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I seem to be talking about it all the time this year but weather wise August was a very strange month, it started out really quite nice with a lovely warm spell, then mid month turned really unsettled with unseasonably cool temperatures, then to top it off the bank holiday weekend at the end of the month was really Autumnal with rain and again much lower temperatures than we should get for summer. This definitely had an effect on the fishing, sometimes for the good and other times not so.
One interesting thing this month was that several of my carp fishing friends were really struggling on several different lakes then all of a sudden i started receiving reports from those same anglers all getting good results with not only some good catches but also some very big fish!
The Park Grapevine
Fishing on the Resident's Lake has been very interesting and sometimes very frustrating to say the least. As i said above with some of the regular carp anglers having a very up and down month! Overall it was probably a good month for the carp with plenty of nice fish taken. Paul Hickson was one angler who had several big fish to nearly 30lb.
Kingfisher Lake continued to provide really consistent sport for the usual species.
Fountain View 1 has been really good with the regular carp anglers taking some nice fish to mid double figures. On Fountain View 2 the carp sport has been really good with a lot of fish to nearly 20lb being taken on many different tactics. David Clarke loves his pole fishing and uses it to good effect even proving that its not just a tactic for small fish by taking his new PB of 17lb 10oz.
On another occasion I was lucky enough to witness David playing a gorgeous common that was even bigger than this and would have gone around 20lb. David had done all the hard work and was just waiting for the carp's last gasp before I was going to net it when he ran out of luck and the carp made one last dive into the marginal weed and dumped the barbless hook!
The carp fishing on Willow View/Banks has been pretty slow all month but one or two nice fish have been taken.
Not many reports came in from Swan lake during August. Some good carp were taken but the fishing was hard especially as the weed was a nightmare. If it wasn't the heavy weed growth, it was the floating weed that I believe is caused by the props on the ski boats chopping off the top of the weed, it then floats around causing major problems on the windward bank. One angler that still caught some nice fish despite the conditions was Bradley Barnes who had several nice carp.
Heronsfield was in sporadic form for most of the month. Some lovely carp and tench were taken but it was inconsistent. Michael Dodds had some nice fish to mid double figures and Fred Jackson and Trudy Franco took some nice tench. One interesting thing for me was a pleasant few hours fishing for silver fish one evening that produced loads of little roach/bream hybrids!
Canada Lake was in good form with lots of carp being taken on lots of different tactics and baits. For example top match angler Tim Jolley took 12 nice carp and lost a few using pole tactics with 'Pellet & Paste', whereas Bradley Barnes had some lovely fish using 'proper' carp tactics!
The fishing on Grebe, Mallard, Lilly and Teal Lakes has been as it has been for months and that is 'mixed'. If you hit it right there was some very pleasant fishing to be had especially for those lucky enough to fish them mid week. My wife Claire and I had a really nice 'Friday' session on Mallard Lake. I was fishing with the pole and took loads of silvers and six carp to around 7lb whereas my wife Claire fishing the swim next door using feeder tactics and despite losing 3 carp in the weed took 4 nice carp and a lovely bream.
Teal Lake fished quite well with some lovely tench being taken although the crayfish were a real problem if the fish were not in your swim.
Lee Millins had a few nice sessions on Grebe Lake using feeder tactics taking up to 5 carp around 6lb. I had one slightly disappointing 'proper' session on Grebe Lake. I fished two nights and one day on peg 18 but only managed to take four carp to just over 8lb!
The small pool that sits between Mallard and Lilly lakes proved to be a revelation. I started using the pool for my 'Introduction to Angling' lessons that I do for junior anglers during the summer holidays. Originally I used the pool as it has a good stock of silver fish and as you can imagine I need the youngsters to get bites. So it proved, but the carp started to get in on the act in numbers. This was fine but they were a little problematic on light pole tackle. Lots of carp were taken but as you can imagine lots were lost. Lots of tiny tench also put in an appearance which was really good news and it didn't take long for the senior anglers to take notice and numerous multiple fish catches were taken later on in the month!
Sport on the two rivers has been really quite good despite the generally low water conditions. Lots of silver fish have been taken along with one or two nice chub. Fred Jackson took the biggest chub that I heard about and I also heard of a pole angler losing a good barbel on roach gear!
Hopefully September will settle down a bit and the temperatures get back to a seasonal norm. I firmly believe that the fish do not like all these variations in weather conditions. Myself I hope to get in some serious sessions, I usually take a weeks holiday and intend to do some proper sessions. As always during September I will target the carp hoping for a 'big-un'. I do use plenty of bait this month as I feel they are starting to get there heads down as they can sense that winter is only just around the corner!