Andy Spreadbury's Fishing Blog

Monday 20th. July 2020 Paddlesworth, Pollard, peg 26 09.30 Up at 05.00 to be at the lake before the new arrivals. Peg 29 was occupied but I preferred 27 anyway. Stopped by this my first choice but moved on when the bloke I'd just passed started spodding right in front of 27! Why do people think they've carte blanche to cast into your water? This sort of thing winds me up no end. It's pointless having an argument with the person though. You'll just get a gob full of shite. Or even worse. Peg 26 There were fish here when I arrived. No matter. I'm happy. I've just seen fish topping a short distance out. I lost no time in getting a zig out and left it to fish for itself while I put together the bottom bait rods. Two rods fished straight in front, clipped up at twelve wraps in twenty-two feet of water. The Spomb clipped at eleven and a half. Didn't go mad with it. Just enough to provide a bed of bait for the Carp to find. Left the zig out for half an hour or so a...

Tuesday, 14th.July 2020 Paddlesworth, Pollard Peg 44, The Brambles Peg 44 - The Brambles It's absolutely covered in Eel Grass out there! 08.00 RH rod - 5 wraps - 13ft. Centre rod - 12.5 wraps - 20ft. LH rod - 7.5 wraps - 18ft. 09.30 All rods on the dancefloor. Did a complete circuit of the lake first thing and got soaked in the rain. Didn't see a thing. Pitched up in The Brambles for no other reason than I have caught from it before. All rods on zigs. Lots of Eel Grass inside the five wraps line. Far worse this year than last. Lake looks dead. Nothing showing. Wind blowing right to left. 10.40 Fish moving in front of P29. 10.50 Again. Fish moving in front of P29. The bloke in there should be catching. They're no more than 10 wraps out in front of him. Adjustable Zig arrangement. Really starting to get the hang of these things now and can virtually guarantee presentation. Only thing is, the Carp don't seem to appreciate this. 12.45 Recast the RH rod due to Coots picking ...

5th.July 2020 Braided Mainline For some time I've been unhappy with the mainlines I use, fishing for the Carp on Pollard. For a start, there are so many Zebra Mussels, I have been warned by more than one member they can result in cut-offs. Braided mainline offers some insurance against this possibility. There are also added advantages in terms of minimal stretch, bite indication, and casting ability to throw into the mix too. After a lot of research, I chose Gardener Hydro-Sink in 22lbs. BS and bought a 600m spool (£60 from eBay). I wanted to make its use as economical as possible in addition to spooling it up properly to eliminate the wind knots I suffered on previous experiences with braided mainlines. 600m theoretically enables 4 x 150m spool-ups which seems to me to be about the right amount to take account of my longest cast, a running fish, and line being taken during the fight. The aim was to load the spool with just a 2mm. gap from the line to the rim. This would help to e...

Thursday 2nd. July 2020 Paddlesworth, Pollard, peg21 13.00 Sitting in my pit absolutely exhausted. I got to the lake to find half of it closed. Apparently, the bailiffs had been round and decided the Carp were spawning in the top part of the lake and fishing should be shut down. I can see the sense in this because the welfare of the fish comes first. However, I couldn't see the argument for allowing fishing in the other half since the Carp are able to travel to the half the anglers are fishing! Anyway, restrictions were placed on swims up to peg 21 on the car park bank and peg 46 on the house bank. Since a fish had come out of 21 I chose to go in there. But what a ball-ache getting in there! Up and down a very steep slope at least six times - there was no way you could haul a barrow up it so hand-ball it was. The prospect of hauling this lot up and down a steep slope did not inspire. I think it took me six trips in the end and by the finish of it I was exhausted! It's left me c...

Tuesday 16th.June 2020 Paddlesworth, Pollard, peg32 12.00 Another complete re-think after last week's session. The issue on the lake at the moment is the weed. Although I have complete confidence in Ryan's wafters, I think they are unsuitable to use where weed is present. Consequently, I have gone for pop-up presentations on all three rods.  Peg 32. Are there any fish in it?... Apparently not. Now I have never been a fan of Ronnie rigs, successful as they are. I can't abide all that ironmongery. I much prefer my tried and tested Stiff Hinge rig. I have had so many fish on these in the past I don't need to worry about confidence in them. I tie them very short, using the stripped back coating of the braid as the 'hinge'. Putty on the Albright knot acts as ballast. Stiff Hinge Rig. Tests at the end of the session showed the whole lot collapsing in a heap instead of straightening out nicely as shown in the videos! All three baits are on the same mark. Five wra...

Tuesday 9th. June 2020 Paddlesworth Pollard, peg 36 (The 'W') 13.00 So-called because the mark is at 9½ wraps at the 'W'. I came with empty bowels and a new approach (see my previous post of 9th. June). I had a complete re-think and decided to go back to square one and start again. The 'W' peg. The mark is to the right of the two depressions formed by the W. My previous captures on Pollard had been during the autumn and winter, fishing at between 12 and 18 wraps. This put my baits into relatively deep water - 14 feet plus. I began the post-lockdown trying to emulate what I had found to be successful in the past, but found these tactics unsuitable.  My focus now is on fishing shallow water up to ten feet deep and this corresponds with margin fishing (mostly). Plumbing reveals the following: I had a thorough plumb of the peg at the end of the session (in the pouring rain!) The entire area goes down to 17 feet so the mark is on a distinctive plate...

Wednesday, 3rd.June 2020 Paddlesworth, Pollard, Peg 40 (The End Peg) 14.00 At the end of last week's session, I packed the car and walked up to the top end to scope things out. It's relatively shallow at this end although still fourteen feet out in the middle. With the sudden influx of members after the long lay-off I suspected the carp were subject to angling pressure and might seek the remoter areas of the lake. The top end is one such remote place. There is only one peg on the far side near this part of the lake, down to the left, leaving a considerable area of unfished water in front of The End Peg. I passed by this peg often last summer but never had the chance to fish it so this is my first go. Peg 40 - The End Peg The swim at the end of the lake. When they're here, they're here. When they're not... There is a big area of shallows on which you can see the bottom, against the right-hand tree-line. It then suddenly drops into deeper water; it is ...