How did you get on?

[markcw]

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.

Mesh Veg bags from sainsbury's, 30p do the trick

 

[rayner]

I store all my maggots in plastic bags, the dormant maggots are then kept in water to prevent them from coming around.
They work far better than dead maggots by keeping their shape. The exact method for keeping pinkies fresh looking and keeping them this way helps the skin stay soft.

 

[rayner]

Veg bags make excellent pellet wetters.

 

[mikench]

My venture forth did not start well and was nearly ruined by the Reds spurning chance after chance and conceding in the last minute of extra time; tossers one and all. Anyway digression over I was ready early doors and decided for the first time ever to riddle my remaining maggots ready to go into the Colmic pot. I had barely enough to fill my small riddle. I was disturbed by the paper man( he's a pensioner) who asked what I was doing and in the 20 seconds or so it took to tell him loads of the little b******* had stuck themselves half way through the mesh. Those I could shake off went into the box and the rest were destroyed. Distracted and annoyed I put the box in my cool bag, closed the garage door and left the box within. I discovered my error on arrival so had to go home again.

Once set up I caught half a dozen skimmers on the feeder and about a dozen roach and gudgeon on the float. Some of the gudgeon were stonkers

like this one. It was surprisingly cool in an easterly breeze until about 1.00 pm but it was pleasant and I'm glad I went. I have gone off maggots and I shall give my pinkies to the birds as I fear the worst with them. I have booked my test for dementia and senility for next week.

 

[markcw]

My venture forth did not start well and was nearly ruined by the Reds spurning chance after chance and conceding in the last minute of extra time; tossers one and all. Anyway digression over I was ready early doors and decided for the first time ever to riddle my remaining maggots ready to go into the Colmic pot. I had barely enough to fill my small riddle. I was disturbed by the paper man( he's a pensioner) who asked what I was doing and in the 20 seconds or so it took to tell him loads of the little b******* had stuck themselves half way through the mesh. Those I could shake off went into the box and the rest were destroyed. Distracted and annoyed I put the box in my cool bag, closed the garage door and left the box within. I discovered my error on arrival so had to go home again.

View attachment 14461

Once set up I caught half a dozen skimmers on the feeder and about a dozen roach and gudgeon on the float. Some of the gudgeon were stonkersView attachment 14462

like this one. It was surprisingly cool in an easterly breeze until about 1.00 pm but it was pleasant and I'm glad I went. I have gone off maggots and I shall give my pinkies to the birds as I fear the worst with them. I have booked my test for dementia and senility for next week.

Did that gudgeon get mugged by the maggots Mike ?

 

[mikench]

No but he pulled like a barbel.

 

[xenon]

Pound for pound, Gudgeon are bonkers.

 

[The Runner]

or How I Didn't Get On...
Hadn't fished properly since November as all the places I know up here that fish OK through the winter were out of reasonable"stay local" range and then March and April are generally the worst months anyway. Had a couple of quick sessions recently from the loch near home , both blanks as expected.
However, beautiful day forecast for today so decided that would have an early start and cycle the ten miles over the hill road to Loch Bracadale to see if any early rays (or anything else) had turned up. Travelled light, just one rod and reel ( waste of time there with lure rod until the mackerel arrive ) , a few leads, a rig wallet with hooks and bits and half a dozen mackerel fillets. Got there in lovely morning sunshine, and luckily given what transpired, decided to fish it from Clach a' Chruinneachaidh which is only 150 yards from the road rather than the much longer walk to the other marks there.
Put rod together, reel on rod, tried to turn handle. nothing. Stuck solid. Couldn't even move it with fingers on end of handle and thumb at the base.
Ho hum. Had a quick think and a cup of coffee and decided back home was the only option. So, ten miles back...
Thought of going down to Gedintailor with the lure rod, but pollack unlikely to back in any numbers there yet so decided to leave it for a week or two'
So, instead of any pictures of fish you'll have to make do with a couple of shots from a nice afternoon walk to the top of Ben Tianavaig.

Good day for wildlife up there, wheatears and skylarks everywhere, a ring ouzel (increasingly scarce these days I think} and a golden eagle over the cliff on the way up. And saw my first tourists of the year, a day after the first cuckoo.

 

[Keith M]

Had a few hours late afternoon with my son at a local club water trying to nab a few Tench on the float and had around 10 Bream each and a few Roach plus just one small Tench each of around a pound and a single Crucian for my son. We usually catch a couple of smallish Carp when we fish there as well but although there was a small ghost Carp of around 6 or 7lb constantly swimming around in my swim and a few normal ones disturbing the surface we didn’t manage to hook any of them.
Although it was sunny and fairly warm today it was a different story if you were fishing in the shade as there was a cool wind which seemed to be blowing from the east.

Keith

 

[jon atkinson]

Unusually for me, a couple of mid-week sessions [& more to follow next week ?]. Wednesday I planned to fish a newly acquired club water but it was too well protected by a combination of cows & electric wires so I defaulted to a more established water in search of Crucian. I started on bread punch and was into silvers and Crucian from the off as well as my first Tench of the campaign - only 1lb or so - nothing compared to Mike's whopper, but hey, I'm on the board.

Thursday saw me struggling in bright & sunny conditions on the Leeds-Liverpool at Haskayne - a dozen or so small Roach and a handful of small but fantastically coloured Perch, all on single red. I did hook into what I suspect was a pike - it stayed deep & surged into the central channel before my hooklength went about an inch above the hook. Given the conditions, my expectations hadn't been high but a glorious day to be out with Lapwings, Kestrels, Long Tailed Tits as well as the usual Mallards & moorhens.

 

[Roger Johnson 2]

Fishing mojo returning! I’ve been out 3 evening sessions this week have produced 4 barbel and 3 bream up to just under 6lb for each, not bad fora total of 4 hours fishing. Was going to try a bit of fluff chucking for pike this morning but my intended crack of dawn start would have been closer to the crack of elevenses, and with today being the opening day for pike here in France, the world and his wife were out. That plan is now shelved until Monday.


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[flightliner]

I took my factor 50 with me yesterday, so glad I did in the late morning afternoon heat.
I was fishing a shallow lake for Bream.
I was late havung taken my wife into town, an eighteen mile out of my way west instead of east towards Lincoln.
I set up two rods with fairly standard groundbait feeders and thirty inch hooklengths, wide gape hooks at the end.
I spodded some dozen or so loads to a spot thirty yards out then settled back with the two rods.
It was warm so on went the factor 50 and up went my mega brolly for some shade, goodness its a big one for sure lol.
I waited about ninety minutes then the line bites started with both indicators dancing at once.
It went on for maybe an hour before a bream finally commited itself and while unhooking another did the same with me having no option but to net the second fish with nunber one still in the net.
My total when I drove away was seven nice fish that came better spaced out the first two earlier.
I met a fellow angler at the gate who looked like a lobster, so glad I took my factor 50!

 

[108831]

Went yesterday to the pond where i've been crucian fishing,fished terrible for me,fished where I had the three pounder from the other week,had three,biggest a pound and a half,four smallish roach and that was it,but at least my friendly robin who continually helps himself to the whitty buffet,luncheon meat being favourite,dipping into my bait box whilst looking me in the eye,before shooting off to feed his brood,saw jays,rooks,crows,heron,long tailed t its,blue t its,great t its,grey wagtail,dunnocks,mistle thrush,blackbirds and a pair of black caps,beatiful....

 

[markcw]

I had a few hours at Lodge Farm.
This is the place I should have fished on Thursday but a broken tip ring put paid to that.
So today I took my pole ,a few topkits and a couple of spare sections.
I set 3 rigs up, 1 having a bait band on the hook, I set up 3 pole rigs all PI 4 x 14 floats, two on 0.14 reflo to a size 16 Guru x strong hook. The other set up was a 16 banded set up.
Plumbing up to my left in front of a bush centre in open water at 7 metres and right to another bush I found a steady depth of 4' .
My throwaway line was to the bush on my right, this was fed with pinkies and maggots, to my left was baited with 2mm softened pellets soaked in F1 pellet oil, the swim in front baited the same but with 6mm hard pellets added.
The reason for the throwaway line is because this pool has lots of small roach and Rudd in it from fins and eyes to around 4oz.i plundered a few of these while i let the other two lines settle,
I went onto the line to my left with a soft hooker pellet and drip feeding micros fro a kinder pot.
I had a few carp to 5lb from here plus losing one that ripped 17h PI elastic out of topkit at a rate of knots, i re fed this line and went on the 7 metre line in front of me with a banded 6mm pellet that was soaked in the pellet oil, again drip feeding the micros, As i fished this line i fed the maghot line to my right.
I had a few carp from the banded pellet line, but had to wait longer for bites. I re fed this and went on the maggot line to my right, a few skimmers had shown on this line,
I carried on rotating swims, sometimes resting all 3 while i had a brew and a bite to eat.
I reckon i had around 60lb of fish mainly carp, i lost count of the number of small roach i caught,
All in all despite it being windy I had a good day considering I had never fished the place before.
I will be definitely go back, this time with a couple of rods instead of my pole for fishing shallow to the centre of the pool for the larger carp. It was worth the £7 day ticket price.
Off to Wooda Lakes in Devon tomorrow,
Tackle all ready to pack in the car, just got to do suitcase now and get some bait in the morning before we go.

 

[nottskev]

I finally got on the bank for the first time in just under a year, a year in which I seem to have caught everything bar covid. For a while I couldn't walk (sciatica), then I couldn't breathe (bronchiectasis), then I couldn't sit on a box ( neuropathic groin pain). All three at once at one stage. Anyway, I finally dusted the cobwebs off my gear and drove out to Lord Byron's old place

The woods on the estate have several idyllic ponds, and I headed for one which, while not entirely untouched by the controlling club's carp-stocking obsession, has an interesting mixture of bream, ide, chub, tench and barbel. Catch or not, it's a lovely place, and the only person I saw was on a horse glimpsed through the trees,

I'm glad there was no-one about; tackling up, I shaped up like someone baffled by a tricky Ikea flat-pack, even though it was nothing more complicated than a long rod and pin with a bit of peacock just heavy enough to flick out a couple of rod lengths. I thought I was fishing it quite nicely, feeding swims at 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock, one with maggots, one with little dabs of defrosted year old groundbait, but I didn't get a bite for a couple of hours. I filled in time by fiddling with the depth and shotting to try and offset the tow - it's a circular pond in woods, and the breeze swirls the water round and round, towing your float and recycling little clumps of floating weed . Both Steve (Aknib) and I have had the card for this water, and we'd noticed you only seem to catch late in the day. True to form, after a biteless couple of hours, with a blank on the horizon, the last 90 minutes brought 8 of these recent stockies (as if Bream, Ide, chub, Barbel and tench weren't enough for anyone)

And 4 of these nicely coloured bream

Plus a couple of little perch.

I'd found it hard to get started again after such a long lay-off, but a warm afternoon and a few bites reminded me how good it is to get out. I might even try it again.

 

[markcw]

Welcome back Kev ??

 

[no-one in particular]

Not fishing, just a recce along the pier and out to have a look at one of my river spots. Just one flounder caught on the pier the same as the last time went there. These guys were having a competition for the best fish and I reckon the bloke with the flounder had already won because nothing else was happening. We seem to get the odd flounder this time of year, I reckon they must move through on their way to summer breeding places like estuaries maybe. The river looked good, normal height, they hold these rivers up with sluice gates so they always maintain a height but no flow. Not long before I will be trying a spot of fishing in the river, nice flat spot to sit on a nice day, a few chub and roach along that stretch.

 

[nottskev]

Welcome back Kev ??

Thanks for that!

 

[Peter Jacobs]

Welcome back Kev . . . good to see you posting again.

That looks a lovely little venue too.

 

[peter crabtree]

Another welcome back Kev, glad to hear you’re on the mend.