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.
Wednesday 16th June
Opening Day! Start of the new river season!
It was going to be a hot day so I decided to make an early start. I arrived at the Footbridge at Oath to find no one there so I dropped into the first swim upstream of the footbridge which had been cleared of vegetation. I was fishing by 06.15 and fished five hours until 11.15 when it was getting very hot.
The river had a nice colour and a gentle flow.
I fished a 6 metre whip with a 1.5 gram pencil float rig, which was a bit light for the ten foot deep swim but was sensitive to the bites. I fished mainly double white maggot over loosefed hemp and caster after I'd fed three balls of groundbait. I also caught on caster and a nice 8oz rudd took a liking to a tare just before I packed up.
I caught roach, skimmers, hybrids, chub, rudd and perch for a total of 7lbs.
It was certainly a very enjoyable Opening Day!
Saturday 19th June
Fran Deacon fished the first swim upstream of the footbridge at Oath.
It was an overcast day and there was little flow on the river.
Fran fished a 7 metre whip with a 2 gram float rig. He fished maggot or caster on the hook and loosefed hemp and caster over groundbait.
He fished for five hours and caught roach, perch, chub, skimmers, rudd, bleak, ruffe and hybrids for a total of 8lb 4oz.
Thursday 24th June
Fran and I fished just upstream of the footbridge at Oath. The day was humid, overcast, with some light showers and some sunny periods.
The river was flowing slowly.
Fran fished a 7 metre whip and a 2 gram rig. He fished single white maggot over groundbait laced with hemp and casters.
He caught roach, rudd, skimmers, bleak and an eel for a total of 8lb 4oz.
I fished a 6 metre whip with a 2.5 gram rig. I fished double white maggot over groundbait and loosefed hemp and caster.
I caught roach, rudd, skimmers, bleak and chub for a total of 4lb.
Thursday 1st July
Fran and I fished upstream of the footbridge at Oath. The river was very coloured with a nice flow. The rain, last weekend, had brought the river up a few feet judging by the reeds and debris left on the bank. The river was now a foot below summer level as evident by the bare mud showing along the opposite bank. More water was run off through Oath Lock during the session, dropping the level another foot.
The day was sunny and hot with a nice cooling breeze blowing from behind.
Fran fished a 7 metre whip with a 3 gram rig. He fished a single maggot on the hook over groundbait laced with caster, maggot and hemp.
He caught roach, hybrids, skimmers, rudd and a ruffe for a total of 7lbs.
I fished a waggler close in where the flow was slower.
I fished single or double white maggot on the hook over groundbait laced with dead pinkies and hemp.
In the afternoon I changed to a 7 metre whip with a 2 gram rig again with maggot on the hook over groundbait.
I caught roach, skimmers and chub for a total of 3lb 12oz.
Friday 2nd July
Ian Grabham fished a three-hour evening session on Stuckies. He started on a maggot feeder but found there was too much weed so he changed to float fishing shallow and caught these roach and chub.
Cocklemoor Bream
Russell Hamblin-Boone had an early morning session to beat the heat recently on Cocklemoor.
He feeder-fished a garlic hooker pellet to catch this lovely 5lb 1oz bream!
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.
Friday 14th May
Fran and I fished the east arm of Combe Lake; Fran fished the peg by the large lily bed and I fished the next peg.
The day was dry, warm and sunny to start with but clouded up later in the afternoon. An occasional light breeze made for pleasant fishing. Water temperature was 15.5°C and there was more colour in the water!
Fran fished a short pole to hand. He fished maggot on the hook over groundbait and loosefed maggot.
He caught roach, rudd, a skimmer, perch and a 'proper' bream for a total of 5lb 3oz.
I fished a 4 metre elasticated whip. I fished single maggot over groundbait and loosefed hemp and maggot.
I caught roach, rudd, a couple of skimmers, perch and this 3lb 8oz tench for a total of 8lb 12oz.
Wednesday 19th May
I fished an afternoon/evening session in the south-west corner peg between the two lily beds.
It was a warm, sunny day with a reasonable breeze but the corner peg was quite calm. Water temperature was 18.5°C and there was a nice colour to the water.
I fished a 4 metre whip with double maggot on the hook over groundbait and loosefed hemp and maggot. Twice, my hooklength was bitten off by what I think was a small jack pike.
I caught roach, rudd, perch and three tench for a total weight of 7lb 6oz.
On the same evening, Haydn Rees caught this nicely-marked pike of 13lb 4oz while lure fishing in Combe Lake. He also caught a smaller pike which had recently escaped from the clutches of a larger pike judging by the teeth marks.
Weekend 22nd/23rd May
Linda Starkey, who loves fishing at Combe Lake with her son, caught this lovely skimmer bream.
Linda also sent me this photo showing the willow fluff starting to cover the lake.
Thursday 3rd June
Fran and I fished the southern end of the lake; Fran in the south-west corner between the lily beds and I was next to him opposite the point of the island.
The day was overcast with sunny spells. Water temperature was 22°C. There was very little breeze.
Fran fished rod and reel with a pole float as he was only fishing a couple of rodlengths out. He fished maggot over groundbait and loosefed hemp and maggot.
He caught roach, rudd, perch, five small tench and a bream for a total of 5lb 12oz.
I fished a match rod and centrepin reel with an insert waggler. I fished maggot, caster or sweetcorn over groundbait and loosefed hemp and maggot.
I caught roach, rudd, perch and six small tench for a total of 3lb 10oz.
There was some willow fluff drifting off the trees but there wasn't too much on the surface of the lake.
Thursday 10th June
Fran and and I fished the east side of Combe Lake. There was a fair bit of willow fluff on the surface but with the light wind blowing from the south-east was blowing it towards the north end resulting in clear patches which could be fished.
Fran fished a clear patch of water alongside the large lily bed on the east side of the lake while I fished two pegs away on the south-east corner.
The day, which was warm and humid, started off overcast and after a couple of light showers, cleared to give sunshine in the afternoon. Water temperature was 22°C.
Fran float-fished with maggot on the hook over groundbait and loosefed hemp and caster.
He caught roach, rudd, perch, six tench and three skimmers for a total of 6lb 10oz.
I float-fished with a waggler with caster on the hook over groundbait and loosefed hemp and caster.
I caught a few small roach and rudd and three tench for a total of 5lb 2oz.
Thursday 15th July
For a change, I fished at Combe Lake.
I fancied catching a tench so I set up in the swim in the south-west corner between two lily beds.
The day was sunny and warm with an overcast spell around midday. There was only a light south-westerly breeze.
I first raked the swim but didn't find too much weed for a couple of rodlengths out. This also stirred up the bottom and would hopefully attract a few inquisitive fish.
I fished a 13 foot match rod and centrepin reel with a 1 gram loaded waggler float.
I fished 6mm expander pellet over groundbait laced with micropellet. I also occasionally tried a grain of sweetcorn on the hook and caught one small perch.
First cast and five minutes after I started fishing, I caught this nice male tench of about 1lb 12oz.
Later, a bigger one took me into the lilies and broke the hooklength.
Two more took me into the weed in front and dumped the hook.
There is quite a covering of blanket weed over the majority of the surface of the lake at the moment but with some heavy rain sometime, this should be washed down to the bottom. There are still a number of swims than are fishable and with a bit of raking before setting up and fishing, the fish should be there.
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