Detailed articles on
various
waters
Hello and welcome to my first instalment of
“Roving Reports”. I know it’s taken a while but I’ve finally decided to
base my first of many reports on “Ashley Pool”.
My
thoughts/approach:
Ashley
pool is an attractive pond situated in the countryside, on the
outskirts of Hale, as a whole it is very natural and full of fish from
small Perch to enormous Carp and Tench to 8lb+. It is an excellent pond
and is perfect for an evening pleasure session.
The
approach I took was using about five sections of pole at the most on
the first peg as you approach the pool. I baited up 2-3 swims around
the lilies in front of me using two main baits which were corn and
maggot. As I arrived I put in a couple of half handfuls of maggots
where I was going to fish so the fish could build up confidence to take
my bait, and immediately the surface bubbled with fish fighting over
the bait. The pole rig I set up was about 4-5ft long with a medium carp
float and a size 14 hook. Once I 
had
plumbed the depth I fished about 0.5cm from the bottom to allow for
tench bites as well as other fish; another advantage of this was to
avoid snagging up on weed on the bottom as this pool has lots of weed
which helps the fish to thrive. I first baited up with double white
maggot on the hook and I spaced the shots far apart so that the bait
could fall slowly through all water levels while still giving bite
indication. Immediately I had my first fish of the day, a Perch
weighing in at about 1/4lb, not a big fish but it was the first of
many. I carried on catching perch up to about 1lb constantly for about
an hour along with a few roach and the odd skimmer until I had to
shorten my rig several times due to line abrasion. It was at that point
I decided to fish with corn; prior to this I put in the occasional
handful of corn to bring the better sized fish into my swim. It was
also at this point I started to fish the second swim I had baited
earlier so that I didn’t get plagued by the small Perch. After 10
minutes of fishing there I had a tench that was about 1lbs 5oz, shortly
followed by a crucian carp of a similar size. When the bites went a bit
quite I varied my hook bait so that it was a piece of corn and a single
maggot. This did the trick as it
resulted in 3 more crucian; the biggest was about 2lb, and also another
couple of tench just under 1lb. something I should mention is that when
the bites went quiet I also increased my depth so that I was over depth
by 5cm so that the fish didn’t feel the resistance of the float.
Although
I fished with pole it is very well suited to both pole and rod and
line, but one thing to bear in mind if you are fishing with the pole is
that many of the pegs don’t have much space for a roller so some of you
may have trouble shipping your pole out, but to be perfectly honest
with you, you can catch the same amount of fish 2-4 meters out as you
would 10-15 meters out so there is no need to have a fully extended
pole.
Altogether it was a very enjoyable
afternoon session on a dull day.
Best
baits:
The best baits to use depend on the kind of fish you are
targeting, here are just a few.
Corn- for the Tench, Carp, Crucians, Roach, and Skimmers
Maggot- for the Roach, Perch, Skimmers, and small Tench
Luncheon Meat- for the larger Tench and Carp
Methods:
The
main method that works there is float fishing near the lilies, if you
are not confident that you will be able to cast next to the lilies
accurately or steer a fish away from them then fish a few meters away
from them in a clearing, It is best to fish tight to the bottom and let
the bait fall slowly through the layers so that other fish can pick it
up on the drop. It is also essential to feed quite a lot if the roach
and perch are feeding as otherwise all the bait you throw in gets eaten
before it reaches the bottom. If you are fishing for the bigger
specimens with meat, then it is a good idea to group the shots so that
the small fish don’t peck at it before it reaches the bottom. Another
tip I have recently picked up is to use a rubber on your float rather
than fixing it with shots, this doesn’t matter if you are a pole
fisherman but for those of you who are using a rod and line it means
that if a big fish dives through the lilies then the float can slide up
the line and not get snagged therefore giving you a greater chance of
landing the fish, it also means that if the line snaps you will have a
greater chance of not loosing your float, which is very cost effective.
It also pays to use the smallest float you can get away with as it is
less resistance for the shy biting Crucians, but don’t go too small as
I found that the smaller fish tend to try to have a go at your float.
Fishing
hotspots:
I
was apparently fishing the best peg of the lake which is the first peg
you come across, another peg which is quite good is the peg opposite
the first, and also the last peg you come to is good for skimmers and
large Tench.
Other
anglers:
The
other anglers I spoke to mainly said that they catch loads of perch and
were quite surprised to see several Crucians come out, whereas one
person I spoke to targets the bigger Tench and Carp and said that he
comes down in the evening with meat and fishes on the float tight to
the lilies. Apparently it is a very successful method and I saw him
catch a couple of tench to about 3lb.
Overall:
Overall
this is a very good venue for the pleasure angler and is also a good
place to take children to teach them to fish. One thing I should point
out is that it is very hard to find, when you go down the road it is
on, look to your right for a BMAC parking sign, park up there and
opposite that sign you will see a long hedgerow, walk along that
hedgerow for about 250yards and you will come to the pool. Another
thing is that it is best to travel light as there isn’t enough room for
a regular trolley down the path.
I highly recommend this venue, it
was very enjoyable.
Ashley Pool