Back on the Pool

I was back on the pool last weekend, trying out my new waders by clearing out a fallen tree from the back of the island area, after several cuts and drags up the bank it was out and I used a rake to clear as much of the debris from the bottom, this spot is very soft and choddy underfoot so not everything could be removed, an interesting spot to watch for the future though!. I also got rid of a few more branches from various swims around the lake with a few more pegs to sort out and clear this weekend.

I did get out on the Sunday to wet a line and was quite surprised to get three skimmers all on 18mm boilies, how they manage it I don't know.

Bait thief

It was a long day but I was confident of a proper take from a Carp as one of the areas I'd fished to had been regularly topped up through the day with frequent casts, small ball of groundbait and boilies. The bite came early evening with the bobbin lifting an inch stopping for a few minutes and then taking off, it didn't take long to come in and it was lovely to see a mirror roll over the cord.

Lovely Mirror

The only Carp of the session at thirteen pound six ounce, the colour makes me think it's one of the stock fish put in a while back.

An ounce short!

After last weeks Carping session the bug has got me and today's session on the canal was to try and catch a Carp. It was cold and to be honest I didn't think I had a chance to bag anything but baits were positioned and I sat back and waited for a take.

About an hour into the session the bobbin on my right hand rod slammed against the blank and the line pulled up bow tight as something sprung the trap.

After a brief scrap a lovely mirror one ounce short of nineteen pounds graced the bottom of the net.

An ounce short of nineteen

Sadly, this was the only fish of the day.

Been a while!

It's been a while since my last post and no excuses I just haven't had the time, family and work commitments are keeping me away from the bank,  I can just count the fishing trips this year on one hand.

It was a surprisingly mild day today and the fish in my pond where up on top, just what I like to see when a spot of Carp fishing was the plan. There was no rocket science involved in the choice of today's swim and I was fortunate enough to find it available when I arrived. The weeks visiting half term rabble had done a grand job of ground baiting the spot to be fished and nothing more fancy than white pop ups were chucked over to the bird feeding area. I had one take within minutes and a lovely common just short of a double soon graced the bottom of the net.

Little Common

Barry managed a couple of Pike so the duck looked to be heading my direction but a late bite resulted in what felt like a much better fish on the end of my line, it wasn't as big as it first felt but did make double figures at fourteen four.

Nice Mirror

Spot the Monkey

This little Monkey was recently seen up a tree at Jubilee, I didn't think home tied artificial flies were that expensive!!

 

Can you spot him?

Spot the Monkey

The 125

Last Sunday was Leamington Angling's 125th year celebration gala held at Jubilee pools. Myself and Barry were on the Horseshoe pool demonstrating Fly Fishing for Carp, through the day we offered plenty of advise for anglers that were keen to try this method, a couple of fish were even caught!

Club member Jeff had fished for Trout but had never tried fishing for Carp using the fly and was making some enquiries as to how it feels to have a Carp on the end of such light gear, I managed to hook a fish whilst he was there and handed the rod over for him to experience for himself.

Jeff in some rod bending action

First Fly landed Carp for Jeff

Needless to say, I think he'll be up there giving it a go soon.

When things quietened down it was time to give Cerys a quick lesson in the art of fluff chucking and started with some casting tuition.

Gently does it!

Run for cover!!

The art of watching for a take and not striking too early.

Wait for it!!

After some frantic action with the odd shout of "No, I want to do it" from Cerys, we eventually got the fish on the bank, Cerys's first Carp.

Not the biggest but Cerys's first Carp.

 

 

 

Ghostie

I've been wanting to blog for a while but I've had too much on to be able to tap out a few words, hope this will keep you guys interested for a short while. Did a short session on Jubilee with the fly rod yesterday and this was the first fish to grace the bank and even though it wasn't the biggest fish of the day it was by far the prettiest, I managed to capture the release on video.

Time to oil up!

Just as the water starts to get warmer and a little oil can be ground baits and stick mixes, the local supermarket drops the price of it's hemp oil for one week, thank you.

 

Bargain!!

 

Time to stock up, £4.50 instead of the usual £6

Getting Bigger

Their slowly getting bigger, had a nice mirror at eighteen ten last Sunday.

A recognisable scar on this one.

Shame I missed the take, went to bait a margin spot just down from the peg I was fishing, when I returned the line was pointing a different direction and no signal from the alarm, luckily the fish was still on.

Morning Exercise

Did a spot of morning exercise last Saturday at Ryton, no, not running or cycling, did a spot of peg building.

Compost corner was in desperate need of something firm to stand on, the muddy bank was slippery at the best of times and eroding away quickly, even with the longest of landing net handles it was still a good stretch to find water deep enough to land a fish.

What this peg needed was a wooden box back filled with rubble and made level, so, this is exactly what me and Barry built.

Swinging the sledge.

Finished!

I also donned the chest waders to clear tackle from a few snags and overhanging tree's, I cut back a fair few branches here and there around the pool but was careful not to overdo it and spoil the spots.

Up to my Nicky Nacky Noo's!

Now, which branch next??

It's amazing how deep it is so close in!!!

In the teeth.

It's typical isn't it, the one day I'm able to get on the bank and we get the worst weather for a while, heavy rain and strong wind. I'd been watching the forecast for a few days and things appeared to be changing for later in the day so I picked Barry up at twelve and we headed off through the rain to our destination. The venue was completely devoid of any angling activity (don't know why?) so we had the choice of swims.

Having fished the same place for the previous two weeks I had a plan in mind but it put me in the teeth of the wind and driving rain, the brolly was first up and rods were soon out. The outlook for the afternoon looked good and it wasn't long before the rain eased and turned to light showers, it wasn't just the weather on the change, things were brightening up for Barry as well, a small Pike graced the bottom of his net and put him in the lead.


The sun put in an appearance and grey turned to patches of blue between showery clouds, Barry's rod was away again, almost literally as he was re-baiting his predator rod and had an unexpected take on the float rod that sent the spool spinning, he grabbed the butt and held on as a Carp made a bid for freedom, it was touch and go at times with only a five pound hook length but gently pressure tired the fish and it soon slid over the cord, fish two for Barry with a lovely mirror at eleven pound twelve ounces.

In the lead with eleven and three quarters

I was playing catch up but knew my baits were in the right place as I'd lost a lump off one of the spots the previous week so it was just a matter of time. A few bleeps signalled the take and I lifted into the fish on an already tight clutch and took a step back to keep it away from the snags, luckily it kited away and into open water, it wasn't a big fish but it was a good scrap and put a healthy bend in the rod, Barry did the honours with the net.


A duck for this one.

It was another mirror of a similar size to Barry's earlier fish but went a little more a twelve and a half. I was a bit upset to see bite damage on the tail of this fish, I had heard of Otters in the area a few weeks earlier and it was the first evidence we'd seen. I did the best I could for the fish and treated the wound before returning, hopefully it will recover.

B******'s!

At the end of the session I was awarded the Duck and as we started to pack away the now dry gear and just to put the icing on the cake the heavens opened and threw everything at us, rain and hail and all in driving wind, I've never got wet so quickly from a shower of rain, I got to the car and when looking for my keys found a drowned phone in my pocket, it's still drying out in a bag of rice.

Seeds.

Got a phone call from Barry on Saturday asking if I was fishing Sunday, I had no commitments so agreed that a session on the bank would be good. The ice had cleared from Ryton, just, and I was thinking that a spot of piking would be good, Barry had a thought about putting one rod out for Carp and the other for Pike, I wasn't sure, all efforts should be in one species rather than a half effort on two species, if I was going to blank it might as well be style.

After I put the phone down, the seed that Barry had sown into my head grew into an idea of putting all my efforts into fishing for Carp instead of Pike, the last weekend in February has always been good for Carp at Ryton for me so with that weekend only being a couple of weeks away there is always a chance!

Peg one was free and if there was ever going to be that chance of catching anything it was where a load of free food has been going in. Choddy's in yellow and white were dispatched to the area and I sat back and settled down for a long wait. Bird activity was giving me the odd line twitch and I wasn't expecting a take, but one of my alarms let out a one toner and my first thoughts was that of a bird of the tufted variety but there wasn't any in the area and when I struck the rod tip gave a satisfying nod as a fish made a bid for freedom down the tree line, a little drag pressure put a halt to any plans of escape and it slowly made it's way back towards me, protesting with the odd twist and turn, it didn't feel a big fish but as it got closer I could see that it was a Carp, I muttered 'don't come off' several times as it came closer to the net and I was soon on the phone to Barry to rub his nose in it!

Pristine!

We played guess the weight and I put the fish at around twelve, Barry said eleven pound ten, the Reuben's needle pulled round and settled three notches short of twelve, with each notch being two ounces it made it eleven pound ten ounces, the jammy git!

I kept the rods in the same area for the rest of the session but had no more takes, one fish did crash a couple of times but it was just out of range from where I was, from the other side of the pool it might have been worth a chuck.

Cut Zedding

On the cut again and it was a tad milder than last weekend but blowing a little. I'd put float gear on this week as I fancied a break from watching the bobbins and I do like to see the float bob around and slide away when a predator takes but they weren't to stay on for long, the wind kept pulling a bow into the line and dragging the bait from it's position, so I quickly changed back to a bottom rig.

 

It was a new stretch for us and a slow start, Barry's rod was first to show interest but it faded to nothing as quickly as it started, we moved around a few likely looking spots but it took an age to get the first fish on the bank. I had one rod on a spot that screamed 'Zander hole' and another of to the front of some dead reeds, this was the rod to be first off, not a big fish but I was off the board, a cast back to the same spot and within minutes had a take and lost a second. The rod was put straight back and I had another take as soon as the bait was on the bottom, three takes in fifteen minutes and I was two up. Barry was the next to find a sweet spot and had two fish in fairly quick succession, one of them a decent size.

Show us yer teeth!!

 

We were level pegging at the half way mark and after I made a fruitless leapfrog along a stretch of reeds and grasses on the far bank and worked my way to a spot I liked the look of, it was a slight narrowing of the canal but when I arrived it didn't look any narrower. The wind was a bit stronger on this bit with no cover on the far bank and my rod tips were bouncing all over the place in the gusts and the bobbins were having a good dance around, bite indication was very difficult but I noticed the line drop slack from the rod tip then pull tight, the bait hadn't been on the spot for long and I was into my third fish and a reasonable size too.

 

 

I had another, smaller Zed off the same spot before we called it a day.

CCCold SSStart.

A very cold start to the session at the weekend, minus three degree's in the car park and ice everywhere. We did a quick hike up the canal through the mist to see what was available in terms of liquid water as there was ice over most of the stretch we planned to fish, one of our favourite spots was ice free and also another spot we both liked the look of but had never fished, this was a few hundred yards up the bank so we chose to start there and work down if everything melted later in the day. Just after we arrived at our first spot and started setting up, a boat passed through and made the whole stretch fishable, well done that man!

 

Zander were the target and it didn't take long to get the first tentative drop on one of the bobbin's followed by a couple of slow steady pulls. Not a big fish but it saved a blank, this was soon followed by a second much smaller fish, had the bait not been cut in half it would have been bigger than the Zed.

 

We fished our way back to our favourite swim, arriving first I cast out and was sitting down nursing my burning frost bitten fingers, it was only a short walk carrying a metal pod in one hand and holding metal chair legs in the other but metal is not good to hold in freezing conditions, (Gloves will be in the bag for the next session) I had a take straight away, this was the full on head shake rattle of the rod tip with the odd drop or pull on the bobbin, a better fish this one. A lovely plump bellied fish of around three to four pounds, I was taking the pictures when Barry arrived and cast out his first rod, he picked up the second and noticed the bobbin move on his first rod, that bait must have landed right in front of a fish, after a quick tussle a fine Jack Pike was in the net.
 

 

A quick end to a cold session but temperatures must have risen as the frost started to rain down from the tree's, back at the car it was confirmed at zero degree's.

 

 

First Fish of 2015

First day of the new year and a spot of Zandering was on the cards, I headed for one of my favourite spots that always throws up a fish or two and the weather was a bit kinder than it has been over the last week. The wind was a tad stronger than I would have prefered but a row of tree's on the opposite bank kept the gusts at bay. I had takes almost straight away but they were either dropped or failed to connect and the seems to be very typical of the Zandering of late, I put it down to small immature fish playing with more than a gob full!

 

After a quick move I did manage to connect but only after letting the fish take enough line to hang itself, an average sized Zed for this stretch of canal, it was also my first fish of 2015 so very welcome indeed.

 

Crap photo alert!
 

Zedlet or Zanderling?

 

I had another fish from the same spot on the next cast but this was less than average in terms of size.

 

 

The end of last year saw both the fishing and blogging suffer, I even went without fishing for over a month so had nothing to blog about. The fishing was mostly for Zander with the odd attempt at a Pike thrown in.

 

 

Boxing Day

 

Still, one plus point is that I was not the keeper of the little 'quacker' at the end of 2014!!

Fishings been a bit 'Ruff'

Fishing has been a bit quiet lately, I've been away in China again with work so I have missed a couple of weekends fishing opportunities but do hope to get out this week.

I've had a couple of Zandering trips with Barry and he's doing a grand job of looking after the little yellow fella! (Quack quack!!)

 

I have just found a picture of a fish I caught earlier in the year and thought I'd post it for a reaction!

 

This is the 'Daddy'!

What is the British record weight for a Ruff as I've never seen one this big before?

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!