How did you get on?

[maggot_dangler]

Well lets see if this return remains a full time return to the pools and river of North Shropshire roll on the 16th i AM off onto the River Tern see what i can catch as long as what i do catch does not put me back in Dang hospital . getting sick of it now
Hi all The Maggot is BACK (i hope)

pete

 

[mikench]

Welcome back Pete.

 

[jon atkinson]

Had a couple of hours on the Leeds-Liverpool at Lydiate yesterday - wag & mag, feeding pinkies. It was a lovely day to be out... sunbathing, perhaps! Hardly a red letter day but I didn't blank with some small but respectable Roach and Perch to maybe 6 oz. I had an early indicator on arrival that the better ones weren't going to be up for it!

 

[Hugh Bailey]

Had a couple of hours on the Leeds-Liverpool at Lydiate yesterday - wag & mag, feeding pinkies. It was a lovely day to be out... sunbathing, perhaps! Hardly a red letter day but I didn't blank with some small but respectable Roach and Perch to maybe 6 oz. I had an early indicator on arrival that the better ones weren't going to be up for it!
View attachment 27071

That’s really odd - very similar on the Basingstoke this afternoon (water was clearer) but bream shoals on the surface and some decent fish for a small urbanism canal.

 

[jon atkinson]

That’s really odd - very similar on the Basingstoke this afternoon (water was clearer) but bream shoals on the surface and some decent fish for a small urbanism canal.

I'd say that there were 2 - 3 dozen in that shoal - they don't generally go that big on the L-L, 4lb would be a very good one. Some of our members are getting some decent catches on the SUC just outside of Chester which is similarly coloured. First time I've seen them on the surface in numbers & it didn't look like they were struggling to breathe, more like they were just enjoying the warmth of the sun!

 

[The Runner]

Decided it was going to be far too hot for a mountain walk today so took a chance on the bright sun not putting the pollack off too much and went up the top end at Aird/ Kilmaluag.
Decided when I got there to try the Aird peninsula to the east , usually head north through the sheep pens towards Rubha na Tragha as it’s an easier walk but fancied a change. Helpfully someone’s put stiles up for the first two fences but the walk gets progressively rougher as you go uphill. And looks like few if any have been there for a while as no obvious path and had to spend a few minutes looking for the way down to the low peninsula

(need to pick the right sheep track as some of them lead to sketchy ground…)
Got down and walked to the end of the point, looked spot on with tide running hard close in but nothing happened at all. Nearly two hours without a sniff so decided to up sticks and carry on round the headland to my usual area. As a rule this isn’t a great option as the ground in between can be horribly boggy but no rain here for three or four weeks and wasn’t too bad.
Lots of bog cotton …

Dropped down to the low tide spot at the top end of Rubh’an t-Sailleir

where would have at least two hours before would need to retreat. 8 inch pollack first chuck on a cannibal Shad and that was it so only gave it an hour and moved again another 400 yards to put me on the really deep water. Two hours and a half pound coalfish later…
Tossed a mental coin between giving it best and trying the last option, the channel and bay just before the Bun Idein cliffs stop all access to sea level. Fishing won…
Channel between the shore and a rocky outcrop about thirty yards out ( out of shot to the left of the pic below)only fishes when the tides is running through it, which it wasn’t, so on with a small SuperSprat and out into the bay

And first eight casts produced eight coalies, all easily bigger than the usual 8 to 12oz shore size here. Slowed down a little after that but ended up with eleven and started picking up the odd nice pollack on paddle tails as well, five in all. A busy two and a half hours before called it a day to avoid midge time as the wind dropped. One each of the bigger pollack and coalfish were deep hooked in the gills so got the coup de grace and are now in the freezer..

Good wildlife day, razorbills, guillemots and fulmars over the sea ( small colony on the cliffs a mile or so north) and skylarks and stonechats everywhere on the walk in. And this lady watching me

First deer I’ve seen up the North End, there’s quite a few over the west side around Glendale and Orbost. And I think this might be corncrake country- for the last two summers this meadow by the township road has been left uncut until late August , 6 to 8 weeks after all the others and there’s usually a reason for that…. Certainly looks the part but I wasn’t going to hang around until dusk to find out .

Beautiful day even if I did end up doing more walking than I had intended in the heat.

 

[seth49]

Went to our other pond yesterday, as there’s a lot more shade and I managed to keep out of the sun all day, arrived at 6am to find no one else there, so had my pick of swims, and only two more turned up later and they sat in the sun, so the nearest one was around the corner on the top bank, leaving me plenty of room, started on maggots on the pole, but only roach and Rudd on those.

so chopped a few worms and fished half a worm over that with a bit of groundbait, for the tench which worked I caught a couple of tench, and then repeated that to keep catching the tench, finished with 9 tench, 5 F1s, and a few roach and Rudd for a total of 24 fish, glad it’s going to cool down and rain next week should improve things.

 

[Kevin Perkins]

Managed a quick session on (new to me) local pool, although this time a couple of pegs down from the snake swim
Quite a result all round, a couple of nice carp on bloodworm pellet/pva mesh combo, got confirmation of a job offer as well as notice of a hospital appointment I've been waiting for...

 

[maggot_dangler]

Welcome back Pete.

I got one more hurdle to overcome but hope that will not cause too many issues

 

[maggot_dangler]

Well lets see i hope to be on the River Tern in the next couple of days see what the otters have left this section here tends to hold a decen number of brown trout not big but good catching all the same plus some more meaningful fish been told of good sized Chub and Barbel i have been broken on there so possible we will see need some worms and maggots that means money for fuel to go get oh well .

 

[chrisjpainter]

An unusual hat-trick for me from yesterday evening and this morning. Three common carp, caught on free-lined dog biscuits all weighing exactly 16lb 1oz. I'm not complaining, but it's making me doubt my scales! If my next fish is a 16lb 1oz roach, I think I might need some new ones...

Gorgeous evening last night. A bit of rain this morning, but the odd fish was still taking, so the hard work paid off

 

[mikench]

Could it have been the same fish?

 

[Specihunter]

well i tried the thames in oxford. there was no flow and load of weed managed 2 tiny fish to save the blank lol. then went to marlbourgh pools and was catching 2/3oz roach.

 

[Kevin Perkins]

Three common carp, caught on free-lined dog biscuits all weighing exactly 16lb 1oz

Sounds like a set of Morespiders scales....

 

[chrisjpainter]

Could it have been the same fish?

I did check as it happens, because it seemed a bizarre coincidence. But I don't think so. Of the two facing the same way, the third pictured fish has a scale missing just above my left hand, not present on the second pictured fish. The first fish has quite a distinctive (er...ugly, but I'm sure its mummy loves it) head, which I think would be evident even if the fish was facing the other way.

 

[flightliner]

For a complete change I fished the very tiny river Maun in Notts yeasterday.
It was shoulder high two yards from the bank with grass, nettles and japanese knotweed so I was glad I had my syckle with me, it was sunny and hot work clearing it all after a long and sweaty walk to the river and was pleased to have three bottles of water to drink.
A stick float rig was my choice of tactic and plumbing the swim was happy to find more than six foot of water under my rod end.
First cast with two red maggots the float dips and slides under, the strike connects with a small fish but suddenly its struggles harder than the rod bends right over— its a pike!
I took it steady but it severs the line and its gone.
Hook retied, a recast and I have two chublets and a roach but afterwards the pike is back and it takes a fish i'm playing, this time I land it despite the snaggy swim, it was around the three pound mark so I walk it upstream some two swims and release it.
A few more chublets and roach to some six inches long came after a quite spell then another pike (thinner than the first) decided on a roach I was playing was its dinner, it put up a spirited struggle but despite it all it ended up in my landing net like its mate with me walking upriver to release it.
Twenty minutes after the pike disturbed the swim and with careful feeding the fish returned once more where I had another dozen or so but now my efforts and the heat coupled coupled with what i now know were midges began to have there effect so I slowly packed away and headed for home.
Enjoyed it tho, and will return.

 

[flightliner]

Oops, nearly posted twice. Doh!

 

[@Clive]

Looks like you did

 

[Alan Whitty]

Went yesterday on our clubs small river with a publicity ban and had a good catch of chub between 2-4lbs and half as many barbel to 6lbs plus,a common carp around 5-6lbs,plus smaller chublets to a pound.

I had am unusual thing happen as I was about to pack up,a 20-25 year old guy strolled across the pony meadow opposite to a fenced off cattle drink,where the water is literally two inches deep,I could see him poking what looked like bivvie pegs into the mud at the edge of the water and thought he was trying to catch the tiny chub and dace that hang in that bubbly water,he wandered back to the footpath(around 50yds away)and I rang the fishery manager,the guy came back and had what I thought was a small chub around 4ins,but on one of the other traps was a baby starling which it looked as though he killed then threw it in the river,he reset everything and disappeared,only to return and repeat the process,the river manager rang me and said an EA bailiff was on his way and to watch out for him,a short while later he was wandering down the path and this guy( and another I hadn't realised was with him)quickly ran off,it turns out they were pikies and were using bird lime to catch birds,but they were after goldfinches coming for a drink,two were in a small cage tucked away,what bastards these people are...

 

[Badgerale]

I managed to crawl out of bed at an ungodly hour to kick off the new season. In this heat I wanted to get some prime fishing time before the sun was too high in the sky.

I chose my favourite location - a little fished drainage canal running through farmland. It seems to keep it's water much better than rivers in this dry weather, and there's good tench and bream to be had. I was surprised to find two others had got up even earlier than me and were setting up as I was still trapsing through the field - I usually like having the place to myself, but their dedication was heartening.

The bankside reeds made choice of swim a bit of a compromise between fishing to features and being able to easily get to the water. I opted for a bit of clear bank but with a bed of small lillies which extended a couple of meters out and would make landing fish a bit more complicated. I really must get a rake.

I flicked out the waggler just to the edge of these lillies and quickly realised the swarms of roach made maggots a non option for hookbait. I expected this, so also took sweetcorn and worms. Popped on a size 10 and a big dendrobena and fished over a bed of maggots and sweetcorn.

The worms were only semi-resistant to the roach and rudd which would attack shot and float as well as the bait. A better fish of 12 oz or so would occasionally manage to get hooked.

The water looked full of life and the temperature was very comfortable at this time in the morning. It felt great to be back on a natural water after months of slumming it on commercial lakes.

I hooked my first good fish, which quickly took me into the lillies, when I managed to get it's head out the water i was not entirely happy to see an eel of a couple of pounds - wrapped around the weeds it felt a lot bigger. Luckily it was lip hooked and a bit of unwrapping of weed sent it back unharmed.

A good sized pike broke the surface on the other side of the swim, but the quantity of small fish everywhere meant i wasnt to concerned about it ruining the swim. Especially as fizzing bubbles started to appear around my bait.

I'd switched to double sweetcorn on the hook in an effort to avoid the eels, but to be honest i've lost a lot of confidence in it as a hookbait - it always seems to underperform for me - so I risked reeling in and swapped back to worm. The float raised up in the water and stayed there - I struck and connected but the heavy head shakes gave me a sinking feeling that it was another eel, but when it got near the surface I saw the glorious green side of a tench.

Finally my first tench of the year. Not massive but worth getting up for. A couple of small bream followed, but I was home by 10am feeling happy with the morning.