A Carp and another Slab.

I've got more than a few posts needing to be added, and the main reason I've held off for so long is that I want to add them in date order and as there was one sessions photos and videos still sitting on my hard drive. So, I waited until I could get my hands on them before making another post.

The video blog of the session.

Now to recall the events of the session. After doing a bit of overtime in work I ended up arriving down the Fendrod fairly late putting up the bivvy and setting up my rods on the brink of darkness, I set up all three rods with the big 2.5 oz method feeders.

I had made up a mix of tesco value corn and halibut pellets the night before and this mix was almost perfect, I squeezed a large ball of the mix around all three feeders then buried the 15mm Halibut boilie hookbait into the ball then casted all three rods out in different directions making a mental note of where they landed so that I could keep the bait going out to the same three spots during the night.

Once all the rods were out I tidied all my mess into the bivvy and laid down on the bed, I nodded off for an hour or so before a rustling sound woke me. I had the door on the bivvy wide open and could see four rats running back and forth slowly edging closer to the door until one decide it was time to try its luck and headed straight for the method mix bucket, I bounced to my feet and chased it out of the bivvy, along with the other rats it ran off, I stood there for a minute or so waiting for one to move but it seemed that I had scared them away for now. While I was up on my feet it give me and opportunity to re bait the method feeders before trying to get a bit more kip.

It was close to midnight when a beep on the alarms ripped me from my sleeping bag, I got to the rod and could see two of the drop backs swinging from side to side, I can only presume that this was rat running under the drop backs as if it was a fish only one of them would be moving and they certainly wouldn't be swinging from side to side.

Thinking that it was definitely a rat I left the rods alone and laid back down on the bed, I laid there for about half an hour before another rat made an appearance followed shortly by a second one this time I pointed the head torch right at it and switched it on then quickly flashed the torch back and forth between the two rats before chasing them off the peg, this time it seemed to do the trick as I didn't see another rat for the rest of the session. I was just hoping that me flashing torch about the place hadn't spooked any nearby fish.

It was just gone 3am, a bite alarm woke me for the second time, this time I could see the drop back bouncing up and down, knowing that this was more than likely a Bream I waited for it move off with the bait and as soon as the drop back lifted and the line started to pull from the reel I picked up the rod and could feel the kick on the end of the line, in true Bream style it would fight for a few second then almost glide in for a few metres then kick off for a bit before gliding in a few more metres this carried on until I glided it straight into the net, Result!

I weighed the fish straight away thinking that it looked like another double, it weighed 9lb 4oz not a double but another big slab from the Fendrod, after a few photos I but the fish back, I was expecting to hold it in the margin for a while before it was ready to go but this one was ready as soon as it touched the water and was off to fight another day.

My third slab from the Fendrod.
9lb 4oz, nice start to the session.

Just like all the other times I've landed fish in the early hours I took a long time to settle down, it felt like I had only been asleep for a few minutes before the bite alarms were waking me again, this time there was no waiting around as the fish was taking line, I picked up the rod and began to battle, I could feel that it wasn't anything massive but none the less it was really pulling me about and I had a very close call with the trees to my right hand side as the fish tried its best to head for the safety of the over hanging branches. I finaly got it in the net, I was quite suprised to see how plump the fish was as I was expecting something lean and wirey from the fight it had given. It was nice to see that this little common which I believe to be one of the fish stocked at the end of last year was still scale perfect looked nice and healthy.

A nice 8lb 5oz Common.

As it got light I watched a few fish crashing about and as I had replaced one of the rigs with a standard 2oz lead after destroying one of the feeder on an overhanging branch, I decided to put a bait straight on top of the fish that were moving about, I then used the throwing stick to throw a load of boilies out on top of where I had casted but only managed to get a few boilies on the spot before I had to stop as the seagulls started swooping in they the taking them mid air and then diving down to get them. I doubt any feeding Carp would be hanging round after a few seagull start diving down on top of them.

Rachel came to pick me up around 2ish, I hadn't had a single knock since it had got light so didn't really mind packing up. I had got what I had came for another big Bream plus a bonus Carp so it hadn't been a bad session even though I could have done without the rats.

Back online with a new PB.

To say the last month or so has been testing would be a bit of an understatement but as with anything in life if everything was always easy then there would be no challenge or sense of achievement.

Firstly I'd like to thank Stella for her help with my PC without her I wouldn't have saved the photos and videos for the next few blog posts. If you have time please check out her site:www.explore-gower.co.uk.

After reading a comment left on YouTube commenting on my last video fishing on the Fendrod, it asked why I seem to only fish the gully, I suddenly realised that I had got myself in the mindset that if I couldn't fish the gully that there would be little or no chance of catching, but then thinking about all the catch reports I'd read and the fact that there always seemed to be someone set up on the main body of the lake. I knew I had to clear my doubts about fishing spots I had simply ignored in the past and see what else the lake has to offer.

One of my main concerns about fishing other areas is privacy and the fact that the general public seem to have no respect for anglers, the people who pay to use the lake and spend their own time and money on maintaining the lake, one of my pet hates at he moment is people feeding the swans and geese total oblivious that you may be fishing a matter of feet away, and the fact that on a recent work party me and the other members filled numerous bin bags full of discarded bread bags that had some how made their into the lake and these were only the what we could pull out of the margins so god knows how many are clogging up in the lake bed out in the main body of the lake.

Now that I've had my moan I suppose I better start writing about the session.

The video blog of he session.

Anyway, I arrived at the Fendrod thinking about fishing a swim on the total opposite end of the lake from where I would normally fish but as I was running fairly late after working overtime and most of the spots I had in mind were already taken, I decided to take a walk round the lake to reassess my options and was considering going to the Half Round Ponds until I saw two large swirls as I passed one of the pegs, thinking that they could be big Bream or even a big Carp and catching either species would have put a smile on my face.

I set on the peg that I know now to be called the wet peg as it seems to have a spring that keeps the peg almost permanently water logged, but the peg being water logged didn't really matter as after it got dark it started to drizzle with bursts of rain every so often so it seemed that staying dry wasn't really an option.
I had set up two rods with method feeders and the third rod was set up with a standard in-line lead, I kept one of the method feeder in close aiming to the area where I'd seen the fishing swirling then the other method feeder was cast out as far out into open water as I could get it, while the in-line was cast out just short of the floating island out in the centre of the lake.

I was reeling in and re casting both the method feeders every half hours or so thinking that piling the bait out on the same areas would create a feeding spot.

At just gone midnight I had my first bit of action, the bite alarm was sounding as the drop back bounced up and down, without thinking I picked the rod up and struck into nothing, something I instantly regretted, you think by now I would know a Bream bite and that you have to wait for them to move off with the bait and not pick up the rod while its still trying to cram down a 15mm boilie.

I managed to get a good few hours sleep during the night, I was left alone by the rats and the fish. About 7am I was woken up by some Swans having a morning wash right next to the peg.

Not the standard wake up call.

Steve turned up with some breakfast around 8ish and was just in time to watch me screw up my second run, the drop back started to lift slowly but it didn't actually take any line from the reel but just like before I hit it far to early and for the second time I struck into nothing, which at the time seemed to annoy Steve more than me.
About an hour later I had my third and final run of the session, the drop back started to slowly drop then lift, this time I had the patience to wait and it seemed to take ages before the drop back fell completely slack, this was my cue to pick up the rod and reel in the slack almost straight away I could feel the fish turning and for a second I thought that I may have hooked a Carp but then it seemed to glide through the water before it tried turning again, it was almost at a netable distance before it gave its final lunge, it was then I realised I had a potential new PB on the end and I couldn't afford to make any mistakes. Luckily, its last bid to get away from me was unsuccessful and I guided the biggest Bream I had ever seen into the net.

A net shot, but it doesn't really do it any justice.

Confirming that I'd set a new PB I weighed the fish straight away then I placed the fish back in the net while I set up the camera, it was still drizzling and I know it wasn't a good idea to set up the camera in the rain but I was gonna miss a chance to take a few photos of this 10lb 13oz slab.

As I started to do the filming for the video blog a guy jogging round the lake started to make his way towards me which at first I thought was just going to be another member of the public coming to spoil the blog entry but I this guy was great he offered to take a few photos for me instead of me messing round with the timer and to be honest he took some nice pictures before he said his goodbyes and carried on jogging round the lake.

I wonder? do I look chuffed?

Cracking double figures with 10lb 13oz, outstanding

Anybody lost a bin lid?

Just like the last big Bream I caught this one took a long time before it was ready to go, I was pretty pleased with myself not only had I proved to myself that the first Bream wasn't a fluke I had managed to control myself letting the fish actually hook itself before picking up the rod.

I spent the remainder of the session in the bivvy out of the rain until Rachel came to pick me up, even though I'd only managed to bank one fish I think that it was a truly successful session, a few more on the bank wouldn't have hurt but missing the previous run didn't matter now.

Bad times for the old computer.

Just to let anyone following this blog know that my computer had died meaning that I may have lost all the images and videos from the last five sessions, hopefully my cousin can recover something from the dead hard drive but if not I will do a text only write ups of the sessions when I get back online.

I really hope that I haven't lost the photos of my first double figure Bream, this should teach me to update the blog more regularly.

So, this is all I'm posting until I get a new hard drive installed.

Take Care
Dan

Hitting a 2009 target at the Fendrod.

Well its been a while since I've written about the targets I've set myself for 2009, I think the last time I mentioned them was in the post just before Steve and I left for France, I mentioned that even though I had set a target of a 25lb+ Carp I wasn't going to consider a 25lb French Carp as one of the targets as I thought that it would be too easy to achieve out in France, but after spending five days chasing just four fish I think I was being a bit optimistic calling it easy and I'm in two minds whether I should reconsider my decision.

I did break the 25lb bench mark I'd set myself while I was in France but I definitely wouldn't say that it was an easy catch and when I did finally bank that 28lb 14oz mirror I really did feel a sense of achievement, so I think that even though I will still try and get a 25lb+ Carp from a local water before the end of the year I'm going to mark it off as my first achieved target for 2009.

Now back to the blog entry, I had been planning for most of the week to do a bit of Bream fishing and knowing that there were big Bream in the Fendrod I starting searching though numerous fishing websites looking for a method of targeting Big Bream that someone like me could apply and hopefully have some success.

I found a write up describing a method that suited me to the ground, no light tackle, just a Carp method feeder and big boilies, I changed a few things to suit me and instead of a standard packet method mix I mixed up a two litre bucket of halibut pellets with three cans of sweetcorn, about half a kilo of small boilies then topped the whole lot up with with lake water and let it stand for about two hours until it had thickened into a paste that would stay on the feeder while casting.

Trying something different, my first attempt at a video blog, I know that it does have a hint of the Blair witch project about it, but I think that its not too bad for a first attempt. If you like it please rate it via youtube and subscribe.

When I arrived at the Fendrod I walked round the whole lake and was initially going to set up in the shallows but on my walk round I spotted about eight Carp basking in the sun down near the dam, so I ignored the pegs that I thought would be the most likely to produce a Bream and set up down by the dam.

I cast a bait out amongst the Carp then cast the method feeders out, one towards a patch of lilies and the other to my right out into open water.

I didn't get the run I was hoping for from the Carp I'd seen earlier even though I'd seen one or two still moving around over the bait I'd cast out, things were pretty quiet apart from the re-baiting of the method feeders which I done a few times aiming to pile up the bait on the two spots I'd been casting at.

Then at 2:30am, about nine hours after my arrival at the lake two beeps from one of my bite alarms shattered my slumber, I threw myself out of my sleeping bag, forced my shoes on and made my way over to the rods, the light on the bite alarm was still on but the drop back hadn't moved, then it beeped again and I could see the tip of the rod lightly knocking I wondered if it was a fish hitting the feeder and knew that I had to wait until it developed into a full blown run before hitting it, then it went off then line pulled tight clicking the bait runner a few times followed by the line dropping slack with the drop back falling almost to the floor, I didn't know whether to pick up he rod or not, but I couldn't resist any longer as the line started to pull tight again I picked up the rod tightened up and I could feel the kick of a fish on the end, it was a jagged fight just like a small Carp and when I got it in close I just just about make out the flash of a fish as it turned, from the fight it was giving I genuinely thought that I had a small Carp on until it surfaced, then I could see it was a Bream and a big one at that.

Once it was on the surface it was only a matter of guiding it into the net, I got really excited once it was safely in the net and rushed it up to the unhooking mat and got the scales ready, it weighed in at 9lb 1oz the biggest Bream I'd ever seen and smashing the 6lb target I'd set myself for 2009.

I'm not quite awake yet, time to reset the timer on the camera.

There you go, what a slab.

Outstanding, a new PB and 2009 target achieved, a 9lb 1oz Bronzey.

And finally a mat shot.

Once I'd weighed it and taken the photos I took the fish back to the water in the net, I held it in the water and it took a long time to swim off, I'm guessing that it had worn itself out in the fight as from what I've heard people say I didn't think Bream were supposed to fight particularly hard, but this one did.

After this I was a bit wound up and I took a long time to settle back down and climb back into my sleeping back, I'd just about fallen back to sleep when the single boilie I'd cast out in the early evening was picked up, I hadn't moved it even though I had been tempted a couple of time and now I was glad I had left it alone. I run out to the rod, grabbed it and began my second fight of the night, this time it did feel like a Carp albeit a small one, it didn't take long and a completely fully scaled mirror was in the net, it weighed in at 6lb 5oz, as I was putting it back the sun was just starting to come up.

Carp and Bream, its turning into a good little session.

Seeing as I was up I thought it would be a good chance to get a few photos of the lake at dawn, heres three of the better photos I took.
About 5am I spotted a fish moving around the lilies where I'd been casting the method feeder, I got myself into position next to the rod just in time to watch the tip of the top start bouncing away, then it just took off ripping the rod almost out of the pod, I quickly took hold of the rod and wrestled the fish away from the lilies, it then proceeded to run from left to right until it wore itself out, this time I had landed a nice common weighing 7lb 3oz.

Just like the Bream this fish seemed to take a long time to get its breath back before it swam off.

Another early morning Carp.

I actually managed to get a few hours sleep once the sun was up and ended up packing everything away around mid day.

What a session not only had I achieved one of my targets but I'd also landed two Carp making it one of the better sessions I've had at the Fendrod for a while, I think I might carry on trying for the Bream in the Fendrod just to prove to myself that this fish wasn't a fluke plus the method feeder seems to work just as well with the Carp, also I can't see how anyone wouldn't like catching these specimen sized Bream, I think there will be a few Carp anglers disagreeing with me on that one.

Leaving it just as I found it.

I Nearly Didn't Blank at the Half Round Ponds.

If anyone can remember back when I first started this blog back in 2007 I fished the Half Round Ponds for the first time, the first ever session there I lost every single fish I hooked up with and in the last two year I thought I'd gained enough knowledge and experience to prevent something like that happening again.

On my first visit to the Half Round Ponds for quite a while I learned that what ever you learn on the bank can sometimes be completely useless thus placing you back in square one and making you feel like you've still got so much to learn.

I arrived at the lake not long after mid day, I packed a tub of pre-soak mixer biscuits and the remains of the pellet method mix I had left over from Whitesprings which I'd frozen as soon as I'd got home.

Even though it overcast it was still fairly warm and in other lakes you'd be silly not to try a bit of surface fishing. I must have spent the first two hours stalking around the lakes then throwing out some biscuits on the weedy side moving from the cover of one tree to the next then baiting another spot and another one and so on until I'd dropped baits in almost every area that wasn't being fished by anyone else.

Time was kicking on and I had yet to see a single fish take an interest in any of the mixer biscuits I'd thrown out and eventually the ducks and coots moved in and hoovered up everything I'd thrown out.

It was time to change tactics and pull out the method feeder not because I had faith in this method but because I had bait that I had to use as I didn't really fancy freezing it down a second time plus I'd never actually seen anyone using a method feeder at this venue and it might just give me an edge.I set up along the middle bank and set up two rods both with a Korda method feeder, moulding the method mix around around the feeder and baiting the rig with a 15mm I cast them both out one close in just outside a large patch of lilies and other one was cast out between another two big patches of lilies, then back leaded both lines.
Knowing the Half Round Ponds I was expecting to wait a long time for any action, proving me wrong the drop back on the rod cast between the lilies started to rise, I picked the rod straight up to find the back lead had pulled the line into the lilies close to the peg and in the few seconds it took me to get the line free the fish on the end of the line had buried itself deep into the lilies next to the peg, as I pulled the line tight I could see a big patch of lilies moving right in the centre. I was stumped I couldn't see possible way that I'd be able to get this fish out, the line was running right round the back of the patch then doubling back as it cut directly into centre of the patch.

I held the line tight for a bit hoping that somehow it would all magically come free before a possible solution came to mind, I starting edging my way round the lilies freeing the line one leaf at a time, I eventually came about two metres away from the fish but freeing this line also gave the fish the freedom to make another run thought the lilies but this wasn't really a bad thing as it was now closer to me so as long as I could get its head up it was close enough to net. I was beginning to think that maybe I had a slim chance of landing this fish, then just like my first fish I'd hooked a the HRP I stopped feeling the fish moving on the end of the line and was left with line and the rig entwined in the lilies.

I eventually freed the rig but the fish was long gone and I was left with another 'one that got away' story.

I stayed on the lake until it started to get dark and by that time I had used all of the method mix to no avail but I was unusually please with how that day had gone, I think that fact that it was a warm day and the rain had kept away helped keep my spirits high even though I had blanked.

My second annual birthday session on The Pit.

Well, its that time again, I've completed another lap on my life-o-meter and once again Rachel has agreed to come and join me for the second year in a row for a 24 hours session on the pit at Whitesprings.

Just like last year the sun was shining and I was seriously hoping to set up and fish in the same spots as my birthday session last year, but due to the severe amount of rain we've been having lately I decided to set up the rods and tent on the least boggiest patch of ground which unfortunately, was the complete opposite side of the lake from where we had set up last year.

From my previous visits to the pit I had come to the understanding that even though it wasn't an easy lake to fish the rewards were there when you finally do hook up, and I had yet to catch a fish that I would class as a small one, if I recall correctly the smallest fish that I'd had out of the pit were around the eight pound mark. So, I did have some expectations of seeing some nice doubles out through the session.

It's show time.

I started off with throwing put a few mixer biscuits out before unpacking the rods, before I had even set up the first rod the biscuits were being mopped up, so unwisely I set up the first rod to freeline putting a single mixer biscuit on the hook and dropping it into the margin, then after placing the rod on a bank stick and clicking the bait runner on I set about putting the other rods together, I had everything spread out and had just put the reels on my other rods when I heard a slurping sound come from the margin, I looked up to see the line pull tight to the end of the rod and reel to start clicking away, I scrambled over to the rod, picked it put and tightened up into a fish and it was only a few minutes after arriving, but as I held the rod up and the fish started to pull the drag, then it turned in the water and threw the hook! I knew it seemed a bit too easy.
With fish so eager to take the mixer biscuits I abandoned setting up my other rods for the time being and kept feeding along the margin, I managed to lure one of the fish from under the bank side foliage and after a tough little scrap it went into the landing net, I'd made a start with a Common just under 8lb, I thought that with the fight it had given me that it would have weighed in a bit heavier but I was happy just to get a fish on the bank.

Just under 8lb a nice start.

I kept the mixer biscuits going in and the fish just kept on taking them but actually getting one to take the one on the hook was another story, I must have had about five missed takes as well as fish turning away at the last second, then I watched one fish move almost in a straight line sucking down four biscuits one after the other, making use of this display of greediness I dropped the bait about three foot on front of it and a few seconds later it had nailed it and I was into my second fish.

This time the fish didn't seem to pull me round as much even though it did try and make a bolt for an over hanging tree more than a few times, even so I was expecting it to be more or less the same size as the last one until I got it in the net, you think by now that I'd have learned that you can't judge how big a fish is going to be just by the fight. Once it was on the mat I gave a guesstimate weight of eleven pounds while Rachel opted for a less generous weight of nine and a half to ten pounds, we were both wrong when the scales rattled round to 13lb 2oz, a nice sized double and it was still early in the session.

Keeping the net wet, with a nice 13lb 2oz Mirror.

I finally got round to setting up the other two rods and mixed up a bucket of halibut pellets and sweetcorn to be used on a method feeder during the night then resumed surface fishing without any further until it got too dark to see the biscuit.

As it got dark it started to drizzle, but I wasn't too worried about it as the weather forecast showed clear skies until about midday tomorrow so I thought that it was only going to short lived and the rest of the night was going to be dry, how wrong I was, the reality of it was that it rained all night and the all the next day, you've got to love how reliable the forecasts are.

I fished my usual standard rigs on two of the rods during the night with a good helping of boilies fired over the top of each bait, and my last rod was set up with a method feeder which at first was pretty slow but once I had landed the feeder on on the same spot a few times creating a carpet of bait that action didn't stop all night.

I started off with a surprise Carp of about 2lb which is the smallest Carp I'd ever seen come out of the pit and with the lake being tipped as a step down from the specimen lake I didn't expect to see any more as small as this.

Anyone got a keepnet?

As the night progressed the rain got heavier but the fish didn't stop feeding, I was really bagging up on small fish, by about 2am I'd already landed nine fish and they were coming out at almost set sizes, they were almost a 50/50 ratio of 2 pounders and 8 pounders it was like the lake had had a fresh stocking of small fish.

By then I'd given up on photographing every fish caught as the method feeder seemed to be working a little too well plus I didn't want to destroy the camera in the rain.

One of the few fish I photographed in the rain, another one around 8lb.

Sometime during the early hours I was crouched down over the bucket of method mix packing it round the feeder when I heard something rustling through the grass, I thought that it may have been a Rat as I'd had them running off with bait at whitesprings in the past, but the rustling came closer then run between my legs my heart jumped into my throat as I looked down at possibly one of the biggest Rats I'd ever seen. I calmed down a bit once I turned on my head torch and could see it was only a Hedgehog, that was more preoccupied with eating the slugs that were covering the bait tubs.

I sat there feeding it boilies for a while and it seemed to prefer the Halibut ones and I even got to take a photos of it before I had another run and the high pitched sound of the bite alarm scared it off.

I was quite happy feeding this Hedgehog after I realized it wasn't a Rat.

As the sun came up, well I should say as the sky got lighter as there was no sight of the actual sun, I'd had virtually no sleep and the few times I did try and get my head down it seemed that I would get a run soon as I got comfy. My catch total must have been pushing twenty if not more, As well the masses of single figure Carp I'd landed I'd also bagged a few nice Bream around the 2lb mark but I had not banked any more doubles.

The Last Bream of the session.

And the final Carp of the session, another 2 pounder.

To be honest, by mid morning I was happy to pack up and go home most to the gear was soaked through and the tent had leaked during the night so the sleeping bags were soaking and I really needed some sleep. I doubt I'll be fishing the pit for a while as it does seem like they've had a stocking of Carp around the 2lb and 8lb mark which isn't really a good thing when you pay extra money to fish for the bigger ones then spend all night catching fish that you can catch on the match lake, but I suppose if it hadn't rained all night I might have a different perspective.

I've got to thank my wife Rachel for coming with me and for being my camerawoman for the session, I wonder where we will fish on my next birthday :)

A Ghostie Session on the Pleasure Lake at Hazel Court.

We'd been back in the UK four days before we decided a bit more bank side action was in order and after pondering over a number of possible choices we were back on the M4 heading towards Hazel Court Ponds.

Another blog video, I find myself going back and watching these again and again, talk about vain.

Last time we were here we fished the specimen lake, this time I was hoping to try the the Koi lake which is where we both started off and even though we did start catching a few small ones as the weather changed and the bright sunny sky turned into a black almost stormy sky with torrential downpour and the one or two Carp that had been on the surface disappeared we picked up our stuff and moved over to the less muddy banks of the pleasure lake.

Steve with a Golden Rudd from the Koi Lake.
My first fish of the day taken on a free lined prawn.

Steve had already set up on the pleasure lake and bagging up on Roach and Bream, I eventually moved my stuff across to join him and was rewarded straight away after seeing a Carp moving about in the lilies, I threw a couple of biscuits out towards it and watched it come up tapping the lily pad trying to knock one of the biscuits off, using this to my advantage I flicked my hook bait out on top of the same lily and waited until it came back for another go at getting the bait off it, as it hit the leaf I edged the biscuit off the leaf and into the water, almost instantly it took the bait. I struggled a bit with the lilies but eventually guided it into a clear patch and held the fish there until it was ready for the net.

The results I like! I'd only moved over to the lake moments ago, spotted a fish and a few minutes later it was on the unhooking mat. I'd landed the first of many Carp for the day but this was the only double weighing in at 11lb 7oz and a fine example of a mirror.

A cracking mirror from the pleasure lake.

The day seemed to speed by and even though the weather was constantly changing the fish never really went off the feed which was exactly what we needed, I know I when we were in France we sat it out waiting and hoping for a big one to to come along but nothing beats a good session with loads of fish on the bank.

We were trying out using a method feeder something that neither of us had really paid much attention too in the past, I had tried it once at Celtic Lakes without success but today was a different story, Steve started the ball rolling by landing a nice ghostie following it up with a few more ghosties and a few nice Commons and, about half way through the day he also picked up a nice male Tench weighing in at 3lb 5oz which was a nice bonus to the session.

Some of Steve's fish for the day.
The 3lb 5oz bonus Tench.

I was mainly free lining Prawns hoping to pick up a tench but instead of Tench I was picking up the odd Carp as well as a few other species, before I finally set up a Carp rod and gave the method feeder a shot, talk about savage line bites, almost as soon as the feeder was out the knocks would start and would either continue until the hook bait was picked up or slowly die off as the bait from the feeder run out.

And another photo medley.

I had picked up a few fish on the feeder and then hooked a nice sized Rudd free lining in the margins. We ended off the session with a walk round the lake fending off the the bird life to try and get a few floating bait out but that was a losing battle and if anything I would suggest that the bird life at Hazel Court Ponds seriously needs to be thinned out a bit as its a fishery at the end of the day not a bird sanctuary.

My prize Rudd.

And Steve's last Ghostie of the day.

The day drew to a close we were both pretty much soak though but it was all worth while and another good session at the fishery hopefully we'll get another action packed session in next time we visit the Hazel Court, especially as next time we'll be hitting the Cat lake but that may not be for a few weeks yet.

Up above the streets and houses.