Cuckoos Rest fishery located just outside of Frome near Rudge is considered an excellent Bream and Tench fishery with a chance of catching large double figure Carp. Unfortunately the fishery doesn’t perform as well under pressure and often produces low match weights. On the day 22 anglers showed up all with high hopes of big weights. The weather was almost spot on it was a mild overcast day with a slight breeze which is often considered good fishing conditions.
The match was held on the big lake of the fishery which was divided into 3 sections A, B and C. The draw was held at 08:30am and the anglers were given one and a half hours to set up before the start of the match at 10:00am. Most of the participants went for the same tactics on the day, fishing the pole on the 11-13m line setting a trap of pellets in hope of catching some slabs or Tench. Those with a feature down the inside or on the far bank had another line set up to take advantage of this fish holding habitat. As expected it fished hard on the day, although conditions were good and everyone fished sensible tactics the fish at Cuckoos Rest often “switch off” when under pressure.
The match was one by Matt Pang with 11lb consisting mostly of Roach and Skimmers. Matt Pang had a good start catching a Bream early on using the pole on the 11m line given him a good head start. Matt had a few Skimmers on the pole before the 11m line dried up and he had to change his tactics. Matt knew he was in a good position to win the match so he decided to play the safe option and bulk his weight up by fishing a whip 4m to hand, fishing shallow catching roach and skimmers. Matt had over 120 fish in two and a half hours and weighed in a total weight of 11lb.
Second place went to Tim Martin who weighed in 9lb 8oz consisting mostly of Skimmers and Roach. Tim fished similar tactics fishing the pole out in open water over pellet looking for Bream and Tench. Third place went to Dave Allen who managed to catch a couple of Tench down the inside next to a over hanging tree. It fished hard on the day but most managed to catch and some nice bags of fish were caught.
The first of ten league matches was fished on sunday the 26th of july down on the Frome River. Three sections were pegged along the Factory and Lullington stretch of the river with two sections down the Factory and one along Lullington Lane. The river was looking good the wet weather had put a little bit of colour in the water and a inviting bit of extra flow.
22 anglers showed up for the 08:30am draw, held at The Ship Inn at Oldford. The competitors were given 1hr and a half to get to their pegs and prepare for the 10:00am start. It has been along time since the Frome River has had over 20 anglers fishing on the same day so it would be interesting to see how well it fished. Most people seemed confident as the river was looking good and fish had been showing.
Unfortunately fishing was hard all round. Most anglers stratched around all day for small fish and many were plagued by Trout. One large Bream at 5 lb 6 oz was caught in Lullington section by Stan Hopkins, which was enough to claim second place in the match. In 3rd place with 3 lb 1 oz was winner of the open match Matt Atkinson and 1st place was awarded to Paul Sims with 6 lb 8 oz.
It was hard fishing all round on the day but a good start to the league. Next match will be held at Cuckoo's rest on the 16th of August.
The first of a series of fishing matches on the Frome River was fished on Sunday the 28th of June.
A small but friendly crowd of 13 anglers showed up at the Cheese and Grain car park Sunday morning for the 09:00am draw, there were lots of excited faces as this was the first open match to be held on the River in many years. Talk of the good old days when matches were held regularly on the river with the fishing at its peak and turn outs of over 100 anglers often occurred were being exchanged between the competitors.
Eager to start the draw took place and the anglers all rushed down to their pegs at the section of the river known as the Factory. The recent lack of rain meant that the River was low and the water was gin clear, which was not favourable conditions for fishing but there were still plenty of fish moving around prior to the start of the match so hopes of big weights were high.
The match began at 10:30am and it would be another 5 hours before the final whistle was blown, in general the fishing was hard, early on the fish feed well but lost their confidence fairly quickly and anglers struggled to catch consistently. Most of the competitors resorted to the sit and wait approach on big baits in hope of a larger fish to show, whilst others continued to catch the odd small fish throughout the day. One angler though had one of the best days fishing on the Frome River of his life, breaking his own personal best weight of fish caught in a session on the river and went on to claim first place in the match.
Matt Atkinson pegged at the bottom end of the Factory caught a cracking 24lb 8oz bag of fish consisting mostly of Chub ranging from 1.5lb to 3.5lb with the addition of a few Roach and Dace. Matt fished a combination of methods using both the pole and the stick float, feeding maggots, hemp and casters using double maggot as a hook bait. Matt caught consistently all day occasionally having to adjust his feed to keep the fish interested and ended up with a superb bag of fish.
One large Chub with a few small fish was enough to claim 2nd place for Dave Allan who drew a peg in the middle of the factory section. Overall the day was a success, although fishing was hard for most everybody had a good time and were pleased to be fishing a match on the Frome River again.
For more information about future matches on the Frome River please contact Ben Lloyd at Tight Lines Angling 01373 455001.