| MARK HODSON | |
An angler since he can remember, Mark Hodson almost literally lives, eats and breathes fishing. A match angler in his youth, fishing for the junior Starlets, he turned to the dark side and joined the ‘floppy hat’ brigade in his college years. He worked in the tackle trade for ten years, on a part time or full time basis at Chaplains, one of Birmingham’s busiest tackle shops and managed the specialist department there for two years. He now fishes just for fun, although the ‘floppy specialist hat’ still dominates his angling, his writing concentrates on getting the maximum enjoyment from your angling and trying something different from the norm. |
| AN AUTUMN AWAKENING We are about to go through a magical time of year for anglers. Come the last week in September we start to see the first signs of summer slipping away back into mother nature’s locker of seasons and the coming of what has to be the anglers favourite month, Autumn. Gone will be the hot balmy days of July and August to be replaced with a fresh cooling breeze. The falling rain will re-invigorate previously de-oxygenated water, shaking many species from their summer siesta, and compelling them to feed with the same enthusiasm that we have not seen since early spring. Another reason for this annual ‘harvest time’ piscatorial feast is the fish sense that the harshest of seasons, winter, is soon to follow this cooling in water temperature, and so they look to feed hard in the next two months, to stock up their fat levels and see them through the coldest months when natural food is at its most scarce.
An additional bonus to the angler who can fish weekdays in Autumn is that often you can have whole stretches of river, canal or entire lakes to yourself. With the passing of summer, so passes the main holiday season, junior anglers are back at school, dreaming of the giants they will catch at the weekend instead of concentrating on their work, as are their adult contemporaries, although at a different desk. Those of us who prefer to fish when the sun is shining are putting their tackle into it’s annual six month hibernation, not to see the light of day until the temperatures creep over 20 degrees again next May. So come late September, even at the weekend you will often struggle to find company on your chosen venue, leaving you with all those hungry fish to yourself, and the choice of any peg from which to tempt them from. Although, with the turning of the leaves to their glorious red, gold and russet autumnal shades, all species feed hard, there are two in particular that will pre-occupy my time in the coming months. Roach Roach are a classic autumn fish, with their dark red and brown fins contrasting superbly against their silvery flanks, there is no better time to catch a good net or a personal best as they shoal tightly prior to winter. On rivers look for nice steady gentle glides with weed cover, the shoals of roach will stay close to any weedbeds and pick away at the larder of insects and other food they contain. You can’t beat traditional stick float, caster and hemp for catching fish in this situation but don’t think less is best when picking your float. It is vital to have good control over your tackle when running the float through to achieve perfect presentation, although the fish will be on the feed they have lived through a summer of crude end tackle presentations, so don’t be afraid to step up to an Avon or loafer style float if required.
A size 18 hook buried in a single caster or two on a size 16 will keep the bites coming all day, but to get an extra edge use the artificial caster’s from Enterprise Tackle, their slight buoyancy counteracts the weight of the hook giving you a hook bait that behaves just like your feed and the roach can’t resist. As you can see in the picture when using the two artificial casters on a size 16 it is best to use a slightly wider gape hook and hook the baits upside down, leaving more of the hook exposed to gain a better hold on the strike. Due to the buoyancy of the artificial casters you can also get away with using a slightly heavier gage of hook than normal and still retain perfect presentation, an added bonus should a chub or barbel snaffle your hook bait instead of a roach. For stillwater roach again look for cover such as weedbeds and lilies, or overhanging trees. Waggler or pole will catch plenty of fish although if the water clears as the temperature cools the larger roach tend to shy away from the pole and its resulting shadow over their heads, so stick to the waggler if you want a better stamp of fish.
Instead of the caster and maggot approach that I use on running water, on stillwater venues I prefer to fish bronze maggot over a bed of groundbait. The groundbait mix is a blend of 40% Van Den Eynde Secret, 40 % Van Den Eynde Supercup and 20% sieved brown crumb. After the first frost I leave out the brown crumb, and revert to a 50/50 mix of Secret and Supercup which contains less feed but retains the attraction. If you want to target large stillwater roach then a bait that will avoid most of the smaller fish and single out those big old fish then fish is a bunch of small worms on a size 16 or 14 hook. This bait when fished over the groundbait and bronze maggot catches me so many quality stillwater roach it’s well worth the effort squeezing them onto the hook. Beware, this is also a small perch magnet! If you do find yourself blitzed by small perch and unable to get a bait to the roach switch to bread flake which will also sort out the better quality roach. Pike Although many anglers do not start their pike fishing until after the first of the Frost Maidens icy visits and winter is truly upon us, late September is a great time to target them while the water temperatures are still relatively high and they are at their most active. Many pike at this time of year will be feeding hard on this years fry, sitting close to the bank in a camouflaged ambush point waiting to strike out at the young fish as they amble past. There is no better or exciting way to catch these fish than on lures. With the help of a pair of polarised sunglasses fish can often be spotted only feet away if you’re stealthy at the water’s edge, and so can be stalked. This sort of fishing is as exciting as floater fishing for carp, and many have let out a scream or sharp gasp due the water exploding at their feet as a pike makes a deadly grab at a passing lure.
Now many people think of rods that are stiff as a poker, 90lb braid and huge 10” pieces of wood, rubber and plastic are what lure fishing is all about nowadays, well, they really don’t know what their missing out on. To get maximum enjoyment from the average size of pike that inhabits our waterways, which rarely go over 10lb, you cannot beat a light 6 or 7′ lure or jigging rod combined with a small match sized fixed spool, or bait-casting reel loaded with 25 or 30 lb braid. A selection of small rubber shads, spinners, plugs and jigs will give you plenty of options and hopefully catch you plenty of fish. A few floating lures to fish over weed or in pads are also a must. This set-up will give you great fun and also catch bonus perch, chub and zander should the pike not show.
If you fancy a go at this style of fishing but don’t have the gear then a light carp rod or Avon style rod coupled with 15lb line will suffice for a taster, but invest in the purpose-made gear for the best results. On this note anyone who is thinking of going predator fishing for the first time or is inexperienced should always go with a fellow angler who has the experience of handling and unhooking pike and can show them the ropes. Although pike and zander look ferocious there are no more fragile fish when on the bank and they should be handled with great care. Wire traces should always be used, and forceps, long nosed pliers and wire cutters carried for unhooking. For those who need more information on handling and unhooking pike then contact the Pike Anglers Club who will be happy to give you any help you need. Autumn really is the anglers best season, no matter what species you favour this is the best time of year to get out there and have a great day. Although the fish will not be at their largest, like they are in spring, they are at their most catchable and there is no better time to have that real ‘red letter’ day. And if the fish don’t show for whatever reason, nature will put on a show involving the most dazzling array of colours, and other animals, as they too are busy preparing for the winter ahead. So get out on the bank and enjoy this as well, because after all, angling is not just about catching fish. |
