flightliner
Well-known member
Those rush lined margins make me drool Jerry !.
How did you get on?
- Thread starter peter crabtree
- Start date
robertroach
Well-known member
Looks like a perfect roach - they really are the most beautiful fish!
peter crabtree
AKA Simon, 1953 - 2022 (RIP)
After my reccy on the river Gade yesterday I decided to give it a go. Arrived around 3pm and set up my 15" float rod with 3BB stickfloat rig. Plumbed it up and it was barely 2ft deep but still fairly coloured..
Started on single maggot and it was a minnow a chuck so I upped it to double maggot but they kept coming...By now I was gagging for a cuppa and pulled out my flask. In my rush to get out I'd forgotten my cup
mg: so I tried to drink from the mouth of the flask Aaaargh it was boiling hot.
Ended up pouring it into the lid of my float box...
Suitably refreshed I resumed trotting and had my first proper fish...
Followed by.....
Then another roach...
After that excitement the minnows returned so I upped to treble maggot....
Hmmmm home time.....
Started on single maggot and it was a minnow a chuck so I upped it to double maggot but they kept coming...By now I was gagging for a cuppa and pulled out my flask. In my rush to get out I'd forgotten my cup
mg: so I tried to drink from the mouth of the flask Aaaargh it was boiling hot. Ended up pouring it into the lid of my float box...
Suitably refreshed I resumed trotting and had my first proper fish...
Followed by.....
Then another roach...
After that excitement the minnows returned so I upped to treble maggot....
Hmmmm home time.....
B
binka
Guest
Never got out today but did have a look at the local town centre mill dam this afternoon, deserted other than for a lone angler who took countless roach to 10oz in the hour or so I was chatting with him.
Sods law that I'm working tomorrow but I'm chomping at the bit to get on there by mid-week.
As this was the water where I spent most of my spare time from the age of around nine I might even go for the full on trip down memory lane and take some wicker... And a cushion!
Sods law that I'm working tomorrow but I'm chomping at the bit to get on there by mid-week.
As this was the water where I spent most of my spare time from the age of around nine I might even go for the full on trip down memory lane and take some wicker... And a cushion!
robtherake
Well-known member
Never got out today but did have a look at the local town centre mill dam this afternoon, deserted other than for a lone angler who took countless roach to 10oz in the hour or so I was chatting with him.
Sods law that I'm working tomorrow but I'm chomping at the bit to get on there by mid-week.
As this was the water where I spent most of my spare time from the age of around nine I might even go for the full on trip down memory lane and take some wicker... And a cushion!
Nothing worse than the dreaded "basket bum," is there.
B
binka
Guest
Nothing worse than the dreaded "basket bum," is there.
That used to drive me up the wall Rob, there's only so much shuffling around before it becomes apparent to everyone that you're scratching your arris
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As this was the water where I spent most of my spare time from the age of around nine I might even go for the full on trip down memory lane and take some wicker... And a cushion!
Don't do it Steve, wicker will buckle under your adult weight and you might crush your nice float box and floats
S-Kippy
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Don't do it Steve, wicker will buckle under your adult weight and you might crush your nice float box and floats
Our very own "Wreck It Ralph" and a wicker basket ?
What could possibly go wrong ?
B
binka
Guest
Our very own "Wreck It Ralph" and a wicker basket ?
Those of little faith, it's outlasted several chairs so far... You'll see!
dorsetandchub
Well-known member
To be fair, I've got beer in the fridge that's outlasted some of your chairs
Chefster
Well-known member
Tunnel Barn Farm open today,32 in attendance ,so split between New pool and Extension pool....My mate Bad H ,came away from the drawbag with New 10-Flyer!!,i got Ext 13,which is usually a good peg or $hite!!,depends which way the wind is blowing,its right in a corner,narrow,10m wide,about 4ft down the track,but being in a corner ,plenty of water to go at!
I had Steve(The Maggot" johnson(venue expert),next peg,i could see him across the island!!and keep my eye on him
I had a very slow start,and didnt open my account for over an hour,steve had had 5 F1,s by then..first fish was a small mirror,then nothing again,i kept rotating my pellet lines whilst prepping my maggot line with 3-4 maggots ,thrown every few minutes...the pellet lines started to work and i managed to string a few together,finishing with 27 F1,s ,1 mirror,and a few silvers for 42-9-0.....Elsewhere the pool had fished a bit better,with Ron Notley on 23 having a very nice 70lb odd,and Tony Mcguire on flyer 21 having 53lb odd,my weight was out of the frame,but i won the section ,my side of the lake,Steve Johnson,won the section his side,by triple default with 40-2-0...My mate Bad H ,done the business off New 10,and had a nice 54lb odd for 2nd on the pool ,to Chris Constable with 56lb odd..so we both caught a few and had a pick-up as well
we,re fishing the Monday open there next week,at Tunnel,and we have our first open of the year at Toft Carp lake(Rugby),on Tues,its been shut all winter,and opens 1st March,so should be interesting...tight lines Gazza
,i got Ext 13,which is usually a good peg or $hite!!,depends which way the wind is blowing,its right in a corner,narrow,10m wide,about 4ft down the track,but being in a corner ,plenty of water to go at!I had Steve(The Maggot" johnson(venue expert),next peg,i could see him across the island!!and keep my eye on him
I had a very slow start,and didnt open my account for over an hour,steve had had 5 F1,s by then..first fish was a small mirror,then nothing again,i kept rotating my pellet lines whilst prepping my maggot line with 3-4 maggots ,thrown every few minutes...the pellet lines started to work and i managed to string a few together,finishing with 27 F1,s ,1 mirror,and a few silvers for 42-9-0.....Elsewhere the pool had fished a bit better,with Ron Notley on 23 having a very nice 70lb odd,and Tony Mcguire on flyer 21 having 53lb odd,my weight was out of the frame,but i won the section ,my side of the lake,Steve Johnson,won the section his side,by triple default with 40-2-0...My mate Bad H ,done the business off New 10,and had a nice 54lb odd for 2nd on the pool ,to Chris Constable with 56lb odd..so we both caught a few and had a pick-up as well
we,re fishing the Monday open there next week,at Tunnel,and we have our first open of the year at Toft Carp lake(Rugby),on Tues,its been shut all winter,and opens 1st March,so should be interesting...tight lines Gazza
Pete Shears
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One pike of 15lb 8oz today from a different reservoir to the usual one - good company with a couple of mates,brilliant sunshine,could not have been better really.
Neil Maidment
Moderator
Well yes, lovely sunshine that was accompanied by hail stones the size of pellets so liked by Ebro catfish
I was stood in the water playing a very nice chub at the time. :whI did manage a couple more but also lost one and bounced a couple. Good to be back on the river bank after nearly three weeks
Tee-Cee
Senior Member
Chefster......As a matter of interest what would the winner ( of such a match as the one you fished above ) receive in prize money ??
I can only imagine the outlay for bait and travel etc so I assume match fishing must offer a decent return, although with so many quality fishermen around it must be close to impossible to actually make money................?
ps Don't worry, I have no intention of bursting onto the match scene any time soon !!
Anyway, back to ' proper ' fishing (!) ;
Extracting roach this past week totally came down to conditions, and to be honest the returns didn't match the effort, but then I always knew that would be the case, and I do enjoy a challenge..... I caught fish, some reasonable, but it was hard work and took several changes in set-up to ' snaffle ' (apologies to Yates ) one or two fish on the coldest days. For example, on freezing Friday last I blanked, on milder Saturday I had two very nice fish, and on balmy Sunday I had 9 /10 roach that need the net.
Yesterday, a sort of mixture of all three days weather wise, I had a similar quantity of fish including one on hemp ( with others missed on the strike ) when the sun burst through around mid morning, otherwise it was the tried and tested red maggot to a 22 that did the trick, with most fish coming from mid water. It is worth mentioning that the constant changing of depth ( up and down a few inches either side of the plumbed depth ) seemed to make all the difference, and in my opinion necessary, on what can only be described a difficult water. In such variable conditions I believe it really pays to make the effort to mess with depth and shotting rather than sit, hoping for the best.....
The above returns are still meagre by some standards, but I have to report the loss of several good fish which IMHO came down to the small hook AND fishing the maggot handlebar. I tried heavens hard to raise interest on a 18 and 20 ( along with conventional hooking of said maggots ) but they didn't want to know, so I suffered the loss and just tried to make very dip of the float count.... Still damned annoying, though ! ( Maybe a softer rod for fishing so close in would help ? )
The next few days will be hard as heavy frost takes hold once again, but I shall be out every day, ALTHOUGH if it is very cold, like minus degrees, I may well reset the clock and go ' Jerry o' clock ' and fish into the afternoon / evening...
Goodness only knows what I will do with the early mornings, sitting at home waiting for 10am................................Hohohoho
ps The interest in hemp may well offer some better fish in the midday sun ( Ugh ! ) so I shall give it a thorough thrashing !!
pps Jerry...I thought the Gunners gave it a good go last night and an early goal might've made all the difference. Too many missed chances, although they can make amends come 5th March when the title may well be decided .............( add a smilie here )
I can only imagine the outlay for bait and travel etc so I assume match fishing must offer a decent return, although with so many quality fishermen around it must be close to impossible to actually make money................?
ps Don't worry, I have no intention of bursting onto the match scene any time soon !!
Anyway, back to ' proper ' fishing (!) ;
Extracting roach this past week totally came down to conditions, and to be honest the returns didn't match the effort, but then I always knew that would be the case, and I do enjoy a challenge..... I caught fish, some reasonable, but it was hard work and took several changes in set-up to ' snaffle ' (apologies to Yates ) one or two fish on the coldest days. For example, on freezing Friday last I blanked, on milder Saturday I had two very nice fish, and on balmy Sunday I had 9 /10 roach that need the net.
Yesterday, a sort of mixture of all three days weather wise, I had a similar quantity of fish including one on hemp ( with others missed on the strike ) when the sun burst through around mid morning, otherwise it was the tried and tested red maggot to a 22 that did the trick, with most fish coming from mid water. It is worth mentioning that the constant changing of depth ( up and down a few inches either side of the plumbed depth ) seemed to make all the difference, and in my opinion necessary, on what can only be described a difficult water. In such variable conditions I believe it really pays to make the effort to mess with depth and shotting rather than sit, hoping for the best.....
The above returns are still meagre by some standards, but I have to report the loss of several good fish which IMHO came down to the small hook AND fishing the maggot handlebar. I tried heavens hard to raise interest on a 18 and 20 ( along with conventional hooking of said maggots ) but they didn't want to know, so I suffered the loss and just tried to make very dip of the float count.... Still damned annoying, though ! ( Maybe a softer rod for fishing so close in would help ? )
The next few days will be hard as heavy frost takes hold once again, but I shall be out every day, ALTHOUGH if it is very cold, like minus degrees, I may well reset the clock and go ' Jerry o' clock ' and fish into the afternoon / evening...
Goodness only knows what I will do with the early mornings, sitting at home waiting for 10am................................Hohohoho
ps The interest in hemp may well offer some better fish in the midday sun ( Ugh ! ) so I shall give it a thorough thrashing !!
pps Jerry...I thought the Gunners gave it a good go last night and an early goal might've made all the difference. Too many missed chances, although they can make amends come 5th March when the title may well be decided .............( add a smilie here )
Last edited:
seth49
Well-known member
Well I had my first days fly fishing on stocks reservoir, up here in Lancashire.
Beautiful sunny day and fairly warm after early frost cleared.
Great to be back up here again, it's my 41 st season on here. It's a great day out the curlews were calling all ready, and lots of birds singing in the sunshine.
Saw a barn owl,buzzards and lapwings, plus lots of waterfowl.
After an hour or so had my first trout on a black and green lure, about two pounds in weight. Caught two more same weight after.
Then lost three on the trot, afterwards I caught two more.
My mate had four. On chap had a good fish of about ten pounds.
Everybody seemed to be catching.
Good day out.
Beautiful sunny day and fairly warm after early frost cleared.
Great to be back up here again, it's my 41 st season on here. It's a great day out the curlews were calling all ready, and lots of birds singing in the sunshine.
Saw a barn owl,buzzards and lapwings, plus lots of waterfowl.
After an hour or so had my first trout on a black and green lure, about two pounds in weight. Caught two more same weight after.
Then lost three on the trot, afterwards I caught two more.
My mate had four. On chap had a good fish of about ten pounds.
Everybody seemed to be catching.
Good day out.
robtherake
Well-known member
The same problem with some stillwater roach that I've yet to get to grips with led me to use a soft-tipped original Drennan Waggler rod. They surface immediately and use the stiffness of the top to flick themselves off the hook and I've lost a number of certain two-pounders this way. A genuinely through-actioned float rod was useless; the tip needs to be really soft and flexible so that they can't use it as a lever. I certainly get more in with the Drennan, although I'm still looking for a better option. I can't help feeling that most modern float rods are too beefy, so maybe an 80s/90s rod (a canal rod?) is the way to go.
Chefster
Well-known member
Usually between £70-£100 pick-up for winner in most opens,then less for 2nd and 3rd,then usually £30-£40 for a section payout,money is spread about more nowadays,although there is usually an optional superpool,which can push winnings up as well..As you say,bit of a lottery really,a lot of good anglers,a lot of good pegs,a lot of poor pegs,I dont think many anglers actually make money,over the season,probably lose it...only ones who come out on top are the likes of Fishomania or Maver Match this winners
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I had a couple of hours roaving the river today, although it was cold it was the best day "weatherwise" for ages, great to be out on the bank in the sun for a change! I had to walk several miles and drop into lots of swims to get any joy but it was nice being surrounded by hundreds of various species of wildfoul, and even a barn owl which was hunting up and down the river banks and then returning to the barn when it dropped onto a rodent...must have had a clutch on the go. I put a few hares up on the banks as I walked them and there where a couple of them sparring/boxing in one field...funny how they loose their fear of predators as much when their on the hunt for sexy times .
Anyhow, I did catch a few chub, nothing of any size but they did pull back for their size...
.Anyhow, I did catch a few chub, nothing of any size but they did pull back for their size...
robtherake
Well-known member
Sounds like it was a brilliant day, Ian. I feel sorry for those people who are so suckered into what passes for real life these days; look at what they're missing.
B
binka
Guest
Well,
I managed to get a day on my ancient town centre dam as planned although the starting temperature was probably not the best I could have hoped for at a chilly -4° just after dawn…
Fortunately the dam is river fed (hence being a dam I guess!) and the movement had prevented it from completely icing over during the night, I hadn’t picked the best conditions for a trip down memory lane especially as the whole place is barely a couple of feet deep with several feet of soft silty bottom below that but we got into the mood and gave it a go all the same…
After plumbing up a 3bb Stillwater waggler I decided on a distance of around two and a half rod lengths out for absolutely no reason whatsoever other than it felt comfortable, there was no marginal shelf or underwater features and I left a good length of tip showing being as I was fishing the worm…
So far so good and I was pretty sure I was in for a grueller so it was time to pour myself some steaming hot tea and watch as the rod rings then iced over…
Hmmm!
A couple of awkward casts later and I was wondering if I would make it to the afternoon and the time that I figured my chances would be at their best when low and behold that magic happened and the float just gently slid away in no particular hurry at all.
A plucky little scrap gave way to a small but plump roach which progressed to become many roach and all pretty much peas in a pod in respect of size but just look at the condition…
As clean and mint as any I’ve caught anywhere.
I took a steady stream of these and had amassed around three dozen by early afternoon with the sole interruption of a small perch around the same size and then I hit into what I’m fairly certain was a carp as it led me a merry dance before doing me on the hooklink during one of its underwater rolls.
Back to the roach for the duration of the afternoon and then a bonus chub just before dusk (the origins of which I can trace right back to the early eighties courtesy of a local tackle dealer, a van, some water filled dustbins and the River Trent) and the day was rounded off nicely…
A thoroughly enjoyable day with glorious sunshine, you can say what you like about warm clothing but there’s nothing as good as catching a few fish to make you forget about the cold :w
I managed to get a day on my ancient town centre dam as planned although the starting temperature was probably not the best I could have hoped for at a chilly -4° just after dawn…
Fortunately the dam is river fed (hence being a dam I guess!) and the movement had prevented it from completely icing over during the night, I hadn’t picked the best conditions for a trip down memory lane especially as the whole place is barely a couple of feet deep with several feet of soft silty bottom below that but we got into the mood and gave it a go all the same…
After plumbing up a 3bb Stillwater waggler I decided on a distance of around two and a half rod lengths out for absolutely no reason whatsoever other than it felt comfortable, there was no marginal shelf or underwater features and I left a good length of tip showing being as I was fishing the worm…
So far so good and I was pretty sure I was in for a grueller so it was time to pour myself some steaming hot tea and watch as the rod rings then iced over…
Hmmm!
A couple of awkward casts later and I was wondering if I would make it to the afternoon and the time that I figured my chances would be at their best when low and behold that magic happened and the float just gently slid away in no particular hurry at all.
A plucky little scrap gave way to a small but plump roach which progressed to become many roach and all pretty much peas in a pod in respect of size but just look at the condition…
As clean and mint as any I’ve caught anywhere.
I took a steady stream of these and had amassed around three dozen by early afternoon with the sole interruption of a small perch around the same size and then I hit into what I’m fairly certain was a carp as it led me a merry dance before doing me on the hooklink during one of its underwater rolls.
Back to the roach for the duration of the afternoon and then a bonus chub just before dusk (the origins of which I can trace right back to the early eighties courtesy of a local tackle dealer, a van, some water filled dustbins and the River Trent) and the day was rounded off nicely…
A thoroughly enjoyable day with glorious sunshine, you can say what you like about warm clothing but there’s nothing as good as catching a few fish to make you forget about the cold :w