Williblog - Willinghurst Fisheries News

Canada & Stafford Moor - August 2007

Just returned from an awesome trip to Canada and although I promised not to derail the Willinghurst news I just had to give you a few highlights. I spent the first week and a half on the West Coast of Vancouver Island fishing for salmon in the ocean together with halibut, ling cod and even a few tuna. Highlight of the time over there was a day fishing for salmon where our limit (4 fish) comprised 3 x 30 lbs and a forty pounder and on that day we caught and returned over 20 twenty pound salmon plus a thirty pounder.

The second part of the trip was a return visit to the Fraser River just outside Vancouver. This was the 6th time that I’ve fished for sturgeon in the Fraser and for the past 3 years I’ve been trying to beat my personal best of 8ft 10 ins, I was desperate for a 9 foot sturgeon. We had some amazing days on the trip, including a bunch of 3 consecutive days where we landed 22, 18 and 21 sturgeon. I also managed to catch an acrobatic six footer for the cameras of a team making a film promoting Vancouver to be shown at the Beijing Olympics (Vancover host the 2010 Winter Olympics).

I’ll recount the full epic story elsewhere, suffice to say that on the final day of the trip I landed this monster

(Click the thumbnail for a full sized image)

It measured 9ft 1 inch from the snout to the fork of the tail (that’s how they measure them in Canada, in the USA they measure to the tip of the tail but everything’s always bigger in the States !!). The girth was 46 inches and weight for length tables put it at around 400 lbs, there’s certainly no way that 2 of us could lift it.  As I said, I’ll post a full story of the trip with loads more pictures somewhere and I’ll pop the link on here.

Whilst I was away a whole bunch of Willinghurst regulars took a week long trip to Stafford Moor Fishery in Devon for a little festival. With matches every day, competition was bound to be fierce and it was going to take a good angler to come out on top. Lo and behold, the outright winner by quite a margin was Terry “The Cod”, one half of the new Willinghurst management team. Not only did he weigh in in excess of 100 lbs on all but one day, plus picking up over £1,000 in sweepstake winnings, he also relieved Mick The Bookie of £500 (£50 at 10/1) !!. Well Done Tel !!

Fishery maintenance tasks now completed include a path plus fishing platforms around Horseshoe Lake and an almost completed path around Old Lake, the boys have been working extremely hard whilst I’ve been jetting back and forth. More news soon.

Ross

Latest Match News - 20th August 2007

The normal Wednesday Open was moved to New & Old Lakes because the RAF had a match on Top Lake. It was interesting to compare results with those of the previous day (the floater match). Conditions were better on Wednesday, less wind and definitely a lot less rain. Results proved that chum mixer wins hands down !!. Malcolm Fowler won it from peg 2 on New Lake with 87 lbs and I was lucky enough to be second with 75 lbs from peg 10 on the New Lake. When I drew it I was highly vociferous about the merits of that peg (it’s tucked into a bay that can be devoid of fish on occasions). Mick in the cabin told me to fish along the bank to my right at about 10 metres. That was lucky because the day before a combination of 3 anglers had managed to break my 6th section completely in two whilst trying to separate sections stuck together in the rain, so I was armed with my 10 metre Maver H10 edge pole. I started on the method feeder but with no bites in the first hour and a half I decided to give the edge peg a go before departing for an early bath. Fed a big pot of corn and first cast the float buried and an 8 pounder was safely netted. It got a bit quiet in the middle of the match, in fact I nodded off a couple of times but I picked up a few more fish towards the end of the match to weigh in not many carp for 75 lbs. The moral of the story….don’t bitch about your peg until AFTER the match, you’ll feel awfully sheepish going back for the results if you’ve caught after bad mouthing the peg to all and sundry.

Saturday’s match on the Top Lake fished pretty well in dreadful conditions with a strong wind, teeming rain and not at all warm. I was lucky enough to draw peg 23 on the back spit and fished the little method feeder all day for 178 lbs. Don fished cat meat in peg 8 for 140 lbs and Terry Harrison also weighed in a “ton” from peg 25 on the spit. All in all good weights in pretty poor conditions.

I’m off on holiday on Wednesday. I’m going to British Columbia on the sunny west coast of Canada (actually it might well be cold and raining, their weather is much the same as ours). I’ve got a few days on Vancouver Island fishing for Salmon and Halibut in the ocean then I move over to the mighty Fraser River on the mainland for some sturgeon fishing. I don’t want to hijack the Willinghurst site but If I get round to writing anything I’ll post a link here.

Ross

Special Invitation Match For The Regulars

After much flattery and a little bit of arm twisting, we managed to talk the management team into letting us have a match where we could use floating baits. The date was set a couple of weeks ago and lo and behold the day turned out to be wall to wall rain and winds gusting up to 30 mph, not exactly perfect floater weather. However all those booked with the exception of Mick Keeper actually turned up. The rules were that there were no rules (just like the old days) .

The wind made it that it was virtually impossible to fish floaters in some pegs but in the ones with a bit of shelter the fish were ready to oblige. The top 3 weights all came on chum mixer, with Brian Green winning it from peg 1 with a cool 216 lbs, I was a couple of fish behind with 203 lbs 10 oz and Ian Hogg made up the top three with 156 lbs 12 oz. Don Garnish had the best weight fishing “on the deck” with 94 lbs 1oz. I always knew that the dog biscuit would outfish any other method but it was nice to get it confirmed.

Here’s a few observations, mostly aimed at the people that continue to badmouth the method.

1) Those weights are by far the biggest that have been caught from that lake for over a year. Who knows what we’d have weighed in if the conditions had been more favourable.

2) The fish that were caught on the floaters are DIFFERENT FISH to those that are caught on the bottom. They average between 7 and 8 pounds each. This seems to destroy the argument of those that insist that any bait floating past them ruins their bottom fishing. Give your head a shake and open your eyes, they’re not the same fish. The fish that are caught on the surface DO NOT FEED on the bottom except for a few of them that move into the margins in the last hour of a normal match. I didn’t see a single fish under 5 lbs weighed in by those people fishing chum mixers yet if you fish the method feeder you won’t see a fish over 5lbs. When you’re bottom fishing and chum mixers float past with a few fish rising don’t get so upset. Those rising fish are not your fish, your fish are still on the bottom, they can’t see up through 2 or 3 feet of muddy water. If your bottom fish were to move up to eat the mixers then there would be smaller fish caught on the mixer but it just doesn’t happen….EVER !!.

Anyhow, the experiment is over for the time being. If you wanted to fish but were not invited then I’m sorry but it really was for regulars and the ‘old-timers’ that used to fish dog biscuits there when it was allowed. The fishery is back to the normal rules of “NO FLOATING BAITS” and “NO BREAD”, so please abide by the rules.

Ross

It’s All Change At Willinghurst

You must be sick of me writing about matches all the time so I thought that I’d tell you about some exciting events at the venue. As from 1st August Terry and Mick who run the cabin and the open matches have taken over running the whole fishery. Paul, who used to try and run the fishery AND the estate is still around but will be involved more with the forestry and general work around the estate.

(Click on the image to see the full sized photo)

Terry (aka “The Cod”) on the left, Paul in the middle and Mick looking very official on the right.

Both Mick and Terry have supposedly got “proper” jobs (hard to believe since they’re always fishing !), so it’s not decided yet just which days the cabin will be manned. They do have some great ideas on improving the fishery and the fishing. Proper swims will be constructed on the revamped Old Lake and they’ll be built on Horseshoe Lake also. John’s Lake is now completely full, in fact it’s a bit TOO full which has uncovered a problem. The lake builders haven’t got the banks quite level and the lake’s leaking in one corner. They’re going to have to lower the water level (it will be pumped into the newly built stock pond and returned later) whilst a bit of rebuilding is done on a section of bank. If you’re over there you’ll notice that there’s a single platform at the far end of the lake. That’s the prototype of the platforms that will be constructed around the lake. Side boards will be added to stop stuff falling off the platform and into the water.

There are some big plans for moving some of the fish around the various lakes. The plan is that all of the very big carp will be moved to Main Lake and Christmas Tree Lake whilst at the same time an equal weight of smaller carp will be taken from those two specimen lakes to replace the big boys in the match lakes. Chatting to a couple of the pleasure anglers the other day they were saying that there are at least three different 20 lb carp in Top Lake. Now I’ve match fished that lake literally hundreds of times and I’ve NEVER seen a 20 pounder weighed in on a match. You’ve got to assume that they only feed at night or when the lakes are very quiet and it’s those fish that will be netted and moved to Main Lake to be replaced by smaller fish that will hopefully feed a bit more frequently. These are projects that just couldn’t be done whilst Paul was trying to do so many different jobs around the estate and I’m convinced that once it’s all completed, everybody will be happier with the quality of the fishing.

Incidentally, I’m always ready to post any news of catches and / or pictures on here from the pleasure anglers. If you do catch a whopper and there’s somebody in the cabin they’ll always be willing to come up and photograph and weigh it for you on our match scales. I’ll get you a number to ring in case you’re fishing on your own and don’t want to leave your gear unattended.

Matches Saturday, Sunday, Monday 14 - 16 July

Phew, it’s been a hectic weekend.  The Saturday open was held on Top Lake. A good turnout meant that most of the pegs were in use and that seemed to frighten away all the fish from the main part of the lake. All of the top 5 weights came from the back spit or the back hole. I drew peg 13 and when we got there all of that part of the lake had ‘blows’ from feeding carp. As the whistle went and the first feeder hit the water those fish just stopped blowing. It was like somebody had flicked a switch, truly amazing.

Sunday saw us on Top and Horseshoe lakes.  I drew peg 15 on Horseshoe  and had a reasonable day’s fishing, finishing with 89 lbs 8oz for 4th place. There are some huge carp in that lake and the biggest ones are normally caught in close. I’d caught most of my fish by early afternoon, including one or two during a tremendous thunder storm. Once the storm cleared, the sun came out and the fish disappeared. I guess that it just got too bright for them to venture into 18 inches of water right next to the bank. The main top lake fished much better this time with Mark Harrington winning the match with 119 lbs from peg 6.

Monday saw the fishery hosting a Shakespeare “Old Codgers” heat. Limited to the over 50’s, the people fishing seemed to be the same faces that are seen on every match at Willinghurst. With only 26 people turning up and the match spread over 3 lakes, it was always likely that some good weights would be caught. It was good to  see two of the regulars (Reg “The Edge” and Harry The Hat take the two qualifying places, local knowledge is always a big advantage in this type of competition. Good luck to them in the final at Heronbrook Fishery (don’t ask me, I know that it’s somewhere north of Watford). My own match was a very strange affair. I drew peg 6 on New Lake and although peg 8 seemed to be “solid” but unpegged I fancied my chances of a few fish. After a slow start I had a decent run of 7 or 8 carp around half way through the match and by that time I’d probably got about 60 lbs in the nets. Then I hooked a monster in the tail and after playing (and losing) that fish and re-tying my trashed rig, the fish had gone, my peg seemed empty. At the end of the match I had 67 lbs, the fish had simply disappeared and had been replaced by 2 ounce roach….very frustrating !!.

Fishing Report - Sunday 8th July

There had been a couple of big matches on the lakes in the last week or so which meant that I was quite keen to get back and see if any of my latest ideas was going to work. Sadly, they didn’t really get a chance, I drew peg 17 on the Top Lake. It’s one of those pegs that’s only put in when there are a lot of anglers booked into the match and unfortunately I drew it. 7 carp “down the edge” to the right, all caught very late in the match gave me a weight of 50 lbs and another also ran on the weigh sheet.

The combination of bright sunshine and lots of pegs being used meant that weights were down on what we’ve been seeing lately. The top 2 weights came from Horseshoe Lake and 88 lbs was the highest weight on Top Lake (once more from the back spit).

All of the big matches are done for the time being, so it’s back to open matches for a few weeks now.

Incidentally, this crap weather that we’ve been suffering has done wonders for filling up the lakes that were empty a few weeks back. Old Lake is completely full now and the large new John’s Lake looks to be about 2 feet from being full. It looks like the plans for John’s Lake to be up and running by the autumn might just happen. It’ll be good to have a 60 peg match lake there and I’m sure that the pleasure anglers will be pleased to be able to fish Top Lake more often.

What A Difference A Day Makes

Saturday saw 130 hopefuls from all over the country spread around all the lakes on the Fishomania 2007 heat. Maybe it was the pressure of having so many anglers on the lakes, maybe it was the persistent rain, maybe, maybe, maybe. Whatever the reason, it fished very poorly. Steve Jackson, a former winner of the £25,000 competition won it with 97 lbs from Horseshoe Peg 14. He fished down the edge with worm and caster and caught quite a few “lumps” together with some roach. My own match was a dismal story. Drawn on peg 28 in the back spit, I was more than happy with the draw, it can blow hot and cold, either alive with fish or empty, but you’ve got a chance. The whole of the top lake fished very poorly, I think that around 40 lb was top weight in the back spit, normally a real hotspot, and I eventually caught 20 lbs in the last half hour when the fish just appeared from nowhere.

Next day it was back to more mundane matters. Leatherhead were on the New lake and the regular open was on Horseshoe and Top lakes. The title says it all….what a difference a day makes. The Leatherhead match was won with 113 lbs from the in-form peg 12. The open fished very well indeed, particularly on Top Lake with a top weight of 200 lbs (from the back spit of course). In fact the anglers in the back spit weighed in just over 1,000 lbs of fish, an amazing turnaround from the previous dismal day.

There’s no open match this Wednesday because the fishery is hosting a heat of the UK Championships. If you’re at a loose end it’s well worth going along to watch the stars in action (and maybe help with the weighing in eh ?). This Saturday the final of the Kamasan Points Championship takes place at the fishery. I think there will be an open match but maybe on Oak Tree and Cherry, so limited numbers.

At least this rain is doing some good, all of the established lakes are full to the brim and there’s a couple of feet of water in the newly constructed John’s Lake, I just wish that it would rain at night rather than when I’m fishing !!.

Fishing Report - Sunday 24th June 2007

Following my private lesson from Steve Ringer on Thursday I was keen to put into practice what had been learned. I drew peg 12 on the Saturday open. It’s not really a method feeder peg but it had been fishing pretty badly using conventional float tactics so I thought it was worth a go on the method. Now Steve had shown me that his method feeder groundbait is quite wet, he’d told me that you have to add quite a lot of water to get the right consistency and that it needed to be mixed on the night before the match. No problem there then. It did seem VERY wet when I mixed it but I took him at his word, he’d promised that it would soak up the water overnight. I guess there’s a difference between very wet and totally bloody drowned. My beautiful Ringers groundbait was in one big wet lump, it could well be a great new paste. I certainly hope so, because I’ve got several kilos of it !!.

Luckily I had a bag or two of dry groundait in the car, so hastily mixed that up and got ready for my days bagging. Hmmm 4 casts without any indication, that’s not following the script. The 4 casts then became 10 casts then 20 casts, you’ve got the message, it just didn’t happen. I did catch two fish out in the middle and 4 or 5 casting along the laft hand bank next to the road, but all in all it was a dismal performance. That end of the lake seemed completely fishless (the Cod in peg 13 caught just one carp). Incidentally, Mick Seymour who had sat with me for most of the day whilst we watched Steve Ringer won the match fishing the method feeder in peg 23, obviously somebody took in what we were being told.

Today we had a Leatherhead club match on Top Lake. With only 17 fishing, rather than the 24 or 25 of yesterday, we were able to spread out the pegs. It was an awful day weather wise with continual rain throughout the day but the overcast conditions certainly seemed to encourage the fish to feed. The full result is in the results section and I know that we fished a marathon 7 hour match BUT eight weights over 100 lbs is good fishing by anybody’s standard. I drew peg 22, probably the most consistent peg on the whole complex but one that has been out of sorts for a week or two. I would normally fish the pole and cat meat down my bank towards the bridge but I was really keen to have another go at fishing the method, so spent most of the day doing that. I weighed in 118 lbs which was only good enough for 6th overall but thoroughly enjoyed catching loads of fish on the method feeder. Maybe I’d have done better fishing the float but I really needed a confidence boost after my disaster of the previous day. The weights were spread all around the lake, really excellent fishing. Now I just need to get my gear dry ready for Wednesday !.

Fishing Report - Thursday 21st June 2007

Yesterday’s open match saw some good weights from the Top Lake with Mick Seymour emptying it from peg26 on the back spit. He fished the feeder across to the far bank and caught fish all afternoon to finish with a very good weight of 187 lbs. Here’s a picture to prove that there really are a lot of fish in the Top Lake (and don’t panic, the fish were on thick, lush grass, they’d been kept in 4 large keepnets and were very quickly returned to the water)

Click on the picture for a full sized image

Speaking of fish pictures, Paul gave me these 2 pictures of fish caught on the Main Lake but he didn’t give me the names of the anglers.

Today I’ve spent my day in the company of a Gentleman. Last year I bought “A day fishing with Steve Ringer” at a charity auction and it took a year or so for us to fix the date. The day finally arrived and I’ve had a smashing day. Bearing in mind that it’s much easier to catch fish on a pleasure day rather than a match, we gave him a bit of a handicap and sat him on peg 10 on the Top Lake. It’s a peg that hasn’t produced for quite a while now, there’s often fish in the area but nobody could get them to feed. Mr Ringer did !!. We’d decided that Steve should give a masterclass on fishing the method feeder. It’s something that I’m never confident with, so it seemed an ideal opportunity to watch how it should be done. Things started fairly slowly and it was only after we estimated that he’d already caught 15 carp after about 2 hours that it became obvious that he was in the process of building a big weight. I’ve no idea how many he caught by the end of the day, we’d stopped counting but it was lots !!. It’s amazing what you can learn by watching a good angler doing what he does well. There wasn’t one single thing that I had been doing wrong, it’s a combination of things that I’m sure will make a huge difference next time I try fishing the feeder. Here’s a couple of pictures of the man in action. I didn’t get the camera from the car until it got towards the end of the day, so I was desperate to get a picture before we packed up and I managed to take a picture of the ugliest fish in the lake. Whoever ate half his tail would they please give it back !. Thanks Steve, I enjoyed every minute and you’re a true gentleman.

Latest Matches - 18th June 2007

I’ve got a bit of catching up to do. Last Wednesday they moved the open match back a couple of hours and fished 1:30 till 7 pm hoping that the fish would feed later on in the match. No…wrong again !!. Results were still naff, Mick Seymour won it with 92 lbs from peg 8 and the second weight was a measly 64 lbs. It’s getting really frustrating, the fish are there (you foulhook plenty) but they just won’t feed. This Wednesday’s match is back to the usual 11:30 - 5:30 format.

Saturday saw the fishery host the Maver Pairs competition. 50 pairs of anglers spread over the entire fishery and although the weights weren’t huge it was good to see that the top six weights all came from different lakes. The weather Gods are still upset about something. When we needed the rain to fill up the modified Old Lake, we had the driest May on record. Last week it needed to stay dry to avoid turning the new parts of Old and Oak Tree Lakes into a quagmire…it pissed down for 3 days.  I fished the match with my mate Pikey Pearson (aka the Total Fishing Paste God). I did OK with 74 lbs from New Lake peg 5 but he blew out on the back spit, only managing to beat the bloke on peg 20 who didn’t actually turn up. I don’t mean “didn’t turn up” in the football team sense e.g. Arsenal simply didn’t turn up and were beaten 8-1 by The Blues, I mean he didn’t turn up…the peg was empty !!. Incidentally Pikey then absolutely emptied it yesterday at Stubpond, weighing in a very creditable 230 lbs (on paste of course).

Yesterday the fishery hosted the Shimano Summer League match with 90 anglers spread over most of the lakes. I was at Stubpond but the lads at Total Fishing report that it fished a little better with 135 lbs winning it from Old Lake and 117 lbs coming second from peg 28 on the back spit of the Top Lake.