How did you get on?

[skov]

Been getting slightly fed up of fishing a low clear stationary Ouse recently so thought I'd try a gravel pit for a change.
Unfortunately the pit I chose turned out to be about a foot deep and clearer than tap water.
The only excitement was when I expertly lowered the swim feeder into my freshly brewed coffee instead of the ground bait next to it...
I did actually see several fish topping, but damned if I could catch any.
Back to the Ouse next weekend.

 

[peter crabtree]

Funnily enough I was on the Ouse today as well, bit further south than Skov though, just north of Newport Pagnell.
An interclub jobby with Ampthill AC on their venue.
Drew a peg that looked like it should have been left out of the bag. Snags and weed a rodlenth out and no flow...





Plumbed up on the waggler out in the middle and it was 12' deep but the bottom 4' of that was dense weed and streamers. Put on a heavier waggler and chucked 3/4 across and it was the same but at least there was a bit of flow. Pointless setting up a feeder rod, my only option...
Tripping my maggot across the top of the weeds I caught 4 bleak and one roach across but it was hard work at that range so by 1pm I thought 'bollox!' and packed up...

 

[john step]

Drew a peg that looked like it should have been left out of the bag. my only option...
Tripping my maggot across the top of the weeds I caught 4 bleak and one roach across but it was hard work at that range so by 1pm I thought 'bollox!' and packed up...

Why oh why do these people peg those types of swims. Is it because they are stupid or just do not care?
One of those instances happened to me, and was partly responsible for my growing disillusionment with matches.

I had travelled to fish the Leeds and Liverpool canal which necessitated a hotel stay only to find I could see the clear bottom of the canal all the way across.
GRRRRR.

 

[itsfishingnotcatching]

Session on the Warks Avon today, trotted maggot, bread, corn, fed maggot corn and hemp, hard going. Went back to worm for half a dozen Perch from 3-6oz, a small Chub, couple of minnows and a dacelet. Few other guys there tried spinning and the feeder without any joy, I reckon a spot of rain is needed

 

[maggot_dangler]

Thought i would try my normal pool today it is low but normally fishes reasonably ok .

Got there just after 10:00 ( late but had to wait for the shops to open needed Maggots) thought i would fish light given conditions as they are so 3 lb line 20 hook and small Crystal tip wagler 1 gram but to not much response .
Lots of fish topping including some large carp & bream buit very slow tried maggot worm bread pellet paste slug nowt not a snifter then had a serious plum around i ws fishing about 15" but found to my horror it was 10" at best more like 8" so rest to just a tad over depth single red maggot and the fish started taking .

Ended the day at 15:00 having had half a dozen perch to about 9 oz or so 2 roach just about 1 lb and a few small skimmers .

Not brilliant but better than the blank that looked to be looming up on me .

PG ...

 

[The Runner]

Why oh why do these people peg those types of swims. Is it because they are stupid or just do not care?
One of those instances happened to me, and was partly responsible for my growing disillusionment with matches.

I had travelled to fish the Leeds and Liverpool canal which necessitated a hotel stay only to find I could see the clear bottom of the canal all the way across.
GRRRRR.

To be fair John, (and Simon) I used to fish quite a lot of matches on that area of the Ouse , Olney, Newton Blossomville etc and when it's low and clear at this time of year probably a majority of swims are like that with no flow and masses of grassweed. Doesn't make it any more enticing though. Are the tench still around ? Because the gamble used to be to fish a heavy rig with a big olivette close to the hook to bomb it down through the grassweed over a few baitdroppers full of chopped lobs. (Never worked for me though, always seemed to end up bleaking it). Different world there with flow, even more so with a bit of colour on.

Anyway, how did I get on ? Rare free weekend so had two pleasure sessions down the Colne which were a lot better than expected given that its at least a foot below normal and seems to get clearer all the time. Yesterday started on permanent peg 39 on the Uxbridge stretch, used to be a serious big chub swim but the two strong year classes from late 80s early 90s have just about gone now. Had about sixty fish on the stick in two and a half hours but two thirds of that was very small roach, twenty/ twenty five to the pound, the rest an assortment of dace and the odd decent perch. Moved a couple of swims up onto a very shallow gravel run, for about ten nice dace before it died so walked across to the backstream to the "Dole House" flier. Usually a flier anyway, two hours for only a dozen or so perch so dropped down for the last hour to a very shallow swim two below, only about 12" deep at present but usually a chub or two about in amongst the cabbages and streamer weed. Switched to satellite waggler rig, tiny roach first run through, bow wave across next lot of loose feed and had the chub that made it on the next run down, about 2-12. Gave it another half hour for a microperch.
Today gave it a go on the lower stretch at Uxbridge Moor (old free stretch for those that know it), which has been rock hard for anything other than barbel for the last couple of years, and its not really barbel conditions at present (but see later...). Started on a swim near the top end , quite wide with a lot of cabbage down the middle so fed both sides of this and quickly became apparent nothing on the inside half other than the little roach which seem to be all over the river at the moment( Although if its anything other than dull and overcast you barely see one). Some nice dace and perch across but gradually slowed and after three hours and about 5lb decided to move downstream to some deeper water with more cover. Slow start waiting about twenty minutes for a bite but then picking up nice dace and little roach regularly with a lovely perch around a pound. About 6 lb in the net when the bites suddenly stopped. Didn't think I'd overfed it so reckoned some bigger fish might have turned up, so, hooklength up to 0.13 and B911F1 size 18 and stepped the feed up. After twenty minutes of this, two chub in successive runs, both 3-8 to 3-12. Ran out of maggot half an hour later having added a couple of dace.
Walked back, and a couple of swims from the upstream end was one of our big fish men, the only other angler I'd seen on the river in two days. Who was just landing a chub of well over 5lb having had a 11 lb barbel fifteen minutes previously. Not a bad afternoons work....

---------- Post added at 20:22 ---------- Previous post was at 19:47 ----------

Nearly forgot to mention the oddest thing about today-- in amongst the dace and roach on he second swim, had, of all things, an ide about 4oz.
No idea how that got in there, don't think anywhere in the Colne catchment has been stocked with them

 

[tigger]

I had a few hours trotting on the river today, the water looked clear close up but even from standing a position it looked black!....it must have been the light and atmosphere that caused this strange phenomenon....it was a wierd atmosphere all day today. Anyhow I had six chub, two trout and a little barbel and lost another barbel to a hook pull.

The uncertainty of wether I was snapped by a mobile speed camera on the journey to the river put the dampers on the day .

 

[103841]

I had a few hours trotting on the river today, the water looked clear close up but even from standing a position it looked black!....it must have been the light and atmosphere that caused this strange phenomenon....it was a wierd atmosphere all day today. Anyhow I had six chub, two trout and a little barbel and lost another barbel to a hook pull.

The uncertainty of wether I was snapped by a mobile speed camera on the journey to the river put the dampers on the day .

Lovely fish. Fingers crossed you don't get a nasty brown envelope arrive in the next fourteen days.

 

[jasonbean1]

View image in gallery​

Had a day as a guest on a private fishery in middle of the New forest today , had it all to my self, had roach, perch, Tench and some carp that fought like stink biggest went 10,3 was knackerd at the end of the day but good fun.

is that the thumb of a ghost on that roach..............?

 

[edsurf]

looks like one , but i was the only person fishing that day , spooky. but i rekon its a fin.

 

[theartist]

Just got back from a few hours on a small stream near Ricky Aquadrome. If you are unfamiliar with the Aquadrome well it's like the Thunderdome just a lot more water and a lot less Tina Turner.

The weather was amazing and even in what was left of the morning fog it was warm, so unseasonably warm that the heavy winter jacket that I'd bought along was left in the boot. The fishing wasn't too bad either with around 60 roach, dace and perch and a bonus trout, which wasn't big but any trout inside the M25 always brings a smile to my face.

With the sun getting lower and my shadow growing larger on the water I packed up, with a lethargy that the warm Autumn sun can bring. Maybe I was slightly hypnotised by the reflection of the sunny water dancing on the ivy covered tree trunk opposite. Either way it was just such a nice day to be out there.

 

[103841]

I did say in an earlier post that I would leave the river alone for a month or two in the vain hope of some much needed rain. Her indoors fancied a little retail therapy in Canterbury and being a nice chap I offered to drive her there and back.....what to do for a couple of hours? Oh go on then I'll just have another dabble on the river.

Such a glorious day, almost tee shirt temperatures and the colours are just spectacular.

Within just a few minutes I had the most unusual sensation of a bite, better still the fish was on and game for a fight. Not the biggest chub but at just over 3lb easily the best I've had and needed a landing net. A modest pb which will do nicely.

 

[Chefster]

Hello there,after a shocking day on saturday on the winter league,i returned to TBF today for the open,held on House pool..I drew peg 12,first peg on the dam wall,probably the only peg on the lake,i didnt want
Started at 2+1 on the pellet,1 f1 in 30 mins ,didnt look good,so i picked up the maggot rig,and opened up a maggot line at 2+2,i caught steady here for a couple of hours,f1,s,stockies,skimmers,roach,...when this died,i opened another maggot line,at an angle,just past the first line,and caught there immedietly,until the end,again a mix of f1,s,mirrors,stockies,never tried down the edge,as i didnt want to come off the feeding fish,and i could see,that there wasnt much being caught...proved to be a good move,as my 66-10-0,was good enough for the win...2nd was Dave Atkins(Packington) with 55-8-0,from 23,and 3rd was one of the Sensas France anglers with 51-0-0,from 19........a hard day by Tunnel standards,but plenty of bites,and rewarding.....back there tomorrow on New pool,maybe another pool as well,if good turnout..16 fished today..tight lines,Gazza

 

[Tee-Cee]

Yes, I have to agree the weather was a bit special today, more like early summer than near November and a pleasure to be out. That said, I wasn't too charmed when I arrived at my lake today as the dreaded leaves and floating debris had managed to separate into small clumps making every swim virtually unfishable. I did go back to the car and fetch a large landing net in the hope that gently pushing water away from the edge would move some of it, but no sooner had I tackled up than the swim was covered again.

I thought to fish very close in with bottom fixed float with rod tip sunk and away from the muck, (also just dropping the float straight down rather than casting as such) and although this worked okay it wasn't ideal with striking a real lottery. After half an hour and half a dozen missed bites (one roach) I knew I needed to make a change so I decided to try and use the floating stuff rather than fight it by changing to a top/bottom fixed porcupine quill some 6" long and have the line on top of the water/leaves thereby giving a better strike. I also used a bit of Mucilin line floatant above the float just to make sure all was above the water at the strike.
It was still difficult to miss all the leaves on the cast but once this was achieved I gently laid the line over the (stationary) leaves and then held the rod. A short wait saw the float disappear, the strike as clean as could be, and the nice thump of a roach my reward. Not a big fish but I was chuffed that a bit of thought had solved a problem and what seemed like tough day possibly turning into something better....'Fish to what's in front of you' came into my head as I enjoyed a hot mug of tea..

I cannot say it was a great day as the roach came and went but I had a dozen fish until a quiet spell at noon saw me change tactics by trying (and succeeding) to fish hemp 2' deep but casting to 'clear' spots some two rod lengths out and holding most of the line off the water. Within minutes the float sank and I connected with just a minimal strike. This happened another five times although I have to say most fish only in the 8oz bracket. Still, it was interesting fishing and nice to produce a few fish that didn't look possible at 7am!!

Back out tomorrow for another bash when hopefully a nice breeze will have cleared a swim or two............

 

[barbelboi]

I was on the bank of a local backwater at the earlier time of 9.30 – it was a misty start, then some cloud cover turning to brilliant warm sunshine. With a desperate need for rain the backwater had virtually no flow (most of my trotting recently has been to the edges of weir pools for a bit of movement) so I set up a light running lead (or stone in this case) and tried a couple of likely spots. Unfortunately it wasn’t happening and after a couple of small chub less than half the size I’ve been taking trotting, and a rogue jack, I decided on moving.

At this point I had a light bulb moment, looked at the wall to wall sunshine that had appeared from about 11am, and decided to have a late Autumn crucian session at one of the woodland farm ponds a few miles down the lane before the cold weather nips in. After a slow start fishing a pole float dotted right down on a 14’er along the reeds I managed eight small crues between 2 and 3.30pm, together with a couple of tench. According to our local forecast it’s going to be colder days and nights with lots of sunshine – no sign of rain..........

 

[binka]

At the realisation, late last night, that I will get little chance to wet a line for the remainder of the week I decided to sloop off just before dawn this morning and use up the dregs of the weekend’s bait.

I ended up back on the river again even after the grueller at the weekend and it was even lower today!

A real pea souper of a drive there with thick fog which struggled to lift throughout the day and with lots of leaves coming down the river it was a typical autumn scene.

Largely uneventful with a few bits falling to trotted worm up until late afternoon as the light level started to drop and the fog thickened again which felt quite eerie in a strangely calming kind of way, the float took on a swirling motion as it went down the glide before promptly disappearing.

The strike was met with good resistance from a lively fish which turned out to be a nice, deep and thick set brassy chub of 5lb 9ozs and a season best so far…





All in all a pleasant day, definitely worth turning out for… :w

 

[Chefster]

At the realisation, late last night, that I will get little chance to wet a line for the remainder of the week I decided to sloop off just before dawn this morning and use up the dregs of the weekend’s bait.

I ended up back on the river again even after the grueller at the weekend and it was even lower today!

A real pea souper of a drive there with thick fog which struggled to lift throughout the day and with lots of leaves coming down the river it was a typical autumn scene.

Largely uneventful with a few bits falling to trotted worm up until late afternoon as the light level started to drop and the fog thickened again which felt quite eerie in a strangely calming kind of way, the float took on a swirling motion as it went down the glide before promptly disappearing.

The strike was met with good resistance from a lively fish which turned out to be a nice, deep and thick set brassy chub of 5lb 9ozs and a season best so far…





All in all a pleasant day, definitely worth turning out for… :w

Another superb fish Steve,your an amazing all-rounder mate,Gazza

 

[binka]

Another superb fish Steve,your an amazing all-rounder mate,Gazza

Cheers Gazza and very well done on another brown envelope mate :w :w :w

 

[Chefster]

Cheers Gazza and very well done on another brown envelope mate :w :w :w

Its about time,ive had an envelope famine for 2 weeks

 

[Graham Elliott 1]

Its the Posties fault.

When he delivered my bait Friday he engaged in fishy talk.

Im after a big perch I said.

Well, he said, over 5lb in a small little farm pond I know.

I went today. ...of course!
A quickly snaffled 2oz roach was soon dragging round a 3 ss chubber at around 4ft deep.
Meanwhile out went the match gear with a small crystal top and bottom and a size 12 hook with large prawn. Feeding maggots.

Some red things first ...orfe?
Then brim to 2lb+.
Then carp of mixed pedigree to 12lb+
Then tench to about 2lb.
Then a single rudd about 1lb
Then roach to about 3/4lb.

6 hours and about 8 brim, 15 carp, 3 tench later......
My little roach was still towing around the chubber unmolested.

Then......

I caught a perch, on the prawn rod. About a 1lb.
So....some there, just apparently not many.

Action packed day, no complaint, or big perch.

Nice day to be pond fishing, only one there.
Foggy drive home.