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Diary of an average angler

Who favours traditional methods & baits

fisherman

This diary dates back to a holiday in 2003 when I think the urge to get back into fishing took off. From around 2007 the trips became more frequent with 2010/11 probably being the peak of activity.
Things again pick up in 2020 - a sort of rebirth!

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Venues
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Venues & topics
Species
Archive

Stake Hill (4)

Venue: Stake Hill
No photo message

Nothing worth photographing today

Arrival time: 18.15 (started to fish at 18.30)
Weather: Bright with white cloud.
Light wind dropped as dusk approached.
Swim: Far corner.
Tackle: 11’ Korum light feeder, Shimano 5000 reel, waggler, 8lb line, 2½lb hook length to a 16 hook.
Bait: Bread flake
Fish: 16 small carp, best 4¾lb and a small tench.

After two years we’re back at Cringles, near Silsden, so I can visit Stake Hill again. The fishery has been open about five years. I first visited four years ago, so I have seen it develop. It’s a very tidy lake and a credit to the owners.

I fished the same corner as on the previous two occasions. Feeding with small pellets I quickly started getting bites on bread flake.

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Species: Carp, Tench

Fields End (85)

Venue: Fields End
Mirror 10lb 2oz

Only one photo today.
Larger light-box version in the full report

Arrival time: 14.00 (started to fish at 14.30)
Weather: Bright and warm with white cloud.
W wind moderated and eased completely into the evening.
Swim: Reed End.
Tackle: 11’ Korum light feeder, Shimano 5000 reel, waggler, 8lb line, 12 hook.
11’6” Hardy Marksman, Mitchell 301 reel, controller float, 8lb line, 10 hook.
Baits: Bread flake, floating crust and luncheon meat.
Fish: two carp, best 10lb 2oz

Another afternoon session but this time the lake was busier. The Reed End wouldn’t have been my first choice but it was the best pitch of those that weren’t already occupied.

I tried flake and luncheon meat close to the reeds but whereas last week I was quickly into a couple of decent fish before things quietened down, on this occasion nothing. Plenty of fiddly bites, some of which sailed away, but no contact was made. One small roach confirmed my suspicion that these were smaller fish and an occasional small scale on the hook reinforced this view.

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Species: Carp 10lb+, Carp

Block Fen (14)

Venue: Block Fen
No photo message

Nothing worth photographing today

Arrival time: 15.45
Weather: Bright, warm and windy.
Pond is sheltered but wind created a nuisance drift.
Swim: Pump Pond - Reed Corner.
Tackle: Drennan Barbel Specialist, Shimano Exage 4000, 12lb line, size 8 hook tied direct.
Baits: Bread flake and luncheon meat
Fish: Blank - One lost

Again I decided to grab a few hours over the Pump Pond. It’s a difficult lake and I would only ever expect one or two fish. On this occasion the wind was blowing into the opposite corner and there was little sign of reed movement. However, after a while I spotted a few knocks on the reeds indicating that fish were in residence.

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Species: Blank

Fields End (84)

Venue: Fields End
Tench 3lb 14oz

More photos in the full report

Arrival time: 15.00 (started to fish at 15.25)
Weather: Bright and warm with increasing cloud.
SW wind moderated and eased completely into the evening.
Swim: Reed End.
Tackle: 11’ Korum light feeder, Shimano 5000 reel, waggler, 8lb line, 12 hook.
Baits: Bread flake and luncheon meat.
Fish: Three carp, best 8lb 10oz, and four tench, best 3lb 14oz:

I was so shattered after last week’s all day session in the wind and sun that I decided to go to the lake for the afternoon and evening.

There was a fresh SW wind blowing so a swim in the SW bay would have been ideal, but all were taken bar one, and with that number of people concentrated in one area I decided to go to the NE corner, which was deserted. Back to the Reed End where I was last week. Glutton for punishment?

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Species: Carp, Tench

Fields End (83)

Venue: Fields End
Crucian 2lb 4oz

More photos in the full report

Arrival time: 07.00 (started to fish at 07.45)
Weather: Bright, warm and sunny later.
Light S wind became troublesome in the afternoon.
Swim: Reed End.
Tackle: 11’ Korum light feeder, Shimano 5000 reel, waggler, 8lb line, 14/12 hook.
Drennan Barbel Specialist, Shimano Exage 4000 reel, 12lb line, 8 hook.
Baits: Bread flake and luncheon meat.
Fish: Three carp, best 10½lbs, six crucians, best 2lbs 4oz, a tench of 3lb 3oz and a 1lb roach.

Because of bank holidays and other things to do it’s been a couple of weeks or more since I’ve been fishing .

The forecast for a southerly wind made swim choice difficult. The south bank is somewhat featureless so I opted for the reed end swim in the north east corner. Things started well enough. With a light breeze conditions were perfect.

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Species: Carp 10lb+, Carp, Crucian, Roach

Fields End (86)

Venue: Fields End
No photo message

Nothing worth photographing today

Arrival time: 15.00 (started to fish at 15.30)
Weather: Blustery and overcast. The westerly wind only moderated slightly into the evening.
Swim: SE Reed Corner / Tree Corner.
Tackle: 11’6” Hardy Marksman, Mitchell 301 reel, waggler, 8lb line, 10 hook.
Bait: Bread flake, crust, luncheon meat.
Fish: Two carp, best 6½lb and small roach.

I thought I would grab a few hours as I hadn’t been over the lake for over a month. There was only one van in the car park when I arrived, which was encouraging, but the caravan/camp site was full. This was borne out once I got to the bank, there being very few vacant swims. I thought I would try the reeds in the SE corner. It’s the shallowest part of the lake and with the levels down this year following the exceptionally dry spring, it was very shallow indeed.

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Species: Carp, Roach

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