Barkham Ponds

I always try to get out fishing on New Years day and start the year off with a good pleasure session.

Last year I went to Pondwood Farm just outside Maidenhead and had a cracking day on lake 2 so I decided to return back to Pondwood this year

As I pulled into the car park I was surprised to see it was empty as there are usually a few people fishing lake 1 for the Catfish and large Carp. As I pulled up to park I saw to my dismay a notice board and in large letters it read GROUNDBAIT BANNED - NO LOOSE FEED - HOOKBAITS ONLY !

I considered for a micro second whether I was prepared to pay the guy £10 to fish his commercial and not be allowed to feed pellets and before I had come to a decision I realized that I had swung the van round and was on my way out the gate probably like the people before me

As there is a new fishery opened up about 1/2 a mile down the road from Pondwood called New Farm Fishery I decided to give that a try But on arrival I discovered the gate was shut and no signs of life anywhere

So I headed straight over to Barkham Ponds just outside Wokingham as they are always open and always plenty of fish to be had

By the time I arrived it was 8.30 and looked like turning in to a nice day weather wise

I decided to fish lake 1 and fish the peg by the channel into lake 3

Plan today was to fish pellet straight out in front at 11.5m and feed micro sinking pellets

And also to fish corn under the far tree to my right which is about 11.5m along the bank So once I'm all set up I put a pot of corn under the tree to the right and a pot of micro pellets out in front at 11.5m rigs are simple today as I only have 2 1/2 ft of water at 11.5m and 2 ft under the tree I am using Malman stable 4x14 floats on both rigs with 0.14 Silstar match line straight through to a B911 size 16 for the pellet and a B911 size 14 for the corn

Hand made Malman Stable floats are ideal for when the fish are shy biters in the colder months


----------Silstar is the best rig line I have found to date

Kamasan B911 hooks find a place on all my commercial rigs these days

Bait selection is as always my favourite GOT pellets for the hook and feed

And of course a can of everyone's favourite








First off I put a 6mm soft hooker pellet on and shipped it out to 11.5m I was fishing at dead depth and within 60 sec the float disappeared and my black hydro whizzed out A steady ship back and I had a nice mirror Carp of about 1lb in the net


Back out with another 6mm pellet and within a couple of mins I had another Carp of the same size on its way to the net I fitted a kinder pot and fed a few micros every put in and for the next hour or so I had regular Carp all on the 6mm pellet and all around the 1lb - 1 1/2lb stamp

By now I was starting to miss a few bites and was getting liners so I shallowed up the rig and came off the bottom 2 inches

First put in the float bobbed a couple of times then buried the hydro shot out a lot quicker and I was into a better fish

A nice steady ship back and I slid the net under a nice mirror of about 2 1/2lb



As I stopped to pay for my ticket (£6.00) when the nice young lady came round collecting I noticed a guy fishing the lake behind me He was hiding behind a tree all dressed in camo gear and I could see 2 rods poking out on a pod with bite alarms and droppers etc unfortunately he had chosen to fish the worst lake on the complex and at most it has 18 inches of water and 1 bite on that lake is classed as a good session hooking the fish is a right bonus but he seemed happy enough
After getting my ticket and a stop for coffee and a biscuit I went back out to 11.5m with a pellet fishing 2 inches off the bottom and continued to catch carp ranging from 1lb to 3 lb and at 1 point I was getting a bite so fast I didn't even have time to tip my loose feed in out of the kinder pot before the hydro was racing out and the tip of my pole was diving under the surface

After a couple of hours the wind started to get a bit stronger and the fish weren't getting any bigger so I decided to give the margin swim a go and see if any of the larger resident Carp were feeding yet

I put a piece of corn on the hook and shipped it out and under the tree to my right I sat for about 10 mins and nothing was happening as I was sat round on my box facing the tree I was watching an old boy who had turned up and decided to fish the small lake near the car park It only has 3 or 4 pegs on it but you can really bag up when the fish are in there he had just dropped his rig into the margin and hooked straight in to a fish of about 7lb I was just shouting across a well done as he held it up to show me it before returning the fish when my pole whipped round and my hydro was heading under the tree a quick battle and I had the fish out of the roots and out into the lake from there on it was a steady ship back and I slid the net under a nice common Carp of round about 5lb



For the next hour I took 12 Carp all between 3lb and 6lb on corn from under the tree to my right By now it was starting to get very overcast and the light was disappearing fast so I decided to pack up and get my gear away before it got wet

As luck would have it I was just sitting in the van having a coffee before heading home when the heavens opened can't be bad a good days fishing and missed the rain
Lets hope the rest of 2007 runs the same way