Trip #53 - Ilminster Canal

After the silver fishing bonanza on Dillington Pond the previous day, I was itching to get out and trial another of the closed season venues the Ilminister Angling Association had to offer. The Ilminster Canal is a 150 yard closed section of the old canal, which contains a myriad of fish. I have read that it contains specimen Roach and Rudd, Tench, Perch, Carp and after talking to a club member 1 rogue Pike! Arriving at the venue the parking was a bit tight, but you could easily park in the surgery and walk around.

 

Top and bottom images are from opposite ends of this canal section

Trip #52- Dillington Estate Pond

Having lived in Somerset for 6 months I’ve come to realise that there are some great fisheries quite close at hand. The difficulty is, the majority of them are all heavily aimed at commercial match/carp anglers, where 100’s of lb’s is considered and average match weight. What I was looking for were waters where silver fish made up the majority and a rogue Carp may show up from time to time. That being said, and after a fair bit of reading and looking around, I decided to join Ilminster Angling Association. They currently control Dillington Estate Lake, what remains of the Ilminister Canal and a 7 mile stretch of the River Isle. They also have a ticket exchange in place with Bathampton A.A., Dorchester and District Angling Society and Langport and District A.A. This means for the joining fee of £25, a membership gets you access to A LOT more venues. So with my 2014 license newly purchased I set out to fish Dillington Pond and to see what it had to offer.

 

Don't be fooled by the quiet track next to the lake. It's busy!

Tackle Store Review - Reels and Deals, Weymouth

On the back of my last review and following one of my readers comments when my partner and I recently visited Weymouth it seemed rude not to pop in and have a look for a potential bargain in the fishing store. Not sure what to expect from a store so near to the sea front, I headed in to the store treating it like a blank canvas.

Trip #51 – Old Mill Fishery

February’s weather had meant this fishing had been all but a non starter. So when the forecast said that the weekend may offer a slight reprieve I leapt at the chance to get out there and try to catch a few fish. Randomly coming across this venue (The Old Mill Fishery) after a "Things to do in Yeovil" Google search, it seemed like a promising Carp fishery. Although slightly difficult to find, I finally arrived at the venue and my first impressions were quite good. It was a complex of lakes, with the river flowing behind them. All the lakes looked fishy, but I choose the match one in the hope of catching a few winter roach. 

Starting the day there were 3 of us.