How did you get on?
- Thread starter peter crabtree
- Start date
peter crabtree
AKA Simon, 1953 - 2022 (RIP)
Well it was definitely not easy today, gin clear and not a single bite. Fished for 2 hours where Rob fished last week and froze my nuts off. Gone home!
Funny you should say that. I had cryotherapy on Wednesday to remove a harmless skin lesion at the top of my leg. One slip with the spray and I'd have had my nuts frozen off too.
mikench
Well-known member
Glad you are still with us Kev.
theartist
Well-known member
Wowzer, thought you may have been opposite B&Q as it looked like a mini match on there today, If it's any consolation I blanked too, mind you I was in Hemel shopping with the missus
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And funny you should say that too, I had the same procedure on the same day for something I thought was very nasty but thank goodness it wasn’t, on my back.
mikench
Well-known member
Glad you are still with us John.
no-one in particular
Well-known member
Could be a blessing in disguise
I'm trying to work that one out, Mark
George Melly said, about losing his sex drive, it was nice to go through life not chained to an idiot.
mikench
Well-known member
And as Johnny Carson said" I know a man who gave up smoking, drinking, sex and rich food. He was healthy right up to the day he killed himself.
The Runner
Well-known member
Down in London for a few days prior to going to Philippines for a couple of weeks for a wedding ( reel is in suitcase and have forgotten to pack travel rod...)
Anyway, went on working party on one of the clubs lakes today and seeing the various hard days reported above it was no surprise that nobody there took tackle with them to fish on after the work had been done. Three of the lads had been down on Wednesday and managed a liner between them
Working parties used to be all about path clearing, swim building and the like.
Suppose this is a sign of the times...View attachment 6594
Anyway, went on working party on one of the clubs lakes today and seeing the various hard days reported above it was no surprise that nobody there took tackle with them to fish on after the work had been done. Three of the lads had been down on Wednesday and managed a liner between them
Working parties used to be all about path clearing, swim building and the like.
Suppose this is a sign of the times...View attachment 6594
peter crabtree
AKA Simon, 1953 - 2022 (RIP)
13 fished the open at Marsworth yesterday, after the 2nd consecutive freezing cold night and the persistent East wind, expectations were not high.
It was just 2degrees as I reached my peg which was beyond the usual match boundaries due to moored boats.
These pegs have the advantage of the sun behind so no getting dazzled but the high hedges meant shade and cold.
The residents in the houses opposite looked slightly bemused too as they ate their breakfasts in their dressing gowns.
So there I was on an unknown peg, no features opposite and quite a wide expanse of water in front of me.
Set up 2 lines, one short and one 2/3 of the way across. At the off I fed liquy close in and cupped sweet fishmeal gb on the long line.
Had a few small roach on punch to start with but they came and went fairly rapidly.
After an hour I hooked half a worm on the long line rig and dropped it in over the gb. 5 seconds after the float cocked it buried, no3 elastic pi$$ing out as a lump took off. After a spirited tussle a large bream was in the net.
There were 2 non participants acting as runners who informed me the others on the other side of the bridge were all scratching and I was in the lead. The angler to my right had 3 small skimmers and one to my left was blanking.
During the final 3 hours I didn’t get a single bite on either line, probably due to the heavy boat traffic queuing at the water station by the houses.
During that final hour a runner reported someone had been catching roach and a chub on the other side and I wasn’t going to win today.
This turned out to be correct and I ended up second with 5lb dead. The winner had 8lb:9oz.
13 fished...
It was just 2degrees as I reached my peg which was beyond the usual match boundaries due to moored boats.
These pegs have the advantage of the sun behind so no getting dazzled but the high hedges meant shade and cold.
The residents in the houses opposite looked slightly bemused too as they ate their breakfasts in their dressing gowns.
So there I was on an unknown peg, no features opposite and quite a wide expanse of water in front of me.
Set up 2 lines, one short and one 2/3 of the way across. At the off I fed liquy close in and cupped sweet fishmeal gb on the long line.
Had a few small roach on punch to start with but they came and went fairly rapidly.
After an hour I hooked half a worm on the long line rig and dropped it in over the gb. 5 seconds after the float cocked it buried, no3 elastic pi$$ing out as a lump took off. After a spirited tussle a large bream was in the net.
There were 2 non participants acting as runners who informed me the others on the other side of the bridge were all scratching and I was in the lead. The angler to my right had 3 small skimmers and one to my left was blanking.
During the final 3 hours I didn’t get a single bite on either line, probably due to the heavy boat traffic queuing at the water station by the houses.
During that final hour a runner reported someone had been catching roach and a chub on the other side and I wasn’t going to win today.
This turned out to be correct and I ended up second with 5lb dead. The winner had 8lb:9oz.
13 fished...
peter crabtree
AKA Simon, 1953 - 2022 (RIP)
Rob the artist texted me this morning to say he was going fishing on the canal at Hemel for a few hours. I jumped in the car and went up to see him in action.
Fishing on a noted bend near the town centre with the wind behind, he set up a waggler rig and fished and fed red maggot.
First fish a chublet, 2nd a roach before he struck into something more solid.
What was it? He thought a bream at first but it was pulling very hard.
Eventually it was subdued and deftly netted.
A pristine fish of 4lb:6oz..
Top angling mate...
Fishing on a noted bend near the town centre with the wind behind, he set up a waggler rig and fished and fed red maggot.
First fish a chublet, 2nd a roach before he struck into something more solid.
What was it? He thought a bream at first but it was pulling very hard.
Eventually it was subdued and deftly netted.
A pristine fish of 4lb:6oz..
Top angling mate...
theartist
Well-known member
Cheers mate and thanks for the write up and action shots :thumbs:
What PC failed to mention was how painfully slow things were and how those first three fish took at least an hour, I think we both expected that given the cold nights of late, so we spent most of the time chatting and it was good to catch up, sitting in the sun out of the wind.
The feeding paid off in the end even if it was my traditional haphazard approach, who cares it seems to work but if Simon asks one more time why I don't use a catapult I swear he's going in
He does have a point plus he also called the weight of the fish better though as my '3lb something' was way off the mark, I would have put it straight back instead it's weighed out of curiosity and is a new canal PB which is cool.I packed up with it now a bite a chuck from roach, skimmers, bleak and chublets which shows how the water temp makes a difference this time a year, and it shows how flukey the chub was in such conditions, but fishing throws up surprises and that's why we love it so much.
mikench
Well-known member
Who needs to catch fish with such a beautiful lake and gorgeous backdrop to a swim!
I've been twice to check whether the tench lake has woken up - and not had a bite. So I headed out there today with some trepidation. This cold east wind is relentless, and spring is stuttering along. John's estate lake photo looks like Madagascar; around here it looks nothing like that. I walked past the better cold weather swims on the lake - my priorities were 1. Get out of the wind 2. Get in the sun 3. Try and catch a tench.
Starting early was out of the question. I got there at 12.30. By 1.30 I'd not had a bite and things looked bleak. At least I'd achieved priorities 1 and 2. I t was clearly not a day for being liberal with feed, so I set up a few sections of pole - I was fishing rod and pin - and cupped in very small balls of groundbait and a few maggots at regular intervals.
At 2pm the float dipped , and a decent sized tench declared the tench lake open for 2019. It put up a good fight on the light gear, and prompted me to swap the .12 hooklength for .14.
Things remained slow, and every bite had to be fished for - twitching the bait across the fed patch, potting a bit of bait right on the float, swapping baits etc. A couple of tench followed, and a bream (always welcome in my swim)
I plodded on, catching odd tench and a few roach and perch, and persisted with the groundbait and maggots. I still used less than 1/4 pint of maggots, and a pint of mixed groundbait, but the regular feeding seemed to do the tick. By 4.30, the swim had filled up with small tench, and I was sorry I had to pack up at 5.30. It's nice to have one of my favourite places back on-stream - I've been short of good places to go lately.
Starting early was out of the question. I got there at 12.30. By 1.30 I'd not had a bite and things looked bleak. At least I'd achieved priorities 1 and 2. I t was clearly not a day for being liberal with feed, so I set up a few sections of pole - I was fishing rod and pin - and cupped in very small balls of groundbait and a few maggots at regular intervals.
At 2pm the float dipped , and a decent sized tench declared the tench lake open for 2019. It put up a good fight on the light gear, and prompted me to swap the .12 hooklength for .14.
Things remained slow, and every bite had to be fished for - twitching the bait across the fed patch, potting a bit of bait right on the float, swapping baits etc. A couple of tench followed, and a bream (always welcome in my swim)
I plodded on, catching odd tench and a few roach and perch, and persisted with the groundbait and maggots. I still used less than 1/4 pint of maggots, and a pint of mixed groundbait, but the regular feeding seemed to do the tick. By 4.30, the swim had filled up with small tench, and I was sorry I had to pack up at 5.30. It's nice to have one of my favourite places back on-stream - I've been short of good places to go lately.
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Trust me, those easterlies were getting right into my bones Kev.
Not opened the tench account yet but I notice yours doesn't look quite right like some we have on the estate, a bit of mouth damage?
An envious netful nethertheless.
Not opened the tench account yet but I notice yours doesn't look quite right like some we have on the estate, a bit of mouth damage?
An envious netful nethertheless.
Bobnewboy
Well-known member
Had a great day yesterday, despite the horrendous and continuous cold wind. I was at Four Ponds fishery at Shillingford I just into Devon. I fished the Tench Lake with hope in my heart, and after a few adjustments, I got onto a steady stream of smallish tench, ranging in size from around 12 oz to about a pound and a half. I lost one (I think) off the hook, but managed 25 in all and was very happy as I would still count myself as a beginner, particularly fishing for tench. The secrets seemed to be:
Use a smaller hook - I went down from a 12 to a 16
Use sweetcorn- one piece on the hook and a couple of pieces loose over the top
Use an “onion” float - made my own and it seemed to be well suited
Use a heavier than usual telltale shot about 5” from the hook.
Doing this seemed to give good lift bites even in the heavy wind that was passing over my shoulders but it still needed plenty of attention
Cheers, Bob
Use a smaller hook - I went down from a 12 to a 16
Use sweetcorn- one piece on the hook and a couple of pieces loose over the top
Use an “onion” float - made my own and it seemed to be well suited
Use a heavier than usual telltale shot about 5” from the hook.
Doing this seemed to give good lift bites even in the heavy wind that was passing over my shoulders but it still needed plenty of attention
Cheers, Bob