Fishing - Anybody doing any ?

I just got back from a couple of nights at a medium-ish difficulty lake in Essex. Ended up with two mid doubles (carp, mirrors) from 5 (!!) takes. Lost one early this morning that I'm pretty sure was 20+ :(. Bad luck I guess, but a lot better than blanking! Only one or two other fish out across the lake over the time I was there so happy overall.

The mrs was having a go with the light float rod for small roach and managed to land a double figure (12lb or so) pike that took one off her hook. The size 16 was less hooked and more just lodged in the corner of it's mouth :D.
 
Only fished my local river maybe 3? times this year what with so many covid anglers about these days, crappy water quality and comarants just makes it pointless to go :( 2 other rivers I can fish near by but they're both tidal and I don't like tidal rivers :D

Sooo back to shore fishing instead for me, Had Plenty of whiting, plaice doggies a few rockling and congers to make up for it since Xmas :D
 
We suffer with a pain in the arse heron around these parts, it has had a couple of my koi and has cleared out a few ponds :-(
Beautiful bird, but destroy domestic ponds when there is a copious amount of rivers, ponds & lakes they can feed in.
 
Did a couple of nights over the weekend, was a weird one though - good conditions, mild, southerly winds, lowish pressure - but the lake literally did zero fish. Last week I had a couple in much worse conditions. I moved 4 times, trying to chase signs to get a bite - but no joy.

The fish haven't woken up that much, most of them are still mooching about in 20ft of water and not really feeding yet. Still - good to get out..

6PBWqFO

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Got Thurs / Fri off, so I'm going to get down on Wednesday night maybe for 5x nights.
 
Screeeech said:
Did a couple of nights over the weekend, was a weird one though - good conditions, mild, southerly winds, lowish pressure - but the lake literally did zero fish. Last week I had a couple in much worse conditions. I moved 4 times, trying to chase signs to get a bite - but no joy.

The fish haven't woken up that much, most of them are still mooching about in 20ft of water and not really feeding yet. Still - good to get out..

6PBWqFO

C83f5Ao.jpeg

Got Thurs / Fri off, so I'm going to get down on Wednesday night maybe for 5x nights.
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Just from that shot that lake looks a challenge! Especially if they aren't showing themselves. Adjustable zigs with a lot of recasting maybe worth a go?

I see you're a fully paid up member of the reel handles/bail arms at precisely the same angle club :D (as am I).
 
RobHu said:
I see you're a fully paid up member of the reel handles/bail arms at precisely the same angle club :D (as am I).
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I mean - you're just not getting any bites if they're not level, it's a waste of time right? :cry:

It is a pretty advanced lake, around 300-400 carp in 65 acres. I know it well though - fished there since around 2003, they're not that hard to catch - it's just a case of being "on them" which is the case everywhere I guess, however - in here they can move very quick and if it's busy, you end up fighting anglers more than fish.

One of the problems is on a weekend, the fish tend to shoal up in the middle - it's about 230 yards to the middle so long range tactics do give you an edge, if you can put a bait in the place where they don't feel under pressure. I do a lot of long-range fishing and frequently fish at 40-45 wraps (up to 180yds) problem is I have to use specially shaped leads and rigs with small hookbaits (10-12mm) to hit those distances consistently, which rules out zigs..
 
Screeeech said:
I mean - you're just not getting any bites if they're not level, it's a waste of time right? :cry:

It is a pretty advanced lake, around 300-400 carp in 65 acres. I know it well though - fished there since around 2003, they're not that hard to catch - it's just a case of being "on them" which is the case everywhere I guess, however - in here they can move very quick and if it's busy, you end up fighting anglers more than fish.

One of the problems is on a weekend, the fish tend to shoal up in the middle - it's about 230 yards to the middle so long range tactics do give you an edge, if you can put a bait in the place where they don't feel under pressure. I do a lot of long-range fishing and frequently fish at 40-45 wraps (up to 180yds) problem is I have to use specially shaped leads and rigs with small hookbaits (10-12mm) to hit those distances consistently, which rules out zigs..
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Totally agree about fighting anglers more than fish...every day ticket that's reasonably close to me (south east london/north kent) and not a total hole is just rammed 24/7 nowadays :(. Most half decent places you have to book weeks or even months in advance or turn up Thursday lunch time if you want to have an ok swim for the weekend. Been trying to get a decent club or syndicate ticket for a couple of years but even clubs now have multi-year waiting lists. I seriously regret not renewing my ticket to one of the embryo waters just before the pandemic due to it being a bit of a trek.

Yeah...180 yards on a zig isn't going to work without a bait boat (or actual boat) that's for sure!
 
RobHu said:
Totally agree about fighting anglers more than fish...every day ticket that's reasonably close to me (south east london/north kent) and not a total hole is just rammed 24/7 nowadays :(. Most half decent places you have to book weeks or even months in advance or turn up Thursday lunch time if you want to have an ok swim for the weekend. Been trying to get a decent club or syndicate ticket for a couple of years but even clubs now have multi-year waiting lists. I seriously regret not renewing my ticket to one of the embryo waters just before the pandemic due to it being a bit of a trek.
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You'd be surprised actually, if you have the money for a ticket ready to go - ringing/emailing around sometime around January when they tend to do renewals (and nobody has any money) the amount of people on waiting lists, almost all of them don't take a ticket when their name comes up. I know a guy who runs a decent syndicate (hasse fen) who has a full waiting list - but it drives him mad with the amount of people who won't pay when the time comes.

http://lilyfisheries.co.uk/venues/hasse-fen/ - last time I spoke to him, he had a few tickets going spare, he's probably sold them now - but might be worth speaking to him next year.

I just paid my ticket for the Horton complex down near Wraysbury, I'm going to be fishing the Island lake - got my boat (Bic 245) ready, can't wait, proper serious water though - there's a legit 61lb English mirror in there, over 20x 40lb fish too. Cannot wait :D

Also lol @ how busy day tickets are now, I remember when they opened fishing back in 2021 in May. Our local lake had vans queuing at the gate for like 100yds the next day - the lake was already full. People driving around at 50mph trying to find a peg - it was like watching NASCAR.
 
father-ted said:
We suffer with a pain in the arse heron around these parts, it has had a couple of my koi and has cleared out a few ponds :-(
Beautiful bird, but destroy domestic ponds when there is a copious amount of rivers, ponds & lakes they can feed in.
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Horrible isn't it, it can destroy ponds in a month.
RobHu said:
Totally agree about fighting anglers more than fish...every day ticket that's reasonably close to me (south east london/north kent) and not a total hole is just rammed 24/7 nowadays :(. Most half decent places you have to book weeks or even months in advance or turn up Thursday lunch time if you want to have an ok swim for the weekend.
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A lot of carp places are now peg bookable online. You can't change your peg and you have to pay online as well. It's the way it is because that many people do carp fishing now.

Only way to combat this is either kick non fishing people off or don't have a closed book. First come first fish on a peg. But then the fish get over worked and eventually slow down their feeding habits.
 
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Screeeech said:
I know a guy who runs a decent syndicate (hasse fen) who has a full waiting list - but it drives him mad with the amount of people who won't pay when the time comes.
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I know of syndicates where people join and don't fish just so they don't lose their spot. Horrible this.

I told a syndicate owner to kick em off for not fishing but how can you do this when they are paying members of a syndicate. It's like people want to fish but can't get on.
 
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