How did you get on?

[skov]

Had a couple of hours to burn yesterday evening while my kids were doing their thing at the leisure centre. Luckily for me the leisure centre is a two minute walk from the Great Ouse

I like to pack light for these sort of sessions - just a spinning rod, landing net, unhooking mat, and a small bag containing lures etc.
Oh, and my skateboard to quickly travel between swims - less time walking, more time fishing!

As is usually the case, the perch were nowhere to be found...

However while trying to get my lure out of overhanging tree, I managed to shake all sorts of debris off it into the water, which was followed by some fishing looking swirls on the surface.
Rather than put another lure on I stuck a size 10 hook on and reached into my bag for a solitary slice of bread I happened to bring with me.
Flicked it into the water and bang - nice little chub on the end
Carried on like this and managed to pull 7 or 8 small chub out of my swim before my slice of bread ran out. Great fun!

Switched back to lures for the last half hour or so, but never did find the perch.

 

[flightliner]

Skov, love the skateboard bit, puts a whole new slant on fishing transport.!

 

[lakhyaman]

I have posted this photo earlier about fishing a particular hole in the ground:

But the water's came in two nights ago and filled it right up!

Muddy hole filled up by the floods overnight!

The Rohu (Labeo rohita) is a column feeder feeding at all levels in the water. The new water had surely brought in an influx of food in the upper layers which were still to settle in the still waters of the tank.

A pathetic attempt to imitate the inimitable Binka and manufacture a perch bobber had left me with something that would carry enough shot and a large bait up in the water. It was slid on to the line and fished as a slider at four feet over an actual depth of fifteen feet.

Since imitation is the sincerest compliment I even pulled out a Hardy Marksman Smuggler Ultralite Avon rod a la the proverbial above mentioned Inimitable!

The whole lot was flicked out twenty feet from the bank. Bait was the usual blob of bread paste mixed with ants eggs!

The pathetic imitation and the set up.

The bobber bobbing and dimpling the water as a fish shows interest

"..And away she goes!"

A leaping blur of fish and foam followed

A Rohu (Labeo rohita), a little under two pounds! They grow much bigger.

Many followed until the light went. The bite switched off so we switched to whiskey!

All the best

Lakhyaman

 

[skov]

Skov, love the skateboard bit, puts a whole new slant on fishing transport.!

Thanks man!
There's a nice new tarmac path that runs along the river here which makes it ideal. I doubt there are many places where it's a viable form of fishing transport!
Don't half get some funny looks too

 

[robtherake]

Look at the change in the vegetation on Lakhyaman's post - from brown and wan to green and vital in no time at all. Incredible!

 

[dorsetandchub]

Just the idiot in me thinking that a skateboard should be much wider than that. Skate are massive, saw one caught off Mull once mg:

 

[lakhyaman]

Look at the change in the vegetation on Lakhyaman's post - from brown and wan to green and vital in no time at all. Incredible!

Robtherake

Actually the original photo is from December, three months into the dry season. It actually got dryer right through April. A little rain in May saw it begin to revive. Regular rain through July has made it green with the new floods making it absolutely lush.

All the best

Lakhyaman

 

[robtherake]

Robtherake

Actually the original photo is from December, three months into the dry season. It actually got dryer right through April. A little rain in May saw it begin to revive. Regular rain through July has made it green with the new floods making it absolutely lush.

All the best

Lakhyaman

That's burst my bubble...I liked my version best.

 

[binka]

A much needed day of soul cleansing and after fourteen hours of it, beginning at just gone 5am this morning, I now feel purer than a gallon of Buxton Spring.

No matter how long you’ve been at it there’s always something new in this game and I’ve shaken off the lethargy of last week by somehow banking no fewer than ten different species, something I can’t think I’ve ever done off of stillwater let alone the river.

Roll back to Thursday evening and I was pairing Avon rods up with a view to having a crack at the barbel but my heart just wasn’t in it and by the time I reached the tackle shop on Friday it was almost like a tourettes moment, I reached the counter and a couple of tins of hemp and a bag of hali pellets suddenly turned into four pints of reds!

Ah well, I was feeling optimistic about my range of options if nothing else.

Light float rod was the plan with the 15’ float rod rigged up and ready with a fixed paternoster float rig for when the inevitable bleak came along and the idea was to feed them onto this for a chance at a decent stripey.

I’m chuffed to bits with the 15’ rod, it’s no balls out trotting rod yet it will still do a cracking job and comfortably swing out a small livie with a 1.5oz paternoster lead and it’s filling its remit very well indeed.

Anyway, back to the light float rod and a succession of bits flowed with a straggler 1lb perch to boot before the tiniest Miller’s Thumb ever to be caught on rod and line put in a rare appearance.

He couldn’t quite get the hook in his gob but had gorged himself on the wedged maggot…



This came from the very same swim which I can ever recall catching another one from on rod and line some two or three years ago.

Fish of the weekend for sure.

Whilst the bits kept coming I was keeping a sharp eye on the livebait paternoster rig and the first bleak snaffer happened along in the form of a small jack…



Sometime later and by no small fluke of timing and phone photography the perch bobber bobbethed but what would it turn out to be, a perch, a pike, a hungry chub maybe?



Nope, it was…






























A surprise zander!



I say surprise as it was around midday by this time.

A decent perch eventually, and ironically, came along by late afternoon and I say ironically as it snaffled a single maggot on a size 18 under a stick float no further than three feet away from a livebait but this came as no great surprise as I have learned that they have previous form for getting preoccupied with the constant rain of feed but at 2lb 9ozs on my recently polished and calibrated scales I was pretty chuffed…



And that’s about it really.

I had planned to stay until dusk but felt like I had a touch of sunstroke coming on by 7pm and so I was away with a species list that included bleak, bream (only the one!), bullhead, chub, dace, gudgeon, perch, pike, roach and zander.

Might see if I can blag a barbel tomorrow but it will have to be an evening session as I’m currently working very hard at wrecking any hopes of an early start…

:w:w:w

 

[binka]

"..And away she goes!"

Brilliant!

And the float looks great too...

 

[sam vimes]

Yesterday, on noting that the local rivers have been topped up a bit, I headed off to the Tees to a swim that reputedly throws up roach when there's a bit of water on. It's a swim I've fished previously and struggled badly in. In the past, I've had to resort to the tip for any consistency. This time, I managed to get a few fish going on a stick float line. No hint of any roach, but plenty of chublets and dace with a bonus lumpy perch. The extra water did allow the salmonids to put on a show. Quite a few silver tourists boshing about in the pool I was fishing. Mercifully, given that I was using light gear, I didn't hook one.

Today I traveled to the ends of the earth, well, about thirty miles, in an attempt to get away from dace and grayling. I was in barbel country and went prepared. Sadly, the barbel didn't oblige, as they often don't. More surprisingly, I caught three sodding grayling amongst a horde of not so surprising dace. Most people would say that grayling aren't in the Swale as far down as I was fishing, especially in summer. I knew better as I've had the odd one here before, but three is rather unusual. I dare say I'll get a ribbing from those that have form for it. I've been accused of bringing them in a bucket before now.

The biggest surprise was that I had two rudd, lord knows where they've come from. I've never seen or heard of rudd in the Swale before. The only (native UK) species that would have surprised me more would be a tench. If they start appearing, a stillwater close to the river needs to check their banks/outflow.

Considering I didn't trouble the barbel and didn't avoid the grayling/dace/chublets, it was a pretty good day. As well as the aforementioned unavoidables, I had roach, bleak, rudd and more gudgeon than I've had for years in one session. Only one particularly decent fish was a chub of around two pounds.

 

[The Runner]

Just got back from 9 days on Skye. Walking mainly but took barbel rod, baitrunner and some lures, leads and hooks for the odd evening session. Spent the first three days at Sligachan, didn't fish although did see one local get a couple of nice sea trout from the river right next to the campsite, Got some nice views from the tops when the cloud cleared

Had been booked as a birthday present on the boat to St Kilda on the Monday so travelled over to Uig where the boat leaves from to have an afternoon session on the pier. Paid a quick visit to the Co-op to stock up on food and as an afterthought got a pack of cooked king prawns as emergency bait in case couldn't catch any mackerel.
Pitched tent at the campsite and couldn't help noticing that the adjacent meadows had only been cut in the centre leaving the edges long which looked ominous in terms of getting a good nights sleep but in the event all was quiet.
Got to Pier, half an hour on small lures or jellyworms and not a sign , switched to a heavier lure and I suspect my retrieve might have been too slow..

No sign of anything on any form of lure, not even on a jellyworm jigged around close to the stonework so, time for a king prawn on a 4. At least if no sign of fish could eat the rest myself. No chance, tip banged as soon as bait hit bottom and over the next two and a half hours had just over 50 assorted Pollack and coalies, mostly around this size..

but with a couple around 1-8, up to 5 fish on the same prawn.
Had this little chap as well (sea scorpion, used to call them grannyfish in Northumberland when I was a kid)

Tide turned and it switched right off apart from the odd little coalie so adjourned for a pint or two of Skye Black.

St Kilda next day. Absolutely amazing day out, if you ever get the chance just go there.

Climbed the hill (Conachair) to the left of the second pic. Drops off sheer on the other side to the highest sea cliffs in the UK, about 1300 ft. Third pic is from somewhere up there, can barely see the sea but not the best photo as was under continual bonxie attack.

Couple of days later had a go off the rocks at Staffin but after an hour, and a pound Pollack on a jellyworm the sea started getting a bit too lumpy for safety on the ledges I was fishing from, so packed in, hid tackle in a ditch behind a wall and went for a walk round the Quiraing instead.
One final evening session, Coop King Prawns again, on Loch Portree

Had a couple of decent coalies and about a dozen of these. Nice with chips when they grow up and it must be good that there's enough cod left somewhere for them to have had a good spawning year

All in all a great week. Eagle score only average, Golden 2 (Glen Sligachan, Kilmaluag), White Tailed 1 (Loch Portree) with an indeterminate one in the far distance at Kyleakin

 

[peter crabtree]

Fantastic Martin...

 

[robtherake]

Today I traveled to the ends of the earth, well, about thirty miles, in an attempt to get away from dace and grayling. I was in barbel country and went prepared. Sadly, the barbel didn't oblige, as they often don't. More surprisingly, I caught three sodding grayling amongst a horde of not so surprising dace. Most people would say that grayling aren't in the Swale as far down as I was fishing, especially in summer. I knew better as I've had the odd one here before, but three is rather unusual. I dare say I'll get a ribbing from those that have form for it. I've been accused of bringing them in a bucket before now.

The biggest surprise was that I had two rudd, lord knows where they've come from. I've never seen or heard of rudd in the Swale before. The only (native UK) species that would have surprised me more would be a tench. If they start appearing, a stillwater close to the river needs to check their banks/outflow.

Considering I didn't trouble the barbel and didn't avoid the grayling/dace/chublets, it was a pretty good day. As well as the aforementioned unavoidables, I had roach, bleak, rudd and more gudgeon than I've had for years in one session. Only one particularly decent fish was a chub of around two pounds.

My best grayling came from the lower Swale - a winter fish that was taken from a noted barbel area. Total fluke, of course, but so what?

 

[mikench]

Looks lovely and decent weather for Bonny Scotland!

 

[peter crabtree]

Turned up at the 'Gasworks' stretch on the Thames at Staines upon Thames and one of our members advised me that due to another match on the venue, we were to go upstream to Runneymede pleasure ground. Nice and quiet while we drew our pegs and started setting up.






Gin clear and barely any flow I started on the waggler 25m out and caught a nice roach first chuck. Patchy after that for a while as the blustery downstream wind strengthened and my line was getting blown all over the place...
Decided to try pole @11m and things got a bit easier and bites were much more positive from the roach. By lunchtime the wind got blustery, the park became very busy and noisy. At one point I heard a big splash to my left, a bloke swam straight through my swim!
Weighed in 2lb:5. mainly roach to 4oz for nowhere ....
7lb won it....

 

[itsfishingnotcatching]

a bloke swam straight through my swim!

Should have netted him for a winning weight Simon

 

[Tee-Cee]

If I had to choose a month NOT to fish, either in still or running water, I would definitely go for August, with July a close second ! Unfortunately this is where we are so I just have to get on with it and work a little harder.
All the still waters I fish are looking very tired with levels dropping and the surfaces covered in that ' dusty ' film which although doesn't really affect to tackle, just doesn't look very good.

My last four sessions have been on two different waters, again concentration on roach in the early morning up until 10 am, and again looking for the odd reasonable fish ( for the waters ) that will make the effort worthwhile. I'm aware the odds are against me for really big fish so anything around the 1lb mark has been my target. Three or four of these a session would be just fine...
Baits have been pretty conventional with hemp, flake and crust doing okay with fish up to 8/9" but to tempt the better ones I have had some success with chick peas. These are not just any old chickpea from the local super market ( or prepared your self ) but those that come in tins from my local Indian shop and flavoured with a very mild curry. I have never seen them anywhere else so you will probably need an Indian supermarket to find them....
The product I use is made by 'Pakstar ' and comes in 400g tins, ready to go. The list of ingredients on the tin is impressive and the ' juice ' strained off can be added ( in small amounts ! ) to the ground bait. I'm using very sloppy bread at the moment which drifts down through the water very nicely...

Chickpeas are quiet hard and hooking them needs thought. I have found the best way, but I'm still experimenting, is with a 16 hook pushed gently through the 'pointy ' bit of the pea, but only into the pea to give a ' hold ' and enough for a gentle underarm cast. They do stay on for a number of casts but not with rough handling...

Anyway, over the four sessions they have given me in the region of 15 roach between 3/4lb and 1lb with two over this last figure, something that none of the other baits have managed or looked like doing so. Not big fish but very good for both waters AT THIS TIME OF YEAR and I'm convinced no other bait would have worked so well - and I have tried !!

I don't say it's easy fishing and lots of time spent waiting for bites to develop so concentration is paramount and not every slide under of the float will connect, but they are effective for better fish IMHO. When the float dips I just know it will not be a small roach and this may well be because the size of the bait keeps the small ones away ?

The peas can be split into batches and frozen and they tend to soften after two or three visits to the freezer - something that enhances the bait IMHO.

NOT a magic bait by any means, and you could make your own curried version, BUT these from a tin are spot on and the flavour pretty good, PLUS they are dirt cheap !
Well worth making the effort to find them and giving yourself a bait little used by others these days, and particularly for roach.............AND good at a time of year when fish are finicky, to say the least !!

Works for me and I can't wait to try them again all this week - probably very day !!

Good luck !

ps Fishing 5/7' of water with best results fishing over depth, but some off bottom - indeed ' up in the water ' also productive......and to date, no roach has been UNDER 3/4lb..................A 11/2lb fish would be nice, though !

 

[S-Kippy]

Turned up at the 'Gasworks' stretch on the Thames at Staines upon Thames .

Staines upon Thames indeed Since when was Staines ever called "Staines upon Thames" ???

Staines IN the Thames I could understand based on the floods a couple of years back !

 

[peter crabtree]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staines-upon-Thames

Look and learn Skippy....