Anthony78

We started fishing the lake late in the season last year and had a couple of 6lb males on the maggot feeder. After talking to a couple of the regular carpers down there they say they've had them to over 9lb on the boilies and they just chuck them back without even a piccy. They may not appreciate them on 3lb test curve rods but if I can get one of those 9's on my avon rod I'd be well chuffed If you like your tench fishing then you need to get yourself down to this years Wingham Fishin as there's some very special fish in there and they go like demons! Ant

No worries fella! To be honest I only went to kingfisher as I was with my girlfiend but generally I bivvy up when on a fishing holiday. Unfortunately I can't reccomend anywhere else which offers accomodation and access to good river fishing. Hopefully someone else on here can help. good luck Ant

Next couple of weeks will be spent on the rivers before the close season trying to catch a decent pike or barbel. After the shut down I'll be in tench mode as I have a water which I hope will do a 9 this year. Ant

Hi Tyke, I actually liked it at kingfisher so much I went back for a second time. The appartments are well equipped and confortable, the club has a pool table and dart board for when the weather's a bit crappy and the food was ok. They do have entertainment but we went to relax so spent most evening in the hot tub As far as the fishing goes I tried a day on Kingfisher which is a syndicate water but is open to holiday makers for £25 for 24 hours. I was going to fish 2 days on here but after walking the lake and not seeing a fish and then blanking on day 1 I gave this up as a bad idea. It's the kind of lake that you need to put a lot of time into as there were lots of bays and as it's a gravel pit there were lots of bars and gravel humps. It was the tench that drew me and it was a cracking lake but after paying a premium for the appartment I was very reluctant to pay another £25 per day to bivvy up by the lake. You can get a week ticket for the river and the other lakes which is actually very reasonable at around £20 for the week. Willow lake is by far the best lake if you are after tench and I saw some very nice fish swimming over the bars. There's apparently some big carp in there but I didn't see anything and I walked the lake at dusk and dawn every day during my stay as I wanted to find the tench. I fished on the float with the lift method and tried the usual waggler tactics but found the tench to be quite finicky so I swapped to a small bolt rig set up and started to catch regularly. I didn't fish the river on my first stay as I wanted to concentrate on the tench fishing but after a couple of evening walks and seeing a few decent chub I was sure to put the river gear in for our next stay. I fished with simple open ended feeder tactics in conjuction with liquidised bread and had a few chub up to 3lb. I also had a few perch on the lobs but failed to get into anything big. Be careful on the river as there is about 6ft of cabbages/weed in the margins which prevents you from getting close to the waters edge and makes netting of fish a nightmare, especially the chub as they know it's there so dive right under the near margin as soon as they are hooked. There are supposed to be some big barbel in the stretch but I didn't see any. The river was running very clear though with clear blue skies so not the best conditions and your not allowed to night fish the river so didn't waste my time chasing them. All in all I enjoyed my stay and had a few fish to show for it. I did contact John Bailey for some tips on the fishing and was very surprised to get a call from him from his home one evening where he spent over half an hour giving me advice on best tactics and baits, all of which I ignored . I don't agree with everything he does but that wouldn't stop me from going back to Kingfisher as I thouroughly enjoyed my stay and the fishing. Hope it helps and if I can help any further don't hesitate to ask. Regards Ant

Just got back from the show and thought I'd let you know how it went. It was certainly not as big as I thought it was going to be and nowhere near as many stalls. This in turn meant that there wasn't any rivalry between supliers meaning that there wasn't as many bargains to be had. There were way too many bait stalls selling their own "special" boilie and of the big named bait companies I didn't see any deals that would make me part with my cash. Would I go again......? Definitely! It was free entry, the food was good value and very nice, there were some very knowledgeable, and approachable anglers giving talks on new tactics, tackle and bait and although it's not something that lures me, there were some big names in the angling world there like Dean Macey, Steve Ringer, Lee Jackson and Derek Richie to name a few. Even though there wasn't as many bargains as I hoped, I did manage to spend about £100 on items which would probably have cost me nearly £160 in a tackle shop and I walked out with free dvd's, magazines tackle and bait. All in all a good day and I if they run it again next year I'll be there. Ant

Well done Dales. That's a cracking fish. I'm still on the hunt for my first zed and think that a trip to bury hill might be the way to go. Can I ask what kind of feature you were looking for when leading around? Change in depth, change of lake bed or physical structure? Did you get it on the mackeral again? Thanks Ant

Hi Rob, I'm still very interested in coming to this. Do you have a link to the club website or some information on the stretch you plan to fish so I can take a look? Thanks Ant

I'm afraid so. See here

Did anybody go to the show today? Going tomorrow morning and hoping to find some bargains.

Hi Andrew, I've never fished there but when travelling to a new venue I always source local knowledge. Find the local tackle shop and call them before your visit. Ask them about the running bait and tactics. If you arrive the night before your session then walk the lake and you may be lucky enough to see some fish which will give you an idea on location. Walk the area again in the morning though as they can move! Can you give me a bit more information on your preferred style of fishing as there's no point me blowing your mind with carp rigs if you prefer to sit watching a float in the margins. Regards Ant

Hey Steve, she must have been having an off day when I was last down there

Just voted as I'm always up for a fish-in and it's always good to catch up with a few old faces, meet new ones and fish new waters. Just hope we can get enough interest to make it happen now. Ant

I'll be out on the river Wye searching for a pike or 2. There's been some cracking fish out so far this winter and love to get amongst them. Ant

Hi Matt, Thanks for the heads up. Looks like I'll have to get my trotting fix elswhere Thanks Ant

Hi Russ, I'd still like to tag along on Saturday. My fishing partner can't make it but 'd like to come. I sent you a pm but had no reply. Can you let me know if a place is still available and if so what time are you all meeting up? Thanks Ant

Hi John, I'm still trying to catch my first zander and although I've spent most of my sessions fishing with jigs/shads from the bank I think I'm going to need to switch to the deads. I would be very interested to know the rigs you use. Photo's would be even better Thanks Ant

Hi Rusty, Thank you for this info. Sounds perfect and is the fishing I most enjoy. Will probably put my name down for a place. Just checking if my fishing partner is available to join us. Will confirm ASAP. Thanks again Ant

Hi Russ, I may be interested in joining you but have never fished the Kennet. Can you advise the tactics you would normally use and species you would usually target? I undertand that target species may change depanding on conditions but if they were ideal what kit would you be taking? Thanks Ant

I'll throw the Korum twin tip in for your consideration as I bought a set last year for my long distance tench/bream & zander fishing and couldn't be happier with them. Price is reasonable too so take a look Ant

Thanks Andrew, heading out tomorrow morning for Zander primarily but if that proves to be slow going then perch is a likely alternative. Ant

Hi Andrew, Glad to see that your still pulling them out! What kind of retrieve did you get your perch on. Steady retrieve or a were you hopping (Jigging) it along the bottom? Thanks Ant

Hi Guy's, Myself and some friends have a holiday booked down in Bideford in a couple of weeks time and although I am heavily in to coarse fishing I have only dabbled a little in sea/beach fishing. Could anyone please help out a novice with any advice regarding: The best local marks? The best tactics? The best bait? The best equipment? (I do not own a beach rod but do have heavy carp rods etc) Thanks in advance Regards Anthony

Me, my day, a weed rake, some hemp, some casters, some red maggots and a very dusty roach pole will be taking a very early trip to a very weedy estate lake for some tinca's. Ant

Cracking fish Viney. Going to give some details on how you managed to fool them? Ant

I have the Cyfish 1 man and think it's great. The only gripe I do have is that it has a separate groundsheet which slows down erection time. Ant