How did you get on?

[Crystal Bend]

Pike pictures - 27lb & 15lb 3oz

Nice fish Pete and I've the same weigh scales. They're brilliant.

 

[jon atkinson]

Things haven't really got going for me on the lures so far this Autumn just a few small Jacks to a couple of pounds perhaps. After yesterday's work party (which was a total mud bath) I went to one of our stretches of the Shroppie (SUC) at little Stanney with the rain never being heavy, but always enough to get you wet. Had a chat with a couple of members that were there with the same idea. I managed another little Jack of perhaps 4lb but that was as good as it got. The others went in the opposite direction so no idea how they fared.

 

[mikench]

You both have WAA cards get on Ackers Pit in Stockton Heath , brilliant water this time of year, maggot or worm will catch .
Or start fishing bread punch on the canal .

Plan to go Wednesday Mark and as “ ledgering” is banned, I will float fish. We had better catch plenty.

 

[markcw]

Plan to go Wednesday Mark and as “ ledgering” is banned, I will float fish. We better catch plenty.

There is an out of bounds area as you go on it , No fishing from there , There are a few carp in there upto around 5lb, and plenty of silvers , just keep it simple , maggot and worm will catch , as far as I know you can't use bread , Parking on roadside next to the pool is easy

 

[maggot_dangler]

HI all

Thought i best check in i aint poped me cloggs yet but my back has right nw
Not managed to get out much recently darn body is causing me a lot of bovver but i am going to try and get out some point this week on the local Cut can park nice and close . I wanted to get on the river but got no hope of that right now walking is limited to a
bout 15 yards tops disgusting see what happens

 

[nottskev]

No pike anglers and the swim I've wanted to fish for weeks wasn't underwater. I dumped my gear on the bank and went to pay. When I came back, a bloke asked, is that your stuff? Only I'm going to moor there to clean out my toilets. Should take about an hour. Ho hum. Dragged the gear a couple of hundred yards to a patch of concrete lapped by the rising water

I set up the usual small slider in 12' and fished maggot close in and hemp and tares 3 rods out. The roach were onto the bait straightaway and were a good stamp

But it turned into the most frustrating few hours fishing. Between 11am and 2.30pm I caught around 30 nice roach for about 12lb, but I missed literally dozens of bites on tares. I tried everything I could think of. I decreased the depth 6" at a time until bites stopped, then added depth 6" at a time down to the bottom. I moved shot. I fed differently. I struck bites at the first sign ( I can read the bottom line on the eye chart since the op); I delayed the strike for one or two seconds. In the end, I gave up, having caught about half of the fish that took the bait. Is the glass half full? I came away with a decent catch but feeling like I'd failed to make the most of a swim full of good roach.

 

[terry m]

Unfortunately the Avon just wouldn’t give up any of her Esox today, so after several hours I retired to a local pool and lobbed a couple of baits out, more in hope than expectation. 40 minutes later the paternostered bait float bobbed gently then disappeared. A hard fighting 8 pounder was banked, and, whilst no monster, it avoided the blank and made the day a little more enjoyable.

 

[Steve Arnold]

Finally the Lot has dropped a few feet and the flow is about half what it has been for weeks. But it was still bombing through and I needed 99 gr to hold at the inside edge of the first crease.....

It was slow going and I had many small bites on my paste wrapped boilie. Probably small roach and they can be like piranhas in this stretch, whittling large baits down and paste has no chance!

Just upstream of me, work was going on building up the embankment supporting the lock wall. Fortunately they had a long lunch and the noisy machinery was only busy for a couple of hours. A bonus of this work will be access to a prime swim that had been totally overgrown!

Eventually I stopped using paste and settled on a 14mm monster crab boilie. This brought a couple of three pound barbel, the first having the red marks Clive commented on a short time ago. These marks looked like scales had been pulled off, very odd!

It was a cloudy afternoon with rain for about an hour. I took two more barbel just before the light faded, the best probably around 5 lbs. Of course the sky cleared just as the sun disappeared!

Good to be back at the river, gives me a chance now to get some better fish as the river returns to normal height.

PS. I was intrigued by those missing scales, the poor barbel certainly did not simply shed them! So I Googled a few scaley terms and found that some fish actually eat scales and that feeding habit is named "lepidophagy"

I have never seen that in UK freshwaters and not seen it mentioned with reference to waters in France. So I wonder if an invasive species has this habit? It just happens that this short stretch of river has an invasion of Sunfish, similar to Bluegills in North America. I found a reference showing some opportunist lepidophagy, of course I have lost that link now!

Not wanting to condemn the Sunfish without evidence, but in this section of the river Lot they are quite numerous. The surface of the slack water in front of me yesterday was alive with small, splashy fish. The last time I witnessed this I caught a tiny Sunfish in my landing net!

Google takes me to so many places!

 

[mikench]

Well Gordon and I arrived early doors just after 7.45 and after a walk around the lake recommended by @markcw we settled on two pegs which would give us the wind at our backs and scope to safely cast a float.

We had maggots,casters, corn and bread and were utterly convinced that we would have a good day. Unfortunately the fish were not on the same page as us. The water was gin clear and shallow but there was no fish activity. Not only did we both blank for the first time ever but it was the first blank of the year for either of us. The only fish we saw was a sizeable one in the process of being guzzled by a Goosander. We didn’t even have a bite or any indication of fish activity. The lake is a popular spot for walkers and we had many an explanation of why were not catching, how the lake was stocked with 2000 fish in February and how marvellously it had fished until the first week in November. Just our luck that the fish were off it. We couldn’t fathom why, in all the circumstances , we didn’t get even a bite. The threatened wind became almost gale force by lunchtime and as we were so despondent we packed up at 2.30.

We will return one day as it’s a pleasant spot and only 17 miles from home. Gordon never blanks but today was one of those days. We still enjoyed the banter including a conversation with a very likeable community Bobby who was an angler and who provided some comfort as to why the fishing had deteriorated. There is always next time Gordon.

 

[markcw]

Well Gordon and I arrived early doors just after 7.45 and after a walk around the lake recommended by @markcw we settled on two pegs which would give us the wind at our backs and scope to safely cast a float.

View attachment 28608
View attachment 28609
We had maggots,casters, corn and bread and were utterly convinced that we would have a good day. Unfortunately the fish were not on the same page as us. The water was gin clear and shallow but there was no fish activity. Not only did we both blank for the first time ever but it was the first blank of the year for either of us. The only fish we saw was a sizeable one in the process of being guzzled by a Goosander. We didn’t even have a bite or any indication of fish activity. The lake is a popular spot for walkers and we had many an explanation of why were not catching, how the lake was stocked with 2000 fish in February and how marvellously it had fished until the first week in November. Just our luck that the fish were off it. We couldn’t fathom why, in all the circumstances , we didn’t get even a bite. The threatened wind became almost gale force by lunchtime and as we were so despondent we packed up at 2.30.

We will return one day as it’s a pleasant spot and only 17 miles from home. Gordon never blanks but today was one of those days. We still enjoyed the banter including a conversation with a very likeable community Bobby who was an angler and who provided some comfort as to why the fishing had deteriorated. There is always next time Gordon.

It usually fishes ok in the cold , the smaller silvers always seemed hungry .
If I fish it , I go in by the entrance where the overflow is and go about 15 yards or so to my right.
I have fished opposite the road a couple of times where the stick ups are.
Some years ago it was two pools one large and one small. Then it was made into one large after it was drained and de-silted .
Have you fished Grey Mist ,?

 

[nottskev]

That looks familiar, Mike, from my WAA card days 20 odd years ago. Stills can switch right off at this time of year, and I don't remember catching much there save lots of little roach, and I went there in July iirc.

 

[mikench]

Don’t worry Mark. I told Gordon I didn’t know where you lived.

We were about 4 or 5 pegs up from the overflow. It’s a club owned water Kev so was around I’m sure when you were. Only float fishing is allowed.

 

[markcw]

That looks familiar, Mike, from my WAA card days 20 odd years ago. Stills can switch right off at this time of year, and I don't remember catching much there save lots of little roach, and I went there in July iirc.

Some decent perch in there, and decent silvers . The few carp that are in there are about 5lb, There use to be a few doubles in there 20+ years ago. Heard there was a catfish at one point , came in from feeder stream on Bridgewater Canal .

 

[markcw]

Don’t worry Mark. I told Gordon I didn’t know where you lived.

We were about 4 or 5 pegs up from the overflow. It’s a club owned water Kev so was around I’m sure when you were. Only float fishing is allowed.

To the right on the roadside or at top end of overflow near the stick ups .?

 

[S-Kippy]

I finally dragged myself out of my self imposed rut and went fishing yesterday….braving the M25/A3 roadworks to head down to a club lake near Guildford hoping for a carp. The roadworks only held me up for 10 mins going and not at all coming back which was a real bonus.
I wasn’t expecting much as it’s a bit late for this place and it was cold overnight which never helps on a shallow lake. I was preparing myself for a blank when about an hour into dark the rh rod absolutely roared off. I nearly made a mess of netting the fish but finally got it in.A nice fully scaled common which went 21lb 4 oz
I fished on for a bit but I felt I’d had my chance and taken it. Time to go.
Best of all its shocked me out of my lethargy and I’m looking forward to going again

Apologies for the awful picture

 

[seth49]

Back out at last due to a gap in the incessant rain, first time I’ve fished this month, on our usual fishery Tuesday , I was the first there but it soon got busy for a weekday, total of nine eventually which is unusual, fished pole with maggots or worm for a few roach and skimmers etc.

so swapped to feeder and caught 5 F1s, on method feeder and ground bait, tried hemp and halibut crush which the F 1s seemed to like, it’s very active as there was fizzing showing above the feeder, seemed to attract them ok but no carp.

most of the bites in the middle of the day, they stopped about 2pm, and we packed up at three to miss the traffic, it was nice to be out again, would have gone today but it’s very windy and rain forecast after 12am, so another day lost, still it was warm enough and dry, enjoyed it.

 

[@Clive]

I have endured what must rank as one if not the worst day's fishing I can remember. My old friend couldn't make it due to having a stent fitted. I suppose that is a good excuse, so I was free to go where I wanted to. I chose the Vienne. I had walked the stretch on Tuesday and found several fishable places despite the floodwater still not having subsided. On arrival I noted that there were no other footprints overlaying my own from Tuesday in the soft mud.

Now the downside.

The weather forecast was for cloudy, but dry until 4pm. The actual weather was rain all day until 4pm.
I had been delayed in a supermarket by an old chap who seemed surprised to be asked to pay for his four items after putting them in his shopping bag. He then paid the seven Euro something bill in about fifty small coins.
I had left my specs in the wife's car. Had to use the three quid reading glasses to tackle up.
A section of my pole slid into the river never to be seen again.
I had zero bites on three baits in two hours fishing a 6g Bolo float under a pole in a deep slack off the main river.
At the second swim one of my seatbox hinge / catches broke.
I had forgotten my lead weights so had to use feeders.
I had no groundbait so had to use mud to plug the ends of the feeders.
I had no bites on the feeder using three baits and various hooks and lengths.

I was glad when I had enough.

 

[Alan Whitty]

What a nightmare...

 

[flightliner]

My fourth tidal Trent visit yesterday morning, 25 mile there 25 mile back for 200 miles overall.
I set off early and was on the bank a little before 8am.Eager to see its level I was pleased to see my choosen swim would be ok after a little water had run off to be just low enough not to go just "over my wellington tops" so meantime I would fish from the bank a little higher upstream as the bank was higher.
Its a snaggy area under normal conditions but the recant conditions must have brought more of the same as on occasions it seemed that I was hooked to the bottom 80% of the time.
By 12 noon i looked at the water level downstream and found it ok to move my gear into it, it was not entirely free of water, maybe 9" at the most, things were looking promising.
I set my gear up, not easy footing with hidden rocks below the water, one wrong footfall and I could be off home to dry out but I managed eventually, baited up with my go to favourite late autumn/early winter floodwater bait that was a hair rigged piece of luncheon meat, three red maggots and a big half lobworm on a size 6 wide gape hook (upstream i had used meat and boillies!)
With the usual 6 to 7oz lead.
The extra flow was to much forcing me to cast downstream and letting plenty of line out that helped but not entirely as my lead was still being forced towards the near margin and finding the odd odd snag but in general i was reasonably happy, tho the situation could have been a little better as I had to stand behind my rods until I had to go come dark.
I carried on regardless but with no bites I began to wonder if things would change, it would be a close thing as my watch was saying it was almost three pm.
The sun was replaced by dark clouds to the north that eventually came overhead, thats when I had the bite with the rod hooping over and the baitrunner purring away.
Lifting the rod I felt a good fish that I soon realised was hard to lift away from the bottom giong anywhere it pleased.
A full five minutes later I had made no impression on the fish before it made a run downstream and found a snag!
I've long had the impression that big leads and big fish towing them are still near the riverbed, the line between the two possibly being a little over 90 degrees and is the reason I tend to play fish with a rod well bent.
I tried letting out more line then winding back, the fish was still on but still still snagged so once more to find the same a third time and it was gone!
Forcing me to eventually pull for a break, it came free, the culprit being another anglers rig!
So disappointed I fished on but all to no avail.
A friend had messaged me the previous night telling me his old friend had taken four good Barbel the previous evening that made me think of darkness that showed just before my only bite of of the day.
Yesterday I spent hours cleaning my gear of all the the mud it collected from the recant floods, I'll start on my car later today, it may help to get over the fish I lost on friday!

 

[Steve Arnold]

Alistair wanted to fish today, but he insisted I found a spot where we would be in the sun. Well, it was below freezing this morning and the frost was still evident in the shade at lunchtime.

My first choice swim that a week ago was in the sun all afternoon (and where there had been fish!) was still in shade and frosted. What a difference a week made, the hillside opposite now casting its shadow as the sun was just a few degrees lower.

A short distance downriver is a landing stage and slipway that fishes well in the summer, this afternoon we would get the sun and not notice the cool air. Alistair chose to fish the slipway and left me the landing stage, I was happy with such a comfortable option....

I don't think I have ever been so organised, new tackle bag and unhooking mat, everything in its right place and exactly to hand.

But a fat lot of good it did me! Just one missed bite and a fish splashed in front of me just before packing up.

The scenery and the warm sun made up for the lack of fish, not a bad place to spend a winters afternoon....

.....and Alistair blanked as well !

Next time, I will go on my own. I know a place where the fish will hang out, I may well be colder but I really need a fish just now!