fruitowl
Well-known member
itsfishingnotcatching's pike
fisty little thing but a nice first and pb for him
fisty little thing but a nice first and pb for him
How did you get on?
- Thread starter peter crabtree
- Start date
itsfishingnotcatching
Well-known member
Cheers Stephen, it looked a lot bigger at the time 
peter crabtree
AKA Simon, 1953 - 2022 (RIP)
Open at Wiilows lakes today. Breezy but warm with a nice chop on the coloured water. Long chuck method feeder with groundbait and dead maggot on an 18.
2 carp and 2 decent skimmers landed and 2 lost. I DNW......
2 carp and 2 decent skimmers landed and 2 lost. I DNW......
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fruitowl
Well-known member
Cheers Stephen, it looked a lot bigger at the time
it was big enough to take your finger's, pictures never give a true gauge to size as we had nothing to put along side to show how big it was and at the end of the day you was chuffed to bits with a first and pb that's the joy of fishing :w
itsfishingnotcatching
Well-known member
Absolutely true Stephen
Don't let Jerry see that Br**m mate, should have photo'd the Carp
barbelboi
Well-known member
Don't let Jerry see that Br**m mate, should have photo'd the Carp
Too true Ian, much preferred your 'whatever it is' looks a bit like a jack - only smaller..............
nicepix
Well-known member
Had to abort yesterday due to a friend needing some tea and sympathy. Planned to set off around noon today for the afternoon at a new lake. The plan was delayed by almost two hours as another two friends turned up just as I was getting ready.
Managed 2:30pm until just after 6pm on the water until Man 'Flu got the better of me. I'd walked most of the way around the lake. Just one section left to do and fished about five or six swims and done a lot of plumbing and note taking but little signs of fish. Maybe the cold mornings are not suiting them. Glorious day though. 19.5C and light cloud. Got quite a dab on, but that could have been the 'flu.
Loads of frogs singing and coots fighting though. Can't find any peace and quiet there.
Managed 2:30pm until just after 6pm on the water until Man 'Flu got the better of me. I'd walked most of the way around the lake. Just one section left to do and fished about five or six swims and done a lot of plumbing and note taking but little signs of fish. Maybe the cold mornings are not suiting them. Glorious day though. 19.5C and light cloud. Got quite a dab on, but that could have been the 'flu.
Loads of frogs singing and coots fighting though. Can't find any peace and quiet there.
The Runner
Well-known member
Back on the Slough Arm at Langley for our last match of the season.
Fish all shoaled up towards the Station end, a bit more tightly this time in that only the first six pegs had any number of fish. And even then, apart from pegs 1 and 2 who finished the other way round, if you were on these pegs, your end result was the same as your peg number....
I drew 6 where a few skimmers had shown among the roach last week, so fed a punch line down the track and two groundbait lines a bit further over and off to either side. Two hours before my first bite by which time everyone to my left was catching well, and for the rest of the match just picked off the occasional nice roach on pinkie or punch over the left hand groundbait line. Never had a sniff anywhere else which meant I had to force the one productive line a bit more than I would have liked and only had one fish in the last half hour, probably as a result.
Ended up with 5-15 for sixth (see earlier), 14 or 15 roach, best a lovely fish of around 1-6, and a handful of tiny perch.
12-14 of roach won it, including three fish over the pound, then 10-6, 7-10 and 7-6.
Was a lot closer to third than I thought I was, due entirely to the average size of fish; The 7-10 was over 100 fish and peg 5 next to me , who I was sure had just about doubled my weight, had 70 or so for 7-3.
Started feeding a few casters over the groundbait as well as on my breadpunch line but never had a touch on one, odd given the stamp of roach.
The next two pegs past me both blanked and best weight anywhere to my right was 1-14.
As well as a few pike, there were some big perch going after the small roach in the early swims- worth a look for any lure anglers I would have thought.
Fish all shoaled up towards the Station end, a bit more tightly this time in that only the first six pegs had any number of fish. And even then, apart from pegs 1 and 2 who finished the other way round, if you were on these pegs, your end result was the same as your peg number....
I drew 6 where a few skimmers had shown among the roach last week, so fed a punch line down the track and two groundbait lines a bit further over and off to either side. Two hours before my first bite by which time everyone to my left was catching well, and for the rest of the match just picked off the occasional nice roach on pinkie or punch over the left hand groundbait line. Never had a sniff anywhere else which meant I had to force the one productive line a bit more than I would have liked and only had one fish in the last half hour, probably as a result.
Ended up with 5-15 for sixth (see earlier), 14 or 15 roach, best a lovely fish of around 1-6, and a handful of tiny perch.
12-14 of roach won it, including three fish over the pound, then 10-6, 7-10 and 7-6.
Was a lot closer to third than I thought I was, due entirely to the average size of fish; The 7-10 was over 100 fish and peg 5 next to me , who I was sure had just about doubled my weight, had 70 or so for 7-3.
Started feeding a few casters over the groundbait as well as on my breadpunch line but never had a touch on one, odd given the stamp of roach.
The next two pegs past me both blanked and best weight anywhere to my right was 1-14.
As well as a few pike, there were some big perch going after the small roach in the early swims- worth a look for any lure anglers I would have thought.
no-one in particular
Well-known member
First cast and 1 min resulted in a Chub around 3.5lb. Good for the river, Never had one over 4lb and 3lb+ is a very good fish for the river. Caught on a small piece of mild cheddar cheese molded around a 14 hook. After that nothing much except for two small roach on brown bread. Lovely day by a bridge, no wind, sun on my face around 60f and the water was a pleasing 46f. Must do this more often !
Had a picture but, seemed to lost the ability to post them.
My profile says "not allowed to post attachments"
markg Gallery - FishingMagic Gallery
Well seemed to got it on a gallery of some sort-maybe time I retired, don't really know what I am doing these days. Just fumbling through life and hoping for the best.
Had a picture but, seemed to lost the ability to post them.
My profile says "not allowed to post attachments"
markg Gallery - FishingMagic Gallery
Well seemed to got it on a gallery of some sort-maybe time I retired, don't really know what I am doing these days. Just fumbling through life and hoping for the best.
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arthur2sheds
Well-known member
Went out this morning for a pre season tackle and rig sort out session.... Ended up on a club water, sorting out pole (new pole) elastic tensions, feeder rigs, tried a few different layouts of the box/platform/side tray etc.... to see what was going to work.... (the new box is still a work in progress... I may yet change it for something more conventional)mg:
Had a few good roach to about 6-8 oz and 3 skimmers but by 'eck it were taters... Nearly went in putting up my new Matrix space saver brolly... the wind caught it and I lurched water-wards.... stopped meself just in time.
Liking the new Drennan Red Range pole.... light enough to hold all day, tough enough to land lumps and fine enough to just wade thru silvers.... Luvvly
Might need to go through my rig trays though.... struggled to find a top four rig.... had to make one up on the bank
This weekend sees the club season opener at a North Essex Commercial, not my fave venue but, we'll see how it goes... got another practice session with a mate tomorrow.... further bulletins as they come in
mg:Had a few good roach to about 6-8 oz and 3 skimmers but by 'eck it were taters... Nearly went in putting up my new Matrix space saver brolly... the wind caught it and I lurched water-wards.... stopped meself just in time.
Liking the new Drennan Red Range pole.... light enough to hold all day, tough enough to land lumps and fine enough to just wade thru silvers.... Luvvly
Might need to go through my rig trays though.... struggled to find a top four rig.... had to make one up on the bank
This weekend sees the club season opener at a North Essex Commercial, not my fave venue but, we'll see how it goes... got another practice session with a mate tomorrow.... further bulletins as they come in
Managed a couple of sessions over past weekend for about 3 hours each, which doubled the amount of fishing time I've had this year. Saturday was whilst away on a river I don't know. Looked promising with a nice flow and some lovely looking glides, and one or two chubby looking spots. Tried link leger with bread, cheese paste, worm and sausage for nowt. Switched to running a crowquill along the stream with maggot. Struggled to get bites from anything big enough to take a size 14 in it's mouth, and got quickly fed up with losing gear in snags and reeling in branches. Half a dozen small roach and a couple of baby perch weren't up to much but happy to be fishing in sunshine.
Back on familiar turf sunday i decided to see if I could find any of the good dace I'd caught in the autumn. Second swim had me catching regularly but nothing over half pound mark. Got invaded by small perch which put off the dace which were far less plump than I expected. Everything went off the feed then several cleared the surface on a far too regular basis to have high expectations. I hoped it might be decent perch and put on a small redworm. Had 3 pike on worm and not 1 more than a pound. I think there might be a lot of this going on for a few years now so many of the big girls seem absent. 30 mins more fishing put a run of small roach in the net, but again less than half pounders. Went home when I heard the squeak of otter kits (or are they too old to be called kits now?). They did me a favour for once as the sky tipped it down just as I got to the car.
Hoping for another chance before shutdown next sunday.
Incidentally I've been bumping into anglers who seem adamant the 15th march is in season.
Back on familiar turf sunday i decided to see if I could find any of the good dace I'd caught in the autumn. Second swim had me catching regularly but nothing over half pound mark. Got invaded by small perch which put off the dace which were far less plump than I expected. Everything went off the feed then several cleared the surface on a far too regular basis to have high expectations. I hoped it might be decent perch and put on a small redworm. Had 3 pike on worm and not 1 more than a pound. I think there might be a lot of this going on for a few years now so many of the big girls seem absent. 30 mins more fishing put a run of small roach in the net, but again less than half pounders. Went home when I heard the squeak of otter kits (or are they too old to be called kits now?). They did me a favour for once as the sky tipped it down just as I got to the car.
Hoping for another chance before shutdown next sunday.
Incidentally I've been bumping into anglers who seem adamant the 15th march is in season.
arthur2sheds
Well-known member
Out this morning to a North Essex Commy.... got a match there this Sunday so a practice session was the plan.... got there at 08.30 and piled into the obligatory full English and then a slow walk back to the car, loaded up the barrows and off we trundled to the water, I set up a 15gram cage feeder with a foot long tail and had roach from the off on dead maggot and groundbait.... half an hour of casting every 3 minutes or so saw 3 tiny carp come to my net.... I switched to the pole with live maggot and loose groundbait cupped in at 2+2 and found some stonking roach to around the pound mark... my mate Richard was getting stuck into the carp on the feeder but with less regularity... he won the Christmas match here last year with 27lb of little carp on the method, but they were a tad reticent today...
As the morning wore on, the carp slowly moved in and pushed the roach out and I had 7 carp, the biggest of which went to about 3lbs... on top of the 15 or so lbs of roach that I had amassed I was fishing a no6-8 hollow laccy with a Drennan silvers rig and was a bit "antsy" about getting the carp in but the roller pullers worked well on the new Red Range Pole and to say I'm impressed with the system would be an understatement........
the roller side pullers are really silky.... silkier than silky the silkworm in his silk pyjamas to be exact....
O'course it'll all be different on Sunday with nearly 30 odd like-minded clubbies descending on the water, and clumping about, shouting, laughing, ripping the p*&&,mg: but hey.... it's good to be out innit
As the morning wore on, the carp slowly moved in and pushed the roach out and I had 7 carp, the biggest of which went to about 3lbs... on top of the 15 or so lbs of roach that I had amassed I was fishing a no6-8 hollow laccy with a Drennan silvers rig and was a bit "antsy" about getting the carp in but the roller pullers worked well on the new Red Range Pole and to say I'm impressed with the system would be an understatement........
the roller side pullers are really silky.... silkier than silky the silkworm in his silk pyjamas to be exact....
O'course it'll all be different on Sunday with nearly 30 odd like-minded clubbies descending on the water, and clumping about, shouting, laughing, ripping the p*&&,
mg: but hey.... it's good to be out innitSeeing as I have a week and a half off while changing jobs, I used the time wisely and hit the bank!
Fished a small lake and had 7 chub from 3lb to just under 5 or so, 8 tench, all around the 2lb mark and a hand full of silvers.
All bar one of the chub came to my sleeper rod on lob worm topped with red maggot and a feeder full of Expo and crushed hemp.
The tench and silvers came to redworm, with the tail nipped off and tipped with a white maggot, over 2mm pellet and maggot.
All in all a good day!
Fished a small lake and had 7 chub from 3lb to just under 5 or so, 8 tench, all around the 2lb mark and a hand full of silvers.
All bar one of the chub came to my sleeper rod on lob worm topped with red maggot and a feeder full of Expo and crushed hemp.
The tench and silvers came to redworm, with the tail nipped off and tipped with a white maggot, over 2mm pellet and maggot.
All in all a good day!
neil1970
Well-known member
Back to the pre baited swim for me today.
I baited it only once this week; not wanting to create a crayfish hotspot.
Rig went out at 3.25pm, with no action for half an hour. I started making another 4 pellet stringer in anticipation of rebaiting.
As I was doing so the tip received many heavy pulls and put me on the
edge of my seat.
I decided to keep the rig in for another 10 minutes and was rewarded by a 4.5+lb chub.
Tried another swim, had a nice chat to another angler, then went home. (happily)
I baited it only once this week; not wanting to create a crayfish hotspot.
Rig went out at 3.25pm, with no action for half an hour. I started making another 4 pellet stringer in anticipation of rebaiting.
As I was doing so the tip received many heavy pulls and put me on the
edge of my seat.
I decided to keep the rig in for another 10 minutes and was rewarded by a 4.5+lb chub.
Tried another swim, had a nice chat to another angler, then went home. (happily)
Back to the pre baited swim for me today.
I baited it only once this week; not wanting to create a crayfish hotspot.
Rig went out at 3.25pm, with no action for half an hour. I started making another 4 pellet stringer in anticipation of rebaiting.
As I was doing so the tip received many heavy pulls and put me on the
edge of my seat.
I decided to keep the rig in for another 10 minutes and was rewarded by a 4.5+lb chub.
Tried another swim, had a nice chat to another angler, then went home. (happily)
Nice job mate, never tried pre-baiting but I shall when I find somewhere that no-one knows about.....Nice Chub that well done:thumbs:
---------- Post added at 22:01 ---------- Previous post was at 21:33 ----------
Mines a bit late due to work and boring life stuff
. Went out Sunday with luncheon meat soaked a little in garlic oil that Titus I believe shared with me on another thread. I had 4 bites and 3 fish landed,
2 chub, the one pictured was 3lb on the dot and the one before was 2.14. I was very mobile so I could find the fish and this mobile approach (20 minutes in each swim) really does work better for me (If your new take note
). Coming to the end of the day around 4pm (getting hungry) decided to try a swim which has produced Pike for me in the past I decided to give it 20 minutes on that last swim to pick up a bonus fish. 10 minutes later the tip starts to slowly pull round so I hit the bite and feel a huge lump of a fish that has my line peeling off the reel like a good fish does!.
While fighting this strong beast (4lb line straight through on a winkle picker) I was extremely anxious to see what it was. I couldn't actually believe my eyes when a Bream popped up around 7 meters from the rod which then turned back into the current and gave me another run.
At this point I'd seen the fish and it looked like a PB for me, being a River bream I had to land it. Weighed 5lb 5oz that is a new PB.
I was well chuffed as I hadn't seen one since may on the canal and this fella was in great condition.
Quite possibly one of the most memorable days fishing I have had.
On the River saturday for the last day!. Can't wait to see everyone's final day on the River story, hopefully it's good for all you guys.
S-Kippy
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Bury Hill zandering again this pm. Been fishing reasonably well of late and infinately better than this time last year when I went 6 trips without a fish. Lake looked a bit steely when I arrived and I had a feeling in me water that it was going to be a bit slow. It was.
First run I converted into an airshot....never even felt the fish. They do that sometimes when they are not really in the mood...just pick the bait up to **** you off. I doubt the hook's even inside the mouth. Not a good start. Got better because I converted the next two though they were fairly unremarkable at about 4lb and 6lb . Lovely fish though....I will never tire of them.
Then it all went ominously quiet for quite some time. Not so much as a single bleep.I know that place well enough by now to know that it was looking like a mugfish or nothing. Fresh baits and one more cast.
5 mins later I get a tremendous run on the lh rod on a mackerel chunk. I'm in....and its clearly a good fish. I play it ever so carefully (this week from a vertical position) and after a few deep boring runs its under the rod tip and ready for netting. Please Dear God....let it not fall off now and let it not be a pike. This feels like the fish I've been after for 4 winters.
Up she comes.....over the net as sweet as you like. On the scales she goes 14lb 2oz .
But its a ******* chuffin CARP ! Bollox ! Bollox and once again Bollox !
I wasn't happy. You probably noticed.
First run I converted into an airshot....never even felt the fish. They do that sometimes when they are not really in the mood...just pick the bait up to **** you off. I doubt the hook's even inside the mouth. Not a good start. Got better because I converted the next two though they were fairly unremarkable at about 4lb and 6lb . Lovely fish though....I will never tire of them.
Then it all went ominously quiet for quite some time. Not so much as a single bleep.I know that place well enough by now to know that it was looking like a mugfish or nothing. Fresh baits and one more cast.
5 mins later I get a tremendous run on the lh rod on a mackerel chunk. I'm in....and its clearly a good fish. I play it ever so carefully (this week from a vertical position) and after a few deep boring runs its under the rod tip and ready for netting. Please Dear God....let it not fall off now and let it not be a pike. This feels like the fish I've been after for 4 winters.
Up she comes.....over the net as sweet as you like. On the scales she goes 14lb 2oz .
But its a ******* chuffin CARP ! Bollox ! Bollox and once again Bollox !
I wasn't happy. You probably noticed.
fishplate42
Well-known member
Bax Farm Monday, even the gnome looked unhappy...
There was a very strong wind and it was dull and overcast. I think the owners forgot to let the fish out... full story of a blank day on our blog.
Next time we are going somewhere with a few trees. We will go back to Bax when it is a bit warmer or we have bought a bivvy!
Ralph
There was a very strong wind and it was dull and overcast. I think the owners forgot to let the fish out... full story of a blank day on our blog.
Next time we are going somewhere with a few trees. We will go back to Bax when it is a bit warmer or we have bought a bivvy!
Ralph
Pete Shears
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On the Upper Soar near Narborough,Leics today - 6 chub, smallest 1lb 2 , 4 over 3lb & the biggest @ 4lb 11oz - all on bread & all fought like crazy in the low clear water, last stint on Saturday on the Wreake
S-Kippy
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- 7,667
A last huzzah to Bury Hill this pm again with the Big Feller. After yesterday's less than spectacular sport I had an inkling it was going to be a bit of a grueller....and I wasn't wrong.
First,l couldn't decide where to fish. I had a feeling the fish had moved from the area I've been fishing but had they gone up (towards the shallow spawning area) or down (in the deeper water). I guessed down but wasn't terribly happy and soon moved when Phil (who'd gone up) lost a good fish and two numpties dropped in next to me that I just knew would **** me off later. I like a bit of room when I'm fishing. So off I went above Phil. Good move because I had indications straight away though the first run I had was an airshot ( see yesterdays report) which convinced me even more that they were switching off for some reason. Phil by now had had two more decent runs but both airshots. Not looking good.
I then had the most gorgeous slow positive run which I connected with and landed a really handsome zander of around 6 and a half pound. Lovely....here we go.
Sadly here we did NOT go. After that I had a couple of pickups but those apart not a touch or even a bleep. Phil had another airshot and was getting single bleeps regularly.... first to his rh rod then his lh rod which suggested they were moving down. Great.....that left me stranded .
Anyway eventually he converted a run into a fish of about 3lb or so....not big but a very welcome blank saver. Had he connected with every run and landed them all he'd have gone home with half a dozen fish and I'd have had a brace. Funny old game this zander fishing....challenging to say the least.
So that's my lot for another winter. I've done much better this year than last with a best of 9-15 and some good backup. I've caught every trip bar one and that was just one of those days when no matter what you do fish fall off. I lost 4 that evening and felt I could have fished all night and not landed a fish.
No carp to upset me. No chair gymnastics and no bankside bloodletting. Quite a dull session for me really but I was happy to get a nice fish on a difficult day. Now....where's my trout gear ?
First,l couldn't decide where to fish. I had a feeling the fish had moved from the area I've been fishing but had they gone up (towards the shallow spawning area) or down (in the deeper water). I guessed down but wasn't terribly happy and soon moved when Phil (who'd gone up) lost a good fish and two numpties dropped in next to me that I just knew would **** me off later. I like a bit of room when I'm fishing. So off I went above Phil. Good move because I had indications straight away though the first run I had was an airshot ( see yesterdays report) which convinced me even more that they were switching off for some reason. Phil by now had had two more decent runs but both airshots. Not looking good.
I then had the most gorgeous slow positive run which I connected with and landed a really handsome zander of around 6 and a half pound. Lovely....here we go.
Sadly here we did NOT go. After that I had a couple of pickups but those apart not a touch or even a bleep. Phil had another airshot and was getting single bleeps regularly.... first to his rh rod then his lh rod which suggested they were moving down. Great.....that left me stranded .
Anyway eventually he converted a run into a fish of about 3lb or so....not big but a very welcome blank saver. Had he connected with every run and landed them all he'd have gone home with half a dozen fish and I'd have had a brace. Funny old game this zander fishing....challenging to say the least.
So that's my lot for another winter. I've done much better this year than last with a best of 9-15 and some good backup. I've caught every trip bar one and that was just one of those days when no matter what you do fish fall off. I lost 4 that evening and felt I could have fished all night and not landed a fish.
No carp to upset me. No chair gymnastics and no bankside bloodletting. Quite a dull session for me really but I was happy to get a nice fish on a difficult day. Now....where's my trout gear ?
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