Bayleaf the Gardener

Is that a pike, Mate? or a gudgeon?

Ha ha! Yes - perfectly reasonable. Can you snap it off so we can re-site it on Guyers Bridge please? We'll put in a good word for you with T Pooks if anyone tells on you.

Your posts are always an education, Chris. Thanks to you and Google I now know what a kype is, pronounced or otherwise!

My first trip out since consecutive blanks a week ago. After a few nights of freezing temperatures, storm Isha piled through yesterday, strewing my recycling all round the garden, but melting the ice on the lake top. It was still pretty windy, so I sat in the west corner and let it blow over my head. Knowing the water temperature to be pretty chilly, I kept it light and small, float fishing a single piece of corn on a size 18 1.5 rod lengths out. I slobbed in a walnut-sized lump of groundbait every so often and had bites from the start which allowed me to step up to a size 16. Ended up with 17 bream, 13 of which were between 1lb and 3lb 12, a couple of nice roach and a bonus 6lb 2 common. A fun day. I kept a pike rod out to the right, twitching and recasting the deadbait regularly. It remained untouched apart from one curious incident. Bringing in another bream, it found the gumption to fight, changed direction totally (probably pursued by a pike) and made for the direction of my bung. The lines inevitably crossed and which point my pike rod started to bounce. I chucked the float rod down to grab it. A large pike showed its flank and roared away, and I played it for a good 30 seconds before it dropped off/let go. Not sure quite what happened there, but as well as not catching a pike, the bream hooklink had snapped. Bah.

January 23 was a time of short mid-winter trips to Marsh Benham to plunder its chub and a great many fat trout. This year in South Wales, we sadly have no such river within 30 miles radius (well, none that are not fly fishing only or seen devoid of fish) so it's lakes for me with their inherent poor behaviour in cold weather combined with my lack of ability. 1.1 - Treoes. Scaled down on the tackle and winkled out 4 bream, the biggest of 3lb 2. 5.1 - Treoes. Having spent the cold evenings watching videos on winter lake fishing, I come armed with new tactics. I fished at length with a large bodied waggler, the vast majority of it's 5ssg capacity either side of the float, with a size 18 hook length, ready to step to to either a 16 or 14 once the bigger fish start moving in. The sun rose so low and so bright that I was blinded from the float so had to move to a less painful swim. Kept on the size 18 all day, managing 24 roach from micro-size to 4oz, 13 skimmers and a surprise 2 rudd. Oh well, unlike the Newbury lakes where the cormorants and crayfish have all but accounted for the tinies, at least it's good to see them thriving here. 12.1 - Fendrod Lake, Swansea. Another bright, sunny but chilly day, I changed venue to this 13 acre park lake. Picked a sheltered swim at the deeper end of the lake where the low sun would be hitting the water in front of me. I felt the fish might be drawn to the marginally higher water temperature as the afternoon progressed. It's also the only swim on the entire lake that drops away from the constant strolling by of the general public thus affords the relief of being able to take a shameless wee when needed. Perfectly pleasant sitting in the sunshine, emptying the bladder when required with impunity, but one rod on wafters and the other on teeny hooks with a single maggot brought no bites. 14.1 - Treoes. The second leg of Glamorgan Angling Club's annual pike matches. Most, including me had blanked on the first. 16 of us doughty anglers turned up on a Sunday morning to lovely overcast conditions after days of chill and blue sky. By the time the 9am start came, this had gone and it was hard and clear again. I'd drawn a swim on the shady bank while my compatriots opposite side removed layers and protected their eyes from the glare, I shivered. Looking at the high number of vibrant pike floats across the lake was reminiscent of a schoolboy's heavily acne'd face, but not one of them moved in the entire 6 hours. I've never come close to winning a match before, so to come equal 1st was a minor consolation! 15.1 - Hmm, with it forecast to be colder today and with a northerly wind. I think I'll find something else to do instead.

That's why i didn't fish the Bulls Lock stretch. It's lovely and deep there but I didn't fancy having my sandwiches sniffed by dogs or druggies. It has the NAA's biggest pike there, but there's no way I was going to unhook any in front of small children and mad cyclists. I'm a true misanthrope. Happy fishing for '24.

The end of another year, the fourth after my 20 year+ hiatus from the sport that has totally recaptured me like a gudgeon to a pinkie. July 2023 brought a move from Berkshire to Wales and a completely different set of options. Beach fishing has come into the equation (something I really haven’t got to grips with yet) but my nearest coarse fishing river is an almost implausible 45 mins drive away - too far – and even that seems devoid of fish. So a largely disappointing year for me, in angling terms, though that barbel on the Kennet on that March evening will long live in the memory. Wales have brought a pb common at 19lb 8, perch of 3lb and roach of 1lb 2, along with my first eels since resuming fishing, with the 3lb 1 snake also being a pb for a live fish (I did once snag an estimated 5lb dead eel on the Thames wrapped in someone else’s line. None of them will trouble the records office, but they're all kicking my can down the road and each one was very welcome. Pike have proved to be very elusive in wales, with 6 of my banks down to them. I'm quite anal in my record keeping, writing a journal, updating a spreadsheet, and then there's been this jolly-old blog since March 21, so I am well-equipped to shake a creel full of statistics at you which are of interest to, at best, myself. Here goes: Total number of trips: 2023 - 89 - I missed many in the summer when we moved) (2022 - 144, 2021 - 167) Total number of hours spent fishing: 462 (2022 - 864, 2021 - 912.25) Thus average length of trip = 5.2 hours (2022 4.6 hours) Total number of fish caught: 718 (2022 - 1,344 not including 62 minnows, 2021 - 1,277 not including 49 minnows) Total weight of fish: 1,521lb 4 oz with no minnows (2022 - 2,024lbs, 2021 - 1,850lbs). Thus average weight per trip = 2023 - 17lbs (2022 -14lbs, 2021 -11lbs) Number of fish caught per trip = 8 & 1 fish every 38 minutes (2022 - 9.33 @ 1 fish every 38 minutes, 2021 - 7.74 @ 1 fish every 42 minutes). Number of blank trips was 18 ie 1 every 5 trips (2022 - 14 ie 1 in 10 trips 2021 - 20, ie 1 in 8 trips) number caught number over 1lb years biggest number caught number over 1lb years biggest Bleak 15 (71, 102) NA NA Bream 219 (87,75) 69, (61,27) 7lb 14 (8lb 3.6lb 2) Brownie 67 (28,25) 66(17,16) 4lb 8 (4lb 10,3lb) Common 86 (129,117) 86 (129,116) 19lb 8 (14lb 15, 18lb 9) Chub 19 (50,8) 14 (7,2) 5lb 4 (3lb 10,1lb 12) Crucian 9 (9,10) 0(5,4) NA (2lb 14,2lb 12) Dace 6 (131, 39) 0 6oz (8oz,12oz) Grayling 0 (4,7) 0(2,2) NA (1lb, 1lb 4) Gudgeon 3 (5,12) NA NA Mirror 37 (66,90) 37 (66,90) 12lb (14lb 10,16lb 10) Perch 10 (140,270) 1 (13/13) 3lb (2lb 6,2lb 6) Pike 2 (9,2) 2(8,2) 7lb (14lb, 3lb 2) Rainbow 1(1,1) 1(1,1) 3lb 2 (2lb 2,5lb 3) Roach 186 (583,450) 2, (1,0) 1lb 2 (1lb, 12oz) Rudd 10 (9,20) 0 6oz (12oz/4oz) Tench 43 (34,49) 15 (45,34) 3lb 8 (6lb 2, 5lb) There. Not particularly great, is it. My comments 2 years ago were "my profile suggests someone who has concentrated on Willows (carp, tench), and hasn't got to grips with rivers (the chub count is appalling). Plenty of room for improvement, especially chub, and I'd like to do some piking this winter. I also aim to get the blanks down to 1 in 5, and find some larger roach." Well, it came broadly right in 2022. My joining a local river syndicate with good roach and chub numbers made a difference, but that ended with my move. Very few brownies or chub predicted for 2024. The pic is a repeat of my favourite fish of the year, that barbel. I'm far too far from the Wye to add any more this year. Ambitions for 2024 are to find other venues (though efforts so far have only revealed more lakes) and step up the sea fishing - from 10 short sessions in 2023 I've landed 13 small bass and nothing else. Happy New Year everyone. May your floats dither then go under.

Nice one, Chris!

A last session of the year at my default lake. A fun trip, though thank goodness for bream. After a slow start a shoal found me, and in groups of two or three I ended up wit eleven, ten of which came in between 1lb and 4lb 4. With a bonus carp of 6lb 6 and the rain keeping off me all day, I would have settled for this before hand.

With rain due this afternoon and the tides in the right direction, I headed for the local beach. A steady sou' westerly was driving quite a surf and being a newbie at this sea fishing lark, I don't yet know if the cold-water fish come as near to the shore as the summer bass do. Anyway, I cast as far as the wind and my poor technique would allow into the meaty waves. At least with the tide coming in, the bait (a two-hook flapper rog, one holding a sandeel, the other a bit of squid) would effectively be left it in less turbulent water. After half an hour the rain started early with the force of the wind making it uncomfortable to stand in. After a couple of hours I'd had no bites and (as I would find out when I got home) even my pants were wet. With the tide now going out, I felt that my hooks would be left in shallower and shallower rough water and decided to go and wrap some Christmas presents instead.

Very annoying though. I'm more glad than ever I use barbless trebles.

Having abandoned any further 1hr 40 minute round trips to my 'local' river which seemingly holding no fish, and my very local Port Talbot Docks mysteriously having last week closed to all further fishing, it's my usual lake again. Friday. With the frosts a few days past now I was hoping the fish will have woken up hungry. Well, they sort of had. Got a handful of roach and bream, but in heavy rain did get a bonus 13lb 6 Common. Monday. A chilly but often sunny day. I chose to sit on the north bank and cast to where the sun might be warming the water slightly. Certainly gloves were required where I sat in the shade, but as the temperature started to rise so the bites began. I had 22 bream, biggest 2lb 8 with four over the 2lb mark, plus two nice roach. I also set up a pike rod as a 'sleeper', this time with a sprat, my thinking it being more like the silvers I imagine the pike eat than my usual half mackerel. Though I twitched the bait occasionally, and dripped maggots around to being in the bait fish it sat untouched. Until 2pm when the float pulled under and the line tightened. I struck and was in. It gave a good fight, remaining unseen and regularly stripping line for a good few minutes. Finally it started to fade and revealed itself - a 9lb 10 Common carp!

My third trip to the Ely. It's my nearest coarse river and, with a stop at Bridgend to pick up maggots, took me about 50 minutes. That's too long, but I'm missing my chub fishing. We've had a clear and chilly last week that's warmed in the last couple of days with some rain and cloud giving a pleasant lift in temperature that I think makes it ripe for action. It's a lovely looking river, much like the Kennet in places with glides and overhangs - very chubby looking. Having suffered two blanks here so far, I've sharpened my technique watching every long-trotting video I could find on You Tube. So I'm pretty confident I have validated my choice of swim, loose feed strategy, depth, weight of float (4ssg) drawn beautifully off the centrepin, shot distribution and hook size to be pretty confident that if there's fishy action to be had, I should see some of it. Nope. On my fifth swim I finally get an apologetic bite and a sucked maggot, and that's the peak of the action. That's it. We're through. The Ely can poke it. That's probably around 9 hours of fishing here for a mouthed maggot and a dropped 2oz (probably) roach. Those readers who curse the presence of trout in their waters read ruefully. What I wouldn't have given for an angry-faced brownie.

Risk £4- ish and buy a bag. It stays on no bother, and as long as you keep it airtight, you can save what you don't use for next time. No sticky fingers either! There's some pretty good You Tube videos. You can watch them with a pinch of salt, of course, but I urge you to give it a go and see what you think.

Hi Chris - Another great haul. Wish the Lamborn flowed through South Wales. Maybe with a bit more floodwater it will reach us. I was wondering whether you'd tried Fjuka for your trout egg imitation? It might not smell of krill, but has a fish-attracting aroma and really easy to hook on a size 16/18. I rarely fish without a bag in my, err, bag.

With rain due and the prospect of hiding under a brolly, a lake seemed a better option than a river bank. A change of tactics though. With maggots left from Saturday, I thought I'd fish light, aiming to get the silvers going that might stimulate the pike into accepting a juicy half-mackerel dangled on a sleeper rod a few yards away near the rushes where I suspected predators might lie. Part A of the plan worked superbly, with 21 roach to 6oz (though most smaller) plus 21 bream (larger with one of 2lb 10) Needless to say, Plan B was less successful, the dead bait being ignored completely - a regular occurrence in recent weeks. With an hour to go I was approached by the bailiff who looks like Neil Warnock and has the temperament to match. 'We need to have words' he told me. Turns out that 'we don't lift fish out of the water, every fish must be netted.' I looked at my pike-sized 3ft net and pictured the one or two ounce roach that he must have seen my lift. He sensed my incredulity. 'Gravity applies to all fish. It's in the rules. Bring a smaller net next time.' He left with a 'have a good rest of your session.' Being a good boy and not wanting to risk my permit, I switched bait to corn to perhaps reduce the number of nettings to fish of a slightly larger size that wouldn't have them **** with laughter at the size of my net and didn't get another bite. Still, after two consecutive blanks it was good to boost the averages and bring a fairly sorry November's fishing to a close.

A short session on the coldest morning of the winter so far. I'd been scrutinising Google Earth and found more potential access to the heavily vegetated bankside. Over quite a walk, I found 5 swims, all allowing a good trot of a float. With the centrepin spinning nicely, and the frost starting to melt around me, it felt an idyllic venue, apart from no fish. I did bump a tiddler early on,but that was it. Hmm, that's 2/2 blanks. I'm not sure if its my ineptitude or a lack of fish, but I'll be making some more masochistic visits, i'm sure. Just a shame that it's my nearest coarse fishing river at 35 minutes from home. One thing, while under the cover of trees an enormous bird of prey flew low over the canopy, enough to cause quite a shadow as it passed. having lived in Berkshire where Red Kites outnumber sparrows, I am used to the sight of large birds, but this was huge. Would they have ospreys within 10 miles of central Cardiff?

My second trip to my local venue having been given prior permission by land manager, Dai the Worm. And a second run-less blank. As I left, the chap pole fishing for silvers a few swims away told be he'd been bitten off by pike 'at least six times'. This is a common complaint of matchmen here, so I didn't doubt it. I've been told that only live baiting works here, but that's against my personal fishing creed. Wasn't a total disappointment as I did find out that the enormous brick building on the far bank is not part of the steelworks at all, but is a cement factory. Since my trip, Dai the Worm has announced that no fishing will be allowed after 27th November. Shame.

A rare trip back 'home' to Newbs allowed me a visit to one of my favourite stretches, albeit the high water level put pay to a few of my favourite swims. I arrived after a cold night to bright sun which, as well as making float trotting blindingly impossible, contributed to many of the resident fish taking shelter. Except for the trout, of course. I landed three of the snarly-faced swim-trashers but lost another seven, each one leaving the swim in tatters. A handful of roach, dace and chublets kept me interested, but nothing else. As the session progressed it became something of a Newbury Angling Association who's-who of committee members past and present as three others came and went. Only one was there to fish, landing just trout, disappointing for him probably, but almost a relief for me.

Shame it wasn't quite at your usual expectations. I'm in Newbs tomoz for the committee meeting and staying over to fish the stretch on Friday (though sounds like it might be a sunny day which ain't great. Still, better than Welsh rain). Anyway, at least I've got the warning to bring my wellies!

My debut at my local water, a large expanse of water alongside the steelworks. Though I moved to Wales in July, I'd not fished it yet because of my apprehension of Dai the Worm. In order to fish it, one must obtain permission a day or two ahead from this local legend. However I'd been warned to make sure I 'only phone him when he's in a good mood' -which sounded a bit arbitrary, so I thought it best to make a personal acquaintance first and perhaps get him used to my English accent before calling out of the blue telling him I wanted to fish his docks. So the safety-in-numbers of a pike match arranged by Glamorgan Anglers seemed the idea opportunity to meet Dai in a safe environment, only he wasn't there. Never mind, 13 other anglers were, all keen to pit wits against the Esox in a bid for the Bryn Hedges trophy. Perhaps I got a bit of empathy for Dai's position in monitoring who gets in to the venue and who doesn't. We drove through both heavily secured gates into a wasteland of crumbling concrete, scrub and rusting nautical hardware. You really wouldn't want kids there or those who might have an interest in removing the vast ancient metal capstans. I was pegged opposite one of the complexes of the steelworks and with the disintegrating concrete pilings of a once active landing stage standing in my swim. I was concerned that if I hooked any self-respecting pike it would immediately head for these braid-snapping pillars. The toughness of the swim was reinforced by a submerged ledge 2 rod lengths out after which the depth plunged vertically to a depth that once handled shipping. The silver fish matchmen talk of pike being a total nuisance, grabbing sufficient roach on the wind-in to half their overall catch weights. Live bait is the only way to go, they told me, but personally I refuse to do this, feeling there is nothing more terrifying I could do to any creature than impale it on big hooks and suspend it in areas they know to be of grave danger. So half mackerel it was, both popped up off the bottom which I was assured was full of hook blunting boulders and lead trapping snags. With the temperature having dropped from double-figures to three degrees overnight and a day of bright sunshine after a week of Welsh rain, I felt it might not be the greatest day for pike fishing. And do it proved, with only three anglers catching - two small jacks and one maybe 8lbs. I certainly wasn't one of them, but at least I have a feel of the water now and a confidence to approach Dai the Worm when I surely return. If he lets me.

Three more trips to my mainstay lake while I work out what the heck I'm going to do for my winter fishing. Monday - Not a touch on pike rod, but the other brought commons of 7lb 8, 6lb 12, 6lb 9, 7lb 10 and 6lb 8 plus a 7lb 12 mirror and a single small bream. A good day. Friday - Didn't bother with the pike rig put put on prawn pieces hoping for perch. A slower day but 2 commons both of 11lb 6 and a mirror of 6lb made it a fair day. Monday - With Storm Debi blowing for Wales, the sight of heron trying to take off was the highlight of the day. Unsurprisingly, I was the only one on the lake, huddled into the west corner with the 45mph winds roaring over my head and creating surf on the far bank. The fish were largely hiding so it was a worse day than even to lose four carp mid-fight, but commons of 6lb 4 and 4lb 8 plus a single skimmer made it all worthwhile.

A new venue for me - a huge reservoir said to contain trout and pike. I fished various dead baits, one under a drifting pike float, the other popped up from the apparently 58ft depth. With autumn in full force, it's a beautiful venue and being far from any decent roads, is the quietest place I think I've ever fished. It was just me and my tinnitus. Sadly the fishing was equally quiet as though I changed depths regularly and explored all of the very wide and open swim, neither rod got a touch in 5 hours. I'd also bought a lure rod, so having shoved the heavy guns back in the car, I started to walk the lake for a few bonus casts and to suss out other swims for next time. It took me 45 minutes to walk around the elongated reservoir during which time I found only one 'proper' swim where my lure was ignored and maybe three more that I could have accessed by sliding down the slightly less steep bank if I'd felt more confident of climbing back up the mud afterwards. Probably wont go there again, but somehow still enjoyed the day.

Autumn may bring mellow fruitfulness and waterlogged pitches, but it also brings a hit-and-miss nature to lake fishing. That's despite all the angling press telling you that the fish are desperate to fatten themselves up like turkeys for Christmas. With no rivers or canals in easy reach, I persevered with the lake I've been plundering since my arrival in summer. Friday - One pike rod (though it may still be too warm for them to really get going) and one float rod. The dead bait wasn't touched all day, and a single common of 9lbs and a 1.5lb bream represented a below-par return despite a bonus 2lb tench. Monday - Had a stinking cold so decided i'd be better off sneezing on the bank all day rather than at home in bed. Was pretty spaced out, so was almost relived only to only have my stupor disturbed by a handful of silvers. One 6oz bream came with a few mins to go where it was snapped at by a pike lying low pretty much at my feet. Typical - the dead bait had not been touched all day. I took my remaining resolve to see if I could encourage him to attack again by winding in my bored looking chunk of mackerel and swirling it around under the rod tip under the surface of the margin in front of me. Sure enough, after 30 seconds there was an eruption as the frustrated pike fell for it. A tug-of-war ensued rather than a fight, as the pike and I eyeballed each other as we both pulled for supremacy. I lowered the net in and would have scooped him up, but a combination of water resistance and my stuffy headedness made me miss at which the unhooked pike decided to let go, and slid over the top of the net and away. It was probably only 5 or 6lbs say, but I felt so rough I was glad to be spared the effort of unhooking it. In hindsight and with more faculties on-line I should have struck, but the pull of the pike made me think it was hooked.

Great news! So glad to hear you're back among the Brownies!