Trip #101 - Chesil Cove

I had been reading all week that Rays and Hounds were about and popping up all along Chesil, so knowing that I was going to hit the beach for a few hours on Friday night meant I was buoyed with enthusiasm! I’m still at the stage of giddy anticipation when it comes to picking a location to go fishing along this shoreline, but I made the decision early on to try out Chesil Cove. Although this location supposedly fishes better in the summer and autumn, I was hoping to catch a few and if not, at least I was wetting a line.

Trip #100 - A Dog's Tale...

After bringing some beachcasters and multipliers back from South Wales I’d decided to get out and give them a go. As I’d said previously, fishing in the day takes away from spending time with the little one, so a lot of my trips will be evening and on in to the night. Chesil beach is so vast, I had no idea where I would try my luck for this session. I had heard Seatown was throwing up some Plaice, but the previous days wind had meant the clarity in the water was reduced. A bit of toing and froing and I resolved to go to Abbottsbury.

Trip #98 - Catch it, Kill it, Eat it!

Trying to plan and execute a fishing trip regardless of length when you have very small child can be like trying to arrange a small military operation, FACT! So on the weekend when I noticed that the tides were right, the weather was right and the time of year was right, and after a quick phone call to the Tackle Box (where I was informed the fish have been coming so close you could catch them in a bucket) I mentioned over a cup of tea “I may go and try and catch some mackerel tonight…”. This went down rather well; as we both like mackerel. I grabbed my spinning bag, checked I had some feathers, visited the shed for my rods and packed the car. I pottered around the house for a while and made sure all my bits were done and ZIP! Before you know it I was popping along the B3165 towards Lyme Regis and thinking about the evening ahead.

Dinner is served!

Trip #97 - West Bay Wanderings

This is a quick blog I wrote in the summer, but for reasons described below I haven't got round to posting! Enjoy!

It's been quite a while since I've managed to get out and wet a line. New family members have the ability to eat up all your time doing all the fun stuff that young families do. It's been and will continue to be a huge roller coaster. I've only managed a very early morning session at Lyme Regis, blanked and was home before 9am. Anyway.... the weather over the last week has been one of almost constant and blistering sunshine and I had been told that the mackerel had arrived on the south coast. My wife and I had agreed to visit West Bay for a few hours on Sunday morning, and I would be taking a box of lures and some feathers.

Trip #96 - Easter Annualisation

In a working world of "week on week", "year and year" and various other almost meaningless annualisation terminology I thought I would make my own annual observations. I had a few hours spare in the recent bank holiday. As I'm sure you're aware little mini Murphy tends to monopolise a lot of my spare time these, so my habitual Sunday of sloping off for the majority of the day to test out various angling venues seems to have temporarily been placed on the back burner. Where I imagine it will remain for the best part of the next year or so. So when the chance came to wet a line, I snatched at it and decided to re-try Lyons Gate Fishing lakes. I had seen on social media that the Tench were start to appear, so I thought I'd give it a whirl, and see if I could catch a few, failing that, I would see if I could remember how to use my pole.

Trip #95 - Last Day Dalliance

The day is fast approaching... The 15th of March, and being a borderline workaholic I wasn't going to be able to get a week day off to get out and give the river a proper bash. To be honest I haven't been able to get out much at all this season, my last trip was a very short and frosty morning spent on  lake very near to my house. Unfortunately I think they may have few resident mink which have wonderfully unraveled all of the great stocking work that had been carried out in the previous summer and the hour or 2 my brother and I spent there was a complete blank! So the week leading up to this weekend was spent religiously checking the EA river levels website. Despite a squirt of rain earlier in the week, the river level was running a lovely and consistent 0.73m. Ideal (Although where I intended to fish would be a fair bit deeper than that). I had decided to get out and away early, and one of the advantages of having a baby is that lay ins are seldom. Sure as the sea, at half 3 we were up and feeding him, and I endeavored to leave the house at 5 and be back for 9(ish).

The dog led the way!

Trip #94 - Go Small or Go Home

Contrary to the popular saying “Go big or Go home”, after some trial and error on one my most recent trips (before the blustery onset of winter) size definitely does matter. The tides were looking favourable and on the whole I don't mind an early start, it also meant that I would be home well before lunch. So when the alarm went at 5, I was up and out the door not long after, driving my way down to Lyme Regis. This early in the morning parking was free, but I had enough change to cover a few hours, if the fish felt like actually biting. I was starting to become disillusioned with constantly blanking while spinning, and was hoping a different stretch of beach may help to break my duck.

Nice to get out so early.

Trip #93 - A goalless draw

A trip from late autumn.

My recent fishing venues have involved beaches rather than pegs and river banks and with a few days off the wife and I managed to sneak off and have a few nights away in Saundersfoot, West Wales. It's a place that I spent several summer as a child and a place where my brother did a lot of fishing while he was growing up. That said I gave him a quick ring for some advice on how best to tackle my chosen venue - Monkstone Point.

Trip #92 - Wetter than an Otter's Pocket

Just a short one this time. Following my last trip to Lyme Regis, I dug my waders out of retirement and was keen to get back out there in search of elusive bass. I check the tide times and it was going to be another early one. This isn't necessarily a bad thing as Lyme Regis when busy is an absolute nightmare to park. I was up, out the door and on the road to Lyme as the sun was rising. Arrived at the Lyme Regis car park just after 6, only one Council van for company. Fortunately parking before a certain time is free, however after 8 it becomes very expensive very quickly. Looking through my wallet I realised I had enough change to see me through until 10 a.m. before needing sell all my worldly belongings to afford another hour. This was hopefully going to be a short but productive trip.

Trip #90 - Early Morning Spin Class

Looking at the tides, prevailing weather and taking into account other weekend plans, this morning's fishing trip was going to be an early one. For a change I would be trying my hand had a spot of sea fishing - more specifically spinning. I had decided early on to split my trip between Eype and Lyme Regis, in the hope that if I struggled to pick up a bass, I may be more successful with mackerel. Only time would tell, and speaking of the time, even the dog didn't know what is going on being walked around at 4:30 in the morning. Breakfast consumed I was out of the door by 5 and on my way to the beach.

Not a soul on the beach... At half 5 in the morning.

Trip #88 - Back at Bills

Ironically many people find themselves in the autumn and winter months with some additional spare time, in these months however but we seem to be at our busiest. With work and various life matters being flat out there seems to be no end in sight of places to go, thing to buy and people to see. Still, being the opportunist angler that I am, meant despite travelling home I was able to arrange a few hours on the fly with my Dad and Grandfather. We would be heading down to Riverside for a few hours to try and tempt some last gasp puddle pigs that resided there before the seasons really took a turn for the worst.

Trip #86 - West Bexington Bash

Today we (my Dad and I) were heading down to West Bexington in search of some lunch. I had spoken to some anglers the week before and they assured me that Mackerel were coming out thick and fast so I was "guaranteed" to catch. We'll see.... After walking around West Bay and getting blown all over the place this previous day I wondered how good the visibility was going to be. I had fished the same beach (although slightly further along at Abbotsbury) the same time last year and absolutely bagged up so I was hoping for a repeat.

Trip #86 - Mangerton Misfire

This weekend my Dad was visiting and I was a little concerned as at the venue (and time of year in general)  it had reported that the Carp had been breeding in earnest. Which often means an unproductive session. Still, I am always up for a challenge and with that in mind I opted for somewhere with plenty of carp but wouldn't be busy with competing anglers. The choice seemed an easy one and we opted for a few hours at Mangerton Lake. This venue is turning out to be new favourite of mine, with lots of options and lots of species to catch. Unfortunately for my Dad I wasn't in the conversating mood as I had an absolutely horrible cold.

Trip #84 - Avalon Fishery - Moore Lake

I was quite excited today to be trying out a new fishery, and this week it came in the shape of Avalon fishery based right in the middle of Shapwick nature reserve. It was quite easy to find although negotiating the parked tractor on the lane to the venues entrance did almost leave me in a trench. I was also pleased to find out the there was a small tackle store on site which meant I could restock my pellet supplies as well as purchasing a new pellet bander after losing my last one. I had looked at the website and had seen the layout out of the lakes, the pictures however had not prepared me for the efficient layout of the venue which I saw on arrival. I've fished a few pegged commercial venues previously but this was something else.

Trip #83 - Mangerton Take 2 - The Proof is in the Paste

I was very keen today to get out and try some of the Skretting Pellet Paste I had made the previous evening. I was under no illusion that today was going to be aimed solely at Carp. Normally I start off on the silver fish and then work my way up to Carp unless my bait gets intercepted along the way. Normally it's purely from a "what species does this lake have in it?" perspective, but having visited Mangerton very recently, and knowing full well that the place was absolutely stuffed to the brim with Carp I decided on an all out Carp attack. I had made my rigs the previous evening and after arriving early (this time with the correct money for the honesty box) I made my way to a peg on the right hand bank, and before I had even stopped my trolley I could hear Carp slurping away on the surface.

I'd gone for a fairly hefty approach with only 2 topkits set up: 

• 14 and 16 Elastics - Pre-weighted Paste float on 6lb Middy Lo Viz Crystal to a Preston PR478 size 12 Hook. You could pretty much land a Whale on this gear.

Pellet Paste made easy!

Summer it seems is on the way and for a lot of commercial anglers that means one of 2 things either starting to use or the increased use of Paste. Paste fishing on its day can be an absolutely devastating method and for some reason has the potential to pick out some of the venues specimens. I generally fish with 2 types of Pellet paste, Skretting Pellet Paste and Halibut Pellet Paste. Of these 2 types the Skrettings Paste is the easier to make (you don't need to use a blender to turn the pellet into a powder), and because of a recent request it will be the one I will be covering in this post.

Making paste is a very simple process all you will need is;

Trip #82 - Higher Kingcombe Floaters

Just a snippet of a post from me this week, as there was extraordinary amounts of cleaning and shopping to be done. Also, by the time I had worked out I had time to go fishing I was only going to have a couple of hours spare. Fortunately I had renewed (and bought new) local club licenses so I can now report I am a member of Yeovil and Sherbourne Angling (though I did not pay the extra £50 for access to Sherbourne Castle). I cannot wait for the river season to start up again, especially with all the drains I now have access too. Anyway, with my new license in mind (and S.L.A.C), coupled with a distant memory that Higher Kingcombe Lodge Lake held some big carp, I blindly grabbed a rod and reel from the shed, a bag of bits and I was away.

Lodge is the Top Lake

Trip #81 – Mangerton Mill

I’ve slowly but surely been working my way through the very extensive list of fisheries in Somerset, and although I’ve still got a good chunk left to sample, the fisheries closest to my house have been visited on more than one occasion. Wanting to fish somewhere new I decided to travel down the a3066 and visit Mangerton Lake. I’ll be honest, looking at the website I didn’t hold out a great deal of hope, aside from the fact that I knew I’d be in a picturesque location. A quick phone call the night before to make sure I was going to the right place, and I was set. I arrived at the farm house (where you pay into an honesty box) picked up my ticket and made my way back down the track towards the fishing lake. It was a nice lake and bigger than I expected, and after a quick walk around I picked a peg which looked to have a huge margin swim. In the time it took me to set my gear up the wind really picked up, and was now blowing firmly into my face. I reassessed my position before setting any more equipment up and deciding on moving around to my right, so the wind would be off my back, making holding a pole a lot easier.

Trip #80 - Viaduct Match Lake

A visit from the in-laws meant that this weekend I would be fishing with my father-in-law Jeff. I wanted to go somewhere which offered a bit of sport, with the potential of a few bigger bonus fish and within half an hour’s drive. There was only one option - The Viaduct. I was very keen to give Viaduct’s Cary Lake a whirl, but after asking a few questions on Maggotdrowners, I settled on re-visiting Match lake (There was a match on Cary, and Lodge was very busy). Jeff and I arrived at the Viaduct around 9am, and walked through the car park mid peg draw. I have never seen so many fishing barrows. Most of these match anglers had more gear than some small shops! Not that I was jealous… I loaded up my trolley and heaved my gear over to Match Lake. I was desperately hoping for a better result than my last visit, although the weather was a lot warmer. I positioned Jeff on peg 48 and I took up residence on the peg diagonally opposite (49). 

Trip #79 - Broadleaze (Baker's Mill) Fishery

I've been desperate to find local venues (within 15 - 20 minutes) as they enable me catch a sneaky hour or 2 while walking the dog in the summer evenings. I've never bagged a lump (15lb+), so when I found a fishery which only takes 8 minutes to drive too I was very excited. Finding it seemed easy enough, even if the verbal instructions on how to get there seemed incredibly vague. With my smart phone set to the location I left, I planned to give the water a good once over on pole tactics before trialing it later on in the year for something bigger.