Fishing Diary May 2013

The forgotten lakes, Old Bolingbroke.

 

At the start of the month I went to the lakes with my old friend Rob. For those of you new to the diary the lakes are about two miles from Spilsby. If you look on google earth or a map they are smack between West Keal and Mavis Enderby. I've only ever seen the gamekeeper once (in about thirty visits) who relieved me of a fiver for a day ticket. Anyway, how did we get on?

 

Rob and I started on the top lake because it was blowing a gale and we found a spot that was reasonably sheltered. Rob was happily catching small Perch and Rudd on the float while I struggled on the feeder. A couple of hours passed and although we had both caught a few by this time we decided to brave the wind on the more prolific bottom lake. Alas it proved fruitless because although we did manage a few more fish we caught nothing of any note. The best fish was this rather fat little Perch caught on a worm.

 

 

I did have one more short visit towards the end of the month but again the cold weather conspired against me and I blanked trying for those massive Crucians on sweetcorn. It did look rather pretty though as the sun went down, just a shame the float wouldn't go under.

 

 

 

Partney Brick Pit, Partney.

 

Partney pit is run by the Spilsby Angling Association. It costs a paltry £20 (less for juniors and OAPs) a year to join and tickets are available to anyone. The pit itself has twenty odd pegs and all have comfortable platforms to fish from.

 

This month saw the start of the Tuesday night matches which are run by my good friend Tony. Again they are open to any member. For the uninitiated a match starts with a draw for pegs. You then have a short time to set up and fish for three hours and the winner is the angler with the highest overall weight of fish in his or her net. Now this month was a bit of a disaster for me as I couldn't get a better result than third. A couple of bad draws were had but the main problem was adjusting to the format. I've been roving about all winter, fishing were I like and for as long as I want. When the first match finished I was gutted that I couldn't carry on as the fish had just moved in.

 

The other guys are no mugs either. They fish mostly matches all year round. Me turning up with my specimen hunter chair and short margin pole just wasn't cutting it. I soon transferred my gear to my seat box and even elasticated my spare top kit to give me another option. Gradually I began to feel like I was getting somewhere and you'll be the first to know when I do finally get a win.

 

One thing matches do provide though is a great insight into what a lake holds. I've seen Tench and Bream to nearly five pounds, plenty of Carp, Roach and Rudd and even some Eels and Ide. Pegs 15-19 are the ones to head for if you are thinking of going. A rod length out with corn, meat or big pellets will put you among the fish. Also be aware of the rules (very few) on the notice board. You can get tickets from Spilsby and Skegness tackle shops or even the petrol station on Partney roundabout.

P.S for those of you strange enough to target Eels I did hear a whisper of a eight pound beast caught last year........

 

Woodlands Lake, Hawthorn Lake, Spilsby.

 

After finding my pride well and truly dented by my poor match results I decided I needed a confidence boost. Woodlands can always be relied upon for a few fish. I turned up at about five pm and this meant the cost of my day ticket was only four pounds instead of the usual five. Any peg on Hawthorn is decent and again you don't have to fish too far out. I settled at the far end of the lake on peg 15. Feeding a few pellets and some small pieces of meat the carp were soon churning up the bottom. A couple of hours and seventeen Carp later I felt like a proper angler again! I thoroughly recommend it and if you haven't been yet get yourself down there. Eric is one of the friendliest lake owners around and he'll point you in the right direction. Hawthorn is one of five lakes on site. Here's a few from that night. 

 

Toad Hall, Candlesby.

Another local lake and one of my favourites. Again I was here for the summer Thursday evening matches that also started this month. On the first three hour match I weighed in twenty two pounds and came last! Fantastic fishing though. I had a big Tench and a few small Carp along with some decent Roach and Rudd. Also in here are Perch, Chub, Eels, Bream and even some Gudgeon. I think it is a fiver for a day ticket and the fish really are in first rate condition. Pegs 1,2, 6 and 16 are the best although don't overlook the first part of the lake as I'm sure this is where most of the big Carp hide during our sparsely attended matches. The second and third matches saw me draw badly and as at Partney I await my first win with anticipation.

River Bain, Haltham.

With the rivers being closed to anglers it's still nice to get down there and have a wander. I took Mrs P and the Chaos twins (my Labradors) for company. With a river like the Bain you can sometimes spot a few fish in the clear, shallow water. Last winter I found a big slack on the far bank just below the village of Kirkby-on-Bain. I felt sure it would hold a big shoal of hopefully massive Roach. Alas I never found the time to have a go for them and when I did finally get down there the wind made it impossible to fish. Imagine my horror then when I was met with this strange piece of landscaping. What it is for I really can't imagine. All I know is that it has ruined any chance of catching a big Roach from that particular area.

On a more positive note a little further upstream I peered over the steel footbridge to see a huge Perch in the flow. I was a little to clumsy though as it saw my shadow and scooted off downstream just out of sight. This is an area you can't fish as the banks are private but it was lovely to see such a big fish in a tiny river. Two pounder for definite, maybe even bigger.

I'll leave you with my favourite peg from last winter. It looks mighty different now. You can see the bottom all the way across. Quite how so many four pound plus Chub can reside here and remain out of sight is one of fishing's great mysteries.

 

Afterword

 

As I write this I have just received a rather special invite to fish an old syndicate lake which hasn't been fished for twenty years. It has just been sold to a friend of a friend and we will be the first ones to try it out. Details are a bit sketchy but we are reasonably sure it holds some big Roach, Perch and Bream. I can't wait to go and you'll be the first to know how we get on.

 

Till next time.............................................