martinchick

Hi, I haven't posted for ages but looking to get back into fishing. I did a search online to see if there were any new waters available in SW London and found somewhere listed called Ashvale Fisheries in Wimbledon on this page http://www.go-fish.co.uk/london.htm about half way down. I've lived in Wimbledon all my life and have never heard of it. Also can't find the address it mentions. Does anyone know about this place at all? Of there is somewhere in Wimbledon worth fishing (and that you can actually get on, unlike Wimbledon park) then that would be great.

I would go for a camping gas style stove for fishing every time. Like you say, they are a lot cleaner to use than liquid fuel stoves and less of a faff (you don't have to worry about a bottle of petrol leaking in your bag or having to pump up the pressure on it.) The only advantage liquid fuel stoves have over gas is at high altitude really where the butane gas doesn't burn as well as liquid but I don't imagine thats too much of a problem in most UK fishing scenarios.

Which knots are best for tying a hair rig with fluoro? I've heard that the knotless knot weakens the line. I know the palomar knot is good for tying it to swivels etc but what about hairs? Would it be better to whip a braided hair to the hook shank seperately?

I'd be interested in using snails. One of the waters I fish comes alive with snails, especially when there is lots of weed in the water. I havn't caught anything whilst the snails are in abundance, even when fishing with bloodworm or prawns, baits which can usually guarantee some bites. It's something I'd never though about before but defiantely makes sense.

I just wondered why so many waters ban hemp. Is it because it's an incredibly effective bait or are the owners worried about lots of little plants sprouting up all over the place! If it's cooked it wouldn't do this anyway, even if it was un-sterilised seed. The only logical explanation i could think is that if fish keep mistaking shot for hemp, but thats hardly a problem as they cant remove it from the line and its non toxic. Can anyone shed light on this matter?

Arrived the other day and it seems pretty light and comfy. Should be easier to carry that plus a rucksack rather than a big box. Got a day off on friday and can't wait to get out to a new lake I havn't fished yet.

I had quite a bit of success with prawns. They seem to be quite instant with tench and carp. I fished them over a bed of hemp and the fish tore into them. The runs were ridiculously hard with fish tearing away across the lake. When I say they are instant though I found that if the fish aren't taking them within an hour, at the most then it pays to switch baits going back to the prawns once an hour or so.

Thanks for the advice guys. I've decided to get one and at £22 I don't think I could go far wrong. Got a strap for a couple of quid too. Should beat lugging round my old plastic box with it digging in my leg.

Hi. I've been looking at getting a chair and have found the Fox Stalker chair at a good price. I was wondering if anyone can recommend it? From what I can see it looks prett sturdy, just wondered if anyone had any experience of it. Is it light? Also is it possible to buy a carry strap for it or do you have to buy a carry bag? Cheers

Yeah. It becomes pretty urban quite quickly. Shame about the no fishing though. Wading could have been a good tactic, it's not too deep along there.

Cheers for that. I'll have to go for a wander and see if I acn see any along there. The project was just a survey of the river, it's depth, discharge, turbidity. Stuff like that. Might be useful in finding some fish actually. Didn't get much time to look for fish when I was doing it, was due in a week later so had to get it done pretty quick.

Cheers for the heads up. Which police station are you talking about? It is quite small and clear so would be a challenge to fish but if they are moving upstream it can't be a bad thing. I did a geography project on it a few years back and thought it would be impossible for anything to live in there what with all the shopping trolleys and two sewage plants on it. The strech just under the A3 before New Malden looks nice. Do you know if fishing is allowed there?

I know exactly how annoying it is. Float fishing in water about 4 foot deep the entire bird population of th lake decided to come along and gorge themselves on the hemp I had laid down all morning. Some of the ducks even dove down to pick it up. Then before I can do anything the float's gone under and a duck it taking my line with it. Had to try and catch the duck after the line snapped. Didn't catch it but it looked ok. Totally killed my swim and didn't catch anything after that. The next weekend I fished a few pegs down and found my float, line, hook and all the shot just sitting on the platform. Was very weird.

Was wondering if anyone has ever fished on the Hogsmill river running through Ewell, worcester park, new malden and kingston? It's pretty grim near its source but gets pretty big towards the Thames with some nice looking patches. It's quite channelled, lots of concrete. But the Wandle's made a real comeback. Any info would be great.

I meant to post about WArwick Castle the other week. I went during that crazy heatwave and was going through the castle when I looked out of the window to the river just below the weir. I notice a large carp and then suddenly about 8 of them, all big came rooting around the lilly pads. The river was so clear you could see them really well and see them swirling up the mud. Was with my girlfriend, who happends to have a fear of bridges, so couldn't really watch from the bridge but that would be an amazing place to fish. It's so peaceful, even with the crowds and a really beautiful area. Wonder if they would let anyone fish there.

I meant to post about WArwick Castle the other week. I went during that crazy heatwave and was going through the castle when I looked out of the window to the river just below the weir. I notice a large carp and then suddenly about 8 of them, all big came rooting around the lilly pads. The river was so clear you could see them really well and see them swirling up the mud. Was with my girlfriend, who happends to have a fear of bridges, so couldn't really watch from the bridge but that would be an amazing place to fish. It's so peaceful, even with the crowds and a really beautiful area. Wonder if they would let anyone fish there.

Bury Hill main lake is good but quite expensive. I've recently got a permit to fish Bushy Park and Hampton court. It covers 5 lakes and is only £20. Have only fished on the longwaer outside Hampton court and it was hard. Didn't catch anything and I think its more for carp fishing. However I've been told by a number of people that the lakes in Bushy are quite productive with bream, roach, perc and even eels, as well as the ubiquitous carp. That's going to be my next outing, try and catch some bream. Its not a long walk fro Hampton Court station either if you aren't with your friend and it's a short drive if you have the car.

Thanks for all the replies. Some helpful stuff here. I might try spodding but I think I should practise my casting first. I'll let you all know how I get on. Cheers

Thanks for the suggestion but the method has been banned at this lake. I have a carp rod of 2lb test curve, that should be ok for most situations. Maybe I could use a large feeder with some ground bait to bung it. I read somewhere of someone making a large one out of a drain pipe or something and using it to fish for specimen tench.

I've recently caught a number of carp using a float and would quite like to try catching them using the more common method too (bite alarm, ledger rigs etc.) I tried this set up a number of years ago to little success and packed it in to concentrate on float fishing but feel a bit more confident in my skills now and thought it would be cool to have another rod out whilst i float fished. On the lake I fish there is an island about 50m out where a lot of carp surface and jump and I would like to cast into this area. What would people advise as being the best method for introducing loose feed into the area? I was thinking of using hemp as it seems to be a good bait for carp on the lake even though I havn't seen anyone else using it. Is it possible to catapult hemp that distance without it scattering everywhere? Also is it possible to put it in a PVA bag? Finally how much feed do you think I should use? I see all these guys carrying huge buckets of feed but I always followed the idea of little and often and could never use that quantity of feed. I would just be fishing over the day as you have to be a member to nightfish and a day of staring at a float is tiring enough as it is! I look forward to hearing from you. Thanks Martin

I can't understand why people leave so much litter and mess, particularly anglers. Near me there is apond which I have been looking forward to fishing for some time so when I turned up one morning to find the path around it strewn with litter clearly left by the people who had been night fishing and who were actually still there, I was rather dismayed. There were scorch marks on the banks too where there had clearly been fires. I couldn't believe that they thought it was ok just to leave their rubbish lying in the path. It made the fact as to whether or not they took it home with them after their session a negligible one. I don't know whether it was left there or not as I decided to leave and go to Bury Hill instead, somewhere where people don't leave rubbish lying about the place and actually respect the place.

I was fishing at Bury Hill this weekend and had a grass snake swim under my platform and into the tree roots to the right of my swim. It slid around the roots and disappeared aafter a few minutes. Looked amazing. The fishing was pretty tough going though, had loads of tench bubbles in my swim but couldn't buy a bite. Very frustrating. as the week before I got my p.b. carp at just over 12lb, a 10 lb carp and three tench, two 6lbs and a 5lb.

Hi, I was just wondering if anyone had fished the Longwater in the park next tto Hampton Court recently. I am thinking of becoming a member here as it is close to where I live and looks spectacular but I can't find much information regarding its recent form. Any help would be great. Thanks, Martin