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Pond Fishing

J Richards said:
I’m not one for shooting ducks in a barrel, carping has to have a story behind the capture. Not day tickets etc, to many prats fish them for my liking. I’d rather sit it out for 72 hours and catch 1 decent fish.
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Hardly shooting ducks in a barrel, (thought it was fish not ducks) Anyway the barragems in Portugal are immense, size of Windermere or Lomond and possibly have a dozen anglers fishing if even that. Not day ticket waters just an annual freshwater licence and I can assure you know where and when to target them is the answer, get it wrong and they could be miles away. They are also totally wild fish.
 
J Richards said:
I’m not one for shooting ducks in a barrel, carping has to have a story behind the capture. Not day tickets etc, to many prats fish them for my liking. I’d rather sit it out for 72 hours and catch 1 decent fish.
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Like me , my favourite lake has the traditional close season still ...40 acre snaggy lake fishing one side only , I done 3 nights for just this fish i will attach below.
35lbs and ounces which came yesterday at 8am on the pack up morning.
It's not the scenes of commercial lakes , like some sea only guys imagine the carping is .

It's the experience of being in isolated places away from the outside world , relaxed enough to sleep in a tent because of the secluded nature of most waters. Wouldn't want to do that on many beaches lol .

Also an all round angler.

Fish isn't fat because of feeding on anglers bait either.

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stan m said:
Hardly shooting ducks in a barrel, (thought it was fish not ducks) Anyway the barragems in Portugal are immense, size of Windermere or Lomond and possibly have a dozen anglers fishing if even that. Not day ticket waters just an annual freshwater licence and I can assure you know where and when to target them is the answer, get it wrong and they could be miles away. They are also totally wild fish.
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I was not saying it in relation to you mate. I was just saying i hate getting 15 fish etc in session. It gets boring catching loads, as others have said its being outside, fresh air, the sunrise and sunsets. Same as sea angling, i prefer catching big fish not quanities.
 
It's not so much about where I am fishing, but more to do with the seclusion. I would be quite happy sitting quietly on the bank of a small pond, tiny river or stream, or on a massive reservoir or estate lake as long as it was quiet and peaceful. I can live with passing the time of day with an occasional dog walker but hate fishing when I have anglers all around me.

I can't stand commercial fisheries, lakes where you get anglers shouting across to each other or reservoirs where the jet skiers try to see if they can splash you with their fast turns in front of you.

Same with the fish I am catching really. It is all about my expectations for each venue. I still get a buzz trotting a float to catch a netful of roach, or sitting quietly waiting for a big barbel to snatch the rod round. Stalking a margin carp or shallow water chub is super exciting, especially when you see them slowly approach your carefully positioned bait.

Sea fishing is slightly different, but I still prefer space compared to angler lined beaches.
 
had1lost2 said:
Like me , my favourite lake has the traditional close season still ...40 acre snaggy lake fishing one side only , I done 3 nights for just this fish i will attach below.
35lbs and ounces which came yesterday at 8am on the pack up morning.
It's not the scenes of commercial lakes , like some sea only guys imagine the carping is .

It's the experience of being in isolated places away from the outside world , relaxed enough to sleep in a tent because of the secluded nature of most waters. Wouldn't want to do that on many beaches lol .

Also an all round angler.

Fish isn't fat because of feeding on anglers bait either.

View attachment 23968
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That fish has a stomach like mine?
 
The red river below Lockport in Manitoba Canada, the carp are like massive barbel, and the channel cats are brutal both are plentiful.
It is easy but every fish is pristine and fight like fury.....
Easy trip fly into winnipeg, hire a car drive an hour, stay in cheap motel.
And then catch as many fish as you can ever want....... You dont need more than 4 days on the river that will be more than enough.
500lb bags are easy enough.
The other place I have fished and loved is Extramadura about an hour and a half south of Talavera in Spain, Its got to be the most pristine environment left in Europe, and one of the best mixed course fisheries left on the planet. Barbel taking live baits and big commons, you literally do not know whats coming next.
Heavy feeder rod heaven..... I shall return there, the hospitality was amazing and we did not see another tourist or angler during out stay there.
Fished quite a bit around the world and as far as freshwater venues go these are my favourites.
 
I see no distinction if it's something you enjoy doing, coarse game sea or mixed. It's all good theres plenty of others who don't bother even picking up their own rubbish while enjoying the great outdoors let alone fish it but they'd be happy to stop others if it interfered with their own water-sports activities. Hmm tombstoners/jetskis or carp anglers?
 
That's so very true Wolf and interestingly (well to some perhaps, obviously not the 'knockers' nor, to paraphrase StanM's words, the 'mammaries' of this forum) the ponds I refer to are part of an old estate built on the site of a former monastery. It's alleged that the local strain of red tailed common carp originate from these monastic table fish but obviously that's impossible to prove all these centuries later and almost undoubtedly their gene pool will have been augmented over the years with stocking from elsewhere by anglers, clubs etc. They don't grow massive, 15lb is their maximum weight, but they are a lovely chestnut colour along the back with golden scales and that distinctive red caudal fin. They are a long way from the gut bucket boillie munching beasts that modern carpers camp out for. They fight long and hard on even stout tackle and are particularly good sport on the fly rod.
 
Wolf said:
Monks used to eat carp etc,that's why most monastery's have ponds.
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Them bones them bones comes to mind Wolf.:ROFLMAO:
 
Topwater said:
That's so very true Wolf and interestingly (well to some perhaps, obviously not the 'knockers' nor, to paraphrase StanM's words, the 'mammaries' of this forum) the ponds I refer to are part of an old estate built on the site of a former monastery. It's alleged that the local strain of red tailed common carp originate from these monastic table fish but obviously that's impossible to prove all these centuries later and almost undoubtedly their gene pool will have been augmented over the years with stocking from elsewhere by anglers, clubs etc. They don't grow massive, 15lb is their maximum weight, but they are a lovely chestnut colour along the back with golden scales and that distinctive red caudal fin. They are a long way from the gut bucket boillie munching beasts that modern carpers camp out for. They fight long and hard on even stout tackle and are particularly good sport on the fly rod.
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I used to have access to a pond that had a nice stock of fish just like you describe. It was on a farm in the middle of nowhere, tucked well away from any road and surrounded by trees and a large set of banks on two sides. The pond was about fifty metres by thirty and surrounded by bull rushes and until the farmer said I could fish it after I had done him a big favour, it had been totally neglected.

After a quick recce, I decided to try and keep my angling footprint to a bare minimum so just used to take a rod and net, a small bag of bits and a couple of slices of bread as bait for each session. I used to creep around the banks until I saw bubbles or rustling as the carp moved in and out of the weed. I would then poke my rod over the top of the rushes before lowering a small float into the water with a piece of breadflake pinched on to a hook suspended below.

Bites were always a gentle affair but all hell would break loose once I had set the hook and I used to be convinced that each fish was at least twice the size that it ended up at on the scales. Once landed and weighed, I would slip them quietly back and then wait at least 30 minutes before trying for another bite. It was during one of these periods that I found a set of ruins in the heavy undergrowth between the pond and one of the banks. When I questioned the farmer on this as I was leaving, he told me that they were the ruins of an old Benedictine Priory so it all began to make sense about the carp pond.

The biggest fish I had from there was about 16lb and every fish I caught over 10lb looked about 50 years old and had a reddish tinge. Apart from a couple of evening sessions that dragged into dusk, most fishing was done in daylight and usually alone, although I did take one trusted mate there about half a dozen times.

The pool had an eerie, almost ghostly feeling about it and it never felt right talking above a whisper, although I can say I never felt scared when fishing there. If there were any ghosts of long passed monks, they were definitely the friendly protective type and were probably just glad of the visitor and saw me as a distraction to the long summer days.

As I usually fished there alone I never took photos of the fish, but I am sure I have one from a session when my mate was with me. I will look now and post it if I can find it.
 
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