How did you get on?

[S-Kippy]

Trite for me today after yesterday's carp debacle. Ho for the Oxford Ring Road and Farmoor reservoir.

Very, very bright so I wasn't expecting things to be easy but I felt I had to have another go after struggling up here last week. If nothing else it was decidedly more pleasant in the sunshine rather than the chill murk of last Friday. Started on No 1 but it was an odd, dirty colour and there was no sign of fish anywhere. I gave it 45 mins without the slightest hint of a pull before upping stumps and moving onto No 2.

Immediately felt much better as the water was clear though still no sign of fish but a gentle take (missed) first chuck was promising. Took a littlec while but eventually I worked it out....very long ( 24') leader with heavy buzzers and bloodworm on the point fished almost static. Takes were very, very gentle and extremely hard to both see and to hit but I converted enough to make it a very enjoyable afternoon. I had 8 spanking fish in about 3 hours and numerous little bobs and twitches and half takes. 6 of those were on the point fly proving that the fish were deep due to the bright conditions. I could have had more but I needed to beat the rush hour Oxford traffic and how many more did I need to catch ? Answer....none.

Thoroughly enjoyed it. Very challenging but always enough going on to keep you interested and ( as ever) the fish were in top condition and fought like demons. Its quite a sight to see them twisting and turning in the tap clear water when they are hooked on the point fly. I love it !

 

[wetthrough]

Fished my nearby club pool with Mikench today. Good company, shame the fishing wasn't up to expectations. We didn't blank but it was slow despite some optimism with an early Carp. Some nice Roach for both of us, Mike got a couple of nice Crucians, despite being on what turned out to be a hard peg. Just one decent skimmer for me, probably 60 fish between us so not a bad day, just not quite what I'd expected from a previous visit.

 

[mikench]

Thanks Gordon for for a lovely day in warm sunshine and under a cloudless sky! You are too gracious . The truth of the matter was I had 8 fish and Gordon had the rest. The crucians were a delight as always and a beautiful colour! I was abject today for some reason and missed loads of bites! I blame the rod! A lovely tranquil spot and 2 minutes away for Gordon! Thanks again!

 

[john step]

S kippy do the Farmoor trout still sit in that strange meeting of tide lines on the opposite side to the wind direction?

 

[S-Kippy]

S kippy do the Farmoor trout still sit in that strange meeting of tide lines on the opposite side to the wind direction?

They can do but they can also be completely unpredictable. One of my best days on Farmoor involved fishing 2 Daiwl Bachs no more than 6 foot deep in a flat calm and blazing sunshine.....just about the worst conditions for trite.

 

[lakhyaman]

Finally made it back to my little lake after a gap of two months!

It was far too hot and bright to fish during the day so I went down to the water as the sun sank towards the western horizon.



This being the end of the dry season the water was down by a good five feet. Come the monsoon it will come right upto and occasionally over the top of the fishing platforms.

I had barely gotten my baits in the water when a thunderstorm blew in out of nowhere and forced me to beat a retreat.

I was back down just at sunset after the storm blew itself out. I sat there biteless for the next five hours, a not entirely unexpected event. The lake for some reason invariably switches off as the light fades, just when you would expect the fish to start biting! It's not that you won't catch anything but bites are few and far between. Come ten o' clock in the evening you can start anticipating the fish coming on strong. They kept me waiting this time.

I have acquired some of laguna's PondBond glue with the object of rolling up some eggless "boilies"! I mixed some in about a litre and a half of water, by eye, and wetted up some commercial fish feed powder (used to grow on fry when first stocked in a stock pond) into a dough of the right consistency (the powder itself is non glutinous when wet) and rolled out fifty or so "boilies". Maybe I did not air dry them long enough or did not put enough glue in the mix but they remained a little soft, the hair cutting through them at the slightest jerk. So I squished them all together and it made a perfectly useable (somewhat stiff) mix for my method feeder. I stuck a well soaked peanut on the hair as bait.

At 11:30 pm I had a stuttering run which immediately resulted in a long fight with plenty of runs and dour head shaking in between, resolving into a Catla of some 21lbs. I had barely weighed and returned the fish when I was again forced of the water by another thunderstorm!


Catla of 21 lbs.

There were enough of these rogue storms around throughout the night and for most off the next day to prevent me from from fishing till four in the afternoon. Maybe it was the splatterings of rain freshening up the stale water that did it but first put in saw a run within a minute at express train speed and frankly I was a little apprehensive as I clicked the baitrunner lever over. However the line and hookhold held and a fine fight saw this 10 pound Mahseer in the net. I was very pleased as last year they were averaging about seven pounds each.


Mahseer of 10 lbs

A number of Catlas to 18lbs 12oz followed in quick succession until I quit fishing at sunset (6:30pm). But then you have seen enough of those!

All the best

Lakhyaman

 

[john step]

View attachment 6544
Mahseer of 10 lbs

A number of Catlas to 18lbs 12oz followed in quick succession until I quit fishing at sunset (6:30pm). But then you have seen enough of those!

All the best

Lakhyaman

Are these the same mahseer species that grow huge that we see in videos shot in remote Indian rivers.

 

[lakhyaman]

Are these the same mahseer species that grow huge that we see in videos shot in remote Indian rivers.

Yes, these are the Golden Mahseer of the Nepalese and Northern Indian rivers - Tor putitora.

For your delectation:




The first photo is of Hoshiar Singh with an 84 pound Golden Mahseer, one of the owner/ guides of the camp I was in when I fished the Mahakali which is the Nepal India western border . I did not catch anything remotely like that! But they are there. The second photo is in the same place.

I am going back in September as my fish have a long way to go!

All the best

Lakhyaman.

 

[108831]

Back again on the slider and maggot,with bright sunshine and little wind it was going to be hard,ended up with 19 roach from 4-10ozs.

 

[mikench]

Well done Alan and good to see you back on the bank

 

[Pete Shears]

Last piking trip of the winter at the local canal feeder reservoir yesterday, covered in thick fog,hard to tell if anyone else was there or not.Slowly the fog thinned only to come back a few minutes later even thicker,still I could see the float on the margin rod and had two leger rods cast further out.Two wrens were collecting nesting material and disappearing into a broken willow tree,coots scrapping somewhere out in the mist but with no wind it didn't feel cold.Had a take on the float and a hefty feeling fish managed to shake the hooks out.Spent half an hour or so chatting with mate who stopped by whilst walking his mental spaniel.Later had a pike on one of the leger rods which weighed in at 7lb 13oz and watched a pair of tree creepers on the big willow trees.When the sun broke through saw brimstone butterflies,bumble bees and all sorts of other insects.Had another fish shake the hooks out a foot from the net when packing up - a double figure pike,easy to see as the water was very clear.
Time for the tench gear.

 

[john step]

Had another fish shake the hooks out a foot from the net when packing up - a double figure pike,easy to see as the water was very clear.
Time for the tench gear.

And get a hook sharpener Pete.....:wh

 

[wetthrough]

Dropped in at my local pool on the way back from shopping to find the place completely devoid of anglers. I don't normally fish weekends but the temptation was too great. Grabbed the roving kit and a handful of maggots from those intended for tomorrow (it's going to be a chilly start Mikench!) some bread and a few casters. Started around 1pm picking up a couple of nice Crucians, Roach and small skimmers and then this:



Anyone know what it is?

 

[The Runner]

Hadn't been out for a few weeks, combination of doldrums time of year for fishing up here and a week in London for work and stepsons 21st. Hadnt really intended to fish until things pick up mid April or so but weather so nice this weekend that decided to have a go today . Dug a bit of bait this morning and early afternoon took a 20 minute walk from home along the Scorrybreac path.

Set up single hook running ledger rig, size 4 on beachcaster and switched to spool with braid mainline for extra distance, and similar but lighter rig for down the edge rod.
Lovely day for it..
View attachment 6553

Tide was about halfway in when I got there, missed a decent bite second chuck about 80 yards out then no signs for a couple of hours apart from a crab. Near the top of the tide the tip rattled again and saved the blank with a dab
View attachment 6554

No more after that, one more tentative bite just as I was packing in which I missed. Never a touch on the inside rod although to be fair wasn't really expecting any as the wrasse aren't around for a few weeks yet.

Not much in the way of wildlife where I fished , heard but didn't see the resident ravens and no sign of the sea eagles. Lots of stuff around on the bait beds this morning, usual oystercatchers and curlews with a couple of greenshank poking around near the high tide line and a small party of greylags on the saltmarsh.

Took a walk round the Quiraing yesterday, early migrants have arrived with a number of wheatears and a single ring ouzel.

 

[john step]

Anyone know what it is?

At a guess. Part crucian, part common starving due to a bad mouth? Looks like it could have weighed more in the past??

 

[peter crabtree]

Last week saw a spell of mixed fortunes. Thursday a few of us went to the Aylesbury arm on a notoriously hard venue. Weather wise it was 16degrees and sunny with a gentle breeze but we were all hindered by floating grass cuttings and uprooted reeds.
After a flurry of tiny roach on punch, which involved sticking my pole under the far bank bushes, then nothing, I packed up at lunchtime .

Another venue on the arm has recently received 430lb of mainly roach and skimmers which were electrofished from the basin at it’s end in Aylesbury town centre. This was a no fishing area so money well spent. Incidentally a 30lb catfish was netted out as well, the EA promptly came down and took it to a lake near Leighton buzzard which was a more suitable home for it.


Friday a few of us went to this restocked venue (which had previously been rock hard) and reaped the benefits. Obviously these fish had got used to eating bread provided by the duckfeeders and punch scored for the plentiful roach.

Saturday morning after buying fresh bait I sat at home for a while before getting the itch once more. The weather was glorious so I chucked the gear in the car and drove down to the town gravel pit. It was gin clear and looked ominously wrong for fishing but I had a go on the waggler and maggot just to see if I could get a bite.
I didn’t but it was extremely pleasant in the warm sun. The grebes were in the early stages of their mating behaviour, lots of coots too getting territorial ambitions sorted out.

Sunday we had a fundraising match on the restocked venue, funds raised for a further restocking program on the arm.
The change in temperature and wind direction seemed to kill the roach fishing, I scratched around with punch for little return so after an hour I opted for a sit and wait approach.
Out came a positive rig, 0:50gr float with a bulk of no10’s and a 16 red maggot hook. I cupped in 3 balls of Dynamite F1 sweet fishmeal gb, which has a very low feed content, with a few chopped worms, halfway up the far shelf.
Half a worm on the hook set at dead depth.

After about 20 mins I got my first bite, elastic shot out and a nice bream was landed. During the following 4 hours I landed 7 more for a total weight of 21lb, the gamble paid off and I won the day. 2nd weight was 9lb.

 

[S-Kippy]

Constable....arrest that man for deliberate bream fishing in a public place !

 

[theartist]

Constable....arrest that man for deliberate bream fishing in a public place !

Haha just look at Simon's face though! You gotta love bream if you fish the canal

 

[peter crabtree]

That face is a happy one Rob. Mission accomplished and £80 in the old sky....

 

[Pete Shears]

And get a hook sharpener Pete.....:wh

Thanks for that john - I thought the hooks were sharp,they stick in me easily enough - I always strike as fast as possible to avoid deep hooking,perhaps too fast on Saturday