Hartleylands Farm Fishery. Finches Pond. February 21st, 2004.

Having been told by Maria that she would be working late today, I decided that I’d sneak off and have a few hours at Hartleylands Farm today.
Looking out of the window at 7am, the car was covered in frost, so it was another 30 minutes under a nice warm duvet followed by a leisurely breakfast before loading the car.
I arrived at Hartleylands just after 10am, and with just 3 other cars in the car park, and with a layer of cat-ice on Samson pond, I drove up to have a look at the reservoir. Getting out of the car I realised just how strong and cold the wind was and decided to go for a bit of comfort and fish Finches pond which sits in a hollow about 20 feet below the reservoir and would be nicely sheltered.
Looking down Finches…

I fancied fishing the pole, and given the steep nature of the banks at the car park end, elected to have a stroll down to the far end where the flatter banks make it easier to fish at 13mtrs to the far bank cover.
Setting up on the end peg I noticed that yet again the fishery staff had been hard at work renewing all the platforms on the pegs, Nice solid 1mtr square wooden platforms that are covered in chicken wire so that they are non-slip.

End peg…
I just set up the one top kit threaded with white Hydro, with a rig comprising of a Drennan Carp 6 float with 4lb line straight through with a bulk and two no10 droppers ending with a 18 Kamasan Animal. Bait was to be sweetcorn fished over micro halibut pellets, with a few expanda pellets prepared as an alternative hookbait.

I wasn’t expecting any fireworks, but after 20mins the float slid away and I connected with a nice Common that after a brief scrap, slid over the net to brighten up the day. A nice plump fish in mint condition that went just over 5lbs…………

1st of the day…

Slow and steady would be the best description of the day, 13 bites produced 12 Carp and 1 Submarine that just wandered off down the lake without stopping. I don’t think it even knew that it was hooked!!!!
The rest were a mix of Commons and Mirrors, all plump fish between 3 & 5lbs, and in beautiful condition.

…… So all in all, a nice little session with about 40lbs of fish on a day that didn’t promise an awful lot at first. Yet again Hartleylands had come up with the goods.

Lavender Farm Fishery. The Old Lake. February 15th, 2004.

Hawthorne AC club match.

Well it was off to Lavender Farm today for a Hawthorne AC club match.
For a bit of added interest I was being joined by 3 guests, all members of Maggotdrowning.com, in the shape of Dave the Fish, Colin the Pike and last but not least Malc “The Jinx” Doyle.

After various bits of banter in the car park it was time for the draw. Peg 92 was mine and low and behold Dave drew 93. Fortunately Malc drew on the dam wall which was about as far away from us as it was possible to get, though poor Colin only managed to get 4 pegs away. I was planning to start on the straight lead fishing corn, with a possible switch later on to the end of a dead reed bed on my left, into about 4 feet of water.

At the whistle Paul potted in 2 big cups of maggot at 11mtrs, and in his first 3 put ins had 3 carp for about 10lbs in the net.  My tip meanwhile refused to move so a hasty change onto the pole and out to about 10mtrs in 9ft of water with corn on the hook, resulted in a couple of tentative bites and my first carp, but I was going backwards as Paul was off to a flyer.

At the start I had fed a couple of handfuls of micro halibut pellets into the reed bed on my left along with a few grains of corn, and after about an hour the stems started waiving as fish moved through them. I’d normally wait till later in the match before going onto that line, but I was getting battered by Paul and had to try something. Bites for the most part were tiny little dips, but slowly I felt that I was pulling back the deficit. Paul having seen me catching close, moved onto his margin and while not getting as many as me, seemed to be catching a better stamp of fish.

Dave had decided to concentrate on the other side of the reeds to me, and was slowly putting a few together. Malc was happily adjusting to a smaller stamp of Carp than he’s been used to at Drayton & Stockton, but unfortunately Colin was having a hard time of it in his peg, fish proving hard to come by.
All to soon for me the scales arrived, with Paul weighing 66lbs 06ozs for 1st place, to my level 63lbs which gave me 2nd place overall, Pauls better stamp of fish making all the difference. Dave managed 17lbs 12ozs for 8th on the day and Malc managed a creditable 34lbs 14ozs for 5th. Unfortunately Colin tipped his back without weighing.

Also today the club was fishing its Pairs Cup and with my partner on the day Mark Smith weighing in with 48lbs, we were the winners with 111lbs.
So a good day for me, and I hope that my 3 guests enjoyed themselves.

Hartleylands Farm Fishery. Nick’s Lake. January 25th, 2004.

Hawthorne AC

AT Supercup match.

It was off down to Hartleylands for our Supercup match this morning.
On the way down in the car and the outside temp was reading -2°C, and the fields were so white with frost that it looked as if it had snowed.
On arriving at the fishery the temp had risen to a stunning 0°C but there didn’t appear to be any signs of frost! There was a bright blue sky and just a gentle breeze while the water temp was 4°C.

Into the draw, and I found myself making my way to peg 20, with a leisurely 1½hrs till the start of the match.

Peg 20,Looks lovely doesn’t it?……
Well I’d been told that feeder (either maggot or groundbait) with a ·08 hooklength and a 22 with single red maggot was the way to go dropped about a metre away from the island, so that was set up 1st.
I couldn’t resist setting up the pole as well and the main line of attack would be at 13mtrs where I had got around 5ft,using a ·6grm Drennan Lake with a ·07 hooklength and a 22 again. Through the top2 I’d got the new Drennan green dual core (6-8) set soft, as I was expecting stockies no bigger than 12ozs max.

All-in, and after cupping in a few micro pellets and a small amount of dry groundbait on the pole line, it was out on the feeder.
Well it wasn’t happening for me but the lad to my left on peg 21 was catching steadily from the off while I couldn’t buy a bite, but all the time I’d been feeding 2-3 maggots every couple of minutes on the pole line.

After 30 minutes it was out onto the pole line and after 10mins the float dipped, and I was into a Carp at last, not huge at about 6ozs but at least it avoided the dreaded blank. Another 20mins went by without another bite, so back onto the feeder which produced another couple and that’s the way it went nearly all match for me. Even a pep talk from Red Leader had no effect other than to lighten the mood.

Well with about 45 minutes to go I was being battered by the next peg and I reckoned he must have 20+lbs while I’d got about 6lbs if was lucky.
Back out on the pole for a final look and they were there  and in the last 45 minutes I managed a fish a chuck. Why couldn’t they have turned up earlier?
Come the weigh-in and the lad to my left put 22lbs 2ozs on the scales which easily eclipsed my 13lbs 9ozs.
The match was won by Medway Tackle (blue) by 14pts to 10pts, so that’s us knocked out of the Supercup for another season. Overall the 16 of us weighed in 235lbs 6ozs, an average of over 14½lbs per man, which I feel given the conditions just goes to show what a good fishery Harleylands is to produce those sort of weights on a hard January day.

Frant Lakes. The Horseshoe. January 18th, 2004.

Hawthorne AC club match.

Well today it was off to the Horseshoe Lake at Frant Lakes for a Hawthorne AC club match. Loading up the car I was beginning to wonder if I needed my brains examined, as it was blowing a near gale and lashing down with rain. On arrival the chuck wagon was closed as well, so no breakfast. Walking down to the lake for the draw it was obvious that an awful lot of cold rain water was running into the lake which wasn’t a good omen. The Horseshoe (Lake 6 in the above diagram) has one side that is wider and deeper than the other, 40yds wide and between 6-8ft deep and the other 20yds wide with a maximum depth of 4 ft. Everyone wanted the deeper side! Into the draw and it’s peg 49 for me, one of only 3 on the shallower side. Setting up in a peg that resembled a swamp, no nice paths or platforms here, a session of plumbing up revealed an even 4ft everywhere, and not a noticeable feature to be found. I settled for fishing at 8 mtrs as the wind was liable to make anything further impossible. It was going to be single red maggot or double fluro pinkie on a size 20, with a pinch of either fed via a T-pot every put in. Well after 30 minutes I got my first bite from a little Perch, and after that bites came regularly, though not rapidly from small Roach, Skimmers and more Perch. On the end peg Dave van Hegan was running away with the match as he had plenty of cover to fish to and with the wind blowing into it he was getting a few of the Carp that are in the water. With an hour to go I managed to get 4 Carp to add to the silvers, but the largest only scraped 2lbs. Thankfully when the whistle went at 3 pm the rain had stopped. Dave put 39lbs 2ozs on the scales for a resounding win, and I was pleasantly surprised that my net went 14lbs 12ozs, and was good enough for 2nd place and a little brown envelope. Hard work today, but worth it in the end.

Hartleylands Farm Fishery. January 2nd, 2004.

A Cautionary Tale……….

First a word of warning Dear Reader, If you fancy a quiet days fishing in pursuit of Perch DON’T post the idea on Maggotdrowning.com.
Hijacked?………Well at least Dick Turpin had the decency to wear a mask.

Last week realising that I’d be off today (friday) I posted on the going fishing section, “I fancy a day at Hartleylands on Friday the 2nd to kick off the New Year.
Anyone else up for it?”  Thinking that someone may be mad enough to fancy a trip out after the excess of Christmas & New Year.
Dave the Fish mentioned that he fancied a crack at the large Perch that inhabit Samson pond, and before you could say “STRIKE” they were all lining up to join in.

Welshmen (Dai & son Dan) were planning round trips from the valleys, while a grumpy ex-pat old Englishman, moved a doctors appointment to stow away to his homeland.
Colin joined in because he had to supply a kettle for Dave the Fish, While Mick (Weyback) tagged along on the flimsy pretence of acquiring a ring for an old rod.
Terry aka Wily Coyote decided that as he’d found his “Winter Woolies” he’d better use them, and on the day from out of the blue “The Hat” aka Andy appeared.

Vince, the bailiff on hearing of this mini invasion, suddenly found a visit to his
Mother-in-law to be preferable, in case he had to get the excavator out to extend the pond, though he did appear briefly to part us from some ££££’s for BDAA raffle tickets.

Malc? Who knows with his inherent sense of direction, he may still be wandering the surrounding lanes searching for a sign.

So to the fishing, it was soon apparent that 9 into a tiny pond that may at a squeeze take 7 wasn’t going to happen so some split to other parts of the fishery.
The Hat & Wily strolled off to the reservoir, The Hat armed with his new margin pole to try for his target of a “Twenty” on the pole, while Wily just wanted to be alone to recover from the shock that the grumpy ex-pat old Englishman (Geoff),was in fact the very same Master G Palmer that he had been at school with some 40 years before.
Mick retreated to the relative seclusion of Finches, while Colin elected to try Hennicker, though he later shifted to Nick’s Lake. The rest of us? Being Lazy Buggers piled onto Sampson, despite it being at least a 2 yard walk from the car park.

Oh yes I hear you say, what about the fishing? ………….. Well not exactly stunning.
The Hat got his Carp, just a shame that it had been on a diet and lost 15lbs, but did get a specimen Perch ............

Wily managed a few silvers towards the end, but was probably left wishing that he’d never found those “Winter Woolies”.


Colin managed to save his day with some small Carp from Nicks lake.

Dave wondered if his float tip would ever get wet, but did manage a couple of silvers at the death on some month old pinkies. Mind you he did have the handicap of seeing a beardless Geoff in the swim next door all day.

Geoff managed a couple of Gudgeon and a few silvers, but was left cursing after losing a Common Carp of about 5lbs, that smashed him having swum through some brambles, and promptly retreated under his hood and baseball cap to hide his shame.



Dai, despite the provocation of Geoff's phone playing “Sweet Chariot” at various times got a few silvers and a start in “The Fishing race 2004″, but poor Dan had a mare and despite trying with Dads pole in his swim only succeeded in bumping the 3 Roach he hooked.

Me? I managed 3 small Carp and lost another Common when the hook came out, and about 20 assorted small Skimmers, Roach and Hybrids.

And 12 points for The Fishing Race 2004 ………..



The best bite of the day? Without doubt the hot pasties and pies that Dave the Fish kindly supplied half way through the day from the farm bakery. Nice one Dave.

So that was it a nice quiet day out that became a mini fish-in.
Friendships made and renewed, and faces put to names on a forum. A laugh and a joke with the fishing becoming incidental. All in All……A Grand Day Out.