Hungerford Canal

Today we decided to fish hungerford canal. To be honest I am not a massive fan of some canal fishing. The local canal to me can be very tricky at best. Luckily hungerford canal is completely different and although a syndicate water you can buy day tickets from local tackle shops, we got ours from experience fishing. 

I love winter fishing, the colder the better, a good frost on the ground is perfect, although close it was not quite a frost at 6 in the morning when I left to pick Steve up. 

We arrived in hungerford about 6:45am at parked next to the church as it's a known area for producing big Perch, which was our quarry. 

It was just starting to get light just after 7, we decided to start by lure fishing the stretch carrying the bare minimum as we would be walking in the region of 6 miles. I used a 10 ft commercial float rod with a small fixed spool with quick drag and 6lb reel line, and small rubber jigs. We started by turning right at the church and working our way along casting nearly constantly leap frogging past each other. 

Just after the town wharf Steve had the first Perch followed very shortly by me, nothing huge but great fun. 

It was soon clear there are many Perch in the canal making it a joy to fish. I have done very little Perch fishing so my PB was only just over 1lb, which was soon beaten with a 1lb 2oz, not by a lot but still great. We had a fair few Perch walking up the canal, Steve also had a Jack Pike. 

Once we had walked for sometime we turned back and walked back casting in the same spots we had them the other way. 

As it was about 1pm by the time we was back to the start we put the gear back in the car and walked into town for a spot of lunch.

Once refuelled we changed tactics for the float and headed to the bridge next to the church for a bit of static fishing.  

It didn't take long after trickling in a few maggots to get some bites, mainly from Dace and small Roach but soon a few more bigger Perch came in. Then out of the blue something bigger was on, I thought it was a big Perch or even a Chub but when I saw the red fins I could not believe it even a boat driver going past commented on its size as it slipped into the net. I soon called Steve over for the pictures and to weigh it, I must admit I thought it was easy 2lb it looked massive, on the scales it went 1lb 15oz, not quite but still a PB and I was over joyed, I still think the Roach is the most beautiful of coarse fish. 

Steve soon came running over with a clonking great Ruff, I had never caught a Ruff so I used 2 maggots instead of 3 and fished slightly over depth and soon had my prize, and perch looking little fish, brilliant. 

It was now starting to get dark but just before I packed up the float was away again, this time a good Perch. At 1lb 10oz was another PB. With that I decided was a great way to end, what a cracking day, 3 PB's in one day and a beautiful venue, may have to return soon.

Helping others in to the sport.

With the weather looking half decent I decided to take a work friend and his son fishing, along with my son to see if I could get them all hooked. 

I had already decided on Bowsaw lake due to its varied species, but sadly due to matches we had to look else where. Eventually I decided on Bishops Green lake near Newbury, as there are many small fish for the kids and my mate Tim, and I'll stick a couple of rods out on alarms for the bigger Carp. 

We arrived about 1pm to find a few people at the car park end of the lake so we set up at my preferred other end of the lake, where there are much better margins to fish. Firstly I chucked out a few handfuls mixed pellet next to the reeds whilst I put together my rods. I soon had a solid bag on the money whilst I started setting up the float rods for the others, luckily my son has been fishing a few times and here before so he was able to set his own rod up by himself. Sadly for them before I had even set up the first rod my alarm screamed into life with a feisty little Carp around 4-5lb, in my rush to sort my gear out earlier in the day I had forgotten the spreader block to my landing net so I had to get Tim to scoop it up using the net by hand, not the best but it's what we had. With the float rods soon in the water they all started catching Gudgeon as Roach and seeing there faces when the bites started was magical, it was soon obvious that they where hooked. Watching them fish was better than me catching, and took me back to when I first started fishing in a very similar way. I had been firing out dog biscuits for the past hour or so and they were feeding quite confidently so I rigged up a surface bait with a controller float and cast past the fish and reeled in. They were really tricky and had no interest on bread so swapped to a banded dog biscuit. I was watching a decent fish swimming from side to side and tried to cast out and pull it back in front of it. And it soon came up and took it good as gold. It caught really hard for a few minutes then was awkwardly landed by Tim. Just as we was putting it on the mat my alarm screamed off and had another Carp on. I let my son Liam handle that one, although a lot smaller at just over 3lb it was my sons first go with a 12ft rod and he done really well. Once the pictures where taken the fish were slipped back and we continued.

After a few more Carp, Gudgeon and Roach we packed up and headed home. A great day and successfully got two more people hooked onto the this great sport.

Fishing Holiday to the amazing Anglers Paradise

Saturday

At long last it was time for Anglers Paradise, something I have been looking forward to for well over a year when we first spoke about it in a pub having a website meeting. The preparation that has gone into this holiday has been vast. Sorting out the kit for past 2 weeks and buying food and bait for what seems like months, but hopefully it will all pay off.

Saturday morning 31st August the car was loaded then I set off to meet rich at Steve’s house where we would attempt to fit all mine, Rich and Steve’s stuff into my car. All my stuff came out first and we laid it all out on the floor so we could put it all in in order. Eventually it was all in but only just and there was even stuff on laps. On route we stopped at OJ fishing shop to get some maggots so we had some fresh for the first few days. The journey was easy with next to no traffic and about 3 hours later we was parked up at Anglers Paradise. We went for a little walk around whilst we waited for the reception to open. It was very handy that Steve has been here for the last few years as the place is vast and without a map would take ages to find your way around. At 1pm we went to bar to be welcomed by Zyg Gregorek himself, a man with a huge personality and had us in stitches within minutes.

You get an amazing reception at Anglers Paradise, free glass or two of home made fantastic wine or lemonade if you don't/can't drink, you can book any food nights there and then, we went for wine and dine night on Sunday and curry night on Friday. There are also pie night and a roast night so your well catered for if you don't fancy cooking your main meals.

With Steve and Rich a wobbly from the wine we got the keys from reception and started to unload the car into the villa. The villa itself was beautiful and a fisherman dream with fish inspired tables chairs and pictures.

We got unpacked and decided to have a couple of hours on the Float lake for a few ornamentals.

Armed with a light float set up and maggots we was soon bank side and fishing. We was straight into fish, there was Golden Rudd by the thousand near the surface and was great fun, well, I say Golden Rudd but they are more a Orfe/Koi/Golden Rudd there very unique to Anglers Paradise.

After a couple of hours we headed back to the room for a bit of grub then some sleep after a busy day but so far so good.

Mystery Lake.......

Sunday

Today we decided to go on Mystery lake. A lake I have seen on TV a few times and always wanted to fish it just to see what is in there. We was up not to early about 7ish loaded the barrows then headed down the lake. All the lakes are in beautiful scenery and really well maintained so pushing the barrow is easy, and although I probably could have carried it its a fair old walk to the lake so it just makes it easier. I decided to start with a small flat bed feeder fishing to the island whilst feeding a spot in the edge for float fishing later on. The fish were quite hard to catch due to the very high pressure and it was bloody boiling hot. I was winkling out the odd Orfe, Golden Rudd and Carp but was fairly slow. 

Steve was having a few on the float so I decided to switch over and give that a go. I saw some really good fish in the margins including a bright red fish. After a couple more small carp we decide to head back as it was a wine and dine night and I was really looking forward to it.

After a wash and change of clothes we was in the dining area where you are given a plate with some local sausages and marinated chicken breast then you help yourself to as much veg and wine as you like. I'm not much of a drinker so 1 glass of Zyg's strong wine was fine for me, and Steve didn't have much either, but Rich decided to have a few, a fair few as it happened, we lost count then he started on the beers when we got back to the villa, which was mine and Steve’s entertainment for the evening sorted.

Quality at Eldorado and Silver Rose

Monday

As usual me and Steve where up at the crack of dawn to head over to Anglers Elderado on the Tench and Orfe lake, under normal circumstances we wouldn't need to leave Anglers Paradise for this but the Tench and Orfe lake on site was shut due to an algae problem and the day ticket lakes at Elderado are owned by Zyg so we was allowed to fish them for free.

We left Rich behind as he was to hung over to join us, his loss.

We pulled up about 6 and had a good look around. We had some inside info that the fish come around the margins so its good to find swims with good bank side foliage.

We set up in a point swim where we both had a good margin and started fishing. Simple and light float tactics using maggot as bait to start and my approach and was soon into golden Rudd. With regular feeding the fish were coming thick and fast with some decent palm sized Rudd and Orfe.

At about 11:30 we headed back to have some lunch and pick up Rich to then spend the rest of day at Silver Rose lake up the road, again a day ticket lake owned by Zyg that we could fish for free.

I started to left of the pagoda fishing at the bottom of the shelf with a float and a feeder on a alarm as a sleeper. It seemed a long time for a bite which came in the shape of a small Chub. Then a bit later a small Bream. It was really hard going so I decided to move over the other side of the lake where there was some Lily’s to fish up to, but the bank was a bit hairy with a big slope, luckily with the type of korum chair I use the legs are very adjustable. So with some bait down on the deck and re-plummed I started fishing and was soon into fish. This area was much more productive with Bream, Carp, Rudd, Roach and my first Blue Orfe. We decided to head back for some dinner about 4pm.

After dinner we thought it would be a good idea to do some more fishing, so we headed back to Mystery lake as I really wanted to catch that red fish.

I tried everything, free lining, lift method, float fishing, ledger but only caught a couple of Carp the Orfe and the red one avoided me. So we headed back and with another great day done. Although the Mystery lake is proving to become an obsession for me.

The Amazing Easy Access Lake

Tuesday

Today was a day I was really looking forward to, Easy Access lake, big Cats and Carp.

This time we was up even earlier due to how busy the lake gets so I was down stairs loading the barrow about 5am, it was still dark, so me and Steve (Rich was to lazy to be up that early) were sat on the sofa with the door open waiting for it to be light enough to head to the lake.

I picked Steve’s brain for a while trying to maximise the change of a big Carp or even better a Catfish of any size. Pellet seemed to be a winner on this lake so I was armed with plenty, I had 4kg of 4mm halibut pellet, 12mm drilled pellet, 20mm pellet and a glug pot with 12mm and 20mm soaking in sardine and hot fish oil. I put a few handfuls of 4mm pellet in the margins and fired some towards the island then put a solid bag in the margins with a 12mm pellet on a short hair rig, and a 20mm glugged pellet with a nick on bag cast to the island. Fishing was slow for me to start with, Steve had a couple of decent fish early on but I just kept dropping runs. I tried different rigs, baits and areas but eventually started to get a few Carp, although only a few pound they were stunning including a near Leather. As it reached midday I decided to pop back to the villa for lunch which was only 2 minutes away. After lunch I headed back to carry on. Bit more bait on the spots and recast. The thing with Easy Access lake is there is a fair few Cats in their and I think there would normally be a good chance with weather this hot but there was literally thousands of really small Orfe which had the Cats leaping out of the water, which was brilliant to see, but made our baits seem a bit poor.

With so many feeding on the surface I had to try my special dumbbell surface rig with a bunch of worms. I cast it out a few places but to no avail and last knocking I had a lovely carp just under 10lb. It was a hard days fishing but had a few and was absolutely knackered.

The Brilliant Koi Lake

Wednesday
Today was another day I was really looking forward to, the Koi lake. Where else can you go and have a whole lake devoted to Koi and up to and over double figures along with a few Grass Carp.

Being one of the specimen lakes it was yet another early start, about 5:30am and as usual it was just us, no Rich. It was really foggy this morning and quite cold and as I was hoping to catch these Koi off the top it was looking bleak.

We arrived at the lake and was glad to see the pagoda was free so we set up there and had a look about. Steve threw some doggies out and to our shock they started taking but not the way a normal Carp would, they nudged it about before taking it, if they did. We started by fishing free lined bread or soft doggies but it was hard going. I saw a few feeding right in the edge to my left but they seemed to spook off when they saw the line. So I decided on a radical looking way of fishing, the pagoda had a fence that surrounded it so I lent the butt of the rod on that and the tip ring was just over the edge of the bank with 3" of line dangling the dog biscuit just touching the surface. With the freespool on I just had to wait until it started to click, which didn't take long and I was rewarded with a nice white Koi. I decided to try it again and had a bright Orange one. This was starting well. But it didn't take long for them to turn off and become incredibly hard to catch. By now Rich had joined us and was having a go. We decided to have a walk about see what we could see but was hard going. And with the sun high in the sky we decided to head back for some lunch. The great thing about Anglers Paradise is you are surrounded by like minded anglers so leaving your stuff on the bank for a short time to grab a bite is very safe. Well we had no problems.

After refuelling we was bank in the pagoda soaking up the sun watching the water hoping to see some action.

It took a while for us to even bother trying as it was so hot. I started firing biscuits out to the far margin around some Lily’s and they soon started moving so I took some stalking gear round for a go. First fish was a beautiful Grass Carp of 5lb 9oz. Then a bit later another white Koi but it was still tricky fishing. Eventually I returned to the pagoda and Steve and I started firing out biscuits constantly for about 30 minutes until they were ripping the surface apart for them, so we rigged up surface floats to get the distance, I used a Korda skittle type float with a 6ft leader of floating line and a size 8 hook which had a lump of bread on. All seemed to work well where I had 4 in quick succession then decided to call it a day as I had used all my dog biscuits up. Another cracking day at Anglers Paradise.

Specimen Tench and Orfe...Sort of..and Mystery..again

Thursday

Another day another specimen lake, and another early morning. Up at about 6am to head down to specimen Tench and Orfe lake. We new this was going to be hit or miss as there are some colossal fish in here. We was told a method on how to catch the Orfe which was to cast a float out set about a foot under the surface baited with plastic maggot and fire maggot over the top constantly. We tried this for a while but due to a prolific spawning the lake had thousands of small Orfe which was causing us a problem. After about an hour we could take no more. To be honest we should of stuck it out in the margins for a big Tench but as there was only about 30 in there chances were slim and we was both starting to feel ropey due to the very early starts so we decide to head back and relax for a few hours. It was bloody hot again so was not worth rushing. We had breakfast then lunch, had a drive about then decided to set up float gear and spend a couple of hours on Mystery, hopefully have a crack at that red fish. I was just really intrigued to see what it was, I suspected a Koi but with the vivid colours of some of these Orfe it could be one of those also. I set up in the swim where I had seen the fish many times and fed a fair amount of groundbait, pellet and maggot about 2ft from the bank and they soon were having a good troff. I decided to sit back and watch so I could see if there was a pattern in which this fish came into the swim.

I was putting a palmful of maggots in every 2 minutes and the red fish seemed to come in on the third palmful. So I decided to go with free lined tactics, size 8 hook and a nice juicy worm. On putting in the second palmful of maggots I lowered the bait in and sunk the line along the side of the bank then put the third lot of maggots in and held the line between finger and thumb so I could feel the bite. And as planned in came the red one and started having a munch, I felt a tremble down the line and saw his head shaking so I lifted into the fish and it was on. I was so scared of loosing it. I shouted over to Steve for assistance and was soon on hand with the net. Once landed, and a sigh of relief, it was a beautiful Koi, bright red with black markings and weighed 5lb 7oz not my biggest Koi but size was completely irrelevant it was all about the capture and challenge, and it was that fish that won me fish of the week. We headed back again completely shattered but finished a great day off perfectly.

The simply excellent Float Lake

Friday

We decided to have a bit of a Lying today as we was knackered from all the heat and early mornings. So we slept in all the way until 7am.

Armed with some inside information which included some overpriced Waitrose prawns, we headed down to Float lake hoping for some Golden Tench. The far end of the lake was a lot deeper than were we fished early week, about 8ft or so. I fished at the bottom of the shelf with a prawn on a size 8 with a light float loose feeding 2mm pellet.

The surface was alive with Golden Rudd when firing in pellet but the fish soon moved in on the bottom and Golden Tench were coming out think and fast. Then I had a hard fight with a beautiful Koi of 5lb 4oz which was great fun on 4lb line.

We could see a dark cloud closing and had decided after a couple of hours fishing that if its started to rain we would head back as we had already court many many fish.

After a few more Tench, Golden Rudd, Brown Goldfish and regular Goldfish we decided to head back very happy with our catch. Sad to think that was our last fish whilst at Anglers Paradise. Still a great way to end a great weeks fishing. It was Curry night tonight so after packing the villa up so were ready to go the following day we headed out for some grub. The Curry night was superb, we finished the day in the Bar with a raffle and a few drinks.

The Dreaded Day

Saturday

The day I had been dreading since arriving at Anglers Paradise a week ago, leaving was always going to be hard as it had been a great week with so many fish, of which most are unique to Anglers Paradise. The place is so beautiful with its stunning views, all the staff are brilliant and so helpful. I have to thank Steve as well, he set the whole holiday up, booked the villa and was basically a guide for us and his knowledge of the place was invaluable. Sadly I didn't win fish of the week until I had got home so the bait and wine will have to wait until I return. Not that that will be hard.

Meeting John Wilson MBE and Fishing on the Kennet

Today was the day I had been looking forward to for a very long time, the angling legend himself was coming to town, well, Newbury, John Wilson MBE.

I decided we needed to get there early so we can beat the crowds and hopefully have time for a chat, as this was the last chance before he jets off to live in Thailand.

I picked Steve up at 7am and we headed to Newbury. We arrived at Experience Fishing tackle shop about 7:45am, a whole 1 ¼ hour until they opened, but we had a good space to park the car and we was first there, even before the shop owner.

Luckily we have spoke to Dave and the team at Experience fishing many times and he knows us and the site well, which was handy as when he arrived he let us in for a pre-Wilson brew, perfect.

Just before 9am John Wilson turned up and got set up in the shop. It was one of the best experiences of my life, we managed a whole 1 ½ hours with John just chatting away like we had known him for years, truly remarkable.

At about 10:30am we set off to the River Kennet in Newbury as its a free stretch and right around the corner.

This place is real urban fishing, parking the car in the centre of town and walking to the River.

We started at the beginning of the free stretch where the playground is and slowly worked our way down using lures to start with. After loosing a couple to under water snags we gave up and headed back to the car to re-tackle for trotting and some lunch.

After meeting Rich in the car park we headed back to the start of the run for a spot of trotting. It was slow going with not a lot happening. We carried on walking down stream until we got to the weir right at the end of the run. We was using bread as bait hoping for Chub, Dace etc. using a light 13' float rod and Centrepin reel was great fun. Finally in the weir I started catching fish, first a few Dace then a nice Brown Trout but after that it just died off. Such a great little venue and would have been even better I think if we had a pint of maggots or so, but never mind still a fantastic day and one I will never forget.

Syndicate Fishing.

This was to be my first fishing trip of the year and I was well excited,

syndicate fishing is not something I do often for obvious reasons but now and then I get invited to come along as a guest and its hard to turn down. This lake is in Thatcham and I have heard it holds very large Carp. 

To be honest I very rarely Carp fish in the winter as there are many fish that feed more willingly, but decided as there are some stunning fish in this lake I decided to have a go. 

It wasn't till the morning I arrived that I was told that the lake, which is about 5 acres or more, only had a whole 125 Carp. Nice. 

The water was crystal clear and as there were a few shadows down the far end that's where I headed. I baited lightly with a few boilies and a handful of corn spread about 40 yards in front of me. My left rod had a inline lead system shocker style with a boilie on as bait in a solid pva bag full of low oil pellet and crumbed boilie. The right rod was fished with a lead clip system with 2 grains of plastic, the top one being fluro pink. Lots of people use corn on this lake so I just thought I would try something new. The first couple of hours went by quietly but there was still activity in the area so I left the baits as they were. I was just looking through the binoculars at the far bank as there was some movement in the bushes when the right rod ripped off. When I picked up the rod I said I think it's a Bream. Then it got a bit heavier so I thought maybe a Tench. It was a strange fight, but by now I saw the Carp in the gin clear water it just seemed to hang there, maybe it's just I don't go Carp fishing in the winter much. When in the net I thought it was a definite 20lb and a real nice looking fish.

On the scales it went 19lb 12oz, not 20lb but on a cold day I was over the moon. With the shots taken I slipped the fish back which is great to watch in the clear water. The rest of the day slipped by with a friend catching a 18lb common but no other fish on the lake were banked. This was a truly mesmerising lake and can see the point of syndicate lake fishing, buts its more socialising than fishing. But if I get a chance ill return in a blink of an eye.

Fishing Lakeside

Many years ago I had friends who fished a syndicate lake near tadley called Lakeside Fishery and always reported big fish and was slightly jealous that I couldn't fish it. Luckily the venue has now been taken over and changed to a day ticket. And we couldn't wait to fish it.

I picked Steve up in the morning and we headed the whole 20 minutes up the road to the fishery. The owner Kate arrived near enough when we did as was let onto the fishery. We was the first people there so had a chance to have a good look around. We decided to fish the the add on section as it gave us a margin to cast to with ease and could bait up by walking around. We was targeting anything that swam on this trip and I was beggining on a medium feeder rod fixed spool reel with 5lb mainline to a 3lb hooklink, 16 hook with a couple maggots. I had opted for the flat bed feeder method for a flawless presentation. Once we was sat in the swim we had a walk around the other side to put a bit of bait in and in doing so saw a few carp moving in the area.

Eager to cast in I headed back and cast out. We could tell it was going to be a strange day weather wise and was already feeling muggy. I was getting a few knocks on the feeder but not enough to strike. I was casting every 5 minutes or so just to keep the swim topped up and soon had a drop back I tried to tighten up but it wouldn't. It took a moment for me to realise the fish has swam towards me. Once connected it was like I hooked a train. It was great fun on a light rod and took a while to get in. Masterly netted by Steve we had it on the bank and not a bad fish either. It went 11lb 13oz on the scales and I was chuffed for my first Carp from Lakeside. After that the swim went very quiet. So after a good look round decided move onto the main bowl of the lake to see what we could catch. The sun was getting quite hot now and could feel a rise in the air pressure.

Sadly we could also see a lot of Carp cruising around together in formation so was apparent they has other things on their minds. Which Is fair enough.

The good thing about the Carp starting to breed is they show themselves a lot and although it was obviously going to stop the Carp fishing we could see plenty of really nice looking and big Carp.

Steve had a nice Carp before the action stopped completely and we did more observing than fishing. But now we have seen the potential we look forward to returning for a good go after spawning. This fishery is under new ownership and the new owners are very helpful and doing a great job on this stunning looking fishery.

Fishing Longbridge Lake

After a fair amount of inactivity on the fishing front due to some awful British weather we was over the moon about getting back out on the bank.
This month it was a new fishery for the site, technically I have been here before but the weather was awful and caught next to nothing, this time according to the weather forecast it was going to be the opposite.

I picked Steve up at 6am and met Rich on-route. We got to Longbridge about 6:45, there was a couple of cars in the car park but we had suspected there would be as you can night fish.

We had a walk around the main part of the lake but all the areas with good access to the island were taken so we decided to fish the canal section which comes of the side of the lake as there was no pressure here.

I had set up two carp rods to fish mainly for the Bream, Tench and Carp on a couple of tactics, 1 being solid pva bag with bloodworm micro pellets and a bloodworm dumbell on the hair. The 2nd was on a feeder and a bunch of maggots/worm. Both rods were cast to the far margin and sat on alarms. It was soon obvious although the day was warming quick the cold night had done us no favours.

After what seemed a long time I had a take on the maggots, which resulted in a nice bream, then another shortly after but to be honest felt totally over gunned using carp gear so I set up a medium feeder rod with a flat bed feeder for more fun.

Now with the bites easier to see I was into a fair few fish including a cracking tench of 3lb 7oz and a couple of Crucians around 1lb. But after a good few fish the action really stopped as the sun got up, and we decided instead of slogging it out catching very little we would head back to Ashmoor lakes to nick a few off the top in the evening.

There was only a couple of people fishing when we arrived so we got straight into it catching as usual many decent carp just using a hook and chunk of bread. It was a great days fishing on both venues and really enjoyed it.

THE BIG ONE
Day 1

I look forward to this show every year as its the only one I really go to as moat are far to far away.

A lot of people say its just a big fishing jumble sale, which some parts of it are, but there are some real genuine bargains to be had on either low budget gear or top the range. I couldn't wait.

We arrived a little early as usual and parked near the front thanks to the VIP tickets. As we started walking towards the entrance we saw a massive queue, gutted, until a man on the other side was shouting for VIP ticket holders, where the queue was in the warm, that alone was worth the extra money as it was FREEZING outside.

Once in we decided the best thing we could do was spend our food voucher which came with the ticket on a bacon roll and inspect out freebie bucket, which this year was very good.

We then set about having a good look around and seeing who had the best bargains.

I always go to the show with a wish list and as much cash as I can, this year I had decided to upgrade my luggage and buy a new barrow along with a few other bits.

As I had already began upgrading some of my luggage to the Trakker NXG range I decided to look for more of the same.

We soon came across a stand selling a whole lot of Trakker products so I checked there prices to online prices which they beat with ease. So after being at the show only about half an hour I had already brought a shed load of gear and saved in excess of £100, bonus. This required both me and Steve to carry back to the car where we also met up with Richard Pilchard. One of the other things we love about the show is being able to buy pellet in bulk with no postage costs, normally 5-10kg each would be fine but his year we was shocked to find there was none, not happy.

Still with other things on the list we carried on. We stopped on the Guru stand for a chat and picture with gold medalist and great angler Dean Macey, top bloke, sadly the camera was in the hands of Richard and although my camera was in intelligent auto (Noddy proof) still blurred the picture.

One of the other things on my list was a Barrow, I had two in mind either a Carp porter fatboy or Daiwa infinity freeloader, turns out I couldn’t find any Daiwa Barrows but got a cracking deal on the Carp porter with around £30 off the retail and had a water carrying kit thrown in, nice.

We stopped in the Browning stand for a chat and a picture with the very modest Bob Nudd.

Then headed to he Anglers Mail stand for a chat and a picture with John Bailey, who really is one of anglings greatest, a truly nice bloke with plenty of time for his fans.

With a few other bits and bobs brought we decided to call it a day, well the show anyway, and headed back towards Basingstoke for a couple of hours at Ashmoor, it was supposed to be the River Wey in Farnham but as the car had a lot of kit in it I decided it best not to leave it parked in a random car park.

So armed with trotting gear and very light hooklinks meant for dace we started to fish at Ashmoor, as usual it didn’t take long to catch, first fish was a Chub, the second ever I have caught from here so was delighted. The next was a Carp, which on a 2.6lb hooklink was a bit hairy but great fun, the fish was a real little cracker, only about 4lb but nice all the same. I then moved over the other side and had another Carp a little smaller. Then we decided we was out of our minds, it was freezing cold and headed back.

A special thanks to Experience Fishing in Newbury for bringing a Disney Princess rod to the show for me to give to my Daughter on her birthday, a great tackle shop and some cracking guys.

THE BIG ONE

Day 2

Today was more of a 'Meeting the stars' day for us and indeed for my son who really wanted to meet the star of River Monsters Jeremy Wade, which after a short wait in the queue was were we headed.

My son armed with his birthday money brought his DVD's and book, all signed and a picture, never seen him so happy, and luckily although only 10 he is fairly good with a camera so took a couple of pictures of us with Jeremy to.

Next was to meet the man in red but now Camo Jan Porter, a true gent, and although recovering from illness still braved the show, and had time for a good chat and a picture. Still on the Shimano stand was Mick Brown, who we have met many times and he even recognized us, which was nice, after a long chat about fishing and editing software for the computer randomly we had a couple of pictures and carried on.

Although I am not a hardcore Carper and couldn’t have the time to be I do understand the obsession, and many have made a great carrier out of it, chasing monsters, one of the greats is Terry Hearn, so we had to have a chat and a picture. As I watch fishing programmes at home all the time most of the family do get board of them very quickly, but there are a couple of shows that me and my son watch together, one is River Monsters, the other is the recent Mr.Crabtree, and although we had some pictures yesterday my some was eager to meet John as well.

A few pictures were taken with Liam holding Koi Hodgson and John Baily next to him, then we decided to call it day, I was knackered.

Call the Big one what you like but I believe it is a cracking show which seems to be getting better every year, and you can save a fortune if you no what your looking for, and I highly recommend the VIP tickets, not only do you park allot closer, you queue inside, get a bucket of really good freebies, a food voucher and 2 day pass for £25, well worth it and already looking forward to next year.

We must be MAD!!!

We was supposed to be fishing at Barons pond in Liss but due to frosts and a lot of snow we decided to find a river instead. Whilst most people would not dream of fishing let alone driving in these conditions we decided to give it a go, and head to a little known river in Thatcham. I picked Steve up at 8am after scraping the 5 inch's of snow of the car and headed for the river, which was basically a ford and that's it, but worth a go. We parked the car at the top of the hill as there would be no chance of getting it out if we didn't. Only problem was we then had to walk down the hill with the fishing rod in hand, risky. We have heard if some nice Roach inhabiting this small pool so I tackled with a 10ft float rod, centrepin reel with 4lb line, chubber float and a 3lb hooklink to a size 14 hook, for bait it was maggots.

It was some interesting fishing as we was stood on a silt pile covered in snow, so we kept sinking.

After a couple of trots through it was obvious that the water was very shallow only about a foot in places so I didn't hold out much hope. Then the tip bent round and I was in. I initially thought if its a Roach it's a good one, but it turned out to be a feisty little brown trout, but a fish and in this very cold day I was happy. After about an hour and another fish which I lost we decided to leave and off to a little river near Basingstoke, and although we got some cracking shots we got no fish so we called it day.

Although we didn't catch much, well just one, its better to be on the bank catching nothing with a backdrop of snowy countryside and trying to catch.