Crucian Chronicle

Thought you guys and girl maybe interested in the new annual ezine from the ACA which I have helped produce.

Crucian Chronicles

Catch Cult

Order your copy here www.catchcult.co.uk

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.

Long Time Coming

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

Pike Fishing, So far...

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

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

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

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

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

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


Pestering the EA with FoI etc

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


Writing for others

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

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

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

Jurassic Lake

I'm awake again before the alarm and without waking the wife, the cars loaded and I'm on my way.

The morning is dark, well it would be at 05:30 and I'm on the drive to the Jurassic lake full of hope and excitement that the lure of a new water brings. This will be only my four trip to the lake and only the second occasion that I fished for old esox on here.

I pull into the entrance  to the lake just as the sun is starting to rise and the headlights catches an owl on the path as it lifts off into the gloom. I bumped along the track and park up for a mooch about.

The wind is on by back today and I know roughly where I want to be, but alas two bivvy's block my way. I venture around the lake into the wooded area that not many looked to have fished. I find a likely looking bay just before the spit and start the process of setting up. 

The morning was cool and still as the first bait splashed down into the water some 10 yards out into  a weed bed, it sent ripples across the surface breaking the mirror. The second rod was baited with a popped up mackerel tail  and was cast to the edge of a gravel bar with the hope that this feature would entice a take for a patrolling pike.

The third rod was to be the drifter, but with the lack of wind, I didn't think it would drift too far from where it landed.

The swim was cramped, so there was no need for the alarms on two of the rods as they had floats attached. The middle rod did have a back biter on it, but that was to ensure I could see any drop backs. It was turned off, but the sound was off. If the arm did drop, the light would be triggered anyway.
With the rods out it was time for a cuppa and breakie, so with the usual porridge in a pot ready and the kettle boiling I was soon sitting back enjoying the brew with the porridge.

With breakfast done and dusted, the rods recast and the drifter float finally catching the breeze, I started to get abit restless and found myself scanning the lake for signs of life. Apart from the plentiful bird life both on the surface and in the bushes around the lake, the water its seemed lifeless.
Not a dimpling roach or a crashing carp to lift my mood and I started to feel twichy about the swim choice, perhaps it was the claustrophobic nature it.

Morning soon passed to midday and the heaven's opened. I hastily put the brolly up and I huddle beneath it as the rain got heavier. This is not good piking weather.
The rain continued and my moody was dropping quicker than the rain drops, but I spied some movement on the backbiter, surely no pike just the affects of the rainfall, but then the arm of the alarm dropped and the yellow light was illuminated.

The line was peeling off of the spool at a rate of knots so there was no need for a strike, juts close the bail arm and tighten up. The rod took a bend and a fish was hooked. After much thrashing and tail walking a low double was in the net.

She or he, was soon laying on the mat and whilst they liked the heavy rain, it was not good for the the camera. Quick snap for the blog and back she went.
I don't know who was wetter, me or the pike.

With the rod rebaited and recast, it was time to return to the shelter of the brolly and they is where I remained for the rest of the day bar recasting the baits.

This lake has been good to me so far with a few low double, but does it hold anything bigger? We will see.

On a side note, I been writing a few pieces for the PAC Pikelines quarterly magazine. One is a diary piece on my season afloat and the second a piece "Keeping it Simple", perhaps in a month or so I added the to the pages on here for all to read.

TL

Looking back at the Season Gone

Looking back at the last pike season, it is quite evident that whilst I have put a lot of effort in during the season gone, the end results weren’t quite what I had hoped for.

It has been a difficult season in comparison with 2010/11, where the pike were throwing themselves onto the hooks, whether it was baited with a lure or dead bait. But whilst the numbers of fish per session ratio was high, the numbers of upper double or twenties were very low. In fact in 2010/11, the best pike was a 19lber.

Whilst on this particular water it is considered an average fish, it was for me so far the best I have landed from this venue. The venue is a commercial fishery that in truth do stock pike in to the main lake when they net pike that cause a nuisance to the matchmen and pleasure angler on the rest of the complex. It’s not a naturally balanced fishery, but the fishery manger need to keep the paying customers happy. Its one of those waters where you could easily fish for a season and have say 3 - 5 different 20’s, but the pressure on these fish is great and without the watchful eye of the manager, damage to these fish could easily inflicted.

Another lake that I’ve spent time on followed a similar pattern, promised much, delivered little. It is clear that the pit was in a state of change. It has been a ‘banker’ water for high doubles and twenties, but it is evident that for some reason the pike population has taken a hit and the water is frequented with low doubles and jacks. I will be keeping an eye on this water for future years to see if the population recovers and balances back out again.

The fishing for other species has been difficult to. The bream and tench didn’t play ball and the roach, rudd were whilst plentiful not anything of specimen size. But the wildlife I’ve see have been truly magnificent, with march harriers, turfed duck, yellow wagtails,grass snakes and water voles all in abundance.

Season Regrets

My biggest regret of the season got is not spending as much time on a river system as I had planned. Due to the cost of fuel and travel time, I have taken to fishing closer to home, even if this has been to the detriment of not managing to hook into these river monsters.

I also regret not opening my eyes to that fact that I really need to study the overall season on each water more carefully. It is becoming clear that some waters really do fish better at different times during the season, and if I want to maximise my catching ratio, I need to realise this and rest them for some periods of the season. But, I won’t just fish a venue because it is a runs’ water. Fishing to me is not just about the catching, it’s about the whole picture, the scenery, and the wildlife and in some cases the company I fish with.

Season Plus

Well I did manage to get a 20 from my ultra hard water. This is the second one I’ve had from this venue and was a welcome sight. She was pre spawning weight and judging by her length, girth and general condition, she hopefully will turn up again next season at a higher weight. The future is bright for this fish, just hope that her sisters will follow suit.

It has also been good on the social side of fishing, starting to meet and fish with some good anglers and have been allowed to fish places I have never fished before. With any luck I will be able to fish these places with them from time to time, but we will see.

I’ve also gotten involved in the Pike Pool blog. If you’ve not see the link on my blog, please go and have a read of the articles and interviews the teams have secured since it started in the summer of 2011. The articles are written by anglers for anglers, editing is kept where possible to a minimum to ensure that the character of the writer come out in the article.

The pool is going from strength to strength and I’m looking forward to the seeing both new and old writers submitting articles. It’s not all about the pike by the way, we are just after good article on fishing.

If you fancy writing a piece for us, please email it to the:-

pikepool@hotmail.co.uk.

Either I or Rob will review it and come back to you with comments and suggestions.

TL

Catching some zzzzz's

Morning all,

Sorry I have not blogged sometime...been busy fishing, fishing and writing for others.

There is a new online emag call Pikers Pool....which is a emag run by under by members of the pikers pit...

Here is my first article for the emag here Pikers Pool, Catching some zzzzz's

TL