Help with Fishing a small natural stocked lake?

[Anderoo]

My little green pointy-eared mate is right!

 

It's just too tempting to fish when you have the gear with you. The result is you have a quick walk while looking at the water, pick somewhere you fancy and start fishing.

 

One day spent just looking (I mean really looking) will repay you a thousand times. I've said it before, but I think the general level of fishing has gone down since the closed season was abolished. That used to be 3 months of really valuable lessons on fish behaviour and watercraft.

[Renrag39]

Ok you guys, heres your comfy jackets that make you cuddle yourself. You see what happens during the close season...?

Gozzer, stop waving that bankstick around, you'll have someones eye out, its not a lightsabre...

 

Renrag

[davedave]

As much as it's a good idea i couldn't walk round a lake without wanting to put a bait in, temptation would overcome me! But if you have the patience it is a great thing to do to get a feel for it and see where the fish are and work out the depths.

 

Or compromise and spend the morning walking round and eyeing up the best spots then try some different baits/tactics and fish in the afternoon with the spots you had picked from earlier. Now theres a plan

[Tigger]

Personally I wouldn't start mapping out water depths etc like it was a military operation...blimey if it's only a smallish water you can just have a few trips trying out the likely looking spots. You can roughly plump your swim in a matter of a few minuites and be fishing instead of wasting lots of time doing wargames manouvers LOL. If it's a wildi'sh water then I'd use maggots, casters, worms and sweetcorn. Groundbait would be brown crumb, with a bit of corn a few maggots, and possibly a handfull of hemp and/ or trout pellets mixed in....i'd mix the groundbait quite dry to give a cloudy effect on it's way down. Good luck !

Edited April 12, 2011 by Tigger

[fishermanste]

following a day or two of sun (if we get any more) try throwing bits of floating bread as free offerings, its highly visible even through the thickest of weed and if you resist the temptation to fish then their confidence will grow unaware of your plans to catch them off the surface......

 

 

failing that i would stick to natural baits such as maggot and worm...... have a look for overhanging trees and bushes they can hold some natural fruity treats that may slip into the margins unnoticed

 

the main thing i would do is fish light!!!! there's no point sitting there with your line cutting through the water like a lazer beam and a hook that would scare jaws

[Tigger]

the main thing i would do is fish light!!!! there's no point sitting there with your line cutting through the water like a lazer beam and a hook that would scare jaws

 

 

I don't think fishing light would be a good idea in a snaggy weed packed pond. Personally I'd use at least 4lb but air on the side of safety and fish 6lb straight through. If the fish are wild it's unlikely they'll be hook/ tackle shy.

[Slack lines]

Firstly why don't you contact the owner then ask if you (and a couple of mates) could tidy the pond up a bit, by clearing out any un-natural snags, eg tyres, shopping trollies etc... then you will be able to find depths and features, whilst doing your bit for conservation, as well as gettng off to a good start with the owner.

 

DO NOT attempt to clear anything from the water without permition, also make sure there is someone there incase you get into any difficulties.

[Dales]

I do admire you guys who have the self control to turn up at a piece of water and have a good look around with out fishing. If I see water and don't have a rod I'm in a state of complete anxiety. I know it makes sense to have a good look around but I find it so hard, if I turned up with out the rod, I would only end up heading back home to fetch it after a while.

[Anderoo]

I get as much enjoyment from exploring, watching and mapping as I do from the actual fishing to be honest, so it doesn't feel like a hardship. All my winter fishing is based on lots of walking and observing in the warmer months, so when the time comes I have a decent idea of what's what and I can start off confident. If I didn't do that and just took a rod I don't think I'd get very far down the river and would miss out on all that lovely untapped water.

 

Rich and I mapped out a gravel pit we have access to over a year ago and haven't fished it yet! When we do though, there'll be no wasted time, we'll know exactly where to go and what to expect. (It turns out it is mostly very shallow and weedy with two pronounced deeper areas, like trenches. A very interesting pit...)

 

I think it's all the stuff you do without a bait in the water that catches you the fish, really. If you're in the right place at the right time and fish sensibly, you have to work quite hard to go wrong

 

If you prefer to fish straight away, I think I would walk round the lake and pick a swim, and try one small natural bait like maggots/casters on light gear and one larger bait like lobs or bread or corn or something on heavier gear, in separate spots, and see what turns up. Maybe move swims few times if the water is quiet, and take my time with the plumbing rod.

 

I have to say that often the preparatory work can be much more enjoyable than the actual fishing