How did you get on?

[chefster]

Open match at Tunnel Barn Farm today,mild weather looked promising..It was fished over 2 pools..Extension and House....My peg-house 13,no form,and in clear view of all the flyers!!..Anyway,the day didnt go too bad,plenty of bites from F1,s,skimmers,tench,roach,saw me finish with 25-8-0..which was enough for 3rd on the lake....they were paying top 3 on each lake ,so that wasnt too bad!!...Our lake was won with a cracking 54-0-0 net of F1,s,and 2nd was 27-8-0.....The extension lake was won with 48-0-0,2nd was 33-0-0,and 3rd was 25-8-0 as well!!......luckily it was calm and virtually wind free as i had to fish 14.5m ,with 4mm expander,tapping in half a dozen micro,s on a regular basis,maggot didnt produce any bites..i fished a .3g pencil float with a strung bulk of no 11 shot ,4 inches from the hook,lifting and dropping...i must of pulled out of at least 8 F1,s as i lifted,which cost me 2nd place,still never mind.........we have a match at Barby Banks on thurs,hope the weather holds!!!!,Cheers Gaz

 

[sam vimes]

Got up at a reasonable time yesterday for a day on the river. A last gasp check of the river level showed a dirty great unexpected spike of water. A day doing not a lot happened instead. Today I was beating, but finished early. I knew that yesterday's flush through had passed so I made a sharp exit after an early finish. The river looked right, the weather was reasonable and the forecast for the next few days is grim. Better squeeze an hour or so in while I can.

I shouldn't have bothered, and maybe wouldn't have if I didn't have some old bait to get shot of and if the forecast was better. Thought I was on for a blank until I left a trot go about as far as I could see. A bit of is it or isn't it at a distance saw me strike in hope more than expectation. A bit of resistance proved that it was and resulted in a grayling of about half a pound. Despite attempting to repeat the trick, I couldn't find another bite on any line, length or depth.

 

[stu_the_blank]

First time out since mid December for a variety of reasons but got invited as a guest onto the Broadlands stretch of the test for a bash at a big river Roach.

Struggled with the Roach at dawn (conditions perfect and in the 'going' swim) Roved around a bit trotting during the day before another crack at the Roach at Dusk.

Had a really good day and ended up with about 20 Grayling up to 2lbs, a Sea Trout, a Brown Trout, a couple of Roach up to 12ozs, a few dace and right at the end in the dark, I landed what I thought was my first 2lb river Roach, 2-09 but in the torchlight it was a Roach/Bream Hybrid!

Also hooked a Salmon on 3lb line, couldn’t run down the bank fast enough! Bent the size 16 hook after a few mins.

Stu

 

[Tee-Cee]

The longish range forecast from the middle of this week didn't look very promising, so I did a hard fished seven hours yesterday in the hope that I would put a few fish on the bank in very reasonable weather.

That I fished well, is in no doubt. That I caught very little, is also in no doubt.....

The desired species, roach, if that's what they were, decided to have a day spent fiddling about with every bait offered and on the lightest of tackle. I went from dotted down slim peacocks to slim bodied antennas ( and some in between ) trying to induce a take, yet still they fiddled. Hooks went from a 14 x 2lb for 2/3 maggots to a 20 x 1lb for a single caster or maggot with the 10 bottom shot everything from 2" to 8" above them. (Even this was changed to a 3 then a 6, etc etc )

Interest in any of the above was minimal, yet when the bites came, the float of the hour, sailed away as if that's what it does all the time. Fiddle, fiddle , dip, then stop, then dip and sail away to produce a perch of about a lb. It was a fish for goodness sake, and by this time I'd mentally given up on the roach anyway....falling back on the 'any port in a storm' outlook on life.
Several more of the same species followed, none better than the first, and although I continued to fish hard with maximum concentration for several hours, it was at last knockings that the float finally sank slowly from sight and a 9" roach made an appearance. Yes, I did fish on, with renewed hope of another fish of better proportions, but it didn't happen, so I can only conclude the one I caught had become detached from the main ' shoal ' (!) as they moved through my swim - at pace......................

I would not call any of the above a diatribe, but it is annoying to put in so much effort for such meagre returns ( it's just as well this Thread is called 'How did you get on' and not ' How did you get on - decent catches only, please ' ) but that is the nature of fishing in winter, this being my final reasoning for 'failure'..............................if that's the right word!

I console myself, somewhat, with the fact that two pals fishing the same water, failed to get a touch so perhaps I'm too hard on myself...

Yes, that's it

ps I'm hoping the snow will stay away and I can try again, come weeks end..

 

[chefster]

OK,so we had a match booked at Barby Banks today,but with the threat of snow looming,the names quickly dropped out leaving just 4 of us at the cafe,for breakfast,myself,Bad H,John (Bagger) Bates,and Daventry Zac...we opted to just find 4 comfortable pegs and have a friendly knock-up,as the wind was blowing a hoolie and it felt like -10!!!!!We started at about 9.30,by 1pm,there was 2 inches of snow covering everything,so we decided to abandon ship,and head for home!!...i managed 3 proper carp,6 stockies,3 roach and a perch,in between trying to keep warm,and battling the hurricane!!I fished 13m to far shelf...a .2g pencil float,strung bulk of no 11,s,4 inch h/l,18 808 hook,fishing 2 dead reds on the hook,tapping in 6 dead reds and a few micro,s each put-in,via a fruit shoot top kinder pot...Bad H had 2 proper carp,some stockies,skimmers and a few perch....Zac had 1 proper carp and 1 stockie,and Bagger Bates didnt live up to his reputation-with the dreaded blank!!Despite the weather,still a great day,and better than sitting at home!!!!,not fishing now until Tues,an open at Tunnel Barn Farm!!tight lines ,Gazza

 

[The Runner]

No match on the card this weekend, a few of the lads were having an impromptu knock up on the Slough Arm but didn't fancy this one bit given the temperature and wind , so just went down the river with a float rod, seat , nets and box of bits.
Got as far as the gate leading to the main river to find that the wind would be smack in my face so turned straight round and walked up to the sluice where it would be off my back. Went first to peg 9 near the top as fancied it for a chub or two, although its a real parrot cage and hasn't been used in matches lately; set up 4 no 4 stick and had a chublet straight away but didn't like the creaking noises coming with every gust of wind from a big tree immediately behind which is already over at an angle so upped sticks and moved down to peg 5 and spent the next three hours picking off odd dace, 13 or 14 fish mostly 3-4oz. No sign of chub though so dropped a bit further down to peg 2 and got a little one of around 2-12 second run through. No more bites in the next 90 minutes so decided on one last move to peg 56 for the last hour of daylight. One little dace straight away, then the bail jammed on my Daiwa 1657 so that was that. Am now debating whether to pluck up the courage to dismantle the bail mechanism and see if I can fix it. Last time I did it, it cost me an hour and most of my hair getting the spring back in....

 

[tigger]

I hadn't planned on doing any fishing today but after i'd managed to get a few jobs done in the morning and then have a bite to eat I was left with several hours of daylight left . So, I set out for the river at 2.15pm and arived at 2.30pm...I didn't hang about lol.
The wind was supposed to be around 20mph but it felt more like double that as I walked to the first swim, the only way I could describe that wind is "vile" ! Although the temp gauge in the car said it was 3 degrees it felt like minus 20 in that wind! My hands were aching with cold and I honestly questioned my own sanity and seriously considered doing an about turn and bu&&ering off back home for a brew and to thaw out! Being the glutten for punishment that I am I perservered and it did pay off. I managed to find some fish, in fact I found a nest full of the bu&&ers! The first swim only produced two fish and most of the swims after that produced one or two fish but then I found their nest.
I had caught about a dozen chub up to finding the nest. I had virtually a fish a trott in the nest swim and counted 22 fish before it got to dark to see the float tip, ok no monsters but in these conditions it was good to get 'em and they all pulled back hard. As I walked back to the car I couldn't believe there was no frost and the ground was still soft. Anyhow, when I got back to the car I noticed the landing net was froze solid and looked like a top hat when I leant it on a fence, just shows the wind chill must have been pretty cold !

 

[neil1970]

Last week: Monday I fished for barbel with a mate on a backwater, 12-5pm, meat on the hook - nothing.
Thursday I went out in the afternoon for a hour and a half and lost a pike at the net (lure).

I went out today, 2-4pm. Cage feeder with liquidised bread, 8" hooklength to a size 10 hook with breadflake and a pinch of cheese paste round the shank.

Fished 3 swims - the first one provided a few little dinks on the tip and one pull round where I struck into nothing.
I stayed there for 3/4s of an hour then moved downstream, where I spent 20 minutes in one swim with my bait in a snag.

Then moved further downstream for the duration, for an identical repeat of the action in the first swim.

Nice to be wandering the banks for a couple of hours

 

[tincatim]

Last week: Monday I fished for barbel with a mate on a backwater, 12-5pm, meat on the hook - nothing.
Thursday I went out in the afternoon for a hour and a half and lost a pike at the net (lure).

I went out today, 2-4pm. Cage feeder with liquidised bread, 8" hooklength to a size 10 hook with breadflake and a pinch of cheese paste round the shank.

Fished 3 swims - the first one provided a few little dinks on the tip and one pull round where I struck into nothing.
I stayed there for 3/4s of an hour then moved downstream, where I spent 20 minutes in one swim with my bait in a snag.

Then moved further downstream for the duration, for an identical repeat of the action in the first swim.

Nice to be wandering the banks for a couple of hours

:thumbs: this sounds like my recent trips to the river! As you say though, better to be out and blanking than not out at all!

 

[rubio]

Last week: Monday I fished for barbel with a mate on a backwater, 12-5pm, meat on the hook - nothing.
Thursday I went out in the afternoon for a hour and a half and lost a pike at the net (lure).

I went out today, 2-4pm. Cage feeder with liquidised bread, 8" hooklength to a size 10 hook with breadflake and a pinch of cheese paste round the shank.

Fished 3 swims - the first one provided a few little dinks on the tip and one pull round where I struck into nothing.
I stayed there for 3/4s of an hour then moved downstream, where I spent 20 minutes in one swim with my bait in a snag.

Then moved further downstream for the duration, for an identical repeat of the action in the first swim.



Nice to be wandering the banks for a couple of hours

I thrashed ya then. I forced myself out on club lake with some poor quality bait ( i hadn't expected any opportunity to have a fish) failed dismally for an hour then hauled in a see through baby perch. Turns out he was lonely .
Apologies for not including in depth analysis of my rigs and tactics but I think things speak for themselves in such circumstances. I was cold, I fished poorly, and had very low expectations. Worst crime was not moving. 'Idiot' I said in the car. If you're not catching in winter, move, and move again.
Agreed. Good to be out on the bank.

 

[Tee-Cee]

Congratulations to the last two posters for making the effort.....Personally, I maintained my ' wimp ' status by staying indoors making floats, although I did have a quick zip around the fields for a bit od exercise. Frozen, slippery mud surfaces made walking difficult, but at least I tried...

' see through baby perch ' - I really like that....

Apologies to Simon for the missing ' catch report '....hardly my fault, though........

 

[itsfishingnotcatching]

Had a "Jerry Session" Sunday on the Severn, looked 2-3'0 up, running through at a rate of knots, well coloured and the banks were like a slalom course. Found a peg where I could run a stick about 50'0 tried castor worm and bread from 2'0 to around 6'0 couldn't buy a bite, tried free-lining with just couple of AAAs, had a couple of nice branches. Bright, windy and bl**dy cold, packed up around two and retired to pub!

 

[theartist]

Went out yesterday for the day enticed by the weather report of unbroken sunshine which would have warmed the soul more than the body were it to have materialized. Sadly the weather folk were wrong and it was a bit chilly but the cloud cover was welcome if only for the fact the river was gin clear and it would have been really hard in bright sun.

I needed a bit of excersise so the little River Wey was the chosen venue and whilst it was a bit of a drive i needed to 'road test' some new Thrash Metal and fancied somewhere different. I set up in a swim which rewarded me with quite a few chub the only other time i fished it the previous year. This time however things were understandably different and i had a solitary trout to show for the first hour. Wandering downstream i picked up the odd big dace and by lunch i had five fish which isn't so bad as i always set a target of ten fish when the weather's like this.

After lunch i found a small hole in the shallows where two foot of depth and an overhanging tree offered a likely looking bit of cover, plus a ideal run through for my stickfloat. Here, after a slow start the dace rocked up in big numbers and of big size too as most were real 'Tonkers' pushing 12oz and probably two to the pound on average. In the current they fought well and in total i had 28 dace, 2 trout for at least 10lb with most of the dace caught within a couple of square inches of the other. I have had 'bite zones' before but not one so compact and given that it was all minnow below and all shallow above they must have been packed in like sardines in a swim that was easy to miss.

A wonderful day's dace fishing despite the weather.

 

[neil1970]

I went out yesterday, 12-2pm again.
Ocean Pride flavoured breadflake on the hook with matching liquidised bread in a cagefeeder.

Started off in the snag swim and cast a little too close to where I hung my bait the day previously, making me hum and har and then reel in after 10 minutes, only to find that I hadn't hit the snag.
Cast out again and had one pluck in 20 minutes.

I moved downstream and stayed in the swim (narrow with trees in the water on both sides) for about 50 minutes. There were a few positive enquiries and two proper bites, both missed.

The rest of the session was spent further downstream. One cast in a slack and another in the deeper mid channel ended another blank session.

Today I had an all day business meeting (the first in six months) where I impressed the clients at the English National Opera with a continually streaming nose and box of tissues on the boardroom table.mg:

On the upside I won a raffle/competition on f*ceb**k; so I have a guided days lure fishing with Gary Palmer on his boat and a hundred quids worth of kit to look forward to later in the year

 

[nicepix]

I haven't had much time recently what with one thing and another. We've been looking after two houses for friends who are away and that has impacted on my free time.

And the moles have gone into overdrive recently. I'm being over run with them. I took 7 out of one bloke's garden last week and thought that I'd sorted it, but left 4 traps in over the weekend just to mop up any stragglers. I found 5 in the traps on Monday and another 4 today Strange thing is that he hasn't had a new mole hill in two weeks.

I've got chance for a few hours fishing tomorrow afternoon. Forecast is for -1C actual and to feel more like -6C in a strong northerly wind, so I think I'll pass.

 

[itsfishingnotcatching]

I've got chance for a few hours fishing tomorrow afternoon. Forecast is for -1C actual and to feel more like -6C in a strong northerly wind, so I think I'll pass.

Wuss

 

[nicepix]

Wuss

That's me!

 

[robertroach]

Nicepix how did you get from arresting criminals to arresting moles?
Its a strange career progression. Presumably all moles arrested are guilty as charged.

 

[theartist]

Nicepix how did you get from arresting criminals to arresting moles?
Its a strange career progression. Presumably all moles arrested are guilty as charged.

Trouble with moles is that their networks are always underground and they are blind to what they are doing, almost tunnel vision. Try to rat them out and they burrow deeper or worm their way out of it.

 

[nicepix]

Nicepix how did you get from arresting criminals to arresting moles?
Its a strange career progression. Presumably all moles arrested are guilty as charged.

When we came to France we rented a cottage on a farm for the first year in order to try the lifestyle before we bought anywhere. The farmer knew that I was into shooting and fishing and asked if I knew how to trap moles. I had helped a friend who had a contract with the parish council over 20 years previously and so only had a rudimentary knowledge. He made me the tools and bought 6 traps which in hindsight were useless. I struggled to start with until I bought my own traps and then things took off. I was recommended to friends then friends of friends and eventually I registered as a professional mole trapper and put an advert in the English language free paper.

I now do two to three jobs a week on average; Usually a full day on Monday and two half days on Wednesdays and Fridays. Business is increasing all the time and I haven't had a week without work in the last fifteen months, other than holidays. I trapped well over 800 moles last year and there are still millions out there waiting for me. A lot of my work is repeat business and an increasing number of recommendations. Another month or so and all the holiday homers will be arriving, picking up the free paper with my ad in and booking me to sort out their lawns.

The best thing about it is that I love the job, can pick and choose who I want to work for, arrange my hours to suit and I get to meet some lovely people and see nice places I would never have come across normally. It is a lot better than working Barnsley Town Centre on Friday and Saturday nights I can tell you