mikench
Well-known member
Nice report and well written. I enjoyed that.
How did you get on?
- Thread starter peter crabtree
- Start date
jon atkinson
Well-known member
Lure fishing now jibbed 'til late Autumn I had my first waggler session of the year this afternoon. Opted for Hesketh pond as it has always been kind to me and today was no different. Nothing of any real size but caught steadily throughout the session. Started on caster, moved on to reds and finished on bread punch. Had 20 or so Crucian in the 4 - 6oz range, a dozen Chub up to 10", several Tench to 1lb or so including a baby which is great to see, a solitary Roach and what I think was an F1 / Hybrid thingy. Forecast was right in terms of sun but it was rather more blustery than anticipated with a bit of a cross wind at times. Looking forward to my next session after Wednesday's work party...
With Roach in mind I had started to bait a spot on the river that I discovered with the plumbing rod last year, a large mid river hump rising up to 2.5m before dropping off to 5.5m at its steepest point - a significant feature on an otherwise fairly bland bit of river. Although it looked more suited to predators than Roach it was too good to ignore, so I thought I would give it a bash. The disadvantage with it being well out into the river meant I couldn’t bait by hand and had to use a spod. This was a real chore as it meant it took me 30mins to get the bait out each time rather than the seconds it took when I baited closer in.
I had fished the spot once already and almost gave up on it instantly as I was cold, biteless and losing tackle on something nasty but right at the end of the session I had a solitary tug and landed a Bream which may have seemed insignificant after all the efforts to bait it but it was all the encouragement I needed to give the spot another go as it indicated my bait was being cleared.
Big moody river. You never know what might turn up..
I had been putting the majority of bait at the downstream end of the feature and this trip I made a conscious effort to fish even further downstream in an effort to avoid the snag. It was cold and very windy and first cast dropped short, so I reeled in and recast. Holding the rod and touch ledgering, perhaps 5mins passed when I felt a slow strong draw of the line across my finger. I struck and the rod hooped right over ..no Roach this and I expected the reel to start screaming as a Carp tore off downstream. However the fish didn’t tear off and just held deep and thumped on the rod top & I immediately suspected what I had hooked. As I was using a 1.25tc rod, 6lb line and a size 10 hook if my suspicions were right it was going to be touch & go if I was going to land what was on the end. So started a very protracted battle, the fish for the most part just holding deep and making short but powerful runs with me exerting maximum pressure on it, the rod bent to the butt and line singing in the wind. Gradually it came closer and closer until I had it in the deep water by my feet. I was fishing from an elevated position & as it rose up my suspicions were confirmed as the huge head of a Wels Catfish came into view before it dived back down into the margins. There were some hairy moments close in but continued pressure found it starting to wane. Now the next problem, I had a Korum 30 inch spoon net with me which ordinarily can handle even sizable Carp but this was going to be a different ball game, for a start the Cat looked to be literally 5 feet long.
1.25 tc rod, 6lb line & size 10 hook...not ideal but did the job..
I tried to net it a couple of times but there was no way I could get it all into the net. Unluckily(?) despite trying to hide away I had been spotted with rod bent double by some pleasure anglers strolling by, and they had come down to investigate. As my cover was blown I asked one of them to clamber down to water level and attempt to net it. Several times I had the fish three quarters in the net but each time he tried to lift it swam out. Trying to net it head first was clearly a non-starter so we resorted to an unconventional tactic. I drew the fish right up to the surface as vertically as I could in the deep margins and told him to stick the net deep down and basically net its tail. I then dropped the rod as he lifted the net and by some miracle the fish folded up and we both grabbed the net head, jiggled it in and heaved it up onto the bank. The net was totally destroyed but the fish was landed, my size 10 hook was just nicked in the corner of its cavernous mouth.
Not a Roach! ...
I know Wels are not everyones cup of tea, mine neither, but at this size they are impressive fish to see on the bank especially wild ones like this from the river rather than from over stocked puddles. I let it go and told it to go and scoff some more Bream & leave the Roach for me.
The remains of my net...
I had fished the spot once already and almost gave up on it instantly as I was cold, biteless and losing tackle on something nasty but right at the end of the session I had a solitary tug and landed a Bream which may have seemed insignificant after all the efforts to bait it but it was all the encouragement I needed to give the spot another go as it indicated my bait was being cleared.
Big moody river. You never know what might turn up..
I had been putting the majority of bait at the downstream end of the feature and this trip I made a conscious effort to fish even further downstream in an effort to avoid the snag. It was cold and very windy and first cast dropped short, so I reeled in and recast. Holding the rod and touch ledgering, perhaps 5mins passed when I felt a slow strong draw of the line across my finger. I struck and the rod hooped right over ..no Roach this and I expected the reel to start screaming as a Carp tore off downstream. However the fish didn’t tear off and just held deep and thumped on the rod top & I immediately suspected what I had hooked. As I was using a 1.25tc rod, 6lb line and a size 10 hook if my suspicions were right it was going to be touch & go if I was going to land what was on the end. So started a very protracted battle, the fish for the most part just holding deep and making short but powerful runs with me exerting maximum pressure on it, the rod bent to the butt and line singing in the wind. Gradually it came closer and closer until I had it in the deep water by my feet. I was fishing from an elevated position & as it rose up my suspicions were confirmed as the huge head of a Wels Catfish came into view before it dived back down into the margins. There were some hairy moments close in but continued pressure found it starting to wane. Now the next problem, I had a Korum 30 inch spoon net with me which ordinarily can handle even sizable Carp but this was going to be a different ball game, for a start the Cat looked to be literally 5 feet long.
1.25 tc rod, 6lb line & size 10 hook...not ideal but did the job..
I tried to net it a couple of times but there was no way I could get it all into the net. Unluckily(?) despite trying to hide away I had been spotted with rod bent double by some pleasure anglers strolling by, and they had come down to investigate. As my cover was blown I asked one of them to clamber down to water level and attempt to net it. Several times I had the fish three quarters in the net but each time he tried to lift it swam out. Trying to net it head first was clearly a non-starter so we resorted to an unconventional tactic. I drew the fish right up to the surface as vertically as I could in the deep margins and told him to stick the net deep down and basically net its tail. I then dropped the rod as he lifted the net and by some miracle the fish folded up and we both grabbed the net head, jiggled it in and heaved it up onto the bank. The net was totally destroyed but the fish was landed, my size 10 hook was just nicked in the corner of its cavernous mouth.
Not a Roach! ...
I know Wels are not everyones cup of tea, mine neither, but at this size they are impressive fish to see on the bank especially wild ones like this from the river rather than from over stocked puddles. I let it go and told it to go and scoff some more Bream & leave the Roach for me.
The remains of my net...
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mikench
Well-known member
Oh la la; mon pire cauchemar Philip. Well done though.
@Clive
Well-known member
Well done!
I've had them up to 25lb, around 135cm in a Bob Church Reservoir Trout Folding Net. It is a huge net, but I don't dare lift them out using the frame. Looks like your fish is much bigger. Just the fish stretching out would be enough to bust the net.
Have you tried chinning them Philip? That's what I do if I can reach them such as when I'm in the boat. I end up with grazes on my finger tips, but nothing serious.
Yes chinning is a good option Clive but unfortunatly not really possible in this case due to the config of the swim.
As an aside I once saw an old French angler Gaff one (under the chin). Not sure I would ever do this myself but it was certainly a very quick and clean way to deal with them ...just dont mention to the Cat Conservation Group
@Clive
Well-known member
I have come across two old French anglers using gaffs. The first had a proper two draw salmon gaff attached to some nylon rope. To gaff the fish he had to cilmb down a few steps of an iron ladder and the gaff was tied to the top of that. The other who I came across last week had one fashioned out of rebar and bolted to a brush handle. And he was using livebaits out of season.Yes chinning is a good option Clive but unfortunatly not really possible in this case due to the config of the swim.
As an aside I once saw an old French angler Gaff one (under the chin). Not sure I would ever do this myself but it was certainly a very quick and clean way to deal with them ...just dont mention to the Cat Conservation Group
wetthrough
Well-known member
Had a day on a day ticket/club concession yesterday. A rather frosty reception on arrival.
I had the hand warmers charged up but forgot to bring them with me I'd like to be able to blame old age but forgetting things is nothing new to me. Not the best start but the sun came out fairly soon.
Slow start as might be expected. Had about 6 small Roach, one Roach Bream hybrid and a tiny Perch to a bunch of reds by around midday. I haven't found the colour of maggots to make a great deal of difference generally but Perch seem to be the exception, they like reds, all but one . Not sure where the hybrids come from as AFAIK there haven't been any Bream caught. It went from being slow to stop around 12.30. Things picked up a bit around 2pm when they seemed to turn on to corn. Ended up with around 20 the penultimate fish being a small but very welcome Chub.
A bit battered, and that's its good side!
I had the hand warmers charged up but forgot to bring them with me
I'd like to be able to blame old age but forgetting things is nothing new to me. Not the best start but the sun came out fairly soon.Slow start as might be expected. Had about 6 small Roach, one Roach Bream hybrid and a tiny Perch to a bunch of reds by around midday. I haven't found the colour of maggots to make a great deal of difference generally but Perch seem to be the exception, they like reds, all but one . Not sure where the hybrids come from as AFAIK there haven't been any Bream caught. It went from being slow to stop around 12.30. Things picked up a bit around 2pm when they seemed to turn on to corn. Ended up with around 20 the penultimate fish being a small but very welcome Chub.
A bit battered, and that's its good side!
seth49
Well-known member
Out with Mick today on our club water, it was a frosty start to the day and my windscreen was frozen over, patches of white frost visible on the drive over, clear blue skies and sunshine all day, but a cold south east wind blowing of and on, which spoilt the temperatures quite a bit, when the wind dropped it was very pleasant, but felt cold in the wind.
in fact Mick went home at 12 o clock as he had enough of the cold,
he was actually shivering, but me being made of sterner stuff, decided to stay as it was bound to warm up later, which thankfully it did, the fishing was steady, but I was catching, had f1s, roach, skimmers, 1 barbel, and 2 tench, hooked one carp on the tip rod but it came off, Peter’s additive worked again and I had a total of 40 fish in total, so another good result, mick blanked and nobody else was catching a lot.
in fact Mick went home at 12 o clock as he had enough of the cold,
he was actually shivering, but me being made of sterner stuff, decided to stay as it was bound to warm up later, which thankfully it did, the fishing was steady, but I was catching, had f1s, roach, skimmers, 1 barbel, and 2 tench, hooked one carp on the tip rod but it came off, Peter’s additive worked again and I had a total of 40 fish in total, so another good result, mick blanked and nobody else was catching a lot.I fished a club lake on Monday, fed some groundbait and caught 7 carp to about 18lbs, 8 roach (2 gooduns) and 2 rudd. In the end I had to cast away from my groundbaited area to try to avoid the carp. It was so nice to sit in the warm sunshine. Seth, well done on your catch!
@Clive
Well-known member
Cocked up today. I intended having a few hours on the Vienne fishing for silvers using a pole and stewed wheat. First I realised that I had forgotten the landing net head and then the top section wouldn't come out of the second section. I ended up fishing with it still inside and used single maggot on a 20 to 1lb 4 oz bottom to try and dissuade nettable fish. Or at least break off if I hooked one of the 2lb plus bream, carassins or chub, or one of the carp that go into double figures.
I caught bleak and some roach up to around 4 oz., but wasn't comfortable with the situation so came home after an hour and did some strimming instead. Then fixed the sticking top section. Bloomin' poles are more trouble than they are worth.
I caught bleak and some roach up to around 4 oz., but wasn't comfortable with the situation so came home after an hour and did some strimming instead. Then fixed the sticking top section. Bloomin' poles are more trouble than they are worth.
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went to thorpe underwood meadows in north yorkshire today.finished up with 5 bream 5 roach and 4 perch with one of the perch around the 2lb mark.biggest bream around 3lb and the roach around the 10oz mark.no carp showed all day.all todays fish taken on waggler fished mussel with hemp over the top.as i was leaving i got talking to an angler who was staying over 2 nights and he told me its boilies which entice the resident big carp especially the ones into their 20's and theres also some 30's in there.fished from 07.00 till 15.30.very peaceful venue and had a resident chaffinch come down and got a few pieces of luncheon meat for its troubles.
Steve Arnold
Well-known member
No fish today, stuck it out for one bite. Probably a chub but it dropped off the hook just before it was visible.
But this deer made my day, it caught my scent mid-stream and about-turned! Spotted it completing the crossing 100 metres downstream about 20 minutes later....
But this deer made my day, it caught my scent mid-stream and about-turned! Spotted it completing the crossing 100 metres downstream about 20 minutes later....
I fished another club water yesterday for roach. Loads of action, caught several small carp, two tench and one roach. The highlight was the capture of a PB crucian of 3lbs 12ozs which beat my previous best by 4ozs which dated back to 2008.
@Clive
Well-known member
Fished the Charente today in bright sunshine. Shirt sleeves weather.
I have fished this area a few times, but still haven't had the best out of it. I'm sure that I broke off on a barbel last time so planned to fish a feeder for an hour or so, change to a waggler for roach then fish the feeder for the last couple of hours. I put four droppers of a specially formulated mix that consisted of what was left in the bait freezer after recent sessions and included dead maggots, casters, stewed wheat, hemp and sweetcorn.
Then set up a light, soft actioned barbel feeder rod, 2 oz tip and an old Speedia centrepin. The rod is very flexible and allows the feeder to be cast Wallis style using its flexibility to overcome the dreaded tip droop that you get with stiff rods and fine tips. I used a home made 1 oz plastic mesh feeder with a sticky groundbait mix laced with the above. First and third casts resulted in roach to sweetcorn bait then I switched to caster and landed 4 bream. Back to sweetcorn and more bream, about 8 before I broke for lunch.
After lunch I set up a waggler float and had two bleak in two casts, one to caster and a larger one to sweetcorn so I put that rod aside and went back to the feeder. Good job I did as I got a lovely near 3lb carassin on the first cast then a succession of bream, each larger than the one before. I also had another nice carassin around the same size and what looked like a rudd / bream hybrid.
Altogether 21 bream, 2 roach, 2 carassin, 2 bleak and a hybrid for I guess around 40lb to 50lb.
I have fished this area a few times, but still haven't had the best out of it. I'm sure that I broke off on a barbel last time so planned to fish a feeder for an hour or so, change to a waggler for roach then fish the feeder for the last couple of hours. I put four droppers of a specially formulated mix that consisted of what was left in the bait freezer after recent sessions and included dead maggots, casters, stewed wheat, hemp and sweetcorn.
Then set up a light, soft actioned barbel feeder rod, 2 oz tip and an old Speedia centrepin. The rod is very flexible and allows the feeder to be cast Wallis style using its flexibility to overcome the dreaded tip droop that you get with stiff rods and fine tips. I used a home made 1 oz plastic mesh feeder with a sticky groundbait mix laced with the above. First and third casts resulted in roach to sweetcorn bait then I switched to caster and landed 4 bream. Back to sweetcorn and more bream, about 8 before I broke for lunch.
After lunch I set up a waggler float and had two bleak in two casts, one to caster and a larger one to sweetcorn so I put that rod aside and went back to the feeder. Good job I did as I got a lovely near 3lb carassin on the first cast then a succession of bream, each larger than the one before. I also had another nice carassin around the same size and what looked like a rudd / bream hybrid.
Altogether 21 bream, 2 roach, 2 carassin, 2 bleak and a hybrid for I guess around 40lb to 50lb.
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The Sogster
Well-known member
First time for a while, went to the local estate lake to see if the tench have woken up yet.
Nice to be out in the sun despite the northerly wind.
Opted for a groundbait feeder approach with corn and mini boilies as hook baits.
Only managed one of my target species at aroumd 3lb but had a couple of decent bream and a couple of small skimmers.
Nice to be out in the sun despite the northerly wind.
Opted for a groundbait feeder approach with corn and mini boilies as hook baits.
Only managed one of my target species at aroumd 3lb but had a couple of decent bream and a couple of small skimmers.
Ray Roberts
Well-known member
A bit of a red letter day today. I took Lexi, my twelve year old granddaughter. I have taken her fishing a few times previously. The last time was lure fishing. The lure fishing has definitely improved her casting.
I started her off with a eight foot quiver rod and a mini bait runner. The pond we were fishing is stocked only with crucians and tench. Despite the pond being festooned with anti cormorant ropes and lily pads she went the entire day without losing any gear. I was impressed as it can be a tackle graveyard There was a slight breeze so an eighteen hook and an in-line maggot feeder for Lexi and similar for me except I used an 11ft Acolyte plus feeder rod. She had four tench while I was still setting up.
She went on to catch 25 mostly small tench and five crucians. I swopped to a method feeder and wound up with thirty five tench up to four and a half pounds, the average weight was around three and a half pounds. I also had five crucians, two of which weighed exactly two pounds each. The only downside was that everything is covered in mud; tackle, clothing and car are smothered.
All in all a cracking day., particularly for Lexi, as this was the most fish she has caught in a session. Lexi is keen to go again, but I am off on a four week holiday from Wednesday, so she will have to wait. I’ve promised her an overnight trip in the summer, which she’s been badgering me about for months.
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I started her off with a eight foot quiver rod and a mini bait runner. The pond we were fishing is stocked only with crucians and tench. Despite the pond being festooned with anti cormorant ropes and lily pads she went the entire day without losing any gear. I was impressed as it can be a tackle graveyard There was a slight breeze so an eighteen hook and an in-line maggot feeder for Lexi and similar for me except I used an 11ft Acolyte plus feeder rod. She had four tench while I was still setting up.
She went on to catch 25 mostly small tench and five crucians. I swopped to a method feeder and wound up with thirty five tench up to four and a half pounds, the average weight was around three and a half pounds. I also had five crucians, two of which weighed exactly two pounds each. The only downside was that everything is covered in mud; tackle, clothing and car are smothered.
All in all a cracking day., particularly for Lexi, as this was the most fish she has caught in a session. Lexi is keen to go again, but I am off on a four week holiday from Wednesday, so she will have to wait. I’ve promised her an overnight trip in the summer, which she’s been badgering me about for months.
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Steve Arnold
Well-known member
My usual haunts have been fishing poorly of late, so I decided to head further upriver nearer to Capdenac. A couple of years ago I had checked out a nice looking swim near a weir, but on that high summers day the flow was too slow. But it was kept in mind!
This afternoon I finally chucked a bait in there. The main flow is against the far bank, a 60 yd cast got the bait to the closest edge of that run, 3 oz weight and a 20 mm boilie managed that easily. Fortunately the water nearer was a slight back eddy so the weight did not drag at all.
Missed the first bite but 20 minutes later another bite resulted in a heavy fish running well against the reel drag. Several minutes later a good barbel was in my net....
Very wide and full bodied it went 8lb 13ozs. Looks bigger in the photo, I am not deliberately holding it out for the photo!
That's about as big as I have seen them in the Lot, so I am very happy!
Then I went on to have five more good bites (runs even!) all of which dropped off the hook. Some were almost back at my feet even! I changed bait and hook sizes, changed trace lengths - even tried maggots!
Frustrating!
Had a good chat with this guy who was going downriver for carp.....
Said he was there for 5 days! Think I will stick with my 5 hours!
He was impressed with that barbel though!
This afternoon I finally chucked a bait in there. The main flow is against the far bank, a 60 yd cast got the bait to the closest edge of that run, 3 oz weight and a 20 mm boilie managed that easily. Fortunately the water nearer was a slight back eddy so the weight did not drag at all.
Missed the first bite but 20 minutes later another bite resulted in a heavy fish running well against the reel drag. Several minutes later a good barbel was in my net....
Very wide and full bodied it went 8lb 13ozs. Looks bigger in the photo, I am not deliberately holding it out for the photo!
That's about as big as I have seen them in the Lot, so I am very happy!
Then I went on to have five more good bites (runs even!) all of which dropped off the hook. Some were almost back at my feet even! I changed bait and hook sizes, changed trace lengths - even tried maggots!
Frustrating!
Had a good chat with this guy who was going downriver for carp.....
Said he was there for 5 days! Think I will stick with my 5 hours!
He was impressed with that barbel though!
@Clive
Well-known member
And so am I.