goblin

know just what you mean about "swim pinchers" mate, thats one of a couple of reasons that I have a deep rooted love of the really old estate lakes (as you know). Not too much of a problem on ardingly as its not known for carp, and the fact that all along the estate side (totalling about 145 acres) is not open to anybody. Beauty of it is that Im right in amongst the pheasant pens at the minute too!! (really good with a bottle of red for a very civilised bivvy supper) :D :D weed is not very prolific from what I can make out so far, only a couple of fair sized beds.Its very rich in bloodworm though in a few spots. funny you mentioned swan mussels though Nick as Ive stalked two out on them when we first moved down here. i also have a little secret trick for a glug/soak/bag additive/spod mix liquid that has to be seen to be believed. pm me for details fella

water levels on ardingly have dropped by about 10ft since june mate so you can imagine the problems thats posing at the minute. No gravel at all on the arm Im concentrating on at the second but there are a few hard spots here and there, however these have not been productive in the least. I am seriously lucky in the fact that I have access to the estate side of the res (thanks to family connections etc) which nobody else gets to, and its at least a 400 yd chuck for anybody else to get in on the action Im seeing at the minute. No prizes for guessing where the fish are stacked up in summer!!!! no angling pressure aside from me this year:D :D :D

are you sure matey???? I saw your fizzog in the angling times a few weeks ago with a nice specimen!! very hard going on the bigger waters sometimes mate but lets face it, they dont have to be huge [censored]s to be well worth the hours put in bankside. like I said, my best so far has been a mid twenty ( still a fish Im more than happy with,and a fish of a lifetime when I started my carp fishing) the majority of my takes have been in around twelve feet of water so far on the res, and it has been interesting to say the least with the weather warming up nicely during the day,but the water level is so low at the minute that where there should be a nice shallow marginal shelf to bask on, is now just a frosty bank of silt!!!! :rolleyes:

ay up matey!! long time no speak. Nicks fishing Ardleigh res I think (over in the badlands lol). got a big old patch of water to get stuck into down here mate,and some absolutely cracking estate lakes to myself too!!! Hows sunny shrops these days?? feels like a lifetime since I moved down here

Nick,I agree with you to a certain extent but, in this weather they are more likely to be found in the deeper water anyway (other than with a bit of sun hitting a marginal shelf or a shallow bay etc) Im fishing Ardingly res at the moment and its 200 acres with a small head of not overly big fish (25.3 best to date) this tactic is working on there to a big degree, obviously you have to use watercraft too, cant just chuck and chance on a water that size!!!!!

without stating the obvious, yes fish are more lethargic in colder water........ so why fish a slack line (unless they are ultra wary) and risk the chance of having your bait almost bang on the button but not having a clue. at this time of year more than any, location is the holy grail, use every trick in your book to maximise on it;)

Do yourself a favour, try fishing for liners in the winter months and just work your baits onto the fish !!!!!!!!!