Franatic

So I haven't posted since July and it not because I haven't been fishing. In fact I been out on a variety of still and running waters over the summer, learnt a lot, caught a few fish and really enjoyed trying different things.

One of the new water is a stunning venue which can only be describe and unique. It is a mixture of a broad, a river and a still water all rolled into one. Its not only the place that is stunning the wildlife is to and you also have the chance of caught a lump.

I had a midweek piking session on my mind, so at rather short notice I picked a day and booked it off.

At dawn, I slipped the rope from the mooring and started to row to the first swim of the day. It was a breezy day which put a nice ripple on the water. The temperature was warm for October, but not warm enough to dispense with the fleece.

After a good row, I was soon in the first swim of the day and sent a herring to the reed line on one rod and drifted a sardine down the wind lane.

With the baits out, it was time to put the kettle on for the first brew of the day. like clock work, this task set in the wheels in motion for a run on the reed line rod and a lively double figure pike was on the net.

The herring was still attached and as it was pretty good, so it was sent back out to the same spot whilst I drank my brew.

With the downing of the last drops from the mug, the herring was away again and after a spirited fight a second low double was netted. All before breakfast too.

Could I manage a third from the spot, turns out that it didn't and a move was in order.

The second spot of the day was a along a stretch and featureless looking stretch, but in fact it does have a number of features to fish to including a side stream that come in. The vane drift was sent out first and the float was then positioned at the mouth of the side stream inlet.

As the float settles, I noticed a elusive visitor to my right, a Bittern had landed in the reeds and was doing a dam good impression of being a reed. Its not every day that you get close to these birds and normally you just hear their booming call or spook then when settling into the reeds.

The Bittern sat in the reeds for a long time and it allowed me to get a few shots on the camera

This was the last moment of serenity of the day. Whilst enjoying the sight of the bittern, the vane drift slid under. Only issue was that the other float with the sardine attached was also sliding under at the same time. I connected with the running fish on the vane drift and once the hooks were set, I set about the other rod and set the hooks on this one too. Feeling this one was small, I put the bait runner on and went back to the first fish. First number one was soon by the boat being unhooked and release, so I turned my attention to the second smaller fish which was soon subdued and unhooked in the water again. Turned out they were both low doubles.

Time for tea, so with the stove on, it was time to rebait both rods and get them back out again.
The float next to the reeds dropped on the money and the vane drift was sent on its way and was soon drifting nicely.
The kettle boiled and steam pouring out and as I started to tip the water into the cup, I noticed that the float next to the reeds was coming towards me, then the pain hit me as the boiling water poured on to my hand.

The scolded hand was plunged into the cool water and the rod grabbed with the other hand. With the pain easing I then set about landing the pike that had interrupted the tea break. I wound down connected with a tail walking pike and it went airborne before splashing down, it was then that I noticed the bait runner on the vane drift starting to chug away. Oh feck, another double hook up!

I flicked the bait runner level and grabbed the rod, and set the hooks on the running fish. they felt about the same in weight, so I played the first pike in to the boat, quickly unhooked it at the edge and let her go, before sorting out the other rod.
the second fish came in like a bag of spuds and was soon at the boat, unhooked and gone back to the depths.

Finally, I managed to sit down, re boil the kettle and try to cool the throbbing hand. It was badly scolded and very saw, but not enough to stop the fishing. After some tea and lunch, I upped anchor and moved to another spot.

I dropped anchor in a new spot and decided to fish both rods close to the read line but at different distances from the boat. I still had a few sardines in the box, but the herring was gone, so this was replaced with a large smelt.

The sardine was away again within minutes of the float settle and another low double was netted and returned, but as she swam off the other float went under and before long a better pike was by the boat.

Now I not one for netting all the pike and taking a picture adds undue stress on the fish. If I can, I bring them to the boat and unhook them in the water. Using double hooks makes it a simpler job and most time it is only the head of the pike that pops above the surface. Far to many times anglers bring small pike on board their boats to thrash about and injury themselves.

Back off the soap box. With both bait rods in I decided to have a cast about with a lure. Surprisingly it took a long time to snare a pike and in fact it was the smallest of the day at a couple of pounds in weight.

I got tired of thrashing the water with lures and the hand was hurting too, so back out with the baits.

No instance action this time and it was a further hour before another pike took a liking to the smelt on the drifted bait. Again a low double, but this had one came to the boat before shedding the hooks at the edge. Well it saved me unhooking it. With the sport dying down, I decided to head back to the mooring. I did stop off at the first swim of the day and winkled out another couple of small fish and I think in total it was 11 fish in five hours.

It was a decent start to the season and allowed be to get know the water that little bit more.

Gotta Start Somewhere

A late start on a new water is like a kid not being able to open his Christmas presents at 6am on Christmas morning.
So instead of a early morning tench fishers dawn, I had to settle for a tench fishers sunset instead, but I had to find them first.

I had been out on the boat during the week to scout out some likely looking areas but this is a water like none I have ever seen or fished. It is a hybrid of different water body types, in some places its like a broads river, in another section its a farm pond and then you have a mere. To me it id idyllic, one of a kind and a special sort of something that I have lusted after for a good few years, and now I can fish it.

So I was on the bank this time and selected a swim on the broads river and I begun raking spots on the far bank. the cast able weed rake is an invaluable tool for a tench angler, I not a fan of raking out tonnes of weed for two reason 1) it bloody hard word 2) it really not necessary in my humble option.

With the spot raked and the distance marked, the far bank rod was clipped up to the required distance using a piece of electrical tape on the spool. Pinpoint casting was important otherwise I'd end up in the overhanging trees.

The magic of the place is the wildlife, its not uncommon to see a number of birds of prey plus warblers, cockoo's and even the change of a bitten.
On the drive in I had seen a hoby and a tawny owl and that was before I even got to the lake.

With the rod taped up and ready to go the close bank rod 90 degree rig was swung out into position, it was baited with a boilie and fake corn over a mix of hemp, dead maggot, and corn all marinated in its own juices

The far bank rod was to be another bolt ring, but the inline maggot feeder had been changed to a inline method feeder couple with a short hook link baited with three fake maggots on the hair. With the presents of a very active population of silvers, I wanted scent to go in with small morsels of bait rather than a particle bed. The plan was top up the scent with a recast every 45-60 minutes. The feeder dropped on the money and was set onto the alarm.

The third rod out was a simple float rod rigged so I could fish on the bottom using anything that wouldn't attract too much attention from the silvers.

The day was warm and sunny, even with the blustery wind blowing down the lake and control of the float was difficult, but not impossible. What was impossible was to stop the attention of the hordes of rudd and roach which intercepted the bait big or small before it had change to hit the bottom and before long ten or more had been landed and returned.

 With the attention firmly on the float, I missed the first couple of bleeps on the margin rod, this soon change when the bleeps got quicker and the baitrunner spun. Something had self hooked its self and was running along the bank. I clamped down on the spool and the rod took a healthy curve, could it be a good tench or even be a carp. I started to get control of the fish and clawed back line against this weight. The water clarity wasn't good so I didn't get to see the fish until it was underneath the rod tip. The long cream under belly soon gave the mystery fish's identity away and it seem that a pike had take a liking to the fish meal boilie tipped off with fake corn.

I tried to bully the pike into the net as I didn't want to exhaust it. It was neatly hooked in the scissors so a bite off was unlikely, but as the  pike came toward the sunken net, it surge and the hook pulled free.

With the boilie and fake corn still attached and with not much damage, it was swung back out.

The feeder rod had been cast every 45 minutes and hadn't been touched, so the mix had bit of molasses mixed in to give it something else before it went out again.

It was time for tea, and not a cuppa, but the evening meal. A nice tin of curry with some pre prepared rice was on the menu and this was to be washed down with a mug of tea.

The sun was pleasantly warm this evening and it was a pleasure to be there enjoying the sights and sounds of the lake. The hoby had returned, but a barn owl was also out hunting out over the farmland. I watched the barn owl as it swoop down from it hover, but my attention was drawn away by the sound of an alarm screaming. The feeder rod was away and again the spool was spinning. I clamped down on the spool and connected with another running fish, but this felt different and I hoped it was as it felt. The fish stayed deep on the bottom and I couldn't make it out in the brown tinged water what it was. Even the surface swirl didn't give its identity away until the paddle tail broke the surface. It was a tench and a nice one too. I played it carefully not wanting to loose it on my first outing and I had the net submerged and waiting for the tench to come to it. I had the tench near to the net only for it to use its large tail and it was away again. I extended the net so I could reach further out, so when or if I got it close there would be no mistake.

One last surge and it was with range of the extended net and was in.

The next few minutes I just stood looking at the lump in the net. It was hooked neatly in the edge of the mouth and didn't take much to unhook. Next was the weight.

With shaking hands, I weighted it and settled on 8lb 6oz of female tench. Final job was the photo's which I was very grateful of a helping hand.

With the photos done and the tench rested, she was slipped back into the lake and soon gone leaving only memories of the capture.

The next three hours were uneventful and nothing else graced the net anywhere near the scale of the tinca and with the sun setting it was time to leave.

Long Time Coming

The blog has been neglected since the last post, this has been for a variety of reason including pike fishing most weekends, long hours at work, studying, DIY, pestering the Environment Agency (EA) with FoI/EIR's and writing for others.

Pike Fishing, So far...

I been fortunate to have been out most weekends for a day on the banks in pursuit of my favourite species since October, but I have been surprised but the lack of sizeable pike considering venues I've been targeting should hold bigger pike.

Most session have rewarded me with a number of pike, but sadly nothing bigger than mid double. This have been
Whilst the size may have been small the average per session is three or four, so that not a bad average considering some of the venues are very difficult.
One of the most memorable session so far was on a local still water. I ventured down for dawn and had decided that I need to catch a few pets to using during the session. It was a bitterly cold day with a heavy frost on the ground and I was expecting a slow day.
Out with a mackerel tail first in area were I'd caught being and a lamprey on a float ledger next to the reeds. The float was just settling on the float ledger when the alarm sounded on the rod baited with the mackerel tail. I wound down and I could feel a weight at the end of the line. After a short scrap a low double was netted. At little over 13lb she was not a monster but was most welcome. The mackerel was still attached so it got chucked out again.

I quickly tackled up the float gear and baited with a couple of maggots. After about an hour, I had a few pets in a bucket ready for the session and soon had one out underneath a float. This plodded around the swim for a while before the float started dancing and then when sailing under. Tightening up a lively jack was soon at the edge and as the trace only had a single treble which was neatly in the scissors it didn't take much to nick it out and release the jack.
Another pet was attached and cast back out.

The float had hardly settled being it was buried again and another jack was soon reeled in and attached. This scenario went on for most of the morning, sling a pet out get a run, attach another cast it out get a run.

It was then the turn of the mackerel tail to have another run and and another jack decided that it would try to swallow a bait half as big as its self. This was soon returned without its meal.
The final run of the day was late in the afternoon on another pet. This time the pike was not a jack but another low double.

Finished the day with seven pike landed and two runs missed. Nothing huge  but very entertaining.


Pestering the EA with FoI etc

For the last year, in the region where I reside, its been noticeable that the EA are simply not spending money on the rivers in these parts. So I wanted to find out more. Que FoI and EIR for some answers and answers is what I got. F*ck all. I'm not going to go into depths as this is forming evidence for a show down with EA, but quite frankly it is a disgrace how much of the rod license money is not going back towards improving the rivers or angling.


Writing for others

I have also been trying to get some answers for an article I've written for Pikelines,which is the Pike Anglers Club quarterly club magazine. The article is about Windermere and its declining pike populations. I was asked by the Club's Secretary, John Currie to find out as much as I could about the water going into Windermere from United Utilities treatment work. The article was published in November 2016.

This has been quite time consuming article and it wasn't helped by the long time its take to get answers from both the Environment agency and United Utilities, but the end result was very rewarding and enlightening.

There is also a new magazine on the horizon so watch the news stand for Catch Cult which is being producer by Rob Shallcroft.

Long Time Away

Its been well over a month since I wet a line due to ongoing work,life, home balancing act that us anglers have to endure, so it was finally nice to get to the bank.

I had set my stall out for a afternoon/evening session on a local water in the hope that the tench would still be about in the weed beds, so a banquet of spomb mix was mixed up the day before and left to ferment in a sealed bucket ready for bank side.

Upon arrival, there was only one car parked up and I hoped that it wasn't a lone carper with their lines spread all over the place. Thankfully it was a single rod pleasure angler who was happily catching on the float rod.

I setting into my usual swim and started the sweet, sticky spombing process. The spomb is underhand swung out to about 5 rod length out into the weed bed abit like a bait dropper but on a grander scales.
Ten spombs later and the bucket is 90% empty and I can rest the swim before putting the hook baits out over the top.

After a cuppa was brewed, drunk and a chat with the old boy along the bank, the rods were finally baited and placed out over the dinner table. First out was the inline feeder with the fake maggots attached, then the double hair rigged boillies on a bolt rig, with a pva bag with a few free offerings.

I noticed on the last outing that a number of the rigs hooks had become blunted or the link a bit frayed, so it was time for an overhaul.The evening before and whilst home alone, I had decided to ditch the year old tied rigs and re-tied a whole set of new ones in braid, stiff and supple hooklink material in various length, hook sizes and fake bait.

The afternoon was a mixed bag of wind, rain, sun and more rain so the brolly was erected to make the affair more comfortable and allow the stove to cook my lunch of rice and chicken in white sauce.

The third rod was kitted out with a float on the lift method, this was to be fished a couple of rod length out with abit of corn on the size 15 hook. I was hoping that if the tench got muscled out of the baited area that they might be up for taking small morsels of bait closer in and away from the masses.

With the baits out and the sun on my back it felt quite pleasant bar the odd spot of rain, infact it was so nice the Ray Band copies had to come out!

The first fish of the day fell to the float rod and the float lifted like a rocket and lay flat on the surface. I struck and a fish was on, but it wasn't a tench but a plump roach which was quickly subdued and netted. Not exactly what I was after but rather nice to see.

The fish roach was quickly followed by a second and third before the rain came and I decided to sit under the brolly for a bit. The rain fell heavily and ironically the bites started on the maggot feeder rod. The bobbins danced around for a bit before being swiftly lifted to the top and the baitrunner churned. The rod hooped with progressive curve and the fish on the other end made an attempt to pull my string, alas it wasn't big enough to take line and plodded about before hitting the surface and coming in like a wet sack. Alas no tench, but a reasonably sized bream which was unhooked in the net and release without getting covered in slime.

The feeder was refilled and cast back out, whilst I got steadily wetter in the heavy shower, hopefully this was only a passing shower and not a prolonged thundery storm as forecast by the Met men.

Rain was still falling when the boillie rod was away and just as the kettle was boiling too.
The baitrunner was churning nicely and I thought my luck was in with the tench. Again the rod hooped over and again something pulled back, but again the fight was short and un tench like and again it was a bream.

The bream had mashed the double boilies and they were unusable so were replaced with a fresh pair from the pot and cast back out to the dining area.

By this time the rain had abated and I pulled the seat out from under the brolly and recast the float out whilst settling down with the cuppa tea after reboiling the kettle.

I love float fishing especially on the lift method and it fills me with alot of joy, I'm just abit lazy and when the rod was a three piece it hardly came out of the bag. So with the new rod effectively being a two piece, it stays tackled up in the quiver so it can be thrust into action more frequently.

The float settled nicely and I scattered bits of corn around the tip of the float and waited. I didn't however have to wait to long and a small hybrid was soon swung in, unhooked and returned. This was followed by a couple of 8oz roach before things settled down.
The rain came again and went again, this was to be the pattern for the afternoon and  whilst I did land a few nice roach up to 1.1/2lb, no real monsters appeared. As with all roach fishing, the commotion did grab the attention of fishing with a predatory nature and whilst playing a 12oz roach a pike bolted out from the cover of the margin bushes to grab one for their dinner.

More bream came came to the boillie rod and maggot feeder, but alas no tench. But they did give their presence away with some area of pin sized bubbling, so they are still about and feeding.

The bailiff came around for a chat too and he confirmed that the tench were still coming out to the carpers and in particular to higher protein fresh baits which he rolls himself in various sizes.
Upon packing up, a damsel baring gifts appear at the umbrella, the bailiff had sent her up with a kilo of frozen boillies to try on my next session.

They smell quite good, so I look forward to giving them a try.

Its meant to be relaxing!

For along time I been trying to get sorted for regular overnight session just so I don't have to get up at silly O'clock for the dawn feeding spell.

So after sorting out the venue, gear etc I head out to the lake for a 24hr session in the hope of catching a tench.

I arrived to find a couple of anglers already setup, luckily none in the swim that I wanted and I barrowed the gear into the swim and then took a walk around the lake for a chat to the other anglers. None had any news or sighting of tench rolling, so it was a case of getting some bait out.

I had decided to stick with my normal spod mix but added something abit different after reading online about an ingredients that I had been using for winter roach, but for summer tench.

With the 5kg of pink mix ready, three area's were baited up ready for the evening and night. After baiting up was done and I had removed the sticky mess from my hand the rods and brolly were setup to ensure everything was ready for the night.

First rod out was the usual inline feeder, baited with three fake maggots, this was placed in a weed bed straight out in front of me. The second rod was the 90 degree rig, baited with a double strawberry boilie with a PVA bag full of micro pellets and placed out along the margins just infront of a willow.

A familiar face was also on the bank and we had a good chat about the lake and what had been coming out over recent weeks and general stuff on angling and tackle etc.
 Whilst we were deep in chat, the boilie baited rod indicator was jangling and then rose to the rod before the bait runner ticked over. I lifted into the fish and it pulled back.
After a tussle, the fish was netted first time by my mate and a chunky tench was lifted up the bank and onto the unhooking mat.

It went just over 6lb and was in good nick barring a small amount of mouth damage and went off fighting it.
This was the best tench so far this season and I hope more or bigger will follow from this water.

The boilies were still ok, so the rig was placed back out to the willow and I could now enjoy the warm evening's sights and sounds.

Whilst tucking into my first evening cuppa, the maggot feeder rod was away at a brisk pace and the rod hooped over into a nice curve but it didn't feel like a tench or even carp. A long lean fish boiled at the surface and the culprit gave itself away. Another pike on the tench gear, soon this toothy critter was at the edge and whilst unhooking it it spat out a small roach whilst had been attached to the hook with the fake maggots.

Alas the roach was no more and it was left in the margins to likely be snaffled by another predator during the night.

The evening rolled out and before the sun set, I spodded out another couple of kg of mix over the area's to top them up for the night and hopefully some early morning tench action.

With evening meal cooking, the boilie rod was away again, but by the lack of fight it was evident it was a small bream which it was. This was soon unhooked, but it had crushed the boilies.

After the rod was rebaited and recast, the light over the lake was starting to fade, so I snuggled down into the bag for the night listening to the varied sound of around the countryside. A barn owl was hooting in the distance, foxes screeched at each other and evening chorus of small birds got quieter and quieter. The sounds were replaced with sights of bats chasing insects on the wing and carp leaping from the water.

By 11pm it was dark and I was asleep, but not for long. I could feel a presence even whilst asleep and I awoke letting my eye's adjust to the dark. A voice then echoed around the brolly. "Are you awake?" it said, it made me jump and I soon realised who it was, the "old woman" of the lake was at my brolly and settled on the wet grass for a yarn. After 1/2 hour, he went on his way and I drifted back to sleep.

12:30am, the boilie rod was away and I woke in a start so see the Delkim's light fully illuminated and a one tone from the sounder. Fighting the sleeping bag, I was up and down the bank to the rod. The baitrunner was spinning and I lifted into a lump. The rod hooped over and the fish had taken quite a bit of line from the spool. Could this be a monster tench, After a good scrap, the fish came into the light of the head torch and my hope faded and suspicions realised. The lump was a carp and was giving a good account of itself. Once safely in the net, a plumb mirror carp was soon unhooked and weight. At 14.1/2lb it wasn't a record breaker, but was the biggest fish that has taken a liking to my baits intended for tench. With the carp back in the lake and the bait back out I snuggled back into the bag and drifted off to sleep.

1:30am and the same alarm was bleeping in short burst according to the receiver, I was out of the back and looked out into a sea of mist. I could just about make out the rods in the gloom and the air was very cold indeed. I got to the rod and lifted into a fish, I but the lines were crossed and after abit of picking, the fish was soon in the net. A bream of about 3lb was the culprit and I cursed it as the mess it had caused. The bream was slipped back whilst I mutter under my cold breath. Both rods were recast into the mist over the lake and a cold angler got back into his bag.


3:30am and dawn was beckoning and a hopefully the tench would be on the feed. I laid in the bag enjoying the start of the morning chorus. This blissful awakening was then disturbed by the bleeping of boilie rod for the four time and I begrudgingly got out of the bag and down to the rod. The spool was spinning and the line was heading along the margin. The rod hooped over and a weight was at the end of the line, but it didn't feel like a tench and felt more like another carp.
A tussle ensued and whilst I did enjoy the feel of a weight on the line, but I was some what disappointed at the end result of another carp in the net. The carp was soon unhooked and photographed. This one wasn't as pristine as the first and had damage to a couple of area, but they were healing.

Carp number two was slid back and I sat on the bedchair with the first brew of the day and reflected on the busy night.

The sun rose and the wind came with it. It was blowing in a different and cooler direction to the day before. This did have a dramatic affected on the fishing and only the roach were showing.
It did stick a float out over the edge of the weed and baited a spot with casters and hoped that I would snag a tench. Bites came steadily but again it was not from the target species and a mixed bag of roach, skimmer bream and hybrids came along.

By mid morning it was time to pack up and head from home.

Sunshine & Rain, Oh and Hail

Well I was penning a piece about a dismal failure on a lovely SSSI, but I forgot to finish the piece and publish it, so I won't bothered.

So instead, I went out with the tench rods again on another chilly April hopeful of more tinca action.

I arrived at lunchtime with a lightened load and trudged along to the reed swim which was thankfully vacant.

The midday sun was shining and I was sweating buckets as I set down the gear to take a walk about and chat with a couple of carpers. Both had seen early morning action from nuisance fish aka tench and I was feeling quite positive about my chances of snaring a fish or too.

After being pestered by bream during my other visits to this particular water I decided to go with a full on particle approach rather than my prefer ground bait. So I baited up an area with a hemp, maple and corn mix which I'd fish over using mini boilies and a maggot feeder.

It wasn't long before I was cooking lunch whilst enjoying a mug of team and enjoying the sights of Black caps, Long Tailed Tits and the resident Robin in the willows.

The bobbin on the maggot feeder rod was the first to rise and soon the baitrunner was spooling with a hooked fish. Nothing massive and a 8oz roach came to hand.

The roach was soon unhooked and returned, only to be followed by a similar sized roach, then a rudd before the feeder had even hit the bottom!

Lunch was cooked and the maggot feeder was attracting alot of attention so was reeled in so I could eat the curry and rice.

After lunch the maggot feeder was put back out, but I changed from a bunch of maggots to a single worm tipped off with a single maggot, hopefully this will entice the bigger fish in the shoal and stop the smaller ones from gobbling the bait.

The inclusion of the worm had the desired affect and the bites dropped off.

The sun was beating down and it was proving to be a pleasant day on the banks, but alas on the horizon was a dirty big black cloud and I was soon erecting the brolly to shelter under from the rain, hail and snow fall.

The hail stones were pinging onto the line and the sensitive Delkims were going nuts.

The storm passed after an hour and I returned back to the sun and with the change in the weather the fish began to feed again. The mini boilie rod was off and with the bait runner churning I was hopeful of a tench, but alas it wasn't to be and the the third species of the day, a bream, was soon netted and unhooked in the water.

The boilie rod was rebaited and another bag of freebie's attached before it was swung out over the baited area, but it found its way over the margin shelf and I could feel it descending into the deeper water. It could stay there fore a while, while I had another cuppa.

The stove was bubbling away and the worm rod bobbin was dancing up and down like a whores draws, before the fish moved off and gave a positive run. Not a roach, but a better rudd was hooked and netted. At a scapper 1lb it was the first rudd of this size I've seen for a long time.

The rudd was slipped back and I noticed a disturbance in the reeds to my left, something was lurching.

The afternoon started to pass and the bites dwindled, but for a scraggy perch (species number 4) that decided that the worm was just too juicy to leave alone. It was a washed out old warrior and looked to be in not to good a state.

Afternoon turned to evening and there was s nip in the area as the sun started to fall, the rain started again and I was wondering when the dash for the car would occur. As the last few drops it the brolly, the worm rod was off again and a nice plump roach was hooked. As the fish came up in the water the reeds rattled and the roach disappeared into the jaws of a predator. The rod hooped over and the 10lb line was stretched before I loosened the clutch a tad and let it sing. I played the the pike for a while fearing that the hooklink would be severed by this toothy predator, but as the pike spotted me, it let go of it price and I was left with a wounded roach.

The roach was full of spawn and bleeding from the a slash across its tail, but it was still alive.

All I had managed to do was bring in both the prey and the predators, but not the intended tench

IFI - Shameful

Kenny Sloan a pike angler from Ireland filmed the Inland Fisheries Ireland gill netting on one of the loughs.

Long had this practise of pike removal for the so called sake of game fish been though of as long gone, just goes to show you.

Below is the video taken by Kenny  along with his commentary, some may find it disturbing, as  it it is likely that a high percentage of the pike died.

A petition has been started to try to highlight and stop this practise sign here

Spring is Here

Couldn't face an hour long drive to the lake, so opted for a river session instead.

I arrived on the bank, but the sun was already rising. Grabbed a couple of rods and set off for a long romp to the first spot which also acts as the breakfast bar. The rods were soon out, a mackerel tail on the float ledger and a coloured smelt on a float trotting with the flow.

The morning was cloudy, dry but with a strong wind blowing across the land and into my face. This immediately posed a problem. Whilst there was a nice flow to the river, the wind was affecting the float and blowing it back across the current, not exactly as I had hoped. I decided to wind in and have a cuppa and the porridge pot. Second problem, the wind was that strong, that even with the rucksack as a wind break, the stove's flame was being buffeted and blow out. So I settled for a cup of cold squash and a snack bar, not ideal but better than nothing.

After "breakfast", I went back to the trotting and managed to cast further across the river to the far bank in the calmer water. This allowed the float to trot for a fair while before it got back into the wind lane.
After a hour and nothing showing, the mackerel tail got recast and the stop knot on the trotting rod slid up another foot.

This chance to the trotting depth had a near instance result and at the end of the trot the float started to dance and dip before sliding away under the surface.After a short fight, a long lean jack was gloved out and soon unhooked. It had a distinctive bottom jaw, which it couldn't close properly. I suspect it was born this way and there was no obvious reason for the gap, but I know it if I catch it again.
The pike was also covered in leaches, not quite what I was expecting to find with the warmer air temperatures, just goes to show that even after 2-3 days warming up the water is still icey cold.

After this capture, I upped sticks and moved upstream, this was repeated all day without a sniff of action. I even moved to into a less exposed area, but alas this was still unproductive.

One thing I have been trying during my river trips this season is Eddie Turners "pike cloud" .

 You can use the cloud either on its own, on the bait or in small pva bags attached to hook each time you cast out the bait. I prefer the latter and usually pre tie bags before I got and put the bags into a zip lock bag to ensure no leakage into the tackle bag. Not quite sure what Eddie puts into it, but as the bag dissolves the cloud is released and creates a trial for the pike to see and home in on.

I my mind, it is another attractor that can only increase you catch rates on pressured waters.

At £11.50 a 150ml bottle, its not cheap, but if you careful with you filling/use, it does stretch to a high number of bags or baits.

Guests

The rivers have been up and down in recent weeks and it has made life difficult to fish, but with abit of thought I've managed to at least wet a line.

The normal early start was on the cards and as always life throws up a curve ball or two. In this case it was a sharp froze and bitterly cold. Car was packed and by dawn I'm on the bank enjoying the morning view with porridge and tea on the menu.

The intention was to stay mobile and fish at least three/four areas I fancied during the day. The swim screamed pike and I was confident that given time I would caught from this deep spot on the river. The scene was set and I stood in ore of the magical landscape. Alas after two hours with a stream of Sunday morning dog walkers passing buy with their unruly mutts, they got the better of me and  I decided that it was just too busy for this grumpy piker to endure.
I upped sticks and moved to a stretch of river that appeared to be quieter, but still had the appeal to produce a pike or two. I walked up the track alongside the river exchanged pleasantries with a chub angler and settled into a spot which I felt was far enough away from him.

First guest of the morning was another dog walkers who's mutt decided that the bait box delights were too tempting and after a heated exchange re that fact that this land is private, owner and mutt trudged off muttering under their breath. Calm and tranquillity only lasted for a further twenty minutes before guest number two appeared. This character has been given a name due to his antics and the welsh wally was soon on my shoulder chirping away, "You fishing for pike, I had three from here, what bait are you using, what depth are you fishing, is that a smelt?". He went on and on and on, getting in the way, narrowly avoiding treading on the landing net handle. With characters like this, I find it best to be polite, but short. He soon retreated to find another poor soul to badger.

The third and final guest was another dog walker with a fat chocolate Labrador, who came nosily through the swim crashing about. I lost the will and packed up and head for a quiet spot for the afternoon.

The quiet spot was just that quiet and soon the rods were out and lunch was cooking on stove, bliss.

The first run of the day came on the came on the far side rod and the line was spooling off at a great rate. The float was buried and I was sure I was going to be in, I wound down and for a second felt something, then it was gone.

One mangled bait.

This was soon replaced with a fresh sardine and was cast back to the same spot.

Runs come be few and far between on a day like this, so after replacing the bait on the margin rod, I chopped up a spare sardine and dropped bits around the fresh bait. Always good to give some extra scent when the water is chocolate brown.

After a couple of cuppa's and with the sun in its final descent, the margin rod alarm sounded and the line was spooling away steadily. No need to wind down as the pike was heading down stream and by simply closing the bail arm and lifting the rod, I was soon connected.

Short scrap ensued and soon the first pike of the day was in the net.

A tidy, washed out fish was soon unhooked and slipped back into the ice cold water. With a half and hour before it was truly dark and fresh bait was hooked up and lowered along the margin.

As I turned and headed back up the bank, the alarm was off again, but on the bait on the far side.
The rod tip was banging away and the float could be seen under the surface like before.
Wound down expecting nothing, but felt a weight. Fish on.

I played the pike mostly in the mid channel, and as it came closer it made spirited runs downstream, with each run I could feel the hooks slipping so backed off the clutch abit. With the fish beaten, dropped the net cord below the surface and drew the fish over it. As its head came over the cord the hook hold slipped again, but this time it was out of the jaws and into the net. The pike wallowed on the surface for a second and I tried in vain to extend my reach to get her in the net, but sensing her freedom, she flicked her tail and was away.

Not swearing, no tears just a chuckle. It had been one of those days where the thinks were just outside of my control and in the end, just getting a fish in the net was a result.

Months (& Year) Gone By

A month has gone by since my last post and we've into a new year (Happy New 2016!)

Its been a busy month and not without various fishing trips, but alas all have been blanks for chub, pike etc) so not much to report apart from getting wet!

So with the new year on the horizon another trip out was in order, but it was forecast to rain heavily during New Years Eve.

I've been longing to fish the river again, but with all this rain, it has been difficult to find a day when it wasn't on the rise.

New Years Eve came and went and it did rain, but quite late in the day, so I knew that whilst the river would be rising, it would during the latter part of the day.

New Years Day came and I was out on the bank for first light only to be greeted by chocolate brown water and a frost.

Undeterred I setup a couple of rods and armed with oily sea baits, I found a spot where I had access to some slack water.

Mackerel in the margins on one rod and a sardine was cast out over the far side on the second rod. 

Unusually for me, the porridge had been eaten at home, time for a brew then. The kettle boiled and with mug of tea in hand I scoured the landscape taking in the sights and sounds of the great outdoors. 

It amazing just how much wildlife we have and we take for granted. With Long Tail Tits in the willows and pheasants in the field, there was plenty to keep the eyes on.

The alarm on the margin rod sounded as the drop off was pulled to the spool, but didn't drop. Rod was soon in hand and the float was bopping at the edge for a second before it started off into the flow.

Bail arm closed and I tightened into a moving fish and a the rod took a health bend.

After a nice scrap with the fish using the flood flow to its advance whilst taking line on a couple of spirited runs, the first fish of 2016 was safely in the net.

She was hooked well in the scissors and the mackerel was gone, but was soon unhooked, snap on the mat and away with a flick of the tail. See you again when you've added 6lb's.

Rod was rebaited and dropped in the slack water but slightly down stream from where the pike had snaffled the last bait. The sardine rod was catching debris floating down with the extra flow and pulling the float under. This was reeled in, recast and positioned higher to try to eliminate the problem.

11:00 came and a move was in order even though I quite fancied this swim later in the day. I upped sticks and went for a mooch down stream and settle into a double bend swim which felt ever so pikey. Alas after a coupe of hours this feeling left and for the second time of the day I upped sticks and when for a mooch back upstream to the boathouse swim.

Was nicely settled into the boathouse by 14:00 and brewed the last of the water whilst snacking on a bar. I had a feeling that this swim would produce and at 14:30 the margin rod alarm sounded and line was peeling from the spool.

I wound down and tightened up. Nothing.

Floating debris or dropped run, I wasn't sure but I fished into the dark whilst watching a Barn Owl hunt in the low light over the field and meadows. Kingfishers flow up the river to their roosts and a lone fox trotted along the track before spotting or smelling the odour of a piker on the wind before heading off in the opposite direction.

With darkness upon me I backed up and headed for home.

2015

The year gone by wasn't as spectacular as the year before and I didn't manage to catch the target fish from some of the venues. But I did manage to fish some new places over the year. Here are the highlights.

Jurassic Pike

Return of the Roach

C**p!

Chub on Lures

More Snotties

Early Tinca

Low level

Commercial Success

Windy Weekend

Plans changed at the weekend due to the high winds and instead of a whole day on the bank, I squeezed a short session in. As predicted it was another windy weekend and the planned boat trip was shelved and instead the boredom of Xmas shopping was done. The only saving grace is that most of that is done and I need not venture into town again with the great unwashed. I'd decided in advance to try a new pit that I have fished before.

So with time short I arrived early in the dark and bumped up the track to the lake scaring some bunnies off of the track in the process. I unloaded the gear and trudged around to an area I thought was fishable. Wrong! The pit was covered in weed and a tree had fallen into the lake since I recc'd it in the summer. The only fishable bit was on the far bank, but I couldn't for the life of me remember which path to take to get there. After a few aborted walks, I gave up in the dark and decided to fish a pit close by that would be sheltered from the wind and also usually produces.
 Back to the car, down the track and onto the next venture.

 It didn't take long to get to the other pit and I was soon walking along the bank and dropped onto a spot that would allow good coverage of the pit. Two rods were soon out, a popped up bait in the margins next to overhanging branches and the second bottom bait in a deep hole. With a couple of baits now soaking, it was time for a brew and porridge. With the kettle on and the sun rising, the first signs of the bird life appeared.

 The winter wildlife wonderland around these pits is truly great, Long Tailed Tits, Goldcrests, Sparrow hawks, Green Woodpeckers, Goldfinches, Chaffinches are just some of the many birds that frequent this water, along with the usual suspects of Buzzard, Egrets, Moorhens etc.

With brew and sticky porridge consumed, it was time for a bit of work, the third rod I'd packed was a lighter 2.3/4 TC boat/wobbling rod. I'd suck a small float on this and was intending to wobble, drift a bait around likely looking pike area's.

With a roach attached, it was soon lobbed out to a spot that had been kind to me on more than one occasion. The idea was that I leave bait in these spots for 10 mins and then slowly retrieve/wobbled the bait back. On this crystal clear pits it seems that adding abit of life does provoke a pike to strike the bait.

As I worked the wobbled roach around the swim, an unwelcome guest appeared.

Like the loch Ness monster porpoising along the far bank, a dog otter appeared. It swam along the far side and then climbed out on a small island for a scratch and a clean before diving back in leaving a trail of bubbles behind him.

I slumped against a tree, scanning the water and pondered a move. The second sighting of another otter was more surprising of the second and I couldn't decided where to move too with limited time on my hands.

I decided to stick with it and recast the baits. All went to plan with two rods, but the roach decided to go high, wide and end up in a different bit of the pit to the float.
I rummaged around in the bait box for a suitable replacement, but didn't have another roach packed in the cool. I stumbled on a few coloured smelts that I intended to try again on the pond, but hadn't had a chance. One turbo smelt stood out, well it was bright yellow!

This was soon attached head up and cast out as far as I could to drift about over the far side were in a deep bit of water.

The bait was drifting nicely in the wind lane across the lake, but to be honest I wasn't expecting much to happen in all honesty after the appearance of the two otters. So I was somewhat surprised when the float disappear abruptly out of sight. I did initially think it was caught up in weed or ting lillies, but as it was heading off against the wind under the surface I changed my mind.

I wound down and to lifted into the running fish, I was connected to something, but it didn't feel particularly big. The fish kitted off to the right and thrashed on the surface in a vane attempted to throw the hooks, but it was soon under control.
Despite its best efforts the pike was wallowing in the edge and was netted on the first attempt.

No record breaker that for sure, but welcome sight on a difficult day.

The pike was soon laying on the mat and unhooked, it had some noticeable scares on the flanks  where it its earlier life it had suffered a predatory attack from something, but was very short and fat, not a typical pike size, so its been feeding well on something.

It was back in the water with little fuss and darted off underneath the nearest overhanging tree to sulk.

The morning session soon passed with no further activity on the rods, and soon it was time to leave.