South Shields Pier

The guys are off to South Shields pier tonight in search of cod. Its been fairly flat this week so it'll be interesting to see how they get on.

Rod Rings

I dusted off my old surf rod and first appearnces suggest that my 30 year old glass fibre blanks may still have what it takes. The proof of the pudding will obviously be in the compression when its loaded up behind a 4oz lead and big bait. The one thing I did notice however is that the chrome covering on the budget (cheap) rings is now not so smooth. The question is though is it worth reringing the rod (compared to the price of a new cheapish rod), will the rough surface affect the line or is it woth trying to polish the internal surfaces. I would appreciate any suggestions anyone may have.

Tackle Recycling

Am I the only one who looks at old tackle you haven't used and has a sudden desire to get it out and dust it off? Maybe it's the Chris Yates effect? Anyone has looked through my posts will see I'm all in favour of new tackle and baits but I also have a fond eye for my old gear too. This weeks target is my old Daiwa Surf rod with a view to using it on some local pier and jetty marks. The question is, at 30 years old will the glass blanks still be in any condition to launch a large lead and bait without breaking? Well theres only one way to find out!

New Challenges

I haven't done any sea fishing for years and years so I think it might dust my gear off and give it a go this winter. I'll let you know how it goes. More gear to buy! Looking at visiting Staithes pier (Staithes is where Captain Cook served his seamanship apprentiship) and Whitby pier in search of cod, whiting and coalfish (locally known as billet) Its nice to see new visitors to the site.

Foxy Ears

I think my favourite year ever was 1988. I was free to do more or less what I wanted, i loved the music (mostly), drove a great car (Alpha Romeo Alpha Sud 1.3Ti) and had a bit of cash in my pocket (usually). As a result I still have my beloved Optonic Super Compact bite alarms, they cost a substantial amount at the time and I had to earn the right to use tackle like that and not just turn up with a credit card and and walk out of the shop with an arm full of gear. To their credit I still think theyre great alarms and if for only 2 drawbacks I'd still be using them a. for overnight sessions a wireless sounder box is needed and as far as I know you cant get them for the aging optonics and b. the V that accomodates the rod is too shallow and violent runs have a habit of dragging the rod off the rest. So there it is, my optonics have been relegated to the back of the draw. At least they were until my old pal Jay introduced me to snag ears, basically 2 vertical bars that fit behind the alarm that the rod slides down between and can't be dragged sideways past. A quick look on Ebay shows that sets of 3 snag ears can be bought for under a tenner however I settled for a set from Fox which came in at £12.99 each. The bottom half of the vertical bars are protected by a rubber sleeve to protect the blank and the vertical posts can be unscrewed from the base when not needed. The whole set is made out of anodised aluminium and look the business. It would be fair to say they're not the cheapest solution on the market but they have brought my aging Optonics back to life....... if only during daylight hours.

Look What I Saw

My other great love to fishing is diving, its an interesting perspective on fishing. I saw these pollock drifting through the kelp off Saltburn Point. I managed to get the picture using a Sea and Sea MX10 35mm camera and strobe.

Say Hello

I was just checking the statistics on the blog and have noticed that I have readers from all over the world. Why dont you drop us a line to let us know where you're fishing and what you're catching?

Piking Again

I met a very old friend of mine today in search of some pike on the river Swale, I think it must be nearly 20 years since we fished together and I was looking forward to seeing what the day would bring. We worked our way along the Cundall Hall stretch using deadbaits on sliding float rigs and wobling deadbaits. The idea was to spend no more than half an hour in each swim before moving on. My old pal Jay was first away with a jack around 5 or 6lb on a Sardine followed by my own float bobbing away to signal the arrival of a 6 or 7lb jack. Job done. The river was carrying a lot of colour and was 2 or 3 feet up and pushing through. We ended up using 2 oz leads on the float rigs to keep the baits in position. It was a refreshing change to be carrying only the bare essentials and keeping mobile. I had dusted of my old Conoflex glass 2lb carp rod and was reminded what a lovely smooth through action that it gives. We both fished hard but had to settle for a single fish each. The stretch is great value for money at £5 per day and can potentially give great sport for pike, chub and barbel.

Do Me A Favour

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Perch

I was just wondering if anyone had any success using deadbaits for perch? I was thinking of using small deadbaits like whitebaits with loose fed maggots to avoid the unwanted attention of smaller perch. Anynody have any thoughts?

Linear

A very good friend of mine is off to linear this weekend and I wish him all the very best. Lets see how they get on.

Last Gasp Whacker

There are several we accept as gospel in fishing lore. The one on my mind on Monday night was that it’s always worth fishing into a mild wind and in colder weather it’s accepted that we fish on the back of the wind. I arrived on my local water to find Kev following the rules and fishing into a mild westerly, a decision which had already brought him a fish of around 12lbs. The problem is that how mild is mild and as the temperature fell after dark would it still be the right move. As usual I had arrived after work around 4 and intended staying until 10 ish. I opted to fish in the shelter in the far corner based more on a gut feeling and the fact that I'd caught there recently. I fished the same area the previous week in a howling gale and failed to get a single run which is not a surprise in difficult conditions on a short session. I had a feeling that time was running out, the year was sipping away, the mild spell before the next big blow and cold weather was running short and the number of sessions where I can still set up in daylight are becoming a rarity. Still using DNA Baits Secret 7 boilies I cast 2 baits around 20yds into deeper water and a third rod down the margin. I started to doubt my descion when Kev managed a second fish and my indicators still hadn’t moved. By the time darkness had well and truly descended time really was running out. Much to my relief the right hand rod finally chugged off and to be honest I initially thought I'd hooked a bream but the fish managed to gain in weight and made quickly ended up on the surface. Other than a few heart stopping moments as the line pinged off a fin or two she was quickly in the net. The hook came out in the net and she pulled the scales down to 18lb 5oz which is amazing considering the fight. I bought a gadget from EBay. A £1.99 gadget. A gadget I should have bought years ago. It’s a camera adapter that attaches the camera to a bank stick. Brilliant. Brilliant but watch out for the flash in the dark.... the facial expressions can be spurring to say the least.

Red Letters

After an initial success on the new bait the next session drew a blank but then again so did everyone else so I put my confidence crisis on hold. Due to a family comitment I didn't make it back on to the bank until last night. It was a warm day but without ripple but I still felt extremeley optimistic. By dusk my confidence was on the slide and had to work had to remind myself that the session was still young. Shortly after dark the right hand rod raced off and after a good plodding fight a mirror of 15lb 1oz slid into the net.

Feeling very relieved I recast and sat back to take it in, an hour later the left hand rod went off and the fish stayed deep. The fish managed to stay deep and despite back leads picked up the centre line dragging the lead completely out of position. A mirror of 17lb 3oz was a really nice bonus and incidently came on a S7 glugged in Pure Krill.

So there I was with gear in dissaray and baits pulled out position feeling relieved and fully over the moon and coming to the conclusion that it may be time to pack up when out of the blue the centre rod flew off. I was amazed, the last thing I imagined after having the bait and lead dragged across the bottom was to have it picked up. It was then I realised I'd left the net next to my unhooking mat at the top of the bank. after some deft shuffling and back winding I had the net in the water with a 15lb 4oz in it

So 3 good fish in a short evening session, I'd call that a right old result.

After the Dought

To further muddy the water I visited my local water armed with my new bait. I managed to land 2 carp to rapturous applause from a sympathetic Kev. The first pulled the scales to 14lb 15oz and the second was a common which may have struggled almost to double figures.

After tying a brand new wallet of rigs, changed bait and rethought my tactics it came as a huge relief to bank a pair of fish in a short session.

The Great Bait Debate

Its an age old discussion that's heard on every venue....Bait and does it really have a massive impact on someone's catch rate? Up until a few months ago I would have agreed that if you put a good quality bait in front of a feeding carp and it hadn't been caught more than once or twice on it then there's no reason it wouldn't take it. That was before I came across Trigger with Blue Oyster. No one else has any trouble catching on it but I can't get so much as a twitch on it. On the plus side my good friend Scotty has supplied me with a some new DNA baits secret 7 and a big bottle of Sticky's Pure Liquid Krill. Lets see if that ends the blank spell.

At Last

I've been fishing now for somewhere around 32 years... maybe more. A few years ago I set out some targets and monumentally failed to hit any of them. Once again I ended up on my concrete hole in the ground and arrived to find a warm wind blowing into the east bank, I grabbed my holdall and dropped it in the middle of the bank and returned to fetch my rod holdall from the car. as I returned I saw at least a dozen fish packed into the corner I was passing. Now once I've set my mind on a swim I find it very hard to change but this was irresistable. I dropped a rod into the corner on a running lead and continued to set up, within minutes the swinger raised steadily up and the free spool raced off. After a steady dogged fight I had the fish under the rod tip and by the way it still hadnt come off the bottom I knew it was better than average. When she finally slipped into the net I knew it was the biggest fish in the place and turned out to be an easy PB at 23lb 8oz it was also my first 20.

And that would have been easily enough, just as it was getting dark the swinger of the centre rod rose steadily and I managed to hit it early. After a good fight a long lean mirror slipped into the net and pulled the scales down to 12lb 3oz.

Perfect evening session.

No Such Thing As A Bad Move

So the world cup is on and everyone seems to be staying indoors to watch the beautiful game, I on the other hand was out trying to catch some carp. I chose my favourite local concrete hole in the ground and set up in a corner with a warm wind blowing straight into it, baited up 2 margin spots and a spot at the bottom of the slope and sat back to wait. It didn't take long before the expected happened. Without warning a young lad set up on the next peg right over a margin bait, when I suggested that I had a bait right in front of him he replied 'its ok I'm casting out there!!'. The final straw came when a guy sat on top of the other margin rod. I wouldn't have minded but the rest of the place was empty. So with typical huffing and puffing and my bottom lip firmly out I stompped off the far side. The move, as it happened, turned out to be a winner with a 6lb common and a 14lb 2oz mirror falling to a Blue Oyster boilie on an inline lead. WINNER!

And the words of the day are ....

It may well be April first but I managed to make it onto the banks of my favourite concrete hole last night which by my reckoning made it still only march. I picked a corner out of the wind, chucked one into the corner near some old reeds, one down the margin and the other into deeper water. As the light faded the wind dropped and so did the temperature, a thick fog filled the whole place and I started to doubt the wisdom of placing two of the three rods down the margin. In these low temperatures surely the fish would be staying clear of the shallows until the morning and the chance of some sun. 9 pm came and went and I was considering packing up and calling it a night when the corner rod something most interesting, against all the odds the swinger limbed all the way to the top and stopped. Suspecting a bream had snaffled the bait I wound up and lifted into the fish which kited out of the corner and wallowed in front of me with not even token resistance. I was amazed to see the bream change in front of my eyes into a carp. I suppose with hindsight I'm lucky the fish wasn't up for a scrap as the quick release clip holding the hook link to the main line snagged on the net leaving the fish on the outside. Luckily for me the fish waited patiently while I scooped and twisted the net and finally she was mine. She pulled the scales down to 12lb 10oz and whilst not a whacker was certainly more than welcome for a short session after work And the words of the day? Tungsten tubing. I fished a 2 ft section above the hook link to help keep the line down. Ease to fit and quite effective. Well it never did me any harm. Finally the guys were working hard fitting an otter fence to keep the vermin out when I arrived and I can only hope it works. Until next time ..