Kodak Lakes

So it was an early start for the trip out to Kodak Lakes near Annesley on Sunday the 22nd of May. The weather was changeable, very windy with squally showers blowing through to leave long periods of sunshine. We were at the bank at about 7.15 and there were already 4 other anglers on the 'bottom' lake. We were going to try out some float fishing (seemed like madness in such gusty conditions) and chose the pegs in the lea of the trees, pretty much the spot where the photo of the 'top lake' was taken on the Notts AA site. I am still learning the craft of angling and under the expert tuition of my mentor, we set about plumbing the depth. We were only fishing a couple of rod lengths out to take advantage of the protection of the trees from the wind. We set up a loaded Peacock with a number 4 a few inches down the line and then 2 number 8 Stotz weights spaced further down the line towards the hooklength. Having read many posts about Kodak we opted to try maggot as this seemed to be a safe bet. And the fish began biting. In the whole day I landed 28, all of them small, nothing amounting to more than a few ounces but it was an excellent experience and lots of fun. The majority of the fish landed were small Perch and they were lots of fun when hooked, quite tenacious, other fish caught were Roach and Pongos (Gudgeon). I did try artificial buoyant sweetcorn for a short while but to no avail. The maggots, particularly red ones were the hit of the day and constantly baiting the swim paid off. Other anglers appeared through the day  on the other side of the lake but we didn't see anybody land anything. My angling mentor opted for feeder for a while but nothing was taking. Kodak is a nice easy venue for the novice angler and there are tales of larger fish there, obviously it is a popular water so getting there early to have the pick of pegs is a good idea

Wildlife at the Finger Ponds

One of the things that I enjoy about going fishing again is being out in the fresh air, close to nature and taking in what's around you. The Finger Ponds are a great location, a few miles outside Nottingham.  They are secluded, quiet and relatively undisturbed. Not many people fish there as they are reputedly 'hard' waters. The few fishing trips I have made there recently have allowed me to take in the surroundings and note the wildlife present. As expected waterfowl predominate, with many types of geese and ducks present. Swans and Great Crested Grebes are frequent visitors and pairs of Oystercatchers are often seen flying over. Green Woodpeckers are seen and very often heard in the surrounding trees but the most unusual habitants of the ponds must be the Red Eared Terrapins. I was first told about them by a relative of a work colleague. A conversation about fishing at the Finger Ponds led him to tell me that once whilst fishing there he hooked a Terrapin. I had no cause to doubt him and when I got home I did a search and came up with this document. I then emailed my fishing guru and indeed he corroborated the story with a photo. I would have never believed that Terrapins could survive let alone thrive in such an environment. They are apparently quite a pest being detrimental to many bird species by taking eggs from nests and they also eat much of the dragonfly larvae.

Gunthorpe weir, last day of the season.

A welcome day off work to go fishing on the last day of the season. My fishing friend told me he traditionally fished the last day and so I asked if I could tag along. The choice of venue was a stretch of the Trent below Gunthorpe weir. An 8am start on a chilly day in the shadow of the cliffs, saw us get set up and employ the feeder method using Marine Halibut ground bait mix and chopped pellets. A long and unfortunately fruitless day followed with not even a single take. One of my friend's work colleagues turned up and he decided to do a bit of dead baiting for Pike on the next peg down. His was the only success of the day hauling in a nice 10lb fish. The weather opened up and the sun shone. Red wine was consumed and fishing method and lore discussed. Undeterred we retired to the Horse Chestnut for some post match analysis.

Okuma Interceptor Pro 350 baitrunner reel

As the fishing bug had bitten it was time to start building up the tackle collection again. So I asked my fishing friend for some advice and he recommended the same Shimano baitrunner reel he had. I checked out the prices online and due to the recent scarcity of funds available I decided to look for a cheaper alternative. I didn't want to go super cheap as my mate pointed out it would likely be false economy in the long run. I ended up buying an Okuma Interceptor Pro 350 from this seller on ebay. Superb bargain at under 27 quid including postage and superb service too. Ordered Thursday afternoon and considering the day off most people had on the Friday for the recent Royal wedding it turned up Saturday morning.

Nice bit of kit, comes with a spare graphite spool and has a nice smooth action. OK it's not going to be up to the quality of manufacturers like Shimano, nonetheless it will doubtless prove to be a good enough reel for the novice angler. Looking forward to trying it out on our next trip out to Kodak Lakes a Nottingham AA water later on this month. A 'field report' of this reel to follow

The Fishing bug, caught again

So, it's been 10 years or so since I went fishing last. I used to go with my old mate Ginge but due to changes in life and circumstance we drifted away from going. A while back I started bumping into an old work colleague quite frequently and discussions about homebrew, rugby and fishing ensued. My friend is a keen and accomplished angler and as I showed a keen interest in taking up the sport again he suggested a Winter fishing trip for pike. My previous angling experience was a couple of Trent barbel caught at Colwick Sluices and various small carp from commercials. Needless to say I was very interested in the prospect of piking. So it was a trip on a cold March Saturday to the Finger Ponds near Nottingham. Old gravel pits dug for the building of a nearby road in 1956 they are quiet, picturesque and notably difficult to fish. The water is about 4 feet deep and there is a small drainage pipe out to the nearby River Trent. It's a Notts Federation water and the bailiff tells my friend that when the water has been netted in past times there aren't many large fish in there apart from Pike.


So armed with frozen sardines as deadbait we fished quite close in on the corner of one of the 'fingers' surrounded by trees. The fish were certainly out there and were definitely having it. We had 6 runs and unfortunately due to my less than robust striking action we lost them all. Undaunted we moved to a peg towards the back end of one of the 'fingers' and again fished quite close in to the trees right and left of our location. The afternoon was drawing to a close and we thought we'd end up blanking, having to rely on the experience of losing the fish and the knowledge that next time I'd need to be a bit more tenacious when the fish was on. Finally, a fish took the bait on one of the rods we had out. This time I left the strike to the pro and we were in. As it was my first fishing trip my mate very kindly passed the rod to me so I could play the fish. And what a great experience it was. Nervous and eager not to lose the fish my friend gave me advice on what to do, how to present the rod and when to let the fish have some line. We were using my mate's gear and he favours Shimano baitrunner reels, these were a godsend and allowed me to let the fish run off when it wanted. After playing the fish for a good while and letting it tire itself out it was eventually landed. Weighed in at about 6.5lbs and it was a superb experience. My first fish in 10 years and the bug had bitten again.