The Sessions - April 2025
Walthamstow Bream
I finished the season on the middle Trent with a mega Barbel haul with a 15 and two 17’s to finish a great season on the rivers. I started my Bream campaign at Walthamstow and after three blank sessions I finally found some feeding fish with Bream to 14-09.
My plans for April were mostly about Bream and trying to catch a big haul of Bream Walthamstow is famous for.
3 April 2025 – Walthamstow Reservoirs
This was my fifth trip to Walthamstow this spring and with a night session coming up at the weekend I wanted to do another day session to try to locate the best area for the weekend, so I was up at 04:00 to ensure I got there early and would be one of the first few through the gate.
Everything went to plan and I was first to arrive, I knew where I wanted to start and walked down to the swim, it was a good area but also enabled me to watch most of the lake for showing fish, so I could move if required.
The weather for the past week had been warm days and cold nights with the easterly wind that never seemed to go away in April, it was 8 degrees as I set up but felt cooler in the wind and was clear and sunny.
I spombed out a kilo of groundbait laced with 2mm pellets and a pint of dead red maggots and got the rods ready. I put two on 70g method feeders, 10lb Mirage hooklink to a size 8 Talon Tip hook with Madbaits Pineapple wafters, The third was set up with a 3oz inline lead, the same rig with a size 10 hook and two fake red maggots. Once the rods were out I sat back with a brew to watch the lake for showing fish.
By midday I hadn’t seen anything and did a recast, I changed the fake maggot rod to a 12mm hard hooker Pandemic boilie and it was that rod that went half an hour later with a lovely fish and new PB at 15-00.
At 15-00 the photo does not due the fish justice
I hoped that was going to be the start of a crazy afternoon and topped the spot up with 6-10 spombs of bait at 15:00 and 17:00 but didn’t get another take until the last half hour when Bream were rolling all over the spot and I had two on the yellow wafters at 12-04 and 12-07, I’d loved to have stayed as they were rolling like crazy. What made it worse was as I rushed down the path the Carp lads were still fishing and told me we could stay until 21:30 so I felt I really missed out despite catching a PB.
12-04
12-07
5 April 2025 – Walthamstow Reservoirs
I was back on the gate for 06:00 with all the lads ready for the draw at around 07:00 and it was busy. The weather hadn’t changed apart from a colder night and it was forecast to be sunny and warm with an Easterly wind. I drew badly again in the last two or three out the hat and couldn’t get on the Lockwood bank but still got a decent swim on the Higher bank, my pal Paul Elt, came out after me and got the swim next door so at least we could have a social together.
I spombed out a kilo of groundbait, with 2 pints of dead reds and a pint of live at eleven wraps and got the rods ready, with two on method feeders and one on an inline lead. One method rod was baited with a yellow pineapple wafter and the other with 5 maggots, the inline lead was on the Pandemic 12mm boilie with a pva bag of five 10mm’s.
The day was mostly quiet with only one Bream being caught on the other side, I topped up the spot with five spombs at 15:30 and 18:30 ready for the evening and night period. On the last cast before dark I took the maggot rig off and replaced it with another 12mm Pandemic rig.
Just as it was getting dark I had two fish very quickly so both were in the same net at 10-15 and 12-10 both on the Pandemic rigs.
10-15
12-10
I had another two on the same rods before midnight at 11-15 and 11-05 and topped up with some more bait, but the fish moved away and my pals on the opposite bank started catching.
11-05
Paul didn’t get a take until early morning and had two to high 13. I carried on until midday but the lake appeared to have switched off again so I headed home early.
11-13 April 2025 – Johnsons Lake, Marsh Farm.
I’ve had some brilliant sessions on Johnsons over the last few years so it’s very sad to see it in such decline, to many Carp (just my opinion) and predation from Cormorants have seen Crucian numbers drop dramatically with very few of the bigger fish left. I did a session in July and the bailiff was over the moon I’d caught as none had been seen in June which can be a prolific month for them. I kept in touch with people that were trying and only know of one 4 pound plus caught, it was a fish in great condition and was caught twice that I know off, most of the 3’s caught were in bad shape with cloudy eyes and sores on them.
With the Johnsons season ending on 15 April I wanted to have another try so drove down for two nights to see if I could trip a good one up. I arrived at lunchtime, popped into Apollo to pick up the casters they had saved me and walked round the lake, its wasn’t too busy but my first choice swim was taken so I dropped in my second choice, it was still a very good peg and the one I caught the record fish from, it was just the wind wasn’t quite right for the area and with so few fish left I wanted everything to be in place to give me the best chance.
It was warm, clear and sunny at 21 degrees with a variable wind pushing mainly over to the railway bank. I set up with my usual rigs that I’m super confident in, 35g method feeders with double fake caster on the hair and spombed out five loads of hemp and caster, fishing at 10 wraps.
Over the session I topped up morning and evening with five spombs each time, it was a tough trip as even the Tench were not that active, I didn’t catch a Crucian and only saw one decent one roll over the bait but didn’t get a pick up. I finished with seven Tench, mostly 6 pound plus’s to 6-13, a few Roach and Rudd and a Mirror on the last morning at 21-11.
It’s such a shame and I only hope the water can recover with regular re-stockings but it will take years to get back to what it once was, it’s such an iconic venue and one I love fishing, will I re-join, I’m not sure at this moment, I’ll make my mind up when the reminder comes through on email.
19-20 April 2025 – Walthamstow Reservoirs
The weather during the week had been perfect with low pressure, rain and south westerly winds but it changed back to the easterly winds and high pressure at the end of the week which would make the fishing harder again.
Due to a very suspicious FB post all the Bream anglers stayed away with only Simon Daley and I not falling for it, he came out first in the draw and I came out nearly last but we both got the swims we wanted anyway so my bad luck on the draw hadn’t cost me this time.
It was warm at 15 degrees with quite a strong easterly wind with cloud and with only two of us Bream fishing we felt we would catch. I started by spombing out 2kg of groundbait with a pint of casters and a pint of dead maggots at eleven wraps and then got the rods ready. I put two rods out with inline leads, 12mm Pandemic and a small pva bag of five 10mm’s, the third was set up on a 70g method feeder with three fake casters on the hair.
Again the day was very quiet and I topped the spot up for the night with a mix of 2 pints of dead reds, 1 pint of casters and some 2mm pellets.
The first bite came just after dark with a lovely fish at 14-11 on the boilie rod, I had another two hours later on the casters at 13-12 and topped the spot up again with another four spombs of mix.
14-11
13-12
It was another two hours before I had another bite on the casters with a fish at 11-13 and then they moved away from me.
11-13
Simon started catching later than me but managed to hold them longer catching six fish with three 14’s.
I felt I may have a chance during that day as the wind swung round onto our bank so I stayed all day but didn’t get a touch. I was watching the lake and saw them rolling down the far end and they start moving down on the wind but by closing time they weren’t quite down over my area so I left wishing I could do a second night.
25 April 205 – Walthamstow Reservoirs
I finished the month with another day session, the conditions were poor again with a cold night at 4 degrees and clear and sunny day with an easterly wind, working fulltime I can only go when I have a day off so have to make the best of it.
I dropped in a new swim where a Carp angler had caught Bream the previous day and baited up with hemp, dead reds, casters, 2mm pellets and a few 10mm boilies.
I played around with my rigs again as I wasn’t happy I had it right, I’d been using fluorocarbon hooklinks with size 8 hooks and although successful I felt I should have caught more when the fish were in front of me, so I changed to 5 inches of Trickster camo silt braid in 25lb and size 10 Target Barbel hooks on all the rods.
The fish were in front of me but a long way out, I hoped they would move closer on the wind but they didn’t, I stayed until 20:00 and didn’t get a bite.
Last chance saloon
With May round the corner I plan to have a good try for a big Tench but am planning to do another couple of trips to Walthamstow before the Bream spawn and hopefully I have a storey to rell next month.
Until next, tight lines and be lucky 😊
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