After my success at the Match lake I felt that I had achieved what I set out to do. It may have been only one fish from the lake and most anglers would get the bit between their teeth and perhaps feel that the thing to do was carry on and try and catch some more fish but, because the lake isn't really my sort of fishing nowadays I am more than happy to leave it, at least for the time being, and move on to other things. 

The first thing I did was to go and try and catch some Bass locally. Something I normally love to do during the warmer months. Unfortunately I had been feeling unmotivated towards that this year. However I felt that it was time before the season ended. A couple of days on a local mark saw me get lucky and catch a few half decent fish on my favourite method of Soft plastic lures. My Son even joined me on one of the days and managed to catch a couple of nice fish as well, which was really nice. I even filmed the sessions too which you can view below.

I also had a session on the fly after the Bass but to no avail which was disappointing, but probably my own fault for leaving it so late and not putting in a concerted effort earlier in the season.

From there, as we were moving into Autumn I began thinking about what to do for the winter. As I have mentioned many times before in my blogs, I live on an Island, which has both advantages in terms of the saltwater fishing on offer but severe limitations for the ambitious coarse fisherman. Something we lack is any proper Rivers and I have not had many opportunities to fish any rivers in my life. I decided it was high time to remedy this. After some searching around I decided on the Dorset Stour at Throop. Many years ago I fished the Dorset Stour for Barbel on beat three during a family holiday when my children were all still quite small. I was successful in catching my target species with Barbel to 13lb, which I was told at the time was a good fish. Having enjoyed the fishing so much I vowed to return, but unfortunately as happens a lot with me, life got in the way and  fishing wise I got distracted with other things.

Now,  All these years later, Throop is an easily accessible fishery for me and my fishing partner. as well as being only 45 minutes from the Ferry at Southampton it's a day ticket stretch incorporating 3 beats and is quite well populated by Chub, Barbel, Roach, Dace and Perch. Being as we would be campaigning on the fishery during the colder months I have decided that Chub will be the main target as they are renowned for feeding in even the coldest conditions and although a nervous customer for the angler, once their confidence is gained they can be extremely obliging and can be caught on most baits in most conditions. My angling companion is more inclined towards trotting for Roach, which is to say that I'm not, I love Roach fishing and will at some point put a concerted effort into trying to catch some specimens, but at the moment Chub are the favoured target.

The first trip was naturally, an exploratory one and I wasn't too bothered about what I caught and so decided to trot a float with maggots as bait, as a starting point just to see what came along. It actually turned out to be a pleasant but tough day due to my inexperience and I managed a few Dace and Roach but was plagued by minnows which was extremely frustrating. I resolved on future trips to fish bigger baits and sit it out in the hope of a larger specimen and as luck would have it I achieved my target on the third trip catching three Chub to 4lb 13oz on ledgered Lobworm. I also made the effort to rove around trying different swims for short periods and this paid off handsomely. 

4lb 13oz Chub from beat two of Throop

The second and fourth trips to Throop were again difficult one's in unfavourable conditions, but I am not afraid to admit that much of the lack of success during these trips was down to my inexperience of fishing rivers, however something is always learned during any session and contribute small pieces to the larger jigsaw. 

Thus it was that some of what I have learned on Throop so far was put into practice whilst on a trip to another river that I have had my eye on for some time. This one is a smaller, slower running, overgrown river that holds good specimens of all species. The plan was to fish it for two half days and one full day. The first half day I arrived around midday in quite cold temperatures, with the forecast for temperatures to rise the next day before dropping back again. A small but welcome window of opportunity. A small chub and a few missed bites the first afternoon were encouraging signs that at least some fish were feeding in the conditions. The following day was one of two halves, a highly frustrating morning spent being highly mobile and trying to search out some fish with various baits and methods but to no avail. In the end I decided to settle in a swim for a while and changed tactics from larger baits to 3 maggots on a size 12 hook and a small feeder full of maggots. The change paid off almost immediately and I was hooked into my first good fish of the trip which, unfortunately and again, frustratingly, fell off! I felt exasperated by this and assumed I had blown my chances in the new swim. I resolved to try again for a few minutes before going in search of yet another swim. I need not have worried because the very next cast I was into another fish and managed to get this one to stay on. A Chub of 4lb 7oz made me extremely happy. Another couple of hours of  missed bites passed by before I eventually found myself attached to another fish. This one felt better than the last and before long a large Chub surfaced next to the net and I instantly knew I had new personal best. The beast weighed 6lb 1oz! I was and still am incredibly delighted with the result after so much effort. 

Personal best 6lb 1oz Chub from a new river

This fish was caught late afternoon and despite staying a while into darkness I was unable to muster any more fish that day. Still, I had a few hours the next morning before having to be on my way home.

I was up early and made sure to be at the swim for first light the next day. On the second or third cast I lost an extremely good fish that took off like a rocket and broke the hooklink on an unseen snag. I believe the offender may have been a Barbel the way it took off. Shortly after this I landed another chub of 4lb 6oz which finished the session for me. After this the sun came out and the temperature dropped, clearly putting the fish off the feed and I received no more interest for the remaining couple of hours. 

I made a film of this trip too which can be viewed below

So far the winter has been both kind and cruel but I am hopeful that persistence will pay off and I am looking forward to many more trips this winter, both to flowing and still water depending on the conditions. Obviously I shall reports on my successes and failures here soon.

Thanks for reading

Chris.

Success at last!

 It was almost four years ago in October 2017 that my Son and I first set foot on hallowed ground for the first time. Farnham Angling club had come to my attention and the fact that they had recently purchased the Yateley East complex from Cemex angling. One of the lakes was the legendary Match lake, somewhere I had always wanted to fish. As the cost of the ticket was extremely reasonable we decided to join the club with a view to fishing the Match lake. 

After considerable research it became apparent that there were some extremely good fish to target in the Match lake, including a few originals. For my own part I simply wanted a change from my local waters and the thrill of fishing and hopefully catching from a water with some prestige. 

What we weren't prepared for and rather naively, was the amount of footfall and pressure that the lake now sees. Being so open access and containing so many big fish, means that it is almost constantly rammed with anglers, and the pressure has increased over the time that we have been visiting the lake, especially during the Covid pandemic with so many being unable to work. In truth it's quite a headbanger of a lake!

We have only actually done a total of 20 or so nights on Match over the four year period. We would have done more, however, several times we have been forced to fish other waters after finding Match too busy upon arrival. Most of the time it is simply a case of slotting in wherever you can find an empty swim. Watercraft and the ability to locate fish is virtually none existent. Take your ticket and wait your turn is the phrase that springs to mind! 

The fish themselves are clearly extremely clued up. There are estimated to be around 250 fish in 14-15 acres, however the irregularity with which they are caught considering the amount of anglers and hookbaits constantly in the water, you would think an awful lot more fish would visit the bank than actually do. To be truthful it's probably one of the hardest waters in the country for that reason. Multiple hits are as rare as rocking horse droppings, and captures of two or more fish in a session are something to shout about, indeed to catch one fish is certainly an achievement. The sheer pressure those fish are under is mind boggling, how they get away with it is completely beyond understanding.

Despite the huge drawbacks however, we have persisted with wanting to fish the Match lake. There are too many stunning fish to walk away with our tails between our legs. Dealing with the pressure has been especially challenging for me, and I am not shy to admit that I have let it defeat me mentally on many of our sessions, which of course has a knock on effect on how you approach your fishing. The only plus for us is the reasonable ticket cost and the fact that there is plenty of other waters on offer on the ticket, albeit nothing like the stock of Match.

Initially this year I had decided not to renew my membership and focus on other branches of the sport, leaving Match lake firmly in the rear view mirror, or so I thought. But after suffering a bout of severe illness for several weeks I had a complete change of heart. Call it a moment of realisation of my own mortality. I won't say any more than that, but I got to thinking about what I wanted to achieve in my angling over the next few years, given that I am getting on a bit now! and while I still have some level of fitness and mobility. I know that sounds a bit morbid but at some point we all have to face the truth that time waits for no one. 

Carp fishing has always been my number one passion as far as angling in general goes. I have had a love hate relationship with it from time to time but that is more down to my own intolerance for the Bull Crap that comes with it at times! Again, I won't go into details but there have been times when I have taken some things too personally instead of ignoring them and it has had a detrimental effect on my view of the sport, causing me to engage in other types of fishing far away from the childish and petty element that Carp fishing seems to attract at times.

So I found myself, for my own reasons, making a decision to return to the Match lake determined to achieve my ambitions, and those of my Son, despite the difficulties that come with fishing such a busy pressured lake. My mindset was the first thing that had to change in order to do just that. Son had never been bothered about it all like I had, but he has grown up fishing busy waters and has really never known anything different, whereas I come from a different era, when Carp fishing was very much a minority sport and Carp, and fishing for them, was shrouded in far more mystery and lore than it is today. Waters that contained Carp were few and far between and Carp anglers even fewer, you could expect to easily be able to use your watercraft and location skills to put yourself on fish, with little or no competition from other anglers. 

And so, we arrived at the lake on Sunday morning at about 06.30 after having left home at 03.45! The ferry journey across the Solent adds an hour to our journey time but thankfully traffic at that time of the morning is normally light, especially on a Sunday. We hoped that being a Sunday it may be a changeover day and that some of the anglers would pull off the lake relieving some of the pressure for at least a few hours and allowing us a chance of finding a half decent swim each. As normal the car park was pretty full and I had visions of us aborting the mission, but a walk around the lake revealed a few half decent swims free. We decided to slot in and stick to the game plan with a view to moving swims if our predictions were right and some of the other anglers pulled off the lake.

Within an hour or so we were installed in our chosen swims, both of which had good form meaning we were both feeling reasonably confident with Son having had a few fish show in and near to his water. The first day and night passed by quietly for me but Son had a small Common of about 10lb during the night, possibly a stock fish or even a spawned on fish, we weren't sure but with plenty of fish showing on and around his spots he was hopeful of a better specimen. My own area seemed very quiet despite at least two swims on the opposite bank having been vacated for twelve hours or so relieving the pressure in the area. Later the second day I was visited by one of the Bailiffs who, very helpfully suggested a different spot to the one's I had my rigs placed on. Now one thing I have learned is you should never ignore local knowledge and given the difficulties in fishing the lake intermittently I was more than happy to take his advice. Upon exploration of the suggested area I found a nice clean firm bottom, probably clay as the lead slid across it with ease before the tip bent round into heavier silt and dead weed. That settled it, and I delivered the rig along with a tight patch of about half a kilo of free offerings onto the spot. 

I was just finishing my dinner some time later when out of the blue the freshly placed rig was picked up and the rod and alarm went into meltdown! The remainder of my dinner was discarded and I grabbed the rod and bent into the fish which was tearing off at speed, clearly very angry at having made a mistake, forcing me to give line. I could feel it still shaking it's head trying to rid itself of the hook as it went. At this point I had no idea what size the fish might be and we settled into a terse battle with the fish kiting from one side of the swim to the other forcing me to hop, skip and jump around the bank trying to prevent it from getting into any of the marginal cover. It wasn't until I had it closer in to me that I realised it might actually be quite a good fish judging by the way it was steadily plodding pretty much where it wanted and holding station whenever I applied any pressure. The fight was very protracted but eventually I began to get the upper hand. It took several attempts to get it's head up enough to try and net it. Finally I was able, with some effort, to draw it into the net. I couldn't believe it, I finally had a match lake Carp! Looking down on the creature nestling in the bottom of the net I noted the incredible width of it's back... At this point I hadn't taken in the length.

A moment or two later I was being assisted by Son, and as we lifted the Carp out of the water and placed it on the mat, he told me I had the fish known as Kiss Scale! I asked him if he was sure, but being as he has spent many hours studying pictures of the lakes stock and I was beginning to realise just how big the fish really was, I was pretty sure he was right! What an incredible moment for both of us!

The scales revealed a weight of 43lb 8oz, a spawned out weight as she has been up to 49lb, but a new personal best for me! What a way to open my Match lake account! Yes luck had played a huge part as well as the advice from the Bailiff and I am more than happy to acknowledge that, but in this game you need all the luck and advice you can get!

We did the pictures as quickly as possible as I was keen to not stress the magnificent creature and return her to her home as soon as I could. We treated a spawning sore on her side with propolis and then I donned the waders to return her. She had given her all during the fight, and I wanted to make sure she went back strongly. Looking down on her length and girth in the water I was completely awestruck, still not believing that I had caught such a sought after resident of the lake. 

Eventually she swam off, looking like a miniature submarine, clearly sulking at having been caught out. I had kept surprisingly calm up to now but then the adrenaline kicked in and I was shaking whilst trying to sort the rig out! In the end I calmed down a bit and decided to tie a fresh rig to put back out on the spot. I think I'll keep the rig that caught Kiss Scale for posterity as it was such a special moment, especially as my Son was there to share it with me. I'll certainly treasure the memory of my first Match lake Carp. 

I wasn't lucky enough to catch any more fish during that session. despite returning to the same spot again, but I am not a greedy person, for me catching that fish was enough. Unfortunately Son had quite a frustrating session, with plenty of activity and fish showing on and around his spots throughout his session, but despite trying a few different things he just couldn't get a pick up from them. He's been lucky enough have had three other fish from the Match lake so far including one of over thirty pounds so he's not doing too badly but when they are all over you like they were him, I can imagine how frustrating it must have been. I think seeing his old man catch Kiss Scale eased some of his frustrations though he was overjoyed for me and like me will treasure the memory for ever.

Until next time, Tight lines and thanks for reading.

Chris

Thorncross lake

 I was first introduced to Thorncross lake many years ago as a much younger man. Back then, the lake had not long been constructed as an irrigation reservoir, and at the time was being used a stock pond. I was there to help out with a netting party to remove the stock in order for them to be transferred to another lake. It was a bleak winters day, there was no cover around the lake and not much in the way of grass at the time. The water level had been dropped in order to facilitate easier netting. I remember thinking what an ugly looking little pond it was. I didn't think much about Thorncross again until over a decade later when it was mentioned in an overheard conversation. Apparently the owner had taken control of the lake and stocked some Carp, but from the sound of it there wasn't much to write home about regarding size. It wasn't until about four  years ago that it came to my attention again. At the time I was at a bit of a loss for something to do fishing wise, and as autumn and winter were fast approaching I decided to give Thorncross a look.

Myself and my constant fishing companion Lee, arrived one September morning to be greeted by Francis, the fishery owner. It seemed he hadn't seen anyone for some time and was surprised, (suspicious!) to see two new (unsavoury looking!), faces arriving at his fishery. He informed us that the Thorncross fish were moody and that most anglers seemed to struggle on the lake, and being the honest chap he is, told us not to expect too much. (Francis has become a good friend and later confessed that he didn't expect us to catch anything!). Now for myself and Lee that's like waving a red flag at a bull! It seemed the challenge was on! 

We made our way through through the gate and onto the fishery. My first impression was that things had changed somewhat since my first visit many years earlier. The bankside vegetation had matured, with marsh grass along the margins and odd iris beds. The grass had grown lush underfoot and was now neatly mowed. A small copse had sprung up about halfway along the car park bank and beyond that some reeds. On the opposite bank, dense Willows populated reasonably heavily instantly drawing the eye to potential fish holding areas. The Willows also extended along the dam wall nearest the gate. A reed bed in the corner also seemed an obvious fish holding area. Although there was now some vegetation here and there, the lakes position means it is still very exposed to the elements. Not to mention the fact that the lake lies in the shadow of Brighstone Down, and because of this, during certain weather patterns, the Down can cause tremendous downpours of rain as the clouds pass over the top! This is exactly what happened during our first visit and we were caught in a rain/hail/thunder storm with mini tornado's! We wondered what on earth was going on and what a place this was if this happened with any regularity! It certainly makes for a dramatic backdrop though.

I don't recall why, but we ended up fishing the far end of the lake near the wooden seat. Probably we saw some fish movement which helped our decision, but either way that was where we fished. To cut a long story short, we caught fish without any trouble at all. In my experience it is often a case of you either click with a water or you don't, and After four years of fishing Thorncross I can definitely say that we clicked with it. That's not to say we have never had to work at it, because at times we have. We've had the odd few blanks but have always come back strong on the back of any, determined not to let the moody Thorncross fish get the better of us! Anyway, fishing to the gaps in the overhanging bushes on the opposite bank I think we caught seven fish between us that first session. Four to me and three to my friend. We weren't doing anything special. simply casting our regular rigs and baits into the gaps between the trees and following this up with a few boilies catapulted across. Later that day Francis came to visit to see how we were getting on and was seemingly very surprised with our result. 

To be honest we were in two minds as to whether we really wanted to return to the lake for future visits, if it was this easy would it really offer the challenge we were looking for? The other thing was most of the fish were only low or scraper doubles. I think one of mine was maybe about fifteen pounds, (terrible memory these days!) but all the fish were nice and clean and in excellent condition which we felt was the only thing going for them at the time. Rumour was the lake held the odd twenty pounder but I am always sceptical until I catch said specimens myself. It was only the fact that we really didn't have much else to do at the time that made us decide to have a few more goes. It turned out to be a pivotal decision in our angling for the next few winters. 

Brighstone Down in the background.

It's funny how things change. From that initial visit and not really being sure if it was for us, we went to wanting to be there every weekend. Thorncross grew on us and even got under our skin at times. The lake holds several appealing factors. It's Isolation being one, being is situated in a lovely spot, out in the middle of the countryside, barely any noise interference, apart from the odd Barry Sheen wannabe hurting along the military road behind on a Sunday afternoon it is a really quiet place. Surrounded by fields and an unfettered view of Brighstone Down. On a bright, sunny, day it's the best place in the world, watching the Para Gliders launch off the Down, the Buzzards circling overhead, the Kingfishers buzzing up and down the far bank, Kestrels and Sparrow hawks hunting and even a Red Kite gliding low over the fields opposite. Thorncross has a way of enchanting you, with it's abundance of widlife such as the aforementioned birds of prey or foxes wandering along the bank, Stoats, Rabbits, Voles all scurrying about their business, Finches, Tits, Goldcrests, Tree creepers, wrens and Warblers, the Little Grebe that is often there. Beware the Coots though! These black menaces can drive you mad if they latch onto your bait! Even after eating every last free offering they will constantly and stubbornly continue to pick up the hookbait setting off your bite alarm every five minutes and making your heart jump! Do not despair though because on numerous occasions, after suffering endless pick ups from the dastardly things I have had takes from the fish! I don't believe the Coots activity bothers the fish and indeed you can use it to your advantage if you watch them closely, they will give the fishes position away and if you see a Coot leaving the area of your bait after persistently picking it up, this is often a sign that the Carp are about and a take is imminent! 

At the opposite end of the scale, when the weather is inclement Thorncross can be the worst place to be as the wind howls through the valley, and the rain pours down and you have to hold on to your brolly to prevent it being ripped out of the ground! We even fished once as it started to snow, and caught fish! Truthfully though, this all adds to it's charm and as long as you have a decent day shelter most of the time you can get comfortable. 

Thorncross looking serene and Beautiful

Caught in a Hail shower!

Autumnal session

Whatever it was that drew us in about the lake, we have found ourselves fishing it for the last few autumns and winters. We have got to know the lake and it's inhabitants pretty intimately. The fish are moody, some of the moodiest I have come across in over 30 years angling. They have their preferences food wise and there is no doubt that they are very keyed into the natural food chain in the lake. Whether it be digging for bloodworm in the soft clay silt bed at the bottom of the lake, or chasing fly hatches up through the water column or hunting Dragonfly and damsel larvae and we have even seen them fry feeding in the margins. Thrashing their tails hard in the edges to stun them before mopping the disoriented  and injured fry up. The Thorncross fish are keyed into very small food items. I think in the early stages when the fish were first introduced into the lake they had to rely heavily on the natural food as introduced supplement from anglers was few and far between and unreliable. We have found that the smaller the boilie the better. Ten or Twelve millimetre boilies seem more effective than larger offerings. We realised this quite early on in our fishing thankfully, after testing different sizes side by side, it was always the smaller baits that went and the larger one's were left untouched. No doubt they could prossibly be weaned onto larger sizes with some prebaiting though, we never attempted to, as we prefer smaller baits anyway. Most of the year the water is quite coloured, mostly due to the fish activity but no doubt at times daphnia and algae play there part as the lake is so rich in light and oxygen. In the winter however the lake can clear right off, not quite to tap water clarity, but smaller baits work in the anglers favour during the colder months and allow you to fine everything down. I believe the Thorncross fish are very aware of end tackle, particularly at this time of year, so matching the lake bed colour is important, especially if certain areas of the margin spots get 'cleaned off' I believe the tackle can stand out like a sore thumb on smoothly polished areas. Often moving the hookbait slightly away from these areas can get the takes coming again. 

The most obvious places to present a hookbait are to the far margin willow bushes. The fish do spend an awful lot of time tucked up under the branches tight to the bank, but even so, tempting them to pick up the hookbait can still be difficult. The temptation is to fish as tight to the branches as you can, and whilst this will get you pick up's, strategic baiting can help to draw them slightly away. Always fish with clutches screwed up as tight as they will go and baitrunner mechanisms disengaged so the fish cannot take a millimetre of line! Sit as close to your rods as possible and be constantly alert for bites. Once you get a take keep the pressure on to steer them away from the snags. Most of the time they seem to kite along the front and away from the bushes, but initially they can try and get in under them, especially if fishing directly across to your spots which at least one rod may be if you are using three rods. Better to fish at a slight angle to your spot which seems to encourage them to kite away from danger rather than dive straight into it. I use Fluorocarbon mainline most of the time and with it's limited stretch I have found it ideal for Thorncross. The underwater topography also has a huge bearing on where to fish here. As I mentioned earlier it was originally desiginated as an irrigation reservoir, so it was dug for depth to hold as much water as possible. If you ask Francis to show you his pictures you will see what I mean. Basically the bottom of the lake is flat and uninterrupted throughout its length with no discernible features. There is a slight depth variation between either end of the lake of about half a metre, but that's it. The bottom is also soft and silty. Introducing any amount of bait in this soft, puffy, clay/silt will result in the fish going into a frenzy, but it is very difficult to get them to pick up a bait here, plus it ends up colouring the whole lake up heavily, such is the nature of the lake bed. It is possible to present at the bottom of the steep slopes where the lake bed and bottom of the slope meet. We have had fish from here as the bottom is slightly firmer, however it can still be hit and miss. For these reasons I think, most anglers tend to fish directly opposite to the far margin. and to the Willows. The margins here are pretty firm and of course the fish frequent the bushes for cover and no doubt they know that at times they will find introduced food here. 

As time went on and we fished the lake more and more we began to establish certain feeding patterns however, the more we, and other anglers fished, the inhabitants seemed to feel the pressure, and the feeding times have changed. Initially we would have a chance of a few fish from when we arrived, normally about 8 o clock in the morning, to 11.30am, then we would experience a lull for a couple of hours and then from about 1.30 pm to 3.30 we would catch again. This went on like clockwork for the first couple of years but this last couple of winters we have regularly had pick ups within minutes, even seconds of putting the baits out first thing! Such has been the regularity, I got into the habit of tackling one rod up as quickly as possible and getting it out straight away, and numerous times have had fish before I have even got the second rod out, occasionally I have not even got the bobbin on the first rod and the line has been pulled out of my fingers! Then We would experience a huge gap and things would go quiet from about 10.30am until 2.30pm whereupon we would have another little flurry of activity before leaving at 4pm. It was obvious to us what was happening. The majority of the fish were clearly feeding under the cover of darkness, probably pre-dawn and dusk and just into dark. Please bare in mind these are winter feeding patterns and only our experiences. Although I have done limited fishing here during the warmer months the feeding periods should be extended during the spring and summer months. 

Stock wise, after several winters, we have had very few recaptures. I estimate I alone have caught an average of 50-60 fish a winter from Thorncross, and bar a handful of recognisable fish I would say recaptures have been limited. My estimation is that Thorncross contains around 150+ fish ranging from 10lb to 27lb. The average size currently, is probably around 15lb. The average size of fish has definitely increased over the last few years. Last winter I had a fair few upper double and Twenty pound plus fish to 23lb+. This winter I have had a good amount of upper doubles but only a handful of Twenty pound plus fish up to 24lb+ This is mainly because we started late, not until December and haven't actually been able to fish much due to Lockdown and weather conditions. When we first started, the average size was around 12-13lb, a Twenty pounder was a rarity and seemed to be reserved only for the handful of Simmo's that were left. Exactly how many fish are in Thorncross is difficult to say, I estimate 150+ simply judging by the numbers of fish caught, both mine and others, and the regularity with which they are caught. I could be way out of course, but I don't think so. The fish have always spawned very successfully and I know there are young fish coming through all the time. There are fish of various shapes and strains, The majority are AJS fish, a handful of Simmo's left from when it was a stock pond and there are definitely some hybrids of both from spawnings. When we first started fishing Thorncross, a large proportion of the fish we caught were Mirrors with the odd common. This winter I have had a large number of Commons, smaller fish of low to mid doubles which have clearly been spawned and are coming through. I think the bait I have been using has been partly responsible for singling out the Common's, being more attractive to them however, we never caught them as smaller fish, so the bait definitely has had an influence.

In my mind, for a day only fishery there are plenty of fish to go at. Yes, they may not be as big as some other fisheries but the bonus is that there are some really nice looking fish. It isn't always about size. There are a variety of scales patterns, some lightly scaled mirrors, some almost naked, some heavily and some almost fully scaled. Then there are the Commons, Long fish, short deep bodied fish, the truth is you never quite know what is on the end of your line and each one is a surprise. I dislike fisheries where the fish are all from the same stocking, they tend to be peas in a pod, but Thorncross has liquorice allsorts! The great thing is they all fight hard. Incredibly so. The deep water allows them plenty of room to get up a head of steam and and the fight can be thrilling. Add in that the lake is highly oxygenated as it hardly ever is free of a wind and they have plenty of tackle testing energy!  During the winter when the water is clearer the fish tend to darken off in colour and they look absolutely stunning!

I think many are perhaps put off fishing Thorncross because of it being a day only fishery. Many of you will prefer to bivvy up for longer sessions, I get that, but don't dimiss this wonderful fishery simply because it's day's only. Thorncross has lots to offer the visiting angler in terms of peace and quiet, lovely surroundings and some prolific sport from some wonderful looking, hard fighting Carp. Sometimes they can be a bit moody but they can be persuaded to pick up a bait with a little thought and cunning. We have enjoyed our time at Thorncross immensely over the last few years, and I for one am glad to have had the pleasure of the lake, the fish and Francis' aquaintance. 

Old dog - new tricks

 Long time between posts!

I would love to be making entries here more often and, maybe I will make an effort to do that from now on. We all need an expressive outlet from time to time, and mine has always been writing. 

Perhaps some of the reason I don't post here much is because I'm not sure if people actually read blogs anymore? With the advent of Facebook, Youtube, Instagram, etc. everyone can express themselves incredibly easily and kind of have their own mini blogs, without going to a lot of effort, like sitting down in front of a computer and actually typing an article. I notice from a lot of the blogs I used to follow that they seem to have ground to a halt and yet, the authors can be found still posting on social media. This includes yours truly.

Why is that? Well as I said, it takes a lot less effort to put up regular posts on social media or even put short video's on Youtube, than it does to sit in front of a computer typing an update. In my own case, I have been incredibly distracted over the last year or so due to events in my life, that my fishing has been quite erratic and finding the time to put together any meaningful articles has been impossible. It is far easier to just stick a quick post up on the said, social media platforms. Besides, is it worth the effort, will anyone actually read my articles anymore?

I started blogging over a decade ago, and used to write regular articles about the different types of fishing I do. (I have several blogs running). I know from the stats that blogger provides, that a lot of people used to visit the blog and read the articles. This was hugely encouraging seeing the stats rising monthly. But then I discovered Facebook and the other social media platforms and realised that there was a much more 'instant hit' to be had from posting there and no doubt, many other fellow bloggers did too. Not to mention the fact that it is much more gratifying seeing the 'likes' and receiving comments from followers. That makes me sound like an attention seeker. I'm not, but we all like to be encouraged and appreciated, no matter who we are. It's human nature. Besides, positive reactions build confidence and encourage you to do more and try harder. I see posting about my own fishing not as being a way to boast and say 'look how good I am' but as a creative outlet to accompany my fishing. I also hoped it would inspire others when they were struggling, which we all do from time to time. I am sure we all struggle to find the motivation to fish sometimes, for whatever reasons. I battle with my own motivation more than I would care to admit, and it is at times like that when I seek inspiration from others. It's a two way street. I inspire others, they inspire me, it makes us one big community, learning, helping and encouraging each other. 

Fishing is the only thing I have really ever felt in my 'element' with. As if I was made to be an angler above all else. Maybe I have just never grown up, life's responsibilities have always seemed too much like hard work to me. My whole life I have always felt like a 'fish out of water', except when fishing. It is also my leveller. When life gets tough, and the unavoidable responsibilities face off with me, the escape that fishing offers has always been there for me. A constant companion, that soothes and appeases whatever is troubling me at the time. Taking my mind off my problems and providing me with a pleasant distraction. No doubt it is the same for many of you reading this, (if anyone does!). Like any relationship though, it has had it's ups and downs. For instance I have always had a love / hate relationship with Carp fishing. The nature of the beast that it has evolved, into means it has become unrecognisable from the solitary pursuit that once attracted me to it several decades ago. You know what I am talking about and whilst many of you may have accepted the 'combat carping' ethos. I simply can't, and won't. To me, it is just not cricket, or in this case, fishing. There is no escape, no relaxation, no-you against nature which is what I crave. The challenges now are those against your fellow anglers, not the fish. These days I seek lighter fished waters. They may not contain the monster, force-fed fish of some waters, but as long as they offer me a reasonable stamp of hard fighting, challenging-to-catch head of fish, then I am more than happy. 

A twenty pound plus Common from a local water during the winter

Enough of that, because I don't want negativity creeping into this article, at least not too much, because each and every one of us has, over the last few months experienced a huge amount of negativity due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, and we still are in many ways. I would like to focus on some positives right now. 

I said that fishing has always been the one constant in my life, apart from my family, that I felt comfortable with. It has always been my ambition, my dream, to be able to immerse myself so deeply into it, that I could call it my lifestyle. I am now close to being able to say that. Over the last few years I have been working on making that dream a reality. It has been a roller coaster ride getting to where I am today, and whilst it may seem a minor achievement to some, I can assure you that with some of the seemingly insurmountable difficulties I and my family have faced over the years, it is for me, an Everest conquered. Almost. Not quite there yet, but I will keep doing what I do and keep my nose to the grindstone and attack it in my own unique way until I have fulfilled my ambition. At times I almost walked away, At times I thought it was going to kill me. Yes literally. But I kept on. You see I had nothing to lose, only my sanity. Five years ago, with the support of my family we left a safety net so I could fulfil my selfish needs. Foolhardy perhaps, self-centred, definitely. The problem is, I have never been good with people. There I said it. I am socially awkward. Not confident around others. I even used to have a problem talking to people I didn't know on the telephone. I started an online business, and it suited me, because I did not have to have face to face contact with my customers. I had little confidence at the time. Correction, I had zero confidence at the time. My anxiety, which has always been a problem for me, was through the roof. My confidence was scraping along the bottom of the pit. What was I going to do? How was I ever going to cope? As I said, it was a roller coaster ride and it almost finished me. For good. 

Somehow I hung on, and eventually with the support of a good friend and my family and my fishing, I began to turn it around. Slowly, very slowly. Oddly, Social media also came to my rescue. People were kind and encouraging and I will be forever grateful to them for that. The positivity that surrounded my posts was, and still is, absolutely wonderful. The encouragement and inspiration I received from my peers was and still is a great source of support. There will always be the odd negative element, of course, but with my new found confidence, and lower anxiety levels I was able to ignore the critics and sleep at night. But not for a very long time. When I say my 'Peers' I hope those people will know who they are, but basically I will include the whole of the online fly fishing and fly tying community. 

So here I am today. More confident, less anxious, able to talk to people, especially on the telephone. 

There is still a long road ahead, but I am getting there. Slowly.

My Online business has progressed, empowered by the incredible support of my customers over the last few years, to the point where I have now opened my doors via a small, local shop. In the beginning, there wasn't much call for my fly tying and lure fishing products locally. Hence the online only ethos, where I would be able to reach others via the power of Social media that shared my passion. However, occasionally, out of the blue, I would receive a query from someone, sometimes local, asking if I had a physical shop they could visit. This obviously got me thinking. Saltwater fly and lure fishing in this country has grown exponentially over the last few years. There is a huge amount of interest in both branches of the sport and their sub branches such as lrf and ultralight lure fishing, Pike fly fishing and Saltwater fly fishing. These were my niche. And I would like to think that I have played my own, however small, part in encouraging people to take up both sports, with my posts on Social media, my blogs and recently my Youtube video's. (Yes I am now confident enough to talk to the camera!). 

Naturally,  I want to grow my business. I could just continue online as I am, and of course I will, but I am at the point now where I would love to be able to share all that I have learned during my angling career which spans some three and a half, almost four decades and many different and varied disciplines of fishing. I am, and always have been, an allrounder. I love any kind of fishing, some more than others, but as long as I have a rod in my hand and a fish on the end of the line, regardless of size, I am extremely happy and contented. I like to learn, and have always invested myself in learning each and every type of fishing I have taken part in, to the best of my ability. I have pushed myself to be the best I possibly can, and through a lot of hard work and many hours, days and nights invested in maximising my success, I like to think I am, and have been, quite successful. But what do you do with something like that? I am talking about all the accrued knowledge. Do I keep it to myself? I could I suppose, but one of the fundamental inbuilt instincts we have as human beings is to to pass on and share acquired knowledge. This is how we progress as a species. How we improve the world around us, for better or worse. 

Locating Bass, especially on fly and lure isn't always easy, it takes time to learn their habits, the tides and a whole host of variables.

Take my fly tying business for instance. I started tying flies well over a decade ago now. It was a progression of becoming interested in Saltwater fly fishing. I won't go into too much detail now, but the sport had caught my interest and I was determined, as I always am, to learn and improve and become the best I could at it. Part of that was to teach myself to tie flies with which to catch the Bass that were my target. At first I only had rudimentary equipment and tools for the job, and looking back now, my Skills and results were mediocre and not that tidy. However despite their scruffy appearance, they caught fish. The whole sport was a steep learning curve, and I immersed myself deeply into it and all that it encompassed for a couple of seasons. I caught hundreds of fish of all sizes, and a Saltwater fly angler was born. I continued to tie flies pretty much every year after that. Of course, I posted them on social media. The response was extremely encouraging and clearly many novice tiers were inspired by my own patterns and requested tying details, materials etc. I started doing a few step by steps and, (very nervous!), video's in response to these requests, and the more I tied and posted the more positive the responses and encouragement. The more I tied, the more I improved, and cutting a longer story short, I began getting regular requests to purchase my flies which in turn led to me starting my business. It wasn't quite as simple as that, as I have said, it took a huge leap of faith to move away from our safety net of the last few years, and I was never going to make enough to support  my family, but I had a plan. Of sorts. But it was what's known as 'pie in the sky'. A leap of faith so big it seemed almost to far to reach the solid ground on the other side of a giant crevasse. It was only the fly tying community that gave me that support I mentioned and helped me to grow the wings I needed to traverse that vast open expanse. 

So things 'progressed', (it's much more complicated than that), to where I am now, five years later. Supplying high quality fly tying materials to that community that helped me so much in the early stages. In a way it is my way of saying thankyou. I only source and supply the very best quality products that I am happy to use myself. I am always happy to chat to new tiers and offer encouragement and advice. I still make (less nervous),video's to help and inspire others. I will never forget the help and support I received in my humble beginnings. 

Now here I am today, with a small tackle shop, having just opened my doors to the local fishing community. Admittedly it is yet to be stocked comprehensively with all the tackle I want to cover the various angling disciplines I wish to cater for, but stock is coming in dribs and drabs. It is especially difficult to obtain products at this time due to the effects of the Pandemic on the business and manufacturing world, but in time we will recover, and I will be able to welcome my fellow anglers into my world. Because that is what it is. It is my world, my nirvana. It is a reflection of me, as a person and as an angler. It is far beyond being a business for me. In fact I honestly couldn't care less if I make much money from it. I'm too old to be bothered about that and It isn't about getting rich, (have you ever seen a rich tackle shop owner?, I very much doubt it!). It might sound cliché, but it is very much a passion, a way of life, a personal insight into almost forty years of angling and all the accumulated experience and knowledge that comes from a life as an angler all brought into one small place for all to enjoy and learn and benefit from. 

I will of course, continue to fish when time allows. Locally, and away, and in the Salt. Hopefully for many more years to come, and I will continue to learn and try and improve. No one ever truly knows it all and if I ever do, well, perhaps it will be time to stop fishing, and I promise you, that is never going to happen! But in the meantime, I am always happy to pass on any knowledge wherever I can to help my fellow angler should they be struggling in any way.

If you are local and reading this (!), please pop along and visit me. I don't expect you to buy anything, but let's at least have a chat about fishing, life, and whatever else, now that I am able to talk to people, it would be a shame to waste that. 

If you took the time to read this, then thankyou, it is appreciated more than I can say. Long live the Blog!

See you next time, (hopefully).

Chris

Heaven and Hell

I've always found summer Carping to be somewhat of a chore. For many years I fished for Carp during the summer but then somewhen in my angling career I realised that I was no longer enjoying it. I suffer from severe pollen allergies and I don't do well in heat. Then you add in the insects, hot sticky nights and the fact that Carp tend to feed more in the hours of darkness during this season and it all adds up to something that is no longer enjoyable., for me at least. So I moved away from summer Carping and have spent most of my time on the coast fishing for Bass and other saltwater species in the intervening years, only reverting to Carp fishing during the Autumn, winter and early spring.

My Son and I have for the past 3 years joined a club on the mainland that offers a wide variety of waters to fish and travelled across to fish one or two of these waters. The trips have admittedly been infrequent, more because of my fickle relationship with Carp angling in general than anything else.
Having a young Son who is a Carp fishing monster is a cross I have to bear, being constantly nagged and badgered about going Carp fishing does nothing for my tolerance of this branch of the sport. Let me explain.

When I started Carp fishing some 30 odd years ago things were very different and the whole scene was a completely different ball game to how it is now. Waters were much quieter, even the now almost continually rammed Linear Complex was much, much quieter and it was always possible to find your own water even if you couldn't get in a going swim. It was you against the fish and not you against the other anglers as well as the fish like it is now.
As Carp fishing grew and became more commercial and popularised by the leading tackle companies, and the internet changed things, and I found that I was no longer enjoying Carp fishing, My friends and I fished around seeking quiteter destinations on which to pursue our passion and for a while we ticked over and fished some now quite famous venues before they became over popularised day ticket waters or expensive Syndicates. But the monster kept growing and eventually enough was enough. Our attention wandered and we ended up diversifying into other species and other types of fishing, only ever returning to Carp fishing when we could be sure that the banks would be devoid of the other combatants. Winter became our time to fish for Carp, in fact we have become adept at catching fish during the colder months and raised a few eyebrows wherever we have gone with our success when others that remained to brave the elements have struggled. My eager Son has grown up with the modern style of combat Carping and has never known the pioneering of waters that my friends and I knew, where we were often the only one's on a lake with some big fish in it, that were under fished for, we enjoyed peace and quiet, solitude and could very much do our own thing, and those are the things I crave from my Angling, much more so these days too. 

So after much whingeing and tantrums I have finally given in and resigned myself to having to endure the things I have an intolerance for in order to keep his lordship happy. Fortunately I have found that I much more tolerant to the heat of Summer these days, up to a point of course, and I now follow a strict regimen regarding my allergies and managing them. This still leaves my inability to slot in on a busy water and compete against other Anglers all targeting incredibly over pressured fish. So we have made an agreement that should our ( his ), chosen water be too busy we will seek to fish elsewhere for the duration of our trip. It may not be ideal from the point of view of catching the fish we really want to but at least we will be fishing, hopefully somewhere less busy but still with some decent fish to go for.

So it transpired on our most recent trip this was the case, the water we really wanted to fish was quite literally rammed, and we witnessed anglers moving into swims as soon as another angler vacated them. Definitely not my cup of tea and even my Son agreed it was far from ideal. The Complex we have been fishing does have a couple of other waters to choose from, Unfortunately our second choice venue was closed for a match that weekend and so we looked at another lake on the complex. Now this particular lake gets very little attention, however the reasons why are quite obvious. Thick weed carpets the bottom and the water itself is notorious for it's snaggy nature and low stock. Given our situation we decided to investigate the lake nevertheless. Unfortunately by late afternoon we were exasperated, after many hours of walking, looking, plumbing about and sweating in the heat and being bitten and sun burnt there was little in the way of clear spots to fish and I was suffering from being severely bitten by insects resulting in huge welts appearing on my neck and legs. ( I'd been daft enough to wear shorts in an effort to stay cool and forgot to apply the repellent which was in my bag! ). We were feeling very low and on the point of abandoning the whole trip and heading back home when my Son suggested we look at another water not far away. We had nothing to lose at this stage and I agreed it was worth a look, and despite being almost completely exhausted we loaded our gear back onto the barrows, trudged back to the van, packed the van and then headed off. Five minutes later we arrived at our new destination. First impressions were that it was not at all busy, in fact there was plenty of room...

Summoning the last of my energy we did a circuit of the lake. Thankfully this isn't a large water and as we walked I began to feel that maybe the trip could be salvaged after all. First impressions were of a small, deepish gravel pit with clear water and some marginal weedbeds. Lots of tall trees consisting of the usual willows and poplars and oaks that you find around these pits. A couple of Islands break the water up and offer a far margin to fish to in the swims that face them. I believe there to be some weed here and there in the middle of the lake but nothing that we couldn't cope with.

We mooched some more until we came upon a small bay at the far end whereupon Son decided to shin up a tree to get a better view of the water in front of us. It wasn't many seconds before he spotted some fish in the bay, however to cut a long and somewhat confrontational story short, ( more combat Carping! ), another newly arrived Angler had also spotted the fish. So in order to keep the peace we had to resign ourselves to another area of the lake for the night, but the Angler would be leaving the next day and so hopefully the fish might still be in the area and we might, just might be able to get on some fish.

We had actually been very lucky to stumble upon the fish we found because the lake supports a very small head of Carp, however they do grow to very good proportions. And that's really all I know, we have little to go on in that respect, rumours and some minimal information we can find on the Internet but not much in the way of specifics. But what little we do know tells us that it's worth spending some time on here. I guess you could say that the mystery is adding to the appeal. 

The night passed uneventfully in the area we had dropped into which was about the halfway mark on the lake so the next day about 10 o'clock, we moved into the top bay after the Angler that was in there had vacated. It soon became obvious that the fish had maintained their residence in the bay and from his tree branch view point Son was able to confirm this. There also seemed to be a proliferation of bubbling in the bay, most of which we surmised to be Tench or Bream, however the presence of the Carp made us hopeful that some of the bubbles were originating from them and that they might be in the mood to feed on our baits.

Choosing swims on opposing sides of the bay, and with Son positioned more towards the entrance and me opting to fish a swim right in the corner we felt that strategically this was the best ploy as the fish moved in and out. We could also respect each others water and do our own thing as long as we did it quietly there would be no affecting each others chances.

I opted to fish small solid PVA bags with a mixture of Pellet, crumb and Boilie, when cast I am able to control the landing of the bags by feathering the line so as they enter the water with minimal disturbance. Noise wise it's more like a fish breaking the surface rather than the thud of a lead. Son donned the waders and positioned his rigs by hand along his margin.

We settled into our new pitches and for the first time this trip we actually began to relax and enjoy the session. The next few hours and through the night passed fairly quietly, only a liner having me up and running for the rods in the early hours. Sunday dawned and we were still alone in the bay and out in the open water in front of us was a mass of bubbling. Having left my rods static for the night I decided on a tactical change and to cast to some of the bubbling with my small solid bags. This can be a great tactic on the right day and it did indeed get me some buzzer action. The first occurrence I am certain was a Carp, a very wise and crafty Carp that managed to shed the hook! The alarm sounded and the line and Bobbin pulled up tight to the rod, then dropped back a bit, I was up and by the rod in a flash with my hand hovering hesitantly ready to strike at the next movement, which didn't come. The lead had obviously moved but that was as far as I could figure things out.
Looking at the rod tip for further indications I observed it nodding slightly but the bobbin didn't tighten. I picked the rod up and tightened up a bit, feeling for movement and all of a sudden the line dropped slack, I wound down and kept winding expecting to connect with a fish any second, but the line remained slack and the lead and rig skipped in to the bank. Immediately I looked at the lead which had been discharged from the swivel and was running free up near the top of the short leader. I think it's obvious to any experienced Angler that has fished waters where the Carp are very wise to shedding rigs exactly what had happened. I have read in what little I have found, that the Carp in this water are very adept at dealing with rigs and clearly one had picked up the rig, swum towards me and managed to shake the lead hard enough to discharge it, the nodding on the rod was the line running through the lead as it swum towards me, the last step was to blow the ( Barbless ), hook out! Curses! my hesitancy and slight confusion over what was going on had cost me my first chance from this water. Unfortunately there is a Barbless hook rule on this and the other waters on the ticket which means I have to go back to the drawing board as far as how I fish this and the other waters in future. I prefer to fish with Fluorocarbon mainline as I think I have mentioned before. Using Fluorocarbon means I can relax the line a little and get some of it down on the bottom behind the rig without having to use backleads. It also means less stretch and normally better bite indication. Slack without too much slack if you see what I mean. The weight of the Fluorocarbon is enough to pull a metre or so down behind the rig whilst still maintaining a fairly tight line to the rod because of the water pressure and weight/sinking properties of the Fluoro. No it doesn't allow them to get into snags and if fishing near snags I keep the line much tighter, plus I don't use Baitrunners even if the reels have the mechanism, I always use tight clutches however I'm fishing. You will never hear my Alarms give a 'one toner'...This method has served me well for many years and I believe it has helped me to catch more fish. I may have to rethink my strategy on this in future on these waters, heavier leads tighter lines., maybe something completely different...Later on I had a large Tench that had taken the rig well back and not discharged the lead, Tench generally don't tend to discharge the lead, completely different to the earlier scenario convincing me even more that the culprit was indeed old Cypry! I also lost a Tench when the hook pulled in some weed. And that was it for the session. So a session of very mixed fortunes, did we have to go through Hell to find a possible Heaven? Were we given a tantalising taste of something good? Did we have a very tasty Carrot dangled in front of our noses? I am a firm believer that fate can sometimes play a large part in our lives, especially when it comes to fishing and maybe this time it was telling us that this little water was where we needed to be...
What I do know is that we will be having another look at this lovely little venue on our next trip, all being well, and I say lovely because it is a nice looking water, it's a nice place to bivvy up and while away a few days in pursuit of Carp. That's not something I can honestly say about many waters I've been to in the last few years. Time will tell and I will update you on our progress in the next blog.

Thanks for reading

Chris

Yateley South Lake

It's a good many years since I was last at Yateley South lake and I wasn't really expecting to be visiting it again just yet but I suppose I should have expected it given that the Match lake is so popular. My Son and I arrived to find it absolutely rammed the other day, there were a few swims available but they just didn't seem to appeal to either of us. Neither myself or my Son are up for just slotting in for the sake of it and prefer to try and use at least some watercraft to locate fish, but when most of the water is already covered that just isn't possible! Having also looked around Nursery and Copse as well, with the low water levels and zero signs of any fish they just had a 'dead' look which failed to inspire either of us to want to fish them. Thank goodness there are plenty of other waters available on the ticket and we decided to pop over the road and have a look at the South lake which had looked pretty quiet as we drove past a couple of hours earlier.

As it turned out it was indeed pretty quiet with just a half dozen or so Anglers present and plenty of swims and options available. What's more even though it was 10.am by this time it seemed we had arrived during a feeding period with evidence of fizzing and as we walked into the back bay area a fish jumped out causing us to pause and inspect the area more closely. It became obvious that a number of fish were present cruising just below the surface. Being extremely tired from an uber early start and then getting caught in traffic on the M3 due to an accident and then spending a couple of hours walking the other side of the road at Match, we decided that was a good enough place to start.

Fortunately there are areas all around South where you can park your car and none are very far from the nearest swims so in no time we had barrowed the gear the few yards from the van to the swims. Cutting a long story short I think we actually arrived too late and by the time we had disturbed the area trying to find spots to present baits most of the fish had done the off. Both of us went to sleep for a few hours in the afternoon by which time the sun was high in the sky and temperatures had soared. I woke up late afternoon in a sweat from the heat as the sun was pitching directly into our swims and my Son found himself in a similar position.

We opted to remain in the bay for the night in the hope that the fish would return at the same time the next morning but despite having several liners during the night I awoke the next morning fishless. Son had lost something during the night that he felt was probably a Bream.

We gave it the morning but it was obvious we weren't going to find success in the back bay so Son went off to do the leg work for his old man and see if he could find us another chance. Before long he was back having found an area where some fish were fizzing and rolling so we both trotted off to have a look at the area. In contrast to the cramped back bay the new area offered plenty of options for both of us with a large expanse of open water in front plus features to cast to.

20 minutes later we had moved the gear to the new swims and set about exploring the area with light leads trying to keep disturbance to a minimum. Again to summarise, the afternoon passed into the evening and night and I awoke the next morning feeling dissatisfied with my efforts. Son was in a similar frame of mind and we sat and had a discussion about tactics.
I had been fishing both rods on an area of firm silt over which I had spombed a couple of kilos of mixed feed. Fish had definitely been bubbling on this area but I felt it was more likely to be Bream so I decided to wind in one of the rods and reposition it to an over hanging willow opposite me on the end of an Island. The cast went spot on, in fact it was one of those hero casts that you know just has to get you a fish. I had to punch it low and hard to get it in position under the overhanging branches to the spot I thought would produce. As it went in the line just caught the very tips of the willow leaves and a little flick with the rod tip saw it ping off, just the job I thought. As I said I just felt it deserved a fish and it came as little surprise a short while later when the alarm signalled a powerful take. I kept the rod low and gave it plenty of side strain as the fish tried to get further under the willow branches, not that there was any real danger as there were no branches actually under the water for it to snag on, other wise I wouldn't have cast it where I did. The fish ploughed up and down and managed to find a couple of small weedbeds, but calm steady pressure and a bit of coaxing from me had it moving again and eventually the boy put the net under a nice sized fish.
On the Scales it weighed exactly 26lb, a short deep bodied Simmo strain fish. Not the prettiest of fish but beggars can't be choosers and still a nice reward for hard work.
Needless to say the rod was recast back to the same spot and once again it landed right on target and a short time later it roared off again with a slightly lesser specimen of 17lb 6oz.
I think the boy was getting a little frustrated by this time seeing the old man show him how it's done! I suggested he place one of his rods to an Island margin to his right as the sun was beginning to show signs of breaking through the clouds and lighting up the margins of the Island. Kudos to him he managed to get an absolutely spot on cast in under some overhanging branches on the Island and again it was one of those casts that deserved a reward. Sure enough with just two hours of our trip left he received a take from the spot. The end result after a plodding fight was a lovely grey coloured Mirror of 20lb 4oz.
Despite the initial disappointment of not being able to get on the Match lake we had managed to bank three fish between us, a good enough result given the circumstances and we both returned home buoyed by our success. To be honest I'm kind of glad that we were forced onto the South lake as I think we both needed to catch a fish, The Match lake is a ball breaker for many people who aren't local and can't pre bait spots and visit it often enough to get in tune with the lake. I'm under no illusion that we have set ourselves a difficult task in catching any fish from Match and so an occasional trip over the road to get a bend in the rod will be needed from time to time. South lake isn't a hard lake but it still requires a bit of thought and I believe very precise bait placement is the key. There are still some very good fish in the South lake and some very nice looking one's so I won't mind too much in future if we have no choice but to spend time on this lovely little water.

A solid lump weighing 26lb not especially pretty but very welcome!

The boy did better in the nice looking fish stakes with this wonderfully grey coloured 20lb 4oz Mirror.

Trying too hard?

Last weekend my Son and I returned to the Yateley complex, upon arriving in the Car park after a two hour journey, most of which was taken up with the ferry crossing from our Island home, we found that there weren't very many other anglers on the complex, always a bonus and it meant that we pretty much had carte blanch when it came to choice of swim.

With it being so quiet it didn't take us very long to find some fish, and they were feeding in a quiet margin. I sent the boy shinning up a nearby tree to have a look and he confirmed that several good fish were indeed present and making the most of a natural larder. Being the generous Dad that I am I gave him dibs on the swim but we still continued round the rest of the complex to see if we could find any other opportunities. We toured all three lakes but the only other activity we could find was in a swim opposite where we had found the feeding fish on Match and so after much deliberation I decided to pitch up in this swim. And the lad pitched up opposite in the other swim where we had found the feeding fish on arrival. I actually found some pretty decent spots in my swim where fish had obviously fed previously and was confident that my presentation would be good.

Well the first night passed quietly for both of us though I did have several odd bleeps from the alarms, the feeding activity wasn't repeated the next day. I have often found that fish will return to a spot a couple of days on the trot to feed and I have successfully caught fish in the past on this basis but this time it didn't follow through and as we were keen to present ourselves with as many chances as we could to catch we wound in and went for a look around again. This time we found fish frequenting a couple of areas on Nursery and Copse and so we set up adjacently for the next night with me on Copse and the boy on Nursery. Now the problem with moving swims was that I had had a senior moment and forgotten the handles for the wheelbarrow! Not a clever thing to do on these waters especially for an old geezer approaching his fiftieth year! We were both shattered by the time we'd moved and I began to also realise that I wasn't feeling too good, and over the rest of the session I had a bout of man-flu come on which made me feel totally crap and certainly not in the right frame of mind for the task in hand..

Apart from a liner in the early hours for me it was another fishless night. When I checked the spot in the margin that I had the liner on it confirmed my suspicion that it had been visited by fish and they had eaten the small amount of bait I had put in and done the off and probably my rig with it!

Once again we both felt that our chance had passed and after another huge amount of effort we returned to Match but in different swims to the first night. both of us had large holes in the extensive weed beds to fish to and indeed fish were present in the adjacent weed. For once I was feeling quite confident, I found the clearer areas in the holes and wrapped the rods accurately and dispatched the baits to the areas. The boy did the same and we both settled in for the night. Once again morning broke without a fish despite my Son having constant activity in his swim. These fish really are some of the trickiest we are ever likely to fish for, add to that the constant merry go round of anglers coming and going, and the ever present thick weed and we have really presented ourselves with the ultimate challenge.

We are not however giving up, and will be returning hopefully in a couple of weeks time.
I think this time personally I will take a more static approach and work my chosen swim, the fish seem to get all over the lake and they always seem to be widespread throughout. Due to the sheltered nature of the lakes with all the tall trees around them they don't seem to be affected by the wind very much so it doesn't push them to one end or another. I think in any given 24 hour cycle fish will come past your baited area and most likely feed on it, whether they end up making a mistake and pick up your hook bait is another matter.

So in summary not the best session for several reasons not least the fact I was feeling unwell and probably made several errors of judgement. I felt I should have stayed in my first choice swim on Match, there were fish showing in an adjacent weed bed and time spent applying bait little and often may well have coaxed them out and onto the baited area. The Youngster felt the same, it's easy to get carried away and end up chasing the fish around, and there is no denying that sometimes this approach can work well but I think on these busy pressured circuit waters it can be a better proposition to sit on your hands and wait, apply bait little and often and let the fish come to you. My first instincts are normally pretty good when it comes to fish location even if there are no obvious signs. As always it's a case of fitting the pieces of the puzzle together and as we slip into autumn and winter things will become simpler rig and bait wise, the weed will die back and hopefully the picture will start to become clearer. It'll certainly be a bonus if I don't forget the handles for the barrow in future or contract a deadly man-flu virus while I'm fishing!