I have recently joined Butterlake a private lake with limited membership and i was really pleased as it looked like a real old school lake with plenty of lily pads and i had been told there were a good number of Crucians ,Tench and skimmers to be had.
The club run 2 matches on the first and third sunday of ach month and Wednesday evening matches during the summer.
The match I fished was a very casual affair turn up around 8.15 rover draw and start when your ready and fish until 1pm.
Draw was done and I had second choice of 6 anglers these inc Steve and his wife Sue,Barry,Brian and Ray.
Steve chose first and picked peg 25.
I picked peg 3 which looked good with a nice lily bed to the left and being right next to the car park meant i could get set up quickly.
Ray chose peg 12 at the far end of the lake Barry was on peg 16 with Sue on 22 and Brian next to me on Peg 2
I was quickle set up with 2 rigs on the advice of Steve i would fish close in at 2+2 to my right and left near to the Lily's
I was surprised how deep the lake got just past my 2+2 line but instead of doing a third rig i thought i would just get started and see how the day went.
I fed both lines with a small amount of groundbait threw a few maggots over my right hand line and dropped in.
Immediately I had a dumpy Roach followed by a few othersalso a fewPerch then a little Crucian and in the first 20 minutes i must have had sclose to pound which seemed good as the other anglers were either still setting up or hadn't caught
I tried the left hand swim with a single Red Maggot the flaot settled then flew under with a decent fish heading staright into the lily's i kept pressure on and the fish finally worked it's way out and a lovely Tench around 1 1/2 Pounds came to the net.
I went back in and had to waita minute or two but i the nhad a run of small Crucians upto 6oz's
I continued catching small fish on both lines for the next hour steadily and it seemed i was doing well as the chatter was Ray was struggling Barry had lost a Tench and Carp whilst the other 3 who i could see were all catching small fish but not many.
After2 hours i felt i was doing well but the swims were slowing down so decided to atart a new swim at 6 sections.
I fed it with a decent ball of Groundbait and a few dead maggots and left it for 15 minutes
I tried the Lily swim again but lost 2 decent Tench in the lily's which caused a lot of disruption and ruined the swim so i went on my long line.
First put in settled and the float dinked I struck and another small Crucian soon came o the net this was followed by an hour of non stop bites and I have never seen so many Crucians caught in a day
I heardthat Barry had started to catch well but with everyone else struggling I felt I had a chance of my first payout but also felt i could do with another Bonus fish but it never happened.
I upped the feed on the long line but this killed the swim and i remained biteless for the last 10 minutes.
The all out was called and i thought i would have somewhere between 8-10lb but as most of the fish were between 1 and 6Oz it was hardto tell.
I thought i had caught between 40 and 50 small crucians 20 Roach a few Perch,Skimmers and Hybrids and a nice Tench.
Brian weighed first and had 3lb 6oz I pulled my net out and i felt my estimate was slightly under and so it proved as weighed 12lb 15Oz
Ray weighed 3lb 10oz follwed by Brian who had 8Lb Plus with a lovely Crucian in his net to go into second place.
Sue weighed 3Lb 1oz followed by steve with 4lb+
So finally I had a match win after 3 years of trying.
I really enjoyed the day and was made to feel very welcome the fishing was fantastic and i felt i got lucky with the draw as it seemed there were plenty of fish in my peg.
Looking forward to the next match and hoping to have another good draw.
Next Saturday Robbie is hoping to fish the next round of the Newton Abbot Summer League and hoping more than 2 people turn up as the last round was cancelled due to only 2 turning up only plus point being Robbie and Freddy were given the win so 1 point each.
Hopefully our luck will continue.
Monday 22 May 2017
Thursday 11 May 2017
Finally a match Win Jenkins Trophy Wheel Pond 6/5/2017
But not for me
After 3 disastrous matches where I DNW I finally got my son Robbie back on the bank for a Match.
I had heard NAFA had been struggling for juniors in their matches over winter and i really like the club so persuading Robbie to fish again was good
We arrived early after picking up our bait from the fantastic Tackle Trader in Newton Abbot.
Unfortunately when we arrived there weren't any juniors there just a rather despondent Pete.
We waited until 9 and luckily young Freddy arrived there was a brief moment when i thought the match was going to be called off but some slight persuading got the match back on but for a reduced 2 hours
Pegs were chosen and Freddy chose 18 and Robbie chose Peg 20 so they could fish close together and keep an eye on each other
Robbie wanted a simple day fishing for everything that swims so he we quickly set up a Pellet edge rig and a Maggot rig at roughly 3ft deep for top 2 plus 2.
On the all in Robbie threw a few maggots in and went straight over and had a bite chuck with small Roach,Rudd and Perch for roughly 20 minutes then he hooked something slightly larger took the bait after carefully playing it a lovely Tench around 12oz came to the net.
The swim quiet so he tried the far edge but nothing and as Freddy was struggling to catch a Carp and was behind on silvers Robbie went back on his Maggot line and picked off a few more Roach before another larger fish took his bait.
Again Robbie played the fish well and a PB Crucian around a 1lb was Landed.
Soon after the all out was called and Freddy weighed roughly 300g followed by Robbie who had closer to 3lb.
Weight were done by eye as it wasn't close enough to get the weigh net wet.
So a good win for Robbie and now he is very keen again and will be fishing the summer league.
It has been mentioned that if there aren't enough juniors attending it may be called off which would be a real shame but in my opinion if some of the issues that have been around the junior scene had been dealt with earlier more juniors would be around
Looking forward to Wednesday evening matches on Wheel this summer and really hope I improve.
After 3 disastrous matches where I DNW I finally got my son Robbie back on the bank for a Match.
I had heard NAFA had been struggling for juniors in their matches over winter and i really like the club so persuading Robbie to fish again was good
We arrived early after picking up our bait from the fantastic Tackle Trader in Newton Abbot.
Unfortunately when we arrived there weren't any juniors there just a rather despondent Pete.
We waited until 9 and luckily young Freddy arrived there was a brief moment when i thought the match was going to be called off but some slight persuading got the match back on but for a reduced 2 hours
Pegs were chosen and Freddy chose 18 and Robbie chose Peg 20 so they could fish close together and keep an eye on each other
Robbie wanted a simple day fishing for everything that swims so he we quickly set up a Pellet edge rig and a Maggot rig at roughly 3ft deep for top 2 plus 2.
On the all in Robbie threw a few maggots in and went straight over and had a bite chuck with small Roach,Rudd and Perch for roughly 20 minutes then he hooked something slightly larger took the bait after carefully playing it a lovely Tench around 12oz came to the net.
The swim quiet so he tried the far edge but nothing and as Freddy was struggling to catch a Carp and was behind on silvers Robbie went back on his Maggot line and picked off a few more Roach before another larger fish took his bait.
Again Robbie played the fish well and a PB Crucian around a 1lb was Landed.
Soon after the all out was called and Freddy weighed roughly 300g followed by Robbie who had closer to 3lb.
Weight were done by eye as it wasn't close enough to get the weigh net wet.
So a good win for Robbie and now he is very keen again and will be fishing the summer league.
It has been mentioned that if there aren't enough juniors attending it may be called off which would be a real shame but in my opinion if some of the issues that have been around the junior scene had been dealt with earlier more juniors would be around
Looking forward to Wednesday evening matches on Wheel this summer and really hope I improve.
Tuesday 28 February 2017
Home Farm Fishery Open Match 24th Feb 2017
This Match fishing mullarkey is starting to annoy me
Arrived early and was soon met by 6 other eager anglers all hoping for a decent days fishing
It was decided to be a rover and i had 4th choice and picked what i thought would be a half decent peg half way down the lake near the Aerator
Set up a small feeder hoping the mild weather may get the Carp feeding well and 3 pole rigs 1 for 13 mtrs (never used as wind was horrendous) one for top 6 and 1 for the Margins both left and right
Brendan Ions ( The Torbay Tart) had turned up for this match and despicably offered to take a pound off me which for some reason I agreed too.
I Everyone got set up quickly and soon the all in was called
I started on the feeder close to the aerator and had a few indications but no bites
It soon became clear my pound was heading across the lake to Brendan who started to catch small Carp at a steady pace then landed a lovely 12lB one which had a huge tail which it waved at me as Brendan slipped it into his keepnet.
I swapped to the pole after 45minutes by which time i was already 20lb behind Brendan
I could see Carl in the far corner catching well and Elliot on the end bank behind the Island was also catching well.
Glen & Geoff had started slower than the others but quicker than me.
I Had a lovely bite after an hour and hooked into something substantial but it pulled away and my rig snapped in half not sure why but I blame myself for not checking the rig properly
I quickly grabbed another rig and went back in hooked another carp but I think it was foul hooked as the hook rulled quite quickly
This was the story of my day as i lost more than i landed and my total was 8 carp 2 decent 6 smallish for around 20lb including loads of Roach
Carl had a great day finishing with 110lb mainly from his right hand margin
Elliot came second with 80lb+ and Brendan snuck Third with 60lb+ 3 other 40lb weights show how good this fishery can fish in bad conditions.
I spoke with Brendan after the match and got some good advise which i will be following in the future.
Steep learning curve for me at the moment but am looking forward to a silvers only match at Goodiford Mill in 2 weeks time.
Arrived early and was soon met by 6 other eager anglers all hoping for a decent days fishing
It was decided to be a rover and i had 4th choice and picked what i thought would be a half decent peg half way down the lake near the Aerator
Set up a small feeder hoping the mild weather may get the Carp feeding well and 3 pole rigs 1 for 13 mtrs (never used as wind was horrendous) one for top 6 and 1 for the Margins both left and right
Brendan Ions ( The Torbay Tart) had turned up for this match and despicably offered to take a pound off me which for some reason I agreed too.
I Everyone got set up quickly and soon the all in was called
I started on the feeder close to the aerator and had a few indications but no bites
It soon became clear my pound was heading across the lake to Brendan who started to catch small Carp at a steady pace then landed a lovely 12lB one which had a huge tail which it waved at me as Brendan slipped it into his keepnet.
I swapped to the pole after 45minutes by which time i was already 20lb behind Brendan
I could see Carl in the far corner catching well and Elliot on the end bank behind the Island was also catching well.
Glen & Geoff had started slower than the others but quicker than me.
I Had a lovely bite after an hour and hooked into something substantial but it pulled away and my rig snapped in half not sure why but I blame myself for not checking the rig properly
I quickly grabbed another rig and went back in hooked another carp but I think it was foul hooked as the hook rulled quite quickly
This was the story of my day as i lost more than i landed and my total was 8 carp 2 decent 6 smallish for around 20lb including loads of Roach
Carl had a great day finishing with 110lb mainly from his right hand margin
Elliot came second with 80lb+ and Brendan snuck Third with 60lb+ 3 other 40lb weights show how good this fishery can fish in bad conditions.
I spoke with Brendan after the match and got some good advise which i will be following in the future.
Steep learning curve for me at the moment but am looking forward to a silvers only match at Goodiford Mill in 2 weeks time.
Wednesday 22 February 2017
Home Farm Fishery
Third week in a row at Home Farm in Mamhead
After last weeks struggle i thought i would have another practice before this saturdays open comp.
Arrived around 9ish and quickly set up.
Bomb and Bread would be my first plan of attack followed by 2 pole line at top 6 one with sweetcorn and one with pellet over micros and then finish in the margins
Day started very well on the bread and i had 4 in the first hour including a lovely 8lb fish.
It then went a bit quiet so tried the poles had the odd fish off both but nothing great and they were also smaller fish ranging from 6oz to 3lb.
Neither line worked better than the other.
3 other people were fishing the lake and no-one was catching during the middle of the day and i couldn't work out what to do.
A quick try on the bread produced 1 quick fish but that was it so i started feeding my margins quite early which worked an absolute treat and i had a fantastic afternoon catching plenty of carp from 1lb to 7lb.
At the end of the day i had a good chat with the owner Glen who has high hopes for the fishery and is working tirelessly to improve all aspects of the fishery from new platforms to new fish and removing alot of the silt that is causing the lake to be quite shallow in some areas
So looking forward to Saturday and hoping the wind and rain aren't too bad and we all have a good days fishing.
Link to Home farm Website and Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/homefarmfishery/?fref=ts
http://www.homefarmfishery.com/
After last weeks struggle i thought i would have another practice before this saturdays open comp.
Arrived around 9ish and quickly set up.
Bomb and Bread would be my first plan of attack followed by 2 pole line at top 6 one with sweetcorn and one with pellet over micros and then finish in the margins
Day started very well on the bread and i had 4 in the first hour including a lovely 8lb fish.
It then went a bit quiet so tried the poles had the odd fish off both but nothing great and they were also smaller fish ranging from 6oz to 3lb.
Neither line worked better than the other.
3 other people were fishing the lake and no-one was catching during the middle of the day and i couldn't work out what to do.
A quick try on the bread produced 1 quick fish but that was it so i started feeding my margins quite early which worked an absolute treat and i had a fantastic afternoon catching plenty of carp from 1lb to 7lb.
At the end of the day i had a good chat with the owner Glen who has high hopes for the fishery and is working tirelessly to improve all aspects of the fishery from new platforms to new fish and removing alot of the silt that is causing the lake to be quite shallow in some areas
So looking forward to Saturday and hoping the wind and rain aren't too bad and we all have a good days fishing.
Link to Home farm Website and Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/homefarmfishery/?fref=ts
http://www.homefarmfishery.com/
Wednesday 15 February 2017
Home Farm Mamhead 1 good Day 1 bad day
Tale of 2 different days
Day 1
I was invited to a match at Home Farm Fishery in Mamhead which is a nice little lake that i hadn't fished for 3 years so i decided to have a practice session on the 4th Feb to see how it was fishing.
Arrived around 9am to find only 1 other person fishing who was setting up for what looked like a weeks session with his Carp gear, Buzzers, Bedchair the lot. He left at 4pm
I decided to fish the other side of the lake to him giving us plenty of room.
I picked a nice looking swim which had the tip of the Island in front and a lovely looking Margin to my Right under a overhanging tree.
With the weather warming up I decided on trying a Guru Hybrid feeder lightly loaded for casting to the island, a Pole Rig for top 5 and a Margin rig for both sides as it had the same depth
The lake was quite Shallow in my swim with a Maximum depth of 3ft in front and 18" in the Margins.
There were a few fish topping so i was hopeful of a decent days fishing.
I started on the hybrid with an 8mm Pellet on a band and as I was sinking the line the tip knocked and I was into my first a smallish Carp of around pound.
The next 2 chucks resulted in the same with 2 more Carp landed.
It then went a bit quiet so I tried Maggot on the hook and a fish almost immediately but again went quiet.
After the first hour i had 4 fish for around 6Lb.
I tried alternating baits either Pellet, Maggot, Corn and Bomb and bread but it stayed slow and i only added 2 more in the second hour both on bread.
I decided to try my pole line and started on maggot, I started to catch nice Roach and Rudd up to 4oz and a few small carp from 6-12oz.
I struggled to get a bite during the early afternoon on the feeder so started to prime my margins around 2 o clock I fed my left hand Margin with wetted Micros and my right hand margin with Groundbait to see if 1 worked better than the other
A few fish came on the feeder but it was slow I then noticed some mud being disturbed in my left hand Margin and there were definite signs of fish activity so I reached for my Margin rig and went in, it didn't take long for my first bite and over the next 90 minutes i had a dozen Carp averaging 5Lb biggest around 8lb all on 8mm pellet all fish came from the left hand side.
By 4 o clock it started to get cold and it started to snow a bit so i packed up knowing i had a good day and possibly learnt a bit.
Day 2
Oh how things can change within 7 days
The weather had been bitterly cold all week so my practice session probably wouldn't help
I arrived early and was welcomed by a heavy snow shower.
8 booked but only 5 brave souls turned up.
The talk was the fish would be in the deeper water away from the Island so when 2 pegs were put behind in the shallow water we were surprised and though and behold I draw 1 of them and Carl the organiser for the day drew the other (served him right)
I decided that the feeder would be a no go today so just set up a bomb rod for searching the peg a top 5 pole rig and a Margin rig .
Plumbing up I knew I was in for hard day in front of me all the way across I could only find 18" of water (Carl had 12/15") my right hand Margin had 6" and my left hand margin had a dead tree in I did find what I thought was a clear spot about 4ft from the bank in 15" of water under another branch.
Started on the bomb with Bread rod remained motionless, tried 8mm and 6mm pellets still motionless tried Maggots still nothing after 90 minutes.
Jeff in the open deep water peg had 3 carp in his first 3 chucks, Glen on peg 1 started on the bomb but soon changed to Corn on his pole rig and started to catch well., whilst Dermot who was fishing on my peg from last week had started catching well on Bread in the open water.
I started on my top 5 line and had plenty of roach and rudd and soon put a couple of pound in the net but was falling too far behind so went back on the bomb and instantly had a 3lb Carp on Maggots.
Any thoughts of a nice run ended there as i didn't have another bite.
Carl had 2/3 Carp but decided it was warmer in his van so stopped fishing around 1.30pm.
I persevered and did manage a few small Carp from my Left hand margin also losing 3 in the tree roots all the time watching Jeff,Glen and Dermot have plenty of bites in the deeper water.
Glen ended up having a cracking days fishing and had 96Lb Dermot came second with 54Lb inc a lovely 15.5Lb Ghost Carp,Jeff was 3rd with 48lb
Me and Carl DNW but both had roughly 15Lb
Enjoyable day but hard in Baltic conditions
Day 1
I was invited to a match at Home Farm Fishery in Mamhead which is a nice little lake that i hadn't fished for 3 years so i decided to have a practice session on the 4th Feb to see how it was fishing.
Arrived around 9am to find only 1 other person fishing who was setting up for what looked like a weeks session with his Carp gear, Buzzers, Bedchair the lot. He left at 4pm
I decided to fish the other side of the lake to him giving us plenty of room.
I picked a nice looking swim which had the tip of the Island in front and a lovely looking Margin to my Right under a overhanging tree.
With the weather warming up I decided on trying a Guru Hybrid feeder lightly loaded for casting to the island, a Pole Rig for top 5 and a Margin rig for both sides as it had the same depth
The lake was quite Shallow in my swim with a Maximum depth of 3ft in front and 18" in the Margins.
There were a few fish topping so i was hopeful of a decent days fishing.
I started on the hybrid with an 8mm Pellet on a band and as I was sinking the line the tip knocked and I was into my first a smallish Carp of around pound.
The next 2 chucks resulted in the same with 2 more Carp landed.
It then went a bit quiet so I tried Maggot on the hook and a fish almost immediately but again went quiet.
After the first hour i had 4 fish for around 6Lb.
I tried alternating baits either Pellet, Maggot, Corn and Bomb and bread but it stayed slow and i only added 2 more in the second hour both on bread.
I decided to try my pole line and started on maggot, I started to catch nice Roach and Rudd up to 4oz and a few small carp from 6-12oz.
I struggled to get a bite during the early afternoon on the feeder so started to prime my margins around 2 o clock I fed my left hand Margin with wetted Micros and my right hand margin with Groundbait to see if 1 worked better than the other
A few fish came on the feeder but it was slow I then noticed some mud being disturbed in my left hand Margin and there were definite signs of fish activity so I reached for my Margin rig and went in, it didn't take long for my first bite and over the next 90 minutes i had a dozen Carp averaging 5Lb biggest around 8lb all on 8mm pellet all fish came from the left hand side.
By 4 o clock it started to get cold and it started to snow a bit so i packed up knowing i had a good day and possibly learnt a bit.
Day 2
Oh how things can change within 7 days
The weather had been bitterly cold all week so my practice session probably wouldn't help
I arrived early and was welcomed by a heavy snow shower.
8 booked but only 5 brave souls turned up.
The talk was the fish would be in the deeper water away from the Island so when 2 pegs were put behind in the shallow water we were surprised and though and behold I draw 1 of them and Carl the organiser for the day drew the other (served him right)
I decided that the feeder would be a no go today so just set up a bomb rod for searching the peg a top 5 pole rig and a Margin rig .
Plumbing up I knew I was in for hard day in front of me all the way across I could only find 18" of water (Carl had 12/15") my right hand Margin had 6" and my left hand margin had a dead tree in I did find what I thought was a clear spot about 4ft from the bank in 15" of water under another branch.
Started on the bomb with Bread rod remained motionless, tried 8mm and 6mm pellets still motionless tried Maggots still nothing after 90 minutes.
Jeff in the open deep water peg had 3 carp in his first 3 chucks, Glen on peg 1 started on the bomb but soon changed to Corn on his pole rig and started to catch well., whilst Dermot who was fishing on my peg from last week had started catching well on Bread in the open water.
I started on my top 5 line and had plenty of roach and rudd and soon put a couple of pound in the net but was falling too far behind so went back on the bomb and instantly had a 3lb Carp on Maggots.
Any thoughts of a nice run ended there as i didn't have another bite.
Carl had 2/3 Carp but decided it was warmer in his van so stopped fishing around 1.30pm.
I persevered and did manage a few small Carp from my Left hand margin also losing 3 in the tree roots all the time watching Jeff,Glen and Dermot have plenty of bites in the deeper water.
Glen ended up having a cracking days fishing and had 96Lb Dermot came second with 54Lb inc a lovely 15.5Lb Ghost Carp,Jeff was 3rd with 48lb
Me and Carl DNW but both had roughly 15Lb
Enjoyable day but hard in Baltic conditions
Wednesday 11 January 2017
River Tone 8th Jan 2017 Chub Hunting
Firstly Happy New Year to everyone and i hope you all had a lovely Christmas
Well it seems to have been a long time with no reports, due to work and family Fishing has been limited to say the least but a new year has brought new optimism and with that in mind me and Robbie headed to the Free stretch of the River Tone hoping to catch our first River Chub.
We arrived around Lunchtime and instantly realized that a match may be taking place as there were lots of cars parked along the side of the road leading to the Cinema.
I wandered down to the river and met a very obliging angler who explained there was a match on but if we headed towards the Memorial seats we should be fine as there was only 1 other angler that way.
So we unloaded the car and headed towards and beyond the motorway bridge setting on a lovely looking swim just beyond a small stream where we could see plenty of large Roach in the clear water.
I quickly set up a Waggler rod and had a few runs through checking the depth and once happy attached 2 red maggots and cast out whilst Robbie fired some Maggot and Casters towards the float.
First run through and a small roach took the maggot and i was happy that we weren't going to blank.
I had roach on 4 of my first 8 runs so decided to let Robbie have a go whilst i set up a small cage feeder on our second rod.
Robbie had a roach every run through and the size started to increase upto around 4oz.
After i set the feeder rod up and cast under a overhanging branch i asked Robbie if he would watch the feeder so iIcould try the waggler again.
Second run Through and a bite materialized but this time the strike was met with more resistance a lovely chub around 12oz leapt from the water before being guided to our landing net.
Next run and another smaller chub was hooked so I let Robbie back on the waggler hoping he may catch one.
He didn't but continued to catch roach of a decent size.
The feeder remained motionless so i decided to try a cast to the far bank where there appeared to be a slight undercut in the bank
The rod had only been out a couple of seconds when it sprung back and the line started to move away from the bank I struck and felt resistance but it didn't last long and the fish was off.
I told to Robbie to leave the waggler and watch the feeder I cast again to the same spot and before I could put the rod on the rest i felt a sharp tug i quickly passed the rod to Robbie and he gleefully wound in a beautiful Chub around a Pound so Bigger than mine.
We continued catching quality roach on the waggler but the feeder only brought 1 more small chub and afew Roach.
Close to 3 o clock I had a nice Hybrid around a pound which was very pleasing but it started to get cold so we decided to wander back to the car.
We managed to just catch the angler who guided us earlier and he said he had caught roughly 8kg of roach mainly on the whip during the match which is a lovely days fishing but also said the gentleman fishing further down had caught 13Kg of Roach which is an incredible day but shows the potential of this lovely River.
In all a nice days fishing and i must also pass on a Thank you to Ivan Currie for his advice on this river
Well it seems to have been a long time with no reports, due to work and family Fishing has been limited to say the least but a new year has brought new optimism and with that in mind me and Robbie headed to the Free stretch of the River Tone hoping to catch our first River Chub.
We arrived around Lunchtime and instantly realized that a match may be taking place as there were lots of cars parked along the side of the road leading to the Cinema.
I wandered down to the river and met a very obliging angler who explained there was a match on but if we headed towards the Memorial seats we should be fine as there was only 1 other angler that way.
So we unloaded the car and headed towards and beyond the motorway bridge setting on a lovely looking swim just beyond a small stream where we could see plenty of large Roach in the clear water.
I quickly set up a Waggler rod and had a few runs through checking the depth and once happy attached 2 red maggots and cast out whilst Robbie fired some Maggot and Casters towards the float.
First run through and a small roach took the maggot and i was happy that we weren't going to blank.
I had roach on 4 of my first 8 runs so decided to let Robbie have a go whilst i set up a small cage feeder on our second rod.
Robbie had a roach every run through and the size started to increase upto around 4oz.
After i set the feeder rod up and cast under a overhanging branch i asked Robbie if he would watch the feeder so iIcould try the waggler again.
Second run Through and a bite materialized but this time the strike was met with more resistance a lovely chub around 12oz leapt from the water before being guided to our landing net.
Next run and another smaller chub was hooked so I let Robbie back on the waggler hoping he may catch one.
He didn't but continued to catch roach of a decent size.
The feeder remained motionless so i decided to try a cast to the far bank where there appeared to be a slight undercut in the bank
The rod had only been out a couple of seconds when it sprung back and the line started to move away from the bank I struck and felt resistance but it didn't last long and the fish was off.
I told to Robbie to leave the waggler and watch the feeder I cast again to the same spot and before I could put the rod on the rest i felt a sharp tug i quickly passed the rod to Robbie and he gleefully wound in a beautiful Chub around a Pound so Bigger than mine.
We continued catching quality roach on the waggler but the feeder only brought 1 more small chub and afew Roach.
Close to 3 o clock I had a nice Hybrid around a pound which was very pleasing but it started to get cold so we decided to wander back to the car.
We managed to just catch the angler who guided us earlier and he said he had caught roughly 8kg of roach mainly on the whip during the match which is a lovely days fishing but also said the gentleman fishing further down had caught 13Kg of Roach which is an incredible day but shows the potential of this lovely River.
In all a nice days fishing and i must also pass on a Thank you to Ivan Currie for his advice on this river
Saturday 6 August 2016
Rhea Farm Night fishing for Carp 30/07/16
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.
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.
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