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Wingham Fish-In


Steve Burke

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In 50 years of angling this is the largest deepest venue I am hoping to fish. For once I feel humbled and a complete novice so reading the advice is really interesting. I always try to use some form of float fishing for a still water in daylight but I have seen all kinds of comments from using a zig rig to finding features at a distance to fishing the margins. Confusing yes challenging yes and are there more questions, yes! What would typically be used as equipment for example is there a real danger of a carp ruining your day on lighter say 8lb line and a barbel rod. What material hooklengths are commonly used(I use flouro wherever I can get away with it) and at what sort of length. Do most anglers use direct hooking or hair rigging or is it pretty much equal usage.Does anyone know whether the original gravel bottom is well camouflaged now and is the water clear? I ask these things in the hope I stay on the list to go and look forward to asking some of you in person.

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Guys, I was wondering if you could give me some help on getting into the tench there. Would a good carpet of groundbait be the right tactic? Plus, are there any restrictions on baits? With such a large piece of water I cant decide what to take or how to attack it. Any advice on getting into the tench, both day and night would be helpful.

 

Was thinking float fishing in the day with 2 sleeper rods and 3 out at night.

 

p.s - This is on the assumption that I get a spot!

 

Cheers

Ben

 

Groundbait works well for the tench as does loose feeding, but it's vital it goes into the right place at Wingham otherwise you could well blank. Putting your feed in the wrong place is probably the biggest mistake you can make in most of the pegs. So do explore your swim first before you bait up. The bailiffs and I can give you a lot of info on your peg as well.

 

The only things you can't use for bait are nuts, live or dead fish or lures.

 

Don't so much think of it as a large piece of water, just try to work out where to fish in the swim I allocate you. I do this from all the answers to the questionnaire each guest is sent.

 

Two leger or feeder rods + a float rod in the day, then all 3 on the leger at night should work well.

 

As Rich suggested I'd use worm or maggot on all the rods during the day as everything will take that, including the perch. At this time of the year most of the perch caught are over 2lbs with many being 3+. Then during the night I'd switch to non-animal baits to avoid the eels, unless of course you're targetting them.

Edited by Steve Burke

Wingham Specimen Coarse & Carp Syndicates www.winghamfisheries.co.uk Beautiful, peaceful, little fished gravel pit syndicates in Kent with very big fish. 2017 Forum Fish-In Sat May 6 to Mon May 8. Articles http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/steveburke.htm Index of all my articles on Angler's Net

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In 50 years of angling this is the largest deepest venue I am hoping to fish. For once I feel humbled and a complete novice so reading the advice is really interesting. I always try to use some form of float fishing for a still water in daylight but I have seen all kinds of comments from using a zig rig to finding features at a distance to fishing the margins. Confusing yes challenging yes and are there more questions, yes! What would typically be used as equipment for example is there a real danger of a carp ruining your day on lighter say 8lb line and a barbel rod. What material hooklengths are commonly used(I use flouro wherever I can get away with it) and at what sort of length. Do most anglers use direct hooking or hair rigging or is it pretty much equal usage.Does anyone know whether the original gravel bottom is well camouflaged now and is the water clear? I ask these things in the hope I stay on the list to go and look forward to asking some of you in person.

 

Wingham is absolutely full of bars, humps, sunken islands and every sort of feature you can think of. At the moment the water is very clear, but from time to time we do have blooms of plankton.

 

One of the great things is that the water comes under very little pressure and so almost every tactic works.

 

However, in the vast majority of swims the key is putting your bait and your feed in exactly the right place.

 

If you've answered in the questionnaire that you want to float fish I'll almost certainly be able to give you a suitable swim. Having said that the vast majority of swims fish well in the margins, as long as you're quiet that is. In only a few do you need to fish at range.

 

There are very few carp in the water so I'd suggest that barbel rods with 8lb main line, possibly with a lighter hooklength, would be perfect. Fluoro hooklengths would be fine. Members use both short and long hooklengths, so it could be worth experimenting on the day.

 

Most members use hair rigs except for worms, although I've caught a lot myself at Wingham without a hair.

 

I don't really want to have everyone fishing exactly the same as new members coming up with new ideas often do very well at Wingham! However help will be available to all guests who'd like it, both before and during the event.

Edited by Steve Burke

Wingham Specimen Coarse & Carp Syndicates www.winghamfisheries.co.uk Beautiful, peaceful, little fished gravel pit syndicates in Kent with very big fish. 2017 Forum Fish-In Sat May 6 to Mon May 8. Articles http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/steveburke.htm Index of all my articles on Angler's Net

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I ask these things in the hope I stay on the list to go and look forward to asking some of you in person.

 

I hope to be there whether I fish or not. I would be very happy to spend time with those who would like help, just ask!

 

Rich

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Weirwulf, Ben and any other Wingham 'Newbies',

 

Dont' be put off by the size of the lake. Just concentrate on the swim in front of you and fish to the features. If you've not used marker float set ups before then read up what you can on them as they are an invaluable tool to finding out what your swim is like and where the fish will probably be. Have a look on Google Earth/Maps and you can see where some, but not all, the bars are.

 

There will be fish in every swim that can be caught using fairly standard methods (float, feeder, leger, method, etc) on standard baits (real and plastic maggots and corn, worm, pellet and boilies). But you do have to be fairly quiet because they do come in close.

 

All the advice given so far by Steve B., Richard, Anderoo, etc. has been spot on but if you need advice then talk to Terry and Glyn the bailiffs or to any of the members that may be down there helping out. Believe me, we all really do want you to catch fish.

 

I shall be down there from Saturday morning with bacon sarnies and tea/coffee for all who want them from about 7am onwards so you can have a chance to talk about the swims you're in and how best to fish it. See you all there!

 

Steve C.

Edited by wyeknot
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OK probably a daft question, but do you guys advocating worms use them on "modern" short hooklinks / semi-fixed type rigs or more traditional rigs with longer hook lengths? I'd really like one of those big perch :)

 

I'm also wondering if it's be worth buying a 1 week second licence so I can use 3 rods - I generally fish waters wwere the limit is two and so only have one licence

 

Mat

Mat

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What a great bunch of guys! These are just the answers I am looking for and pretty much backs up what my game plan was in my mind. I always think the margins should never be ignored especially after dark after all the margins always provide a living for the fish at any water plus they are much easier to feed. Quietnes is always key to a good session although strangely babelfish and I fished the jungle from a punt at Bury Hill last week and still had a great day despite the disturbance of the punt and constant conversation! I look forward to further discussion with some of you in person soon.

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OK probably a daft question, but do you guys advocating worms use them on "modern" short hooklinks / semi-fixed type rigs or more traditional rigs with longer hook lengths? I'd really like one of those big perch :)

 

I'm also wondering if it's be worth buying a 1 week second licence so I can use 3 rods - I generally fish waters wwere the limit is two and so only have one licence

 

Mat

 

 

Matt worms and long hook links often result in deep hooking.12-15" max IMHO. Rig wise I prefer a running rig with any bait that can be "damaged" ie you can see any small fish activity so know its worth checking your bait.

And thats my "non indicative opinion"!

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Yes, I would also use a running rig with worms and a hooklength of about 12". Use mono too, braid + worms = nightmare!

 

Wyeknot's advice is exactly right. It is a big lake and it can look daunting, but the only bit that matters is the little bit in front of you - the rest can be basically ignored. Spend time with people who know the swim and make sure you're happy with where you want to put your bait/groundbait, and it all flows from there. There will be plenty of people around to help with picking the best features.

 

Where the features are will depend on the swim - some very close in, some further out. It's a good idea not to fish too far out though, because as Steve said, there are an awful lot of bars and humps, and it's very easy to get cut off on the sharp gravel. Again, this will depend on the swim.

 

As Richard said in the previous topic, if anyone wants a hand (and loan of tackle) for marker float and/or spodding just let us know.

 

With baiting, I would err on the side of caution. If the conditions are good and there are a lot of fish in front of you, big beds of bait can work. On the other hand, if there aren't so many fish or they aren't that hungry it can work against you. I'd start off light and see what happens. There's plenty of time to add more.

 

A final though on accuracy - bring some light pole elastic or similar so you can mark your line once you've found that banker spot. You can then clip up and hit the same spot every time, even in the dark. This is worth doing even if you're only fishing 10 yards out, because maybe at 11 yards you're on the top of a bar!

 

Like Wyeknot said, there's no secret squirrel stuff at Wingham, we all want everyone to have a great time and catch some big fish :)

And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music

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OK probably a daft question, but do you guys advocating worms use them on "modern" short hooklinks / semi-fixed type rigs or more traditional rigs with longer hook lengths? I'd really like one of those big perch :)

 

I'm also wondering if it's be worth buying a 1 week second licence so I can use 3 rods - I generally fish waters wwere the limit is two and so only have one licence

 

Mat

 

Mat,

If you're serious about using worms for eels then I would recommend using 35lb Quicksilver for your hooklengths. It is recognised as pretty good for this purpose by those who fish regularly for them. As far as hook length goes then I would agree with Budgie's advice and keep them down to 12" max on a running leger. Visit the NAC website for more information on rigs, etc. http://www.nationalanguillaclub.co.uk/.

 

The second licence is really for you to decide. Certainly all the swims at Wingham are plenty big enough for three rods.

 

Steve C.

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