Llyswerny, Nr Cowbridge, Glamorgan, Wales
Telephone 01446 771893
Evening tickets £3.00
Myself, Stu and Danny made the long journey down from Yorkshire to Hazel Court Carp Ponds in South Wales for a week-end's 'Fish-in'.
if you haven't attended one of these events you really should. Basically it's a pre-arranged meeting of anglers, generally over a weekend, that is a mix of a social event, a fishing session and a teach-in. Details of which are usually posted in our forums ( www.maggotdrowning.com/forum )
Anyway digressing a little, we arrived at the fishery to be met by the warm smiling faces of our hosts Dai, Dai's son Danny, Grey Catchpole and Gary and after a chat we pitched bivvies alongside a hedge near to the bottom pond. Several small fish could be seen under the surface as the fishery has an abundant Rudd population. Dai who was already fishing was soon into a fish which decided that it didn't want to play any longer as it threw the hook.
We weren't fishing that evening having decided to make a fresh start in the morning so off to the pub for a bite to eat and a few pints with another maggotdrowner - Geoff, before heading back to base camp for an evening of chat, tactical discussion and the inevitable craic.
The light faded, the air became still and it was decided to call it a night and get a good night's sleep with an earlish start in the morning. Night fishing isn't allowed on the fishery and the gates open at 7.00am while dusk.
Saturday morning and the mist was over the water with the occasional Carp rolling on the surface. We moved our tackle around the lake and set-up various methods ranging from pole, waggler and feeders. Ray was on the Match Lake, a confirmed match angler who despite giving up the match scene still was experiencing a little difficulty coming to terms with fishing lakes that didn't have the word 'Match' in their name 
It wasn't long before I was landing a tench of about 2lb that had fallen to legered sweetcorn. Soon after a carp came in again to the corn.
The pace was hotting up as Peter was battling with a nice carp that he had hooked using a waggler fished hard up to some lillies.
Danny was chuffed to bits with this Carp as you can see by the grin on his face. I hooked and landed a Ghost Carp that was affectionally name 'Parrot' due to it's snubbed nose. Within an hour Peter was into another Ghosty that to all intents and purposes was the self, same fish !
Dai's Daniel added to the day with a new PB Carp that he had managed to coax out from a large lilly bed on the opposite side. With Dai offering moral support and Ray in attendance to perform the ghillies duties,there was ample reward in the end with this fine fish just under 8lbs and a larger one to follow.
The lake became very busy in the afternoon with many anglers which seemed to put the Carp off a bit but not the Rudd. These are in abundance and were feeding well on maggot within a few feet of the surface. Some nice catches were being made on the pole and waggler. I spent a little time with a young lad fishing at the side of me who despite his attempts wasn't catching. Shortly after showing him how to correctly shot his float so that it sat just proud of the surface and on the drop, changing his size 10 hook to 6lb line to an 18 with 3lb and showing him how to put a couple of maggots on the hook, he was soon pulling in Rudd after Rudd much to the amazement of his mother who had been patiently sitting on the bank behind him.
It wasn't long before he had a small audience and shortly afterwards the pupil became the teacher as he went on to pass on his new found skills.
Peter had decided to fish against the island of the specimen lake and managed to coax this nice Tench
And as the evening came in and the lake quietened down the carp were beginning to show again and whilst talking to the owner Cliff, I had a screaming take that resulted in a 9¼lb Mirror.
Dusk fell and we moved our tackle back to the basecamp before descending once more to the local pub for a natter and a review of the day's events.
Sunday morning and the weather was a contrast to the day before, being overcast and with a chilly wind. The bites were few and far between and even the Rudd seemed to have disappeared but as the day wore on and the sun started to warm the water once more a few fish were showing including this Ghost Carp that fell to hair rigged corn.
Early afternoon and we started to pack up ready for the long drive back home but we could have stayed an extra day if time had permitted and maybe tried out the other lakes as they all looked promising.
Next time maybe.......
Dave