How did you get on?

[peter crabtree]

Got up at 5am this morning and by 7am I was in MacDonalds at Headington in Oxford. All my club mates were already there discussing where we might fish today. We have recently affiliated with ODAA who have a plethora of venues in and around Oxford.
Taking the wind into account we decided on Godstow which flows roughly north to south. Off we set in convoy and arrived at 7:45.
Not the main river Thames but a side stream which was flowing nicely and quite coloured.

None of us had fished here before and most were surprised how shallow it was. I set up a big slider and chucked it out to plumb up, the float just laid flat. Eventually i sussed it was just 2’ deep so I changed to a small crystal waggler.
It was an hour before my first bite.......

I kept plugging away, feeding maggots and hemp, close in, down the middle in the fast flow and right across by the trees. Still nothing, so I knocked up some groundbait and mixed in some damp leam for a slow breakdown, balled it down the middle in the faster water, this seemed to attract some roach and chublets but they were tiny.
At one point I hooked something which bolted off and threw the hook, probably a chub.
5 hours of hard work got me 9 fish which I didn’t bother weighing in.

Winner had a tench, some quality roach and bits for 4:5.0. Second 2 chub plus bits for 3:5:0.

11 fished.

 

[maggot_dangler]

I actually got out again today .

only the club pool but with the pipe fixed and the water level rising nicely i thought why not .

so out with the Maver Abyss 2000 match 14 footer attached the newly aquired 507 GoldMax fine till the grease that had been used on it got too cold then the line pick up pins stopped moving , all change on with the standard 507MKII that led to a nice collection of Perch in the 1.75 to 2.5 lb region on single white maggot once again Red maggot not a sniff . had 11 perch 1 tiny skimmer and a small carp ( one of this years fry i think) .
Any how it started to rain and cool down so that was it me packed and heading home to warm up ..

Not a bad partial day ..

PG ...

 

[mikench]

Sounds like a degrease and regrease is due Pete! Odd that your two 507's do not have the same grease!

 

[Tee-Cee]

I sat in the squally wind and rain for about four hours yesterday morning. Fortunately, I had done another check on the TV weather forecast prior to leaving home at 7am (sunny spells but dry on Saturday evening) only to find it would be wind and rain, with some sun later.
I found a reasonably sheltered swim out of the brunt of the wind which kept me fairly dry but swirling rain meant I was a little damp from time to time.

I continued with my flat float fishing, really just to see if the roach would still be feeding up in the water, but I planned to change to more conventional methods after an hour or so, and as it turned out I needed that hour as it was some 45mins before I had a touch and then it was only two small roach in quick succession.
Casting around and fishing over small amounts of sprayed maggots I managed further fish, the best being 12ozs or so, but I did lose 2/3 fish due to the wind dragging the line. I accepted this though, as the idea was to see how long, or if the would continue to feed in the conditions.

It wasn't easy to fish what with the brolly overhead and everything taking so much longer to achieve, but in the end I had close to twenty fish and probably lucky to get them!

The blasted sun came out at noon which put the kibosh on anything feeding with only one final 9" roach on hemp just before I packed up. Tried with hemp for a while longer but nothing doing...................

Out again come Wednesday, when the temps will start to drop like a stone. Not looking forward to that but I've had a good run of mild conditions this past 2/3 weeks so cannot complain.

 

[flightliner]

Another irksome night in the garage changing all my kit for a day fishing for a zander on the lower Trent, Sod's law saw to it that I forgot to include my landing net pole but there was plenty of hold in my big 40" plus net to manage - just- without it.
The river looked spot on, even with two or more feet of extra on it but beneath the surface there was loads of rubbish coming down that proved bothersome thro out the day.
It was a cast on both rods every ten/fifteen minutes or so and things looked pretty grim so I dropped my rigs much closer to the edge in order to try avoiding as much of the chaff as possible which proved to be beneficial as within minutes the little headless chub deadbaits was taken in what can only be described as a real tearaway bite, far different from what is normally accepted .
A little uncertainty wether it was a pike or zed but then the unmistakable head shaking told me It was a zed, not big but extremely welcome under the conditions prevailing.

6lb-12oz, feisty little thing!

 

[maggot_dangler]

Sounds like a degrease and regrease is due Pete! Odd that your two 507's do not have the same grease!

Yep already done soon as i got back home yesterday strnage thich orrible stuff in the goldmax looks likie something someone else put in i use white lithium grease in my reels seeems ok ..

PG ...

 

[Pete Shears]

Piking on the reservoir this morning,no frost they said then why did the dashboard tell me it was -1.5C.After unloading the kit and setting up three deadbait rods,the fog rolled in and the landing net froze solid - still, better than work.One short cast with a sprat and two long casts with half mackerel and sardine,sit back and wait, sipping coffee telling myself I wasn't crazy.
Just after 9am away went the middle rod revealing a pike of 9lb 2oz,the single hooks making it easy to unhook in the net,fish released and away went the left hand rod with a pike of 11lb 13oz.
Had a robin for company all morning,great spotted woodpecker in the willow behind me,numerous lapwings & fieldfares,the kingfisher paid a visit as did a red kite and two buzzards and the sun broke through the fog when it was forecast cloudy all day,just six too many cormorants fishing successfully.

 

[no-one in particular]

9c forecast yesterday so decided to risk it, thought I had made a mistake and it was -9c when I walked out the front door so stopped off at my local coffee house to admire their winter selection of waitresses first and talk myself into continuing, it was hard to wrench myself away but found a reservoir of bravery and did go eventually.
Actually it wasn't that bad, no wind, sunny and warmed up a bit but would have preferred a bit more surf running. I put 3 hooks on because I thought might as well use my packet of lug quickly and as expected the Whiting were there in numbers, rattle every cast and caught about 5 of them. That's OK, they keep you interested and you know they are on but would be nice to catch some sizable eatable ones for a change and was really hoping for some flatfish.
Which has brought me to the conclusion that I will try a different spot next time, further along about 1/4 mile away is a rockier beach that might be better, the very first time I tried this spot I caught a nice Flounder and I thought it might turn out to be a good flattie spot but that has not really materialized.
I also noticed, as the lug-worms got washed out; I got far fewer bites so I am going to buy some lug-worm oil and attach a small piece of sponge to my line soaked in it next time, give it all a bit more scent. I don't know if it will work but you never know. Always something to think about after a fishing session.
I nice enough couple of hours, as always plenty of waders on this beach, curlews, oyster catchers, turnstones and I think a flock of sanderlings among the ubiquitous sea-gits.
Now, common sense has kicked back in and back to that coffee house for the rest of the winter ...

 

[mikench]

Just got back from a largely fruitless few hours freezing my bits off and catching just 6 roach on maggot! The gentle breeze from the south west turned quickly( after I had set up ) into a stiff easterly with me sat in its face! Follow the wind they say,shame the fish didn't follow this directive! I was the only Hardy soul /fool there and even the farmer stayed in his car and simply beeped an acknowledgement ! Gosh it was cold even dressed as Nanouk of the North! I enjoyed the fresh air and getting away from Christmas preparations though and might venture forth again tomorrow in a different location and, if a cold wind persists, with a brolly to shield me!

 

[tigger]

Just got back from a largely fruitless few hours freezing my bits off and catching just 6 roach on maggot! The gentle breeze from the south west turned quickly( after I had set up ) into a stiff easterly with me sat in its face! Follow the wind they say,shame the fish didn't follow this directive! I was the only Hardy soul /fool there and even the farmer stayed in his car and simply beeped an acknowledgement ! Gosh it was cold even dressed as Nanouk of the North! I enjoyed the fresh air and getting away from Christmas preparations though and might venture forth again tomorrow in a different location and, if a cold wind persists, with a brolly to shield me!

You'd be much better off and warmer roaving along a riverbank Mike !

 

[mikench]

You are probably right Ian!!!

It's going to get colder this week!

 

[bracket]

It's been a bit grim on the Frome recently. On my last visit I finished fishless in what were prefect conditions, as did other anglers I spoke to. I ventured out again this Tuesday, determined to fish a favourite peg that has always produced for me in the past. When I arrived I was confronted with this:

Half a foot up and tramming through. What we would call in my matchfishing days "A washing machine peg". I decided to give it an hour and see what happened. There is a six foot deep run through, two thirds the way over that generally holds grayling, so bearing in mind the weight of water, I stuck on a 13 No 4 big stick and 20 hook and away we went. After an hour with nothing to show and thoughts of the Pub looming large, I had a brown trout that went 2lb 9oz, quickly followed by another around a pound. I then lost another decent trout which left me with a right ravel, too difficult to try and unpick, so I cut my losses and retackled up. I struggled after that trying get it right and only managed one more hand sized trout and a little salmon parr, and gave it best after two hours. The club controlling the venue discourage posting pictures of game fish, so no photos, you will just have to take my word for it and my word is iron. Pete

 

[Tee-Cee]

A very dank, cold morning confronted me when open the front door this morning at 7am, but at least I didn't have to scrape frost from the windscreen. No matter that I'd crept out last night at 11pm to dry the windscreen off as a precaution...

It didn't dawn on me to choose a swim unaffected by wind as the forecast had said anything serious would not be arriving until tomorrow, and the first two hours were really quite pleasant - not mild by any means but decent enough for a mornings fishing, so it was something of surprise when a sudden cool gust swept across the lake which had me reaching for my snood, sharpish, at 10am. From then on the gust turned into a continual, cold breeze face on, to the extent that it was hard to pick up a single maggot with freezing fingers.

The flask of hot water to make tea helped a bit, but after I'd supped that I just got colder and colder and I stopped enjoying it, so at a little after noon I gave it best and headed to the tackle shop for more bait, and then home for some hot soup.

Fish wise; I had 17 in total up to 10ozs or so, with most of the netters arriving after the wind had got up. Prior to that it was very hard going with just a few small fish hanging themselves on the maggot...(All were caught up in the water - 2' deep max>)

Not too sure when I'll go again but if Sunday improves (after the promised very cold days with winds from the east) I might give it a whirl...

Other than that it will be floatmaking, housework and a good bit of walking, but not necessarily in that order.

Yes, it was a real tester today.................................

 

[maggot_dangler]

It's been a bit grim on the Frome recently. On my last visit I finished fishless in what were prefect conditions, as did other anglers I spoke to. I ventured out again this Tuesday, determined to fish a favourite peg that has always produced for me in the past. When I arrived I was confronted with this:

Half a foot up and tramming through. What we would call in my matchfishing days "A washing machine peg". I decided to give it an hour and see what happened. There is a six foot deep run through, two thirds the way over that generally holds grayling, so bearing in mind the weight of water, I stuck on a 13 No 4 big stick and 20 hook and away we went. After an hour with nothing to show and thoughts of the Pub looming large, I had a brown trout that went 2lb 9oz, quickly followed by another around a pound. I then lost another decent trout which left me with a right ravel, too difficult to try and unpick, so I cut my losses and retackled up. I struggled after that trying get it right and only managed one more hand sized trout and a little salmon parr, and gave it best after two hours. The club controlling the venue discourage posting pictures of game fish, so no photos, you will just have to take my word for it and my word is iron. Pete

Video no workie ..

PG ...

 

[Pete Shears]

River fishing on the Wreake his morning - bit of a cold breeze,decided to quivertip bread and the first two casts had me clearing broken branches which tangled with the hook length losing the hook.Managed to tie a new hook length with freezing fingertips and next cast had a chub of 2lb 5oz in the net followed next cast by another chub of 4lb 5oz which fought hard but had cormorant damage.
About 8.45 fish started to swirl just underneath the surface,insect hatch?,switched to legered crust to get the bait higher in the water which resulted in a fin & scale perfect chub of 1lb 7oz with deep bronze back and flanks.Swirling stopped around 9.15,changing to worm with a very small bomb,I managed to get a perch of 4oz instantly but that was it - no more bites.Could do with a good flood to clear out masses of dying blanket weed which seems to still cover everything.Plenty of fieldfares along with buzzard and a white egret.

 

[bracket]

Video no workie ..

PG ...

That's strange because it does for me on my phone, tablet, laptop and desktop. What device do you use? Pete

 

[stillwater blue]

That's strange because it does for me on my phone, tablet, laptop and desktop. What device do you use? Pete

It's not working on my laptop either

 

[Another Dave]

Nor is it working on my pc.

 

[bracket]

Nor is it working on my pc.

I have changed my YouTube settings . Is that working now? Pete

 

[Another Dave]

Yep, working now. That is certainly pushing through.