Since my last post I have been working two or three days a week and have done three outings with my fellow coaches from the NFA. One was an open day for Farnham Angling Society at their excellent coaching lake at Badshot Lea. I coached at this venue last year and really enjoyed it and it was just as good this year. This is a very forward thinking angling club who look after their juniors and manage their waters well. The other outings were at Judges Lake, Winchester run by Eastleigh and District Angling Club and at South Hill Park, Bracknell and run by Bracknell Herons. Two more forward thinking angling clubs. Well done, lads!
Meanwhile Long Moor Farm fishery is still providing the goods for my students with small tench and carp.
Any float fishing method works and almost any bait will catch, I have even caught carp on floating bread on a pole as a demonstration. Usually sweetcorn does the trick and the carp have a tendency to take it on the drop, but maggots or soft hooker pellets will also work. Hemp and trout pellets are banned but I feed the swim with carp pellets and maggots at first and then loose feed with corn. Everyone catches plenty of fish and as you can see from the pictures, this little lad is really pleased with himself.
These fish are usually caught on a five metre whip with no elastic and a three pound hook length and you can see from the next pictures how much joy they bring.
Many of these students have never caught fish before or nothing as big as these and I get as much pleasure from it as they do.
Twynersh is still featuring in a big way on my coaching programme, particularly when I have larger groups. I have been using Lake Three again after a few years now that the landscaping work is finished and it is once again the site of many students first sucesses.
An Asian familly had a great day on one of my beginners courses, lots of fish were caught by everyone, both roach and perch, from this tiny specimen, his first fish.
To this slightly larger perch.
Roach were showing as well
Then this monster perch which weighed two pounds twelve ounces.
A great family day out and this little fellow will remember this fish for the rest of his life.
Lake Three at Twynersh has also been producing some nice bream which can be caught over a bed of ground bait, pellets, sweetcorn and hemp and these fish took sweetcorn and maggot cocktail.
As I write this the river season has started but the amount of rain we have had recently promises to make things difficult. I am waiting until Monday to make my start so that I have a better chance of getting my beloved river Kennet to myself. I’ll let you know how I get on.
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