Sunday 30 August 2009
Pictures of the Half Round Ponds
Here are some photos I took of the Half Round Ponds on a sunny day last September. If you haven't fished there before and would like to there are more details available via the Brynmill Angling Club website.
A Thursday night soaking at the HRPs
After checking the weather on both the met office and BBC websites and watching the forecast on TV I managed to convince Barry that Thursday would be a “clear dry night” despite the miserable day. We headed down to the HRPs for about half seven and began to set up in the rain on the central walkway.
We got set up just in time as the light was fading and the rain eventually eased and the skies cleared as expected. On previous trips we had targeted mainly the lily pond and so this time I wanted to focus on the other pond and so I put both rods into that pond whereas Barry hedged his bets with a rod each side.
It had been dark for maybe an hour or so when a car came down the track and stopped in the turning circle and turned its lights off. They hung around for maybe an hour before heading off and to us it looked like a young lad and a girl. I have seen cars come down at strange times in the night at the ponds before when I’ve been there. Lights go off and they hang around for a period of time. They must come down to chill out and smoke or something as they have found it to be a little hideaway. I have no particular objection as long as they aren’t there to cause trouble but this behaviour could be a bit unnerving if you are night fishing alone. One night three cars and a moped turned up and carved up the track a bit wheel spinning as they left.
After our visitor had left we carried on chatting for a while and were beginning to wonder why we hadn’t had any action when we were alerted by a couple of beeps on Barry’s rod. We were stood over it as the fish bolted and it developed into a run. As I waited to net the fish for him I could see that it was a common carp which I’d never seen from the ponds before as all the carp I have caught there have been mirrors. After deducting the weight of the sling we agreed that the small but chunky common weighed in at 11lb 6oz.
Barry's HRP common carp
Barry had another run sometime later which I must admit I slept through. He told me that he was into the fish for a matter of about a second and didn’t even get a chance to get a feel of how big he thought it was before the hook pulled out, or so he thought. When he went to re-bait he noticed that the hook had actually snapped on the lower shank just where it started to bend just leaving the hair and hook shank. This is something I’ve never known before possibly the hook had a manufacturing defect?
It was soon after that I felt a drip on my face. This followed by a few more drips that soon became a downpour. So much for the “clear dry night” that was promised. We each had an old umbrella but they didn’t really cover the bedchairs and the intensity of the downpour meant they leaked slightly also. The bottom of our bedchairs got a soaking meaning I was soaked from the knee down.
The rain eased off and I tried to get comfortable again. I was nodding off when I felt another drip and another downpour began. All in all I think we had four big downpours and got absolutely soaked. It was actually hailing at one point! This made the rest of the night very uncomfortable and we didn’t get anymore sleep. I will never trust the weather forecast again and I don’t think Barry will trust me again!
I had had some knocks on one rod that stopped after a while and normally I would have checked it but it got left as we were too preoccupied cowering from the rain. When we checked our baits in the morning we found that three out of four rods had no bait. This was also a bit strange but I’ve known it happen with the Vitabaits boilies as they are quite soft. We headed off by 0830 giving me just enough time to get back unload and grab a shower before getting to work for 0930.
We got set up just in time as the light was fading and the rain eventually eased and the skies cleared as expected. On previous trips we had targeted mainly the lily pond and so this time I wanted to focus on the other pond and so I put both rods into that pond whereas Barry hedged his bets with a rod each side.
It had been dark for maybe an hour or so when a car came down the track and stopped in the turning circle and turned its lights off. They hung around for maybe an hour before heading off and to us it looked like a young lad and a girl. I have seen cars come down at strange times in the night at the ponds before when I’ve been there. Lights go off and they hang around for a period of time. They must come down to chill out and smoke or something as they have found it to be a little hideaway. I have no particular objection as long as they aren’t there to cause trouble but this behaviour could be a bit unnerving if you are night fishing alone. One night three cars and a moped turned up and carved up the track a bit wheel spinning as they left.
After our visitor had left we carried on chatting for a while and were beginning to wonder why we hadn’t had any action when we were alerted by a couple of beeps on Barry’s rod. We were stood over it as the fish bolted and it developed into a run. As I waited to net the fish for him I could see that it was a common carp which I’d never seen from the ponds before as all the carp I have caught there have been mirrors. After deducting the weight of the sling we agreed that the small but chunky common weighed in at 11lb 6oz.
Barry's HRP common carp
Having photographed and put the fish back we were chatting for maybe another half an hour I had the same scenario on one of my rods. There were a couple of beeps that caused us to dash to the rod then a short wait for a couple of seconds before a run developed. This time we landed a mirror carp of 11lb 8oz just slightly heavier than the common. I chose not worry about photographing this fish but to get it straight back in the water. If it was daylight I would have but my camera is a pain in the arse to use at night as it just shows a black screen when focussing, so it means taking a few photos and looking at them and adjusting to get a half decent shot.
I’m guessing it had gone 0100 am at this point and we went to get our heads down. We were both on a bedchair out in the open with a sleeping bag thrown over us. I was alerted a couple of times to the odd beep on one rod and eventually I jumped up as it developed into a run. I shouted to Barry but he didn’t move. After a few seconds the fish buried itself in weed and for a minute the line was solid and I thought the fish was lost. I moved up the bank to change the angle and began to gain some line very slowly. I grabbed the torch and I could see that I was towing in a huge clump of weed but in the middle of it I could see the back of a fish.
I shouted to Barry a couple more times as it was proving a bit of a struggle but he didn’t wake up. I struggled with the torch and net and eventually had a net full of weed with a fish in there somewhere. I pulled away handfuls of weed and eventually found a mirror carp of an estimated 9 lb. Eventually Barry was woken by the torchlight and got up to ask me what was going on just after I had returned the fish.
After re-baiting etc I was back lying on the bedchair but not yet asleep when I heard Barry get a take. I went over and netted a mirror carp for him. I can’t remember what we weighed it as exactly but it was of similar size to the one I had had at around 9 lb. Barry is more keen to document all of his fish and requested a photo so I am therefore able to supply one for the blog.
I’m guessing it had gone 0100 am at this point and we went to get our heads down. We were both on a bedchair out in the open with a sleeping bag thrown over us. I was alerted a couple of times to the odd beep on one rod and eventually I jumped up as it developed into a run. I shouted to Barry but he didn’t move. After a few seconds the fish buried itself in weed and for a minute the line was solid and I thought the fish was lost. I moved up the bank to change the angle and began to gain some line very slowly. I grabbed the torch and I could see that I was towing in a huge clump of weed but in the middle of it I could see the back of a fish.
I shouted to Barry a couple more times as it was proving a bit of a struggle but he didn’t wake up. I struggled with the torch and net and eventually had a net full of weed with a fish in there somewhere. I pulled away handfuls of weed and eventually found a mirror carp of an estimated 9 lb. Eventually Barry was woken by the torchlight and got up to ask me what was going on just after I had returned the fish.
After re-baiting etc I was back lying on the bedchair but not yet asleep when I heard Barry get a take. I went over and netted a mirror carp for him. I can’t remember what we weighed it as exactly but it was of similar size to the one I had had at around 9 lb. Barry is more keen to document all of his fish and requested a photo so I am therefore able to supply one for the blog.
Barry's mirror carp
Barry had another run sometime later which I must admit I slept through. He told me that he was into the fish for a matter of about a second and didn’t even get a chance to get a feel of how big he thought it was before the hook pulled out, or so he thought. When he went to re-bait he noticed that the hook had actually snapped on the lower shank just where it started to bend just leaving the hair and hook shank. This is something I’ve never known before possibly the hook had a manufacturing defect?
It was soon after that I felt a drip on my face. This followed by a few more drips that soon became a downpour. So much for the “clear dry night” that was promised. We each had an old umbrella but they didn’t really cover the bedchairs and the intensity of the downpour meant they leaked slightly also. The bottom of our bedchairs got a soaking meaning I was soaked from the knee down.
The rain eased off and I tried to get comfortable again. I was nodding off when I felt another drip and another downpour began. All in all I think we had four big downpours and got absolutely soaked. It was actually hailing at one point! This made the rest of the night very uncomfortable and we didn’t get anymore sleep. I will never trust the weather forecast again and I don’t think Barry will trust me again!
I had had some knocks on one rod that stopped after a while and normally I would have checked it but it got left as we were too preoccupied cowering from the rain. When we checked our baits in the morning we found that three out of four rods had no bait. This was also a bit strange but I’ve known it happen with the Vitabaits boilies as they are quite soft. We headed off by 0830 giving me just enough time to get back unload and grab a shower before getting to work for 0930.
Wednesday 26 August 2009
Evening at Gowerton
After finishing work on Tuesday I headed down to Gowerton with Ben my housemate with the hope that he would catch his first carp. I set up one rod for him on a method feeder and pellet and the other with a boilie. I set two of my own rods up one with a boilie and one with pepperami.
It wasn’t long before I had a knock on the pepperami that was placed in the margin but after nothing more materialised I decided to check it. The rests weren’t in the ground very well as it was a bit hard where we were fishing and so the rear rest began to tip. This pulled the rod tip of the second rod around and I was in the process of trying to push it back into the ground when the rod tip began to sail around again. It wasn’t until line began to be pulled off the reel that I realised that a fish had actually picked up the bait at that exact moment in time.
It felt a pretty good fish and I got Ben over to help with playing it etc to get a bit of a feel as to what a hooked carp feels like. Once landed the fish weighed almost exactly 12 lb after the weight of the wet mat/sling had been deducted. Unlike the carp from the HRP the Gowerton carp seem much less chunky and can therefore appear bigger. I also think that the Gowerton carp can sometimes fight harder for their size.
After this early success I was reasonably confident that we would get some more. After a knock on the method feeder I checked it and the pellet was gone. I then put sweetcorn on it and put it back in the same place for Ben. An hour or so later I saw him jump up and he was into a fish. He let it run initially from the margin but unfortunately I think he didn’t keep enough tension as the fish turned towards him and this allowed the fish to slip the hook.
We fished into dusk and I missed one more drop back bite before we packed up. We didn’t have as much success as I’d hoped and Ben still hasn’t yet landed his first carp properly but I’m sure its only a matter of time (if he continues to come fishing that is). The one carp we did land was a nice one though and I have finally replaced the batteries in the camera so there are some pictures!
It wasn’t long before I had a knock on the pepperami that was placed in the margin but after nothing more materialised I decided to check it. The rests weren’t in the ground very well as it was a bit hard where we were fishing and so the rear rest began to tip. This pulled the rod tip of the second rod around and I was in the process of trying to push it back into the ground when the rod tip began to sail around again. It wasn’t until line began to be pulled off the reel that I realised that a fish had actually picked up the bait at that exact moment in time.
It felt a pretty good fish and I got Ben over to help with playing it etc to get a bit of a feel as to what a hooked carp feels like. Once landed the fish weighed almost exactly 12 lb after the weight of the wet mat/sling had been deducted. Unlike the carp from the HRP the Gowerton carp seem much less chunky and can therefore appear bigger. I also think that the Gowerton carp can sometimes fight harder for their size.
After this early success I was reasonably confident that we would get some more. After a knock on the method feeder I checked it and the pellet was gone. I then put sweetcorn on it and put it back in the same place for Ben. An hour or so later I saw him jump up and he was into a fish. He let it run initially from the margin but unfortunately I think he didn’t keep enough tension as the fish turned towards him and this allowed the fish to slip the hook.
We fished into dusk and I missed one more drop back bite before we packed up. We didn’t have as much success as I’d hoped and Ben still hasn’t yet landed his first carp properly but I’m sure its only a matter of time (if he continues to come fishing that is). The one carp we did land was a nice one though and I have finally replaced the batteries in the camera so there are some pictures!
Two nights at the Half Round Ponds
After the capture of his carp from the HRPs last time out I managed to persuade Barry to join Brynmill for the year. We then decided we’d give the HRPs a go on Friday night. We headed down the ponds for about 19:30 and set up as quickly as we could on the central walkway between the two ponds.
We both started initially fishing into the lily pond in adjacent swims. I was using my trusted Vitabaits boilies and but Barry was using lobworms with a float and starlight with the hope of also tempting some evening tench as well as carp.
It started well as I had a take almost before we had completely set up and landed a small carp of about 8 lb or so just as the light was beginning to fade. It was then a bit of a wait but I had another take and landed another mirror which we weighed this time at 10lb 12oz so just making it into double figures. I then re-baited and put the rod this time into the other pool so that I was fishing one into the margins of both pools. Barry by this time had given up with the float and done the same.
I was woken some time later after a fish had picked up the bait on the rod that I had put into the other pond. This time the fish felt much more powerful and I’m sure it was a good fish. Unfortunately it got me snagged and I lost it. After that disappointment I we settled down again and I was starting to dose when I heard a faint beeping and noise of a reel clutch from one of Barry’s rods. I jumped up and started to run over and gave him a shout. He had nodded off and by the time he was up I had graded the rod and was into a fish. It turned out to be another mirror carp that just made it into double figures at 10lb 8oz. I should point out that it wasn’t really his fault he didn’t hear the alarm as he had borrowed them from me and it only gave a very faint beep when we tested it as the battery really needs changing.
Some time later I had another take on the rod in the lily pond and we netted the biggest fish of the night at 12lb 4oz. Due to our success this far we were in good spirit even though we had had hardly any sleep but then the rain came. I didn’t have a watch so I’m guessing this was around 3 am and this made things pretty miserable as we had no bivvy to shelter in. We had been out in the open on bedchairs and had to cower under umbrellas as best we could. It was also a colder night than we had anticipated and it soon became uncomfortable.
After enduring the cold and rain for a while we decided to move so that we were both fishing at the bottom of the walkway near the car park. I was fishing both into the lily pond and Barry the other pond. I reversed the car close to the walkway barriers and we got into the car to shelter with the windows down so we could hear the alarms. At around 5:30- 6:00 a couple of other anglers turned up and I think they spoke to us as they went passed but in my half asleep state I didn’t manage much of a response. It must have bee quite comical for them especially as I had a take not long after and the doors of the car flung open as we charged towards my rods. It turned out to be small carp in the 6-8 pound region.
At about 8 am we packed up and headed home so that we wouldn’t be in the way of the Saturday coaching session. All in all it had been a good night apart from the cold and rain with six carp landed and one lost.
Following Friday nights success we decided to return for Saturday night and we arrived back at the ponds at about 19:00. This time we set up on the opposite bank of the lily pond so that we could erect the bivvy so as not to be as uncomfortable as the previous night should it decide to rain. Again it wasn’t long before I was into a fish and landed a mirror around the 8 lb mark as the light was fading.
We waited up until maybe 1 am but without any action so after checking baits etc we decided to get our heads down. We both jumped up sometime later as I had a take on my other rod. I dashed to the rod and as I looked at the alarms in my half asleep state I could see that both latching LEDs were on and I made an instant decision to strike the right hand rod as the run had apparently stopped. Unfortunately it was the wrong rod and Barry grabbed the rod with the fish on. The rod I had struck was only placed in the margin and the rig flicked over the other line when I struck and somehow caused a calamitous tangle. To make things worse Barry was struggling with the fish that had buried itself in the lilies.
Eventually we lost the fish and I was left with a birds nest tangle to sort out. This took a while and meant that I had to set both rods up again after. Even so once fishing again I was still confident that we would get some more action. I was proved right when Barry had a take on a rod that was fishing almost right under our feet placed only about a foot from the bank.
Again it turned into a bit of a calamity as he tripped and was sent sprawling as he leapt out of the bivvy. We weren’t sleeping in the sleeping bags but were just throwing them over us but I guess he had it hooked under his feet as he jumped up. After landing on his knees and sliding into the rod pod knocking it over he did manage to grab the right rod unlike myself previously. The fish turned out to be the smallest we had landed from the ponds so far at about 6 lb.
As we got our heads down again it was beginning to get light and it wasn’t too much longer before I heard the first car arrive. I was then a bit surprised when I had another run and landed another carp again in the 8lb region which turned out to be our last bit of action.
I was a bit surprised at the number of single figure carp we landed over the two nights. I fished the ponds a fair bit last September and caught a few and the average was bigger. I had a few around the 11 lb mark with one or two bigger ones but I only remember landing one single figure carp. I’m not complaining of course as I’m well please landing 9 carp in two nights isn’t bad. I’m not too disappointed with only losing two considering the volume of lilies in the pond.
One point I would note is that I personally find it much easier to land the fish when fishing over the top of the lilies and not casting to them. By this I mean fishing in the margins where it is possible to keep the line as vertical as possible above the fish if it dives into lilies left or right. By casting over towards lilies the line is at a much steeper angle and the longer the fish is allowed to run the more it can wrap itself around stems etc. The two fish lost were when the fish was hooked further out and managed to dive into weeds or snags. We landed all fish hooked in the margins as I was much easier to prevent the fish snagging.
I apologise for the lack of photos but at the time I still hadn’t replaced the batteries in my camera. We did have Barry’s camera but for most of the fish we decided just to return them as we didn’t want to mess about with cameras in the dark unless we caught a real monster. The following picture is one we took of the very last fish we caught on the second morning as it was daylight at the time of capture. The weight is estimated and although it appears small all the HRP fish are chunky and I consistently under estimated the size of the ones that we did weigh.
We both started initially fishing into the lily pond in adjacent swims. I was using my trusted Vitabaits boilies and but Barry was using lobworms with a float and starlight with the hope of also tempting some evening tench as well as carp.
It started well as I had a take almost before we had completely set up and landed a small carp of about 8 lb or so just as the light was beginning to fade. It was then a bit of a wait but I had another take and landed another mirror which we weighed this time at 10lb 12oz so just making it into double figures. I then re-baited and put the rod this time into the other pool so that I was fishing one into the margins of both pools. Barry by this time had given up with the float and done the same.
I was woken some time later after a fish had picked up the bait on the rod that I had put into the other pond. This time the fish felt much more powerful and I’m sure it was a good fish. Unfortunately it got me snagged and I lost it. After that disappointment I we settled down again and I was starting to dose when I heard a faint beeping and noise of a reel clutch from one of Barry’s rods. I jumped up and started to run over and gave him a shout. He had nodded off and by the time he was up I had graded the rod and was into a fish. It turned out to be another mirror carp that just made it into double figures at 10lb 8oz. I should point out that it wasn’t really his fault he didn’t hear the alarm as he had borrowed them from me and it only gave a very faint beep when we tested it as the battery really needs changing.
Some time later I had another take on the rod in the lily pond and we netted the biggest fish of the night at 12lb 4oz. Due to our success this far we were in good spirit even though we had had hardly any sleep but then the rain came. I didn’t have a watch so I’m guessing this was around 3 am and this made things pretty miserable as we had no bivvy to shelter in. We had been out in the open on bedchairs and had to cower under umbrellas as best we could. It was also a colder night than we had anticipated and it soon became uncomfortable.
After enduring the cold and rain for a while we decided to move so that we were both fishing at the bottom of the walkway near the car park. I was fishing both into the lily pond and Barry the other pond. I reversed the car close to the walkway barriers and we got into the car to shelter with the windows down so we could hear the alarms. At around 5:30- 6:00 a couple of other anglers turned up and I think they spoke to us as they went passed but in my half asleep state I didn’t manage much of a response. It must have bee quite comical for them especially as I had a take not long after and the doors of the car flung open as we charged towards my rods. It turned out to be small carp in the 6-8 pound region.
At about 8 am we packed up and headed home so that we wouldn’t be in the way of the Saturday coaching session. All in all it had been a good night apart from the cold and rain with six carp landed and one lost.
Following Friday nights success we decided to return for Saturday night and we arrived back at the ponds at about 19:00. This time we set up on the opposite bank of the lily pond so that we could erect the bivvy so as not to be as uncomfortable as the previous night should it decide to rain. Again it wasn’t long before I was into a fish and landed a mirror around the 8 lb mark as the light was fading.
We waited up until maybe 1 am but without any action so after checking baits etc we decided to get our heads down. We both jumped up sometime later as I had a take on my other rod. I dashed to the rod and as I looked at the alarms in my half asleep state I could see that both latching LEDs were on and I made an instant decision to strike the right hand rod as the run had apparently stopped. Unfortunately it was the wrong rod and Barry grabbed the rod with the fish on. The rod I had struck was only placed in the margin and the rig flicked over the other line when I struck and somehow caused a calamitous tangle. To make things worse Barry was struggling with the fish that had buried itself in the lilies.
Eventually we lost the fish and I was left with a birds nest tangle to sort out. This took a while and meant that I had to set both rods up again after. Even so once fishing again I was still confident that we would get some more action. I was proved right when Barry had a take on a rod that was fishing almost right under our feet placed only about a foot from the bank.
Again it turned into a bit of a calamity as he tripped and was sent sprawling as he leapt out of the bivvy. We weren’t sleeping in the sleeping bags but were just throwing them over us but I guess he had it hooked under his feet as he jumped up. After landing on his knees and sliding into the rod pod knocking it over he did manage to grab the right rod unlike myself previously. The fish turned out to be the smallest we had landed from the ponds so far at about 6 lb.
As we got our heads down again it was beginning to get light and it wasn’t too much longer before I heard the first car arrive. I was then a bit surprised when I had another run and landed another carp again in the 8lb region which turned out to be our last bit of action.
I was a bit surprised at the number of single figure carp we landed over the two nights. I fished the ponds a fair bit last September and caught a few and the average was bigger. I had a few around the 11 lb mark with one or two bigger ones but I only remember landing one single figure carp. I’m not complaining of course as I’m well please landing 9 carp in two nights isn’t bad. I’m not too disappointed with only losing two considering the volume of lilies in the pond.
One point I would note is that I personally find it much easier to land the fish when fishing over the top of the lilies and not casting to them. By this I mean fishing in the margins where it is possible to keep the line as vertical as possible above the fish if it dives into lilies left or right. By casting over towards lilies the line is at a much steeper angle and the longer the fish is allowed to run the more it can wrap itself around stems etc. The two fish lost were when the fish was hooked further out and managed to dive into weeds or snags. We landed all fish hooked in the margins as I was much easier to prevent the fish snagging.
I apologise for the lack of photos but at the time I still hadn’t replaced the batteries in my camera. We did have Barry’s camera but for most of the fish we decided just to return them as we didn’t want to mess about with cameras in the dark unless we caught a real monster. The following picture is one we took of the very last fish we caught on the second morning as it was daylight at the time of capture. The weight is estimated and although it appears small all the HRP fish are chunky and I consistently under estimated the size of the ones that we did weigh.
Friday 21 August 2009
Belated Update
I haven’t been out fishing much of late but I did manage a full day on Sunday. Prior to this I had only been out for one short unproductive session at the HRPs. Initially there were two of us that went down to the Fendrod Lake on Sunday but we were later joined by two others. The two that came later were quite inexperienced but fancied giving fishing a go. A lot of my time as therefore spent with them setting things up, explaining, demonstrating etc.
Through the course of the day we caught loads of perch on maggots both on a whip in close and with a swim feeder cast further. The perch were so easy to catch that they even stopped putting maggots in the feeder and were randomly casting anywhere into the pool and still bites were almost instant. We did get one or two other fish which I think were dace; and one bootlace eel. I did intent to get a photo of our catch when we emptied the keepnet but the batteries in my camera were completely dead.
I think they had an enjoyable time catching the small perch but decided to leave the two of us to it mid afternoon. We then decided to pack up and move to the HRPs for the evening. Baz my fishing partner missed a couple of bites on his float but other than that things were pretty quiet. As the light started to fade other anglers at the ponds began to pack up and head off until we were the last ones there. I sat in my chair wondering how long it would be before Baz came over and asked how much longer we should give it.
It wasn’t long after that he did come over to ask if I had a starlight thingy as he could no longer see his float properly. I had just said to him that I’d give it another ten minutes when we were alerted to the sound of a screaming clutch from his rod in the next swim. A quick dash and he was into a fish that proceeded to plough through a lily bed. The fish never got completely snagged and he could still feel it and occasionally I caught glimpses in the torchlight. After about a 15 minute struggle the fish was free from the lilies and shortly after I managed to net it. The fish was a mirror carp and weighed 14lb 8oz in my mat/weigh sling combo. Given that the wet mat weighs close to 2lb the actual weight was therefore closer to 12lb 8oz, unfortunately we have no evidence as we couldn’t photograph the fish as the batteries in my camera were dead. 99% of the time waiting that extra five or ten minutes makes no difference but on this occasion it did and it was good to finish off the session with a nice fish on the bank!
The final session I have to report was Tuesday evening after work at Singleton Boating Lake. I got down there at about 18:30 – 19:00 and set up a method feeder on one rod and a float on the other. As I was setting up I saw a carp of I’d guess about five pounds leap out of the water at about ¾ the distance to the island. I had read on the angling club website that they were in there but this was the first evidence I had actually seen. As I watched I saw a dark shadow of a fish moving about just under the surface which I’m certain was a carp if not the one I had seen earlier leap out of the water. I then spotted a shoal of about eight dark shadows under the water which I think were bream and I’d guess may have been in the 3 pound region.
Spotting these fish gave me a bit of confidence and I aimed the method feeder in there general direction. With the float I fished maggot in the margin in front of me and soon began to get some bites. I pulled out a few perch before switching to bread and sweetcorn to see if I could tempt anything else. The change of baits meant the bites dried up until I did eventually get a good bite on sweetcorn which I subsequently missed. I then had a really good knock on the feeder rod which I also missed.
I re-baited and re-cast the feeder rod and switched back to maggots on the float rod. After a while I started catching perch again and had literally just swung one into hand when I had a big knock on the feeder rod. I struck into a fish on the feeder rod with my right hand whilst holding the float rod and perch in the other. I then dropped the small perch back into the water to land the fish on the other rod. It didn’t feel a huge fish and as it broke the surface I saw that it was a damn eel that had taken my hair rigged pellet. After unhooking and returning the perch on the other rod I decided to pack up as the light was beginning to fade.
Through the course of the day we caught loads of perch on maggots both on a whip in close and with a swim feeder cast further. The perch were so easy to catch that they even stopped putting maggots in the feeder and were randomly casting anywhere into the pool and still bites were almost instant. We did get one or two other fish which I think were dace; and one bootlace eel. I did intent to get a photo of our catch when we emptied the keepnet but the batteries in my camera were completely dead.
I think they had an enjoyable time catching the small perch but decided to leave the two of us to it mid afternoon. We then decided to pack up and move to the HRPs for the evening. Baz my fishing partner missed a couple of bites on his float but other than that things were pretty quiet. As the light started to fade other anglers at the ponds began to pack up and head off until we were the last ones there. I sat in my chair wondering how long it would be before Baz came over and asked how much longer we should give it.
It wasn’t long after that he did come over to ask if I had a starlight thingy as he could no longer see his float properly. I had just said to him that I’d give it another ten minutes when we were alerted to the sound of a screaming clutch from his rod in the next swim. A quick dash and he was into a fish that proceeded to plough through a lily bed. The fish never got completely snagged and he could still feel it and occasionally I caught glimpses in the torchlight. After about a 15 minute struggle the fish was free from the lilies and shortly after I managed to net it. The fish was a mirror carp and weighed 14lb 8oz in my mat/weigh sling combo. Given that the wet mat weighs close to 2lb the actual weight was therefore closer to 12lb 8oz, unfortunately we have no evidence as we couldn’t photograph the fish as the batteries in my camera were dead. 99% of the time waiting that extra five or ten minutes makes no difference but on this occasion it did and it was good to finish off the session with a nice fish on the bank!
The final session I have to report was Tuesday evening after work at Singleton Boating Lake. I got down there at about 18:30 – 19:00 and set up a method feeder on one rod and a float on the other. As I was setting up I saw a carp of I’d guess about five pounds leap out of the water at about ¾ the distance to the island. I had read on the angling club website that they were in there but this was the first evidence I had actually seen. As I watched I saw a dark shadow of a fish moving about just under the surface which I’m certain was a carp if not the one I had seen earlier leap out of the water. I then spotted a shoal of about eight dark shadows under the water which I think were bream and I’d guess may have been in the 3 pound region.
Spotting these fish gave me a bit of confidence and I aimed the method feeder in there general direction. With the float I fished maggot in the margin in front of me and soon began to get some bites. I pulled out a few perch before switching to bread and sweetcorn to see if I could tempt anything else. The change of baits meant the bites dried up until I did eventually get a good bite on sweetcorn which I subsequently missed. I then had a really good knock on the feeder rod which I also missed.
I re-baited and re-cast the feeder rod and switched back to maggots on the float rod. After a while I started catching perch again and had literally just swung one into hand when I had a big knock on the feeder rod. I struck into a fish on the feeder rod with my right hand whilst holding the float rod and perch in the other. I then dropped the small perch back into the water to land the fish on the other rod. It didn’t feel a huge fish and as it broke the surface I saw that it was a damn eel that had taken my hair rigged pellet. After unhooking and returning the perch on the other rod I decided to pack up as the light was beginning to fade.
Sunday 2 August 2009
Back to some basic coarse fishing
This week I've gone back to trying some basic coarse fishing that I used to do as a kid. One reason for this was for my housemate to come and have a go at simply catching some fish as he is new to all types of fishing.
I bought a pint of maggots after work Wednesday evening and we headed down to Singleton boating lake. I have never fished there before so I fancied it for a change. As I began to set up I realised that I had brought the net handle but not the net and by the time I had gone back to get it it must have been gone 7 pm.
We had a go at float fishing for an hour or two and it all started ok with a small bream. Unfortunately eels moved in which i'm not a fan of. I dont mind cathing any type of fish but I have a dislike to eels. I think we caught about four of the damn things with one being quite sizeable.
On Thursday evening I went down to the Fendrod to try the same. This proved a lot more successful and I had several perch and the odd roach to a reasonable size. I went back again on Friday and again had a lot of sucess with the perch, this time I was using a feeder. On both evenings on the Fendrod the bites were quite speradic. I would have a spell where I was getting bite after bite sometimes as soon as it hit the water. This would be followed by a spell of a few minutes with nothing.
I hope to get back into coarse fishing properly in the future and fancy trying to get some bream and tench from the fendrod. Any tips anyone?
I bought a pint of maggots after work Wednesday evening and we headed down to Singleton boating lake. I have never fished there before so I fancied it for a change. As I began to set up I realised that I had brought the net handle but not the net and by the time I had gone back to get it it must have been gone 7 pm.
We had a go at float fishing for an hour or two and it all started ok with a small bream. Unfortunately eels moved in which i'm not a fan of. I dont mind cathing any type of fish but I have a dislike to eels. I think we caught about four of the damn things with one being quite sizeable.
On Thursday evening I went down to the Fendrod to try the same. This proved a lot more successful and I had several perch and the odd roach to a reasonable size. I went back again on Friday and again had a lot of sucess with the perch, this time I was using a feeder. On both evenings on the Fendrod the bites were quite speradic. I would have a spell where I was getting bite after bite sometimes as soon as it hit the water. This would be followed by a spell of a few minutes with nothing.
I hope to get back into coarse fishing properly in the future and fancy trying to get some bream and tench from the fendrod. Any tips anyone?
Monday 27 July 2009
Bracelet Bay, Southgate, Langland Bay and back to Swansea West Pier
Some views of Swansea West Pier
A couple of pictures of the dog fish we caught
Last week me and my housemate continued to explore a few sea fishing spots in the evenings. On Monday we headed out past Mumbles and on to Bracelet Bay. We parked in the car park by the kids playground area and went out on the rocks. The tide was almost fully in but was on its way out. In the couple of hours we were there all we managed was one weird looking thing which we believe was a long-spined bullhead having looked at pictures on the net. This was caught float fishing with lugworm although I did also try using silver shrimps and also fishing on the bottom to no avail.
On the Tuesday evening after work we headed out towards South Gower and ended up at Southgate. We went for a bit of a stroll and found that there are some accessible areas on the rocks that we might try in the future but we decided not to atempt it this time. We then continued to Caswell Bay but the tide was in and there were a lot of surfers and body boarders there making it unfishable from the beach.
Our final destination was Langland Bay where we dicided to give it a go for an hour. Having gone to the far edge of the beach to keep out of other people's way we soon found there to be an excessive amount of sea weed and abandoned fishing. I did notice people fishing off the rocks further around so maybe thats somewhere to try in the furure.
On Wednesday evening we went back to Swansea Pier. In the two hours we were there we managed four dog fish and a crab between us, all of which we put back. This is mainly because I'm not really sure how to prepare and cook dog fish but I have since been researching online so the next one we catch may not be so lucky! In truth we were just glad to catch something having not had much success in the previous two evenings.
Thursday 23 July 2009
Some pictures of June and before
A common carp from Gowerton
A Fendrod bream
A freshwater muscle that attached itself to my hook at Gwinear. This is not a trick honest! When I reeled in to check my rig and bait this muscle was attached to the hook.
A bag of small fish from an afternoon at the HRPs
A Gwinear mirror carp
18 lb Gwinear mirror
18lb 8oz HRP mirror
11lb Gowerton common
The orange koi carp from Gwinear
Saturday 18 July 2009
18h July Swansea West Pier
I went to the car boot sale at Singleton this morning and bought two new beach caster rods. Putting these with the sea fishing tackle I already have, most of which used to be my Granddad’s, I just about have a complete set up. Me and my housemate therefore decided to go for a short session but didn’t really know where to try first. I went online and found Swansea West Pier mentioned on a couple of forums so we decided to head there so that we could get some bait from the tackle shop in the marina.
We got down there at maybe 12:30 with £3 worth or rag worm. There were maybe seven other people already fishing and we went right to the end. The tide I think was maybe ¾ the way in or so. I haven’t been sea fishing for quite a while and never in Wales so I thought it may be a bit hit and miss as to whether or not we caught anything. I set up one rod to fish on the bottom with the worm and the other with silver shrimp to spin for mackerel. There was a guy fishing with I assume his son and they caught a dog fish whilst we were there and someone else caught a small whiting. Other than that there wasn’t much being caught.
It was very windy and difficult to distinguish bites. I had no luck with the silver shrimps so I switched to worm also. The wind began to die down and eventually I had a good bite and landed a dog fish which we threw back. We ran out of worms at maybe 3 -3:30 and headed back. I couldn’t believe the number of people that had arrived by then, the pier was almost completely full of people fishing. Clearly this is a popular spot!
What was disappointing was the amount of rubbish left here, the place was actually pretty disgusting! Clearly there are a few that spoil it for others by leaving all their crap because they cant be bothered to carry it home or to the nearest bin.
We got down there at maybe 12:30 with £3 worth or rag worm. There were maybe seven other people already fishing and we went right to the end. The tide I think was maybe ¾ the way in or so. I haven’t been sea fishing for quite a while and never in Wales so I thought it may be a bit hit and miss as to whether or not we caught anything. I set up one rod to fish on the bottom with the worm and the other with silver shrimp to spin for mackerel. There was a guy fishing with I assume his son and they caught a dog fish whilst we were there and someone else caught a small whiting. Other than that there wasn’t much being caught.
It was very windy and difficult to distinguish bites. I had no luck with the silver shrimps so I switched to worm also. The wind began to die down and eventually I had a good bite and landed a dog fish which we threw back. We ran out of worms at maybe 3 -3:30 and headed back. I couldn’t believe the number of people that had arrived by then, the pier was almost completely full of people fishing. Clearly this is a popular spot!
What was disappointing was the amount of rubbish left here, the place was actually pretty disgusting! Clearly there are a few that spoil it for others by leaving all their crap because they cant be bothered to carry it home or to the nearest bin.
Recap: June in St Austell (Trebellan Park)
The final place I tried when back in Cornwall was a campsite called Trebellan near Newquay. It has three pools with the one right at the bottom holding the larger fish I think. This is another place I have fished in years gone by that I thought I’d try again. I initially went for a walk around the pools in the evening before I fished. It was quite busy on the bottom pool so my plan was to try the other two pools on the site.
Due to my success in the evening at Penvose I decided to just head to Trebellan for the evening and not spend the whole day there. I got there maybe around 5 and found the top two pools jammed with people so I headed down to the bottom pool. To my surprise there weren’t many people there but there was a net laid out on the grass so I think the bailiff had been doing some netting which may have been the reason why. I asked him if it was ok to fish and he said yes so I set up with one rod on the bottom with a boilie and the other with the same floater setup that had been so successful at Penvose. Unfortunately this method of fishing was ruined by the rat infestation where I was fishing. At one point I estimated there were about seven around me and they weren’t very shy! I would throw out free offerings and they would swim out and take them. I did see a rat do this at Penvose but there was nowhere near as may as at Trebellan. They would swim out and try and tow in my hook bait and would come out almost up to my feet at times as I sat in my chair.
I had given up the floater fishing for a bad job and was no longer watching the bait. I had set it up on two bank sticks with the butt in a grip and with the freerunner and alarm on. It was just dipped on the surface just as I was doing at Penvose. It had been in the water for quite a while and I had assumed the rats had nibbled the bait off when all of a sudden something grabbed it and the freerunner started screaming off line. I was into a decent fish and it was trying to dive through rushes and into overhanging tree branches. I did my best to persuade it other wise and eventually it turned and headed towards open water. I had it on for a few seconds longer and as I leant to pull the net closer the hook pulled out. When I inspected it I saw that it had been bent out. I was quite surprised as I didn’t think I was over aggressive with the fish. The hook I was using was part of a pack f a 100 that I had bought cheap on ebay. They looked the part but when I compared it to a top branded equivalent I couldn’t believe the strength difference. That will teach me to buy unbranded rubbish from ebay! This was a bit of a shame because it felt like a good fish too.
That was the only take I had despite the obvious signs of fish moving and splashing all over the place. I get the impression this can be quite a frustrating place where you can see the fish but they are difficult to catch due to the fact it is fished so heavily. The pool itself is quite nice but shame about all the rats.
Due to my success in the evening at Penvose I decided to just head to Trebellan for the evening and not spend the whole day there. I got there maybe around 5 and found the top two pools jammed with people so I headed down to the bottom pool. To my surprise there weren’t many people there but there was a net laid out on the grass so I think the bailiff had been doing some netting which may have been the reason why. I asked him if it was ok to fish and he said yes so I set up with one rod on the bottom with a boilie and the other with the same floater setup that had been so successful at Penvose. Unfortunately this method of fishing was ruined by the rat infestation where I was fishing. At one point I estimated there were about seven around me and they weren’t very shy! I would throw out free offerings and they would swim out and take them. I did see a rat do this at Penvose but there was nowhere near as may as at Trebellan. They would swim out and try and tow in my hook bait and would come out almost up to my feet at times as I sat in my chair.
I had given up the floater fishing for a bad job and was no longer watching the bait. I had set it up on two bank sticks with the butt in a grip and with the freerunner and alarm on. It was just dipped on the surface just as I was doing at Penvose. It had been in the water for quite a while and I had assumed the rats had nibbled the bait off when all of a sudden something grabbed it and the freerunner started screaming off line. I was into a decent fish and it was trying to dive through rushes and into overhanging tree branches. I did my best to persuade it other wise and eventually it turned and headed towards open water. I had it on for a few seconds longer and as I leant to pull the net closer the hook pulled out. When I inspected it I saw that it had been bent out. I was quite surprised as I didn’t think I was over aggressive with the fish. The hook I was using was part of a pack f a 100 that I had bought cheap on ebay. They looked the part but when I compared it to a top branded equivalent I couldn’t believe the strength difference. That will teach me to buy unbranded rubbish from ebay! This was a bit of a shame because it felt like a good fish too.
That was the only take I had despite the obvious signs of fish moving and splashing all over the place. I get the impression this can be quite a frustrating place where you can see the fish but they are difficult to catch due to the fact it is fished so heavily. The pool itself is quite nice but shame about all the rats.
Recap: June in St Austell (East Rose Farm)
I also went on my own at a place on Bodmin Moor called East Rose Farm. I tried the carp lake for the morning but didn’t have much luck. I tried method feeder with groundbait and sweetcorn and also a closed feeder with maggots. Both were pestered continuously by the thousands of small rudd and roach in the pool. I then tried a boilie but was having no luck. It then began to hammer down with rain so I hid under the umbrella for quite a while.
When it finally eased off I moved to the top lake. Again the feeder was pestered by small fish and it soon began to rain again, so I gave up and just left the boilie rod fishing. I noticed several heavy ish rod tip knocks that were certainly no rudd or roach. I had been told the lake was good for tench so that’s what I think it may have been. If it wasn’t for the rain I would have changed tactics. Eventually I hooked a fish which turned out to be a tench of about 3lb 8 oz. When the rain finally subsided I packed up but it wasn’t an entirely wasted day after all.
When it finally eased off I moved to the top lake. Again the feeder was pestered by small fish and it soon began to rain again, so I gave up and just left the boilie rod fishing. I noticed several heavy ish rod tip knocks that were certainly no rudd or roach. I had been told the lake was good for tench so that’s what I think it may have been. If it wasn’t for the rain I would have changed tactics. Eventually I hooked a fish which turned out to be a tench of about 3lb 8 oz. When the rain finally subsided I packed up but it wasn’t an entirely wasted day after all.
Recap: June in St Austell (Penvose Farm)
The next place I tried on my own was a place called Penvose Farm near Newquay. This is somewhere I had fished a when I was younger and a new lake has been added since I was last there. I arrived at about 11am and started on the bottom lake where there were already people fishing. My decision was influenced by the number of carp I could see cruising about. I put a boilie on one rod and put it in the margin almost right under my feet. The other I set up to try and cast a surface bait (floating boilie) to the island where I could see several fish. This however proved very frustrating as I had some almost take it but then think better of it.
At about 2pm I moved to the next lake (not the unfishable one with all the weed). Here I fished a boilie with a pva bag containing one or two boilies and pellets. I could see carp under a tree and they began to take biscuits so I tried to dangle my floating boilie near them. As with the bottom lake it proved very frustrating as they would almost take it but not quite.
I tried using a method feeder for a bit and was getting several bites on sweetcorn but I think this was only from small roach as I kept missing them. Eventually I had a run on the boilie and I had the fish on for a minute before the hook pulled but I don’t think it was a big fish. Every so often I would notice fish taking off the surface and I kept picking up the rod I’d set up for floaters but I was having no luck at all.
At about 6pm I heard a carp taking off the surface in the margin near me so I decided to the floater one more try. This time I put a dog biscuit in the bad rather than a boilie but as it was smaller I thought it would make the hook look more obvious. I dipped the biscuit in the water whilst holding the hook shank up ever so slightly to make the hook look less obvious. I held the rod and set the freeruner on the reel. After a couple of minutes a carp grabbed it and I landed my first fish of about 4 lb. I thought that would be it but I tried the same tactic at the same spot and another took it about 5 minutes later. I kept gradually feeding the biscuits and they began to feed more and more and I was landing fish after fish. I couldn’t believe how well it was going; when I packed up as it began to get dark I had landed 16 carp. The biggest was only about 8 lb but it was awesome fun and what looked at one point to be a bad day had turned into a great one.
At about 2pm I moved to the next lake (not the unfishable one with all the weed). Here I fished a boilie with a pva bag containing one or two boilies and pellets. I could see carp under a tree and they began to take biscuits so I tried to dangle my floating boilie near them. As with the bottom lake it proved very frustrating as they would almost take it but not quite.
I tried using a method feeder for a bit and was getting several bites on sweetcorn but I think this was only from small roach as I kept missing them. Eventually I had a run on the boilie and I had the fish on for a minute before the hook pulled but I don’t think it was a big fish. Every so often I would notice fish taking off the surface and I kept picking up the rod I’d set up for floaters but I was having no luck at all.
At about 6pm I heard a carp taking off the surface in the margin near me so I decided to the floater one more try. This time I put a dog biscuit in the bad rather than a boilie but as it was smaller I thought it would make the hook look more obvious. I dipped the biscuit in the water whilst holding the hook shank up ever so slightly to make the hook look less obvious. I held the rod and set the freeruner on the reel. After a couple of minutes a carp grabbed it and I landed my first fish of about 4 lb. I thought that would be it but I tried the same tactic at the same spot and another took it about 5 minutes later. I kept gradually feeding the biscuits and they began to feed more and more and I was landing fish after fish. I couldn’t believe how well it was going; when I packed up as it began to get dark I had landed 16 carp. The biggest was only about 8 lb but it was awesome fun and what looked at one point to be a bad day had turned into a great one.
Recap: June in St Austell (Gwinear Farm)
After completing my final exam I headed back down to Cornwall for about three weeks. The first fishing trip I did was with dad at a day ticket water called Gwinear Farm. It was a successful day and I managed to land three carp and loose one. I had an orange koi carp around the 9lb mark, a mirror of 13 lb 8 oz and another mirror of 18 lb. Dad’s best was a common of 17 lb but he also landed two smaller ones and lost two others, one at the net which was a decent size.
We returned to Gwinear for another day session but this time we were less successful and only landed a fish each both low doubles. The third time we returned to Gwinear I think we again managed one fish each the biggest about 14 lb.
We returned to Gwinear for another day session but this time we were less successful and only landed a fish each both low doubles. The third time we returned to Gwinear I think we again managed one fish each the biggest about 14 lb.
The beginning
I suppose I’d best start with an introduction. My name is Gregg and I’m 28. I am originally from St Austell in Cornwall but I am currently living in Swansea.
I started fishing at around the age of ten I’d guess after pestering my Dad to take me after seeing the fishing section at Trago Mills. The first trips I remember were sea fishing trips to Par Docks and Black Head float fishing, with a small blue fiberglass spinning rod. I can’t honestly remember what the first fish I caught but the chances are it was a pollack as I seem to remember us catching a few of these early on.
We soon progressed to mackerel fishing with feathers and silver shrimp off the rocks at Black Head. I can remember my dad getting himself a beach caster to add to the blue spinning rod and before long we were catching a lot of mackerel. I can also remember us catching wrasse and a dog fish at Black Head but most of the time we targeted mackerel.
I was content with this for a while but then I discovered that one of my school friends went freshwater fishing with his dad. I can remember going with them once to Bilberry pool which is part of Roche Angling Club (RAC) and from that point on I pestered my dad to try freshwater fishing.
We joined RAC in the early to mid 90’s and I think I started with the very basics of one match rod and a net with the addition of a second match rod coming soon after, which was bought cheap at a car boot sale ( I still have these!). We began with the basics of float fishing and started catching the usual roach, rudd, perch and the occasional eel.
Another place I used to go as a kid around this time was a place we called Square Pool between Bowling Green and Kerrow Moor which was free to fish. I can remember going there several times with other kids from school and catching roach, rudd, perch and the occasional brown trout. I seem to remember someone catching a reasonable sized bream there once also.
We also went a few times to a place my friends called St Georges near Roche Rock which I think was an old clay pit. It used to be quite over grown but was prolific for perch and brown trout, I think this pool has been cleared and is private now.
It was at RAC’s Wheal Rashleigh Pool that I first saw people properly targeting carp with their bivvies and rod pods etc. The first time I saw a carp caught it seemed to me like a whale and naturally I wanted to catch one. I had also heard y friend at school telling me how his dad had caught Tench up to nearly 7lb and a carp of about 14lb from Bilberry where they primarily fished. This fuelled my desire even further.
We tried in vain a few times at Wheal Rashleigh to catch a carp with my new Sundridge carp rod bought from Trago Mills. I was getting a bit frustrated so my dad took me to Whiteacres near Newquay. I caught my first ever carp there, a 6lb ghost carp from the eery lake. I returned to Whiteacres several times with school friends and it proved to be extremely prolific as it was so heavily stocked. I caught several carp there up to about the 15lb mark and sometimes the number of carp caught in a day would run into double figures! It was here that I perfected the basics of carp fishing.
I was still fishing Wheal Rashleigh with my dad and eventually I landed my first carp there which I think weighed 13lb and I was over the moon. It wasn’t long after that I landed another from Wheal Rashleigh and soon we became quite consistent. By this time we had added some extra tackle with a second silstar carp rod, my dads home made rod pod and some optonic bite alarms. Baits were predominantly Richworth’s tutti frutti or strawberry flavor boilies which were awesome back then.
We didn’t do too many long sessions down at Wheal Rashleigh but we were there quite frequently. I remember the first night session we did it got so windy that we couldn’t fish. The bobbins we had would blow about and keep setting the alarm off and every so often the rods would blow right off the alarm. (This was a design fault with the original optonic alarms and a modified “ear” was made available as a modification which they had the cheek to charge for). We took the baits out of the water and huddled in our little dome tent to shelter from the wind and rain. In the morning we found that rats had chewed off our boilies hair and all!
I remember doing lots of after school evening sessions down at Weal Rasleigh and eventually I landed my first fish over 20lb there, a 21lb mirror carp. I think I was about 14 and and I sent the picture of to Anglers Mail. I think the biggest I caught from Wheal Rashleigh was about 22lb 8oz and I think dad caught a common carp around 22 lb. I’m not sure what the lake record was at the time but I guess it was around 25 lb so we were doing pretty well. I had certainly never heard of fish anywhere near 30 lb being caught although I hear that they go over this in there now.
Carp fishing had taken over by this time and so my dad had sold the sea fishing tackle we had. The last year I think that we were members at RAC was in 1999 as I found a membership booklet for this year amongst the tackle and it was also the year I left to join the army. So from about 1999 to 2005 fishing pretty much ceased entirely. I left the army and went to university in Swansea and I did the odd one or two fishing trips here and there whilst back in Cornwall during the summers, at local day ticket waters.
In September last year I was talking to someone I knew in Swansea who was also used to do a bit of fishing. This led me to investigate a couple of places nearby namely the Fendrod Lake and Gowerton Pond. I also found a blog online about fishing in Swansea called Carp Coarse and Swansea by Dan Jones. These all helped to reignite the spark and I asked my dad to bring up all the old tackle and I joined Brynmill Angling Club.
I went a fair bit in September mostly at Gowerton Pond and Brynmill’s Half Round Ponds (HRPs). I caught a few carp from both places with Gowerton being more prolific but with a smaller weight average. The best I managed from Gowerton was about 13lb and 19lb from the HRPs. I attempted the Fendrod about three times and managed two single figure carp and an 8 lb 8 oz bream.
The start of my final year of university meant that my fishing pretty much stopped by the beginning of October. I have however recently graduated and hopefully will now find the time for plenty of fishing. I hope to get back into sea fishing as well as general coarse fishing. There are species of fish that I’ve never caught that I’d like to at least attempt to catch, and of course every angler wants to improve on the size of fish they have caught.
The aim of this blog is therefore to keep a diary of fishing trips documenting objectives, locations, techniques etc here forth. This will be useful as a personal reference and for anyone else who cares to read it. Hopefully there will be the opportunity to share tips and information with some of you to help achieve our goals.
Cheers for now.
I started fishing at around the age of ten I’d guess after pestering my Dad to take me after seeing the fishing section at Trago Mills. The first trips I remember were sea fishing trips to Par Docks and Black Head float fishing, with a small blue fiberglass spinning rod. I can’t honestly remember what the first fish I caught but the chances are it was a pollack as I seem to remember us catching a few of these early on.
We soon progressed to mackerel fishing with feathers and silver shrimp off the rocks at Black Head. I can remember my dad getting himself a beach caster to add to the blue spinning rod and before long we were catching a lot of mackerel. I can also remember us catching wrasse and a dog fish at Black Head but most of the time we targeted mackerel.
I was content with this for a while but then I discovered that one of my school friends went freshwater fishing with his dad. I can remember going with them once to Bilberry pool which is part of Roche Angling Club (RAC) and from that point on I pestered my dad to try freshwater fishing.
We joined RAC in the early to mid 90’s and I think I started with the very basics of one match rod and a net with the addition of a second match rod coming soon after, which was bought cheap at a car boot sale ( I still have these!). We began with the basics of float fishing and started catching the usual roach, rudd, perch and the occasional eel.
Another place I used to go as a kid around this time was a place we called Square Pool between Bowling Green and Kerrow Moor which was free to fish. I can remember going there several times with other kids from school and catching roach, rudd, perch and the occasional brown trout. I seem to remember someone catching a reasonable sized bream there once also.
We also went a few times to a place my friends called St Georges near Roche Rock which I think was an old clay pit. It used to be quite over grown but was prolific for perch and brown trout, I think this pool has been cleared and is private now.
It was at RAC’s Wheal Rashleigh Pool that I first saw people properly targeting carp with their bivvies and rod pods etc. The first time I saw a carp caught it seemed to me like a whale and naturally I wanted to catch one. I had also heard y friend at school telling me how his dad had caught Tench up to nearly 7lb and a carp of about 14lb from Bilberry where they primarily fished. This fuelled my desire even further.
We tried in vain a few times at Wheal Rashleigh to catch a carp with my new Sundridge carp rod bought from Trago Mills. I was getting a bit frustrated so my dad took me to Whiteacres near Newquay. I caught my first ever carp there, a 6lb ghost carp from the eery lake. I returned to Whiteacres several times with school friends and it proved to be extremely prolific as it was so heavily stocked. I caught several carp there up to about the 15lb mark and sometimes the number of carp caught in a day would run into double figures! It was here that I perfected the basics of carp fishing.
I was still fishing Wheal Rashleigh with my dad and eventually I landed my first carp there which I think weighed 13lb and I was over the moon. It wasn’t long after that I landed another from Wheal Rashleigh and soon we became quite consistent. By this time we had added some extra tackle with a second silstar carp rod, my dads home made rod pod and some optonic bite alarms. Baits were predominantly Richworth’s tutti frutti or strawberry flavor boilies which were awesome back then.
We didn’t do too many long sessions down at Wheal Rashleigh but we were there quite frequently. I remember the first night session we did it got so windy that we couldn’t fish. The bobbins we had would blow about and keep setting the alarm off and every so often the rods would blow right off the alarm. (This was a design fault with the original optonic alarms and a modified “ear” was made available as a modification which they had the cheek to charge for). We took the baits out of the water and huddled in our little dome tent to shelter from the wind and rain. In the morning we found that rats had chewed off our boilies hair and all!
I remember doing lots of after school evening sessions down at Weal Rasleigh and eventually I landed my first fish over 20lb there, a 21lb mirror carp. I think I was about 14 and and I sent the picture of to Anglers Mail. I think the biggest I caught from Wheal Rashleigh was about 22lb 8oz and I think dad caught a common carp around 22 lb. I’m not sure what the lake record was at the time but I guess it was around 25 lb so we were doing pretty well. I had certainly never heard of fish anywhere near 30 lb being caught although I hear that they go over this in there now.
Carp fishing had taken over by this time and so my dad had sold the sea fishing tackle we had. The last year I think that we were members at RAC was in 1999 as I found a membership booklet for this year amongst the tackle and it was also the year I left to join the army. So from about 1999 to 2005 fishing pretty much ceased entirely. I left the army and went to university in Swansea and I did the odd one or two fishing trips here and there whilst back in Cornwall during the summers, at local day ticket waters.
In September last year I was talking to someone I knew in Swansea who was also used to do a bit of fishing. This led me to investigate a couple of places nearby namely the Fendrod Lake and Gowerton Pond. I also found a blog online about fishing in Swansea called Carp Coarse and Swansea by Dan Jones. These all helped to reignite the spark and I asked my dad to bring up all the old tackle and I joined Brynmill Angling Club.
I went a fair bit in September mostly at Gowerton Pond and Brynmill’s Half Round Ponds (HRPs). I caught a few carp from both places with Gowerton being more prolific but with a smaller weight average. The best I managed from Gowerton was about 13lb and 19lb from the HRPs. I attempted the Fendrod about three times and managed two single figure carp and an 8 lb 8 oz bream.
The start of my final year of university meant that my fishing pretty much stopped by the beginning of October. I have however recently graduated and hopefully will now find the time for plenty of fishing. I hope to get back into sea fishing as well as general coarse fishing. There are species of fish that I’ve never caught that I’d like to at least attempt to catch, and of course every angler wants to improve on the size of fish they have caught.
The aim of this blog is therefore to keep a diary of fishing trips documenting objectives, locations, techniques etc here forth. This will be useful as a personal reference and for anyone else who cares to read it. Hopefully there will be the opportunity to share tips and information with some of you to help achieve our goals.
Cheers for now.
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