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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

Treoes lake

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
Treoes lake

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
Treoes lake

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

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Treoes lake

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

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Treoes lake

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

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Treoes lake

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

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Treoes lake

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
Treoes lake

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
Treoes lake

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
Treoes lake

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

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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

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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

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Treoes lake

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

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Treoes lake

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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Treoes lake

25.8.23 - Treoes Lake

Another trip to my new favourite lake. Overcast with threatened showers turned out to be an hours torrential rain which kept me hidden under my brolly unable to move and unable to see my float until past my intended packing up time. In the few hours I was there I managed for Commons of 10lb 2, 8lb 4, 7lb 14, 9lb 10*, a 3lb tench, seven skimmers up to a pound and a couple of roach. * I fought this bloomin' carp for over half an hour on 6lb line without even seeing it. It wasn't having a
Treoes lake

21.08.23 - Treoes Lake

A nice morning at the lake. Unusually no wind and no rain. A slow star while the swim built up then a good few hours sport. Commons of 10lb, 6lb 2, & 5lb 4,  mirrors of 4lb 2 and 8lb 14. Two tench in two minutes of 2lb 4 and 1lb 15 and a smattering of skimmers, with one nudging 3lb. 
Treoes lake

12 & 12.8.23 - |Treoes Lake

With Mrs S away, I got two more weekend ventures to this active, very well kept and strangely under-fished lake.  The weather wasn't set to be great throughout, so on Saturday morning I set up on the west bank for the first time, trees and prevailing wind behind me with only one other angler on the whole lake. A 5lb 2 Mirror obliged first cast after which it became a steady morning rather than the prolific one of last week. I ended up with nine Bream, most skimmers around 8-10oz with one of
Treoes lake

4.8.23 - Treoes Lake

I was going to try another lake, but a hangover meant I was late up and thus had time to visit the Ewenny tackle shop, Bridgend. I needed to show them the landing net handle branded as 'bomb proof' that snapped clean in two first fish on Monday. Without a receipt I was not expecting an exchange, I just wanted to ensure no other mug bought one, but they kindly allowed me to upgrade and deduct the cost of this celery-stick handle from it.  On the bank by 8:30am, my prolific swim from Monday w
Treoes lake

31.7.23 - Treoes Lake

Well. Nothing happened in the first hour of the morning apart from a few sharp showers which kept all other anglers away until 11. Again it was too blustery for the pole so I took at two-method feeder approach, one to my left adjacent to lilies, the other to the edge of the central island. As has happened in recent trips to two locations, a switch of bait lit the touch paper. Between 8am and 11:30 it got so manic that at one point I swapped to just one rod as I couldn't keep up with all of
Treoes lake

29.7.23 - Treoes Lake

A morning as the only angler of the lake - perfect for a misanthrope like me. Even the rain kept away for a change, though a swirling breeze stopped me using the pole as I'd planned. So it was down to underarming the method feeder towards a patch of lilies some 15 yards away.  After the other nights success on small tuti frutti boilies, I eagerly pushed some on and waited for the action. Nothing for an hour except a splendid fly-past by the resident kingfisher. I swapped to an orange w
Treoes lake

25.7.23 - Treoes Lake

My first evening trip for many weeks now that the move to Wales has settled down as much as the weather. It was truly ghastly, pelting rain and winds last weekend which even put me off fishing. No problems this evening with sunny skies and light breeze. Plenty of lilies and weed beds around and chose a spot with a clear cast to the island to my right, and a nice looking 'hole' surrounded by weed one rod length out to my left. Soon after I arrived I saw the tail of a feeding carp about
Treoes lake

17.7.23 (part 1) - Treoes lake - Bridgend

A morning trip to this pretty lake, figure-of-eight shaped around two islands. Chose a good looking patch of lilies to put a pole out to, while a method feeder would sit to my left out by the island edge. After 30 minutes I couldn't believe I was fishless. The feeder rod was pulled out of its rests (note to self: use the bait runner here) with such force that the hook link immediately snapped. Then I watched sometime rise and take the corn on the pole float the moment it hit the water. The
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