How did you get on?

[maggot_dangler]

Been as i had no intention of starting the cooking till early afternoon i went out on the local canal this morning bit breezy to say the least but a fairly constant stream of fish to around 8oz perch roach bream only 1 rudd .

Constant fight with the darn wind thou fished single and double red maggot off the bottom bites were gentle but fairly numerous finally had enough of being almost flattened by the wind (which was noticably warm) at 13:00 and came home to start the chore of christmas dinner roast lamb with plenty of veg dont like turkey and can take or leave chicken lamb pork 7 fish for me .

PG ...

 

[binka]

First and foremost I hope you’ve all had a great day

I kept my options open all the way up until last night and with the weather forecast still showing high winds I decided to head for a sheltered, local stillwater and given that I’ve spent the last three Christmas Days on the river I thought it would make a nice change.

The plan was to go for silvers and pick off any bonus fish along the way on maggot and groundbait which started off with a 2BB Middy Silverfish Waggler before having to go right up to a small Driftbeater which offered the presentation and remained planted in the strong swell but it was just too little on the indication side of things for what were pretty shy bites, both caught fish but not at the rate that I thought I should be catching.

As the wind increased even further I switched over to a dibber right beside the rod tip, it’s in there somewhere…




It did the trick though, no doubt due in part to the balmy 13° that we had from late morning until late afternoon which encouraged the fish into the shallower water and I began to bag up initially on small roach…




I reckon I had a couple of dozen of these before the perch just swarmed in, this was probably the average size…




If I didn’t have around eighty of the little fellas then I never had one at all and five decent ones made up the rest of the catch…





A great day to be out fishing and a nice, busy session to boot.

It's been a dawn 'til dusk battering with the wind so it's time for you know what now… :w :w :w

 

[mikench]

Where are the pics of the turkey and all the trimmings cooked al fresco?

 

[binka]

Where are the pics of the turkey and all the trimmings cooked al fresco?

Dammit I knew I'd forgotten something when I set out this morning

 

[john step]

That first picture was taken at the North Sea no doubt:wh

 

[mikench]

Driftbeater....... looks like you needed a channel buoy

 

[Aussie Bob]

Have had a few short sessions after work but its been well over 30 degrees for the last 3 days and the water temp was 25 even at 8 pm at night. The amount of dragonflies about is astonishing and there must have been some huge mudeye hatches. I was waiting as the sun was dropping for the fish to start rising but nothing happened , probably the water was just too warm or the fish had just gorged themselves the previous nights. Not supposed to get over 27 today and cloudy so might be a better bet tonight. Mind you fishing will be dependent on how much beer i drink during the boxing day test...

 

[skov]

I was starting to get a bit twitchy being couped up in the house for the festivities. So around half nine last night I grabbed my ultra light lure rod and made a break for freedom.
I had no real intention or expectation of catching anything, but chucking lures about in the fresh air is always good for the soul!
Surprisingly I did actually get the odd half hearted tap and bump.
Was about to give up when I got a proper take and the headbanging fight of an angry perch.
Got it to the surface, but it managed to shake the hook at the last second. Looked half decent too, maybe a pound.
I got all excited and ended up staying for another biteless hour before my hands were too cold to continue.
I think I'm going to count that as a successful session. I was in a better mood afterwards if nothing else!

 

[binka]

It’s usually hard to wax lyrical about a dozen and a half small roach but I’m going to anyway, as this was one of my rare pilgrimages to my local town centre mill pool which forms part of the course of the River Maun and which witnessed a large part of my misspent youth.

Despite being heavily silted up and barely two feet deep it actually fishes ok in low temperatures once the fish have acclimatised after a few days so it goes without saying that I rocked up on the first hard frost following a very mild spell!

I was greeted with a fair old whiting over…



It went without saying that it was going to be a case of going fine and a 2BB waggler was rigged up to a size 22 spade end to 0.07 bottom and I could have gone home there and then with a sense of achievement in that I actually managed to tie the damned thing.

Single red maggot, from leftovers of the Christmas Day session, was to be the bait with very light feed over the top on a regular basis.

As expected it was a slow start but on a water where a gudgeon was once the headline news I wasn’t panicking and it was well over the hour mark before the tip of the float, which was barely a pimple on the surface, seemed to flicker and I struck into a nice small roach…



Result… I would be going home happy no matter what!

And a good job too as things were slow but after a bit of chopping, changing and increasing the frequency of the feed I began to get into a few bites.

A venue regular turned up early afternoon and occupied the next but one swim and I’ve talked to this guy on a few occasions whilst out walking the dog... I have no idea of his name but I’ve watched him knock fish out of there as if it were going out of fashion and some quality ones at that and we enjoyed a good and welcome craic.

As much as I would have liked to see my fellow angler bag a fish it wasn’t to be and he drew a blank which made my little lot feel a bit more special than they already where.

Having been there since dawn I was beginning to feel the cold come dusk but a lot of fond memories were rekindled in those all too brief, few hours in between and it eventually got too dark to continue so it was time to call it a day.

And what a send off it proved to be…



Quite simply…

Fishing Magic!

:w

 

[bullet]

Had a go for grayling yesterday, took the fly gear and the trotting gear.
Quite chilly,but enough fish about to keep the interest up.
Both fly and mag were taking fish and I got to mess around with my new toy, a gopro,which provisionally looks very good, just need to suss out the editing!

 

[jimlad]

Well thats the sort of fishing I like. A cracking morning to be out, following a hard overnight frost, and a misty morning. I decided to fish the River Swale, and given the conditions I picked roving for chub.

Tactics were a paternostered feeder with mince, and raw steak on the hook, using 6lb line and a feeder rod. Arriving at dark, a bite was had within minutes of casting which resulted in a chub of two pound or so. I sat it out in this peg until I could just about see where I was going, then moved downstream to another likely looking spot with a nice crease in the flow. Similar as before, I was getting knocks pretty quickly but with the daylight they weren't taking the bait down. A quick pull on the line to move the feeder slightly resulted in an instant wrap round which I hit, catching a slightly bigger fish of 3lb or so.

The next peg performed similarly to the previous, but this time a nice swale chub of 4lb 1oz was landed.

I then caught up with a mate who was fishing the downstream section, and had landed a nice fish, and we leap frogged a couple of swims but without action.

I had to leave at this point, and there was a long walk back to the car, but I decided to drop in to a peg where I had missed a bite earlier. Result - another 4lb chub.

Just as I was packing up, a load of hounds came to inspect me, followed by the horses, which was great to see in the fog / frosty conditions.

On another note, I tried a new rod today, Greys x-flite, which I recently got at a bargain price, and it's definitely a smashing bit of kit.

Happy days


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[skov]

Went on a brief scouting mission this morning to see if I could find the broiling mass I fished a couple of weeks ago.
Turns out they were still exactly where I left them!
Went back home and grabbed my little lad, a 2 meter whip and a handful of frozen maggots.
It was a fish a chuck and we had great fun taking turns on the whip for an hour or so.
All tidlers, but a good mix of roach, dace, chub, and perch.

 

[edsurf]

View image in gallery​

View image in gallery​

View image in gallery​

Thought I would give my new 15 foot trotting rod its first outing today on the Frome . I had six grayling, three of them were well over a pound and my best to date at 2.5lbs , it was a frosty start then the sun got out and turned into a beautiful day,
It was a joy to be out on the bank, also had a couple of trout and something very big which jumped about a metre out the water before smashing me off.

First time I have used Braid today and never bumped a single fish off, last time I bumped half the fish I hit , so was pleased with the change in gear.

 

[mikench]

Arrived late (10.30) but had what turned out to be the best roach of the day at 15oz on the first cast using a maggot feeder on a helicopter rig. Had a dozen or so but l left at 3.30 as it was really cold once the sun disappeared! Plant to return tomorrow unless I can summon the nerve to try trotting on the Dane!

 

[sam vimes]

First time I have used Braid today and never bumped a single fish off, last time I bumped half the fish I hit , so was pleased with the change in gear.

Which rod and which braid did you go for, Ed?

 

[joshluke19]

Absolutely cracking fish Jim, the picture of the Hunting party is bang on as well.

 

[jimlad]

Absolutely cracking fish Jim, the picture of the Hunting party is bang on as well.

Cheers mate. I wish I'd photographed the hounds but they were off as quick as they arrived. Impressive sight.


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[tigger]

I had a nasty cold come on me last night and was gonn'a abort my planned session on the river today. As time crept on I finished up popping round to one of the local tackle shops and picked up a couple of pints of maggs. When I got back home from the tackle shop I hung about infront of the woodburner drinking tea and didn't realise what time it had got to, it was 2pm already!.... time to make a move or carry on drinking tea. I've gott'a addmitt it was hard to tear myself away from the fire and warm mugs of tea lol.
When I got to the river I had a glance at the cars thermometer and it read 2 degrees but the vile wind made it feel more like minus 30! Not the best of conditions when you've just caught a cold.
The river was a horrible colour and still carrying a bit of water. I tried a banker swim hoping for an instant reward but blanked....bu&&er. I moved on and the next few glides gave me nothing either and it wasn't looking too promising. As I mooched down the river I bumped into a chap I know who'd been sat there since daybreak quiver tipping and had caught nothing! He was dressed for the weather but still looked frozen, I think that wind had worked it's majic him....he might still be sat there, frozen solid lol.
I decided to go back on myself and try upstream which turned out to be the right thing to do. First glide produced a small chub and then nothing so I moved a few hundred yards further upstream and dropped into a deeper glide. After about three trotts through the float dipped and another chub came to hand. I had about a dozen more in that swim by which time the light was suddenly going, funny how at this time of year it goes from light to dark in a very short spell, the sun just seems to drop out of sight once it gets low.

 

[Hugh Bailey]

Predictable blank for me on the Wey. Trotted maggot and flake for the best part of 4 hours in maybe 8 or 9 swims without a real bite. Spent the last hour laying on in a crease without a touch. Thought I fished OK, but really, after a couple of hours, I think I know. Lovely day to be out, lots of birds (3 or 4 very tame Robins) - I haven't had a chance to go for ages so didn't regret it - am going to try again Saturday hopefully.

 

[Pete Shears]

Minus 5.5c the car dashboard informed me as I pulled up in the farmyard to roam on the upper Soar this morning.W
What a fantastic morning though,hard frost,brilliant sunshine - got quite warm legging it across the fields - the bird life seemed to agree as well - buzzard,kestrel,kingfisher,robins,wrens.
The fish however had different ideas - the river very clear & low - trotting & legering bread in four different swims produced nothing until I put the float with bread flake through a deep bend - two brown trout,biggest 1lb 4oz,both safely returned and another one fell off.
My mate Charlie who had been clearing snags out of every swim he sat in with his leger rig then had a go and had two more brown trout on bread.
No chub anywhere,even the minnow plague had subsided. I think it needs a bit more water & colour to fish its best.