Western Reservoir Catch Reports 2017

A quiet month on the Western, not many Members fishing so consequently not many fish getting caught, that said a few carp were banked up to mid-doubles by Members fishing day only sessions, and an odd carp or two were also caught by the two or three Members who fished overnight during the month.

The water temperature remained into double figures throughout the month and the fish were very active, the activity level of the carp increased towards the end of the month when on the 31st October;
49 quality fish averaging 7lb 3oz were stocked into the reservoir; they came from a 20 foot deep irrigation reservoir so should settle in well and complement the existing stock nicely.

I’ve asked Members to weigh and photograph any fish they catch under double figures from now on as I need to monitor the growth rate of the new arrivals so I can implement the right management and stocking plans going forward.

The new stock will hopefully stir up the existing carp and I’ll be watching with interest the progress they make over the coming year.

Mark’s 22lb 10oz mirror a new twenty for the Western

A succession of low-pressure systems during the month saw frequent spells of wet and windy weather pulse across the region. Temperatures were below average for the time of year and a steady autumnal pattern emerged with some foggy nights and the first couple of grass frosts which brought a few sunny days interspersed by further bouts of rain.

Wild and windy weather often sees the Western fishing at its best, although I concede at times such conditions don’t lend themselves to comfortable fishing, it is worthwhile battening down the hatches and giving it a crack as some good catches can be had if you decide to give it a go…

Only a few Members ventured out to wet a line throughout September, but those that did managed a chance or two and some nice fish were caught;

John netted a string of fish on a couple of visits including three to 13lb 9oz on a short day session, his best haul consisted of a five fish hit to mid-doubles during an overnight trip.

A few other Members bagged a fish a piece including Ryan with a low double and new Member Mark who following on from bagging three last month caught a cracking 22lb 10oz mirror, a new twenty for the venue to boot, well done that man!

One Member who has certainly got to grips with his fishing and bait application at the reservoir is Ian who has caught consistently on almost every session since starting to fish the water in June on his first visit of the monthhe banked two mirrors at 12lb 4oz and 15lb, followed a week later with fish of 12lb, 13lb 14lb 6oz, 16lb 2oz and 17lb, his third trip of the month saw him net a home grown common at 7lb 12oz and mirrors of 15lb 2oz, 15lb 12oz and a lovely 21lb 8oz beauty, his last visit in September saw carp of 9lb, 10lb 2oz, 15lb 6oz and 17lb grace his unhooking mat, bloody good going and very consistent angling in my book I’m sure you all agree!

The nights are cutting in the water temperature is still into double figures and the fish are still on the move and showing regularly, good luck to those of you venturing out in October.

Adies 18lb 6oz mirror one of three on an overnight session

It was a case of a steady away with the fishing on the Western throughout most of the month. Despite some prolonged spells of high pressure (which isn’t helpful for carp fishing in August pretty much anywhere) the venue continued to produce fish during periods when other waters didn’t.

Now I’m not saying it’s easy when the pressure is up, August can be a tricky month to catch consistently in, but out of interest and for comparison purposes a few lads fished on all three of our Cumbrian waters over one weekend recently and between them they managed 1 run…

I think there were around a dozen or so carp caught out the Western over that same weekend, which kind of offers a little perspective on how the venue can fish when others around the area are a little out of sorts.

Of course the usual rules apply; you’ve got to be somewhere close to where the fish are or where they’ll end up, and then you’ve got to find the areas/depths that they may be prepared to feed in, it’s all part of the carp fishing game.

I was pleased to hear that one or two Members had a result and banked a few after following the advice I offered last month regarding baiting tactics. It’s nice to see that the info brought a few carp to the net! Rather than repeat the advice offered again here now check out ‘July’s Catch Report’ and indeed ‘June’s Catch Report’, the advice holds good for at least the next two months, give it a go you may just end up being pleasantly surprised.

Oh, and yes in answer to queries I’ve received; I still supply KFLS (Kingfisher Lake Specials) and Black Magic boilies, cost is £5.50 per kilo for 16 and 18mm baits, drop me a line if you require any.

I’m still waiting to receive all of the Catch Reports from August, but amongst some of those wetting nets were;
Michael with a brace of doubles to 14lb 9oz on a quick overnight session, Dan with a brace of low doubles, Mark who just joined recently with his first brace on an overnighter, Gary W who winkled one out despite the fish insisting on being more than a little un-cooperative and Jonathan who banked a brace to 14lb, which was a very nice common.

There are certainly more commons starting to feature in the Reports I receive, and it surely can’t be long before a few commons larger than the current Lake Record common of 15lb 8oz are banked, well I hope so anyway!

Adie managed a hat trick of fish recently a hard fighting torpedo shape high single giving a great account of its self, followed by a low double and a cracking 18lb 4oz mirror, good to get a bend in the rods again for sure!

Ian continued from where he left off last month; hauling steadily away again…..
His best hits of fish came on three separate sessions when he recorded fish of: 9lb 6oz, 10lb 4oz, 10lb 10oz, 11lb 6oz, 13lb, 14lb, 14lb 8oz and 17lb 8oz. Followed a week later with fish of 9lb 14oz, 12lb, 12lb 12oz, 15lb and 15lb 8oz and on his last trip carp of 10lb 4oz x2, 11lb 14oz, 16lb, 17lb 14oz and 18lb 14oz graced his net, very well done to you sir!

What’s really nice to see amongst such an impressive catch is the range and diversity of the different strains of fish the Western contains, I can feel a few months’ worth of work coming on to catalogue all the photos I’ve receive off Members this year, a project for the darker nights in the offing……

Ryan’s first twenty from the Western 21b 3oz

It seems my comments about bait application last month caused a little bit of bank side discussion, particularly my references to introducing a few baits regularly and that bait applied becomes ‘the’ feature in open water fishing.

Whatever bait you apply you are trying to get a feeding response from the carp, establishing what quantity of bait is required to induce a feeding response isn’t always easy to do.

Piling in a load of bait and fishing a couple of rods on it can, on occasion produce a good result, it can also lead to frustrating fishing because you commit yourself to sitting on the bait in the belief that the fish will come to you and agree with your baiting strategy or preconceived plan.

Perhaps a better tactic to try is introducing differing quantities of boilies over each rod to establish how many baits are required to provoke a feeding response that results in a carp taking your hook bait.

Try 100 boilies on rod one 250 on rod two and 350 on rod 3 this equates roughly to a ¼, ½ and ¾ kilos of boilies being fished over each individual rod, this is a tactic that works well, give it a go next time you are out on the bank and record your results for future reference.

A couple of other pointers that may help;
Generally it pays not to recast or rebait from first light until mid-morning at soonest, unless of course you’ve had one or the rod has been rattled in which case crack on…..

Occasionally casting at a showing fish can produce a result; casting at every fish that shows generally doesn’t…..

Pellets, spod mix or other back ground feed introduced disappears very quickly it is simply demolished by the roach and gudgeon, so what you may perceive to be a reasonable quantity of feed having been put out with a sprinkling of boilies over the top will in a couple of hours just leave you fishing a sprinkling of boilies…….

Some good results were reported this month;
Those Members fishing short 3-4 sessions continued to catch, the most consistent angler amongst those sneaking a few out was Joe who had fish on most visits his best going 15lb 4oz.

Ryan continued his run of good form netting five good doubles to 15lb at the start of the month, he returned a couple of weeks later and had a great result banking carp of 11lb, 14lb 2oz, 18lb 10oz and 21lb 3oz, his first twenty from the Western and a new twenty for the venue to boot, congratulations to you well done that man!

Allan H managed a couple including a lovely 19lb 12oz mirror.
Jonathan kept them coming to the bank regularly landing a string of low to mid doubles his best going 16lb, his steady baiting approach using 3.5- 5kg of boilies per session working well for him.
Ian seems to have the knack of catching everywhere he goes on two separate sessions he managed a five fish hit of doubles to 15lb 4oz followed up on his next trip with a seven fish hit, including doubles of 15lb 4oz, 15lb 6oz and 19lb 2oz, more were yet to come…..
During a few nights fishing Ian had a fantastic haul of fish during the latter part of July, landing 23 carp, a great result that saw a steady stream of carp visiting his unhooking mat!

His arm aching haul comprising of carp of: 8lb 4oz, 9lb, 9lb 6oz x 2, 10lb, 11lb 8oz, 12lb, 12lb 4oz, 13lb 4oz, 14lb x 2, 14lb 4oz, 14lb 14oz, 15lb, 15lb 6oz, 15lb 8oz, 18lb 2oz, 18lb 6oz, 18lb 8oz, 18lb 12oz and 21lb. Congratulations Ian, a well-earned result well done sir!

One of nine during an overnight session

When the weather warmed up after a cooler spell in the middle of June those carp that had yet to spawn this year had a good thrash around and got it over and done with on the 19th of the month, there can’t be many if any that haven’t now spawned in the reservoir this year.

I’m a firm believer that carp don’t start to feed properly or indeed that they can attain much in the way of growth until the act of spawning is over and done with.

Catch reports received from Members indicate a clear trend; those that use the most bait are catching the most carp and are regularly catching several fish per session.

By using bait I don’t mean applying it all at once though, a couple of kilos topped up regularly is producing good results for those who get their bait application correct, in terms of quantity of bait used those that are catching well are using 4-5 kilo of boilies and a similar amount of pellet during one or two night sessions.

Some Members are using more then that, and catching more fish as a result…..
In a venue like the Western, which is large open expanse of water with very little if any weed and no open water features as such the carp move around in shoals, your bait becomes ‘the’ feature in open water.

Firing out 50, 100, 250 or even 500 boilies often isn’t enough to stop them on their travels and make them drop down and feed….

Let’s say there are approx. 500 16mm boilies in a kilo of boilies, now visualise a shoal of 10 carp swimming by that’s 50 boilies each, some will stop and feed some will eat more bait then others and at some point one may make a mistake and you might catch one….

How many boilies have been eaten? The boilie that caught the carp is unlikely to have been the first one to be eaten, it is more likely to have been amongst the last to be taken, you’ve all seen the underwater videos….

The point I’m making is that the nine carp that accompanied the one you caught have eaten the majority of the bait that has been introduced, don’t fall into the trap of believing that much if any bait remains!

Keep applying bait regularly be that hourly or every couple of hours, personally at this time of year I would apply 50 baits more or less every hour I’m awake, you wouldn’t see a match angler turn up put two maggots on his hook fire out twenty maggots around his hook bait and then not apply any more feed for the duration of his session would you?

By applying bait regularly you are keeping your swim topped up and at some point you will have introduced enough bait to provoke a feeding response from the fish, give it a go you may be surprised, just ask the lads who are catching consistently…

Some nice hits of fish have been caught over the last few weeks, getting among them were;
Dan with a brace of surface caught fish to 14lb 10oz, Dan retreated before the sun over powered him, I’m sure he would have had more if he’d stayed, returning a few days later he managed a hat trick of carp @ 14lb 8oz, 17lb 12oz and 21lb, well done that man!

Joe kept sneaking a few out on his very short visits his best going 15lb, a determined Adie had a few chances but only one carp obliged despite his efforts he was pleased with the 17lb 30z mirror he landed though.

Young Ryan is turning into a canny angler with the knack of bagging a few carp on most trips, his most recent sessions resulted in a couple of hat tricks of double figure carp to 13lb, keep at them I’m sure bigger will come!

Jonathan has also been plugging steadily away and bringing fish to the net on most occasions, he’s landed a succession of low to mid double figure carp to 14lb 3oz with a few smaller home grown fish thrown in for good measure.

Ian has also had some good sessions recently his best hit came towards the end of the month while fishing a 16 hour session he managed a 9 fish haul bagging fish of: 6lb 4oz, 8lb 12oz, 10lb, 10lb 4oz, 14lb 4oz, 15lb 12oz, 16lb 10oz, 17lb 12oz and 18lb 4oz! Canny going and a busy session that!

New twenty for the Western 21lb

I’m often asked how the Western and the carp it contains are doing….
The answer is they are doing quite well, over the last couple of years the venue has produced over fifteen different 20lb+ carp, and the average overall size of fish continues to increase with an average growth rate approaching 3lb per year more and more good mid to upper doubles are coming through the ranks.

The majority of carp in the reservoir spawned during the recent hot spell at the end of May, which is the earliest they’ve ever spawned since being stocked; hopefully now that the fish have got their all-consuming orgy over and done with we’ll have a decent summer ahead of us which will see some further encouraging growth rates and a few new 20lb+ carp putting in an appearance, just like the one Dan just had @ 21lb on the 7th June.

Set in beautiful Northumbria countryside the Western is continuing to develop into a good doubles water with an increasing number of upper doubles and 20lb+ carp to target.
We even have numbers of home grown fish that have recruited naturally starting to show amongst the catches now which is pleasing, more importantly to me though is the fact that Members are enjoying their fishing and time on the bank.

I have a limited number of Membership places remaining for the season that commenced on the 1st May 2017. If you are interested in joining and would like to be considered for Membership please complete a Syndicate Application Form (which can be found in the Welcome Pack available to download off the website) and email it to: kingfisherlakes@hotmail.co.uk

Two ounzes off 20lb

Settled weather conditions prevailed throughout the month and as daytime temperatures increased the fishing picked up, and most members banked, or had a chance of a fish or two when they visited.
Despite some rather chilly nights that resulted in several white frosts the fishing remained consistent, it even got hot enough between 25th – 27th for the majority of carp to partake in spawning, which is the earliest they’ve ever undertaken their annual nuptials in the Western since it was stocked.
Kicking the captures off this month was Martin who landed a 20lb 6oz mirror on the 1st, not far behind was Stephen J with a lovely brace @ 17lb and 19lb 14oz, and Jonathan with a handful of bonny carp to 17lb 14oz.

Amongst other Members getting on the score sheet during the month were:

New Member Pete who banked his first from the venue in the shape of a 16lb 6oz mirror, a good start. Steven H who netted a brace to 15lb 8oz, Ryan with a brace of doubles to 16lb 2oz, and Michael D who saw a hat-trick of carp to 16lb 4oz visit his unhooking mat, and last but by no means least Joe who chipped in with a few to mid-doubles on a couple of short sessions.

Good going fellas keep the bait going in and they’ll keep coming out………
Two ounzes

Warm enough to feed…

Having had the driest winter period in over 20 years April continued the trend, very few April showers and prolonged periods of high pressure saw plenty of sunshine and the carp responded by waking up a little bit more.

In fact several Members who were fishing on 10th April witnessed the first big grouping up of carp for the year and I received the following text from one Member;
‘Just texting to let you know I seen a few fish, actually I seen 100’s….. I arrived at about 10.30 on the north bank near the red life ring seen a few fish to my left about 3-4 ft off the margins so put a zig out, middle rod I put an 8ft zig out, my 3rd a bottom bait.
I walk along the margins 100 yards and the water just turned on like a bubble bath with carp, lol…. Anyway it got to about 1pm and the whole side of the north and west bank margins was alive with carp…. Never seen so many in my life there were 100’s, my point for texting you is to let you know how many fish I seen’

Unfortunately the Members fishing in the margins and shallower areas didn’t even get a liner between them that night. The fish moved to the south bank during the night and started grouping up along the east and south bank margins when the sun broke through around lunchtime on Sunday.

Fickle things early season carp, cool overnight conditions accompanying frosts associated with periods of prolonged high pressure doesn’t always equate to fish on the bank.

Water temperatures are the key to feeding; poikilothermic creatures need to warm up in order to start to feed with any degree of regularity, which is why sunshine gets them moving, but not necessarily feeding.

A few fish were caught by Members fishing in the right place at the right time though, and Simon landed the best catch of the month when he bagged a canny brace of mirrors @ 19lb 14oz and 21lb 8oz taking advantage of what can often be very brief periods of feeding activity until the water and the carp warm up a little more, well done that man!

Blue skies and sunshine

As the weather warmed up the fish started to show and cold-water carp were spotted swimming slowly around the margins, seeking whatever warmth the sun could offer.

Storm Stella arrived mid-month and a big drop in barometric pressure brought a spell of fairly typical spring weather with strong to gale force winds, rain and spells of blustery sunshine, this had the effect of waking the carp up a bit more and several big shows of carp rolling in the surf were witnessed by Members walking the banks.

Very few Members fished during the early part of March, but the fish activity prompted one or two to wet a line and a couple of fish were caught, and unfortunately a couple more lost from the 18th onwards, but a least chances were happening.

In a deeper venue like the Western the fish respond well to a bit of sunshine, the more sunlight the more activity there is; this is of course linked to rising water temperatures and by afternoon and early evening the fish tend to be on the move.

Several overnight frosts below -2oc towards the end of March slowed the waking up process down a bit, but it shouldn’t be long before the ‘sunshine, temperature, activity’ cycle settles into a steadier routine and the fishing with it, if the frosts stay at bay the fish come out to play…….

Breezy, cold and coloured tough going in February

Traditionally a tricky month to catch fish in especially this far north, this February was no exception, and unfortunately no fish were banked during the month.

That said there were only a couple of visits made by Members, but a couple of fish were seen showing and more were spotted moving around the reservoir on ‘deeper’ devices!

Wild conditions and heavy rainfall saw a lot of very coloured water flow through the venue towards the latter part of the month, but the grim conditions weren’t comfortable for the angler, or it seems the carp.

March generally sees the fish waking up a bit more; let’s hope for rising water temperatures and more spring like conditions in the weeks ahead……