Planes, Trains and Pigs!

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

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.

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.

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!

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!

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!

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!