Fishing at Peterstone Lakes–27th July 2013

By Martyn Russ, Trish Lloyd & Brian Lloyd

After a spur of the moment decision, due to it being hot and not having a full days fishing, to go fishing at Peterstone Lakes in Newport i have to say it turned out to be a great days fishing (even though mine was a bit stressful). When we got to the lakes the sun was already trying to burn off the mornings haze and it was already warm. We chose swims close to each other and i decided to fish the swim directly opposite my mother and Brian on the next lake (The Swan) as they wanted to fish the Pencil Lake as it was full of a lot more silver fish as well as Carp where as the Swan is more angled towards to Carp fisherman but still holds a good mixture of other fish as well but the Carp are a lot larger. The swim i had chosen had a huge patch off lilies directly in front of it and at the time of setting up i really didn’t think about it but it was the turn out to be the biggest mistake i made.

Brian was the first to catch a nice little common carp around 3 or 4lb. on a fake bait along with strawberry ground bait we got from Total Outdoors that seemed to do the trick at attracting the fish. We had all decided to fish the feeder method for the day using open end and cage feeders on a running rig. Brian was using the CAMOU camouflaged from Carp Force and my mother and myself was using the Fluorocarbon Fishing line also from Carp Force.

 

     

My mother was the second to follow up with a nice Bream, a couple of pound in weight, and then a nice little Mirror Carp. Brian was continuing to catch Small Carp for most of the day ranging between 2 and 6lb. in weight with a couple of nice Bream thrown in for measure. During the mornings fishing Brian decided to do a bit of floater fishing in amongst the reeds and under a tree;s hangover and managed to get himself a lovely Carp at 14lb. That was a chunk and a strong fighter and didn’t half give him the run around.

my mother also continued to catch all day and managed a few nice bream and some tidy Carp. It wasn’t hundreds of fish but it was non stop action and steady all day long. The lake i was on seemed to be a lot quieter as there was a few coming out but not many. I had actually had three bites right at the start of the session and actually bumped each bite. This got me annoyed and thinking it was the hook link and hook i changed over to another type also using an hair rig. I was using the Krill Match Bait Set, from Dragon Carp and to be honest on this water it just wasn't working. So i ended up changing and using other baits that i had brought with me just in case such as meat in halibut glug and green Betain feed pellets also a blood worm bait sausage that you can cut up and hair rig. This changed my fortune and the lake came to life.

The first carp i hooked into was quite large and after a 15 minuet battle i ended up loosing it to a hook pull right at the end when trying to net it. As i bent down for the net the carp saw it and dived down into the lilies that are in front of me and twisted itself up. Then when having to apply a bit more pressure to get it back out TWANG the hook came flying out and i lost the fish. You could say i was more than annoyed and didn’t talk to anyone for quite a while after that. The second fish i managed to get was only a small carp at around 3 or 4lb but gave up a good fight and i was just happy to get it on the bank, Due to the heat and sun my head was pounding and i just couldn’t get into my rhythm. The next fish i hooked was again also only a small carp but yet again when trying to reach for the net it got itself into the lilies and the hook actually snapped this time. I rigged back up and started to fish again.

The next 2 fish i hooked where again bigger carp and gave a good fight and yet again when about to net the lilies managed to get the better of me. I tried to clear a small patch in front of me with out damaging them, as you are not allowed and have to respect the fishery, it still didn’t help and they still managed to get their heads down for that last final dash for freedom. I did manage to get two small bream towards the end of the session but by that time my energy was gone and my ego deflated so i packed up and headed off. We did have a nice time out and the weather was great even though i burnt my fore arms again. Although i just couldn’t seem to get my act together i still had fun and that's what its all about. I can’t wait for my next fishing adventure soon so watch this space.

Tight Lines and Wet Nets.

Rumney River–Cardiff - Sunday 14th July 2013

by Martyn Russ & John Rees

      

We decided to pay out local river a visit last weekend just to see what fish we could find and the different swims available. We were shocked to find that most of the river area we had chosen to visit was tidal and extremely shallow with only one or two spots along the way that could possibly produce fish. There are two parts to the river Rumney, The lower ( the shallower and tidal area of the river where most of the water is salt water due to the feed into the Bristol Channel) and the Higher River Rumney where you will find lots of fresh water fish including Barbell and Chub.

         

We had decided to try The Lower Rumney and see what we could find. I have to say i was shocked to see so much rubbish and wheels thrown into the river and then just left there. It’s like no one has taken any care of the water and as most of the lower Rumney runs past the back of a rural area it tends to turn into a rubbish tip. We did see signs of life amongst the water, a few scarce wild trout and few dabs (small flounders) in the silt and sandy mud. We didn’t really find any swims apart from one that was fishable and the only fish there were small fry.

As you get further down the river it opens up and then you can find clear areas but very muddy and fill of sand and silt but still fishable in the high tide. Sea Trout, Wild Salmon and even Bass can be found in the lower part of the Rumney where it joins the Bristol Channel. I would advise using sea baits and tactics if fishing this area as it has a high content of salt in the water and they tend to go for rag worm rather than normal worms or maggots. We didn’t get much action when we fished this river and were upset that no one had looked after the rural parts of the river. Our next river adventure will be up the Higher part of Rumney river next time and see if we can get some tidy Barble or Chub.

Wet Nets & Tight Lines

Carp Fishing–Lamby Lake, 10th July 2013

by Martyn Russ & John Rees

    

Whilst the weather is good and the sun is still shining we thought we would give the new Lamby Lake a try and see what it was like. When we got there we could see it was a large lake with enough room for over 40 pegs plus more. There were big reed patches all round the lake and a bay area to the one side with a small foot bridge over the one end (that has no rails, so watch out young kids and health & safety a gust of wind and you could be taking an early bath). The other end ran up to the over pass bridge and along the side of a rail track.

As it was such a large lake we decided not to trek the entire lake but to sus out the one end with the small foot bridge and took a look at the different swims and areas to see what we could find. We then decided to set up on the fourth swim from the entrance site that was hidden behind a pile of reeds and bushes so it was quite sheltered. We noticed there was quite a quantity of ducks and swans at the entrance and didn’t know at that time they would be the main feature of the day.

As we were both fishing we decided on a 2 rod split scenario so it would cover more water and give a better chance at finding some carp. We prepared the spod mix witch included aniseed and dead maggots plus a whole lot of other goodies to entice the fish into the baited areas. John then set up his two rods whilst i baited mine up as they were pre-setup at home. I decided on a Tigernut boilie with a pink pop up for extra attraction on the one rod with a size 8 Carp Force Wide Gape hook tied on with a Captive  Braid Hook length running to a swivel connected to 45 lb Core-Zero Leader from Taska. Also using anti tangle sleeves and a weighted hook aligner it was just perfect for what i wanted. On the reels i was using the 15 lb Fluorocarbon Fishing line that we got from Total Outdoors and the CK Fusion Expert 3lb Test Curve 12’ foot Carp rods.

John was using 12’ foot 2.75 lb test curve carp rods again with reels loaded with 15lb carp line. One had CF STEALTH 15lb Carp Line on and the other had the CF CAMOU line on. He had decided to fish one rod with a pop-up the same setup as me except for the leader witch he used the Silk un-leaded  weighted camo Leader on both of his rigs. One had a fluorocarbon hook length and the other a Captive Braided hook length.

John was the first to get any action as after a couple of line bites he suddenly got a run but the fish dropped the bait and he was gutted. I myself had had a couple of line bites and then a sudden run towards me but by the time i managed to reel in far enough to strike the fish had already shaken its head and dropped the hook but kept the boilie cheeky thing.

This sadly was the only action we had for the entire day as it was just way too hot. Also every time we tried to bait up the swims a swarm of birds would come and clean up the bait. This kept on happening time and time again no matter what we tried. When we spodded up an area the birds, around 50 or 60 of them would spend the next hour in the swim diving down for the bait and picking it up of the bottom. We then resorted to PVS bags full of bait tied to our lead clips to get some bait to our areas and the fish sussed on to this and started again diving down to get the bait. Even to the point i thought i had caught a lovely carp as the first rod ripped off but when i struck into it all of a sudden a cormorant came shooting out of the water with the boilie on the beak and suddenly dropped it when it realised it was reeling it in.

We soon found out why this was happening as people who visit the lake just to walk round with their dogs were feeding the birds off the foot bridge so every time someone walked over the bridge they would flock to the area waiting for food. Its crazy as this just spoilt the day and the fishing. It messed up the swims with all the birds diving for the bait all the time and i mean all day long this kept happening. I for one will not be re-visiting this venue any time soon.

Wet Nets & Tight Lines