Old Castle Pond

Has the page closed down I’m new to pike fishing and really want to fish old castle pond as last time I fished there I was a kid and only 13 years old and was fishing perch but gave it up and now I left sea fishing and a big carp fisherman but would love to try my hand at predator fishing. So any advice on what’s in old castle pond and what species remain there as I know I was told that Europeans had raped that area and lot of the fish had all gone. So David if your still on here what’s your view plz and also the myth of the duck killer pike I’ve seen when I was a kid as all I saw was a enormous green monster fly out of the pond and a almighty splash as it hit the water as me and my friends were also shocked so we packed up and left lol as we didn’t think it was safe and that was 23 years ago so now I’m ready to tackle him if need be haha

I went fishing for Roach/Rudd and Pike today at 13:00 around Old Castle Pond. I went through the ritual of testing my rod, reel, line and correct float for the weather conditions (blustery..indeed). I opted for a Mackerel's head for the Pike fishing with a 30lb Braid line, a 10ft Piking rod and a 6000 Baitrunner reel FD. I set up all the Pike safety equipment first and then cast out the Mackerel's head on a paternoster rig and rested the rod down and opened up the bail arm. I cast out for silvers for a little bit of sport but didn't have much success on that front as you can imagine, it being December and all. After almost 2 hours I saw an amazing/awful act of nature when I noticed a Mallard duck very close by and nearly right in front of me it was taken by a Pike which came out of nowhere. I was on one knee at the time and I shook with the surprise and speed of the attack. The Mallard didn't even have time to make a noise at all. All I heard was the water erupting and a glimpse of the Pike that took the Mallard under. The Mallard wasn't fully grown in my opinion but the Pike sure was a full blown adult from that short look I had of it. I deicded it was fruitless to continue on so I packed up and left knowing exactly where to place my bait next time.. I'd be quackers not to..

Old Castle Pond has not only Pike to offer the Predator fisherman, but also Perch. The Perch are best fished for at 19:00hrs onwards as they are not very active during the day. There are Rudd and Roach in abundance and I've caught them 9 out of 10 times that I've cast out. All three species will readily go for maggot bait. There are 2 large Pike and quite a lot of Jack Pike. One of the aforementioned large Pike is 20lb plus, the other large Pike is rumoured to be 30lb plus, but I would put that to down to local myth. It seems every lake/pond has a "Monster of the Deep". Nevertheless a nice day out fishing around some areas of the pond, except when the Council forgets to litter pick the area.

Here are some improved designs for the club logo(s), the pictures are unashamedly downloaded from existing images off the web, but it gives me something to work off ha-ha..

The pond itself could be a superb venue if the council decided to put up pegs, cleaned up the pond, stocked it with different species of fish and get a club up and running to give youngsters something to do..

Just had an E-mail from Carmarthenshire County Council about my frequent complaints to address the litter problem at Old Castle Pond and they said they've recently cleaned it, but in my opnion that is balderdash. I am going back to clean it again and again until I am satisfied that it comes up to a decent standard. The wildlife are at a constant risk from monofilament fishing line which can give risk to strangulation and choking if swallowed. They also have to contend with all manner of plastic bags, crisp packets and sweet wrappers clogging up their habitat. I am not that keen to fish there any more as a number of juvenilles have made their presence known and are an ongoing source of irratition to me. They like to fish from near the park benches whilst consuming Super Strength alchol and may be viewed as intimidating to quite a few people who are not streetwise themselves. Also I have found,when litterpicking, habitual scorchmarks on the ground where our east european cousins like to sit when fishing from a certain part of the pond. The scorchmarks are proof of a small fire. I am not sure about the legality or safety of this,but to say that it will be only a matter of time before something happens in the Spring/Summer months when the undergrowth rapidly regrows very near this "Temporary campsite".

The litter problem at the pond gets worse every time I visit, so I have purchased a litter picker to clean up the mess myself as the local authority could not care less. P.S. I pay over £1200 a year in council tax..

I will be going to Old Castle pond on the 20th Dec to fish for Pike as they're quite abundant. I'll be using a basic paternosterms rig with either a mackerel or bluey deadbait..

Photos of any decent size Pike will be posted online. P.S. My Email has changed..

The finished club logo..

Went fishing for Pike at Old Castle Pond today (20Dec2013) and was talking to a fellow angler named Chris, when a pike took my deadbait (half a bluey). I didn't strike fast and hard enough to hook it, so resulted in losing it.. ah well..there always next time..

Litter picked the main part of Old Castle Pond, because the council are incapable of doing it and collected 10 bags of rubbish.. disgraceful.

Will be litter picking Old Castle Pond on 28th December to make the venue ready for Spring 14, so I and other fishermen can enjoy a day's angling in clean and pleasant surroundings..

There is an abundance of jackpike in old castle pond and supposedly two double figure large pike rumored to be from 15lb to 22lb. I'll have a bash, you never know..

Went fishing for Pike at Old Castle Pond today, did'nt catch anything, so decided to litterpick and collected 2 bags of rubbish, it's coming along nicely. A group of 6-7 lads were also Pike fishing too. Maybe they'll have better luck than me. Fingers crossed. ha-ha..

Hopefully this will be the club logo for "Old Castle Pond, Coarse Fishing Club" It'll take quite a while before the club can be up and running, I'm looking long term, 3-4 years when I retire from my job in England. The club will be entirely funded by myself.

Good fishing session down the pond felt tempted afta seein dave down there and havin a run off the blueys.. but ii managed too hook in a lovely 4 lbs pike and will be goin down again very soon and hopefully have a sesh with dave ..

Well done Chris! You may be interested to know that the club I'm proposing for Old Castle Pond will have a two or three person skiff (a small boat, for all you landlubbers out there) so that club members can fish for Pike out by the main island of the pond, with lifejackets supplied of course. A good couple of years away yet though.

Sorry about my earlier attempt on posting the club logo, here's the proposed logo (again)..

I visited Old Castle Pond earlier today and fished for Roach, but did'nt have so much as a bite for an hour and a half so I decided that it was going to be a blank session. I could have patrolled around the lake and used my watercraft skills to locate them, but I noticed that the immediate area I was fishing from needed litterpicking. I then went to my holdall and got out my trusty litterpicker and went to work with not really a "Whistle, while you work" philosophy, but more of a grumpy Victor Meldrew singing the "One foot in the grave" theme song. I collected 2 bags of rubbish which contained mostly Super strength alcohol cans and cheap Vodka bottles. There was a lot of monofilament line as well, which I. disposed of as well. The local authority, namely Carmarthenshire County Council have done a splendid job addressing the once overgrown undergrowth and branches from nearby trees which inhibited anglers to cast at distance. Hedges and pathways have been trimmed back and now gives the surrounding area and not just Old Castle Pond, a more cleaner, fresh looking appeal that was lacking in the past. More work now needs to be done to get the pond to an excellent standard to bring more people and their families (and anglers) to this beautiful and wondrous Heritage site of Great Britain. Tight lines.

Before photo of rubbish in Old Castle Pond.

After photo of Old Castle Pond where rubbish was.

The two bags of rubbish I collected. I estimate that after going around the whole perimeterof Old CCastle Pond it will take another 50 bags of rubbish before the lake is up to a good standard.

I went out to Old Castle Pond and did a spot of stalking for Roach around the pond and met with success using maggots and powdered bread which bought the Roach up a little bit to the surface and I managed to bag 8 nice sized Roach using this little known technique. I noticed quite a bit of litter nearby so I packed up and went through the ritual of donning my protective gloves, safety glasses and then getting the litter picker with six large sanitation bags out of my car. I accrued four bags of rubbish after an hour's work. Unfortunately I have to go back Sunday to my job in the Cotswolds, so I''ll have to leave any further activity for now, but I'll go back to Old Castle Pond today to give some bread to the ducks which my two sons love to do. Ps. One of the swans seem to be quite taken with me and comes within a yard or two of myself when I go fishing these days and regularly follows me around, which is nice if not a little bit alarming if it decided it didn't like me anymore. Gulp!.

The four bags of litter I collected.

My favorite place to fish from at Old Castle Pond.

My favorite place to fish from at Old Castle Pond. Plenty of fish can be caught here.

I went to Old Castle Pond today with my two sons and picked up a small amount of rubbish, I was particularly dismayed to find a supermarket trolley that I must have overlooked I will return with waders, my mountaineering rope and a strong arm (Weetabix) to pull it out.

I also found a the tattered remains of a blue rubbish bag clinging off the branches of a bush, but this will also have to wait until I can buy a small coracle boat (I've got a mate in Builth Wells who can do a me good deal on one, Lol)

A huge amount of rubbish waiting for me and my much anticipated Coracle boat to litterpick.