The new boots were half tested at Willows, I say half tested because I didnt have any distance to walk in them and spent most of the day slumped on my chair with only the heels in contact with the ground!
That said though, they were comfy and warm on a bitterly cold day. I'll reseve full judgement till I've done some walking and some standing around in them but so far they look like being worth the tenner I paid for them.
Saturday, 22 December 2007
Friday, 21 December 2007
Cold and frosty!
I managed to sneak off for a day at Willows again last week right in the middle of a cold snap. I arrived about 7.30 and found only a single set of tyre marks in the frost and luckily they led to the far side of the lake to my intended spot. It was nearly 8.30 before I had both rods out and the kettle on. I was fishing pva sticks of tuna in oil and hallibut pellets bound together with pellet groung bait, a few brocken boilies finished off the bags. The sticks as usual were threaded onto the hook length then conected to the main line with quick release clips. The difference this time was that I was fishing one rod on flourocarbon hook links with size 12 hooks on a d ring rig and the other on a standard braid link with my usual light braid longish hair.
Pete was due to join me later in the morning after rattling off a quick plumbing job (that'll be £500 please missus!) so I settled down to make a brew and contemplate which would arrive first a fish or Pete. I lit the stove and 10 seconds later it went out. Picking it up I gave it a shake, plenty of gas, and lit it again. 10 seconds later it went out! It was so cold that the gas wasnt vapourising in the canister, PANIC!!! No tea! I was now willing to see Pete come around the corner with the remedy!
About an hour into the session the right hand rod with the new fangled flourocarbon link give an almighty twitch and I was surprised to see no movement on the swingers as I was fishing a running lead, slack line and a light indicator. Shortly after a second twitch managed to yank the rod tip around and I sudenly realised the line was frozen into the rings! Unfortunatly no run followed.
My confidence was dropping rapidly on acount of the temperature when thankfully the left hand rod on the semi fixed lead rattled off. I knew this might be my only fish of theday and played it carefully into the net. Opening the net on the mat revealed a mirror of about 8 or 9lb which was quickly returned.
Recast and settled in the sun my wait for tea finally ended when Pete arrived. He didnt have a liquid fuel burner which would run in the cold but in his bag I knew he'd have his brazing torch to heat the gas cylinder to run the stove!! It doesnt look very safe but it works a treat and I certainly wasnt complaining. On arrival he looked witheringly at my pod and comented, as I have, that it could do with being 18 inches longer. The last laugh was mine though as i watched him trying to get a bank stick into the frozen earth. Oh how I laughed as an hour later what looked like a series of twitches turning into a run actually turned out to be the rear bank stick falling over!!
We both had a few twitches and short lifts which only Pete managed to conect with a couple of bream with one going a good 4lb. We sat chatting and drinking tea untill at dusk we both started getting odd twitches. Like a coiled spring I was ready for the off, that is untill Pete pointed out that the lines were trapped in ice and the ice was moving. By 2 hours after dark we called it a day, the ice was now right accross the lake.
So what did I learn from the session?
1. Tipex as distance marker on the line doesnt really work, it rubs off onto other parts of the line giving false marks. Casting to a marker float and using a marker knot is my next plan, if I think the knot has moved I'll recaster the marker and check my knot.
2.Geese are as sneaky and sly as swans.
3.Camping gas stoves dont work in the cold, which I already knew but tried burying my head in the sand.
Next year I'm going to try the farm lake at willows where the stamp of fish is slightly better but first I'll have a cast around with the marker rod.
Cheers everyone and Happy Christmas
Pete was due to join me later in the morning after rattling off a quick plumbing job (that'll be £500 please missus!) so I settled down to make a brew and contemplate which would arrive first a fish or Pete. I lit the stove and 10 seconds later it went out. Picking it up I gave it a shake, plenty of gas, and lit it again. 10 seconds later it went out! It was so cold that the gas wasnt vapourising in the canister, PANIC!!! No tea! I was now willing to see Pete come around the corner with the remedy!
About an hour into the session the right hand rod with the new fangled flourocarbon link give an almighty twitch and I was surprised to see no movement on the swingers as I was fishing a running lead, slack line and a light indicator. Shortly after a second twitch managed to yank the rod tip around and I sudenly realised the line was frozen into the rings! Unfortunatly no run followed.
My confidence was dropping rapidly on acount of the temperature when thankfully the left hand rod on the semi fixed lead rattled off. I knew this might be my only fish of theday and played it carefully into the net. Opening the net on the mat revealed a mirror of about 8 or 9lb which was quickly returned.
Recast and settled in the sun my wait for tea finally ended when Pete arrived. He didnt have a liquid fuel burner which would run in the cold but in his bag I knew he'd have his brazing torch to heat the gas cylinder to run the stove!! It doesnt look very safe but it works a treat and I certainly wasnt complaining. On arrival he looked witheringly at my pod and comented, as I have, that it could do with being 18 inches longer. The last laugh was mine though as i watched him trying to get a bank stick into the frozen earth. Oh how I laughed as an hour later what looked like a series of twitches turning into a run actually turned out to be the rear bank stick falling over!!
We both had a few twitches and short lifts which only Pete managed to conect with a couple of bream with one going a good 4lb. We sat chatting and drinking tea untill at dusk we both started getting odd twitches. Like a coiled spring I was ready for the off, that is untill Pete pointed out that the lines were trapped in ice and the ice was moving. By 2 hours after dark we called it a day, the ice was now right accross the lake.
So what did I learn from the session?
1. Tipex as distance marker on the line doesnt really work, it rubs off onto other parts of the line giving false marks. Casting to a marker float and using a marker knot is my next plan, if I think the knot has moved I'll recaster the marker and check my knot.
2.Geese are as sneaky and sly as swans.
3.Camping gas stoves dont work in the cold, which I already knew but tried burying my head in the sand.
Next year I'm going to try the farm lake at willows where the stamp of fish is slightly better but first I'll have a cast around with the marker rod.
Cheers everyone and Happy Christmas
Monday, 19 November 2007
New Boots
I saw some boots advertised in Angling Times and decided to take a chance, a few cold and wet sessions and many more to come have spurred me into action. They seemed like a bargain, £9.99 from Used Tackle in Nottingham 01159 631777 and I picked them up from the courier today.
So, there I sat in my dinning roon with my brand new Conquest Moon Boots on and what did i think? Well the removable fleece inner boots seem quite snug and theres a thick insulating insole to keep you off the cold ground so all well so far. Looking at the actual boots themselves and I'm not so sure, the rubber of the boot seems really thin,soft and without much shape. I could be wrong but I think where the upper meets the heavily moulded sole is a definite candidate fot splitting. I reckon their life is going to be measured in sessions rather than seasons but hey what do you expect for a tenner?
I'll let you know.
So, there I sat in my dinning roon with my brand new Conquest Moon Boots on and what did i think? Well the removable fleece inner boots seem quite snug and theres a thick insulating insole to keep you off the cold ground so all well so far. Looking at the actual boots themselves and I'm not so sure, the rubber of the boot seems really thin,soft and without much shape. I could be wrong but I think where the upper meets the heavily moulded sole is a definite candidate fot splitting. I reckon their life is going to be measured in sessions rather than seasons but hey what do you expect for a tenner?
I'll let you know.
Willow Lakes
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Back in early october I managed a trip to Willow lakes, its a venue I quite enjoy because of the high likelyhood of getting a run which sort of restores my confidence after some knocks. I arrived nice and early in the hope of getting a good swim and being set up and ready for first light. Finding the gates locked was the first of many surprises of the day so I decided to get some sleep ready for them opening at 7.
Once on the bank I made my way to the far bank of the match lake and positioned myself mid way along the bank. The sky was like lead and the rain fell relentlessly so up went the brolly! Next my new Warrior rods and new Baitrunners went on my new(ish) pod. I opted for shortish hook lengths on semi fixed leads attached with corda safety clips on both rods. The hook lengths attached via a loop to a quick release clip rather than a swivle, this allows PVA stockings to be threaded on and sit just above the hook bait. These can be tied up prior to reeling in to save time.
I cast both rods into the gully short of the bar which runs down the centre of the lake seperated by 30m and settled down to wait. And still it rained!
It didnt take long before the left hand rod screamed off, I reached down and struck........ and that was my first mistake! Having never used a bait runner before I had forgotton to disengage the free spool, I was gutted to see the resulting birds nest. Luckily I managed to untangle the mess and was amazed to find the fish still on!After a short scrap a small mirror of about 6lb was in the net.
Frustratingly the next 4 runs , all on the left hand rod, all seemed to slip the hook after a few seconds. A switch to inline leads and fresh hook lengths saw the next 3 runs result in 3 fish on the bank, the best being a common of 11lb 6oz. Not bad considering I was the only one who seemed to be on the fish, even stranger is that all 8 runs came to the same rod. Was I landing on someone elses bait from a previous session?
About 3 in the afternoon the skys cleared and the temperature plumeted and runs seemed to stop immeadiately.
in an attempt to more accurate with my casting I'd wrapped small pieces of electrial tape around the line just beyond the tip ring when I'd initially cast but not wound down so evry cast could be feathered down when I heard the tape going through the rings. Sounds perfect in theory but in practice I found that when playing a fish on a taught line the tape catches on the rings and gets pushed down the line.
So what did i learn? Well firstly I need a better shelter as my feet got soaked sticking out of my brolly, anyone got a secondhand bivvy for sale??!! Secondly the tape trick doesnt work, you can never be 100% sure the tape stays where you put it. I'm considering painting the line with tipex, does anyone know of any reasons why this isnt a good idea for nylon? And finally the right hand rod stayed more or less silent all day, I should have experimented with different positions, rigs and baits to bring about a result.
A great day and a good test for the new gear
Saturday, 8 September 2007
Getting there
Tuesday night saw me back on the Trent. It was a lovely evening and I had already decided to dedicate all my time and attention on the carp rods leaving the float rod at home. I baited 2 areas with hemp and corn and placed a halibut pellet hook bait over each. Recasting every hour or so with a topped up feeder to keep the bait going in. An open ended feeder with small pellet and ground bait plugs was the method used to introduce the feed and keep cost down. Basically for duration of the short evening session the swingers failed to move. Now the doubts crept in - are there any fish here or do they just pass through, am I on a working bait, is my bite indication correct? The local canoeing club didnt help, they must have passed in both directions within inches of my rod tips. Fishless and frustrated I packed up.
Thursday saw my return to the river, yeah I know..... another early finish! Back out with the same set up and baits. About 7 pm my mate Pete rang and as is always the case while I'm in conversation the downstream indicator crept up, phone in one hand and rod in the other I missed it completely. 'Have you only got pellet?' he asked. 'Afraid so' I replied. I could see his reasoning, if pellet isn't working try soming else.
Shortly afterwards I went back to the van to get some more pellet feed, while rumaging around for the pellet my hand came out with a tin of corn I didnt know I had. Back on the rods I changed the up stream rod to 2 rubber grains of corn on the hair and replaced the pellet feed with corn. A few twitches occured but nothing to change my lack of optimism. Aroud 9 pm I was seriously thinking about packing up when at last the upstream rod swinger dropped right back and I hit it, the feeling of a series of thumps on the other end was such a relief. The fish kited down stream then held its ground before kiting back upstream again. I quickly slipped the net under the still unseen fish, pulled back the mesh expecting to see a small carp, barbel or reasonable chub and was surprised to see a large bream. Yes, a bream which actually fought! The hook had come out in the net and he looked about 3 to 4lb. I quickly recast and a a few minutes latter the same rod was off again, this a small bream about a pound had taken the bait.
Now it really was time to leave and as I did so I pondered the lessons learnt.
1. Dont place all your bait eggs in one basket unless youre confident in the bait.
2. Accurate and regular feeding is required. Although I was fishing fairly close in a piece of tape on the main line would have gaurenteed the same spot every time
3. Dont fish the Trent embankment on a tuesdat night, you'll never compete with the canoes!
I do feel I'm getting closer to the carp, bream take the same baits from the same swims as carp and ussually where theres bream the carp wont be far away. I also have more faith in my set up, though maybe the pellet hook bait might be back on the subs bench.
Thursday saw my return to the river, yeah I know..... another early finish! Back out with the same set up and baits. About 7 pm my mate Pete rang and as is always the case while I'm in conversation the downstream indicator crept up, phone in one hand and rod in the other I missed it completely. 'Have you only got pellet?' he asked. 'Afraid so' I replied. I could see his reasoning, if pellet isn't working try soming else.
Shortly afterwards I went back to the van to get some more pellet feed, while rumaging around for the pellet my hand came out with a tin of corn I didnt know I had. Back on the rods I changed the up stream rod to 2 rubber grains of corn on the hair and replaced the pellet feed with corn. A few twitches occured but nothing to change my lack of optimism. Aroud 9 pm I was seriously thinking about packing up when at last the upstream rod swinger dropped right back and I hit it, the feeling of a series of thumps on the other end was such a relief. The fish kited down stream then held its ground before kiting back upstream again. I quickly slipped the net under the still unseen fish, pulled back the mesh expecting to see a small carp, barbel or reasonable chub and was surprised to see a large bream. Yes, a bream which actually fought! The hook had come out in the net and he looked about 3 to 4lb. I quickly recast and a a few minutes latter the same rod was off again, this a small bream about a pound had taken the bait.
Now it really was time to leave and as I did so I pondered the lessons learnt.
1. Dont place all your bait eggs in one basket unless youre confident in the bait.
2. Accurate and regular feeding is required. Although I was fishing fairly close in a piece of tape on the main line would have gaurenteed the same spot every time
3. Dont fish the Trent embankment on a tuesdat night, you'll never compete with the canoes!
I do feel I'm getting closer to the carp, bream take the same baits from the same swims as carp and ussually where theres bream the carp wont be far away. I also have more faith in my set up, though maybe the pellet hook bait might be back on the subs bench.
Friday, 24 August 2007
River Trent
My good friend Pete happened to mention last time we were talking how my posts were mainly made up of what I wanted to catch but didn't. So this tiime Ive tried hard not to disapoint and I've struggled again!
Its long been my ambition to catch a river carp as I believe these are as close to wild carp as we're likely to catch. So it was back to the river Trent to try my luck. Just upstream from trent bridge is a stretch known as the steps, its a popular place to feed the swans, ducks and geese and its my theory that the carp cruise up and down the stepped banks looking for food.
I set up a pair of carp rods but struggled to get a bank stick in but finally managed to get a single rest wedged in. I kept my rod tips high to keep as much line as possible out of the water and this is where i met my second problem. It would seem that its not only the carp that cruise up and down the steps but also the swans. I'm not sure what the Nottingham swans get upto but they all seem to have bad sight, the few that did spot the rod tips certainly didnt see line and ploughed straight through them. Twice I had hairy moments where the birds stripped line from the reels. Those that know me know my views on these bad tempered vain overgrown ducks and thursday evening did nothing to change my mind!
I was fishing 14mm pellets on one rode and rubber corn on the other and pva bagging small pellet, corn and dry ground bait. Needless to say with the few hours I had, the learning curve to climb and my dubious skills another blank was the only possible outcome!
I did however come to some valuable conclusions for next time
1. I need a rod pod (and now have one!) to have the adjustability on those concrete steps and other solid pegs like Farlows complex.
2. For peace of mind and so I dont have to usher every swan around the lines I'll fish with the rod tips submerged. Good job I now have a pod isnt it!
3. To save money on pva, open ended feeders filled with small pellet and corn will deliver the freebies.
4. I'll stick to the margins as this is where the food the carp are looking for is found, maybe I was casting over their heads
All sounds simple huh?!
The one saving grace was my float rod and stick float, double maggot on a 16 hook. I managed a fairly regular stream of small roach and perch, nothing huge but enough to keep a smile on my face.
Sorry Pete but I'm afraid the news isnt great. Maybe next time.......
Its long been my ambition to catch a river carp as I believe these are as close to wild carp as we're likely to catch. So it was back to the river Trent to try my luck. Just upstream from trent bridge is a stretch known as the steps, its a popular place to feed the swans, ducks and geese and its my theory that the carp cruise up and down the stepped banks looking for food.
I set up a pair of carp rods but struggled to get a bank stick in but finally managed to get a single rest wedged in. I kept my rod tips high to keep as much line as possible out of the water and this is where i met my second problem. It would seem that its not only the carp that cruise up and down the steps but also the swans. I'm not sure what the Nottingham swans get upto but they all seem to have bad sight, the few that did spot the rod tips certainly didnt see line and ploughed straight through them. Twice I had hairy moments where the birds stripped line from the reels. Those that know me know my views on these bad tempered vain overgrown ducks and thursday evening did nothing to change my mind!
I was fishing 14mm pellets on one rode and rubber corn on the other and pva bagging small pellet, corn and dry ground bait. Needless to say with the few hours I had, the learning curve to climb and my dubious skills another blank was the only possible outcome!
I did however come to some valuable conclusions for next time
1. I need a rod pod (and now have one!) to have the adjustability on those concrete steps and other solid pegs like Farlows complex.
2. For peace of mind and so I dont have to usher every swan around the lines I'll fish with the rod tips submerged. Good job I now have a pod isnt it!
3. To save money on pva, open ended feeders filled with small pellet and corn will deliver the freebies.
4. I'll stick to the margins as this is where the food the carp are looking for is found, maybe I was casting over their heads
All sounds simple huh?!
The one saving grace was my float rod and stick float, double maggot on a 16 hook. I managed a fairly regular stream of small roach and perch, nothing huge but enough to keep a smile on my face.
Sorry Pete but I'm afraid the news isnt great. Maybe next time.......
Sunday, 29 July 2007
Chasing carp
Work is a bit thin on the ground at the moment which apart from the obvious financial drawbacks means its good news for fishing.
Last week I hit my local venue just after dawn, I arrived to find that I had the whole place to myself and was supremely confident. I picked a spot with a short cast tight against a weed bed and the second rod walked down and placed in front of a bed of reeds. Both rods were armed with small PVA mesh bags and surounded by a bed of pellet and broken boilies. I've recently switched from placing the lead and hook link into a bag along with the freebies to a tube and stocking arangement. The larger bags I found floated too long and melted on or near the surface dropping their contents over a larger area. The new ( to me ) system is smaller in volume and sinks faster. My only reservation is I'm not confident that merely hooking the bag is secure enough for anything more than a gentle lob, hence I use a small piece of PVA tape to secure the bag to the lead then pass the hook into the mesh bag.
So with Mainline active 8 and halibut pellets I went to work! Other than the odd twitch against the weed bed my rods stayed silent untill about 3 pm when off went the weed bed rod. At first I thought I'd missed the run untill I saw a flash of silver and a bream rolled just under the surface. The venue does quite well for bream and many of the old fish reach double figures athough this one was somewhere around 3lb. And that was that for the day.
I'm fairly sure that it was just a case of no fish in my swim as untill I was nearly ready to pack up there was no sign of a carp anywhere near my baits and certainly no line bites.
If the lack of work persists then I'll be back on wednesday for another go only this time I'm going to fish black eyed beans on one of the rods, I remember 2 very good friends of mine doing very well on the venue with them albeit nearly 20 years ago.
We'll see!!!
Last week I hit my local venue just after dawn, I arrived to find that I had the whole place to myself and was supremely confident. I picked a spot with a short cast tight against a weed bed and the second rod walked down and placed in front of a bed of reeds. Both rods were armed with small PVA mesh bags and surounded by a bed of pellet and broken boilies. I've recently switched from placing the lead and hook link into a bag along with the freebies to a tube and stocking arangement. The larger bags I found floated too long and melted on or near the surface dropping their contents over a larger area. The new ( to me ) system is smaller in volume and sinks faster. My only reservation is I'm not confident that merely hooking the bag is secure enough for anything more than a gentle lob, hence I use a small piece of PVA tape to secure the bag to the lead then pass the hook into the mesh bag.
So with Mainline active 8 and halibut pellets I went to work! Other than the odd twitch against the weed bed my rods stayed silent untill about 3 pm when off went the weed bed rod. At first I thought I'd missed the run untill I saw a flash of silver and a bream rolled just under the surface. The venue does quite well for bream and many of the old fish reach double figures athough this one was somewhere around 3lb. And that was that for the day.
I'm fairly sure that it was just a case of no fish in my swim as untill I was nearly ready to pack up there was no sign of a carp anywhere near my baits and certainly no line bites.
If the lack of work persists then I'll be back on wednesday for another go only this time I'm going to fish black eyed beans on one of the rods, I remember 2 very good friends of mine doing very well on the venue with them albeit nearly 20 years ago.
We'll see!!!
Monday, 23 July 2007
Farlows, July part 2
It appears the gods were still shining on me because the next evening brought a similar early finish and good weather.This time though, still with no bollies I knew it was tench I was going to target. I still Favoured the bottom corner because its close to the gate where my car would be and while talking to one of the regulars he recomended a peg opposite a reed bed. I set a ledger rod on a sliding paternoster and a float rod both baited with corn. The ledger rod was positioned against the reeds while I fished the float rod off a large bush to my right.
Right from the off the light wieght bobins were on the move but eventually I got a positive bite and hooked into something reasonable. Tench? Small carp? Within a few seconds the fish managed to shed the hook in some submerged weed and was gone.
A few small bream came to the float and fought reasonably on the light tackle along with a couple of roach.
Around mid evening I started to see the reed stems moving, a sure sign a carp or 2 had found the bed of corn freebies. Sure enough a few minutes later the indicator whacked into the rod and a bow wave made off down the reeds. as soon as I conected with the fish the hook came adrift.
The reed line never recovered from that incident and although I took a few more bream I again had that wasted opportunity feeling. Oh yeah and still no tench.
So, any lessons learnt? I was fishing 2 rods and with activety on both rods I feel my attention was divided, maybe I'll stick to 1 rod next time. Secondly I feel I was fishing a bit light for what may come along so I'll upgrade to 6lb line with 5lb hook link. I also seemed to get my ledger bait twitched and hung up in the weed stems so I'll use a float instead.
Wonder what time we'll get finished this week!!
Right from the off the light wieght bobins were on the move but eventually I got a positive bite and hooked into something reasonable. Tench? Small carp? Within a few seconds the fish managed to shed the hook in some submerged weed and was gone.
A few small bream came to the float and fought reasonably on the light tackle along with a couple of roach.
Around mid evening I started to see the reed stems moving, a sure sign a carp or 2 had found the bed of corn freebies. Sure enough a few minutes later the indicator whacked into the rod and a bow wave made off down the reeds. as soon as I conected with the fish the hook came adrift.
The reed line never recovered from that incident and although I took a few more bream I again had that wasted opportunity feeling. Oh yeah and still no tench.
So, any lessons learnt? I was fishing 2 rods and with activety on both rods I feel my attention was divided, maybe I'll stick to 1 rod next time. Secondly I feel I was fishing a bit light for what may come along so I'll upgrade to 6lb line with 5lb hook link. I also seemed to get my ledger bait twitched and hung up in the weed stems so I'll use a float instead.
Wonder what time we'll get finished this week!!
Farlows, July
Last week for once work was kind to me and I managed to get two early finishes and with Farlows only being around the corner it was a simple choice. All day I had struggled with the choice between carp and tench, the descision of where to fish was fairly simple as the gates are locked at 8 pm and I wanted an easy walk out as my car would be on the road so the bottom corner it was! Carp were rolling off the tip off one island and instantly the scales tipped in favour of carp. I rushed to the on site shop to get some bollies only to find it had shut!! At this point I should have re-thought my plan but foolishly I didnt. In my bag I always keep some meat and some corn so although I had no faith in the meat it went on as bait. The whole rig plus corn and pellets went into a PVA bag and was cast towards the island.
All evening I got small twitches but nothing more and I came to the conclusion it was only small fish pecking away atthe bait. And so it was at dusk that I packed away kicking myself over a wasted fishless evening.
All evening I got small twitches but nothing more and I came to the conclusion it was only small fish pecking away atthe bait. And so it was at dusk that I packed away kicking myself over a wasted fishless evening.
Monday, 2 July 2007
Perch and more perch
Its been over a month since I last wet a line and a trip has been long over due. I managed to snatch a few hours tonight at my local venue, the reservoir. With the venue selected ( its closest! ) all I needed to do was decide what I was going to be chasing. In a round about way Pete and little Jim decided for me, they are currently in in Germany chasing huge carp and have taken my swingers and optonics so it was a fairly easy choice to go for perch and what ever I could muster on a float rod with magots.
A large lob worm on a size 12 finished off a sliding paternoster rig ang and this was fished against a likely looking weed bed, an optonic and ultra light bobins were the final touch. I also fished a float rod to see what else might come my way and this was baited with 2 maggots on a size 16 hook.
From the word go I had action on both rods with small perch on the maggots and more small perch harrassing the worm. The bites on the ledger set up were fairly wild though the amount i missed led me to believe they were only small perch scurrying about with the worm. My plan was to wade through the smaller fish in the hope of picking up some better ones but alas it never quite worked out and the best I managed was a couple of fish about 6 to 8oz.
I had been feeding a small amount of corn and pellet alongside the maggots on the float line and mid evening the float slid away again but this time it was something a little different. I managed to gain a little line but then the fish turned and ran leaving a huge bow wave and me minus a hook.
The small perch kept coming untill nearly dusk when both rods went quiet. All in all it was a great night and felt great to be back on the bank.
A large lob worm on a size 12 finished off a sliding paternoster rig ang and this was fished against a likely looking weed bed, an optonic and ultra light bobins were the final touch. I also fished a float rod to see what else might come my way and this was baited with 2 maggots on a size 16 hook.
From the word go I had action on both rods with small perch on the maggots and more small perch harrassing the worm. The bites on the ledger set up were fairly wild though the amount i missed led me to believe they were only small perch scurrying about with the worm. My plan was to wade through the smaller fish in the hope of picking up some better ones but alas it never quite worked out and the best I managed was a couple of fish about 6 to 8oz.
I had been feeding a small amount of corn and pellet alongside the maggots on the float line and mid evening the float slid away again but this time it was something a little different. I managed to gain a little line but then the fish turned and ran leaving a huge bow wave and me minus a hook.
The small perch kept coming untill nearly dusk when both rods went quiet. All in all it was a great night and felt great to be back on the bank.
Monday, 21 May 2007
Loche Park
I was given an update to the newly opened loche park in Redcar the other day, 'its full of small carp mate' they said, 'you cant go wrong!'. So I loaded up my gear and headed to the lake this morning. Having never tried method feeder fishing I thought I'd give it a go. The lake is shallow, no more than 3 foot, and a narrow island running down the centre of most of it means you never have to chuck it far. I tackled up a light feeder rod with 4lb line, a small method feeder and a short 3lb hook link to a size 12 hook. The groundbait mix was tuna, black groundbait, corn, meat and pellet.
Full of confidence I cast in and set the buzzer. Within 5 minute I had a screaming line bite and thoughts like 'too easy' sprung to mind. it was a full 2 hrs later and half a dozen casts before a got a positive take and a common of abaout a pound slid into the net. And that, as they say, was that!
It was a good reminder that if something seems too easy then it probably is! however it was nice wetting a line again. On the way home I dropped into the resevoir to have a look around and found it completely deserted and looking fantastic. I know where I'll be heading next time!
Full of confidence I cast in and set the buzzer. Within 5 minute I had a screaming line bite and thoughts like 'too easy' sprung to mind. it was a full 2 hrs later and half a dozen casts before a got a positive take and a common of abaout a pound slid into the net. And that, as they say, was that!
It was a good reminder that if something seems too easy then it probably is! however it was nice wetting a line again. On the way home I dropped into the resevoir to have a look around and found it completely deserted and looking fantastic. I know where I'll be heading next time!
Tuesday, 15 May 2007
New River
I've been away working down near Ware in Herts, damming up what is essentially a concrete lined canal which carries water to treatment plants in london. The idea was to dam off a section then drain it to fix a leak and today was the pumping out day. The reason I mention it was because my final job was to get in with a net to rescue any fish which could be found in the mud. The main point of interest other than a few jack pike were a pair of reasonable sized perch, maybe a pound and a half in wieght. Talking to the British waterways rep I learnt that there are quite a few pike to double figures and several larger carp further downstream.
The only down side is that for safety reasons there is no fishing allowed, I'm sure though that if a quiet stretch could be found .........!
The only down side is that for safety reasons there is no fishing allowed, I'm sure though that if a quiet stretch could be found .........!
Monday, 23 April 2007
Work!
As I write this I've got my dog staring at the apple core in my hand, he's so easily pleased. Me on the other hand I've got work and other commitments that seem to keep getting in the way of my fishing. Do you ever wonder when you'll be back on the bank? I'll let you know when I get back. Good luck.
Thursday, 12 April 2007
Recomended web sites, Fish Southwest
Recomended web sites, Fish Southeast
After surfing around on the internet I came accross a site run by Paul Orford called Fish Southeast. Its a gtreat site with loads of usefull links and tips. Theres also a great selection of venues and a diary of his exploits. Its definitely a site to keep returning to. The site address is www.fishsoutheast.co.uk
Friday, 6 April 2007
Concealment
One of the biggest surprises on my return to the sport has been the 'real tree' pattern on just about everything. Now I'm a bit of a traditionalist and favour the militarys DPM pattern. On a recent trip to Willow Lakes we got around to discussing the pros and cons. Let me start by explaining how I believe fish in general behave. I dont believe they are inteligent enough to pick out our outline from the background but rather they respond to movement. A good friend told a story of hooking a huge barbel and played it for quite a long period, during this time he believes the fish didnt know it was hooked. The sudden end to the fight came when his accomplice moved his arm to point at the fish at close range, spooked it and instantly parted the line. They had been in view of the fish from the begining but the barbel responded not to thier outline but to the sudden movement.
Responding to movement is merely a reflex designed to avoid predetors whilst identifying an outline is a lot more sophisticated. There are things we can do to avoid this motion from being detected, we can stay low and definitely avoid being silouheted on the skyline, move slowly and wear clothing to break up our outline.
This is where camaflage comes into play. DPM (disruptive pattern material) is a good all round pattern which works well against many differnt backgrounds. Real tree patterns are amazing BUT only against bush and tree backgrounds, horses for courses I suppose but I do believe that DPM will give a better break up against a greater range of backgrounds.
A few weeks ago at Farlows Lake I manage to creep up on a pair of pike hard up against the bank, I stood over them for about ten minutes and the only thing to spook them was when I moved my arm to flick a boilie (I was just testing them!) in front of them. There was and maybe still is a matchman who I believe may have been called Jan Porter who dressed every time in red. He caught a huge number of fish and was extremely successfull without a single hint of dark clothing let alone DPM or real tree!
This is the direction our conversation took and we questioned the point of real tree or even DPM rod holdalls, bait buckets and luggage. These after all are items which spend most of their time in the grass not moving and if the fish are close enough for their concealment to be of importance then a million other things will have given the game away long before such as hands, face, rods, reels, bite alarms......
Finally the other main thing to spook the fish other than movement is sound, maybe even more so. I believe careless footfalls spook more fish than anything else. Bear in mind that a footstep can be 'heard' by fish through ground and water for tens of meters.
Next time you are on the bank think about your position, movement and noise. Its a good habit no matter what range you are fishing.
Responding to movement is merely a reflex designed to avoid predetors whilst identifying an outline is a lot more sophisticated. There are things we can do to avoid this motion from being detected, we can stay low and definitely avoid being silouheted on the skyline, move slowly and wear clothing to break up our outline.
This is where camaflage comes into play. DPM (disruptive pattern material) is a good all round pattern which works well against many differnt backgrounds. Real tree patterns are amazing BUT only against bush and tree backgrounds, horses for courses I suppose but I do believe that DPM will give a better break up against a greater range of backgrounds.
A few weeks ago at Farlows Lake I manage to creep up on a pair of pike hard up against the bank, I stood over them for about ten minutes and the only thing to spook them was when I moved my arm to flick a boilie (I was just testing them!) in front of them. There was and maybe still is a matchman who I believe may have been called Jan Porter who dressed every time in red. He caught a huge number of fish and was extremely successfull without a single hint of dark clothing let alone DPM or real tree!
This is the direction our conversation took and we questioned the point of real tree or even DPM rod holdalls, bait buckets and luggage. These after all are items which spend most of their time in the grass not moving and if the fish are close enough for their concealment to be of importance then a million other things will have given the game away long before such as hands, face, rods, reels, bite alarms......
Finally the other main thing to spook the fish other than movement is sound, maybe even more so. I believe careless footfalls spook more fish than anything else. Bear in mind that a footstep can be 'heard' by fish through ground and water for tens of meters.
Next time you are on the bank think about your position, movement and noise. Its a good habit no matter what range you are fishing.
Day Tickets
No fishing this week as work has well and truly got in the way! Hopefully I'll be back on the bank in a week or two. Does anyone have details of day ticket waters in the Nottingham area which can be fished in the close season? If you do could you either place them in the comments section or email them to catchemall@hotmail.co.uk . Infact if anyone would like to send fishery details I'd be only too pleased to post them on here as one of my main aims for this site is to swap ideas, solve problems and to broaden horizons.
Hope you're all fishing more than me.
Hope you're all fishing more than me.
Saturday, 31 March 2007
Willow Lakes
Wednesday dawned cold and foggy in Nottingham and at just after five am its was dark too. Into the car, carefull not to wake the dog on the way out, and drive two and a half hours down the M1 to Willow Lakes near Hatfield. I was planning to be there by dawn but due to traffic I actually saw the sun rising on the motorway. It was 7.30 by the time I arrived and reached the swim and found my good friend Pete Rutledge waiting for me. Willow Lake is a gravel pit and has a very good head of carp along with most other species but it is the carp that seem to attract most of the attention. carp from a few pounds to well over 30lbs are to be found along with some very large uncaught fish.
Although the sun was shining strongly there was a thick frost on the ground. PVA bags are a well tried method so my first rod was set up on a bolt rig in a PVA bag filled with broken boilies and koi pellets and chucked just short of a gravel bar. The second rod I decided to try something a bit different and used a stringer with loose boilies pulted around it. Pete arrived with a cup of tea as I was tackling up the second rod just in time to see the first rod scream away. A mirror of about 10lbs put up a good fight before sliding into the net. 'Hmm' I thought 'this could be an interesting day!'.
Finally both rods in the water and it was time to time to catch my breath. Not for long though as about 10 minutes later Pete was in and landed a common of about the same size. 'Hmm, a very interesting day! Wonder if we have enough bait?'. About thirty minutes later I was in again and another small mirror graced the net, now I knew we didnt have enough bait for this pace.
And then it stopped, not even nine am, three fish on the bank and it all went quiet! Pete managed another two small fish in the afternoon and we both landed a couple of bream but that was that.Dusk was going to be the time to catch we decided, but come the failing light our indicators barely twitched.
I fished the venue in early february in the cold and it fished better. Pete informed me that he and his nephew Jimmy fished it the week before in a blizard and it fished better. So what went wrong? Also I only managed one twitch all day on my stringer rod, how come PVA bags of smaller feed was more successfull than 4 or 5 boilies on a stringer with another dozen in a loose area? Anyone have any ideas?
On a different theme, I was using my new bite indicators,FOX mk2 swingers, and must say they are excelent but more of them later.
I will be back to Willow lakes and very soon because I do know the fish very well on most sesions...... just not last wednesday!
Although the sun was shining strongly there was a thick frost on the ground. PVA bags are a well tried method so my first rod was set up on a bolt rig in a PVA bag filled with broken boilies and koi pellets and chucked just short of a gravel bar. The second rod I decided to try something a bit different and used a stringer with loose boilies pulted around it. Pete arrived with a cup of tea as I was tackling up the second rod just in time to see the first rod scream away. A mirror of about 10lbs put up a good fight before sliding into the net. 'Hmm' I thought 'this could be an interesting day!'.
Finally both rods in the water and it was time to time to catch my breath. Not for long though as about 10 minutes later Pete was in and landed a common of about the same size. 'Hmm, a very interesting day! Wonder if we have enough bait?'. About thirty minutes later I was in again and another small mirror graced the net, now I knew we didnt have enough bait for this pace.
And then it stopped, not even nine am, three fish on the bank and it all went quiet! Pete managed another two small fish in the afternoon and we both landed a couple of bream but that was that.Dusk was going to be the time to catch we decided, but come the failing light our indicators barely twitched.
I fished the venue in early february in the cold and it fished better. Pete informed me that he and his nephew Jimmy fished it the week before in a blizard and it fished better. So what went wrong? Also I only managed one twitch all day on my stringer rod, how come PVA bags of smaller feed was more successfull than 4 or 5 boilies on a stringer with another dozen in a loose area? Anyone have any ideas?
On a different theme, I was using my new bite indicators,FOX mk2 swingers, and must say they are excelent but more of them later.
I will be back to Willow lakes and very soon because I do know the fish very well on most sesions...... just not last wednesday!
Monday, 26 March 2007
Items For Sale
To advertise any items for sale for free email your details and a brief description to catchemall@hotmail.co.uk and I'll post them as soon as I can. Items will stay on the board for 8 weeks and can then be resubmitted. Thanks.
Saturday, 24 March 2007
Clothing
With the winter still fresh in my mind and some cold wet sesions still a vivid memory I thought I might share some rambling opinions on keeping warm and dry. Firstly let me explain where my experience comes from. After leaving colege I joined the army and one of several postings saw me working and training in Norway during the winter, my next posting took me to Bosnia over winter too, how lucky is that!!!! On leaving the forces I was drawn into the world of comercial diver. So as you can see I've made a living from being cold and wet and feel reasonably well placed to talk about it.
Lets start off with some basics.
1. Clothing works by trapping air within its fibres and allowing our body heat to warm it up. Different clothing has different jobs, a base layer traps a small amount of air very close to the skin, thermal layers (often made from fleece) trap more air within them, windproof out garments prevent our warm air being displaced by wind and finally waterproofs do exactly as they describe and keep the rain out.
2. Affects from the elements depend on three factors COLD, WET and WIND. Any two of these conditions can really cause us trouble, therefore if we can excluded them from our person then we stay warm and dry.
Whilst traing for winter in Norway the main rule for clothing was to dress loosly and in layers, in this way we trap lots of air to be warmed and the layer system means we can add or remove layers as conditions dictate. The army has even adopted the system accross the board with what they call their 'onion skin' design in their '95 kit. The other thing to remember is to avoid tight boots.
Clothing can be bought from lots of outlets depending on your budget.
Army surplus shops have everything you will ever need and cheap too.
Tackle shops and mail oder companies sell a good selection of clothing.
Walking and climbing outlets sell some excelent though pricey gear.
And finally, diving shops do a great range in thermal under suits.
Just put all this into perspective let me give you an idea what I'd be dressed up in on the worst possible day. First on is a long sleeved vest, on top of that is a T shirt (extra layer around torso without adding bulk to arms), a jumper (ussually fleece), fleece jacket, army issue windproof artic smock and finally if nescesary a set of army issue waterproofs. If its really cold a pair of Ron Hill running bottoms can go under my combat trousers. This selection is topped off with a good fleece hat, gloves of your choice and boots to suit the ground.
The beauty of this system is that layers can be removed to match temperature and weather conditions or inside a bivvy or behind a brolly etc.
If you decide to go the army surplus route for waterproofs there are three main choices; goretex, waterproofs with a black coating inside and then those with a thicker clear coating inside. Incidently, that is the order in which I would choose them too.
Most of my gear is army surplus because is very good and well priced. Better clothing is available from walking and climbing shops but the prices start to rise very steeply. I would recomend steering clear of thick undersuits for all but the worst weather but if you decide you want one try one the many diving shops for a different angle (mine is an Arctic 2 piece from Fourth Element and its brilliant but far from cheap) Northern Diver would be a good place to start.
So there it is my ramblings almost complete! Dress in several thin loose layers instead of one thick one and keep your head and hands covered whenever possible. Try to avoid overheating while carrying all your gear to your peg too. Finally my favourite piece of clothing is an arabic type of scarf called a Shamagh, warm and versatile. If anyone has any queries or comments then please post them in the comments section. Roll on summer!
Stay warm and dry!
Lets start off with some basics.
1. Clothing works by trapping air within its fibres and allowing our body heat to warm it up. Different clothing has different jobs, a base layer traps a small amount of air very close to the skin, thermal layers (often made from fleece) trap more air within them, windproof out garments prevent our warm air being displaced by wind and finally waterproofs do exactly as they describe and keep the rain out.
2. Affects from the elements depend on three factors COLD, WET and WIND. Any two of these conditions can really cause us trouble, therefore if we can excluded them from our person then we stay warm and dry.
Whilst traing for winter in Norway the main rule for clothing was to dress loosly and in layers, in this way we trap lots of air to be warmed and the layer system means we can add or remove layers as conditions dictate. The army has even adopted the system accross the board with what they call their 'onion skin' design in their '95 kit. The other thing to remember is to avoid tight boots.
Clothing can be bought from lots of outlets depending on your budget.
Army surplus shops have everything you will ever need and cheap too.
Tackle shops and mail oder companies sell a good selection of clothing.
Walking and climbing outlets sell some excelent though pricey gear.
And finally, diving shops do a great range in thermal under suits.
Just put all this into perspective let me give you an idea what I'd be dressed up in on the worst possible day. First on is a long sleeved vest, on top of that is a T shirt (extra layer around torso without adding bulk to arms), a jumper (ussually fleece), fleece jacket, army issue windproof artic smock and finally if nescesary a set of army issue waterproofs. If its really cold a pair of Ron Hill running bottoms can go under my combat trousers. This selection is topped off with a good fleece hat, gloves of your choice and boots to suit the ground.
The beauty of this system is that layers can be removed to match temperature and weather conditions or inside a bivvy or behind a brolly etc.
If you decide to go the army surplus route for waterproofs there are three main choices; goretex, waterproofs with a black coating inside and then those with a thicker clear coating inside. Incidently, that is the order in which I would choose them too.
Most of my gear is army surplus because is very good and well priced. Better clothing is available from walking and climbing shops but the prices start to rise very steeply. I would recomend steering clear of thick undersuits for all but the worst weather but if you decide you want one try one the many diving shops for a different angle (mine is an Arctic 2 piece from Fourth Element and its brilliant but far from cheap) Northern Diver would be a good place to start.
So there it is my ramblings almost complete! Dress in several thin loose layers instead of one thick one and keep your head and hands covered whenever possible. Try to avoid overheating while carrying all your gear to your peg too. Finally my favourite piece of clothing is an arabic type of scarf called a Shamagh, warm and versatile. If anyone has any queries or comments then please post them in the comments section. Roll on summer!
Stay warm and dry!
Wednesday, 21 March 2007
Farlows
As I expected work did take me south again as it ussually does, hence my absence for 10 days. The thing I didnt expect was that my day off changed from wednesday to thursday or in other words the last day of the season to the first day of the close season! So the intended trip to the Thames fishing for pike was off but where was I going to go?
My work is usually in Uxbridge and a quick look through the Yellow Pages brought me the answer, Farlows Lakes near Iver which is litereally 10 minutes drive away. Even better than the proximity they even have a shop on site with all the bait you could ever want and free advice and inside information too.
By 10 o'clock I was set up in the top corner of the motorway bank well away from everyone else and baited up with Dynamite Baits 'Spicy shrimp and Prawn' boilies. Because of the presure these fish receive I opted for a running lead with a 14 inch hook length and size 8 hook. An island ran diagonally in front of me about 30 to 40 m out and as recomended the 2 baits were cast reasonably tight against this feature. Again because of the presure I avoided PVA bags and pulted 15 to 20 boiles and some loose Koi pelets around each bait. The other reason for avoiding PVA bags was that I knew with my rusty casting and the accuracy needed I'd probably need 3 or 4 attempts to get the baits in the right spot.
By 2 pm I was begining to loose a bit of faith when off went the right hand rod and I pulled nicely into a fish. All seemed to go too well untill the fish arrived under the rod tip and seemed at last to wake up and plunged around on a short line for a few minutes. Finely with a sigh of relief i slipped the net under a well conditioned mirror carp that pulled the scales around to 13lb 2 oz. Not a massive fish by any standards but my biggest for a very very long time.
That was to be my only action for the day, because the gates get locked at 6 I had to pack up early before dusk to avoid being locked in.
The attached picture is the carp of the day, my question is though, how can you take good photos when on your own which give a sense of scale? Anyone have any ideas?
Next week sees me off again and with any luck my good friend Pete will be meeting up with me at Willow lakes inHertfordshire. Fingers crossed, be lucky.
My work is usually in Uxbridge and a quick look through the Yellow Pages brought me the answer, Farlows Lakes near Iver which is litereally 10 minutes drive away. Even better than the proximity they even have a shop on site with all the bait you could ever want and free advice and inside information too.
By 10 o'clock I was set up in the top corner of the motorway bank well away from everyone else and baited up with Dynamite Baits 'Spicy shrimp and Prawn' boilies. Because of the presure these fish receive I opted for a running lead with a 14 inch hook length and size 8 hook. An island ran diagonally in front of me about 30 to 40 m out and as recomended the 2 baits were cast reasonably tight against this feature. Again because of the presure I avoided PVA bags and pulted 15 to 20 boiles and some loose Koi pelets around each bait. The other reason for avoiding PVA bags was that I knew with my rusty casting and the accuracy needed I'd probably need 3 or 4 attempts to get the baits in the right spot.
By 2 pm I was begining to loose a bit of faith when off went the right hand rod and I pulled nicely into a fish. All seemed to go too well untill the fish arrived under the rod tip and seemed at last to wake up and plunged around on a short line for a few minutes. Finely with a sigh of relief i slipped the net under a well conditioned mirror carp that pulled the scales around to 13lb 2 oz. Not a massive fish by any standards but my biggest for a very very long time.
That was to be my only action for the day, because the gates get locked at 6 I had to pack up early before dusk to avoid being locked in.
The attached picture is the carp of the day, my question is though, how can you take good photos when on your own which give a sense of scale? Anyone have any ideas?
Next week sees me off again and with any luck my good friend Pete will be meeting up with me at Willow lakes inHertfordshire. Fingers crossed, be lucky.
Friday, 9 March 2007
Return
As the forcast predicted it was indeed cold and windy for my first trip back to the reservoir where I really started fishing. What surprised me most was the excitement I felt as I drove up the track.
Things hadn't changed much though there were more trees and overhanging bushes than there had been on my last trip, that was more than 15 years ago. I chose a swim out of the wind and was pleasantly surprised by how warm it was in the sun. My original plan was to fish only a float rod for roach and perch but on seeing the old place I couldnt resist putting a carp rod down the margin. Throughout the day there were several dips and lifts on the wagler but nothing to call a solid bite, a blank was definitely on for my first trip back. With only an hour or two to go I made an effort and dropped to a size 22 hook and dotted the float right down, this resulted almost imeadiately in a bite. Relief! A small roach was swung to hand followed by 2 more which manage to shed the hook and a few that didnt. Then the perch seemed to move in amongst the roach but not one was over 4 inches long. It also appeared that the bites came within a few minutes of being cast.
So the lessons learnt today? Well when its quiet it definitely pays to keep busy and go fine with the tackle with regular recasting. I also learnt that all the carp lads are fishing boilies on stringers with no sign of any particles .................. that'll be 10 kilos of black eyed beans then please! I reckon that doing something completely different on the bait front will pay off.
Apparently theres some good perch in the water too but no one seems to target them so that'll be another trip.
Work is taking me south for a week or two, I might just scrape a day piking on the Thames at Chertsey before the curtain goes down on this season but I'll let you know!
Things hadn't changed much though there were more trees and overhanging bushes than there had been on my last trip, that was more than 15 years ago. I chose a swim out of the wind and was pleasantly surprised by how warm it was in the sun. My original plan was to fish only a float rod for roach and perch but on seeing the old place I couldnt resist putting a carp rod down the margin. Throughout the day there were several dips and lifts on the wagler but nothing to call a solid bite, a blank was definitely on for my first trip back. With only an hour or two to go I made an effort and dropped to a size 22 hook and dotted the float right down, this resulted almost imeadiately in a bite. Relief! A small roach was swung to hand followed by 2 more which manage to shed the hook and a few that didnt. Then the perch seemed to move in amongst the roach but not one was over 4 inches long. It also appeared that the bites came within a few minutes of being cast.
So the lessons learnt today? Well when its quiet it definitely pays to keep busy and go fine with the tackle with regular recasting. I also learnt that all the carp lads are fishing boilies on stringers with no sign of any particles .................. that'll be 10 kilos of black eyed beans then please! I reckon that doing something completely different on the bait front will pay off.
Apparently theres some good perch in the water too but no one seems to target them so that'll be another trip.
Work is taking me south for a week or two, I might just scrape a day piking on the Thames at Chertsey before the curtain goes down on this season but I'll let you know!
Thursday, 8 March 2007
A Journey Into Angling
This should maybe titled 'A Journey Back Into Angling' as I've recently rediscovered my passion for fishing, a sport I effectively left 17 or 18 years ago. I cant really say why I stopped fishing but I suppose it mainly had to do with the end of my teenage years and joining the army meant that I was no longer at home with my gear. Does that sound familiar? Like most lapsed anglers, though, I never stopped looking and wondering every time I passed a pond, lake or river. I was never the greatest angler so hopefully this time around will be more successfull.
So here I am again! Having started up a few months ago I'm still using the gear I owned when I stopped though I have bought some new stuff over the last few months my old Conoflex glass fibre rods and Ryobi reels are still in evidence. Its a strange thing to say but after all these years away things have completely changed and at the same time stayed exactly the same. Bolt rigs are still the order of the day and used unquestioningly, pike rigs are identical and maggots still catch almost everything.
I've had a few sesions over the winter with enough fish to keep me happy mainly on the Trent where I took a few pike including a personal best 18lb fish on a sardine. The rivers have been very full this winter making fishing them a bit hit and miss. I fished a late afternoon sesion on the Trent, the steps section just upstream of Trent Bridge in Nottingham, I spent hours trotting a single maggot under a stick float trying in vain to catch anything at all from a river flowing about 5 to 6 foot above normal. I would have been happy with anything of any size that afternoon, my one and only bite resulted in a heavy slow dogged fight which plodded around for 5 minutes or so before I slipped the net under 5lb 8oz chub. I was nervous to say the least with a size 18 hook on a 1lb 10oz bottom!
I'm off to a local reservoir tomorow but the weater isnt lookin very good, cold and windy. It holds a special place in my memories as its where I spent most of my spare time as a kid and where I did most of my carping. Its only 3 1/2 acres and esentialy a square concrete hole in the ground! Roach, bream and perch are my target tomorow but I'll be back for the carp later.
I hope to use this space for you to answer my queries and maybe to post some of yours to get answered too. I also hope to be able to write up on new bits and pieces I buy and post a list of tackle and bait supliers and venues.
So here I am again! Having started up a few months ago I'm still using the gear I owned when I stopped though I have bought some new stuff over the last few months my old Conoflex glass fibre rods and Ryobi reels are still in evidence. Its a strange thing to say but after all these years away things have completely changed and at the same time stayed exactly the same. Bolt rigs are still the order of the day and used unquestioningly, pike rigs are identical and maggots still catch almost everything.
I've had a few sesions over the winter with enough fish to keep me happy mainly on the Trent where I took a few pike including a personal best 18lb fish on a sardine. The rivers have been very full this winter making fishing them a bit hit and miss. I fished a late afternoon sesion on the Trent, the steps section just upstream of Trent Bridge in Nottingham, I spent hours trotting a single maggot under a stick float trying in vain to catch anything at all from a river flowing about 5 to 6 foot above normal. I would have been happy with anything of any size that afternoon, my one and only bite resulted in a heavy slow dogged fight which plodded around for 5 minutes or so before I slipped the net under 5lb 8oz chub. I was nervous to say the least with a size 18 hook on a 1lb 10oz bottom!
I'm off to a local reservoir tomorow but the weater isnt lookin very good, cold and windy. It holds a special place in my memories as its where I spent most of my spare time as a kid and where I did most of my carping. Its only 3 1/2 acres and esentialy a square concrete hole in the ground! Roach, bream and perch are my target tomorow but I'll be back for the carp later.
I hope to use this space for you to answer my queries and maybe to post some of yours to get answered too. I also hope to be able to write up on new bits and pieces I buy and post a list of tackle and bait supliers and venues.
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