Woodmill 2012

F

fishpond

Member
Joined
Aug 21, 2009
Messages
87
H all

As mentioned on the 2011 thread last night was my first trip - arrived at 8.30pm in the rain - several fresh fish showing with tide still rising (and a large pale mirror carp!). Spoke to Dean who had seen plenty of fish whilst trimming the banks. Pool looked in good nick, not too much flotsam but Monks brook was running dirty - though most of the flow from here seemed to be going straight out. Tackled up and waited for dusk, we started fishing just after 10pm but it started to go quiet as the tide topped out and then the heavens really opened.......and the fish never really started showing again. We did end up with one sea trout just under 4pm at first light, a chub and a trout. Good to be back but a quiet night. One thing to note- the level in the pool never got low enough to see the gravel island off the ramp so we didn't go wading - not sure if this was due to the tide, extra water from the run off or the way the sluice is working now it's fixed. The electrics are also working in the hut, as is the kettle - a boon when it's tipping it down!
Tight lines

Richard
 
Last edited:
L

Lionel Tangled

Member
Joined
Sep 24, 2009
Messages
30
3 of us fished on the night of 27 June. Conditions were ideal but the results were very dissapointing. Finished with one sea trout at 2lb and two large fish lost during play. Very little sign of fish in the pool, with few showing. My guess is that the recent very high water and strong flow has drawn the bulk of the run upstream. One novel feature of the evening was the mixed bag of one friend- a 2lb stocked brown trout, a 6oz chub, a 2 lb mullet hooked up the ar*e and to finish, a small eel neatly hooked in the scissors! Beat that.
 
F

fishpond

Member
Joined
Aug 21, 2009
Messages
87
Hi All

Has anyone been recently? - I'm not due back until October - they might all be upriver spawning by then with all this water!

Tight lines

Richard
 
silverflash

silverflash

Active member
Joined
May 23, 2010
Messages
299
Location
Work: Hampshire.
I had a night a couple of weeks back and quite frankly, on a low tide throughout most of the night, when conditions ought to have been perfect, we saw very little fish and there was really too much water being let through the sluices which made the speed you could fish the fly at a good speed very difficult.

The island was under water the whole time, indicating the higher volume of water in the pool.......

I did persevere and between 1.00 and 2.00am, managed 3; largest about 3.5lbs

Wasn't all that impressed considering the true potential of this pool at this time of the year, but you have to fish the conditions I suppose!
 
F

fishpond

Member
Joined
Aug 21, 2009
Messages
87
Hi Silverflash,

That's interesting regarding the island as it didn't show when we fished either but we had heavy rain then as well. Shame you didn't get more action and worrying at the same time.

Richard
 
A

Alwyn

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 21, 2009
Messages
629
Last time I went the sluice gates were all still open and letting through a lot of water. This raises the level of the pool and changes the currents both in speed and direction. I think that this has had an impact on fishing quality and I've had good nights and difficult nights this year. Also I suspect that the big rainfall will have encouraged quite a few fish upstream earlier than they would normally have run. We can never choose our conditions of course, but I think that it's frustrating that the EA have not put the sluices back to their normal position now that the river levels have returned to their seasonal norms. Fair enough to open them when the threat of flooding was so high, but now that threat has vanished they should really rectify them. I wrote to the EA about this a couple of weeks ago and apart from an automated confirmation of receipt of my email, there has been no reply. My last trip was about 10 days ago and the sluices were still open so I'm not sure if anything has changed since.
 
silverflash

silverflash

Active member
Joined
May 23, 2010
Messages
299
Location
Work: Hampshire.
........sounds a typical EA scenario.

If we vote with our feet and not book fishing next year based on this years poor management, Active Nation may see the loss of income and ask the EA to come and fix the sluices.

The returns for this season will be interesting viewing!
 
I

Itchen

New member
Joined
Jun 9, 2008
Messages
12
I was fishing at Woodmill on Saturday night having experienced the fierce flow mentioned in other posts, on my last visit at the end of July.

The flow was much more manageable on this visit however the fishing was much more productive on the ebb, possibly supporting the theory that the the "resident" fish have moved on and we are now targetting fish coming in with the tide more either for the 1st time or going back and forward which is more likely.

Anyway not a bad session with 7 or so including a PB for me of 15lb!
 
S

silverinvicta

Guest
What a cracker Itchen, well done that man.... :D (WOT!!! no pics ???) lol

Si.....
 
F

fishpond

Member
Joined
Aug 21, 2009
Messages
87
Hi,

Anyone been of late - I'm there in a couple of weeks - hoping there's still some fish around. Saw the recent email about wading - has someone had a dip? - not the place to get caught out!

Richard
 
A

Alwyn

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 21, 2009
Messages
629
A few of my friends went on Saturday and had a pretty good night, although tougher by previous years' standards, as has been the case this season. They had a lot of school fish with 4-5 lunkers between them. I fished it a couple of weeks ago and we had a lot of schoolies and only one or two decent sized fish between us. I'm sure that the big rainfall that we had in the summer just pushed the fish upstream, hence the tougher fishing. Also, having adjusted the sluice gates to counter floods, the EA were very slow to close them after the threat of flood had vanished which not only made it harder to properly fish the fly but it would've again encouraged fish to go straight through. The reference to wading is I think to do with sudden adjustments to the sluice gates while you're fishing. I had an experience in the season when all the lights went on outside and when we got out to see what was going on, it was the EA opening up the sluices to alleviate the floodwater upstream. It pushed the levels up by at least 18 inches in a matter of seconds and the flow got really fast. Fair enough that they had to do it, but popping their heads around the gate to check whether anyone was wading might have been a smart move! I hear that the same thing has happened since, but not as extreme. But I think that this is probably why the email warning about wading has gone out.
 
silverflash

silverflash

Active member
Joined
May 23, 2010
Messages
299
Location
Work: Hampshire.
The email we got looks just like a sort of "knee jerk" reaction you get from Active Nation - I too wondered what may have recently happened; thanks for the deeper insight, Alwyn.

It's been a strange year, certainly the early part of the season suffered from the high flows; I lost one night to coloured water and then a second one over a month later was frought with high water levels at low tide.

I for one will look forward to seeing the catch returns for the season and only then I suppose will we have a greater view of how the whole season has gone.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top