Water Reports

The Victoria & Biddulph Angling Society would like to know what you have been catching on our waters .Please email dangoddard22@yahoo.co.uk with your name, date, the water yo were fishing, what you caught and how you caught it. Please also attach any photo's that could accompany the report.

August - November 2009 - I write this report having just witnessed 3 carp landed within an hour at the Serpentine, part of a 7 fish haul. All except one were the new stockies with the largest just short of 15lb. Although 7 fish hits haven't been the norm, multiple catches have been regular with a number of originals thrown in for good measure. After an average summer, the Victoria Pool started to show signs of improvement following downpoors of rain, with the silver fish showing well with some nice carp caught. The Havelock pool has been the suprise of the summer with multiple catches of good carp to mid doubles. These fish have been very easy to catch with a piece of floating bread accounting for a lot of fish. Mill Hayes continued right throughout the year still providing easy fishing for roach and bream. The Cricket Ground has been hit and miss all year. Pleasure anglers have caught well but but a few people close together for a match and the fish just switch off. Best bet is to spread yourselves out for the best chance. Finnally, Knypersley Res has been fishing well prior to the recent heavy rain with roach and skimmers plentiful on the deep side.

A typical Serpentine stockie averaging 10-11lb caught by Serpe bailiff Ady Mallett

Late June & Early July 2009 - Theres only one water dominating this catch report - The Serpentine. The new season has got off to a flyer with huge nets of bream caught plus regular multiple catches of carp. Firstly, bream anglers has had nets of bream over 100lb mainly from peg 11a and 12. Fish averaging 3-4lb have been common on worm and sweetcorn. Peg 11a caughting slightly to the right to a raised area of ground seem to be a good holding area. The carp fishing this year has to be as good as in the mid 90's. Although the stockies are still only small, the majority are coming out just short or just over 10lb. The quickest growers seem to be the commons with the biggest so far 14lb 9oz!!! Thats not a bad growth rate for two summers in the lake. The originals continue to put in appearances. The Big Lin has done 32lb on the opening day, with several back up twenties and upper doubles. The carp are showing all over so there is no particular hotspot but 10 minutes looking around should be plenty of time to find a few. Other waters are fishing well. The V ictoria and in particular Havelock are easy enough for smaller carp although i managed a 12lb mirror from Havelock on just two sections of pole indented for smaller fish. Mill Hayes continues to provide easy roach and bream fishing on maggot and pellet. And finnally, the few venturing a little further to Tick Hill Lane Pool are having good days with roach and skimmer 'one-a-chuck'.

May & Early June 2009 - One small pool is by far out-fishing the others at the moment. Mill Hayes is giving the best fishing its given for years with anglers catching regularly with bream, roach and carp mainly taken on pellet close to reeds or overhanging tree's. The Cricket Ground is also producing a number of good carp. A short 2 hour session for myself resulted in an old friend, little black eye at just short of 15lbjust as the light was fading. Anglers are already looking forward to the start of the season on the Serpentine. The lucky work party attendees will get the chance to arrive at the water on the 15th ready to cast out at first light. Other anglers are reminded that they will allowed onto the country park from first light.

Little Black Eye at just under 15lb.

Feb & March 2009 - After a hard winters carp fishing on the Serpentine, I managed 3 stockies to just under double figures. I did manage to see a number original carp over the last week although to be fair they looked like they had only just woken up after a long winter sleep. During the sessions I caught a couple of bream and a roach to the boilies and even had a pike on a pineapple flavoured pop-up boilie. I did witness a number of jacks falling to other anglers with more conventional piking methods. Pictures below of the 3 carp that I landed plus a picture of Big Linear teasing me by swimming within just 2 foot of my rod tips.

I have also had reports from the Victoria & Havelock bailiffs that the pools are fishing well with good roach regular and in more recent weeks multiple catches of carp from the far bank on Victoria pool.

Winter 2008/09 Round-Up - The Serpentine: Has been in top winter form. Pike anglers are having the best success with a number of good doubles falling to mainly deadbait although spinning and lure fishing has been producing. The carp anglers that have braved the cold have picked up the occasional fish to double figures. Also, anglers fishing for bream and roach on the tip have been catching. Pegs 11 and 15 seem to be best in the deeper water.
Cricket Ground: Carp are continually being caught into double figures. The far reed bed seems to hold the most with bright hi-attract baits working best. The course fishing tends to improve with milder spells with up to 5lb of small roach and skimmers to be had. Pike up to 18lb have been caught on float fished deadbait.
Victoria & Havelock: The colder weather seems to have slowed these waters with the carp only showing on milder days to dead maggot. The roach fishing on float with castor seems to be the most consistent with fish caught up to 1lb+.
Mill Hayes: Again, Mill Hayes reacts poorly to the cold weather. Try to target the warmer periods to catch plenty of small roach and perch on maggot.
Knypersley Res: Pike fishing has been the outstanding method for Knype this winter. Largest reported so far was an 18lb fish caught on a dead bait cast into the old stream bed at the entrance to the bridge. Anglers has also caught whilst spinning although these pike have tended to be the smaller jacks.
Macc. Canal: As with previous years, roach, perch and gudgeon are readily aavailable to be caught on fined down match tackle. The pegs by bridge 80 opposite the boats seem to fish slightly better at the moment.
River Dane - Somerford Park Farm: This fishery is on top form at the moment mainly for chub and grayling. Trotting on the most northern pegs is producing the most fish but don’t forgot the deep hole right at the southern end of the stretch.
Tick Hill: The shallow nature of this pool makes it tough on the colder days but keep feeding the maggots and the roach will move in. One report of a small carp of 3lb being caught on single maggot fishing just off a reed bed.

Autumn 2008 Round-up - Lets start with the cracking summer and autumn we've had on the Serpentine. It seems the water has finnally shown signs that it is once again one of the premier carp waters in the Staffordshire Moorlands. Multiple catches of carp have been regular with numerous twenties plus the big linear at over 31lb. They've been backed up with the stockies which are now pushing double figures. I'll let the pictures below do the talking for some lucky carp anglers. Its not just the carp feeding well. The bigger bream seem to have re-established themselves and although most are falling to pellet and boilies, the few bream anglers making the effort have had some cracking days. More recently, the pike have been showing with largest reported just over 12lb on a float fished sprat.

The Victoria and Havelock pools have been going well, particularly on the warmer days. Although the carp have gone quieter now, the larger roach and bream are still feeding. The Cricket Ground didn't take the club by storm this summer as we'd hoped, although the original carp have still been showing to just over 20lb. Having said that, there's plenty and roach and skimmer bream to be caught on standard pole / float tactics. Mill Hayes has had a good summer/autumn with some of the bigger fish showing. Carp have been caught to 10lb, bream to 4lb and roach to nearly 2lb which are large fish for such a small water. Best tactics have been pellet and corn on pole or during the warmer months floating bread in the lily pads. Knypersley has had a good summer although has slowed off more recently. Bags of bream and roach to over 40lb were taken in matches on the match length but the best report came on the deeps with one angler catching over 200lb of bream in one session late august. Tick Hill Lane Pool has been consistant nad looks better from the work parties that took place to clear the reeds and re-build the pegs. Roach are one a chuck on the most basic of tactics with occasional crucian carp falling to the same basic tactics. Finally, I've not had many reports from the canal and river so don't forgot to let me know how your getting on - the email address is at the top of this page.

Big Linear at 31lb 8oz

The Sandy Linear at 25lb 12oz

Little Linear at 24lb

Copyright Daniel Goddard