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Bayleaf the Gardener

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  1. Bayleaf the Gardener

    11.6.21 - Alders

    By Bayleaf the Gardener,


    Alders
    At 57, I am surely too old to be having sleepless nights over fishing, but the worry over which lake, which swim, kept me awake and anxious into the small hours. In the end, I went for the less popular Alders, which became a good decision. While spawning carp crashed in the middle of the lilies, I kept to the edge, method feeding a variety of hook baits before finding one that worked for today - double hair-rigged artificial corn. Having lost a good tench in the snags near my feet, I was happy to play a large fish in open water which came in as an 11lb 7 Common. There was a strong westerly breeze that ruffled the water which I'm not sure kept fish quiet, or kept them feeding, so that on a day of numerous missed bites, I had four tench (two over 5lbs), and three bream (also two over 5lbs) totalling over 40lbs for the day. 



  2. Bayleaf the Gardener

    8.6.21 - Willows

    By Bayleaf the Gardener,


    Willows
    The hot weather continues, though with a warm southerly breeze rippling the surface, there was hardly a carp to be seen, My attempts to loose feed doggy bikkies to see who was around proved futile, as within seconds I had terns diving hard into my swim and those bloody ducks from Saturday swimming down for their tea. 
    So I switched to plan B, the method feeder, thinking that my swim was shallow enough for the wafter to be spotted wherever the fish were,  and soon lost a good fish, it falling off the hook (yes, that old story) having been apparently well snagged-on for a good few minutes. So I swapped rigs for that Guru QMI hook, and over the next 4 hours had Mirrors of 9lb 9, 6lb 9, 2lb 4, Tench of 2lb 9, 1lb 2 and Commons of 6lb 12, 8lb 10 and 9lb 9. Wow - over 40lbs of fish! I can't say the hook made the difference, but having said that, nothing else dropped off. A truly fun evening made absolutely no sweeter than walking back to the car past two 'carpies' who had caught nothing. 



  3. Bayleaf the Gardener

    5.6.21 - Willows

    By Bayleaf the Gardener,


    Willows
    A scorching day, and my strategy was sound:
    (1) Until the sun climbed above the trees, I would fish the shady, shallow north corner,  upagainst the lilies and winkle out some tench. (2) Once the sun hit the water, I would switch to the method feeder in the remaining shade of the shallow end to my left and (3) when the carp started to rise I would switch to surface-fished dog biscuits.
    What could go wrong? I had to admire my own watercraft and cunning.
    (1) No bits in 1.5 hours against the lilies, though several large fish topped close to the float.
    (2) Instant success. A rod-puller of a bite resulting in a Mirror that far outbattled its 3lb 4oz weight. No further bites
    (3) The carp were very visible, cruising below the surface, but only occasionally came into my 'zone'. The first time they did resulted in a hard-fighting 9lb 10 Mirror that again I thought was bigger. His splashing and general disturbance seemed to put the others off and they never returned in big numbers. What did come were diving terns and even worse, five bloody shelducks (I think), hungry for dog biscuits and able to spot them a mile off. They loitered around my swim the whole afternoon, taking every cast as an invitation to dinner, with me having to whip the controller float as they approached, even if the carp were showing. It was so frustrating. i even tried throwing biscuits to them in the distance, but one would always peel off and set sail for my hookbait. I missed one carp that took the hook when cast in section of choppy water when the breeze finally came, but didn't stick. In the last five minutes a biggy swam right up to my bait, took it in, I prepared for a strike, and it spat the thing out and disappeared just as the shelducks moved back in.
    I hate shelducks. I told them as much.

  4. Bayleaf the Gardener

    4.6.21 - Willows

    By Bayleaf the Gardener,


    Willows
    After recent excesses, today was pretty quiet for me and the four other anglers on the lake. one who spent more time spodding than fishing. I scaled down to a single grain of corn after initial inaction to stimulate  a 2oz and then a a spunky 6oz roach. There was no future in this tiddler-bashing so I switched swims to throw a method feeder at the reliability of the island.  With still nothing more than the very occasional  indistinct line bite, I chopped and changed 'twixt float and feeder trying to break my luck. It worked. I wound back what I presumed was debris around the feeder to find I'd caught a crucian carp, a slightly battered 2lb 4oz, more passive than the feeblest of bream and the first I've caught since the 1970's! It's been a long wait and frankly,  in all honesty, was barely worth it.
    So continued a largely inactive day until disturbed by a rude sharp bite and a 10lb 4 oz mirror. A nice end to a slightly disappointing day.  Despite the crucian that I've been chasing for sooo long.
     


  5. Bayleaf the Gardener
    It started off as one of those evenings.

    Firstly, the thread seems to have worn on my landing net meaning it wouldn't attach to the pole without lashings of gaffer tape. Though gloriously warm,  a strong easterly wind soon got up, causing a strong undertow which carried vast amounts of floating debris through my swim and dragging the float. It's blowing in my face also contributed to two birdnests around my reel in the first half hour, both unsolvable and requiring breaking and tackling up again. Then the drawers in my tackle box jammed, the strong-arm tactics to free them sending floats, feeders et al all across the bank. Then a chap who had walked past me while I struggled with first tangle with a young boy walked back to his car - his son had run out of patience, but in that half hour they had caught three carp on the surface. Blimey, I thought- if the kid was bored at that, how would he deal with a 6-hour blank on a winter canal?
    So I changed swims to change my luck.
    The fish came in pairs.
    I had a 6lb 2 Common and 10lb 9 Mirror on dog biscuits before the sun left the top of the water and the surface action abruptly stopped.

    I switched to method feeder against the still sunny far bank and had two small Mirrors of around 3.5lbs 

    Turning to float-fished artificial sweetcorn at close range near the lilies, in came a long, lean and dark Common of 5lb 13 then rounded off with a 3lb 8 tench.
    Only one fish fell off the hook tonight (a smallish one) after my spate of drop-offs in the last few trips. A fun evening.




  6. Bayleaf the Gardener
    More experimentation and some lessons learned in my first session on hair-rigged sweetcorn, hoping to reduce the number of bites not connected to, or just dropping off.
    A new swim for me, and in the first hour I lost five fish. Big ones too. One snapped me up, the hook falling out of the others, two being large Commons that I reckon were around the 20lb mark. One of these took me from the bite, 15 yards to my left, straight past me and sped against the clutch 25 more towards the island. Having held on, it then took line regularly over the 15 minutes or so that it was with me. With the net ready and the battle nearly won, it dived under the platform I was fishing from and with the splash I heard under my feet, it spat the hook out and swam out to freedom, looking much like the shark passing the boat in Jaws. 
    Hmph.  At least the new hook patterns arrive this week. 
    It went quiet for an hour giving me time to stew in my juice and feel increasingly uncomfortable in the north wind. When the elusive next bite came, boy I played the fish carefully, not straining at all and basically boring it into the net: a 3lb 9 Mirror. Buoyed by this, I was more confident with the next to keep steady pressure on when it let me, though it still took well over 10 minutes to beach - a handsome Common of 10lb 15.  The sun came out to celebrate, the clouds burned off, the wind stopped, the temperature soared and the fish went down deep and hid for several hours. 
    With not long of my time left, the carp finally reacted to the dog biscuits I'd been trickling in, large mouths surfacing to scoff as many as I could throw in. I hastily changed to a self-cocking float and went to hook a biscuit (Bakers Originals) for the first time. Grr, they were either too big or wrongly-shaped to be banded, and too hard for bayonets, all that is, except for the softer cubes that would swell and fall off the hook in seconds. Is nothing ever easy? I did manage to get one to stay on long enough to catch a feisty 3lb 4 Mirror, but with my increasing frustration against the clock, and a re-bait required every chuck,  it was clear no matter how ravenous the biscuit-munchers were, they all seemed to recognise and avoid the one with a hook in. Smart cookies!
    If even half of those dropped fish had stuck, it would have been an incredible day. In the end, I felt I had underachieved though ending 'Magnificent May' with over 250lbs of fish, I cannot really be disappointed.
     



  7. Bayleaf the Gardener

    28.05.21 - Alders & Willows

    By Bayleaf the Gardener,


    Alders/Willows
    My close-season concentration on these two adjacent lakes continues and went with a plan.
    I followed perceived wisdom and  fished 6 - 8am at Alders. I had line bites and knocks every cast, but nothing took it properly.
    So as per schedule, I crossed the causeway to Willows and alternated between 2 hours method feeder then 2 hours float-fished corn. The feeder accounted for three hard-fighting carp - maybe the warming water has pumped them up, as they all put up a show worth more than the 3lb 4, 5lb 8 and 5lb 0 they came in at. From my point of view, it was just lovely to sit without coat or jumper with my float not looking like the Eddystone Light battling against a North Atlantic squall.
    My float sessions were short on bites, but having said that, I connected with four large fish, each of which fell off the hook after between 10 seconds to 2 minutes of 'fight'. Hmm, I'm clearly doing something wrong. I don't think I'm being impatient at the net and pulling too hard, and a size 14 hook/2 pieces of corn seems appropriate to a 5lb hook length and a soft-ish 11ft pellet waggler rod. Any ideas? I've ordered some artificial corn to hair rig, and some Guru QM1 hooks which apparently have a better hook-sticking rate. Who knows. Any other ideas gratefully received¬



  8. Bayleaf the Gardener

    25.5.21 - Willows

    By Bayleaf the Gardener,


    Willows
    My weekly evening session and a chance to see if the fish will be where I found them in last weeks sun. Today though, despite fair forecast, there was a steady cool wind from the south, putting a chop on the water and having me grabbing my coat to go over my thick jumper as early as 5pm. It was a much slower start, though I did pick up a hard fighting Common of 8lb 7 and one of the newly stocked Mirrors of 2lb 2. Then it all went quiet. I switched to a float with sweetcorn around the emerging lilies for a nice roach, a skimmer and, around 9pm when the wind mercifully stilled, twin tench, both 3lb 8 on the nose, the first with one more eye than the other. 
    I returned to method feeder when I could no longer see the float and finished with a 10lb 2 Common. 
    Over 27lb of fish and drove home thinking I should have caught more. How times change.

    Oh, and I need to find out how the flash works on my camera
     



  9. Bayleaf the Gardener
    Woe betide my landing net of shame.
    More a different world than a different weather system as the previous days stormy winds have died away and the morning session starts still and clear. Alders does its best to lure me with a shoal of fish bubbling the surface, but I walk my tackle by, as today is a Willows day,
    And so it should be, as I soon have a Mirror in at 5lb 9. But having lost another when a Drennan hook-link, brand new on this morning, snaps as the loop, it goes quiet.
    My decision to switch the one permitted rod to a lift-method float with sweetcorn on a 14 hook is a good one. Ten minutes later, a strong bite and I'm into a big fish, no, a very big fish. On only 5lb line. I can only hang on as it takes me way out left, way out right, and all areas in between. The hook seems well set and i can give it maximum strain on the understanding that every time it asks for line, I give it. I can wait, indeed I have to. I gain line on it several times, but though I bring it bankwards, each time it decides it isn't for him and powers off again. I play it, no exaggerating. for 15 minutes. With my rod arm starting to ache, the fish finally starts to give some signs of tiring, with each hard-nosed press against the direction I want it to go not quite as forceful. and I can now see the float stop on the line above the water though I've still not seen the fish.  I lower the net into the water in preparation for our meeting, and let it lie on the bed in front of me, , the pain from the tendonitis in my left elbow making it impossible to scoop in the normal way, only lift it above the exhausted fish from below then pull it in with two hands. The fish goes left then right again, but I sense it knows I am winning now winning. With a p.b. carp of 15lb I rationalise that this one must at least 20 when, still unseen, it makes a do-or-die dive under the prostrate landing net, pulling the rod tip down into the mesh and separating hook from fish and its gone. It even has the audacity to take the sweetcorn with it. I'm left with a glimpse of black tail as it disappears, my only evidence that it was a fish and not a mini-submarine.
    Still shaking and swearing, five minutes later the float zips under again. The pound-and-a-quarter tench is a beautiful little fish, but with the greatest of respect to it, no substitute
    Writing this piece up eight hours on, I've thought of little else but that lost fish and still feel nauseous. Even Chelsea losing the Cup Final last week didn't feel quite this bad.
    As for the landing net, it's only three weeks old, or else I would have taken it to the flame.

    Gutted.
     



  10. Bayleaf the Gardener

    21.5.21 - Alders/Willows

    By Bayleaf the Gardener,


    Alders/Willows
    What a day. The back end of May, and I'm in thick jumper, gilet and coat as the lakes are once again buffeted with 40mph winds the whole day, flipping the lilies up off the water while with on/off (mainly on) rain flattened them down again. 

    My plan to fish Willows was blasted away by the sou'westers, as all I could do was huddle under my brolly, which I'd had to lash to the otter fencing behind me for fear of it ending up in Slough. 
    With the incessant lowing flipping the lilies and creating more special effects on the water than a Mission Impossible movie, the only break in a slow morning was a vey welcome 3lb 14 tench, with the next fish, a rather nice 6lb 10 bream not making a show until lunchtime. No sign of its shoal-mates however, and it was another wet hours wait for a 3lb 6 tench. 
    With two hours to go, I chucked in my hand and took my chances on the even more exposed adjacent Willows. The wind from the left made casting accurately impossible, and tightening up slack line a tricky and lengthy process. My landing net was called into action to rescue my hat that the wind blew into the surf. It also made the rod tip bounce around like a pogoing punk at a Pistols gig, but still the four bites I had were easily spotted, so fierce were the takes. The first and last fish both dropped off the hook, but the day was made a good one by a 7lb 8 Mirror and a long and lean Common of exactly the same weight.




  11. Bayleaf the Gardener
    A Tuesday evening with Willows to myself, others put off no doubt by the forecast of yet more heavy showers. Despite a chop on the water, the fish were jumping, first time I've seen them this year, so I switched from my initial plan.
    An hour later, I'd banked three carp, and felt it was going to be a best-ever evening. I would have done it for sure, but was snapped twice on 8lb line before it started to slow down - it had to really, and I had just(!) two more for an evening's total of over 35lbs of carp of which four were mirrors and all in beautiful condition.
    The last hour of daylight was quiet, the carp gods reckoning that I'd caught my share for the day.
    As much as it was selfishly lovely not to have to share the lake with any other anglers (and it only rained for ten minutes), the nuisance geese who have been honking and chasing each other manically through my swims in recent weeks seemed to have taken the night off too.


  12. Bayleaf the Gardener

    15.5.21 - Willows

    By Bayleaf the Gardener,


    Willows
    OK, so I went for an experiment today. I've fished Willows a lot this closed season and have sort of got the hang of chucking a leger up against the island, but have also looked at the margins and just wondered... So, with the lilies starting to emerge at the bankside I stuck on a float, far more interesting to star at than a bobbin, chucked in some balls of mashed bread and cast a rod length out. After a couple of missed bites, in true Mr Crabtree style, the float zipped away and I was into a good fish. It took me left, it took me right while I managed to keep it away from the lily beds and without breaking the surface too much. Thinking it might be a tench, it turned out to be a 9lb 14 Common. 
    The next bite fought as hard, diving deep and having to be cajoled from the vegetation and as much as I was surprised with the size of the carp, this one-eyed tench fought much harder than its modest 3lb 1.
    Then it went quiet, the highlights being feeding a crow with luncheon meat, listening to the cuckoo cuckooing and wondering just how the sun finally broke through just when the rain was falling its hardest. The only other fish action took e into the lilies and diving deep again and locking anchors in a cloud of mud. This time it wouldn't budge after minutes of strong steady pressure, and my walking up and down the bank to change the angle. It was so close to the edge that if I'd been wearing waders, or my landing net arm wasn't suffering so much from tendonitis, I would have gone in after it. I let the line slacken and watched the float for ten minutes to see if it edged for freedom. Nothing, and after another attempt at string-arm tactics the hook gave.
    OK, the experiment didn't pay off like I'd hoped and whilst, for a blanker, I could never be disappointed with a 12lb haul, I couldn't help thinking I'd underachieved. 



  13. Bayleaf the Gardener

    14.05.21 - Willows/Alders

    By Bayleaf the Gardener,


    Willows/Alders
    So the plan was to spend half of the session at Willows, then cross the 10-yard causeway to Alders for the rest. But an hour in, with a 3lb 7 tench under my belt, I looked at myself in thick jumper, gilet and coat in mid-May and decided the cold north breeze in my face would be slightly less uncomfortable on my back and crossed the Rubicon early for slightly  

    The decision was soon justified when my shivering stopped and out came a 4lb 1 tench.  I calculated that after Tuesday's carp any by two fish today, that I'd overcome the affliction of so many missed bites. Wrong! In the next few hours the bobbin bounced around, some obvious line bites, others had the rod leaping from the rest at times, yet all I hooked was another 4lb tench. 
    I swapped to a cage feeder with worm/sweetcorn on a helicopter rig wondering if this would lead to more connections, but in the next hour I had just two touches and, curiously, all the line bites stopped. I switched back to method feeder/wafter and the bites, both liners and 'unmissables' immediately returned. I caught one more - a 4lb 6 bream, which gave the best fight of all. Why? Because I'd foul hooked it in the fin, making me think even more that the succession of missed bites are bream being finickity. Any idea how to snag them?



  14. Bayleaf the Gardener

    11.5.21 - Willows

    By Bayleaf the Gardener,


    Willows
    There was a repellent south wind when I arrived, creating quite a chop, and with anglers on my fave sheltered swims on Alders, I went for Willows, with the wind on my back casting at the island.
    A good evening. Commons of 9lb 7, 8lb 6, 10lb 14 all in beautiful condition, and a tiddler Mirror of 3lb 8. 30lb+ of fish is always a good day.
    I hit every bite too, for a change, albeit I lost two more fish. 



  15. Bayleaf the Gardener

    14.04.21 - Knotts

    By Bayleaf the Gardener,


    knotts
    Right. An evening unaffected by snow showers where I can have  a crack at what I imagine are large-ish roach in the swim where I can consistently catch half-pounders. Though I get a tiddler first cast, it's quite slow despite regular gentle loose-feeding of two swims. I finally get most bites fishing at around 7ft deep. The biggun's remained elusive, though I did end up with fourteen roach in a few hours, five of which between six and twelve ounces. So the big ones remain elusive, though all the larger ones show battle scars, and having caught pounder-plus perch from this swim, think life must be tough for them.

    A second rod with method feeder brought not a knock, though I did foul-hook a half-ounce roach on the wind-in!

    I was pleased to have my permit checked by a polite young man who told me my swim was called 'crayfish corner' by the carpers. I missed so many bites while fishing overdepth that I suspect the critters are waking up after winter.
  16. Bayleaf the Gardener
    Bank Holiday Monday, with winds in excess of 40mph but mercifully the accompanying rain gave me the honour of keeping away until I'd finished my session.
    Alders is now my favourite lake. You'll have read that last Friday was a day of tentative movements on the bobbin whereas Saturday brought good solid takes. Today was back to finickity. On and off, the bobbin played about all day. Sure, some were line bites, but others had fish playing with the bait for several minutes without taking it properly. I struck early, I struck late, I left well alone - I connected with only a proportion. I switched baits and hook sizes trying to encourage stronger takes to little avail. The method feeder being a self-hooking technique? Pah. I hooked seven in total, I lost one, and the hook link (either 8lb or 10lb) snapped in the middle on three occasions (from different packs, both made by reputable tackle companies). They were all good fish, one possibly very good, but I didn't think I was over-pressurising so felt really hard done by. In the end I made my own links on the bankside and used those.
    The three I caught? Well, a 6lb 2 and 3lb 8 bream, but after a beautiful spawn-laden  p.b. Common at 15lb 6.
    Another great day, but could/should have been so much better. 



  17. Bayleaf the Gardener
    Arrived in pouring rain and left in 40mph+ winds. That's May 2021 for you. Stopped for a while to help the working group plant bull rushes and irises around adjacent Willows. 
    Help required please: 

    it was a quiet day by previous week's standards, the stop/start frosts probably having an effect. This said, for the solitary 4lb bream I caught, I had 4 good fish slip the hook after cracking 100mph bites, where the bobbin cracked into the rod. Each was on for between 10 seconds and a couple of minutes minutes before dropping off. I really don't know where I'm going wrong in getting the hooks to stick, because this echoes other recent trips. I do favour the method feeder as being a less than perfect caster, at least it guarantees there is some bait by the hook, but the boast that it is a self-hooking method I find to be nonsense! Maybe I should strike harder? (no pun intended). Thinking about it now, I tend to pick up the rod and wind into the fish hard rather than give it an initial big sharp tug, reluctant to pull it out of the fish's mouth. I've tried Drennan and Korda haired dedicated method hook links, and made my own with next to no hair, and even banded direct to the hook, but all have the same result. How do I get the hook to stick?? Two of the four fish today went deep into the lilies and dropped anchor. After a couple of minutes stalemate with me keeping steady tension on while the line sang, I moved along the bank to try and change the angle, but the hook pulled on both occasions. Perhaps I should just wait it out with the grounded fish (tench methinks) rather than try and move the issue? 

    ...or maybe I should be avoiding the method feeder altogether?
    Thanks for any advice!



  18. Bayleaf the Gardener

    7.5.21 - Alders/Willows

    By Bayleaf the Gardener,


    Alders/Willows
    I got to Alders today and found four more anglers than the normal none. I think this came from my spreading recent catch details on the Newbury Angling Association Forum.
    To the best of my knowledge no one caught, nor had my pal, Peter,  on his trip yesterday.
    On behalf of the fish, I'd like to apologise to all. If it's any consolation, I had just a couple of line bites there this afternoon before switching to Willows for the last hour. As a punishment from the fish gods, my one decent cast to the edge of the island resulted in a decent bite that in hindsight, I struck too early in my excitement and that was that.
    As Amy Whitehouse once sang, it was Back to Blank.

  19. Bayleaf the Gardener
    After the 40mph winds of Bank Holiday Monday evening, Tuesday's were a mere 30+
    The swell on the lake looked more like the North Atlantic than Maytime Berkshire,  better suited to surfing than fishing, but I had a few hours and gave it a go.
    Less bites in total than of late, there were still several will-he-wont-he bites where the bobbin rose, fell a little, fell a little more, rose again etc but did not develop into bites. Then there were the ones that nearly pulled the rod out of the rest, but somehow did not connect.
    Winding-in to replace bait, I thought I must be dragging in a branch, but as it came to the bank it became apparent it was a bream - a 5lb12 one at that - no bite: no fight.
    I caught one other, at about 4lb and that was that - apart from the big fish that dropped anchors on me and after a couple of minutes stalemate, and sitting it out with the line singing in the rod eyes and with no extra pressure put on, the line snapped and that was that.
    As dark came the wind stopped, and it became the May evening it should have been, but there were no bites in that final half hour of stillness.


  20. Bayleaf the Gardener
    I was surprised to find myself the only one in the car park at 7am, even if the temperature had fallen again to two degrees. What did they know? I spurned the popular Willows lake for the comparatively ignored adjacent Alders given my bream and tench haul of yesterday. Given I'd missed so many finicky bites, I'd brought a swimfeeder mix to chuck out with a longer hooklength than my usual method feeder, thinking to outfox the wary bream. I set up and soon wilted as my totally disproportionate hangover deepened (after a paltry two cans of beer - something to do with my age and the position of the moon, I reckon), it taking all my remaining resolve not to lie down on the bank and sleep. Fortunately, nothing fishy disturbed my malaise for some hours. I was so relieved when 11 o'clock came as I could start on my packed lunch with impunity, the calories in which miraculously brought me back to health.
    Reinvigorated, at midday I switched back to method feeder - better to be missing bites than getting none at all. The next three and a half hours were some of the best since I re-line found fishing last year. I had no end of bites, but rather than the hesitant nibbles of yesterday, these were all positive hits. I had two breakages, several fish drop off and numerous missed bites, but landed bream of 4lb 6, 5lb 6, 4lb 2 and 3lb 8 either side of a trio of tench of 3lb 15, 4lb 1 and 3lb 10. Fab! As far as I know, the five anglers who fished Willows during that time caught a (beautiful) 2lb 12 Crucian, with another losing a 'nice Common' at the net.




  21. Bayleaf the Gardener

    30.4.21 - Alders

    By Bayleaf the Gardener,


    Alders (mainly)
    I'll draw a veil over this mornings start at Willows. While the sound of the cuckoo and woodpecker was a delight, the cold start and bitter northerly wind was not, and had me running to the car for my gloves. The morning was thus predictably quiet on the fish front, so I cut my losses and crossed the causeway to the adjacent Alders lake. This was a good move, even if the wind did swing south to resume blowing in my face.
    I started close in near some sunken willow roots. Just one bite on sweetcorn resulted in a surprise 6lb bream - I always thought they chose open waters. With no more bites I switched to method feeder. I had so many knocks, line bites and apparently healthy takes that did not connect, This led to a busy afternoon and I really  should have caught more than the 5lb 8 tench and equally 5lb 8 bream I was delighted to see.
    One other highlight. A crow flew down and picked up the apple core I'd thrown into the undergrowth an hour earlier. It carried it to a felled tree stump, held it down with one foot and used it as a table to peck the remaining flesh out of it. A good day



  22. Bayleaf the Gardener

    27.04.31 - Willows

    By Bayleaf the Gardener,


    Willows
    Well, today was the day I sussed this fishing lark. Everything I touched went right. I got the swim I wanted after work, and casted right in the spot that I'd planned. Eight minutes later, the bobbin cracked against the rod and something powerful was stripping line, bolting away from the central island, leaving me to hang on, relieved that I'd decided not to set the line clip. On a whippy rod and light-ish line to aid casting, the fish can give good fight, this one took took line several times and I didn't even see it for over 10 minutes, but eventually a 13lb Mirror come in to my brand new landing net, making its debut. 
    Second cast resulted in another fast take and a heavier feeling fish, until the hook length snapped. Third cast brought a 5lb Mirror. Would this roll stop? Fourth cast fell much too short of the island so I wound straight back for the fifth, which caught in the line casting out, causing the feeder to crash into the water like a meteorite not far from my feet. Even the best days have their moments.
    Having watched another angler catching two carp 'fly' fishing dog biscuits, I caught a 5lb 13 Common.
    With an hour of daylight left, I threw a few balls mashed bread around 20ft out and swapped rods for float-fished sweetcorn . I had three bites. The first was a big fish that took me out left, then came back and went right. On 5lb line and a size 14 hook, I kept the pressure on but pretty much had to let it go where it wanted for fear of the hook pulling. But it did come in, an  8lb 8 Common, sadly with such a disfigured mouth I could barely face photographing it. The second bite I missed but the third, with the star-lite float gleaming in the almost dark, resulted in 1 lovely 3lb 12 tench.
    A great session by my standards, not matched by my photography skills and insufficient power left to fire the flash for the tench. The only downer was that all of the carp had damaged mouths from previous hookins.
     




  23. Bayleaf the Gardener

    23.04.21 - Willows

    By Bayleaf the Gardener,


    Willows
    An enjoyable if not spectacular day on my mission to crack Willows (and Alders once the lilies are back) before June 16th. After yet another (light) frosty night there was a breeze, predominantly easterly, but changed throughout the day that took the edge off the temperatures despite unbroken sun all day. I was required to keep my thick jumper on until 2pm.
    With up to eight anglers at any time, this small lake felt a bit pressured, and not much came out all day. Compared to what I saw my peers catch, I was happy with a  battle-scarred 7lb 2 Common and rather scrummy 3lb 2 mirror, neither of my pictures doing them justice.  With an hour left, a cormorant splashed down and started working through my swim and much of my side of the lake, so I came short, chucked out some maggots and switched to a light float fished a rod-length and a half out. Good move. Ten perch to 4oz and a nice roach that was spunky enough to need landing was a fun end to the session.


  24. Bayleaf the Gardener

    20.4.21 - Willows

    By Bayleaf the Gardener,


    Willows
    A fab Tuesday evening after the first few warm days of Spring. Walking around to choose a swim, I watched half a dozen carp basking in the shallows, Deciding I'd spook them if I made any sort of cast. I walked on, tackled up and pinged a method feeder towards the island, and had a still hour to consider the wisdom of ignoring an area with fish in before the rod top bent round. I thought it was a small one as it seemed quite willing to be wound in, until the moment we saw each other, at which point we had a bit of a ding dong on a light rod until he came in, a 9lb 6 Common. 
    That would have been enough to make it a pretty good evening when, within 30 minutes, I had a 4lb 5 Common, followed immediately by a 3lb 8 Mirror and then a surprise 3lb 6 bream who put all his energy into giving the best bite of all, before flopping, exhausted, back to the net. 
    Presuming the carp would come to the margins in the final hour, I switched to a float and managed a last gasp half pound tench, a beautiful little fish, to cap off the fun.




  25. Bayleaf the Gardener

    17.4.21 - Willows/Warwicks

    By Bayleaf the Gardener,


    Willows/Warwick's Water
    Never try to repeat a success, they say.

    Quite right too. Within fifteen hours of leaving Willows, head fuzzy with carpy joy, I was back in the same swim at first light despite the frost for a second helping. Presuming it would be too cold for the carp to be on the feed until the sun hit the water, I started with a light float and maggot for some less fussy roach and bream. Over the next hour I had no bites at all and had seen four carp come out to anglers unaware of my excellent fishy thinking, fishing them out from the shadiest side of the island where the rising sun struck the water last of all.

    Think like a fish, they say as well, but I'm not sure the fish have always read the same memo.
    I swapped to a bright coloured wafter and method-fed towards the island. I had two good takes, and on both occasions the shop-bought 4-inch 8lb hooklink snapped in the middle mid-battle. It really wasn't fair. The third from the same packet seemed tough enough when i tested it, but the fish had had enough and the whole lake seemed to go quiet. With no more bites, and with 90 minutes left, I popped to adjacent Warwick's Water for some quick and easy small roach action. Ha. Didn't set a single bite.
    So it was a blank, a pretty undeserved one, so I have no fishy photos to show you, but here's a goose.  There you go. That's fishing.
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