Chaley Park

 

An October day at Chaley Park 

2024

Swim Peg 6

My swim at Chaley Park on the larger lake. Signs were good, weather warm, virtually no breeze and an empty lake. Only 4 anglers turned up through the day, one of whom went to the small lake. My first visit to this water so just a quick look before setting up. Small lake had a lot of lilies and swims quite small and divided. The larger lake seemed devoid of weed but some overhanging bushes. I had studied the details provided by Farnham AS about the waters and decided on the main lake. I saw a number of swirls and shows, most against the island but research suggested the inside shelf was a good spot to fish.

In line with my desire to float fish this season I had two rods with me, 13 foot Fox specimen float and my 15 foot Shakespeare. Fixed spool on the 13 footer and centre pin on the 15 footer. I am going with my current approach which is a mix of groundbaits (pre bagged so can use as much or as little as required, one a carp/tench mix. the other a feeder mix). I also had rapid dissolve pellets, halibut and bloodworm. Hookbaits were to be maggot, small worm tipped with maggot with a few hooker pellets as back up. I had bought some pineapple flavoured luncheon meat pieces, as I had some excellent results on a strawberry flavour version at Sumner Ponds the previous year.

I start by setting up nets, unhooking mat and rods on rod rests. Next a couple balls of groundbait, first line at end of bush and second about 3/4 way to island with a pouch of pellets and pouch of maggots. I had heard water about 5-6 foot deep and pretty uniform so confident to feed before plumbing. Set up first rod and plumbed depth, I would say 4-5 foot in this swim. I was using a 14 barbless to 5lb line straight through to start as I was hoping to nobble a couple of carp. I used a size 16 to 4lb line straight through on the 15 footer but had my trusty 18 and 20s tied to 1.7lb bs in case fish were shy. Again I had heard there were perch here and with no catfish or pike maybe a few surprises could be present so I would happily forego a few small silvers to ensure that any larger fish are landed.

I started catching after about 15 minutes, bites fairly confident on maggot with a number of small perch and roach. Switching to flavoured luncheon meat when I set up the second rod - no touches all day on this.

The second rod was the centre pin rod. I fish with the line coming from the top of the pin. This seems intuitively right for trotting but means that you have to reel in 'backwards' which takes a while to get used to, especially if you are an intermittent user of the pin. I posted the question re top or bottom on a Farnham AS members facebook page and got quite a few interesting and helpful responses. In the end it comes down to personal preference but opinion seemed pretty 50/50. As always use what works for you.

The first Carp This fish came to my first cast with the pin! I baited the hook with a small worm and then tipped it with a single maggot. I had cast the other rod straight out and was going to put this (pin) rod near the bush on the shelf and then finish winding the other rod in. How often would that cause no problems and especially as the bites were still every 3-4 minutes at that point. However this carp took the bait on the drop. Luckily I could let the fish go whilst winding the other rod in one handed. Lesson learnt. I was a bit bemused at first as the fish hugged the bottom and slowly ploughed backwards and forwards with little attempt to dive into the bushes and reeds at the edge. However the rod soon tired the fish and I was able to net it comfortably. I weighed it in a wet sling to get an approx weight of 8lb for reference to any further fish I am lucky enough to catch in this session. I like to get a quick photo of fish in the net and release asap, I am not one for prolonging the time out of water anymore. I would add that I do not have a problem with anyone taking good photos of large fish, especially when you see how much care is taken nowadays and I would do so myself if I catch a large fish after a lot of effort. But for this type of fishing I want to release the fish quickly. After each fish I like to rebait the swim, mostly maggot with a few pellet before casting the float back out. The day was very warm and with the lack of breeze the fish were starting to feed much more. I caught a few very small perch, especially on the worm and was getting a number of roach on maggot, mostly on the second line towards the island. The bailiff was very helpful when checking the ticket, with advice on best approach for the fish and some detail about the small pond. He even told me where fish on the small pond were moving. I had a piece of luncheon meat on at that point and was relaxing with a cup of tea. In the end I had five carp hooked and all were landed, same distinctive fight. The second carp was the pretty mirror which was in excellent condition. All in all I had a very enjoyable day here and I will return. My thoughts are that I should try a 'supermarket challenge' day here. This is where I only use baits bought from the supermarket - quite useful if your nearest bait shop is a fair distance away (There is a bait shop that opens at 7am at a fishery near Aldershot otherwise I have to go to a bait shop the day before I fish). Obvious culprits are sweetcorn, bread, luncheon meat and prawns. However I am as competitive as the next angler and I will sneak a few small worms from under the wife's flowerpots in case I see other anglers catching! I do take groundbait and rapid dissolve pellets as I do not want to tie both my hands behind my back. I plan to use punched bread and coldwater prawns (which I may dip into a 'catfish krill' dip as a luxury cheat). I think I will try Chaley with this approach as I think I might get a few bigger roach on the bread and the carp and any larger perch will go for the prawns. Looking forward to also trying Chaley small lake with the pin in spring or autumn for tench and crucians. The small lake at Chaley

Wargame pile of shame

 Where to start - Wargaming pile of shame

I have dabbled and collected wargame figures, rules and scenery since my first Airfix models in the sixties, with various levels of commitment. In common with many fellow hobbyists I have a tendency to buy too much, invest in too many different games systems and place potential and daydreaming ahead of actually doing anything.

My current list of under achievement includes Warhammer fantasy battle (4 armies and some odds and ends, English Civil War in 28 and 15mm, 28mm French Indian war, Test of Honour, Six Kill teams and six Necromunda gangs plus scenery. A copy of Blackstone fortress completes the bill. When you see it written down it is not too bad but when nine blocks of twenty goblin infantry are unpainted, to go with four blocks of painted goblins, then you know you have a way to go.

I am lucky enough to have a small bedroom to hobby in so have shelving, three glass display cabinets and storage boxes. There is never enough room! Did I mention reference books, magazines and other bits and bobs.

Every time I go in it is so easy to just look through stuff, day dream and then lose time deciding what to do. I am going to try to knuckle down and start by rationalizing the collection. The obvious place to start is the 15mm ECW as I only have four foot regiments painted plus two cannon and one regiment of horse. I have some some Airfix cottages, church and Inn as scenery. As my eyes get older the thought of painting them does not appeal. The next step would be perhaps the Warhammer human factions. The Bretonnians and the Empire figures are from the nineties and are more like historical figures. But I would want to replace with Arthurian or dark age figures so perhaps a back burner temporarily?

I have kept lots of bits for DiY scenery but maybe a clearing is due.

There are some excellent scenics out there but takes time to pimp them up. And prepping trees, hedges, roads and rivers all take time.

I have decided to the to keep three strands running. 28mms ECW I will finish my army of Montrose - two Irish foot regiments and the horse. Although I can proxy Covenanter horse. Two small warbands for ToH and use my ECW scenery for now. And finish scenery for Necromunda. I will review after that.

A typical messy scene from my workspace. The industrial scenery from a £6 dinosaur park looks fun to do.

Some skirmishing ECW dismounted horse being prepared for a scenario against a rabble of villagers reinforced by deserter regulars and dragoons.

I will leave it here and hope to post progress reports soon.