Jump to content
  • entries
    271
  • comments
    217
  • views
    41652

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

Aberavon beach

5.9.23 - Aberavon Beach

Having blanked a few times now, I took local anglers advice and walked down to the beach with my new neighbour as the sun went down and while the tide was coming in.  I'd also bought a newspaper packet of lugworms, plus a few frozen sandeels and confidence was high. After a heatwave of a day, it was beautiful on the sand at night as the lights of Swansea twinkled across the bay and the furnaces of the steelworks sent the occasional plume of flame into the sky.  We had bites from the of
Half Round ponds

04.09.23 - Half-Round Ponds

Summer has arrived at last and even in South Wales it's going to be 25 degrees. Choose the semi-circular lake to the left of the central causeway ans though this contains the smaller fish, it will mean I have the harsh sun on my back rather than full in my face. Take my 10m pole and fish against lilies. Its steady rather than ever rapid and a few hours before the heat of midday drives me away I manage 6 tench to 1lb 4, 2 small roach and 6 small rudd. Ah well, it was fun enough and thou
River Afan

2.9.23 - Bass fishing on the rivers Afan and Neath

Put some lures in a back pack, tied rod to my bike and off I cycled to the river Afan where we blanked on bait tactics, but saw bass under the surface in the week. The full moon had raised the tide mark much higher than it had on Tuesday meaning most of the swims I fancied were not available. Those that were had a dredger, UKD SEALION, at. work in and out of the estuary. I didn't think any bass would relish 224 tonnes of dredger ploughing overhead so cycled inland. I lost 3 lures to snags before
Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in River Afan

0
Kennet & Avon Canal

1.9.23 - Treoes Lake

A fun, par day in Bridgend. Float fished Mirrors of 9lb 6 and 6lb 2, Commons of 8lb and 5lb 2, Tench of 3lb and 3lb 6 and Bream of 2lb 14, 1lb 5 and 3 half pound skimmers. All went quite for the last hour around lunch time, during which the highlight was one of the two resident kingfishers making a dive across my swim and extracting a small roach in the blink of any eye. Stunning.
River Afan

29.8.23 - Bass fishing on the River Afan

My new neighbour and I took some mackerel and frozen squid and mussels to pin to the bottom of the tidal stretch of the river for my first visit. While we watched our motionless rods a passerby looked at us incredulously and said that crab was the bait to use, but that lures would be better as it was 'teeming with bass' on this stretch. Could have fooled us. But as the full moon high tide retreated we did start to see bass on the surface. A lure angler came through and though he did not catch, t
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. 
Half Round ponds

18 & 19.8.23 - Half Round Ponds

Two back-to-back sessions on these Swansea ponds. With Welsh wind and rain expected and received, the landscaped bowl around these lakes at least kept the wind off me if not the west stuff. Friday was the best of the two days float fishing, and though of the three tench I was after, the biggest was 6oz, mirrors of 8lb 14, 8lb 10 and a common of 7lb 8 at least put bends in the rod.  Saturday brought just one more tiny tench and a mirror of 5lb 4. I nodded a hello to the other angler who
Aberavon beach

14.8.23 - Aberavon Beach

My second ever go at sea fishing in our new Welsh home came on the most perfect weathered afternoon possible. With a warm westerly breeze and surf churning nicely my mentor advised that the prospects for seabass were good. Nobody told the fish that however, as our sand eels and squid remained stolidly untouched. Never mind, it was just lovely to be out on the near deserted sandy beach as the sun sank over down-the-road Swansea.
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
The Fendrod

7.8.23 - The Frendrod, Swansea

My first trip to this large open lake set in a public park. The place is popular with walkers, but local tackle shop advice to choose a swim at the bottom of the several steep banks was good, and they strolled past 20 yards behind me leaving me blissfully alone. It did make having the occasional wee a tricky case of picking good timing. Pretty featureless on the surface, I kept my options open by having one rod near the bankside lilies and pinging the other one out into open water. I mainta
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
Half Round ponds

28.7.23 - Half Round Ponds

A morning in wonderful isolation at these usually well attended lakes. Maybe the lack of swims in the 'carp' pond due to an excess of milfoil weed kept all but the die-hards away. I attacked my favoured 'silvers' pond with the pole next to a vast mound of recently raked out weed. This left the shallow water crystal clear, reminiscent of the old aquarium house at London Zoo as I watched shoals of small rudd pass by and experimented with the effect of groundbait and loose feed on them. To keep the
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
Aberavon beach

17.7.23 (part 2) - Aberavon Beach

One of the many benefits of my move to Wales was the chance to go sea fishing for the first time. never done it before, and I even get seasick watching the Onedin Line. I know little of tides beyond a childhood knowledge of their affect on my sandcastles but my new neighbour, Glyn, having dug his old tackle out his loft, took me saying two hours before high tide and an hour after was best. I bought the sand eels while Glyn kindly lent me a rod with missing rings, and a left-handed reel with
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
Half Round ponds

8, 15.7.23 - Half Round ponds - Bridgend

These small back-to-back semi-circular lakes are ex-industrial and have been brought to superb condition by a small band of volunteers of Brynmill & District AC. One has the advantage of being beside a tall escarpment meaning it is somewhat protected from the proper Welsh rain which battered me on both trips. It was truly wet. But the water in front of this shelter since I first came a few weeks ago is full of milfoil. This pond weed is rather pretty to look at, and i imagine loved by t
various

16.6.23 - Dobsons & Marsh Benham

A start to the season in two parts. Firstly, I thought I'd spend several hours on the lakeside eager to catch a few tench before the sun rose and ruined everything. Needless to say the olive green beauts thought otherwise and bites were limited to 3 small roach and a pound-and-a-bit bream.  Made it late morning to the hot and sunny syndicate at Marsh Benham where I was happy to bump into CP of this parish who'd caught his quota and was now headed home to watch the test match. Rumour el
Willows

A tale of Three Blanks

For those who don't have a Newbury AA ticket, Willows is a small, shallow lake without enough vegetation but with a central island that the carp, typically 6-12lbs like to swim around. It has also recently stocked been stocked up with bream and also tench of around 6lbs. Totting up, I've had around 260 commons and 150 mirrors since joining the club in 2021 with the odd decent crucian between them. You can see that it's what they call I a 'runs water' (I'd not heard of this phrase until recently)
River Kennet

Two evening's riparian entertainment

When Barry Murrer offered to take me fly fishing for the first time, I could hardly say no. I wrote about my experience from my position as editor of the Newbury AA Quarterly Newsletter and copy the two resultant articles below. Cheers, Barry. Evening #1 When I have occasion to flick through the Newbury Angling Association’s  Rules and Regs Book I see ‘3.1 Trout fishing, with artificial dry fly only, shall commence on 1st  April and close on 30 September.’  I’ve always wondered if
various

May 23 - Various

OK, OK, so I've been remiss in keeping this up to date. Hope you haven't missed me too much. A number of reasons - the main one being the preparation for our move to South Wales taking up so much of my fishing time, my getting together the Newbury Angling Association's latest quarterly newsletter and a rubbish set of catches when I have been. The meagre summary for May was: 2nd May and 29th April - Treoes lake, Bridgend - on the Glamorgan Anglers Club ticket. A lovely, very well p
Willows

14.3.23 - 25.4.23 - Various - mainly Willows

It's been a tough Spring. With chilly water and my forthcoming move to South Wales eating at my fishing time, there's been little to trouble the scorers from largely short, sharp sessions. When concern for my well-being was expressed by an anonymous reader of this bog (thanks, Chris) I decided to update the following catalogue of mediocrity. 14.3 - Willows - A shortish evening stint, colder than yesterday and zero degrees when I packed up. One wintery shower caused a 'hailbow'. 2 Commons -
Marsh Benham

7, 10 & 11.3.23 - Marsh Benham

With the river close season rapidly approaching, I managed three sessions at the syndicate. Tuesday evening - Took the cheesepaste to a number of swims. Caught a 1lb 12 chub early on followed by two angry brownies in the 2lb bracket. As it darkened the temperature dropped faster than a 4-oz Arsley bomb as a kingfisher flew low and fast past my rod tip, a barn owl landed in the trees opposite and an orangey full moon rose behind me. It was all breathtaking, but I only managed one more browni
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We and our partners use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences, repeat visits and to show you personalised advertisements. By clicking “I Agree”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit Cookie Settings to provide a controlled consent.

  I accept