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Wingham Fish-In Sat May 19th to Mon May 21st


Steve Burke

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I'm now taking bookings for the Wingham Fish-In on Saturday 19th May to Monday 21st May.

 

Wingham is a syndicate water that, apart from the annual AN Fish-In, is open to members only.

 

However, please note that the only way to book a place is to e-mail me VIA THE WINGHAM WEB SITE at http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/fisheries/wingham.htm, and NOT by leaving a message here or via PM. Please also leave your Forum name if you use an alias.

 

After the last few years fabulous catches on fish-ins (five 15lb+ bream to 16-06, loads of 8lb+ tench up to 10-04, plus lots of 3lb+ perch to 3-14) I should be booked solid very quickly.

 

As many of you will know there's a chance of breaking the bream record at Wingham. We had one of 17-14 in April 2004, and as this fish was only 11 summers old at the oldest it had several years of growth ahead of it! It will now almost certainly be well over 20lbs. Since then Wingham has produced an even bigger (different) bream of 18-06, and more recently we’ve had an 18-04 and another 17-14.

 

Who can come? Anyone who's a Forum member and who’s made at least one post. However, although the venue is 40 acres, places will be limited. Those who missed out last year are guaranteed a place. If necessary priority will then be given to those who haven't been before. Non-fishing guests are welcome, but please don't wear bright clothing!

 

What's the cost to fish? Nothing! It's a thank you to Elton for hosting the Wingham web site, plus a chance to meet Forum members.

 

However please do put something in the bailiff's box in the clubhouse. They're unpaid volunteers and have worked their socks off getting everything ready, and will be working again all through the weekend - including running a taxi service at their own expense to take you and your gear to/from your swim. Without them the Fish-In simply wouldn't be taking place and you wouldn't be reading this!

 

Where is Wingham? On a nature reserve in the middle of nowhere near Canterbury, Kent. The loudest noise is normally birdsong! It’s about 1 hour from the Dartford Crossing on the M25, but detailed directions will be sent to those attending.

 

When is the venue open? It's a 3 day event with the fishery open from 7am Saturday to 7pm Monday. However, please don't arrive after 9pm.

 

Can I bivvy up and fish overnight? Yes. If you don't have a bivvy and bedchair etc we can almost certainly arrange the loan of these items. You can also sleep in the clubhouse (just to the left of the main gate) that has a lounge, kitchen, bait room, shower room and toilets. Alternatively you can kip in the car park. Accommodation can also be booked nearby.

 

Lunchtime BBQs Every lunchtime there'll be a mega BBQ - with enough even for Budgie! Please do let us know though if you're vegetarian. The cost is £6 which must be booked and paid for in advance.

 

Which lake can I fish? Normally the Fish-In is on the Coarse Lake only, which is 40 acres and contains most species. However this year if we're full up I may allow some of you who are both Forum and Wingham Coarse Lake members to fish for either carp or eels on the 15 acre Carp Lake.

 

What restrictions are there? No keepnets, lead core or similar leaders are permitted, nor are nuts or fishbaits. Also no barbless hooks above size 10 are allowed on the Coarse Lake. In these larger sizes please use barbed, preferably micro-barbed hooks. 3 rods are permitted. Full rules will be sent nearer the time.

 

What about lure fishing? My syndicate members aren't allowed to lure fish and so I'm afraid it wouldn't be fair to allow lures on the Fish-In.

 

What tackle should I bring? The venue is very little fished and therefore the fish aren't tackle shy. With the very high average weights and sharp gravel bars a minimum of 6lb line and preferably stronger is recommended. Most members use 8lb line, with a lighter hooklength if necessary. Braid is definitely not recommended because of the bars.

 

I can't stress highly enough that if you're fishing after dark you should have heavy bobbins on at least a 24 inch drop (that's longer than it seems and much longer than carp bobbins). Otherwise you'll probably strike at line bites (that big bream are notorious for) and spook them. That'll then almost certainly have blown your chance of a record bream for the rest of the weekend!

 

If you have a short drop on your bobbins and line is taken off your reel you’ll also be getting up all night long to reset the bobbins every time you get a line bite! Believe me, you’ll never make the same mistake again!

 

You'll therefore need your rods up high, and so long bank sticks or storm poles are needed.

 

I have 5 pairs of long banksticks plus 4 suitable bobbins that can be borrowed. Other Wingham members can also help out, so just ask as we have plenty between us.

 

What baits would you recommend? All common baits catch such as worm, maggots, corn and boilies, but remember the lake is very little fished and so unusual baits aren't likely to work so well as you can't pre-bait. Above all, do make sure you have worms, preferably lobs.

 

During the day I'd recommend that you hedge your bets by fishing worm, maggot or caster, perhaps in conjunction with corn, on all your rods as otherwise you could miss out on a 3lb+ perch. These are present in nearly every swim. And of course these baits are excellent for tench!

 

After dark eels will probably make the use of animal baits a problem, unless of course you like eels. The vast majority are between 1½ and 4lbs, but they’ve been caught up to 5-08.

 

I can order lobs or dendras for you if given advance notice (9.30 am on the Tuesday before the event at the very latest). The cost is only £7 per large tub (approx quarter kilo.) but must be paid for in advance.

 

What are the best tactics? The most important requirement is to keep quiet and still (no bright clothing!) as although the fish aren't tackle or bait shy they're very easily spooked due to the lack of fishing pressure. Normally if there's more than 4 anglers on the 40 acres it's busy!

 

The fish have definite patrol routes and they aren't likely to move off these routes. This is because of the huge amount of natural food. Wingham's the only water I know where your feeders come back covered not only with snails but snail's eggs! There shouldn’t be much weed, but Gaffer reckons any weed you do retrieve will crawl back in! So the best advice I can give you is to thoroughly plumb the swim and in the vast majority fish the margins as most of these are on patrol routes. Bear in mind though that most of the swims are deep, typically with 8 to 10 feet at the bottom of the marginal shelf. So if you're float fishing I'd suggest a slider. If you’d like a shallow swim though do please ask.

 

Another reason for fishing at close range is that Wingham is a mass of bars, humps, plateaux etc., and so casting and feeding accurately is a must. If you're just a couple of yards astray you could be fishing in 12 inches of water instead of 12 feet!

 

In fact, nearly all the fish from the Coarse Lake, including many of the bream, have come in the margins.

 

They'll be a series of enhanced satellite photos on view in the clubhouse, and I'll also point out hotspots in each known swim for those who'd like this info. However, some of the swims have little form as they've been fished on only a handful of occasions!

 

Bear in mind that the bream are almost entirely nocturnal. The perch feed best in low light, especially from just before dawn (sunrise will be at approx 5am), whilst the tench can come at any time, but particularly in the mornings.

 

Any heavy baiting up is thus best done late afternoon/early evening to allow the swim to settle. This is especially so if you're spodding bait out. Not only might this spook your own fish, but your neighbours' also.

 

However I’d suggest you don’t bait heavily on the first day. This is because you may be putting it in the wrong place. If you catch you can then put some more bait on that spot.

 

<b>One of the best bits of advice comes from Anderoo. If you’re not catching when others are then recast. You may just be a couple of yards from the fish, and at Wingham this can make a huge difference!</b>

 

You'll also find more questions and answers from a previous year at http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/Tips-Wi...ish-in+bookings

 

What can I expect to catch? Wingham is very unlike the artificially overstocked waters that many of you are used to. It's very much a big fish water, so although you're not likely to catch lots of fish you've every chance of specimens, especially tench and perch, not to mention record bream! There are more details on the Wingham web site.

 

How do I book? By e-mailing me VIA THE WINGHAM WEB SITE at http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/fisheries/wingham.htm, and NOT by leaving a message here or via PM. Please also leave your Forum name if you use an alias.

 

Confirmation of booking You'll get a list of questions to confirm your booking. If you don't receive these within 48 hours please leave a message on this topic, although don’t worry as I may be staying at the lakes. However booking a place doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get one as I may be oversubscribed.

 

Swim allocation These questions will ask about your preferences, including the species you're after, any special requirements, and ask about BBQ and bait orders. Please do answer these questions in full as they'll also help me allocate you the kind of swim you'd like. Of course I can't guarantee every guest will get everything they want, but I normally get very close!

 

Talking of questions, you're welcome to ask them here as others may find the answers helpful.

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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Keeping my fingers crossed at the moment :-).

 

I bit of advice from the Wingham guys (especially Steve B if he has time). Everytime I go to Wingham I think about targetting the Perch but I always get distracted by the Tench..... now this might happen again but I thought I would get some advice :-). Do the perch feed that much in May at Wingham? My only attempts so far at Wingham to catch a perch was float fishing but I would most likely be ledgering/bobbins this time, would you suggest just a heavy lead and longish hook length 18 inches or longer, or is there something better I could try? Bait wist I would be guessing lob worms would be best but what about feed? I was thinking chopped worms and red maggot both alive and dead, I know you can get groundbait additives for predators, are these any good? What sort of groundbait if any would be useful?

 

During the night I would be swicthing to probably fake maggots or something over the same spot for tench.

 

Any advice would be great, although as soon as I read previous catch reports I'm sure I will be tempted by giant tench again :-).

 

Edit - Would something like this with brown crumb work well.... http://www.ccmoore.com/worm-protein-extract-p-1288.html

Edited by Errrm
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Errrm, although you could if you wanted to go all-out for perch, I don't think you need to. All the big perch I've had from Wingham in recent years have come to maggots, usually while fishing for the bream or tench. So if you don't want to feel like you're compromising your tench fishing, I would simply fish for tench in your usual way but use a free running rig and either worms or maggots as bait. You'll still catch the tench, but if perch are in the swim, you'll catch them too. Switching to other baits at night is a good idea, unless you want eels.

 

I would say the tench are usually pretty well spread out but the perch can be quite localised. So fishing for the tench in a way that you'll catch the perch too, if they're in the swim, is probably a sensible approach. If they're there, you'll catch them.

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

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Errrm, although you could if you wanted to go all-out for perch, I don't think you need to. All the big perch I've had from Wingham in recent years have come to maggots, usually while fishing for the bream or tench. So if you don't want to feel like you're compromising your tench fishing, I would simply fish for tench in your usual way but use a free running rig and either worms or maggots as bait. You'll still catch the tench, but if perch are in the swim, you'll catch them too. Switching to other baits at night is a good idea, unless you want eels.

 

I would say the tench are usually pretty well spread out but the perch can be quite localised. So fishing for the tench in a way that you'll catch the perch too, if they're in the swim, is probably a sensible approach. If they're there, you'll catch them.

 

I was thinking about fishing in such a way as to attract either of them but part of me says that would be cheating and another part suggests I would be compromising when fishing for a specific species would be better. At the moment I'm thinking that fishing specifically for tench i.e. pellets, fake baits would stop me catching perch but fishing specifically for Perch with lobs, chopped worms, lots of maggots, worm extract etc will quite likely catch my tench if they are in the area anyway so I that might be an option.... If only one species got big in the lake it would be a lot easier :-).

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I was thinking about fishing in such a way as to attract either of them but part of me says that would be cheating and another part suggests I would be compromising when fishing for a specific species would be better. At the moment I'm thinking that fishing specifically for tench i.e. pellets, fake baits would stop me catching perch but fishing specifically for Perch with lobs, chopped worms, lots of maggots, worm extract etc will quite likely catch my tench if they are in the area anyway so I that might be an option.... If only one species got big in the lake it would be a lot easier :-).

 

I would go along with Anderoo's advice and give yourself a good chance for the Perch. Bait wise with maggots, worms or casters you will not be compromising anything with regard to catching the Tench and as the small silvers will not be active you can use small naturals and have confidence that if you get a bite it is likely to be a good Tench or decent sized Perch. You can always be more species specific over night.

Stephen

 

Species Caught 2014

Zander, Pike, Bream, Roach, Tench, Perch, Rudd, Common Carp, Mirror Carp, Eel, Grayling, Brown Trout, Rainbow Trout

Species Caught 2013

Pike, Zander, Bream, Roach, Eel, Tench, Rudd, Perch, Common Carp, Koi Carp, Brown Goldfish, Grayling, Brown Trout, Chub, Roosterfish, Dorado, Black Grouper, Barracuda, Mangrove Snapper, Mutton Snapper, Jack Crevalle, Tarpon, Red Snapper

Species Caught 2012
Zander, Pike, Perch, Chub, Ruff, Gudgeon, Dace, Minnow, Wels Catfish, Common Carp, Mirror Carp, Ghost Carp, Roach, Bream, Eel, Rudd, Tench, Arapaima, Mekong Catfish, Sawai Catfish, Marbled Tiger Catfish, Amazon Redtail Catfish, Thai Redtail Catfish, Batrachian Walking Catfish, Siamese Carp, Rohu, Julliens Golden Prize Carp, Giant Gourami, Java Barb, Red Tailed Tin Foil Barb, Nile Tilapia, Black Pacu, Red Bellied Pacu, Alligator Gar
Species Caught 2011
Zander, Tench, Bream, Chub, Barbel, Roach, Rudd, Grayling, Brown Trout, Salmon Parr, Minnow, Pike, Eel, Common Carp, Mirror Carp, Ghost Carp, Koi Carp, Crucian Carp, F1 Carp, Blue Orfe, Ide, Goldfish, Brown Goldfish, Comet Goldfish, Golden Tench, Golden Rudd, Perch, Gudgeon, Ruff, Bleak, Dace, Sergeant Major, French Grunt, Yellow Tail Snapper, Tom Tate Grunt, Clown Wrasse, Slippery Dick Wrasse, Doctor Fish, Graysby, Dusky Squirrel Fish, Longspine Squirrel Fish, Stripped Croaker, Leather Jack, Emerald Parrot Fish, Red Tail Parrot Fish, White Grunt, Bone Fish
Species Caught 2010
Zander, Pike, Perch, Eel, Tench, Bream, Roach, Rudd, Mirror Carp, Common Carp, Crucian Carp, Siamese Carp, Asian Redtail Catfish, Sawai Catfish, Rohu, Amazon Redtail Catfish, Pacu, Long Tom, Moon Wrasse, Sergeant Major, Green Damsel, Tomtate Grunt, Sea Chub, Yellowtail Surgeon, Black Damsel, Blue Dot Grouper, Checkered Sea Perch, Java Rabbitfish, One Spot Snapper, Snubnose Rudderfish
Species Caught 2009
Barramundi, Spotted Sorubim Catfish, Wallago Leeri Catfish, Wallago Attu Catfish, Amazon Redtail Catfish, Mrigul, Siamese Carp, Java Barb, Tarpon, Wahoo, Barracuda, Skipjack Tuna, Bonito, Yellow Eye Rockfish, Red Snapper, Mangrove Snapper, Black Fin Snapper, Dog Snapper, Yellow Tail Snapper, Marble Grouper, Black Fin Tuna, Spanish Mackerel, Mutton Snapper, Redhind Grouper, Saddle Grouper, Schoolmaster, Coral Trout, Bar Jack, Pike, Zander, Perch, Tench, Bream, Roach, Rudd, Common Carp, Golden Tench, Wels Catfish
Species Caught 2008
Dorado, Wahoo, Barracuda, Bonito, Black Fin Tuna, Long Tom, Sergeant Major, Red Snapper, Black Damsel, Queen Trigga Fish, Red Grouper, Redhind Grouper, Rainbow Wrasse, Grey Trigger Fish, Ehrenbergs Snapper, Malabar Grouper, Lunar Fusiler, Two Tone Wrasse, Starry Dragonet, Convict Surgeonfish, Moonbeam Dwarf Angelfish,Bridled Monocle Bream, Redlined Triggerfish, Cero Mackeral, Rainbow Runner
Species Caught 2007
Arapaima, Alligator Gar, Mekong Catfish, Spotted Sorubim Catfish, Pacu, Siamese Carp, Barracuda, Black Fin Tuna, Queen Trigger Fish, Red Snapper, Yellow Tail Snapper, Honeycomb Grouper, Red Grouper, Schoolmaster, Cubera Snapper, Black Grouper, Albacore, Ballyhoo, Coney, Yellowfin Goatfish, Lattice Spinecheek

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Or you you could fish 2 rods all-out for the tench and the third all-out for the perch (in the daytime, at least)?

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

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