by Martyn Russ
With the re-opening of the local lake, Hendre, and the start of the new season both Club Admin Brian Chandler and Dean Curtis attended the re-opening social weekend due to them both being bailiffs at the lake. All the bailiffs attended the opening day with a few of the members and regular visitors joining in with a great weekends carp and specimen fishing. Even though it was a social event the fishing was still taken seriously, well almost, and both Brian and Dean managed to get some action over the three days and nights. Unfortunately the British bank holiday weather decided to live up to its name and by the second day and night the heavens opened and it poured down with rain rising the level of the lake by a few inches.
Many of the fishermen still managed to catch with some doing extremely well managing an amazing 15 fish during their session with others only pinching one or two. Brian manage to land 3 decent double figure carp with the biggest at around 16 lb and also lost 2 during the fight. Brian was using the new Size 6 GRIPZ hooks from Pallatrax and reported that they worked brilliantly managing to hold the fish well in the mouth and very easy to remove just like barbless hooks. Dean also managed to land 2 nice size double carp with one coming during the late night hours. Brian also had a fight during the night with one of his trophies and ended up with both feet in the air and his backside sat in a puddle soaking him through to the skin. This didn’t put him off one little bit and if anything he was more determined that ever to continue catching those elusive carp. By the end of the weekend they reported that everyone had a brilliant time during the social with a few not remembering anything after seeing off a few crates of cider but all were rewarded with fish and a great time. 
Hendre lake is a nice size lake with room for around 10 to 15 carpers to fish comfortably with a large island as a main feature. The lake offers match and coarse fishing as well as carp and specimen and is a great place for any angler to visit with easy access and some well laid out swims. Just on the edge of Rumney, St. Mellons in Cardiff Hendre is definitely a lake I would recommend to others to give it a try. A great runs water for carp fishing and a big venue for coarse and match angling. One that I myself will be visiting very soon.
Wet Nets & Tight Lines
