PB Carp

I heard about Robin Wood Fishery from a friend of a friend of a friend, went to have a look and thought it looked a nice, quiet, accessible place to fish.

On 1 May I returned and fished Lake 1, which I was told held plenty of Silvers. I hadn't had time to go to the tackle shop to buy maggots on the Saturday, and 1 May was a Bank Holiday.

Instead, I had prawns and a tin of sweetcorn, neither of which tempted any fish I saw topping. After some head-scratching, I moved to Lake 2.

Carp were jumping and cruising just under the surface, and after throwing in some free offerings into a margin under the trees, I began to see activity but had no takes on either the sweetcorn or the prawns.

The angler opposite asked me if I wanted to try some of his crab and krill pellets, which he was doing well with, so I accepted and attached one to my hook with a small pellet band. Within 15 minutes I'd landed a nice Mirror Carp, followed by two more before it was time to pack up.

The weather was typical for the time of year and a Bank Holiday: sunshine and heavy showers, and although the fishing was slow to begin with due to my bait, I will be going back to Robin Wood next time armed with maggots and some pellets.

PB Carp, 10.4lb from Woodrows.

On 8 May, I went back to Woodrows for another day's fishing for Silvers in the margins. With a pint of maggots, I float-fished a few feet from my rod tip, and it wasn't long before I was into Skimmers, Roach and Perch.

After a quiet spell early in the afternoon, I had a few hook pulls from something bigger, and then the split cane tip of my bamboo rod swung round. The fish went straight for the reeds, then moved from right to left, going in and out of the reeds, then out to open water and back into the reeds again.

After about 20 minutes and lots of creaking from my bamboo rod, I slipped my landing net under what turned out to be my PB Carp, a very nice, chunky, fin-perfect Carp weighing 10.4lb. A pleasant, relaxing day with some unexpected exercise.

A Stenson Bubble Bream.

It was a rainy day on 15 May, and I was back at Stenson Bubble below the lock. Float-fishing maggots over breadcrumb, I was into the Skimmers on my first cast.

I was dry and warm under my umbrella as the rain continued for most of the day. There must have been a shoal of Bream, as I landed about 25 Skimmers and Bream along with a few Perch.

A battle-scarred fish from below the lock at Stenson Bubble.

Monday 29 May was Spring Bank Holiday, and after some thought over the weekend, I decided to go back to Robin Wood. Lakes 1 and 2 were hosting matches, and due to the wind direction, I went to the end of Lake 4, which holds everything from Gudgeon to Crucian Carp. I had a pint of mixed maggots, some pellets, bread and dead maggots.

The fishing began with a nice Crucian Carp, then a few Gudgeon and Roach. After a few hook pulls, I changed my float-fished size 14 hook to a size 12 on my Daiwa Matchman MkII rod paired with an Intrepid Super Twin reel.

The next take went straight for the reeds; after a while I managed to coax a nice Mirror Carp out of the reeds and over my landing net. A few hook pulls, Gudgeon and Roach followed, then another Mirror Carp around 5lb graced my unhooking mat. I also landed a slightly larger Common Carp before it was time to leave.

The weather was very cloudy, wet and muggy when I arrived; then there was some fine rain between a few clear spells. Early in the afternoon it began to rain heavily, and it rained for about 3 hours. It was very humid throughout the day, and the fish were obviously feeding. A wet day, but a great day for fishing.