mikench
Well-known member
Perfick. Sounds like a good day. I think the caterpilar was a lime hawk moth.
How did you get on?
- Thread starter peter crabtree
- Start date
flightliner
Well-known member
Wonders never cease, I've been twice this week already.
Tidal TRENT on Tuesday, an early afternoon start for a sundowner session.
After my initial baiting up and settling down to fish I had the mother of all tangles that I was determined to beat an hour later (well it seemed an hour) i had no alternative but to cut my line and rethread the rings and tie a new rig.
That done I was finally able to enjoy the rest of my afternoon/evening.
My first bite came at 5-10 pm that prooved to be a Barbel, tho not big at around 5lbs it gave a good account of itself and was my first of the season after loosing three in a snag at it's start.
Tho I fished 'till total darkness I never had another fish so I packed my kit away and drove home.
I went again yesterday to my little Notts river hoping for another Chub on floating crust, sadly on seeing my seldum visited swim I was upset to see it had been trashed with plastic bags, bottles and broken branches that appeared to be freshly done and some hard to identify white powder on the ground!
As I was there anyway I decided to try my luck so putting my rod together and throwing some freeby crusts on the surface of the river I followed them down with my own baited hook.
All four were taken off the surface but I missed the the bite, afterwards It went very quiet, no more activiity.
Perhaps the A holes had been the day before, who knows but the damage done wasn't just to the environment!
Tidal TRENT on Tuesday, an early afternoon start for a sundowner session.
After my initial baiting up and settling down to fish I had the mother of all tangles that I was determined to beat an hour later (well it seemed an hour) i had no alternative but to cut my line and rethread the rings and tie a new rig.
That done I was finally able to enjoy the rest of my afternoon/evening.
My first bite came at 5-10 pm that prooved to be a Barbel, tho not big at around 5lbs it gave a good account of itself and was my first of the season after loosing three in a snag at it's start.
Tho I fished 'till total darkness I never had another fish so I packed my kit away and drove home.
I went again yesterday to my little Notts river hoping for another Chub on floating crust, sadly on seeing my seldum visited swim I was upset to see it had been trashed with plastic bags, bottles and broken branches that appeared to be freshly done and some hard to identify white powder on the ground!
As I was there anyway I decided to try my luck so putting my rod together and throwing some freeby crusts on the surface of the river I followed them down with my own baited hook.
All four were taken off the surface but I missed the the bite, afterwards It went very quiet, no more activiity.
Perhaps the A holes had been the day before, who knows but the damage done wasn't just to the environment!
Ray Roberts
Well-known member
Not the best days fishing by a long way. I arrived at the Eden about 11am and tackled up. I set up one rod with a jig and curly tailed worm and the other a drop shot. I had a fish fairly quickly but only a small perch whose eyes were bigger than its belly. Nothing else was forthcoming so I moved along swim by swim with no success. Eventually I came to a small weir and had a couple of bigger perch but they were still nothing to write home about. The water seemed fairly coloured and maybe that’s why they didn’t seem keen. l chucked my gear in the car and headed for another venue on the Medway. That looked better, but looks can be deceiving and I never had so much as a bite. Around a year ago I took a walk upstream from the section I fished with my granddaughter Kaci and we saw a young lad land a two pound plus perch on a live bait. So I know there are some in there. The river seemed pretty dead and compared to my last trip here it looked out of sorts. I stayed until 8 pm and there were no rises or fish showing.
Steve Arnold
Well-known member
Yesterday I was at the river Lot for dawn. It's holiday season and I wanted peace from the canoes, cruisers, paddle-boarders, swimmers etc, etc.
My first choice swim was taken by a camper so I headed a few hundred yards further to my "winter" swim. It always looks good and even if I do not catch the view raises my spirits.
I would have shade until about 11 am, that's when the tourists would start turning up anyway. The fishing was even slower than the river flow and I had just two barbel of about 3lb to 4 lb. On the 3.5 lb tc carp rods I had taken there was little "sport" from them!
Then the first boat came through the lock, shortly afterwards a canoe. But my tackle was already in the car and I was heading home for lunch followed by a siesta, fierce sun and heat avoided. I do not understand why the holiday visitors have their noon start routine, especially out on the water in the full sun. Anyway, that gives me my chance at finding relative peace and solitude
As I drove by my 1st choice swim the camper had left. It's the deepest part of the stretch with a hole about 20' deep just reachable upstream, a big weight can be cast just outside of overhanging trees and will hold where the big fish hide in low flow summer conditions. Later in the year they may still be there but the fierce current from the weir makes it impossible to hold bottom. There have been carp over 50 lbs caught in this short section and I have lost a few over the years, the silure also live here!!!
Thought I would mention that in case anyone thought my 3.5 lb rods and 14000 Shimano reels were a tad overkill
I'll be back when the tourists have left at the end of August
PS - I recently purchased a Deeper Start to improve my knowledge of this river. It's confirming much of what I have learnt over the last several years, places I have captured or lost big fish have revealed interesting details that hopefully will result in a few more landed fish. Here is a screen capture of the swim I wanted to fish yesterday, the rest of the stretch showed little and the shoals were packed tightly here .....
The Deeper charts that can be viewed online show a greater depth just ahead of the fish starting at 6.7m. But trees prevent me from casting there and the bankside vegetation is impenetrable! Maybe I will get the inflatable out again later this year?
My first choice swim was taken by a camper so I headed a few hundred yards further to my "winter" swim. It always looks good and even if I do not catch the view raises my spirits.
I would have shade until about 11 am, that's when the tourists would start turning up anyway. The fishing was even slower than the river flow and I had just two barbel of about 3lb to 4 lb. On the 3.5 lb tc carp rods I had taken there was little "sport" from them!
Then the first boat came through the lock, shortly afterwards a canoe. But my tackle was already in the car and I was heading home for lunch followed by a siesta, fierce sun and heat avoided. I do not understand why the holiday visitors have their noon start routine, especially out on the water in the full sun. Anyway, that gives me my chance at finding relative peace and solitude
As I drove by my 1st choice swim the camper had left. It's the deepest part of the stretch with a hole about 20' deep just reachable upstream, a big weight can be cast just outside of overhanging trees and will hold where the big fish hide in low flow summer conditions. Later in the year they may still be there but the fierce current from the weir makes it impossible to hold bottom. There have been carp over 50 lbs caught in this short section and I have lost a few over the years, the silure also live here!!!
Thought I would mention that in case anyone thought my 3.5 lb rods and 14000 Shimano reels were a tad overkill
I'll be back when the tourists have left at the end of August
PS - I recently purchased a Deeper Start to improve my knowledge of this river. It's confirming much of what I have learnt over the last several years, places I have captured or lost big fish have revealed interesting details that hopefully will result in a few more landed fish. Here is a screen capture of the swim I wanted to fish yesterday, the rest of the stretch showed little and the shoals were packed tightly here .....
The Deeper charts that can be viewed online show a greater depth just ahead of the fish starting at 6.7m. But trees prevent me from casting there and the bankside vegetation is impenetrable! Maybe I will get the inflatable out again later this year?
Last edited:
The Sogster
Well-known member
It's been about 12 weeks since I had my open heart surgery and the medical staff have signed me off in regards to fishing.
I had my first trip today to a local club water, only 3 acres and no carp - except for some Crucians.
I travelled light, no kitchen sink. I knew it wasn't the best day weather wise, hot and sunny but I had an itch to scratch.
I also wanted to try the new 13' waggler rod I've bought (Daiwa Connoisseur).
I arrived about 10am and set up a 2bb waggler to 2.5lb mainline, then realised I'd left the newly tied hooklengths at home along with most of my hooks. Luckily I had a couple of packets lurking deep in my tackle box, unfortunately they were a little heavier than I would have liked being eyed.
Plumbed up, and started fishing just on the deck fishing over 2mm pellets and corn.
Not a nibble after a while so started shallowing up a couple of inches at a time hoping to find a fish (any fish).
Finished up trying to catch them on a slow sinking corn skin, but the hook was just too heavy. Managed a couple of finicky half bites but blanked spectacularly. Jacked it in about 3.30pm, too damn hot.
I had my first trip today to a local club water, only 3 acres and no carp - except for some Crucians.
I travelled light, no kitchen sink. I knew it wasn't the best day weather wise, hot and sunny but I had an itch to scratch.
I also wanted to try the new 13' waggler rod I've bought (Daiwa Connoisseur).
I arrived about 10am and set up a 2bb waggler to 2.5lb mainline, then realised I'd left the newly tied hooklengths at home along with most of my hooks. Luckily I had a couple of packets lurking deep in my tackle box, unfortunately they were a little heavier than I would have liked being eyed.
Plumbed up, and started fishing just on the deck fishing over 2mm pellets and corn.
Not a nibble after a while so started shallowing up a couple of inches at a time hoping to find a fish (any fish).
Finished up trying to catch them on a slow sinking corn skin, but the hook was just too heavy. Managed a couple of finicky half bites but blanked spectacularly. Jacked it in about 3.30pm, too damn hot.
Ray Roberts
Well-known member
It still beats going to work though.
flightliner
Well-known member
A three month wait along with the time spent in hospital.
It must have been torture waiting for trip fishing Sogster!
It must have been torture waiting for trip fishing Sogster!
SBurt
Active member
I fished a lake on Saturday. I could only go for a few hours in the afternoon, so not ideal but good to be out all the same.
I fished two rods.
On the left hand rod I used a free running block end feeder filled with chopped dendrobaenas, with a lobworm 'kebab' hook bait held on a hair with a quickstop. This resulted in plenty of activity but only from small fish ripping the lobworm sections from the hair. I had one actual run but did not connect with a fish.
On the right hand rod I float fished one rod length out, in eleven feet of water, using a small worm and sweetcorn as hook bait. I had one sail away bite, but again struck into nothing.
Hemp, 2mm trout pellets and sweetcorn were mixed in with Sonubaits Banoffee ground bait, which was then balled out to both rods intermittently during the session.
Even though I had nothing to show from my efforts, it was a lovely afternoon spent next to a nice lake.
I fished two rods.
On the left hand rod I used a free running block end feeder filled with chopped dendrobaenas, with a lobworm 'kebab' hook bait held on a hair with a quickstop. This resulted in plenty of activity but only from small fish ripping the lobworm sections from the hair. I had one actual run but did not connect with a fish.
On the right hand rod I float fished one rod length out, in eleven feet of water, using a small worm and sweetcorn as hook bait. I had one sail away bite, but again struck into nothing.
Hemp, 2mm trout pellets and sweetcorn were mixed in with Sonubaits Banoffee ground bait, which was then balled out to both rods intermittently during the session.
Even though I had nothing to show from my efforts, it was a lovely afternoon spent next to a nice lake.
Attachments
-
IMG_7095.jpg -
IMG_7096.jpg
First time out after a major op ..... getting there, fishing and getting back without qualms or incident is a result in itself. Good for you.
The Sogster
Well-known member
It certainly was, seeing all the reports was worse than reading what everyone's having for dinner
@Ray Roberts the fact my hearts still beating works for me.
Alan Whitty
Well-known member
Your report will read 'steady progress being made' Sogster, just being there is a giant step forward 
.
Well, a report after four evenings on the D.Stour at Christchurch(another ten, nine really, silver wedding anniversary tomorrow), first evening I sat in deep water and had one small chub around 2lbs, the next I had four 2-8 to 3-8, a blank on the third, then last night four more chub to 4-14, with the crafty sods dragging my rod over without hooking up several times, grrrr....
.Well, a report after four evenings on the D.Stour at Christchurch(another ten, nine really, silver wedding anniversary tomorrow), first evening I sat in deep water and had one small chub around 2lbs, the next I had four 2-8 to 3-8, a blank on the third, then last night four more chub to 4-14, with the crafty sods dragging my rod over without hooking up several times, grrrr....
no-one in particular
Well-known member
Had the same 5 years ago, open heart surgery, I think they just took it out and gave it a couple of smacks with a mallet and put it back, they refused to tell me that's what they did, got quite upset when I asked them but I am still fishing albeit a bit curtailed, I did once not long after the op fall off my chair and roll down the bank and nearly into the river, just stopped myself going in by grabbing a bunch of nettles! no steep banks for me anymore so be careful but keep it up Sogster, make the most of it; nice to see you out and enjoying life while everyone else is out rioting. that's what us ex heart surgery patients are meant to do.It certainly was, seeing all the reports was worse than reading what everyone's having for dinner
@Ray Roberts the fact my hearts still beating works for me.
Last edited:
terry m
Well-known member
Despite the heat yesterday, I spent a few hours in the evening sat behind my rods, more in hope than expectation as the going has been tough lately. I was rewarded with a nice 22lb 7oz common, which strangely seemed to still be carrying spawn, hence the squarish shape.
Attachments
-
IMG_8719.jpeg -
IMG_8715.jpeg
seth49
Well-known member
On the club fishery yesterday, on my own as Mick had an hospital appointment, a checkup on his pacemaker which is due for replacement next year, nice morning when I arrived at 6am, and as as forecast it started to rain at 3pm, only light and I managed to pack up and in the car without getting to wet.
fished my pole all day, out in the water at two sections plus top kit for the tench etc, even tried fishing shallow but nothing doing, so when the carp arrived on the feed in the margins, I started fishing on side leaving the other side to settle, had a nice mirror after about ten minutes, and caught six carp and two crucians, started on paste, then i tried some pieces of squid rings, which came with the mussels, and prawns which came in a frozen sea food bag, had both crucians on the squid plus a couple of carp as well, will get some more of this as it’s a good visible bait, and if the crucians like it, it’s worth having.
best carp was an ounce over ten lbs, so not a bad one, I had the big ghostie which I caught at 16 lb plus a couple of years ago in the the swim but it spooked when a smaller carp grabbed the bait before it.
so a nice day out with just a couple more fishing, and they went early, just spoilt a bit with another six carp or so which foul hooked there selves by swimming into the line, will have to trim the bank a bit so I can get my line tight to the bank to avoid this, it does happen though, and it takes a while to bring a carp in hooked in the tail.
nicest carp of the day a fully scaled mirror of 10 lbs 1oz.
fished my pole all day, out in the water at two sections plus top kit for the tench etc, even tried fishing shallow but nothing doing, so when the carp arrived on the feed in the margins, I started fishing on side leaving the other side to settle, had a nice mirror after about ten minutes, and caught six carp and two crucians, started on paste, then i tried some pieces of squid rings, which came with the mussels, and prawns which came in a frozen sea food bag, had both crucians on the squid plus a couple of carp as well, will get some more of this as it’s a good visible bait, and if the crucians like it, it’s worth having.
best carp was an ounce over ten lbs, so not a bad one, I had the big ghostie which I caught at 16 lb plus a couple of years ago in the the swim but it spooked when a smaller carp grabbed the bait before it.
so a nice day out with just a couple more fishing, and they went early, just spoilt a bit with another six carp or so which foul hooked there selves by swimming into the line, will have to trim the bank a bit so I can get my line tight to the bank to avoid this, it does happen though, and it takes a while to bring a carp in hooked in the tail.
nicest carp of the day a fully scaled mirror of 10 lbs 1oz.
flightliner
Well-known member
Another day on the tidal Trent yesterday but with the stickfloat hemp and tare.
I found a big willow that cast its shade across the my swim for the whole time I was there (noon /5pm).
The tide was low and as lazy as i've ever seen, but I still had a nice roach first run thro (upstream) that was encouraging. But afterwards it became harder to tempt a fish to the bait whilst the river was filling up.
Before it's ebb I plumbed the depth, added some 24" and as it started towards the sea noted its level on a big rock so I could adjust my depth accordingly then tried to get into some sort of fish catching rythm.
Sadly tho it it never materialised the odd fish did come to the net but not that many.
In total about a dozen roach and Chublets to 10oz or so. It was a quick decision to go, i should have checked the tide times at Hull but in my rush i forgot, next time I hope I remember!
I tried hard not to finnish on thirteen fish but after a half hour or so decided to end it and drive the 25 mile back home.
I found a big willow that cast its shade across the my swim for the whole time I was there (noon /5pm).
The tide was low and as lazy as i've ever seen, but I still had a nice roach first run thro (upstream) that was encouraging. But afterwards it became harder to tempt a fish to the bait whilst the river was filling up.
Before it's ebb I plumbed the depth, added some 24" and as it started towards the sea noted its level on a big rock so I could adjust my depth accordingly then tried to get into some sort of fish catching rythm.
Sadly tho it it never materialised the odd fish did come to the net but not that many.
In total about a dozen roach and Chublets to 10oz or so. It was a quick decision to go, i should have checked the tide times at Hull but in my rush i forgot, next time I hope I remember!
I tried hard not to finnish on thirteen fish but after a half hour or so decided to end it and drive the 25 mile back home.
@Clive
Well-known member
I picked Wilf up just before ten and we headed to a local stretch of the Vienne as he needed to be home earlier than usual to travel to a tractor rally tomorrow. I have fished the stretch before and knew that if we used maggots we would be plagued with bleak and tiny bream. If we used sweetcorn on conventional rigs there was a high risk of bite offs from carassins. So, I set us both up with inline feeders and 4" hook links. Size 12s and double sweetcorn.
Wilf is somewhat casual when it comes to striking. I often strike at the slightest twitch, faintest dip of the float, sometimes on instinct alone. Wilf likes to get his money's worth out of a bite. It could be ten minutes after losing sight of his float before he picks up the rod. It wasn't a surprise that he suffered a bite off despite the short hook length. I lost a good fish through a hook pull as it powered towards mid-river then it went quiet so I tried a sneaky change to a hair rigged boilie and landed a bream of around 3lb. I put my boilie hook link on Wilf's rod and replaced mine with another after I had lunch. While I was eating he lost two fish due to pointing the rod straight at them and winding like Bob Mortimer. Then I landed another bream before it all went quiet again.
Final score was 2:0 to me. The reverse of last time. We didn't bother with penalties.
Wilf is somewhat casual when it comes to striking. I often strike at the slightest twitch, faintest dip of the float, sometimes on instinct alone. Wilf likes to get his money's worth out of a bite. It could be ten minutes after losing sight of his float before he picks up the rod. It wasn't a surprise that he suffered a bite off despite the short hook length. I lost a good fish through a hook pull as it powered towards mid-river then it went quiet so I tried a sneaky change to a hair rigged boilie and landed a bream of around 3lb. I put my boilie hook link on Wilf's rod and replaced mine with another after I had lunch. While I was eating he lost two fish due to pointing the rod straight at them and winding like Bob Mortimer. Then I landed another bream before it all went quiet again.
Final score was 2:0 to me. The reverse of last time. We didn't bother with penalties.
Last edited:
Ray Roberts
Well-known member
I took my two granddaughters fishing today. We fished a club lake that is float only I loaned them a Darent Valley 0.75tc rod each and matched them with a couple of reels I bought from Lidl’s a few weeks back. The reels were loaded with four pound sensor, which is under rated for its breaking strain. My wife came along, which was nice. I bought her a non fishing ticket at the start of the season and it’s the first time she has come. To get to the lake is a bit of a mission for her but fortunately the banks and track are pretty flat and she could use a mobility scooter. At one o/clock we stopped and had a picnic which was pretty good as the club has supplied a couple of picnic tables.
Both kids are very competitive and the youngest was crowing that she was already three fish up on her sister, even though I hadn’t tackled her up yet. Lexi had the last laugh though as she ended up with two more fish despite Kaci’s flying start. There is a decent stamp of fish there and they ended up with several bream around the four pound mark, some nice tench up to around three pounds and a few very pretty mirror carp. I fished between being on untangling duties and wound up with around thirty fish, the best being a linear mirror of around ten pounds. I had one better roach and Kaci had a pretty rudd. The wildlife was interesting, with kingfishers zipping about and a couple of small grass snakes in the water in front of us. Both children said that they enjoyed the day and want to go again.
The best bait for me was whole mussels and the kids mainly used cooked prawns and sweetcorn.
Both kids are very competitive and the youngest was crowing that she was already three fish up on her sister, even though I hadn’t tackled her up yet. Lexi had the last laugh though as she ended up with two more fish despite Kaci’s flying start. There is a decent stamp of fish there and they ended up with several bream around the four pound mark, some nice tench up to around three pounds and a few very pretty mirror carp. I fished between being on untangling duties and wound up with around thirty fish, the best being a linear mirror of around ten pounds. I had one better roach and Kaci had a pretty rudd. The wildlife was interesting, with kingfishers zipping about and a couple of small grass snakes in the water in front of us. Both children said that they enjoyed the day and want to go again.
The best bait for me was whole mussels and the kids mainly used cooked prawns and sweetcorn.
I haven't posted much on here this season. Mainly because I've hardly caught anything and I've taken being in the wrong place at any given time to a new level. I've failed to catch tench on a pit with millions. I've taken a friend to a pool to show him to catch bream on the pole and caught two small perch. I've blanked on a canal and caught 2lb of dace on a river where I'd bet on catching 10lb. Yesterday I fought through the traffic to the river, parked up at 4 different places looking for a good vacant swim, settled on one, put my gear on the trolley and noticed I had no landing net. No problem. I'll go to the nearest town and buy one. Until I found I'd also left my wallet at home. Early bath. That's how it's been.
I hardly dared go out today, but I'm glad I did. I fished 3 til 6.30 on a lovely warm, still afternoon in a 9' deep swim with a heavy flow, using a 10g line-through-the-body slider and either mussel or meat on the hook, feeding lots of hemp. I had this barbel first run down, and another 10 like it
Chub, one of my favourite fish, are in short supply around here, so I was really pleased to catch 3 chub, all much the same size
Great. I felt like Rasmus Hojlund scoring a goal. Ok, maybe not quite that.
I hardly dared go out today, but I'm glad I did. I fished 3 til 6.30 on a lovely warm, still afternoon in a 9' deep swim with a heavy flow, using a 10g line-through-the-body slider and either mussel or meat on the hook, feeding lots of hemp. I had this barbel first run down, and another 10 like it
Chub, one of my favourite fish, are in short supply around here, so I was really pleased to catch 3 chub, all much the same size
Great. I felt like Rasmus Hojlund scoring a goal. Ok, maybe not quite that.
well your granddaughters are catching bigger tench than i usually catch ray.
Ray Roberts
Well-known member
There are some prolific tench waters in the clubs I belong to. Even the river Eden has a good head of tench, which is surprising for a fairly narrow streamy river, but I’ve had them to six and a half pounds. The grandchildren don’t really know how good they have it.well your granddaughters are catching bigger tench than i usually catch ray.