Winter is well underway now and the hard weather conditions are reflected in the catches and methods required. There is still some interesting fishing to be had if you can use the right methods in the right place at the right time. Take advantage of any brief mild spell of weather and you could still make a big catch. The key message is to feed very little since if you feed too much it can badly affect your chances at the moment. Check with Ronnie or Gary in the shop and they will give you all the latest info and advice.

Top Pond

You can usually depend on the Top Pond for a few fish even in the worst weather conditions. In fact it can fish surprisingly well just when you least expect - in the Boxing Day Open Match, when half the pond was frozen, Derek Brady won with nearly 26lb of Carp! Maggot and Pinkie are baits that are working well but the Carp will still take Corn and Pellet in the right place at the right time.

It definitely pays to be much more careful with your groundbaiting and feeding at this time of the year compared to the Summer. Take it easy and you have less chance of spoiling the fishing for yourself and can build a bigger catch. When nights are cold then the fishing is likely to be better in the afternoon than the morning and the last hours before dark can be very good.

Island Pond

The Island Pond has been in and out of form driven by the wildly changing weather over the last few weeks. On milder days there have been plenty of good catches up to 30lb including Carp to nearly 6lb. Maggot and Pinkie have been good baits that will catch all species but when the Carp are feeding Pellet and Corn are also good.

In the deeper pegs near the cafe there are always plenty of small fish to keep you busy including Roach, Gudgeon and Orfe. These can be caught close in but be prepared since the odd big fish can move in and surprise you!

Main Loch

December has been a difficult month and the loch has been frozen a few times. In between the worst of the weather though there have been plenty of bites available from small fish, though hitting them is the challenge ! Carp are feeding in spells and there have been some decent pleasure catches on occasions.

The fish are reluctant to come close onto a pole line in the depths of Winter so Feeder and Sliding float tactics are proving to be the best. When fishing the feeder a relatively long tail, from 3ft to 5ft helps to hit the bites and changing from a feeder to a bomb, now and again, also makes a big difference. Maggot and Pinkie are the most consistent baits at the moment.

Previous Reports

24 October 2005

8 October 2005

22 July 2005

30 April 2005

18 April 2005

25 March 2005

28 February 2005

22 January 2005

18 December 2004

25 October 2004

27 August 2004

26 June 2004

25 May 2004

27 April 2004

21 April 2004

12 April 2004

3 April 2004

18 March 2004

18 January 2004

26 December 2003

17 November 2003

27 October 2003

7 October 2003

29 July 2003