Farlows

Well it has been a while since I last got a line in the water so I made the most of an early finish at work and headed off to Farlows. As usual I dropped on to the motorway bank for ease of getting back to the car once the gates were locked. I planned on dropping one rod out against an inaccessible bank about 30m away and the other flicked around a bush. As I scanned the water I saw fish roll over both my chosen marks. It seemed that this was going to be too easy. I really must stop saying that!
I chose to fish running leads on both rods to give myself a good indication of any impending action. PVA bags of pellet and broken bollies were attached to both rigs and the closer rod was chucked over a bed of hemp, pellet and more broken boilies. All I had to do was wait. It wasn’t long before the bush indicator started giving some twitches, see I told you it wouldn’t take long! Then off it went pulling line off the baitrunner. Too easy. I hit it hard and……..nothing! Not even a slight bump. I rebaited and recast, topping up the loose feed too and it wasn’t long before the same rod rattled off again. Once again I hit the run and resulted in grabbing fresh air. A change to semi fixed leads made no difference and the runs proved un hittable. Anyone got any ideas?


Part 2.


A few days latter and back on the same bank but a peg or 2 further up I was back for another evening session. This time I went for semi fixed leads straight away with short hook links and 3 or 4 bait PVA stringers. This evening there were even more fish moving, spawning or post spawning troughing session? This time to avoid a complete blank I also set up a float rod to try my luck on the corn for roach and skimmers.
The first problem I found was that a family of Moorhens locked onto my bait and over the next 2 hours repeatedly raided my trap nicking every last freebee, from time to timeI even got a twitch as one of the adults tried and thankfully dropped the far hookbait.
Meanwhile to lift my spirits out came the light float rod with a 2.5lb bottom and size 16 hook. To begin with all went well and despite a difficult cast (well it was for me) I got a steady stream of bites from the margin under a tree catching roach and bream upto about 8oz. As usual the float wavered, lifted 2 or 3 in and slid away, I struck and hit bottom then the bottom moved slowly and deliberately off towards some tree roots. Carp? Tench? Either way my light tackle was no match and I mentally kicked myself hard for leaving my avon float rod and 6lb line in the holdall. Amazing my self the fish turned, now if only I can get the fish into open water I might stand a glimmer of hope……..oops no now it headeded into the tangle of branches. More pressure and the hook link parted. Flip flip flip!
Annoyed with my lack of fore thought I put the float rod away and dropped a running lead with a boilie and stringer on the spot where I’d been feeding the corn. Just after dark this 3rd rod slowly lifted the ultra light bobbin to the butt. I wanted to hit it early before it developed into a screaming run straight into the snag. True to form I lifted into the fish and once again found fresh air. It wasn’t too long after that I packed away and went home.
2 short sessions a real dilemma about my tactics and no decent fish to show for my efforts. The only saving grace was that on both occaisions the bailiff failed to relieve me of my day ticket money! I need to put some fish on the bank and soon.

Indicators

In the beginning there was floats, these in my opinion when properly set up are the most sensitive form of bite detection. Unfortunatly watching a motionless float for more than a few hours quickly becomes tiring and float fishing isnt always ideal. For ledgering one of the earliest bite idicators was a piece of silver paper on the line between the first 2 rod rings. The main problem with free hanging bobbins is that they can blow sideways and make bites difficult to spot.
I've seen all sorts in the chase for bite detection from pennys rested on reel handles balenced over tin cans and washing up bottle tops as bobbins.
This problem was initially solved by rolling the silver paper into a tube and slotting it onto a rod pushed into the ground to prevent sideways motion. In later years this technique was refined to a plastic tube which slid up and down on a PTFE coated needle and gained the name 'Monkey Climber' and was the be all and all in carp fishing. And thats where I left the game.
When I re entered 12 years on I found things had changed somewhat and instead I was led in a different direction. Thats when the Fox mk2 swingers made it below my optonics. I found the swingers had 2 main advantages 1, they are unaffected by side winds, and 2, with a sliding counter wieght they can be set for a huge range of resistance. The attention to detail is great with a low friction line clip and a resessed drilling for a luminous isotobe. At £15.99 each in my mind they make the most reliable and versatile option on the market.

Farlows

I managed a day off from work in early february and managed a late day session at Farlows. As usual I picked the motorway bank near the entrance gate for ease of getting out once the gates were locked. I set one rod up on a running rig and one as semi-fixed and baited up with shelf life dynamite baits spicey chicken tipped off with plastic sweetcorn for a bit of visual attractant. I PVA bags of pellet groundbait, pellets and tuna Were finally threaded up the hook length. Both rods were chucked into the far side off the channel in front of me though I wasnt particularily confident because of the cold but bright conditions.
Once chucked in I sat back to wait for a run I was reasonably happy wouldnt come but iy was good to be back on the bank again. Within 20 mins the semi fixed lead rig was off! It felt like a decent fish, bearing in mind my pb is currently 13lb, and was played carefully into the bank. There were no real dramas untill I reached for the net only to realise that although it was out of the holdall it hadn't been set up! I eventually managed to spread the arms and mesh and draw the fish right upto the front of the platform, on the 3rd attempt the mesh finally closed around it!
On the bank the scales went around to 16lb 10oz, a new pb which is a coincidence because my previous pb had come early last year from the same water. Unfortunatly my camera lense had some crap on it so the pics didnt come out too well.
A short while later a pair of bream around 3 to 4lb threw themselves onto the other rod.
On a day when according to the balif no one else was doing much I was fairly pleased with myself and packed up around 9pm as the temperature fell again. I returned the next day to the same spot with the same bait and rigs and couldnt buy even a twitch. The only difference being the second day was amorning session when maybe the water still hadnt warmed up.

Trent in flood

I havent been on the bank since before christmas so I snatched a quick session on the river Trent this week. The bad news was that it has been raining for nearly a week solid and the river was about 8 feet up and full of debris.
I set up a float road and a ledger rod with a lump of meat. I was gambling that the fish would be in the margins out of the main flow so I started off running a stick float through but the current was so quick that the float was dissapearing into the gathering evening gloom within seconds. The float rod was quickly sidelined in favour of the ledger rod wich I dropped more or less under the rod tip. The quiver tip kept giving what looked like big lunging bites but I failed to conect with any and decided it was just debris hitting the line.
Needless to say my confidence was completely gone and it wasnt long before the gear was back in the van.
I still reckon the fish were in the edge!

New Boots 2

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.

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

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.