New Recruit to Fishing - A Father and Son day on the Local Lake

by M.Russ

Jarrad Chandler

One of our Admin Brian Chandler and a personal friend Dean Curtis, a bailiff at the local lake, decided to take one of Brian's boys fishing down the lake Thursday afternoon and introduce him to the sport. With his other son already fishing and taking up specimen fishing he started young Jarrad out on float fishing for the smaller species and build his confidence slowly. Using as standard float rod and reel with a simple float set up with size 16 mustard hook to nylon he fished maggot over a small bed of spicy ground bait mixed with crushed pellet for extra attraction & with small feeding intervals of maggots to keep the fish in his swim it wasn't long before he was into his first small fish of the day which made him so happy he couldn't wait to get the line back in the water.

Jarrad enjoying his day on the lake

Brian explained the importance of fish care with his young boy and ran him through the basics of the sport and with the help and instruction from Dean it wasn't long before he was catching a fish per cast and was having non stop action. He managed a few small roach, bream and rudd not to mention a nice little perch to go along with his mixed bag. He absolutely loved his day out with his dad on the bank and said he can't wait to go again. I for one recon he will be seen on the banks again soon, along side all the specimen fisherman and it won't be long before he follows in his fathers foot steps and starts chasing the big carp.

Well done Jarrad we welcome you to the team and hope you enjoy your adventures to come.

Wet Net's & Tight Lines 

Night Fishing on Rumney River

By John Rees

The River Rumney

Whilst Martyn was preparing to go Carp fishing in the autumn and the end of the month was fast approaching i decided to get some river fishing in and chose to go to our local river for a bit of night fishing. I had decided on a full day and night at a little spot i used to fish when i was younger and my mothers boyfriend Paul also chose to come along for the trip as he is really getting into his river fishing lately. The spot we had chosen was slightly over grown and made landing the fish a little difficult but we found a way in the end and what a surprise i was in for.

Tiger Trout

I had decided to use spinners for the first part of our fishing using a silver bell spinner of 3 oz and 5 oz maximum and it was the right choice as straight away we were catching fish. It seemed like the storms we had a few weeks before has driven the fish up the river and the swims were teaming with a  variety of species. The first fish i landed was a lovely brown trout of a couple of pounds in weight but gave a fight like nothing i had experienced before. What a great start to a days fishing. I had also brought along some small white maggots and some halibut and hemp ground bait from Dynamite Baits to feed up the swim and make sure we continued to attract fish into the area. Both Paul and myself continued to catch quite a few trout including a couple of nice sea trout.

Grayling

As the evening drew in we also decided to try out a technique nick named Glimmer Spinning, using a powerful torch of flood light you light up a patch of water and then cast the spinners to the far side and drag it through the lit up area. The flickering of the spinner catching the light is supposed to catch the fishes attention and at first i didn't know if it would work in this area but i was soon proved otherwise as we continued to catch fish well into the night. As it started to get late we decided to change tactics as it was getting very dark and difficult to see with out the torches. Unfortunately i had forgotten my beta lights for float and feeder fishing so i decided to set up my stalking rod rests and alarms and using a maggot feeder on a running rig i set the rods out.

Sea Trout

It wasn't long until the alarms started to go off signalling fish feeding in the area and then all of a sudden as if they were in perfect time with each other both rods ripped off on a screaming run. I quickly handed one rod to Paul whilst i took the other and we were soon both playing fish in. It was amazing, the river hasn't been this lively in years and the fish were feeding hard. Not only did we fish a full day and night but also well into the next day as the fish just didn't seem to stop. As soon as the swim started to go a little quiet i would feed it up again with ground bait and within minuets we were off again. Both myself and Paul lost count of the amount of fish we had but we were amazed at the variety we had been catching. Grayling, Eels, Brown Trout and Tiger Trout were just a few of the species including a baby Chub and some small bleak.

EEL

We had an amazing fishing trip to out local river in Rumney, Cardiff and i can't wait till i go again. It has been years since i seen so many fish being caught from this river and was nice to see it getting back to how it used to be. Fingers crossed it stays like this and we will get to go again soon.

Wet Nets & Tight Lines

Going CoCo-Nuts at Peterstone Lakes - Newport.

by Brian Lloyd

With all the special offers on sale during the summer, not only in fishing tackle and bait shops but also in supermarkets, i had to give one of them a try. I managed to find some lovely coconut boilies and glug that were very cheap but seemed to be a very good quality and i set off to one of my favorite venues on the back roads to Newport in South Wales. Peterstone lakes is the home of the Birch Syndicate and also offer some pleasure lakes to the general public containing some very large carp, Barbel, Bream, Perch and other silver fish. The lakes are set just at the back of a working farm and offer fishing for all types of anglers.

I had decided on a feeder style set up using 12 lb line straight through to the hook link and a wide gape hook with quick stop for ease of baiting up. I was using a mix of ground bait that contained method, halibut, crushed boilies and particle mix and of course the coconut glug. The boilies them selves smelt lovely and if i could have eaten them myself i would have. For the first half of the day i baited up the area and persevered with just the boilies as a hook bait but unfortunately wasn't getting any decent bites. I did have a couple of knocks but nothing that i could have struck at. The weather was perfect is wasn't too cold and had a little cloud cover so i didn't understand why they just weren't working. 

After a while i decided i was tired of just sitting there and needed some action so a change of hook bait was called for and i switched to meat. Usually a change of hook bait can sometime bring on the bites and in this case it did exactly that. It wasn't long before i was into my first fish of the day starting of with a nice silver bream of a couple of pounds followed shortly by a nice little common Carp just under 4 or 5 lb. As well as using the meat i also tried out the Red Banana Nut crunch from Dynamite baits and that seemed to work and managed to catch me another nice Carp but the rest was all on halibut glugged meat. I managed a couple of Carp, a couple of nice Barbel and a few bream on my trip and although they didn't seem to go for the coconut boilies i still managed a good days fishing and will have to try the coconut out at a different venue.

Wet Nets & Tight Lines

Fishing on a Budget - CK Fushion Carp Rods Review

By Martyn Russ

When i decided to change from Match fishing to Carp and Specimen hunting the first thing i thought about, like most people do, was the price of the equipment i was going to have to fork out. I though i needed good quality and strong Carp rods but with out the high prices that were on the market. So i decided to shop around and to my surprise i found there were quite a few that were offering low cost entry level Carp rods to help get people started in the sport. The trouble was, how good were these rods in reality?

There was so many different makes available such as JRC, Dunlop, TFG just to name a few and it was very hard to choose which ones would be the best for the job at hand. I wanted a rod that wouldn't just catch me fish but also be able to handle the larger of the species and also do all the jobs that were needed for successful Carp and Specimen fishing such as baiting up, Spod work and Marker float applications. I asked advice from many a fisherman and heard horror stories of rods that boasted good quality and reliable action actually snapping on the bank side when trying to cast at distance and also tips breaking under the strain of only medium size Carp. After all the research and testing i decided to choose the CK Fusion Expert Carp Rods from Dragon Carp Direct. These Rods were an unbelievably low price of just £10 each reduced from £99. Now to be honest they are more like £50 rods reduced to £10 but are amazing quality and very strong.

The rods are finished with a whipped carbon effect and stainless steel but plate to protect the end of the rods. Strengthened eyelets to ensure smooth line travel on casting and a screw reel seat to ensure your real never slips or loosens whilst playing the fish. The look and finish of the rods would rival any top brand available on the market today and i am happy to report that they are as strong as they say they are. I used both the 2.5 lb and the 3 lb test curve version of the rods and for a whole year i put them through their paces on many a different venue. The smaller of the rods were a pleasure when playing the fish and you could feel every twist, turn and shake of the head whilst the larger of the rods were strong enough to handle the largest of spods and spombs.

Even whilst out zig fishing the 2.5 lb TC rods were perfect for feature finding with the marker float and you could feel what was on the bottom whether it be silt, weed or gravel you were able to tell with ease. Unfortunately i did find that the 3 lb TC rods were a bit too stiff for longer range casting but the 2.5 lb ones made up for it. They have a fast return and very responsive tip section and are perfect for anyone who is getting into the sport or someone who is looking for a rod for all occasions.

 So if you are getting into the sport and you are trying to stick to a budget don't overlook these little gems just because they only cost a tenna. Normally i would say you get what you pay for but in this case i think Dragon Carp have come up with something a little more special than your normal cheap rods. I can assure you, you will see plenty of fish on the bank with these rods.

Wet Nets & Tight Lines

Winning an On-Line Fishing Competition - Korum

By Martyn Russ

Like many people who enter these online competitions i looked at the prize and didn't really think that i would be the one that would win such a quality prize that was on offer from Korum. I first thought "Wouldn't it be nice to have all the Top of the range fishing Tackle" and not have to buy another bit of kit. I then thought to myself "It wouldn't happen, if only i was so lucky". I suppose we all think that luck just wouldn't be on our side when it comes to the big competitions and to win over a £1000 worth of prizes just wasn't on the cards.... Boy was i so wrong!

I remember logging in to my computer and loading up Facebook to see what had been going on in the fishing world and what catches people were boasting online. I then saw one of FAW's members, Brian Chandler winning one of the Facebook weekly competitions run by several different tackle and bait companies. He had won the different packs of fake corn from Enterprise Tackle and couldn't believe his luck. I congratulated him and then decided to have a look at my e-mails. That's when i had the biggest shock of my life.

An e-mail saying RE: Carp Competition and an introduction stating "Congratulations YOU have won the £1000 Carp Competition from Korum". Well as you can imagine it took me by surprise and took a while for it actually to click home and realize it wasn't one of these spam e-mails claiming you have won prizes that you hadn't really won. I couldn't believe my luck! Was this really happening to me? Was it all real?

I quickly Jumped on Facebook to have a nose at the Korum page to see if there was anything mentioned there and also at their web page online and it was at that point i realized this was really happening to me. A dream had come true. I had been given all the top of the range carp and specimen fishing equipment and luggage from Korum. I would never need to buy another bit of kit, well apart from end tackle and replacing bits i loose during my fishing sessions. WOW! What a week it has been. When the prize arrived i just couldn't believe my eyes there was so much gear.

 Talk about having everything you have ever wanted all in one foul swoop.

Korum I can't thank you enough......... now i can't wait till my next fishing adventure!

Wet Nets & Tight Lines

Peterstone Lakes 11th July 2014

By Martyn Russ with Brian & Trish Lloyd plus John Rees

Martyn's Swim at Peterstone Lakes - Newport

Brian's Barble 1 of 2

With both myself and my mother still recovering from hospital treatment and serious illness we just couldn't resist the hot weather that was forecast for the next few days and decided to get an afternoons fishing in at Peterstone Lakes in Newport. We arrived just before lunch and all of us decided on fishing the same lake with Trish and Brian at one end and myself and John Rees at the other. 3 of us were fishing feeders and Brian had decided on fishing the pole. John was the first to be rewarded for his efforts with a nice little common carp and Brian was the second to get action with a lovely Barbel, the first of 2 that he managed to catch on the day. 

1st Fish of the Day to John

Trish was also getting plenty of fishing action and managed to catch some lovely big bream as well as a large Roach. It seemed that the fish were loving the luncheon meat gluged in halibut oil and also some gluged in monster squid. 

Martyn's Big Bream

I myself managed a couple of nice bream as well as a few commons and a little mirror. The action was great and the fish were plenty, it just seemed crazy we were catching so much as the rest of the lake seemed to be dead and no one was pulling anything out. John decided to change tactics half way through and moved up to the open water and presented a dog biscuit on the top. 

John Taking the Carp of the Top

This seemed to be the correct move as he was soon into a nice size carp but lost it in the reeds unfortunately as it snagged him up. I would have said it was well in its 20's or above and gave him no chance to react it happened so fast. This didn't put him off and he soon landed his biggest of the day around 8 to 10 lb little chunky common that put up a great fight. Both myself and john were having great fun snapping the carp of the top whilst Trish and Brian continued to catch at the other end of the lake. Every time we cast out we would throw a few freebie's along with it and watched as the carp played around with them on the top just waiting for them to take the bait then STRIKE! Carp On!

 

Martyn's Little Common

We had a lovely day out fishing at one of our local and favorite venues and no matter how hard the fishing gets it always seems Trish and Brian who normally get the first fish of the day so it was a nice change for John, Well done! I also have to note that it was a brilliant effort from both myself and Trish as i was the first to give in as the weather just got too much for me and i started to feel very ill so ended up calling time. We didn't mind as we all had a really enjoyable day out and i can't wait for our next fishing adventure. 

Another Bream for Martyn

John Happy catching Carp

 Wet Nets

&

Tight Lines

Peterstone Lakes - 2nd July 2014

Trish Lloyd & Brian Lloyd at Peterstone Lakes, written by Martyn Russ

(Peterstone Lakes - 2nd July 2014 - The Pencil Lake)

With the summer weather still nice and hot and still i am recovering from the hospital i just haven't managed to get out yet, a bit annoying when you think of all the fishing i am missing. Just by chance Trish and Brian managed to sneak in another summer trip to their favorite venue up at Peterstone lakes, Newport. She said they couldn't have picked a more beautiful day it was silent, with just enough breeze to cool the hot skin from the sun and you could see some of the fish up in the layers sunning themselves, not even interested in food. This didn't put off Trish or Brian one little bit. Trish was using her favorite feeder rod and was experimenting with some paste we had from JJ's baits, The Stinky Fish made up of Tuna and Garlic plus other fish meal ingredients. Not only is is a great attraction but also lets off an alien effect smoke when in the water drawing the fish in. She was happy to report back that the Bream in the lake she was fishing was loving it and she was catching some tidy size fish all day.

(Some nice double figure Carp off the top with Chum Mixer)

 Brian had opted for a different approach and went on a stalking mission on the lake trying to pick off the Carp from the top layers and he said it was great fun resulting in several double figure Carp and a few smaller ones. There was a massive white Carp cruising the waters around where Brian was fishing but no matter what he tried it just wasn't interested in feeding , only sunning itself and warming its body in the sun. Both Brian and Trish caught some quality fish on their latest adventure and said they really enjoyed the day out even though it was a bit too warm at mid-day, as the evening drew in it cooled down nicely and they continued to catch fish until it was time to pack up .

I ,for one ,can't wait until i can join them on their next outing it sounds like they had a great time.

Wet Nets & Tight Lines

Peterstone Lakes - 18th June 2014

After taking time out after my illness i managed to get up and go fishing at last witch is the first of many trips we have planned for this year. Unfortunately wee were up against the weather as , yet again, we had chosen the hottest day so far to fish in. It was so hot my forearms are red raw and blistering from the sun even though i had put some sunblock on half way through the day i think it was a bit late as they had already burnt.

I managed to get myself a small little bream about a pound and a half but that seemed to be the only fish of the day for me. Brian and Trish did a lot better than i did as they both managed a couple of nice bream and even a roach-bream high-bread. Even they were struggling to get the bites, it seemed no matter how hard we tried we just could't get them to feed.

The smaller fishy or fry as i call them were having a field day in the margins and scooping up all the little bits of bait that dropped short of its target and they were in huge groups ,munching the ground bait floating on the top of the water and you could see them all skim around like crazy.

It was an enjoyable days fishing but it would have been a lot better if it hadn't have been so hot and maybe we would have caught a few more fish than we did but that's how fishing goes sometimes i can't wait for my next adventure.

Wet Net & Tight Lines

Peterstone Lakes - 16th May 2014

  By Martyn J Russ (on behalf of Trish Lloyd)

Unfortunately i haven’t yet been able to get out for a proper fishing session due to my illness playing up and thankfully it has started getting better so it won’t be long before i am back out on the bank. In the meantime FAW members have been busy trying to sneak in the odd fishing trip here and there……..

Trish Lloyd managed a day at Peterstone lakes where she found herself up against the weather as she had chosen the hottest day in May and also a heat wave to go fishing in. Most of the other anglers around the lake were sat twiddling their fingers as nothing seemed to be biting yet Trish still managed to pull in a couple of tidy fishing including a nice little mirror carp caught on the sweet as a nut paste from JJ’s Baits. As well as getting the carp going she also managed a Tidy Perch and lovely Bream just to make sure she had a nice mixed bag of fish.

She reported that it was a hard days fishing and she really had to try hard to get the fish that she managed to land as well as loosing a couple whilst playing she ended up having a great days fishing at the lakes. Using a feeder rod and a standard feeder set-up with halibut based ground baits and flavored meats she seemed to hit the method straight on the head resulting in a very successful outing.

Wet Nets & Tight Lines

Pentwyn Lake - Saturday 19th April 2014

By Martyn Russ

  With my health on the mend and the summer weather on it's way I thought it was about time I got out and made a start with my fishing and decided on a few hours on one of our local ponds up at Pentwyn. The lake is a relatively small lake that could hold around 20 anglers maximum and is quite deep at one end shallowing off to around 3 foot at the other with lots of reeds and features to fish too. I had decided on a feeder set up fishing various pastes and pellets on the bottom. John Rees had decided on a similar set up and also a bottom bait rig as he wanted to target the larger carp in the Lake whilst Brian Lloyd decided on fishing the pole with a simple set-up and fished meat on and just off the bottom.

The day went quite slowly as when we arrived it was quite over cast and grey. This was a surprise as the weather had forecast sun for the day but it looked like we was in for a grey and windy start to our fishing session. Brian was the first to catch, and the last as it turned out, with a couple of small roach and rudd with a few skimmers thrown in for luck. It was about lunch time when he struck into what he described as a tank as it just seemed to rip off and his elastic from the pole was stretched so far we thought it was going to give but thankfully it held and Brian managed a lovely 12lb Carp. I myself had had a couple of bites whiles using the Banana and also the Tigernut paste but couldn't seem to get the hook to hold. John was also having a bit of a frustrating session as no one else around the lake seemed to be catching anything. 

About an hour after his last fish Brian then managed to hook into a nice dinner plate size Bream just showing us that even under the worst of conditions and no matter how hard a water fishes you can always catch something if you stick at it. I continued to fish the same method through the day but ended up drawing a blank along side John who had also tried a few different methods and styles but also ended up drawing a blank. We tried different pastes, pellets meat and even sweetcorn but nothing seemed to interest the fish. Even bits of floating bread were being ignored by the fish. Pentwyn Lake, although fairly old, is still recovering from a disaster that happened years ago when a car was driven into the lake and poisoned the fish. It has taken a few years for the stock to get back to normal and will be a few more years before it fishes as good as it used to but it is showing promise. Still holding a few big carp and plenty of small ones this seems to be a venue that we will hear more about in the future. Even though the fishing had been difficult and I didn't get much luck catching I still enjoyed the day out in the fresh air and can't wait for my next fishing adventure.

Wet Nets & Tight Lines

Peterstone Lake – April 16th 2014

written by Brian Lloyd

I decided to go fishing at Peterstone lakes in Newport on Wednesday 16th April. On leaving the house there was slight frost on the van @ 7 am. On arrival at the lake @ 7.30 i was the only one there, so i set up my gear which was a feeder rod with a 2 ounce tip and a 1 ounce cage feeder, hook baits i had with me where luncheon meat soaked in a halibut liquid and some alien Tigernut paste and of course the choc and nut ground bait for the feeder as this one has a malty choc smell.

I chose to fish into the end bay where I've had some big bream but today there was no sign of them.so it was time to start,so in went 3 Jaffa orange size balls of ground bait whilst i had a much needed coffee the first fish was caught on the meat it was a small common carp of 3 pound. I had 3 of these in two hours so i then tried the alien paste and after about 20 mins the rod ripped round and another carp was on this one a nice 5lb mirror.

 Things went very quiet then so i thought i would give the chum mixer a go because the sun was high now and they where slurping flies from under a bush opposite me I only had the one fish on the chum but it was worth it as it turned out to be a nice silver common carp of 12lb. After this i went back to the feeder and an hour past and nothing so i had just started to pour a coffee and wallop the rod flew off the rest and coffee went one way the rod went the other way but the fish was still on after a fight of about 8 mins a lovely 4 1/2 to 5 lb. Barbel was in the net. So @ 3.30 i decided to call it a day with 6 fish which is not bad for the time of year.

Wet Nets & Tight Lines

Peterstone Lakes Newport–1st March 2014

by Martyn Russ, John Rees and Brian Lloyd

After the fishing being cancelled  due to the weather then on then off then back on again it was a sudden rush to get everything ready to go fishing at Peterston Lakes. These lakes are good Carp lakes but can sometimes be very difficult to fish and when the fish decide they have had enough or they are over fed you wouldn't get a chance.  Both lakes the Pencil and the Swan hold some high double carp and if you play our cards right you can have a fun day.

Unfortunately when we turned up there was a big pole match going on and only a couple of swims available. This was a bad sign from the start and then we found that due to the storms all the pegs and walkways were flooded making it difficult to set up in any area. Brian had chosen the pencil lake as that's where he has a lot of fun on the feeder rid and normally catches a few fish each session but today was an exception as even he only managed a couple of small bream.

Bothy myself and John had chosen the swim as that is where most of the big carp kept and using my glasses i could see a few big shadows moving about We set our rods up on different methods , some in the margins and some across in the reeds across from us. No mater what we tried we couldn’t get the carp interested and they were just cursing past the baits not giving them a second glance and even with the alien paste from JJ’s Baits  on one rig giving off  bright green smoke they still didn't want to play or show any interest at all. They even ignored the free feed pellets thrown in and an attraction liquid also it was is if they had had enough

Looks like its our first blank of the year in 2014 but that's how fishing goes. One bonus was John was able to Purchase some Squid & Jaffa Orange Bolies that have been catching a lot of big carp on the local waters and as they are frozen fresh they keep forever in the freezer ensuring you have fresh bait for your next trip. These baits were from Pro baits at Peterstone lakes, their own little side line. We have something new to try up at the main fishery on their main specimen lake so that will be out next outing as soon as this weather improves. It gives me a couple of weeks to stock up on a few flavours of this paste from JJ’s Baits  as its brilliant stuff !

Peterstone Lakes are great lakes to fish and it was a shame that we had the weather and conditions against us as i would like to think we would have had a tidy few fish out and i can’t wait to try again as soon as the summer months come.

Wet Nets & Tight Lines