How did you get on?

[mikench]

You put me to shame Kev. Lovely chub.?

 

[barbelboi]

I haven’t posted on this thread for a while as it’s all been pretty much the same. Stick trotting the small river and streams over the back fields for roach, dace and chub. Most taken on flake or caster during the early afternoon and, with only a few weeks of the season left, hopefully a few more…..

 

[no-one in particular]

I went back to the little stream today, my thinking was it was a bit warmer than last time and it may just trigger the roach. However as I walked out the door I realized this may not be the case. Still, it was interesting to see what the EA had done and they had revealed a little path on on side so I hankered down there for an hour. Not a sausage so went back to the swim I fished last time and not a sausage either. Definitely wait for the warmer weather now but it is a handy little spot; I think it will come alive with 1lb, 2lb+ roach once the weather warms up. A Aldi and a Greggs nearby so saved about £1.50 on my shopping including sausages and 50p on my coffee and with a free bus pass; came home in profit; not many can say that when they go fishing.
A lot of water about and well coloured, about 4-5ft; should have been ideal for roach, we will we see, may come good yet.

 

[peter crabtree]

Mark, your blank today could have possibly been caused by the commotion and change in skyline after the trees were removed?
The fish probably moved somewhere quieter for a while?

 

[no-one in particular]

Mark, your blank today could have possibly been caused by the commotion and change in skyline after the trees were removed?
The fish probably moved somewhere quieter for a while?

Possibly Peter, must admit I hadn't thought of that but the second swim which is about 500 yds. further up was the same and as last time. The EA had not actually cut any trees down just all the side reeds that if you remember from the first picture were practically blocking this area. I think I will wait until there is a definite change in temperature and maybe by then the fish have moved back, indeed, if they are there!

 

[Mark Wintle]

With the Stour yo-yoing at present I had a couple of hours on a windy deep claypit and found some roach to 8oz plus skimmers and a bream of 2lb. I hooked up on the bottom early on and got my hook back though blunt so I changed it. Later I caught what may have been the culprit, the biggest swan mussel I've ever seen - I had to net it!

 

[john step]

I wrote last week about my folly when I lost a pole section. The replacement arrived yesterday from Bobco and to my relief it fits perfectly.
I cant wait to get out there again but Eunice is preventing that .

 

[john step]

Had a walk round the Pit this morning expecting devastation. Nothing but broken off twigs in the edges. No trees down. That saves a lot of work.

 

[The Runner]

First hdygo in a while from me as first time I’ve fished this year. Down in Doncaster staying with friends for a long weekend and me & mate had today booked for fishing. Original plan was for tidal Trent at Littleborough but weather and river conditions made this a bad idea so decided on a go for the bream on Winthorpe Lake. Last time mate fished it in similar conditions at this time of year he had half a dozen to 8 lb.
Sat in adjacent swims , reasonable conditions to start but rain started after about an hour. And got quickly heavier with the wind strengthening and swirling around. Only indication either of us had in nearly four hours was my getting one sharp knock on the tip which could have been anything, so with conditions getting worse by the minute it was time for the pub and last hour of the Newcastle match.
A motionless tip , before the weather got too bad…

 

[jon atkinson]

I honestly can't remember the last time I posted, but as I am now stuck at home with Covid I have a chance to do some catching up! Having spent quite a bit of time on the canal last year, I had vowed to myself to give spinning a whirl and since the back end of October that's pretty much all I've been doing. Although I haven't been out as often as I would have liked, I've really been enjoying it, particularly how little gear I take as opposed to when I'm on the waggler ?‍. I had a few blanks to start but gradually seem to be getting the hang of it. Sessions are invariably no more than an hour & a half and I've yet to snag anything of any size - a jack of perhaps 3lb and a perch of about 1lb are about as big as I've had.

What I find curious is that I have only caught on cranks - not a sniff on soft plastics, spinners or spoon so far. I've also found that although the scenery is much nicer further out into West Lancs, the fishing is far more productive around Maghull, a far more suburban setting. However, suburban does mean considerably more rubbish to snag! Thankfully, I haven't lost too many lures yet - it's amazing what you can 'tow' into the bank on 20lb braid!

 

[mikench]

When I saw your post Jon , I thought it was the glass of red having an immediate effect. Good to see you back and I hope your dose of covid is mild and soon forgotten. I plan to do more lure fishing this year.?

 

[terry m]

Have been doing a lot of river piking recently, primarily on the Hants Avon, lots of fish but struggling to find anything larger than low doubles.

Today as Storm Franklin passed through, I chanced a couple of hours as the impossible wind had dropped.

Only one take to a paternostered smelt in a deep hole resulted in an absolutely mint and perfectly proportioned 18 1/2 pounder. Every cloud ……..

 

[peterjg]

Fished the Kennet yesterday, first time out for about 10 days due to having a bad cold and cough. Legered on both rods due to the gail blowing, had only three bites: two snotties and a nice dace. Should have moved swims but where I was sitting was fairly well sheltered from the gusting wind. Where were the roach? The water temperature was only 45F - I had expected to be a bit warmer.

 

[peter crabtree]

6 of us fished my Tuesday canal match at Hemel Hempstead today. A different pound and a very different result.

Nobody blanked for a start. I started of on maggot and waggler for the chub which usually sit under the bushes on the far side but they didn’t seem to be there. After giving that an hour I changed to a lighter set up and fished punch just over the near shelf. I had about 20 roach which was nice for a change, they weren’t big though, probably averaging 2-3 oz each.
Others caught chub however and the winner today had some good bream and bits for 11lb+.
I weighed in just 2:9:0 but still managed 4th place.

 

[Pete Shears]

Another piking trip to the local reservoir resulted in . . . you guessed . . another blank. The only time the alarms sounded when the constant strong wind gusted even more, still spent some time watching two kites performing aerial acrobatics but the highlight of the morning was in the half light before dawn seeing two barn owls about three hundred yards apart working the hedgerow on my right - wonderful.

 

[Pete Shears]

A trip to the Wreake this morning after chub. Found the river level was just lower than before the two recent storms but coloured.
Persevered with legered crust,flake,dendro,lob and cheesepaste but if I had a bite,I didn't see it - time to move which entailed a bit of a walk but settled down on a shallower pool and was still struggling.
Moving again found me at the lower end of the big pool I had started on and eventually hit a bite on flake which was a roach of 10oz followed by a chub of 1lb then rain started being blown around in the strong gusty wind - a signal to go.
Spotted four buzzards wheeling together and a male kestrel perched in a big willow upstream for a few seconds - when I could hear it over the wind,the birdsong is increasing day by day as they sense spring is not far away.

 

[chevin4]

Having not been out for a couple of weeks I was looking forward in getting out on the bank today. The river I wanted to fish is high and dirty following last Fridays storm and the following storm Franklin, although this storm had nowhere near the same impact here in Hertfordshire. I decided to use up some of the deadbaits in the freezer and go pike fishing to my local pit. I elected to use paternostered roach on one rod and an eel section on the 2nd rod which was used in conjunction with a Zeplar sliding float and just a couple of SSG shot on the trace. I finished up with 3 pike all taken on the eel the best 12lb 8oz. I lost another of a similar size which tail walked at the net and spat the hooks out. The static approach did not work today all the fish took the bait when twitching the float back every 5 minutes or so. Having experienced a blank last time out it was nice to get some action.

 

[Mark Wintle]

As the strong winds subsided I got out earlier this week on a local stillwater and enjoyed some interesting waggler fishing. Here's the result: Tripping up the Roach

 

[peterjg]

Had a short session yesterday on the K&A canal. Started at 2pm, float fished breadflake, nothing until 5.15 then missed three good bites - blast! Packed at 6pm when dark. WT 46F. Oh well, I'll just keep trying.

 

[Steve Arnold]

Wednesday I took my friend Ron to an easy access swim on the Lot. He has not done much freshwater fishing but I have helped kit him out with the basics. He has bad knees so many of the river swims are distinctly dodgy for him, fortunately this one is pretty flat access.

Just the one fish today, but very glad it fell to his rod!