How did you get on?

[mikench]

I had a day on the bank which whilst it doesn't compare to Flight's , was , nevertheless, very enjoyable ! I had a really mixed bag of fish ranging from 8 carp to 9lb, roach to 1lb, hybrids, bream, gudgeon and a couple of crucians. One bream leapt out of the water not once but 4 times like a trout. I was amazed. It rained far more than was forecast so a brolly was necessary. I stopped counting after 40.

The best pic was of a sturdy gudgeon.







i used my 15' Antares again which is a lovely rod.

 

[peter crabtree]

10 codgers fished the Aylesbury arm GUC today near Tring. At least it didn't rain for a change, in fact it was very pleasant with sunny intervals and a light breeze.

I managed one bream and a few bits for runner-up place with 3:14:0. We were all well and truly battered by our 90 year old codger Joe who took 4 bream+bits for 10:8:0.. Joe fished waggler with punch (as did I)..

Here he is in action....

YouTube

 

[S-Kippy]

Very odd day today.

The BF was determined to fish a certain swim and I wasnt going to argue with him! I quite fancied one in close proximity but on arrival there were two carpers dug in on the one I fancied. The backup swim was full of willow fluff and coots so ( against my instincts) I trudged round to the far side to enjoy ( ?) A very frustrating morning. I did manage one tench at about 5lb but lost two others and was plagued by false bites. The BF meanwhile was alternately landng a lump or losing one. By the time he packed at about 3pm he'd had tench of 6-3 7-4 7-12 and a beast of 8lb 4oz.

" Get yourself round here,mate" he says and as my swim had completely died on me that's precisely what I did.

I reckon before he'd packed his car I'd had a fish of 5-8 and about 30 mins later one of 6-15 and a half ( howl!) . I then lost a good fish before the lh rod roared off again.....6-6 and I was feeling much happier though the swim had gone very scummy and the willow fluff had become a right pita. But a tench rolled right over the feed so I persevered and within 10 mins the lh rod is off again and this is clearly a good fish. I landed it and it was a proper lump but before I could weigh it I'm away on the other rod. This'll be interesting I thought....if that lump rolls out of the net while I'm landing the other I shall be proper pi$$ed off. Fortunately I managed to shoehorn it in and weighed that one first....5-13.

Now for the lump...8lb 12oz. Now that is a proper tench !

So....that swim produced 9 fish for us today with 3 over 7lb and 2 over 8. This is the sort of tench fishing I've been looking for for years. I just need this damn fluff to clear off so I can tackle it with a float which I think might work very well indeed.



Sorry bout the uppyside down pic. I dont know how to correct it

 

[theartist]

That's one fat Tench Skip safe to say they haven't bred yet lol, It ain't going to be long by the looks of things

 

[theartist]

I managed one bream and a few bits for runner-up place with 3:14:0. We were all well and truly battered by our 90 year old codger Joe who took 4 bream+bits for 10:8:0.. Joe fished waggler with punch (as did I)..

Here he is in action...

I bet even though you're against him in the match you were thinking - Don't lose it Joe. I know I was watching that

Good ninja filming by the way :thumbs:

 

[theartist]

I was also fishing yesterday with an old codger I known for ages who goes by the name of Dad. The plan was to get him in a good swim and erase the opening day memories of his blank. Plan A looked like it may not work when we turned up at the best swim that was left empty and saw one fish in the clear water. I bit of steady feeding but a few more and a bit of cloud cover bought this.



We couldn't fail. I set up his rod which saved a good twenty minutes and I just watched, baited and waited as I had such a good day Monday I was quite happy not to fish. It wasn't long before dad was 'In' and naturally it was a chub which got in amongst the barbel despite dad's hair rig looking like it was thirty foot long We didn't wait long for the barbel to start frothing in the silt again and he was soon into his fist barbel of the season, not the biggest but enough to almost pull him in as usual. I did the honours landing and releasing a fine looking fish as the sun shone.



I left dad to find a swim of my own and he had three more Barbel by the end of the evening, I ran a float though and had more than my fair share and all the fish were in fantastic condition even though they weren't huge. This 7lb'er went like a beast.



No big roach this time but I left with dad who was in much better spirits than his previous trip and we both had 'barbel arm' from some hard fighting fish

 

[S-Kippy]

Yep...a couple did look like they are about ready to burst though others clearly have already spawned. I dont know why the pic inverts...i've tried all sorts but only once or twice has it come out right. Its a mystery.

 

[neil1970]

Lovely few hours catching up with Simon.
We walked a local stretch of river and caught 20 fish between us on light lure tackle.

Simon hooked a large fish (definitely not a perch or pike) which was on for a heart stopping 5 minutes, sitting on the bottom, then taking drag.
Unfortunately it came off after going into a snag for the second time.
The little lure rod was bent double for the whole fight.
Great laugh

 

[no-one in particular]

Tried a new mark today. The mark looks good although wasn’t prepared, hoped to get a float or spinners round the rocks but the wind was treble what it was forecast so had the wrong rod and gear for the conditions, I needed a big weight and rod so had to improvise with my float/spinner rod. Still a 2oz weight just about held the bottom but could only manage 40yds in the stiff cross wind. That’s the trouble with the coast; never know what you might find. Still had a nice platform to help and enjoyed the day especially the full English in the café right behind me. A few good knocks but all I caught was one eel which I had to do major surgery to get the line and hook extracted, hope it appreciated it and is probably on its way up the Thames now. Anyone catches it, your very welcome, hate the things, I need protecting from them.

 

[peter crabtree]

 

[103841]

I had to give Mr. Crabtree’s post a double take, not use to seeing a lone angler without another old codger insight!


Meanwhile, I gave the double header at Hythe another bash in search of a trio of preds, pike, perch and bass.

Arrived at the Military canal 3 hours before high tide across the road giving me ample time to tick off the first two and a delicious coffee from the boathouse cafe.

The canal was teeming with fish, rudd and bream everywhere and the Jacks were in a feisty mood, had half a dozen and just one small perch.

After refreshments walked along the prom between Sandgate and Hythe and everything looked good for some lure chucking.

But that was about to change very quickly as Mark had experienced most probably not many miles away, the wind swung round and had become a stiff onshore breeze, all clarity gone and getting a lure further than 30 yards was difficult, waved the white flag after ten minutes.

Went back to the canal taking in some of the many historical features on the way.

Had another couple of Jacks and then came apon a shoal of carp, most into double figures, I shall come with bread and a carp rod next time!

 

[The Sogster]

Been a while since I last posted on here.

Decided yesterday to have my first trip of the season to one of my local rivers to reacquaint myself with the art of float fishing on running water.
Bait for the day was maggot, bread and meat.

Below is a pic of my chosen swim.


I chose this for the long steady glide which shallows nicely from about 4' to 3' about 30 yards down. This is not a particularly deep river. I also liked the the overhanging bushes opposite which are directly above a nice clear weed channel.

First trot down resulted in a roach of around 3/4 Oz, great thinks I things can only get better. Over the next hour or so I had 27 of these tiny beauties and a number of minnows.
Unfortunately the wind picked up and kept blowing strongly downstream and across making mending the line near impossible without the float heading towards the near bank, I even switched to a very heavy 4BB stick which helped counteract this somewhat but without real joy.

I was therefore forced to resort to the feeder rod and decided to try meat hoping for a chub, alas without success.

Below is a pic of my ancient seat box which I still use more than any other seat I have. Although my backside fills the lid a lot more than it used to.
As can be seen I am not the tidiest angler.

 

[Keith M]

I’ve just returned from visiting various ports along the Adriatic, Ionion and Aegrean seas visiting various places in Turkey, Greece, Montenegro, Italy and Croatia in temperatures of between 25 to 35 degrees but I really missed good old Blighty and its fishing, even though I've heard that tbe weather at home has been a little wet at times, I still much prefer being beside one of our beautiful waters on a summers eve or morning catching some of the quality fishing that we have back here. I’m off to my local estate lake with my son on Sunday after a few Tench and Carp and I just can’t wait, and even if I don’t catch a couple of whoppers I will be back in my element, so watch this space

Keith

 

[mikench]

Lovely photos John, as usual. Lovely county Kent!

 

[Philip]

I went down to a small park lake the other evening for a couple of hours into dark. After everyone has gone you an creep round and stalk the fish in the margins. Its very exciting fishing right under the rod tip and a wayward footfall will have them zooming away.

It was chilly & after completing almost 1 lap of the lake with nothing showing I noticed some rocking & ripples right in the edge, a fish was feeding inches from the bank. I inched forward till I was right over it & lowered my float down into the ripples. The little betalight lay flat on the surface as it was too shallow to cock. The rocking water continued, a good sign, I had not spooked it. The float twitched from time to time s the fish brushed the line which I ensured I kept slack. A minute or so more with me standing like a statue & trying not to breath & the betalight started to pull slowly and deliberatly away into open water …I struck and was in. I could feel it was not a monster so played it pretty hard and after a spirited battle bundled it into the net. It was not till I switched on my little head torch and looked into the net that I realized what it was.

I had seen this Koi occasionally swimming about but due to the large head of other fish in the water knew the chances of ever catching it were slim. The fact it also came from a natural lake open to all rather than a commercial purposely stocked with them made it a pleasant surprise so I sacked it and came back after sunrise to take its photo.

 

[mikench]

View attachment 6919

View attachment 6920

I disappeared to the same venue but a different peg and again caught a good variety of fish with several crucians amongst them. The one in the pic was perhaps the best. No tench but plenty of carp, bream and gudgeon. I actually came home because it was too warm which makes a refreshing change. Maggot, pineapple boilies( 8mm) and chick peas were the dishes of the day and I float fished again.

 

[barbelboi]

I managed a few hours back at one of the local rivers yesterday stalking some chub. Quite a bit of bank walking and watching for three fish, bait was free lined lob...........Fished from 11.30-3pm.

 

[Pete Shears]

On the banks of the local reservoir at 5am this morning,mist rising gently off the water,very little breeze - perfect hopefully for tench.The plastic corn rod had the first bite,a bream of about a pound and a half,better than a blank but not a tench.Three ospreys then captured my attention for 15 minutes as they circled both arms after breakfast and then suddenly they were gone replaced by a hot air balloon and after that two very noisy microlights circling over the water.
Switched the second rod to a 10mm esterberry boilie and off it went and what felt like a tench fell off in the weed.Recast and had a female tench of 6lb 9oz grace the net,fighting fit despite a horrific gash to the wrist of the tail - cormorant damage?. This was followed by a male tench of 4lb again on a single esterberry boilie. A solitary osprey paid two separate visits before I packed up headed homewards.

 

[Roger Johnson 2]

Well, it’s been quite a week, since my tench session on Sunday I’ve been back on the river at the bottom of the garden,, with 2 frustrating evenings on the feeder for nothing but missed bites, an evening trotting maggots ( 1/2 litre for 5 euros and half of that sawdust!) saw me bagging up on minnows and pulling out of the only decent fish. On the plus side we opened as a BnB this week with guests from USA, France and Germany and this evenings fluff chucking produce a dace and a brine trite both on a dray flay ( in retrospect the trout the other week was a sea trout!!) took a risk and tried a photo in mid stream.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[wetthrough]

Early start on the Dam on Friday arriving at 5am. Slider at 30+M and a small bodied 3mm tip waggler at ~12M. Started off fishing where Mike did on Tuesday, 3" on the bottom at 8'3" having told Mike it was 7'6":wh It seems Mike loses count quite easily How did you get on?. Tuesday was woeful by normal summer standards. I'm not sure how many I got as I didn't have my counter with me but it wasn't many. What a difference a couple of days make.

It was forecast to bucket down at 8am which I'd gone prepared for but it only lasted about 10 minutes. The rest of the day was perfect. Bites coming from the off but all on the drop. Once it settled they weren't interested. Just one or two from the bottom until I shallowed up. Ended up fishing at about 3'6" with most of the lead up near the float, bites and fish were quite regular but in fits and starts. It would fish well for a while then go quiet. Possibly Pike presence but I didn't see any and none came after my catch. I'd gone equipped but decided not to bother. Switching to the slider when it went quiet produced nothing at all. Probably not surprising if they're up in the water. Loose feeding maggots hemp and caster at 12M after an initial two balls of loose groundbait followed by 3 to the bottom. Mostly going to caster and I couldn't single out bigger fish with anything in particular having tried sweetcorn, bread, tares and maggots. Noticed that the fish were quite warm to the touch.

Nice fish, all Roach bar one small skimmer. Roach to around 5+ the skimmer not much bigger. 66 in all although it was a long but quite busy day, around 11hrs fishing.