Mr Ovenden (Snr) has been a pleasure angler for many years. He is a member of Christchurch Angling and fishes in Verwood, Dorset or at Somerley near Ringwood. But in the past two weeks he has not stopped talking about his latest PB fish.
Viewing entries tagged Fishing Sessions
Well after my ticket ended at Cotton Farm I was off to Aveley in Essex. So from 5 Acres to 35 I needed to make some changes. This stunning 35 Acre Lake is well and truly off the beat and track, the gate at the main entrance is around three quarters of a mile from the main road. The track leads you on a downward slope into the grounds of the Syndicate. There are two main car parks at both sides of the lake, both at road level with the lake set beneath. This is one of those lakes when you first set eyes on it make you draw a breath. Reed lined, intimate bays, overhanging trees and lots of carpy looking spots. The main body of the lake is around 30 Acres and the smaller part making the rest known as the Trout Lake. Once used for Farming Reeds the lake has all the features you would expect from a Carp lake and more! The Trout and Main lakes are separated by a causeway of reeds that are a real magnet for the carp that can pass between the two.
Before I left the lake on my last session I had a quick peek up in the corner closest to the gate. The wind had swung round to a westerly in the early hours during the last night of my session and the fish had moved out on it.
I had seen fish in this corner quite a few times before and from my observations most others fished to the obvious gravel humps further out in the swim. I knew there was a nice little clear spot tight to the bank right in the corner behind the overhanging branches of a big willow tree. Although the branches reached the waters surface they didn’t actually penetrate it so they didn’t represent a significant hazard whilst playing a fish provided the rod tip was kept low. As I snuck through the brambles and bushes behind the spot I could see a couple of fish milling about in the area. I had actually trickled bait onto the spot during the previous 48 hours and it had all gone so they had clearly had a good feed in there. Before I left I deposited the remainder of my bait onto the spot using the baiting pole. I suppose in all I stuck in about 3 kilos of pellet and a kilo of whole and chopped boilies.
As we pulled into the car park of Mustang Lake I could see there was a strong wind hacking down into far bank. When I walked round the lake, I noticed that most of the anglers were also set-up on the back of the wind. This seemed perfect as it was a very warm, strong wind away from the majority of the angling pressure.
On Friday night I arrived at my syndicate with 2 nights ahead of me. There was a warm south-westerly trickling down into one end of the lake. This made my choice of swim quite obvious as I knew there would be some fish down there on the warm wind.
I went down to the smaller of the two lakes on my syndicate and planned to do a quick day session.
It’s been quite a while since I wrote my last blog entry. The reason for this is because of health and personal issues I have for now stopped working for AI. My back problems have been a nightmare and I have spent a fortune on Chiropractors, Osteopaths and Acupuncture. The end result is still the same so I’m off for am MRI scan and a consultation with a back specialist soon. Although I have left the company as such it was all on good terms with no ill feelings amongst us and I said I would be happy to carry on writing for the website and I expect I will be helping out at some of the local shows come the winter.
I have to start this piece by saying a huge well done to two very close friends of mine. I have known Garry Wright (aka Geordie) since I started Carp fishing nearly 13 years ago and Tony Stray since my school days equally as long ago. When they told me they were entering the World Carp Classic at Lac de Madine I must say I was a little surprised. They are just two blokes that are not in the limelight and have never entered any kind of Carp fishing competition home or abroad. As surprised as I was I never doubted their ability and provided they got a good draw they would have as good a chance as anybody. Both have fished at the legendary Rainbow Lake in France so both are more than capable with fishing with the use of boats.
Welcome to my first feature entry. As it’s my first one I might as well let you know what I have been up to so far this year which to be far isn’t that much at all. Things have been manic at AI so far this year as the company seems to have made a big stride forward in popularity and demand. As a result of this I did next to no fishing between January and May. Working 2 jobs is bloody hard and sometimes even when I had a bit of free time the last thing I wanted was to go and freeze my nuts of when the only place I wanted to be was sat on the sofa with the missus. During May I went out on the road showing the shops the new products for 2010. It was a lot of miles and a fair bit of time away from home but thanks to the help of a few friends and a couple of more than helpful tackle shop owners I had a few nights fishing lined up here and there between journeys. Those odd few nights were actually quite successful with me catching fish on each night. The highlight was definitely sneaking a mid 20 common out of Christchurch Lake on the Lynch hill complex. My mate had been there for a few days with no joy. I had got to the lake very late in the evening and just chucked them off some reeds in the corner of the lake. The take came early morning and I stayed quiet as a mouse through the whole fight. Once it was in the net I wondered over to my mate to find him in his bed watching the water. "You seen all these fish rolling boy?" he said. No mate but I have just seen one roll into my net! His face was a picture and if it wasn’t for the fact he was tucked up in his bag I think he might just of punched me!
Last autumn/winter until all the lakes froze over; I spent as much time as I could fishing Frimley Pit 3. As this is, I think the best time to pick out the better fish.
Spring of 2010 finally saw me holding a syndicate place for the water I had yearned to fish for a few years, the previous winter saw me purchasing a walk on ticket to allow access for a good look around, and I must admit it looked stunning in its winter colours.
April finally arrived and I pushed my barrow onto the complex with a 48hr stint ahead of me, the excitement unbearable. After a good look around and copious amounts of tea drank with my new syndicate friends, I opted for a swim with a good view of the rest of the lake.
Some of this will sound a little obvious I know but this is me during winter.
I found myself in the Dug Out at Cotton Farm for a quick overnighter. I thought I would try a different approach on one rod and had a gallon of red maggots in my armoury for this trip.
