How did you get on?

[Steve Arnold]

Slow day on the Charente. Now that I am a pensioner I invested in litre of maggots from Arkwrights, our ,ocal tackle shop. When I say "a litre of maggots" what I got was a litre of bran with a few maggots hiding in it. Not only that, but I bought them on Wednesday and a third of them had already turned. €8,17 that cost me .,

Today was sun, sun, sun all the way and I had bought the maggots to try for perch. You can see where this is heading? Nothing came to feast on the poor, miserable grubs except two chub and even they only ate the pink ones! I had even dug out my one and only pole to be able to precisely place my bait under the tree canopy. Waste of time that was.

By 2pm the barbel swim was bathed in shade and six droppers of hemp maize and pellets had been delivered 2 hours earlier. The last two visits here had resulted in good sessions. Today however the boilies remained unmolested and the fake maize that was the star of the show last Friday died on stage. Thank goodness a random, passing bream couldn't resist the worm that the perch did. Preserved my 6 month blankless record.

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So many anglers seem to despise the bream! But I would prefer that to a blank - and once they get to a few pounds weight I find them quite pleasing.

 

[mikench]

So many anglers seem to despise the bream! But I would prefer that to a blank - and once they get to a few pounds weight I find them quite pleasing.

But that is after a bottle of Hermitage isn’t it Steve?

 

[@Clive]

So many anglers seem to despise the bream! But I would prefer that to a blank - and once they get to a few pounds weight I find them quite pleasing.

I wouldn't go as far as to say 'pleasing' Steve. "Better than a blank" is all I can muster

 

[Philip]

Not much fishing for me recently as I have been too busy with other things. However I was travelling around for a couple of days so chucked some rods in the car in the event I could have a quick dangle. Very pleased I did as this lovely Bronze river Carp of just under 35lb was the result.

I’d had a quick scout about & found a spot so droppered out 20 or so helpings of hemp and some mixed pellets & left it for a few hours. Returning later I flicked out a couple of rods not expecting much but was pleasantly surprised when it screamed off. The fish gave a good battle in the strong current as river Carp do and it was nice to get a bend in the rods again.

 

[no-one in particular]

The river had come down somewhat from a couple of weeks ago .35m, to think it was just under the top of the middle arch then 2.53m. Bait was bread and luncheon meat but nothing on the luncheon meat; I doubt the fish are used to it as no one hardly ever fishes here all year. Big chub and roach were my target but ended up with just one very small chub and 3 roach. they all came further down the river on bread, the bridge swim gave nothing which was unusual so I moved further down were the river deepens and widens a bit. Ditched the float and just linked legered with about a 6 inch tail with a 10 hook and watching the line and tip, it was ripping through a bit and didn't fancy changing floats and I wanted the bait hard on the bottom as the water was very coloured. Only one of the roach was a decent size but not huge. Had one good bite on a bit of my cheese sandwich but the hook did not set, probably a chub but not a monster. It was a bit colder than forecast so only fished for 3 hours, enjoyable enough though, very peaceful here.
Saying hardly anyone ever fishes here there were 3 big blokes fishing the bridge swim on the way home with some of those paddle lures and I watched them for a while from the café opposite having a coffee but they had nothing.

 

[maggot_dangler]

Well out today for the first time in a few days darn Neck is giving me hell went to my local river this morning and getting snagged a few times 6 hooks later found the fish as per normal for that patch of river Lots of trout before moving up here i have fished for years since i was about 7 can give that +60 now i had never caught a trout at all now it seem i chuck in a hook with 2 white maggots on it bingo trout on this one section anothe section is nearly all Chub Dace and roach and yet another section i fish is mainly gudgeon strange river but love it nice 8 trout today 1 managed to escape the hook shame as well it was a good sized one it would have been the best yet i caught a glimpse of it before it got away good sized fish for this river i need a fold up battery powered strimmer that weights next nothing

 

[terry m]

A couple of hours on the Avon after lunch, more in hope than expectation was very well rewarded.

A bluey fished lift, under a pencil went away, and an amazing fight on 2lb rods ensued resulting in a very large pike that struggled to fit in my net.

At exactly 27 pounds it was a new pb, in perfect condition and well proportioned.

After seeing beloved Bath beat Leicester Tigers with the last play of the game on Friday night, and then this, well, simply an amaking weekend!

 

[riverman]

Well I had to settle for a mixed bag of silvers today.roach perch skimmers and gudgeon on the pole all on maggots.when I switched to luncheon meat earlier I lost a nice carp which shot under the island and spit the hook.was talking to a match angler who's club was fishing a match on the next lake.carp are not included in the match weight so have to be put back in if caught.he caught 8lb 7oz of silvers and finished 3rd.

 

[mikench]

Well today was a grand day. Not because of large fish , pb’s or even loads of fish but because I was out in very pleasant countryside and lovely autumnal weather. I managed 31 fish but they were merely the icing on the cake.
Early on it was dull and looked like rain but it remained dry.

By 3.45 as I packed up this was the scene.

It was warm and I was in shirt sleeves. I admired the wonderful colours of the season. In between the two pics I float fished and christened a new rod( MAP Parabolix Black edition 15’ float). I had a variety of skimmers, roach , Rudd and the inevitable gudgeon. Several of the roach were netters like this.

Nothing special I know but they were pristine and put a nice bend in the rod. I had one carp around 3lb caught on the drop and all the fish were caught on maggot or caster. Just as well because that was all I took.

in answer to Kev’s question I don’t generally use a baitrunner for float fishing as I am happy with this or the Stradic variant.

I used an 18 hook to 3lb hook length throughout with 4.5lb ( 0.17mm ) Browning Black magic gold line which I was very happy with. I had a heron for company for quite a while and this pic shows it walking along the now submerged island which, on my last visit to this venue over 6 weeks ago, was about 6” above the surface.

Recent rains have added a much needed 3’ of water. I had the lake to myself and the hours passed quickly. Even my 2 day old egg mayo butty tasted delicious.

 

[riverman]

Looks nice there Mike.nice report.i forgot to mention on our lake yesterday a mink was on the island in the middle.we informed the owner but he was aware and had been trying to trap it for a while.

 

[John Aston]

A lovely day to fish . Still and misty with only the only sound the call of duck and geese , and the whirr of hundreds of starlings' wings as they swooped in low to roost . The river was at perfect level , with a peaty tinge . I explored some new areas and struggled for a couple of hours before catching a little pike which gave an impressive bang on the rod top for an 8oz fish.

Eventually I found some perch , and caught 10 in total. Two big ones of 2-11 and 2-12 , and several around the pound . Dropshot lobworm accounted for every fish but the last one , which took a large crayfish lure on a Cheb Rig .

A good day . Deluge forecast for tomorrow , and so barbel are a possibility later in the week if it isn't too cold .

 

[sam vimes]

A lovely day to fish . Still and misty with only the only sound the call of duck and geese ,

Not such a good day for a pheasant shoot though. The guns called it off early as they couldn't see much.

A good day . Deluge forecast for tomorrow , and so barbel are a possibility later in the week if it isn't too cold .

I'm really not looking forward to tomorrow's shoot, the forecast is dismal. The waterproofs will be severely tested.
I can only hope that the river doesn't come up too much for the end of the week.

 

[john step]

Foggy days blanking for pike on the Tidal Trent. Pleasant though watching the wildlife fly by.
I spoke to two different Scousers who had come all the way to fish it. Is there no barbel nearer ie the Ribble?

 

[@Clive]

Foggy days blanking for pike on the Tidal Trent. Pleasant though watching the wildlife fly by.
I spoke to two different Scousers who had come all the way to fish it. Is there no barbel nearer ie the Ribble?

Did you sit on your wallet?

 

[jon atkinson]

Foggy days blanking for pike on the Tidal Trent. Pleasant though watching the wildlife fly by.
I spoke to two different Scousers who had come all the way to fish it. Is there no barbel nearer ie the Ribble?

From the reports that I hear, Barbel are not as prolific as they used to be on the Ribble, but a more likely explanation might be that there are relatively few day ticket stretches?

 

[@Clive]

They might be displaced refugees from the Collingham Weir camp that was closed down last summer.

 

[john step]

They might be displaced refugees from the Collingham Weir camp that was closed down last summer.

Maybe. The area is a lot quieter and cleaner now. There is still a season long block booking for the first weir pegs. Money talks.

 

[John Aston]

I am amazed that no local entrepreneur has not offered a boat fishing service for Cromwell. Tidal water is free fishing - you pay a day ticket effectively for the bank access .

 

[barbelboi]

I wouldn't go as far as to say 'pleasing' Steve. "Better than a blank" is all I can muster

No, I've read this a few times to make sure I got it right but a snotty better than a blank Clive - the commas just save you

 

[john step]

I am amazed that no local entrepreneur has not offered a boat fishing service for Cromwell. Tidal water is free fishing - you pay a day ticket effectively for the bank access .

I seem to recall that anglers have been turned away in boats from the weir by the lock people. There was a drowning there. Interesting about the free fishing/tidal angle.
I wonder what Collinghan AC would say to that especially as there is actually free access to the whole bank part of the Trent Way. Interesting angle.