Monks

[Nick D]

Ive got a club match coming up in a few weeks at Monks. Ive never fished the place before so can anyone give me any advice?

We have match lakes 1 & 2 booked and i could be on either...

Thanks,

Nick

[Matt Love]

Rectangular holes filled with lots of small carp 1lb - 2lb average, small barbel, tench, ide, skimmers, chub. 3.5 - 5ft deep apart from a few pegs on lake 2 up to 7 or 8 feet.

Gets very windy and poles get broken so take stable rollers, no cover, no features apart from margin reeds and aerators.

Maggot / caster / small pellets / expanders / corn at this time of year. 8 pint limit on loose feed plus 2kg of GB and 1kg worm.

I would fish 2 or more of the following lines:

Maggot short
Maggot on the waggler
Maggot or pellet or corn on long pole
Worm fished over caster down the edge

Silvers will help you so don't go all out for carp with big pellets. Handfulls of caster down the edge with a dendra on the hook can rescue you if you are struggling but don't hold back on the feed there, they like to hear casters going in by the handfull.

Use stable floats coz it can tow there and get very choppy.

I think there are a couple of winter matches on my blog.

Good luck.

[squeaky roller]

according to some of the guys that fish a club match on lake 1 on sunday mag and a wag, pole and small pellet and feeder did the biz and as stated fish for any thing that swims...8 pint limit is in place ;):)

[justin case]

I would fish micros maggot and chop worm

I would fish the chop as long as possible given the conditions and fish bottom of the shelf with the micros and maggot take a few soft hookers and a few samples of corn

The feeder could get you out of the poop if its real hard

[Hathers]

:p On it this Sunday, lakes 1 or 2.......will post, look out for Surrey Winter League results.

However your Avatar puts me right off !

[justin case]

Nothing wrong with his avator Hathers

it only makes him more worthy of quality info :)

[Nick D]

Cheers for the helpful info guys.

Wag and mag, is that fished shallow or on the deck? Also how far out?

With the 8 pint limit, what quantities of bait would you take?

[squeaky roller]

with the wag i would fish on the deck on the drop ..bait wise tough call.

[justin case]

4 pints of reds 3 and a half pints of pellet 1.5 of them being micros some corn and half a kilo of worms

worms are on top of 1 gallon

[nick_gilbert]

Cheers for the helpful info guys.

Wag and mag, is that fished shallow or on the deck? Also how far out?



As squeaky said apart from if you draw the deep end of lake 2 (pegs 44,45,46, 56, 57, 58ish then try it around 2.5-4ft deep at about 20 meters out. White maggots can often out fish red so take both in a 50/50 mix and fish different combos and numbers on the hook. Take at least 4 pints or more and keep them going in. You will catch more fishing light lines as the fish are hammered, 0.10 trace and 16-20 hook.

[Matt Love]

4 pints of mixed red and white maggot.

3 pints of caster for down the edge (feed for the last 3 hours and step it up when you start to fish it).

1 pint of micros.

Some Dendras.

You could take more worm, chop it and feed it with the casters then you could take more micros.

The trick at monks is using the bait limit wisely ;)

[Nick D]

Thanks for the info guys.

Keep the advice coming...:D

[Hathers]

:p Take the 8 pints, but the most I heard fed was 4 pints, conditions will dictate the bait required, we haven't had proper jacks yet either

[justin case]

Amazing I have never been able to catch on white maggot there, despite many times trying yet put a red on and its as if i have moved swims, the same with corn only opposite cant get a sniff on red corn put it on straight from the tim and bites

by the way the corn is a must have hook bait even in the cold if you draw on barble they seem to home in on it more so than the carp obviously we all feed differently and fish differently but it works for me

as for rigs I found very light shotting patterns out perform heavy ones and tend to fish very light on the bottom third keeping any bulk strung out and high up the rig, I get away with floats as light as 0.2 in the standard 5 ft pegs and use the ackoo pellet stix on long and 6 metre lines moving up to a 0.5 wilkie pellet if the weather is excessive or I draw the deeper pegs

[Matt Love]

Paul you are right, white maggots on their own don't seem to draw as many bites but it is how you use the maggots that makes the whites important.

Firstly, if you feed all reds then there is less probability that the reds on your hook will get eaten or at least it will take more time for a bite.

If you feed 50/50 reds and whites then put 2 reds on the hook the fish will be more tempted by your hook bait. You also then have the options of 2 reds and 1 white or 2 whites and 1 red as a change bait. This works particularly well on the waggler.

Mark, how many times do I have to tell you that taking 8 pints does not mean USING 8 pints? It is about options!!! Remember the match on lake 1 last year when you won from around peg 3? If I hadn't taken 4 pints of caster to feed down the edge in the last hour I would not have come 2nd in section, I weighed in about 35lb instead of 15lb which is what I would have had if I didn't take the casters.

Options options options - taking 8 pints does NOT mean FEEDING 8 pints.

Hairy :p

[mickthechippy]

poor old Matt, always misunderstood;)

The feeder works on monks too, dontchaknow:p

[Matt Love]

Mick, anything works on pegs 45/46/47 but usually a ton plus in any weather :p

[Nick D]

Would you use maggot feeder or a method feeder?

[Matt Love]

If you need to use a feeder rod then it will be desperate times and looking for section points in really hard conditions coz you can't get a bite on anything else.

In that event either type could work so maybe just take a rod in case and then decide when you are there.

The feeder rod won't win you much but it could just put some fish in the net if you are desperate.

[squeaky roller]

both its also worth a go is a normal open end feeder ...its a case of what you've got faith in,if it was me and i'm not telling you what to do..i would set up a waggler,a feeder rod and a pole but it really depends on the strength of the wind up there,if its blowing a hoolie i would prbably just set up a feeder and a waggler.just a case of suck it and see and fish for anything that swim ;):rolleyes:

[squeaky roller]

If you need to use a feeder rod then it will be desperate times and looking for section points in really hard conditions coz you can't get a bite on anything else.

In that event either type could work so maybe just take a rod in case and then decide when you are there.

The feeder rod won't win you much but it could just put some fish in the net if you are desperate.


matt i think two factors come to mind..the strength of the wind and direction and the angler...

[Matt Love]

matt i think two factors come to mind..the strength of the wind and direction and the angler...

That's 3 things :p

[Hathers]

Mark, how many times do I have to tell you that taking 8 pints does not mean USING 8 pints? It is about options!!! Remember the match on lake 1 last year when you won from around peg 3? If I hadn't taken 4 pints of caster to feed down the edge in the last hour I would not have come 2nd in section, I weighed in about 35lb instead of 15lb which is what I would have had if I didn't take the casters.

Options options options - taking 8 pints does NOT mean FEEDING 8 pints.

Hairy :p

:cool: But Matt, that was MAY !!!!! not November when loads of Cold rain has gone in, the wind is cold and we are due frosts, plus the fish are putting there winter heads on now NOT waking up cos of Spring and ravenous.

Please keep up !:eek:

[Matt Love]

No change. 8 pints to cover options. 4 pints of maggot for the wag and pole, 3 pints of caster for down the edge and a pint of something else like micros or corn.

You can just take 3 or 4 pints if you like and keep your fingers crossed :D

[squeaky roller]

slight differance that matt...may ..november :rolleyes:;):D

[Matt Love]

Nope, it fished hard like the middle of winter. 30lb was good section points.

You can't make 4 pints last 5 hours on 3 lines!

Margin + pole + waggler = 2-3 pints per line.

Ask the Dorking boys what they would take? ;)

[mickthechippy]

on lake 1 and 2, the cage can work well, in conjunction with small balls of GB

pack a small drennan 4 bar with, crumb, pellet and a bit of swimstim and fish with either hair rigged meat or pellet, dead maggies instead of pellet work on the barbie swims

you dont need a chuck, fish between the bank and 10 metres,

its never failed me, might not get a winning weight, but you will catch

[nick_gilbert]

No change. 8 pints to cover options. 4 pints of maggot for the wag and pole, 3 pints of caster for down the edge and a pint of something else like micros or corn.

You can just take 3 or 4 pints if you like and keep your fingers crossed :D

If you can catch any quantity of fish down the edge in this weather I will eat your 3 pints of casters:p I wouldn't waste bait down the margins myself with all the colour dropping out the water with the cold nights I would expect them to be barren.

I like to feed a bit but 4 pints of maggots should be plenty to feed small amounts fequently I recon.

[justin case]

I reckon a small open end cage will outscore the method now the carp are slowing up, I aprechaite the method catches all fish species but its not crudeness you want as it gets colder, finesse will play a big part on most of the pegs I would even consider a few chucks on the feeder and then swapping out to the bomb.if you decide to go down that route.

I also tend to agree about the inside line 6 metres would be as close as I would dare to fish unless im on 45 46 47 where you have mega depths,

its almost certainly going to be magg wagg or long pole just keep it tidy and feed carefully if you decide to fish a 6m line just fish it at the angle its not going to take much to spook fish on that line and the last thing you want to be doing is dragging fish through it

JC

[Hathers]

:p Different approaches the spice of life.

On Sunday on Lake 1 fish were still caught in the margins and at 5 mtrs, not in great numbers, but enough to use it as weight building line, some even caught on paste, There's still good colour in the lakes as the old Jack hasn't arrived yet.

:p Matt - How dare you, How very dare you try to tell us how to fish as we approach winter, what do you know ;)

[squeaky roller]

totally agree..with whats written apart from what matt has written:rolleyes:, couple of pints of soft 4mm or micros and hookers and 3 pints of mags on which i'll expect to take half home, perhaps half maybe a kilo of low feed fish meal gb even then i'll expect ot take some home for the freezer ;):p:D

[Matt Love]

You lot would be no good fishing for a decent team that wanted to do well :p

You take your options and you try everything to stick fish in the net, you don't just turn up with a few maggots and keep your fingers crossed :rolleyes:

I wonder how Dorking would fish it eh? ;)

[Hathers]

We'll find out Sunday !

Maybe you should pop down and learn something ;)

[mickthechippy]

This is How Team Dorky would fish it,

On the pole,

dump the pig gear, down to 2.5lb hookys, 16 sharp bit, and set up an on the drop rig , and a fast sink rig with a haired hook,

soak me red casters for a day or so beforehand to make em sink, and fish around 8 mtrs, looking for the silvers caster hooky and loose feed over,

feed the two and ten swims with VDE secret and deads mixed, and drop the bottom rig in these, topping up with a golfball every now and then,

Rod

set a cage up with a short haired hooky, 6ins or so and chuck it out 10 or so metres, crumb, pellet, green swimstim, bit of hookbait mix in the feeder.

and probably blank, :D

bacon grill, reds, or pellet on the point

[nick_gilbert]

Here you go boys my report from last years WL match, I fed 4 pints of maggot most on the wag if I remember rightly I was 2nd or 3rd on the half of the lake i was fishing, beaten by peg 3 and possibly peg 22 or 23.

http://nicks-fishing-world.blogspot.com/2008/12/im-back-blogging.html

Most around me fished the pole long with a ****** pot and a few dabbled with the maggot feeder. The only mistake I made that day was to be lazy, should have fed two pole lines at 11-13 meters not the one.

[squeaky roller]

you fed to much..hence why you ****ed it up ... ;):p:D

[nick_gilbert]

I thought you would pop up with a smart arse comment:D:p

[MarkM]

Micros and 4mm expander at top kit and 3 feeding very very light. Once you catch a few on one line start another and you might find you have to chase them all the way to 16 metres.

Light laccies double 5 or pink J range is more than enough.

Maggot over maggot down edge on lake one and corn over v. small balls of Sonubaits green crush down edge on Lake 2.

Finally 0.10 bottoms to light hooks for starters and when it gets really bad 0.08 and you will be amazed the difference it makes.

Hope that helps you

Cheers

Mark

Trabucco South East

[Hathers]

:p Team Fishing v Individual......... I'll take the Team approach everytime in winter

[Matt Love]

Makes sense........fishing for your section instead of trying to win from a no hope peg.

[justin case]

Ahh' but winners in the winter take the team approach with a few calculated risks

[Matt Love]

............or they draw peg 45 :rolleyes:

[nick_gilbert]

Or 23 or 56:D

My tactics for all matches revolve around a series of calculated risks:eek:

[squeaky roller]

my tactics would also be taking calculated risks...it evolves catching fish..:eek:

[mpmilo]

My mate needs an angler for surrey winter league at Monk lakes this sunday.
Give him a buzz if interested

Steve 07974 189454 or 01420 472573

[justin case]

sounds interesting

[mickthechippy]

any thing at monks sounds interesting to you paul :D

[Matt Love]

I didn't think you could fish unless your name was put forward before the league started?

If not then I could offer my services some time during winter.........maybe...........it it's not too cold........or wet..........or peggy :D

[justin case]

That can be got around Matt but I beleive other league commitments stop me from fishing otherwise I would be there already

[mpmilo]

Its for the Bordon shop team,non registered anglers have there points deducted,but it wont affect the league. Dorking will win it and my old team Milo Bordon will be second.
Just a chance to fish a big match in the south which is a rarity these days.

[Hathers]

:p You could draw next to me !!

[Nick D]

Does anyone know how it fished this weekend?

[Hathers]

:( I'll be surprised if you are on Lake 1, oxygen probs, shut for a few weeks.
Lake 2 was won with 86lbs caught from the far bank, elsewhere there was a 76lbs and the flyers as always had 40/50lbs

Match was won from Lake 3 P113 (surprise) he used dog turd as bait, 2nd ws from another Lake 3 flyer P91, caught 12 mtrs along the margin.

[Nick D]

Yeah i heard about lake 1. Where on lakes 2 & 3 now i think.

Dog turd lol?!?! Are you joking or what?!?!

What baits were working well this week?

[Hathers]

4mm pellet or maggot, pinging 6 or so seemed to bring some fish in the peg, 1 angler near me dumped in lots of bait "Matt Love" style :D and really struggled. However we did have a million gallons of cold water dumped in so it was bound to be difficult

An angler on Lake 2 did well on chop/caster

[squeaky roller]

4mm pellet or maggot, pinging 6 or so seemed to bring some fish in the peg, 1 angler near me dumped in lots of bait "Matt Love" style :D and really struggled. However we did have a million gallons of cold water dumped in so it was bound to be difficult

An angler on Lake 2 did well on chop/caster

so little and often the mark ??...;):p:D

[justin case]

You talking fishing Squeaky ?

[Matt Love]

Hathers, you were going to tell us all about Dorking's bait for the day............................

[Hathers]

:cool: I had Paul Holland (Dorking) next to me, who won the section with 30lbs, I followed his lead but obviously nowhere near as good. He caught 10lbs short (5mtr) in the first 45 minutes, a very light rig dropping through, 4mm pellet over pellet fed about 1/4 pint.

:o I had 1 gudgeon

:cool: Paul went long 16 mtrs and fished 10 & 2, kindered lightly, pellet again, had odd fish, he persevered on this line for the rest of the match, pinging brought fish in the peg but resulted in foulhookers.

:o I did the same but mixed it with a bit of waggler fishing

:cool: Paul also setup a margin line, bomb and waggler, he had 1 chuck on the tip.

:o I had 13lbs
:cool: Paul had 30lbs and won the section, he also had an empty peg that helped draw some in, but you only beat a Dorking man once in a blue moon.

:D BTW I belong to Dorking

[mickthechippy]

see that Moley :D

your report sounds just like one of my days :p

[Matt Love]

I heard on the vine that Dorking's tactics were to ball it in PROPER at 13m and then fish 16m with the idea that it would push the fish out and other anglers would not be able to fish 16m very well.

Anyone who sits there for 5 hours for less than 35lb without fishing the waggler is a prize numpty :p

[squeaky roller]

and how did you get on this weekend matt ??

[Matt Love]

I set my waggler rod up for Sunday ;):p

[Nick D]

I was pegged on lake 4 today.

It was a team match spread over 3 lakes.

I won my section and come 2nd overall on the lake with 37lb.

I fished the pole at 8m with maggot and had Ide, Chub and the odd Carp for the first hour or so but it soon died.

I ended up switching the the feeder fished tight to an island. I used a Micro Cage with soaked micros and double Red Maggot on the hook.

I had the odd small fish down the edge but there wasnt much happening down there for anyone.

It was my first visit to Monks and i was very impressed by the fishery. Great facilities and some lovely looking lakes and the fish all seem to be in fairly good condition.

Its a shame about Match Lake 1, floating dead fish everywhere unfortunately. :(

[squeaky roller]

well..done mate ;)

[BAG UP]

Nice going mate ;) you done what you had to do ;)

I surprised they haven't taken the dead fish out, very off putting to anglers when they see that :(:(

[squeaky roller]

i might have a wonder up to lake 1 tomorrow...:o

[BAG UP]

Gonna put some in your keepnet .......pmsl :D:D

[Nick D]

They went round during the match taking dead fish out but more must have died or drifted in from the middle because there was loads of dead fish in the margins by the end of my match.

Not good at all. I only saw dead Carp and the odd Tench though. No Barbel or Silvers.

[squeaky roller]

the thing is if you see a hundred dead fish on the top..theres probably more then double on the bottom...:(

[Pikey]

I'm no fishery expert but I can't see how that can have been an oxygen problem if the fish are still dying.

[squeaky roller]

I'm no fishery expert but I can't see how that can have been an oxygen problem if the fish are still dying.

unless they are starting to pop up....??

[Hathers]

:confused: They say it was a lightening strike on the aerator, but fish still dying 1 week on....well:confused:

Well dun goona, maybe should have been at the S.O.L

[FBlues]

Sorry, but dead carp and no dead silvers = one thing currently and that's KHV! If it's now crossed over to tench too, which are the VERY last things to die when oxygen drops, we are in deep doo-doos because crucians and bream will be next.

[justin case]

Gonna put some in your keepnet .......pmsl :D:D

At least he uses his keepnets lol

Its a shame to hear whats going on at Lake 1, I would say its up there with my all time favourite lakes
There could be an oxygen issue even with all the wind and the rain so many factors can contribute to oxygen depletion and then the fish get stressed and allsorts of problems start to arise.

its a real shame but one of the risks fishery owners take having such a high density of fish, the lake is completly out of balance and is totally un natural.

Is it mainly carp dying, I would have thought chub and barbel would have gone first given the stated problem.

well done Nick another fine result mate

Edit Sniped by the man above kinda my thoughts too Keith

[Matt Love]

Whatever is going on at Monks I am sure Morgan will sort it out as quick and efficiently as possible.

No doubt lake 1 is out of bounds to any angler and I would exepct that the 'keepnet dipping' rule is being policed properly.

Monks is a strange venue, everyone seems to think that the place is 90% fish and 10% water but there are so many matches there where anglers weigh in 20lb - 50lb and the flyers weigh in 100lb - 250lb.

Obviously the fish seem to like the end pegs and the addition of mid-lake aerators should have helped the dispersal of fish this year but we have seen that pegs 22 and 23 have not been as good as peg 44 this year. The fish seem to want to beach themselves along the side bank to peg 44 for some reason.

You have to admit that Monks is a very bland place. If I were a fish I think I would go mad with bordom, nothing to do, no features, just hunt the bait and get caught.

Nature will have it's way at the end of the day.

I think that the big question on a lot of our minds is this: what is the stock level of the lakes at Monks?

I would be very interested to know how many carp, barbel, skimmers, chub, ide and tench etc are actually in there. Perhaps this is the ultimate question for any venue but one that would be interesting.

[BAG UP]

At least he uses his keepnets lol

Its a shame to hear whats going on at Lake 1, I would say its up there with my all time favourite lakes
There could be an oxygen issue even with all the wind and the rain so many factors can contribute to oxygen depletion and then the fish get stressed and allsorts of problems start to arise.

its a real shame but one of the risks fishery owners take having such a high density of fish, the lake is completly out of balance and is totally un natural.

Is it mainly carp dying, I would have thought chub and barbel would have gone first given the stated problem.






I think Squeaky's net will get wet even before he places it in the lake looking at tomorrows weather :eek::eek::rolleyes::rolleyes:


I thought that perch would suffer before carp do, my local club lake had a oxgyen problem and it was the large perch that went belly up firsts then the carp then a few silvers . very sad netting out 3lb + perch only to bin them :(:(

[peter9000uk]

Whatever is going on at Monks I am sure Morgan will sort it out as quick and efficiently as possible.


No doubt lake 1 is out of bounds to any angler and I would exepct that the 'keepnet dipping' rule is being policed properly.

Matt, I don't see what that will achieve unless they are dipped for a long time, then the chemicals will get transferred to the lake and kill certain of the natural food supply in the water ie bugs etc. Only way is to have thoroughly dry nets or fishery to supply their own

Monks is a strange venue, everyone seems to think that the place is 90% fish and 10% water but there are so many matches there where anglers weigh in 20lb - 50lb and the flyers weigh in 100lb - 250lb.

Again, Monks is not alone in this. You will tear your hair out when and if you fish Rolfs! Lots of heavily stocked commercials are like this all over the country



Nature will have it's way at the end of the day.



I am also surprised that the perch, chub etc etc are not showing in numbers too. I suspect Keith maybe nearer the truth than we all suspect

[nick_gilbert]

I spoke to Ron in the office today and he said it was low oxegen levels and all sorts of fish have died aparently not just carp.

[FBlues]

When two waters I know quite well had 'de-oxygenations' and fish died, I was told it wasn't KHV and that several species had died. One never owned up because it wasn't notifiable then and over 90% of the carp died and few other species. The other was found to have KHV. Both came within months of F1s being stocked and a mild de-oxygenation that generated stress.

[Matt Love]

Last week the dead fish were only showing in the lower half of lake 1 so were the dead fish still only showing on that side of the lake?

Was the wind still blowing in to the lower half of the lake?

[Nick D]

When i was there yesterday the wind was blowing down towards Lake 4 where i was fishing.

Although i could only see dead Carp and Tench, i was told today by someone who was there too that he saw dead Barbel.

[Hathers]

I was there on the Sunday, tha day after the kill and can assure you there were many silvers as well as carp, the gulls were having a field day on the mini Ide and bottle tops.