How did you get on?

[Tee-Cee]

maggot dangler...Do you want to sell your house ?

littleal...nice fish ! I know several anglers who would be very happy with a 10lb'er !

Me? Due to the 'deer' incident last Sunday I have not been out for a week so nothing to report, but hope to do so tomorrow....maybe a few roach if I'm lucky.

binka..many congrats on the barbel !!

 

[The Runner]

No fishing today as got back yesterday lunchtime from our annual week's barbelling on the Severn and needed a lie in .
Great time as always, not far short of 150 barbel over the six days fishing between four of us. Nothing massive, biggest around 8 -8. Most of the fish on 6 or 8 mil pellet with a few on meat. They seemed a bit wary of bigger baits and maggot was pretty much a waste of time this year with the river alive with 4 and 5 inch dace everywhere we went.
A little bit of colour in the river all week meant the roach were having a go as well. Picked up some proper ones up to 1 -10 every day on the barbel gear but unfortunately didn't bother taking the appropriate stuff to really target them. Having said that one of us had a lovely catch with 7 or 8 over the pound and plenty more 8oz upwards by using a 13' Normark Multitip as a stick float rod and trotting 6mil S Pellets feeding 4 mils and hemp.

Only downside was the amount of litter on some of the sections, plastic bags, tins, beercans and the remains of a couple of bonfires. Not good...

Special thanks to the Hobson's and Wye Valley breweries for contributing so much to the week's enjoyment.

 

[peter crabtree]

Nice one Mart. Club match today on the Thames at Runnymede.
Lovely bit of river but noisy planes taking off from nearby Heathrow.
With depths of 12 to 14ft and a slow pace I set up a 14ft float rod with a sliding Drennan reverse taper peacock waggler set around 11ft deep.
For closer in a top 4 pole rig, 1gr float, and olivette bulk.
Size 20 hooks on both rigs. Started on the pole @ 9m, perch and bleak to start with then a few roach...Then nothing.
Out on the waggler about 30 yards out and some better roach to 8oz. Then nothing. For the last 4 hours everyone struggled apart from one member who won with 18lb of mainly decent roach on the slider.
2nd had 4lb:10. 3rd had 4lb:4.
Remarkably bizarrely the angler to my left had 2lb:11. I had 2:11 and the angler on my right had 2:11..
We drew for section win and shared the section money....
16 fished.

 

[maggot_dangler]

maggot dangler...Do you want to sell your house ?

littleal...nice fish ! I know several anglers who would be very happy with a 10lb'er !

Me? Due to the 'deer' incident last Sunday I have not been out for a week so nothing to report, but hope to do so tomorrow....maybe a few roach if I'm lucky.

binka..many congrats on the barbel !!

Unfortunately it is a flat not a house .

Plenty up for grabs round here though , one of the bad points of this estate very transient in nature .

 

[chefster]

Yesterday i fished the Final of the TCCO opens,which cosisted of 7 qualifiers,the venue for the final was Gils pool at the Holly Farm Complex in Leics..I drew out peg 27,which ,never having even seen the venue meant nothing to me!!a quick chat to a few venue regulars ,suggested that it was hit or miss area,so best to fish for section and see what happens..to say it was hard going was understatement of the year!!i finally ended up with 5 carp,3 f1,s and some bits,for 18-3-0,and the section win,which i was satisfied with,and overall 6th...winner was Glen(venue expert)Ribbons,with 28-0-0,2nd was Jimmy (The Fish)Murfit,with 25-4-0,and 3rd martin(Toft Maestro)Paynter,with 25-3-0,Jason(Powerarm)Redgrave,was 4th with 25-2-0....so 2oz seperated 2nd and 4th!!....I will have to thank Kev(the Legend) Folwell for his advice which i used to get bites which were at a premium!!i did lose 2 big lump carp,due to fishing .10 h/l ,in order to just get bites!!,which cost me the match!!..Anyone who thinks commies are easy waters ,should of been there yesterday,and tried to put a net of fish together!!!!....35 fished,Cheers Gaz

 

[S-Kippy]

Couple of hours winkling down the cut with me dropshot rod still trying to work out what the hell it is I'm trying to do. I'm getting there albeit slowly though the perch were largely unimpressed today.

On the plus side I found out why I have lost me lot on 2 or 3 occasions. I had put it down to numptiness on my part & dodgy braid but on closer inspection of rod I've found a chunk missing from the insert on one ring leaving a very sharp edge. It will be going back tomorrow to be exchanged and the beauty of local tackle shops is that I have absolutely no doubt that it will be exchanged without hesitation. Try doing that on E-bay !

Yes Jerry...the very same and if Stan gives me the slightest grief I'll nick his Pick n Mix !

 

[binka]

...............

 

[itsfishingnotcatching]

Fished a day ticket on the Teme with all my "usual suspects" showing up, small Dace, Chublets and the obligatory Minnows, also had several spotties including one around 12oz. The real surprise were the half dozen Grayling up to about 8oz which although small compared to their brothers on the Itchen made it a worthwhile trip

 

[aebitim]

Finally managed to get most of a day on the Wye, arrived and set up trotting and barbel rod, chucked a few feeder loads into the spot and fed a few maggots on the waggler line. Got the float running through nicely in about 5 ft of water on the edge of the flow with an overhanging tree at the end of the run.
About five trots in the float buried and solid resistance resulted in a 2lb plus perch which brought a smile. I kept feeding and the chub and dace came on the feed, but every third or fourth trot it was another perch, a routine that continued until hometime. Fantastic day, best perch probably 3 lb ish, some were even hitting the dace pike style as I was reeling in.

 

[cal_sutt]

I’ve just had the cheekiest session I reckon I’ve ever had and not least for the unlikely mix of fish

I fished alone yesterday as it was my mate’s wife’s birthday meaning he couldn’t make it and I hadn’t planned on going out today until he began to get withdrawal symptoms and rang me mid-morning to say he was off barbelling and did I want to tag along?

Does the Pope wear a silly hat?

I didn’t fancy the barbel though and instead got some lure gear together and I was collected around midday before arriving at the river on a blissful afternoon weather wise.

As he was fishing a single swim I left him to it and set off roving for a good few hours and didn’t do too bad with a couple of chub around the 2 – 3lb mark, two small jacks and a small perch…







Anyway…

Upon my return my mate was doing ok with a barbel of around 5lbs and a couple of chub to which he added another later but this is where it gets really cheeky.

As I was about beat I decided I’d tackle down and sit behind my mate and watch for the last hour, I’d actually broken the rod down when he nodded at the bait box and casually said “help yourself to a bit of meat if you fancy a go
…”.

At first I declined without giving it any real consideration but then I glanced at a piece of water literally yards away upriver before changing my mind and taking up his offer but, bearing in mind I had minimal gear with me as I had taken the lure gear, it was a bit of an improvisation.

I re-rigged the Greys GRX-I spinning rod (which I can now vouch for as an excellent barbel picker) and tied on a size 6 hook which was one of the few things I hadn’t taken out of my waistcoat along with my shot dispenser and I lightly pinched two AAA onto the line around ten inches from the hook which I then baited with my “borrowed” meat before moving into position and with a gentle underarm flick the bait plopped in the water right on the desired spot a few feet away and I watched as the line slowly drifted around whilst it settled.

I literally had time to position the landing net a bit closer before the slack bow in the line pulled straight and progressed into the rod blank in typical fashion and, to the utter disbelief of my mate, I was into a nice barbel of around 9lbs within seconds!

Duly unhooked, rested and recovered I slipped her back and put in again and remember saying “It’ll go again” and shortly afterwards it did and another nice barbel, this time around 8lbs, was in the net.

I won’t repeat what was coming at me verbally from just downstream but suffice to say it was all in good humour!!!

After resting and returning this fish I think I had a quick cast that came to nothing as I’d had a couple of taps which worried me that the soft meat had come off before I then put in again but didn’t even bother to put the rod down this time and instead held it for around a minute or so before it was nearly wrenched from my hands with another barbel around 9lb again…

Amazing!

After returning this last fish I looked over to see rod sections sliding into their cloth bag and realised how dark it was getting and so I too called it a day…



A very cheeky day :w

Brilliant, just brilliant!

Same sort of thing happened to me a few weeks ago; one evening I was walking to the supermarket and I decided to walk down the canal, just to have a look. I ended up bumping into a mate who was lure fishing and stopping for a chat, he'd just got a new spinning rod and reel and was explaining how he was a bit annoyed because nothing was biting as he wanted to "break in" the new rod. Can't remember what the rod or reel was but I liked it and asked if I could have a few casts, I cast a 10g jig into a basin sort of thing, and once the jig passed the near edge of the basin, I felt a sharp tug and I was.connected to a fish - into the net came a perch that was well into 2lb! The look on his face was priceless, I had a few more casts about and around five or six casts after the perch I managed to hook and land a pike of about 6lb. He didn't look too pleased to say the least...

 

[neil1970]

I met up with Simon this afternoon on the upper stretch of our river.

Very pleasant, relaxing session, interupted by only one fish.

(Which Simon made me hold)

 

[sam vimes]

As an opportunity has arisen to fish a different river from my usual. It's not costing anything and it's only a little over ten miles from home. However, it's a totally different, and quite unfamiliar, animal that requires leaving my comfort zone. It's also likely to force me into fishing the waggler, not something I do much on running water these days.

Despite my best efforts, I couldn't get anything going at stick float range with any regularity. I did manage a few small dace, of the size that left me as underwhelmed as cg74 is with dace, before biting the bullet and switching to the waggler. That little extra range made all the difference. Dace came very regularly for the next forty minutes or so, then it died off. The dace only biting at the very head of the swim. The reason for them moving upstream became quite apparent when I hooked something that pulled back a bit. The culprits turned out to be decent sized perch. A similar pattern emerged for the rest of the afternoon. Tiddly dace, quiet, decent perch, back to the tiddly dace and repeat. The last decent perch arrived just before my self imposed six thirty time limit (back for another potentially painful England match) and was a nice way to end a decent day. A couple of firsts for me seen today, an inverted overhead rainbow and sparrowhawks hunting kingfishers up and down both banks. I've no idea how much the perch weighed as, knowing it was going to be a long walk, I'd pared my kit right down to essentials. I was glad I had when making my way back up the aptly named Heart Attack Hill.

 

[Nobby C (ACA)]

4th visit, the first 3 were overnighters for eel, had quite a few up to 3.07. Decided to have a day session for carp after seeing activity in a bay. All I saw were carp leaping out over 200 yards away from the original sighting until around lunchtime when one crashed in the vicinity.....ten minutes later after a very bream/lethargic/mundane lift I hooked one which turned into a 31.02 linear fatso.
This place is being good to me right now. I like it very much. Is nice.

 

[barbelboi]

I met up with Simon this afternoon on the upper stretch of our river.

Very pleasant, relaxing session, interupted by only one fish.

(Which Simon made me hold)

Don't come anywhere near me for at least the next week - I'm avoiding the weir pool just in case..............

 

[flightliner]

Don't come anywhere near me for at least the next week - I'm avoiding the weir pool just in case..............

I can hear someone saying " Never" in my case Jerry.

 

[barbelboi]

I can hear someone saying " Never" in my case Jerry.

Give us a break Mick, I'm still recovering from taking that pic for Simon last week - never knew I could hold my breath for that long...................

 

[sam vimes]

Went back to the stretch of river I fished yesterday. Went in by a different access point aiming to fish a different noted peg. After three hours of being bitted to death by a combination of minnows, dace and chublets, I couldn't resist taking the long walk back to yesterday's perch spot.
Just for Colin, here's the difference between a good dace, a dace and a tiny chublet for luck.

After the best part of an hour without a bite in the perch swim, I was beginning to wonder whether the long walk had been a good idea. I couldn't even snaffle a dace. I had the depth set so it was just dragging bottom. The end of the run shallows slightly, so the float toppling gently was the signal to strike and retrieve. After many such retrieves without incident I struck into an unexpected resistance which wasn't the bottom. Played what felt like a half decent perch for a reasonable length of time when it slipped the hook, as they do. A bad bout of anglers Tourettes followed. Within five minutes or so another bout followed as a second one pinged off. Fortunately, I redeemed myself very soon after. A solid, obvious bite was followed by a good solid fish scooting across the river at a fair rate of knots, clutch ticking nicely. At that point I really wasn't sure if it was a big dog chub or one of the elusive barbel. Only when it started coming towards me did it start to feel like a perch, albeit a pretty good one. Thankfully, it had done all its fighting mid river. By the time it came to netting it was about done, so no heart in mouth mad dashes under the nearside undergrowth.

After yesterday, I'd made space for my scales. I was certainly glad I had when it showed 2lb 11oz. I may have had slightly bigger in the dim and distant past, but they have gone unweighed. That makes it a definite PB rather that the previous wishy washy 2lb, 2lb 8oz (if I was lucky) that I'd have claimed. Lost another smaller fish later on, but didn't really care, and polished the day off with another of broadly similar stamp to yesterday's fish at 1lb 5oz.

The wildlife put on a different show to yesterday. I've never seen a squirrel swim a river before.

 

[barbelboi]

Had another roach trotting session yesterday from 10am - 3.30pm. Plenty of roach, a few chublets, gudgeon, bleak and some chunky perch (among the small ones). The dace are still in very short supply, only two all season whereas the river used to be 'full' with them years ago. Still, can't have everything - the roach were in very short supply five years ago..................

 

[Tee-Cee]

Sam....That perch must be close to the size for entry into the 'perch' competition. I'd have thought...

Lovely colours and beautiful marking though..

 

[littleal]

Managed to grab a few hours down at a pool near me last night - Alcott Farm, south Birmingham area. Nice quiet fishery tucked down a lane, other than the occasional car or horse its a very peaceful place. Even the Moorhen's were well behaved

The 'Large Pool' where I fished was quite active. Plenty of fish about but no one seemed to be landing a great deal. Looks nice with the trees starting to turn though;





Best of three that I took (lost a hook to a snag unfortunately on something that felt a bit bigger) - just over 3lb;



The one thing that didn't impress me was the fish health - many had wounds and my third small mirror seemed to have an infection around its mouth with very soft flesh and wounds down its sides. Glad I tried Alcott but will stick with Alvechurch to fish close to home I think.