Ferryboat Farm Fishery is a mature horseshoe shaped lake with widths varying from 16m to some thirty plus metres. Although it does hold plenty of F1 carp, being a mature lake it has plenty of other species in it including big carp well into double figures, roach to over 2lb, bream to 7lb+, tench, perch, crucians, rudd, gudgeon and a few chub. The match record is currently held with a 56lb bag of carp which tend to dominate the results in the warmer months but with so many other species in the lake all types of fishing can produce good catches with shallow fishing for silvers regularly producing catches in excess of 30lb and the feeder or waggler being devastating on the right day on the wider pegs.
All kinds of baits work well here with maggots and casters producing bites all day long, corn and worms deadly on their day and floating baits a favourite for the bigger carp on warm days. However as with many commercial fisheries these days pellets are the most popular bait for mixed bags of carp, skimmers and tench. All meat baits are banned on the fishery as are barbed hooks, lines above 8lb and hooks bigger than size 12.
We joined local tackle shop owner and venue regular Andy Bacon for an afternoon session to find out his approach to getting the best out of this superb fishery.
Plan of action It is a bit busy today with all of the best pegs taken so I’m going to have a go in-between all the pleasure anglers on peg 8 on the inside of the bend. There are plenty of lilies on the far side which tend to hold fish all year round but they are a full 16m away on this peg and in this wind it might prove to be hard work. I could try and fish shorter and hope to draw the fish out but in my mind you might as well go to the fish and be sure to be amongst them.
As the carp are dominating the results at the moment I’m going to fish with pellets on the bottom by those lilies to try and get some feeding but as well as the carp the skimmers and tench also love pellets here so I’m expecting to catch those as well while I’m waiting for the carp. I’m going to set up a shallow rig as well because as with all carp fisheries the carp do come up in the water to feed but with this wind I’m not going to be able to catapult small pellets far enough with enough accuracy to catch well. However as the afternoon progresses I’m hoping the wind might drop enough to let me try.
In a match I’d probably set a rig up to fish halfway across for the skimmers and I’d almost certainly set a margin rig up as there are plenty of fish to be had short, especially in the Wednesday evening matches we fish, but I’m here for a pleasure session today so I’m not going to set everything up and I’m going to concentrate on targeting carp by the lilies.
It’s about 5ft deep where I’m planning to fish across by the lilies so a 4×12 float will be plenty heavy enough, in fact if it weren’t so windy I might even fish a bit lighter. I like the Preston Innovations Durafloat range and today I’m opting for a carbon stemmed Durafloat 6 pattern. Even though I intend to catch hard on the bottom I still like to fish
0.14 Shimano Antares Silk Shock line is my choice of main line with a 0.12 hook length of the same line and I’m going to start on a size 18 PR21 hook with small pellets but will change up to a 14 G-Point if I decide to switch to using bigger pellets. A 12-16 Middy hollow elastic is soft enough to ensure I don’t pull out of too many smaller fish while having enough power to boss most of the F1’s here. I have got a top two with stronger elastic in the bag just in case the bigger carp put in an appearance but starting with it would cost me too many weight boosting silver fish.
Bait table I like to use a variety of different size and colour pellets when I’m pellet fishing to both give me choices for the hook and to try and prevent the fish becoming pre-occupied with any one. I’m going to start by feeding a mix of ground bait and G.O.T. micro pellets with a few 4mm sinkers while for the hook I’m going to pump some 4mm Dynamite and some 6 mm G.O.T. expanders with a few drops of Rod Hutchinson’s Secret Agent flavour added to the pump first – again a confidence booster for me. The ground bait is a 50/50 mix of
I’ve also got a tub of dendrobenas that can be a brilliant change hook bait over pellets as well as some maggots, casters and corn in the bait bag but it will have to be really hard before I get them out.
The session Andy started the day by carefully shipping out a kinder pot full of his ground bait and micro pellet mix with a 4mm expander on his size 18 hook. The dry mix clouded on the surface before slowly sinking alongside the lily pads as Andy struggled to lay his rig out straight with the pole tip being buffeted by the gusting wind. A minute later the float slid away and the first small skimmer of the day was on its way to the net.
“Little and often is my approach here with a Fox Toss-Pot. I try to build the swim up rather than dumping a load in at the start so that I can feed to the bites. I can always step up the feed if necessary but as the old saying goes you can never take it out. By feeding with a toss-pot you automatically feed at the rate the fish want on the day because you are always putting more in the more bites or fish you catch and less when the bites are harder to come by.”
Another three skimmers and a good roach quickly followed before, after twenty minutes or so, several yards of bright red elastic shot out of the pole tip in response to the next strike as the first carp of the day headed for the sanctuary of the lily pads. It was a losing battle for the carp this time as the elastic did its job and Andy bullied it to the safety of the open water and eventually into the waiting landing net. It was a typical Ferryboat F1 of about a pound and a half and a sign that they were having a chew. A second F1 on the very next put in led Andy to a slight change in his feeding plan.
“They seem to be having a go so I can start to up the amount of feed I’m putting through the pot each time by adding a few sinking 4mm pellets as well as the ground bait and micros mix. I like to keep the ground bait going in as I feel the cloud and instant scent release draws the fish quicker and in this wind it allows me to press the bait into the pot to stop it bouncing out on the way out. A quick tap on the pole butt soon releases it from the cup when I get it to the right spot.”
Several more silver fish followed including a nice roach of close to a pound, some rudd, crucians and more skimmers before the carp put in another appearance. A couple of F1’s were followed by a much more substantial fish that, unfortunately for Andy, managed to find the sanctuary of the pads leading to a hook pull.
As the afternoon progressed Andy’s regular feeding saw plenty of silver fish coming to the
Change of plan With an hour to go and still no sign of the wind easing Andy felt sure the fish were coming up in the water to feed and wanted to have a go for them. A few trials with the catapult quickly showed that there was no way he was going to feed pellets anything like accurately with it in the gusting wind. It was time for the ‘pepper pot’.
With the toss pot filled with micros, a pepper pot lid attached and a small loaded float on the line set at 18 inches deep with just a single size 10 shot on the line Andy shipped out and with the pepper pot inverted started tapping the base of his pole to slowly release the micros onto the water surface. Within two minutes the elastic was streaming out of the pole as a greedy F1 hooked itself on Andy’s soft pellet hook bait.
That final hour saw Andy add another seven carp to his already healthy net on his shallow
Venue Details Ferryboat Farm Fisheries Ltd Ferryboat Lane Old Denaby Doncaster DN12 4LB Tel: Phil or Dawn on 01709 588088 or 01709 204593
How to get there From Doncaster take the A630 towards Rotherham. When you get to Conisbrough turn right at the traffic lights just after The Star Hotel towards Denaby and Mexborough. Go past the Castle and through Denaby Main. At the first roundabout turn right towards Mexborough and then immediately left to Old Denaby then turn right at the telephone box and you will be on Ferry boat Lane. The fishery is at the end of the lane.
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do you have opens and if so what days how much ect many thnks
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