mikench
Well-known member
Thanks Alan. I thought it was but I enjoyed the struggle and had not caught one before.
How did you get on?
- Thread starter peter crabtree
- Start date
I was out on Sunday with Steve (Binka) at a lake over his way, and since we'd neither of us had a bite in our last outings, we were grateful for the roach, perch and skimmers that pulled the float under at regular intervals through the day. And that the wind, which always threatened to get up, left us largely alone.
Today the forecast was light wind and occasional showers. I set up at lunchtime at the Old Lake in a hail storm that left the banks looking like it had snowed.
I thought roach were my best chance, so I fished hemp and caster at 9m in a swim I'd never fished before but put a bit of distance between me and some vigorous spodding going on in the middle of the lake. Nothing much was happening, so when the bailiff came over with half a pint of yellow maggots and said he's had some nice roach on them, I was happy enough to switch.
This produced a few tench, which I was more than pleased to see
And when I shallowed up to a foot off the bottom, some good roach appeared.
Meanwhile, the spodding carper had packed in, and had been replaced by an angler who couldn't have known the swim had just been filled in, and kicked off by firing out a kilo of boillies. Perhaps the bait bombardment sent the carp off to my swim; in any case, the roach disappeared and I found myself attached to this
It took a while before that was in the net. They say the show's not over til the fat lady sings, and an even fatter one followed, after which I needed a cup of tea and some new elastic
Still, considering the hail, rain and generally miserable weather, I wasn't complaining
Today the forecast was light wind and occasional showers. I set up at lunchtime at the Old Lake in a hail storm that left the banks looking like it had snowed.
I thought roach were my best chance, so I fished hemp and caster at 9m in a swim I'd never fished before but put a bit of distance between me and some vigorous spodding going on in the middle of the lake. Nothing much was happening, so when the bailiff came over with half a pint of yellow maggots and said he's had some nice roach on them, I was happy enough to switch.
This produced a few tench, which I was more than pleased to see
And when I shallowed up to a foot off the bottom, some good roach appeared.
Meanwhile, the spodding carper had packed in, and had been replaced by an angler who couldn't have known the swim had just been filled in, and kicked off by firing out a kilo of boillies. Perhaps the bait bombardment sent the carp off to my swim; in any case, the roach disappeared and I found myself attached to this
It took a while before that was in the net. They say the show's not over til the fat lady sings, and an even fatter one followed, after which I needed a cup of tea and some new elastic
Still, considering the hail, rain and generally miserable weather, I wasn't complaining
mikench
Well-known member
You are truly a tench magnet Kev! Lovely fish.
theartist
Well-known member
Just back from a weird morning down the canal, didn't start too well as I was just setting off on my walk when it dawned that my licence may have expired, a quick check and yep, so it's back in the house and onto the internet and job done, number written down, licence purchased. I start the day slagging off technology then use it to my advantage - What a hypocrite!
It does say it starts 30mins after purchase which meant a slow walk given the canal is ten minutes away, the irony of getting done like that by the Lesser Spotted EA bailiff would be something but stranger things have happened.
The canal too was a bit different as the wind was an easterly blowing up the cut, this meant the flow was going that way too as the Gade runs in and out upstream so the wind was pushing the water to the overflow 80% of the time instead of running through the locks downhill. I set up in the only flat bit I could find which soon turned into a chop by the time I set up, things were always going to be hard and it felt pretty cold still.
I started off ok after a few roach and chublets before the canal turned into the Norfolk Broads as a dozen boats appeared in little over an hour, usually you get a couple at this time of year. Some were going to Leeds, some Stourport and it seemed I spent more time chatting than catching fish, everyone was friendly and the banter was good. A couple even got grounded trying to turn in the mouth of the Gade, a foot of water and two of silt always catches them out, catching anything in all this was going to be a bonus though.
In the end i managed around 50 fish but probably bumped off more in weight as a couple of proper fish managed to come off, never mind, I gave the chublets and roach a good feed. Ended up walking back just as the sun came out, working up a sweat in the winter gear that had struggled to keep me warm all morning.
Oh forgot to mention the last fish of the day was a roach - which was black!
It does say it starts 30mins after purchase which meant a slow walk given the canal is ten minutes away, the irony of getting done like that by the Lesser Spotted EA bailiff would be something but stranger things have happened.
The canal too was a bit different as the wind was an easterly blowing up the cut, this meant the flow was going that way too as the Gade runs in and out upstream so the wind was pushing the water to the overflow 80% of the time instead of running through the locks downhill. I set up in the only flat bit I could find which soon turned into a chop by the time I set up, things were always going to be hard and it felt pretty cold still.
I started off ok after a few roach and chublets before the canal turned into the Norfolk Broads as a dozen boats appeared in little over an hour, usually you get a couple at this time of year. Some were going to Leeds, some Stourport and it seemed I spent more time chatting than catching fish, everyone was friendly and the banter was good. A couple even got grounded trying to turn in the mouth of the Gade, a foot of water and two of silt always catches them out, catching anything in all this was going to be a bonus though.
In the end i managed around 50 fish but probably bumped off more in weight as a couple of proper fish managed to come off, never mind, I gave the chublets and roach a good feed. Ended up walking back just as the sun came out, working up a sweat in the winter gear that had struggled to keep me warm all morning.
Oh forgot to mention the last fish of the day was a roach - which was black!
theartist
Well-known member
No it's 100% roach, here's another pic where it doesn't look as dark with the light reflecting off it but you can actually see the black pigment in the scales near the gills and on the fins, the back is jet black
What a joy to be out after a two week enforced layoff. Bright sun but a chilly easterly from the North Sea across the Wolds.
Stunning location of a fishery in a hidden valley.. No one else there. Its an easy venue but I had to work hard for bites in the drift which makes it more enjoyable. Centre pin and dibber to bradflake
I had roach, rudd and 11 carplets. This is number 11.
Nice to be alive aint it.
View attachment 6567
Stunning location of a fishery in a hidden valley.. No one else there. Its an easy venue but I had to work hard for bites in the drift which makes it more enjoyable. Centre pin and dibber to bradflake
I had roach, rudd and 11 carplets. This is number 11.
Nice to be alive aint it.
View attachment 6567
mikench
Well-known member
Rob that roach suits its dark colouration. I wonder why?
theartist
Well-known member
Dunno what you mean Mike but it reminds me of the sort of fish you get out of gin clear waters with duckweed that are covered in blackspot, except this had none and there's no chance of it ever encountering gin clear water in that canal for miles, put it this way I packed up and wont be reusing that hook just in case. Not sure it was in the best of nick to be honest
flightliner
Well-known member
Oh the joys of a garden that's weeded up over winter, so much fun on hands and knees, five days in all between other jobs, rainy days and other "duties".
It's not good for any angler most days but has to be done nevertheless.
Anyway, all completed yesterday so today I took off to a not too distant water armed with lots of tiny worms, dendras, lobs and a pint of red maggots hoping for anything that swam really but the water has some half decant perch and Bream so it was really between the two I suppose.
An hour into my session a small perch secumbs to a pair of dendras, a chunky little fella of a half pound or so , a start.
An hour later a few twitches on the bobbin never really develop so I lift the rod and find something heavy on the end of my line---- and it's a --------
Cray!
Only the second I'ce ever caught , what horrible creatures.
No idea how they got in the place but somehow or other it didn't return.
It then went very quite so I scaled all the rig down to a fourteen hook - disposed of the lobs that I had turned to an hour earlier having lost three to what I believed were more crays and put the feeder back in with three red maggots on the hook!
A few minutes later I had a super butt ringer of a bite and endured a rather arm aching struggle with a big fish that turned out to be a nice double figure pike that went 12-8 on the scales.
A super scrap it coming in near 30' of water.
Two more perch and that was my day finished but so nice to be out again
It's not good for any angler most days but has to be done nevertheless.
Anyway, all completed yesterday so today I took off to a not too distant water armed with lots of tiny worms, dendras, lobs and a pint of red maggots hoping for anything that swam really but the water has some half decant perch and Bream so it was really between the two I suppose.
An hour into my session a small perch secumbs to a pair of dendras, a chunky little fella of a half pound or so , a start.
An hour later a few twitches on the bobbin never really develop so I lift the rod and find something heavy on the end of my line---- and it's a --------
Cray!
Only the second I'ce ever caught , what horrible creatures.
No idea how they got in the place but somehow or other it didn't return.
It then went very quite so I scaled all the rig down to a fourteen hook - disposed of the lobs that I had turned to an hour earlier having lost three to what I believed were more crays and put the feeder back in with three red maggots on the hook!
A few minutes later I had a super butt ringer of a bite and endured a rather arm aching struggle with a big fish that turned out to be a nice double figure pike that went 12-8 on the scales.
A super scrap it coming in near 30' of water.
Two more perch and that was my day finished but so nice to be out again
Last edited:
peter crabtree
AKA Simon, 1953 - 2022 (RIP)
I too fished the canal today but a mile or so further up than Rob.
A much nicer day than the last few and more bites compared to Tuesday.
Fishing up the far shelf with red maggots I caught a good variety of species...
Perch, chub, roach, skimmers, dace, Rudd and some poky roach/bream hybrids..
No gudgeon showed unfortunately, there are some proper big ones in this pound at times...
A much nicer day than the last few and more bites compared to Tuesday.
Fishing up the far shelf with red maggots I caught a good variety of species...
Perch, chub, roach, skimmers, dace, Rudd and some poky roach/bream hybrids..
No gudgeon showed unfortunately, there are some proper big ones in this pound at times...
S-Kippy
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Odd that isnt it.....but not unnatractive. A water I used to fish as a lad used to produce the odd black perch....and when I say black I mean jet black with bright red fins. Very handsome looking chaps they were too. Never had one bigger than about 6 ozs but I used to get 1 or 2 a season in among the normal ones.
I have been fishing club lakes for roach for the last couple of weeks - no roach but unfortunately loads of bream to 8lbs. So, in an effort to catch a roach, I returned to a day ticket water I first fished two weeks ago.
I couldn't believe it I had the place to myself, great! Used two rods, a feeder rod with pellet - caught roach, 4 small carp and some weird looking crucian lookalikes with fantails. On the float rod I used punched bread on a size 12 hook - roach, a tench and a couple of fantails. I did use dead maggots on a small hook for a while but only caught small roach.
I managed 9 roach to around a pound by feeding groundbait deliberately to NOT where I was casting - all the groundbait attracted the smaller roach away from where I was casting the float making it easier to catch the better roach - anyway that was the plan and it seemed to work! Best bait was two bit of flavoured punched bread (9mm diam) on the size 12 hook.
I couldn't believe it I had the place to myself, great! Used two rods, a feeder rod with pellet - caught roach, 4 small carp and some weird looking crucian lookalikes with fantails. On the float rod I used punched bread on a size 12 hook - roach, a tench and a couple of fantails. I did use dead maggots on a small hook for a while but only caught small roach.
I managed 9 roach to around a pound by feeding groundbait deliberately to NOT where I was casting - all the groundbait attracted the smaller roach away from where I was casting the float making it easier to catch the better roach - anyway that was the plan and it seemed to work! Best bait was two bit of flavoured punched bread (9mm diam) on the size 12 hook.
wetthrough
Well-known member
Back on the Dam yesterday hoping the Bream might be active but it wasn't to be. A nice day all the same with just a few spots of rain and a light wind going in completely the opposite direction it was supposed to be and at nothing like the speed that was forecast, is it ever? A good day even thought the big stuff didn't show. 15 Roach of varying sizes by 11am then it died, maybe Mr Pike was around. Bits and pieces after that until about 3pm when it picked up again. 43 Roach altogether from tiny to about 6oz, mostly in the 2:3oz range. Good to be out and at least I wasn't busy blanking Something odd did happen in the afternoon. Something ploughed along the surface for about 20M. It looked for all the world like someone pulling a spod back in but wasn't and if it was water fowl of some sort it didn't reappear.
Something odd did happen in the afternoon. Something ploughed along the surface for about 20M. It looked for all the world like someone pulling a spod back in but wasn't and if it was water fowl of some sort it didn't reappear.
mikench
Well-known member
Rob as Skip said above is what I meant! A nice looking fish if it wasn't ill.
I'd been fishing with a friend who's completed his Level 2 Coaching, and met another bloke there who organises coaching events for youngsters who want to try fishing. He said he'd welcome any help at an event coming up with 18 youngsters booked in, so that's how I came to be sat by a local pool this morning waiting to be allocated a learner angler.
I hadn't even done Level 1 training, but I did spent 35 years teaching A Levels to 16-19 yr olds, so it would be a poor do if I couldn't make a stab at Assessing the Learner's Needs and Devising a Learning Experience, wouldn't it? I'd brought two seatboxes, and set up the simplest gear - 3 sections of pole and a long line with a little waggler, and a bit of plumbing showed this would let us fish down the breeze, over the shelf into 4' of water. The pool is a carpy/tenchy/ crucian type of place, and we've just had some hard frosts these last two nights, so I wasn't expecting it to be easy.
Mums and dads arrived and handed over the learners. It's heartwarming to see that there are a bunch of youngsters, aged around 9 to 14, including 3 or 4 girls, interested enough to turn up on a chilly Saturday morning and find out more about fishing.
The lad with me had been fishing with someone before, but not really fished himself. A quick demo of what we were trying to do with the pole, the line, the float and the bait, and it was over to him to wield the pole. We checked the plumbing, adjusted the float, got two pinkies on the size 18 (bet you've forgotten how hard it is to hold a little a hook and hook a maggot for the first time), threw a few over the float, and we were in business.
I'd like to report our success - but nobody caught a fish around the pool, and you can be sure all the helpers were doing their best to make it happen. Still, the lad on the seatbox next to me took it all in, fished the rig nicely, never complained it was cold or commented on the disappointing lack of action, and kept me on my toes with a string of deep questions: why DO maggots wriggle? How long can they swim before they die? How come these worms are still wriggling when you've chopped them? (By then I was going through the bait card, trying to get us a bite.)
There was a break for sausages barbecued on the bank, which went down well. At the All-out, the organiser got all the learners together, sympathised with the lack of fish, reminded them they'd learned some valuable skills, gave them a certificate and called for a round of applause for a) the helpers, b) themselves . As he told me, you can't guarantee a fish, but you can make sure everyone gets a hot dog and a certificate.
It's all very different from the unsupervised, disorganised, random approach that was the keynote of the start of most things in my life. But I ended the morning with admiration for the organisers, and for the youngsters who think there might be something in this fishing lark and are happy to get up on a Saturday morning and give it a try.
I hadn't even done Level 1 training, but I did spent 35 years teaching A Levels to 16-19 yr olds, so it would be a poor do if I couldn't make a stab at Assessing the Learner's Needs and Devising a Learning Experience, wouldn't it? I'd brought two seatboxes, and set up the simplest gear - 3 sections of pole and a long line with a little waggler, and a bit of plumbing showed this would let us fish down the breeze, over the shelf into 4' of water. The pool is a carpy/tenchy/ crucian type of place, and we've just had some hard frosts these last two nights, so I wasn't expecting it to be easy.
Mums and dads arrived and handed over the learners. It's heartwarming to see that there are a bunch of youngsters, aged around 9 to 14, including 3 or 4 girls, interested enough to turn up on a chilly Saturday morning and find out more about fishing.
The lad with me had been fishing with someone before, but not really fished himself. A quick demo of what we were trying to do with the pole, the line, the float and the bait, and it was over to him to wield the pole. We checked the plumbing, adjusted the float, got two pinkies on the size 18 (bet you've forgotten how hard it is to hold a little a hook and hook a maggot for the first time), threw a few over the float, and we were in business.
I'd like to report our success - but nobody caught a fish around the pool, and you can be sure all the helpers were doing their best to make it happen. Still, the lad on the seatbox next to me took it all in, fished the rig nicely, never complained it was cold or commented on the disappointing lack of action, and kept me on my toes with a string of deep questions: why DO maggots wriggle? How long can they swim before they die? How come these worms are still wriggling when you've chopped them? (By then I was going through the bait card, trying to get us a bite.)
There was a break for sausages barbecued on the bank, which went down well. At the All-out, the organiser got all the learners together, sympathised with the lack of fish, reminded them they'd learned some valuable skills, gave them a certificate and called for a round of applause for a) the helpers, b) themselves . As he told me, you can't guarantee a fish, but you can make sure everyone gets a hot dog and a certificate.
It's all very different from the unsupervised, disorganised, random approach that was the keynote of the start of most things in my life. But I ended the morning with admiration for the organisers, and for the youngsters who think there might be something in this fishing lark and are happy to get up on a Saturday morning and give it a try.
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I can only echo that, just a shame nobody caught.