WickerDave

Fished there yesterday for the first time for a month. It is now sporting new BW signs, alarmingly with opening times of 7am to 5pm. If these hours are fixed and not seasonal, then this is a disaster for mainly warm weather weekday evening anglers like myself.

I've not fished this area for over 20 years, now being exiled in the Midlands. If you look in the AnglersNet Fishing Database under Kent you get 139 entries, with none in the immediate Ramsgate/Thanet area. There are lots around Canterbury though. The only one I've walked around in recent years is Cottington on the Sandwich to Deal road. It's a commercial with several pools, some of which are for trout. Didn't look too bad, the carp run to over 20lb. East Kent used to be a wasteland for chub, so with the exception of the Stour you could be out of luck there. There are some smallish clear streams in the Sandwich/Deal area that used to contain a decent head of pike.

Having recently purchased my first baitrunner (an Okuma Epix EB-30, based on recommendations on this site and elsewhere), I was surprised that setting the reel into free spool mode does not also temporarily set the reel into anti-reverse mode (i.e. temporarily overriding whatever setting the anti-reverse switch has). Don't you always need the anti-reverse on when the reel is in free spool mode? - or am I missing something? Is this a standard design on all baitrunners, or do some do the override? Also any tips on using a baitrunner? - apart from remembering to set the reel into free spool mode . Presumably the main drag must be fairly loose to prevent problems with the transition from free spool on to off after a take - especially as you need a second or two so you can turn the anti-reverse off so you can backwind if needed.

I think for the style of water it is about right. You can't wan't any more fish in it, can you? Maybe more toilets (for the benefit of the fairer sex). Personally, I'm not that bothered about food/drink/tackle facilities. The rules are about right too. I've always been surprised they allow groundbait on all the pools so perhaps that will change on the smaller pools. Looking at a few web pages for BW waters they have a one rod only rule on at least one water, and some maximum hook sizes on most, so these are possible changes.

Nothing has changed as it is still Makins, as the deal is not closed yet. I spoke to the bailiff yesterday and it's been "within the next two weeks" for the last few fortnights.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm pretty sure pellets are banned too. Corn might be too small a bait, even several grains. There are lots of roach in the pool with plenty in the 6oz to 12oz range, plus some aggressively feeding roach/bream hybrids to 1lb+. On the few times I've legered these seem to be able to reduce a large lump of luncheonmeat to a takeable size pretty quickly, hence the search for a more resilient large bait. The carp here do like to bask and cruise in the sunshine. Plenty of fish are usually visible, but again the largest fish seen this way have only been low doubles. However, I have had a first hand account from the captor of a 29¾lb fish several years ago that I believe - losing the ¼lb makes it more believable! This was caught on dog food before that was banned. Although the pool is small it has a lot of deep areas to 9ft. Is it likely that the large fish stay deep during the day and only move and feed at night?

Ignoring the contentious issue of whether barbel should be in stillwaters (please don't re-discuss this here), are there any methods or baits that can be used in a typical carp puddle to separate them from the carp? Bans would include night fishing, particles and pellets, but groundbait is allowed. From a years limited experience of 20+ stillwater only fish from 4oz to 8lb, it seems the small fish shoal - catch one and you catch several very quickly. Multiple catches of better fish have been rare, it's usually only a single fish on luncheonmeat in the margins in the last hour before dark, often with the last cast.

Large = 20lb+. Small = less than an acre. Occasionally on one of my small local waters I hear that a large carp has been caught. On the last telling a year or two ago it was 35lb, a huge fish for such a small water. Five years of "casual" fishing (mainly short evening sessions, using floating baits or large baits in the margins) for me has produced lots of carp, but nothing above 13lbs. I've witnessed a couple of better doubles being caught, but nothing bigger. I've now got a decent second rod and baitrunner so I'm intending to adopt the "chuck it out and leave it" approach with this rod this spring to see if these fish exist. Given the long list of rules, including no night fishing, two rods maximum, no boilies, nuts, cat or dog food, method feeders or groundbait, I am intending to leger a large hard bait (cheese maybe) with some PVA'ed freebies. Given all the bans, is there a better approach, particularly in bait selection?

There is a good description of the fishery on fisheries.co.uk. The match lake is dominated by smaller carp, although there are some approaching 20lb now. The favoured pegs are those in the middle of the road bank (from just right of the island and away right from it), and the far reedy corner. This year I've method fished to the right of the island with sweetcorn for mainly smaller carp in the 1½lb to 4½lb range, and floatfished luncheonmeat in the margins/close in for mainly better carp in the 6 to 9½lb range, plus the odd tench and bream. I have seen the multi-rod/boilie approach work for the bigger carp. The gravel pit contains plenty of carp to the mid-20s with lots of doubles, plus some good tench and chub. There are also plenty of roach and skimmers, although the skimmers can be a bit of a pain at times, especially when fishing surface baits. This year I've caught all round the lake with various methods - method fishing with sweetcorn, freelining luncheonmeat in the margins and floating bread/boilies/mixers. The multi-rod/boilie approach obviously works for the bigger carp. The most popular pegs are on the small island, the spit that makes a small nearly enclosed bay (the chub cruise around here a lot), and the flat grassy bank halfway around, but part of their popularity is there is more room for multi-rod set-ups. This only applies to spring to autumn fishing, I think winter is hard work on both lakes.

Newt, thanks for the welcome. I did a fair amount of shore-based small spinner/plastics fishing in central Iowa about 20 years ago when working there, so I have been following the US posters with interest. I never did catch anything big, but the variety of fish you have that will take a lure is amazing. Pretty fish too, especially when compared to the Iowa farm girls . I've also done a bit of lure fishing around Austin, Texas, mainly at Lake Travis. To answer the rig question, the tackle is simple. 1.25 TC Avon rod, 8lb line (thin diameter mono), size 6 hook with breadcrust directly on the hook (not hair-rigged), freelined if possible, or using a surface controller if the fish are further out. This fishery bans boilies (hence floating boilies) and cat/dog biscuits, so the floating bait options are fairly limited.

This post is about a month late, but since I've only just registered I'll ask it for next year. When surface fishing for carp in a small still water mid-October this year and mid-October last year, I've caught a few fish but most of them have been foulhooked in the front end. At this time of year it seems to be the better fish (6 to 12 lb) that are most active on the surface, but rather than the usual non-taking behaviour of mouthing or nudging the bait they seem to roll over it - hence the foulhooking. Is it the floating leaves on the surface at this time of year or just wising up after 6 months of seeing floating baits that has changed their behaviour? Any suggestions for approaches to get them to take the bait properly?

Yes, it is called Daves Pool, according to the battered sign on the gate. It is on the left just as you exit the centre of Wolvey going north (on the bend just past the church and the "Stop the airport" sign). I did visit Lakeside a couple of winters ago and walked around it. There were a few people there who were really struggling, so I don't know if it is a winter water. I haven't fished it yet.

Does anyone know the name and address or phone number of the owners of "Daves Pool" in Wolvey, Warwickshire? There seems to be a few posters who fish Makins nearby, has anyone fished this pool or is the lure of the easy pickings at Makins too great?