flightliner
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Ps/ my biggest Roach was a three lb fish from a stillwater.
How did you get on?
- Thread starter peter crabtree
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John Aston
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What could be more fitting for Boxing Day than trotting for grayling on a still , cold and misty day ? On the lovely Rye , with the trusty Harrison 12ft , a centre pin and a bag of worms (we don't do maggots ). A grayling of about 1-8 after 5 minutes, followed by eight others, all but one 1lb - 1-4 ish on a river which looked amazing . Years of droughts had often made the river look a bit down at heel in the last decade , but as it's been raining nearly every week since summer 2022, it looked amazing . Every stone looked polished , the flow was strong and I was seeing ranunculus grow where I'd never seen it before. And that addictive thump of a grayling in fast water never palls .
I read an advertorial piece recently by some well known angler plugging his trout fishing holidays in Finland. He moaned about how every river in England is full of sewage. It wasn't the rivers that were full of s**t , but the person claiming they were. God knows we have problems, but sometimes we need to appreciate what we have too...
I read an advertorial piece recently by some well known angler plugging his trout fishing holidays in Finland. He moaned about how every river in England is full of sewage. It wasn't the rivers that were full of s**t , but the person claiming they were. God knows we have problems, but sometimes we need to appreciate what we have too...
@Clive
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Hopefully the extra water that has fallen this year may have washed away some of the algae that had been building up. It would be nice if nature was given a bit of help.
ian g
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After cooking Christmas dinner for eleven yesterday , I fancied a few hours by the river . Late start fishing for 12 . Very slow start not a sniff until 2.30 when I had a tentative bite on the tip rod , just something pulling the end of my worm . This was a start and I soon landed a perch around 8 oz , then another a similar size on the float rod . Had a salmon jump through my swim and as the day progressed small stuff started topping , finished the day off with a better perch around 1 1/2 lb on the float rod . Great to get a bit of fresh air and a few fish , cooking again tomorrow.
Steve Arnold
Well-known member
I managed a few hours on the Lot this afternoon, sunshine promised but that only lasted two hours and it never felt warm. But for this time I was alone, after Christmas and that was badly needed!
Only two fish, the first did not count.....
It fell off the hook and swam away, I hope it makes it to the New Year!
The second fish was a good barbel, not weighed. With the low temperatures and cold river I was happy with this....
Every fish is a bonus when the river is so high and cold!
Only two fish, the first did not count.....
It fell off the hook and swam away, I hope it makes it to the New Year!
The second fish was a good barbel, not weighed. With the low temperatures and cold river I was happy with this....
Every fish is a bonus when the river is so high and cold!
Butcherboy
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Cheese paste time, great to be out
ian g
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Very atmospheric , I haven't done any chub fishing for a while, it used to be my favourite . I was chatting to a mate while bailiffiing on the Severn , he was chub fishing and I netted a decent fish for him while we chatted , as he said "you have to catch a chub" , barbel are a bit daft.
I'd not been out for about two weeks - with a cold or something coming on before going away at Christmas, I didn't want to push my luck, but I felt like fishing a river for the last time this year. Temperatures were good and the local Trent's a (rare) good level, but the forecast was brisk downstream winds and the banks are mud slides now, so I went up into Derbyshire where the Derwent is sheltered, flows the other way and you don't need a rope to get into and out of your swim. The only problem is I'd be unlikely to catch any coarse fish.
I lost my balsa slider on the last trip and I hadn't made another yet (the spring wire I need for the eyes was delivered while I was out, from China, the only place I could find to buy a short piece. Capitalism provides me with many things, for which I'm grateful, but you can't buy a top and bottom slider, I notice) so, with a deep swim and an upstream breeze, I fished out a pretty crowquill Avon that sat nicely with a 2.5g olivette. But I couldn't see the flippin' thing, looking straight into the sun, with a ripple on the water and the river reflecting the trees on the wooded banks. I was tempted to wrap up after an hour, but luckily the wind dropped a bit and the sun went behind the hill facing me.
Once I could see what I was doing, I was pleased I'd stayed, as a string of small grayling and trout showed up. As the day warmed up and I fed more bait, the trout got bigger. Lovely fish with a special mad energy
The last two fish ended the day, and the year, in a bitter-sweet way. Second to last was this pristine chublet. The first coarse fish I've caught here (I'm told grayling are coarse fish but .....) in half a dozen goes, and this from a river that was once a chub mecca, with match catches of them in three figures. So, small but welcome
The last fish I hooked ploughed off across the river as if it had a clear sense of where it was going, until it buried itself in one of the fallen trees that litter this stretch. I didn't have light gear on, a size 12 Drennan Wide Gape and .14 hooklength, and from my limited experience, if trout get you snagged they do it by accident not design, so I'd like to have at least seen what this one was. Still, nice afternoon's fishing and Happy New Year to all you FM members who add to or look in on this thread.
I lost my balsa slider on the last trip and I hadn't made another yet (the spring wire I need for the eyes was delivered while I was out, from China, the only place I could find to buy a short piece. Capitalism provides me with many things, for which I'm grateful, but you can't buy a top and bottom slider, I notice) so, with a deep swim and an upstream breeze, I fished out a pretty crowquill Avon that sat nicely with a 2.5g olivette. But I couldn't see the flippin' thing, looking straight into the sun, with a ripple on the water and the river reflecting the trees on the wooded banks. I was tempted to wrap up after an hour, but luckily the wind dropped a bit and the sun went behind the hill facing me.
Once I could see what I was doing, I was pleased I'd stayed, as a string of small grayling and trout showed up. As the day warmed up and I fed more bait, the trout got bigger. Lovely fish with a special mad energy
The last two fish ended the day, and the year, in a bitter-sweet way. Second to last was this pristine chublet. The first coarse fish I've caught here (I'm told grayling are coarse fish but .....) in half a dozen goes, and this from a river that was once a chub mecca, with match catches of them in three figures. So, small but welcome
The last fish I hooked ploughed off across the river as if it had a clear sense of where it was going, until it buried itself in one of the fallen trees that litter this stretch. I didn't have light gear on, a size 12 Drennan Wide Gape and .14 hooklength, and from my limited experience, if trout get you snagged they do it by accident not design, so I'd like to have at least seen what this one was. Still, nice afternoon's fishing and Happy New Year to all you FM members who add to or look in on this thread.
John Aston
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I have done a lot of fishing for big wild browns (2-5lb ) on small rivers and my experience differs. On my river they know every damn snag , root and obstruction and bolt for them even faster than a chub ! Stockie brownies tend to blunder about without much design .
The river where I fished today is 10' + deep - the level is low just now - and 30 odd yards wide. Hardly small, but I suppose a trout might know its way around.
Butcherboy
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What an end to the day
Lovely picture. I like to fish marina's, boatyards, near town bridges...... places on the edge of everyday life.
Butcherboy
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River Hull at Beverley shipyard
ian g
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Last trip of the year for me , the calm before the predicted storm . I fancied catching some chub along with my usual perch hunting so had a couple of places in mind . On route I remembered I had forgotten my maggots so had to divert to the tackle shop for some more . Traffic was busy heavy so I diverted to the nearest stretch . First put in on the float rod and the float disappeared , a nice perch 2.7 . I was thinking this maybe a red letter day but the fish thought otherwise. Two hours later I had another bite float rod , another decent perch 2.4 . I waited until around 2.30 before trying bread on my tip rod after a chub , I'd done quite well for chub on this stretch but not today , not a sniff. I managed another perch around 1 1/2 lb as the light faded . Nice afternoon on an old favourite stretch , one thing I love about rivers how they change over time with floods etc , lots of change on this stretch but still a few decent perch.
Ray Roberts
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I arrived at the water around 9:30am and was surprised to see three other cars. Mostly I have the place to myself. The club car park was taped off and it looked very boggy. Luckily there were a couple of firmer spots on the verge. The light level was low and it looked very atmospheric.
Not a single sign of a fish for the first couple of hours. I fished a large roach shad on the jerk bait rod and a variety of lures, including; spinner baits curly tailed jigs and hybrid lures on the lighter set up. I couldn’t buy a bite despite giving it my best shot. Then out of the blue a decent pike hit the large shad.
A merry go round started up in the gardens of the stately home and played barrel organ music for the rest of the afternoon, it nearly drove me nuts. I don’t care if I never hear; It’s a Long Way to Tipperary, The Entertainer and half a dozen other tunes ever again, bloody awful racket.
A few more pike found the net and I finished up the day with with six fish. The other fish went from around 4lb to about 8lb the two smallest to an orange curly tailed jig the rest to the big shad.
I will happily settle for five jacks and a double on a late December outing. A wonderful place to fish too. Except for that terrible bloody music, lol.
Not a single sign of a fish for the first couple of hours. I fished a large roach shad on the jerk bait rod and a variety of lures, including; spinner baits curly tailed jigs and hybrid lures on the lighter set up. I couldn’t buy a bite despite giving it my best shot. Then out of the blue a decent pike hit the large shad.
A merry go round started up in the gardens of the stately home and played barrel organ music for the rest of the afternoon, it nearly drove me nuts. I don’t care if I never hear; It’s a Long Way to Tipperary, The Entertainer and half a dozen other tunes ever again, bloody awful racket.
A few more pike found the net and I finished up the day with with six fish. The other fish went from around 4lb to about 8lb the two smallest to an orange curly tailed jig the rest to the big shad.
I will happily settle for five jacks and a double on a late December outing. A wonderful place to fish too. Except for that terrible bloody music, lol.
I went fishing 10 times this month (December):
Had 3 blanks, one on a pit and two on rivers.
From the Kennet I managed a few roach and dace, 3 bream and 2 brown trout, the roach and bream were caught in the dark. From a gravel pit I managed several roach (inc. two of 1lb 6oz & 1lb 7oz), a chub and a few rudd.
Thoroughly enjoyed the fishing of '24, I caught some decent fish, went 127 times. Can't beat being retired. Though we are all doing it wrong - we should be retired until age 65 then start going to work!
Had 3 blanks, one on a pit and two on rivers.
From the Kennet I managed a few roach and dace, 3 bream and 2 brown trout, the roach and bream were caught in the dark. From a gravel pit I managed several roach (inc. two of 1lb 6oz & 1lb 7oz), a chub and a few rudd.
Thoroughly enjoyed the fishing of '24, I caught some decent fish, went 127 times. Can't beat being retired. Though we are all doing it wrong - we should be retired until age 65 then start going to work!
That's a cricket score! Good for you. I don't think I made a century, and I only weighed a couple of barbel, but I can say I didn't catch a carp in 2024 and that's not easy.
Nottskev, that is excellent to not catch a carp in a whole year, how do you do it? They are everywhere and eat anything! It's such a shame really, individually they are great fish but their numbers have reached plague proportions. Unfortunately for so many clubs now restocking only means yet more bloody carp.
I agree - great fish, and I really like catching decent size ones on the simplest of methods. As you say, their ubiquity and dominance in so many places devalues them. But the club whose waters I fish for them are always scheming to move the fish from lake A to lake B to lake C to sift out the big stuff, inventing rules that exclude general fishing, tweaking things to get more bivvy and buzzer anglers, and I just didn't go there this year. Apart from that, it was just luck (lol) and maybe reflects that I can hardly remember fishing a feeder anywhere, even for barbel on the river.
Steve Arnold
Well-known member
The weather forecast showed a couple of dry hours for this afternoon, maybe even some sun before the rain came. So a chance to start 2025 off with a fish, though I would not expect much with low air and water temperatures.
After an hour the rod walloped around as a fish hooked itself, a good fight ensued but I struggled to get out of my seat to net this barbel of just over 6 lbs!
But apart from a couple of quick pulls that was my lot, but a nice barbel to start this year off. Happy fisherman!
After an hour the rod walloped around as a fish hooked itself, a good fight ensued but I struggled to get out of my seat to net this barbel of just over 6 lbs!
But apart from a couple of quick pulls that was my lot, but a nice barbel to start this year off. Happy fisherman!