Comments
pike permits
Posted by darren brown on Tuesday 24th June 2008
i think the lads who run the fishery are bang on with the permit idea there are too many fisheries that are just money orientated, it makes my blood boil the amount of noddies fishing waters it can only benefit the water keep up the good work lads will try and get my first visit this year doh
from bacup
Posted by mark on Saturday 21st June 2008
il be back a gen this year
Bream fishing help
Posted by Simon Harbottle on Monday 16th June 2008
All the pegs around the sewer bank will produce fish paul when the conditions are right as will the castle side and island,ive mostly had all my decent hits by night but on the odd occasion you can get them during the day.Speak with Martin or Bruce just prior to going and they will give you sound advice regarding which way the winds have been blowing ect.Keep at it mate and you will be rewarded on this water(It can be just a bit special) Simon
Pike Permit.
Posted by Bruce. Martin. on Monday 16th June 2008
Regarding the last post on this subject we have lost more pike than any other species of fish due to poor Angling skills and will only be doing a pike permit.
The coaches that will be giving tuition are all Professional level 2 angling coaches with considerable angling experience.
It is unfortunate that some Anglers with years of experience dont see the need for us to introduce the pike permit its not aimed to educate them but we would like their support in this. However when my bailiffs ask anglers how long have they been fishing 90% inform them that they are experts, its some of this group that are killing your sport so the introduction of the permit is necessary for All pike nglers.
Regarding the cost it will be £5 per Angler.
We do not enjoy making rules for the sake of rules but feel we must do something to protect your fishery do we make it a season permit water only say at £200 per year ? No did not think so.
Thanks Simon
Posted by Paul Hodgson on Monday 16th June 2008
Thanks for the info simon, is day time or night time the best and what swims should i think of fishing, also been looking at the photos they are some great fish you have caught WOW, i am thinking of visiting for a week last week in august or week before once again thank you kind regards Paul.
Bream fishing help
Posted by Simon Harbottle on Saturday 14th June 2008
At this time of year m8 id feed very little(10 balls of crumb laced with caster and dead maggot) and fish a groundbait feeder over the top.Ive found the best time to target the Bream is August onwards,then you can put the bait in and expect big hits of big Slabs,hope this helps,Simon
Bream Fishing Help !!!!
Posted by Paul H on Thursday 12th June 2008
I have fished this loch about a Dozen times now but never hit the bream and i wont ever give in oh dear !!!, can anyone advise me the best ways to fish tackle wise etc and the best bait to use, ground bait and all that and the best swims
thank you from Paul
Men And Their Fishing.
Posted by Kim on Wednesday 11th June 2008
My Dad and brother never shut up about this place! Next time i'm joining them :D Bringing the Girl power to this place i tell you! Definately a place to be.
Pike Permit.
Posted by kevin from lancaster on Wednesday 11th June 2008
i have been pike fishing for 30 years and i have fished castle for 25 of them and now i need to have a fishing lesson at a cost of £5.00 to show me how to fish and look after pike. questions, if there is more than one fisherman in the groupe is it five pounds per person. if you are not avaliable so we carnt get a permit can we fish. are you going to intruduce thius for all types of fishing bream, tench, carp perch. surley they deserve the same care as pikes and i am sure that its not just pike fsihermen that could do with a lesson on fish care. what qulification will the person who dose the permit going to have. Are you just looking to drive the pike fishermen away so it becomes a bream & tench water. i have only once in the last 5 yesars been asked if i have an unhooking mat, all the other times they just look at the permit and away they go surley if you are going to intrudce this then it should be for all anglers. i find it unacceptable that after 30 years pike fishing i now need to pay castle fishers for a lesson on pkie care. i hope others post there views on this.
Pike Cards
Posted by Billy the Pike on Wednesday 11th June 2008
Great idea to keep the Noddy's off the water and to any serious pike angler well worth the £5 fee for the training.
More information like when training will be introduced (winter any date in mind ?) and how to arrange the training, a lot of anglers including myself travel hundreds of miles to fish your loch of dreams and would like to continue to do so, but dont want to be turned away, please post your intentions onto the site, please keep up the excellent work you continue to do to further improve your fishery, many thanks.
Not all about money
Posted by Martin. on Tuesday 10th June 2008
Craig you are entiteld to your opinion, but fishery management is not all about how many anglers you can get on the banking,
Our fish come first and without them we would not have a fishery so in a word if you do not have a pike permit you dont fish its that simple.
let us worry about having no anglers on the banking.
if thats the case bruce and I will have our own private fishery with huge pike in it.
cheers mate.
re: Pike fishing card
Posted by Francis Ruiz on Tuesday 10th June 2008
This can only be good for the fishery and more importantly the pike, far to many folk think they can turn up and fish for pike with 8 lb line and no traces, nets that are too small no forceps or no bite indication, think its all about teaching the newbies basics of pike fishing, it will also keep the noddy brigade off the water, and protect the pikes welfare.
Cheers
Pike fishing card
Posted by Craig on Tuesday 10th June 2008
So now you have to take a course if you want to fish for them. cant see it bringing anglers to your bank. what a joke.
crackin day afloat
Posted by john Whitelaw on Thursday 5th June 2008
Spent a day on the boat lurefishing and trying the fly for the first time, had 19 pike and a large perch. Managed 2 on the fly but unable to land them. what an experience though. anyone who says summe pike dont fight are talking mince. all the pike were tailwalking and taking line. On 1 of the drifts we couldnt believe our eyes at the size of a shoal of perch, wont be long until the castle has another record i think. Will definately be going back out on the boat, the most exciting sport had in fishing for a long while, I would advise everyone to try it once. being out on the loch has changed my thinking about how I approach my pike fishing from the bank, biggest pike fell to a roach dead bait fished sink and draw, another first. thanks again martin,you have a superb fishery here.
john Whitelaw
weekend 30th may 08
Posted by scott and lewis on Tuesday 3rd June 2008
this place is the best ,(not the fishing ) the labs myself and my son met ,the lake was perfic the banks clean the fishing not good fished for 3days lots of fish moving after dark i got 2 small eels and my son lewis got 1 small eel not the best weekend for a 400 mile round trip but we will be back very soon very soon ,thank Martin for the info speak to you soon ,see you soon ,SCOTT/LEWIS
Pike
Posted by Sam Jones on Thursday 29th May 2008
When me ,my brother and my two uncles went up from Wales we caught 26 Pike over 3 days. I'd set up a hair rig on a rod and i left it and i had a big run
PB Tench
Posted by Daz & Andy on Tuesday 20th May 2008
went up to castle loch last weekend and what can i say the place is lovely the bream never showed put a nice tench off about 7lb did. And thats a pb 4 me going back up in sept and fingers crossed the bream will show and i get another pb
Untitled
Posted by garry + john (essex boys) on Sunday 11th May 2008
after having spent the last week fishing the loch what can i say the weather was fantastic (not for fishing) but for sun tans came home looking like we had spent a week in spain not scotland???? although the fishing was slow me having one bream about 7lb and my dad having a few jack pike we still had a greati time on what is in my opinion the most beautiful place i have fished. often people who speak to us while we are fishing ask why we travel all that way when there are probably dozens of good fisheries alot closer to us well my answer is the fisheries in the south are over crowded full of litter and when the loch is fishing later in the year there is no where to compare? so i think martin and bruce deserve alot of credit. a special thank you goes to martin for all the help and advice over the last week without it we probably wouldn't have got any thing??? hope the fishing picks up soon? who knows may be we will be back later on in the year. garry and jon (essex boys).
Fish must be at it!
Posted by shaunemac on Saturday 10th May 2008
Went up today for a quick session with my boat and the fishfinder.It was rather strange,we didnt track one single shoal of bream on the finder!We searched there usual haunts,not a sign.
What I will say is that the must definatly be spawning or have just finished.At 1 pm today the surface temperature was 21 degrees celcius,and it was similar in the shallow bays over near the reserve and over past the island.The strage thing was they didnt show themselves like they usualy do when it flatens off.
I will beback in the back end of july just to make sure aliens havnt abducted the bream!!
DO NOT MOCK ME !!
Posted by Nosferatu on Monday 28th April 2008
YES YOU ! The Pike may be small but I return to the Castle with a vengence if you mock me. Had a rest for a month or two I will be coming home now, sleep tight or we bump into each other in the dark. Tight lines (Fresh Blood***********)
jackanory
Posted by brian from linlithgo on Monday 28th April 2008
just looking at the 32lb pike???????if thats 32lb i believe the vampire does exist??
great day fishing
Posted by Ross on Monday 28th April 2008
well another great day fishing the loch came down friday night but didn't get fishing till morning but was worth the wait with my mate catching a 20lb pike that outsized the alleged 32 lol. we got another few jacks then i got a 16lb the pike fishing just seems to get better and better every time we're down so would like to thank bruce and martin on there running of the fishery
the Falkirk lads
pike
Posted by gordon on Sunday 27th April 2008
what an absolutely appalling photo that is , if i ever saw anyone holding a pike like that im afraid id blow my lid,as for the size it looks like a scraper 20,and yes i do know what im talking about.
32 lber
Posted by Francis Ruiz on Saturday 26th April 2008
Yes agree that is never a 30 lber also wrong way to hold a pike, shood be supporting the body with other hand and down low over an unhooking matt, nice fish though but never a 30.
PIKE HANDLING
Posted by ROB ROBINSON on Friday 25th April 2008
Dont think much of the pike handling in the recent photo........
32lb pike
Posted by darren brown on Thursday 24th April 2008
i would also suggest learning how to hold pike correctly as that position is doing the fish no favours sorry for been bitchy
32 lb pike
Posted by darren brown on Thursday 24th April 2008
iam sorry if i offend people but i honestly dont think that fish is 32 i approached you guys on the said day, asked if you had out reply was 25+anyone else would have come out with a weight there and then i have seen 30+ pike and that aint one do you sell a favour guys get some scales as i had a good look at your gear and seen none wink wink your just cheating yourselves
great days fishing
Posted by ian warwick on Wednesday 23rd April 2008
only good forecast weve had for ages three of us myself dick lambton and william lambton three fish first hour all jacks then dick got a run all time best fish of an exellent pike of 32lbs bait used blueys and lamprey
sunday 6 april
Posted by james rushe on Monday 7th April 2008
hi,just spent another excellent day on your water. sat through most of the day in near gale force winds,but it paid off. havig landed 3 smaller jacks early in the day i netted a magnificent specimen of 22lbs. this being my 3rd fish of 20lb+ from the water in the last 13 months. i must congratulate bruce and martin on their management of the loch. on what must be some of the finest pike angling in scotland..
predators
Posted by fishery management on Wednesday 12th March 2008
Thanks for your comment Kevin. Castle is a nature reserve and unfortunately our hands are tied regarding control of predators, yes they eat lots of fish and its not nice to see fish dead on the fishery but the powers that be will not let us control the numbers, (martin mitchell)
theres more than fish
Posted by Kevin Aldren on Wednesday 12th March 2008
Fished the loch for 3 days from weds 6th March. Had 8 fish biggest being 13lbs all the rest where 5 to 6 lbs.
Saw the otter for the second time and can only think that an animal that size must be eating a LOT of fish. Nice to see but don’t think it’s good for the fishing. On the Friday I counted 23 cormorants in the trees opposite the castle, again another fish taker. I have been fishing the loch for over 25 years and back then the loch used to be alive with small fish breaking the surface. I just think the fisheries management need to look at the balance of fish takers i.e. - otter-cormorants and a very large head of small pike.
Also saw a red squirrel on the castle side. The fist I’ve seen and a red one at that. No sign of the kingfishers. In the evening there must have been over 500 crows rusting at the castle, did not need the alarm for an early start when these bird leave they let everyone know. The wild life is half the reason I go to castle the other is the fishing.
free travel
Posted by crazy derek on Wednesday 5th March 2008
if anyone living between skelmersdale lancs and lochmaben and wants picking up for a weekend 48 or 72hour session from april onwards can contact martin to arrangefor me to pick them up and drop them off for free, providing its not too far out my way,but be warned if the weather or the fishing isnt very good i will not pack up ,i will fish in the worse weather imaginable,ask anyone who knows me,but i can improve your technique and improve their catch rate,ive done near 40 years on this loch and know it more than most, so if your stuck for transport get in touch with martin and will get back to you , crazy derek
Remember, remember....
Posted by Brian and Ian on Thursday 8th November 2007
....the 5th of November.A day we shall remember for a long,long time and not for the fireworks. Fishing the Castle for the 1st time since we were teenagers ( 20 years ish) after hearing the good catch reports of late we started firing 50 balls of g/bait, pellets and corn approx 40 yds. We both had PB bream within 30 mins of starting and ended up with approx 50 between us ranging from 9 - 11.5 lbs. Every fish we caught was bigger than our previous PB ( 8lb)!!! At the end of the day we couldnt cast out quick enough as it was a bite a chuck finding that feeder/bomb and worm was the best combo. As Ian said, the fish were like "Peas in a massive pod" !!! Totally awesome. Rest assured , it wont be 20 years until our next visit. Brian Lynn.
nice to be back
Posted by kev from wales on Wednesday 7th November 2007
fished 28 n 29 oct.1st time since the 80s.Over the moon 10 pike 3ib to 5ib best13ib.4on deadbait 6 on rubber artificial.Will be back soon.Thanks to alan n Ian from washington helping with unhooking and photos
Bumper session
Posted by shaunemac(simons mate) on Sunday 28th October 2007
What can I say?I have been a regular at the loch now for the last 2 years.I have had decent sessions on the sewer bank with 15 fish in one night and i thought that was special,That was un til this weekend.Like stiffy says we did well over 1000lb with the fish averaging 9lb , but truthfully there were more 10s than 9s so who knows what the real weight was.130 bream in 24 hours fishing,that says it all realy.This realy is the mecca of bream fishing,just a shame its so far away or I would be like a gnome to the place,lol.
Thanks to martin and bruce and to stif and simo for a fantastic trip.(shame about the weather mind)haha
Fantastic Fish
Posted by Simon on Saturday 20th October 2007
Firstly thanks to Brian and Derek.It truly was a fantastic fish and in such great condition. Like Stiffy said the photo does the fish no justice at all.
On the castle loch home page the loch is descibed as the loch of your dreams.... Ive known this for the 15 years ive been coming but this just confirms it. Thanks to Martin and Bruce for keeping this place so special
Cheers Simon
pb bream
Posted by richie metcalfe on Monday 15th October 2007
fished on monday night 8th oct had 3 runs in the space of 90mins everyone resulting in a PB , the biggest 9lb 12oz .love the place and definately thinking of buying a permit next season.if anyone can give me info on the extra benefits of a season permit i would be gratefull ...cheers
richie metcalfe
Richie if you contact me I will give you more info on season tickets Martin
Well done
Posted by Brian on Wednesday 10th October 2007
Great fish that Simon, of all the hundreds of bream me & Lyndon have caught on there over the years at this time of year we never had any that stood out in size like that. Peas in a pod we called them. Well done
bream record
Posted by derek on Tuesday 9th October 2007
well done to simon on catching a stunning fish,as martin said, it was this time last year it went mad,cant wait to see pics,fish also coming out in numbers,once again, well done simon and the lads,see you soon, tight lines,derek
A special Weekend
Posted by Stiffy (Simons mate) on Sunday 7th October 2007
I Would just like to say what an unreal place the loch is, iv just got back from This weekend up there and am still buzzing, me simon and Alan caught 53 fish ov which i caught 21 and the biggest was 11lb 1oz, i broke my PB 5 times, but that was nothing compared to seeing simon having 2 record fish, the 14lber was a truley beautiful sight and i was so pleased i was there to see it, id would also like to say well done to Martin and bruce who keep such an awesome and beautifull loch, it was a privalage to be there, Thanks lads
dereks tench
Posted by on Sunday 30th September 2007
as martin said,no camera or scales again ,every time i take them i dont get anything worth weighing,the other week i had possibly the record bream, and now a huge tench,shit happens,dont really care,i will catch more, the tranquility and wildlife of the place is enough ,i know ive beat the jocks on their own water,not hard really,still i could have been a double scottish record holder , oh well see you all soon, tight lines
back again
Posted by crazy derek on Wednesday 1st August 2007
went on sewer bank last weekend caught sod all but eels ,seen dozens of bream and tench rolling in the peg,non-stop liners, but if they were eating i coudnt catch them,really frustrating,paul from preston, ive got your pictures,the bream looks terrified,you look like a porn star,ha it wasnt me at your bivvy chris,i was asleep,you shouldnt crap in your pants,im taking a break for a while,i got home and my kids are adults, its been that long since i saw them, they thought i was a burglar, see you soon people,tight lines
WILDLIFE.
Posted by KEVIN on Monday 23rd July 2007
Watch out for sighting of a large Otter seen on the castle side at late evening. water remains high which limits the number of swims avaliable. i think the burn which drains the loch should be cleared to keep the water level steady. fishing was poor with only one jack caught. but the wildlife makes up for that.
carp mission 1
Posted by the cajouser kid on Tuesday 12th June 2007
my mate and i fished last weekend and although we never caught or saw a carp we are planning another trip asap. weed, swans and yachts certainly make castle loch challenging but the more effort you put in the more of a result you will get out of it. we will be trying other tactics along with other areas as well as watching the water for tell tale signs of carp. just read crazy dereks comment about john winters remarks and i have to say dereks correct with his statement. castle loch has made a huge turnaround with regards to litter and idiot anglers. martin and bruce have my respect for the work they have undertaken to make castle loch a clean and well managed fishery that it has become. well done lads.
southern blanker
Posted by tony matthews on Wednesday 6th June 2007
A friend of mine who lives in lochmaben kindly jumped in his van,drove 340 miles to dartford picked up me and my tackle and drove straight back so we could indulge in a 3 day fishing bonanza. we arrived late on wed, set up bivvies and crashed out. we set up the following morning and waited..... day one = blank. day two changed tactics and hoyed out dead bait and immediately had a pike each, great success !. then nothing so we decided to move swims before nightfall. day three, another pike for me, high five !. apart from not having much joy with the angling the time away from the wife n kids in the peaceful, picturesque surroundings of the loch was a real tonic. i can only appologise to jay for catching bigger fish. sorry mate !.
Strange things...
Posted by Nosferatu on Monday 4th June 2007
I fished Castle a few weeks back - woke to find 2 close-together belters of mozzie bites on my neck... Now I have a strong sensitivity to the light and I frequently bite my cheek to taste the blood... mmmmm... BLOOD !!
carp recce
Posted by the cajouser kid on Monday 4th June 2007
after last fridays trip up to the loch may i point out that anyone targeting the carp will have to rough it out. low water levels, mud and lots of marginal reeds make access limited. we never fished that weekend but used what we saw to plan another trip later on in the near future. waders or chesties and brollies instead of bivvies is the way to go. nice meeting martin too. p.s. what happened to my carp questions that i submitted?(this is a comment page, info from contact page re fishery managers)
vampires
Posted by chappy on Friday 1st June 2007
well wen i went 2 the loch on the island i never saw anythin strange exept the fact i caught loads os 10lb bream on the swim were the record bream came from.
Untitled
Posted by Adrian Brown, Cheltenham Gloucestershire on Monday 28th May 2007
Fished Monday 21st May to Thursday 24th, Came on my own to the sewer bank, Thanks to two lads next to me who put a marker out for me with the boat and helped me pre-bait, Even though fishing was tough, had three Bream on Tuesday night at 8Lb 9Lb 2oz and 8Lb 14oz, worth the trip and shall be up again in september, great fishing, thanks Martin for a great fishery
spooky
Posted by george primark on Friday 25th May 2007
last time i fished the loch several years ago my mate and i had a huge catch. i managed 240lb, 42 bream in total while my mate had 181lb. this was all during the day on the castle side. the first night went by without incident and we joked about ghostly things that we had heard about. maybe we were both too tired to hear anything through the night. the next day however saw neither of us getting any bites or seeing any bream roll in our swims. that night was a bit different however. at around 3am i awoke as i thought i heard someone creeping around the bivvies, so i got up and checked and as i glanced to my right i saw a figure. i was startled and called out but there was no reply or movement so i guessed it must have been a bush and my mind was playing tricks on me. after a couple of minutes i returned to my sleeping bag and drifted off to sleep. at 8am the next morning my mate woke me up telling me that all our gear had been moved around but nothing had been stolen. i got up and the fist thing i done was look to my right and guess what...... there was no bush. that put a shiver down my back as i explained to my mate about the 3am incident. spooky or what.
scared ?
Posted by jeff on Thursday 17th May 2007
have fished castle extensively for 25 years , never ever seen anything remotely scary,only the women in the ballcastle on a friday night which no longer exists , grow up , men ?
roach
Posted by jeff on Thursday 17th May 2007
yep have to agree , havent seen any roach for years late 80s early 90s 2lb roach very common and 1500 lb bags of bream 3lb-6lb the norm , funny though never saw any carp or tench then ? used to stay in mill loch caravans (dewhurst) 8 wks a year. ( hi roach out every year from the island millions of roach spawn in sewer bank side) Bruce.
shit scared
Posted by shamus on Tuesday 15th May 2007
having fished loch since 77 i have seen and herd many strange things always at night and always when fish dont want to know , slowly having inside zip on mossie net in bivvy, being un zipped and me dog making another bivvy door at the back at the same time , so now i need garlick, cross,wooden stake ,holy water,and a few latin verbs thanks martin am i not scared enough.
Essex Boys
Posted by John Garry (Father & Son) on Monday 14th May 2007
Having failed on two occasions to post our comments, I’m hoping this one gets through.
Firstly I would like to say a big thank you to Martin & Bruce for all your help on our short weekend with you.
This was the first time fishing in the castle for both Garry and I and we both realy enjoyed what time we had, with both getting Bream PB’s this was fantastic.
However, due to illness with Garry getting tonsillitis we returned home early much to our disappointment.
The up side to this is our partners have both agreed to let us return on the 24th May.
For anyone thinking of fishing the castle loch in the future, clearly it’s a hard water to fish but worth every Mile, which will be around 1400 miles for us come the 28th May.
Bream
Posted by Paul - Preston on Wednesday 9th May 2007
Sewer Bank - Friday 4/5/07 - Picked up a 10lb 4oz (1am) and a 7lb (4am) - Thanks to Derek for the photos - Glad to here the Essex boys did well - they set up as I was leaving the nextdoor peg.
pontefract boys
Posted by adie n leon on Wednesday 9th May 2007
we fished from 29,4,07 to 5,5,07 very hot during day nothing doing but action on a night 10 bream all week 7lb up to 11 02 .thanks to martin and co for help .message to hawick ,and oldham lads leon had a visitor in night big furry friend. be up again later in year,cheers
pike trip
Posted by kev marsh on Thursday 12th April 2007
came up from wigan on the 5/4/07 and fished till the morning of the 7/4/07.only had about 3 proper runs with 1 resulting in a fish of 18lb which was in fine condition and a jack.nice water.will return soon...
Untitled
Posted by Richard on Monday 9th April 2007
fished tues,wed,thurs this week. on the best night I had 5 bream to 7lb12. Great fun!
tench
Posted by daz brown on Sunday 8th April 2007
just fished a 72hour session, had one tench at 7lb only fish i had water was flat calm no wind cant wait to get back up when its a bit wilder
bream
Posted by crazy on Sunday 25th February 2007
crazy derek eh? i cant be too crazy if ive just banked the first bream of 2007, biggest around 9 pound, had them rolling in front of me all night, all you need is a mild spell and not too much bait, ,to say im happy is an understatement, see you all soon
things that go bump
Posted by lyndon on Friday 27th October 2006
just a note to say what happened on the night of the 23 oct this year in the dead of night not ten feet from my bivvie door i saw what can only be described as a glowing almost luminous figure whith no hair hideously deforemed and some kind of smoke coming out of its head; iswear i was so scared i thought i was gonna se my pot noodle again so with a nife in one hand and torch in the other i ran out only to find brian in his underpants emptying his waders so dont be afraid things just aint what they seem .
Best fishin in world
Posted by Brian on Wednesday 25th October 2006
Another superb 24hour trip to Castle loch. As Martin reported Lyndon kicked my butt again beating me 77-60 bream & best fish @ 11lb4oz.But if you think that a load of bull i'll tell you this is only our 3rd best catch. In 2003 we had a haul of 201 fish & in 2005 we had a haul of 206 fish with 3 over record, 2 @ 11lb7oz & my pb @ 11lb14oz. To sum it up Bruce & Martin have got the best bream fishery in the world but beware, I too have seen frightening things at night on Castle loch, but I fish with Lyndon!