Tench, Carp & Hybrids Beaver Farm Fisheries 2014

20/04/14 - After some serious fishing targeting carp in the Colne Valley I decided to have some fun at a well stocked local fishery called Beaver Farm. There is a selection of lakes at Beaver including specimen, match and general fishing waters that cater for all ages. Beaver Farm is a heavily stocked fishery and with all the lakes being easy to catch fish from it is great for beginners and children alike but with the chance of a monster surprise. It was a nice change from the large gravel pits containing only a few fish that I fish for months with only a couple of rewards to show for my efforts.

As today was a Friday bank holiday I knew it would be extremely busy so I opted to fish a small pond located at the back of the complex. I had fished this pond four years ago with my friend Kyle Say and that session is featured in my blog. Kyle passed away recently and his funeral was yesterday so It was a fitting choice of venue and for reminiscing.

The pond is tiny and at only 1/2 an acre it is not hard to locate the fish. I arrived and had a quick look around and immediately spotted some dead reeds moving violently in the middle of the pond. This was obviously being caused by fish feeding amongst them but as they were not accessible the plan was to fish tight up to the reeds and draw them out with a scattering of bait. Two rods were set up with bolt rigs, one baited with corn and the other a 10mm boilie.

I immediately began receiving bites on my quiver rod baited with corn close to the reed bed and it wasn't long before I was scrapping with an angry fish. The fight on such light tackle was great and the fish just pulled and pulled. Eventually she was in the net and I was greeted by a strange looking fish that resembled a Crucian carp, common carp but with a breams mouth!!!!!!I netted many more of these strange hybrids during the session up to around 2-3lb and then began to catch the target quarry...Tench.

I caught loads of tench throughout the day and also managed to catch a slightly bigger one pictured above weighing in at approximately 4-5lb. I continued to catch fish during the day also picking up some on my sleeper rod fished with a boilie close to the marginal reeds. I caught the larger fish on this rod, as I was expecting, including a few tench to 3lb and a scale perfect common carp of around 2-3lb pictured left that put up the most powerful fight.

I finished the day early fully satisfied with the session out on the banks of this picturesque pond. It was great to see some family's on the complex fishing with young children introducing them to the sport and that's what this venue is all about. Now its back to some serious fishing and I'm heading to a 300 acre reservoir in search of some monster tench and or carp. I will keep you posted.