Langport & District Angling Association
Fishing News
River Parrett
River levels
The Angling Trust has put a useful website on the internet for finding river levels; one I use when planning a fishing trip on the river.
The web address is www.fishinginfo.co.uk.
Click on the 'Find A River Level' tab and enter 'Langport' in the search box.
This will show a map of river level measuring stations in the Langport area.
I find the 'Monks Lease Wq' at Combe and the 'Oath' at Oath Lock locations give meaningful levels for the river.
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 probably above the current water level and so not showing the correct level.
I hope this site is of some use to you.
Saturday 7th March
Club member Adrian fished a couple of sessions on Cocklemoor, during the week.
He fished a 5 metre whip and maggot on the hook over groundbait.
He caught 40 and 45 fish respectively in the sessions, in only a couple of hours each time, with a weight of about 3lb on each session. This was Saturday's catch, mostly bleak but some roach, perch and small chub.
Friday 13th March
Fran and I fished our last session on the Parrett before the end of the season.
We fished behind the bungalows, just upstream of Cocklemoor, for about three and a half hours.
The morning was sunny, interspersed with overcast spells. Lunchtime, it clouded up and stayed like it for the afternoon. There was a bitter cold wind blowing across the river into our faces.
The river is still only about eighteen inches below the top of the bank but some of the colour has dropped out.
Fran fished a 7 metre whip with a 2 gram rig. He fished maggot on the hook and loosefed maggot and hemp.
He trotted the float down the flow outside the crease line.
He caught bleak, dace, roach and chublets for a total of 1lb 12oz.
I fished a 6 metre whip with a float leger rig consisting of a 1 gram pencil float and a free-running 10 gram cage feeder stopped 18 inches from the hook with a rubber float stop. By moving the float stop up or down the line you could lengthen or shorten the tail respectively.
I fished single or double maggot on the hook and groundbait in the feeder.
I fished in the slack water inside the crease line.
I caught roach, skimmers, bleak, ruffe and perch for a total of 2lb 13oz.
We both had lots of small fish but it was a fun way to end the season!
Also on the same day, club member Julian Chidgey, jigging with a soft lure, caught this lovely perch on Cocklemoor .
Combe Lake
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.
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.
Saturday 14th March
Club member Mark Thompson showed Combe Lake is waking up, with these two nice tench.
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