February/March 2012

I'd already completed this month’s blog when a couple of significant occurrences happened yesterday that I think you might like to know about so rather than re do the whole thing I thought I may as well tell you them now and tag it on to the beginning. More...

January 2012

Welcome to the first blog of 2012. I trust you all had a good Christmas and New Year.  Hopefully by now you’ve forgotten those crazy ideas about losing weight or stopping smoking or using a bag for life or ‘Doing more around the house’ and now you’re just looking forward to fishing. More...

November 2011

Hello everybody and welcome to the last blog of 2011. As you all know, 2011 has been a difficult year for us in one way or another, so it was particularly nice to end the year with another resoundingly successful Winter Show. More...

September/October 2011

This blog is slightly later than usual, the reason being I’ve been waiting for the final report from the EA.  The report hasn’t arrived yet but I did manage to speak to the EA Officer the other day and he informs me they are just waiting on the Histology results. More...

August 2011

Well. Where do we start this month?  There has been that much speculation, rumour, mischief making and complete untruths spread regarding Horseshoe Lake recently that the best thing to do is start at the beginning.
More....

July 2011

After what was a difficult June for us down at the Carp Society, July definitely saw things getting back to business as usual. Anglers started turning up after the recent setbacks. We really do appreciate all the support we have received recently and it’s very refreshing to hear and read positive comments about what we are doing down here, and indeed on all our lakes.
More....

May/June 2011

If April was the Feast then May certainly was the Famine. May was a strange old month down here at Horseshoe, and whilst it would be true to say in general the fishing was poor, some people still managed to record some decent catches.
More....

April 2011

Lots of Catches to report this month so let’s get straight into them. Carrying on his good run of early season form this month is Austin Cogger who’s been keeping his rods bent with several fish including this nicely scaled 28lb mirror. More ....

March 2011

After what has seemed like an eternity, March has finally arrived, the Chiffchaffs are singing, the birds and the Bees are getting down to it, the leaves are on the trees and the fish are playing ball. It was touch and go for a while as to whether or not I’d have anything to write about catch wise, but the last couple of weeks in March have saved you from having to read me twittering on about Chub (well maybe !!!). More

January/February 2011

To join the Carp Society or not?  You will no doubt by now have noticed that there are a few price changes coming up in April.  We have had to make changes, the commercial world dictates this.  Wonderful as they are, Simon and Viv didn’t give us the 230 new fish we’ve stocked our lakes with, and they certainly didn’t accept fairy dust as payment. More

December 2010

On the fishing side of things, as you would expect, it's all quiet on the western front; Horseshoe froze over on November 26 and was solid with ice right up until January I'm now happy to report though that the ice has gone and the first few brave anglers of the year have started trickling back. More

November 2010

November was pretty much as you would expect, cold, wet, dark and very few anglers on the lakes.  I do have a couple of catch reports for you though, starting with Mike Simpson who braved the elements early this month and managed to catch his first UK 30.  Here’s what Mike had to say.... More

October 2010

It's been a transitional month down here at Horseshoe. The leaves have fallen off the trees, as summer gave way to autumn which in turn has given way to the winter.  The summer tickets have now finished and they too have given way to the winter tickets.  On the plus side though, the days are still bright and the fish are still feeding and more importantly... More

September 2010

I was going to start this blog off by saying that the multiple catches seem to have slowed down, but on reflection I’m not sure that’s true.  It’s more a case of anglers not reporting their catches and then me, three or four weeks later, finding out from a third or fourth party that so-and-so caught ten from swim so-so and matey had fifteen from swim whatever. More ....

August 2010

August here at Horseshoe started with the Adult Masterclass.  We had over twenty anglers booked on this year, with seventeen instructors.  Follow the events link to find a full report on the event.  I will say though that once again it was a resounding success and all the people in attendance went away more than happy.More ....

July 2010

July burst into action with the arrival of the CC Moore crew for their Open Day here at Horseshoe.  This was CC Moore’s first solo event down here so it was all a bit new to them, but nevertheless they put on a great day that was enjoyed by the hundreds of visitors that descended upon us. 
more ....

June 2010

The carp had another go at spawning when the Juniors left, which put the brakes on what has so far been a phenomenal year for catches. It does seem that the fishing has slowed right down when in actual fact it is probably fishing okay. It's just that Spring was so productive, I think we all got a bit spoiled. Fish are still being caught, we're just having to work a bit harder for them.
more ....

May 2010

May started with such a bang I’ll have to report it now.  The May Day weekend saw remarkably few anglers on the lake, especially for a bank holiday.  The people that did fish certainly took advantage of the situation and between Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon I know there were at least ten 30’s out.  Top of the pile must be Gary Gaulton and his mate Ian... More....

April 2010

Following on from the early April blog, Horseshoe continues to produce fish after fish.  Andrew Grimshaw certainly filled his boots in peg 63, with thirteen carp, three tench and quite a few decent rudd. Not sure what size the carp were, but if you send the pictures in Andrew, I’ll put them on the next blog.
more ...

January-March 2010

March started pretty much as February ended, carpless.  With no carp being caught I decided to have one last go at catching a massive Pike I’d seen a few weeks earlier but had so far eluded me. So after work on Friday (12th) I bivvied up in the splits (not as painful has it sounds) and chucked a couple of herrings out (not as pleasurable as it sounds). More ....

2009 WINTER SHOW UPDATE - Another successful year!

A lively crowd enjoyed a good day out at Sandown. As always our free forums attracted good attendance and we are grateful to teams run by Korda and Trakker, as well as Hugh Miles and Martin Bowler with their last in the series of 'Catching the Impossible'. Welcome to Miles. More ....