Spring is here now, in name if not weather, and though conditions can still be Wintry the fishing is improving rapidly with some great fishing over the last few days. The ponds are starting to give bigger catches, as is the Main Loch, and the recent addition of thousands more Carp and Chub has come just at the right time to lift spirits and get rods bending again. Until the weather gets a lot warmer though it is still worth a check with Ronnie in the shop for the best advice on where to go and how to fish.

Top Pond

Top Pond is fishing well now with new 'stockie' Carp livening up catches and Carp up to 2 1/2 lb showing up. Even when it is cold you can still get plenty of fish and Ralph Smith beat the Top Pond match record with 29lb 7oz. Orfe are also feeding well with catches over 20lb solely of Blue Orfe !

Maggot and Pinkie are baits that are working well but the Carp will still take Corn and Pellet pellet is starting to work better. Feeding tips are much the same as the Island Pond - take it easy to start but be ready to step up when the fish are feeding well.

Island Pond

The Island Pond has steadily improved in the last week and is now fishing well and seeing big catches again. Ide are the most consistent fish and some lovely bags up to 25lb including fish to 1lb are being seen more regularly. Carp are also starting to show more, including lots of the new stock in bags of over 30lb, but on each day certain areas will be best and they are still feeding better later in the day. Carp of 6lb are getting caught daily and is only a matter of time before it warms enough for the big Tench to join in and odd Tench to 4lb are showing now.

Maggot is still the most consistent bait but when the Carp are feeding corn is working well and pellet is getting better.  Key at this time of year is how much to feed - still worth taking it easy to start with, but once you start catching it can often pay to step up the feed to draw more fish and get them competing.

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

Thousands of newly stocked Carp of 3-6oz and small Chub have kick-started sport and some good fishing is usually the result with some nice recent catches getting up to 30lb. Paul Joyce had a great catch last week of around 100 Carp. Occasional bigger Carp to 3lb are also getting in on the act and skimmer Bream are starting to make an appearance too.

The fish are starting to come closer onto a pole line though Feeder and Sliding float tactics are still working well. Fish can sometimes be caught very close in on the cafe bank. 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 still the most consistent baits at the moment but Pellet is starting to work for Carp.


Previous Reports

29 December 2005

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