I first fished Little Canford lake in 2011 when Wimborne & District Angling Club took control of the water, it’s a lake very close to home. I had walked it once the season before and liked the look of it. My first outing was four hours on the float and maggot, just to see what was in there. I caught small fish with two 1lb+ skimmers. There was a peg right round the back of the lake that I really fancied, as it was the most open area of the lake with a lot of water to go at.
The bream swim
I returned a few weeks later for a dawn start, armed with a feeder rod and headed to the ‘beach’ peg. Out went a ground bait feeder halfway, toward the small island, with a worm tipped with maggot. I had the first bream within 30 minutes. A few more followed, the hook link then broke with a fish rolling on it at the net, so I upped the breaking strain with the addition of a hair-rig and changed the bait to 8mm pellet tipped with corn. The bites just kept coming through the day and it was bream after bream, nothing bigger than 5lb, but all good fun. I was using a keepnet, which I had to empty three times. Weights and times: 5:30-11:30 55lb 10oz, 12:00-16:00 65lb 5oz and lastly 16:30-21:00 53lb 7oz. A truly amazing catch from a lake I’d only fished once before. I caught in total 76 bream for a combined weight of 174lb 6oz.
An evening session on the pole in a different area of the lake (2012)
I’ve fished it a few more times over the years after the bream with success, catching some lovely nets during day sessions. There are some big carp in the lake, but so far I have failed to connect. Having said that I’ve not night fished it or really ever set out for the carp, so nothing lost. If the urge is ever there, I may one day return for a go.
Fish Tales From The Riverbank 