Fishing for Tinca's at Marsh

This fishing trip I will be flying solo as my fishing partner Steve had a prior engagement.

In eagerness for starting my Godalming Angling ticket I decided to fishing Marsh Farm in Godalming for some hard fighting Tench and Crucians, and as usual I couldn't wait.

I left home around 06:45 as Marsh doesn't open till 07:30 so there was no need to get up really early, which was nice for a change.

The gates had just been opened when I arrived so I parked up and as the tackle shop was yet to open I had a quick lap of lakes.

I decided to fish peg 1 of Richardsons as there was a nice warm wind pushing into the corner, Harris was looking a bit clear and Hill pond was closed for a coaching day.

The Tackle shop staff seemed to be running a bit late so I walked my kit to the peg in readiness, I was trying to travel light as my back is getting a bit of a battering at work recently, one rod coupled with a centre pin, net and handle, rucksack, chair and small bucket for pellet and groundbait.

Shortly after I had set up the swim the staff arrived so I paid for my ticket and a pint of Casters which I believe are the best Tench bait for Marsh, well for numbers of fish anyway.

I put a little bait either side of my peg to start with, just  few casters , pellets and some Roach groundbait I had left over from my last session.

Tackle wise I was trying pretty light kit, 10ft float rod with the centrepin as I said earlier, pin loaded with 3lb line and a 2lb hooklink, size 20 hook and light pole float shotted down so just the very tip was showing.

Sadly although the conditions were near perfect the strong wind did make it very hard to see the type of bites a Crucian would give but I decided to stick with it and see if the wind dies out.

After a nice chat with an official at Godalming Angling talking about the coaching programme they have often on the Hill pond which is a fantastic  idea and one I think more fisheries should follow suite with.

I love float fishing, starring at the float then that first bite, even if the float just bobs slightly I think my heart skips a beat, it's such an exciting way to fish, and I was soon into my first hard fighting Tench, not huge at around 3lb but great fun on the light gear.

I was really enjoying the day, Marsh Farm has so much to offer, whilst enjoying the sport I was seeing and listening to the kids around the Hill pond catching there first fish and the magical expressions on the faces of a newly hooked fisherman/woman, there was Buzzards overhead and I even had a stunning Heron catch a fish from the swim next to me, only wish I had the camera in my hand at the time, but both cameras where on the tripods filming for a new YouTube.

All was going well and during a brief moment where the lake was completely flat I was able to see the really shy bites from the Crucians and a had a 2 in quick succession to just over 1lb which I was more than happy with.

Shortly after the wind picked back up again and the Crucian bites were no longer visible but the float shot under and I was into a powerful fish causing me to hold the rod right out into the lake whilst the fish powered down the right hand margin, my heart was in my mouth thinking this was one of the huge Tench and I was playing it very carefully and letting the rod blank do its job so as not to snap the very light hooklink. After a hard battle sadly a Common Carp of about 7lb popped up, I dont mind catching Carp at all, but when you think it a PB Tench it's a bit of a downer.  

But on the plus side the next fish was a 4lb Tinca and a new PB, just, but Tench has always been a species that I've struggled with so I was over the moon.

I celebrated the Tench with a nice cup of tea from the tackle shop, yet another plus point for Marsh Farm, and then continued fishing for a while longer.

Sadly I had a family event to attend so had to pack up about 2pm, but what a day, by far the best days Tench fishing I have ever had, over 10 Tench in total from just under 3lb to a 4lb PB, along with a couple of Crucians, Roach, Rudd, Bream, F1's and the unexpected Common Carp, I can't wait to start the Godalming Angling ticket in July and be able to night fish brilliant water.

Having a Gander.

Day 1

This weekend has been a long time coming and one I've been looking forward to, it's the weekend me and Steve check out the waters on our recently joined club, Godalming Angling Society.

This is the PERFECT club for us as were not Carp focused and although I do enjoy Carp fishing I would much rather wet a line for Tench or Crucians, so this was the only club for us.

I picked Steve up about 8am, no rush, and drove straight to Apollo Angling on the Marsh Farm complex, mainly to ask some questions about the rules to make sure we stick to them as some were not straight forward.

After clearing that up we set off around Marsh Farm, Coffee in hand (as I forgot mine this morning and I don't function without it) on walking around Harris another angler pointed out a huge quantity of Tench spawning in the corner, what a great sight and there was some real clonkers there too.

As we have fished Marsh a few times we only had a quick lap then headed out onto Johnsons lake which is just behind, the railway bank was shut due to maintenance work so we headed off the other direction, and what a lake,  I can see why there is a lot of hype over this lake, not only does it now have a British record Crucian Carp but it's a truly stunning lake, snaggy bays, weed beds, islands it had it all, beautiful. I had a note pad with me to make notes of areas of interest or information off other anglers whilst walking around, mainly because I have a very bad memory.

Next on the list was up the road to Busbridge Lake,  which took a bit of finding, once in through the locked gate we walked up to possibly the most stunning lake I have ever seen, just perfect, lilies in most swims, tree lined, well kept but just the right amount of neglect to give it a natural feel.

We spoke to the only angler on the lake who was also a new member and very impressed, he had caught a 5lb Tench too, which was nice. I can't wait to fish this lake.

Next on the run was the main Carp water called Broadwater lake, this is a public park lake which seems to get very busy for anglers and dog walkers alike. It's a really nice looking lake and although it's not on my priority list as there's other waters more my type of fishing it is one ill fish at some point.

Next up was a smaller lake called Bramley, a very picturesque lake with plenty of lilies and rushes in the margins.  The lake was quite clear too meaning in the shallow parts of the lake we was able to spot a few Carp milling about, as with Busbridge it was a nice quiet lake with only 2 people on.

I love walking around lakes, whether its whilst at work on a lake I will never fish or a lake I fish all the time just being waterside relieves stress like nothing else can.

The day drew to an end and I was still hyper about the following days activities, walking the miles and miles of River Wey

Day 2.

I picked Steve up about the same time as yesterday and we headed to Johnsons to see if we could have a look along the railway bank, but this time there was a match on, so we headed for the River.

The River Wey is stunning, we walked so many miles in total, and it has literally everything the river angler could want, deep sections, shallow sections, slow and fast, from Barbel to Carp. Although some sections were a little hard to get to there was a lot to go for.

By the end of the day all I could think was how I was going to get enough time to fish all this river, but I'm sure somehow ill manage. I was also thinking how much my feet were aching.