Junior Masterclass at Jubilee Pools - 9th August

Hi Everyone
Just to remind you all that the following is happening at Jubilee this weekend (9th August)

 

 

I will be on Pegs 18 and 19 with fly fishing for Carp demo and 'have a go!'

Boney but lush!

You can't beat the taste of fresh Sea Bass, it was the final afternoon of this year’s Devon adventure, it was the last couple of hours of the rising tide and I'd already tried the spot where I'd caught a few Black Bream last year and there were no bites. I'd moved back onto the beach where the girls were and the tide was already filling the shallow gully in front of our beach camp.
 

Breakers were crashing onto the sand bar on the far side of the gully and it was Sharon that first noticed some fish in the waves, she was right, there were indeed silver flashes in these waves, I put a cast just onto the back of these waves with humble lugworm as bait, it was hit straight away and the first Bass was shortly on the beach. this was a reasonable fish and bigger than you would pay good money for at the local supermarket so I asked the question "Do you want it for tea?" there was a "Yes" from the girls and the fish was quickly dispatched for the pot. I'm no longer a fan of doing this but I am from a sea fishing background and regularly used to bring fish home when I was younger, Cod, Plaice, Pollack and Coalie were all regularly seen in the frying pan at our house.

 

Bass!

 

I was getting at least one fish a chuck but I found that if I waited for a second pull the two hook flapper rig was doing its job and bagging two Bass at a time.

 

Bass, two at a time.

A second fish was kept for the pot as it had swallowed the hook but it was a good sized fish.

 

Ready for the pot.

 

When it comes to cooking there’s nothing fancy here, the fish were head, tailed and cleaned, smothered in butter and lemon juice, sealed into individual foil parcels and into a hot oven for twenty minutes. The fresher they are the better they taste and these were only a couple of hours out of the sea.
 

Boney but lush!

Sharky Shakes!

Fishing’s been quiet again and I still have the duck!
 

Just had the first of my annual jollies, North Devon again and a spot of Smoothhound terrorising was first on the cards.
 

It was an early start to catch the last couple of hours of the dropping tide, I think I got it just right as shortly after casting out the first of my soft crab baits, I was busy trying to unravel my second trace to bait up ready for the next cast, the rod ripped off to the music of a screaming ratchet. The tip was bouncing all over the place as I made a lunge for the rest, grabbing the rod before it took off. I switched off the music, flipped the reel into gear and braced myself as the weight of the fish pulled a very healthy curve into the rod and it continued to pull very hard in its bid to reach the far side of the bay. When you only fish for a particular species once a year you forget how good it feels to hook one and this first fish fought all the way to the rocks, every twist, turn and rapid beat of it's tail had left me shaking after lifting the sharky shape onto the rocks, it's fins lit up by the rising sun.
 

All lit up.

 

This was a good fish as well, must have been close to ten pound and definitely the biggest I've had from this spot.

 

A scrap and a half from this one.

 

I had another common smoothy half an hour later and a smaller Starry Smoothhound at around low tide.
 

I was back at the caravan for eight thirty, all smiles and had breakfast ready on the table for when the girls got up.
 

What an excellent start to the day.

First Fishing Trip

I have a little assistant that helps me with my boilie making and general sorting out of fishing gear and for weeks, when I've said that I'm going fishing, I've heard the little words "Can I come too". Normally I say no because your still too small or it's too cold or too wet but at the weekend I planned a short trip for us both to enjoy. It wasn't anything to adventurous, just a fun trip to catch a fish so armed with a pole and a selection of baits (Bread and worm) we headed to Ryton and the first peg on the concrete bank.

All set up and ready to catch

First fish was a small Perch and I allowed Cerys to stroke the fish and feel it's spiky dorsal fin, time for a quick photo and I was so surprised to see her pick the Perch out of the net to pose for a picture.

 

Perch!

My only excuse for the slow session was crap bait, the lack of maggots means that the fishing was a little slow, short attention spans drifted into colouring in pictures and seeing if stones floated! A handful of wrigglers were acquired and bites increased but I couldn't keep the fish on the hook, bit out of practise with a pole and kept bumping them off! Amazingly, Cerys wasn't scared of handling maggot's "They tickle" she said holding them in her hand.

 

A roach was next to the net and she held this in her open hands before returning it, the fish survived.

 

Roach!

Sharon was horrified to hear that I'd allowed Cerys to handle worms and maggots but we both had fun and at the age she is, that's what counts.

Getting down to it!

Well, it's that time of year when the water temperatures have increased and the fish have started to get down to what they only get to do once a year, spawn. The warmer weather also means that taking a few fish off the top is becoming a bit more reliable, lately the temperatures have been a bit erratic but Barry has had some great success already catching a few on the fly earlier on this year.

We were at Jubilee last Friday and I met Barry just as he was leaving the pool, he was on his way home to pick up a spare rod after standing on his favourite, not a good start. I had a fairly productive session with five fish on the bank and Barry and a couple of doubles, one close to twenty. Bad luck comes in three's, Barry also snapped the elastic on his catapult and locked his keys in the car!

 

Sunday afternoon/evening was spent at a rather busy college pool. It took a good couple of hours to find some fish willing to take a few snacks off the top and after tempting them with a hook bait they proceeded to smash me up, they are 'animals' in this pool. I was broken off four times when using a controller close to some snags, even 15lb straight through to the hook was snapped like sewing thread. the wind was drifting my free offerings down the pool and I found a few fish that had braved the open water so the fly rod was deployed and it didn't take to long to get a couple of nice mirror's on the bank.



Hard fighting beasty.

One Slice!

They fight like stink in the deep water and kept pulling for the snags, I don't know how that little fly rod copes with the punishment it gets from the Carp it catches but it works brilliantly and they soon give in.

 

Barry caught three fish which means the Duck is back in my hands, quack quack!

Nick Nick!

The local constabulary were interested in a recent capture from Ryton. Shame it was the same fish, from the same swim and as many weeks.

Police approved twenty!

Canal Lump.

I've never really thought of fishing the canal's for Carp but it's really starting to appeal to me. There are some very good fish in these little waters but you do have to put the time and effort into finding them and it's not easy.

 

The particular spot I fished last week is one I've fished a few times and had smaller Carp from but after speaking to local passers by the bigger ones are often seen.

 

I currently have real confidence in my Ryton3 baits and spread a good quantity along the far margin which is where the Carp tend to hang out along this stretch. My usual 'Donkey Choker's' were the bait and all I could do was sit back and wait for a take. I waited for around an hour before I got the only run of the day, but it was well worth the effort.

 

Almost as deep as the swim it came from.

It's my first canal twenty.