Spring is officially springing so things are definitely looking up now! Some nice catches for pleasure anglers on all 3 waters are as a result of water temperatures creeping up a few degrees. We will still get the odd cold snap over the the next few weeks so you still need to take the conditions into account when planning where and how to fish. Ask Ronnie in the shop, phone 01236 737 577, and he will give you the latest info and point you in the right direction. Some great pleasure catches in the last few days on the Island Pond. Both Dougie Anderson and Mr Adam had catches of carp totalling over 20lb yesterday. Dougie had over 30 carp mainly on sweetcorn. Pellets are also starting to work well with maggot a good bait if the weather turns colder. The fish are not hugging the island so much and are more willing to come looking for feed, even quite close in, so anglers are catching on the short pole and close waggler as well as right across. It still pays to be careful not to overfeed though, little and often is best and a pole cup helps. The Top Pond is fishing well again now and the small common carp are back feeding and making up the bulk of catches. The water is still well coloured people are catching over 50 small carp in a session. F1 carp are the bigger fish, many around 12oz but some over 1lb. Pinkies & maggots are still good but pellets and even sweetcorn are starting to work better and pick out the better fish. Like the Island Pond, the fish are venturing away from the far side and can often be caught quite close in. On the Main Loch, the pole is starting to catch more fish now though feeder and slider tactics still produce consistently well. The pegs in front of the cafe down to the tree are most popular and successful in matches but pleasure anglers are taking good catches all over. Skimmer bream are showing up much more in catches with the odd bigger bream to over 2lb. Maggot is still the most successful bait for bream and carp. Be ready for some of the bigger carp to 3lb, most are getting lost at the moment!
