How did you get on?

[markcw]

Managed a short afternoon session at Blackbrook basin yesterday - only one other guy fishing when I arrived & a pump was churning out water furiously at the wide end which didn't bode well. I picked a peg towards the narrower end a noted that large amounts of Hornwort had been dredged out along the length of the bank so I needn't have bothered bringing the rake after all. I started on maggot & had a few small but respectable roach followed by a couple of snigs which prompted me to switch to caster! Continued to catch the occasional redfin, but it was relatively hard going - hopefully the pumping will have improved the oxygen levels going forward. Blokey wandering round told me that having fished there regularly he'd had his first ever blank on Thursday - 6 hours without so much as a nibble - I took some consolation from that...

Jon, who is the controlling club for the Canal, ? I used to fish the Hotties years ago, ( for the more perverted minds on here that has nothing to do with a ladies of the night section ) It got its name because hot water was constantly going into the canal, Where you didn't know if your next bite was from a cichlid, guppy or a roach,. A pet shop owner apparently dumped a load of tropical fish in there.

 

[Another Dave]

Yep us northerners have funny sayings :wh

Short for 'sniggler' apparently. sniggler | Origin and meaning of sniggler by Online Etymology Dictionary

edit: i might have read that wrong, sniggler might mean an eel angler.

 

[jon atkinson]

Jon, who is the controlling club for the Canal, ? I used to fish the Hotties years ago, ( for the more perverted minds on here that has nothing to do with a ladies of the night section ) It got its name because hot water was constantly going into the canal, Where you didn't know if your next bite was from a cichlid, guppy or a roach,. A pet shop owner apparently dumped a load of tropical fish in there.

Apologies for the tardy response - the site is currently displayed in a very odd manner?? St Helens AA currently has the Hotties on their (good value) card @ £30.00 a year. Personally I haven't fished there for decades & I gather that without Pilks churning out hot water, the water is now regulation temperature. I believe that it still fishes well though, but you do allegedly get some unsavoury characters lurking... apologies if this is off topic, but I currently have very limited 'functionality' to see where I'm posting!

 

[peter crabtree]

11 codgers fished the GUC near Tring today. A cool and cloudy start and a hot, sunny finish. I drew end peg which was nice.

Started off feeding 6 balls of gb across to the barge, then started on wagg and magg. Got a skimmer first chuck then the gudgeon moved in.
Changed hook up to a 16 and ( unusual for me ) tried corn. Bingo, a big skimmer followed by more skimmers. After 2 hours I fed more gb and carried on with the corn as close to the boat as possible ...
Went on to catch more skimmers which I enjoyed tremendously..

At the scales I had 16lb:2oz which won me the match.
Second had 9:2 and 3rd 6:12..

Lucky I decided last minute to take some corn, having been beaten with it in the past.

 

[mikench]

Bream and corn rarely let you down.

 

[Roger Johnson 2]

Interesting fishing last 2 days, yesterday afternoon about 5.00pm tried pole fishing in an eddy by a sunken bush on my neighbours land 2 bleak and...... a roach, 1 st roach I’ve seen for over 8 months, not large 4-5 oz but pristine, my first from the Dordogne and ......a roach. There was a fair bit of predator activity too so I kept one of the bleak to try a dead bait going on into the evening. After tea I continued pole fishing corn without a touch, ( what I wouldn’t give for a pint or two of reds and whites but French mags must work out at £10-12 a pint , at least!, on the plus side they’re often sold in the supermarket, weekly shop and a tub of worms and maggots!) but the bleak head miraculously came to life, shame I messed up the strike, no further takes on the tail section.
With time pressing on I gave up on the pole and threw out a feeder for my daily 5lb bream, and no disappointment when 3 m ins into the first cast the tip went round with Bream no1 and a further 3 followed over the next 45 mins. The day wasn’t all plain sailing with a collapsing stool, knocking over my feeder mix and slipping on the bank and landing flat on my back.
This evenings session started with finding another angler in my swimming pool swim, although I own the bank and river bed I must allow access to any permit holder, so wandered down to the end of my neighbours land which has a beautiful 6-7 feet deep glide on the near side, it should be packed with fish, but I can’t buy a bite there. I gave it an hour before returning to the swimming pool for my daily bream but they weren’t at home, however just on dark a 3 foot twitch resulted in a 5lb plus barbel the first for a couple of weeks.


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[tigger]

Had a few hours on the river today but the majority of it was spent talking shyte to other anglers .

The few trotts I did have produced a dace, a gudgeon and a chub of about 5lb.

Knew i should have gone to a less popular stretch!

 

[sam vimes]

Today I tried to break my 17' Acolyte by belting a dirty great 8g Preston Dura Waggler about. Despite the abuse, I failed miserably to break the rod, but did manage to catch 30+ roach and perch. Nothing to write home about. However, on a venue that doesn't tend to produce much in the way of any of the smaller species, I was happy enough. This was the best roach of the day, the only fish requiring the use of a net.


I did get to wishing that I had a proper camera with a decent long lens. I doubt I'll be seeing three little egrets and a heron in a tree again in a hurry. They were briefly joined by a fourth egret.

 

[tigger]

Today I tried to break my 17' Acolyte by belting a dirty great 8g Preston Dura Waggler about. Despite the abuse, I failed miserably to break the rod, but did manage to catch 30+ roach and perch. Nothing to write home about. However, on a venue that doesn't tend to produce much in the way of any of the smaller species, I was happy enough. This was the best roach of the day, the only fish requiring the use of a net.
View attachment 5412

I did get to wishing that I had a proper camera with a decent long lens. I doubt I'll be seeing three little egrets and a heron in a tree again in a hurry. They were briefly joined by a fourth egret.
View attachment 5413

The birds are smart but the tree looks like a beaut!

 

[sam vimes]

The birds are smart but the tree looks like a beaut!

A dirty great weeping willow on an island. Probably the best, and biggest, tree on the waterside.

 

[tigger]

A dirty great weeping willow on an island. Probably the best, and biggest, tree on the waterside.

How often do you see a weeping willow of that size....impressive tree for sure! Looks tailor made for those birds .

 

[Ray Roberts]

A trip to the Eden in Kent for me today. I arrived fashionably late, almost Jerry o/clock. The water level was up a little and had a nice tinge of colour. It was looking good for my first venture of the season after barbel.

Well the fish obliged. Five barbel, twelve chub, a couple of perch on worm while I was resting the nearside swim and about a dozen good sized gudgeon. One of the barbel was a PB for me from the Eden. Oh happy days.

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[flightliner]

A trip to a Stillwater yesterday where I shared a swim with a long standing angling friend. A long wait produced a single fish to my pal and I was fishless.
In the meantime we chatted about the good times we had spent together over the last thirty three years and the meaning of life, all on a lovely summers afternoon /eve in lovely surroundings.
I would settle for that every once in a while to keep things in perpective anytime.
It's true that there's more to fishing than catching fish!

 

[neil1970]

Neil. Is that a blenny with the lure that looks nearly as long as the fish? Surprising what big gobs they have!

Hi John, its a Rock Goby - greedy little thing!

 

[mikench]

An uneventful day fishing wise on my local pretty Mere with 3 small perch on the float and nothing on the Avon not even a twitch!

However an interesting conversation ensued with a 9 year old who crept up on me and scared me to death much to his amusement!! The dialogue went a little like this;

boy; did i scare you?
me ; you took me by surprise thats all! Are you alone?
boy ; im only 9! I am with my grandad and we have been here since saturday. I have caught 11 carp on a ronnie rig and grandad has had a few!
me ; your age is irrelevant when sneaking up on me!
boy; what kind of rod is that?
me : an avon rod
boy: whats an avon rod?
me : a rod used on the river avon but able to be used with a float and feeder! a bit of a jack of all trades!
boy; whats a jack of all trades
me: someone who can do many different tasks.
boy; what rig are you using?
me; a blow back rig as it happens.
boy: i make my own rigs and prefer ronnie rigs to blowback rigs!
me ; oh really
boy: what bait are you using!
me : a14mm cheesy garlic pellet.
boy : thats too big for carp you need an 11mm Robin red pellet.
me Ok
boy: what line are you using?
me : 6lb sensor
boy: you need stronger line for carp at least 12lb
me; im happy with 6lb.
boy; what bait are you using on the float rod?
me : maggots, meat or corn!
boy ; youvwont catch with those; you need 8mm robin red pellets!
me : you know you shouldnt talk to strangers!
boy; i know my grandad has told me not to!
me : well why are you talking to me then?
boy: my grandad told ne to b***** off for half an hour!!!

I wonder why ?

 

[103841]

I reckon that’s the same boy that pestered me a few days back in Canterbury whilst fishing the weirpool.

The conversation wasn’t dissimilar but then he asked “Have you seen the Titanic? I have”.

Me.... “The movie I assume”
Boy....”Nah I seen the ship”

I’m now smiling wryly at this young chaps imagination when he then floors me.

“The captain was Edward Smith”

Kids eh?

 

[Pete Shears]

Todays trip was to a private estate lake which I fished for about 25 years until the controlling club lost the water but being known to the owners I managed to wangle a few hours there.
A long shot because around 6 or 7 seven years ago there was an algal crash and lorry loads of dead fish were removed so it was just to find out if anything was left.
Just as beautiful as I remembered but no fish dimpling the surface or rolling but the usual breeze blowing towards the dam.Rotating bread,corn,maggots and worms between float and feeder,close in or 25 yards out did not bring any bites whatsoever.It had produced a record shaking perch in the past,my best being 3lb 4oz,rudd to 2lb 2oz,roach nudging 2lb,tench to 5lb as well as carp,bream and pike.
It seems the fish kill was total but it was an itch that needed scratching and to restock would probably only feeding cormorants later in the year.

 

[john step]

I had an itch to do some method feeder fishing which I have only just this last year become acquainted with.
I only had one small carp and gave up and went to my more productive method of float fished bread flake over bread slop.

I almost went somewhere else when I saw the club lake, but persevered. The accompanying photo says why.!!!!
View attachment 5415

 

[mikench]

That's quite shocking John! We need lots of rain!

 

[john step]

That's quite shocking John! We need lots of rain!

Its actually half the width it should be but the saving grace is that its still about 12 feet deep a couple of rod lengths out. It was like a day on the beach. The plus side was I had a good double on the float.:wh