Fishing at Cefn Mably – Sunday 26th May 2013

by Martyn Russ a.k.a. Voodoo

The sun was shining bright and at 7am it was already feeling warm  so i was looking forwards to a nice day at our local Carp fishery, Cefn Mably Lakes. When we arrived there was already a couple of people set-up at the over flow pond so we quickly grabbed the swims we wanted and prepared for our fishing adventure. My mother was the first one to cat6ch fish and started the day as she meant to go on by landing a couple of nice size mirror carp around the 3 to 4 lb. mark and  Brian was second to follow up with some larger Mirrors and a few common’s. I had started off catching a few small Rudd and Bream and then hooked a pretty little mirror carp around 3lb. The second i hooked into was a huge one and when it ran it took off half way across the pond and then snapped my line. It hen decided to put a stronger rig on in case i came a cross it again. It must have been a good size as the rig i was using had 15lb main line with a 6 lb. hook line. We all continued to catch quality fish for most of the morning and and all caught our selves a little chunk topping with Brian’s best at around the10 – 11 lb. mark with  both myself and my mother catching close to the 9 lb. mark. Around lunch time the swims went quiet and i wasn’t surprised as it was starting to get very hot sat there in the sun and even though i had put on factor 30 sunblock i was still burning on my forearms. When the swims went quiet and i saw a couple of carp playing around the reeds i decided to stalk them and snuck along the bank to place a small piece of meat soaked in halibut just in front of them. it was a little awkward as i was squeezing between two trees but it soon paid off as the smaller of the 3 snatched my bait and off it shot. It weighed around about 5 or 6lb so wasn’t massive but put up a geed fight. There were a lot of families up at the lake as it was bank holiday and quite a few with kids. Its nice to see the youngsters paying an interest in the sport but just some times i just wish they wouldn’t run about screaming, enough said on that one. Even though the swims had gone quiet my mother continued to catch a few carp whilst we stopped and had lunch.then around  3.30 – 4 pm the second feed begun and the swims started to liven up again. With a small but steady flow of feed i managed to get the carp competing against each other and managed to get myself some tidy fish.  My best of the day was just before we had decided to pack up and i managed to get my self a little 8 or 9 lb. common that gave me a right good scrap. We all continued to catch right up to packing up time at around 7 pm and really enjoyed our little fishing trip. Considering i had  decided to only fish the pole and left all my other tackle at home i have to admit i had hours of fun and miss the match fishing techniques at times. Ok i do enjoy fishing for the larger carp and look forward to the fight of the fish and feeling your heart in your throat but you have just as much fun with the smaller fish and catching quantity as well as quality. Cefn Mably lakes is a great fishery and one that i recommend any fisherman to give a try. they have plenty of lakes to choose from offering specimen and pleasure angling to all ages and i for one can’t wait till my next visit and adventure…

Wet Nets & Tight Lines …..

Peterstone Lakes–Newport 22nd May 2013

By Martyn Russ a.k.a. Voodoo

With the great fishing we had at Cefn Mably still in our minds we decided to take a trip to another of our local lakes just up the road from us at Newport. The weather was forecast for a sunny day but with some cloud cover but when we woke and got ready, the skies were grey and miserable and there was no sign of the sun anywhere. Sure that the day would turn out ok off we went and set up at Peterstone Lakes in Newport. My mother had decided to fish what is called “the pencil” lake so i decided to join her and Brian but i went up the other end near the island.

    

My mother had decided on fishing the pole to start and Brian decided on the feeder. It wasn’t long before Brian was into his first fish of the day, a nice size carp around the 14 or 15 lb. mark. My mother was being pestered by the smaller fish and kept hooking into small roach and Rudd. After getting slightly annoyed with the pesky little things nicking her bait all the time she decided to switch to the feeder and ended up catching a couple of nice size bream around the 1 1/2 to 2 lb. in weight. Then in the second half of the day the sun decided to show its face and the warmer weather was soon with us. There were a couple of fish topping just of the reeds and near the island so Brian decided to fish a bit of floating bread just of the reeds and hooked straight into another nice Carp again about 3 or 4 lb. in weight.

I decided to set up the carp gear and put 2 rods out. ! rod was set up with a running Chod rig using the fluorocarbon fishing line that i got from Total Outdoors with a Tuti-fruity pop=up bait and the other rod was set up with a Zig Aligner. I started of checking the depth of the water using a marker float and soon found that it was all around the 3 to 4 foot depth from bank to bank. There was a gentle slope up towards the island but most of the fish topping seemed to be towards the reeds and under trees that were slightly hanging over the water.

     

There were a few other fishermen fishing for carp on the opposite lake known as “the swan lake” but they had no bites or even any line knocks from fish feeding in their swim. The lake seemed to be dead. It wasn’t long before i had my first take on the Zig rig but unfortunately i felt the fish bump and then come off. Talk about frustrating! This happened a couple of times and i started to realise that the fish must be feeling the resistance from the weight and rejecting the bait before it takes hold. This ended up the only action i saw on the carp gear all day. Apart from a stint on the pole and hooking a couple of small bream there was no other action for the entire day. That's how it goes sometimes and i will have to come up with a way of disguising the weight so its not detected when a fish picks up a zig in the water, something to think about…..

Tight Lines and Wet Nets……..

Cefn Mably Lakes – Carp Pond 19th May 2013

by Martyn Russ a.k.a. Voodoo

What was a spur of the moment decision by my mother turned out to be a great day fishing. We decided to pay our local fishery a visit and spend the Sunday fishing. My mother had chosen the over flow pond to fish as it was where they keep the main stock of baby carp before the move to the main lake and it makes for a great venue for people who love to fish the pole or waggler. My mother who loves pole fishing was over the moon with non stop action all day and also catching loads of nice size carp.

    

I decided to fish the carp pond for the day. I was shocked to find how shallow the carp pond was as i spent a while checking the depths of the swims with a marker float. The main depth was just over 2 feet rising to 3 feet in some areas with a very small patch hitting 5 feet. I decided on a swim just next to a weed bed just at the point where it changed form 2 to 3 feet. I put one rod out on a bottom bait and the other on a chod rig. i decided on these methods as it was the best way to see if the fish were feeding. The bottom bait was enclosed within a pva bag full of pellets on the hope on bringing on  a quick bite whilst the other rig was a free running chod on silk core leader. The hope was the chod rig would lay neatly over the weed allowing the carp to see it easier and with a white peppermint pop-up it would be easier for them to make out in the murky water.

     

I had a few line bites showing me that they were there feeding and pushing the lake bed around looking for food and hitting my line so i decided to pull in the bottom bait rod and change the set-up to a zig rig with zig hook aligner in black with yellow sponge to imitate a wasp or bug. I set the length at just over a foot and sprayed the rig with nectar juice before casting. It wasn’t long before i was getting a couple of line bites before the rod suddenly burst into action and i had a screaming run. I struck into a very feisty carp that took me a good 20 minuets to tire out before landing, a lovely 11lb carp. For such a lovely fish and a little lump it didn't half give up a fight.

    

It was only to be expected that after catching my first carp on the zig rig i decided to put both out on similar rigs. It was about 2 hours after that my second rod burst into action and i ended up catching a nice little 3 – 4lb carp. We had been lucky as the weather was great at the start of the day and the sun was out shining bright so the fish were in the upper part of the water. After lunch everything seemed to quiet down and no one else seemed to be getting any bites apart from a guy called Martin from Penarth who was fishing next to me who ended up catching a nice 8 – 9 lb. carp. I continued fishing the zig for a while and ended up catching a tidy little bream weighing around 1 – 2 lb. and just before packing up and after changing back to a bottom bait, fishing a cell boilie, i ended up catching the smallest bream ever to be caught on boilie and considering its head was the same size of the boilie i think it was trying to be a little greedy..

    

I had a brilliant days fishing at Cefn Mably lakes in Cardiff and i will be going back soon to take on the main lake with the biggest carp in. Now that i have got used to my new gear and tried a few different tactics its about time i took on some bigger fish and will now challenge myself to see if i can get myself a great personal best (PB) by the end of the year. 

Wet Nets & Tight Lines ………

Peterstone Lakes, 7th May 2013

by ……. Trish Lloyd

         

Another hot sunny day forecast, so Bri and I decide to go spend the day fishing at Peterstone Lakes. Normally I fish the Pencil Lake as it has a good peg for my wheelchair, but on this occasion my peg was taken, so moved across to Swan Lake, close to where the pair of swans were nesting. Its never easy to fish an unfamiliar venue, and as the day was warming up rapidly you could see lots of fish already topping.

Using my Hyperactive pole with the Italian rig I used in Cornwall. I started fishing on the bottom, using Red Maggot as that was all they had. Wasn't too happy as I find I get better results there with white or a mix of colours. Fished a bunch on the hook (4) and got some nice sized bream early on. Plus loads of small roach.
As the day got hotter the bites got fewer, but got a couple by trying a bit of Tutti fruity sweet corn with 2 red maggots. And coming up in the water a few inches.
Strangely no-one else was catching on the bottom.

Brian too started on the Pole, his usual Rhythm Stick. And caught a couple of Roach a skimmer and a reasonable Bream. Then hooked into a massive carp and couldn't hold it on the pole so switched to the Assassin and Bread. Missed a couple frustratingly but eventually hooked into and landed a good sized carp. Not long after I started feeling icky from the sun and heat, so we packed up early.

Spring Holiday 2013–White Acres Fishery, Newquay, Cornwall.

By ……Trish Lloyd

At the end of last year we decided we really needed a nice relaxing break, so decided on a spring holiday. After a conflab with my son Martyn whom we invited to come along, we decided to combine the holiday with a bit of fishing. We had been to White acres about 5 years ago and loved the lakes there, so decided to book up for this year. As it turned out, both Martyn and myself had a number of heath issues so the break was much needed.

        

White acres has about 10 lakes to choose from, a few of them Specimen Lakes which interested Martyn, but Brian and I prefer pleasure angling, so chose the course lakes. Martyn fished 4 of the 7 days whilst we only fished 2, and went sightseeing the rest.

Day 1......

We chose the Python lake as it was closest to all amenities for me, had good wheelchair pegs, and a wide variety of fish to catch. Carp into double figures, Crucians, Brown goldfish, goldfish, Roach, Rudd, Bream, Tench, Perch.

Brian and I decided to Pole fish the first day.

I used my 8 metre Hyperactive Power Margin, with no 14 elastic. Brian had made up a large number of Pole Rigs for us. Using 6lb Maxima line. I used a Rizov, Italian pole float, 0.5g. shotted up with styles. A size 12 Carp force wide gape hook from 'Total Outdoors'.

Brian used his Rhythm Stick 6 metre Margin pole. with size 18 elastic and a similar float set up.

We ground baited with Dynamite Halibut and frenzied hemp, and loose fed whatever we were using over the top.

In my case I used maggots, red and white. Plain sweet corn and some soft hookable pellets we were trialling by Carp force. However I found the pellets were dissolving as soon as they hit the water, so used them as loose feed.. The water in this lake is quite deep, approx. 5 foot where I was fishing, and apparently teeming with fish. We were catching virtually non stop all day and lost count of the number of fish caught. The only things I didn't catch was Perch or Tench despite watching them fizz in front of me all day.

Brian was using luncheon meat and sweet corn so managed to get the larger Bream and a nice perch as well. By 4 p.m. I was exhausted and retired back to the Caravan, whilst Brian carried on and targeted the Tench I had seen. Wouldn't you know it? He caught two.

        

Day 2......

We decided to return to the Python, this time Martyn accompanied us. It was a very hot sunny day, so we prepared accordingly. I was determined to get those Tench, so as well as my pole I took my new NGT Feeder Pro Twin tip rod purchased from ' Total Outdoors'. Using my Browning Ambition reel loaded with 7lb Fluorocarbon line trialling for 'Total Outdoors'. Small cage feeder with Drennon method feeder quick stop hair rig.

Brian took his Assassin Carp stalking rod, HF3000 Match Pro reel loaded with 15lb Camo line from Total Outdoors, with  a size 6 curve shank carp hook. His bait? Bread.

I started with the pole and tested the depths that the fish were feeding, and as a result fished a couple of inches off the bottom to good effect. Fish were slower in coming today but still steady and tended to be larger. Switched to the feeder when I saw Tench bubbles, and with luncheon meat hooked straight into a 2 lb. Tench. One happy bunny! Later had another about 1 lb. and a good sized Bream. New rod performed well.

Brian meanwhile had started off with the feeder and  got a few brown goldfishes and a Tench before passing it over to me. After he had seen a couple of enormous Carp cruising the top he got onto the bread and targeted them. He hooked into the biggest one twice and got snapped off both times. Lord knows how big it was. Then hooked into and landed a smaller one about 15lb.

        

The Best Day Fishing at White Acres, Cornwall

by Martyn Russ

For the last day of fishing we decided to stay together and fish the same lake. We got up bright and early around 5am and had a good breakfast to start the day and make sure we could fish through till late evening. We got to the lake side and it was beautiful. The sun was shining bright and there wasn’t a cloud in sight. you couldn’t have asked for a better day.

    

We all set up gear and decided to fish the pole but also decided to fish feeder. I decided to set up my second as a feeder on an alarm so i could concentrate on the pole fishing. The set-up i was using was the Fluorocarbon Fishing Line at 6lb on a Bait Runner with a sliding feeder down to a size 14 Carp Force Barbless Hook. This was a brilliant idea as it turned out i ended up catching my biggest Tench on the feeder.

    

My mother also caught a load of big Carp and Bream on the feeder and Loads of Big carp and Gold fish on the Pole. Brian Managed to get the biggest Carp of the holiday at just under 11lb that he managed to catch on his feeder setup fishing just in the margins of the lake. He also caught a load of different fish including a couple of perch, as did i on the tuti fruity sweet corn.

    

I had decided to use a slow release ground bait mixed with the tuti fruity sweet corn and fish pellets in order to keep the fish feeding all day long. I also used maggots to keep the smaller fish on the upper layers busy and not bother my hook bait that was the sweet corn itself. I had set up the pole so i could fish just of the bottom around 6 meters out in the open water.This is where i got most of my big fish but i also managed to catch a few from the margins that i tried as it went quiet around lunch time for about an hour and then the fish started biting again and i was back out fishing in the middle once again.

    

Although my mother and Brian both caught a lot of fish they actually lost count of the amount of fish i caught on this day. I have to say it was one of the best days fishing i have had in a long time. The feeding technique worked and i was hitting into good sized fish non stop all day long.

    

I got so carried away the sun actually burnt my left forearm and now have blisters and skin peeling away as it recovers. The fish kept on coming and so did the bites. I continued to feed like this constantly through the day and i so wished i had used a keep net to find out the total weight of fish i caught. I think if i was in a competition that day i would have done myself proud.

    

We all continued catching quality size fish right till the end of the day witch we decided was around 7pm. It was a day of fishing that i wont forget in a hurry and advise any fishermen to give it a try. It may be a trip travelling down to Cornwall but by staying there the week we managed to get 4 full days of fishing in and it was amazing. The on site facilities are nothing special but there is everything there you need including a full stocked tackle shop next to the lakes entrance.

    

Fishing Hendre Lake – Monday 6th May

by …..Martyn Russ a.k.a. VooDoo

After such a lovely holiday and great fishing i was missing it as soon as i got back so decided to take my chances at my local lake Hendre, in Cardiff. The bank holiday Monday turned out to be a scorcher with the sun blazing and the winds calm i made sure i set up my day bivi and stayed out of the sun as last time on holiday i was so busy catching fish i didn’t realise i had cooked my left forearm and ended up with blisters and now the skin is all peeling away.

        

I had decided on using my 15mm Halibut Boilies with Hemp and Halibut ground Bait and a Halibut Flavour enhancer and bait dip. I also soaked the hook Boilies over 2 nights to make sure they gave off a lot of attraction. I set one rod up with a silk core leader running down to a 1oz weight on a lead safety clip with 6lb Fluorocarbon hook length to a size 8 with a hook aligner. I hair rigged a snowman setup with the halibut at the bottom and a fluorescent pink pop-up. This was clipped into a PVA sack filled with Halibut Boilies and Ground Bait.

        

The second rod i set up on a zig rig system after plummeting the depth and found the swim to be 5ft depth so i set the zig at 3ft to see if the Carp were cruising due to the warm weather. The 3rd Rod i started out with a standard Chod Rig again with the fluorocarbon fishing line but eventually changed to a standard bottom bait rig with 4 peace's of tuti-fruity corn hair rigged on it. This little rig is what caught me a nice Bream around 1lb 1/2 to 2lb in weight. Unfortunately it was the only fish of the day as they didn’t seem to want to play. A few other fishermen were bagging in some nice Bream on the Waggler and a young lad managed to hook a nice little Carp just in the Reeds but apart from that the lake was very quiet.

Wet Nets & Tight Lines….