Loche Park

I was given an update to the newly opened loche park in Redcar the other day, 'its full of small carp mate' they said, 'you cant go wrong!'. So I loaded up my gear and headed to the lake this morning. Having never tried method feeder fishing I thought I'd give it a go. The lake is shallow, no more than 3 foot, and a narrow island running down the centre of most of it means you never have to chuck it far. I tackled up a light feeder rod with 4lb line, a small method feeder and a short 3lb hook link to a size 12 hook. The groundbait mix was tuna, black groundbait, corn, meat and pellet.
Full of confidence I cast in and set the buzzer. Within 5 minute I had a screaming line bite and thoughts like 'too easy' sprung to mind. it was a full 2 hrs later and half a dozen casts before a got a positive take and a common of abaout a pound slid into the net. And that, as they say, was that!
It was a good reminder that if something seems too easy then it probably is! however it was nice wetting a line again. On the way home I dropped into the resevoir to have a look around and found it completely deserted and looking fantastic. I know where I'll be heading next time!

New River

I've been away working down near Ware in Herts, damming up what is essentially a concrete lined canal which carries water to treatment plants in london. The idea was to dam off a section then drain it to fix a leak and today was the pumping out day. The reason I mention it was because my final job was to get in with a net to rescue any fish which could be found in the mud. The main point of interest other than a few jack pike were a pair of reasonable sized perch, maybe a pound and a half in wieght. Talking to the British waterways rep I learnt that there are quite a few pike to double figures and several larger carp further downstream.
The only down side is that for safety reasons there is no fishing allowed, I'm sure though that if a quiet stretch could be found .........!