled nailed to the bottom with some Putty and a Zig rig was sent out about a foot below the surface with a Milky Toffee pop up for bait.
I then set up a basic pole rig so my kids could catch a few of the smallroachand see if anything else turned up
We had been told there were Perch,eels,Roach,Rudd and Tench plus 1 large Catfish
The pole was very active with lots of small Roach and Rudd in fact too many the water would often turn black with shoaling fry and it was difficult to get any bait through the small fish with the biggest being only 2/3 oz's
Wedecided to Order in a Pizza and just as i hung up and was about to wind in the Carp rods the buzzer started to scream and a Carp was on.
Robbie was very quick to act and expertly played a lovely Carp of around 8/9lb was landed on the cell boilie bottom rig
We had to stop to collect our Pizza's and had a lovely walk around the farm visiting the animals
After the pizza which was OK but not great we tried the pole agin but the small roach made it hard so we gave up and built a lovely campfire then settled down for the night
Unfortunately the night was very quite we ahd a couple of small pick ups but no proper bites.
I rose early and saw some fizzing close to the bank so quickly got the pole ready and fed a new line a bit further from the bank.
It seemed the small Roach were asleep and my bait managed to get to the bottom and stay there within 10 minutes i had a slow drifting bite and struck into something slightly larger which turned out to be a 8oz eel.
I perservered while the kids slept in and started catching some slightly larger Rudd and Roach upto 5/6oz's and then a lovely Tench but again small at around 8oz's
We had some lovely fresh chicken & duck eggs fresh from the farm for Breakfast.
After breakfast i thought i would try a match style approach to the lake and set up a method feeder using some green Betaine pellets on the feeder and a 8mm Coarse pellet on the hook i cast out every 5 minutes for about 40 minutes and was rewarded with a nice Carp of around 6Lb.
Robbie and Caitie perservered with the pole and were both rewarded with eels and Tench but nothing over a 1lb
Unfortunately the small Roach reappeared and with no more Carp action we decided to call it a day.
Wehad a lovely night and really enjoyed the Farm but i feel it's a Farm with a Lake that can be fished rather than a Lake designed for fiahing with a farm and it would benefit from being nette dand some of the blip roach removed.
But a good time was had and we will return as my kids loved the animals.
Saturday 6 August 2016
Monday 14 March 2016
Goodiford Mill Match 12th March 2016
Really looking forward to this match as Goodiford is one of my favorite venues.
Arrived early and lake looked good and with the promise os nice day weather wise it all looked good.
Draw took place and i drew peg 8 which i bel;ieved to be a reasonable peg but just past the bar which runs through pegs 3-7 which is normally quite a productive area.
Today was going to be a simple day for me bomb and pellet or popped up bread against the Island and a Margin Rig on the pole for late on.
I also set up a Pellet waggler rod but never used it probably a mistake.
The all in was called and i cast about 2 foot from the Island started to sink my line and the tip flew around Happy days and soon a nice 5Lb Carp was in the net.
The next 2 hours were painful as nothing happened for me or Mike on peg 7 where as peg 9 seemed to have found some carp balled up near the corner of the Island and he had landed 10/12 nice Carp peg 10 also had a few and i heard peg 3 was doing ok
I had another carp of around 3lb 2 hours in but that was it so spent the last 30 minutes catching some silvers short & shallow had 3lb in about 15 minutes so wished i had gone on to them earlier and just had a nice day.
The margins didn't produce anything and it seemed the lake fished in small areas with quite a few lads struggling along with me.
Winning weight was 86lb from peg 9.
Still i will keep trying and 1 day maybe I will do better.
Arrived early and lake looked good and with the promise os nice day weather wise it all looked good.
Draw took place and i drew peg 8 which i bel;ieved to be a reasonable peg but just past the bar which runs through pegs 3-7 which is normally quite a productive area.
Today was going to be a simple day for me bomb and pellet or popped up bread against the Island and a Margin Rig on the pole for late on.
I also set up a Pellet waggler rod but never used it probably a mistake.
The all in was called and i cast about 2 foot from the Island started to sink my line and the tip flew around Happy days and soon a nice 5Lb Carp was in the net.
The next 2 hours were painful as nothing happened for me or Mike on peg 7 where as peg 9 seemed to have found some carp balled up near the corner of the Island and he had landed 10/12 nice Carp peg 10 also had a few and i heard peg 3 was doing ok
I had another carp of around 3lb 2 hours in but that was it so spent the last 30 minutes catching some silvers short & shallow had 3lb in about 15 minutes so wished i had gone on to them earlier and just had a nice day.
The margins didn't produce anything and it seemed the lake fished in small areas with quite a few lads struggling along with me.
Winning weight was 86lb from peg 9.
Still i will keep trying and 1 day maybe I will do better.
Thursday 10 March 2016
A couple of hours on the Hampshire Avon 3rd March 2016
Mangaed to sneak a couple of hours on The Hampshire Avon Near Ringwwod today.
Now iIm still a novice River angler so wasn't overly confident when we pulled up to our swims and i saw that i would be fishing a stretch probably 30 metre's wide that was absolutely racing through and felt i had arrived totally under prepared.
Undeturbed i set up a large Maggot feeder with a 12" hooklength to a size 16 hook hoping for some large Roach.
I set my bankstick up and was screwing my rest on when it snapped in my hand. Luckily there were plenty of branches around so used 1 of them.
First cast and it seemed fine so i tried setting up a second rod but found i had somehow snapped my tip not happy but i was not going to let it ruin my day.
I sat on my chair and recast my Maggot feeder settled down and waited but nothing happened.
Third cast the same but as i was retrieving the rod lurched forward and my line snapped not sure if i hit a snag or a fish
I set up a second feeder cast out only to find it was wrapped around my tip and snapped straight off.
Today really wasn't going well.
Just then my fishing partner for the day came around and said he had been advised to move as he was after Pike and they were normally found further up river.
I was quite to happy to move as there was a nice overflow stretc behind the main river which was more like the Rivers i had fished before.
I arrived at a nice swim set up a new Maggot feeder and cast double maggot 3/4 across slightly down stream and started pinging a few maggots just above it.
Almost immediately i had a little knock a nice little Gudgeon came in.
Over the next 30 minutes i almost had a fish a cast either Gudgeon or small roach.
As they were all small i decided to move upstream to the deeper water but found the flow was too strong so moved back to a different swim were i could see some fish moving.
After 10 minutes i had a lovely Roach around 14oz followed by another larger one and then i had a few Dace up to 8oz.
The light started to fade and soon it was time for the drive home
My partner had no pike but did have 1 take early that he missed.
Good day in the ned after an horrndous start.
Next up is a Match at Goodiford Mill that i am really looking forward as long as the weather warms up.
Now iIm still a novice River angler so wasn't overly confident when we pulled up to our swims and i saw that i would be fishing a stretch probably 30 metre's wide that was absolutely racing through and felt i had arrived totally under prepared.
Undeturbed i set up a large Maggot feeder with a 12" hooklength to a size 16 hook hoping for some large Roach.
I set my bankstick up and was screwing my rest on when it snapped in my hand. Luckily there were plenty of branches around so used 1 of them.
First cast and it seemed fine so i tried setting up a second rod but found i had somehow snapped my tip not happy but i was not going to let it ruin my day.
I sat on my chair and recast my Maggot feeder settled down and waited but nothing happened.
Third cast the same but as i was retrieving the rod lurched forward and my line snapped not sure if i hit a snag or a fish
I set up a second feeder cast out only to find it was wrapped around my tip and snapped straight off.
Today really wasn't going well.
Just then my fishing partner for the day came around and said he had been advised to move as he was after Pike and they were normally found further up river.
I was quite to happy to move as there was a nice overflow stretc behind the main river which was more like the Rivers i had fished before.
I arrived at a nice swim set up a new Maggot feeder and cast double maggot 3/4 across slightly down stream and started pinging a few maggots just above it.
Almost immediately i had a little knock a nice little Gudgeon came in.
Over the next 30 minutes i almost had a fish a cast either Gudgeon or small roach.
As they were all small i decided to move upstream to the deeper water but found the flow was too strong so moved back to a different swim were i could see some fish moving.
After 10 minutes i had a lovely Roach around 14oz followed by another larger one and then i had a few Dace up to 8oz.
The light started to fade and soon it was time for the drive home
My partner had no pike but did have 1 take early that he missed.
Good day in the ned after an horrndous start.
Next up is a Match at Goodiford Mill that i am really looking forward as long as the weather warms up.
Monday 1 February 2016
NAFA Junior Match Wapperwell 30/01/2016
Cold day at Wapperwell where 8 intrepid kids turned up hoping for a few bites.
The draw was done and Robbie picked 18 then 17 and settled on 17.
Quickly set up a Roach rig for top 5 a Margin rig for some Carp late on and a small Method feeder to use during our Lunch break.
The all in was called and Robbie started on his roach rig with single maggot and started catching quite well.
The wind picked up and it was bitterly cold and after an hour the cold took its first victim with Brendan's Niece calling it a day and no-one could blame her.
Not alot was being caught so Robbie continued catching small roach and a little skimmer for 2 1/2 hours before his feet could take no more (Perhaps he should listen to dad and where 2 pairs of socks) so he packed up but weighed his 500g of roach roughly 40/50 fish.
We later heard the winner had 1.6kg and 2nd had 1.3kg with 3rd having 900g so if Robbie had stuck at it he would have a good finish but sometimes it's better to stop early especially if you aren't enjoying it.
The draw was done and Robbie picked 18 then 17 and settled on 17.
Quickly set up a Roach rig for top 5 a Margin rig for some Carp late on and a small Method feeder to use during our Lunch break.
The all in was called and Robbie started on his roach rig with single maggot and started catching quite well.
The wind picked up and it was bitterly cold and after an hour the cold took its first victim with Brendan's Niece calling it a day and no-one could blame her.
Not alot was being caught so Robbie continued catching small roach and a little skimmer for 2 1/2 hours before his feet could take no more (Perhaps he should listen to dad and where 2 pairs of socks) so he packed up but weighed his 500g of roach roughly 40/50 fish.
We later heard the winner had 1.6kg and 2nd had 1.3kg with 3rd having 900g so if Robbie had stuck at it he would have a good finish but sometimes it's better to stop early especially if you aren't enjoying it.
Monday 25 January 2016
River Culm Cullompton Free Stretch 23/01/2016
Really disappointed when my son Robbie went down with Tonsilitis on Friday as he was really looking forward to going fishing but i ventured out myself and settled for The River Culm a lovely little stretch just below the motorwat bridge.
I only took 2 rods 1 for float fishing and another for a small open ended feeder that i would be fishing at the bottom end of the run.
I opened my rod case to see i had somehow broke my lighter tip from my feeder rod so had to fish with a heavier tip than i liked.
I set this rod up with a small cage feeder with a 18" 11/2 lb hooklink to a size 18 hook baited with double maggot and flicked it to the bottom of the run.
I then set up a quick stick float to fis at 7 foot deep through the top end of the swim.
20 minutes and after catching a tree a thorn bush and other hedge material i finally had a little tremor on the feeder rod.
I struck and wound in a small roach of 4oz.
I quickly rebaited and cast again and immediately had a small chublet followed by another roach.
I lost quite a few fish and never got to grips with the float rod so changed that to a small lead and rolled some maggots through the swim this caught me a few small roach and Dace then i struck into something slightly heavier and a lovely roach of around 1lb came to the net.
I lost afew more fish and i believe 1 to a pike as when i was winding a small fish in the rod lunged and i wound a snapped hooklink.
Packed up early as my kids were ill and felt i should be home looking after them but ended with around 3/4lb on my first river trip so pleased with that and will try again soon.
I only took 2 rods 1 for float fishing and another for a small open ended feeder that i would be fishing at the bottom end of the run.
I opened my rod case to see i had somehow broke my lighter tip from my feeder rod so had to fish with a heavier tip than i liked.
I set this rod up with a small cage feeder with a 18" 11/2 lb hooklink to a size 18 hook baited with double maggot and flicked it to the bottom of the run.
I then set up a quick stick float to fis at 7 foot deep through the top end of the swim.
20 minutes and after catching a tree a thorn bush and other hedge material i finally had a little tremor on the feeder rod.
I struck and wound in a small roach of 4oz.
I quickly rebaited and cast again and immediately had a small chublet followed by another roach.
I lost quite a few fish and never got to grips with the float rod so changed that to a small lead and rolled some maggots through the swim this caught me a few small roach and Dace then i struck into something slightly heavier and a lovely roach of around 1lb came to the net.
I lost afew more fish and i believe 1 to a pike as when i was winding a small fish in the rod lunged and i wound a snapped hooklink.
Packed up early as my kids were ill and felt i should be home looking after them but ended with around 3/4lb on my first river trip so pleased with that and will try again soon.
Tuesday 19 January 2016
Pleasure Trip Kia Ora lakes Cullompton. 16/01/2016
Decided to visit Kia Ora this week as the weather looked quite decent but cold
Arrived to find it's quite a walk from the car park to the lakes plus with it being quite boggy made it quite hard going.
When I eventually got to the lakes i couldn't decide to fish for silvers in the silver lake or Carp in the Gold Lake, my mind was soon made up as the gold lake was frozen.
I started to set up when a pleasant Chap called Stewart came along and dtold me everything i would know about all the lakes rivers and canals around Cullompton and Tiverton.
An hour later I managed to finish setting up only 2 rigs both for top 2 plus 2 at 3 1/2 ft of water 1 with a no 6 Elastic and 1 with a number 10 elastic in case some slightly bigger skimmers came around luckily the depth was quite uniform so i could use the same at Just Topkit or topkit plus 3 if needed.
Stewart started to catch small Roach almost immediately on a whip quite close in and tehn had a few small Tench and a Perch followed by some Skimmers I remained biteless for the first hour.
Stewart must have remembered something that he hadn't told so he came over for another half hour chat and i managed to get a few small Roach but i was really struggling to get more than a few fish before my swimd died.
Stewart came back over during his lunch break and I manged to hook what i believe was a smallish carp as my number 6 elastic tore off I thought i had the fish under control when the hook pulled.
Next Drop i had a nice Perch followed by a nice Skimmer and a few more Roach.
Not alot happened after that apart from Stewart telling me about the lakes around cullompton again so an early finish was had.
As it was early and on Stewart's advise i popped onto the River Culm to have a quick look and found an angler fishing a lovely spot and spent 15 minutes chatting and watching him land a Roach every chuck including a few over a pound and with the promise of Chub,Barbel and Dace also being present next week i may spend my first day on a River Coarse fishing and hopefully My son Robbie will come along weather permitting.
Arrived to find it's quite a walk from the car park to the lakes plus with it being quite boggy made it quite hard going.
When I eventually got to the lakes i couldn't decide to fish for silvers in the silver lake or Carp in the Gold Lake, my mind was soon made up as the gold lake was frozen.
I started to set up when a pleasant Chap called Stewart came along and dtold me everything i would know about all the lakes rivers and canals around Cullompton and Tiverton.
An hour later I managed to finish setting up only 2 rigs both for top 2 plus 2 at 3 1/2 ft of water 1 with a no 6 Elastic and 1 with a number 10 elastic in case some slightly bigger skimmers came around luckily the depth was quite uniform so i could use the same at Just Topkit or topkit plus 3 if needed.
Stewart started to catch small Roach almost immediately on a whip quite close in and tehn had a few small Tench and a Perch followed by some Skimmers I remained biteless for the first hour.
Stewart must have remembered something that he hadn't told so he came over for another half hour chat and i managed to get a few small Roach but i was really struggling to get more than a few fish before my swimd died.
Stewart came back over during his lunch break and I manged to hook what i believe was a smallish carp as my number 6 elastic tore off I thought i had the fish under control when the hook pulled.
Next Drop i had a nice Perch followed by a nice Skimmer and a few more Roach.
Not alot happened after that apart from Stewart telling me about the lakes around cullompton again so an early finish was had.
As it was early and on Stewart's advise i popped onto the River Culm to have a quick look and found an angler fishing a lovely spot and spent 15 minutes chatting and watching him land a Roach every chuck including a few over a pound and with the promise of Chub,Barbel and Dace also being present next week i may spend my first day on a River Coarse fishing and hopefully My son Robbie will come along weather permitting.
Monday 11 January 2016
Feneck Ponds Exeter association water 10/01/2015
My first trip of the year and a new water under my new Exeter association Licence.
I Thought I would Try Feneck Ponds as they were the closest ponds to me and seemed to fish quite well during winter.
I arrived and as no one else was around I had a quiet walk around both lakes There were a few fishing topping but I thought I would settle for an easy day as chose the peg nearest my car.
I had just finished setting up when another lad & Dad turned up they said there were no carp left in the bottom lake (so perhaps Exeter should update their handbook) but also said the bottom lake was a good silverfish lake withplenty of roach and Skimmers to be had along with some Crucians and Perch.
A quick re jig of my polekits had me set up with a light rig for fishing top 2 plus 3 straight in front in about 4 foot of water plus a margin rig for my left and right edges for the perch that I had been told about.
I also had a small method feeder set up with a size 18 hook.
I started in front and cupped in a few micro's some corn and a few maggots to try and start the swim off.
I waited for about 20 minutes before my first bite which resulted in a small hand sized skimmer and next drop a second was added.
Unfortunately the line died after that so I tried the feeder rod.
Almost instantly I had a few nibbles but nothing worth striking at then the tip nodded and dropped back I struck gently and felt some resistance I wound in believing I had a small skimmer until it close to the net then it woke up and I was most surprised to see quite a large Goldfish appear at around a 1lb and a quarter it was quite big it had a distinct look of a Crucian but totally Orange if I could work out how to upload photo'd from my new phone I would do but as it stands I can't
Next cast and another tremor on the rod resulted in a lovely Roach of around 8 oz.
That was the last action I had on the feeder all day.
I tried the margins and caught plenty of small Perch averaging an ounce so gave up on that and went back to my topkit plus 3 and had a few small roach and Skimmers
Around 1 o clock the wind blew one of my topkits of my roost and I tried to retrieve it I left my pole rig about 2 feet from my box and just saw it being pulled into the water so I managed to grab it and pleased to have a lovely Roach of around 12oz on.
I decided to try just my topkit and hand fed a few maggots over the top the float sailed away and I had to paly quite a large roach but safely netted it and at well over a pound was a lovely fish.
It was hard going for the rest of the afternoon but quality Roach would make the odd appearance and I had 6 over a pound plus a few 8-12 oz for an estimated bag of 15-18lb which isn't bad for this time of year and from a new lake.
I had a nice chat with Bailiff who gave good advise and said in the summer months it can be a fish a chuck so with quality Roach like I caught I will definitely be back.
First impressions of Exeter Angling Association are very good.
Next I will be trying either Kia Ora lakes in Cullompton or the lakes at Sampford Peverill and hope the rivers calm down soon as I really fancy a day trying for some Chub.
next cdrop a second skimmer was added.
I Thought I would Try Feneck Ponds as they were the closest ponds to me and seemed to fish quite well during winter.
I arrived and as no one else was around I had a quiet walk around both lakes There were a few fishing topping but I thought I would settle for an easy day as chose the peg nearest my car.
I had just finished setting up when another lad & Dad turned up they said there were no carp left in the bottom lake (so perhaps Exeter should update their handbook) but also said the bottom lake was a good silverfish lake withplenty of roach and Skimmers to be had along with some Crucians and Perch.
A quick re jig of my polekits had me set up with a light rig for fishing top 2 plus 3 straight in front in about 4 foot of water plus a margin rig for my left and right edges for the perch that I had been told about.
I also had a small method feeder set up with a size 18 hook.
I started in front and cupped in a few micro's some corn and a few maggots to try and start the swim off.
I waited for about 20 minutes before my first bite which resulted in a small hand sized skimmer and next drop a second was added.
Unfortunately the line died after that so I tried the feeder rod.
Almost instantly I had a few nibbles but nothing worth striking at then the tip nodded and dropped back I struck gently and felt some resistance I wound in believing I had a small skimmer until it close to the net then it woke up and I was most surprised to see quite a large Goldfish appear at around a 1lb and a quarter it was quite big it had a distinct look of a Crucian but totally Orange if I could work out how to upload photo'd from my new phone I would do but as it stands I can't
Next cast and another tremor on the rod resulted in a lovely Roach of around 8 oz.
That was the last action I had on the feeder all day.
I tried the margins and caught plenty of small Perch averaging an ounce so gave up on that and went back to my topkit plus 3 and had a few small roach and Skimmers
Around 1 o clock the wind blew one of my topkits of my roost and I tried to retrieve it I left my pole rig about 2 feet from my box and just saw it being pulled into the water so I managed to grab it and pleased to have a lovely Roach of around 12oz on.
I decided to try just my topkit and hand fed a few maggots over the top the float sailed away and I had to paly quite a large roach but safely netted it and at well over a pound was a lovely fish.
It was hard going for the rest of the afternoon but quality Roach would make the odd appearance and I had 6 over a pound plus a few 8-12 oz for an estimated bag of 15-18lb which isn't bad for this time of year and from a new lake.
I had a nice chat with Bailiff who gave good advise and said in the summer months it can be a fish a chuck so with quality Roach like I caught I will definitely be back.
First impressions of Exeter Angling Association are very good.
Next I will be trying either Kia Ora lakes in Cullompton or the lakes at Sampford Peverill and hope the rivers calm down soon as I really fancy a day trying for some Chub.
next cdrop a second skimmer was added.
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