Tilley Lamp

So heres a story for you... A very good friend of mine whome I was in a mountain and artic unit in the army recently offered me a Tilley Lamp, a parafin fueled storm lantern, which is in its own metal box and still got one of the section commanders name and unit scratched in to the lid. I intend bringing it with me to the coast for some sea fishing this winter but first I have to get it lit. Getting it lit might be a bit of a challenge as I know it hasnt been lit since we dissbanded in 1995 and and it still has fuel in it. As with most cheap items the cost continues to grow with all the bits that need to be bought, Glenn chanrged me a £5.00 for the lamp, a pre heater has just cost me £8.00 off ebay, a fuel bottle was £11.00 from Go Outdoors and finally a bucket full of parafin was about £5.00. Just when you think you have a bargain! As soon as the pre heater arrives we'll see what happens. I only said it was a story, not an interesting one!

Usual Monday

Well the year is rapidly coming to a close and last night there was a definite chill in the air. The big guns had all been on the water in the past few days and struggled to scrape together a fish or 2 each so I wasnt over flowing with confidence even though it was a lovely evening. I went back to using back leads to keep the lines pinned down and also to keep the mainlines out of the way while playing fish on one of the other rods. When the run came I was glad The other lines were out of the way and I didnt need to recast them but the extra weight penduleming around close to the hook made me concerned about the hook pulling. A short scrap mostly near the net preceeded a nice fat mirror of 15lb 8oz pulling the scales down.

Future Plans

The winter is coming and theres no stoping it so all I can do make some plans to get through it as best as possible and hope for the best. firstly I want to do some sea fishing and try using halibut pellet on hair rigs. Maybe even adding something like squid and mackerel strips. I was also considering using a maggot feeder filled with pellet. As always I'd like to have a crack at some big pike with my good friend Jay. Not sure where yet but probably on one of the local rivers. Talking of rivers I'm hoping to get out and try for some roach and chub. As with all plans...... the best laid plans of mice and men!

Under Capenwray

We returned to dive at the flooded quarry near Blackpool known as Capenwray on Sunday. Those big roach made their usual appearance and also the gnarly old trout.

I Love Autumn Fishing

Autumn is always a great time on my local water, I had an eye on the weather and noticed cloud coming in on monday which meant warmer evenings. Sure enough after arriving in my warm gear ready for a chilly night the wind dropped complete and it was surprisingly warm. I agonised briefly whether to fish into the wind or on the back of it if it was going to be on the chilly side. I decided to fish on the back of the wind in my favourite corner but in the end it turned out to be a little acedemic as the wind dropped completely. With all 3 rods set up on simple semi fixed leads and S7 bottom baits I sat back to wait. Shortly after dark my left hand rod indicator dropped back and remained motionless, about 5 minutes later the indicator pulled up nearly back to its original position. I left it for a few more minutes then reeled in to check my rig, on picking up the rod a realised there was a fish on and I reeled a 10lb mirror into the net. The most uninspiring run I've ever had! A short time later the ame rod raced off and a second mirror almost the same size ended up in the net. I was due to pack up but decided to have a last cast because it felt like the kind of night where anything was possible. With a few minutes before I was due to pack up I was congratulating myself on 2 fish when the same rod went off again and it was clear that this was a better fish. Sure enough a lovely common slid into the net and pulled the scales down to 19lb 11oz. Theres every chance the fish could have gone to 20lb as I weighed the fish in my unhooking mat and slipped the old girl back in the same mat. I think the mat absorbed lots of water and so wieghed more than it did when I weighed the fish. Still a great fish and I'll settle for 19lb 11oz.

Gadgets

Lt me get this out in the open, I am a gadget addict! Its amazing the ammount of electronic gadgets that we use on a daily basis espescially when you look back only a few years. I think the same can be said about my fishing too. it started many years ago with bite alarms, the first ones I made myself until finally I could afford some Optonics. I still have my compacts, plus an extra couple, and I remember thinking how amazing they were. I still think theyre brilliant and if they had a remote wireless sounder box I'd still be using them! I may have started the story in the wrong place, perhaps my first fishing gadget was a 35mm camera, esential once my attention turned to carp. Now, of course, the camera is a digital point and shoot Olympus. it wasnt until recently that I got a bank stick adaptor so I could my shots while I fish alone. it was a year or 2 ago that an acquaintance showed me a remote fob for his SLR which enables more than 1 shot at a time to be taken. Apart from my phone I suppose the final piece of kit I cary is a battery pack to recharge my phone. Given that over 30 years ago I started with a 5foot rod and acient reel attached to a float and a worm on the hook I think I'd have been blown away not only by the vast array of gear I now carry but also by the perceived need to carry it.

Still Night

I ventured out onto the bank of my favourite water. Its ideal as its local and I can fish shortish evening sessions. Pete turned up for chat as I was setting up. Pete fished with us in the early days and although I occaisionally see him wandering around I never see him fishing. With the usual banter bout how little I catch he departed just as my left hand rod screamed off. Smuggly I shouted him and hit the run..... only to strike in to thin air. With my first bout of good luck I realised that he hadnt heard me! The evening and night were absolutely still and I was constantly expecting a run at any time, as the night wore on though I began to doubt if anything would materialise. It was with a lot of relief then when my right hand rod tip pulled around and I was finally in. A short dogged fight followed and a mirror of 14lb 11oz finally slid into the net.

Waiting

Got a date with some carp on monday! Moving in to autumn as we are I'm expecting some fish on the bank..... several fish on the bank in fact! On a bit of a tangent I've just returned from a camping trip with my kids, we dived under Swanage pier and to be honest I was surprised that there wasnt more fish getting caught! Anyway back to my original point, roll on monday.

McGiver

Anyone remember McGiver? Well tonight I forgot my dog lead but managed to swipe Jays shoulder strap from his rod holdall.

Just Looking

I've just come back from a flying visit with my oldest fishing mate Jay Scott. He had been on the water all day and nailed a 16lb 12oz mirror carp at around 8.30 pm. Well done mate.

I Love Monday Nights

I have a stint on the river planned for a few weeks time. Its never easy giving in a whole day when I'm pretty certain I'm going to blank so you may ask why I do it? Why not go somewhere with a known head of fish? Well where would the challenge be there? With my self inflicted blank on the horizon I went back to my local water to get a final shot of confidence in my bait and rigs. DNA's Secret 7 bait is certainly pretty amazing, I've also been trying to get a run on some Nash white pop ups without any luck so far. I had 3 fish last night, an 11lb mirror carp and 2 common carp of 14lb 13oz and 14lb 12oz. The mirror was an odd looking fish with a big head and fins and very small body. Maybe it had just spawned? The 2 common carp, with almost identical weights, were in excelent condition.

Tuesday

I took a visit to my local water on tuesday evening and after my last rip I was eager to keep the momentum going. I tried several approaches including plain bottom bait, 12mm snowman glugged in Nash's squid extract, a trimmed down white pop up and a bottom bait topped off with fake corn. The fish made me wait from 4 oclock to just before 10 when my middle rod went off. A short fight under the rod tip ensued before I slid a common of 12lb 12oz into the net. The last anglers had just left and as I was about to pack up and it just goes to show that its never over until its over.

Crazy Coots

I arrived at my local water in the drizzle on monday, and set up feeling fairly confident. I elected to fish a rod down each margin and a third rod about 25 yards straight out. I baited up with the usual DNA Baits Secret 7 boilies and made a step too far and scattered a mixture of sweet corn, pellet and hemp over the left hand margin rod. I say it was a mistake as a family of coots spotted me baiting up and would not leave that spot all evening, they even managed to snag my lead up twice in a row. As a result I ended up moving a little further out. I had suffered a couple of blank sessions so I was determined to have a successful night, around 8pm the right hand rod raced off and a common of 12lb 10oz led me up and down the margin before slipping in to the net.

I was just contemplating packing up and the rain was falling when the left hand rod sprang into action, after a short fight a small common barely into double figures graced the net and it was a job well done.

Boat Fun

I acquired an inflatable boat for diving and fishing and got my first run out on the river yesterday. The boat is a 14ft Zodiac Futura which needed a lot of TLC, infact most people doubted it would ever hold presure. The engine is a 1981 Johnson 25HP Thunderbolt which I changed the gearbox oil and plugs a few weeks ago. Against better judgement I left the water pump alone as it was pushing plenty of water. The boat inflated and stayed inflated and the engine started first pull and ran smoothly, we pulled off the slipway with me still patting myself on the back. They say pride comes before a fall and sure enough 5 minutes up the river the water tell tale started belching steam. I can only imagine that the water pump stopped effectively doing its job and the engine over heated and boiled off the remaining cooling water. Does anyone have any inside information? As an old boss of mine said 'all boats sink' and as someone else said 'boats are just holes in the water that you throw money into' Anyway tommorow at work will mostly be spent ordering a new impeller and gaskets.

Secret 7 Does It Again

I managed a short after work seeion last week but didnt arrive on the water until nearly 5pm. I set up following the usual rule by fishing into the wind even though I hadnt seen anything moving. Although fishing in to the wind is the usual plan after an hour or 2 I saw fish moving almost anywhere except in the windward area where I was, however I didnt feel that I had enough time to move so I decided to wait out and see what happened. Around 9 pm my middle rod rattled off and after a brief fight, mostly under the rod tip, I slid the net under a fat mirror of 15lb 7oz.

Capenwray 2

As expected there are still some very nice fish harrassing the divers.

Capenwray

Well tomorrow I will be switching perspective and joining the fish in their own realm. We're heading over to a flooded quarry called Capenwray for a day of diving. I only mention the fact because of the fish that we will encounter, double figure trout, large perch, sturgeon and most notable of some enormous roach. Underwater, because of the way that light bends in water, objects always look bigger, however even taking this into account some of the roach must be pushing 4lb. Divers often take bags of sweetcorn and and pellet into the shallow training areas and all the easy food and complete lack of angling presure mean these fish all seem to beof a good stamp. Funnily enough though I havent seen any fish on the bottom at 60 foot and very few beyond 20 feet.

A Touch of Wind

My local hole in the ground responds well to wind, espescially a warm wind, but the question is when is it warm enough? Well last night I got my answer and its errrrrmm now! I arrived and decided to fish into the teeth of a strong wind, I find it tricky at times but knowing its the right place to be makes you just get your head down and crack on. I fished 2 rods about 20 yards out and one at the foot of the slope about 10 yards to my left. Both rods were on 15mm Secret 7 boilies over 20 to 30 15mm and 12mm Secret 7 boilies. I had to wait about 2 hours before the margin rod raced off, after a dogged heavy fight Kev slid the net under a tubby common that pulled the scales down to 21lb 13oz. To say I was chuffed would be an under statement. So the evening wore on and I was happily thinking about packing up when the same rod raced off again, after another dogged fight I slid the net under a long mirror of 18lb 2oz. On any session they'd be a brilliant pair for the north east, even better on a 6 hour session and perfect after 3 previous blanks. I still havent managed a fish on coated braid yet, I know its not a new piece of kit but I still havent had a fish on it and so I still havent got any confidence in it.

Slow Start

Well after all the anticipation over the winter the annual campaign at my local water has gotton off to a slow start. So far I've done an over night session, a day session and an evening and not caught a single fish. My old pal Jay managed a mirror of 19lb on our short evening session which was a lovely fish. As always I need a few fish under my belt before I get some confidence, I think maybe I have been getting a bit ahead of myself and need to simplify things a bit.

Berkley Powerbaits

For this year I fancied a new challenge, and yes I know I've more or less fell short of most of my goals and challenges but thats fishing for you. I reckon I could quite happily fish all day every day and not fullfill all my goals and aspirations. Anyway back to my point, I reckon that by using small soft lures with a small bag with some odds and ends I could capitalise on short sessions without having to worry about bait. My aim is perch, chub and small pike. To this end I bought a pack of Berkley Powerbait soft perch lures. They're sort silicone weighted jigs. I should probably buy a short light spinning rod but I'll start off with a 12ft Avon and see how we go. Looking at the rod from another perspective the extra length might give extra control down the margin.

Reel Value Abu Savior

I finaly admited defeat over the rebuild of my Abu Ambasador. I contacted John at Reel Value and he told me to put all the parts (of which there are many) and send it down to his workshop in Rotherham. The reel was rebuilt and returned to me within 4 days and at a cost of £8.50 for a basic service and £4.50 postage I cant imagine why anyone would attempt to do their own repairs. He apparently deals with all kinds of reel plus rod and bite alarm repairs. If you need any form of fishing equipment repairing you could do much worse than contacting John. Contact him on 07528 196668 or visit his site www.reelvalue.co.uk From this

To this

FAQs

I met up with my old mate Jay for some more pike fishing today, this time on the lower Tees. The short version is that we blanked, the long version is that we blanked in driving freezing rain! Fishing mainly with sardnes we leap frogged swim by swim covering about 2 miles of river in what can only be called unfavourable conditions. I seemed to lack confidence almost from the first cast and the more swims we explored with motionless floats the more doubtful I became. The usual questions that frequently go through my mind (FAQ! Its all thought through!) resurfaced. Am I in the right swim? Is my bait in the right part of the swim? Is the weather right? are my baits/rigs right? And so on. I didnt come up with any answers. next time ...

Abu Ambasadeur 9000c

A good friend of mines father recently passed away and knowing I was a keen fisherman my friend passed on his beach caster and muliplyer. Anyway I thought I would strip it down, clean and regrease the reel. Pretty soon the reel became a loose collection of parts and now my confidence in being able to return it to its previous (or indeed any) glory has almost completely evaporated. Whilst searching the web for schematics I discovered an interesting fact about the 9000c, it automatically gears down when put under load to increase the torque of the reel. Built around late 70's or early 80's it would appear I may have bitten off more than I can chew!

Piking Again

I had arranged to go piking with my mate Jay again. We decided to return to the Cundall stretch of the River Swale. The day arrived and it was freezing, the kind of day when the water freezes in the rod rings. We started at dawn on the ox bow lake, a bend of the river which gets cut off and isolated. Every time the river floods fish are deposited into the now isolated bend. Jay managed to bag a pike around 8 lb while I had no luck what so ever. Around lunch time we moved on to the main river and leap frogged upstream. The day remained freezing cold and the river levelwas very low. The floats remained motionless and the buzzers silent for the remainder of the day. As always it was great to fish with Jay and the bonus is he'll be fishing the same local carp water as me next year. Oh and happy new year by the way!

www.fishingsir.com

Fishingsir are a mail order outdoor, sporting and fishing outlet. They have a great web site which is easy to navigate and full of all the stuff you might ever need. Look them up at www.fishingsir.com and see if theres anything that catches your eye. Dont forget to tell them that I sent you.

Facebook

I've been meaning to set up a facebook page linked to this blog for ages and I've finally dragged myself into the 21st century. If you search for angling journey you'll soon find my grinning mug. I'm sure theres a way of posting a link to my page from here so if anyone knows how to do it could you let me know?? Come and make my day and say hello.