How did you get on?

[nicepix]

I've just realised why he didn't catch any barbel; the rod isn't pointed at the sky. No wonder all he got were bream

 

[barbelboi]

Brilliant camo' gear you are wearing Jerry.

Too true Clive, bet you never noticed the other two rods and the skypod either...........

 

[neil1970]

Very enjoyable day today, fishing with Simon.

We caught a mixed bag between us of roach, perch, gudgeon, chub and trout.

Successful baits were worm, maggot and pellet.

As the last half hour came I asked Simon if I could 'borrow' one of his halibut pellets.

On my third last cast the day ended on a high note.

Thanks for the pellet Simon (and the net work etc etc)



5lbs

 

[binka]

First time out this season, the small very weedy river I fish has turned into a small unweedy river, presumably down to the winter floods, water was very clear and rain would be welcome. nothing seen nothing caught but did have one of those very rare moments of complete silence, no wind, birds, traffic noise, lovely.

I'm pleased you got out and managed to enjoy it, look on the bright side... Like me you've already got the first blank out of the way lol.

The pressure's off now

Here's to better things to come :w

 

[slaphead]

Club water again today.

Cool and windy, but after a slow start I caught these.

 

[greenie62]

Whilst fishing last evening, a savage bite nearly pulled the rod in - I managed to save the rod - but the tripod rest tumbled off the edge of the platform and disappeared into the depths!
Like many pegs at this fishery there is up to 10ft of water straight off the end of the platform - oh well I thought - that's going to be tricky to retrieve!

Luckily I remembered the owner had said - on a previous occasion when I'd done the same with my landing net - that he had a long rake! I texted him and he brought the rake up with him on his next rounds.

When he'd stopped laughing he watched me crawl to hang over the edge of the platform and 'hook' the tripod rest out of the depths - job done! Just need to dry out the bite alarm now and test it - fingers crossed!

The only problem I've got now - what with the lanyard to secure my landing net handle and similar to stop a repeat of the tripod rest incident - is making sure I don't trip over the ensuing spider's web of restraints and end up having an early bath!

Take care on platforms!!:thumbs:

 

[robtherake]

Whilst fishing last evening, a savage bite nearly pulled the rod in - I managed to save the rod - but the tripod rest tumbled off the edge of the platform and disappeared into the depths!
Like many pegs at this fishery there is up to 10ft of water straight off the end of the platform - oh well I thought - that's going to be tricky to retrieve!

Luckily I remembered the owner had said - on a previous occasion when I'd done the same with my landing net - that he had a long rake! I texted him and he brought the rake up with him on his next rounds.

When he'd stopped laughing he watched me crawl to hang over the edge of the platform and 'hook' the tripod rest out of the depths - job done! Just need to dry out the bite alarm now and test it - fingers crossed!

The only problem I've got now - what with the lanyard to secure my landing net handle and similar to stop a repeat of the tripod rest incident - is making sure I don't trip over the ensuing spider's web of restraints and end up having an early bath!

Take care on platforms!!:thumbs:

Hang a bag of sand/soil/stones underneath the tripod to hold it down.

 

[greenie62]

Hang a bag of sand/soil/stones underneath the tripod to hold it down.

Thanks Rob - That's something else to carry round! mg:

Orlright - but it does rather negate the idea of having a 'handy portable lightweight tripod rest'! - S'pose I could just carry a bag and fill it at the fishery! mg:

OR - If only they sold a bracket which would fit my chair and clip onto the rod rest! - That's a thought! - anyone want to buy an old 'non-compatible with universal fittings' fishing chair?

Cheers :thumbs:

 

[dangermouse]

Took a trip down to the Swinton lock section of the canal on Monday. Nice little spot with 5 platforms to fish from and a little shallower water than my regular haunts. The fishing was unremarkable, a single roach, a handful of perch and a couple of dace but it was a nice day out and this rather ragged robin kept paying me a visit.

At first it was a little camera shy...



But better photo opportunities presented themselves after suitable bribes of maggot and caster were offered.

 

[symonh2000]

I went to my local river last night with the hope of catching some chub or maybe a Barbel.

All I managed to catch was a small dace.

Better than a blank I suppose.

 

[flightliner]

Took a trip down to the Swinton lock section of the canal on Monday. Nice little spot with 5 platforms to fish from and a little shallower water than my regular haunts. The fishing was unremarkable, a single roach, a handful of perch and a couple of dace but it was a nice day out and this rather ragged robin kept paying me a visit.

At first it was a little camera shy...



But better photo opportunities presented themselves after suitable bribes of maggot and caster were offered.

DM, cheeky little chappie. You must be buying your maggots from somewhere near Rotherham I see, another robin devil. !mg:

 

[mick b]

Nice set of pics, amazing how they tame down so quickly.

Its not a 'ragged Robin' but actually a juvenile, hatched probably early spring and ijust attaining its adult coat, distinguishable by the fluffy nestling feathers clearly seen in pic 37 the 2nd one down.
Well done.

If you keep going and feeding it regularly it will eventually take the maggots out of your hand.
The keeper on the LIF got our regular Robin into handfeed mode after just a few attempts spread over one day. Got a pic somewhere but it will have to stay off FM as I don't use photo whotnot mg:

 

[Paul Boote]

Hang a bag of sand/soil/stones underneath the tripod to hold it down.

Now I at last know what to do with 1- and 2-litre versions of something similar to this - Milestone Collapsible Sports Water Drinking Bottle Bag Carabiner Camping | eBay - that I was given a few years ago. Problem is, I don't own a tripod ... I'm pretty light on rod rests, for that matter, too.

 

[nicepix]

Just back from a session on the River Glane. I'm trying new swims all the time trying to get a better picture of the length near to where I live. I used the little River Don Special quiver rod again as this allows me to fish in swims where a 10 foot rod would foul the trees. Despite it being very little fished other than those spinning for trout the fish readily take micro pellets and sweetcorn so that I what I tend to use as worms seem to attract gudgeon and ruffe in great numbers.

First cast resulted in a bream of around 1.5lb. I thought Jerry had passed the bream curse to me, but that was the only one that soiled my net. All the rest of my catch were roach of around 8oz down to around half that. Unusually the roach got smaller as the session went on. Normally they increase in size. I got a few to banded micro pellets but most came to sweetcorn skins fished out of some breadcrumb ground bait I had frozen after my trip out to Marans at the weekend. I just fed micro and chicken pellets using a catapult.

For the last half hour I tried a 6mm pellet hoping to pick up a barbel or river pig, but no avail. I also had a second rod out with a small roach livebait fished on a helicopter rig under some trees hoping to pick up a predator, but again no show. Virtually every swim I fish on this river unexpectedly dies for around 20 - 30 minutes and I'm sure that pike, zander or catfish are about despite not seeing the usual signs of them.

Maybe next time.

 

[andreagrispi]

Went today, had 6 bream to 12.15 a 7.6 tench and some eels.

 

[barbelboi]

Clive, don't blame the 'snottie curse' on me - I've been fishing that stretch for over 60 years and i still get caught out on occasions..................

 

[nicepix]

Clive, don't blame the 'snottie curse' on me - I've been fishing that stretch for over 60 years and i still get caught out on occasions..................

I thought that you were offloading the Bramus curse Flight' put on you

It's nice to find a stretch of water where roach can be found in numbers. The curse of the omnipresent carp is bad enough without bream sticking their noses in on rivers. Once the rain stops long enough to allow a bit of clarity I'll give the Stanton a spin

 

[Tee-Cee]

Started off very well with a number of smallish roach plus a couple of carp around 5lbs on an 18 x 2lbs bottom. Not my idea of fun due to the time it takes to land them and the swim tends to die for a while.
Eventually the roach started to feed (spasmodically) again but I was looking for better fish and as the fish seemed finicky around usual baits I went for something different.
I raked around my 'bits' section of the bag and dragged out a Milbro Lesney Bread Press of late 50's vintage. I tried different thicknesses of crust/flake and dropped a couple of samples in water to see how long the took to swell/soften.
I cannot say in all honesty that it bought me bigger fish BUT it did work from the off and because the Press flattens the crust to almost nothing, it's easier to place on a small hook and seems to present the bait 'better' in some way than squeezing between the fingers......

The best roach of the day was just on 1lb and a very pretty fish it was too with lovely colouring. The weather was a bit hit and miss with far too much sun and not enough cloud so my swim had the same hit and miss feel about it...

Enjoyed the six hour stint and came home gratified that a rarely used item had enhanced the session and offered another option for future visits. It pays to experiment sometimes, sort of think outside the box, I suppose......................



........same with the main reel line; I going to try some 2,5lb stuff next week - might just help on the strike/connect rate..................

 

[nicepix]

Took a trip down to the Swinton lock section of the canal on Monday. Nice little spot with 5 platforms to fish from and a little shallower water than my regular haunts.

I had a massive catch a few years ago down there Neil. 18 stone plus and that wasn't on Spider's scales. I didn't as much catch it on a floater. More of it being a floater

 

[greenie62]

it was a nice day out and this rather ragged robin kept paying me a visit.

At first it was a little camera shy...
But better photo opportunities presented themselves after suitable bribes of maggot and caster were offered.

In the pre-digital camera age - I shared a swim one day with a cocky robin - no photos I'm afraid like these charming pics.

I flicked a couple of maggots towards him which he mouthed one at a time - like he was tasting them first - before slowly munching them.

With a caster that was picked up and went down with a crunch first then a 'lip-smacking / beak clearing motion'. The prize though went to the way he took a generous-sized lobworm from the bait tin, threw back his head and swallowed it down whole. I put the lid back on the worm tin straight away - he would have cleared the lot in a minute!
I mused on the way he had slowly taken the maggots whilst I was getting pernickity lift bites from the roach - so switched to worm - far quicker and much more positive bites - and a lot more fish hooked!
Great teacher - Mother Nature - Respect! :thumbs: