How did you get on?

[wetthrough]

Planned to fish one of the unfished (by us) waters on the club complex with @mikench. Unfortunately Mike unexpectedly got left holding the baby so couldn't make it. Very misty start after a nerve racking 17mls of so called smart motorway, they give me the willys.

Started well picking up Roach, Rudd, 2 Mirrors, one 5.3lb the other around 6lb and 9 acrobatic Skimmers by 11:30. All to sweetcorn. Loose feeding hemp seemed to keep them in the swim. Details after that are a little sketchy. I only know those as I messaged Mike to let him know how things were going. Bites died off around 12 so started loose feeding 4mm pellets. It took a while for them to home in on the pellets , maybe 40 minutes before any obvious activity. Carried on catching. Had another two Mirrors, a Common and several F1s. Nothing huge but all giving a good account of themselves. The second Mirror was foul hooked in the flank so had a real hard time getting it in the net. They weren't all keen om having their photo took but here's some of them. Finished up with 23 on the clicker. Here's some of them. A fun day and I'm sure I'll be going back with Mike at some time.

Sorry about the knee!

Not sure what this is. Maybe Rudd Skimmer hybrid?

 

[mikench]

You sure will Gordon. Let’s hope next week there or elsewhere.

 

[@Clive]

A southerly gale rattled the shutters last night and this morning brought drizzle with a promise of an overcast sky all day. So, off to the Vienne this morning. I had two rods with me, first out of the bag was a J.J.S. Walker, Bampton outfit with a combined age of over 205 years. The 11' 6" three piece built cane rod would have been made in the mid 1920's and cost £11 plus 27 shillings for the optional lined guides. It was described as being suitable for salmon, pike and mahseer! The reel can be dated to 1914 by the "Patent Applied For" mark. It has a unique three-way lever that allows for free spool, adjustable casting drag and adjustable fighting drag. Designed primarily for salmon fishing it matches thd rod beautifully. J.J.S. Walker, Bampton & Co. Was formed by three ex Hardy heads of department and made top quality tackle that could be found being used by the well heeled on the Wye, Spey and Cauvery rivers. It is now being used by a down at heel for barbel on the Vienne.

I started ledgering about 2 rod lengths out under an overhanging bush using luncheon meat doused in smoked paprika. Nothing took the meat whole, but millions of bleak whittled the lumps of meat. I changed to a soft hooker dumbell and got a barbel almost straight away. By then it was getting close to lunch time so I cast the bait out around 20 yards into the fastest part of the current. Before I got chance to eat the bobbin shot up and the reel started turning against the heavy drag. I lifted the rod and whatever it was zoomed off upstream and across against the full drag. I couldn't slow it, turn it or stop it and after what seemed like ages I clamped the reel to break off. It took ages to recover the lead.

After lunch I got the lighter rod out, a mere 170 years between them, and float fished close in. I got three carp in the first three casts, one of them a cracking wild common that must have overdosed on E's. It never stopped fighting. Then that swim died so I put the mahseer rod out again, this time in mid current. After lots of unhittable lightening fast bites with the bobbin rising and falling in half a second I managed to connect.

Next cast the same quick bites persisted so I changed to double dumbells, one on the hook and one on a baitband. The next cast the bobbin thumped up to the rod and stayed up. The fish raced off downstream, but this time I turned it, twice, so it passed by in front of me towing a huge raft of weeds with it. Again line poured off the reel under heavy braking and the old rod was bent as much as I dare put it. I saw the fish surface about 60 or 70 yards upstream and across before the line parted.

I got another barbel just before it was time to tackle up and head for home.

 

[Steve Arnold]

A southerly gale rattled the shutters last night and this morning brought drizzle with a promise of an overcast sky all day. So, off to the Vienne this morning. I had two rods with me, first out of the bag was a J.J.S. Walker, Bampton outfit with a combined age of over 205 years. The 11' 6" three piece built cane rod would have been made in the mid 1920's and cost £11 plus 27 shillings for the optional lined guides. It was described as being suitable for salmon, pike and mahseer! The reel can be dated to 1914 by the "Patent Applied For" mark. It has a unique three-way lever that allows for free spool, adjustable casting drag and adjustable fighting drag. Designed primarily for salmon fishing it matches thd rod beautifully. J.J.S. Walker, Bampton & Co. Was formed by three ex Hardy heads of department and made top quality tackle that could be found being used by the well heeled on the Wye, Spey and Cauvery rivers. It is now being used by a down at heel for barbel on the Vienne.

View attachment 28315

I started ledgering about 2 rod lengths out under an overhanging bush using luncheon meat doused in smoked paprika. Nothing took the meat whole, but millions of bleak whittled the lumps of meat. I changed to a soft hooker dumbell and got a barbel almost straight away. By then it was getting close to lunch time so I cast the bait out around 20 yards into the fastest part of the current. Before I got chance to eat the bobbin shot up and the reel started turning against the heavy drag. I lifted the rod and whatever it was zoomed off upstream and across against the full drag. I couldn't slow it, turn it or stop it and after what seemed like ages I clamped the reel to break off. It took ages to recover the lead.

After lunch I got the lighter rod out, a mere 170 years between them, and float fished close in. I got three carp in the first three casts, one of them a cracking wild common that must have overdosed on E's. It never stopped fighting. Then that swim died so I put the mahseer rod out again, this time in mid current. After lots of unhittable lightening fast bites with the bobbin rising and falling in half a second I managed to connect.

View attachment 28316

Next cast the same quick bites persisted so I changed to double dumbells, one on the hook and one on a baitband. The next cast the bobbin thumped up to the rod and stayed up. The fish raced off downstream, but this time I turned it, twice, so it passed by in front of me towing a huge raft of weeds with it. Again line poured off the reel under heavy braking and the old rod was bent as much as I dare put it. I saw the fish surface about 60 or 70 yards upstream and across before the line parted.

I got another barbel just before it was time to tackle up and head for home.

River monsters and vintage tackle! Respect!

 

[nottskev]

I'm wondering how to put a positive spin on yesterday's outing to the lower end of the upper Derbyshire Derwent. I don't know a prettier place to fish for brownies and grayling, and my fishing for barbel and carp had got a bit repetitive. You feel like a coarse angler looking at an exclusive game fishery - am I really allowed to fish here? The fact that it had come up a foot overnight? Just made the chocolate water more inviting beneath the green of the steep, wooded banks. And as for coming up here a couple of months before I normally would, well isn't it great to get a bite as soon as your bait gets down? Even if they are, aside from two hand-size roach and a perch on the first three casts, all minnows.

So, a mistake as far as catching fish was concerned. But a new section visited, an unusually deep and steady one, even with all the extra water, and an elderly (it's all relative) chap up the bank had 5 nice brownies. I took a picture for him with his best, around 3lb. Are you getting any bother with minnows, I asked. He was on a little maggot feeder, same as me. No, he said, why? Ho hum. I took the maggot feeder off, put on a small bomb and a bigger hook, and fished a little bunch of small worms in all the ways I could think of, but just got ragged by minnows and caught the odd little perch. I finished the (short) session with a soaking from a flash downpour. All part of life's rich pageant.

 

[Alan Whitty]

Well, I went fishing yesterday but couldn't set off till 8.20am and after getting through the traffic the car park of the small river some of us fish was rammed, so I turned round and headed to another stretch a mile or so upstream where there were two cars, I chose to fish the backwater which has no flow and has produced big perch, roach, barbel, carp and chub and chublets, so waggler, maggot and hemp was my choice, first cast a six ounce roach(I only caught one more much smaller one all day) then a procession of chublets from 2ozs to 10ozs, after half an hour they stopped biting and the gudgeon came in, maybe 15 or so before they stopped too, then it was an odd chublet being caught after fairly long waits, anyway there was an awkward swirly wind(and an awkwardly placed tree to my right which made casting slightly difficult) so one cast got pulled off target and caught on a post some yard short of the far bank, on retrieval I needed a new hooklength and a check on set up, on restarting I fed three decent pouches of hemp and three smaller ones of maggot, two maggots on the hook and cast out, the float shot under and I found myself attached to a goodun, after a lengthy fight I got this 17lbs 9oz common carp which was very thick set across its back, not bad on an 18 hook and 3lb line, lol.

After weighing, taking the picture and returning, I repeated the process and the float shot away again and had a barbel around 5lbs, that was it no more quality fish so back to chublets and another 15 or so gudgeon which are nice to see...

 

[seth49]

Back on our syndicate water yesterday, as it’s more sheltered from the easterly wind which was blowing, as it was colder I rigged my tip rod up with a small cage feeder, as well as my pole, so soaked 2mm pellets in the feeder with a yellow wafter on the hair, and usual chopped worm and half worm for hook bait, alternating between the two, if one went quiet I swapped too the other, and it was useful when I had a brew and my sandwiches later.

it was a strange day weather wise, flat calm for a few minutes and blowing hard from all direction, but mainly from the east, warm enough with my heated waistcoat, and micks even bought one as well, and was quite pleased with it, so I caught 8 small carp, 3 tench and 2 F1s pretty even on both methods, so an enjoyable day and worth the walk to the other side of the lodge, 3 fishing into the wind caught very little, the forecast is bad for the rest of the week so that will be it for this week.

 

[Steve Arnold]

Alistair and I had a few hours fishing on the Lot yesterday afternoon. The barrages had not let out much water for days so there was only one choice of swim for us, the narrowest bit of the river where the outside of the bend catches whatever little flow there may be. The fish are not usually in the main flow but often shoal in the deeper water between the weed on our bank and that far bank rocky run.

I started with a small open ended feeder with half a 14mm boilie hair rigged to a size 8 hook and that was taken almost "on the drop" by a 4 pound barbel. Alistair was still setting up and I cast out again to hook and drop another fish.

But then it went quiet and we were both getting sharp bites which did not result in fish. For once I went down to 8 lb line and a size 12 hook......and started hooking these fish, barbel between 3 and 5 pounds that put up a nice scrap.

Alistair picked up a couple....

......and then I had a tearaway take where my leader got cut. It was either a very good barbel or one of the carp that are in this stretch, that'll learn me for fishing "light"!

Score Alistair 2 barbel and me 6 barbel. Alistair is planning to get some feeders now but is shy about throwing 2 euros plus into this snaggy river!

I am always torn between the sensible anglers approach to catching barbel and the need to deal with these carp that like the same baits!

 

[@Clive]

Frustrating day today. The overnight rain did not stop pelting down until after 1pm then returned for half an hour later on. The rain caused the dam to release water that brought lots of suspended weed with it. I fished specifically for the catfish that has been trashing my barbel tackle. I had large lumps of luncheon meat and 20mm boilies. The weed meant that I would get 3 or 4 seconds or up to 3 or 4 minutes before the bobbin slowly rose and a recast was necessary. I didn't get a take so fished the last 20 minutes using a smaller hook with double 6mm pellet and a grain of sweetcorn for luck. I cast under the trees in a bit of slack and a few minutes later the heavy bobbin jumped and fell quickly. Something was at home. I rebaited and cast out again, but this time I touch ledgered and fluked a barbel of around 3lb just before I was due to pack up.

 

[no-one in particular]

Nice day yesterday so ventured out to my banker swim, never not caught a fish here but it was just one fish this time, a chub of about 3lb which is a good size for the river. Brown bread on a arsely bomb with a size 8 hook 4 inches from the bomb. Normally float fish but the river was up a bit and flowing strong so hard to hold a float this time with the limitations of the swim. And I wanted to try this rod out which I bought cheap, I had it in mind for this type of fishing when I bought it, river winter legering and a built in quiver tip, only a tenner, Tricast feeder rod but it was crap at playing fish compared to my wooden rod; no life in it, more life in me after my heart op, at least I could breathe and bend a bit but; it might do as a mullet rod maybe one day.

 

[jon atkinson]

Had my first river session of the year last week - was really looking forward to trotting maggot in persuit of Chub & Grayling. Bizarrely, given the weather of late, the river (Darwen) was much lower that we had anticipated and I ended up with a Serge. It looked in great nick though, crystal clear & fast flowing - probably more suited to fluff chucking. Thomo did a little better with 3 small trout but hopefully, we'll fare better further up the Ribble in a few week's time...

 

[mikench]

Gordon and I had an enjoyable day on our clubs premier water , well 7 waters actually. The one we chose was the first time for me but the second for Gordon. It was a very misty start and cold at 4.5c . The M6 smart motorway section was anything but smart with heavy traffic in dark misty conditions. It was a relief to get on relatively quiet country roads. Here is the pool as light dawned.

Here it is in the early afternoon.

The sun eventually came out and very pleasant it was too. It didn’t feel cold as it was flat calm. Gordon caught first as usual and ended up with 10 fish including several carp to 8lb, roach and a skimmer. For once I fared slightly better with 6 common, 3 skimmers, I F1, a roach and a hybrid. This was the best of the common. A nice chunky fish around 9 lb.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable day and, as the pegs were only 10 yards apart, conversation was easy and audible. Gordon had a
Bacon barm cake and I had sausage. Thanks Gordon and I agree that next week we will go closer to home particularly if it’s foggy and cold.

 

[seth49]

Back on syndicate water yesterday, due to the easterly winds forecast, on my own as mick was supervising his plumber, I loaded the car in the dry and it started raining as I was driving there.

as it turned out it was more or less calm all day, but it rained most of the morning before it stopped, set two tip rods up, one with maggot feeder and one with cage feeder and a yellow wafter, the maggot feeder was the best with only I small tench on the other rod, it’s a one rod rule here so I swapped between them before stopping with maggot feeder rod.

i had the fishery to myself till 12 am before one more angler turned up, who caught a 15 and a half pound carp, of the peg I would have fished but for the east wind forecast, ah well I didn’t do to bad with 3 tench, 2carp, 7 F1s and 4 skimmers, hopefully it will be better weather next week and I might get two trips in, not a bad day considering the conditions.

 

[Pete Shears]

Another morning spinning off the dam on the big reservoir,this time in thick fog,which made it a bit slick underfoot on the granite facing blocks.
Managed to get 8 pike to 6lb 10oz, 5 being ideal livebait size if allowed, and 8 perch to 1lb 5oz before they moved out of range.
All caught on a silver S4 Mepps and a silver Toby style lure.

 

[Alan Whitty]

Well, fished every evening(apart from last night, the river was carrying rafts in the high water) at Christchuch during the last week, no bites, last night I sat watching the river for perhaps 45 minutes in a spot where the swim has had a foot plus of water all week and are steep banked behind this making it unfishable,an area which I've seen many barbel roll, sure enough one head and shouldered as if to wave me goodbye sticking two fingers up, lol...

 

[peterjg]

I fished the Thames yesterday, it was brown and hammering through. I tried three different swims, eventually legering over a slack (full of Canadian pond weed) into fast water. Ended up with ten roach to about 10ozs (lost a goodun in the weedbed) and also had small hybrid. Caught nothing special but thoroughly enjoyed the day. I've done lots of fishing as of late and results have been quite good, thank goodness all that diy and decorating is finished!!!

 

[nottskev]

First time out for two weeks, mainly thanks to car business. I'd sat watching Aknib winkle some nice roach out of his local dam last Sunday, and we noticed the bloke catching good stamp roach on a maggot feeder. I felt inspired to dig out the kind of finesse feeder gear that's well out of fashion these days, and by 11 am I was parked up precisely outside Mansfield Town's football ground ( I forgot to check if they were at home) and setting up with a 10' Shimano wand reduced to 8.5' with a home-made dolly butt, a 1000 size reel with 2lb line and a little feeder made from bottle plastic

It all looked perfect to float fish, just off the flow of the river that runs through the dam, but when I put my gear down 4 swans and a group of mallards all licked their lips metaphorically, and as the water is unlikely to be over 18" deep, I could picture them getting on their marks every time I'd pick up the catapult, so little feeder it was, alternated with an 1/8 oz bomb, fished about 16m out.

The fish were all small and I'd I've caught single fish of two species this summer that would have weighed more than my total catch of 40-odd roach and a possible re-homed garden pond fish. But it's great to try and fish light gear with accuracy and delicacy, and the urban surroundings take me back, too. I couldn't tell the score from the noise coming from the stadium, but by half -time I was wondering if my car was in the wisest parking spot and I wrapped up and fed the swans and ducks.

 

[@Clive]

I fished my non-flagship water today. There is nobody to open the gates, tell you who caught what, where and what on never mind cook you a bacon sarnie. The grass hasn't been cut in months and the access track is muddy and rutted. There are no f1's and the swims aren't exactly spacious

I don't know why I come here.

I started out bait dropping a quarter pint of dead maggots, same amount of live ones and some mixed cereals using a device designed to release the bait half way down. The Charente was at normal level with a touch of colour and welcome flow after 7 days of near constant rain The Vienne however would be brown, high and unfishable.

Using a 1950's Allcocks Wizard and 1920's Youngs reel I cast a 4g top and bottom slider a rod length out in about 10 foot of water. 3rd trot down resulted in a nice dace of around 6 or 7 oz followed by a smaller roach. Both to treble maggot. Then I allowed to float to drift towards the bank and find its own resting position. That brought a barbel

And same tactics with a frozen lobworm experimental bait brought another

Both fish had red marks on their bellies. That was followed by two bream

And another two barbel. Then I had two hook pulls on a bream followed by a barbel. The next two casts using sweetcorn resulted in two missed bites. I didn't retrieve and re-cast the second time, but allowed the float to settle. Just over a minute later the float dipped and I netted the fish of the day

I packed up at 5:30pm. The 56 mile journey home normally takes an hour. This evening however I had to follow a tractor and trailer for almost 20 miles. That set me back a bit.

 

[Steve Arnold]

I fished my non-flagship water today. There is nobody to open the gates, tell you who caught what, where and what on never mind cook you a bacon sarnie. The grass hasn't been cut in months and the access track is muddy and rutted. There are no f1's and the swims aren't exactly spacious

View attachment 28397

I don't know why I come here.

I started out bait dropping a quarter pint of dead maggots, same amount of live ones and some mixed cereals using a device designed to release the bait half way down. The Charente was at normal level with a touch of colour and welcome flow after 7 days of near constant rain The Vienne however would be brown, high and unfishable.

Using a 1950's Allcocks Wizard and 1920's Youngs reel I cast a 4g top and bottom slider a rod length out in about 10 foot of water. 3rd trot down resulted in a nice dace of around 6 or 7 oz followed by a smaller roach. Both to treble maggot. Then I allowed to float to drift towards the bank and find its own resting position. That brought a barbel

View attachment 28398

And same tactics with a frozen lobworm experimental bait brought another

View attachment 28399

Both fish had red marks on their bellies. That was followed by two bream

View attachment 28400

And another two barbel. Then I had two hook pulls on a bream followed by a barbel. The next two casts using sweetcorn resulted in two missed bites. I didn't retrieve and re-cast the second time, but allowed the float to settle. Just over a minute later the float dipped and I netted the fish of the day

View attachment 28401

I packed up at 5:30pm. The 56 mile journey home normally takes an hour. This evening however I had to follow a tractor and trailer for almost 20 miles. That set me back a bit.

Glad I live just 10 minutes from the river Lot Clive, I have my bacon sandwich at home before heading out!

Those red marks on your barbel, we had several last week on the Lot showing exactly the same. I think there are times of the year that leeches are more active, perhaps they would cause those marks? But I would expect to see the leech actually attached at times.

 

[@Clive]

The Vienne is less than15 minutes away and the best bit can be reached in under 30 minutes. But it is brown and angry at the moment being a freestone river and is wide and shallow due to the rocky bed. Now it is a mucky torrent. The middle Charente is effectively a chalk stream so does not get affected as much. I can reach the head waters in less than 20 minutes. The best parts are an hour away. Yesterday and for the remaining week or so those stretches will remain fishable despite the forecast of more rain for at least 10 days.

I make two stops on route; one for fish food and one for my food.