Trip #67 - Todber Manor - Whiteposts.

I've never been in a situation (aside from river fishing) where I needed to drive a mile to the lake from the venue reception, but that is the case in Todber Manor Whiteposts lakes. On leaving the tackle store I was given a handy print out with idiot proof instructions on how to find the lakes, and was told "It is exactly 1 mile away". Okie doke! The Todber Manor complex has several lakes, all boasting a range of fishing types. There are several specimen carp lakes another lake which Golden Catfish (judging from the website photos) a designated match lake and 2 general coarse lakes (one of which I intended to fish). I had rung in advance to ask what lakes would be available to fish, in the off chance of a match being on. Good job I did as there were matches on both Park lake and one of the White Posts lakes. I did wonder if this was part of the mini league I have read about in other anglers blogs, but never managed to get around to asking the match guys as they were well underway by the time I arrived.

I originally intended on arriving at the lake for half 8 - 9, but for one reason or another I didn't actually arrive until 10:30 and once I had set up and gone through a very untidy carryall I was set up and ready to fish from quarter past 11(ish)...

Lots and lots of options for me on this peg.

Tackle Store Review - Todber Manor Tackle Store

Todber Manor is somewhere that gets a fair bit of press, whether it be from official angling publications or anglings blogs, and having read how good both the venue lakes and the tackle store are, I wanted to get out to Todber and have a look for myself. As the crow flies Todber isn't that far from me, but the winding roads of Somerset and Dorset left my SatNav believing it was going to take me 57 minutes! Nonsense, and without speeding I made it in 39. I pulled into the complex, and parking right outside the store (which is open until 2.30 on a Sunday) I was very pleased with what I saw.

Get ready to empty your wallets!

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 #65 - Bendricks Beach

It's been a good few weeks since I've been able to get out and wet a line, and with several trips to and from Wales over the last fortnight I was faced with the prospect of a double header fishing wise. Obviously, when this chance started to come to fruition I jumped at it. My brother is a very keen sea angler and frequently ends up going out and catching Codling, Ray, Smoothound, Whiting... All sorts really. So when he asked if I fancied a few hours out on Saturday afternoon, (and without being remotely competitive) I picked out a few dusty beachcasters and a tripod, jumped in the car and away we went.

The rod and reels I used were;

1.       12’ 9’’ – Daiwa Amorphous Whisker (Blue) Beachcaster – Reel down

2.       12’ 6’’ – Shimano Super Ultegra Beach (Soft Tip) Beachcaster – Reel down

Both coupled with Daiwa SL20SH multiplier reels, using 18lb mainline and a 60lb shockleader. A bit of step up from 6lb Reflo...

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.

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?

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

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. 

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!

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