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About this blog

I started this blog in March 2021, having blanked in over half of my fifteen winter trips to various waters of Newbury Angling Association. The rivers, canals and lakes are fine, I'm just not very good at catching the fish in them. Oddly, i seemed to get a bit better for a while, but 2023 has undone all that. In July I moved to South Wales, not entirely for the weather, but to enforce a change in my fishing luck.

Entries in this blog

22.1.24 - Treoes

My first trip out since consecutive blanks a week ago. After a few nights of freezing temperatures, storm Isha piled through yesterday, strewing my recycling all round the garden, but melting the ice on the lake top.  It was still pretty windy, so I sat in the west corner and let it blow over my head. Knowing the water temperature to be pretty chilly, I kept it light and small, float fishing a single piece of corn on a size 18 1.5 rod lengths out. I slobbed in a walnut-sized lump of groundb

1 - 15.1.24 - Treoes & The Fendrod

January 23 was a time of short mid-winter trips to Marsh Benham to plunder its chub and a great many fat trout. This year in South Wales, we sadly have no such river within 30 miles radius (well, none that are not fly fishing only or seen devoid of fish) so it's lakes for me with their inherent poor behaviour in cold weather combined with my lack of ability. 1.1 - Treoes. Scaled down on the tackle and winkled out 4 bream, the biggest of 3lb 2. 5.1 - Treoes. Having spent the cold evenin

2023 - My Year End Summary

The end of another year, the fourth after my 20 year+ hiatus from the sport that has totally recaptured me like a gudgeon to a pinkie. July 2023 brought a move from Berkshire to Wales and a completely different set of options. Beach fishing has come into the equation (something I really haven’t got to grips with yet) but my nearest coarse fishing river is an almost implausible 45 mins drive away - too far – and even that seems devoid of fish. So a largely disappointing year for me, in angling te

29.12.23 - Treoes

A last session of the year at my default lake.  A fun trip, though thank goodness for bream. After a slow start a shoal found me, and in groups of two or three I ended up wit eleven, ten of which came in between 1lb and 4lb 4. With a bonus carp of 6lb 6 and the rain keeping off me all day, I would have settled for this before hand.

Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Treoes lake

18.12.23 - Aberavon Beach

With rain due this afternoon and the tides in the right direction, I headed for the local beach. A steady sou' westerly was driving quite a surf and being a newbie at this sea fishing lark, I don't yet know if the cold-water fish come as near to the shore as the summer bass do. Anyway, I cast as far as the wind and my poor technique would allow into the meaty waves. At least with the tide coming in, the bait (a two-hook flapper rog, one holding a sandeel, the other a bit of squid) would eff

8 & 11.12 - Treoes lake

Having abandoned any further 1hr 40 minute round trips to my 'local' river which seemingly holding no fish, and my very local Port Talbot Docks mysteriously having last week closed to all further fishing, it's my usual lake again. Friday. With the frosts a few days past now I was hoping the fish will have woken up hungry. Well, they sort of had. Got a handful of roach and bream, but in heavy rain did get a bonus 13lb 6 Common. Monday. A chilly but often sunny day. I chose to sit on the

Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Treoes lake

6.12.23 - River Ely, St Fagans

My third trip to the Ely. It's my nearest coarse river and, with a stop at Bridgend to pick up maggots, took me about 50 minutes. That's too long, but I'm missing my chub fishing. We've had a clear and chilly last week that's warmed in the last couple of days with some rain and cloud giving a pleasant lift in temperature that I think makes it ripe for action.  It's a lovely looking river, much like the Kennet in places with glides and overhangs - very chubby looking. Having suffered two bla

27.11.23 - Treoes Lake

With rain due and the prospect of hiding under a brolly, a lake seemed a better option than a river bank. A change of tactics though. With maggots left from Saturday, I thought I'd fish light, aiming to get the silvers going that might stimulate the pike into accepting a juicy half-mackerel dangled on a sleeper rod a few yards away near the rushes where I suspected predators might lie. Part A of the plan worked superbly, with 21 roach to 6oz (though most smaller) plus 21 bream (larger with

Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Treoes lake

25.11.23 - River Ely, St Fagans

A short session on the coldest morning of the winter so far. I'd been scrutinising Google Earth and found more potential access to the heavily vegetated bankside. Over quite a walk, I found 5 swims, all allowing a good trot of a float. With the centrepin spinning nicely, and the frost starting to melt around me, it felt an idyllic venue, apart from no fish. I did bump a tiddler early on,but that was it. Hmm, that's 2/2 blanks. I'm not sure if its my ineptitude or a lack of fish, but I'

24.11.23 - Port Talbot Docks

My second trip to my local venue having been given prior permission by land manager, Dai the Worm. And a second run-less blank. As I left, the chap pole fishing for silvers a few swims away told be he'd been bitten off by pike 'at least six times'. This is a common complaint of matchmen here, so I didn't doubt it. I've been told that only live baiting works here, but that's against my personal fishing creed.  Wasn't a total disappointment as I did find out that the enormous brick

17.11.23 - Marsh Benham

A rare trip back 'home' to Newbs allowed me a visit to one of my favourite stretches, albeit the high water level put pay to a few of my favourite swims. I arrived after a cold night to bright sun which, as well as making float trotting blindingly impossible,  contributed to many of the resident fish taking shelter. Except for the trout, of course. I landed three of the snarly-faced swim-trashers but lost another seven, each one leaving the swim in tatters. A handful of roach, dace and

11.11.23 - Port Talbot Docks

My debut at my local water, a large expanse of water alongside the steelworks. Though I moved to Wales in July, I'd not fished it yet because of my apprehension of Dai the Worm. In order to fish it, one must obtain permission a day or two ahead from this local legend. However I'd been warned to make sure I 'only phone him when he's in a good mood' -which sounded a bit arbitrary, so I thought it best to make a personal acquaintance first and perhaps get him used to my English accent before callin

6, 10 & 13.11 - Treoes Lake

Three more trips to my mainstay lake while I work out what the heck I'm going to do for my winter fishing. Monday - Not a touch on pike rod, but the other brought commons of 7lb 8, 6lb 12, 6lb 9, 7lb 10 and 6lb 8 plus a 7lb 12 mirror and a single small bream. A good day. Friday - Didn't bother with the pike rig put put on prawn pieces hoping for perch. A slower day but 2 commons both of 11lb 6 and a mirror of 6lb made it a fair day. Monday - With Storm Debi blowing for Wales, the

Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Treoes lake

3.11.23 - Lliw Reservoir - Swansea

A new venue for me - a huge reservoir said to contain trout and pike. I fished various dead baits, one under a drifting pike float, the other popped up from the apparently 58ft depth.  With autumn in full force, it's a beautiful venue and being far from any decent roads, is the quietest place I think I've ever fished. It was just me and my tinnitus. Sadly the fishing was equally quiet as though I changed depths regularly and explored all of the very wide and open swim, neither rod got

28 & 30.10.23 - Treoes

Autumn may bring mellow fruitfulness and waterlogged pitches, but it also brings a hit-and-miss nature to lake fishing. That's despite all the angling press telling you that the fish are desperate to fatten themselves up like turkeys for Christmas. With no rivers or canals in easy reach, I persevered with the lake I've been plundering since my arrival in summer. Friday - One pike rod (though it may still be too warm for them to really get going) and one float rod. The dead bait wasn't touch

21.10 & 23.10 - Treoes

Saturday morning didn't start as planned. My new neighbour showed me a spot where the bass hoard up on the tidal River Afan 2 hours before high tide. There I was, but the tide had already spilled over the obstacle allowing the bass to head upriver and despite spinning for an hour, I didn't get a touch. Drove on to Treoes lake instead for some calming coarse fishing. At my favourite swim I had commons of 7lb 2, 8lb 2 and 5lb 6, a lovely 12oz roach, a bonus 1lb 14 tench and a handful of bream of a

16.10.23 - River Ely, St Fagans

My first trip to a Welsh river, some 40 minutes from home which is far further than I'd normally travel, but I'd been getting severe withdrawal symptoms. And a nice river it looked too, perhaps most like Brimpton from my Berkshire Kennet days, with few accessible swims but lovely chubby overhangs. Total disaster. Having found the screw-piece had somehow been lost from the end of my landing net handle, I snapped off the last 4 inches of my (once) 15 ft Cadence rod. On my first trot thro

2.10.23 - 10.10.23 - Treoes, Half Round ponds, Treoes

1 - Treoes - A jog, a sea swim then a fish. Stop off at petrol station for a loaf of bread for bait - £2.89 for a loaf! No chance. Wafters and sweetcorn it is. Watch a guy pull out fish after fish on a pole a few swims down while my rods sit untouched. Finally though regular feeding brings them in and I end up with a very pleasing 3lb 1, 5lb 6 and 8lb 9 mirrors, commons of 8lb 3, 8lb 7, 5lb 14, 5lb 2 and 5lb 6 with a solitary small bream 2 - Half Round ponds - I thought you could do with a

25, 26 & 29.9.23 - Treoes Lake

Call me predictable, but with this mixed lake fishing so well, and no river within 30 mins drive, I stuck to what i know Monday - Took my neighbour Glyn who has introduced me to sea fishing. I'd emailed the club the night before asking if it was OK, but having had no response, and Glyn content to sit alongside me watching,assist with the netting and take the pictures, I couldn't see it would do much harm. A slow morning though, with seven bream between 8oz and 3lbs and two commons of 7lb 10

Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Treoes lake

22.9.23 - Treoes Lake

A return to Bridgend to pick up my session from few days ago and 'starling-gate'. As usual, it took a while to get going, but once the fish had cottoned on there was food to be had, they started to come. Had commons of 6lb 2 & 9lb 4 plus some beautiful mirrors of 5lb 15, 4lb 5 and 12lb. The usual tench/roach did not turn up at all nor even the bream until successive casts brought slabs of 8oz, 2lb 2 and 2lb 10. The day was marked by the sighting of a buzzard - my first bird of prey

Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Treoes lake

18.9.23 - The Common Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)

After the soaking at yesterday's match (see last post) I repacked my still soggy stuff in the still soggy car and made the 30 minutes drive to Treoes lake, Bridgend. I'd just sat down after making my first cast when the mobile rang and saw it was Jo. My first inclination was to think 'Sh*t, I must have left my sandwiches at home,' but no - a starling had entered the house, and being terrified of the close company of birds, Jo was now in panicked self isolation in the front room and desperat

Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Treoes lake

17.9.23 - Cardiff Wharf

My debut at the Wharf for a match held by Glamorgan Anglers Club. Never having been to Cardiff (apart from watching Chelsea at Ninian Park in the '80s and two recent trips to Ikea) my knowledge of the area was minimal. I demonstrated this by arriving in plenty of time, but with no one else parked I phoned the organiser to discover I was in the wrong car park. Some general directional instructions were givenand a panicked race around the local roads (observing the new Welsh speed limit of 20mph,

Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Cardiff Wharf

14.9.23 - Treoes lake

Another trip to my fave new lake in Bridgend  with a new swim to me. Only 2.5 foot deep, the temperature has been more than warm enough to keep the fish in the shallows with plenty of lilies, overhangs and sunken pondweed to keep the oxygen level up. Despite this, it was a traditionally slow slow start and I was wondering if I should have stuck to the deeper end after all. Once I'd worked out that the fish were in the even shallower margins, I ended with 3 carp, a tench, 11 bream, 6 roach and 3

Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Treoes lake

12.9.23 - Aberavon Beach

Having ordered some Senko lures (cheers, Barry!) I had another go on the lugworm for the bass this sunny afternoon after the heavy rains of last night. Fished two hours with the tide rising and 1 after.  It was much the same as last week with lugworm tails nibbled off the hooks most casts (I used a full half pound - ie £9-worth in those 3 hours), but I did end up with 6 of the little silver fellers, to a max of 5 oz. Tried sand eel on one hook for a couple of hours, but these were untouched. Gre

11.9.23 - Treoes Lakes

Two short sessions either side of the heatwave. Friday morning brought a single Mirror of 6lb and 3 small but angry tench at Half Round ponds. Apart from losing something much larger in the woods, it was a session notable or two things - A 'dedicated' carp angler was thrown off the lake for not having a 'walled' unhooking mat. I didn't either, but was excused as I was float fishing. Seemed harsh to me. The other, my first rod licence check by the EA since the 1980's. Much cooler on Monday a

Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Treoes lake

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