How did you get on?

[peter crabtree]

I had planned to join my mates on the canal in Leighton Buzzard town centre which is fishing it’s head off. In the event I couldn’t face the 45minute drive so stayed local. The GUC at Croxley was my choice. The water was clear as usual so I fished waggler across to the boats. Saw these unusual ducks....

First bite on a pinkie was a roach/bream hybrid followed by a string of perch and a nice dace. Later at about 2pm some roach came on the feed before vanishing as usual.

Hardly a red letter day but I was happy simply getting a bite.....

 

[seth49]

Mandarin ducks I think. Very colourful as well.

 

[john step]

I know that spot well. A few years ago I saw a long boat well and truly stuck firm widthways across the canal nearby where someone had tried to turn in a place that was not a turning bay. Some dopes about.

 

[flightliner]

Rain rain rain! A dry outlook so I put my gear in the car and shot off to another nearby res' as travelling was the last thing I wanted to do and rivers locally were all on the news this morning .
Arriving I had a walk around and the thick brown soup that was supposed to be water had no appeal at all but it was the overspill that tho normally dry was some four feet deep and going downhill like a waterfall.
Some nearby homes were flooded by it and the road I had passed thro below the dam wall was a foot deep in water.
I had a walk to a few places I'd fished in the past but the banks were a mire and litter/ plastic packaging/ nine discarded red stripe and other beer tins/ food wrappers and bent discarded bank sticks left by some long stay cretin calling him/herself an angler put me off staying a moment longer! :thumbsdown::thumbsdown:

 

[103841]

I fancied a crack at getting on the perch challenge leaderboard, try and knock off that interloper that breezes in when he’s caught a decent fish.

This time last year I had something of a red letter day on the estate catching five decent perch in a very short space of time. With temperatures just about tolerable and some sunshine picked the only spot on the lake catching the rays. Unusual for me, two rods setup on buzzers with a swan shot for a leger and a popped up worm to entice the preds.



Had my first take after thirty minutes and thought I was into a nice perch but it was something quite weird, a hybrid that looked part roach and part crucian, should have taken a photo.

Another half hour last and the buzzer let me know another fish was on, this had to be a perch as it head banged it’s way to the net. A nice specimen but at 1lb 6ozs won’t make the podium.




I had intended to fish til dusk but that glorious sunshine soon gave way to menacing dark clouds and at the first sign of rain it was time to beat a hasty retreat back to the car. So just the one fish but worthwhile and the beautiful trees on the estate are giving an awesome display of colour.



Just another three weeks and the lake is then closed to members til next April. Hopefully another trip for the stripey hunt before times up.

 

[mikench]

Mandarin ducks I think. Very colourful as well.

Correct Keith, lovely ducks.

 

[Molehill]

I shall join the doom and gloom club, a wasted 120 mile trip to the river, only to find out it had been piddling down all night up there (dry at home) and trotting for grayling was out of the question. Had a couple of hours chucking in a feeder with maggots and catching leaves, but no way to fish for grayling, so called it a day after a couple of hours and came home.
Bought 2 bottles of wine on the way home - cheer up somehow tonight!

 

[john step]

A day on my local which involved a wade along a normally dry bank. I was not hopeful as the run off was causing the water to turn into Horlicks.

However a piece of Lamprey produced this one at 19.4. I had another come off. Dam.mg:

View attachment 7874

 

[Pete Shears]

Too optimistic this morning as it turned out on the Wreake,at least 3ft higher than usual possibly more,brown coloured water and dead leaves snagging the line and hook.
Caught absolutely nothing but staying at home would have guaranteed that,not one bite and put up with a cold wind but had two white egrets just downstream for company and startled a sparrowhawk from the hedgerow and the forecast is more rain with fog,mist and frost . . . .

 

[sam vimes]

The weather was right, the river wasn't. It was as good as it has been in a while though, and beggars can't be choosers.


I only had a couple of hours at it for two grayling and two trout. It should have been the odd fish more, but it was one of those odd days where fish were bumped and some just came adrift for no apparent reason. No doubt the odd bumped "fish" will actually have been twigs and leaves, but some definitely weren't. The biggest problem I'm having is repeat captures. I know some of the resident trout better than some of my relatives, I definitely see them more regularly. I think I'm going to have to find some new swims, or fish some totally different stretches.

 

[peter crabtree]

There was a hard frost and it was really cold this morning. A damp mist hanging over the town with visibility down to a few hundred yards. Not really an ideal day for fishing but I had arranged to meet someone in order to collect a prize I’d won. A certificate designed by local graphic designer Neil 1970 and a £20 voucher to spend in Harefield tackle.. Thought I’d continue my quest for a big perch so I took a 10’ light bomb rod and some worms.
I chose to try one of the weir pools on the Colne.

Sat there for 3 hours flicking my half ounce bomb and worm around the pool without so much as a missed bite..
Did collect my prizes though and duly spent the voucher in the shop on a detour home.

 

[wetthrough]

Had a day on the Dam Friday. Arrived about 10:30am East side top end, the muddy bit which was a bit muddier than usual on account of a stream running down the steep bank. Wind blowing right to left, leaves galore and water crashing in from two inlets which usually sets up a clockwise tow. And so it was, wind and tow going in the same direction, it was going to be hard work. I've seen slower rivers. GB in straight away, which I prepare and freeze it at home. Not ideal but it saves time. Plumbed up with a glow tip antenna but switched to a 5bb straight reed. Ended up with all the bulk just grazing the bottom to be in with any chance of keeping it still. I wasn't in high hopes of even detecting bites with such a clumsy setup but surprisingly it did. 29 Roach to 4oz and one tiny Perch, lip hooked to my astonishment. Tried bread and corn but it was just maggots and casters getting bites. Bites dried up at about 3pm which I wasn't expecting, packed up at 4pm. A good result given the time of year and conditions.

 

[no-one in particular]

Not fishing myself at the moment so this will have to do. Only five anglers on the pier yesterday and apart from tiny whiting a little lad with his dad caught a flounder and a plaice and take home size as well. So, he will get the bug no doubt. Just one picture of some Turnstones on the beach, these turn up quite a lot this time of year. I like the seasonal fluctations of birds on the coast.

 

[peter crabtree]

45 miles down the M40 and through the picturesque Oxfordshire countryside to Clifton Hamden, a pretty village with some buildings dating back to the 14th century. Crossing the bridge I could see the Thames was a muddy torrent, this match would be a challenge....
The challenge started with a huge boggy puddle on the path to the riverbank. Got both feet wet as it engulfed my boots.
A quick look at the pegs first and it was obvious this would be a fish down the edge in the slack day.

Set up my 17’ accy and a 2gr pole float which allowed me to trot down the edge unhampered by the overhanging vegetation.



Situated on the inside of a right hand bend it was shallow at 3ft deep and not as slack as it looked.
Fed some hemp based gb at the start and trotted single red maggot on a 22 B611, tiny roach and chublets were straight on it. Occasionally a better sized roach, 4oz jobs, turned up and fought hard in the flow.
At 11am the roar of an aircraft filled the air, either a spitfire or hurricane whizzed around overhead.
Presumably part of the remembrance celebrations from nearby RAF Benson...
When the bites dried up around midday I swapped
rigs, a Cralusso 3gr flat float set 6” overdepth, 14 gamakatzu hook and a pinch of flake. Holding back hard the float performed impeccably but produced just one bite, roach on roach off! Changed back to the original rig with single pinkie. Bites were scarce until about 2:45 and with 15 minutes left the better roach began to feed again, I had 3 nice ones before the whistle.

Weighed in 2:8:8 and won the day with the runner up taking 2:6:8....

 

[103841]

Something extremely satisfying looking at a net of pristine roach.

 

[silvers]

Well, as Alan (Whitty) wished me luck in the thread on hooks - here's my tale of woe from yesterday's Wye Championship!

rearranged from a fortnight ago - as the river was 15cm below record level on the original date ... the Wye catchment obviously escaped pretty much all the recent rain and was "only" 1.5 metres above summer level (in reality that is drought level ... 25 cm is normal summer). Anyway 1.5m is a good level for the Wye around Hereford. In town sections can be floatfished for roach and dace ... whereas out of town it's feeder for chub and barbel. The only worry was that the low temperatures of the previous few days might affect the chub & barbel. None had been caught on the 3 day festival during the preceding week - although that is mainly on the town sections. Usually the Wye champs is fished on a low river - so out of town is favoured for chub & barbel.

On the morning I drew permanent peg 40 on Belmont (town) section. This is known as the ferry and there is a resident shoal of Barbel (one of three areas on the town - the others being around peg 11 and also 102, the last peg on the Tennis cou-urts). I decided to aim for barbel but also feed a backup line down the inside for roach and dace.

To cut a long story short I spent the best part of the first two hours biteless for Barbel.I was given false optimism by the two pegs below getting a barbel each in the first hour - which turned out to be their only bites all day.

So on to the float...
11 ft hard against the bank (roach line) but little flow and just boils as there was a tree just upstream - set up a 12 no. 4 stick float for that line.
13ft at the bottom of the shelf and a nice steady flow. I fished a 5g bolo on that line (note to self to buy a bigger one!).
I didn't catch a fish on the close in line (see comment later).
I primed the Bolo line with 8 balls of heavy groundbait laced with casters - and loosefed hemp and maggot over it. The loosefed maggot was a huge mistake - as I just got blitzed by tiny bleak at all depths for the next 90 minutes after an initial few dace. Even a ball of groundbait every cast didn't help!! I was going nowhere - and very slowly - bearing in mind that you need forty pounds to frame on the Wye champs and usually 20 punds to get a 5 peg section. Eventually i let brain engage and knocked off the loosefeed and started to use a large bait dropper full every ten minutes. The peg was transformed within minutes and i started catching 2-4 oz dace quickly. In the last hour I was sacking up .... I weighed just short of 17 pounds and had over a stone of that in the last 90 minutes. I could have caught even more quickly if I'd set up a whip with a heavier rig.

Spud Murphy won the section with 24 pounds ... mainly roach down the edge in the first hour (another mistake for me going straight for barbel).
The match was won with 53 pounds of roach and dace - well done to Dave Roberts - with low 40's making up the frame. There were hardly any chub and barbel caught along the match - the sudden temperature drop clearly affected them. So a catalogue of bad decisions determined the day for me - although I did enjoy the last part of the match!

 

[john step]

Very insignificant today after that Silvers Wye post of almost commie weights!!
Half a dozen perch that didn't pose any threat to the perch challenge and 3 F1s.
Only bites I could buy were on worm.
TODAY IT DID NOT RAIN.

The roads are still flooded and the rivers are hard to find as they are in the fields so even a hard day on a stillwater with a few bites was very welcome.

 

[peter crabtree]

12 codgers fished the GUC near Berkhamsted yesterday. It was very cold with rain and a NW wind adding to the discomfort.
The canal was almost gin clear so tactics were 22 hook to a 0.05 hooklink. A small Image canal balsa waggler with 3 no 11 shot spread down the line for a slow sinking bait.

My plan was to fish double squat over a minimal amount of sweet fishmeal gb. No bites for the first 2 hours despite alterations to the tiny shot and the depth. Around midday the temperature lifted a few degrees and first bite was a gudgeon. This was followed by some small roach and a couple of wafer skimmers. They seemed to want the bait just off bottom and many of the bites occurred when the water moved from side to side as the locks opened.
I fed a pinch of squat every minute throughout the 5 hours which sometimes induced a bite but not always?
Ended up joint fourth with 1:8:8.

Winner had 5lb and 2nd 4lb+

 

[john step]

Hertsbloke....I dont know which part of Herts you are but these posts of PC are a good pointer to your query about what to do in the colder months.

My day was dry again despite having to navigate flooded roads. Extremely cold and bright and I only manage a couple of perch on my res. Nothing to frighten the perch challenge at 1.4lb.

We are quite lucky here really as a few miles down toward Lincoln the fields are under 6 to 10 feet of water which includes the road at the nearest tackle shop at Short Ferry. I hope its OK and not flooded.

 

[john step]

I do not know what happened there. Above post appeared twice.