Ryton Carp

Bait Shack - Part one

2012-02-12T03:44:00.000-08:00

I've started to construct my bait shack, (Garden shed) it's only a frame at the moment but all four sides are ready to be clad in feather edge boards. The laborious task of painting the boards before their attached lies ahead but as soon as this has been done the big erection can take place then a roof can be put on top to keep the weather out.

Plans!

Front and back panels

Side panel with window

It's only the weather that's stopping anything from happening at the moment but I should be able to do a bit more work on my shack in the next few weeks. It's also the weather that's keeping me from the bank, everywhere I want to go is solid under ice, I might go down to the river soon as I haven't had a Chub yet this year.

Planes, Trains and Pigs!

2012-01-15T13:06:00.000-08:00

Only the second visit to the bank this year but it was a session that would see a new personal best on the bank by the end of the day. We'd chosen to terrorise some Pike but was unsure about whether we would succeed due to the hard frost the night before, choice of venue was down to Barry's wife, Jan, we were scratching our heads where to go when she came up with what was to turn out to be the best decision ever, thank you.

We arrived expecting to find the pool iced over and be making our way to plan 'B' but everything was still liquid so we set up in a couple of spots we knew and out went the deadbait's. It was nice to have the sun on my back keeping me warm and the locals kept us entertained while we waited for a take. nothing happened for a couple of hours and we decided to move, I'd fancied the far bank when we arrived as I thought the water would be a touch warmer with the sun on it, but we'd both not fished that bank before so stuck with what we knew. We made our move and within half an hour I had a dropped take, things were looking up. I positioned the bait back on the same spot and it was away again, it was a very energetic fight from a small jack and very welcome on a cold day.

When it was in the net I noticed another wire trace hanging from it's mouth, someone had lost this fish at some point and wondered if it was the same fish that dropped the bait on the previous cast, it went back minus it's facial fashion accessory.

Scrapper Jack

A fresh bait was back on the spot and I tidied up ready for another fish, I always try and keep my swim tidy ready to move quickly when I need to and it always amazes me how catching a fish can empty the contents of a tackle bag all over the bank as we weigh and photograph our catch.

I settled down watching the planes take off over our heads and London bound trains rattle past and it wasn't too long before I heard my alarm shrieked over all the noise, another fish gave a sharp tug on the line, it slowly made off with it's free snack before I wound down and lifted into it, this fish was heavy and had a lot more power than the previous jack. It stayed out in the pool for some time and made several runs as I tried to make line, Barry had moved back to a spot he knew over the other side of the pool and had seen me lift into a fish, he arrived just in time to take charge of the net as I tried to guide it in, this fish was tough and wasn't going to give in lightly.

A proper one!

The pig!

This pig was so lightly hooked, I only had to lift the hooks out from the bottom of it's mouth, I was lucky she hadn't thrown them. This big girl pulled the scales round to eighteen pounds and six ounces and beat my previous best by over four pounds.

We both carried on fishing for a few more hours but I think all the commotion caused by the last fish might have put them off.

First of 2012

2012-01-01T12:24:00.000-08:00

With the space shuttle no longer flying Barry had a surplus of his wobbly pop which I received as a very welcome Christmas gift, the Elderberry went down well last year. I gave up drinking a few years ago and only have the occasional, social drink now and again, new years eve is one and I cracked open a bottle of Barry's finest strawberry rocket fuel to celebrate and it was very very good. I only had a couple of glasses, I didn't need any more, not drinking means I'm a bit of a lightweight when it comes to alcohol, I'd be a cheap date!

I woke with a surprisingly fresh head and looked forward to the first session of 2012. I had more venue choices this year, Ryton was under a thick layer of the cold hard stuff last winter as were the canals, only the rivers remained free of the icy grip we were experiencing. After mulling over whether to visit the river I decided on a spot of Piking at Ryton instead, the dull overcast weather and decreasing wind influenced my choice.

I stayed away from the main part of the lake as the surface wind would be towing all sorts of detritus along the bottom in the opposite direction, I opted to start at the back of the island. There were a few small fish moving around, probably Rudd, and there were a few thrashes on the surface near to one over hanging tree, I made a quick move to get into a better casting position in order to deploy two deadbaits either side of the feature, then, a long waiting game began.

Something was definitely stalking prey around the submerged branches of this tree as there were two more thrashes on top before it fell for one of the baits, it was a fairly dull fight but it soon woke up as it approached the net.

Bad photo but not a bad fish, twelve pound four ounces, a nice start to the year.

A small audience had gathered to watch as I unhooked the Pike, they made themselves useful when it came to taking a picture on my phone.

Typically this fish came right at the end of the session just as the light was fading so I didn't have a chance of another cast.

Last of the year.

2011-12-31T13:19:00.000-08:00

The last session of the year was a week ago on Christmas eve, it was a session for Zander on the canal in one of our usual spots, Longitch. We'd had very heavy rain the day before and a touch of frost over night, I was suspecting things would be rather slow to start with but we were fishing one of the deeper spots so should see some action.

After an hour, Barry's rod was the first to see some interest with the line pulling tight and slackening off but nothing developed, I returned to my rod and noticed one of the bobbins start to move, I thought it might have been a shoal of Zed's moving through our swims as it looked like a classic Zander take. As soon as the line pulled tight again I reeled into the fish, if this was a Zander, it was going to be a good one. The large fishy shape rose to the surface quickly but there was no head shake, it wasn't a Zander, it was a Pike and a fairly good one. Anticipating a session with only small Zed's I'd only brought my large river net, this wasn't going to be big enough, Barry had a couple of stabs at the beast and almost got it in the mesh but it was too lively, as Barry ran down the bank to get his bigger net I got the opportunity to chin it out.

Thirteen and a half

We'd both had Jacks out of this stretch but I'd not had a Pike this big from here before, it pulled the scales round to thirteen and a half pounds.

I think this Pike might have scarred off all the Zed's, I didn't get any more takes for the rest of the session.

Barry on the other hand

Dog walkers, an alternative bait?

despite using the freshest 'dead' baits

Can't get any fresher than this!

and plenty of 'skulduggery', he couldn't get a take.

He even tried an offering to the fishing god!

His swim remained 'lifeless' all day.

Birthday Double.

2011-12-06T13:40:00.000-08:00

Every year around my birthday I always struggle to get a line in the water, we either have family visiting or the big day falls mid week making any kind of session impossible. This year was a little different, the family aren't going to visit till the week before Christmas, the shopping and days out were taken care of over the weekend leaving me with a bit of time on Monday to get a bait in the water. It wasn't going to be any kind of fancy trip to chase any more species for the challenge, I've pretty much decided to put that to bed and make do with what I've caught through the year, I think I'm currently in tenth place which will do me. It was a simple trip to Ryton fishing dead baits for Pike, Barry accompanied me and after a quick look around we made do with the first two pegs along the road bank, Barry dropped down onto the information desk and I settled on peg two, it might be the last time we fish these pegs in their current state!!!!!

We'd met Paul earlier on fishing the corner at the back of the point, he was fishing for Perch and wasn't having much luck, the frost might have put them down in the deeper water but it was sunny so there was always a chance, another angler was roving around the lake trying his luck at spinning for the Perch.

We'd been fishing for about an hour and Paul wandered down towards the car park with his gear, he'd had enough but stopped for a chat when a stutter of bleeps came from the direction of my right hand alarm, the back bobbin hadn't released the line but something was showing an interest. I picked up the rod and waited a few moments for the line to tighten before reeling into the fish, it felt good and came straight to the top and rolled a few times, Barry was on net duty and we soon had the fish under control and in the net. With my tool kit to hand I gave Paul a demonstration in gloveless Pike unhooking and after some light dentistry the hooks were out and I was able to hold the fish up for a quick photo......... the camera batteries were flat!

The toothy one had to rest in the margins whilst the batteries were swapped over in the old box brownie and it remained well behaved for the snap before swimming off.

Ten pound and twelve ounces, a birthday double.

Barry made a concerned comment about the condition of some of the Pike he'd caught recently at the pool, they were all good sized fish and should be weighing much more than they were and I must admit, this fish and the last one I caught at Ryton were very long and lean with big heads and would have looked better had they eaten a few more pies, might be something to keep an eye on!

The rest of the session remained fishless but I was happy to have caught something on my Birthday.

So far away but never too far away!

2011-11-22T13:41:00.000-08:00

Canton Tower

Last week I was in Guangzhou, China, on a very enjoyable works trip sourcing new materials to use for next seasons designs, the only thing I hated about the whole trip was being so far away from my little girl, it's the first time I've had to make a trip like this since she was born. Guangzhou is a very big, modern city situated on and around the Pearl river delta and my hotel was situated right on the bank of this river with views across to the canton tower and stadium.

I always enjoy an early morning walk when away from home and on the first morning the attraction of the river drew me to it's banks for a gentle stroll, fishermen never stay too far away from the medium our pray swim in and I always find myself being drawn to any waters edge if only to have a look, I had a look and was amazed at how many anglers were fishing along the walkway next to the Pearl.

Pearl River anglers

There appeared to be two methods of fishing the first being a smallish rod or pole with a small float set-up with around a one foot drop, an Eel like live bait was presented on a sizable hook. There were plenty of fish topping all over the place so I can only presume that this was the method used to catch these fish.

Using a bamboo pole.

The other method being used was a little more macabre, a few anglers appeared to be spinning but with a very heavy looking lure, on closer inspection it was no lure that was being chucked out but something that resembled a large breakaway lead, similar to the ones we would use when beach fishing, the only difference being that the grip wires were replaced with what I can only describe as small meat hooks. I think the intention was to deliberately foul hook anything that swam into the path of the 'claw' and an exaggerated sink and draw action seemed the way to retrieve this weight.

The exaggerated sink and draw

The claw

I saw this dead catfish floating down with the current, it's belly ripped open, not sure if it had crossed the path of an anglers 'claw'!

A cat that got away!

Two more!

2011-11-08T14:00:00.000-08:00

A quick trip to Barford was called for to try and bag a couple of much needed species for this years competition, an Eel and a Barbel. The trip had originally been planned for next week but had to be brought forward one week due to a work trip to Guangzhou, China, luckily there weren't any matches on this weekend.

Worth every penny.

Barry had got me a guest ticket and we decided to make a day of it, he'd been down the river a couple of times the week before and bagged both Barbel and Eels, with some much needed extra water in the river and a bit of colour, hopes were high, even if I only managed to bank one of the two species then it would be a result.

The first peg he put me in looked good and I flicked out a lump of luncheon meat into the flow and allowed it to trunddle round to where I thought a fish might be lying, I hadn't even got the second rod rigged up when the baitrunner started to give out line, I was on it like a shot and soon had the first of many Eel's in the net, I haven't caught Eel's like this since I was a kid fishing the small river Braint on Anglesey, great fun.

Wriggler!

Biggest Eel of the day was 1lb 8ozs

Barry had hoped to get me onto the oak tree peg at the start of the session but I had to wait until early afternoon before I could get onto what he called a 'banker' of a swim, either that or I miss heard him!

It proved to be an excellent swim with several Eel's taken, then, just as other anglers had predicted the late afternoon saw my rod tip slam forward as a whiskered critter made off with the lump of meat.

A six pound six whiskered critter!

A hard battle was soon won and I had my second target species in the net, a Barbel.

Just sitting there!

2011-11-08T12:32:00.000-08:00

I was just sitting there minding my own business when this lump of dead fish landed right next to me, now, it was a Sunday, I knew there would be a few people around with the intent of pulling us out of the water, weighing us and taking a quick snap shot before throwing us back, I have absolutely know idea why they do this but it must be a popular thing that humans do as there's a lot of them that do it at this lake, some day's you just can't get away from them. Anyway, back to this lump of fish, like I said, I was just sitting there and not really in the mood to do much, the sun was out so it was a bit bright and I just fancied a couple of hours minding my own business before going out for a bite to eat later. This lump of fish smelt great and was defrosting nicely but I resisted for nearly an hour then out of nowhere I had to yawn and before I knew it this lump of fish was in my mouth, I wasn't sure what to do but before I had a chance to do anything something started to pull me towards the bank, now I didn't fancy having my picture taken and did try my best to escape but I soon found myself in the bottom of a mesh cage, then on a comfy mattress before being photographed.

This is me on the mattress!

I was let go shortly after but didn't fancy fish for dinner anymore!

Here Pikey Pikey!

2011-10-11T14:18:00.000-07:00

Barry phoned me up last week and asked if I'd like to go on a bit of a Pike fishing session to one of his many haunts, a pass had already been granted so I agreed, like I didn't need much persuading.

Saturday afternoon arrived, as we set the gear up there was a bit of drizzle in the air along with a strong but pleasant smell of burning charcoal and wood from the stoves on the nearby canal boats, we were fairly sheltered from the wind in the spots we chose and had the water to ourselves. It was going to be a late afternoon/evening session so to save time I had everything organised and prepared, it was just a matter of attaching baits and casting out.

After a very brief half an hour I had a take on the bait that was only lobbed out a couple of rod lengths. The strike met with good solid resistance as a very nice sized Pike rolled on the surface, it came in fairly easily then woke up and made several attempts to get out of the pound we were fishing. Once netted I was very satisfied as my PB Pike was only just over twelve pounds, this one pulled the scales passed that and settled on fourteen pounds and four ounces, a new personal best.

A good chunky fish.

Barry was next but even though the Pike pulled hard it was only a Jack with a very nasty scar near it's tail.

Anyone need a tooth pulling?

Nasty bite mark!

After only having one fish each on Saturday, I think Barry fancied a rematch on the Sunday and invited me to join him at Ryton for a few hours Piking. A family swim had been planned for lunchtime which meant I didn't get to the lake until half three so it was only going to be a very short, late session. As it turned out, I didn't need that long to get a fish on the bank.

It was exactly twenty five minutes (Barry likes to time these things) after casting out my first bait that my bobbins started to jump around as a fish made off with the Mackerel. It was another solid fight and another long fish soon found itself in the bottom of my net, however, even though this fish was long with a huge head, it's body was very thin. On the scales it only managed nine pounds and four ounces and was the only fish of the session.

Big head!!

Whilst passing the camera to Barry I managed to smear the lens with Pike slime (my excuse for the bad photo) I don't think they do a 'Pike Slime' plug-in for photoshop!

Like Buses.

2011-10-10T13:26:00.000-07:00

A couple of weekends ago I fished one of my favourite swims on the stretch of canal near Long Itchington.

Bites started pretty much straight away but they were very tentative and I was experiencing a lot of dropped takes which were probably from smaller fish. Typically, when I least expected it, I had a run on both rods at the same time but after a bit of rod and net juggling both Zed's were safely in the folds of mesh.

then two come along at the same time!

They weren't big fish but very welcome.

The commotion from the double hook-up quietened the swim a little and I only managed one more fish before it got dark, then all went quiet.

I think this deep spot must be a daytime hole that empties at night time when they all go on the prowl!

Zander Hokey Cokey

2011-09-30T14:50:00.000-07:00

When canals are really busy, you end up putting a Zed bait in, then you take a Zed bait out, in, out, in, out, but the only thing shaken about is the occasional double or single digit at grumpy boat captains that don't like anglers using their water.

It's mostly Zandering that's been on the angling calender over the last couple of weekends. I've tried to keep the sessions as late in the day as I can to avoid all the boat traffic but you can never plan these things and we've had to dance the Zander Hokey Cokey for an hour or so at the beginning of each session. With Autumn upon us I was hoping that the temperatures would start to take a tumble so that I can approach my fishing with Winter in mind but it looks as though we are in for a bit of a warm one for the next few days and possibly a week, I've even heard that snow has been forecast for October, talk about extremes!

Saved from a blank!

The Oxford canal has seen a few small Zander on the bank but nothing that's going to improve my current score on this years challenge board, Long Itchington has seen a few better fish but nothing really big.

3lb 11ozs not including branch!

This fish came after I had a good bounce on my bobbin just as the nearby lock was being emptied, the water was churning all over the place and I was convinced that this was the cause of the dancing bobbin, I lifted the rod to find myself stuck to the bottom but it also began to move, I felt something give and then felt a good kick, fish on. I had to net a branch as well as a Zed, the fish must have wrapped the line around a sunken branch after picking up a quick snack.

There's a few spots I've yet to fish this year but as soon as a touch of frost starts to replace the morning dew I'll switch over to these venues and try for a biggie, that is until these spots become frozen solid like they did last year!

The joys of winter fishing approach!

'Area 51'

2011-09-14T12:46:00.000-07:00

I had a disaster of any early Autumn session for Pike last week but a couple of weeks ago, 'Area 51' was given a good seeing too with a good selection of baits over a two session stint. There were plenty of fish caught including Chub which can be added to the species list for this pool. (now six species) Fish banked were mostly Roach and Rudd with a few Perch thrown in, Carp were seen but avoided capture. When float fishing I experienced several quiet spells and put this down to predator activity, after seeing wounds to a fish on the last trip, something toothy.

Much to Barry's annoyance, he'd been fishing a small dead bait all day on a sleeper rod, I caught a very small Pike on a large bunch of worms,

Pike on worm.

I thought it was a Carp the way the tip slammed round and couldn't believe it when the fish tail walked across my swim, great fun.

The highlight to the two sessions was was an increase to my Roach weight for this years challenge. I fished a sleeper rod at the bottom of a depression that was full of silt, worm was the bait and I had several slightly bigger fish to this rod, I was hoping that the fading light would bring out something a little larger and I wasn't to be disappointed. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a couple of quick taps to the tip before it pulled round, I was on it in a flash and the nerves kicked in when the fish surfaced, I haven't been so nervous about netting a good fish for a long time but I was so happy to get this one into the safety of the mesh.


New PB Roach.

It's not as big as some that have been caught but it's a new PB Roach for me at one pound five and a half ounces, (not sure if the challenge chart will take a half ounce)

I think a winter/Spring visit to this pool might have to be made!

A couple of quick ones!

2011-08-30T14:23:00.000-07:00

Another busy weekend but there's always room for a quick session or two. We'd been busy preparing everything ready for Cerys's christening on Sunday and the knees-up afterwards, the rest of the family and friends weren't due to arrive from wales until Saturday so when an offer to go Zandering on Friday landed on my table I snatched at the chance.
Yes, we know, it was rather wet on Friday and only nutters go fishing in the rain but it had actually eased off when we got to the canal and was very pleasant. Several boats were moving through the locks but within the first hour I managed a run which resulted in a bit of a tussle with a head shaking Zed.

A very useful 3lb 6oz

The rain returned and I started to theorize with Barry about why the rain put fish off feeding and the fact that as soon as it stopped they would start to feed heavily again, I've witnessed this at Ryton and used it to my advantage, getting wet whilst setting traps then sitting back praying it would stop raining.
After a biteless two hours of rain had passed we had a break in the weather with a small patch of blue sky, this was quickly being followed by another patch of black stuff but at least the rain had stopped and no sooner than fresh baits were in place, Barry's rod was away. It wasn't too long before the jammy git had a very good Zed on the bank and then agreed with my theories.

5lb 9ozs, Jammy git!

That evening, Barry had a chat with a passing angler and was told about a place that neither of us had heard of or even knew existed, time to get the map out.

Over the next couple of days between all the babysitting, cooking, sorting out family and friends, attending church and eating a belly full of cake, I managed a few sneak peeks at the internet searching for this place that I will now refer to as 'Area 51' because Google Earth doesn't even show this pool!. When Monday afternoon arrived and the last of my friends set off on their drive back to North Wales, we had a chance to search for this mystery pool. We'd both been looking at maps and had both come up with the same area to search and headed off on a recce, rods and some basic kit was put in the boot just in case.
To cut a long story short, we found the spot and gave it a go, within a couple of hours we'd banked three species, saw a fourth and seeing the wounds on the flanks of one of the fish we caught, there's a possible fifth.

A very useful half pounder.

The next visit will see some proper bait going in, not just worm and luncheon meat.

What's fishing?

2011-08-24T13:28:00.000-07:00

Fishing is continuing to be a bit of a non starter, other than a few trips to local waters scratching for tiddlers under a float even the annual jolly to north wales only saw me fish a couple of times.

A good few weeks ago I went to Parker's pool, well I think it was Parker's, it's the pool in the middle of the old golf coarse, the one with the half submerged wheelie bin and several tyres visible on the bottom in the few clear spots between all the pads. I had a really good bag of Rudd and I honestly lost count at around the 25 fish mark. I was hoping for one of the Cruician's.

Parker's Rudd

I was promised a Crucian from a small stillwater near the blue lias. I've always looked through the tree's on the bend just before reaching the canal but never fished the pool. It looked good but as with most waters in the area it could have done with a foot of extra water.

On the edge of the pads

There were plenty of Carp eager to smash up the light float gear and after a couple of takes from two brutes they left my corner of the pads alone which allowed the smaller stuff to tuck into the free food. After several Rudd, Roach and Perch I hooked a sizable fish which turned out to be my quarry but sods law took over just before I could get a net under it.

The day before our holiday saw me on the local river which is now really choked with weed the level being so low. All the likely spots were devoid of anything fishy but a couple of Chublets saved me from a blank session.

I was hoping to have some much better luck whilst on holiday in North Wales but my plan to fish one lakes for Eel's was abandoned when I saw the colour of the water, bright turquoise, apparently there are several waters around the country experiencing the same algae blooms and having blanked on waters with blooms in the past I didn't fancy blanking again. As I had a skeleton coarse kit with me and an Avon rod, I decided to pay a visit to day ticket lake Llyn y gors, I remember this place opening the year before I went to university and it was just the one lake, it's now a whole complex of lakes with everything on offer and if I had the time and the money I think it would be worth a lengthy trip to notch up a few for the board. After a recce the day before fishing I chose one pool that was supposed to be stocked with just Tench, Rudd and Crucians.

Can you guess what the target was?

Blanking at Llyn Y Gors

Should have tried the other lake, I blanked!!

Cerys on her first family fishing trip.

Cerys wasn't impressed.

Sunrise at Pwllfanogl

After the failure the day before, I got my arse out of bed early to do a morning session on the Menai Straits at Pwllfanogl, one of my old haunts. The session was a 'dig and fish' as I hadn't been out to collect any bait during the week but you can't get any fresher than this. After a good half hours dig I had some cracking bait, fresh lug and king rag which really took some digging.

Spot the King Rag.

It was a bite a chuck as the tide turned but it took a few casts before I hooked the first fish, I just couldn't hook them, I'd started off on a size two hook to give the small flatties in the area a chance but I ended up using the largest hook in the box, a 5/0, before I connected with the tip rattlers.

Bearded Tip Rattler.

Codling, loads of them and all small, at least I was catching something.

Small River Adventures - Part Two

2011-07-20T14:54:00.000-07:00

That big Perch had me thinking all the way home and it was the first thing I thought about when sorting through my gear the next morning. Getting a pass to go fishing was tough but I managed to swing it and I was back on the river again for and afternoon session.

Different plan today, choose a swim and fish it for a good few hours, I chose a spot on a bend that looked particularly fishy and started to feed maggots to try and tempt a few larger residents out from the far bank cover, it was deep, almost six foot but the fish were there. I started to catch small Dace and Roach as well as a few Chublets and then bingo, I hooked into something much bigger, I had visions of a huge striped beast rolling into my net but it turned out to be a Chub of three pound and four ounces.

Chub with scars from a previous encounter

It was a good start, so the maggots kept being fed and the fish kept coming but I was hoping for one big stripey, I had a few smaller Perch but the big ones kept themselves hidden. Before I made a move I had a new species, I don't ever recall catching a Ruffe before and was rather pleased to have met one, looked very similar to the sea scorpions I used to catch in the Menai Straits.

Spiky beast

I moved back upstream a few pools to where I'd lost the Perch the day before and saved all my best worms for this pool, it only took a couple of trots through to connect with the first Perch and after a good high speed thrash around the swim it was safely in the net. It wasn't anywhere near as big as the fish I saw yesterday but it was an improvement on what I have at the moment at one ounce over the pound.

A pound and one ounce

I gave the swim a rest and just fed maggots for around ten minutes before trotting a worm through again, I was sure that the thrashing from the first Perch would have spooked the swim but I kept getting bites and it was a few trots later that I connected with another good stripey of exactly the same size, it may have been the same fish!

Small River Adventures - Part One

2011-07-20T12:25:00.000-07:00

I like fishing new stretches of water, it's that element of the unknown that brings excitement into fishing a new venue with only reports and pictures to go on and a Google Earth view to look at and ponder over. In reality, each swim was worthy of a dangle with a bait, there were a few well worn spots giving an impression that this place was well fished but it looked mostly untouched as I walked through the knee high grass.

I looked for a swim with deeper water, a bit of a flow and plenty of cover, with the water level being so low I felt this was the best approach. We'd had some rain through the night and into the morning, I was in two minds whether to take the brolly but I put my trust in the weather forecasters predictions and went with the waterproofs, I was expecting the river to have plenty of colour but it was surprisingly clear.

I started with red maggot on a float to see what I could tempt and brought a couple of other baits as a reserve, as usual I was over gunned for such a small venue fishing with two rods, there was no need for the second rod, however, fished as a sleeper on the bottom with a big lobworm on the hook this rod did take a bite from a very good Perch which threw the hook at the net. This was a kick in the teeth for this session and just to rub salt into the open wound, I witnessed the capture of a much bigger Perch later in the day.

On a plus point, I doubled my Dace weight for the challenge, it's now two ounces!

A Whopper of a Dace!

It was a good day with plenty of fish, Roach, Dace, Gudgeon, Chublets and Perch, I even caught a small Pike on red maggot!

Spot the maggot.

On my next visit I'll stick with the one rod and just float fish.

Jolly Time!

2011-07-18T13:07:00.000-07:00

First week in July and time for the first summer jolly of 2011. Westward Ho! with the intention of kicking back and relaxing, spending some time with Cerys and maybe a spot of fishing to hopefully bag a few Smoothies.

The holiday went basically like this:

Most of the time was spent doing a lot of this.

Out on a recce

After spending several hours collecting enough bait for the week I managed to spend some time doing what we all love, wetting a line.

Back on hound alley

Sadly, this year I didn't catch any of these.

2010 Hound

After a couple of good days, the wind swung round making rock fishing for Smoothhounds a bit tricky.

Rock to beach panorama

So I headed for the gulley's at the entrance to the estuary to fish for these.

Well below legal size

When the tide was out it looked like this

Where's the water gone?

But as the water level rose, the 'south gutt' filled up and in moved the shoals of Bass.

Ah, there it is!

It looks lovely and sunny in most of these pictures but a fair bit of time was spent with my back to the wind and heavy rain showers.

Go on, rattle it again and I'll av ya!

Even though I fished hard, the Bass didn't get much bigger than this.

Bass like worm down here!

Roll on the next holiday.

An early start.

2011-07-16T02:09:00.000-07:00

Little Cerys is becoming more and more active and demanding now and even though I'm finding time to squeeze in a few sessions I'm finding even less time to sit in front of the computer to write about them, the next few are a bit of a catch-up.

Three weeks ago I was having one of those sleepless nights, Cerys had settled down and was asleep but we kept being disturbed by intermittent barking from the dogs next door, no matter how hard I tried I couldn't block it out, when half past three rolled around onto the clock face I went for another pace around the house and noticed the sky starting to turn blue, there was some fishing planned for the next day and I had bait ready to go, so, what was going to be an evening session turned into an early morning stint and by half past four I had my first fish on the bank.

The venue was the Sowe just down the road (10 minute walk) and the first spot I fished was in the park just down from the Chase Hotel, it's usually filled with people playing football or walking their dogs but at this time of the morning everything was still and quiet. I fancied the run just down from a pipe that crosses the river and when I peered over the bank side overgrowth I saw a couple of silver flashes in the deeper run, I was using my trotting rod with red maggot as bait and on the second run through I had my first fish on, a lovely Roach. It only made five ounces but the condition was immaculate.

First fish of the day

I moved around a fair bit and could have done with a machete to get to some of the parts I'd fished earlier in the year, this stretch isn't fished much. As soon as the dog walkers started to appear I headed back for breakfast, I lost count of how many Roach I'd caught but as the morning got lighter and warmer they disappeared and I started to catch more and more Minnow's and Gudgeon.

Trotting for tiddlers

2011-06-21T13:51:00.000-07:00

First day on the river for the new season, I stayed local and was itching to give trotting a go with my newly refurbished float rod. Barry accompanied me and it turned into a bit of a tiddler bash with Minnows snatching every germ that was thrown into any swim we fished.

Barry was feeling a bit down after loosing a close fishing buddy and I listened to several tales about him and Alan Lewis's fishing adventures. I'd met Alan several times at Ryton and he was very knowledgeable when it came to both Pike and Carp fishing, I've also enjoyed reading some of the articles he'd written for 'Pike and Predator'. Get him and Barry on the bank together and they would rip the piss out of each other all day, he'll be sadly missed.

One good thing to come out of this trip to the river was another species to put on the challenge list, a Dace. I had several in one stretch where I had to allow the float to drift behind a clump of bullrushes my thumb hovering over the rim of the Trudex waiting for the float to bury, the biggest I could tempt out went just over one ounce (Only just making the board) something that must be improved on.

Barely making the board

Fin shape confirms a Dace

I lost count of how many Minnows we caught, we both had Dace and plenty of small Chub which were good to see after all the Cormorants and Otters I saw on this stretch last winter.

I only fished Maggot as bait, might take bread, worm and sweetcorn next time to try and tempt something a bit better.

Fun with germs!

2011-05-18T14:31:00.000-07:00

Half a pint of germs were purchased and with tackle in hand and a short session pass in my pocket I headed off to Ryton for a few hours float fishing. I went armed with both a float rod and an eight metre pole, the pole was to fish as close to some overhanging trees as I could without getting every other cast snagged in the branches, it worked as the first two Perch came to this method but I found I could tease them out by moving the baited area away from the safe haven of the branches, this allowed me to swap to the much preferred float rod.

Barry was in the same swim as Saturday and was struggling, the wind had changed direction overnight and was blowing across our swims and the tow was in the opposite direction, he still managed to bag a couple of Orfe, Perch, a small Tench and a Roach.

Barry's bag.

I felt a bit of a cheat after using someone else's tackle to up the weight of a fish for the challenge so I was hoping to bag a bigger Perch on this session and it didn't take long to amass a group of likely candidates.

Fifteen ounce Perch

In the space of a few hours (time flies when your having fun) my keepnet contained eight Perch, biggest fifteen ounces beating yesterdays nine oncer, one Rudd and a small Roach.

Good scrap on light tackle

Before the big weigh in I had my tackle and fish playing skills really tested by a good Tench of five pounds which gave an excellent scrap on light gear.

Target species.

2011-05-17T14:00:00.000-07:00

Saturday, an early session at Ryton with a Tench in mind. I was fishing with my normal Carp set-up, one rod cast to the island as a sleeper the second having scaled down end tackle and an alternative to boilies as bait with the intentions of catching a Tench, I had a take on the first chuck with this rod, shame I missed it. The rod was freshly baited and back out onto the same spot, after about twenty minutes I had a couple of unusual slow lifts on the bobbin, this continued for a while so I decided to hit it, it was a fish but it's fight wasn't the same as a Tench, when It came to the net it wasn't my target species at all but a Bream, rare for Ryton but they are in there.

Unusual for Ryton.

It wasn't what I'd set out to catch but it was more than welcome at 4lb 6ozs.

Immaculate condition

A few hours later the sleeper rod that was on the island margins sprang into life with a screamer of a run, I was sure it was a Carp the way that it took off. The fish gave a good account for itself and I was convinced it was a Carp until I saw the paintbrush tail of a Tench and a good one at that. It rolled into the net and when weighed, pulled the scales round to a very satisfying five pound and eight ounces, with my fishing time so short, if this is the only Tench I catch this year, I'll be very happy.

Things went quiet mid morning, I had a few dropped takes with one smaller Tench failing to drop the bait quick enough, I lost another good fish on the sleeper rod which felt like a Carp, I was gutted as I haven't had a Ryton Carp this year.

Barry was in the swim next door float fishing with maggots and having a great time. He'd had a huge bag of Perch, Roach, Rudd and a couple of Golden Orfe,

Goldfish anyone!

I've not seen these in here before, possibly a new addition from someones pond?

I was talking to Barry about upping my two ounce Perch weight for the challenge and he handed me his float rod and told me to catch one. I gave it a go and ended up with three Perch to nine ounces and a small Roach.

Nine ounces has got to be better than two!

I had such a good time I thought I'd go out and get some maggot's and return on Sunday.

Trying to make them count.

2011-04-25T02:01:00.000-07:00

Fishing has almost been unheard of since Cerys arrived, even the fishing related jobs I'd planned to do have been shelved but I have been able to squeeze in a few short sessions, it's a shame the fish haven't played along.

The first session I was granted a pass for was four weeks ago at Jubilee, I'd been reliably informed that the fish were on the top and a couple had come out on the fly so I went armed with my favourite fly patterns with the hope of banking my first carp of the season, the session remained fishless and was cut short by torrential rain, hail, thunder and lightning, was somebody trying to tell me something?

The second session was more relaxed, sat behind bobbins at Ryton, there were a few Carp around but all I managed was a single Tench that spat my boilie back at me just as I reached for it with the net, this was not good.

Third time lucky, Barry had been having plenty of luck catching Carp on most of his fly fishing trips to Jubilee so I accompanied him for an afternoon session on Easter Sunday. The weather had been scorching all week so it was a change to feel a cool breeze and have the cover of some cloud, the fish were on top but not in great numbers and it took a while to find some fish willing to feed and the action was soon to follow.

I'd been targeting one group of fish watching their feeding pattern as the biscuits drifted in the breeze and had just started casting to them when I saw a larger fish drift past between me and my quarry, I reached down for a few baits and as soon as they hit the water the fish turned and slurped one down. the moment it turned away I flicked a short cast in amongst the baits and it went for it, I missed the first take but with a quick flick my fly was out again and this time it found a good hold. The carp exploded on the surface and dived into the depths, it felt heavy but with all the loose line back on the reel and the drag tightened I had it under control. The fight was unusually heavy, normally the smaller fish run all over the place but this one stayed deep and thumped around as I slowly coaxed it to the net. It was when it slipped into the mesh that it's size became apparent, as soon as I saw the width across it's back and the depth of it's body I knew it was going to be a new personal best Carp on the fly before I'd even lifted it out of the water to weighed it,

Eighteen pound on the dot.

I'd have been more than happy to pack up and go home after that but decided to have a little fun for the rest of the afternoon catching a couple of smaller fish,

A possible double.

An arm aching scrap from this one.

one of them looked a double and lost another good fish, I had a satisfying ache in my rod arm at the end of the session.

Barry had done really well with a total of nine carp, outstanding.

She's here!

2011-03-04T00:42:00.000-08:00

After much pushing and shoving baby Cerys arrived at ten on Wednesday night and what a gorgeous little girl she is.

Cerys Mair Booth

A forced close season, for all waters, has just been imposed on any chances of some decent fish catching exploits for at least the next couple months, this little one should keep me fully occupied for that period of time.
I am hoping to get out but it won't be until Sharon has fully recovered and Cerys has got into some sort of routine, best laid plans and all that!

I'm Chubbing in the rain.

2011-02-26T13:00:00.000-08:00

All week I though about having a couple of hours on the bank on Friday afternoon, that was providing the baby didn't put in an appearance. Friday arrived and as soon as I got home from work I got changed and readied the gear, as soon as I stepped out of the house it started spitting with rain which is typical, I had seen the forecast so knew it was going to be a rather damp session and as I was travelling light, no brolly.

It only takes fifteen minutes to reach the river from the house and I had the first Chub on the bank by three thirty albeit a small Chublet.

After catching one fish I would normally move to another swim and return later but I took a chance and lobbed in another lump of Kingsmill. The flow was quite strong with a good few inches of extra water pushing through and lots of colour, I was hoping that the large piece of bread would tempt one of the bigger Chub that live under the tree I was fishing to and it wasn't long before a tremble in the quiver tip turned into a full blown take, the fish pulled well in the extra flow but I coaxed it up stream before dropping it back into the waiting net.

3lb 3oz

It took a while to find the next fish but I arrived at a spot that normally holds a fish or two, after a couple of chucks I had to start changing shot to allow the bait to 'go with the flow' and find the fish, they were much further down the swim than normal. I should have used a float really and trotted the flake down to them but I managed to get the balance of shot just right to allow the bait to trundle along the bottom to the waiting Chub. A couple of taps on the tip and I struck into another fish which stayed deep and almost buried itself under my own bank, it was a good Chub and I recognised it by it's chewed up tail, I'd had this fish at the beginning of the year but on this occasion it only went three pound and twelve ounces, it had lost weight rather than put it on.

3lb 12ozs (3lb 15ozs last time)

I went for a walk today to see if the overnight rain had put a few more inches of water on the river, it was very close to the top of the bank so the inches were more like feet.

Baby permitting, I was thinking about having a short session on the Avon tomorrow as I'd found a fair few worms whilst out on my travels earlier but if the water level is in the field in the morning then the plans may change.

Weather for worms.

2011-02-23T13:59:00.000-08:00

Saturday and a spot of Zedding on the canal again. With the babies birth being imminent my sessions are down to one a week so I'm trying to make them count and after loosing a good zed last week I thought I'd try the spot again to see if it was still in the area. Barry had been to this spot in the week and I was half expecting a phone call to say he'd recovered my trace with a double figure Zander attached to the end but he only managed the one small Zed after an eight hour stint. The weather at the start of our session was a little on the damp side but the forecast was dry for the afternoon.

After an hour Barry had the first take, we both thought it was a Zander but it turned out to be a Jack. I assisted in the netting and there started the confusion, I'd seen the Pike go over the cord but I couldn't work out what was going on, the fish wasn't in there, it had escaped through a hole, after another go it was on the bank. Barry's holy net just happened to have been the subject of conversation only moments before the Pike snaffled his bait, time for a new net me thinks.

Their not that clear in this picture but the scars on the Jack's flanks shows that there must be some good sized Pike in the area.

I missed an earlier take my bobbin startling me as it unexpectedly slammed against the bank and the baitrunner started to give line, there was nothing there when I struck! The bait was back in the water and it wasn't too long before I had the first Zander on the bank albeit a small one of around a pound, it was a start.

The rain eased off which was nice and it turned into a fairly mild day, very still and the water in the canal was the clearest I had ever seen it, I don't think there had been any boat traffic for a few days but typically the only boat of the day chugged passed and spoilt the water clarity. The earlier rain had made the towpath very sticky and I think we must have both grown by a couple of inches with the layer of mud on our boots, it was in this mud that we found a few worms trying to escape the water logged gloop of a path and I decided to chuck on of the larger snakes out to see if it would attract any interest, the presentation looked a tad crude, the worm impaled on a size two hook and fine wire trace but I thought I'd give it a go anyway. After casting out I was setting the rod on its rest and adjusting the bobbin when I started to receive a series of knocks and quivers in my rod, something had liked the look of the worm and had picked it up, I struck and was met with a headshake that gave away the fishes identity and a fairly good scrap ensued from a smallish Zed.

Yeee Haaa!

Two pound and four ounce of Zander was soon in the net and in front of the camera.

We continued to scratch around for a few more worms but the supply dried up and so had the bites, we stayed until it got dark but everything remained quiet..

Check those rings.

2011-02-15T13:05:00.000-08:00

Saturday was bright, sunny and fairly mild for February, my original plan was a spot of Piking at Ryton but the bright light and lack of shelter could put the Pike off feeding and that put me off so rather than sit all day for a blank I opted for a session on the canal. The spot I was fishing had full sun on the south facing towpath but the tree's along the far bank cast a lovely dark shadow over the swims I'd chosen to fish for Zander. The fine weather had brought out the boat owners who chugged up and down all day but there weren't as many as in the summer so it was bearable and after the first cast things were looking good, I had a take within minutes of the bait settling but when I failed to connect I though I was in for a repeat of last week.

I had a few dropped takes before the hook point found it's target on a slow gentle run, I struck half expecting to feel the bait being dropped but felt a very satisfying resistance and as soon as the fish hit the surface and gave a headshake I could see it was a very good Zed. It made several attempts to bury itself in the reeds but I managed to steer it away and when it was in clear water in front of me I reached for the landing net at which point everything went slack, at first I thought the Zed had thrown the hook but as I looked up at a now straight rod all I could do was watch in disbelief as line spilled through the rings and coiled on the floor in front of me, the line had parted somewhere between me and the fish. I was a tad pissed off but felt worse about letting a good sized Zander swim around with a trace still in it's mouth, being barbless it should fall out.

I checked the line for rough spots and it was a clean break, so I threaded the line back through the rings ready to have another go and that's when I noticed the tip ring was minus it's lining, the probable cause of the line break and the lost fish?

I gave the broken ring a polish with a hook sharpener and checked to see if line would break before I carried on fishing. The rod with the damaged ring was cast out to the quieter far margin and the other in front of the reeds, typically the far margin rod received the next bit of attention. After another gentle take I lifted into a headshake then gingerly steered the fish towards the net and soon had a small Zed of 1lb 11oz on the bank.

Although a few ounces bigger than the fish I had last week I kept thinking about the one I'd hooked and lost earlier, that would have put some proper percentage on the board.

I carried on between boats and continued to receive dropped takes throughout the afternoon, I eventually connected with another Zed which instantly felt better than the previous fish as it tried to reach sanctuary in the reed bed, I steered it clear and and after a lot of head thrashing it slid into the waiting net.

Still looking a tad pissed off!

A lovely pose from a 2lb 9oz (12%) Zander.

Ditch the circle.

2011-02-09T13:43:00.000-08:00

I fished a quarter mile stretch of the oxford canal on Sunday, it doesn't sound far but took a while as I was leapfrogging from feature to feature in search of a Zed or two. I wasn't having much luck until I reached a spot that I'd caught from before and I had my first take.

On one of the rods I was trying a circle hook pattern to expand on the single hook traces I was playing around with last autumn, this rod just happened to be the one to receive all the runs that were to come.

Soon to be ditched.

I lost the first fish, as I lifted into the take I felt something kick on the end for a split second before the bait was spat out without the hook catching hold. After checking the bait and hook point I flicked it back out into the same spot and within a few minutes it was off again, this time I left the bite a little longer hoping for the fish to hook itself, the same thing to happened again. After missing a third run the decision was made to ditch the circle hook trace and revert back to the trusty size two Drennan. This was a big improvement as the hook instantly found a secure hold on the fourth run. Not a big fish at a pound and six ounces (Six percent) but a slight improvement on the one I had last week.

Focus error on the camera forced me to use my phone.

Typically, all the bites stopped after I caught this fish, it must have been the only one there.

Jammy Git!

2011-02-08T14:04:00.000-08:00

Saturday morning and the first time fishing on the Leam at Mill Gardens. The park keeper was just unlocking the gates as we arrived for a session on the river. Barry was after one of the Pike he was familiar with along this stretch, I was fishing both feeder and deadbait and would be happy with anything that swam.

Both rods were already set up and ready to go and the feeder was first out, the popped up mackerel was a bit fiddly and took a few minutes to prepare before being positioned mid stream it was then that I heard my name being called, Barry was in already! The fish put up a good scrap staying out of sight, when we saw a pale belly we both thought 'good Zed', it wasn't, it was a good Pike though and pulled the scales round to 13lb 2ozs.

Jammy Git!

After an hour I had a run on my deadbait rod and pulled into what seemed a good weight though the Avon's do give a bit. It was a pike and it put up a reasonable scrap for a smallish fish, at just over seven pounds it wasn't going to improve the scores on the doors but it was nice to get a fish on the bank in front of the small audience that had stopped to watch.

Smile for the audience!

The feeder rod remained still all morning without the slightest of quivers, there were a few other anglers along this stretch and they all remained biteless, I did get a second run on the deadbait rod but whatever picked up the bait can't have liked the taste of Herring and dropped it after a few yards.

One down, eleven to go!

2011-01-31T13:09:00.000-08:00

I had a nice chat with Phil Smith on Saturday morning which gave my fishing confidence for the day ahead a boost and I was really looking forward to an afternoon on the river. By the time the light began to fade I'd scared four cormorants off the stretch I was fishing, compared to recent weeks the water was pretty much crystal clear but I'd left my Polaroids at home, I was chilled to the bone, I'd run out of ideas and was fishless, all excuses of course but we're all good at dreaming them up to explain the dry landing net.

Sunday started off as a hunt for a Pike at Ryton but it takes more than one fairly mild night to defrost a pool that size and with only a small area free of ice at the back of the island I headed home for a quick change of tackle, I didn't fancy another cold one on the river so headed to Long Itchington to fish the Stockton pounds, I caught a few small Zed's there this time last year so the thought of one of these to get another species on the board gave me a little confidence.

It was rather pleasant having a warm sun in my face but the ice on the pounds reminded me that it was too cold to strip off the top layer even though I was tempted. I was fishing two methods, my standard deadbait for a Zander and maggot feeder on the second rod to use up the leftovers from Saturday with the hope of bagging a better Perch than the one I've caught so far, I still can't believe I weighed a Perch that ~~big~~ ~~small~~ minute!

It took a while to find a bite and I almost missed it as it was such a gentle pluck on the bobbin which made it bounce before it pulled up a couple of inches, I left it a while and it slowly dropped back so I hit it. A Zed graced the mesh as I prepared the weigh sling ready to give this monster a number and put another one on the board for the challenge.

I did have a good look around before lifting the scales as I didn't want an audience whilst I attempted to weigh such an excuse for a Zander.

Twelve ounces (4%)

One thing to note in the picture, I've resorted to using my small weight scales now.

Shopping for baby.

2011-01-25T13:34:00.000-08:00

I managed to fit a couple of sessions in this weekend between the shopping trips for baby stuff, just over a month to go now.
Friday's short session on the Avon ended up as a blank, I completely missed the only take of the evening and it was bloody cold down there, it felt colder than it did over Christmas.

Sunday was only ever so slightly better with one fish on the bank. I visited Ryton to try and improve my Pike score on the challenge board but the only fish of the day ended up being smaller than my best effort so far at just over five pounds.

This Pike had a special pectoral fin on one side or rather a lack of one, I dare say it's been caught before, anyone recognise it?

Anybody caught this one before?

Something different I did try on this trip was popping up my deadbaits and it seemed to work quite well as the hooks were coming in clear of bottom debris, when left to sit on the bottom they usually come in choked with weed. The half a herring standing up off the bottom must have looked irresistible to this Pike, it tore off with the bait at some speed and I was convinced it was bigger.

I might try popping up the Zander baits on my next Zed hunt.

This Perch doesn't count.

2011-01-16T13:32:00.000-08:00

Saturday, on the Oxford canal with Barry trying for a Zander. It was very windy where we set out ready to fish into dark, we've had a few Zed's along this stretch and I was hoping for one for the challenge. I had half a pint of reds with me and put a maggot feeder out on one of the rods in the hope of attracting a Perch or two, drawing a few smaller fish into our swims should attract a few predators as well. Barry had three dropped takes and I had one plus a five ounce Roach on maggot so at least I had something to put on the list.

Tricky to weigh at this size.

Sunday, with rain forecast for the afternoon I headed out mid morning for a short session exploring a couple of new pools, I've heard a few fishy tales about the place and there's a few pictures on Google Earth which make the place look interesting so I thought I'd have a go just to see if anything lived in there and if it didn't work out the canal was nearby as back up. I was expecting the pools to be full of rubbish and shopping trolleys but was very surprised, it all looked very clean and tidy and both pools have seen angling activity. I wasn't sure what to expect and was armed with a deadbait rod as I've heard tales of Pike as well as the left over maggots from Saturday.

I concentrated my efforts on the smaller of the two pools as it looked the fishiest but was disappointed in the lack of depth, however, I was soon rewarded with a Perch on the maggot rod, when I say Perch it was more of a Perchlet or Perchling that barely pulled the scales round to two ounces, it's so small that I'm not sure if I should count it in the challenge, I'm a bit embarrassed to say that I weighed it!

This Perch doesn't count!

I went on to catch another seven stripey's, all the same size, hoping that wading through the smaller fish would eventually catch me a bigger specimen and I thought I'd cracked it when I struck into something that gave a much better account for itself, I was convinced it was a good Perch until it reached the net, it was a Rudd.

A bit out of focus.

Twelve ounce bar of Gold.

It pulled the scales to twelve ounces which I was very pleased with, it's a shame that I ran out of maggots, I would have liked to have caught a few more of these.

I think this pool will be seeing a bit more of me this year.

Forget planning, get a lucky leprechaun!

2011-01-11T13:25:00.000-08:00

Plan A quickly turned into Plan B on Friday after I found that the stretch of canal I fancied having a bash for Zander on was still under a thick layer of Ice. Plan B was very slow, however, I did have a couple of gentle inquiries that lifted the bobbin and my spirits but they didn't result in any positive takes. Plan B turned into B for Blank.

The same went for Saturday afternoon along the Coventry canal between Hawksbury and Bedworth, there was a fair amount of ice drifting around and plenty of boat activity. I tried a couple of spots that I caught from last year but nothing was in the mood for feeding, I ended up at one of Jeff's spots for the last hour into darkness but still no takes.

Sunday, time for a change, after having a quick look at Ryton on Saturday and finding it almost clear of Ice, I decided on a session with a Pike in mind. I had two rods set up with floats for deadbaits, I took a third rod with a standard float set up and half a tub of maggots to try and tempt a Perch. The Perch thing was a waste of time as the float remained stationary for nearly two hours so I made the decision to knock it on the head and put both deadbait rods out. Things were really slow without any runs and I did have a move around to try and find the fish but it was only when Barry turned up for a chat and a look around the pool that my luck turned. A couple of taps on one of the floats turned into a very slow run, something had definitely picked up the herring and was making off with it so I struck and felt a reasonable resistance on the end. The fight was pretty uneventful though and after a very short tussle a small Pike drifted into the net.

At 7lb 12ozs (17%) it's not big but at least I've managed to get another species on the board and it's a weight I can now work on increasing through the year.

Sharon thinks I might have a lucky leprechaun!!

First one and on the board!

2011-01-01T10:13:00.000-08:00

January the first, a new year and a new fishing season for me. The Avon had been given a rest for a few days so I was hoping to have a good session after Chub but the water level was up again with plenty of colour. As well as the weather, there's some added pressure with this years challenge between a few other local angling bloggers, I must admit to spending some time preparing things ready for the first day, like making sure that I'd not forgotten either the scales or sling and that my camera batteries were fully charged.

The first Chub on the bank weighed in at 2lb 11ozs which I thought wasn't bad for the first fish of the year, it had a rather nasty looking gash in it's side but I wasn't sure if it was from a Pike, there are a few in the stretch I was fishing today, or possibly a Cormorant.

Cormorant or Pike?

After a quick move to another stretch I settled in on a swim that has recently seen multiple Chub catches in a single session for me and fed some maggot and bread mash before presenting a flake into the flow that pushed across the swim towards some reeds.

The first bite came fairly quickly and the fish gave a good account of itself in the heavy flow and was a little bigger than the first fish at 3lb 2ozs.

It took a little longer to get the next fish and it also took a little longer to land as it stayed very deep and kept pulling back through the flow kiting all over the swim. When it hit the mesh it looked a good fish compared to the previous one and it was fingers crossed that it would pull past four pound, it didn't by one ounce.

One ounce under four.

It came in at 3lb 15ozs and here's a shot of the scales.

The needle isn't quite on four

At least I caught on the first day of the year and I'm on the board with the challenge.

Last fish of 2010.

2010-12-31T13:31:00.000-08:00

I said 'no chance' earlier this week but I've persevered with fishing the Sowe trying another stretch today and only a few minutes walk from the house. I entered the park alongside the river off the London road and followed the river down to the back of the Jaguar plant and the stretches I fished earlier in the week. I was shocked at the depth of the water available, next to the first footbridge there's a wheelie bin standing upright in the river with the water level only a few inches down from the lid, there's plenty of other rubbish scattered in clumps along the banks where they've been deposited by flood water, I lost count how many times I stood on plastic bottles buried in the bank side overgrowth whilst trying to sneak up on my quarry and if anyone is thinking of opening a used football shop this is the place to collect them, there's hundreds down there.

With the water starting to clear after the thaw I could just make out the bottom in some stretches but at points this just seemed to drop away into holes and I did pop a bait into most of them. I found loads of swims that are going to have to see some serious angling attention next June and I'm looking forward to doing some fish spotting along here during the close season. I did manage to find this good size Chub on my travels which came as a shock as I wasn't expecting one quite this big where I was fishing.

I'm looking forward to my traditional fishing trip tomorrow, first one of the year and see if I can get something on the board.

Happy new year everyone.

Good old St Nick!

2010-12-30T12:59:00.000-08:00

Thursday, Barry picked me up for a session on the Avon at St Nicholas Park,Warwick. It was a very misty start, very mild and the river level was up with plenty of colour. I went armed with both Avon rods, quiver tip and feeder on one and standard tip with a deadbait on the other, Barry was angling for a Pike with two rods. The only rod to see action all day was my feeder rod, I was using maggot and liquidised bread in the feeder and maggot on the hook and had to use a thirty gram feeder to hold station in the strong flow.

The first fish to hang itself was a Bream with a lovely drop back bite.

This was followed by a series of 'tappy' bites from a couple of Roach.

I then had a gudgeon which I never knew was on quickly followed by a Chublet.

This was all in the first couple of hours but I did have another three Roach before we finished at three. All the deadbait rods remained 'dead' all day.

I've never fished the Avon from the St Nicholas bank before but after today I will be doing it again. I also heard a few tales of big Carp from a few passers by.

There's always a chance - even a small one!

2010-12-30T12:14:00.000-08:00

Sharon was back at work today (Wednesday) so I was left to my own devises. I didn't fancy plonking myself in front of the TV watching the same nothing that's been on for the past few weeks, the weather wasn't looking too bad so I prescribed myself a few hours on the bank. I didn't fancy the Avon, I want to give the place a rest ready for the first session of the new year, only a few days away, so I opted for a few hours on the Sowe. After seeing the extra water on the Avon yesterday I thought I'd see if the first corner by the bridge was free of ice and it was. I had both maggots and bread with me and alternated between them casting to various features to try and tempt a bite.

The swims down here look so promising

The only pull of the day came from a cast tight to an overhanging bush, the micro helicopter rig was flicked in as close as I could get it and just out of the main flow with three maggots squeezed onto a size sixteen hook. It had been there for about five minutes when I had a rattle on the tip which caught me by surprise so I waited a bit longer but nothing happened, when I pulled the line in to check I felt a vibration in the rod and I couldn't believe that I'd hooked something that small, a Minnow.

Greedy bugger!

I would love to find a pocket of Roach along this stretch but with all the natural angling pressure that I've witnessed so far I'm not sure that there will be any.

Not a chance!

2010-12-28T14:40:00.000-08:00

After a large dinner on Christmas day I went for a walk to check out another stretch of river near my new home, the river Sowe. I've heard from a reliable sources that this stretch contains Roach, Perch and small Pike as well as plenty of Crayfish so I thought it would be worth a look. I walked the one and a half miles from my house, down the A45 to Sowe Bridge, the stretch runs from this bridge to the back of the Old Mill Hotel at Bagington. It isn't a long a stretch but there are plenty of good looking spots and seeing as I had a half box of maggots left over from Friday, I thought it would be worth giving it a go on Boxing day.


Some nice looking spots, shame about the wildlife!

On arrival the first thing I disturbed was a Cormorant, 'not good' I thought but I proceeded to the first spot, I crept up to this swim but still managed to disturb two Heron's, ok, I'll try the next swim. Things went fine for a couple of spots but no fish, I headed down to a corner swim that I really liked the look of the day before and disturbed two more Cormorant's, now this wasn't looking good at all. I tried the swim anyway, the flow came in at one corner into a deep pool this shelved up to a gravel and sand bar on the far side, there was a clump of dead reeds at the head of the pool, lovely. I trotted through a couple of times then saw something floating down with the flow, I turned only to see an Otter swim into my pool, I kept as still as I could but it caught a glimpse of me and stopped by the old reed bed it then swam right up in front of me before realising I was a human and made a bolt downstream.

The Otter swim.

Three Cormorant's, two Heron's and an Otter, no chance of catching anything in that stretch, I did try a couple of other spots just in case but I blanked.

After the Boxing day blank I headed down to the Avon today with a fresh batch of maggots. It was good to see an extra six to eight inches of water flowing through complete with chunks of ice and other debris, I concentrated on a couple of swims using a feeder to get the germs to the bottom quickly. Things were slow and bites didn't start till late in the afternoon, when they did start I kept missing and loosing fish but did eventually bank a nice Chub at around four thirty just as it got dark.

It didn't seem that dark.

With the orange glow from the estate behind it didn't seem to be as dark as it was, might have to look into this one.

Trotting germs!

2010-12-24T13:28:00.000-08:00

Down the Avon again, this time with half a pint of germs to have a go at trotting through some of the swims I found last weekend. The water level has dropped again, a good few inches down from when I was last here and I'm not sure if this was putting the Chub off, It's probably just the cold, any maggot's that had fallen out of the box into my bait bag were rigid within a few minutes.

I eventually found a couple of small Chublets but after the couple of trots through it took to catch them, all went quiet in that swim.

Nicely hooked

I continued around the meadow trying a few other spots but I had no more takes, I might have to wait till it warms up a tad.

Have a good Christmas everyone.

An old friend - Part 1

2010-12-21T12:58:00.000-08:00

My favourite float rod was bought whilst at University in Liverpool, it was found on a stall at Kensington Market on Prescot Road, I used to have a poke around this stall every weekend looking for a bargain, it was mostly second hand coarse fishing gear but at one end of the stall there was a box of rod blanks, they were mostly the old 'Fibatube' blanks as thick as a broom stick, one day whilst digging around in the box I found a plastic bag containing a three piece carbon float rod blank, I think I only paid twelve quid for it at the time, being a student with no money and new to course fishing, the thought of having a twelve foot carbon rod to target the local parks with was great.

Before building this rod I was using an old ten foot float rod that I used to use for mullet back home, I think it originally came from Woolworth's, this was teamed up with a centre pin reel that I'd bought from the same market stall only a few months before for eight quid (Another bargain), this set up was used to target Newsham, Sefton and Princes park lakes around Liverpool (Now you know why I have no fear fishing the canal in Cov city centre) the quarry was mostly Tench, Rudd and Roach with the odd Carp thrown in.

The old rings

I furnished the new blank with a full duplon handle and sliding winch fittings, I couldn't afford cork at the time and the duplon was a quick fix, chrome plated stand off float rings were the easiest to get hold of and I made sure the butt and tip rings were lined, they were whipped on in black and when finished it looked the business and at a fraction of the cost of a similar rod off the shelf. It saw plenty of action around Liverpool with loads of hard fighting Tench with a few Carp testing the blank, after a move to Birmingham, Crucians and Bream were targeted at Kingshurst lake (That was in 1993, I wonder how big the Crucians are now?) as well as Chub from the river Blythe at Coleshill and then the Avon at Cov before my obsession with the Carp at Ryton shelved that style of fishing.

Changing my style of fishing and having Carp and Avon rods with plenty of backbone meant that my old friend has seen little use over the past few years, I started to refurbish the rod a couple of seasons back replacing the full duplon handle with a split version similar to a Carp rod, not happy with the look I changed it again last year to a full cork with a Fuji reel seat, much nicer.

The old Trudex should see lots of action soon

At the time I couldn't decide on how to ring the rod so shelved the whole thing as an ongoing project till something suitable could be found. I've settled for a set of Fuji float rings and even though they are only taped into place they look good.

Chubbi'n eck - it's cold!

2010-12-20T13:46:00.000-08:00

It's not the right time of year to buy a ticket for a stretch of river and with the current weather we're having it's not really the best time to be on the bank fishing that stretch of river. I was Chubbing again on Sunday but this time on a stretch of the Avon I've been wanting to fish for ages, I spoke to someone on the bank last week about the fishing in this area and casually asked about the opposite bank and who ran the section, he gave me a contact name for someone who could help me out and within 48 hours I had the ticket for that bank.

After a short fifteen minute walk from the house I arrived at the river, there was a good couple of inches of virgin snow on the bank and the water was still liquid although there was some ice in the slack water on a few of the bends. The first pool looked too good not to have a go and it only took a couple of chucks with a lump of flake to get a Chub interested in paying a visit to my landing net.

Maybe I should wear white in all the snow!

This new bank I was fishing gave me a much better angle on some of the swims I normally fish and it's much more comfortable not having to negotiate the barbed wire fences that run along the opposite bank. Some stretches I'd not seen before because of the dense reed beds that usually block my view, they looked good and I was getting plenty of knocks and rattles from something so I'm going to have to try trotting germs and worms through some of these swims to see if these bites and knocks were Roach or Dace.

Talking of trotting, I'm resurrecting an old friend for next year, my favourite float rod, but this is another story.

I was a bit disappointed when I got to a swim at the end of one of the meadows, I'd caught a Chub there, must be nine years ago now, it weighed 5lb 3ozs, sadly, the tree it lived under was long gone along with all it's friends and this section now looks completely different, however, there were a few knocks from something so might be worth a trot.

On my way back, I found another one of those swims that looked too good not to have a go, I did and caught another two small Chublets that were in absolutely mint condition.

Looking forward to getting down there again, I finish work on Tuesday for a two week break, now where did I put that bivvy when we moved?

Formula's

2010-12-13T13:10:00.000-08:00

I had my parents down from Anglesey for the weekend so couldn't get on the bank till Sunday afternoon.

Everywhere is still iced over so I popped down the Avon again, despite my efforts I only managed the one Chub of 3lb 10ozs but this got me thinking about next years challenge and the quickest way of working out a percentage. Now, I wasn't top of the class at maths but got the grasp of enough to get me an 'O' level and this is how I'm working it out.

Fish Record weight: (Chub) 9lb 5ozs

Record weight in ounces: 149ozs

Divide this by 100 gives you 1% of the record weight = 1.49 ounces

Today's Chub weighed 3lb 10ozs

Weight in ounces: 58ozs

Divide this by 1.49 (1% of Chub record weight)

This Chub would be 38.9% of the record weight.

I tried this formula out with a few other species on our list and it seems to work fine so I made a version in Excel ready for the new year.

Birthday Bonanza

2010-12-05T09:54:00.000-08:00

Is there a collective noun for a gathering of Bloggers?

I woke up fairly fresh after last nights 'drinking and shouting' as Sharon put it, It was good to catch up on angling exploits and meet a few faces behind the blogs, I even put my name down for next years challenge but how I'm going to get a chance to do any fishing after the baby arrives, I don't know.

After a nice relaxed breakfast I headed off down the Avon for a couple of hours Chubbing. Travelling light, rod, net, loaf of bread and a small rucksack I headed off across the fields towards Bubbenhall, the spots I like to fish are a bit of a trek but I think it's worth the effort. It was nice to feel the warmth of the Sun after all the freezing weather we'd had and I was hoping that this break in the weather might stir the fish, however, I was concerned that the bit of rain we had on Saturday might have washed the salt off the roads and into the rivers putting the fish off feeding.

I tried a few spots without any luck but kept on the move till I eventually found the fish.

After catching a Chub of around two to three pounds I tried my luck and cast out to the same spot again to see if there were any other fish still in the area and was quickly rewarded with a second, slightly smaller fish.

I tried another cast to the same spot and couldn't believe my luck, within seconds of the flake touching bottom a third Chub picked up the bait, this fish felt much better and stayed deep trying to get into any snag it could find but it soon found it's way into my landing net, a nice fish of around three and a half maybe touching four pounds.

There was a lull of around half an hour and I thought I'd pushed things too far and started to gather my stuff ready for a move to another swim, I changed my mind when out of the corner of my eye I saw the rod tip lurch forward as a fourth fish took the flake.

Normally, I would have moved from this spot after the first fish but they just kept coming, "One more cast" I thought and I was soon rewarded with the fifth Chub of the day.

I lost a fish after this one and that finally switched the fish off, instead of moving to another spot I decided to pack up and head for home, I'd had a good birthday session with five Chub on the bank all from the same swim.

Waiting for paint to dry.

2010-11-21T12:29:00.000-08:00

An early start on Sunday saw the second coat of paint start to dry on the hallway walls, I was now free to do a short session down the canal. I headed to one of my favourite stretches where you don't have to move because of the depth, the fish tend to move in and out of this hole. All I wanted to do today was catch a fish as I hadn't set foot on the bank since the beginning of October. The usual dead baits went out, one on the near bank as tight to a feature as I could get, the second on the far shelf. After the second boat had passed through I had the first take on the far shelf bait and it wasn't long till I had a Zed on the bank.

Not big but at least I wasn't blanking.

And it beats watching paint dry!

I moved a few metres to the other side of the feature on my bank and tried a bait this side, it's a bit shallower but after getting the zed on the shelf earlier maybe that's where they were hunting. There were still boat going through and there was a constant flow as water was released from the gates further upstream, it was during this flow that I spotted an unusual twitch to one of the bobbins, I was a bit too quick and picked the rod up and struck to feel a very good pull, a head broke the surface and shook violently and I saw my bait come flying out of it's mouth, it looked a good fish.

After an hour, I moved back to my original swim and tried baits into the same spots again and it wasn't too long before I had another take but again the hook pulled free.

I'm not sure If I was giving the fish enough time to take the bait deeper into their mouths hence the hook pulls, I'll have to be a bit more patient on the next trip.

A new home for the gear!

2010-10-31T11:45:00.000-07:00

The move to the new house went smoothly and at last the broadband has been re-connected. All the fishing gear, and I can't believe how much there was, is now in it's new room at the top of the house but it's yet to be sorted through.

Organised fishing chaos!

The attic space was claimed as my den just after we viewed the house and there's plenty of room for all the gear to be stored, I'm looking forward to slapping a bit of olive green paint on the wall's and getting the rod rack up and organised. The bait is the only thing that will have to be stored elsewhere, which is something that Sharon has banned from her new kitchen, the boilie making, so I'm looking for a suitable garden shed to convert into a bait shack!
I have wanted to venture onto the bank over the past couple of weeks but I've either had walls to paint, paper to hang or furniture to build and there's still loads to do. It's the second bout of man flu in as many weeks keeps me from venturing out today.

A Couple of Quick Ones!

2010-10-01T13:24:00.000-07:00

Last week was pretty quiet and I only ventured onto the bank a couple of times for some quick short sessions.

The first was last Friday evening for a few hours on the canal near the Blue Lias, bites were scarce until the lights switched off and then I only had the one take. It didn't half pull back and when I switched on the headlamp I was most impressed to see a Zed slide over the cord and into the net.

The next session was near Tusses on Saturday afternoon/evening, I fished into darkness again but the only fish of the session came on the second cast having missed a take on the first cast only a few seconds before. It was a perfect evening, still, calm, with a big bright moon lighting everything up, it was very comfortable to fish, the only thing lacking was a few more bites.

Things might be a bit quiet with this blog over the next few weeks as I've just got the keys for the new house and I have a new rod room/tackle den to decorate and move into.

In The Scissors.

2010-09-21T14:11:00.000-07:00

Saturday and Sunday of last weekend was spent on the Coventry canal between Hawksbury and Bedworth. On the Saturday afternoon, I'd walked up to the first bridge at Bedworth, having a good look for Zandery looking spots on my way there before fishing my way back, there's loads of good spots along this stretch and lucky for me the first spot brought a bite on the first cast but it took a second cast to hook the fish.

I've had the same problem that Lee Fletcher's (This Angling Life) been having with bobbins not hanging correctly when resting on the uneven bankside vegetation so brought one extra item of hardware on this trip, a bank stick with twin glow in the dark rod rest heads on a short buzzbar.It came in useful for keeping the line out of the near bank greenery and it allowed me the choice of where to place the bobbins depending on how thick the vegetation was. The two choices being either in front of the rod rest or between the rest and reel.

The second fish of the session came from a spot near a large overhanging willow tree, the dark shadow cast by the tree looked really good for a take but it was a cast away from the tree that found the fish, another smallish Zed of around a couple of pounds.

As the evening grew darker I noticed some surface movement just down from the spot I was fishing and kept one eye on things, there was something definitely being chased. I made a move a bit closer and put both baits in the area. Half an hour passed before I got a good positive lift on the bobbin and struck but there was nothing there, I quickly recast to the same area but nothing else developed.

On Sunday afternoon I started the session at the Navigation Bridge in Bedworth heading back to Coventry. Along this stretch, just where the gardens that back onto the canal finish, there's a very dark enclosed section with tall overhanging tree's and high banks on both sides, the first fish of the day came from here but I only noticed the slightest of movement on the bobbin, it dropped back about half an inch and then didn't move until I had to reel in for a passing boat, as soon as I lifted the rod and tightened up I felt the distinctive head shake vibrate up the line letting me know a fish was on.

I continued along this stretch until I ended up where I'd started on Saturday, I tried the same swim that proved lucky for my first cast on Saturday and would you believe it, the fish was still there.

One thing I did notice about all the fish caught at the weekend, they were all hooked either in the top jaw or right in the scissors, I'm liking the single hook traces!

An Urban Zedventure - Part 2

2010-09-18T01:40:00.000-07:00

Filling in the gaps. Friday's evening session was more of an exploration of a stretch I'd not fished yet, I'd fished down the canal as far as Stoney Stanton Road, the bridge nearest the city, but no closer to the canal basin than this. I started this session where the towpath starts just up from the canal basin and was greeted by a few comments from a group of pot smoking NED's, I immediately felt uncomfortable about fishing this first stretch even though there were a few large overhanging bushes that screamed Zander within the first hundred yards, I continued round the first bend before putting a couple of baits next to some features on the far wall. Nothing developed along this first stretch so I moved up passed the Yuppie flats, today's buy to rent brigade choose their tenant's well, I was bombed by something large being thrown from one of the flats into the canal and that destroyed any chance of catching anything along this bit so continued towards Cashes Lane bridge and tried another dark overhanging bush, I wasn't going to stop but it was one of those 'to good not to try' spots.

A small group of NED's walked passed and had a good look at my gear as they did, then a few minutes later they came back and had another look, 'that's enough' I thought and brought in the baits and carried on up the canal.

The long bend before Foleshill Road was full of topping fish and I'm sure it would attract a predator or two, but the other side of the bridge was much darker and enclosed and felt more Zandery and I tried my baits in a couple of spots and had a slow lift on one of the bobbins which resulted in a fish of the plastic bag variety being banked.

The Rat's were out, I've not seen any along the other parts I've fished but what those stretches lacked in rodents this stretch more than made up for, they were everywhere.

Just the other side of the Stoney Stanton Road bridge I fished another overhanging bush that looked good, I first fished it last year during daylight and was hoping things would be different this time as it was nearly dark. When I say dark, the amount of ambient lighting from street and factory security lighting makes the fishing along this section fairly comfortable as you can see a fair bit without the use of a torch or headlamp.

I still haven't caught any Zander closer to the city than the A444 bridge near the Gallagher Retail Park and was thinking that maybe the Zander don't come down the canal this far because of all of this night time light, anyone have any thoughts on this one?

I made it to the pick up point on Swan Lane and said to Sharon that I didn't think I'd be fishing that stretch again.

Dancing lessons - part 2

2010-09-15T13:24:00.000-07:00

Finding some isotopes bright enough proved a little harder than I thought, I had a couple of colours spare that came with my Solar alarms but they proved to be a bit to small and dim to see clearly, I've settled on the ones I usually use on the tips of my Avon's, their by Drennan are are very bright.

The bobbin's clipped onto the line are working well during daylight and are definitely the best form of indication I've tried for Zed's, just need to fish a night session now to really test them out.

In the reeds.

2010-09-14T13:38:00.000-07:00

The stretch of canal near Stockton was the venue for my Sunday afternoon/evening's session, I walked to a section that saw a few fish on the bank for me when the ground was solid and covered in a light coating of the white stuff at the beginning of the year. The reeds are fully grown now so some of the gaps that were there last winter weren'tfishable but one particular slot looked too good not to try and a couple of baits went in front of the reeds on each side of my swim. This section seems to be quite deep compared to other sections of the same canal so could explain why the zed's were here during the colder months.

It didn't take long to get the first bite, the bobbin pulling up smoothly before I bumped the hook home. The way the fish pulled I thought I'd hooked a Pike but as soon as it hit the top and started to head shake I knew exactly what it was and after seeing it's size I started to smile, I had a family of onlookers who were just passing and they stopped to watch as I put the fish on the scales, 5lb 10ozs, a lovely start.

I put one of the onlookers to good use and got them to photograph me with my prize.

I was trying single hooks again today and was confident enough to use them on both rods but I think that's the reason why I missed the next three takes, I saw one of the fish, it was a small Zander and I don't think they were taking the half roach fully into their mouths for the single point to catch, I could have used a smaller slice of Roach and caught them but I'm greedy, big bait, big fish!

A fish with a mouth big enough to engulf the bait and hook itself did eventually show up and was about three to four pounds, you can just see a scar down it's side in the picture above but it didn't look like a pike scar, could it have been a Cormorant?

Both fish were hooked cleanly in the top Jaw and hooks were easily removed.

An Urban Zedventure - Part 1

2010-09-12T04:31:00.000-07:00

Friday's short evening session was on the canal in Coventry along a stretch I fished a lot last year and boy does it look different, the last time I was down here the factory on the opposite bank was still standing, even though it was in the process of being demolished it still cast a dark shadow over this stretch of water, it's now one big open site and makes this section of canal look completely different. I began the session a bit further up under some tall tree's, I caught a few smaller fish here last year so I was curious to see if they were still in the area.

I gave the spot half an hour but the resident tackle monster grabbed and ate a couple of traces so the snags the zed's used hide amongst are still there. It was time for a move and I headed back towards the city to try a few overhanging bushes I'd seen on my way up the canal and after trying a couple of spots without any takes I arrived at one swim that provided me with a few runs last year but no fish so I had to give it a go.

I positioned two baits either side of the large bush then began to watch the bobbins, after a while the left rods bobbin dropped to the water then slowly rose up to the rod, I hit it and had the first Zed of the day shaking it's head in a bid for freedom. I was using a single size two hook on this rod, another experiment to see if the unhooking would be easier as I'm finding deep hooked Zander very difficult to work on when removing trebles, the single came out without any problems and after a quick pic it was back in with it's mates.

A fresh bait was recast to the same spot and I brought in the second rod to check the bait and reposition, I glanced down to keep an eye on the first rod and noticed that the bobbin was in the water with quite a bit of slack line, I'd only just put this rod out so put it down to the line settling and proceeded to cast out the second bait, it's a good job I was keeping one eye on this rod as the bobbin rose up rapidly and slapped against the blank forcing the baitrunner to give a little line but by the time I'd reacted, got to the rod and struck the fish had dropped the bait and was long gone.

Both rods were repositioned and I settled back into the rhythm of keeping one eye on the bobbins and the other watching for NED's, a boat passed which forced another bait reposition but I never think this is a bad thing as I think Zander like it when the waters been stirred up and it was only moments after the boat had passed through that I had another take, the bobbin again dropped to the water before being pulled up, no messing this time, I was on it and struck into what felt like a much better fish, it put a good bend in the Avon and went all over the place before sliding into the net.

The single hook had done a great job sticking into the top jaw so no tool kit for this one, I was interested to see how big it was but was rather disappointed when it only pulled the scales round to three and a half pound, the fish posed nicely for the camera before being returned.

It seemed to be getting dark a bit earlier than usual because of all the cloud but the orange glow off the city lights meant I could try another cast or two but I'd had all the fish for that session and when the drizzle started I headed home.

Dancing lessons - part 1

2010-09-07T13:49:00.000-07:00

I've taken a leaf from Barry's book with regards to bite indication for Zander. Anyone who's met Barry will know that he uses the old fairy washing up bottle tops as bite indicators for most of his fishing and having seen them at work, they do a dam fine job.

I tried all manner of indication last year including alarms with and without bobbins, bobbins on their own, quiver tips and just a slack line, I've yet to find something I'm comfortable with. Slack lines offer no resistance to a taking Zander so is probably the best until it gets dark and I've had loads of dropped takes when using alarms or just bobbins on their own.

Having seen Barry's bobbins at work I've just started to use the nearest alternative to a bottle top that I could find in my boxes of fishy bits and bobs.

I've used a couple of old Solar line clips, the black plastic type and some old bobbin bodies and that's it. The clips have been screwed up tight and once clipped onto the line they won't fall off, they can still be removed for casting although it is possible to cast with them attached. The bobbin bodies are a very light weight plastic so offer very little in the way of resistance.

The next stage is to make them visible at night with some isotopes.

Dancing to the rhythm of the Zander!

2010-09-07T13:05:00.000-07:00

After a disaster of an afternoon/evening session at Long Itchington on Saturday where I'd spent a fishless few hours wandering the canal from Bascote bridge to the Two Boats pub, I decided to try for the toothy little critters a bit closer to home along the stretch near Tusses. There were a fair few boats moored up along the stretch I fancied but I carried on beyond these before I cast the first baits. Floats were dispensed with as casting very close to the brambles and features on the far bank can become a tad costly after a few over casts, I just used a single treble on a trace and a sliding lead on the main line to cut down on friction when a fish takes and I borrowed an idea from Barry with the bite indication but I'll talk more about this again as I'm still experimenting.

The plan was to walk the stetch casting to every fishy looking hole and feature and giving the baits a good fifteen minutes, or as long as I got between boats, before moving along the bank a few yards. After the second move I had the first fish pull the line up tight and after a short thrash around it was netted, processed and released.

It took a good few hours to connect with the next fish, the bobbin lifted a couple of times before before the line drew it up tight to the rod and I struck into a good heavy weight, at first I thought I was stuck fast in the tree roots the way the Avon was hooped round but then I felt the head shakes from a good fish. Netting was a bit tricky because of the overgrowth along my bank but it was in on the second attempt and a nice fish of around four pounds lay in the mesh.

The light levels started to drop so I headed back and tried a couple of zeddy looking spots I'd tried earlier to see if the change of light might stir some feeding activity, at one spot I cast the first rod hard up against a damson bush, set the rod down and attached the bobbin, I only turned away for a couple of seconds to get a fresh bait for the second rod and the bobbin had already pulled up tight to the blank, whatever was there had dropped the bait further into the snags beneath the bush and I had to pull for a break.
After a brief piscatorial chat with one of the boat owners I tried another spot beneath an overhanging tree, it looked too good to just walk past and not try. Within a few minutes the bobbin was dancing to the rhythm of a Zander take and a few moments later I had the final fish of the day on the bank.

A very enjoyable session.

Titchy Itchy Zed's.

2010-09-06T13:18:00.000-07:00

I fancied having a go for a Zander or two this weekend and headed off to Long Itchington on Friday afternoon for a session on the canal near the Blue Lias. I fished this spot at the beginning of the year and had a few fish from the deeper water in front of the lock gates but with the boat activity being a lot heavier than in the winter and I struggled to keep the bait still for more than ten minutes with all the coming and going of the barges through the locks. It was during a slightly longer lull in the activity and after the water flow had settled that I had the first nibble on the float, it bobbed a few times before moving off at which point I struck and felt a satisfying head shake on the end which was soon followed by my first Zed of the day in the bottom of the net.

The second Zander, well more of a Zedlette actually, came on half a Sandeel. I had a couple of frozen packs of Sandeel left over after the Devon trip and thought I'd give them a go as a small Zander bait and they do exactly as I thought, they catch small Zander.

This is a small Zander!

I was hoping that things would pick up as it got darker but everything remained quiet and I remained bite less.

More Tench!

2010-08-31T12:59:00.000-07:00

Another late afternoon/evening session at Ryton and I thought I'd have another go from the same swim as Friday evening. I really fancied a Carp from this swim and when the alarm on the left hand rod gave out a scream only moments after being cast out I thought I'd cracked it but when I struck all I felt was the thump, thump, thump of a head shaking Tench and It was to be the first of many. Every cast put into the gap in the tree's resulted in a Tench taking the bait and not every one made it to the net, I lost three fish which managed to twist their way off the hooks aided by the clumps of silty weed being brought in with them, six made it over the cord and they were all the usual size for Ryton. I tried altering the bait sizes and arrangements on the hair to try and avoid a Tench take but they still managed to scoff everything I threw at them and get hooked in the process.

Tried a triple boilie 'snowman' and still got Tench!

Even though no Carp made a show it turned into a very enjoyable but hectic session.

Saved by a Tench.

2010-08-28T11:20:00.000-07:00

Friday evening and a very short session at Ryton. After last weekends surprise capture of a couple of small carp I thought I would try my luck again. With Colin on the information desk and another angler on the disabled platform, I suspected that any carp at this end of the lake were probably aware of the angling activity going on around them so rather than add more lines to the same area I thought I would tuck myself away in a quiet swim behind the island and fish a spot that saw a few fish out for me earlier in the year. Just as I arrived at my chosen peg a good fish rolled over a spot where I was planning to place one of my baits and there were a few other fish cruising around the bay, I had to wait a few minutes for these Carp to move off before placing the baits up against the tree line, things were looking good.

A good hour passed before I had the first run, the fish came in easily enough with a lump of weed covering it's head and as I pulled it over the cord I could see it was a reasonable sized Tench, it wasn't the Carp I was hoping for but at least it wasn't going to be a fishless session.

Both rods were recast to the tree line and then began another wait. Using binoculars, I could see plenty of activity around the bay with a few bubblers here and there but as I scanned along the tree line where I'd positioned my baits I could see no signs of anything Carpy going on below the surface. Doubts as to whether I'd cast my baits to the right spot or indeed chosen the right swim began to worm their way into my head but as tempting as it was to make a move and cast a line elsewhere in the lake I stayed put. I know Carp move along here so there's always a chance.

Another hour passed and it appeared to be getting darker quickly but a cloud bank had moved over which wasn't helping with the low light, I was at the top of the bank starting to get my kit packed away when typically one of my rods went off, I struck and felt nothing and reeled in a boilieless hook festooned in weed and no lead on the clip, something had snaffled my bait and got away without getting hooked.

Box Break!

2010-08-23T14:30:00.000-07:00

Having spent all my free time over the past two weeks packing my flat into lots of little cardboard boxes ready for the big move, I thought a break would be good to clear the head and a few hours on the bank was an excellent idea. I'd neglected the fishing since we returned from the holiday in Wales a couple of weeks ago and rather than choose a guaranteed fish on the bank session like fly fishing for the Carp at Jubilee I found myself fancying a few hours sitting behind alarms and opted for a session at Ryton.

On arrival, I had a quick look around and with only one other angler on the disabled peg I had the choice of swims it's a shame the fish wouldn't make things a bit more interesting as the only Carp both on top and visibly feeding were in front of the information desk. The first couple of casts were with zigs set at different depths to try and snag one of the cruisers milling around in the area but as more and more bubblers started to show themselves I changed over to bottom baits and PVA sticks to mask the hook point and give me a bit more confidence fishing over the beds of dying weed.

I had a couple of very quick aborted runs which I put down to Tench and this was confirmed by slime on the hook length, I wasn't feeling too bothered by what I caught today but a Tench would save a blank.

I had one very fast take which I did think was a Tench, it went all over the place and at some speed but the fight got heavier as it came closer to the bank and it turned out to be one of the smaller Carp, only about 8lb but welcome all the same.

As the evening went on I lost a couple of Tench at the net but still had loads of fish feeding in the area where I'd been casting throughout the afternoon, the last casts of the evening went out and I had a hunch that the left rod would go at any time as the bubbles in the area I'd cast went berserk. As if ordered, off it went and I was soon playing a Tench, I'd lifted the right hand rod off the alarm and dropped the tip into the water so the fish wouldn't get tangled in the line but I heard the clutch give out a series of ticks just before the tench surfaced so I thought it had caught the line, after netting I cut the line next to the leader to avoid any further tangling and lifted the right hand rod out of the water to assess how bad things were, they weren't bad at all, it was another energetic fish that felt like another Tench and it wasn't till it came to the net that I realised it was a small Carp of around three to four pounds and a little smaller in length to the Tench already in the net.

A great finish to the evening but someone hadn't charged the camera batteries since the welsh trip so no photo.

In Menai's shadow.

2010-08-11T13:33:00.000-07:00

Another old haunt was at Menai Bridge and I used to fish here a lot with my father. You can fish here at any state of the tide as there is always water to be found and it's deep. We used to spin for Pollack with a one ounce Toby lure, on the right gear they cast like a dream and you can chuck them a fair distance. One of our favourite spots was right underneath the Menai bridge which is only accessible on the low cycle of a big spring tide. We would only have an hour to venture across the uncovered channel to reach the rock the bridge sits on, the edge of these rocks drop off into the main channel, fish could be caught by jigging the lures in front of us it was that deep. Thankfully we never got cut off by the rising tide but I do remember a couple of close calls. The Menai Bridge pier was another spot worth fishing with bottom baits but when the University's ship the 'Prince Madog' was moored alongside it made things difficult, I considered fishing there last week but the modern version of the same ship was moored in the same place and the rest of the pier was covered in kids crab fishing.

I made an error with this trip and brought the wrong box of lures, instead of a box of heavy metal bars I ended up with a box of balsa fish, these would have been fine for the estuary at shell island but not really suitable for the depths I wanted to fish in the straits, rather than go out and equip myself with another set of spinners for this trip I decided to try something a little different, a sliding float with bait.

The neap tides didn't allow me to cross the channel to the rock under the bridge so I fished close by on the high tide. It took a good few casts to find the depth and the stop knot ended up being just over three rod lengths away from the hook and I was using one of my twelve foot Avon rods. The worm bait was flicked out to the edge of the flow coming from under the bridge as this is where we used to catch the Pollack many years ago, it didn't take to long to find that they were still there and they put up a fair scrap on the Avon rod.

After adjusting the depth to drift over what I thought was a rock I started receiving some very sharp tugs on the float totally different to a Pollack, I persevered and changed hook size till I contacted with the fish which ended up being small Wrasse, I caught two species, Ballan Wrasse and the smaller Goldsinny Wrasse.

Even though they were all small fish they were great fun to catch, thinking back the Goldsinny is only a small species so this one was probably a specimen!!

Back to my roots

2010-08-11T13:14:00.000-07:00

A change of plan this year and the canvas we normally sleep under was left at home as we spent a week at my parents on Anglesey. (They live in the village with the very long name) Instead of the usual camping trip to shell island and the angling for Bass in the estuary, the fishing was back to grass roots stuff at some of my old haunts on the Menai Straits. This is where I started my fishing at six years old catching gobby's from rock pools with a six foot rod that was bought for me from Woolworth's. Yes, I can remember when Woolworth's used to sell all sorts of fishing tackle and I invested loads of my pocket money on a few of the rods and reels they had in their range, my first beach multiplier was from there and I remember learning to cast with it in my early teens and once mastered I made the change from fixed spool to multiplier casting for most of my beach fishing as well as the clubs casting competitions. As a junior, I used to be a member of the Llanfairpwll and district sea angling club and we had competitions every other weekend through the spring /summer months with a few one off matches in the winter, we even had casting competitions run in conjunction with the Sea Angler magazines casting club, these were great fun and I did achieve the 175 metre casting club badge, a long way for a heavy lump of soft metal. Sadly, all this was given up when I left the area to go to university, that is when the fishing changed but that's another story.

The first session was on the quay at Pwllfanogl and is where I used to fish several times a week after school, we used to fish mostly for Codling and Flatties with the odd trip for Congers, this session was more to do with seeing if anything had changed. Lug and Crab had been collected from the beach and the fishing was around low tide, one hour down, three up which used to bring the best results along this section of the straits, things hadn't changed and I started getting rattly bites straight away the culprits being some very small Codling no bigger than the top of my box.

They were feeding along the edge of a bank at around one hundred metres out, on the edge of the main flow, and were taking the bait as soon as it hit the bottom. After a hectic hour on the Cod I dropped the casts short onto the rougher ground infront of the quay with the intention of a Doggie or two, they used to be fairly predictable and very useful during the club competitions. After a couple of casts to find the spots I had the first of many on the bank.

Had it been November, the Codling would have been much bigger as this is when the main run of Cod used to pass through the straits with double figure fish being fairly common, catching a few small Codling together with a few Dogfish (Or should I call them Catsharks!!) had me smiling all the way back to the village.

Wasps!

2010-07-25T01:26:00.000-07:00

Another quick session at Jubilee on Thursday evening and after the fruitless trip to Ryton I was looking forward to getting a Carp on the bank, it's been a few weeks now. I could see several fish on the top sitting motionless and I thought I would try a few casts to see if I could get a take without throwing out any freebee's. A few false casts were thrown to get the range then I cast in the direction of one of these Carp, at first I thought I'd just spooked the fish but all it was doing was dropping down to turn and rise at the fly, that was probably the quickest take I've ever had off a Carp. It was a good heavy scrap and it wasn't long before I was taking a picture of a 12lb 8oz common before quickly releasing.

I fed this swim to try and get some other fish to show some interest but all stayed quiet so I moved to a swim on the other side of the point behind me and started to introduce some freebee's, a couple of fish showed some interest and it wasn't long before I had several fish competing for the free snacks. After casting out I kept being buzzed by some fly like creatures but being focused and ready for the next take I didn't let it bother me. After hooking a small Carp, it was when the fish was on the mat that the buzzing around me came into focus and I realised that sound was coming from several Wasps.

Some people have a fear of flying, others fear dentists, I can't stand wasps.

I stayed calm as they didn't seem to be that angry and continued to deal with the fish and release it before freaking out, after letting the Carp go I looked back and could see that the population of wasps around the mat had increased then I noticed where they were coming from, right next to the mat was a small earthy patch in the grass and a small hole which had several of the stripey beasts exiting rather quickly. I stood at the waters edge thinking about how to escape this swim without being followed by an angry buzz but then realised that the wasps weren't around me, I think being dressed head to toe in realtree might have helped, maybe they couldn't see me?

I grabbed what gear I could lay my hands on without taking my eyes off the wasps and walked very quickly round to the next swim continuously looking over my shoulder. Observing from a distance I made a plan to rescue the rest of my gear from the buzzing hoard of Jasper's, it was a close one, I had several enquiries whilst picking up my bag but I resisted the temptation to run up the bank, hands aloft, screaming like a girl and made it back without being mobbed.

It took a while to calm down from that experience and I won't be fishing from that peg again this year.

When I eventually calmed down and my casting returned to normal I had a take from a fish that took loads of line on it's first run, onto the backing at one point and after a very heavy fight the reward was a lovely looking Carp, almost a leather at 13lb 2oz's

Between the showers.

2010-07-23T07:58:00.000-07:00

What with one thing and another, wetting a line over the last couple of weeks has had to be put to one side, however, I did get onto the bank last Friday and chose Ryton as the venue. Just before the Devon holiday, I'd noticed a couple of spots that had seen regular visits by something fishy and thought it would be worth setting a couple of traps when I had some time and the weed wasn't to heavy around this spot so extracting a Carp shouldn't be too difficult, the weed appears to be starting to die back which is a good thing. Weather wise, Friday had been a bit hit and miss with a few showers during the day but the outlook for the evening was good with clear spells forecast.

I arrived at the lake and wasn't too keen on the dark clouds approaching, I'd just got myself sorted and cast out and the heavens opened complete with a couple of rumbles of thunder, typical!!

I was travelling lite and there was no space for the large umbrella but from experience on past trips it's always worth taking some sort of shelter if heavy showers are forecast and a golf umbrella fits in the landing net stink bag rather nicely.

It was a bit of a squeeze but the stuff stayed dry.

The session was a blank but the place came alive after the heavy rain with plenty of fish showing and a couple of spots seeing some heavy feeding.

A Few Bass.

2010-07-12T14:11:00.000-07:00

Last weeks morning tides were spent chasing Smoothhounds so I was glad of a change in the evenings when the rock marks were full of the after work anglers. I made my way round to Grey Sands at the far end of Northam Burrows and a channel called the South Gut, at low tide this was empty, it's as the tide starts to flood that the Bass move up this channel and into the Taw and Torridge estuaries and this is the perfect place to set a trap for a Bass or two. Last year I found the magic bait that gets the bites, the humble lugworm. I'd spent hours trying Crab and Sandeel as bait and failed to get any takes but as soon as I swapped over to lug the rattling bites came thick and fast and this was the only bait I was going to use for the Bass this year, the lug was dug at the same place I collected the crabs which didn't help with the bad back.

The rough weather on Sunday had disturbed a quantity of weed which did clog up the line after about ten minutes in the water but this was enough time to get a rattling bite, the only trouble being that most of the schoolies were small and very quickly stripped the hook bare without feeling the point.

I had a couple of what I call 'Tesco' sized fish but none were taken for the table. This one is on the top of my camo bucket which has a twelve inch lid, the fish was about fifteen inches.

Another small one

and this one, even smaller.

Ho! Hounds.

2010-07-11T14:09:00.000-07:00

Last years holiday to Westward Ho! saw me fail to bag one of the Smoothhounds that frequent this part of the coast at this time of year. The bits of local info I'd received from some of the anglers I'd met on my last trip and was unable to action were now to be put to good use, but, there were a few more things to learn before I could bag my first Smoothhound.

On arrival last Saturday, my first job was to gather enough soft and peeling crabs for a few sessions during the week, it was hard going and not good for the back but I gathered enough baits for a couple of morning sessions.

The first session was on Monday morning, I arrived at the rock mark I was told about last year and no one else was around, 'great stuff' I thought but there was still a heavy swell pounding the rocks after a weather front which had moved through North Devon on the Sunday. It was low tide and was just on the turn so I had about two and a half hours before I'd have to retreat up the rock as the tide rose to cover them.

Not long after my first cast I was joined by a local angler who was just out for a walk and he enquired as to whether I was fishing for hounds which I replied 'yes' and that I'd never caught one before, the next thing he asked was if I was fishing with the drag backed off as several people had lost rods around hear after the takes from the smoothies had sent their rod javelin like into the sea, I immediately backed of the drag and switched on the ratchet. After a couple more casts I received a short run and enquired as to whether this was normal and apparently some days it can be a nightmare to hook the fish as they just pick up the bait and run with it only to drop it after a few metres, the scream of the ratchet certainly wakes you up. I had a few more runs like this during the couple of hours I had and decided to return on the next low tide that evening, however, every fishable rocky point along this stretch, and there's not many of them, was occupied by anglers such are the popularity of Smoothhounds in this area.

I was up early on Tuesday to get on my mark just as the tide exposed it. The first cast went out and almost immediately I had a couple of hard tugs on the tip, a short run, then nothing, another crab was bound to the hook and cast out and again I had another dropped run, I was told that I'd just have to wade through these until I had a proper take and I would know about it when this happened. On the next cast, it happened, the rod tip tapped a couple of times then pulled forward till the drag allowed the fish to take line, like a Carp on steroids, off it went, I grabbed the rod for fear it would disappear in the direction of Lundy and tightened the drag, the tip of the rod just continued to pull round as I leaned back into a heavy pounding weight. I tried to remember everything else I was told about playing Smoothhounds but I just kept the pressure on and pumped and wound when I could until it was close enough to use the swell to bring it in to the rocks and land, what a fish, it went all over the place even taking line at one point when I thought the drag was at it's tightest.

I sat down, legs like jelly, and watched as my first Ho! hound of around 7/8lb swam around in one of the many rock pools that double up as saltwater keepnets. A fish of 12lb had come out the week before so I was more than happy with this one.

After an hour, I had another run which didn't sound as fierce as the first but the fight was much more hectic, at one point I thought I was going to loose the fish as it ran off to my left behind a rock that kept being exposed by the swell but I kept the pressure on and heaved just as the next wave came and was able to pull the hound clear of the rock then heaved again on the next wave and it was mine.

This fish was around 6lb and when I put this fish in the pool with the first I realised that I had caught both species of Smoothhound, the common and the starry which has small white spots down it's back.

The session soon finished and both fish were released, on my way up the rocks I was met by another angler on his way down, it was Kevin, I'd met him last year and he remembered me and congratulated me on catching my first smoothhound, I thanked him for the info he gave me last year and telling me about this spot.

Two quick sessions.

2010-06-28T13:27:00.000-07:00

I fished last Wednesday evening after the football and again had the horseshoe lake at Jubilee to myself, I fancied a swim with a challenge and went over to a difficult corner to fish with the fly. There's no room for a back cast and only a roll cast will get the fly out to the fish I also found that if you spook fish here they won't come back for ages. I put a couple of casts out to get the range then fed a few biscuits, there were already a couple of fish in the margins to my left and I was hoping that the 'plopping' sound of the biscuits landing on the surface would attract some interest. A few minutes passed and one fish started milling around the swim picking off a few biscuits here and there, a few more biscuits went out together with a fresh cast right in amongst them, the second biscuit taken was my fly, I struck and felt a good weight, then a kick and a slack line as a Carp threw the hook.

I tried a few more swims to get the Carp up but they weren't having it but I did see loads of small Rudd so changed over to a more traditional fly pattern, or as close to what was flying around that I had in my box and had a go for them. Even though casting with a fly is quiet, it's still noisy when approaching small species and every cast just scattered the fish as the line landed on the surface. I found that if I waited a while before drawing the fly back then the fish would settle down and start to chase.It took ages to find the correct speed and pattern of retrieve to get a take but I got one in the end.

A few more casts and I had a small Perch on the bank.

Friday evening and another quick session, it was very warm and the fish were everywhere on the top but I was only to get the one on the mat. I set up and soon had a couple of Carp interested in the snacks I was flicking out to them, one of them was a very nice looking ghostie and I fancied having a closer look at this fish. It only took a couple of casts and up it came and took my fly. It was a lovely fish, deep in the body with very big eyes.

Up to my armpits!

2010-06-21T14:37:00.000-07:00

I fancied a change of venue and species for Sunday and headed down to the Avon at Ryton Bridge and the stretch towards Bubbenhall. I can't believe that it's been six months since I was last here in search of a Chub or two and has it changed. The first couple of fishable swims nearest the hotel were occupied by a couple of novice anglers (budget rods from the local supermarket) who were rather enthusiastic about their lager intake, I think they may have fished here often as the banks had seen some heavy use and I fear it was before the season opened last week so I hastily made my way past them as quickly as the long grass would let me.

Further along the bank I spotted another angler moving from swim to swim in search of his quarry so I made a diversion completely missing out one corner of the field and river, the further I went the more evident the effect the lack of anglers walking the bank over the recent months had had on the surrounding flora and fauna, my arms are still aching today from carrying my gear over my head as I waded armpit deep in the stuff making a new track as I went whilst trying to remember where the dips in the bank were from when I fished here in the winter and the place had been laid bare by the freezing conditions. Most of the swims I'd fished in the winter were now overgrown with bull rushes so I only had a quick look at them on my way through and eventually reached my first swim with only a few scratches and stings for my efforts. The swim was already occupied by the Polish angler I'd spoken to at Ryton a few weeks ago, I didn't realise this stretch was so popular as I don't normally see anyone down here, so, I carried on to the next meadow and another swim that had seen a few fish on the bank for me at the beginning of the year.

It looked like I had this stretch to myself but it took ages to find any fish, I'd spooked a few on my way down the field but crept up on one spot to find three good Chub milling around in front of a willow stump, I crept up behind the stump and flicked out a large piece of bread flake and to my amazement it was scoffed immediately, an ill timed strike followed which merely pulled the bait out of the Chubs mouth spooking it and it's friends at the same time, game over for this swim, time to move.

I tried a few other swims but the Chub just melted away as soon as a bait was placed in the water and I fear someone may have already visited these swims before me, I eventually came across a couple of good fish in a swim that had a bed of reeds between me and them, one of those Chub was mine.

The Chub didn't know what was going on but I had it in the net in a flash.

There were no more fish but I did see a couple of new spots to try on my next trip.

Field of green.

2010-06-20T14:38:00.000-07:00

Picked up my new polarised prescription sunglasses on Saturday and was itching to give them a try, I wasn't going to be fishing so I just popped to Ryton to have a look around and try them out, their so much better than the old clip-on's.

I found Barry on peg one trying for a fish or two after witnessing Keith's bag of Rudd earlier in the week but he'd only just arrived and hadn't caught anything yet. The Carp were having a good scoff and stirring up the mud on a couple of spots but with the all the weed around you would need to have a bucket load of luck with you to see one on the bank, however, there are a couple of margin spots that look promising for a spot of hit and hold carpy action!

The swan family have moved in at Morris's, I don't think this swim will see an angler till the autumn when the weed has died back, the only problem, it'll be knee deep in Swan shit by then!

I don't fancy trying to get a Carp out of this.

Better than watching England!

2010-06-19T01:35:00.000-07:00

The forecast was to be sunny intervals for the evening so despite the rain which wasn't that heavy, I got the fly gear ready for a short session at Jubilee. Kick off was about an hour after I arrived at the lake and the place was already deserted and I think the fish knew it, there were Carp crashing everywhere as if in celebration.

It took a while to find some fish willing to feed off the top in the fine rain but a constant stream of snacks got the better of a couple of them and they started to confidently slurp them down. For some reason, don't know why, a black coloured biscuit fly stood out in the box as if screaming at me to use it, so I put it on and whipped it out amongst the few free offerings that where left and it was taken straight away. It was only a small common which hardly fought at all that is until I got it to the net, as soon as it realised it was in a mesh cage it went nuts, I waited for a few moments for it to calm down before moving to the mat.

The imitation biscuit was taken with such confidence, I had to use forceps to extract the fly from the back of it's throat and it's not often you get them hooked so deep.

I tried to take a quick shot for the blog,

like an England goal keeper, it was a lively one to get hold of

but I got an acceptable image in the end.

A few more fish had moved into the swim so I fed a couple of pouches of free snacks to keep them happy and sorted myself out before recasting. The black fly was working well and I soon had a second Carp on, normally the tip is bent right round and I struggle with these smaller fish but again it came in without a problem, I let the little mirror have a thrash around in the net before lifting it out for a quick portrait. It had a very strange narrow mouth, almost like a beak.

All went quiet after this fish, I lost one very lively Carp which was exciting for the brief moment I had it on, it took a fair amount of line before it threw the hook which was a shame as it felt like a better fish. The sky started to clear at around eight thirty but I'd had my fix and left happy.

Odd's and Sod's

2010-06-13T14:04:00.000-07:00

Nothing new to blog about, I've been to Jubilee a few times for the odd short session here and there, no big fish but plenty of the smaller one's that haven't wised up to the fake biscuits yet. I've had several frustrating 'hair pulling out' moments with good fish sneaking right up to the fly only to nose it and turn away at the last minute forcing me to quickly reposition the fly and try again, I've been doing a lot of recasting. I've found a couple of new pegs that allow me to do my version of a roll cast to get the bait out to the feeding fish.

The ducks have been little sod's.

I've visited Ryton several times fulfilling my duties as bailiff, you get to learn quite a lot from the guys that are braving the weed to wet a line. There's still a few Carp coming out despite all of the weed and plenty of Tench and Perch to float fished maggot and worm. I witnessed one of the club's Polish members catch a couple of good Perch last weekend, he was spinning with a very small rubber lure and the Perch were queuing up to grab hold on it's way passed, the rest of the shoal were then following the hooked fish almost to the bank. Makes me want to buy some maggots and take my pole up there for a spot of Perch fishing!

I have had a project on the go ready for my first holiday to Devon in a few weeks time, the beach rest I used last year was a bit unsteady at times so I've rebuilt a new lighter weight rod rest ready for this year. It appears to be much more stable and well up to the job, I just hope it doesn't fall apart on the first trip.

Fueled by a tale!

2010-06-05T01:34:00.000-07:00

The pool was practically deserted today, there was one angler with family in tow, in the far corner trying for another Carp like the one he had a few weeks previously but he looked to be struggling with the weed which is by far the worse I've seen it, the last time it looked this bad was four years ago when the level was down by more than a foot.

I did my rounds and headed off to Jubilee fueled by a conversation I'd had with Barry on Wednesday night. He'd phoned just before ten with tales of a single mirror carp he'd caught that evening, a monster at just over 23lb caught on a biscuit fly. (Monster for a fly rod that is!)

It was hot and I think the fish population of the lake were all on the top, I could see Bream, Rudd and plenty of my target, Carp. I started feeding biscuits and up they came and it was long before I had the first fish of the day on the bank and I think I've seen this little fella before.

I moved around to the point and got the fish feeding fairly close in but as soon as the fly landed on the surface they became cautious, drifting up to examine every biscuit rather than snatching them off the top. They moved further out and I had to lengthen my cast to drop the fly at the back of the biscuits I was feeding and did fool a couple of fish into taking, they were only small commons but they really do fight hard for such small fish this is also enhanced by the use of such a fine carbon stick to catch them on, I love fly fishing for them and someone else that does is Barry, he arrived at around six and fished the point swim but struggled to connect with the takes he was getting but did manage to get one good fish.

I on the other hand, was struggling with ducks, as soon as you turn your back they were in the swim cleaning up the biscuits but I kept feeding and the fish stayed around. I struck into one take which I could tell was a better fish by the way everything went solid, I saw it's tale and dorsal a couple of times and it was good so I just had to hang on, get it under control and in the net. Bigger fish don't seem to thrash around as much as the smaller ones that twist and turn very quickly so it wasn't an epic battle, it plodded around in front of me taking line when it wanted to eventually it gave in to the constant pressure and slid over the cord. Barry did the honours with the camera and I lifted my prize, a long and lean 14lb 4oz Common.

No contest!

2010-06-01T14:35:00.000-07:00

After a walk around Ryton I took the fly rod over to Jubilee for an afternoon/evening session. I did fairly well at the first swim bagging three fish fairly quickly, not monsters but great fun.

My favourite tight swim proved itself once again and I hooked this nice mirror within a couple of casts.

I then moved to the swim next door and got some fish up feeding on top including one very good fish which I fancied getting a closer look at but it proved difficult to track. Normally, they have a set route that they follow around the swim and a pattern will shortly become apparent which allows a bait to be positioned before a fish arrives to pick off a few more snacks. A few smaller Carp were milling around but I was trying to get the big one and lifted the fly away from these on a couple of takes but was too slow for this one.

I continued to feed the swim and the bigger fish was still around picking a few biscuits off here and there, I then had a group of around ten ducklings move through my swim polishing off all the biscuits they could find and they stuck around for quite a while, the Carp didn't have a chance, nor did I, no contest!

Carp have a sense of humour!

2010-06-01T13:57:00.000-07:00

Visited Bath on Saturday and whilst having a stroll in the Parade Gardens that has the Bristol Avon running alongside, I saw this sign. I know it was closed season but they had to rub it in.

Sharon was most impressed.

Then just to rub salt into the wounds I caught a glimpse of something through the railings, in the water directly behind the sign.

On closer inspection I saw.......

A group of very large Carp feeding in front of an in-flow pipe.

This was easily a 20lb fish.

On a plus point, I did find the ORVIS shop in the middle of town and stocked up on a few fly fishing bits and pieces.

Getting my fix!

2010-05-30T01:27:00.000-07:00

I love to feed my addiction to fishing with a few short sessions here and there and did just that on Thursday evening at Jubilee. I arrived at the lake at around six thirty then fed a few spots with biscuits to see if the Carp would rise, It was tough and it took a while to get a fish on the top, in one of the swims being fed I had three fish moving between biscuits very cautiously, they were checking every bait before either taking or rejecting, this is the sort of fishing challenge I love and hooking one would give me the buzz I needed. After watching their feeding pattern I started to put longer casts out to the back of the area being fed as the Carp seemed to be more confident at taking a snack at that range, it still took a while to get the only fish of the evening but the scrap you get on light tackle was worth the wait.

Friday was a similar short session, I had commitments for the evening with a concert at the NIA in Birmingham and Sharon fancied a picnic lunch somewhere which included a pass to bring a rod and by two o'clock we were having lunch at Jubilee, my gear was ready to go from the previous evening so there was no messing around preparing stuff before leaving. Even though the sun was out the surface chop from the wind was keeping the fish down, I found a couple of spots where the fish would take off the top but as soon as the wind caused any surface ripple they would switch off. After a few moves I settled on a spot where the biscuits would drift on the wind to a calm area just in front of an overhanging tree where they were being scoffed by a couple of fish. I ate my lunch and fed the Carp before even attempting to cast a line to them, if I got the first cast wrong they would disappear. Some careful feeding had the fish further out from the tree giving me the room to present a fly better and the second chuck had a Carp rise right beneath the fly and take without hesitation. It didn't half strip some line for such a small thing but I had it under control fairly quickly and it was soon in the net.

I'd blown this spot, on a normal session I would leave it alone for an hour or so before returning for a look but we were due to leave soon so I waited and continued to feed, a few fish moved in and out of the swim but nothing would take off the top.

New PB!

2010-05-24T13:03:00.000-07:00

I popped to Ryton early this afternoon to tend to my duties as bailiff and have a good look around, there was still a fair few fish in the shallows with anglers surrounding them on the disabled peg and on Morris's. The chap on the disabled peg (He had a key) had a couple of fish earlier on in the morning and lost a third at the net. The rest of the lake was free from anglers and I saw a fair few fish moving in areas that I've not fished yet this year so I'll have to try them soon.

Barry's tales of fly caught Carp got the better of me and I'd spent the morning getting the fly gear sorted after packing it away at the end of last year. Jubilee is only a short hop from Ryton and I arrived just before the match finished at two but I hadn't realised that it was being held on the main lake. I was hoping that there would be a few spaces clear on the horseshoe lake as this usually gets busy with regulars when matches are held on the island lake, luckily there was only a few people there so I had a fair few swims to chose from.
I got the fish feeding on the top fairly quickly as they were cruising around enjoying the sun, I had a take almost first chuck but it threw the hook. It wasn't too long before I had the first of five fish on the bank at 9lb 8oz's. I've had this fish out a few times (see July 2009 blog) it has a recognisable 'hunchback' kink to it's spine, it must love biscuits.

After a bite to eat I had the second fish at 10lb 12oz's, a quick move saw the biggest fish of the day on the bank, more about that in a bit. Another quick move saw a small 6lber in the folds of the net, I then found myself at my original swim and had a lengthy tussle with a 12lb 13oz common.

The best fish of the day came from a tight little swim that's done me well in the past, there were fish all over the place, I threw a few biscuits in front of the platform and a big fish came up out of no where and sucked two down before moving off. I flicked my biscuit fly into place and waited for it to return which it soon did engulfing two more biscuits the second having a hook in it, I leaned back into the fish and all hell broke loose as it tore off down the right margin, I was having a job to keep in touch with it as it was taking line off the spool at some speed, I leaned forward off the peg to keep the tip below the water to keep the line away from the roots and branches, it took a while to get it under control letting the clutch and spring of the rod cushion the lunges, it took a little longer than usual to land but when it was safely in the net I realised that it was a potential PB.

Scales confirmed it at 17lb 6oz's, a new PB fly caught Carp.

So close?

2010-05-23T01:14:00.000-07:00

After another blank on Friday I was in two minds whether to bother with Ryton at all. The Carp had spawned earlier in the week and looked as though they just wanted to chill out in the afternoon sun, they were all over the top so a couple of zigs were tried to tempt a take but it wasn't happening, I even fired out some biscuits with the hope that a few fish may become interested in taking a snack off the top but that wasn't going to happen either.

I woke up early on Saturday and headed to the lake for a morning session and only got half way round before spotting a large muddy patch in front of Morris's, "That'll do" I thought and settled in for the morning. A pop-up was the first bait out and I instantly started to get liners which slowed the setting up of the bottom bait rod but it wasn't too long before they were both in the murky stuff primed for a take. Other than a few bleeps from fish knocking the line nothing developed and after seeing a fish crash in the area to the front of the disabled peg I swapped over to a zig and cast it in that direction. I was sorting out another zig for the second rod when a one toner screamed out from the alarm, the tip pointing in the direction of a fish on the run, by the time I'd got to the rod it must have gone through several weed beds, I pulled into the fish and felt a few kicks back before the weight of the weed took over and I reeled in a huge clump of the stuff.

When clearing the weed from the line I notice something shiny on the bend of the hook, sadly it wasn't the big common I'd have liked but a fish scale, so close!

A sight I don't like to see is dead fish and I had to remove this good sized Tench from the lake during the morning, at first I thought it was the fish with the damaged jaw but it's mouth was perfect.

Another hot one is forecast for tomorrow and I really don't know what to do, Barry didn't help things , he arrived as I was packing up and told me of a 17lb Carp he'd had the night before at Jubilee, He'd caught it on a fly rod which makes it really tempting as I want to up my PB fly caught Carp this year.

Hmm, what do I do?

Pants!

2010-05-17T13:04:00.000-07:00

Fished a few times this weekend, started with a session on Friday afternoon/evening and blanked. I did see one Carp get caught from a corner where a few fish were visibly feeding but there was only room for the one angler on this spot.

An early start on Saturday saw me fishing the swim I couldn't get onto the previous evening and the fish were still having it, a few fish showed and all looked good for a run or two but nothing happened all morning so I put some food in with the view to return for a couple of hours in the evening, I did and blanked again.

Sunday was another afternoon/evening session and when I saw peg one free I was happy, on my way home the previous evening I had a quick look around the lake and saw four Carp feeding in front of the duck feeding area, the pot bellied fish from a few weeks ago was one of them so I was hoping that they would re-appear again that evening. I cast a couple of zigs around with the hope of a fish in the late afternoon sun before swapping over to bottom baits and placing them as tight to the wall as I'd dare cast ready for an evening run.

If I'd have won the lottery on Saturday, I don't think I'd have had enough money to buy a bite this weekend, it was PANTS!

Tench and a Personal Goal.

2010-05-08T14:22:00.000-07:00

Fished an early session on Saturday and after a walk around the lake and a quick chat with Andy who had just banked a nineteen pound plus common, I made my way to a swim that looked promising. I was fishing the point opposite the island and I put both rods out with PVA bags on to two spots I'd caught from before. The persistent and chilly north easterly wind was still with us and the sheltered area at the front of the island seemed to draw the fish in, there were plenty of bubblers showing and I decided to change one rod over to a chod rig to try and get a quick bite. I cast this to areas where these fish had been bubbling with the hope they would return and did have a couple of sharp tugs through the session, too quick to be liners, my hook can't have been sharp enough to snag whatever was tasting the bait. All the action came on the PVA bag and bottom bait with a single Carp, which I did mistake for a Tench until it broke the surface and five good sized Tench.

One of the tench was in a rather sorry state with a badly mangled bottom lip, it's jaw bones visible poking through the skin, not nice to see.

At the end of February I opened this years carp account at Ryton and over the next few weekends I managed to pull one out here and one out there, a few weeks ago I realised that I'd caught at least one Carp from the lake every weekend since the account was opened, since then I've still managed to catch but I decided to make it a goal to achieve this and see how far I could get. Today I reached my tenth consecutive weekend with a Ryton Carp on the bank, all be it just short of seven pounds.

I'm not one to gripe about things but something I do want to have a moan about is at Morris's. I'd left a few saplings grow there last year so they could be pruned back to provide some stalking cover for this summer, these were pruned back earlier in the year and other anglers who regularly fish this peg had noticed, some liking the idea so I wasn't just doing it for myself. I was told today that someone has cut these down and now left the peg wide open to any fish that swims past in the margins making it crap for stalking, thanks!!

The Evil One!

2010-05-04T05:24:00.000-07:00

I missed a great opportunity on Sunday evening. A very good Carp rolled in front of me on my arrival at the log swim and I had a Tench fairly quickly off the spot but a few Carp were now beginning to show on the far side of the lake, something was telling me that I should move on these fish. I normally cast to fish that head and shoulder out of the lake and if they are out of range of a long cast then I move to a swim where I can reach them. I'd seen Carp show regularly in front of the logs on previous sessions and it's not often I can get onto this peg to fish it, I had a hunch that a Carp might make an appearance and being as the Tench were feeding then so might the Carp, I decided to stick it out. Carp continued to roll on one spot on the far side throughout the session, I should have gone with my instinct and moved on them!

Monday had me at the lake again for another late session, there were no signs of any fish and the cold spell we were experiencing wasn't helping matters, the wind was very cold and so were the rain showers. There was a heavy shower just before six after which the wind died down to a very light breeze, a few bubbler's started to show and I felt a bite might be on the cards, I was right and in the next half an hour I had three Tench on the bank, very hectic. I was holding out for a Carp as I'd done well here earlier this weekend, but it wasn't to be. It wasn't a complete loss though, I did bank four Tench.

Something I did see that wasn't very nice was the evil streak in the resident male mute swan, rather than pick on the geese like he normally does he picked on the newest additions to the lake, the group of eight ducklings, now seven. He followed the group across the lake quickly gaining on them before trapping them against the bank on the far side then grabbing one of the fleeing youngsters and drowning it, luckily there were no members of the public around with children to witness this.

Saturday Zig.

2010-05-01T12:44:00.000-07:00

An early start today and after dropping the gear off at peg two I headed off for a couple of laps of the lake in search of a feeding fish or two, I ended up settling on peg two as the only visible signs of fish bubbling were in front of the tree's on the no fishing bank. Rods were dispatched to their spots and I set about sorting out some fresh hook links and baits ready for the first recast. A good fish crashed out in the middle of the lake and was in casting distance from the log swim on the far side so I thought about a move to be on the fish and started to pack away my gear, I glanced around towards the logs and noticed a red jumper clad angler standing there, never mind, peg two it was.
As the sun rose higher I noticed more and more Carp up on the top, there were plenty of bubblers in between them so they must have been in a feeding mood. I quickly set up a zig and put it out amongst them. Nothing happened for a good hour so I changed boilie colour and whacked it back out. Anthony had dropped by for a chat about the pegs, the possible solution being steel cages (gabions) filled with rock to replace the wonky slabs, a good idea I think. We were in the swim next door chatting about how under cut the bank was and how a cage full of rock in front of the swim would make everything more stable, Anthony went to fetch his waders from the car to have a poke around some of the other swims and I went back to my rods, I noticed that the bobbin on the zig rod was tight up against the front of the alarm but there was no line leaving the spool, I hadn't switched on the alarm so missed the initial take, I picked up the rod, slowly tightened the line and could feel a few gentle nods through the tip, I switched off the baitrunner and lifted into a very heavy lump that pulled back, now it made a run. It felt a very good fish by the way it pulled line off the spool but I soon had it under control and slowly played it back to the net allowing it to go when it wanted to, I could hear some voices from the top of the bank behind me and tried not to let them bother me until the fish was safely in the net, the Carp plodded around in front of the swim for a while before submitting to the folds of mesh, I then turned round to find a small audience watching and even had a small round of applause.
A wader clad Anthony was on hand to help with the weighing and photography as a group of onlookers watched, Anthony read 19lb off the scales, nice!

I had a Tench at around lunchtime but all the Carp had disappeared off the top and I couldn't see any signs of feeding fish, the session finished at one.

Last one of the first quarter.

2010-05-01T11:55:00.000-07:00

Only a short session on Friday, I didn't get to the lake till just after five thirty and I made a hasty start that didn't feel right, even though the wind was blowing into this swim from the right direction it just didn't feel 'Carpy' so I moved to the point opposite the island and just as I put my stuff down a Carp popped it's head out of the lake infront of my swim, that was more like it.
It was good half an hour into the session when a Tench made an appearance, they are very welcome and prove that the rigs work well but I was just hoping I wouldn't get too many more of these as Carp were my target, I'd already seen another good fish show on a slightly different spot and decided too put my next bait there and not long after I did it went off, something heavy was shaking it's head around in it's bid for freedom and it escaped, the rod was rebaited and put out onto the same spot.
Andy stopped for a chat on his way out of the park and we had a discussion about rigs and exchanged a few ideas, we also saw a Carp being caught on peg one which is always good to see. It was getting late and I was thinking about packing up when a one toner screamed out from one of the alarms, the rod tip was pulled round as a good fish made off with the bait, I picked up the rod and allowed the fish to run before engaging the clutch, it just carried on going and kited in towards the front of the island, I turned it and it came towards me twisting and turning along the way, the closer it came to the mesh the smaller it felt and at one point I even joked about it being a tail hooked tench, instead a nice Mirror Carp rolled over the cord and into the waiting net. Photo's were taken (Cheers Andy) and a lifted scale was attended to before it was released. It weighed in at 12lb 10oz's.

It was still light when this picture was taken, the flash makes it look like the middle of the night.

Who put that in there?

2010-04-29T11:50:00.000-07:00

I had a phone call from Barry this evening, apparently my ugly mug is in tonight's Evening Telegraph, I had to go and get a copy from the corner shop to have a look for myself and there it is.

It's a shame they chopped part of the head and tail off the fish and got the name of the venue wrong.

I haven't fished at Jubilee yet this year!

Does this count?

2010-04-24T23:37:00.000-07:00

Saturday was a more relaxed session, Sharon accompanied me together with a large bag of sandwiches, pork pies and cake and we sat in the sun on the point opposite the island enjoying a few rays, having a bite to eat, Sharon was reading a book and I was wetting a line, how perfect was that. It was even better when one of my alarms signalled a run and after a short tussle I had one of Rytons finest Tench in the bottom of the net, my gillie for the day was on hand to take a picture.

After having three consecutive casts to the front of the island picked up by a Coot within minutes of them touching the water, the PVA hadn't even melted, I moved it's position round to the side of the island to a spot tight up against the overhanging tree's. My gillie left me to my devices at about four thirty and I continued on the point for another hour before moving, I was having a chat with a fellow angler and preparing for the move when the rod to the back of the island decide to spring into life as a second smaller Tench picked up the bait, as soon as it was returned I was off to set a couple of traps for a Carp.
Rigs were cast into their new positions and the wait for a feeding Carp was on. The wait ended up being around two hours but to see the line twitch and tighten up before the spool starts spinning to release line to a running fish is worth the wait. It didn't feel that big, the fight wasn't so hurried and erratic as a Tench and to be honest there wasn't really a fight, I just guided the running fish to my near bank and allowed it to thrash around before netting.
Despite it's small size it is what I was fishing for so I guess it does count although how it managed to get the bait I was using into it's mouth I don't know.

It's a very similar shape to the six pound fish that I had a few weeks ago only a touch smaller at five and three quarters.

Crystal clear in the shadows.

2010-04-23T22:31:00.000-07:00

I arrived for a late session just after three, my first view of the lake was greeted by several carp milling around on the top in the corner bay, I carried on down the road bank towards the car park and couldn't believe how clear the lake had become in a matter of days, I was here on Wednesday evening with a marker rod and there was still some colour in the water, today you could see how shallow this lake really is!

I had almost done a complete circuit of the lake when I saw Colin on the top of a bank watching some slightly bigger Carp through the tree's doing the same as the others, teasing the anglers into having a go, so I did. I set up in a corner I've not fished for a long time and cast towards the front of the tree line, rods were laid on the ground without alarms as I was expecting this to be a hit'n'run affair. I missed the first run, (or it was dropped) but a second and third pulled away shortly after, they were both Tench. Baits were back on their spots and at around five thirty my first Carp fizzed line off the reel in it's bid for freedom and it really did pull some line off the reel, with most of it's energy spent it came to the net without too much fuss. On inspection, the hook hold was very deep inside it's mouth so this fish wasn't coming off, it must have been having a proper feed to get hooked so deep.

The shadows of the tree's I was under make this fish look like it has bands of colour but it was an immaculate, evenly coloured common that pulled the scales round to 11lb.

After letting the fish rejoin it's friends I thought about moving as the disturbance in this corner was sure to have scared everything off to the the far side of the lake but no, there were still some dark shapes mooching about under the tree's so the rods were soon back on their spots with fresh bags attached ready for the next take. It was about half an hour later that there was a start stop run on one of the rods, I knew it was another small Tench and it was to be my third of the session. After recasting again I thought I was going to be in for an evening of Tench fishing but I noticed a few larger dark shapes moving around one of the baits, I was willing that rod to go, breathing the word "C'mon" and watching for the line to tighten, when I glanced over to where the fish were I missed the take, the line had instantly pulled tight and was leaving the reel at a rate of knots so I picked up the rod and let it go, it Paused and shook it's head around making me think it was another Tench but it was too heavy to be one of them, strangely, the fish just wallowed and thumped around as I gently pumped it back to the mesh and just before it reached the cord I backed the drag right off in case it woke up.

This fish was a bit of a hot potato on the mat but I managed a few pictures without getting a slap from that massive tail, the scales read off 16lb 14oz's.

Sunday Session - What a Cracker!

2010-04-19T00:05:00.000-07:00

With my commitments that had been put off from Saturday out of the way by lunchtime, I was free for a late session on Sunday and started at around three. After about an hour and whilst chatting to Colin on the top of the bank one of the rods was off, the screamer I thought was a Carp ended up as a rather feisty male Tench but welcome all the same.

Another hour passed and I was just swapping my sunglasses for my specs when I had another screamer of a run. When I struck it felt proper carpy this time and I'm not sure if the fish knew what was happening as it tore about in all directions and swam over my second line dragging this around, it did eventually give up for the net, Andy was watching from the top of the bank and assisted in the photographing and weighing. (Cheers Andy)

Andy gave me 16lb for this common.

Just before seven, I was again at the top of the bank having a chat with Barry who had just packed up for the evening and the same rod was off again, why is it that fish always bite when you are furthest from your rod, just about to eat or packing up to leave?

This was another Carp but I was very confused by the fight, it was heavy but felt a bit like a Tench, Barry suggested it might be one of the big bream but when I saw it I was very surprised, the shape was like a mini Malissa but as a mirror carp, very short and a belly like a football, I'm sure Colin mentioned this fish earlier on so it was nice to catch her the same day.

14lb 8oz.

I'm not sure if Melissa's genetic make-up has anything to do with the shape of this mirror but I do know of another common of a similar size in the lake (Short Round) with the same extended belly, could they be Melissa's offspring?

Short Round, Melissa and the new member of the family.

I was very happy with the way the evening was going as I've only managed single Carp per weekend so far so to catch two in a session was great. I'd just recast one rod and left it on the rest to allow the line to sink when the bobbin on the second rod hit the front of the alarm, there was no run so I initially thought it was a Tench and struck expecting one, what I didn't expect was a Carp, it tore off at at great rate of knots away from me straight down the tree line and broke surface before heading in towards the trees, I put some pressure on and turned it but it kept twisting and turning before swimming straight back towards me, it wasn't too long before I had it plodding around under the rod tip making lots of short energetic runs, it refused the net several times but eventually submitted.

Another immaculate Common at 17lb 10oz's.

This was a cracker of a short session.

Email from Anthony

2010-04-18T02:41:00.000-07:00

Just had this email from Anthony, I think we're all guilty of fishing where we shouldn't.

Hi Roger

We have had a minor complaint about anglers at Ryton Pool. It’s not a major issue at the moment but we are in negotiations for a new lease so I don’t want anything to reflect badly on us. Our current arrangement excludes any fishing from the car park bank, from the duck feeding area at one end to the overflow at the other. The disabled platform is strictly for blue badge disabled anglers.

So, if you happen to see any anglers fishing that bank, perhaps you would ask them to move. I’ll do the same.

I saw a guy catch a nice mirror about 3 lbs the other day so there are more generations coming along.

Thanks for your help

Best regards

Anthony Simmons tel 01926 312319

Leamington Angling Association

www.leamingtonangling.co.uk

Thirteen hours and .......

2010-04-18T00:50:00.000-07:00

Today's session was only going to be an early, fishing till just after lunch. I'd had a good Tench earlier on after swapping pegs and with the wind pushing onto the island I was sure that a few more would follow.
Just before midday I started to see one or two dark shapes moving in front of the island, I was sure they were Carp. I thought about getting a zig ready and after seeing a fish break the surface I quickly put one together and put it out in amongst the gathering.
I couldn't get tight enough to the island from this swim so permission was sought to extend my session and after a pass was issued I moved to the other side of the lake to get a better angle to the island. I chucked every colour and depth at them but they would not take. It's amazing how quickly time flies, the afternoon disappeared, I gave up at around six I moved over to Morris's to try and settle my score before the sun set.

Thirteen hours and only one Tench!

A score to settle!

2010-04-18T00:15:00.000-07:00

A scorcher of a day compared to what we've been having, even the easterly wind felt warm. I'd set up on Morris's to try a new version of my Method rig and it worked, I had a good Tench on the second chuck so I was all fingers crossed with the hope that a few more Tench and Carp might move onto the bed of bait I was building up.

The second rod was cast towards the tree's as a sleeper rod with the hope of nailing a Carp as they move along that feeding line. It just goes to show that the best laid plans don't always work as they should, the rest of the afternoon/evenings Tench came on this rod and not the Method.

It was getting late and the car park had shut but there was a good half an hour left before the sun set and peace and calm was starting to settle on the lake as everything got ready to sleep, it's a shame it was spoilt by the scream from my alarm as something made off with my bait, line fizzed off the reel as I picked up the rod and leant into the fish, this was not a happy Carp, it hit the surface and thrashed and that's when the hook came out.

The next few minutes was like an extract from Dan's blogs, I marched up and down the bank, arm around my head like I'd just missed a goal for England.

I now have a score to settle with a Carp on the Method.

Poacher's Luck.

2010-04-11T12:10:00.000-07:00

I spent most of today at Ryton in search of another Carp. The session started at around eight and I went to my usual peg, Dan was over on Morris's and I was hoping he'd have better luck than last week! After a couple of very quiet hours I decided to make a move and get a bait into the calm patch on the front of the island ready for when the sun moved around, I'd seen a few fish move there yesterday. Barry (Return to Ryton) joined Dan on the far bank so it was turning into a gathering of bloggers, not long after Barry arrived Dan had his first Tench of the day.

I didn't feel comfortable with my move, the sun was obscured by cloud and there were no signs of any carpy activity but sometimes you have to try things to find out if they work or not, I gave it a couple of hours then made a third move back to the peg I started on. After Sharon brought me a late picnic lunch I noticed Dan start to pack his gear away, it was then that Sharon noticed a large Carp jump in line with Dan's swim, I turned to look and another Carp jumped just to the right, they were good fish and the first signs of Carp activity all day. I couldn't reach that far from the peg I was on so made the fourth move of the day over to Morris's, Dan had just left there and judging by the amount of Tench slime on the front of his top I'm sure he'd had a good session, I'll read his blog later.
I put two baits and PVA bags onto the spots where I'd seen the Carp show so it was just a matter of sitting back and waiting, I noticed Barry (The Fly) creeping into one of his spots by the fence, the little poacher! I started to pack up at around six and heard Barry's alarm sound and saw him lean into a good fish, I finished packing my stuff away and headed over to have a look at what he'd caught and lend a hand if needed.

What a lovely fish, a common of 17lb, barry's first Ryton Carp of the year.

Cuckoo cuckoo!

2010-04-10T12:24:00.000-07:00

Yesterday afternoon/evenings session ended in a blank, everything looked good for a bite but the only thing biting were the midges and with another warm calm day forecast for today I felt I'd have to start early to connect with a fish. I arrived at the lake just as the sun was rising, there was a slight mist on the water and I had the call of a cuckoo coming from the woods behind the lake in the background, lovely.

I had a good look around the lake and couldn't see any visible signs of fish feeding so set up on a peg I know well. First chuck was with a pop up and whilst I was setting up a bankstick with the alarms I had the first take, the line pulled up tight and line started to pull from the reel before stopping, I struck but felt nothing.
A good hour passed before I had another take this time on the bottom bait rod, I was convinced it was a line bite at first as the bobbin rose to the alarm then dropped back but I kept getting twitches on the line, the bobbin rose and dropped again so I decided to pick up the rod and feel for a bite and just as I did the line fell slack so I reeled and lifted the rod then watched the line angle quickly change before connecting with the fish a good thirty metres from where I'd cast the bait, the brief tussle drew a small audience of dog walkers on the path behind me and after netting and weighing my prize I put one of them to work by getting them to take the picture.

12lb 2ozs of fast moving common.

Another hour or so passed and I saw a fish show further around the lake so I decided to make a move and try to connect with a second fish. Not long after putting a bait onto the spot where I'd seen the Carp show, a good sized fish jumped twice, I gave that rod another hour with nothing.
It's nice to see a bit of colour around the lake, this sunny spell is putting some green back on the trees and it won't be long before the fish start heading for the margin cover, it's also nice to hear the 'chitter chatter' of martins overhead, a good sign that summer is on the way.

Another Quick One!

2010-04-06T10:20:00.000-07:00

Monday, left it till later in the day starting the session at around two thirty. Dan was on peg one so I stopped to catch up on things and we were shortly joined by Barry, I dropped my stuff onto peg two and put a couple of lines out before rejoining the social, it wasn't long before I heard some intermittent beeps from one of the alarms so ran to investigate, I picked up the rod and felt a bit of weight but it soon became apparent that a tuftie had tangled itself in my line midway between the rod and rig, I quickly untangled the poor thing and it swam away fine.
The rod was put back on the spot, I put another fresh PVA bag out on my second rod and returned to the top of the bank to continue the chat with Dan. After a short while, I heard the alarm sound again, this time on the bottom bait, I struck and immediately felt several good thumps back up the line and thought, tench!
As Tench go, it was a good hard scrap but two and three quarter test rods don't do them justice, the fish was a good size though. (Cheers Dan for taking the photo)

I gave it another hour then made a move around to the disabled peg to get onto the back of the strong cold wind, I thought the wind had got a bit warmer earlier on but with this peg being exposed to the southerly wind it felt very chilly on my back.
I saw a few bubblers in that bay but had no takes.

Easter Quick One!

2010-04-04T22:43:00.000-07:00

I spent the first part of the Easter break in North Wales, a bit of a mad two days cramming in as many places as we could in between visiting family but it was worth it, we had a couple of hours on the beach at Llandudno early on Saturday morning, it was flat calm and the sun was very warm on my bald spot! the only thing missing was my beach rod and a multi hook trace baited with lugworm and peeler to catch a flounder or two from the bay.
Woke up tired on Sunday so was quite happy just to do an afternoon session at Ryton and got there at around two thirty and set up in one of my usual spots on the back of a very cold wind, there was one other angler on the point who packed up shortly after I arrived, as he walked past he said to me 'I heard you had one' my reply was 'not today, I've only just got here', he thought I was the same chap that was fishing this spot in the morning so something must have been caught from this peg earlier in the day.
The usual combination went out on two rods to the usual spots and the waiting game began, after about an hour Barry arrived for a short session so I was having a quick catch up on events with him at the top of the bank when my left hand alarm screamed as line peeled off the reel at a fairly rapid rate I immediately clambered down the bank at a rapid rate to catch up with the fish.
The buoyant curiosity teaser had got the better of this Carp and it wasn't happy, it tore off across the lake flipping on the top a few times and at one point I thought it had come off as it turned and swam straight towards me but I managed to keep in touch with it to avoid a thrown hook, when it got closer in I could see that it wasn't as big as it felt but was very welcome, Barry did an excellent job of netting it and held it in the margins while I got the mat and scales ready.

10lb 12ozs, I think it was a male as it was long and slim and was lacking the spawn filled belly that the females usually have this time of year.

(A big thanks to Barry for taking the picture)

Barry setup on the peg next door and put a deadbait out on one rod and fished maggot on the second hoping for some Perch but we both remained fishless for the rest of the afternoon/evening.

What a difference four years makes!

2010-03-27T10:43:00.000-07:00

A short session this morning, starting early I was surprised to be the only one on the lake but on reflection it was the opening day at Jubilee which I think explains why I had the place to myself for most of the morning.

Not to bore you with details but I only had one fish out today and it was the only touch of the whole session. This Carp fought like stink and I could tell it was a little better than the others I've had so far this year by the way it refused to come to the net preferring to just plod around making very short powerful runs. Eventually the fish gave in and rolled over the cord into the waiting net and as I parted the mesh to look at my prize I thought this Mirror Carp looks familiar and a mirror at Ryton is a rare sight. I took pictures and weighed the lump before releasing and as soon as I got home, out came the photo albums and there it was, caught in 2006 and much smaller at only 7lb 12ozs, 'Morris's Mate'.

'Morris's Mate' almost four years ago.

I'm glad I've kept a photo log of all the Carp I've caught at Ryton, as well as helping me to identify individual fish it's also acting as a guide to how well the Carp are growing.

This is what 'Morris's Mate' looks like today at 17lb 14ozs.

I wonder how big Morris is?

Long day on Morris's

2010-03-22T13:24:00.000-07:00

Sunday, I arrived at the lake just as the mist was lifting, I was very surprised to see so many anglers already at the lake. Daniel called out from peg one as I started to make my way round to Morris's, I gave a quick wave and carried on to my peg, it was one of the only free ones and I didn't want to loose it talking to someone. After dumping my gear I went back round for a quick chat with Daniel. A few fish had been showing in one spot so the day looked good for a run or two.

I planned to fish just pop ups today and start by casting them to the back of the tree's where I'd seen fish bubbling yesterday. According to Google Earth it's and 85 metre chuck from Morris's, which I know my old rods can do and I did get a couple of casts fairly tight to the tree's so it was just a matter of sitting back and waiting.
(Some of the casting fell short and I had to recast a few times to get onto the spots, 'it'll do' won't do for me)
With all the sunshine I was hoping to see more fish show so I could cast to them but nothing showed all day. I had a chat with another angler (not fishing) he'd seen a Carp show further round the lake so they might have followed the wind. Apart from a couple of Pike, I don't think anything was caught which is a shame as it looked good for a bite.

One thing I did notice and something Keith has written about in a blog last week, was the amount of detritus lifting off the bottom with all sun activated gas bubbles, it's a good sign that the water is warming up, I just wonder if this has an affect on where and when the fish feed?

Not a good day for PVA!

2010-03-22T12:03:00.000-07:00

Friday's wet weather continued through the night and into Saturday but it was still fairly mild. I didn't get too wet setting up the brolly on the steps leading down to my chosen peg, things were a bit tight but at least I had a dry spot to shelter in to tie my PVA bags, but, no matter how hard I tried to stay dry I still managed to ruin a few feet of mesh.

During the first half of the session I did manage to bank a couple of Tench and lost another fish just before the net, I had a piece of what looked like a plastic bag caught on the hook so whatever the fish was managed must have used the bag to twist itself off the hook.
(Either that or the plastic bag stopped fighting just before I landed it!)

Mid afternoon the rain stopped, the wind died and everything fell calm, it looked perfect for a Carp and as though ordered, one popped it's head and shoulders out of the water not far from where I had a pop up positioned. I kept watch through binoculars and there were a few bubblers in that area, it was just a matter of waiting for the run.

Just after six it went but it was no Carp, just another Tench.

It's good to see the Carp starting to show.

First Friday

2010-03-19T14:09:00.000-07:00

Today was my first Friday session since last autumn, I'd been watching the weather all week and last night it looked good so the decision was made to get home as quick as I could after finishing work at one, get my stuff attached to the bike and get to Ryton. I did just that and had both lines in the water by three. The weather forecast had changed from last night and rain was expected for six but it arrived not long after I'd set up which is fairly typical.

About half an hour into the session I had some very erratic dancing from the bobbin but the culprit was a Tufted Duck, luckily there weren't any people feeding the ducks at the time and it was reeled in, unhooked and checked over before it flew off, unharmed. I put a fresh hooklink and bait on and cast out to the same spot, it wasn't too long beore the alarm sounded again but this time I also had line 'fizzing' off the reel, it was a proper run. Even small Carp can give a fairly good scrap and this one did just that.

A lovely common at 9lb 2oz's.

The rain continued to get heavier so I broke the session off early, happy to have had the one fish and headed home for a hot bath.

Carping with Man Flu!

2010-03-14T13:11:00.000-07:00

Suffering with a bout of man flu I felt some fresh air would do me some good and started Saturdays session sitting in sunshine at the back of the island, clouds soon moved in and a cold wind got up which spoilt things, the way I was feeling I'd have been quite happy to stay on this peg all day and enjoy the sunshine that was forecast but with the weather changing I felt I'd have to move around to find the fish. It was during the afternoon, when fishing on the far bank that I saw a couple of Tench come out and would have been more than happy with one of those but it was earlier on whilst fishing the peg at the back of the island that I had what was to be the only bite of the day.

I'd cast a pop up to the gravel bar just off the point of the island and it had sat there for a good thirty minutes before the alarm gave out a short sharp 'shrill' and the line pulled up tight, I waited for a short while to see if anything would develop then reeled in to find the bottom bead of my chod rig had been pulled down to the lead, I'd been done!

Today's weather was much better, plenty of sunny spells but there was still a cool wind blowing across the lake so I put myself on the back of the wind with the sun in my face. I was fishing the road bank and was hoping to emulate last years March 15th 'dream' session where I caught four Carp and Five Tench, biggest Carp weighing in at 22lb (my biggest last year), it was also the session that started my 'Ryton Carp' blog, I can't believe I've been writing this for almost twelve months!
Today's session wasn't to be anything like last year and I think it might be a couple more weeks before the Carp wake up properly, this time last year the hawthorn bushes along the back of the road bank were just starting to show their first leaves of the year but this year I think we're going to need a few more days of sunshine before they split their buds. Back to the fishing, I did manage to bag one solitary Carp today but at only 6lb I did almost mistake it for a Tench until it came to the net.

A very short fish with big shoulders, surprisingly heavy for it's small frame and in excellent condition, one to watch for in a few years.