Peter M

thanks i will do some digging on the subject.

i notice you are in sudbury i would like to fish the suffolk stour in the new season are there any good bits on day ticket?

The Warren! its been a few years since i fished the Warren since i moved up to Harlow but yes its is a nice water. a mate of mine lives near stanford so want to try and get him involved in having a go at the back lake which i have not fished but is meant to have a few tench in.

To be honest i may just observe my own close season do something else in April. actually i bought a fly start kit a couple of years ago but the only fly fishing round my way is comercial fishing for trout and that does not inspire me either. thank god my club opens on 1st May for those who do at least one work party so only a couple of weeks to go.

hi mate i have been to loads in the Essex/herts area over the last 10 years but over the last couple of years i have been to Timberlands Harlow, Puddledock farm upminster, Rib valley in Ware, Arrans lake chelmsford, Birds green at Fyfeld. To be honest they are what they are shallow small lakes with plenty of fish (and plenty of anglers), very unlike the CAA club lakes or rivers i usually fish. I quiet liked Arrans although its a really silly lake carp wise but for a commercial the fish looked in good condition. I think its just me i like to commit to a water and really get to know it, maybe i am just missing my usual haunts that are closed this time of the year.

Maybe its because i don't fish them much anymore but the usual April visit to a couple of commericals this year has left me feeling rather unfulfilled, silly rules like having to finish early evening, packed swims, the lake becoming very peggy so if your not in the going swim your going to struggle, the lackluster fishery managmnet at one venue where they have moved fish around thier lakes willly nilly, the souless feel of the places where you just feel a bit like a fish monger rather than an angler just add to the frustration. My club waters will open in May thank god, the rivers in June and i will not go to another commercial now for the rest of the year. hooray

Don't get me wrong sitting in my garden 9 miles from Stanstead airport is bliss at the moment. Not only are there no planes but there is little traffic going up the M11 due to the airport closure. I am just bemoaning the modern trend towards risk aversion that is claimed to be risk assessment. i am even more convinced this is an over reaction now i have found out that its the Met office who are predicting the scale of the problem when they couldn't forcast thier way out of a wet paper bag and are completley untrustworthy when it comes to stating the risk from so called climate change.

Last time this volcano erupted it lasted for a year. Are the going to keep the airports closed for a year? No suddenly they will decide its ok now its safer, let the planes go now. The economy of all these countries cannot take a big hit like this so the disingenoues authorities and meely mouthed 'risk assessors' will suddenly change thier minds. I don't believe anything govts say anytime. ...................... oh my god i am turning into chesters

More over reaction by the Elf and safety police that run our countries in the modern era. we have had volcanos erupting in iceland before but we have never closed the airspace for this long all over northen europe. Only if a plane actually flies over the volcano will there be a risk that dust could cause engine failure not if you are miles away. Just like swine flu a massive over reaction on behalf of our Govts.

i use 10 to 15 pound flurocarbon when tying my own rigs or you can just buy braided hook lengths ready tied on ebay. i use either small sweet bolie ie tuti fruity or strawberry or i use 12 mil halibut pelletsthat i buy pre drilled or you can use a bait band . this is for going for double figure carp up to 20 pounds. This time of the year though i use maggots under a float for carp fishing on commercials. when May comes and my club is open i will use the carp rods with above tactics. I also feel it is important to use safety clips in a semi fixed style and i would never use fixed bolt rigs as they can harm fish. I have very cheap electronic bite alarms that are very good, i don't own a bait boat and i rarely fish very far out unless the margins are very shallow which can be the case on some french lakes so i have been told.

He has his own day ticket fishery near Colchester in Essex.

especially when they are not supposed to stock them any more as they are an alien species

Sorry no i don't but somone posted on AN a couple of years ago that they caught one at stambridge which surprised me as i used to fish it a lot in the 90's when i lived down that way and never heard of them in there then. try a search of old posts

Lekes in Essex that have starlets include Crow green fishery in Brentwood (at least they used to have them) and Stambridge fishery near Rochford. They have been reported in the past on AN so a search of posts may turn up more information.

I will be fishing a club lake Saturday which also closes on monday although only until the 1st of May. It is about 1 acre in size with depths to 20 feet I will have a carp rod out and also using a quiver tip, I will be fishing maggots on the other rod for anything that swims in the lake which is mostly roach and perch, apart from the carp. My brother will have two rods out for carp as he is a dyed in the wool carp nut. To be honest as long as it has finns on each corner i will be happy, hope the maggots will get me some constant sport with the roach. April means jobs at home, work party for the club and maybe the odd trip to a commercial but nothing planned yet.

To be honest his name should never have been released in the first place. There are many juvenile serious offences carried out each year (Murder, Rape, arson, extreme acts of violence) yet these juveniles are not named. This case became a massive news story yet others do not and after the original offence you don't here any more. There is a lot of hypocrisy in the press they want a good story to sell tatty rags to us and this is a good story for them. Makes me sick.

In short April work party at CAA club and maybe a trip to a day ticket carp fishery that used to be a syndicate lake until recently. May CAA is open and i will be on broads green mostly, also boat trip with sea section going for smoothies. June i will join Billericay Angling and want to fish some of thier ponds that are carp free but have lots of tench bream roach rudd, also they have some cracking mature carp lakes

Not really powerful enough for barbel in fast flowing rivers but i do have one for chub fishing on rivers and tench and carp fishing on lakes. i have a 1.5 test curve barble rod made by DAM as well but have never used it. the jw avon rod is nice for float fishing on pits and i have caught double figure carp on it and i really like the feel of it i just think it may not have the back bone for barble in snaggy rivers

good to know there is oil there and we didn't go to war for nothing. Or sheep

shame there are no pics to go with the story. i know the warren quiet well and even had a double figure pike from the lake. i have a mate who lives near the venue and he will be really interested in the story.

Interstingly eels may actually become extinct in our waters in a few years time, how many anglers used to wish their demise when caught while targeting other species?

I fished puddledock farm at upminster back in april for the first time and had some nice skimmers from the road lake. this is a confidence water for beginners and its not all carp carp carp. That being said there are carp and some bigger ones in a couple of the lakes. very much a commercial water but near you is a club that I have heard good things about. http://www.collierrowac.cjb.net/

Well chesters mate i think you may have missed my point but i will try again. Not finacially providing for your children should mean that you are checked up on more by the state, beacuse often (not always but all too often) it IS your fault. If you have seven kids as was the case with this family and don't have the means to support them then to my way of thinking that means you are suspect. All too often this tardiness in responsibility is matched by awful parenting (not always i know but All to often) our benefits system encourages the feckless and downright usless to procrate by giving them more money. all i am saying is this has to stop.

firstly we have to stop rewarding people for having chidren through the benefits system. the more children you have the more money you get and better still get a disabled one and get disability living allowence on top. what they do is ignore the kids a **** the money away on booze drugs etc. with three kids you can get around 30 grand a year tax free and you don't have to pay council tax. Brillant and you can lie in bed all day while your kids do god knows what. That is what has to stop as soon as. it can't be right that somone on average wage takes home less than someone on benefit and has to pay tax on it.

Actually i agree that the river Lea on the Essex/Herts border can be really really hard although i have caught a couple of nice barbel from fishers green but usually i keep to the Stort lots more fish there.