Whats occurin?

The last blog I wrote was nearly six months ago now, and as nobody has contributed, I volunteered an update.Bit cheeky really as I haven't fished PV in a while, but at least it brings people up to date.Without doubt, the biggest news is the great effect the removal of the skimmers has had on the fish. With only occasional nuisance fish coming out to the carp anglers.The new stock fish have settled in nicely by all accounts, although as expected with such dramatic changes there have been a few loses, which although they are upsetting are quite minimal, the EA have been involved, and I stand to be corrected but these have occurred due to Spring Mortality Syndrome, (NOT SVC)!

As usual, the lake was slow to pick up due to the cold weather, but once the water temperature rose enough the fish went on the munch. The pics are just a few of the fish that have been out, and in no particular order as the date settings on the cameras haven't been set.

Apologies for any incorrect info if there is any.

The angler on the left is Shane Woods with one of the big commons, this fish weighing in at 34lb12oz.

One of the owners of PV, Dave with a fantastic looking common, unfortunately, I don't have the weight, but if memory serves me right, its a tad over thirty, and a fish that hasn't been banked in a long time.It was foul hooked on the surface last year, so at least its recovered well.

Sorry, don't have the anglers name for this one, which is a shame as its a new confirmed record for the fishery, and the one were all after. The big girl at 40lb14oz!! What a corker!

Finally, just looking through the website, it seems quite a lot of anglers visiting PV are enquiring about bait and tactics etc, so Ill throw my ten pennorth in.

Everything works on here, it all depends on how long you are there for, what time of year it is, and what the weathers doing.

If you know how to surface fish, and can put up with the bird life,mixers and zigs are the way to go during the warm weather.If you don't like surface fishing and the weather is warm,make sure your baits are in shallow water, either in the margins or down the shallow end. I try and head for the corners if poss, or along the tree lines. If the weathers a bit cooler, don't be afraid to put bait in! There are loads of fish in there, and once they've finished spawning (which they tried to do this last weekend), and had a rest, they'll be feeding properly.

If you fish over particles, which is a good method to use now the skimmers have gone, make sure your hooklinks are no longer than four inches, and your hook bait is small.

I'm fishing elsewhere at the moment, but will definitely be coming down for a few overnighters shortly.Ive used all my B2 now and have filled the freezer full of Nash Scopex Squid Red. One of the anglers on there last year was struggling for a take until he switched to this, and his results were fantastic, so I know it works as well as any other boilie on there.

Fish any good quality bottom bait with a stringer, and you wont go far wrong.

As for amounts, I usually put a kilo in for an overnighter, and put one rod in the center of it, and one just off the area,the third rod can then be cast to showing fish.

I think the two Dave's would like to see more contributors to the Blog, so just click on the links if you would like to contribute. It seems a bit daft me writing stuff when I'm not fishing there regularly, fishing changes all the time, and I may be talking b**locks as usual!!

Finally, and most importantly, DIP YOUR NETS WHEN YOU GO ON AND OFF the lake, you never know what you may be bringing on or taking away.

Happy hunting,

Phil.

Netted!

Don't know where the last few weeks have gone! Done my usual one 24hrs every week but have struggled to be honest.A few blanks,a few captures, but nothing of any size.Best night was four fish to about 16/17lb(ghosty).My last session was bonfire night week,since then its been mad at work,and hot in in Barbados!Then I come back to a frozen wasteland!Grrrrr...!
Ive fished for carp for many years and seen them caught in all conditions, so the only thing that stops me fishing is ice.
Yesterday was at last, a great day for the owners and a lot of the anglers who fish on Pendle. After holidays, disruptions, and the lake freezing over, the lake was at last netted.The tears in my eyes as the hoards of snotty bream and silver fish were removed weren't cold, or sadness, but joy! It had got to a stage where I was casting 15mm boilies out knowing they wouldn't produce a pick up, but the alternative was small baits and 10 to 15 skimmers a session.
A part of the lake couldn't get netted due to the size and shape,but one sweep produced an awful lot of fish, showing how prolific a venue it is.
Around 140 carp were caught in the net,of which about 12 were weighed,the biggest went 29+.I don't really know how many coarse fish were removed, but if I had to put money down I would guess in the region of 800 to a 1200 pounds in weight, but this is just a guess. The two big commons evaded capture, as did tango and three fish that came out in the summer at 28+,(a common and two mirrors), so what else proved elusive I can only guess at.I reckon there are four thirties in there at the moment,plus around ten 25lb plus fish, a couple of which could go scraper thirty once they have settled down after the netting, and bait starts going in again.
When you see so many coarse fish removed its easy to understand why the fish dont respond to beds of boilies as well as they should.By the time they go on the munch, most of the bait has gone so theyre not used to finding beds of boilies.
Another netting is lined up for this morning. I reckon they ll get the same amount of bits out again.It will be great if they can,the carp will be left to munch comfortably on baits, and hopefully the future weights will leave us gob smacked.
I videoed most of the netting, but as I'm computer illiterate, I will pass it to Pendle View to see if they can post it on youtube.

Snot n stuff.

Not fished this week but did two nights last week,stuck 4kg if B2 in and ended up feeding the bream! Two snots and a pastie for two nights,I was well brassed off.A waste of money, time and effort.Don't think Ill be putting too much bait in from here on, its just feeding the bream.
Once its netted in November and all the coarse fish are removed it will be a totally different water and I can see the average weights going through the roof.The only problem with this of course is that it will attract more anglers of which there are too many already.
Its been a bit slow lately but a few good fish have come out to anglers trying something a bit different.Time for a rethink and a switch to winter tactics.

How many?

Just spent a bit of time looking at the pics of the two thirties I posted.If you compare them to Jim's you can see they are the same two commons.Just wondering how many thirties are in now?I only know of one definite thirty pound mirror but there are at least two more of 28+, and at least one scraper thirty common.I know jim likes to fish for one at a time with light baiting approach, but I prefer to give them something to eat.Fishing a bait which only I can get hold of may be an advantage inn the exclusivity stakes, but its not doing me any favours in the bulk use stakes.I'm going to order 30kgs of Squidley Diddleys today,that way I know there will be a fair few anglers chucking it in and the fish will accept it more as a food source.No fishing for me this week,may pop on for a burger one afternoon.
Well done to young Brad who nailed a good one last weekend, I take it you had that on a B2 beanie? lol. How about a pic? (from anyone)!

Round 3

I was back for more with a new rig and renewed enthusiasm.I had deduced rightly or not that bottom baits were going to be more effective than pop ups due to Dave kicking my ass on the last session whilst fishing the same water.
On arrival the place was heaving so I dropped into the pump house peg for the day.The only action was from a common of about 5lb! My heart wasn't in it really as I knew I would be moving just to the right of the toilets at 4pm when it became free.The two lads in there were from the North East and had just done 49hrs.It transpired that they had put somewhere in the region of 30kilos of bait out which included everything you could think of.The only action they had was on the second morning when they banked a mirror of around 14lb.As they packed up, I began moving some of my kit over and took the opportunity to clock their rigs.They had tried to do something different but had gone in completely the wrong direction,foot long hooklinks and 22mm dumbell boilies!!
I dropped in opposite Tremain who I had seen land four fish up to 29lb, they were all over him like a rash, crashing and popping their heads out etc.First it was out with the marker,second, 11/2 kgs of boilies.At the moment I'm using the awesome B2 from nash.These aren't available through shops but I think you can still buy the ingredients to roll your own.
Mark, a mate from work dropped in next to me and on the same rigs but just fishing stringers nailed two fish at seventeen and eighteen.My first action came after about 45mins in the shape of a low double mirror.Once I had recast I put another six spods of boilies on the money.An hour later and two beeps saw me bent into a lump,at first I thought I had picked up somebody else's line because of the way the fish fought.Dave was there when I landed it to confirm the weight and see it go back in one piece etc.Bloody hell I'm not complaining but Ive had three thirty pound commons and from PV and its been the same fish each time! This time she went 37lb on the nose.A few pics later and I recast to the same spot but didn't have any more action.Marks second fish came at daft o clock in the morning.
Mark had to go to work, but I had seen so many fish moving, (not quite on the baited area), that I decided to ring the Mrs a wangle another night. I let young Brad drop in with me and showed him a few tricks but even though he was happy they only produced bream.I managed a small common as he was packing up, which wiped out all three rods.Its always worth the extra effort involved to get the rod back on the money spots, with the lines marked and clipped I put them back out.This time the effort provided dividends in teh shape of a 33lb+ common! This was backed up with a double in the night, and I danced off to work.
The 37 was caught on a double beanie bottom bait rig, and the 33 on a pop up rig.Ill let you draw your own conclusions,ass mt heads a bit up my arse at the minute.

The last two sessions have been pretty poor really,the first one I couldn't get on the fish and the second I could have but didn't move because it was raining! What a prick!

Round 2

Thought id do a quick one to try and bring things up to date.I called on for lunch one afternoon and spoke to Big Jim who was throwing the towel in after yet another good session.After a quick chat he had me buzzing to get back on.
Two days later I dropped in opposite the chalets for an overnighter,I had four takes and landed two on the same pop up/stringer combo as last time, although on this occasion I only put about two0 hundred baits in over three rods.You have to bait up on the quiet here due to the ducks and coots!I decided to stay a bit longer than normal, and around 11am Dave dropped in the swim right outside the chalet door and chucked in.I had seen one of the big commons top about four times, but had no action,Dave nailed quite a few fish that afternoon on bottom baits.I needed to come up with something different for my next session,my confidence in the pop up rig was somewhat dented. I didnt take any snaps, the biggest went 19lb.This 19 was from last year.

First Post.

The last time I wrote something for PV it was under the ownership of Lin & Philip.I talked about respect for fellow anglers and the fact that a quick chat (not an interrogation)! could mean the difference between catching and blanking.About three weeks after the post was put up I was fishing peg 77, I hadn't caught but had seen about ten/fifteen fish top over my left hand rod.An angler dropped in the double peg to my right and proceeded to set up. My gear was in the van except for my rods so it was obvious I was leaving.Matey gets all set up,and just as I was putting my last item in the van comes over for a chat. I told him of the fish I had seen,his reply was something like,"well, I've baited up now so ill stay where I am!!!!He did a 48 hour blank! There was only the two of us on the lake.The worst thing was, he had read what I had written about the anglers who've been there before you, and how they can assist your fishing by letting you know what they have seen, or not seen!
My first overnighter this year was on the 13th of August.When I phoned to see how busy it was there were quite a few pegs free, but by the time I arrived there was only the double peg in the corner left.I reluctantly dropped in for the night, but after an hour or so it was apparent there were plenty of fish in front of me, but all on top.I fished a zig on one rod, and after checking where the angler next door was fishing, put the other two about fifty yards out towards the big double opposite.The zig didn't do anything and just before dark I switched it to a bottom bait stringer.The other two rods were on pop ups with stringers over about a kilo of bait.As the evening progressed young Dave (lol), came onto the dam wall with another angler and started surface fishing, they proper kicked my ass,hooking about eight fish between them in two hours and landing fish up to 28!! During the course of the night I received about four bites,these were very rapid sharp pulls on the left hand rod but not connecting or turning into a run.I put them down to grass carp grabbing the boilie and running, so I left it thinking that at least the hooklink would be straightened out.Seven am the next morning the middle rod hit the floor and after a good scrap I netted a scraper twenty.I packed up for work then,but was gutted to find that my left hand rod was tangled badly at the hook!! The best anglers are the ones who learn from their own and others experiences.Her are four from just one session.

1. Brush up on your floater fishing (that includes me)!

2.Pop ups do work on Pendle.

3.Don't recast in the morning unless theres something worth casting to (it only disturbs the area your fishing)

4.Don't assume...it makes an "ass" out of "u" and "me", I assumed the bites I was getting were from Grassies, where as they could have been from proper carp.Had I reeled in I may have found the tangle and caught more than the one I had.

I know this is a long blog, if its too long or rubbish or not technical enough or whatever, let Dave know and I will alter the next one accordingly.

Phil