How did you get on?

[Alan Tyler]

Went to explore a club pit I hadn't yet tried, in search of pike.
Bunged out a deadbait, twiddled a lure or two past it, with no real feeling of hope - bright sun and clear water - and I was absolutely right.

Fortunately, I'd packed some float gear and bread, so left the spinner on the bank and had half a dozen consolation roach, best about 4 oz.

As I swung the last one in, the water exploded - twice - either a pike with worse eyesight than even mine, or a dozy carp rudely awakened by a scraping line and flappy intruder; I suspect the former (hope springs eternal). Suddenly, the wind switched, I was pelted with willow leaves which covered the previously clear water, the sky darkened, and all the angels decided to pee on me, so I took the hint before anyone upstairs thought I was bad enough for the falling tree or thunderbolt treatment.
Just as I finished packing, the rain stopped and the sky brightened. Is someone trying to tell me something?

 

[Neil Maidment]

A proper day with the Dorset Stour chub yesterday. The effort of an early start was dampened a bit as I and a fellow angler disturbed an Otter as we arrived on the bank. But loose feeding red maggot while tackling up and chatting over a cup of coffee did the trick again.

I had walked the stretch the previous afternoon and determined my attack would be with a 3AAA waggler with a no:1 down and double maggot on a #18 chucked across to the far bank. My old Korum Medium 13ft Float rod saw light of day and was matched with one of my inherited Preston Innovations PRX Pro reels ( weird contraption with a bale arm ).

4 or 5 chub in the first hour in the 4lbs to 5lbs+ range were the welcome result.

They fed consistently throughout the day particularly mid afternoon but I had to rest the swim regularly whilst continuing to loose feed maggots to keep them coming. I managed quite a few better fish with a best of 6lbs 06oz. I also contrived to lose a barbel of about 7lbs almost at the net. I made amends for that with a smaller example as the light began to fade.

In amongst all the chub I had plenty of minnows, gudgeon, dace, roach and perch, some of which were "net fish"

 

[rubio]

Blanked when trying out local river the other evening. Low and slow like many other places.
Yesterday had a few roach and the odd rudd from next nearest bit of 'running' water, but numbers and size down on what I was catching there a couple of weeks back. As threatened I took along a pike rod which was enough to scare them away. Some small fry still getting chased next swim down but my instinct is that these might be perch on the hunt. Would happily latch into a big one of those.

 

[john step]

A good result today....of a different kind.
Got home last night and found I had lost the gate to battery compartment on an alarm.
I visited every swim I fished yesterday and on the last gasp knockings found it hiding in the long grass.

Phew

 

[mikench]

Leaves on the Line! Well that's my excuse and if it's good enough for British Rail( showing my age there) it's good enough for me! I had prepared some cured corn mixed with grits and fine oatmeal a la Lakhyaman and was anxious to try the mix out on the carp at the large Mere . I set up the carp/ sleeper rod which proved to be comatose all day

I then finally managed to set up my float road but then spent the best part of an hour on the phone with a client/ mate who needed some last minute advice on matters he thought he could deal with himself- tight git! Having advised him what to do and say at least twice he proceeded to give me a running commentary on how he was getting on. I told him I was fishing in a remote spot, he was ruining my day, the signal was poor and I was about to venture further into a signal free zone . I then switched the b****y thing off!

I started with maggot, then progressed to cured corn, pellets and finally some casters but to no avail. The sheer number of leaves on the surface caused my float to constantly dip, submerge and disappear but without a fish on the end

Even casting much further out didn't help much because whilst the float was in clear water the line wasn't and even when I sank it there was little improvement. I resorted to holding the rod in hand and pointing it skywards keeping the line airborne and whilst this worked, the fish did not oblige and rendered the effort futile!

The end result was a blank! Not a nibble! For those interested my mate sent me a txt to say my advice worked and he had settled sensibly so did not have to attend court this Monday. Perhaps I should just stick to the day job!

And finally would mr Maidment and Jimlad stop posting beatiful pics of stunning fish I can only dream about! No wonder I am feeling inadequate!

 

[john step]

I started with maggot, then progressed to cured corn, pellets and finally some casters but to no avail. The sheer number of leaves on the surface caused my float to constantly dip, submerge and disappear but without a fish on the end

)[/QUOTE]

Mike. Sometimes in Autumn you just have to be selective with venues. Not only is the water cooling and clearing, but in large numbers I believe those troublesome leaves are also rotting and souring the water.
Thats not a scientific fact, just something I have come to believe.

 

[nottskev]

And finally would mr Maidment and Jimlad stop posting beatiful pics of stunning fish I can only dream about! No wonder I am feeling inadequate!

They don't call it leafy Cheshire for nothing, then?

No need to feel inadequate - you can only catch those fish if you're fishing where they live, and I bet not much was caught by anybody at your mere today. When you see guys catching big chub either side of you, then you can worry

 

[nottskev]

I found out I'd been lucky enough to get permission to fish a favourite lake that had been closed since May. So despite the grayling weather, - frost, blue sky and sun - I thought I'd celebrate by fishing for roach. The lake was looking good after its close-season

With 6 or 7' at about 11m, the pole is the obvious way to tackle it, but I decided to go with the waggler. With an ultra-light rod (that's not the same as an Ultralight rod), and a miniature Shimano reel you feel like you have next to nothing in your hand. The insert peacock wouldn't win any prizes, but when I fished it out of the box I recalled that I made it, as part of a pre-pole canal set, in 1979.
The set all took 2bb plus 3 no8 – if they needed any more, I glued a wrap of lead wire to the base.
Excuse the nostalgia – it's my equivalent to the Chris Yates Edwardian Gentleman thing......70's skinflint.

The conditions weren't ideal for roach, but I was happy enough to be back on the lake, a precious tench and crucian water in spring and summer. The bailiff looked pityingly at my casters and advised me to get some chopped meat on and catch some proper roach! I've seen him catch them, but the carp factor puts me off it. Still, one or two nice ones came to double caster. And even without the meat I had to backwind most of the line off the reel as a carp ploughed off to the far corner. A lucky hook pull meant the vintage float came back safely.

Feeding caster and hemp to the right, and corn to the left, I found there wasn't much difference, and after a slow start – no surprise – had enough bites to keep it interesting. I imagine I'd have missed fewer bites on the pole, but I can do that another day.

 

[mikench]

Cheers Kev. There were 3 other anglers already there and on consequetive pegs and they had nothing as well! Little comfort though!

Towards the end I did a little casting practice so not an entire waste of a day!

 

[nottskev]

Cheers Kev. There were 3 other anglers already there and on consequetive pegs and they had nothing as well! Little comfort though!

Towards the end I did a little casting practice so not an entire waste of a day!

So clearly not a matter of technique, approach etc.... Maybe what it shows is the big seasonal variation in waters, and the way a temperature drop and a bright frosty morning can flatten stillwaters in particular. No need to fret over your approach - you've had some cracking fish from your local waters, as I recall. But things do change in winter, and it might be an idea to research some places that do produce when the conditions are the least favourable. As a rule of thumb, river fish like chub, dace or grayling are likely to give you a few bites when stillwater cousins have switched off. Deeper stillwaters seem to fish better than shallow ones. Later in the day - say 12-4pm - is much better than earlier. Winter fishing is a different thing. When I was in Bay Malton, I'd often ring a club official and ask where's fishing at a particular time of year, so I wouldn't be shy of doing that.

 

[Pete Shears]

After a blank day on Wednesday dead baiting for pike at Sywell Reservoir,it was off to the club waters yesterday to have a go at the pike.The first lake I tried not much was moving just the occasional swirl from carp and when I saw a complete mackerel on the bottom in three feet of water discarded by another angler I reckoned the pike were not that hungry so a move to a different lake on the complex was made.This was a much more open water with less dead leaves floating about and within 10 minutes a run on the right hand rod resulted in a pristine pike of 5lb 8oz.Sat back to watch the flocks of passing fieldfares,long tailed tits,a lonely buzzard being mobbed by jackdaws and shake my fist at a circling group of four cormorants.Then the wind suddenly increased and the rain started.Time to go,quite easy as I could park behind the swim,on arriving home I found out my wife had fallen resulting in grazed hands,knees and a pearler of a black eye,so off to A & E finally getting home about 7.15pm.
I am just a chauffeur now as she cannot see clearly out her left eye and has just gone on the waiting list to have a cataract sorted in the right eye,more chauffering and less fishing time methinks.

 

[lakhyaman]

On the lake again with two 100 gram flat bed method feeders with semi fixed rigs out on two Hardy 12 foot Specimen rods. Did not take a minute to hook a small fish on one of the rigs. Hauled it to the surface where it revealed itself to be a Ghonia (Labeo gonius) of about a kg or so. Took my eye off for a second to look at Bhutto, my mate, who was removing other lines from the water. There was a surge from the little blighter as it tried to dive under the fishing platform. A splintering crack et voila - my precious rod had been well and truly binka-ed!

A few seconds of fire and brimstone (especially as the fish got off) and some quiet reflection resulted in a call from the bank side to Mark of The Tackle Exchange, Walton on Thames. Within the hour I received a message saying a tip section for said rod was making its way to Bangladesh and I should receive it within the week - the wonders of the modern world.

I suspect many a Hardy tip section has made its way to the remoter parts of Bengal in days gone by but it would have taken a great deal longer via mail runners, handwritten notes and the Cutty Sark!

Much thanks to Mark for his instant magic.

I think the tip section was slightly loose on the inserted middle section so when the tip bent with the surging fish all the pressure fell on one point where the inserted section ended causing the break at that point.

For the record, a number of Catlas to 16 1/2 lbs were landed. Crushed wheatabix wetted with the liquid from a tin of mixed beans and liquid bloodworm extract on the feeders with hair rigged butter beans proved to be the ultimate in fish catching baits.

All the best

Lakhyaman

 

[Aussie Bob]

Spent a couple of hours on the lake on Friday first time bait fishing for a few months. Warm day the cloud started to close over and of course this heralded a huge spinner hatch which the trout went nuts for they were constantly topping and sucking flies off the surface. Persevered with fishing corn under a float for a while and missed two very quick bites. Decided its time to get the fly rod , by the time I packed up got home and came back the skies had cleared and the hatch stopped and the fish stopped topping. Spent an hour or son on the fly without much interest.
Day was livened up by huge fight between two black swans where they chased each other across the water then spent 10 minutes biting the c*p out of each other , they have their cygnets around at the moment so they are very defensive . If you get a little close you get seriously hissed at!
Bit annoyed I didn't pick up my fly vest before I headed out I normally by default wear it for all the tools I have on it regardless if I fishing the fly or not . Could have rigged up a dry fly with a bubble float or something similar.

 

[mikench]

Fishing, cricket, fishing , cricket decisions decisions eh Bob!

 

[tigger]

On the lake again with two 100 gram flat bed method feeders with semi fixed rigs out on two Hardy 12 foot Specimen rods. Did not take a minute to hook a small fish on one of the rigs. Hauled it to the surface where it revealed itself to be a Ghonia (Labeo gonius) of about a kg or so. Took my eye off for a second to look at Bhutto, my mate, who was removing other lines from the water. There was a surge from the little blighter as it tried to dive under the fishing platform. A splintering crack et voila - my precious rod had been well and truly binka-ed!

A few seconds of fire and brimstone (especially as the fish got off) and some quiet reflection resulted in a call from the bank side to Mark of The Tackle Exchange, Walton on Thames. Within the hour I received a message saying a tip section for said rod was making its way to Bangladesh and I should receive it within the week - the wonders of the modern world.

I suspect many a Hardy tip section has made its way to the remoter parts of Bengal in days gone by but it would have taken a great deal longer via mail runners, handwritten notes and the Cutty Sark!

Much thanks to Mark for his instant magic.

I think the tip section was slightly loose on the inserted middle section so when the tip bent with the surging fish all the pressure fell on one point where the inserted section ended causing the break at that point.

For the record, a number of Catlas to 16 1/2 lbs were landed. Crushed wheatabix wetted with the liquid from a tin of mixed beans and liquid bloodworm extract on the feeders with hair rigged butter beans proved to be the ultimate in fish catching baits.

All the best

Lakhyaman

Bad news about your rod but all's well that ends well .

 

[sam vimes]

I don't normally go on a Saturday or Sunday. I prefer to let the poor unfortunate workers have their turn while I have a rest, watch/listen to some sport and do the family thing (scrounge free scoff!).

However, I have a new rod that I didn't manage to get out with yesterday. I wasn't going to get up at the crack of dawn, and I wanted to be back to listen to the football. I also knew that conditions were going to be decidedly against me. However, as the new toy is rather long and ideal for use when the wind is against you, it was a good opportunity to see how it did.

I've been fairly disappointed recently with the stretch I intended to fish. I tried to think of any changes I've made to my fishing. The only thing I could think of was changing from my usual bronze maggots to reds and whites. For today, I had a pint of bronze to try. Without feeding a thing, the first trot resulted in a grayling.

The next three trots produced two grayling and a long range release. Things slowed significantly after that though I was still getting bites. The culprits turned out to be fingerling grayling and parr. By the time it died completely I'd managed seven grayling and a parr. A short move downstream resulted in one more grayling and a parr.

Eight grayling and two parr in less than two hours and terrible trotting conditions wasn't too bad. I enjoyed using the new rod and avoided the new kit hoodoo. Not a bad day at all.

 

[mikench]

That would be the 17 footer then Sam! I couldn't cope with that !

Glad you like it !

 

[jimlad]

Up early this morning and taking be dogs for a walk noticed there had been a hard frost. That couple with clear skies, I had a feeling it would be pretty tough going.

I decided to fish a gravel pit, casting different baits to different depths to mix it up a bit. Once the sun got up above he horizon, it formed a nice sun trap where I was sat and it was pretty pleasant, I'd have been quite happy just sitting there, woodpecker behind me working away at a tree, absolute stillness on the pits surface. Fortunately though, pretty quickly the peace was broken as the drop arm hit the rod rest and the alarm let out a few bleeps.

I picked up the rod, felt a knock pretty quickly so hit it straight away. The fish fought well in the crystal clear depths, and eventually rolled over the net, I knew it was a good double. At 17lb 7oz, it's a new Stillwater pb and definitely the result I was after. I didn't get anymore action , but happy with the mornings trip.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jimlad]

It didn't take you long to hunt one of them down chris!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[nottskev]

Another frosty morning, so not many options for this afternoon, and it was back to the lower Derwent. My first and second choice pegs were taken, so I settled for this one

The scarcity of roach, dace and chub puts all the emphasis on the grayling, and whilst there seems to be a few in each swim, the bites soon dry up, and it would probably be best to rove from swim to swim. However, unless I find myself transformed by medical breakthroughs, I won't be doing that, so the aim is to tease as many fish as possible from the chosen one.


The grayling here have a habit of coming up for the bait, but today these, er, enigmatic little creatures stayed on the bottom, and bites only came when trundling the bait along and slowing it down.
Fishing just below a big willow, I dredged a fair few twigs and branches out during the course of the afternoon.
The first 10 fish came in the first hour, while I tried not to spook them, avoiding any splash from hooked fish and feeding maggots 2 or 3 at a time. But after that, it was down to scratching around the swim, and it took 2 hours to catch the next 9.

My mate, fishing above me, had a similar total from the 3 swims he tried, so the static and roving approaches levelled out.
And even with such modest catches, we had a field day compared to the two young guys downstream,who had driven 50 miles to fish the river for the first time. They were after barbel. The last barbel I caught from this stretch came in a summer flood in 2016. Without being discouraging, we let them know that a barbel from here, on a sunny afternoon after a frosty morning, was quite a challenge, and that a chub, although rare, was more in the realms of possibility.