Today I fished a difficult pit (lightly stocked) for roach. Legered dead maggots on both rods, caught 8 small perch, no roach and fluked a 7lb 3oz tench which looked like it had just finished spawning (red vent). If it had been caught a week or two ago she would have possibly have weighed nearly 9lbs.
How did you get on?
- Thread starter peter crabtree
- Start date
peter crabtree
AKA Simon, 1953 - 2022 (RIP)
Funny innit, some get plagued with bream when they're not wanted and I can't catch them when I want to..
10 codgers fished the GUC today in our midweek therapeutical match. I drew what is normally a bream flyer peg (also can be a chub or big perch flyer too) and could only find small roach?
Could the yellow flouro suited man on the opposite bank, who's task it was to watch for air bubbles as his workmates dug a tunnel under the canal, have scared them off?
Or was it the man on the boat next to me who wouldn't stop telling me about the leviathan carp which lived under it?
Dunno! but it wasn't for lack of trying on my part.
My mate Steve ( in foreground ) got a bit fed up with the yellow suits too, but fared better than I did.
The wind was fierce most of the day and hitting me from behind, I was constantly grabbing my landing net handle or my hat, to prevent them blowing into the canal. It did however make flicking maggots across to the far bank easier.
Winner, way down on the other end pegs, had a 4lb bream and bits for 5:7. Steve was 2nd with 5:1.
I had 2:5 for nowhere again
Looking forward to Saturday on the Colne with Neil1970...
10 codgers fished the GUC today in our midweek therapeutical match. I drew what is normally a bream flyer peg (also can be a chub or big perch flyer too) and could only find small roach?
Could the yellow flouro suited man on the opposite bank, who's task it was to watch for air bubbles as his workmates dug a tunnel under the canal, have scared them off?
Or was it the man on the boat next to me who wouldn't stop telling me about the leviathan carp which lived under it?
Dunno! but it wasn't for lack of trying on my part.
My mate Steve ( in foreground ) got a bit fed up with the yellow suits too, but fared better than I did.
The wind was fierce most of the day and hitting me from behind, I was constantly grabbing my landing net handle or my hat, to prevent them blowing into the canal. It did however make flicking maggots across to the far bank easier.
Winner, way down on the other end pegs, had a 4lb bream and bits for 5:7. Steve was 2nd with 5:1.
I had 2:5 for nowhere again
Looking forward to Saturday on the Colne with Neil1970...
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2014
- Messages
- 6,172
- Reaction score
- 1,950
I hadn’t planned on fishing today with trips planned for tomorrow and Monday but with a few hours to spare and some lovely weather I headed over to the estate.
Went with with rod and reel, fancied a change from the whip and was pleasantly surprised to find a member fishing already when I arrived, not so pleasant was the news he had zilch since arriving some two hours earlier.
My luck wasn’t any better after an hour without a meaningful bite, just pesky knocks from the hordes of fry and dragon flies annoyingly using the tip my float as a helipad.
A change of tactic was called for, I scaled down to a size 20 hook and 1lb bottom, repositioned my chair further back from the water and fished literally right in the edge in front of some reeds which I’d had a dig around with my net handle to stir up some critters in the silt.
Instant success and a joy to catch another of the newly stocked crucians, this was quickly followed by two more plus the obligatory bream which are fighting well and a few nice roach and Rudd too, no tench though.
Ended up good fun but would have been better on the whip, next time I’ll go mad and take both whip and rod.
still lots of algae in the lake which is a concern.
Went with with rod and reel, fancied a change from the whip and was pleasantly surprised to find a member fishing already when I arrived, not so pleasant was the news he had zilch since arriving some two hours earlier.
My luck wasn’t any better after an hour without a meaningful bite, just pesky knocks from the hordes of fry and dragon flies annoyingly using the tip my float as a helipad.
A change of tactic was called for, I scaled down to a size 20 hook and 1lb bottom, repositioned my chair further back from the water and fished literally right in the edge in front of some reeds which I’d had a dig around with my net handle to stir up some critters in the silt.
Instant success and a joy to catch another of the newly stocked crucians, this was quickly followed by two more plus the obligatory bream which are fighting well and a few nice roach and Rudd too, no tench though.
Ended up good fun but would have been better on the whip, next time I’ll go mad and take both whip and rod.
still lots of algae in the lake which is a concern.
Last edited:
mikench
Well-known member
Well another great day! 3 days in a row now for fishing in general and success in particular! The weather was dull, windy and chilly! I was first at the venue I haven't been to for weeks ( Kev knows the one! And it looked lovely!
View attachment 4963
View attachment 4964
I caught around a dozen roach on maggot like this;View attachment 4965
I tried tarés but I was impatient and did not give them long enough! Next time! The bites dried up and an old guy who reckoned he was once a well known matchman( he was catching regularly on prawn) came over with a few tips and his surplus prawns ! I then had 6 bream around the 3lb Mark and a couple of common carp around 6lb! I wished I had prawns because they were clearly the dish of the day!
View attachment 4966
I ended up with 29 fish all told which for me is a record! Interestingly the farmer who owns the venue confirmed he was going to create a fourth lake , having satisfied planners etc( I had given him some guidance) and it was going to be a tench lake with some Chub and barbel! No carp or any other species! He also told me he had had the specimen lake netted and there were loads of tench in it sand several , which were tagged and weighed and each was 10lb plus!!! Kev we have a challenge I think!:wh
I have just oredered a curry and opened a cheeky bottle of rosé part of my subscription with Le Petit Ballon from last years Father's Day ! Sadly I cannot make it a full house as parental duties will occupy me tomorrow! A good day!
View attachment 4963
View attachment 4964
I caught around a dozen roach on maggot like this;View attachment 4965
I tried tarés but I was impatient and did not give them long enough! Next time! The bites dried up and an old guy who reckoned he was once a well known matchman( he was catching regularly on prawn) came over with a few tips and his surplus prawns ! I then had 6 bream around the 3lb Mark and a couple of common carp around 6lb! I wished I had prawns because they were clearly the dish of the day!
View attachment 4966
I ended up with 29 fish all told which for me is a record! Interestingly the farmer who owns the venue confirmed he was going to create a fourth lake , having satisfied planners etc( I had given him some guidance) and it was going to be a tench lake with some Chub and barbel! No carp or any other species! He also told me he had had the specimen lake netted and there were loads of tench in it sand several , which were tagged and weighed and each was 10lb plus!!! Kev we have a challenge I think!:wh
I have just oredered a curry and opened a cheeky bottle of rosé part of my subscription with Le Petit Ballon from last years Father's Day ! Sadly I cannot make it a full house as parental duties will occupy me tomorrow! A good day!
Specihunter
Well-known member
Thanks flight a 10lb from Sywell still can remember the fish happy memories
Tee-Cee
Senior Member
I won't bore you by repeating once again what I have said in my last few posts as today's session ran to form and I again ended up with 40/50 roach....
The only addition I would like record is around the use of tares which I haven't used much as other baits have been so successful.
Today, I actually struggled for the first couple of hours and although I caught, it was really hard work to get the fish to feed continuously. I carried out all the usual changes to tackle and bait as bites slowed but.....
I had a break for some hot tea (it was only 7 degrees at 5am, and bloody chilly in light clothing) at around 9am and looking through the bait bag I found a bag of tares which had done any number of trips between freezer and bank. I changed the hook to a 16 and mounted a tare up the shank of the hook. Nothing for a while then I had a small roach, followed by another. During the following 20 mins or so I missed any number of bites and lost two fish on the strike.
What I found, when checking the hook, was that the over soft tare wasn't holding on the shank but slipping down to the bend and just hanging. The fish were (I think) snatching at the bait without taking in the hook and despite mounting a harder tare and casting gently no improvement in fish landed, at all....
Okay, so please don't ask me why I did what I did next, because I don't know. I didn't change hook but what I did do was to add a second tare, the second one almost holding the first up the shank! It looked totally wrong and seemingly did not enough effective hook to do its job, but I cast out anyway and supped my tea. Within minutes the float slid away and i was into what turned out to be a lovely looking roach of exactly a lb.
Cut an already long story short, I repeated this another three times with exactly the same result. Four 1lb roach in the space of dozen casts followed by another five at around 10/12ozs. It was great fishing on a lake where a 1lb roach is not a regular happening!
Needless to say fish size reduced but I still caught others around the 8" mark.
I have tried to recall if I have ever fished double tare before, and I don't think I have as a single has usually done the job. Similarly, I have tried to fathom why I used two in the first place and TBH I really don't know. Nevertheless, I was absolutely chuffed, not so much for the fish size, but more that caught them on such a bait..............
Doubtless, others have probably used them thus, but perhaps rarely. Someone will let me know, I'm sure..........................
Out again on Sunday, but for now it's another beer and an early night! I'm cream crackered!!!
ps Bites were a dip of the float before sailing away. Easy as you like to actually hook the fish!
The only addition I would like record is around the use of tares which I haven't used much as other baits have been so successful.
Today, I actually struggled for the first couple of hours and although I caught, it was really hard work to get the fish to feed continuously. I carried out all the usual changes to tackle and bait as bites slowed but.....
I had a break for some hot tea (it was only 7 degrees at 5am, and bloody chilly in light clothing) at around 9am and looking through the bait bag I found a bag of tares which had done any number of trips between freezer and bank. I changed the hook to a 16 and mounted a tare up the shank of the hook. Nothing for a while then I had a small roach, followed by another. During the following 20 mins or so I missed any number of bites and lost two fish on the strike.
What I found, when checking the hook, was that the over soft tare wasn't holding on the shank but slipping down to the bend and just hanging. The fish were (I think) snatching at the bait without taking in the hook and despite mounting a harder tare and casting gently no improvement in fish landed, at all....
Okay, so please don't ask me why I did what I did next, because I don't know. I didn't change hook but what I did do was to add a second tare, the second one almost holding the first up the shank! It looked totally wrong and seemingly did not enough effective hook to do its job, but I cast out anyway and supped my tea. Within minutes the float slid away and i was into what turned out to be a lovely looking roach of exactly a lb.
Cut an already long story short, I repeated this another three times with exactly the same result. Four 1lb roach in the space of dozen casts followed by another five at around 10/12ozs. It was great fishing on a lake where a 1lb roach is not a regular happening!
Needless to say fish size reduced but I still caught others around the 8" mark.
I have tried to recall if I have ever fished double tare before, and I don't think I have as a single has usually done the job. Similarly, I have tried to fathom why I used two in the first place and TBH I really don't know. Nevertheless, I was absolutely chuffed, not so much for the fish size, but more that caught them on such a bait..............
Doubtless, others have probably used them thus, but perhaps rarely. Someone will let me know, I'm sure..........................
Out again on Sunday, but for now it's another beer and an early night! I'm cream crackered!!!
ps Bites were a dip of the float before sailing away. Easy as you like to actually hook the fish!
Last edited:
thecrow
Well-known member
Not me Tony i have never even thought about doing it and it shows that no matter how long an angler has been at it there is always something new to learn
wetthrough
Well-known member
Friday: Cicely Mill again. I fished there last Wednesday when the forecast was 20 degrees but with clear skies it felt much hotter and there wasn't much activity at all. I thought the Friday forecast of overcast skies and 16/17 degrees might be a bit more productive. It felt quite cool at 6am with a light SW breeze coming from about 11 o'clock to me. Two golfballs of groundbait, one loose one to get to the bottom. Loose feeding four or five casters, maggots and hemp, fishing with about 3" on the bottom of 45" of water about 2 1/2 rod legths out. Bites were hard to come by although the Roach were a reasonable size, maybe 5 at around 4/6 oz on maggot and couple of small Perch by 10am. Couldn't get a look in on corn or meat. There's no visible signs of bigger fish feeding. I'd been fishing with a 14" 3.3lb Flourocarbon hooklength tied to an 18s light hook and decided to go a bit lighter. Switched to 3lb nylon and 20s hook to see if I could get a few more bites. What was immediately noticeable was how much slower the nylon sank compared to the Flourocarbon. The Glow Tip antennas really do tell you a lot about what's happening beneath the water. I started getting bites on the drop so shallowed up to about 20" and from then on it was a bite a chuck and still good fish the biggest being around 8oz and very few micro Roach which is unusual for Cicely Mill. Loose feeding and hooking casters with occasional switch to maggot just to see what happened. Bites started getting a bit hard to hit so started fishing 5mm bread punch which got me a few more fish.
The Roach from Cicely Mill aren't pristine. The black spot parasite really spoils them but quite a few of the Roach had red marks on the underside:
View attachment 4969
Is this predator damage or something I need to let Warrington Anglers know about?
It went quiet at about 12:30 so switched back to fishing on the bottom. Nothing at all for maybe an hour and a half, switching baits didn't tempt anything. From around 2:30 I started getting some indications on corn but couldn't hit the bites but I'm still on a 20s hook so switched to a 16s but still couldn't hit them. It might just have been tiddlers playing with the bait. Carried on for the rest of the session just picking up the odd Roach on maggot/caster.
It might not sound like the session of a lifetime but it was a really enjoyable day and for me what fishing is all about - making changes and getting results.
The Roach from Cicely Mill aren't pristine. The black spot parasite really spoils them but quite a few of the Roach had red marks on the underside:
View attachment 4969
Is this predator damage or something I need to let Warrington Anglers know about?
It went quiet at about 12:30 so switched back to fishing on the bottom. Nothing at all for maybe an hour and a half, switching baits didn't tempt anything. From around 2:30 I started getting some indications on corn but couldn't hit the bites but I'm still on a 20s hook so switched to a 16s but still couldn't hit them. It might just have been tiddlers playing with the bait. Carried on for the rest of the session just picking up the odd Roach on maggot/caster.
It might not sound like the session of a lifetime but it was a really enjoyable day and for me what fishing is all about - making changes and getting results.
thecrow
Well-known member
Cant see the attachment just get a message saying invalid attachment.
wetthrough
Well-known member
See if this works
jon atkinson
Well-known member
Same here...
jon atkinson
Well-known member
I've no expertise in these matters at all, but it doesn't look good - I'd say more likely disease than predator, certainly worth running it by WA - better safe than sorry!
thames mudlarker
Well-known member
June 16th early hrs of the morning session on the Cray
View attachment 4974View attachment 4973View attachment 4972View attachment 4975
View attachment 4974View attachment 4973View attachment 4972View attachment 4975
thecrow
Well-known member
Looks the same as some Roach I was catching from a club pool a few weeks ago, bailiff reckoned it was spawning damage I am not so sure it is, looks like ulceration of some sort.
- Joined
- Jul 12, 2009
- Messages
- 9,335
- Reaction score
- 1,696
Unusual for me to go fishing early doors but against my better judgement I did so today.
Very first trott through of the season and the float dipped beneath the surface, the culpret was a chub, not a big un but decent. After about five or six more trotts I had another then over the next half an hour I had another five, all around the same size. After that it was just dace and chublets.
If i'm honest didn't enjoy the session one bit, me waders ( both of em) leaked like the titanic and filled up to my knees. The water felt warm on my hand but cold on my feet and calves and to ice the cake it started raining quite hard and there was a rather nasty wind to accompany it. It didn't take very long for my body temp to drop and I was dithering like a jelly whilst stood mid river.....not good at all lol.
That's about it for my opening day on the river, i've had better, but then again i've had worse.
Very first trott through of the season and the float dipped beneath the surface, the culpret was a chub, not a big un but decent. After about five or six more trotts I had another then over the next half an hour I had another five, all around the same size. After that it was just dace and chublets.
If i'm honest didn't enjoy the session one bit, me waders ( both of em) leaked like the titanic and filled up to my knees. The water felt warm on my hand but cold on my feet and calves and to ice the cake it started raining quite hard and there was a rather nasty wind to accompany it. It didn't take very long for my body temp to drop and I was dithering like a jelly whilst stood mid river.....not good at all lol.
That's about it for my opening day on the river, i've had better, but then again i've had worse
.
jon atkinson
Well-known member
At least you made it out Tig, although TBH it's been absolutely hosing down in Liverpool - I'm almost glad to be stuck in work!
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2014
- Messages
- 6,172
- Reaction score
- 1,950
Arrived at the Canterbury Stour just after 5am, lots of fish showing in various swims, chub, perch, carp,pike, bream and eels too. It’s interesting how the carp and bream show absolutely no interest whatever bait you try and tempt them with and not spooked either. Chub are different very excitable and the juveniles naive with their greed.
Managed four over the course of three hours, surprised not to see more than another couple of anglers fishing the stretch.
Stopped off at the estate for a couple of hours on the whip, had a couple of cru’s, a few bream and my biggest roach from the lake yet.....on tares!
Managed four over the course of three hours, surprised not to see more than another couple of anglers fishing the stretch.
Stopped off at the estate for a couple of hours on the whip, had a couple of cru’s, a few bream and my biggest roach from the lake yet.....on tares!
Tee-Cee
Senior Member
s63: Was that a single or double tare??
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2014
- Messages
- 6,172
- Reaction score
- 1,950
A single tare.
These were the ones I referred to in the tares thread recently , quite hookable straight out the packet but having read a few experiences I decided to freeze/ thaw them a few times to see if it made them even more manageable, far from it, the reverse was true infact. I managed to hook one tare in every four. They also accounted for a lot of missed bites (no shot on line), but when I did connect, it was the best roach of the short session.
These were the ones I referred to in the tares thread recently , quite hookable straight out the packet but having read a few experiences I decided to freeze/ thaw them a few times to see if it made them even more manageable, far from it, the reverse was true infact. I managed to hook one tare in every four. They also accounted for a lot of missed bites (no shot on line), but when I did connect, it was the best roach of the short session.
Two hours on the river after lunch at the pub' this afternoon for 2 lovely small-ish Brownies . . . . one each for brekkie tomorrow for me and my neighbour . . .