Hartleylands Nicks Lake

#1

On Sunday I was chatting to BillG in the Maggotdrowning chat room and he said that he had received a PM from Jon Hatch ( Hatchye ) saying he was staying down his way and was asking if Bill knew anyone who was fishing during the week and would accompany him. A few PMs and phone calls later arrangements had been made to meet Jon at Hartleylands on Tuesday. Colin and his son David were also going to come and Tony ( Spamwham ) was also a possible.

So it was just before 10am when I pulled into the car park to find that Jon already ther. Colin and David were also there before me and were in the process of setting up in Finches pond. A quick look at Nicks lake cheered me up when I saw the point pegs available and Jon and I agreed to fish there he chose peg 9 so I settled on peg 8.The wind was light and the sun shining and everything looked perfect.

I decided to fish 8 metres and set up a 0.4 MW diamond with a 14 b911 and cupped in a big pot of 4mm pellet plus a few handfuls in the left margin. It was a slow start but a few skimmers and stockies came eventually. I changed to a finer hooklength and a 16 B911 whish greatly improved the catch rate. Jon was beginning to put a few together as well at about the same distance out.

Tony arrived at just after 11am and set up on peg 6 opposite the end of the island and went straight on the maggot feeder and was soon catching stockies one a chuck. Jon and I then went on the traditional pie run which was greatly appreciated by Colin as David had forgotten to pack the sandwiches.

Suitably fortified a change was in order so I set up a top two margin rig to black hydro to 3lb bottom and a 16 B611 hook with GOT pellet hookers and it wasn’t long before the elastic was streaming out and a 4lber landed. More fish soon followed and were much bigger than anything I had on the long line ending with a long fight with a 8lber which refused to come off the bottom.

A switch was called to lessen the time I was wasting playing fish, for so out came the red hydro. This was a lot better but my catch rate dropped off I expect because of the heavier line needed to balance the elastic so I decided to compromise and try out a top kit I has recently elasticated with purple hydro but not used before together with the lighter rig I was using earlier. This proved to be ideal and I carried on catching until 5.30 when I called it a day. Total catch was estimated at around 80lbs .

Jon carried on for a while and was now getting one a chuck after a switch to corn hookbaits. Tony also had a late fish which proved to be the best of the day at 12lb.

I had a enjoyable day in good company and it was a pleasure to meet Jon and show him one of the many waters we have down here. If you manage to get down here again Jon we must do it again.

#2

Nice report, good to see someone catching some fish

#3

Only 80lb Davec.............must be losing your touch

Only joking............sounds like a good day

Takes me all season to do that sort of weight

#4

Lucky you had a stop for the pie run Dave, you would only have upset TK even more with a report of yet another 100lb bag.

How did Colin & David do on Finches?

#5

Just a thought TK regarding your questions to Peter the other day about fining down when bites were difficult. My standard rigs are quite heavy especially for fishing the red hydro being super shinobi 6lb to a 16 or 14 B911.
When I switched to finer 3 1/2lb Fox micro plus with 16 B911 the increase in bites was immediate and quite marked. Its not the first time its happened to me at Hartleylands though Im careful not to go too fine as hard fighting 8lb plus fish are not uncommon especially down the edge.

#6

Colin must have had over the ton. He was doing well in the morning but David was certainly pulling him back with a run of fish over 4lb. I dont need to tell you what bait he was using.

Tony also just scraped over the ton with that biggie at the death.

#7

Could have been the hook size Dave.
a 14 is a bit of a meathook to use on Nicks.
Very rare that I use anything over an 18 on Nicks, though I have to say that the Fox Series2's that I normally use are more like a 16 than the 18 that they are labeled as.

#8

I dont need to tell you what bait he was using

Well you might actually. Not eveyone on here knows he only fishes with paste

#9

Wasnt the hook Peter as I used the same size and pattern on both margin rigs.

#10

Not eveyone on here knows he only fishes with paste

Im not saying a word as he will get the hump if I tell everyone what he uses.

#11

Hi guys, I'm listening, I'm listening................

But 16s and 3.5lb lines are all beastie tackle to me (although thats what i started on)

And when I said I scaled down, I scaled down..........

me · #12

make the most of it as it will cost you next year as the day ticket have gone

#13

make the most of it as it will cost you next year as the day ticket have gone

Much as I like Hartleylands Si, I won't pay £150 a year for the privilege of fishing there. Thankfully there are more than enough decent day ticket fisheries in the area to fill the gap.

me · #14

Peter after the responce off the members on MDS who fish there when it was anounced on MDs about the change I dont reckon it will be to long before the owner see this disission as a mistake and changes it back to a day ticket water. It just depends if the locals feel the same way as the md members to refuse to buy a permit and vote with their feet by going else were.

#15

The thing is Simon that Hartleylands is a thriving organic fruit farm, and the owners have just brought another 2 farms.
The fishery actually represents a very small percentage of their income, in fact the profit from the fishery at the end of the year is probably no more than £15,000 once all the costs are met, and that is with family who also work on the farm bailiffing the fishery.
With the increased workload between 3 farms, there would be a need for a full time bailiff on the fishery, whose wages would absorb any profit made by the fishery, so they really don't need to keep the fishery open for day tickets.