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.

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.

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.

Brenching

The alarm was off and I was up and out of the house like a mad march hare before daybreak.
Well the first part was true anyway.

I arrived at the lake later than planned due to a) not setting the alarm correctly and b) because of the slow old boy taking a early morning Sunday drive on a Saturday.
So it was not at day break that I got to the swim but about 40 minutes after, so I hastily set about getting the spombing due as quickly as possible. The spomb was put to good effect and in quick time two around some 3/4 rod lengths out was baited up. This was then left to rest while I had a quick chat with the overnight carpers. They'd not seen much action bar some mid doubles and I was soon back in the swim getting the rods out.

The first rod out was the reliable in line maggot feeder with a 3" hook link and the second was to be a in line lead baited with a sweet boilie and a PVA bag. Once out it was time for breakfast.
Breakfast has become a bit of a thing of late, gone is the gulping down a bowl of cereal at home, gone is the porridge bot on a winters morning and hello to the bank side butties!
After breakfast and only a hybrid to show for my endeavour, which had hung itself on the size 12 maggot bunch, I noticed that during the many retrieves, on a number of occasions the maggot had either been sucked or taken off of the hook.

The in line feeder rig consists of a in line maggot feeder taped up to reduce the flow of maggots, a quick link, 3" fluro hook link with hook sizes varying from 10-16 depending on whats on the hook or hair. To start with I had used a size 12 with the maggots bunched on to it, but due to the issue of bait being nicked off of the hook I decided to change to the fake baits.
So off with the hook rig and on with the hair rig. The hair had two fake bait red maggots hooked in a V shape rather than the T shape that a lot of other tenchers seem to favour. Whilst I've found the T shape effective, the V shape seem to deter the small silvers.

So with the rig change sorted, the feeder when back out and it brought a near instant result. The bobbin rose and the was pulled tight to the alarm before it dropped back. I connected with something, but it was soon evident that it wasn't a tench and the nodding of the tip signalled a bream had come into the margins.

The bream was soon netted and whilst not a monster by any means, it did show that something was feeding over the baited area.

It was soon returned and the feeder was back out and I settled back to enjoy the sights and sounds around the lake.
A  pair of Great Crested Grebe's were on the water courting in their normal head bobbing manner, three pair of buzzard were using the thermals to climb the thermos, a pair of kestrels were roosting on a branch on an Oak tree.
On the ground signs of plant life were spied and I took a couple of snaps of the wild flowers Primrose and cowslip, were taken around the lake.

Whilst enjoying these sight, it was noticeable that the insect life was not as abundant as previous springs, but this way to due more to the chill in the wind.

After an hour enjoying just being out there the maggot feeder rod was away again. This resulted in another bream taking a liking to the fake bait.

Fake baits are flooding the market and I've noted that with this there is a massive difference in the shape, appearance and feel of them. I'm in the mind that the fake bait needs to feel and look right to fool the fish or maybe its just to fool the anglers so I've stuck with the original and still the best in my opinion.

The morning drifted to midday and a few more bream took a liking to the rubber maggots and it was soon evident that a shoal had moved over the baited area and that they were hoovering it up every last piece of bait. Bream could be seen breaking surface and ever so often I get line bites too.

Just after lunch the boilie rod alarm was screaming and a fish was on the run, but there was one issue, the baitrunner was too slack and the running fish made a tangle mess of the mono before I even got to the rod. I lifted the rod and the fish was already gone. I was left untangling the spool before recasting.

By the time the session end, I had had seven bream and a small hybrid all from the margins, but not a sign of the tench that I had been targeting. With the weather turning milder, I'll soon be able to do short evening session on the pond so I'm hopeful of snagging a few over the coming months.

Back home and preparation are started for the next session and 2kg of hemp was bubbling on the stove.

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.

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

Wrong Ratio

a

The Easter break was a chance to get the rods out for the early season tench and after the usual morning duties I was soon driving through the lane to get to the lake.

After loading the barrow and pushing it along the muddy path, I was soon next to the lake and contemplating the choice of swim. Alas, my favourite tinca swim was taken by another angler, so plan B was put into action, have a chat with another carper to see what joy they may have had before deciding on plan C

So, with plan C hatched, I pushed the barrow to last weekends spot.

First jobs first, mixing up the ground bait for rod one and spodding the particle mix out on rod two.

Once this messy task was done and the usual rigs were placed out over the top it was time for breakfast (porridge) and the cuppa to start off they day. The morning was mild for March and there was a real sense that spring was around the corner, the male pheasants were fighting on the hill, the buzzard was using the thermals to get to a heady height and the green woodpeckers were whooping at each other from opposing trees.

The blissful sound were then disturbed by the bleeping of an alarm and the bobbin rose to the rod before the baitrunner started to tick over. No need to strike a fish was on, but alas soon the plod, plod of a blank saving bream was felt on the end of the line.

This was soon netted,unhooked and returned.

The rod was swiftly rebaited and recast, but I struggle to attach the bobbin as it kept lifting to the rod and falling of. Errrh you muppet fish on and after a not so long tussle another slab came to the net.

The early morning drifted on with the feeder being recast frequently to top up the swim. This paid off and shortly after 9am the alarm single tone and the baitrunner was spinning. Certainly no slab and with a spirited fight an small tench came to the net.

Unfortunately this lovely tench had a damaged bottom jaw and whilst it seemed to be feeding, it did seem abit thin for its length. Otherwise it was in good health and was soon slipped back.

The rest of the morning was spent unhooking slabs in the 3-5lb bracket and by lunch I decided to switch to new area's and fish single baits with pva bags of offerings. Alas the photo summed up the afternoon.

Its been a case of, warm enough for fish to feed, but not the species I want to catch. So I do I carry on with this venue for another few weeks with similar ratios' or do I switch to the harder venues?

Will see what the weekend brings.

On the Up

 Its been a tough last month resulting in very little fishing, but lots of think of fishing.

At the beginning of the month I was struck down with Bronchial Pneumonia which had me off work and laid up for best part of ten days, even the thought of venturing out after  old esox was enough to give me the shivers and I hung up the pike rods three weeks earlier than planned. The pike season this year hadn't been kind to me and with a couple best part of a month taken away with trips abroad, the results were dismal and whilst I caught on nearly every trip, the best for a 14lb fish, but I did learn alot about new venues.

Last week I was feeling better and after sorting out some online trolls, I started to prep the tench gear for a early season trip. Must task was bait and whilst I can get god quality maggots, casters are a different matter. So I turn my own in the utility room. They turn within 2.1/2 days and were spot on.

So with maggot, casters, worm sorted, plus the usual change baits and ground bait sorted, the rods to and tackle were packed.

I decided that i just wake and go, well that was the plan. I woke, fell back sleep and final woke at 6am.
By 7ish I was on the water and settle into a new swim with the light wind coming across me. My usual reed swim was taken by an overnight carp angler, but I was in an area that I felt confident with and that is half the battle.

In order to ensure I didn't become to static, I only stuck two rods out on alarms, an inline bolt rigged maggot feeder with three plastic maggots on a hair and a worm on the 90 deg rig along the close margin. Each had a few expro balls laced with crushed casters, hemp and red added to give the tench something to crunch on. The maggot feeder was to be brought in and topped up ever half an hour only to be cast back to the baited area.

Next up was the usual breakfast brew and porridge, it was chilly, could have been a pike day, but with the birds singing, daffodils out and willow firmly budding up, spring was certainly here.

Neither rod saw much action for the first couple of hours, but I felt confident as a hardy matchman was catching roach, bream and a surprise rudd steadily in the corner swim on the waggler.

The maggot feeder rod alarm then sounded and the bobbin rose to the top and  with no fight what so ever a blank saving bream came to the net. This was soon followed by an other bream and it was soon evident by the numbers rolling that they had muscled their way in over the baited area. Now whilst I do like specimen bream, on this particular lake they don't grown much above 7lb, so they not a target species.

A new area was selected some 15 yards from the bank, this was within underarm casting range and soon the maggot feeder, plus four balls of laced groundbait was deposited on the money.

The morning drifted by and the wind changed direction, grew in strength and had a real chilly feel to it, the extra coat was required and I hunkered down in the chair. It certainly now was piking weather.

The worm bait was left untouched and got changed over to a 10mm strawberry boilie topped off with a piece of buoyant corn, plus a PVA sock of freebies was chucked along the margin.

I was eager for lunch time to come and the hot food was very welcome along with copious amounts of tea to keep the bones warm.

The mini boillie rod alarm "one toned" then ripped off with the baitrunner spinning, but I connected with nothing, by the speed, of the run, I reckon it was one of the carp taking a liken to the bait which is always a danger on this lake.

A few more casts of the maggot feeder and the alarm bleeped, the bobbin rose, baitrunner spun and the rod tip started to bounce. This was no bream, but could have been another carp lunching on the baited area in the margins.

The new Harrison Chimera 12ft, 1.3/4TC tinca rods built for me by Dave Lumb at D.L. Specialist Tackle as a birthday presented from my wife last year, whilst christened with a few bream and one carp last year hadn't had a tench on the other end. I was dearly hoping it was a tench and I wasn't disappointed.
The tench rolled on the surface before taking line and the rod took a lovely progressive curve along the blank. It absorbed the power of the tench via its paddle tail beautifully and I felt assured that the hook won't full.
With the net extended, the tench slid over the rim. Result, first tench of 2016 season and a nice conditioned one to boot.

It was hooked clearly in the corner of the mouth and was soon unhooked, weighted at 4lb 6oz, and released.

The tench was very pale, and not the usual spring coloured tench green, but the water was very coloured and I expect that when the water is clear and the lillys/weed have grown up it will darken up.

With the wind getting chillier, the pesky bream moving into the shallow baited around were the tench had been hooked, the bobbin was twitching and alarm beeping constantly. During the remainder of the day, a further three bream in the 3-5lb bracket decided the fake maggots too tempting and more wet sacks were played to the net.

The mainline was covered in slime, a sure sign that a large shoal of bream had descended onto the onto the dinner table and by 16:00 I'd had enough and headed for hope a happy tenchfisher.

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.