Bowood

December 2025 Part 1 – All I want for Christmas

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Managed to get out on three occasions up to now for short sessions mainly due to other commitments and the weather. For the temperatures to be sub-zero one day and double figures the next is not conducive to getting bites in the waters I fish (learned the hard way by experience!). So session 1 I opted for the Pondtail as the amount of rain we had received I knew the main lake would be rock hard plus the trek would be very slippery as the sheep had been in the first field. So peg 2 beckoned armed with a 5m whip and maggots and worms plus the ubiquitous wheat I lasted from 9:30 to 11:00 (first and last casts) in the absolutely bitter wind for no bites and no indications on the bait! A great start to the month!

Next session 10th sees me opt for the canal at Rowde armed with the seat-bag, a 5m whip (the cheaper Chinese variety) and the pike rod. I settled on the first space after the lock moorings as there was a long line of boats moored up along the rest of the pound. Interestingly there were a couple from the C&RT that were going along and noting the barge numbers as there is a limit to how long they can moor up in one place (canal traffic wardens!). Starting at 9:40 the sardine went out and received no attention. The whip was slow although there was a decent depth and I used a 1g homemade float to counteract the likely tow when boats went through the lock, although no boats went past while I was there! I lasted until 11:40 having scratched out 3 perch, 2 roach and a skimmer form about 9-10oz. Mistake I made was just to loose feed a pinch of maggots every so often whereas I felt on reflection I should have mixed a bit of groundbait up.

Two days later Friday 12th sees me try High Penn, this time in the south-west corner, a swim I had not tried before. It was a bit muddy, so much so that I put down a cross patch of branches to put my feet on so I didn’t sink into the mud while sitting on the seat-bag.

Sorry about the picture but it was that very fine drizzle that the wife calls wet rain as it seems to get in all the nooks and crannies, especially camera lenses! Anyway I had taken the 15ft waggler set up with a 3AAA homemade insert waggler – sarkandas cane with a 3mm pole float tip, 0.12mm reel line to a 0.1mm hooklength and 20 barbless. Loose feeding maggot at about 20m in 8-9 feet of water I lasted until 11:30 when the wet rain turned to full on rain and with no bites despite trying various combinations of maggots and worm, I settled for a return home.

So what do I want for Christmas? Well world peace would be great but not likely to happen so at a more mundane level some settled weather whether cold or wet I don’t mind as long as we don’t get the fluctuations in temperature that we have been experiencing. Bites would be gratefully received but that is down to me working at getting them, so finally that whoever is mad enough to read these ramblings has a good and healthy Christmas and New Year.

November 2025 part 1-no fireworks here!

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First outing is on the 4th when I took the Frenzee waggler to the Pondtail peg 1 and had a pleasant couple of hours fishing (9:45 to 11:45) double maggot and just loose feeding a few maggots at intervals. I set the homemade peacock waggler with the bulk around the float , a no. 6 about 2 feet from the hook and a no. 8 about six inches from the 18 hook, the result was 3-06 comprising of 36 roach and 4 perch.

Friday sees me wander down to peg 10 at Bowood, fishing 10-12. The pike rod with sardine went out to no avail and the lighter elastic and winter rig with a homemade body down float taking a bulk of 1g and 2 no 8 droppers to an 18 carried double maggot to start and later worm but no real size of fish came to this even with a bit of chopped work in the initial two balls of groundbait. 17 rudd, a roach, a microscopic perch, a hybrid and a skimmer managed to pull the scales round to 2-03.

Wednesday sees me back at Bowood but I changed plans as there was a car already parked up and I recognised it as an angler that in all likelihood would be on peg 10, no with the lake still holding vast amounts of weed the only peg worth fishing with known clear areas was 10 so I made the decision to leave the sardines in the car and fished the Pondtail on the pole for a change! Fishing 9:30 to 11:30 I started with 2 firmish balls of groundbait with some wheat and then loose fed wheat every few minutes, only topping up the groundbait with a ball every 40 mins or so. The weather was typical November- wet but this time quite warm at 14C. I set up with a lighter elastic than usual teamed with a BGT Blues taking 0.75g to a 0.10mm hooklength and an 18 with double maggot. Shotting was the usual bulk set about 3 feet from the hook with two no.8 droppers. Bites came steadily apart from a couple of blank periods when the flow changed, fifteen roach and two perch took the scales down to 1-10.

Friday was going to be my next outing but waking up to a dark oppressive gloom and rain I took the easy option and decided to write this instead! On the other side of the world Gareth had returned to the commercial he had visited previously- the one where you got money back for every fish you caught!

Fishing a whip he ended up with 3 large tilapia (4-5lb) and a carp fishing the traditional two hook method with a soft paste on the top hook and a firm paste on the bottom hook. All the fish came to the bottom hook with a paste made from the fishery provided pellets he was loose feeding.

One of the tilipia had a tag which apparently made it count as 3 fish – only 100 fish in the whole lake were tagged and of course he had to get one! The most fish caught when he was there was 5 and the lowest 2 so he didn’t do too bad in the four hour session.

A pike from Bowood now becomes a target for the remainder of the month!

October 2025 Part 2 – a myth dispelled!

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With the up coming visit from Clive aka SidestreamBob I thought I had better return to Semington and make sure there was plenty of bank space, so I also took a pair of shears and cut a swim closer to the pump than I fished before but still close enough to Clive’s peg.

Peg duly cut I set up a single rig of a 1g homemade float to 0.14mm Tornado and 0.12mm Tornado hooklength to an 18 fishing the 2+2 line in about 6-7 feet of water. Double maggot was again the bait with two pudding consistency balls of groundbait introduced with a little maggot and chopped worm in it. This is not the typical canal approach but for this particular area it is a basic approach. First put in was 10:15 and by 12:15 I had amassed 28 roach, 28 skimmers, 5 larger skimmers, best being 1-08, 3 perch (best 0-14), 2 gudgeon and a rudd for a total of 8-08. I had lost 3 good fish to hook pulls, two were most likely big perch and one a bream judging by the slime on the line. Perch have bony mouths so a hook pull is always possible and the bream tend to have softer mouths than usual.

Anyway it looked good for Monday. Sunday I nip down to Bowood and set up on peg 10 putting the pike rod out and fishing my usual style. However I fished from 10 to 11 at which point the heavy rain got heavier and there were no signs of any pike activity, further evidenced by no slack periods on the pole – 40 rudd, 4 skimmer and a perch for 2-12.

Monday comes around and the sunny fine day of Friday at Semington is replaced by dull wet weather! Clive and I met up as arranged and I led him along the pounds to the pump and put him on the first peg I had fished as it was flatter and no vegetation in the way while I dropped in to the newly cut one from Friday. I had told Clive pole only as it was an ideal opportunity for him to get used to the pole while getting plenty of bites. To cut a long story short the day went off with intermittent rain and dry spells, Clive lost a good fish to a hook pull, possibly a big perch but did manage to get a perch of 1-04 plus a load of smaller fish for a 4lb total.I had a similar experience losing 3 good fish , landing a perch of 1-12 in a total of 8-07. The pump was active for about 30 minutes during which bites dried up significantly. However, the myth that SidestreamBob can’t catch fish is well and truly smashed after his exploits today and earlier in the season. (You will notice he is far better at taking photos than me!)

The myth breaker

Sunday is the next time I get out and this time I head for peg 10 at Bowood armed with the pike rod and 6m Chinese whip with just the haversack seat. Pike rod went out at 9 and the whip followed ten minutes later. I admit I got fed up with the small rudd, 34 of them by the time I packed up at 11:10 when the rain started again, along with 2 roach and 3 small skimmers for 1-08, not a sign of a pike or any activity.

Undeterred I returned next day to Bowood – to peg 11, yes eleven, armed with the haversack seat, pike rod and waggler. It was a very windy blowing left to right and a cold day. The peg had not been dragged at all and was weedy but I stuck at it and from 9:55 to 11:50 did not see a pike or get a run, but did get 18 rudd on the waggler for 1-10, as you can tell a better stamp than previously but still small.

Last day of the month and a dull very windy start that would turn into wet and windy later! I decided to head for High Penn as there were water mains repairs on the road to Bowood and they were working right by the entrance which made things awkward.I decided to take the haversack seat and just a waggler rod although I opted for a 15′ Filstar Premier Match that is at least 12 years old teamed up with a Kastking Sharky reel with 0.16mm line to a 0.12mm hooklength and size 18 barbless hook. Float was a homemade peacock quill taking 4AAA with 3AAA and a BB locking the float with a number 1 shot about 2 feet from the hook and a number 4 about 9 inches from the hook. Heavy set up but in reality needed in the 10’+ of water at 16m and the heavy wind creating a flow. I fished 9:40 to 11:30 when the heavens opened for a second time but fed sparingly, simply loose feeding 20 or so maggots every time bites slowed after an initial two helpings. The rod needs a bit of explaining as it is not like the ultra slim rods available today, it is noticeably thicker and heavier but has a very nice soft action in the tip which allows you to feel even the smallest fish whilst retaining a lot of backbone further down the rod. I was thinking this gave me the best of both worlds given the number of carp in High Penn.It was bites from the off with 15 perch, 16 rudd and 4 roach coming to hand, nothing bigger than 3oz, for a 2-06 total.

Taken during one of the calmer periods (there weren’t many!)

November awaits, will it bring a pike from Bowood?

September 2025 Part 2- I hate weed!

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Like a demented addict I return to peg 10 at Bowood and usual method I tried to stick on corn but after a while started alternating with maggot to no real avail. Basically it was dire with 4 bites and four fish, all rudd , three on maggot and one on corn for a miserable 3oz.

Friday sees me go to the K&A canal at Semmington, walking up to the pump area by the flyover. This was always a good bream spot before they added the new viaduct and I wanted to see what it was like now. Fishing 10-12 I set up the pole to fish at roughly 6m where the slope ended and introduced a ball of stodgy groundbait to counteract the flow and depth and a few chopped worms, loose feeding wheat and the odd maggot over the top. Starting on double maggot on a 16 below a 1g float in the approx 6ft of water with a bulk set 2ft from the hook and a single no8 dropper I immediately started catching, first 4 put ins resulted in skimmer,skimmer roach, skimmer. This carried on with small skimmers for a while until a lull was broken with a better fish that turned out to be a perch of 1-12 that stretched the no 10 elastic. (Number 10 is not usual for a canal I admit but for this area and depth of water I followed some advice given by Ian Didcot many moons ago, namely that the heavier elastic would set the hook better compared to the more usual elastics used). Swapping to a piece of worm the fish kept on coming until a boat driven by a New Zealand Captain Pugwash came straight down the inside almost running into my net while heading for the moorings at the lock. I was not pleased and suggested in future he did what other boaters do – keep out then hard turn in, drop off member to tie up front rope and pull mid-barge rope to level up and secure. To make matters worse a second barge then came and did the same but stopped to my left with its bow in touching distance of my landing net (I actually had to move it to prevent it getting hit). I struggled on while they waited for their antipodean friend in a third barge to catch up. They then managed to churn everything up while going through the lock. I gave it another ten minutes but decided to pack up, finishing with the perch plus two small ones, a gudgeon, a roach a rudd and lots of small skimmers for a 4-13 total.

Following Wednesday sees me back at peg 10 Bowood, a glutton for punishment or more like a dog that won’t give up his bone! Still heavily weeded, may be almost mid November before any piking can occur, I set up usual fashion and tried maggot, worm, corn and wheat and caught on all of them, ending the three hours with 15 rudd, 8 roach, a hybrid, 3 perch and two skimmers for a level 3lb.

Friday sees me head for High Penn for a change, fishing the middle of the East bank.

I had taken just the margin pole and plumbing up found about 10feet of water. A couple of walnuts of groundbait were introduced and a sprinkling of wheat with the odd maggot loose fed. and the couple of hours shot by with the 1g float regularly lifting or going down.The 11 roach, 9 perch and 14 rudd went 4-09 with the best fish being a roach of 0-12. Unfortunately the carp cruising around stayed out of pole reach, perhaps I’ll take a waggler next time!

My focus then moved to getting sorted for the Maggotdrowners match at the Glebe on October1st.

September 2025 Part 1 -World apart

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A bitty start to the month with various commitments like car MOT and service among others, anyway I got out on the 5th and settled o peg 10 at Bowood fishing 9:30 to 11:30 by which time I was pulling out what little hair I have left! The reason for my frustrations were the hundreds if not thousands of tiny rudd about 2 inches long constantly attacking the float and the corn, often preventing the corn from sinking by creating a ball around it as they tried to get it in their mouths! I had fished my usual rig with all the shot six inches fro the hook. By 11:30 i had managed to get 4 rudd on maggot, a roach and a rudd on corn and a roach on a Chinese honey jelly pellet! A total of 10oz.

Monday 8th and Tuesday 9th see me at the Glebe outside Hinckley for a two day invitational that I was running on behalf of Herbie. I had informed Herbie that this was likely to be my last MFS event. Money taken, nets dipped and draw made, the last peg left was mine and it was my usual area peg 24!. I set up a feeder with the intention of swapping to a straight lead later , a long pole rig with a 0.8g homemade long rugby ball float teamed up with 0.18mm line and a size 16, a short line with a similar float taking 0.6g and a 14 (my paste line!) and a rig for the margin 0.20mm to a 14.

It was slow I resisted the temptation to put the feeder up the bank and go on my long pole line that had been primed with 3 balls of groundbait initially and a pinch of 6mm pellets every couple of minutes, as it was evident it was a struggle for everyone. Ninety minutes in and I get my first bite, a small skimmer!, Ten minutes later the rod pulls round and I latch into a real lump that decided to run along the far bank and smash me in the reeds! The joys of fishing! I finally snared a carp of about 3lb on the feeder.The inside line proved empty despite regular feeding and efforts throughout the match, margin produced nothing and in the end I stayed on the 11.5m long line with 6mm pellet giving me 7 carp. At the weigh in I had 48-13 of carp and the skimmer of 0-04 for a 49-01 total. Annoyingly I had also lost a double figure carp that I had in the net twice and it swam out twice before I could lift the net, losing it eventually after a hook pull. One of my landed carp was in the 12-15lb range but this one was bigger!

Day 2 came and this time I was left with peg 8.

From yesterday I had gleaned that the people who had caught well were on the bomb about half way out, pinging pellet over the top. So I amended my approach to start on the bomb, also setting up the same rigs as the day before. Now peg 8 has a pole stuck in the water about 5m out and 6-7m down the peg, I have fished this peg before and have always been able to steer the carp around the pole without issue. The day went slow again with me getting 3 carp on the bomb and pulling out of 4 more, while the 11.5m line produced not a single bite! The 5m line towards the pole got me one skimmer and the right margin gave me 4 carp with 3 lost and 3 skimmers. Carp weighed 39-11 and a level 4-00 for the skimmers making a 43-11 substandard total!

Sunday sees me licking my wounds and going for a short session on the Pondtail before the rain and wind arrive! I set up on peg 1 although it was now getting overrun with plant life!

I opted for the 3m Chinese whip and a Chinese float set up with olivettes and a single no12 dropper to a 18 hook. I started with two plum sized balls of soft groundbait and fed wheat every few minutes during the session from 9:35 to 11:10. When I set up I realised that I had not got a landing net head in the net bag!

The set up – the distance from the hook to the olivettes is about 2 feet whereas the total depth is approx 5ft. Fishing double maggot alongside the furthest bunch of the two weed bunches I manged 32 roach and a solitary perch for about 3-3.5lb

Now fishing in China is different to say the least, Gareth sent me some pictures of a visit to a commercial he had heard about.

Only whips allowed, it was very busy, need to draw your peg before you start -you draw 2 pegs and choose which one you want to fish! 300 yuan (approx £30) to fish but they refund you 25 yuan (£2.50) for every fish you catch but you are on a timer, 300 yuan 4 hours, 600 yuan 8 hours. When he arrived the “regulars” were making comments unaware that he could understand a lot and Wendy, his wife, was also present and heard them say that he stood no chance of catching!

He used his own 4.5m whip, but they also supply if needed but maximum length allowed is 5.4m. They gave him pellets, paste, landing net and an umbrella. You can see every peg has its own permanent keepnet in the water. Next time the manager said she will give him a proper box to sit on she also said biggest fish is 20lbs and listed the species but no idea what they are as she only spoke Chinese, she said the smallest fish around 4lbs in there. The whips are powerful enough to get them out, 0.25mm to 12lbs braid with about a size 6 hook everyone using 2 hooks, 1 hook has big ball of sloppy paste on and other hook small piece of harder pace. Around 5pm everyone started feeding pellets in the margins and fishing close in (just like here!). He saw lots of lost fish , they are big and fight hard. So how did he do? Well the regulars making the remarks blanked and he caught two tilapia the one in the photo is 6lb (weighed) and he also had another of 7lb(weighed).

August 2025 Part 2 -normal service?

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Sunday 17th I head off to Bowood with weed rake in tow. I was shocked by the extent the reeds/rushes had encroached on the main channel with by my reckoning at least 9 (NINE) swims were now unfishable due to the rushes and weed growth given there are only 25 swims discounting the Pondtail (2) and Stock Pond (2) it was getting dire. I decided to try peg 8, starting at 9 o’clock with the rake and forty minutes later I had a mound of weed behind me and a narrow strip of channel to fish in out to 10m. Dirty, sweaty and knackered I set up the pole and had my first put in as the bell chimed 10. The next two hours were frustrating as despite me bulking the shot making up the 0.8g four inches from the hook the corn bait was being intercepted by hordes of 2-3 inch rudd so that the float was either not cocking or being taken for a wander as the ball of rudd failed to get the corn into their mouths. I had started with just two balls of groundbait with wheat and corn and made the mistake of loose feeding wheat which acted as a dinner bell to the ravenous juvenile rudd. By noon I had smuggled out a solitary roach and ten rudd for a 1-10 total.

Tuesday and I am back at peg 8 fishing 9:10 to 12:10. Same rig but this time starting with three hard balls of groundbait and a full pot of wheat with a few grains of corn. Loose feeding was a no-no, so any additional feed was introduced via a cup. Again the rudd proved to be a nuisance but I managed to get 2 roach, 30 rudd and ,wonders will never cease, my first half decent bream of the season at 2-10 making a 5-12 total.

What a contrast to last season when bream were seemingly plentiful. The weed has to have had a big say on the change, possibly the bream and tench (still not had one yet) are under the weed feeding on natural food.

Back to peg 8 the next day fishing 8:15 to 11:00, hoping that some bream had arrived to mop up the wheat I had thrown in at the end of yesterday’s session. Same rig and tactics, corn bait and 47 rudd and 3 roach gave me a busy session with 5-10 final weight but also dropped 20+ fish that were just holding on to the corn as they were so small.

Next opportunity was Tuesday 26th, I avoided the Bank Holiday week-end ! I decided to pop down to the Pondtail for a session on the whip but also took the Beastmaster rod set up from the visit to High Penn with hybrid feeder and intended to fish this with a 14mm scopex and vanilla boilie to see if there was any interest- there wasn’t! I set up with a 5m whip but was concerned that the reeds were starting to make an appearance here also, I had a couple at 4m directly in front of me so had to be careful when guiding fish in. Feeding wheat and fishing double maggot I only added a small ball of groundbait once bites slowed down a bit. The carp rod cast out towards the far bank lilies to my right remained “sleeping” but the whip attracted 39 roach and 6 perch for about 5lb. Sod’s Law applied once more and with the carp rod inactive the float shot under and a lift brought back the rig minus the hook- a carp !

Final outing this month was Friday 29th back to Peg 8 for a session 9-11:20. Wish I could report something different but the rudd were still there but strangely inactive, or so it seemed. The weather was cooler with a strong ripple on the water, so much so I was wearing my coat and fleece! The result was just 11 rudd for 1-02, however it was the first time I had been bothered by pike, I had a 4oz rudd taken by a pike of 5-6lb that bit through the line after a minute or so, the feed /fishing area erupted several times as the rudd scattered form the pike turning the water into a boiling mass. Hopefully this augers well for the winter pike sessions!

To date I have fished Bowood fewer times at this point of the season than previously but even so the difference has been concerning, so much so I e-mailed the estate office with my concerns regarding the encroachment of the reeds and the detrimental effect it had and may have on the spawning areas for future stocks plus the water clarity being affected by the filtration effect of the thick reed beds and asked if they had any plans to tackle the reeds. I had an acknowledgement and that it was being passed to the Estate manager – who has not yet replied after 2 weeks!

August 2025 Part 1 – Mainly short!

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August arrives and Monday 4th sees Gareth and I travel to Viaduct fishery to fish Cary pool, ending up on pegs 74 and 75. Gareth choose 75 and had a carp of 5-12 before I had got my pole out!

Straight in to carp- or so it seemed.

The day didn’t go quite as expected with both fishing paste and alternating with corn while feeding micros and 4mm on a 14 hook to 0.18mm line with homemade floats taking 0.6g, the carp didn’t get much of a look in as the skimmers seemed ravenous. I ended up with 3 roach, 45 skimmers and a carp of 9-14 for approx 62lb. Gareth added another carp of 10.04 a roach, 2 rudd and 57 skimmers for 75-80lb.

Gareth et al went off to Newark for a few days to visit the Antiques fair although Gareth also did a bit of fishing as seen above with a carp netted by Zachary!

At some point (time merges when they are here!) we had a short evening session on the Marden at Hazeland with Zachary having a go on the whip and landing a roach and the biggest trout yet which proved interesting as I had forgotten to put the landing net head in!!

While they were away I had a session at Bowood (11:20 -2pm). Thje weed growth had got thicker but worse still rushes were encroaching the middle and I counted 9 pegs that were unfishable with several more problematic. Anyway I persevered on peg 10 and had 8 rudd, a roach and 3 skimmers for 2-10 using the usual tactics.

Sunday 10th sees us at Hazeland for a short session 7:30-8:30 fishing the last weir saw no bites in 15minutes, not even from minnows so we moved up to the car park. I ended up with a trout and 3 minnows while Gareth had a trout and one minnow. Next evening we go to High Penn from 6:30 to 8pm fishing the last peg on the east bank. Gareth fished the method feeder that he had previously used while for a change I set up a 9ft Shimano Beast master and bait runner with a hybrid and wafter. Result was despite several small fish knocks I only had one proper “run” that i missed! Gareth managed 3 rudd and 2 roach among the constant bites, losing about 10 fish in the weed on the retrieve.

That was the last opportunity before I took them backlto Heathrow on the Thursday for their flight back to China. Normal service will now resume!

July 2025 Part 1- the hot one!

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July arrives and I manage to get out on the Friday for a couple of hours at High Penn (9:30 to 11:30), this time opting for the second swim on the west bank.

I had taken just the margin pole as previously but was surprised to find only 4foot of water whereas it was more than twice the depth on the opposite bank. Feeding loose feeding corn and wheat I had a bite after about ten minutes from a rudd and that was how it continued with regular bites from just in front resulting in 16 rudd and a solitary perch all on corn for a calculated 2-11 total.

The next Tuesday sees me brave Bowood between 9 and 12 but I was amazed at the increase in the weed growth, even peg 5 that I had previously raked was covered and unfishable without a long effort with the rake. Given the weather I whimped out and went to peg 10 where I ran the rake through several times .

It was a funny session with the sun burning on my back but a cool breeze coming right to left cooling my front! I fed three balls of groundbait with loose fed wheat and apart from one cast fished corn on the 16 hook rather than maggot, topping up the groundbait with a single ball every 45 minutes or so. The action was consistent if frustrating as the small rudd were attacking the corn en masse as they couldn’t get it into their mouths resulting in me bulk shotting the 0.6g rig to try and get past them. I ended up with 19 rudd, 4 small skimmers and two roach for a weighed total of exactly 3-00.

Friday, the last chance to go before Gareth arrives (I had pulled out of the final leg of the Summer League once I knew that a journey to Gatwick was needed!) I opted for the Pondtail, simply due to the fact that I could get back to the car easily once the heat started to build! Starting at 8:05 I managed to get to 9:35 before packing up and retreating to the car which showed a temp of 28C.

The repaired bridge and the weed growth that has spread.

I had just taken the ten foot Frenzee waggler and fished a couple of rod lengths out with a homemade peacock waggler with a 0.12 hooklength and 16 hook, loose feeding wheat with double maggot on the hook. I did bump a few more fish than usual but ended up with 8 roach and 2 perch for a weighed 1-02.

The last session Gareth had before leaving China was on the Shiqi river spinning and getting an asp.

A few joint sessions coming up!

June 20215 Part 2 – slightly longer!

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Well Tuesday and Wednesday had been ruled out for fishing as it was Col’s birthday and I had got tickets for a play at Bath on the day after. However, the best laid plans and all that Tuesday afternoon sees me prone on the bed totally shattered and Wednesday sees us missing our day out in Bath as I spent the day in bed! By Sunday I was feeling a lot better but not good enough to trek down to Bowood so I had a couple of hours at High Penn on the edge of Calne. I last fished it over 30 years ago in a South Cerney v Wooton Bassett evening inter club match but after many years of no fishing Calne had managed to acquire the lease.

Given my state I simply took a 6m margin pole with the intention of fishing corn at 5m. I settled on what I think was old peg 7 on the east bank and plumbing up found about 10ft at 5m; strange how we still use feet for depth and meters for distance!

Left margin
Right margin

I began flicking out some corn and fed micros and 4m through a tosspot, starting on the right and after an hour moving to the left. Both areas being just past the tree line although the right was home of a nuisance snag! First bite came after about 10 minutes a chunky roach about 10 oz.

In the couple of hours I was there I had 10 roach,a rudd and a baby carp of about 2oz for roughly 3-12 including another net roach of about 12oz.

The bonus being that despite it being a hot day with the carp cruising around I was in shade with a breeze in to my face (I even had my fleece on!).

So Wednesday sees me march down to Bowood peg 5 with the rake. Twenty plus minutes of raking sees a clearish area that was just about fishable.

The pile of weed I took out!I managed to start fishing eventually at 10:05 and lasted until 12:30. Fishing 0.16mm to a 14 hook and corn on a homemade float I introduced three balls of groundbait with some wheat, micros and corn. First fish was a net rudd that flipped out of my had before I could take the customary first Bowood fish picture but five minutes later I had another similar sized one that I managed to snap!

I had 16 rudd by the end for 2-04 and bumped a few also, but no sign of any bream or tench. An angler on peg 10 packed up and passed me as I finished raking and he said it had been very hard but had one bream and a small skimmer. It desperately needs some colour and fresh water – the stream that you cross was dry!

Sunday sees me on the Thames at Radcot for the penultimate round of the Summer League. I was drawn in section C as I had requested a short walk with my knee and had fortunately cut right down on the tackle taking a waggler and feeder rod only along with my Bowood box and trolley. C section was down from Grafton lock and the short walk was the longest yet as I drew C10, end peg of the section, except for some unknown reason they had not staggered the pegging as in all other rounds which would have meant I would be about 4 pegs in.

Faced with blazing sun, no shade, about 8 feet of water and little colour I set up the waggler with 3 no 6 shot spread down the line, minnows and tiny bleak had been an issue with maggot so far this season so I had left the maggots at home and based my attack on caster, hemp and wheat, we were not in the running and had a team plan of trying something different! I started by loose feeding caster, hemp and a little wheat about two rod lengths out and third put in had a small bleak, so at least I wouldn’t blank, from thereon I had a further bleak, a minnow, a chublet, a roach and a gudgeon for the princely total of 0-04, the last three hours was biteless despite trying feeder and fishing across for a hopeful chub! I stopped counting the boats, paddle boards and canoes after the twentieth went through!

One more round to go – Clanfield where at least you can park behind your peg! Surprisingly we moved up to 7th as a team!

Bowood beckons as does High Penn, plus Gareth arrives on the 12th and is looking to catch a river barbel as he has not fished for them since the late 1990s. Onward and hopefully upwards.

June 2025 -Part 1, the shortest one yet!

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June has been a busy month with family commitments meaning I have been as far afield as Yorkshire (family) and Shepton Mallet (for an Antiques Fair acting as PA to my daughter-in-law who was over from China!) .

Fishing has not gone well! Two sessions, first the third round of the Summer League took place at Hungerford on the K&A Canal. I was drawn on C9 which was down from Dunmill Lock.

To cut a 5 hour story short it was hard with me ending up with 15 fish 2 perch, 6 roach and 7 gudgeon for 4oz – yes they were tiny! If you had a bit of shade you caught a bit better but the shade you see in the photos had disappeared by the start of the match. At the weigh in I was amazed that I was not last, indeed the lowest weight was 1oz and there were 2 others on 4oz. The K&A is the best canal in the country but this particular stretch is pretty dire compared to the rest, it tends to be used because there is a large car park whereas parking is an issue on the better stretches closer to Marlborough and Devizes.

June 16th, first day at Bowood, parking up there were only two other cars so I hoped I would get onto my favourite start of season peg -peg 1. Walking down it was good to see the one time ravine you had to cross with the stream had been sorted so there was now a duct with a solid hard surface over it, but that is when the good news stops. Peg 1 was like tap water and badly weeded, of course I had left the weed rake at home but decided to give it a go by clearing two holes in the weed at 11m in front and 13m to my left. Initial loose groundbait with corn and corn deposited I then started in the two feet of water as 9 was being chimed out by the clock tower. When it chimed for 11:30 I packed up, biteless despite having fish roll in the weed on three occasions. Can only improve – next time deeper water will be cleared with the rake.

Gareth had an unusual fish in his swim in China!