How did you get on?

[flightliner]

If ever fishing is included in the Winter Olympics Don't ever include me, well ok if you want to but then just throw the list with my name on out the window.
That was my mindset early this morning when I was scraping the thick frost off my car windows with numbed fingers that refused to do my bidding.
I wanted to rectify my blank day chasing zander on the Trent Tuesday last and in the idea seemed a good one on Wednesday but this morning - why ????
The big surprise tho was only ten minutes drive away when crossing into Nottinghamshire it was rather strange to see nothing of frost? How?
My mood changed a little and by the time I had my gear in place and a coffee in my hands the world seemed a much better place, still cold yes but very bearable with my back shelters from the east wind by my umberella.
I fished dead roach and sat around four hours without so much as a tap, then out of nowhere my indicator shot up some nine inches and stopped dead.
That was it but decidedly fishy and tho I left it nothing else transpired so I recast only for the same thing to happen again, not just the once but twice.
Was the change in temperature making the fish (pike/zander) a bit edgy- hard to say as I would have welcomed the same thing a few days earlier.
The next cast anda lift of the indicator finally saw a positive run develop and on striking and playing I finally had the net under a nice zander of 6-14!
A final jerky lift of my indicator that I tried striking on and missing saw me packing up as the temperature was now dropping alarmingly.
Before I was away in the car I was given a super display of a murmeration of starlings, what a way to end a day.
Pleased I made the effort!!

 

[bullet]

Couple of hours after Grayling this afternoon, bright with the river pushing through a bit , but nice and clear.
Hard work to tempt them but a few were around, and reasonable size.
Also had a Rainbow Trout around 2lb, which I hooked in fairly heavy flow. It was determined to get down through some fast water below, but I really wasnt in the mood for following fish, so just gave it a load of stick, expecting to pop it off,and it finally succombed, flipping off at my feet before I could get a photo.
Amazing what 3lb line can do!

 

[Another Dave]

Just back from a couple of hours lure fishing with 6 year old daughter. A blank, unfortunately, but i did see one jack right under the rod tip, doing that thing where they repeatedly nearly take the hook but never quite do. Cast out a bit further and connected with a fish that was a bit bigger, which came off. At least we know the best swim now.

 

[bullet]

After some river clearance with the fly fishing club this morning, in preparation for the trout season, it seemed too nice a day not to have a cast.
I had some nice lobworms, which I thought the Chub may appreciate.
They didn't..........but this did!

 

[peter crabtree]

Club fixture today on an Oxfordshire commy, I seriously considered giving it a miss as its not my fave venue. That and the weather forecast nearly put me off but I needed points for the league and the thought of another boring day at home changed my mind.
Same as last time here I drew on the small lake, the only downside was the raw wind straight in the face...



Started off with a small 15gr method feeder packed with barely a coating of ground bait to minimise the splash as its shallow water, a 4mm meaty pellet in a band. Before long the sun became extremely bright and the wind strengthened, my fingers were like icicles...



Others started catching roach and skimmers on short pole so I did the same. Cupped in a small ball of groundbait into two lines, single maggot at dead depth on a very light rig and the bites started.
Skimmers and roach mainly but very patchy, couldn't seem to get them lined up. Towards the end I knew I was well behind so I fed a big pot of chopped worm, almost immediately a small carp then a decent skimmer turned up but that was it.
Came nowhere, I'll probably drop the points and slide down the league as a result, frustrating once again as I was just 2lb short of the section win...

Just 3 matches left in this league, all on commercials, I don't fancy my chances any more, I'd slipped from 3rd to 6th (out of 28) this morning and will definitely slip further after today...

Buqqer!

 

[jon atkinson]

Well it was bound to happen sooner or later - my unwritten mantra - "thou shall not blank" was given short shrift by the Ribble at Elston :wh. Near gin clear water, low levels, unrelenting sunshine & gusty wind didn't help but I didn't think it was outside the realms of possibility to grab a few silvers trotting maggot, but it was not to be. Pretty much everyone else I saw was on the feeder after barbel, but I don't think that it was happening for anyone today... onwards & upwards!

 

[S-Kippy]

Another Stone Bonkers Iron Man Award for Brother Simon is merited I think. I opted for the boring day at home after a brief trip to the shops which was more than enough outside for me today.

Any Arsenal fans in tonight btw ? What a pitiful performance.

 

[jasonbean1]

Well despite the chilly weather I've been out and about a fair bit, usual chubbing on the Cherwell with nothing special to report but I haven't blanked. low point was yesterday where only 2 turned up for a club match on the canal so that was cancelled which is a shame as its now made my mind up for me on my match fishing next year where I'll now change clubs and concentrate on the Thames where a couple of local clubs still get good turnouts.

The high point though was a day's bolo fishing on the Thames on Saturday on a stretch where I caught a double figure barbel on the float in the autumn. I had been waiting for the water to drop and the wind to switch or die down. Fortunately the wind was easterly so it was off my back so I could swing a 5 gram float across to the boats and run double maggot down them. Within 20 mins a small chub was netted followed by a few more and then I met with solid resistance on the strike with a big fish trying its best to go back home under the boats, the 15ft acy plus and 4.4 float fish did its job and held firm and I managed to get the fish away towards the middle where it just held firm in the strong flow. It took a while to get up in front of me but it would not come in close, by this time I had an audience as I was sitting on the toe path in a busy part of oxford and everybody was asking me what I had on the end...in all honesty I thought I had got a barbel but after a few more minutes the fish rose and to my surprise it was a chub...a good one at that. by this time I was worried the size 18 would work loose and drop out but fortunately I got him towards the net and after a couple of failed attempts he was mine! the crowd erupted with cheers and most were surprised I was not going to keep it and eat it.

now my personnel best is a long standing 6lb 7oz and when I lifted the fish and looked at it I knew it was bigger. I slipped it in the keep net and rang my mate bill to see if he could come and weigh it unfortunately he couldn't so I carried on fishing putting a nice net of chub together in the 2lb bracket and constantly thinking how big was that chub?

luckily a friend who's had a Thames 8lb chub in the past who I haven't seen for a long time come strolling down with his carp gear to have a go in the marina behind me, I asked if he had scales and he did. he weighed the fish in a carrier bag and I let him call the weight and as long as it beat my pb I was a happy man... he said you've definitely beat that and to my amazement he called out 7lb 15oz...to say I was chuffed was an understatement :dance: he had his fancy camera and took some pics for me that he will send on.

sat there and carried on fishing taking around 30 chub in total in 5 hours for around 50lb........what a day!

 

[john step]

Looking forward to the photo Jason.

 

[thecrow]

Congratulations on the new PB Jason

 

[jon atkinson]

That's a hell of a fish [& a day's fishing for that matter]. I reckon even the Throop-meister himself [NM] would be proud of that one - well done that man!

 

[Graham Elliott 1]

Stunning fish Jason. Well done.

 

[Neil Maidment]

That's a hell of a fish [& a day's fishing for that matter]. I reckon even the Throop-meister himself [NM] would be proud of that one - well done that man!

Absolutely! Beats my best chub

I've had several sessions over the last few days including an early start to see the sun come up over the Dorset Stour.



It seems the chub have taken their time to acclimatise to the cold conditions. I netted the odd fish here and there but at least managed to help a couple of visiting mates to advance their chub pb's with a couple of nice fish both almost nudging the scales round to 6lbs.

Today, despite an active otter in close attendance, I finally found a few trotting single or double maggot on a #20. The rod rings were icing up all day even with liberal applications of glycerine. Most of the chub arrived when the cloud cover thickened and the light snow flurries started!

All were around 5lbs with the one I weighed just 3oz short of 6lbs.

 

[Graham Elliott 1]

Looks like an otter may have nipped the middle one Neil.

Great day in tough conditions.

 

[Neil Maidment]

Looks like an otter may have nipped the middle one Neil.

Great day in tough conditions.

Possibly Graham but I'm never too sure about that sort of damage. I had a couple before and after the otter appeared but I did stop fishing for a while to try and get a photo although I continued to feed the swim.

 

[Aussie Bob]

Yesterday had a quick session with the fly rod managed a tiny perch close in on a bead headed pheasant tail which stopped a long run of blanks. Today after realising that i had paid some bills which i thought was due i had some spare cash... decided i "needed" a ultra light lure rod so i could use tiny jig heads and small soft plastic to try and target the small perch when they start chasing fry in close. After a reasonable outlay of $60 and daiwa laguna 2-7 gram rod in hand went out for the last hour before dark. Tried an old fly spinner which i must have had since the early 80's which was doing all the right things apart from catching fish ! After a few lure changes i finally caught a small perch which was the spitting image of the one i caught the night before.
After another display of aerial acrobatics by the swallows i thought i had seen a big rise out of the corner of my eyes . Went hunting this magical fish then realised it was a water rat diving and surfacing which i had seen mg: Not sure if a rat would take a lure or not not something i would want to unhook anyway.
Again there was another big hatch of red spinners and no rises at all ..the trout in this lake must have an all you cant eat buffet subsurface somewhere Still got a few more days before i return to work so will have another look tomorrow....

 

[sam vimes]

I rather stupidly thought that I'd give the river a quick go this afternoon. I have some floats I wanted to try, and with the amount of snow that has fallen, and the forecast for the next week or so, I don't fancy my chances of getting out much in the near future. With 20/20 hindsight, I probably shouldn't have bothered. The first clue should have been the clumps of snow I knocked into the water, which failed to melt much. The second was a distinct inability to cast any distance or trot smoothly due to rapidly icing rings. For my efforts, I eventually managed a rather starving looking stockie brown trout. It was hooked a long way down my run in bright sunshine. By the time I landed it, I could barely see ten yards for snow.

 

[103841]

The photos of your chub Neil are impressive, the sunrise shot is stunning.

 

[neil1970]

Birthday today, so determined to get out.
4 hours, one bite, no fishmg: Still 'enjoyed' it.

I had to pull for a break a couple of times and the braid seemed to snap a lot easier than usual.
Not sure if this was because of temperature or abrasion in my ring(s) (which I didn't grease) :badcast:

 

[103841]

It's never occurred to me to grease the rings, something to be done in these freezing temperatures?