Venues in Kent

Hello guys
I'm new to this forum and to fly fishing, but I can see there's a whole lot of people here who really know their stuff and I'm looking for advise.
Can anyone recommend a good venue in Kent where I can fish and make mistakes without embarrasing myself.
I'm aware that I'm not very good at casting but am persevering and have had a lesson and watched all the DVD's!
So its a quiet venue, sympathetic baliff and preferably fish!
Cheers
Bob

I don't live anywhere near Kent but the one that comes to mind is Tenterden in the Weald.

Prices are not bad for the South of England either. They have a website which you can find on Google.

Thanks Ron
I have been to Tenterden a couple of times and its a very picturesque fishery.
In both my visits however I have never seen anyone land a fish there.
This will no doubt promt a host of messages from people who have had great results there and that I went on the wrong days.
I used to get that all the time from the skippers when I went sea angling - "You should have been here yesterday, they were jumping in the boat"
Tenterden is run by nice people and average price @ ?25 day.
I can understand why I do not catch fish, what with my failling casts and tossing great sods of grass into the lake. Any sensible fish would swim as far away as possible from me! But I would be more heartened if I saw the guys who were doing it properly catching.
I'm going out today to try a fishery near Tonbridge, Chalysomething Spring. I'll keep practicing, I just enjoy the whole thing so much.
Regards
Bob

It is very rare on a water like Tenterden that you can't get a few fish, even on a hard day.

Winter tactics can be a little different from spring or summer, but you can catch if you use the right pattern and mast important - fish it at the right depth.

One of the very best imitative battern to use in winter is the bloodworm, especially a gold head bloodworm which will fish deep.

Find some deep water and stand if you can with the breeze coming over your left shoulder if you are right handed. It often pays here to use a strike indicator on the leader. (listen to the howls of derision from the purists)

Adjust the strike indicator until you find the correst taking depth. Cast out with a floating line and allow the breeze to drift the line sideways. Only retrieve sufficiently to keep in touch. When the line is at an angle of 45 degree, start a VERY slow retrieve.

Learn the "figure of eight and drop" retrieve by the way.

Another way is to use a slow sinking line with a fly such as a Viva or Orange Blob.

(more howls from the purists)

Count down each cast until you get a fish and then remember how long the cast was counted down. You should get several fish this way. The best retrieve for these flies is the hand over hand or roly poly retrieve. (more howls)

If it is allowed, the booby fished deep is one of the deadliest cold water tactics of the lot. Use a very fast sinking line. A Di 7 or Deep Rio 7 is ideal. Unfortunately these lines are not easy to cast. Wear a wide brimmed floppy hat and specs when casting these lines. Forget baseball caps for goodness sake.

Tie a short leader to the end of your line, say about 18 inches long and tie the booby to the end. Cast out over deep water and allow the line to sink right to the bottom. The booby will pop up of course.

Trout often take the static booby and swallow the fly. Try twitching the booby back and feel the line for takes. Often the takes are very delicate. You can also try another pattern fished this way called a rasputin. It's just as deadly and might overcome the "No Booby" rules.

Ron,
Thanks for your advise, I'll give it a go next time, much appreciated.
Chalybeate Springs Lake was frozen solid today, the bailiff tried to break it up with his boat but there was only a very small corridor for fishing in and that was being fished by a couple of earlier arrivals.
I had a look at Bewl Waters but its their last day of the season today and they dont open again now until March.
Regards