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21.5.21 - Alders/Willows
Bayleaf the Gardener posted a blog entry in The Newbury & Port Talbot Blanker
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. -
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.
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14.05.21 - Willows/Alders
Bayleaf the Gardener posted a blog entry in The Newbury & Port Talbot Blanker
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? -
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.
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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.
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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.
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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!
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7.5.21 - Alders/Willows
Bayleaf the Gardener posted a blog entry in The Newbury & Port Talbot Blanker
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. -
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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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17.4.21 - Willows/Warwicks
Bayleaf the Gardener posted a blog entry in The Newbury & Port Talbot Blanker
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. -
Well, my plan to fish Alders and get to know its contours and mysteries over the weeks ahead before the season resumes properly lasted about an hour. The frost I arrived in was driven off by a strengthening northerly wind and my uncomfortable biteless session came to an end when the bailiff arrived and told me of his p.b. mirror (26lb) and bream (11lb) in an hours session at adjacent Willows last week. At Willows I started on float while the temperature struggled to get up to potential carping levels for a few roach and a skimmer. Eventually, the moment came and I made the switch to method feeder and aimed toward the island. I caught three mirrors: 8lb 6, 3lb 8 and 6lb. Great fun as thoughts of cracking Alders were put aside for another day.
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Having sat since first light and with no sign of fish life, I was comforted when the bailiff turned up suggested I was doing the right thing, method feeding towards the island. He suggested I change my pale pop-up hookbait to a fluorescent wafter. In the few minutes that we spoke, three carp jumped clear of the water by the island in front of me. After he left no more fish rose. A coincidence, surely?!? Later on a chap came and set up along the bank from me. He cast out then turned to start hammer in his umbrella ground pegs. Within five minutes his electronic alarm buzzed and in came an 8lb Common. 'Ha!' he called. 'I only chucked it out anywhere while I was laying my base out.' Of course, as a member of the Great Guild of Anglers, I could only laugh with him at his luck and congratulate him on his catch. Turning back to my rod, trying hard to hold that smile on my face, my bobbin seemed to be a little higher than I would have preferred, so I pulled a few inches slack from the bait runner. Very slowly, it raised back up to it's previous height. 'Odd?' I thought, and looked to see if any wind was causing the line to drag. There was none. 'I wonder...' I picked up the rod to find a pretty little carp on the end. On a whippy pellet waggler rod it gave a good fight for its 4lbs. My session finished 15 minutes later, and I went home for my lunch happy with that blank-breaking fish, and not feeling overly concerned at the incoming rain that would be battering my fellow angler in his tent for the whole afternoon.
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Having fished after work a week ago in twenty-three degree heat, this Tuesday I hoped that the day's snow showers were over and I'd just have the north wind to deal with. No such luck. I was hit by a 15-minute blizzard that dropped 2mm pellets of white around me while the wind took every bit of feeling from my fingers. Surprisingly perhaps, I had by then managed seven roach, one about half a pound, which made it worthwhile despite the early finish and chilblains.
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Different day, same cold, north east wind but this time no prospect of later sunshine. Wanted a swim with the wind on my back rather than in my face, so chose the far east bank of Dobsons for the first time. From this end of the lake I could see nine bivvies set up. None of them seemed to catch. For the third session on a row, I didn't get a touch on pellet of wafter on method feeder all morning, fishing up against the artificial island. Kept a float on second rod and eked out just the one solitary roach again. Bit disappointing, but with the cold wind I did not expect much better. What do they say - a bad day fishing (even in multiple layers and gloves) always beats a good day working.
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Yesterday I took a look around the lakes after work. No sign of fish despite the sudden burst of twenty degrees, apart from one swim at Knotts in which I watched two carp basking in the reeds not 5 metres from me. So that's where I went today, though typically, no sign of carp either basking or otherwise. No takes on various methods, and a handful of roach and a perch for about a pound on light float tackle was disappointing, but as with all fishing trips, there was some magic. This came in the shape of a grass snake that swum across the lake to me, raised his head at the wooden frame of my swim and sunned itself. After about a minute it sussed me and my camera, but not before I took a good profile and then caught it swimming away.
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8am Saturday morning and I was amazed to find the car park at Rawlings Retreat empty. Against the general populace , who tend to go Willows and fire against the island from the west bank I chose Alders feeling that less pressured fish might be hungry fish, and spent the day there on my own. After a couple of hours of nothing I was starting to have another think, when my lift-method float zipped under, and a lovely 5lb 6 bream soon came to the surface and offered no resistance to being dragged back to the net. Hoping that I might have found a shoal there was no further action apart from stroppy geese, until the shoal passed through again and I had a second bite, this time on the method feeder, my bream's 5lb 12oz sibling giving a much better fight. OK, just the two bites in a session, but I counted it as a success. Would you?
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A day to fish, and with heavy showers and winds forecast I chose the south bank of Knotts, being protected as it is by the banking of the canal behind. At one point I thought I saw bubbles in the next swim, but there turned out to be furry yellow pussy willow catkins being blown into the water from the trees behind. Nothing was interested in legered baits all day, be it pellet, method feeder, pop-up, bread or corn, so I set up a second rod with float and size 18 hook and the pint of maggots i generally carry for tough days. Fishing less than two rods out, and feeding the occasional nugget of liquidised bread, I caught twenty roach, which turned a wet and rubbish day into a fun one. With five between six and eight ounces, it was more than the plague of tiddlers and I plan to return of an evening to see if there are any proper big ones.
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Arrived for my short session to be told by an angler on the car park bank that he'd had nothing all day, so walked round to my usual spot on the south bank. Though a warmish, bright day, and conditions still, virtually no fish activity on the surface apart from the occasional tiddler. With nothing happening on leger, I set up a light float rod and missed several bites before landing two roach, one as big as three ounces. Ah well, at least it wasn't a blank. The only other highlight was the Chinook that flew over. There's not been a rock record made that wouldn't be improved with the thud-thud-thud of a Chinook in flight as the back beat. While certainly my favourite twin-rotored helicopter, I worry that it must be pretty easy a target in a combat scenario, it being large, slow and you hear them coming from miles off.
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20.3.21 - Dobsons & Warwicks
Bayleaf the Gardener posted a blog entry in The Newbury & Port Talbot Blanker
Ha. You got to love those fish. One day you think you've got this angling lark sussed, the next you're at the same swim but without the cold northerly wind - and nothing even waves a fin. Turned out to be an exercise in sittin' on the dock of the bay, watching the my neighbour rolling his bait boat back and forth. I'm sorry, but these just seems too unfair on the carp. At least casting way into the distance to within a foot of an island takes skill. You earn the right to catch those fish. I can't do it, so don't try. Anyway, I prefer fishing the margins. After all, if these beachcasters were on the island wouldn't they be doing exactly the same thing, casting football pitch lengths to the bankside where I sit? These boats don't give the fish a chance to hide, putting the odds too much in anglers favour, akin to walking to the crease at Lords with a bat wide enough to cover all of the stumps. I won't catch so many fish, but I won't be spending the £600+ on one, though I'd be happy to consider purchasing a U-boat to torpedo the things. This said, I didn't get a bite whereas Pirate Pete caught two and seemed to lose more in the snags he was dropping his bait in, so who am I to condone. I made the short hop to Warwicks for the last hour or so. There were four other anglers attracted (as I was) to the thought of newly stocked tench and crucians. All I saw come out in my short time appeared to be tiny roach, of which I nabbed six, before switching to a feeder and larger baits hoping for something longer than my finger to no avail. Fish 1 Martin 0 -
I hadn't counted on there being quite such a chilly north-westerly wind today that kept me feeling uncomfortable all day. I kept changing tactics and baits looking for fish, and had just the three bites to keep me warm, but a 100% hit rate with two (for me) whoppers and a beauty made it a great day. 1- Common - 10:30am- method feeder/halibut pellet - 3 rods out near overhangs- 9lb 2oz - good fight, took line several times 2 - Tench - 3:15pm - double maggot float fished less than 2 rods out - 4lb 12 oz - another good fight on lighter line and small hook. Unusually for Dobsons, no previous mouth injury so would have been perfectly kissable if it was not for a nasty tumour on its flank 3 - Common - 4:15pm - two small. soft, meaty boilies less than 2 rods out near overhangs - hauled it away from the overhangs then it was in net in no time before it worked out what was happening - 11lb 4oz
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Well, another day of 40mph+ rains keeping me off the season end rivers for the comparative shelter of the lakes. The west end of Dobsons this time, hunkering down in the thick trees of the carpark. The water was still choppy enough to deter float fishing and indeed fish. Sensing nothing was going to happen, at midday I moved around to one of my favourite swims where I have confidence that fish lie in the overhanging willow labyrinth, though luring them out can be tricky. Good move, me. In the next 30 minutes. with a small pop-up in the method feeder the bait runner screamed into action three times. The first I played for a few minutes before the hook pinged out, fish unseen. The second, the 4-inch, 8lb method feeder link snapped in the middle during the fight, fish unseen. The third was on for five seconds then pinged off again. Unseen. And that was the last bite of the day under the willows to my right. My second rod, similarly baited up and cast two rod lengths out to my left had no such good start. It sat ignored for three hours before the bobbin popped and with no pinged hook or any other major ordeal, the carp I expected to appear at the surface turned out to be a 4lb 7oz tench, sadly with the traditional Dobsons tench mouth damage from past battles. I cast to the same spot and five minutes later, the same bite, a much stronger fight and this one was also a tench, virtually its twin, also in need of cosmetic dentistry, but 3 ounces heavier.