The bit you should read.

I’ve always been an angler and after around the country moving I wanted to discover and document the best places to fish (where ever I might be) in the way of rivers, lakes, canals and ponds. When previously fishing in South Wales I often fished in club and winter league matches, however living up north presented me with new challenges, venues and angling clubs that I acquainted myself with. Now down in the South West I plan to do the same.

This fishing blog details my angling adventures around the UK (although depending where I am in the country I also sea fish from both Boat and Shore, Carp, Pike and Fly fish). I will be giving a summary of 3 values considered by most anglers as well as the additional Disabled Access rating. Since being diagnosed with CIDP and regaining my motor function Disabled angling and Disabled access is now something I always consider when visiting venues. They will all be rated on a scale of 1* to 5*;

1. Fishability *****

2. Accessability *****

3. Value for Money *****

4. Disabled Access *****

I think these 4 points are the key issues which are readily identifiable with all anglers. Feel free to take a look and add your own comments along the way!

Sunday 28 September 2014

Trip #64 - Potwell Farm Lake

I've driven past this venue several times on the way to and from Bridport, but have never had chance to get down to the water and check it out. With a Sunday going begging I decided to give it a try, especially as this venue is only 12 minutes drive away - Ideal! I must say that the Google Map search beforehand didn't look too promising. The satellite images showed a ditch still being dug, hopefully it would be more inviting when bankside. Arriving at Potwell farm and making my way down the lane to the lake I was surprised at the size of it. To be honest it's a bit of an odd shape, with defined pegs all along the right hand bank but no pegs and limited access to the left hand bank. There was also a small section of the lake which can only be accessed by one peg (not marked), and even then accessing the pegs full potential would be difficult because of the angle of the bank. The lake itself has few features, and can't have been in existence for many years. The position of the venue (on top of a hill) meant the wind was surprisingly strong (as it was today a solid 15-20mph wind in the face). 

The top left hand corner of the lake as you leave the car park
From the opposite end of the lake.

Thursday 25 September 2014

Blog - New Features

Just a quick one to say that i'm in the process of updating quite a few elements on the blog. Hopefully this will make it more useful to readers. There will be some minor changes taking place over the next few weeks but the two main additions (for now) are shown in this image and can be clicked on the above links.


Why not have a look for yourself?

Sunday 21 September 2014

Trip #63 - Highlands Dairy Farm

I have been very keen to find a venue in my region (Somerset) which has a few Tench, and after a bit of digging around I had uncovered a place which specifically stated Tench, Rudd, Roach and Carp on the website. Also, as it was a new venue I was quite excited at the prospect of having a Tench venue less than 15 minutes from my doorstep. Finding the venue wasn't that difficult thanks to Google maps, although there was a moment where I found myself driving through a farm without seeing any form of a sign for the 3 lakes. I arrived at the venue just after half 9 (a bit later than anticipated) and after parking up I had a quick walk around to choose where I would be fishing. Of the 3 lakes at the premises, 1 had been booked for 2 days for a competition. I spent half an hour or so speaking to locals and decided I would fish the first lake this time and fish the bottom lake on my next visit. When asking about the Tench in the venue I was quickly told that if they were in the lakes, none had ever been seen or caught...

A few options near the island

Sunday 14 September 2014

Tackle Store Review - The Tackle Box

I was walking along the Cobb at Lyme Regis with the wife recently and I was pleasantly surprised to see a lot of people fishing. There were a few guys spinning and even more people using standard bait fishing tactics. Although I didn't see any fish coming out, the beach definitely looked inviting to any potential sea anglers. On the walk back to the car with a wet and muddy dog, I noticed a chap walking past with the Tackle Box logo on the back of his hoodie. With a quick Google I found that the shop was only a few meters away! With that in mind, it would be rude not to call in and have a look around. I will say, not being local to Lyme Regis, I did rely quite heavily on Google and for the first time it let me down! The location wasn't where I was expecting, but after a quick ask around, I found out it was only a further 100 or so meters down the road. So we grabbed the dog and headed down the alleyway to the shop to see what they had on offer. 

Sunday 7 September 2014

Trip #62 - Water Meadow Revisited

This was going to be my first fishing session as a married man, and I was accompanied by my father in law, Jeff. I had deliberated quite a lot about which venue to try. I was also a bit nervous as I hadn't looked at any of my fishing gear in over 2 months. It's always surprising how quickly spiders claim your equipment as residence. So I spent 10 minutes wiping everything down and ridding my rod bag of creepy crawlies. I was also a bit miffed to find that all my worms had disintegrated into mush. The soil from the compost heap is obviously to acidic, and the little buggers just seemed to melt. So it's back to some spare compost from the shed for the new batch, with some butternut squash peel to tide them over! After a few emails, numerous Google searches and much deliberation I decided we would visit my nearest fishery Water Meadow Lakes (the forecast wasn't set to be fantastic, so an early exit may been on the cards). It produced well on my last visit with a bumper bag of Roach even on a cold Sunday in February, so I was quite keen to see how much the place had changed since the winter.

Lots of options on my peg!

Monday 1 September 2014

Trip #61 - Dillington Pond - Take 3!

After my last trip to Dillington I left knowing that the lake had a lot more to offer, and perhaps a different tactic was required to catch a few Bream and Chub. One thing is for certain, the pump house peg has been producing some very sizable silver fish bags, and ever since Jamie Rich’s match win there has been a queue of anglers ready to fish the peg. On this occasion I arrived at the lake at 6am, only to see another angler already unpacked and lugging his equipment over to the peg! Good job I was heading to adjacent corner where I could have a bash using the feeder. I got to my chosen peg set up my box and trialled the above tree height for casting clearance. I would be fishing for Bream using (an allegedly proven Bream mix of) Sensas Bream and Brown crumb groundbait, with corn and casters, and alternating between chopped worm and caster on the hook.

I would be aiming to cast underneath the willow