MKF

[Armarnold]

i joined at tier 3 yesterday, got the winter ticket to see how i get on with the place. yesterday afternoon i went to the shalmsford complex and fished the reed lake, tried absolutley everything i could but blanked!(the way it goes sometimes), so today im going to try the match lake instead. can anyone tell me if its as deep as the reed lake, because im going to have to stop at the tackle shop to grab some gear for a sliding float set-up of so.. and any generall tips for the lake in this complex, particularly the match lake would be well apprieciated!, thanx

[Dick Dastardly]

I used to be a member for many years but stopped when I stopped earning.I had more or less finnished there but since leaving new waters have been aquired/developed.

 

I fished the match lake a couple of times when I first overcame initioal doubts about fishing in the old closed season.I should imagine that it has matured a lot since then! Its constructed in the "classic" moat style of commercial match waters.Very uniform width and depth.No need for sliding float gear!

 

Ive fished it with both running line gear and pole.Allthough carp are (Im pressuming the stock wont have changed that much) primarily the match target species Ive caught decent bream,chub and roach there.The sheer variety of small carp and the many ornemental strain/hybrids used to be quite amazing!

 

This was pre pellet days and spraying maggots was the number one method.I suppose pellet reigns supreme now but you will still catch on maggs!

 

The "lake" has pumps installed and if turned on can produce a "flow" in some swims! Fish seem to feed quite happily regardless! No need for any fancy tactics as its dead easy regardless of conditions or time of year,you will soon get bored of it! That said it would be a good place for you to fish with a veiw to "learning" it and then trying your luck in one of the small opens they hold regularly there.Be aware though that there are some matchmen who specialise on such waters and they will take some beating!

[Armarnold]

well, yeah i did think it'd be a great way for me to get into the match scene. im always going to enjoy specimen hunting, and surface fishing, spinning, and everything else......even the odd session with a bite alarm , but ive decided that i need to "back track" if you catch my drift so that i can learn my craft properly..match fishing just has alot of appeal to me for some reason and i think that id be able to learn alot that i could apply to all aspects of fishing. and i like competition tbh....... .

 

where do you fish now budgie, freewaters?, or daytickets?

[Dick Dastardly]

All my dough this year went on my Wingham syndicate ticket so I didnt renew any other club,syndicate tickets.That looked after my "summer" fishing but in the winter I mainly pike fish and for me thats mainly on the couple of trout reservoirs I am lucky enough to have acsess to.These fortunately dont cost me anything due to the situation.Im also lucky enough to get more than enough invites to other waters just to give me a change! My routine piking is on a local gravel pit run by a club I have a Life Membership with and they also include RFA membership that gives me acsess to a lot of the River Rother.

 

Anything else this time of year is either AN fish ins or by curtousey of the various clubs I do Pike Teach Ins for.

[Armarnold]

All my dough this year went on my Wingham syndicate ticket so I didnt renew any other club,syndicate tickets.That looked after my "summer" fishing but in the winter I mainly pike fish and for me thats mainly on the couple of trout reservoirs I am lucky enough to have acsess to.These fortunately dont cost me anything due to the situation.Im also lucky enough to get more than enough invites to other waters just to give me a change! My routine piking is on a local gravel pit run by a club I have a Life Membership with and they also include RFA membership that gives me acsess to a lot of the River Rother.

 

Anything else this time of year is either AN fish ins or by curtousey of the various clubs I do Pike Teach Ins for.

 

hmmn, thats cool.....so whats your oppinion of MKF as a syndicate anyway budgie??, would they not be interested in having you do pike teach-ins there?

[Dick Dastardly]

Used to do them in the early days.I think MKF offers very good value.They have a good range of waters.Not so keen on some of the management policies and decisions over the years but would still reccomend the club.Den (Poledark) who posts on here still fishs them regularly and every year lands some great fish. Handy if you can get out midweek as some of the waters can get quite crowded carp wise at the weekends.

[Armarnold]

Used to do them in the early days.I think MKF offers very good value.They have a good range of waters.Not so keen on some of the management policies and decisions over the years but would still reccomend the club.Den (Poledark) who posts on here still fishs them regularly and every year lands some great fish. Handy if you can get out midweek as some of the waters can get quite crowded carp wise at the weekends.

 

yeah it does seem a bit biased towards carp fishing, but i spose theve got to make there money and carp fishing seems to be what most people want to do now,,,

[BigKev]

hi Armarnold,

 

i've been a member for about 5 yrs now and think its great value for money . what species do you fish for ? there are some huge bream and tench and pike in their tier 3 waters. most of the members i have met are really good blokes who will glady give info . as Budgie says the waters are generally a lot quieter midweek

[poledark]

Arnold, first off, the match lake. Average depth about 3ft 6", loads of carp to upper doubles, mostly 6 to 7 lbs. Plenty of silvers as well. Keep feeding and the fish will turn up, corn works well all year. Might pay you to have a walk around it first, you may spot fish, usually can see one or two bubbling etc. Lovely quiet little water midweek, clean and weel maintained.

 

Not seen any sign of pumps, but maybe they never use them now, but you do get a "flow" from the wind effect. Because of the shape of the place, you can have the wind coming from R to L at one end, and halfway around, the wind is the opposite whether that is of any use though, I don't know

 

There are often matches on at weekends so it may get a bit crowded, although they rarely book more than 30 pegs, and there are almost 100.

 

MKF is unashamedly carp orientated, as that is whay most members want, but some of the lakes hold other secrets

 

Den

[Armarnold]

Arnold, first off, the match lake. Average depth about 3ft 6", loads of carp to upper doubles, mostly 6 to 7 lbs. Plenty of silvers as well. Keep feeding and the fish will turn up, corn works well all year. Might pay you to have a walk around it first, you may spot fish, usually can see one or two bubbling etc. Lovely quiet little water midweek, clean and weel maintained.

 

Not seen any sign of pumps, but maybe they never use them now, but you do get a "flow" from the wind effect. Because of the shape of the place, you can have the wind coming from R to L at one end, and halfway around, the wind is the opposite whether that is of any use though, I don't know

 

There are often matches on at weekends so it may get a bit crowded, although they rarely book more than 30 pegs, and there are almost 100.

 

MKF is unashamedly carp orientated, as that is whay most members want, but some of the lakes hold other secrets

 

Den

 

thanx den, i fished the match lake before i had read this post and was a little reluctant to feed, i done ok but next time i will feed with more confidence and hopefully reap the rewards. ive got to say that it is a very nice looking tidy match lake indeed, and i managed to pull out a modest bream of around 5 to 6 pounds which i was quite pleased with!,

its nice to be fishing waters of better quality after years of just fishing commercials and day tickets, they just have a different feel to them...

any tips or pointers towards fishing float or feeder in blue laggon den>?, im thinking of doing a midweek session this week.

 

thanx again,

 

Arnold