Great day fishing at Valley Farm Fisheries.

With heavy rain forecast for the day I headed to the fishery with my umbrella in tow. I arrived at the venue at about 10am, the wind was blowing into my favourite spot but it was occupied by two fisherman already. I decided to fish a spot I hadn't tried before which is opposite the island on the other side of the lake. I figured this swim would give me more options as I could fish the island margins opposite, fish into the deeper water to my left past the point or fish in front of me in the shallow warmer water. I set up and cast a method feeder along the island margin and put the other to my left into deeper water. I used two grains of corn on my hair rigs with a mix of hemp and generic ground bait for the method feeder.

Heavy rain!

There was plenty of movement on the rod tip on my left but no takes. The rain held back and the sun appeared and with it the fish on the surface. I changed one rod to a controller float and fished it with floating crust. Not long into the surface fishing I had a nice fish on, it was running right and into the reeds so I had to put pressure on it to prevent it from breaking off. This rod is my light set up with only 4lb line so I was running the risk of snapping the line. After a short struggle near the margins the fish moved to my front and I eased the pressure. I brought it into the net and weighed it, a nice 9lb common not bad for the first fish of the day.

9lb common.

Not long after I had a strong run on the rod to my left, the fish I connected with was fairly hefty but didn't feel as big as the first. I got the fish to the bank easily enough but it got a second wind when it saw the net and roared off again. I played the fish in open water until it was ready to come in, this one was a nice 7lb common. Oddly with the fish in the landing net came a Signal crayfish! I'm not sure how he got in the net but another nice fish landed nonetheless.

Signal crayfish.

Smaller common.

About midday the heavens opened in a massive shower with thunder peeling off in the near distance. It was at this time my Grandfather turned up to do a spot of fishing himself, not great timing! I greeted him and we took shelter in the nearby hut and waited for the rain to abate. He set up on the point to my left and preceded to fish with floating crust about 5 meters to his front. This proved to work extremely well as he produced three fish of 8-10lb and countless smaller carp! The fish must travel past the point as it is the most prominent feature in the deepest part of the lake. I think it proves that it can pay off to keep it simple by fishing one rod effectively rather than two less so. He out fished me significantly and had a great day.

One of Grandfathers nice fish.

I consequently had only one more carp and two bream near the margin. The method feeder having only produced the one fish. I finished fishing an hour before dusk and headed home happy that my Grandfather had had a great days fishing even though mine was fairly mediocre. Next time I think I will fish the conditions and maybe concentrate on the one rod.

Beautiful evening!

Fishing tomorrow!

Looking forward to a days fishing at Valley Farm Fisheries in Walpole. Weather will be wet but there will be light winds so the umbrella will be out in force.

Fish Fight!

I implore everybody to support the hard work by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and the Marine Conservation Society.

They are working hard to conserve fish stocks and make people aware of overfishing and the damage it has done the marine environment as well as many other issues.

People can support them by partaking in their activities such as beach cleans, by following them on Facebook, joining MCS or by simply buying fish friendly products and eating less over-fished species.

Support them by signing up to the campaign here (By supporting this campaign, your name will be added to a letter to be sent to Commissioner Maria Damanaki, members of the Common Fisheries Policy Reform Group, and all MEPs).

There is also an app available on the Apple app store here, as well as pdf files with fish to avoid/eat as well as recipes, these have been made in conjunction with Selfridges and their own campaign Project Ocean.

I have a bream...but no trout.

Only had the one fish the other day at Canol, a nice bream but only the one. There were carp on the surface but they weren't taking free floating offerings. The weather was interchangeable with variable wind and rain, making it hard to locate the fish.

A solitary snotty  bream...

...which succumbed to the above offering.

I also had a wander around Crai reservoir fly fishing for trout to no avail, a hard water! Again it was windy and it was hard to find a spot which allowed for easy casting. I walked around past the waterfall to a stretch opposite the island, there were small fish showing but they weren't tempted by an assortment of small flies. Even my lucky golden hares ear failed to produce.

Overall a dismal couple of days fishing, and the weather has closed in, where has the summer gone?

Canol fisheries...again

I can't leave this place alone. Going to have another go and see if I can get a carp! Umbrella is a necessity!

Crai Reservoir - Equipped with a team of flies!

I will be fly fishing Crai Reservoir again soon. I have been given the advice that small black flies work well there as well as the old favourite gold hares ear. I have fished the venue before and have walked its perimeter a few times so have some good ideas of where to fish, I'm just waiting for the weather to become fine again as it is currently blustery which showers in South Wales. I have prepared though with a team of flies with the hares ear acting as the point fly with two small black flies as droppers. Fingers crossed for an improvement in the weather and therefore some wild brown trout hunting!

One spot that delivered the goods last time.

My first wild brown trout caught last year!

Canol Fisheries - Revisited

I revisited Canol Fisheries the other day to try and improve on my poor session a few days before. There was no wind and the lake was smooth as glass with all fish movement plain to see, prior to setting up a nice sized carp rolled in the water in front of my swim. I was feeling optimistic. 

The weather had deteriorated but I had with me my large umbrella so wasn’t fazed. I set up in the same swim I had hooked and consequently lost what felt like a large carp, I then fed the swim with a loose mix of hemp, halibut mix and sweet corn.

I setup with hair rigs on light method feeders on both rods and put the first in a deep depression to my front and the other on a weed margin which connected to a channel between weed on the other bank. Before long I was getting movement on the rod tips and had struck into my first fish, this proved to be one of many tench that must have been hoovering up the bed of bait that I had laid in the swim. 

There were quiet moments where I had no fish but the action was fairly consistent. I hooked into what felt like a good fish by the weight but the lack lustre fight it gave proved that I had a bream, I lifted it to the surface, it flapped once and was unhooked-gone. A shame as it looked and felt to be about 6-8lbs.

I thought it would be wise to throw some bread on the surface whilst the ducks were at the far end of the lake. As soon as the bread hit the water there were dark shapes swirling beneath, I wanted them to be carp but the slow lazy action was characteristic of the bream. I setup a rod with a surface controller and thought I’d have a go at these fish, after a short wait I had hooked onto one of the bream. The fish turned out to be a fairly beaten up bream with one eye blind and displaying a few lesions, I unhooked it in the water and let it swim on its merry way. I continued on the surface. Another fish took the bread and I reeled it in, it was the same beaten up bream! I wouldn’t have thought a fish would return to feeding on the surface so shortly after being caught, this surprised me and triggered a sense of sympathy for the poor beaten fish. 

I continued until the evening with a good session but disappointingly no carp. I had improved on my previous session but the loss of what felt like a big strong carp still hung over me. I think the numbers of carp in the water are lower than that of the tench and bream. I also believe the clear conditions of the lake may also make the carp more wily, next time I may use a different approach to target them specifically though not sure what that would be. I did see an angler the other day land an 11lb common with red maggots maybe that is the way forward?