How did you get on?

[nicepix]

Simon, the floats don't look very tapered, aren't they just Straight Peacock Wagglers? Were you fishing a swim with surface tow?

Good result, well done.



I had a couple of hours on the river Ouzel, catching four nice chub, three going 4lb+ all on lob worm and one of 5lb10oz which was taken on bread flake.
I had an utterly infuriating spell, where I could see a big chub (I'd guess at about 6lb8oz) hiding under a fallen tree. It would take everything under, above and below its snout but wouldn't budge even an inch forwards. It was of course impossible to cast a bait there, so had to admit defeat!
When I fish there again, I'll go with a pole!!!

Don't be daft. He'll eat it!

 

[cg74]

Don't be daft. He'll eat it!

He'd have to be starving to eat a chub, their flesh stinks like festering sewage... uke:

 

[peter crabtree]

Simon, the floats don't look very tapered, aren't they just Straight Peacock Wagglers?

2mm at the base and 4mm at the top.

 

[sam vimes]

A very optomistic afternoon barbel session on the upper Swale. I know they are there, but I don't recall ever catching one that far up the river. Unfortunately, that record still stands. Fortunately, the chub are a little less picky than they are on the more pressured lower river. One around the four pound mark saved the blank.

 

[nicepix]

A very optomistic afternoon barbel session on the upper Swale. I know they are there, but I don't recall ever catching one that far up the river. Unfortunately, that record still stands. Fortunately, the chub are a little less picky than they are on the more pressured lower river. One around the four pound mark saved the blank.

You never know until you try and those unexpected bonuses are worth the effort.

 

[Tee-Cee]

Binka....I'd appreciate a PM on the floats as I still cannot open it.
I did make some last year but I seem to have mislaid them and I would like to make a comparison (of sorts) with what George made.
If I can get hold of some (reasonably) straight material I would like to make some more (of various lengths) and give them a real work out.

Thanks for your help...

cg74........I did read in a book by H T Sheringham recently that he had tried chub cooked in a particular way (before which he thought it awful) and he thought it delicious. He did not expound on the actual recipe though ! In his day they seem to have eaten almost everything they caught including most coarse fish...

I don't think I shall be trying it......................

 

[binka]

Binka....I'd appreciate a PM on the floats as I still cannot open it.
I did make some last year but I seem to have mislaid them and I would like to make a comparison (of sorts) with what George made.
If I can get hold of some (reasonably) straight material I would like to make some more (of various lengths) and give them a real work out.

Thanks for your help...

Just sent, you're welcome

 

[nicepix]

Had an afternoon on the River Vienne near to St. Junien which is the largest of the three towns near us and famous since the middle ages for producing gloves out of animal skins. There was an old guy fishing near to the road. He was using an 8 m pole and trotting for a couple of metres allowing the single pinkie to drag the bottom. He caught roach not much bigger than ova and was still at it when I walked the dog back four hours later.

Because the day was hot and sunny I opted for a swim between two trees that overhung the river about 150 metres upstream. The tree downstream appeared to touch the water but not extend below the water line and so that is where I intended fishing. I catapulted some hemp seed and micro pellets in to get things going.

I started using a 1oz lead and 12 hook with banded 10mm pellet cast to the tree and allowed to free fall under it. I didn't get any visible bites but every time I wound in the pellet had gone. I tried changing the size and it happened every time. Crayfish I reckon. Tried using dried sausage of the type bought in Lidl and Aldi in little sachets. Nothing stirred. By now the sun that had obstinately dawdled in the clear sky was starting to go behind the trees on the opposite bank. I switched to a 35g cage feeder, 12 hook and single grain of sweetcorn and was rewarded with a rattle type bite first cast. Next cast the rod tip arched round and I locked horns with a good barbel of around 6lb. The rattle type bites continued and on one occasion the hook came back with some good sized silver scales attached. I thought that chub were to blame but next cast the same sort of bite resulted in a barblet of around 3lb and so it went on until the groundbait ran out which fortunately coincided with time to stop fishing.

 

[sam vimes]

Took a trip to the Tees. Decided to ignore the perch peg in order to try a swim I could trot nicely with stick and pin. The hope was to find some grayling. After two hours and only a very disappointing two minnows to show for it, the perch peg beckoned.

Sadly, that was a bit of a let down on the perch front. I did manage one tiny roach. A river roach is fairly novel for me, so I was quite pleased with that, shame it wasn't a bit bigger though. That was in amongst the more usual dace. I did manage to bag a couple of stonking dace that, with 20/20 hindsight, I really should have weighed. The biggest was measured at 10" long, the next best a smidge less. Both far too big to be swung to hand and they actually pulled back a bit.

 

[barbelboi]

Nothing much to report on what was a very quiet day - had a few hours on the river with a light running rig (10.30 - 3pm) two small barbel around the 4-5lb mark....

 

[neil1970]

Great day out today on a local backwater.

I fished 5 swims (some of them twice) for half an hour each.

1/3oz bomb, 2 foot hooklength, size 10 drennan and a small bit of garlic spam.
Then back round again with maggot feeder and 5 maggots on the hook.

Lovely to be out on such a nice morning & great fun creeping into swims as noiselessly as possible.

I only had a bit of interest from the fish and blanked in style; but came away with an unusually calm, fulfilled feeling.

There must be something in the water mg:

 

[nicepix]

We've had a perfect fishing day today. Soft rain and rising temperatures all day. Shame that we had a lunch engagement. But the forecast is for 26C and sunny all weekend so the camper has been packed & re-fueled, the travel rods are aboard and as soon as I'm back from collecting the mole traps tomorrow we're off to the Charente valley for full weekend of fishing. Hopefully there will be some colour in the water.

 

[neil1970]

An hour this morning trotting with maggots produced a few fish; gudgeon, chub, roach, hybrids and perch, all tiny.

 

[S-Kippy]

First go at the Bury Hill zander today. Had a most unwelcome pike then bumped two zeds but in the 4th minute of injury time managed to break the duck with a zed of around 5lb or so. Packed that rod away then picked up the other one and damn me...there was a fish on. In keeping with my usual lousy luck it promptly fell off.

Still....I had a couple of fish and a few runs. A distinct improvement on last year when I went 7 or 8 trips without a decent run let alone a fish. Bloke opposite had a seagull on a bit of sardine which was worth the ticket money alone.

Nice to be out. Not been for weeks for a variety of personal and home related stuff.

---------- Post added at 20:53 ---------- Previous post was at 20:36 ----------

And my NEW CHAIR was excellent and is still in one piece !

 

[binka]

And my NEW CHAIR was excellent and is still in one piece !

Oooh you tease!

What did you go for in the end Skip, I remember you were looking for something with a bit more height?

I caught me first ever stillwater zander very recently, a small fish of around 3lbs on a floatfished skimmer (see, they do have their uses) but chuffed to bits to have finally done it.

 

[S-Kippy]

Oooh you tease!

What did you go for in the end Skip, I remember you were looking for something with a bit more height?

I caught me first ever stillwater zander very recently, a small fish of around 3lbs on a floatfished skimmer (see, they do have their uses) but chuffed to bits to have finally done it.

A JRC Cocoon Relaxa Recliner,Steve.. It has the extra height I wanted plus arms which I like and it reclines too. Even better its pretty light. Only downer is that it doesn't fit my trolley very well but I'll just have to load things in a different order. First time out but I'm impressed so far.

Not tried diving into it from a tree yet so I don't know if it would suit you.

---------- Post added at 21:29 ---------- Previous post was at 21:18 ----------

Incidentally....I offered them roach tail,roach head section,sardine,eel,smelt and lamprey today. Every single pick up came on roach head....not so much as a bleep on anything else. Highly strung doesn't really do Bury Hill zander justice. Its like aquatic poker.

 

[mick b]

SKippy,
If its allowed try a small live Perch, if not use a head section.

Forget the bleepers, try a clothes peg as an indicator (lightweight and they dont feel it) set the end of the peg only just touching the ground so if you get a slack line bite it will lean over and a pull will lift it off the ground.

When it get colder they often just mouth a bait and sit there holding it, so one trick is to gently tighten the line with your fingers and the fish seems to think the bait is trying to escape and takes a better hold before swimming off.

Your hooks might need a bit of extra sharpening as well?

.

 

[S-Kippy]

SKippy,
If its allowed try a small live Perch, if not use a head section.

Forget the bleepers, try a clothes peg as an indicator (lightweight and they dont feel it) set the end of the peg only just touching the ground so if you get a slack line bite it will lean over and a pull will lift it off the ground.

When it get colder they often just mouth a bait and sit there holding it, so one trick is to gently tighten the line with your fingers and the fish seems to think the bait is trying to escape and takes a better hold before swimming off.

Your hooks might need a bit of extra sharpening as well?

.

No livebait allowed Mick. I've tried most things including prawns and crabsticks but not perch yet.

My bobbins are super light anyway and hooks needle sharp. The trouble down there is that with a single hooks only rule and the pressure the zeds get I'm convinced that the missed runs or bumped fish are often because they are just picking the bait up very gingerly and the hooks not in their gobs. The twitchy thing works I know but I don't tend to suffer from dropped pick ups like some do....if I get a run its usually a decent one so I'm minded to think my rig/presentation is OK.

Yesterday was simply me not being match fit. I rarely bump fish and I'm seriously out of practice.

 

[binka]

I’ve had a bit of an odd day in that I’d prepared for a feeder session on the river today but to be honest when the alarm went off at five this morning I got out of bed feeling shattered.

I had an extra brew and watched a bit of the early morning news on the telly whilst I decided what to do and it was the drive that I really wasn’t looking forward to so I made the flask up anyway and instead opted for my local day ticket lake once again and after a quick change around of gear I was chucking a 3BB waggler out by just gone seven.

No prizes for guessing what the main frustration was…



Leaves!

Still, it was crazy mild for mid-October with sixteen degrees overnight.

I started out in seven feet of water at the bottom of a shelf around two rod lengths out, an initial three orange sized balls of groundbait laced with maggot and chopped worm went in with the same on the hook and after settling down for a few minutes it was then skimmers all the way, one after another and I’d probably had fifteen to twenty of ‘em in an hour or so…



Yet again on this water I had just got into a nice rhythm with a few fish in front of me when the switch tripped and it died in an instant, I gave it far too long trying to resurrect the swim as again I’m convinced the pike had moved in so I went for the kill or cure approach and plumbed up a couple of feet off the rod end to find four feet of what was nicely coloured water so I switched to an even lighter float and fed lightly and loosely to then enjoy a bite a chuck for practically the rest of the day.

Nothing even approaching big but not a bad stamp considering I was getting the numbers and I probably ended up with a nice mixed bag of around sixty or seventy roach, rudd, perch and skimmers…







An enjoyable day in some very pleasant surroundings and glad to have got it out of my system, out on the river for sure tomorrow

 

[Ray Daywalker Clarke]

Skippy you could try the old tried and tested silver foil as a bobbin. I also use a small twig sometimes.