Langport & District Angling Association
Fishing News
River Parrett
River levels
The Fishing Info website appears to have been taken down by the Angling Trust and replaced with something inferior.
I've since found a very good alternative called riverlevels.uk.
The list of Somerset river level monitoring stations can be found with the following link:-
https://riverlevels.uk/levels/somerset#.X9NUk-a2Jpg
I find the 'Monks Lease Wq' at Combe and the 'Oath' at Oath Lock locations give meaningful levels for the river. Scrolling down a page with show a chart of the variation in river level for the past week.
Beware the level at 'Westover' which is the river side of the Westover Pumping Station opposite Cocklemoor in Langport. When the river is low, this measuring station shows a smooth horizontal line which suggests the level sensor is not low enough to measure low water levels.
I hope this site is of some use to you.
Saturday 21st November
Dan Squire caught this nice mixed net on Stuckies.
Sunday 22nd November
Pete Smith caught this 4lb tench ledgering sweetcorn near the downstream end of Cocklemoor. He also caught lots of roach up to 1lb in size.
Thursday 26th November
Fran and I arrived at the footbridge at Oath to find the river was up about four feet, chocolate-coloured and with a fair pace. Coupled with ground frost and fog, the day was not starting well. But being there, we had to give it a few hours to see if we could catch. Eventually the fog went and it was a bright sunny day, albeit, a bit cold.
We fished on the SLAC bank on the road side, Fran fishing near a bush and me fishing between an overhanging tree and a bush next to it.
Fran tried trotting a float first but without any bites. He then fished a small maggot feeder on a short whip with maggot on the hook and caught a couple of gudgeon and a couple of eels.
I fished a maggot feeder with maggot on the hook within three feet of the bank and caught a small roach, a couple of gudgeon and an eel.
Even with unfavourable conditions, you can still catch!
Saturday 28th November
Russ Hamblin caught a few pike and this was the largest one.
Tuesday 1st December
Nigel Bartlett fished behind The Bungalows with stick float and crow quill float to take this net of roach estimated at over 20lb.
Fran also fished behind The Bungalows.
He fished a 6 metre whip with a stick float rig and fished maggot and caster on the hook over loosefed caster and hemp.
He caught mainly roach for a total weight of 7lb 2oz.
Wednesday 2nd December
I fished fifty yards below the footbridge at Oath. It was a mainly overcast day with a few showers and a cold upstream breeze. The river was low, some colour and a nice steady pace.
I fished a long rod and centrepin with a wire-stemmed stick float. The swim was about 6 foot deep.
I fished maggot and caster over loosefed hemp and maggot. I started catching a few small roach but bites tailed off and I only had one or two fish in the last two hours. I probably had less than a pound of fish at the end! Disappointing, but it was nice to be out on the bank!!
Sunday 10th January
Bryan Meredith caught this 4lb 4oz chub late afternoon on ledgered bread. He also caught a smaller one.
Wednesday 13th January
Bryan Meredith has been out chub fishing on the River Parrett again!
He caught this 4lb 5oz chub as well as two others to just under 4lb and four to 3lb.
All were caught on ledgered bread on the tip.
Combe Lake
Coronavirus Pandemic
Remember the 2-Metre Rule, keep your distance from other anglers and we'll all be safe.
Hand sanitiser is available at both gates for your protection.
The virus can live on metal for up to 72 hours so I spray the padlock and parts of the gates and latches with my disinfectant spray before touching them. A good habit to get into!
Shutting and Locking
Please make sure you shut the gate securely in the otter fence when entering and leaving the lake.
We are finding, all to often, that the main gate is being left unlocked.
When you leave by the main gate, please make sure the padlock is correctly attached and locked securely. Scramble all the numbers on the lock.
Protect the lake, and your fishing, by ensuring that the gate is securely locked.
If you are fishing Combe Lake, why not let me know what you caught; photos of your catch would also be appreciated. We'd love to know how it's fishing for our members. Email me.
We've noticed members have been propping the gate open recently with bricks while they drive in or out.
For the last few years, there has been a wire loop fixed to the fence which hooks over the top rail of the gate to hold it back. The wire loop can be bent tighter around the rail of the gate if required.
You'll find this is more reliable than propping the gate open with bricks. I've now taped the wire loop to make it more visible.
WEED
I know some members aren't happy about the weed in our lake. However, the weed is very beneficial to our fish and the waterfowl. It contains lots of food in the form of invertebrates. It provides shelter and protection for our fish. It also helps to keep the algae levels down and improve water quality.
Most of our fishing can be done in front of the platforms so we only need to clear the weed from where we want to fish. This is easily achieved by spending a few minutes raking before we tackle up. This gives a short period for the swim to settle before fishing. Raking also stirs up the silt which attracts the fish into the swim.
A simple weed rake (as shown above) can be made by joining two garden rake heads back to back and securing with cable ties. A length of strong nylon rope can be securely attached.
Thursday 17th December
With the river well up after a lot of rain, I still needed a fishing 'fix'; not fishing for a couple of weeks, I decided the only place to fish would be Combe Lake. I knew there was every chance I would blank! It's not always about bites and catching, it's often about just peace and quiet in the countryside, surrounded by nature and getting away from the pandemic for a day!!
The water was so clear you could see the leaves on the bottom. I walked around the lake and settled for the big lilybed on the east side. It was a sunny, mild day with a bit of a frost during the night. Water temperature was about 6½°C.
As the water was so clear, I raked the swim half a dozen times to remove any weed and to stir up the silt and cloud the water a bit. I put some loose groundbait in for attraction and occasionally fed half a dozen casters.
I fished a 4 metre whip with a very light rig dotted right down so that only the floating line on the surface was holding the float up. I tried bread punch, small maggot, caster and even a small maggot cut in half; nothing! There were a lot of small fry making rings on the surface but nothing taking the bait.
So I did blank! But I fished, saw a woodpecker, a wren in the reeds beside me, a couple of kingfishers and a large bird of prey skillfully flying between the trees, between the lake and the car park.
A lovely day to chill out!!!
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