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.
Thursday 16th December
Fran and I fished downstream of the footbridge at Oath.
It was an overcast day, flat calm in the morning and a light, cool breeze, midday onwards.
The Parrett was at its low winter level with a nice steady pace.
Fran fished a whip over loosefed maggot and some groundbait but couldn't find any fish in the swim. He then trotted a stick float and eventually caught this one small chub!
I fished a stick float in the morning, loosefeeding maggot and hemp with a single maggot on the hook and caught two small chub long-trotting about forty yards.
Before packing up, I cast a block-end feeder filled with maggots to the deepest water in the centre of the river and caught another small chub.
Walking back over the footbridge at the end, we noticed some fish topping about fifty yards upstream in the wider part of the river where it's a bit deeper. They must have been shoaling up there.
Wednesday 19th January
Bryan Meridith caught this nice 4½ lb chub on breadflake. He says he's still after that elusive
5-pounder!
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.
Wednesday 15th September
I fished an afternoon session in the south-west corner swim between the two lily beds.
It was a sunny, warm afternoon with just a light breeze and the water temperature was 18°C.
First thing I did was rake the swim which removed some weed and disturbed the silt.
I fished a match rod and centrepin reel with a 1 gram crystal waggler rig fished at dead depth.
I occasionally loosefed hemp and expander pellets and started with expander pellet on the hook.
I caught a few two inch roach and rudd on a 6mm expander pellet before changing to a small single grain of sweetcorn. I stopped getting bites from the small fish and then caught tench; I had four, the largest was about a couple of pounds.
I also had this small carp of about a couple of pounds on sweetcorn. Great fun on light tackle in what was a fairly confined swim!
Tuesday 21st September
Fran and I fished at Combe Lake.
It was a warm and slightly overcast day. Water temperature was 16°C; 2°C down from the previous week.
We raked our swims to clear any weed and stir up the bottom before we tackled up.
Fran fished a rod and reel with a waggler float rig. He fished sweetcorn, worm, expander pellet or maggot on the hook over groundbait.
He caught roach, rudd and perch for a total of 1lb 5oz.
I fished an Avon rod and centrepin reel loaded with 6lb line and a waggler float rig, hoping to find some tench.
I started with sweetcorn on the hook over loosefed hemp and micropellet. There were plenty of tench bubbles appearing around the float but no bites.
I changed to expander pellet on the hook and then, what must have been, a large carp picked up the bait and travelled several yards into the weed before breaking the hooklength. That was the only bite of the day! There was no sign of any tench for either of us!
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