How did you get on?

[mikench]

Horrible little b*******! No I'm not talking about you lot but maggots. I have never been keen on them but today was the final straw. I got home about an hour ago to find horror of horrors the little b******* had pushed open the lid on the 2 pint maggot tub and escaped into my cool bag. I probably hadn't pushed the lid down properly but in their sun induced steroid activated state, I wouldn't put it past them. All hopes of being given leave of absence to go again tomorrow with Gordon were dashed as Er indoors, who had pulled a long face at even the prospect, espied at least half a pint of maggots scurrying at Olympic speed across the garage floor in all directions. A pair of side ten boots brought some order but I have very few left. I needed retribution and they deserved it.

Well today I had ventured forth to my spooky pool.

I set up a feeder rod with micros and corn and a float rod with maggots.

Only around 3.5 lb but welcome nonetheless and it and another very like it made my day. I had around 20 small roach and perch between 4 and 8 oz so have no complaints. It was chilly early doors with a cold easterly wind which by mid afternoon became a refreshing cool breeze. All in all a very enjoyable day with some interesting chats with a few club members I have got to know.

 

[S-Kippy]

The BF had a decent day on Bury Hill yesterday but I wasn’t free to go....so I went today and unlike him copped another cold night and frost. Lucky me ! Barely 2C when I left and only 3 when I got there. Deep joy.

Anyway....the BF got mullered by the tench yesterday losing several but after a very slow start I started to get the odd bite and wonder of wonders I didn’t lose a single fish. It was just the odd bite here and there but by lunchtime I’d had 6 tench...4 of them proper lumps with the best over 5lb. No sign of any crucian though.

Then Bury Hill did what Bury Hill does when the water’s clear and it’s sunny. It switched off completely. I managed 3 mugfish crucian from 3 bites in the next 2 hours and then gave it best. I know that place too well to spend the rest of the afternoon scratching around for 1 or 2 bites.
Lovely place to fish though and the tench don’t half pull

 

[The Sogster]

Had an afternoon on the estate lake once again.
Today I decided to try and catch a tench or two rather than just fish for whatever comes along.

So foregoing my usual light float rod I set up a more powerful float rod with 5lb mainline and a 4lb hooklength to a size 12 B911.
Float of choice was a 14" loaded insert crystal with no bulk and one dropper which would tell me if I had the depth right. Baits were meat, corn and pellet.
Because I was using relatively large baits my plan was to have the bait about 4 inches on the deck, anchoring it against the tow.

After a couple of fishless hours with only one tentative bite, I decided to set up a medium feeder rod and target the developing lily pads about 35 yards away. I fished a running bomb to an 18" hooklength again with a size 12 B911 hair rig.
This was fished in conjunction with a small pva mesh stocking containing a few freebies.

After about 20 minutes the tip wrapped round and I was into my first tench of the day.

Sadly that was the only tench, but I did manage a few skimmers after a change to corn. This is the best of the bunch,

Not huge by any standard but very pleasing at about 2lb.

 

[Ray Roberts]

Horrible little b*******! No I'm not talking about you lot but maggots. I have never been keen on them but today was the final straw. I got home about an hour ago to find horror of horrors the little b******* had pushed open the lid on the 2 pint maggot tub and escaped into my cool bag. I probably hadn't pushed the lid down properly but in their sun induced steroid activated state, I wouldn't put it past them. All hopes of being given leave of absence to go again tomorrow with Gordon were dashed as Er indoors, who had pulled a long face at even the prospect, espied at least half a pint of maggots scurrying at Olympic speed across the garage floor in all directions. A pair of side ten boots brought some order but I have very few left. I needed retribution and they deserved it.

Well today I had ventured forth to my spooky pool.

View attachment 14421
I set up a feeder rod with micros and corn and a float rod with maggots.
View attachment 14423
Only around 3.5 lb but welcome nonetheless and it and another very like it made my day. I had around 20 small roach and perch between 4 and 8 oz so have no complaints. It was chilly early doors with a cold easterly wind which by mid afternoon became a refreshing cool breeze. All in all a very enjoyable day with some interesting chats with a few club members I have got to know.

Greys Klip-Lok Box Flip Lid

Key Features Made from tough injection moulded polypropylene. Three sizes of modular base, same lid fits all. Easy to operate Klip-Lok lids only fit Greys Bait Boxes. Lids feature extra secure Klip-Lok (TM) fastening on all sides. Lids fitted with escape proof, secure seal rubber gaskets. Flip...

www.anglingdirect.co.uk

Having had a couple of incidents myself I now use these these for maggots. I’ve used them for about five years they are like Alcatraz for maggots, brilliant bit of kit.

 

[Philip]

With a couple of hours to spare I shot down the river to try for a Roach. Third cast I had a firm pull on my finger and struck. The rod hooped round and the clutch started to spin as a fish tore off downstream, clearly not a Roach ! The swim was a very awkward one over a water inflow with large rocks all round & little room for maneuver so I had to play the fish from a sitting position. I gave it some stick thinking it was just the usual average sized Carp but then as it started to come in it rose up in the water & I noticed a very pale flank and got a quick glimpse as it surfaced. It was one of the river odd’uns..a pale almost yellow/orange koi like common.

Although not huge these are still sought after fish so I started to take it a little easier. The size 12 was just in the edge of the lips as I drew it over the net which it went into first time. Although its impossible to be sure of the origins of these fish I don’t think they are recent arrivals as unwanted pets, I think they have grown up in the river and its always nice to cross paths with them.

 

[108831]

Lovely looking creature Philip....

After my days fishing Wednesday my wife asked if I was going Thursday too,it would be rude not to,so I went to a club venue to try for tench,i've found the venue quite tough in my previous visits with more blanks than odd tench days,yesterday however I ended with four,three females around 3lbs and a very hard fighting male around 4lbs,this fish had me laughing at it's repeated runs along the reed margin,also it was very bright and warm...

 

[peter crabtree]

 

[mikench]

Yours Peter? My , or should I say Er Indoors worst nightmare and one that I would never be allowed to forget. Horrible, simply horrible.?

 

[seth49]

Another frosty start to the morning, and then bright sunshine all day, not the best conditions , always seems to fish better when it’s cloudy, but it was nice to be out in the spring sunshine, usual pond again after tench and carp, did get a couple of tench, but the carp were harder, did get one of the top and one in the margins on the float rod later.
But I lost at least four carp later to hook pulls, one was definitely foul hooked though, as I hooked it in the tail and it was coming in backwards, it waved its tail at me just before it came off, the others I don’t know but I suspect they could have been.

They felt to be hooked ok, but after a few minutes play, they just came off, should have changed the hook after loosing a couple, but didn’t so maybe my fault, no scales on the hook though, strange and usually the guru QM1 hooks get a good hold.

 

[108831]

I think i've told the tail a few times on here,but back in my twenties I went on a two week fishing,womanising holiday in Denmark,the country was in the grips of record temperatures and after fishing for a week our maggot supply was running out,my mate was a regular over there(Pete Knight, Peter)and at that time there was only one outlet to get them,some distance from Silkeborg,so we left the Kro we were staying and jaunted north to get some,we got two or three gallons and booked into a very posh high rise hotel for the night,we were were about six floors up,it was very expensive ,we had a lovely room,anyway,we smuggled the bait up as it was too hot to leave it in the car,we had it in trays,buckets etc,several of which were left on the stone floor of the shower,after seversl beers we crashed and at 7am we had a call saying breakfast was being served,so with head banging I walked to tge bathroom,as I returned I noticed maggots working along the carpet,they were everywhere,we payed our bill and did a runner after picking all we could see in our boxers,embarrassing as they had got into the corridor outside too,...

 

[S-Kippy]

Many,many years ago me and my mate Trev went to Ireland fishing. No tackle shops then,we had to order our bait in advance and pick it up. We had 3 gallons I think in open topped buckets which we left in the car while we had an afternoon on a little lake near the town we'd picked the bait up from. Returning to the car the maggots had sweated up and were all over the car. We rescued what we could and spant the next day stripping the car to get the maggots out from under the carpet and seats. For months afterwards there would be a hatch of buzzbottle on warm days.

We mixed the dead and stretched maggot with pig meal,balled it into a lake one evening,came back the next day and had over 150lb of big bream off the prebait. This was back in tne days when I was happy to catch a few bream.

 

[103841]

My 4th trip to the estate in the past ten days. Amazing how nature has accelerated in such a short space of time, these trees which I posted a pic of in an earlier post were bare, today showing lots of healthy buds.

I'm already getting bored chucking a feeder across the lake but until the water warms up it's not worth float fishing close in. Had a nice natural target board to aim at choosing the same swim where I had five tench a couple of days ago.

Today was a very different one, no tench, infact over the four hours I managed just three unwelcome skimmers. I tried a variety of baits and different presentation.......

The big factor was a change in wind direction, today from the dreaded East.

Took a stroll around the lake and gardens enjoying the sunshine before heading home.

 

[rob48]

Horrible little b*******! No I'm not talking about you lot but maggots. I have never been keen on them but today was the final straw. I got home about an hour ago to find horror of horrors the little b******* had pushed open the lid on the 2 pint maggot tub and escaped into my cool bag. I probably hadn't pushed the lid down properly but in their sun induced steroid activated state, I wouldn't put it past them. All hopes of being given leave of absence to go again tomorrow with Gordon were dashed as Er indoors, who had pulled a long face at even the prospect, espied at least half a pint of maggots scurrying at Olympic speed across the garage floor in all directions. A pair of side ten boots brought some order but I have very few left. I needed retribution and they deserved it.

Well today I had ventured forth to my spooky pool.

View attachment 14421
I set up a feeder rod with micros and corn and a float rod with maggots.
View attachment 14423
Only around 3.5 lb but welcome nonetheless and it and another very like it made my day. I had around 20 small roach and perch between 4 and 8 oz so have no complaints. It was chilly early doors with a cold easterly wind which by mid afternoon became a refreshing cool breeze. All in all a very enjoyable day with some interesting chats with a few club members I have got to know.

I use these:

Cresta Eva Bait Bag micro Mesh

The EVA Accessory Bait Bag Micro Mesh Small is equipped with ultra-fine mesh in the lid, supplying live bait, such as maggots and worms fresh air when locked up securely.

www.thepelletguys.com

for keeping maggots fresh and secure during transportation and stored in the refrigerator.

 

[108831]

Bloody hell Rob,I near passed out when I saw the price of the larger one,lot of dosh for a bait box,lol.

 

[mikench]

I want mine very subdued when in the fridge or car.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mikench]

I bought a couple of these by Colmic but have never used them . I might try it today. They are supposed to be pinkie proof but I don't believe it.

 

[wetthrough]

Had originally planned to go to a Cheshire club water with Mike yesterday but he had to cry off. I didn't quite catch why. Something to do with his better half, rampaging maggots and a coffin. Women have never been the most understanding when it comes to maggots.

He didn't miss much. Arrived around 7:30. Beautiful day and very little wind. Started plumbing up with a couple of AAAs and the fish were going for the shot! I couldn't wait to get some bait on the hook. It's quite deep, around 9' so set up my biggest antenna which is about 8bb with strung out 10s and 8s anticipating getting taken on the drop. Nothing til about 9am when a small Rudd impaled itself on maggot. Struggled all day just picking the odd one up here and there end up with twenty. A mixed bag of Roach/Rudd mostly on the drop. Biggest around 5oz. No sign of anything bigger about and from what I could see I wasn't the only one struggling.

 

[mikench]

Sorry I didn't miss much Gordon but that's Brookhouse for you. ?

 

[rob48]

Bloody hell Rob,I near passed out when I saw the price of the larger one,lot of dosh for a bait box,lol.

Suppose so but hopefully not the sort of things you'd need to buy regularly. I've got two of the smaller ones and they hold a couple of pints each without the bait sweating up. I usually tip half the contents into a normal plastic bait tub when I start fishing and keep the rest zipped up in a shaded spot.

 

[rob48]

I bought a couple of these by Colmic but have never used them . I might try it today. They are supposed to be pinkie proof but I don't believe it.

Pinkies are the acid test for any maggot retaining apparatus.