Regular readers will know, that over recent years I have been going away twice a year for a weeks fishing.One week is spent with the Yam Yams and is all match orientated with league, sections and payouts each day. The other is a much more relaxed affair with a group of friends sharing the joy of fishing. No targets just pure fishing.
This year we were going to Weston Pools for the week, stopping on site in one of the log cabins. The venue has been receiving great reports over the last couple of years, not only for the fishing but for the complex as a whole. Caravans, Tents , Hobbit houses, Log cabins are just a few options for staying the night. A club house and Tackle shop on site adds to the attraction. Also with 5 lakes on site and an additional one about a mile away there was plenty of fishing to be had.We agreed to set off around 6am enabling us to have a breakfast along the way. So it was that Vic, Mick and I set off onto ventures new. It was a really good journey and by 0820 we were pulling into the pre arranged cafe. We had arranged to meet up with Derek at the cafe and were not surprised when he was already sitting on a table with plenty of toast around him. Breakfast devoured it was off to the fishery. It was only a short journey to the Weston Pools Complex where an open was taking place.
Day one Saturday
Due to the fact that there was an open taking place, we were able to fish the Claypit Lake which is the one off site.
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| The Claypit |
It was a lovely day weather wise with temperatures above 22 degrees, the fish were cruising around in the upper layers and both Vic and Derek settled into pegs 3 and 4 and planned to fish the pellet waggler. Mick and I were going to fish the pole, Mick top three and myself long and shallow. I am no expert on this style of fishing but enjoy it, I am getting better each time and practice helps.
We all enjoyed the day fishing with Vic and Mick probably doing the best. Mick having a lot of fish from the shaded area close in.
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| Mick has a unique style, all to himself |
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| Another one in the net for Vic |
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| Derek with a pole caught carp |
Troy and Pete had arrived later on the Saturday and made up the full compliment of anglers to six. We managed to get onto Weir Lake and whilst Derek and Vic were sorting out the pegs I purchased the day tickets. Again there were a few matches going on and this seemed to be a regular item. Each day we were being given a different lake and as a lot of the matches were rovers you could get tackled up and start fishing when all of a sudden anglers turn up and fish as part of the match. The weather was glorious, plenty of sunshine and shorts and T shirts were the order of the day. My peg was Peg 10 and looked nice, I could see a few fish in the margins with their heads in the reeds, why do they do that?
I set up rigs to cover 12m straight out, 5m in front and a couple of margin rigs either side. I also set up a now compulsory shallow rig. Armed with fishery 4mms as feed I was going to fish a standard lighter 6mm on the hook. I also had some corn for down the sides. One thing I noticed is the depth, lovely depths from 3 to 4ft on some pegs and good depths in the edges as well.
The day started off quite slow with only a couple of carp in the first hour, so I went for a walk to see some of the other lads also on Weir Lake. Del was getting a few silvers whilst Vic was struggling to get a bite. Mick was doing what does and nicking a few fish on a top three line. Troy and Pete were both catching silvers with Pete having a small barbel amongst his catch.
Back on my peg I was getting a few fish long fishing both up in the water and on the deck, all carp around the 5lb mark or F1s about 2 to 3lb. Good fishing. A switch to the left hand edge produced nothing despite seeing fish in the peg. A look on the right hand margin saw a couple of small F1s and Tench. The biggest change was when I went longer to the edge of the reeds with a shallow rig. Still fishing a 6mm pellet I would simply flick the rig out and ping a few pellets over it and leave it to drop through the levels and repeat. I was regularly getting bites and fish to 12lb from this line. In total I had 36 carp or big F1s for an estimated total between 150 and 200lb. Derek was also getting in amongst the fish doing the same from his peg, Vic had caught a few eventually whilst Mick, Troy and Pete had all caught well with mixed nets (figure of speech) of carp and silvers.
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| Mick definitely has the whitest legs I have ever seen, Does he wax them? |
Day 3 Monday
Monday saw us all gathering around Jacks Lake, A gorgeous looking pool with a central island and plenty of willow tree cover. Again letting somebody place a bag on a peg whilst I got the day tickets worked. Peg 16 on the back of the lake. Vic and Derek were sitting on pegs 3 and 4. Troy and Pete were on 11 and 12 with Mick on 17. I opted for a line at 6m and a couple of margin pegs left and right. A shallow rig was also set up. Starting at 6m I had a couple of small Ide in the first ten minutes followed by a couple of skimmers. I could see Mick and he was planning to fish top three and both edges, one side corn the other pellet. A similar approach to me. I had fed both margins and after an hour had a look on the left hand side with pellet with three sections of pole. A couple of dips before an F1 around 3lb graced the net. A couple of small carp around 2lb also came from this side. A look on double corn on the right hand side on a top kit saw the float burying and me hanging on for dear life, these fish do pull a lot.A carp around 5lb was the culprit lightly hooked in the mouth. I could see both Pete and Troy nicking odd fish with Pete having a barbel on the tip in his catch. Derek and Vic were both struggling despite encouragement and coaching from the fishery owner, however Vic did have a big Ide as a reward. Mick was now in the margins and bagging up, every put in was met with resistance. I was catching well and still getting slaughtered, every time I looked up he was playing fish. I ended up with 43 carp and F1s over the 2lb mark, I had a lot of smaller fish in amonst them for a conservative weight of 150lb, Mick must have added another 50-60lb on top of that. The others all had between 50-80lb. Sorry no fishing photos during the day as phone was on charge.
Still the evening was spent in the clubhouse.
Day Four Tuesday Match 1
We had arranged a few knock ups throughout the week and with permission the fishery allowed us matches on Canal, Stretton and Belvedere during the week.Tuesday was the first of these. Canal Pool and pegs along the spit. As there were only six of us we had plenty of room, allowing us every other peg.
I drew peg 23 and I must admit it looked nice. I could reach the far bank with 12.5m and had a good depth across. I set up another line at 5m, a margin line and a shallow rig. Our match was split with a carp match and also a silvers match, no overall result except for the MK Nugget between Mick and I.
I started off at 5m expecting the fish to become wary as the day wore on and pushing back to the security of the far bank. Small skimmers and crucians came readily but as has been the case all week I look across to Mick and see him playing a carp. A look towards the margin saw my first carp around 3lb but no other bites. Troy and Vic were both struggling, Pete was getting odd fish but the fishing was hard by Weston Pools standards. I decided to fish shallow with around 2 hours left and after losing my first four carp, I changed the rig and hook-length and started nicking odd fish. Things had also improved around me with both Vic and Troy now catching. I was playing catch up also with Mick and felt I was always a couple of fish behind him. Those lost fish would count dearly. Still I was now catching carp and F1s slapping and flicking the rig before time ran out.
My weight of 30lb was only good enough for last place, with Pete winning the Carp pool and Derek winning the Silver Pool.
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| Troy in the Shade |
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| Happy Vic |
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| Last of the Summer Wines Pete |
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| Derek with a superb little Bertie |
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| Mick en route to another nugget
So Mick took the MK Nugget to lead 3-2
Day Five Wednesday Match 2
Wednesday saw us fishing Stretton Lake, again another lake we had never fished before. We had been allocated six pegs at the far end of the lake which seemed very fair in comparison. I had drawn peg 26 on the far bank with Mick and Derek either side on 28 and 24 respectively. Vic was on the opposite bank not quite in the corner with Troy and Pete for company.
As this was a larger lake I thought a longer line at 11m with a top three line, a margin line and a shallow rig would cover it all. There was very little difference between top 3 and 11m so set up two rigs with different coloured bristles due to the light on the water. My margin lines was set up in 3ft of water but I did not want to fish it as fish were spawning down the sides and to be honest I did not want to disturb them. I would use this as a deep shallow rig. I started off by cupping in some feed on all lines and by the time I had done that Mick was already playing his first carp, how does he manage it?
My peg was again slow to respond but by pinging a few pellets on the shallow rigs both at 3ft and 18 inches, I started getting a few bites and odd fish. However this soon died. Mick was still catching well, Pete was catching and losing a few whilst Troy was struggling despite looking like a whirling dervish with his pole. Vic was starting to get a few fish which has been the story of us all, all week. Start off slow and catch later on. Derek was now targeting the silver fish and catching crucians, ide and skimmers down the side. I was still feeding the top three line and decided to have a look with an hour to go, A few carp were now on this line and helped top up the weight to 42lb overall. Mick had doubled that weight to end up with 94lb and best match weight of the week. Derek dedicated approach for silvers saw him win the silver pool with 27lb. Vic had a few fish late on and ended with 44lb whilst Troy threw back around 15lb and Pete weighed in 12lb of silvers.
Mick was now leading 4-2 and stretching his lead in the MK Nugget.
Day Six Thursday Match 3
Day Six and a first look at Belvedere Pool, again we were all in one end of the lake.
And one he was advised not to
Mick did his customary trick and hooked a carp before anyone had fed their lines. I started off long whilst Vic opposite started off short. I did not have to wait long for a bite and soon black hydro was pouring out of the pole towards the island. Still I managed to turn it and felt comfortable playing the fish. Despite this I proceeded to lose and 6 more of his brothers or sisters before switching to red hydro. I never had another bite on the 11m line but I did switch to the top 4 line and nick a couple of fish from there to test the theory out that the black hydro was bouncing out of the fish. The Red being stronger kept things tighter connected to fish. I also managed a couple of F1s around 3lb each from the right hand margin on double corn. Mick was still nicking odd fish and I knew it would be close between us. Vic was getting a few on his short line and Troy was getting a few down the edge.
Pete had decided on a silvers match and from what I could see was getting a few down the edges. Derek was also getting F1s next to the platform of the next peg and also had 22lb of silvers to win the silver pool all three matches. Pete weighing in 12lb of silvers.
I sneaked a win in the carp pool with 26lb of carp to Micks 23lb and reduce the deficit in the MK Nugget Challenge to 4-3.
Day Seven Friday
With no more matches and both Troy and Pete having to leave early, it was a day where we could go wherever we wanted, Mick decided on a day on Weir Lake fishing the tip. Vic, Derek and I fished the Stretton Pool again. Despite trying different things and playing with elastics we all struggled again to keep fish in the peg for a period of time. Bites would just come and go, try somewhere else and the same, late on the fish tend to come closer and can be caught well in the last couple of hours. I ended up with around 7 carp and good F1s with a splattering of small F1s and Crucians. Vic was catching well in patches but again the fish drifted in and out a lot. Derek had another mixed day spending time catching gudgeon, crucians and perch with odd carp thrown in.
Overall
Overall, I have enjoyed the fishing at Weston Pools, I have had two good days were I had over 150lb, the rest have been a struggle to be honest. The weather did not help with glorious sunshine and roasting temperatures 20+ at the start of the week, before halving to around 13 degrees and a bit more cloud. The fish did not know what to do, spawn, chill in the sunshine or feed. In the end I think they got the hump and did a mix of the lot. Add this to us not knowing how to fish it properly meant we would get lower weights than the locals.
The clubhouse was excellent throughout with plenty of choice and well able to cater for larger parties. Staff were all very friendly and helpful.
The Tackle shop is well stocked and Darren was excellent throughout our stay, always at hand with queries, loaning us weighing in scales and buckets and offering general advice.
My only criticism is the accommodation, it was very basic compared to other fishing log cabins I have stayed in.There were only enough cutlery, plates etc for three people. No freezer compartment in the fridge.The shower was tiny and although I have put on weight it was difficult to turn around. Mick must have showered with the door open,😝😝, amongst a few other small gripes.
Mick 4
Keith 3
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