Hitchum Round Pond

The weather forecast said rain but waking up I could see the light out side and I didn't want to make the same mistake as I did the week before missing out on a day's fishing down to a poor weather forecast.........Welcome to my new blog! 

Driving towards Taplow my eyes were looking up into the skies (as well as the road!) trying to assess how much time I had before the heavens opened but arriving at Hitchum Round Pond the sun greeted me with the hope of at least a few hours fishing, my target was Roach, Rudd, Tench and Crucian Carp. Previous seasons had given me some Rudd and with the sun out I was hopeful of catching more, the Crucians however had always eluded me.

Hitchum Round Pond looking Pretty as always!

Arriving at the Pond I could see plenty of bubbles on one side and it was there that I decided to try first, my tactic was float fished sweetcorn. I threw a few kernels out to three areas of the swim just to get the fish feeding while I was setting up. A few pieces of bread was also placed near the reed beds just to see if any Carp were nearby. No sooner the pieces of bread were gone, the Carp were there and feeding already. As I had never caught (or seen) any Carp bigger than 5lbin Hitchum's Round Pond I was in no rush to catch them, not until I have caught some of the target species I was after. 

I cast my sweetcorn out and a few moments later the float bobbed, bobbed again before dipping below the surface for good. A roach, first of the season was soon on the bank and it wasn't a bad size either, this was going to be a good day's fishing! Going back to my tactic, a simple float with a hook no more than three feet away, no weights so the bait would fall naturally in the hope of catching a Rudd otherwise the deeper lurking Roach, Tench and Crucian would be there to pick up the bait. My next cast and the float didn't have time to cock itself in the water, this time surely a Rudd and indeed it was although only a small one of 61g. One of my favourite pieces of "tackle" is my set of digital kitchen scales at less than a fiver from e-bay and I've used it so many times.... must be all the small fishI catch!   

A couple of hours later and the heavens opened, this time the weatherman got it right! Fortunately I carry a plastic poncho that I brought back from a wet weekend at Blackpool Pleasure Beach. The Roach and Rudd were still feeding as were the Carp in the reed's but the Tench and Crucian were not showing. The Rudd were actually getting bigger so I decided to sit it through the weather. You never seem to notice the bad weather too much when you are catching! The Carp were especially on the prowl so I flicked a piece of bread next to the reeds, a few swirls later and it was gone. A decent bend in the rod told me that it was a decent fish by Hitchum's standards and it put up quite a scrap too. A small Common Carp soon slid into my net.

  Rudd of 5oz

The rain wasn't getting better and a few rolls of thunder told me that I wasn't going to be here much later, but the fish were still feeding. A flash of lightening appeared not too far away. That was a decision maker if ever there was one! My initial plan was to fish Hitchum until mid afternoon and then go to Colnbrook Front Lake for the late afternoon / evening. Feeling that I had achieved half of my targets I packed up before the Thunderstorm got any worse. Driving back down the M4 I could see blue skies over Heathrow, maybe my day wasn't over after all! 

Read how I got on, including a new PB in my next blog coming soon! Tight Lines everybody!!