Trip #56 - High Kingscombe Farm Fishery

Easter weekend was upon us, and after a last minute change of plans I was faced with choosing a new venue to take my father-in-law (Jeff) fishing. I debated on whether to go back to the Viaduct, I know the place was absolutely stuffed full of fish, but I was also torn on choosing somewhere new. A few Somerset based anglers had mentioned Higher Kingscombe Farm as an alternative venue and Google mapping the venue showed an entire complex of lakes. Some further investigation on their website explained that there were some truly huge fish (30lbs+) in the bottom ponds. I wouldn't be targeting those, but I did like the choice of the other 5 lakes. So with my confidence still soaring from my previous trips to the Viaduct and Revels, I decided on the new venue and Jeff and I set out for an afternoon of fishing action!

My sodden peg for the day!

Trip #55 - Revels Fishery - Crooked Tree Lake

After my session on the Viaduct the previous day and spending far too long browsing and chatting in the Revels onsite tackle shop I hoped the fishing was going to be live up to my expectations, as my confidence was still high after yesterday's belter of a session. There was a match on one of the lakes at Revels, but the multitude of other lakes open to pleasure anglers. The fishery was set in truly beautiful surroundings and after a quick walk around I decided to fish the Crooked/Broken Tree lake. It looked quite promising with plenty of features, and after speaking to one of the anglers I decided that peg 10 is where I would set up camp.

Plenty of options at my chosen peg at Revels

Tackle Store Review - Revels Tackle Centre

I had heard that Revels fishery had a fairly extensive shop on site, and after looking them up online I found that they were listed as approved Maver Centre of Excellence and Middy stockists (2 of my favourite brands). So I was really keen to have a good look around before starting fishing for the day. In all honesty my first impressions were uncertain ones, as the store itself looked to be a long, large outbuilding rather than a specific tackle shop. Still, I had heard good things, so a slightly less glamorous exterior was never going to put me off.

There were plenty of goodies on the inside at Revels

Trip #54 - Viaduct Fishery - Match Lake

Everyone in the South West knows about the Viaduct fishery. It's a well established, heavily stocked match fishery with multiple hundreds of pounds required to place in the matches. It regularly features in the Angling Press and has been a Fish'o'mania qualifier and Maver Match This qualifier venue. Clearly this would be the place to go to learn from the big angling names! I found out that on Saturday (12th) there would be 3 matches on, but chatting to a few angling facebookers the night before persuaded me to give it a whirl. With 6 lakes on the complex I called in advance and was assured there would be plenty of room, with at least 2 other lakes open for pleasure fishing. So I set off, slightly later than planned to see what all this Viaduct fuss is about.

A great set up at the Viaduct

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.

Trip #50 – Water Meadow Lakes, North Perrott

The weather had finally broken, so it was time to dust off the fishing tackle and trial a new fishing venue! I really enjoy fishing new venues; you don’t know what you will catch or how you will catch it. Today I had 2 options and the venue I was going to fish would be decided by a good old fashioned coin toss. Landing on Heads, I would be off to Water Meadows lake in North Perrott. The venue is ideal for me, as it is only 4 minutes car drive away. The venue itself isn’t well advertised so I called in advance to ask if it was OK to fish the lake as a member of the public. Fortunately it was, and it would cost a bargainous £6.

Excuse me in this photo, it was cold and windy, so A LOT of padding was required!

Advice Required – Of Mice and (Fisher)Men

It had been a long while since I had been coarse fishing, and although I would periodically check that all my fishing gear was still in one place, I hadn’t thoroughly looked through it for a while to make sure everything was as pristine as I had left it. Moving house meant that various items were bagged up and stored away, and for obvious (and smelly) reasons my water proofs and nets were all bagged up and left quietly in the shed. You can see where this is going...