DaveL

To all who came to Wingham over the weekend, VERY well done and congratulations! Despite the rather inhospitable weather it was fantastic to see so many PB's and two magnificent Bream come out. A special thanks to Peggy for the superb BBQ's, I know they went down rather well And to Steve for.... well, everything! It was a real pleasure to meet some familiar faces again.... and a few new ones that I suspect will return next year I was really hopeing there would be some nice fish this year for you all and just hoped there might be one of the big Bream I know the lake holds. To see TWO big Bream AND a lake record Tench come out was amazing! I don't think I've seen three grown men so happy in the rain for some time Congratulations again all, and special thanks to Meatballs, Budgie & Rob for making my weekend with those fish. Now what will next year hold for you all ..........

Same this year, the Pike are taking all manner of what they consider edible! The only "targetted" Pike was the one in Den's previous picture which leaped at Newt's lure while he was giving us all a demonstration. I've no doubt Steve/Budgie/Rob/Meatballs and a few others will expand in greater detail of how the weekend went so I'll just leave you in peace for now

Just a quick report after my morning walk around the lake.... I live within half a mile of it The wind has eased and it is noticeably warmer today. Lots of reports of fish movement/rolling in the early hours and some very happy grinning anglers spoken to! I wont go into details as Steve will no doubt post soon but suffice it to say the Bream have put in an appearance Regards DaveL

Paul, The Dartford toll for a Van is £1.80p and is the only toll you will need to pay unless you decide to take the new Birmingham M6 toll road to by-pass Birmingham.... if you do use that it's around another Fiver. An option to miss both tolls is to take the M6 - M42 then M40 down to the M25 then take the M25 around the South side of London. That route is only a few miles longer but will avoid any tolls. There are currently roadworks on the East side of the M25 as well which can hold you up so the M40 route is the one I'd use. Look forward to seeing you down here... oh and contrary to popular belief, a passport wont be needed

To all coming this week-end... I will be there over the week-end to help out again with "Sherpa" duties and any other assistance I can offer Steve. Very good to see so many intend to come down and I'm really looking forward to meeting you all. I'm sure you'll all enjoy yourselves and hopefully there may be a few PB's if conditions are right. I know you have all read of the potential for large fish at Wingham and I can assure you it's true.... I'm a member Good luck to everyone, see you over the week-end. Best Regards DaveL

Hello all, Firstly, Steve.... absolutely no thank's nessasasary, it was no problem at all and a good opportunity to meet a few forum members. I did manage a couple of lake circuits on the Sunday morning and had every intention of giving those that required the "Pack Mule" services in the Afternoon/Evening a hand but unfortunately a minor crisis arose at home and I could'nt get back there. My apologies to those left with with a bit of a trek. As Steve has already mentioned the weather was hardly conducive to big catches and on behalf of us "Southerners" I apologize.... we'll try to do better next year. I was really hoping that everything would "click" over the weekend and some of the big fish that both I/Steve and some of you know are in there grace a guests landing net but.... As regular readers will know the fish in Wingham are growing at a phenomenal rate so if you missed this year I can only say, make a point of booking some time off for next year. I'm confident that in the very near future there WILL be record fish coming out of here and although I really hope Steve gets one first, it would be great for a forum member to come down and catch one. Finally, to all those I met over the weekend it was nice putting a few faces to the avatars, I really hope you all enjoyed the weekend even if the fish were'nt very co-operative. All the best for the new season and hope to meet a few more of you next year. Regards DaveL

Pile it in.... as long as it includes something with wheels and is motorized DaveL

Hi Steve and everyone coming tommorrow.. I'm guessing that you will be meeting at around 9am so this is just to let Steve & everyone coming know, if you see a shady looking character walking around inside of the gates please dont throw thing's at him... it might well be me! I'll be walking across at around 8.30 - 9 so see you all there. If anyone needs a hand carting gear to they're swim I'll be glad to help out.... although for those that have never seen Wingham, my donkey's on a work to rule so kitchen sinks will be left in the car park Oh and bye the way, the lake looks as inviting as ever and the swims look oh so tempting I really hope you all catch, and I hope even more if you do it will exceed your expectations! Regards for now, DaveL

Hi Rudd, Sorry this is a little late to offer any advice that may help you..... I just got back from working away again Last year we were wororking in Saffron Walden and we stayed at Rockells farm for about a week. We fished there every night after work for a couple of hours and regularly had between 20 & 30 carp up to around 10lbs. The bait we found most productive was luncheon meat fished on the bottom. As the evenings wore on we'd find the fish would invariably come closer and closer to the margins and by dusk would be fishing no more than 2ft from the bank. Although not my particular "cup of tea", I could well imagine some very large catches being made there. The owners, a very nice Dutch couple, confirmed there had been some large catches made in matches held there in the past. As an aside... One evening we returned from work, got the rods out and walked down to the lake and noticed a chap across the other side having a good bit of sport. His wite cap stood out very prominantly so you may be able to figure out who it was Hope you have a good day Regards DaveL PS I can heartily recommend the accomodation there. VERY nice people and a VERY nice breakfast

To all those coming to the Fish-In I'll be there to help out Steve in any way I can and to say hello to you all. Just like to wish you all the best of luck and hope the weekend weather is kind for everyone. For those not coming.....Your missing out!! Regards DaveL

Many, many congratulations Steve.... and not forgetting Jon either, terrific news!! I'm in the VERY fortunate position of being a member at Wingham and also happen to live right on the doorstep! The one big drawback I have is that my work schedule is very hectic at times and I cant get over to the lake as often as I'd like as I often have to travel at short notice. What I would like to say is that in the short time I've been a member, it's been a real privilige to fish the water and I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Steve for giving us an outstanding local (and in my opinion national) fishery. I really hope I can get a few more days fishing in this year, and who knows maybe make Steve's dream of a record fish a reality. Even if I don't catch a record.... or even a fish, it's still a beautifull place to blank! Whatever happens Steve, I'll make every effort to get the weekend of the Fish-In off (I know members can't fish that weekend) so I can help out where I can and get to meet a few of you board members. Take my advice readers.....Get down here for the Fish-In, you wont regret it...rain or not! Regards DaveL

Hi all, Just got back from the bonny Highlands last night so apologies to all for being unable to report earlier on my "Wingham experience". After being away since the fish in, time is little short at the moment as you can imagine, but I'll try to write a report on how the weekend went in the next day or so. For now I really must say thanks to Steve for all the help he gave me at the time and for making the weekend.....Memorable! I'll be in touch later..... DaveL.

Hello all long time lurker here =) As there would appear to be some of you on the board with a pretty good knowledge of coarse fishing spots in Scotland, could I ask a follow up to the recent post please. It looks very likely that I will be working in the Dundee area in the near future (within a week or so) and will be there for about two weeks. I/we (probably 4 of us) would like to ideally find somewhere close at hand to Dundee that supplies acommodation AND Coarse fishing.....any pointers?? Not really in-to Salmon or Trout, just after a nice coarse fishery of some kind. Won't be back at the pc until Tuesday...I look forward to hearing your views. Many thanks in advance, DaveL

Morning all. It would seem today would be an appropriate time for one of the background lurkers to pop out of the cupboard and pass on very best wishes to you all. A special thank's to Elton and the regulars for giving us "closet boys" such a great resource. Best on the Net by a long way. Oh well, back to the cupboard... I've got a naked bird that's in need of love & affection. Seasons greetings and my best regards to you all. Dave.

Marky, I'm fairly sure they hire out bait boats here - http://www.tacklebox.co.uk/ - I seem to remember seeing an ad on their shop door the last time I was there. Not to sure of costs/conditions etc, I would suspect only to visitors to the shop but might be worth looking into. The shop itself is in Dartford Kent and is predominently a carp tackle shop. It's run by carp enthusiasts (including Lee Jackson) and carries an enormous selection of gear and baits. Well worth a visit if your in the area. Hope this helps. All the best DaveL.