Mostly Tench!

Last weekend I was mostly dodging heavy showers of the wet stuff and catching Tench. The first session was late on Saturday, I had a few jobs to do in the morning so headed up to Ryton for a late afternoon/evening fish. I ended up on 'Rogers peg'  at the back of the island. (I renovated this peg four years ago and it's still going strong) The lake was fairly busy and with the wind blowing into that end of the lake it seemed the obvious place to go, the Tench thought the same.

I was casting one rod to the tree's and the other to the back of the island but it didn't seem to matter where they went I kept getting false takes and runs after a few minutes in the water, the bait size had been upped to try and deter the little tinkers but a few still managed to get their lips around the baits and the hook.

Is it a shame to waste boilies on these?

I managed to get five nice fish but lost loads just after hooking.

Dodging the heavy showers again.

Sunday, I was at the lake again with Barry, I fished on 'Morris's, Barry was on the peg with no name and Paul was already set up and catching on the log swim, three bailiff's on the lake at once, watch out you night fishers!

Now, what do you call a gathering of bailiffs?

I fished one rod on the bottom with PVA bags the other a roving chod, the bag rod didn't get touched by anything all afternoon and seeing as this method has had similar results a few weeks ago whilst fishing off Morris's, I'm going to have to rethink this rod's presentation for my next visit to this swim.

After a slow start, Barry was doing rather well next door catching a few small Rudd, after a change from maggot to worm he started to get a better stamp of fish with Tench and some better sized Rudd.

Don't they look good and this wasn't a big one!

I had to wait till last orders and was having a chat with Barry and Paul (Not the bailiff, another Paul that fishes the lake) that's when I heard on of the alarms scream out a one toner, we'd had a couple of heavy showers that afternoon so it was a very slippery run round to my pod, it was the 'chod' rod that was off and I quickly picked it up and lifted into a fish. It didn't seem to be very substantial and came across the lake towards me easily, I thought it was a Tench as it started to fight back once it got into the shallows, however, it really started to wake up and the powerful lunges were too strong for a tinker, it was a carp.

'Bendy'

Once netted it was given a name, Barry looked into the net and called out "it's bendy", I think he'd caught this one before. This fish was recognisable due to it's deformed spine and shortened rear end, I think I caught this fish a few years ago myself when it was only a couple of pound but I can't find the photo to confirm it. Bendy weighed in at nine pound, fourteen ounces and was a fine end to a long biteless session.

Step it up!

A wooden platform was installed on the steep bank at the weekend and it'll take a fair bit of work to make it safe. On Sunday, I put a few steps leading up the bank from the cut out on the 'grassy bank' making it a very comfortable swim to use, it's steps similar to these that I'll put on the steep bank, only more of them. The peg on the grassy bank is now finished, enjoy!

After doing some step work on the grassy bank swim I headed over to peg two for a few hours fishing, the east wind was making the choice of swim a bit tricky, I was told of where some fish had shown earlier in the day but still decided to head in the opposite direction and out of the cold wind hoping that a few fish would do the same. I'm trying a new flavoured boilie at the moment so today I had both rods baited up with these and small PVA bags, they were cast out onto two known spots.

I was hoping for a Carp so I could christen my new unhooking mat which had arrived earlier in the week, When I unpacked it Cerys thought it was a new bed and immediately jumped in it, I took the opportunity to give her a quick weigh.

Cerys doing an impression of a 21lb Carp.

It was a good hours wait before the first rod was away, not a Carp but a Tench, it led me a merry dance around the swim and my landing net pole as I tried to net it, I could see that it was one of Ryton's finest so I was eager to get it into the mesh. When I eventually netted it I was really surprised at how long this fish was, the weight, five pound and ten ounces.

One of Ryton's finest Tench.

Another five pound Tench was taken off the same spot a short while later and I lost another just before last orders. After loosing this fish I decided to pack the gear away, the last rod in was the sleeper rod on the most likely Carp spot, it wasn't doing anything so I switched off the alarm and lifted the rod and felt some resistance, for a split second I thought my cast had been a waste of time and had been snagged up on some bottom debris but bottom debris doesn't kick back, it was a fish. I really could not believe that I had a fish on, it must of picked up the bait just as I picked up the rod. I took things easy bringing the fish in and soon had it safely in the folds of the net, then it was hoisted onto the new mat, at last christened with a Carp.

Mat christened!

Another mint Common.

It wasn't a big fish but seeing as I thought I was going to be going home Carpless then this was a bonus at twelve pounds.

Easter Break.

I was glad to have a couple of extra days off work, but typically the weather was not looking good for the weekend. weather wise, the best day was Friday, I did have plans for an early start at the lake but the morning frost on the Friday morning changed my mind so I swapped plans spending the day at the zoo with Cerys leaving the fishing till Saturday. 

I woke early to a dull, damp, frost less start and there was only the hint of a blue pantone to the sky as I made my way to the pool.  From the corner gate I could just make out a dark shape at the far end of the road bank that looked very 'bivvy' like, I was expecting to find one of the younger members breaking the club rules and night fishing the water but as I approached I realised that it was in fact a bivvy shaped bush, should have gone to specsavers!

The morning didn't go to plan and I was all packed up for ten thirty and heading for home, I'd seen a few Carp show which was good and I also saw my first Swallow of the year, so does this mean that summer is here?

Monday was looking good for a fish, the wind was swinging round, there had been a steady temperature, above freezing, for a couple of nights and on the computer screen all the boxes were ticked for a bite, the only thing not looking good was the forecast for heavy rain.

The gear was ready to go and I had a phone call from Barry we had a brief chat and discovered we had similar plans, there were now going to be two lunatics heading out for a wet day on the bank but when we arrived at the lake two others had already got there before us. We set up on the point and put a bottom bait out to the front of the island and a method feeder with a bright pop-up out into the main part of the lake, I didn't have to wait too long for the bleeps to start on the method and in no time it was away, first Tench of the day.

Pink boilie chosen by Cerys

The next rod to scream off was the bottom bait and as soon as I picked up the rod I knew this wasn't a Tench but it didn't feel that big, after a very energetic fight a small common found itself in the folds of the mesh. Not a big fish at a quarter over seven but very very welcome. The crease in it's scales on one side will make this one recognisable for the future, one to keep an eye on.

'The Crease', one to watch for in a few years

The rain wasn't as heavy as the forecast had predicted and it was turning into quite an enjoyable session.

A Perch for Barry

Barry was having fun with maggots and worms catching Roach, Rudd and a few Perch, it's a shame that a Pike didn't pick up his dead bait on the sleeper rod and add to the species list. I managed to bank another Tench on the bottom bait rod before losing a series of three takes on the method, these felt like Tench, shaking their heads until the hook fell out.

A young lad fishing off Morris's banked a nice Carp of fourteen plus and judging by the celebratory yell that came from that direction when the fish hit the net, he was well pleased.

The rain did start to get heavier later in the afternoon so we broke camp and headed for home.

Finishing touches.

Another big thank you to Barry, Ian, Baz and Andy for helping with all the new pegs along the far bank at Ryton, this time it's from the R.L.S.A.A committee members, I reported on how the peg renovation was proceeding at the meeting this week and showed some pictures of the now finished pegs, it all went down rather well.

Three of the pegs are now finished, Morris's, the 'Peg with no name' as it's now called and the log swim, (Just minus a few big logs just to finish it off) there's a little work to do on the grassy bank with a couple of steps and a low fence to put in but it is fishable, I've kept the orange tape around the peg to let non anglers know that there's part of that bank now missing!

Morris's.

Morris's ready to go.

Peg with no name.

It now has a name - 'Peg with no name'

The log swim.

The Ryton Crew - Baz, Barry, Ian and Me.

The grassy bank.

The not so steep Grassy Bank

The next big job will be putting a platform in on the steep swim, I'm not sure how this will work out as the bank behind this peg is so steep but I'm sure I can be creative with the stepping to make it comfortable to use. Work will start on this the weekend after Easter. (April 14th) Any help will be welcome by all.

I'm hoping to get some fishing in over the Easter break but looking at the weather we're having today (Strong wind driven rain, sleet and a touch of snow) then plans may change.