How did you get on?

[greenie62]

...The day after getting home, in the late evening, a squawk from on high turned out to be what I assume was the same Stork (an immature specimen ringed in France) flying over my allotment in Saltburn! A little detective work confirmed that it had recently left Spurn for pastures new. What are the chances of that happening then?....

Hi Rob,
Don't want to worry you - but it looks like you've got a Storker! mg:
Tight Lines!

 

[wes79]

Yeeeeeaaaahhhhhhh

Ended up finding a local weatherspoons and caught a few Ciders.....

 

[dorsetandchub]

As Rob and his harem of birds got such a warm welcome, my next report may very well lean heavily on the activities of Daubenton's bats that I noted recently on a stretch of the Stour.

(If you're into bats, this is actually a real treat!! Rare!!)

But just remember, no hook or shot sizes - you brought it on yourselves!!

 

[john step]

Over the last couple of months i have changed a few bits of kit. New chair. New bag and last week i treated myself to two new barbel rods, so was itching to get out and use them. Normally i give the barbel a miss until the middle of august but these rods were calling use me use me.
So up at six and by half past was on my way to the old mill at Aldermaston on the Kennet. Two miles from home i realized i had forgotten my flask so back home to get it.. Off i go again. Half way there a pigeon flies through the hedge straight in front of me. Sorry pigeon. Nothing else can go wrong-- Can it.
On arriving at the venue there was only two other anglers in the car park......Result.... straight to the lawn area. Walking over to swim i looked like Mr brand new. Now i normally set my rods up the night before an put them in a sleeve. These new rods are three piece and i do not have sleeves that are four foot long, so decided to set them up on the bank..
Standing at my chosen swim, reach into my pocket and no glasses. Mrs smudger had decided to wash my Swiss army fleece and remove all of its contents.
It took over an hour to set up and tie hooklinks.
At the end of the day 2 chub and two trout.

The drive home was uneventful.

Sorry to be a smartarse but for that very reason I always have a spare(my last pair) in the car. As well as and old trout net, reel and a bag of pellets and a tin of meat, torch etc. Well I was a boy scout once.

 

[no-one in particular]

Hi Rob,
Don't want to worry you - but it looks like you've got a Storker! mg:
Tight Lines!

Can it get worse

 

[neil1970]

I spent two hours on a rising tide fishing off Horseshoe ledge.

I fished do sub surface plugs and poppers for bass and weedless shades though the weeds for wrasse.

Really chuffed to catch a little Wrasse! A few casts later and the lures tail got bitten off.:

 

[binka]

Looks like you're having a great time Neil, those Wrasse are cracking looking fish aren't they?

I remember catching them from Lamorna Cove in Cornwall on a sliding float rig fished just above the rocks and weed using Aberdeen hooks and rag worm threaded onto them and I never got tired of it, every now and again the small brown Pollack would move in and devour everything in sight.

Happy days

 

[stu_the_blank]

(If you're into bats, this is actually a real treat!! Rare!!)

They are a fantastic sight, known as the water bat I believe; they skim the water in search of insects. I have got some on the river at the bottom of the garden, I found out when I had the local bat group around to log the nursery roost of soprano pipistrelles I have in my roof (they have a higher frequency 'ping'than the normal ones) We searched the rest of my property with the bat box and to my amazement, Daubertons water bats and two other species present.

Stu

 

[smudger172]

Sorry to be a smartarse but for that very reason I always have a spare(my last pair) in the car. As well as and old trout net, reel and a bag of pellets and a tin of meat, torch etc. Well I was a boy scout once.

To be honest John i always have a spare pair in the glove box and a pair in the tackle bag and two pairs in the fleece. The car was changed two weeks ago for a better fishing estate and like a pillock i did not re-home the glasses, the rest you know.

Try setting up a rod without glasses if you are optically challenged. Its not that easy.......................

 

[dorsetandchub]

They are a fantastic sight, known as the water bat I believe; they skim the water in search of insects. I have got some on the river at the bottom of the garden, I found out when I had the local bat group around to log the nursery roost of soprano pipistrelles I have in my roof (they have a higher frequency 'ping'than the normal ones) We searched the rest of my property with the bat box and to my amazement, Daubertons water bats and two other species present.

Stu

Lucky lad. Good for you. Enjoy them, they're fantastic. Plenty of Pipistrelles around my place but don't live on water so Daubs are a real treat.

Best Regards.

 

[sumtime]

I remember catching them from Lamorna Cove in Cornwall on a sliding float rig fished just above the rocks and weed using Aberdeen hooks and rag worm threaded onto them and I never got tired of it, every now and again the small brown Pollack would move in and devour everything in sight.

Happy days

Had many down there meself, binka, lovely area.

 

[tigger]

I had a few hours on the river today, it was a slow start but developed into a decent session. I had small chub, a few dace and a couple of trout. I lost count of the barbel I landed, it was either 10 or eleven (not that it matters) and I lost another when the line was sheered off just above the hook on some hidden object and I pulled out of another due to the hit and hold tactics I have to use in this swim. Here's a few pic's from the session, one of em weighted 10lb 8 ounces, can remember which one it was lol....

 

[itsfishingnotcatching]

Nice to see you obtained a similar float Tigger, are they Dave Harrell wire stemmed?

 

[tigger]

Nice to see you obtained a similar float Tigger, are they Dave Harrell wire stemmed?

I have a drawer full of 'em lol. That one in the pic is a 4 gram version, it was my last 5 gram that floated away the other day.
They're Steve Maher avon bolo's with a carbon stem. I use Woodys alloy stemmed in some swims, usualy fast water with a chop/riffle on the surface, I find they're more stable in those conditions.

 

[robtherake]

Thats quite a list of birds and after looking up Alba wagtail as I have never heard of them it appears they are usually referred to as white wagtails, I never knew of them but, they are a distinct species from the pied wagtail; I never knew that. Once had the pleasure of watching short eared owls hunting once over fields as I packed up fishing in the twilight, it was quite mesmerizing.
Apologies to go off subject but that's a notable bird watch.

The observatory website lists them as Alba, rather than White; maybe it's a local name variation? I watched a small group of them, bamboozled by the white colour scheme of the "Pied Wagtails." It was only later, on checking with the little pocket book that lives in my Korum bag, that I realised they were a distinct species. A proper birder pointed out the Wood Sandpiper, which I'd misidentified as a Green Sandpiper, having never seen either. A real greeny turned up shortly after, as if to point out the difference. Greenshank, too and Snipe. If I'd looked on the website before we left I could have added a Black Tern to the list - at another pond just 100 yards up the road! Don't mind admitting that I felt like a little boy on Christmas morn, even jumping up and down when the owl came out to play, and whooping like a Yank. All in all, it was an outstanding few days. It's also prompted me to get my pencils and watercolours back out after a hiatus of 30 years. Isn't nature wonderful?

---------- Post added at 15:00 ---------- Previous post was at 14:47 ----------

Looks like you're having a great time Neil, those Wrasse are cracking looking fish aren't they?

I remember catching them from Lamorna Cove in Cornwall on a sliding float rig fished just above the rocks and weed using Aberdeen hooks and rag worm threaded onto them and I never got tired of it, every now and again the small brown Pollack would move in and devour everything in sight.

Happy days

Me too, from a little slipway next to a cement works, or some such. The water was so clear it was possible to watch them dash out of the seaweed and nail the bait - not so easy to hook them though; they're seriously quick off the mark! My companion had the best one, maybe 2 pounds; they scrapped really hard on a light float fishing outfit and were partial to a piece of prawn.

---------- Post added at 15:07 ---------- Previous post was at 15:00 ----------

As Rob and his harem of birds got such a warm welcome, my next report may very well lean heavily on the activities of Daubenton's bats that I noted recently on a stretch of the Stour.

(If you're into bats, this is actually a real treat!! Rare!!)

But just remember, no hook or shot sizes - you brought it on yourselves!!

I'm looking forward to that, Phil.

 

[binka]

Me too, from a little slipway next to a cement works, or some such. The water was so clear it was possible to watch them dash out of the seaweed and nail the bait - not so easy to hook them though; they're seriously quick off the mark! My companion had the best one, maybe 2 pounds; they scrapped really hard on a light float fishing outfit and were partial to a piece of prawn.

Pemberth was the other place I fished Rob, very nice off the rocks.

The fisherman in the cottages had a cat that wouldn't leave me alone until I gave it a fish!

My very first, doubting cast resulted in a nice wrasse of around 2lb which blipped the drag when I wasn't looking and I never bettered it in many sessions afterwards.

 

[tincatim]

Sadly it's my last day off before I'm thrust back in to the reality of work tomorrow. I fancied somewhere different so travelled to Westwood Resevoir near Chapeltown. I must admit it felt good to drive past my place of work at 6:45 this morning imagining a glorious day of fishing in the sun

I've not fished this place before and I must say at first glance it looks beautiful. About 3-4 acres and lined with reeds. A calming mist covered the water as I walked (Yomped more like!) to my peg on the far side.

I'd been busy recycling bread the day before and had made up a brown crumb/halibut pellet/cat biscuit/digestive groundbait. In went some sweetcorn and caster and I started plumbing up. After reading a bit online I was expecting about 8ft, with areas even deeper. Not so in my case, 5ft was the most I could find at 11m.

Anyway, the first hour was fantastic. 10 roach all worthy of netting, 2 skimmers about a pound, a chub of around 2lb and some perch. Here go I thought, I'm gonna empty the place!

Then it went quiet, very quiet. I fed a margin swim and another at 11m and persevered, swallowing up, moving shot about and trying different bait. Up to this point I'd not mixed any of my home brew groundbait up, with nothing to lose I balled in 4 tennis ball size lumps and took five to have a sandwich.

It did the trick as I started getting bites immediately. Skimmers and roach, the roach were all of a decent stamp but none reaching the pound. Gudgeon and perch by the bucket load too. Then to complete the day I managed this scabby looking crucian.

It's been in the wars but I'm more than happy as that puts me on 17 out of 22 in my little 2015 species challenge

 

[dorsetandchub]

My last day off before back to work tomorrow (three days off moving boxes, furniture and mostly books into storage) so decided on an afternoon / early evening session on the Dorset Stour at Longham.

For the winter I'd decided to get a Sturminster Newton club book as I've been having a look at the river in that area and the shoal of roach I came across a couple of weeks back really kicked my interest buds into action.

Still, for today Longham it was and, on the way, I made another decision, after seeing Binka and a great many others on here produce some fab photos, I decided from next time to take my camera (the easy bit) and learn how to put the pics in with the report (feel my technophobia beginning to surge).

Arriving at the river, Normark Titan 2 tooled with an Abu 704, 4.6lb Bayer to a size 18 Drennan to 4lb, the float being a Woody's stick with 6 no. 4 loading. The line being security if a decent chub showed up.

On went two red maggots (and the bait apron and the I-pod, a recently downloaded Northern Soul album).

I fed hemp and a few loose reds but nothing, missed what might have been a couple of bites but the bait wasn't damaged and felt nothing solid so possibly not.

Half an hour in and, being Longham, a small boy arrived to ask if I had any spare hooks. True to form and soft as, the remainder of my hooks to nylon were donated, hopefully to a good cause.

That said, perhaps good deeds attract a reward of sorts as my first positive bite brought a dace of around 4oz, then another, same, and in quick succession a dozen or so between 1 and around 5oz.

The dace had obviously backed off or moved on as no more, for the moment anyway. Emergency measures and a flask of coffee brought about some more action. I changed to single red maggot and the next bite, when it came, brought a great big smile to my face. An angry gonk (gudgeon) shaking its little head at me, I love them so much this one got a Rex Hunt peck and put back for more. And I did, I had two more before some small perch muscled in with another small dace to punctuate them.

I was really beginning to enjoy this small fish fest, especially as the Met Office had predicted storms in the next few days.

Taking time out to chat to another angler walking back past me, he'd stuck it out all day in the hope of a barbel with one modest chub for his reward, I was quite happy with my decision to batter the bits.

Trotting again and a bite produced a better fish, didn't feel giant but definitely better. And there it was, the chub that Longham is renowned for. A modest pound or so in this case but enjoyable and welcome none the less.

Four hours flew by and I wanted to get away before rush hour as, especially this time of year, Dorset can be pretty busy at times and Longham is a bad bottleneck.

Home to a big mug of tea, a chat on the phone with Tim and dreams of those big roach.

There you go. As I've now warned you, the next one might mention bats and carry photos. Be afraid.....


Have a great week and regards to all.

 

[itsfishingnotcatching]

and the I-pod, a recently downloaded Northern Soul album

Keep the Faith Phil and roll on the LIF "All-Dayer", (even if it's "Souled Out"mg.

 

[Tee-Cee]

Regarding trigger's lost float ;

I was about to ask if you'd waded / dived in to retrieve said float and then I read the post stating you have ' a draw, full of 'em ' !! Nice looking floats though, and some good basic info on use ....

ps " one barbel was 10lb 8ozs, but I don't remember which one it was "....Don't you just love it ! Made me smile and good to see a bit of light humour on FM.....


ps I think the posts on this Thread just get better and better...some really good stuff !