Trip #66 - Cefn Mably Bridge Pond

Today was going to be a busy day. It was going to involve several family visits, a family meal and 100 mile return trip to Somerset from South Wales, so my time bank side was going to be limited. I was also travelling very light with 2 reels, 2 feeder rods, a landing net, a handle and a box of rig bit essentials. I was hoping for a very productive session and with a few venues very close to my parent’s house offering this I was spoilt for choice. In the end I went with Cefn Mably on the advice of a mate of mine (Dale). To be honest he echoed what I was already thinking "They all fish the same! Just fish close to the island and don't forget to feed the margins!" so with that advice I decided veer away from my favoured Horseshoe Lake to try out one of Cefn Mably's newer lakes, the Bridge Pond.

Trip #58 - Duffryn Springs Res Lake

Spring (or is it summer?) seems to have finally arrived and with the promise of Spring, usually brings the promise of Tench. I had already caught a couple on a recent trip to the Viaduct, so I knew they were feeding, but it was now time for me to try and help my father in law Jeff catch his first ever Tench. Duffryn Springs Reservoir lake in South Wales is where we would be heading. This venue had produced plenty of Tench for me, so here's hoping it would stand up to my assurances and do the same for Jeff. I had a very specific peg in mind, and because I knew it as a "flyer", we set off early to make sure we got to the peg first.

 

After paying, driving down to the second car park and heaving our gear down to the lake by 8.30am, we were both surprised to see that we weren't the first people at the lake. Happily enough though, my chosen peg was free, so I showed Jeff where to fish and decided to fish the open water peg to his right. With Jeff on the corner peg, I would be fishing open water. 

Trip #46 - Predatory Perch! (And friends)

This fishing trip was not planned a long time in advance. Also, after being lied to by the BBC weather lady (thanks Carol), the rain that was forecast never arrived, and instead it was ruddy freezing! After a bit of indecision, some goading from friends and last minute packing I resolved to go fishing and try my hand at catching some specimen Perch from Cefn Mably’s Horseshoe Lake. I would be taking some frozen prawns and luncheon meat, but would need some maggots to draw the small fish in. Fortunately I could buy them from the excellent tackle store on site.

Hungry carp were on the feed despite it being only 7 degrees!

Trip #45 - Return of the Lamby

It had been a while since my father-in-law had been fishing, so when he asked me mid week “Where shall we go fishing this weekend?” I jumped at the chance. Having slowly but surely fished my way around quite a few of the public fisheries in South Wales I knew of a few good venues to chose from. Jeff wanted to fish a lake rather than a pond and intended on spending a lot of time on the waggler. I knew just the place, and that place would be Lamby Lake. After a successful session previously with one of my friends I thought it would be a great location to target some of the specimen Roach and Perch which I know the lake held.

A bit of a walk, but I found a great looking peg!

Trip #39 – Hazel Court Ponds

Hazel Court Ponds is a 5 lake complex near Cowbridge, which is absolutely stuffed with fish. It is also one of the very few fishing venues in South Wales which can honestly boast that it legally has Catfish, up to the 30lb mark! I have fished there previously with the children’s charity Ty Gwyn; catching small Roach, Rudd and Koi Carp, but that was a few years ago. It was time to pay the venue a visit and see if any of the fish had put on a few pounds (like I have!).

Lots of features

Trip #36 – Tinca Time

2013 has been an up and down year for me (so far), but fishing more regularly meant that I was rattling through the fresh water species list. But one species that had evaded me so far was the Tench! I had thought that, given the current weather conditions and time of year, maybe my chances of catching one were coming close to an end. I knew of a venue which had produced well for me in the past and decided to give it a whirl (especially because if it produced it would be a venue I could take my father in law who has never caught a Tench), and the venue I had chosen to fish was the Reservoir Lake of Duffryn Springs.

The Reservoir Lake is on the bottom left, and I would be fishing the southern corner.

Tackle Store Review - Cardiff Angling Centre (Cefn Mably)

After being repeatedly told about the massive improvements in the shop at Cefn Mably Lakes, I thought it best to stop by before a recent fishing session on their horseshoe lake and have a look for myself. It has been several years since I’ve last visited this shop so had no idea what to expect. The outside, unlike almost every fishing store, doesn’t have huge windows displays, so first impressions would have to be made on entry.

Trip #32 – Hendre Lake Trip 2 - Bream Bash(ish)

After last Monday’s trip down to Hendre lake (and my first fishing trip in well over a year) I was very enthusiastic about getting back out there and catching some more fish! Hendre Lake provided me with a great platform to re-master the forgotten basics of waggler and feeder fishing. A quick trip to Garry Evans earlier in the week to gather some intel on the best methods, meant that I left slightly more clued up on the best baits, locations and tactics to use on the lake. Jeff and I decided to get down to the lake for early morning to see if we could target some of the bigger slabs before the sun came out and killed off our chances, and we would also be joined by my Brother (also fishing) and Father (taking the photos).



Plenty of room for the 3 of us fish next to each other on the bank at Hendre Lake.

Product Review - Mosquito Angling - Speedy Feeder

I was recently asked to field test a new style of inline method feeder made by Yorkshire based Mosquito Angling called the Speedy Feeder. Having a look at them on their website, the design and concept was quite interesting and a new idea on me. I was naturally very interested in trying out this new style feeder. So when a package of them recently arrived I couldn’t wait to get out there and put them through their paces.

Tackle Store Review - Garry Evans

From the outside of Garry Evans Tackle Centres it strikes you as peculiar that the stores are spread between 105 and 109 Whitchurch Road. That is until you go in and ask why? For years the store had been split between the 2 stores, but 107 has now been bought by the company and, at some point in the not too distant future it will be converted and knocked through, forming 1 huge store combining all three premises!

Trip #11 - Tricky Trout from the Taff!

Trip #11 – River Taff, Part 1, Sophia Gardens

I’ve been home recently and when I was there I thought it would be a good idea to try and catch a few of the River Taff’s plentiful Trout and Grayling.

Arriving at the river bank after buying our tickets from Garry Evans Tackle Store we found an angler standing in the middle of the river, Spey casting for salmon. We took this as a good sign and although salmon were not our intended target we gathered our equipment together, slung on the chest waders and made our way to the river bank.

My father and I were fly fishing and my brother was using the less conventional pellet waggler, adapted for river fishing...