HOWS IT FISHING 2016-Pembrokeshire Coarse Fishery

As from March we will be back to summer opening times 7am to dusk. Remember a bad day's fishing is still better than a good day at work.

HOWS IT FISHING 2016

06.12.2016
With the bottom lake frozen over, the hardy anglers of the Pembrokeshire Piscatorial club were forced to fish the top lake today. As expected the fishing was more difficult than usual, that said two angers ended as joint winners . Keith and Jonathan both weighed in with 3.8 kilos. The whole group caught fish and all weighed in.
Unless we have some interesting or a specimen fish out I will not be updting again during 2016. Thank you all for following the posts and those who have fished here again this year.
We at Pembrokeshire Coarse Fishery would like to wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We hope we will see you again next year.

14.11.2016

Its been a that sort of month with some anglers reporting a decent days fishing and others saying it was quiet. Clearly at this time of year you need to adjust you tactics and use lighter line, fish will no doubt be in the deeper water and feeding less.  Maggots are good to attract fish into a swim and then  maybe switch to a bigger bait for the larger carp.20161031_111452


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These pictures are from the woodland and not a fishing pond. I added them as this autumn the colours and light have been quite sepectacular.


24.10.2016

Good match again last Sunday Chris Kidd was again the victor with an excellent 28.3 kilos (over 62Lbs). 2nd and 3rd had 18 kilos and 10 respectively. As usual all anglers in the match weighed in. The fishing in general has been a bit slower because with the cold nights the fish are not as active as in the summer months. The carp today were being caught on maggot which is a sure sign winter is on it's way.

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04.10.2016
The following email from one of our happy anglers say's it all .

`HAPPY DAY(s)` again at Llyn Carfan (29th Sept. 2016)
After a couple of months off without fishing at Llyn Carfan I chose today well ...as the weather was dry, sunny and breezy.  I fished the bottom lake from about 9am to 7pm .... and throughout the day the fish didn`t stop biting. I switched from two rods on the bottom to one on a float and one on the bottom with great success. I ended up with 17 super carp and about 40 lovely roach and a few rudd.  I lost 4 good carp on the way in.  The carp ranged from 1-2 lb up to 3 at 6-8lb.  I caught 8 of the carp in the last hour as the early evening feeding seemed to take off.  I started catching small roach after lunch and quickly switched to a bigger bait and immediately caught bigger roach ... with about 25 being around the one pound mark.
 
As ever, the Llyn Carfan fish seem to `punch well above their weight`  ..... every carp (and the big roach too) seem to fight and take as if they are double or treble their actual weight. Time and time again today I thought I was into a good double figure carp ...judging by the fight and many runs the fish make towards the lilles and weed ... and then end up netting a powerful carp around 5lb or whatever. As ever, every fish I caught was in beautiful condition, lean, powerful and pretty wild.  Not many coarse fisheries have fish with these qualities in my view.
 
As a `pleasure angler` today really was a pleasure ...and well worth my trip from Gower and back.
 
Thanks again Huw,
Mike (Gower, swansea)

26.09.2016
Another week has flown by and Autumn is now with us, days are getting shorter, weather cooler , even some wind and rain in the mix. The fishing however remains good and plenty of carp caught over the week. Mike Cuthbertson came down to have a three day break . Mike fishing had plenty of fish mixed bags with roach and rudd as well as carp. John Dove did a 24 hour session where he landed 24 carp. Some were between 15lbs and 20 lbs.Loal lads Shaun, Mathew, Micky P were here on Saturday I am waiting on the reports of how they got on.Kenseytop_lake
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13.09.2016
The Match on  Sunday was won by Chris Kidd total weight of 18 Kilos, but as is normal and one of the pleasures of angling you never really know what  lurks beneath the surface. Chris and the rest of the match anglers all whom have fished here for years , were more than a little surprised when Chris caught a 5 lb wild brown trout. It was returned to the water unharmed!
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07.09.2015
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07.09.2016
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The picture above charliewas taken from a distance. It is only interesting because Keith while netting the fish, his rod snapped although did manage to land the 15lb carp. This was the second rod that was snapped here yesterday the first angler was stunned as he did not even get a view of the fish but had previously caught Barbell up to 16 lb on the same rod. He maintained it must have been a monster. Maybe natural feed is getting scarce and the bigger fish are looking for food.

 
 
 
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23.08.2016

A few weekend pictures. Charlie Benson on the last day of his holidays in Wales. Dion with one taken close in to the bank using meat and a size 10 hook. Ollie his first on a fly rod using a black fly. next two pictures, first carp I saw caught today. (no name given).The final picture is my European friend who came camping up for a couple of nights and was just getting back into fishing for carp.
Pembrokeshire Piscatorial club were back for their Sunday League Match ,It was won by Jonathan with 23 kilos.
Dave Rook also had a good 30 hour session on the top lake where he caught plenty of carp but none over 13lbs .

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Peter
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
01.08.2016
Last week has been excellent for all anglers with specimen fish caught from both lakes. Dave Rook led the charge with an excellent 18 pound fish from the top lake. Caught using a fly rod and dog biscuit.   Paul Anderson followed on with some beautiful  carp (both in size and quality) from the bottom lake. He caught 25 in total on a single Saturday session.  Lisa gets the prize for best quality roach with a stunning fish taken with a light waggler  float, sweetcorn bait,  six feet out from the bank on the top lake.
We were also very pleased to host the Bishop of St David's on a visit to the area. Whilst here we did a manage to encourage him to try fishing where a few small roach were caught.
 
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28.7.2016
Some great fishing from both lakes there are good catches being reported daily. With seasoned anglers  beating their personal best on the carp and children taking their very first fish. Mixed sizes on all the stocked fish giving a nice mix and keeping everyone happy.  Methods vary from surface fishing to halibut pellets on a ledger , the margins are also very productive for those on an evening session. Here are a few of this weeks pictures.
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Graham
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lisa_with_a_beauty,
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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15.07.2016

Just a few pictures to remind anglers how its fishing. Plenty on mid size carp are being landed but the bigger ones are simply waving while cruising past. Both lakes have the silver fish being caught with some excellent weights both on size and quantity being recorded.

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4.07.2016
Ask when you arrive at the fishery about our latest competition , Catch Snowy or one of his two mates , (all white ghost carp) and win £100.00 Entry fee 1.50 above normal day ticket price. Terms and conditions apply.
 
 

Sunday's match was won by Paul Ellis with 22.8 kilos , 2nd Keith just 800 grammes behind and 3rd Chris 18+ kilos. the were several 14 kilo bags and as usual all the anglers caught enough to weigh in adding to the their league tally for this season.
The fishing was also good on the top lake where all anglers reported catches of various sizes. Some fished for silvers and others carp. The carp were not feeding off the top but ledgering worked well as did margin fishing.

The both lakes have been prolific over the last few weeks with all fish feeding happily which keeps the anglers happy which in turn  makes me a Happy Chappie

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PICTURED  IS LOCAL ANGLER KIETH. HE CAUGHT THE GHOST CARP  ON FRIDAY BUT HAD NOT ENTERED THE
COMPETITION , SO NO PRICE MONEY.
 
 
 
 
 
 
21.06.2016
The last month has been busy on the lakes hence one of the reasons I have not updated .
There have been plenty of specimen carp and roach caught along with the normal day to day carp averaging around 7lbs.
 A couple of large grass carp one from each lake Dave took a 16.30 oz from the top lake and Trish on the same day a 20lb from the bottom lake.
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22.05.2016
With the carp having spawned last weekend it was feed time. Carp were being caught from all pegs, it almost got to easy with some people reporting having caught 20 or more in a session. They appear to have quietened down this week but there are still many fish caught. On both lakes Carp are showing feeding off the top of the water and also  in the margins. As usual the silvers are catching well, along with odd tench also perch to 2.5 lbs from the top lake. 
 
11.05.2016
Excellent fishing since my last report. During  the final  weekend in April several  all night anglers reporting good catches. Dave who did a 36 hour stint, left a happy chappie catching his first grass carp from the top lake. A 20lb specimen that was in perfect condition. It looked as if it had never been caught. He also caught an 18lb common which was in equally good condition

May started  the same with   a good number of fish caught ,both carp and silvers . Terry was back to form, these are two separate fish, (pictured below) he landed at least another two decent carp. John and Kenzie and Archie and his dad also having a very decent day's fishing. There is also an example of the quality  of roach to be caught at the fishery landed early May, also pictured below. 

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18.042016
It is fishing well here at the moment. Sunday's Pembrokeshire Piscatorial match which was held on the bottom lake as won by Brian Hammond with 22.10 kgs  Chris Kidd was second with 10.4kgs
There are smaller carp to approximately 8lbs caught daily the bigger fish are more elusive with the largest recorded this month a 14lb common caught by John Kaye who also took several quality roach during his morning session. Mike who has been travelling over from the Gower for the winter fishing also had a good day last week with  a pile of good size roach up to about 1lb mainly on luncheon meat on the bottom and some on red maggot ... plus two lovely rudd about 1lb each along with loads of smaller roach he also reported having caught  two nice perch ... just under 1lb each ..again on red maggot.  A first for him on the bottom lake
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14.04.2016
 
With the spring sunshine fish are appearing higher up in the water with the bigger carp basking and showing themselves but  not yet taking free offerings of  floating baits.
There are plenty of fish being caught mainly smaller carp up to 10lbs. There are plenty of signs of bigger fish which are very rooting about the margins. Hopefully these double figure fish will start to be caught within the next few weeks.
 
 
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16.042016
Easter holidays has been mixed with many families turning up  to encourage their youngsters to take up angling. This is a fantastic sport for young people to get involved with as it teaches you several things , skill, discipline and patience amongst  several others that will help then along the journey of life.  A family from London who arrived this week or at least the parents will of the two little boys,  will not forget the excitement and look of pure joy of their boys faces when with the help of the on site coach, the boys caught their first fish, several small roach.
 

Considering the conditions the match boys did well in the final match of the season, which was a silver fish only match. Steve Harrison had a winning weight of 5.3 kilos the runners up all 4.5 to 4.9 kilos. Well done all.

ROD LICENCE REMINDER!
Don't forget folks that your 2015 - 2016 rod licence runs out today. If you haven't already done so it's time to renew. Applying for your rod fishing licence is easy at the Post Office. Whether you require a licence for a few days or a full season, we'll help you find it.
If it helps we can do a it for you at the fishery with no extra charge 5.3 kilos the runners up all 4.5 to 4.9 kilos. Well done all.

 

23.03.2016

It's been a busy month here at the fishery. Firstly we had to replace some pipes that run under the lake . That was not such a problem but the clear up work has been a drawn out affair. Thankfully the last two weeks has the weather has been kinder. It is now fishing well and all pegs are again accessible .
Plenty of fish being caught , although none of the bigger carp (over 13lbs ) There seems to be a glut of 3,4 and 5lb fish getting landed. This may be down to lighter match type tackle being use or the fact that while the water was very low we took advantage and cleared some of the lily beds along with changing the bottom of the lake in some parts. I believe that the fish have had to change their hiding places and seek feed elsewhere. Either way it's well worth dusting down the tackle and paying us a visit.

 

06.03.2016

 

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David was back today caught a couple of carp. These pictures are of his mid-week session. Terry on his first weekend of the year had a great day , taking seven carp the largest was a 11lbs 14 oz, common. The pleasure match anglers were taking plenty of silvers using poles, and fishing out in the middle of the lake.

 

 

 

 

 
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28.02.2016

 

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Carp feeding over the weekend . Mathew and Dan caught five between them on Saturday . Sunday a new angler to the lakes caught 3 in a couple of hours of afternoon fishing. All the fish were under 6lbs.

 

Earlier in the week with the warn sun on the water it certainly  had the fish feeding .On  Bottom lake there was a number of carp and roach caught,   . The largest carp was by Martin he thought it must have been close to 20 lbs. There is a sharp frost again tonight so I guess the early morning fishing will be a bit of a challenge.

 

 
03.02.2016
Mike Pennar had another fantastic days fishing  here.  He took a dozen carp , all in the mid range to about 7lbs. He caught at least some of them on a maggot clip . This allows you to place up to 10 maggots at a time to tempt carp on to them.  The pictures are some of last years fish, caught by 80 year old Ted . He gave me these pictures earlier today they speak for themselves. The Perch in particular is a beauty probably the biggest I have seen from the top lake
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30.01.16

Both lakes fished well today considering it is January. Several carp caught over 20 in total, largest at the deep end of bottom lake at 10.5 lbs. The others were between 3 and 8lbs. Surprisingly very few roach showing today a few were taking carp bait on the bottom lake , those caught were good quality 1lb plus

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Today was just my third day-ticket on the water and after the torential rain and winds of my previous two visits I chose the day well as it didn`t rain and there was hardly any wind for a change.  With it being January, though still quite mild, I really wasn`t sure what to expect ...would any fish be feeding ...should I just try for some winter roach ... might I be lucky and catch a hungry winter carp ?  To be honest, what with the terrible wet December weather .... I was just glad to get out of the house and drive the hour and bit from The Gower to Tavernspite. Today I was the only angler on the water .  
 
After 25 yrs. away from coarse fishing I`m still getting back into the swing of things and am somewhat bewildered by the new hi-tech tackle and profusion of baits and things ...so my approach is `keep it basic` and see how things go.  My previous two visits to Llyn Carfan in the autumn had been great .... with a good mix of small and medium roach and rudd on the float and a few single figure carp fishing on the bottom, all with basic baits.  I really didn`t expect today to be even better than these trips as it was January and most fishing goes right off through the winter.  How wrong I was. 
 
Today I began catching small roach on the float through the morning and by lunchtime I had also caught five common carp ranging from 1-2lb up to a couple just under double figures !  As the afternoon turned dull and colder I thought the best was over and was quite happy with my lot.  I gave the float a rest and concentrated on finding a few more carp ...and my luck was in.  By packing-up time at 4pm I had landed five more carp with two in double figures .. the best one 12lb.  For some regular and `serious` anglers this might not seem wonderful ... but for me, this was my best ever day`s fishing.  When I last fished (in the 1980`s) the coarse fishing was poor and hard work .... and a good day was catching a couple of roach or a bream maybe.
 
I`m what I guess is called `a pleasure angler` ....and today was nothing but pleasure for me , thanks to Huw`s wonderful fishery and hospitality. Today, it was a bit cold, the ground was soaking and I didn`t know what to expect ...and it ended up being brilliant.  Best of all, every fish I`ve caught at Llyn Carfan so far has been really hard fighting and quite `wild`. I`ve heard that some fisheries are over-stocked, over-fished and the fish come in like a wet sack.  In my experience, none of these apply to Huw`s fishery.  I`m so glad I`ve found this well managed and friendly fishery . I guess the limit on baits and no-grounbait and no keepnets all contributes to the quality of water and fish.  I recommend it to anyone.  To date, I`m still learning how to fish again and how to fish this water .... and I`ve not even seen Huw`s other lake yet !
 
Again, "many thanks Huw" for such a great fishery and for getting the fish to be in such great condition.
(Photo of one of today`s carp attached)
LlynCarfanJan2016Carp12lb
 
Mike (Pennard,
Gower, swansea)
 
 
20.01.2016

January_16th

We have been working on the bottom lake , repairing a pipe under the water and some landscaping. Removing some of the overgrown lilies.  It is is now back in use, although it may take a bit of time to finally seed certain areas, please check with the fishery were to peg out before you start fishing.

Top lake, considering the clear cold water , there are fish taking on a regular basis , it is advisable to bring a variety of baits to be sure of success.

  

20th January, at last a sunny day for the anglers to test themselves. I must say although fish were caught, 5 carp, several roach, rudd and perch it was still a difficult day for them. The very cold crystal clear water did not help matters.