How did you get on?

[itsfishingnotcatching]

Hadn't decided where I would fish today, was going to try the Arrow but was put off by the early rain this morning so decided on a pool. Left the maggots at home by the kitchen radiatormg: started on worm, then bread, lost a languid carp that shed the hook when it woke up. Landed a Mirror around 5lb on meat, lost another and struggled to end up with four skimmers on bread. Cold, wet at times and hard work, should have stuck with the Arrow

 

[The Runner]

Fished club match on the R Colne at Uxbridge where I managed to collect my first blank of the season. Drew a swim that has now blanked in I think six matches in a row, which is hard to get your head round when we know it holds a resident chub shoal (Last time I pleasure fished it about 4 months ago I had five chub and lost another four in an evening session). Think they have become almost nocturnal on the river here.
Not a bite all day- did have one big fish roll under the pennywort opposite me and another right down the peg as I was packing up, almost certainly chub. Two pairs of coots diving in the swim on and off all day probably didnt help matters
Was generally grim with the main river below normal level and horribly clear and raw looking throughout. Two chub and some roach for 9-11 won it, the a 4-0 and a 3-14 all bits and only 1-1 needed for fourth.

 

[peter crabtree]

You think that's bad Mart. The Thame near Thame was dire to say the least..
Low, clear and little flow. Blustery wind and rain for the first 3 hours, pinkies crawling up my arm, brolly flapping around and I was wondering why I came?
One tiny gudgeon, a couple of chublets, a bleak and a 3oz roach in the first half hour on punch then 5 and a half hours blanking....
Fortunately the wind and rain passed over and it was quite pleasant.
Weighed in 3oz..
I thought I had 6oz at least? Then noticed my 3oz roach flipping in the grass?
It had somehow missed the slingmg:
Winner had 2 chub for 4:15.
2nd 1:7.
3rd. 1:1
Thank god those two last matches on the Thame are done.
Back on the Thames next Sunday. :thumbs:

 

[The Runner]

Must be ten years since I fished the Thame, Simon, and it was getting a bit challenging then...
At least the roach didn't cost you a frame place although it was pretty close !
A hard luck story from our match today can beat that though- one of the Harefield Tackle regulars drew on the weirpool with nobody pegged anywhere near him (or who was still there at the end at any rate) and out of earshot of any shout or whistle. Anyway at the end of a long hard day out of nowhere he had a chub the best part of 5 lb; looked at his watch and realised he'd had it a couple of minutes after time ...being an honest man he didnt weigh it in and made do with 4oz of minnows.
Would like to think everybody would do the same....

 

[neil1970]

Three hours today in the weirpool produced one bite on double maggot for a 6oz chub.
A turf war between two robins (instigated by a few maggots) kept me amused. I managed to feed the loser after the fat old one had had his fill

 

[sumtime]

Managed an hour and fifteen minutes on the canal at Halsall this morning, dropshotting.
Tried worms dropping them alongside the boats and bushes, far bank and down the middle, zilch.

Tried different small soft lures, this had a lovely action with just a slow turn of the reel, couldn't have been any fish there, any perch worth their salt wouldn't turn their tails up at this.
http:// [URL=http://s223.photobucket.com/user/opaldan/media/Mobile%20Uploads/IMG_20141209_120301_zpsf867d937.jpg.html] [/URL]

 

[bennygesserit]

I must say this is the first thread I read on FM - thanks to all

 

[barbelboi]

Had a couple more short gravel pit sessions for roach (usual timings) last week (very windy) and this braving the elements - still pulling out some large 1's but haven't yet quite hit the two mark this season. Was going to get back on the river for some trotting later in the week but with gale force winds forecast I'll a weather eye on this one .................

 

[robertroach]

Just been on the Frome on an uninviting day. Managed a few grayling including one clonker of 2lb 8oz on double maggot. They are quite hard to deal with, aren't they? Hyperactive.

 

[neil1970]

I walked up he canal again today, confidently walloping out an 80 gram jerkbait with no success.

Then decided to try on the river; again met with nothing.

Last few casts were on the lake; last one the lure cracked off the 50lb line due to bedding in on the spool of the multiplier. Grrrrrr!

Lure fishing confidence now at an official all time low.

Anyway, time to prepare another Ti trace for the next sessionmg:

 

[Tee-Cee]

Out on Sunday and Monday am for 6 hour sessions on a small lake and, well, what a difference a day makes !
Sunday, mild with some light rain, produced a dozen or more roach to various baits on fine tackle but mainly red maggot, whilst Monday was absolutely freezing from the off and apart from a single roach, first cast, which suggested a continuation from Sunday, ended up with a number of perch to around 1lb, and bl**dy hard work it was too!!

Same swim, even the same end tackle, down to the 20 hook, but try as I might I could not get the roach to respond - at any depth !

Just one point on the Sunday session; I have mentioned this before, but casting to the left of the swim produced nothing, yet a change to the right (some 10/12' away) produced fish immediately and regularly. It pays to cast around, and had I not done so I would have headed for home, sure in my mind that the fish were just not interested....
I have tended to 'minimal feed' different areas of my swim this year rather than try to bring the fish to me in one, proven specific spot, and it has worked well on a number of occasions.
I always read the match reports on this Thread, and matchmen feeding different 'lines' got me to thinking it might work pleasure fishing still waters after a fashion. As I say, it doesn't always work, but when it does......................

Nothing new, but worth a try if things go quiet !

ps 2/3 outings planned for later this week, probably to a different venue for a change.. ( NOT if bad weather rolls in, though !!)

 

[edsurf]

Fished a mill stream off the Avon today which should have had more flow to fish well, I caught 23 chub, 13 roach and lost count of the dace all on trotted red maggot, Five hours of good sport using the pin and never saw another person all day.

Good times

 

[nicepix]

I had to take the car in for two tyres this morning. So I put a rod and some basic tackle together and went off for a couple of hours on the River Vienne after they were fitted.

The temperature has risen overnight from around 4C to 8C and it was overcast and breezy. I fished much as I used to do on the Dearne; one ounce lead to make sure the bait stayed put, 12lb mono and a 1.75lb tc rod with 4oz tip. Bait was some Spam that had come in on the smuggling run yesterday. I walked down about a kilometre and half of river and dropped the bait under leaf rafts and deeper runs under the near bank.

Result; one decent barbel around 7lb and a river pig slightly bigger. Also dropped into the tackle shop and got some decent info' on where to try for pike next week.

 

[cg74]

I grabbed 4hrs this afternoon/evening roach fishing on a small river, that's roughly 20-25ft wide and 2-3ft deep. Ronnie, Reggie and most of their family kept my tip twitching endlessly.
I managed to get 3 proper pulls, the first coming after about 2hrs. I was fishing in a fast tight glide that was fringed by a mass of brambles and elders. The bite came with my bread flake tight under the brambles and was from a roach that no matter how much I willed it to go 2lb, it resolutely held station at 1lb15oz. HUH!!!

3hrs in and the temp was plummeting fast I opted to have a dabble in a chub banker swim. It's a real text book chub swim, an undercut nearside bank, on the outside of a sharp bend and towards the tail of the swim a large willow complete with a raft. A 4lber didn't take long to snaffle my offering of bread flake.

Following my pick-me-up chub, a last move was called for, this swim was a 30 yard long, 3ft deep bland looking glide that before today has only ever produced small roach, chub and dace in summer but nothing in the colder months.
I gave it 20mins with bread tight to the nearside, nothing. So I opted to feed 2 or 3 grains of corn every couple minutes for about 10mins directly infront of me and about 2/3 of the way across. Then I dropped a single grain on a size 14 hook and within seconds a 2lb+ roach was on.

I don't know if it's me using carp styled hooks too often but size 14 Drennan Carbon Specimen hooks look damned small these days.

 

[Tee-Cee]

cg74.........Two very nice roach and of a size most would consider ' fish of a lifetime '...pity we have no photographs to brighten a cold winters day !!

Personally , I would be quite happy for the fish just shy of the 2lb mark to grace my landing net at any time, but more so at this time of year and the odd ounce would be of little concern to me ! In fact, I would probably put it down to rusty scales................

Anyway, congratulations on both fish and the quality bit of fishing also made a good read !

 

[sam vimes]

A quick couple of hours was a bit tougher than it can be. For no obvious reason, the trout put in an overdue appearance when its been overwhelmingly grayling for the past few weeks. Six grayling to around a pound and five trout. Topped by the last fish of the day at 2lb 2oz that absolutely trashed the swim with a fine display of aerobatics.

 

[The Runner]

mutter mumble grumble Christmas Sh**ping mumble grumble Westfield Shepherds Bush mutter mutter mutter Seventh Circle of Hell grumble mutter mutter....

 

[peter crabtree]

mutter mumble grumble Christmas Sh**ping mumble grumble Westfield Shepherds Bush mutter mutter mutter Seventh Circle of Hell grumble mutter mutter....

Surely not tomorrow?

 

[nicepix]

Went out around 11am to the big lake for a predator session. The temp' was 9C with a light southerly wind and overcast.

I was after pike using dead baits and so started off naturally with my 15 foot float rod and Mitchell Match reel. The place I'd opted to fish has a sand bar running out from the shore and I needed to plumb the depth in order to find the side of the bar. Once done and float showing I put a sardine on the bottom and a 4oz carp popped up a foot or so just up the incline. The wind dropped to nothing and it started to rain lightly. I'd taken a Pop-a-Bivvy so it wasn't a problem. I had an instant erection :w

Then I put a worm on the float tackle started to search for the roach that are usually there. I went up the water column from dead bottom alternating worm with sweetcorn skins a foot or so at a time, feeding small quantities of hemp seed for no result. A couple of hours later with not a bleep to show on the dead baits I wound in the baits, took the dog for a walk and then re-positioned them, one on top of the sand bar and the other half way down the incline. More roach searching followed without success so I put that rod to one side. I might as well have put them all to one side. Fished into the gloom without a single sign of fish.

Drove home at 6pm with the temperature recording at 10C and I noticed several anglers spinning in the main basin of the lake. Naughty as the laws are that you can only fish for carp after dusk and the fisheries police have been known to issue hefty fines for transgressions.

 

[peter crabtree]

Drove home at 6pm with the temperature recording at 10C and I noticed several anglers spinning in the main basin of the lake. Naughty as the laws are that you can only fish for carp after dusk and the fisheries police have been known to issue hefty fines for transgressions.

"mais je peche pour les carps avec spinners monsieur officer?"