Bob Goes Fishing | Welcome

Please rotate your device

This page is best viewed in Landscape orientation
(or tap anywhere to view in Portrait orientation)

Diary of an average angler

Who favours traditional methods & baits

fisherman

This diary dates back to a holiday in 2003 when I think the urge to get back into fishing took off. From around 2007 the trips became more frequent with 2010/11 probably being the peak of activity.
Things again pick up in 2020 - a sort of rebirth!

QR code

YouTube channel

Venues
& topics
Species
Archive
Venues & topics
Species
Archive

Docklow Pools (9)

Common 10lb

More photos in the full report

Arrival time: 16.30
Weather: Another fine calm evening.
Swim: Match Pool Peg1
Tackle:13ft Multi-float, 6lb line, pre-loaded waggler and 12 hook.
12ft Hardy Avon, 8lb line, pre-loaded waggler and 10 hook.
Baits: Luncheon meat
Fish: Three carp, best fish 10lbs, a barbel and a small chub.

I was heading for the Mickey Mouse Pool but saw from the road that my favourite spot was occupied. I happened to be next to Peg 1 of the match pool at the time. Now, I have noticed that this peg is very popular and when I had a closer look it was clear that the adjacent pegs were some distance away, making it ideal for margin fishing. There were reeds to the right (photo) and a corner to the left, where the road bordered the lake.

Docklow Pools (8)

Mirror 9lb

Only one photo today.
Larger light-box version in the full report

Arrival time: 16.30
Weather: A beautiful evening following earlier heavy rain.
Swim: Mickey Mouse Peg19
Tackle: 12ft Hardy Avon, 8lb line, pre-loaded waggler and 10 hook.
Baits: Luncheon meat and bread flake.
Fish: Two carp, best fish 9lbs, four small barbel and a small tench.

After a disappointing trip to the River Teme earlier in the day (see previous posting) I went down to Mickey Mouse for a couple of hours. Peg 19 was free so I slotted in there, as I knew it from previous occasions.

I cast out near the lilies and having missed one bite, the next cast I hooked what felt like a heavy fish.

River Teme (1)

The first swim

More photos in the full report

Arrival time: 09:00
Weather: Bright after heavy overnight rain. Heavy rain shower at lunchtime.
Swim: Upstream from car park.
Tackle: 12ft Korum Multi Feeder, 8lb line, feeder/leger and 10 hook.
Baits: Bread flake and luncheon meat
Fish: One unwelcome eel!

I checked out the Docklow Pools’ stretch of the River Teme yesterday. Like the Wye, most of the bank was unfishable. There were three fishable swims upstream from the car park and although I saw a chap fishing downstream I couldn’t work out how he had got down to the river.

Docklow Pools (7)

Common 7lb 8oz

Only one photo today.
Larger light-box version in the full report

Arrival time: 14.30
Weather: Calm and slightly overcast. Light rain later.
Swim: Match Pool Peg12
Tackle: 12ft Hardy Avon, 8lb line, pre-loaded waggler and 10 hook.
13ft float rod, 6lb line, pre-loaded waggler and 14 hook.
Baits: Bread flake and luncheon meat. Fed with maggots and sweetcorn.
Fish: Four carp, best 7½lbs, and a small bream.

I tried the match pool today for the first time. I went with the intention of using my float rod and not carp fishing. I had assumed that carp would not be the predominant species in the match pool. However, it was soon clear that there were good carp in the lake as they could be seen cruising on the surface.

Docklow Pools (6)

Mirror 6lb 8oz

Only one photo today.
Larger light-box version in the full report

Arrival time: 17.30
Weather: A clear calm evening following a sunny day.
Swim: Figure of Eight pool
Tackle: 12ft Hardy Avon, 8lb line, pre-loaded waggler and 10 hook.
Baits: Bread flake and luncheon meat
Fish: Six carp, best 6½lbs, two small barbel and a small tench.

We got back a bit late today so I went down to the lakes a bit later. I tried the Figure of Eight pool again, this time in the SE corner (I couldn’t find a Peg number). This spot offered two near margins and the option to cast to lilies and overhanging trees on the far bank, about 25 feet away. There was nobody else on the lake.

River Wye (1)

Chub 3lb 8oz

More photos in the full report

Arrival time: 09.30
Weather: Sunny with no wind at first, although it blew up a bit during the day and then subsided late afternoon.
Swim: Third pitch downstream from hut.
Tackle: 12ft Hardy Avon, 8lb line, quill float and 12hook. Then a small feeder with 10 hook.
Baits: Maggots, luncheon meat, bread flake and pellets.
Fish: Five chub, best 3½lbs.

My first trip to the Wye. As mentioned in the previous posting, an advance recce had shown only a few fishable spots. I fished the third pitch downstream from where you park. It was a good looking spot with trees overhanging and entering the water about 10 yards downstream.

© 2025 Robert Bassett

Report bugs to webmaster

Built in RapidWeaver
with Shaking The Habitual's
Source micro framework

Your privacy
Cookies are only used for the correct functioning of this site and to prevent you seeing this message every time you visit.

Read more about third party cookies ☞

Note that links to third party sites can result in cookies being loaded. For example, there are links to YouTube to display the embedded videos from my channel.