Net Full

Its always a good thing to keep on learning at any age or at any level angling experience and with river fishing I constantly learning all the time from a good friend whom is a very good river angler.

So when the weekend came and I had the chance to put some of learning points gleaned into affect on my second trip to the river of the season. Whilst I have fished this river a bit on an off I have always felt like I'm not fishing it effectively and have not capitalised when I've found the fish.

So with the car loaded I head up for a good hours drive to the river. I wanted to fish the opposite bank to last week, but after an hour walking the bank, I admitted defeat with 8ft of marginal reed hampering my efforts. Whilst I did have some tools that would help create a swim, I did have the tool that I needed aka a throw able reed cutter. So it was back to the layby swim for me because time was getting on.

The ground bait bucket was out and after consulting the book I mixed up a couple of kilo's of crumb and black Supercup laced with hemp, maggot, crushed caster and some pellets. Rather than balling out a load at the started, I put in five balls to get the fish going, the rest would go in via the feeders.

Next on the list was the rods, gone was the still water tip rod and out was the Avon rods with a 2oz tip. Both coupled with 400 reels and 6lb mainline. Rig wise it was to be a paternoster and a semi running rig nicked from a Nisa video on river feeder rigs.  In essence this was a sliding float stop, followed by a link swivel, I then formed a loop to connect the hook link to. Two size 6 shot was placed just above the loop knot to form stop and help pin the mainline to the bed of the river. A 14" hook link of 3lb material was added This rig can be used as either a bolt or running rig so is quite adaptable depending on the fish being finicky or not.

The big changes were the change of hook thickness and rod positioning. I opted for a thin gauge long shank 16's and 18's for the maggot/caster of The rods were how vertical beach caster style with the tips slightly under tension to form a shallow curve so that both pulls, taps and drop back would be shown.

I was all set up, feeders clipped on, hooks baited and out they went. The right hand rod had the big baits on, a corn and caster cocktail, the left hand rod had the standard double reds. I didn't have to wait to long for bites to start and soon a small roach was netted with after a confident bite on the tip which was easy to see. The small roach was soon followed by further roach and small perch too and bite continued nice a steady during the first 2 hours. A couple of 4lb bream took the corn/caster cocktail and I soon had 10lb weight of fish in the net. I took a break for a brew and head back to the rods, with a streaming mug of tea. The rod ere recast and action was resumed for another hour or so whereby a ten skimmers came along in quick succession. This was shaping up to be a good morning.

The action then slowed and I decided to mix up the hook bait, a small worm was hooked onto the left hand rod tipped of with a red and the bites started again. The big bait rod was slowing up, so this two was changed. This time it was double corn soaked in molasses and this started a run of a better stamp of bream self hooking them self which resulted in the rod being lifted off the back rest.
This problem was quickly solved with the baitrunner being engage to allow a hooked fish to run if hooked.

Morning was soon midday and I must have had near 20lb of fish in the net. Lunch was soon consumed with anther mug of tea and then back to the action. A large worm replaced the double corn and I continued with the worm/red cocktail on the other rod.
Now eels arnt my thing really and on light tackle they are a pain in the area, so imagine my job as the nodding tip was a sure sign one had been hooked. As it came in it dive and ducked, spun and coiled before I managed to get it to the edge unhook without it leaving the water. There was simply no way this snake was going to get its slime on the keepnet.

As soon as the small eel was away, I just had time to look up and see the big bait run being pulled off of the rests either with the baitrunner going. I clamped down and it was quickly apparent that another bigger, stronger eel had taken the lobworm. It completely flat rodded me and it took and age to get it under control and nearing the me, but every time I thought I had it beat it was off again. I was not looking forward to wrestling with this water snake and I was quite thankful then the critter finally bit through the light line in the margins. The rig was in a mess, so it had to be re rigged, but no further worms would be going on the hook.

The afternoon pushed on and further bream graced the
 net and added to the total. The rain started as a drizzle and this didn't put the fish off and for a further hour I had another 10lb of fish ranging from small skimmer to a couple of 4lb bream.

On the horizon the rain clouds gather and with the wind continuing to blow into my bank I decided enough was enough and this along with running very low on ground bait made my decision for me.

On loading the last bits on the gear into the car the heavens opened and it lashed the car as I drove off of the bank and onto the road.

The final net weight was near 30lb of roach, skimmer, perch and bream plus a slippery eel which didn't get into the net. This has to be my most successful day on any UK river with regard to overall weight and the constant action on the tip rods was a welcome change to sitting behind a bank of rods on alarms.

Back to the River

Well the tench fishing has been very slow due to the exceptionally high temperatures over the last month, which has prompted huge weed growth in the lake. So a change to the rivers was in order to feed the fix, but there was a real issue, I'm the worlds worst river angler.

I started with a short morning session on my local river, but bar the first two bites resulting in a single roach and perch, the rest of the morning was as dull as dishwater.

So Sunday came and a early morning run over to the Ouse was in order to try to tempt some river monsters. I decided that I wanted to fish either the tip or the float so one of each was packed into the car. I arrived nice and early and set my stall out on a car park swim and soon had the gear up packed, the ground bait mixed and the tea brewed.

Whilst most experienced river anglers will have there various different setup for river feeder rigs, my is a simple paternoster feeder rig utilising 6lb mainline, 2 or 3lb 2-4ft hooklinks and think gauge size 14 to 18 hooks. the feeders are either Kamasan Black Caps or their open feeders. One thing I do change on their feeder is the plastic attachment. I hate it and I open up the lead and insert my open elastic loops made from power gum.

It took a good hour before the fish bite was registered on the tip rod and I hooked small roach to get me off the mark, this was soon followed by a small perch.

Now normally, I have fished the tip horizontally along the bank, but off the ground so that the tip points to the sky. To date it has always worked and I've not had a issue with hitting bites, but for some reason I started to miss quite a few bites. In fact, out of 20-30 decent bites from 8am to 11am I landed only 3 fish! So I consulted a very good friend who is a very good river angler and after a bit of messaging I changed the position of the tip so it was pointing out in front of me and at a higher angle like you would if beach fishing. This small change resulted in two things a) I could actually see the bite better, and b) I could connect to the bite.

Soon I had a further four roach into the net and my confidence started to grow a bit.

A quick lunch was had and the feeder went back out, this resulted in a couple of skimmers and a better single bream pulling the tip over. I must admit to be quite amazed that this change to the tip position actually made such a big difference to connecting with the bites. I did look to also fish the slider, but I realised that I had packed the wrong rod and reel, so that idea was soon quashed.

Soon it was time to call it a day and the net came in and a small mixed bag of around 10lb of roach, rudd, perch, skimmer and bream was returned to the river.

So this has wet the appetite for more river action, so I hope to get back to the Ouse with two tip rods and this time the slider rod.

Change of Tact and New begining

With the pike now spawning, I decided that this should make the end of the season for them, so a change of species was in order.
Another chance to wet a line came my way and it was back to the pond for another crack at the roach.

The alarm didn't have to sound and I was up and out before dawn. After having a mooch about I decided on a spot were as it had been reported that the larger fish were starting to head there with spring upon us.

I arrived in the car park and not a sole was about, so I had my choice of swims and settle into one that had been kind to me this time last years. It was also a spot would give me shelter if the impending wind starting blowing.

Instead of the usual tactics of ten ball of bait crashing out into the depths, I opted for a little and often approach utilising just the 35g feeders. The bait for the feeders was to be kept simple too, brown crumb, a dash of maggot, and corn plus a lot of hemp.

Whilst I settle back and enjoyed the first brew, I looked out across the water and in front of me was a few grebes feeding and a buzzard cruising on the thermal.

The feeders were refilled and recast in 15-20 minute intervals. It was time for breakfast. It was a bacon butie sort of morning so the new frying pan came out for a trial session. I found this one in the camping section again, the beauty of it is the folding handle . I had suspected that I need to really build up the swim before the first bite would come, but surprisingly I didn't have to wait too long and soon the roach were upon the bait and the alarm sounded giving single bleeps.
With the bacon cooked, the first real bite came and massive drop back of the bobbin that I missed by a million miles.

The morning drifted on and there was sporadic bites on maggot and caster baits, but most of the time the bites were un hittable.
Morning turned to afternoon and I finally managed to get a roach landed.Not a massive roach by any means but a blank saving fish and this was followed up with a few more until the bait ran out.

 What was nice bout this special place is that roach was a species that some would say were in decline on this water, but since 2011 they having been making a come back and it does just go to show that natural can sort its self out if given time.

There is also something new on the horizon with respect to a angling publication. Two very passionate anglers have come up with a unique printed magazine which will appeal to anglers whether they are coarse, game or sea, if the fish for roach, pike, carp there will be articles that everyone will enjoy. So here is a taster of Catch Cult.

Afternoon & Evening

Haven't had time to write a blog entry as been busy with writing for others and a nasty summer cold so the fishing has taken abit of a breather over the last month.

I did manage to get out for a short afternoon session last weekend in search of some specimen roach.

I arrived at the lake around midday and had a mooch about to see what was about. The weather was warm and overcast with a light blustery westerly wind and soon I found a spot to fish.
Back to the car, grab the gear and mooch back to the swim to set up. With the ground bait prepared at home, was easy to get ten balls rolled and catapulted out about 40 yards were the weed becomes less dense.

It was to be a two rod on buzzer type of day, one on a maggot feeder heli rig and one on a ground bait feeder paternoster rig. Hook bait would be mixed up during the session to see what preference the roach had.

The first rod out was the heli baited up with a couple of maggots and no sooner had the bobbin been attached than it was jumping about with a snared roach attached. This happened a number of times over the next 15 mins and I was surprised the number of baits by the roach, but when I looked out across the water I could see that the roach were boiling over the baited area.

Once there was a break in the action, the second rod was baited and cast out with a couple of casters on the hook.

With the rod settled the kettle went on and the first brew was in my hand, but not for long.
The caster rod was away and a nice roach of about a pound was landed, happy days.

The action on both rods was frantic and not what I expected. In the first couple of hours I must have landed 8lb of roach which on rods on buzzers is quite noisy. With the stamp of roach not being huge, it was time to switch things around and put on some bigger baits to try to limit chances of smaller roach snaffling the bait. So off with the maggot and casters and on with the corn and mini boilie.

The bigger baits did have the desired effect to a point, but whilst the micro roach didn't get the bait even with double corn on a size 12 hook the 8-10oz roach were able to take the bait with relative ease. Meanwhile the boilie remained untouched but I was hopeful that something would take it before it got dark.

Alas nothing did, but it was great to be back out.

Like Buses

The weekend couldn't come fast enough as I was eager to get back out on the bank and fish again.

This time I was more prepared and got down to the waters edge for dawn and spombed the usual sweet mix into my familiar swim.
I did contemplate a different swim on arrival, but having seen more tench in this area then anywhere else on the lake, why go else where.

The morning was warm, but overcast and no one else was about. Perfect. The spombing was efficiently done after abit of raking was undertaken, the swim was rested until everything else was setup and ready.

The rigs were to be the same on the rods, but the bait on the boilie rod was to be the new handmade bait given to me by the bailiff to try whilst fishing fake maggots on the inline feeder rig.

With both rod now baited and cast out, it was time to boil the kettle, prepare bankside breakfast and enjoy the first cuppa of the session.
With the kettle bubbling aware the inevitable happened. The bobbin on the boilie rod was jangling , then swiftly lifted to the rod. Stumbling down the bank, I grabbed the rod as the reel started to spool. Lifting into a moving fish I was confident that this was a tench and that it was making off at pace across the lake. The fish fought well and gave a good account of itself before appearing in the upper layers. It was no tench, but one of the bream the resident bream.
After netting, unhooking and muttering about the slim it was slipped back to continue to pester the tench.


The bait was still intact and it was cast back out and I went back to enjoying the breakfast that was slowly getting cold. Alas it was to go cold, because no sooner had the next spoonful been put in my mouth and the Delkim was bleeping, bobbin was rising and the reel churned. This was certainly no bream. The line sung in the breeze and a paddle tail slapped the surface as it boiled and turned over before taking line. Weed floated to the surface as the tench made a bid for freedom down the margins. The tench turned for open water and was doing its best to shake the hook, but it was within the range of the net and soon in its folds.
Not a monster, but a good size for the water and another over the 5lb mark for the season.
It was soon unhooked and returned with a slap of the might paddle, but yet again it had mouth damage.

The early morning drifted along and the day was turning pleasantly warm. The float rod was un packed and soon I was watching the tip for shy biting roach or hopefully tench.

The float was soon dipping and I connected with a number of hungry rudd, roach and hybrids, nothing to write home about in relation to size but good fun.

Whilst enjoying the float fishing it was evident that there was alot of bream in the area, the bobbins lift and the alarms bleeped, only for the same to happen in reverse on repeated occasions. In between this there would be proper bites and a number of bream graced the net.

Mid morning came and I had a decent run again on the boilie rod, from the head shaking it wasn't another bream and a second tench was hooked. This one played out like the first heading along the margins disturbing the weed beds and then making for open water. Being slightly smaller it was soon in the net.

The pattern of bream to tench is on this water very high, a ratio of 1:10 won't surprise me and they home in on the bait very quickly. On a dawn you can see them rolling out in the middle of the lake, feeding or ascending insects, only for them to move quickly over the baited area with 15 to 20mins once baiting up has finished. These bream do seem to feed first and once they have had their fill, move on which allows the tench and occasion carp to pick up the scraps.
If I could isolate a single component of the mix that was particularly favourable to bream, I'd remove it, but its a simple particle mix with a additional 1/2 pints of dead reds, corn and pellet.

But its not just the fish that like the mix, the resident water fowl likes it too and they too home in on the sound of the spomb hitting the water and it become a game of cat and mouse with them.
I can usually get away with the initial eight spombs, but that next five area the ones where the duck get there fill. There is also the inevitable mix that get dropped or spilt in the margins and this is soon snaffled by the old bill.

The day was becoming hotter and I could feel the burn on the neck through the collar. With the rising temperature the bites steadily dropped off and by early afternoon even the float had stopped dipping so I packed and headed for home.

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

Addictive

This specimen roach fishing is starting to get under my skin and with autumn rapidly coming upon use, those predators may have to wait awhile.

 I was out again for another crack at the reservoir roach with the aim of catching more 1lb+ specimens with the vain hope of breaking the 2lb bracket.

I learnt that there is no rush to get out for the roach and that they will generally feed sporadically though the day switching on and off.

I arrived on my chosen spot and as the sun rose I had time to walkabout to find a swim I fancied fishing for the day. There was virtually no wind on the waters surface and I found it hard to decided whether to fish my regular swim or try a new one. I chose that latter and soon started the ritual of setting up everything in sequence.

Soon it was time to catapult out the ground bait out and in quick time ten ball were deposited into a area around 10ft deep. The rods were already setup and the first feeders full were cast out whilst the kettle boiled.

The morning was warm, but slightly overcast and the sun broke thought the wispy clouds to show that the waters surface was alive with topping roach. I sat with breakfast in my hand and just watched as the roach topped as far as the eye could see.

It didn't take long for the roach to home in on the baited area and just as I was downing the last of the first brew of the day, the bobbins started to do a little dance.

The first strike was met with a nice bend of the avon and soon a roach was in the hand and unhooked.

At just under a pound and a half it was a welcome first fish.

Lots more small roach followed in the morning and afternoon but nothing of any size and soon it was time for home.

Finicky Feeders

Been looking forward to this roach session all week and a had done some tweaks to rigs and bait as part of my preparation for the session.

I woke nice and early, packed the last of the gear and headed off to the lake. I knew exactly where I wanted to go even with the easterly wind forecast. Upon pulling up in the car park, I noticed a van that I thought I knew. This could be a problem.
The problem was this individual is also a roach angler and they may have nabbed the swim that I had fished the previous week. I loaded up with the gear and head down to the waters edge and too the swim I wanted. It was vacant and the other roacher had gone further along the stretch.

Ground bait was soon mixed and whilst it soaked, I began setting up the net, mat and rods before catapulting ten balls of ground bait out. The easterly  was quite strong and the lake had white horse all the way across. The rods were cast out and I settled back to sort breakie and the first cuppa of the day.

With all the white horses it was difficult to see if any roach were topping, but there was the occasion fur flying as fry leaped clear out of the water to avoid predators.

Breakfast was done and dusted and the rods need to be rebaited and recast. Upon inspection the bait had been nicked, but with the wind and wave the little bites hadn't even registered.

Lines were recast and tightened so that the slighted movement would register and this slight change resulted in a confident take by a small roach which hung its self on the heli rig.

The blank saving roach was soon popped back.
I'm not a fan of keep nets and only really use on when on smaller waters where the big roach can spook the shoal, but on here I haven't got that issue. The biggest issue for the returning roach is being snaffled by a pike or perch lurking in the margins or under a tree.

The morning soon became lunchtime and after 20 of so small roach, my mind drifted off to what else was going on in the water. On one of my paddling in the edges I spied a strange wee beastie.

I scooped it up in the lit of a maggie box for a closer inspection

This beastie is I believe a Water Scorpion which is a micro predator which grabs fry and tadpoles that happen to swim past. This one turn out to be deceased and just a soft shell, but it was easy to see how it is an ideal ambush hunter.

After the little exhibition into the water and my attention was turned back onto the rods for the afternoon and whilst I managed to catch a dozen more roach they better ones alluded me and I just caught a string of small roach to 10oz. With the day getting on an the rain clouds looming, I decided a last few feeders cast out to the horizon was in order. Alas this just resulted in more small roach and not the better ones I'd hoped for.
There is always nest week.

Something New

There are time when you just need to do something different or tackle something new and fishing for specimen roach is something new to me.

For the last four days I'd been planning and musing what species to tackle and what venue to fish, and come Saturday lunchtime I'd decided on roach and an a large reservoir.

Now we all caught roach, mostly on the float or feeder as kids, but a large roach is a magical sight.

So after deciding the species and venue, I tackle up with suitable gear, in this case a pair of 12ft 1.1/4tc Avon rods, 4000 bait runners, 6lb mainline.

The reason I was using heavy mainline was due to the need for repeated casting of  small loaded feeders at regular intervals. I also took along a 13ft waggler rod just in case I fancied a dabble on the float.

I arrived nice and early hoping to see roach topping all over the surface, but it had been a cold over night and nothing was moving. I drove about looking at different places around the water for a good hour before finally settling on an area that to be frank had not been kind to me over the years. This area have not produced for me, but I had an gut feel that for roach it may be different.

First job was to mix up some simple crumb with hemp, caster and a smattering of red maggot. This was catapulted out to a range of 30-40 yards. Knowing the water as I do, I knew there would be a consistent depth of around 10-12ft out in from of me after the initial drop off,

With the baiting up done, the first of the loaded feeders on a heli rig with two reds on a size 18 was cast out to the baited area and setup on the alarm. The second rod was again a feeder rig, but on a simple running rig but on the size 18 was a pair of fresh casters.
With the rods out, it was time for the breakfast and the first brew of the day whilst taking in the sights and sounds of the wildlife waking up. On the far bank a Munjac deer could be heard barking out its order to its rivals to stay away, a buzzard called out whilst starting its ascend on the early morning thermals and the chaffinches chatted in the blackthorn along the track.

With breakfast and brew finished and the feeders retrieved and reloaded, it was time to set up a third rod. As the water was pretty still I decided the waggler rod would be more fun than setting up a third rod on a buzzer. So the waggler rod was assembled and after plumbing the depth the first cast to the marginal shelf was made.
There is something calming about watching a float, so much so that when it dipped I missed the bite by a country mile. After putting on fresh bait and recasting it didn't take long for the float to dip, but this time I connected with something.

Not the biggest roach in the world, but the first of the roach campaign and a blank saver.
The roach was soon unhooked and returned to either grow into a specimen size or become a tasty snack for a predator.

The float gear was recast and whilst watching the float half dip once and a while, the Delkim let out a bleep and the bobbin started to dance on the line. Putting the float rod down on the rests, I hovered over the rod hopping the dancing bobbin would lift to the rod. Alas it didn't and after 10 minutes of nothing I reeled in to find the maggots smashed and just the skin left. Good sign that something was out there over the baited area.
The re baiting and recasting the rods on the alarms continued along with a number of bite size roach come on the waggler, and I was content that at least there was an abundance of small roach in the area. By mid morning, the bites on the float rod stopped and I decided to rest the area for a while, while concentrating on firing out a few more balls of ground bait.

As the last ball hit the water, the alarm on the caster baited rod sounded and the bobbin lifted straight to the top and stayed there. I struck and could feel something on the line. With 2.7lb hook links and a small hook, I couldn't give the fish to much stick, but after a short while the silver flacks of a nice roach came into view and the magical sight of a nice specimen was drawn over the net. Result!

A quick snap on the mat and after weighing it, the roach was slipped back into the coloured water. The rod was rebaited and cast back out, and I could reflect on the tactics that had lead to the downfall of this specimen. Whilst it isn't common in the specimen angling world to use a running rig for big roach, or come to think of it for most species, it still does have its place on shy biting fishing. A good friend of mine, who is also a good all round angler reminded me earlier in the day about the importance to try something different from the other and it had already paid dividends,

The running leger rig is the simplest of rigs to use and with the small light bobbins I use for most of my fishing, it is a effective method.

More roach of various sizes followed on both rods and it became difficult to keep both rods out for a time and I was frequently having to reel in micro roach on both rods. Then the inevitable happened and a pike snatched a roach off of one of the rods as I retrieved it. The pike instantly bite through light hook links resulting in me having to re tackle. This happened on both rods, so I decided to rest the area for an hour to see if the uninvited dinner guest would get bored or full and leave the area.

I set about getting the float gear out again, but the bites were patching and shy. I did manage to hook a couple including a half decent one, but I managed to loss it even thought I had it in the fold of the net.

After an hour, I decided to get the rods back out on the alarms and within a few minutes the alarms started to sound and the bobbins started to dance again. Some more small roach were landed and another specimen roach was also netted before the bait started to run dry.

By 4pm and with the last of the casters used I decided to pack up and head for home.

Happiness

There is something nice about teaching others to enjoy the sport we love, and on a sunny Friday it was my nephew's chance to have a day out.

My nephew, who is now six has been asking for ages to go out and fish again after trips last year. We had tried to go out in March, but it was just too cold for him and the pole fishing trip was soon abandoned.

They only question today was little pond or big pond and he choose the latter as it held a larger variety of fish for him to catch. So after picking him and his lunch up we headed for a commercial club water to introduce him to rod and reel fishing.

We arrived mid morning and the there was a number of others on the water, so were catching and some weren't, but I was confident that I could get the roach and rudd on the feed on a short float line.

I picked a swim big enough for the both of us and I soon had him sat with with a 10ft float rod and fixed spool reel. I started feeding a short line with a mixture of hemp and maggots in order to get the silver fish on the feed. Once he was sat happily watching a float, I decided to set up a rod on an alarm with a 10mm boilie on a bolt rig with a pva bag.The rod was soon case out, placed on the alarm and attach the bobbin, but there was an issue. No bobbin. I rumaged around the rucksack and couldn't find the them and remembered that there were sat with the third alarm in the tackle room. Plan B, make a bobbin. I soon made make shift bobbin using a length of braid, 2 SSG and a bent out quick change clip. Bingo!

In the meantime, the nephew was starting to get bites on the waggler and after a few aborted strikes, he connected with a small roach. Mission accomplished.

Once he had started catching perch, rudd and more roach with uncle help, he wanted to do catch more himself, but that involved more teaching around casting, baiting the hook and baiting the swim. The first few casts where a dual effort, but he soon grasped the idea, just the timing was out and we had a few short casts due to releasing the line to early or to late. Luckily we only had one cast to retrieve the float set up from the tree and he was happy catching steadily.

This left his uncle to muse over the other rod and why were weren't getting any positive takes. I decided to have a change on the rigs hook length and the length of the hair. The hook length was lengthened by 4" and the hair increased to 2". The pva bags were left off and a scattering of whole boilies were thrown out around the baited are near the pads.

15 mintures latter and the first positive take on the bolt rig resulted in a bream with the hook neatly in the edge of the mouth.
Bait was still ok,so it was recast back out and another half a dozen freebie scatter around it. This resulted in a near instant take.This was not a bream and after a short fight a small common carp came to the net. Uncle was happy too.

The nephew continued to fish with my guidance and we soon had him tackling the baiting of the hook with the wiggly maggots. He was a happy lad and was soon doing most of the fishing himself and relishing the challenge of catching a fish all on his own.

Another short run on the bolt rig and another bream came to the net, abit bigger than the first, but this was unhooked at the edge.

The bream had mashed the boilie, so it was rebaited and recast. This time to the edge of the lillies where I spied some slightly bigger carp moving the pads. in the afternoon sun.
We continued to fish the float and the nephew continued to cast roach, rudd, perch and the odd hybrid.
He was started to want to catch bigger and bigger fish, but ever time a larger fish took the bait, he either slacken the line letting his prize escape or pull the hook (must remember to slacken the clutch) and his monster evaded him.

Late afternoon was soon upon us and we were in the process of sorting out a float muddle in the margins when the alarm sounded a single bleep. Then the alarm screamed and the tightened bait runner churned slowly as a hooked fish powered into the lilies.
The float rod and muddled rig was left in the water as I grabbed the rod with the muscular fish attached and the rod hooped over nicely. With full pressure on the fish, I managed to convince the hooked fish to head out into open water and the battle continued. We had it at the net only for it to power off and with 10lb mainline and a 8lb braided hooklink there wasn't much I could do apart for let it tire itself out.

After a epic (nephews word) battle the carp came to the net, but as I slid the net underneath it it powered to the left and into the float gear muddle in the edge. Oh Sh*t, thought, what a pickle.
Bail arm was soon opened on the float rod and we'd sort the tangle of lines out if we managed to land it.

After much heaving and huffing we slid the net under our prize, along with a tangle of float and bolt rig to boot.

We'd won the day and our mid double specimen was on the mat being admired by its captors. After a couple of snaps, our prize was released with a flick of its tail.

We packed up soon after and within ten minutes of leaving the lake, two weary anglers were on their way home. One asleep in the back of the car and one luckily not asleep at the wheel as we heading for home happy for so many different reasons.

TL