Tee-Cee
Senior Member
Out of interest, did you fish the punch over liccy bread or without any sort of feed?
How did you get on?
- Thread starter peter crabtree
- Start date
mikench
Well-known member
I just used the hook bait save for some loose fed hemp and some of the bread bits having taken the disks out! This afternoon was my attempt at keeping bait to a minimum!!! I had some Gros gardons gb but decided to keep it for next time out!
First proper frost of the Autumn and a trip to my club lake. The surface was steaming like a hot bath.
I had a busy day with about 40 roach to soft pellet over bread slop and about 20 perch on red worm.
Bait cost about 50p.:wh
View attachment 5643
I had a busy day with about 40 roach to soft pellet over bread slop and about 20 perch on red worm.
Bait cost about 50p.:wh
View attachment 5643
sam vimes
Well-known member
The grayling have spoken, winter is coming.
Sixteen dace, nine grayling, five trout (though I suspect I had one of them three times) and the usual horde of minnows. Considering that I've barely had nine grayling in total this season, it's a significant change.
Sixteen dace, nine grayling, five trout (though I suspect I had one of them three times) and the usual horde of minnows. Considering that I've barely had nine grayling in total this season, it's a significant change.
neil1970
Well-known member
Bit of a late report here.
Went down the Thames with a couple of friends, two weeks ago now.
Good fun with plenty of fish and lovely weather too.
The highlight was watching my mate (pictured) catching a 45cm, 3lb 1oz perch from 2 foot of clear
water on a drop shotted isome.
He was wearing a t shirt featuring one of my designs, so I was more than happy to take his pic
Went down the Thames with a couple of friends, two weeks ago now.
Good fun with plenty of fish and lovely weather too.
The highlight was watching my mate (pictured) catching a 45cm, 3lb 1oz perch from 2 foot of clear
water on a drop shotted isome.
He was wearing a t shirt featuring one of my designs, so I was more than happy to take his pic
theartist
Well-known member
Had a weekend in the land of Kent where I was hoping to bag a couple of new rivers and visit an old one but the weather had other ideas. On the way down we stopped off on a stretch of the River Darent I had always wanted to try but hadn't got round to despite it being only an hour away. It was still really blowy but it was out of the wind which had kicked up a lot of mess during the night, the river being very shallow and low was full of leaves and the footpath was covered in branches.
The first hole where I spotted fish was around a foot deep so it was a matchstick job rather than a conventional float, I'd fine tuned the matchstick aproach over the summer so that my 'stick' now has a coat of varnish to stop it taking on water and a bright float rubber furthest from the hook so that it's still visible when it slowly sinks in those slower swims under the weight of a solitary no8. This proved effective as ever and a nice chub and perch both around a pound graced the net. A few more chub followed in swim which was so shallow I almost walked past it, leaves everywhere on the bottom and not even 10 inches deep, no fish were visible but they were there and it was small stream magic, long lean shallow water chub barely 2lb but a fine fish considering the shallow water and low Autumn sun.
A foray to the end of the stretch revealed a spot under a tree over two foot deep! Here it was mainly roach and perch and a change to float showed how effective the matchstick actually was. This was really the only proper swim in half a mile of river but that's small river fishing and for me it's always worth the effort having a walk along these rivers with a few maggots and limited expectation.
The weekend saw a total washout, I had to see the funny side of booking a holiday during the driest year ever to coincide with 30hrs non stop heavy rain and this meant no trip to the Canterbury Stour as it wouldn't be fair on the missus, turns out Ramsgate has an impressive Wetherspoons so it wasn't all bad.
I had planned to try a small river in Dover called the River Dour, it had fish in it but there was signs on the riverside boards which said "Please No fishing" and" Fishing leaves litter that is dangerous to wildlife" I looked in a bit by a supermarket which I could have fished if allowed, I also would have cleaned up the litter whilst I was there which was in the small weir floating about, there must have been well over 100 different items of litter from the general public, perhaps even 200, I wondered if that was harmful to wildlife too as I was leaving the River Dour feeling Dour. Another reccie on a drain near Sandwich saw a walk along a water which at best held an eel or two but was covered in duckweed and looked stagnant, I know these waters can be seasonal and the fish can move miles so I will return one day, you win some you lose some.
The trip home saw the end of the rain so I'm stopping off to fish the East Stour in Ashford whilst the missus goes shopping, fishing it blind it was surprising to see that the East Stour carried all the water where it met the Great Stour, the latter being a tiny weed filled stream although the extra water was giving the lillies a hard time. Finding a spot to fish on East Stour was hard as the banks were high and overgrown, if the locals were fishing this river they weren't doing it here, there were no signs saying I couldn't fish it so I thought whether I should give it a go? You bet I would, so I set up in a park.
Finding the fish was hard, it took over an hour as small rivers are much easier to learn when the water is low as the 'holes' are easier to find. I was trying many a likely looking spot only to find I was dragging green stuff up every run fishing areas that are usually choked with weed, even with the extra water many areas were still shallow but it was hard to tell with the water so coloured and running fast. Much of the river was also much too channelled and straight offering no refuge in flood, give me a digger, some deflectors and cart blanche and I'd increase the fish population tenfold and lessen the chance of flooding, bold claim but my thoughts wondered as I wondered around fishless watching the Eurostar zoom by in the distance.
I finally found a swim where some rushes offered cover, tramping over brambles and nettles and fishing a high bank where It came in handy having a net handle that's almost twice as long as my rod. It was actually a good few hours fishing catching plenty of roach, dace and small chub even if it was awkward and hard work. It was still an adventure and better than shopping.
The first hole where I spotted fish was around a foot deep so it was a matchstick job rather than a conventional float, I'd fine tuned the matchstick aproach over the summer so that my 'stick' now has a coat of varnish to stop it taking on water and a bright float rubber furthest from the hook so that it's still visible when it slowly sinks in those slower swims under the weight of a solitary no8. This proved effective as ever and a nice chub and perch both around a pound graced the net. A few more chub followed in swim which was so shallow I almost walked past it, leaves everywhere on the bottom and not even 10 inches deep, no fish were visible but they were there and it was small stream magic, long lean shallow water chub barely 2lb but a fine fish considering the shallow water and low Autumn sun.
A foray to the end of the stretch revealed a spot under a tree over two foot deep! Here it was mainly roach and perch and a change to float showed how effective the matchstick actually was. This was really the only proper swim in half a mile of river but that's small river fishing and for me it's always worth the effort having a walk along these rivers with a few maggots and limited expectation.
The weekend saw a total washout, I had to see the funny side of booking a holiday during the driest year ever to coincide with 30hrs non stop heavy rain and this meant no trip to the Canterbury Stour as it wouldn't be fair on the missus, turns out Ramsgate has an impressive Wetherspoons so it wasn't all bad.
I had planned to try a small river in Dover called the River Dour, it had fish in it but there was signs on the riverside boards which said "Please No fishing" and" Fishing leaves litter that is dangerous to wildlife" I looked in a bit by a supermarket which I could have fished if allowed, I also would have cleaned up the litter whilst I was there which was in the small weir floating about, there must have been well over 100 different items of litter from the general public, perhaps even 200, I wondered if that was harmful to wildlife too as I was leaving the River Dour feeling Dour. Another reccie on a drain near Sandwich saw a walk along a water which at best held an eel or two but was covered in duckweed and looked stagnant, I know these waters can be seasonal and the fish can move miles so I will return one day, you win some you lose some.
The trip home saw the end of the rain so I'm stopping off to fish the East Stour in Ashford whilst the missus goes shopping, fishing it blind it was surprising to see that the East Stour carried all the water where it met the Great Stour, the latter being a tiny weed filled stream although the extra water was giving the lillies a hard time. Finding a spot to fish on East Stour was hard as the banks were high and overgrown, if the locals were fishing this river they weren't doing it here, there were no signs saying I couldn't fish it so I thought whether I should give it a go? You bet I would, so I set up in a park.
Finding the fish was hard, it took over an hour as small rivers are much easier to learn when the water is low as the 'holes' are easier to find. I was trying many a likely looking spot only to find I was dragging green stuff up every run fishing areas that are usually choked with weed, even with the extra water many areas were still shallow but it was hard to tell with the water so coloured and running fast. Much of the river was also much too channelled and straight offering no refuge in flood, give me a digger, some deflectors and cart blanche and I'd increase the fish population tenfold and lessen the chance of flooding, bold claim but my thoughts wondered as I wondered around fishless watching the Eurostar zoom by in the distance.
I finally found a swim where some rushes offered cover, tramping over brambles and nettles and fishing a high bank where It came in handy having a net handle that's almost twice as long as my rod. It was actually a good few hours fishing catching plenty of roach, dace and small chub even if it was awkward and hard work. It was still an adventure and better than shopping.
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I’ve tried to research the Dour but didn’t find anything that tempted me to go and have an exploratory visit, a few dodgy characters in that neck of the woods as well so have ruled it out......so far.
Me and the better half have only discovered that Wetherspoons this Summer, what an amazing place, I’m told it’s the largest pub in Europe with over seventy staff!
What part of Kent did you fish the Darent, is it day ticket or better still free?
Me and the better half have only discovered that Wetherspoons this Summer, what an amazing place, I’m told it’s the largest pub in Europe with over seventy staff!
What part of Kent did you fish the Darent, is it day ticket or better still free?
mikench
Well-known member
Very enjoyable and informative post Rob!
theartist
Well-known member
Another Dave
Well-known member
An hour or so on my local stretch with a light lure rod - not a touch. Next time i'll try a tiny float with a small worm - i dug up dozens between 1 and 2 inches the other day. Might even try the matchstick float as recommended by theartist. Depends how many minnows are left. Plenty to think about anyway.
Tee-Cee
Senior Member
It was definitely autumnal this morning. I left home at just after six with the car gauge showing four degrees and by the time I reached my lake it had plummeted to three degrees! Temperature aside, it was a lovely morning with clear blue/grey skies and a heavy 4' deep covering of mist over the water.
I had no intention of sitting in a freezing cold sheltered swim so I opted for one where minimal sun would be on the water for a time but on me for longer periods. Surprisingly, I had plenty of surface activity in front of me with roach of sizes various topping everywhere, so I set up to fish shallow but on the drop with a very slow fall rate. To achieve this I had to go through hoops with the fixing of shot sizes 10, 8 and even 6's with cold fingers. How many I dropped it is hard to say, but at least they fell into the tackle box sitting on my lap.
I fished a 20 hook, which is about right for the standard hemp, and caught a dozen or so roach in the first hour with the biggest around 10ozs. Following the inevitable quiet spell I changed to an 18 and had another half dozen on giant hemp and tares. Had I gone home then I would have been more than pleased with my catch...
At around 9am the baliff stopped by for a chat and we got talking about giant hemp. He told me he'd been doing well of late using the giant stuff but with a variation added to the seed (wait for it) in the form of white cotton tied through the 'split' in the seed, and this to mildly imitate the white kernal, which is rarely found in the big stuff. The hook was nicked under the cotton....
Without further ado he asked for a handful of my large hemp and went of with the words "I will be back later"
True to his word he turned up after an hour and tipped the doctored seeds into my hand. Nothing ventured, thought I, so I reeled in and under his instruction impaled a seed. A spray of standard stuff over an area that had been productive earlier quickly followed by my float.
I would be exaggerating if I said I had a bite immediately, but it was no more than 30 seconds after the float had settled after dropping through the water, when it bobbed and slid away. Result? An absolutely pristine roach which we agreed was over the 3/4 but not quite a lb. I am rarely speechless but for a few moments I hardly knew what to think, let alone say!
Eventually I managed to offer thanks which hardly seemed adequate for all this chap had done. In the end he toddled off and I caught three more roach in the same fashion but nothing bigger than 8" long. The bailiff said it is more than possible to catch two or even three fish on occasion and this happened to me just the once.
For the record the 'cotton' fish turned out to be the best of the day, so I think a bottle of something will be on its way.
Talk about nothing new in angling......................................
ps I have no idea how he tied the cotton around the seed, but from what I could see, it isn't easy. When will I see him again, I ask myself in panic!!
I had no intention of sitting in a freezing cold sheltered swim so I opted for one where minimal sun would be on the water for a time but on me for longer periods. Surprisingly, I had plenty of surface activity in front of me with roach of sizes various topping everywhere, so I set up to fish shallow but on the drop with a very slow fall rate. To achieve this I had to go through hoops with the fixing of shot sizes 10, 8 and even 6's with cold fingers. How many I dropped it is hard to say, but at least they fell into the tackle box sitting on my lap.
I fished a 20 hook, which is about right for the standard hemp, and caught a dozen or so roach in the first hour with the biggest around 10ozs. Following the inevitable quiet spell I changed to an 18 and had another half dozen on giant hemp and tares. Had I gone home then I would have been more than pleased with my catch...
At around 9am the baliff stopped by for a chat and we got talking about giant hemp. He told me he'd been doing well of late using the giant stuff but with a variation added to the seed (wait for it) in the form of white cotton tied through the 'split' in the seed, and this to mildly imitate the white kernal, which is rarely found in the big stuff. The hook was nicked under the cotton....
Without further ado he asked for a handful of my large hemp and went of with the words "I will be back later"
True to his word he turned up after an hour and tipped the doctored seeds into my hand. Nothing ventured, thought I, so I reeled in and under his instruction impaled a seed. A spray of standard stuff over an area that had been productive earlier quickly followed by my float.
I would be exaggerating if I said I had a bite immediately, but it was no more than 30 seconds after the float had settled after dropping through the water, when it bobbed and slid away. Result? An absolutely pristine roach which we agreed was over the 3/4 but not quite a lb. I am rarely speechless but for a few moments I hardly knew what to think, let alone say!
Eventually I managed to offer thanks which hardly seemed adequate for all this chap had done. In the end he toddled off and I caught three more roach in the same fashion but nothing bigger than 8" long. The bailiff said it is more than possible to catch two or even three fish on occasion and this happened to me just the once.
For the record the 'cotton' fish turned out to be the best of the day, so I think a bottle of something will be on its way.
Talk about nothing new in angling......................................
ps I have no idea how he tied the cotton around the seed, but from what I could see, it isn't easy. When will I see him again, I ask myself in panic!!
mikench
Well-known member
Nice post Tony! I plan more roach fishing and the use of tares and giant hemp and feel my best water is my local so a trip is planned for later in the week! I bought a puller float( a Yorkshire invention) for roach fishing which you might find interesting! See the pic for the float and instructions!
View attachment 5646
I will try and use the shot equivalents of The stotz despite buying the latter! I ordered a stotta but it never arrived and I doubt I could master is ! I have yet to work out how many shot to use !
I bought the float of eBay ! Why is my pic upside down!
View attachment 5646
I will try and use the shot equivalents of The stotz despite buying the latter! I ordered a stotta but it never arrived and I doubt I could master is ! I have yet to work out how many shot to use !
I bought the float of eBay ! Why is my pic upside down!
mikench
Well-known member
View attachment 5647
I have inverted the pic so now it should be the right way up!! It isn't ; unbelievable!!
Here's goes!
View attachment 5648
I have inverted the pic so now it should be the right way up!! It isn't ; unbelievable!!
Here's goes!
View attachment 5648
Last edited:
Tee-Cee
Senior Member
Interesting float...Never seen the like before.
I haven't read all the blurb, but on the face of it, it looks as though the line passes through the middle of the float so it's fished top and bottom??
Also, it seems to 'slide' between float stops??
If I can work out how to print the Bl88dy thing I will have a read...
Is this a spec buy or one made on recommendation??
As an addendum to my post above;
It has to be said the presentation of the 'cotton' seed looked dreadful. Even on an 18 hook it looked all wrong hanging as it was, below the hook bend. It didn't look as if it would work, but it did! All fish hooked in the top lip..
I haven't read all the blurb, but on the face of it, it looks as though the line passes through the middle of the float so it's fished top and bottom??
Also, it seems to 'slide' between float stops??
If I can work out how to print the Bl88dy thing I will have a read...
Is this a spec buy or one made on recommendation??
As an addendum to my post above;
It has to be said the presentation of the 'cotton' seed looked dreadful. Even on an 18 hook it looked all wrong hanging as it was, below the hook bend. It didn't look as if it would work, but it did! All fish hooked in the top lip..
peter crabtree
AKA Simon, 1953 - 2022 (RIP)
Whatever that float is Mike, it would make an interesting new thread.
Another Dave
Well-known member
Here you go:
peter crabtree
AKA Simon, 1953 - 2022 (RIP)
16 codgers turned out this cold and frosty morning at Aylesbury town centre on the Aylesbury arm of the GUC. By 10am and the all in it was a bit warmer with a stiff breeze.
Being narrow and shallow (3') I set up 11' rod with 2 no4 Stillwater blue waggler to a 20 b511 to 0:06.
Small roach showed almost immediately to my strung out rig, no 10 and 11 shot, many on the drop.
They were small though, 4oz was a big one!
I tried caster hoping for a better stamp then pinkie for a perch perhaps, both to no avail.
I stuck with punch until the end at 3oclock and amassed a decent net.
Not enough for a win however, one codger landed a 3:8 bream in the opening minutes of the match, which along with some bits totalled 6:3:8.
I came second with mine going 3:10.
4 took an early bath with many others struggling to make 2lb..
Being narrow and shallow (3') I set up 11' rod with 2 no4 Stillwater blue waggler to a 20 b511 to 0:06.
Small roach showed almost immediately to my strung out rig, no 10 and 11 shot, many on the drop.
They were small though, 4oz was a big one!
I tried caster hoping for a better stamp then pinkie for a perch perhaps, both to no avail.
I stuck with punch until the end at 3oclock and amassed a decent net.
Not enough for a win however, one codger landed a 3:8 bream in the opening minutes of the match, which along with some bits totalled 6:3:8.
I came second with mine going 3:10.
4 took an early bath with many others struggling to make 2lb..