Stretpegger

Unfortunately angling etiquette or lack of is a fact of life on some fisheries these days.The chav element can also be found on some of my local lakes as well, usually the ones with the most carp in! Have to say though have never across a day ticket fishery where juniors get to fish for free, the owner must be very rich if he/she can let the kids in for nothing.

I have often wondered if the this issue of rotting leaves in the water during autumn putting the fish off the feed is something akin to an angling"urban myth" I stand to be corrected on this but speaking for myself i have experienced no noticeable drop off in sport at this time of the year. Indeed on some lakes sport picks up noticeably at this time, but again this is my own experience others may think differently.

I agree the stills look amazing showing as it does angling in its many different styles and throughout the four seasons of the year. As for the price, well what price do you put on quality? which it undoubtedly will be with Hugh Miles behind the helm.

Cant believe it just after posting my mole "poo" theory i returned to the forum and clocked a thread entitled Rabbit Poo! Is this forum going downhill!

Have used molehill soil for years, principally when the water is clear and i want to colour the water but without providing the fish food as a groundbait would. Of course the coloured water of a commercial fishery would seem on the face of it to make the use of molehill soil unecessary.Our use of it on the day was because of its other interesting benefit.As you know moles eat worms so it follows that for want of a better word that the mole c**p will be present in the soil as well. Draw your own conclusions but i have to say i have the utmost confidence in molehill soil especially when using worm on the hook. BTW the fishery i was refering to in the earlier post was White Springs Lakes near Swansea, highly recommended

I know that prawns have been hyped up in the angling press as a perch bait par excellence in commercials although all they brought me were more pesky pasties! Just as an aside i was visiting a friend in South Wales last winter and we half a day at a local commercial fishery.However on this particular lake on the complex big Perch were not uncommon.Our methods on the day were chopped worm and red maggot mixed in molehill soil and balled in.Hookbait was worm/maggot cocktail,sport was not fast and furious but the average size of the perch was impressive, even better we were not troubled by carp either. I cannot recall the fishery name but will get onto my mate and will post the details on here if anyone is interested.

Hi Tony The 23rd works for me Please put me down for one place, will be my first A.N. fish in also.Its a few years since i last visited Timsbury so it would be nice to reaquaint myself with the place and meet some of you A.N. guys.

I used to be a match angler up to about 7yrs ago.A back injury forced me to more or less stop fishing altogether for 2 yrs.When i was fit enough to start again the old buzz just wasnt there anymore.That and the rise of the commercial puddle scene just killed it off for me. I probulary enjoy my fishing even more now though as i like to target specimen fish on my own terms using methods that i enjoy,which usually means the float.One thing matchfishing did teach me though was to work at your swim in a proactive manner.To that end im always fiddling with my shotting patterns and feeding strategies to entice the fish to feed.Its surprising how often even insignificant changes can produce good fish from apparently lifeless swims.

There is or was a fairly informative video of the wallis cast on the Barbel Fishing World website it had commenty as well if i remember correctly.

Sorry Rusty want making myself very clear,yes it is the third bridge as pointed out by Chris.BTW have arrived at Padwoth early twice this season only to find several cars already there.But on walking the stretch i found myself to be the first arrival. No CALPAC guys on the other bank so can only assume that RDAA anglers are using it to access the south bank of Upper Benyons!....naughty naughty

Yep summer is nearly over and as usual with me just a few highs and too many lows! My quest to beat my long standing PB for Rudd faltered at the first hurdle! Two blanks in as many trips and my optimism was soon fading away.This lake has now been put on the back burner till next summer as it definitely has the pedigree for a few special rudd. A day out at a local lake that heaves with small rudd at least saw me catch my target species.My somewhat faltered logic was that amonst the thousands of small rudd there must be at least a few better specimens!...wrong! all i did was catch small stuff all day long. Barbel fishing has been ok,but only on one or two stretches of the Kennet out of the many miles on offer with my local clubs...have no explanation for this but it seems a lot of anglers have struggled on the kennet this season. A new tench PB was most welcome, even better it came while float fishing "old skool! style in the margins As for the autumn and winter, bring it on!

By contrast i have had my best barbel days at Rainsford this season but Padworth has been dire. Re parking at Padworth, you just park just off the road after crossing the bridge coming from the A4 end.

I think the popular Kamasan Animal hooks are available in a eyed version,not sure if the eye is big enough to accept the line twice through the eye for a palomar knot though.

Was thinking of giving elderberries a go as its a long time since i last fished with them.(about 20 years ago on the Lea) Would agree with Dan Dan just collect them on the day.

Well said Budgie you have spoken a lot of common sense there.It is indeed a British trait to knock any high flyers etc off their perch. Must admit i have mixed feelings on the whole celebrity angler cult that seems to dominate the angling press these days.I sometimes feel all their "star status" goes to their head in their articles.I have also been fortunate or should that be unfortunate to bump into a few of these guys on the bank over the years.The majority it has to be said are decent enough guys,but some are just downright arrogant and rude.Make you wonder if they have had a sense of humour bypass.Certainly im sure the PR dept of the tackle companies they are sponsored by would shudder at their antics!

Have flirted with flurocarbon over the years but just cannot get on with this stuff.I find it brittle and prone to failure at the knot,and yes i am using the correct knots for it.Intrestingly a new barbel video shows that if it is running through the water rather than hard on the lake/river bed it stands out like a beacon. Admittedly i havnt seen this video myself but a friend of mine who has says it has made him think about going back to monofilimant for his mainline.

Hi John I will try and answer a few points re my patience.The day in question was very hot and humid the Kennet was running pretty clear(well about as clear as it gets these days!) I did have actually have maggots with me on the day but elected not to use them as looking into the river is was very obvious that large numbers of small roach and dace were hanging in the upper layers.If the water had been more coloured then i well might have fished maggot over hemp but in clear dconditions they would have been blitzed immediately. There is one other issue as well.although i am a great believer that small fish activity will persuade bigger fish to investigate the swim with Roach i find this not to be the case.The bigger roach are just to wary/timid to tolerate their smaller shoal companions being removed from the swim. I have fished hemp and tares for roach since i was in my early teens so i have confidence in the method.Its just a case of trusting in the technique and not givintg up on it. Finally i have no experience of fishing meat for roach,but as i know we fish the same waters i may give it a go.My fear is though that it would be a tench and carp magnet.

Would definitely agree with that,i only got into mullet fishing last year and they are the most frustrating and spooky fish i have ever come across.

I would favour feeding hemp with either tares or caster on the hook.This method does require patience though as it can take a while for the fish to switch onto tares especially.Although not related to stillwaters i was trotting tares over hemp last weekend and it took me 90 minutes to get my first fish.

Wow Leon impressive science,mind you it does add another excuse to the anglers list of excuses. Yeah if it wasnt for those cumulus clouds i would have really bagged up today!

I tend to hold it sideways as a rule Lyn.It was the changeable nature of the gusts of wind that caught me out.Although predominately downstream and slightly across today by some freak of nature you would get the odd gust right into the face at other times behind you....weird!

Out on the Kennet again today,this time though i left the barbel rod at home to have a mornings trotting with the A.N. centrepin.Although its had a couple of outings to Marsh Farm and local lakes todays session was what it was born to do. Nothing out of the ordiniary fish wise just some nice dace a couple of 3lb chub and the usual frisky brown trout.Had read Chris Plumbs review of the reel last night and i generally concur with his findings apart from a couple of things. Firstly i experienced no bedding in of the line whatsover,secondly the weight wasnt an issue and it balanced my trotting rod beautifully.Although admittedly this was only a 5 hour session today. The only thing slightly annoying was the line tangling round the reel stem on occasion.But this wasnt a fault of the reel just the blustery downstreamer that made trotting tricky today.

Flying Tench Have sent you a P.M. Lutra I have sometimes made the method work with Tares rather than casters but it does seem rather hit or miss.I have heard of people bulking out their bait with partiblend but have yet to try it myself.I work on the principle that if it aint broke why fix it. Its the careful placement of the hemp and casters with a baitdropper(i still see people loose feeding by hand,god knows where it ends up)and then leaving the swim to rest for an hour,then bait,rest,bait,rest until you judge that its time to put a baited hook in the swim.

Cheers Tigger....I hair rigged a enterprise rubber caster to a size 12 Korda wide gape hook.Then i superglued four real casters to the fake caster,its a bit fiddly but the results speak for themselves.

Just back from a superb days barbel fishing on the Kennet.Ten bronze beauties rolled into my landing net today,proving once again what a superb method hemp & caster is on the Kennet in summer.Over the years i have taken many multiple catches of five,six and seven fish in a day fishing this way but this is the first time i have cracked ten in a day. For those not aware of this method look for the articles my Phil Smith & Stef Horak,they have been preaching this style of Barbel fishing for years.Believe me its a winner,often outfishing anglers fishing pellet. Quite often anglers on the bank will comment that its an expensive way of fishing.Well as for the hemp i buy a potato size sack at the beginning of the season from a seed merchant and cook it myself as and when i need it.This is a far more cost effective way than buying the ready cooked version from a tackle shop. Granted casters are not cheap(£4 a pint from my local shops) but i find three pints sufficient for a day session.I look at it this way would you rather spend a tenner or so on a couple of packets of pellet and blank or twelve quid on tried and tested method that really works. Certainly on the Kennet the Barbel see pellet virtually 24/7 plus its a cray magnet as well.