It was early July and I thought that a summer Carp and Catfish fishing trip was well over due. I made a wise decision to fish on Coking Farm Fishery’s Woodland Specimen Lake. I opted to fish this lake because it holds some large carp and catfish. Coking Farm’s Oak Lake was fishing really well and was proving to be more popular than Woodland, which was good news for me as there would be less pressure on my chosen lake. Just how I like it when I’m specimen hunting. I was thinking that perhaps Woodland Lake had been overlooked. So I waited till after the weekend when the ‘weekenders’ had packed up and gone back to their various jobs. I find the best time for this is midweek.
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It’s early April 2010 and I decided to go to Todber Manor Fisheries Paddock Specimen Lake in Dorset. Luckily for me I only live a mile down the road from it. I’ve only ever been Catfish fishing once before and I loved it. Any one who has caught one will tell you how hard they fight and you’ll never feel anything else like it in fresh water. It’s because of this I wanted to catch another so I was on a mission to catch a big Moggie. There are some big Catfish in the Paddock Lake with one specimen reaching a weight over 80lbs known by the locals as ‘Simba’. I had my fingers crossed hoping that I’d catch some of them and maybe be lucky enough to catch Simba for the first time this year.
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April had finally arrived and the weather felt like it was spring at long last. With this amazing warm high-pressure clear spell I thought that it would be rude not to have a crack at catching some Carp. So I booked up a peg on Oak Lake at Coking Farm Fisheries for a 48-hour session. I booked up on this lake because I had heard on the grapevine that it was starting to fish pretty well. I also knew that Oak Lake had a good head of Carp from mid doubles to upper 20’s.
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It was a Tuesday morning in February and the weather was supposed to be clear at long last. With this clear spell in mind I thought that perhaps a spot of leisurely float fishing at a local match lake would be a good idea. I knew that the lake had a good head of Bream, Roach, Rudd, Common Carp, Mirror Carp, some Crucian Carp and a few Tench. On this occasion I decided to fish for the small Carp and Tench, as I didn’t feel like constantly hauling out bags of Roach and Rudd. This happened to me a couple of days before at another venue. I was catching so many Rudd I didn’t even have a chance to have a coffee.
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Before the winter had properly settled in and the River Stour was fishable at Sturminster Newton, I often walked along the riverbank spinning for Pike and Perch. I like to spin with a nice shiny small Meps spinner and I travel light so that I’m as mobile as possible. I enjoy casting into the margins and enticing the Pike or Perch to take the spinner. This worked quite well and I caught lots of Jack Pike and some decent sized Perch. Whilst spinning I thought a lot about going after some big Pike in the winter with dead baits.
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This perch fishing trip all started when I went to my local tackle shop to buy a couple of bits and pieces. The lads working there told me that some rather large Perch were being caught from their specimen carp lake. I immediately saw an opportunity I didn’t want to miss as I love Perch and have fond memories of catching them as a child.
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It was early July and I thought that a summer Carp and Catfish fishing trip was well over due. I made a wise decision to fish on Coking Farm Fishery’s Woodland Specimen Lake. I opted to fish this lake because it holds some large carp and catfish. Coking Farm’s Oak Lake was fishing really well and was proving to be more popular than Woodland, which was good news for me as there would be less pressure on my chosen lake. Just how I like it when I’m specimen hunting. I was thinking that perhaps Woodland Lake had been overlooked. So I waited till after the weekend when the ‘weekenders’ had packed up and gone back to their various jobs. I find the best time for this is midweek.
