Wingham Fish-In 2014

[KAYC]

at least one of Peggys burgers, sausages , jacket potatoes and if theres any going a rib or two will not go amiss.

[poledark]

Steve, just a quick question, have you heard the Cuckoos this year? Don't get many on the beach, so I haven't heard one for a couple of years.

 

Once again, I will be passing close by on my way to Sandwich bay, so will give you all a "toot" as I pass

 

Den

[Steve Burke]

Yes, Den, cuckoos this year. More than the last 2 years, but still well down on previous ones.

 

A lot more nightingales in the last couple of years too. They're spreading to more and more areas of the lakes. We now call the area from Logs to Tim's Point Nightingale Alley!

[Vagabond]

So who is off to Wingham at the weekend and what do you hope to catch?

Yesterday, whilst you were all responding to the "Vagabond O.B.E" thread (for which many thanks for all your good wishes) I went to one of my local streams and caught three trout - and obviously they became my first trout - in fact my first fish - caught during my octogenarian era.

 

Wealden trout are about the only fish I can confidently predict catching, but then I have had over seventy years practice at them.

 

What I hope to catch at Wingham is the ambiance of fishing there at night (I only hold a day ticket) - any decent fish that ventures into my swim and takes a bait will be a bonus.

[poledark]

Thanks Steve

 

Den

[Dick Dastardly]

^{I was over on Plantation most of last week Den and there was a very vocal cuckoo! Will never fail to amaze me how "noisey" such a "quiet" place is.}

 

^{As it seems Im no longer able to catch any Tench let alone a big one Im quite glad Im over on the Carp lake targeting the eels! Didn't do a great deal after them last year (in fact with everything didn't do a great deal of anything!) If those pesky Mud Pigs leave me alone it will be interesting to see if they are still there (I say that as they are all around the same size, if not a bit bigger than their mates in the Coarse Lake were when they did the off!) Be nice to try and up the record to 6 (which I thinks possible and around the top mark) but that would just be a bonus.}

^{For me the AN fishing is more about the catching up with old friends and meeting new. Its a VERY busy time for us but also a most enjoyable one .I was going over the lake today but still awaiting a new front prop shaft for the car so soon as here (hopefully today) and fitted I will be on my way.}

^{See you all Sat morning for a cuppa and bacon sarnie. Anyone whose arranged to come down on the Friday night and sleep in the club house my mobile number is 07944722835 if theres anything you need.}

[Steve Burke]

Well somehow we'll have done it with a day to spare! In the aftermath of the floods I'd never had believed it possible, and in fact we still have 4 swims and several hundred yards of track out of commission.

All the barley straw is now in and hopefully it'll mean no algae blooms this year. Chemical analysis of all the lakes has been taking place, and indeed is now an ongoing project.

The worst pot holes on the tracks have been filled in and several damaged sections of concrete on the approach road have been replaced.

 

More fallen trees have been dealt with than in any previous year. All the swims have had branches trimmed back and reeds cut so that they're fishable without problems. Each swim on the Main Lake has been raked out to about 15 yards. All the swims will be strimmed again tomorrow (they're done about every 3 weeks, as is the mowing). On Thursday evening I'll be doing a final check when I put peg numbers in each swim.

 

Then there's just the clubhouse to spring clean, which we always do on the Friday so it doesn't get mucked up again. By the way we've bought an extra phone charger for the clubhouse. However it doesn't charge i-Phones.

There's still the office work to do though, including the complicated job of deciding the swim allocations based on the latest weather forecast, and then printing them out. These are then stuffed in plastic sleeves together with a Google Earth map that each guest gets together with a name badge. Finally, there's the photo board to update.

Peggy's bought all the BBQ food and I pick up the worm orders tomorrow on the way back from the dump.

With a bit of luck I can have a day off on Friday. I may need it if I still can't get my car across the ford and have to do several circuits of both lakes on foot each of the 3 days! Hopefully the huge amount of shingle we've replaced in the ford after it got swept away in the floods will have done its job though.

So a big, big thank you to the whole team who've worked their socks off to play catch up this year!

Edited May 14, 2014 by Steve Burke

[3DoorsDown]

It's very easy actually - all you have to do is publically state that you're targeting the bream, then if you get one you can claim it was deliberate and perfectly planned, and if you don't you can just remind everyone that there are very few of them and none have been caught for a couple of years, so it's no surprise really

 

In that case, I'll take the opportunity to publicly state my plan not to catch anything, but simply enjoy Wingham and the company !

[Ken L]

Best of luck to everyone fishing Wingham this year. Looks like it's going to warm up with Saturday at least being partially overcast. Best pack the sun lotion for Sunday though because those pasty bodies burn easy.

[Errrm]

Really looking forward to seeing the catch reports for this :-). Good luck to everyone!