Just had a quick evening session with my mate JD on the Calder, first time I have fished that area and tbh we were on the wrong bank, it was very shallow and I could wade nearly halfway. I managed a few dace in a couple of hours from a steady glide by a tree but the shallow clear water meant they spooked each time I hooked a couple. It looks a lot deeper right along the far bank and very fishy so I will give it another go down there but next time from the right bank!
I did put my new(second hand) Dave Harrell 14/17ft float rod through its first test though, nothing to really put a bend in it but at 14ft its nice to hold, has a nice soft tip action and picks line up effortlessly off the surface.
I decided to quit early so as to save bait and please her in doors and get out for an early morning trip tomorrow when hopefully I can catch a few more
Tuesday, 19 June 2012
Wednesday, 6 June 2012
Back on the old estate lake
I made my return this morning to the old estate lake to target the tench, with a low pressure front moving through over night and a gentle south / south westerly wind conditions looked perfect.
As I made my way down to the lake at half four it seemed even more so as I could see fish fizzing and bubbling allover the place and by 4.40am had one rod out with a bolt rigged maggot feeder rig. Previously I have sent this rod well out into the lake past where the weed beds were starting to pop but today it was clear the fish were feeding much closer in and so it went out only 30 yards or so slightly to my left. I had only just cast my second rod out, this time on my usual groundbait feeder rig and again shorter than normal when the alarm sounded on the other rod and line peeled off the spool. I was kind of half expecting a quick bite this morning and tench number one rolled into the net at ten to five, a very nice looking golden colour and the smallest I have had this year from this water going a good 3lb.
Soon afterwards whilst just rolling a cig the feeder rod whacked me on the thigh!(this leaves me with a bit of a dilemma that I will come back to) Now I was sure I had not knocked it and dropped what I was doing and grabbed hold, good job really as tench number 2 put up a good scrap. Doing the usual trick of kiting around the reed beds I waded through and netted a nice 5 pounder. I expected plenty more to follow but it went quiet until around 7am when I heard an almighty scream of 'GET IN' that made me jump.
I couldn't work out if it was on the bank as there was already a car in the car park when I arrived or up on the main road until someone shouted a little quieter if I could lend a hand so with that I wound the rods in and headed along the bank. The chap in the next peg was carp fishing and had managed to bag one of the much sought after fish from the lake and requested some photo's taking. I over looked the scales and the fish went 24lb 12oz. Now as you know I am not much of a carp angler but this was a fine old looking fish and the lad told me it was his very first from the water and had had 21 blank trips prior to today so he was over the moon, I stopped and chatted for a while before heading back to my swim.
First chuck out and the rods had only been on the rests 5 minutes when the tip nudged around and I struck into what felt like a smaller fish, it turned out to be a nice bream around 4lb. Afterwards I was surprised by the lack of interest from the fish as they were still fizzing away out in the lake but it seemed to take forever for the next bite to come, at around half past eight the tip slammed around and another nice 5lb tench made its way into the waiting net but sadly that was the end of the action for today, by 9am the fish had stopped fizzing and despite a south westerly blowing a nice ripple at me no more bites came and I packed up at half ten.
Now back to the dilemma I was talking about. When I started my campaign on here I was adamant that I did not want to sit behind a pair of alarms and bait runners so opted for traditional feeder tactics and baits before introducing a second 'sleeper' rod on an alarm just to try and tempt an extra bite or two. However it has now become clear that some days they prefer maggot and caster feed and others a carpet of food laced groundbait. I had been slightly worried of the feeder rod going off whilst doing something else with the other rod and tried to keep a good eye on it but with savage bites coming out of the blue I risk loosing a rod or worse tethering a fish. I would still like to sit and watch a quiver tip but I'm now seriously thinking of swapping to two rods on alarms, after all the fish come first and I can still fish light ish line and groundbait feeders.
Your thoughts and suggestions please....................
As I made my way down to the lake at half four it seemed even more so as I could see fish fizzing and bubbling allover the place and by 4.40am had one rod out with a bolt rigged maggot feeder rig. Previously I have sent this rod well out into the lake past where the weed beds were starting to pop but today it was clear the fish were feeding much closer in and so it went out only 30 yards or so slightly to my left. I had only just cast my second rod out, this time on my usual groundbait feeder rig and again shorter than normal when the alarm sounded on the other rod and line peeled off the spool. I was kind of half expecting a quick bite this morning and tench number one rolled into the net at ten to five, a very nice looking golden colour and the smallest I have had this year from this water going a good 3lb.
Soon afterwards whilst just rolling a cig the feeder rod whacked me on the thigh!(this leaves me with a bit of a dilemma that I will come back to) Now I was sure I had not knocked it and dropped what I was doing and grabbed hold, good job really as tench number 2 put up a good scrap. Doing the usual trick of kiting around the reed beds I waded through and netted a nice 5 pounder. I expected plenty more to follow but it went quiet until around 7am when I heard an almighty scream of 'GET IN' that made me jump.
I couldn't work out if it was on the bank as there was already a car in the car park when I arrived or up on the main road until someone shouted a little quieter if I could lend a hand so with that I wound the rods in and headed along the bank. The chap in the next peg was carp fishing and had managed to bag one of the much sought after fish from the lake and requested some photo's taking. I over looked the scales and the fish went 24lb 12oz. Now as you know I am not much of a carp angler but this was a fine old looking fish and the lad told me it was his very first from the water and had had 21 blank trips prior to today so he was over the moon, I stopped and chatted for a while before heading back to my swim.
First chuck out and the rods had only been on the rests 5 minutes when the tip nudged around and I struck into what felt like a smaller fish, it turned out to be a nice bream around 4lb. Afterwards I was surprised by the lack of interest from the fish as they were still fizzing away out in the lake but it seemed to take forever for the next bite to come, at around half past eight the tip slammed around and another nice 5lb tench made its way into the waiting net but sadly that was the end of the action for today, by 9am the fish had stopped fizzing and despite a south westerly blowing a nice ripple at me no more bites came and I packed up at half ten.
Now back to the dilemma I was talking about. When I started my campaign on here I was adamant that I did not want to sit behind a pair of alarms and bait runners so opted for traditional feeder tactics and baits before introducing a second 'sleeper' rod on an alarm just to try and tempt an extra bite or two. However it has now become clear that some days they prefer maggot and caster feed and others a carpet of food laced groundbait. I had been slightly worried of the feeder rod going off whilst doing something else with the other rod and tried to keep a good eye on it but with savage bites coming out of the blue I risk loosing a rod or worse tethering a fish. I would still like to sit and watch a quiver tip but I'm now seriously thinking of swapping to two rods on alarms, after all the fish come first and I can still fish light ish line and groundbait feeders.
Your thoughts and suggestions please....................
Friday, 1 June 2012
Back for more......... or not
Been back to the little pool yesterday evening, I was please to see just two lads sat quietly fishing in one corner, thought it would be empty with the weather not been as hot. However
the fish seemed to have taken a disliking to it too, not a lot on top
and the ones I did see were just cruising around a foot or two under the
surface, I never saw one carp come up for a bait even the oily floaters I got today only interested the rudd.
On wandering around looking for fish I came across some bubbles that looked fishy so decided to opt for plan b and float fish mussels and corn, soon after it became clear there was a group of fish absolutely ripping the bottom apart! The water was just frothing like a jacuzi, I even had fish head and shouldering right over my float 2 rods out. but it wasn't to be today, the float dipped and weaved and buried 3 times and I connected with fresh air.
It was a cracking night to be by the pool though as it looked stunning and all I could here were the birds tweeting in the tress
On wandering around looking for fish I came across some bubbles that looked fishy so decided to opt for plan b and float fish mussels and corn, soon after it became clear there was a group of fish absolutely ripping the bottom apart! The water was just frothing like a jacuzi, I even had fish head and shouldering right over my float 2 rods out. but it wasn't to be today, the float dipped and weaved and buried 3 times and I connected with fresh air.
It was a cracking night to be by the pool though as it looked stunning and all I could here were the birds tweeting in the tress
Monday, 28 May 2012
Nice evening session
I made my return to the little pool in the woods this evening in search of the resident carp, now carp fishing is not something I'm really into but I do enjoy a bit of stalking and surface fishing for smaller ones during the summer so off I headed with a 1.5lb tc float rod, trusty reel loaded with 8lb line, a bag of bread and bucket of mixers. As I arrived it was a little off putting that the tiny pool was almost full with around 8 anglers already there, now I must add that this place seldom see's a serious angler and all those fishing had limited knowledge or skill apart from in drinking cans and smoking some rather strong smelling stuff! So as I set about flicking a few mixers in and trying my luck early on with a lump of bread I was told, or rather shouted at across the pool that the carp were impossible to catch and I didn't stand a chance by more that one jolly soul.
They were soon eating their words as carp number one landed on the mat after just ten minutes of fishing, the fish was met by calls of 'wow that's a monster' and something else along the lines of 'I bet that weighs 25lb' however it was more like 8lb but a nice looking proper old English fish, no sign of a pellet belly here. That put the fish off for a bit but I was happy as the local muppets started to head home around 6pm for more beer and grass.
I soon had another group of fish slurping mixers down and didn't have to wait long for the next fish to fall to a lump of bread, another good 5 minute scrap and it was in the net, only for me to discover it was the same fish I had caught not an hour before at the other end of the pool! It was easy to tell by the wounds on one flank from spawning last week, I slipped it back and tried for another but the fish had shifted. As some more lads left I moved on again and got some fish feeding around some over hanging bushes really close in where I could just dangle a bait in front of them, 3 aborted takes saw me switch to a mixer and first drop in a carp spotted it from 3 yards away and came straight at it mouth wide open and sucked it down. Another good fight saw a very nice looking common of around 7lb on the mat.
The light was starting to fade now and that was making spotting the fish harder and they now seemed less interested in staying in one spot to feed and were drifting around in small groups of 2's and 3's. With just two lads sharing one swim I made two circuits of the pool flicking baits here and there for half an hour before I heared the tell tale slurp from feeding fish just up from where I had the common, they were going mad for mixers and bits of bread that had drifted under a bush so I dropped a lump of bread as close too it as possible, it had only been out 30 seconds when another mirror came up and grabbed it, this one was the biggest of the day, around 9lb.
The fish were now well spooked and with the light fading fast I headed home. Lets hope this warm weather carries on as I really want to catch one of the 3 big kois swimming around in here, I saw them plenty of times tonight but they are far from daft. twice the big white one came up and nudged my bait around with its nose before swimming off to scoff 'safe baits' and the other two just kept swimming under them.
They were soon eating their words as carp number one landed on the mat after just ten minutes of fishing, the fish was met by calls of 'wow that's a monster' and something else along the lines of 'I bet that weighs 25lb' however it was more like 8lb but a nice looking proper old English fish, no sign of a pellet belly here. That put the fish off for a bit but I was happy as the local muppets started to head home around 6pm for more beer and grass.
I soon had another group of fish slurping mixers down and didn't have to wait long for the next fish to fall to a lump of bread, another good 5 minute scrap and it was in the net, only for me to discover it was the same fish I had caught not an hour before at the other end of the pool! It was easy to tell by the wounds on one flank from spawning last week, I slipped it back and tried for another but the fish had shifted. As some more lads left I moved on again and got some fish feeding around some over hanging bushes really close in where I could just dangle a bait in front of them, 3 aborted takes saw me switch to a mixer and first drop in a carp spotted it from 3 yards away and came straight at it mouth wide open and sucked it down. Another good fight saw a very nice looking common of around 7lb on the mat.
The light was starting to fade now and that was making spotting the fish harder and they now seemed less interested in staying in one spot to feed and were drifting around in small groups of 2's and 3's. With just two lads sharing one swim I made two circuits of the pool flicking baits here and there for half an hour before I heared the tell tale slurp from feeding fish just up from where I had the common, they were going mad for mixers and bits of bread that had drifted under a bush so I dropped a lump of bread as close too it as possible, it had only been out 30 seconds when another mirror came up and grabbed it, this one was the biggest of the day, around 9lb.
The fish were now well spooked and with the light fading fast I headed home. Lets hope this warm weather carries on as I really want to catch one of the 3 big kois swimming around in here, I saw them plenty of times tonight but they are far from daft. twice the big white one came up and nudged my bait around with its nose before swimming off to scoff 'safe baits' and the other two just kept swimming under them.
Thursday, 24 May 2012
Lucky dipping
Had a quick session with my mate Martin this morning to a small but very nice looking pond in some local woods, it's one of those places that gets a bad name due to the local population of idiots and layabouts frequenting the area. However it has now been taken over by someone and he has done a good job of tidying the place up and as a results the local yobs now stay away.
For years people have been chucking over grown garden pond fish in and up until around 10 years ago the same guy controlled the fishing before he had to work away and gave it up, he also stocked a few fish, and once again he has introduced some new stock, mainly ornamental stuff like blue and golden orfe, rudd and golden rudd and even some gold fish! It also holds quite a good number of carp both normal and cross bread koi and there is some stunning looking fish swimming around, its very deep and surrounded by mature woodland which means its bathed in sun most of the day and has little wind on it and the fish like to spend a lot of time on the top.
Today was the first time I have fished it for around 6 years and all I can say is that it does actually look like a very large garden pond. I started with a light float rod fishing a couple of foot deep with maggots and casters catching a few fish but missing loads of quick bits as the fish dashed and darted around just under the surface. I had a couple of skimmers, a few nice roach and rudd and two stunning golden rudd, the biggest around 10oz.
By now Martin had arrived and was catching a few roach and rudd fly fishing again so I thought I would try my hand at it again. I was much better today after ten minuits of practise and soon had a couple of rudd to my name, then the carp bug bit and I spent an unsuccessful hour or so trying to coax carp and kois into taking my fly. Martin stayed on a while after me and has had a few other colourful fish.
I can't wait to go back again, next time armed with some bread and dog biscuits for those carp, some of which clearly run to double figures.
For years people have been chucking over grown garden pond fish in and up until around 10 years ago the same guy controlled the fishing before he had to work away and gave it up, he also stocked a few fish, and once again he has introduced some new stock, mainly ornamental stuff like blue and golden orfe, rudd and golden rudd and even some gold fish! It also holds quite a good number of carp both normal and cross bread koi and there is some stunning looking fish swimming around, its very deep and surrounded by mature woodland which means its bathed in sun most of the day and has little wind on it and the fish like to spend a lot of time on the top.
Today was the first time I have fished it for around 6 years and all I can say is that it does actually look like a very large garden pond. I started with a light float rod fishing a couple of foot deep with maggots and casters catching a few fish but missing loads of quick bits as the fish dashed and darted around just under the surface. I had a couple of skimmers, a few nice roach and rudd and two stunning golden rudd, the biggest around 10oz.
By now Martin had arrived and was catching a few roach and rudd fly fishing again so I thought I would try my hand at it again. I was much better today after ten minuits of practise and soon had a couple of rudd to my name, then the carp bug bit and I spent an unsuccessful hour or so trying to coax carp and kois into taking my fly. Martin stayed on a while after me and has had a few other colourful fish.
I can't wait to go back again, next time armed with some bread and dog biscuits for those carp, some of which clearly run to double figures.
Wednesday, 23 May 2012
Down to earth with a bump
I was on the old lake and fishing for 5am this morning and feeling confident after my success last week, I chose a different swim this time mainly as it gave me a better angle to put one of rods on the spot that has been seeing plenty of bait over the last few weeks as the wind was blowing the other way.
It was a glorious morning to be out and as the sun was forecast to beat down I thought the extra early 3.30am alarm would be worth it. I stuck with my usual tactics of maggot feeder on one rod and groundbait on the other and set about putting in some bait then sat back with tea in handing thinking one of the would rattle off shortly. The time went by quickly and I was soon starting to wander where the tench were as it turned 7 o'clock, it was warming up fast and with Little wind on the water I started to make little changes to the rigs and baits but nothing seemed to interest them.
At 9.30 I called it day and left empty handed, I'm hoping they haven't decided to start spawning and that it was just an off day as the weed is only just starting to grow which should leave it fishable until the rivers open.
I shall be back next week to try again anyway.
It was a glorious morning to be out and as the sun was forecast to beat down I thought the extra early 3.30am alarm would be worth it. I stuck with my usual tactics of maggot feeder on one rod and groundbait on the other and set about putting in some bait then sat back with tea in handing thinking one of the would rattle off shortly. The time went by quickly and I was soon starting to wander where the tench were as it turned 7 o'clock, it was warming up fast and with Little wind on the water I started to make little changes to the rigs and baits but nothing seemed to interest them.
At 9.30 I called it day and left empty handed, I'm hoping they haven't decided to start spawning and that it was just an off day as the weed is only just starting to grow which should leave it fishable until the rivers open.
I shall be back next week to try again anyway.
Friday, 11 May 2012
Cracking mornings work
I was up and out of the house at 4.30am again this morning for another go at those tench I had on Tuesday. I was planning on waiting till Saturday but looking at the weather made me change my mind as it's forecast to be a bit frosty tonight and bright sunshine tomorrow, so even though today had a chilly breeze it looked better than tomorrow.
I chose to fish the same swim again as I knew where the clear spots in the weed were and I had left the reels clipped up last time, only today I decided the fish were not going to get the better of me in the reed beds and opted to stick my waders on and sit out in the water, this gave me a better angle with the rods on the clear spots and also meant that I could get out past the reeds before the tench got in them.
Now all the fish I have hook and landed on here this year have come to a groundbait feeder rig fished on a tip apart from one lost fish the other day that took a bolt rigged maggot feeder, my mate Jon has also had success fishing the same so imagine my surprise when not ten minuets after casting out the bite alarm on the so called sleeper rod signalled a screaming run and a nice 4lb tench lay in the net. Another real old warrior, there must be something about these older, wiser (or not so) tench been first up on a morning as I had one the other day first thing. Happy to have a fish in the net so soon I re-cast both rods and went to pour some tea when the alarm went off again, this time a dogged fight saw the fish doing the usual trick of kiting left for the weeds only this time I was ready and waded through them to meet the fish with the net. As I lifted it from the water I realised I could be hold a new pb as it felt way heavier than the 5's I had on Tuesday and with a pb just short of 6lb this fish wouldn't be far off so I slipped it into the keep net to weigh later. I had only just finished off my tea and re-cast the rods when the alarm wailed at yet another screaming run, a fight much the same as the last saw me with another slightly bigger than the last and I knew now I had 1 if not 2 pb's in the net and 3 fish in total within the first hour! Expecting another run anytime soon I put breakfast off until I was starving, nothing came in the next hour so I got the flask and porridge out and it wasn't until around 8am that I got another bite. By now the wind had picked up a lot and was making it hard work landing the feeders in the right spot, I had just re cast the bolt rigged maggot feeder and was setting the bobbing when I felt a slow steady pull on the line through my fingers, thinking it was the wind and tow pulling I let out some more line and clipped on the bobbing only to have it pulled slowly to the rod, ah wind I thought as it dropped down around 4 inch only to pop up again and line slowly start to peel off the bait runner. I lifted into it and it wasn't long before I had a nice fat slab of a bream around 4.5lb-5lb sat in the landing net. Not long after the quiver tip finally pulled around and a steady fight saw me drawing the fish closer to the bank only for it to come off, I was thinking another hook pull but on winding in found a scale on the hook and a very slimmed up line.
At around 9.30am the bait runner burst into life again only not quite so fast and on lifting into the fish I instantly knew it was bigger, it felt heavy and made plenty of slow runs taking line from the reel each time. It took me a while to get it close to the bank and once there did the usual trick of heading for the reed beds only for me to now be able to head it off, a couple of rolls confirmed it was bigger and I was now shaking as it set off on a powerful run, thankfully to the right and away from the thickest of the reeds. It took a good five minuets of powerful runs before finally rolling into the net and spitting the hook out! I decided not to mess around and weighed the fish in the net before slipping it into the net for a trophy shot later, I went back and weighed the net and that fish went 6lb 15oz, a new pb by almost a pound. Happy as a pig in muck I left the rod on the bank and sat and had a bite to eat and more tea.
It wasn't until around half past 10 that I had any more action, the maggot rig roaring off again with a five pounder, shortly after I packed up as the wind was getting stronger and making it just about impossible to land on the spot, distance was no issue but the stiff side wind constantly blew 2oz feeders way off line.
I'm sat here now scratching my head as to why the fish suddenly decided they liked maggots and why I never managed a fish on the method that has been successful for my self and Jon over the last few weeks???
I'm over the moon with not just the pb but all the fish this week, it's been great and the only down side is I cant get back on the bank for the next two weeks or so.
I chose to fish the same swim again as I knew where the clear spots in the weed were and I had left the reels clipped up last time, only today I decided the fish were not going to get the better of me in the reed beds and opted to stick my waders on and sit out in the water, this gave me a better angle with the rods on the clear spots and also meant that I could get out past the reeds before the tench got in them.
Now all the fish I have hook and landed on here this year have come to a groundbait feeder rig fished on a tip apart from one lost fish the other day that took a bolt rigged maggot feeder, my mate Jon has also had success fishing the same so imagine my surprise when not ten minuets after casting out the bite alarm on the so called sleeper rod signalled a screaming run and a nice 4lb tench lay in the net. Another real old warrior, there must be something about these older, wiser (or not so) tench been first up on a morning as I had one the other day first thing. Happy to have a fish in the net so soon I re-cast both rods and went to pour some tea when the alarm went off again, this time a dogged fight saw the fish doing the usual trick of kiting left for the weeds only this time I was ready and waded through them to meet the fish with the net. As I lifted it from the water I realised I could be hold a new pb as it felt way heavier than the 5's I had on Tuesday and with a pb just short of 6lb this fish wouldn't be far off so I slipped it into the keep net to weigh later. I had only just finished off my tea and re-cast the rods when the alarm wailed at yet another screaming run, a fight much the same as the last saw me with another slightly bigger than the last and I knew now I had 1 if not 2 pb's in the net and 3 fish in total within the first hour! Expecting another run anytime soon I put breakfast off until I was starving, nothing came in the next hour so I got the flask and porridge out and it wasn't until around 8am that I got another bite. By now the wind had picked up a lot and was making it hard work landing the feeders in the right spot, I had just re cast the bolt rigged maggot feeder and was setting the bobbing when I felt a slow steady pull on the line through my fingers, thinking it was the wind and tow pulling I let out some more line and clipped on the bobbing only to have it pulled slowly to the rod, ah wind I thought as it dropped down around 4 inch only to pop up again and line slowly start to peel off the bait runner. I lifted into it and it wasn't long before I had a nice fat slab of a bream around 4.5lb-5lb sat in the landing net. Not long after the quiver tip finally pulled around and a steady fight saw me drawing the fish closer to the bank only for it to come off, I was thinking another hook pull but on winding in found a scale on the hook and a very slimmed up line.
At around 9.30am the bait runner burst into life again only not quite so fast and on lifting into the fish I instantly knew it was bigger, it felt heavy and made plenty of slow runs taking line from the reel each time. It took me a while to get it close to the bank and once there did the usual trick of heading for the reed beds only for me to now be able to head it off, a couple of rolls confirmed it was bigger and I was now shaking as it set off on a powerful run, thankfully to the right and away from the thickest of the reeds. It took a good five minuets of powerful runs before finally rolling into the net and spitting the hook out! I decided not to mess around and weighed the fish in the net before slipping it into the net for a trophy shot later, I went back and weighed the net and that fish went 6lb 15oz, a new pb by almost a pound. Happy as a pig in muck I left the rod on the bank and sat and had a bite to eat and more tea.
It wasn't until around half past 10 that I had any more action, the maggot rig roaring off again with a five pounder, shortly after I packed up as the wind was getting stronger and making it just about impossible to land on the spot, distance was no issue but the stiff side wind constantly blew 2oz feeders way off line.
I'm sat here now scratching my head as to why the fish suddenly decided they liked maggots and why I never managed a fish on the method that has been successful for my self and Jon over the last few weeks???
I'm over the moon with not just the pb but all the fish this week, it's been great and the only down side is I cant get back on the bank for the next two weeks or so.
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