How did you get on?

[sam vimes]

My tench water is still a bit hit and miss at the moment. My limited available free time is not helping much. However, I snatched a few hours this evening after saying I wasn't going to bother. I'm rather glad I did. The result was a single bite, but it had the decency to be 7lb 6oz.

 

[john step]

Another trip to my new deep lake. A common and a mirror to low doubles. Very dour today, after last nights storm. ( didnt freshen it up like the thread on storms!)
Yes yes I know I cut the tail off in the photo....it did have one. At least my foot is not in this shot!


Edited. Forgot to mention a half decent perch on a pink fruity wafter!

 

[mikench]

I set off early to the spooky pool with the sole ambition of catching a tench. I had prepared a mix of hemp, corn and gb, bought worms and had corn for the hook bait, maggots riddled and given just a touch of some foul smelling seafood sense liquid. I sprayed some oud aftershave on me in anticipation. I started off on 2 feeder rods with micros and corn on one and worm on the other over a bed of the mix. After 3 hours without a touch, I retired one feeder rod and substituted my acolyte float rod with worm on the hook.

I had a perch first cast and about 15 more followed all on worm but only 2 of about 12oz needed the net. Switching to maggot produced several roach to 8oz and a couple of skimmers. Once again I had a pike for company who made his presence known by snatching a skimmer. The feeder rod remained silent and I packed it away and concentrated on the float. Further small perch( some not much bigger than the worm) and roach followed.

As hope disappeared I started to pack up when the float sailed away and revealed this!

At 4:13 it saved the day. I had to hurriedly attach a landing net to the handle but I'm a firm advocate of Murphy's law.

 

[barbelboi]

Had a bit of fun stalking carp on the surface from the bay of a very overgrown pit earlier today. Using a bubble and hair rigged 10mm unexpanded expanders to float I tempted seven to the net in quite an explosive session. The weather was warm and sunny and fished from 12am – 4.30pm…………… 15 year old Harrison Avon Specialist 1.5, 20 something year old Shimmy Aero 5000GTE, 8lb ProGold and a pair of aching arms………….

 

[Pete Shears]

Another early start at the local reservoir after tench. First fish was a bream of about 4lb with spawning tubercules followed by a male tench of 4lb 3oz - first of the year.
After another bream of 3lb and a small roach which was grabbed by a pike and on recasting the method feeder ,it disappeared into the distance with the mainline breaking for no apparent reason.
Later I had another tench on which weeded itself ,managed to coax it free only for it to fall off.
Surprised to see a bright red autogiro fly over the reservoir and vanish over the horizon to the south.

 

[Pete Shears]

Again at the local reservoir this morning to find a colleague had been there since just after 4am and had already caught 2 tench and a few bream.
Settling into the same swim as yesterday saw me setting up two method feeders to try and tempt the tench.
It worked - three male tench at 4lb 4oz, 5lb 13oz and 4lb 11oz, my early bird colleague had a total of six to 5lb 11oz but the biggest came to a member just fishing a simple feeder rig - a female tench at 6lb 7oz.
Wildlife wise, there was a woodpecker drumming away somewhere in the woods,a red kite had a crow chasing it and above them were two buzzards circling upwards on a thermal - not heard a cuckoo here yet but did hear one two weeks ago on the Kyle of Tongue, Scotland.

 

[S-Kippy]

I wasnt sure either where to go or when this week as the weather forecast kept changing. Last night I decided to go on Thursday as the forecast was overcast compared to bright sun today.

However...when I got up this morning the forecast had reversed,cloud today and bright sun tomorrow. Based on that I decided to go today and it had to be trite as I was up much too late to go for tench or crucian.....so off to Farmoor I went. Wish I hadn't bothered as its switched right off.

The Whitney mafia were there in force and even they were fishless. I went as far away from that lot as I could and fished my little nuts off. After an hour I had a savage take that ripped my damsel off the leader.....a little later I fluked a fish when I was taking my jacket off. Hours later one bounced off the hook until finally I got a proper take and a really spectacular fight from a fish hooked right in the surface that thought it was a tarpon. I gave it another 30 minutes but they really werent having it so I headed home.

I had 2 fish and only saw one other caught. I think that's enough trite for the time being....I need to get my tench and crucian head on.

 

[nottskev]

First time out for a while, and as usual went for the afternoon rather than the early shift. There were a couple of blokes on the side I wanted to fish (low bank/short walk) but they were intending to pack up shortly so I put some gear down on a peg and sat in the sun for half an hour and had a chat with the farmer heading home for his lunch. I surprise myself these days - I'd have been fretting and itching to get started once. Last time here I fished feeder as the fish weren't coming close, but we've had plenty of warm weather, so I set up to fish with a 15' original Carbonactive and a slim 2bb peacock locked with float stops to let me put all the weight near the hook.

I've had this cute pin for about 3 years and never used it - sure sign of a man with too much tackle - and I'm determined to get some use out of it.

It was still pretty hot and sunny when I started, about 2.30, and tench like a siesta. Besides, the departed anglers had emptied their nets either side of my swim. So it was softly softly for a couple of hours to coax a few bites. I had red maggots and some Sonubaits expanders, a mix of 4 and 6mm. I'd soaked these - no need to pump - a week ago, and I was about to chuck them when I realised they were as good as they were then. This is nice to know, as some expanders rapidly degrade and start to go mouldy, and they proved useful as they outfished maggot by 3 to 1.

The tench were all the usual 12 oz to 2.5lb size

But I was surprised how even the two-pounders ran out and took line. The weed, usually prolific, has hardly grown yet, so I think the tench can scoot off ( I reckon that's the right verb for tench) and pick up speed without getting engulfed in soft weed. By tea-time, they were feeding well and by 6.30 there were a fair few in the net.

Between the maggots and the pellets, I'd still only used half a pint of bait.

 

[mikench]

Wow Kev I can only dream of a net full like that of any fish let alone tench. Well done. It's a very pleasant spot and looks lovely on a sunny day.

 

[mikench]

Gordon and I returned to a popular water if a little hit and miss on bites. It proved to be more miss than hit although Gordon had around a dozen or so fish including some decent bream. He also caught a tench which was was our intended quarry. Here's a pic I prepared earlier of the venue- march

For śome reason the photo I took today was blurred. I stuck with the feeder and tried every bait imaginable but only managed 2 fish. However they were both lovely tench like this - 3lb 11 oz.

I ûsed pellet and wafters plus an old style Polaris float as recommended by Hague01 which performed faultlessly.

At one point I really thought Gordon had lost the plot as he set up his spinning rod with a Mepps spinner and proceeded to cast high up into the overhead tree. A perch and a roost for birds are very different. The reason became clear as I saw his float and section of line dangling from a branch. Gordon said he had to clear it as it interfered with his casting. I thought wow he does become attached to his home made floats. A thoroughly enjoyable day despite the cloudy conditions in the morning and the paucity of fish caught. However as Gordon says 1 tench is worth 20 roach or perch. Cheers Gordon and here's to the next time.

 

[seth49]

A quieter day yesterday on usual water, it was cloudy in the morning and I was catching tench and skimmers, plus one 12lb 2oz carp on the feeder rod, then about 1 o clock the sky cleared and it turned hot and sunny, this turned the tench of completely, and I was just catching skimmers on the pole,.

Then the carp started coming into the margins onto the pellets I’d thrown in, had three more on the pole, which weighed 7lb, 10lb 4oz, and another at 12lb 2oz, also lost a couple which could have been foul hooked.

So finished with four carp, nine tench, and skimmers, one of the carp cut the palm of my hand with the front spine of its dorsal, as I turned it over for a photograph, didn’t realise till I saw the blood dripping from my hand, first time that’s happened, I just cleaned the cut and closed it with some super glue, to keep it clean.

 

[Pete Shears]

In the same swim again this morning at the local reservoir, much cooler and overcast with no wind which did not last long as a gentle SW kicked in.
After setting up my kit I noticed a large bird flying over the shallower end, it suddenly dived into the water and flew to settle on a dead tree trunk, the osprey had returned. Through the binos I could see it feeding on whatever it had caught and was keeping a wary eye on an adjacent tree where a crow was watching it hoping for a freebie. After about 5 minutes it flew off and returned about an hour later to do teo circuits before going elsewhere.
In the meantime I had one bite which had a male tench of 3lb 11oz in the net but now enduring a cold W wind with rain head on it was time to go.

 

[john step]

Fancied something different so off to a pit with my Acy Distance Feeder and hybrid feeders. I had these and several nettable skimmers on banded pellet. It was wet most of the day but thankfully dry to pack up.

 

[nottskev]

I read a while back that traffic, in terms of time taken for a given distance, in Nottingham is up there with the likes of Sao Paulo and Los Angeles. The estate lake I was heading for at lunchtime means a drive right across town. I was on the other side of town when I realised: no landing net, no unhooking mat. As I got back home, it started to rain and I was inclined to give it a miss. I'm glad I bothered to repeat the drive. With an empty lake, I headed for a favourite swim at the top of 50yds of unfishable bank.

The margin's deep, and the idea is to fish down to the overhanging tree. I fished punched meat over a mix of hemp, shredded meat and pellets with a titchy flat float set overdepth and a couple of no4 shot on the bottom. Most fish here with a pair of carp rods and boilies. As you can see, fairly beefy tackle is required to keep fish out of the snags, and a Harrison Torrix barbel rod is ideal.. First bite was this lovely common

The next three bites were all barbel. Not the double figure beasts that are present, but I wasn't complaining.

Coots nested at the back of the tree. Last time I was here the young were the size of ping pong balls. They've grown fast and the parents were feeding them any of my feed that floated. The swallows were on the lake for the first time and a big flock of Greylag geese honked and chattered.

Next time the float dipped it was a chunky ide. I've never seen them reach this size elsewhere.

The next two bites produced two good bream

I always think that if I get 6 bites here I've done ok. Today I got 7 and I'm glad I bothered to drive across Sao Paulo twice. As I got in the car, the heavens opened. I'm assuming I'll blank next time out.

 

[john step]

That was a good decision to go back. Those landing nets do have a habit of going walkies so I always have a spare in the car. If necessary it can be used with a long bankstick.

 

[nottskev]

That was a good decision to go back. Those landing nets do have a habit of going walkies so I always have a spare in the car. If necessary it can be used with a long bankstick.

The spreader block on my big net (crazy net rule in place) broke after a couple of fish - it was lucky I'd thrown a couple in the car and had a 22" Drennan Specialist as a reserve. Usually, nets, mats, brolly, spare clothes, wellies live in the car, but I'd emptied the car for a trip to visit friends last weekend.

 

[mikench]

Those magnificent fish caught by Kev almost persuaded me to make no mention of my trip today as it pales into insignificance by comparison. I can have no excuses as Kev kindly gave me his recipe for catching quality fish which I dutifully prepared yesterday. I didnt get close. If the venue looks familiar it's because it is. The carp of any size remained elusive and I had just four around five pound. I didn't take any pics as they were just ordinary commons . I reckon the bigger ones had other things on their mind. The margins were devoid of activity. I suppose I shouldn't be disappointed with a dozen skimmers like this. Look away now if you are slime averse.

I also had another dozen small skimmers, roach and gudgeon. I made a friend with a supply of maggots and pellets and he was very tame.

It didn't rain and was pleasantly cool so I mustn't grumble.

 

[Philip]

A couple of hours down the little fished Gravel pit after Tench and I had a screaming run after 30mins or so. A Protracted battle and this long scale perfect Common was the result. I didn’t weigh it but guesstimate at around low to Mid twenties. Mind you it hardly matters when they look this nice & I felt it deserved to have its photo uploaded to the thread.

Although the target was Tench I cant complain when fish like this turn up, some of the Carp here are absolute stunners. The only other anglers I have come across have been fishing lures so it would not surprise me if this one had never been on the bank before. I followed it up with a small male Tench & called it a day. The wallk back dragging a trolly through bumpy terrain and waist high grass was not so fun but it always seems easier if you have caught something.

The walk back was a little easier this time.

 

[mikench]

Lovely fish Philip and well deserving of a posted pic.


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[riverman]

poor session today.went to westerly lake at wheldrake nr york and only managed 6 altogether.3 bream and 3 tench in a 7 hour stint.the bream fell to waggler fished mussel and the tench fell to prawn.one of the bream was decent around the 3lb mark but all the others were under a lb.with it being a sunday and no longer holding matches i chose this venue thinking it would be a good choice.its a lovely lake with a good head of course fish but to be honest i'm a bit surprised i didn't manage more.