How did you get on?

[mikench]

Lovely fish Mick. Another envious bag of roach Kev.

 

[flightliner]

Will hopefully be back again in the morning Mike, dont want to miss the flood!

 

[nottskev]

Will hopefully be back again in the morning Mike, dont want to miss the flood!

Better get out there soon, Mick: river dropping, temperature falling and wind switching to easterly by tomorrow.

 

[mikench]

Inspired by Kev and Mick and seeing the temperatures set to drop as we go through the week, I set off to my favourite venue. Being a staunch creature of habit I looked at my normal peg and others and with some effort decided to give the original lake on the 2 lake venue a try as it’s been ages since I did.

The sun shone albeit with little heat but as it was a flat calm it felt pleasantly warm and I had the pool to myself for the first hour whilst I fished the feeder with no success at all. I didn’t have any maggots nor soft pellets so on switching to the float I had to rely on meat, bread and maize. Only the bread punch induced any bites which were tentative and few and far between. I missed several but managed around a dozen skimmers and small roach. I switched back to the feeder for last cast time and managed 3 skimmers on an 8mm pineapple wafter. The other guy who can just be seen in the pic left at the same time as me and he had blanked on the float with pellet and corn.

it was a lovely day though weather wise and I wasn’t a bit cold. The trudge across the field from the car park was a muddy one made worse by the farmer having churned it up with his tractor for reasons I cannot fathom. Despite the paucity of fish particularly of any size I enjoyed the experience and just might go again later in the week armed with maggot, worm and caster.

 

[jon atkinson]

I was officially on dog minding detail yesterday with wifey away seeing her dad but I did manage to slip out to the cut for an hour with the lure rod. A pleasant if somewhat chilly day and the canal was still carrying plenty of colour so I opted for a 'hi viz' jointed Perch crank which induced a good take from a jack of a couple of foot or so within about 10 minutes. Roving along I had just one other take (I think a Perch) but it got off in a matter of seconds and that was as good as it got. Weather looks cold but settled for the remainder of the week so will try again on Wednesday.

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[Pete Shears]

Spinning at the local reservoir this morning, low cloud and mist soon gave way to sunshine and in just over half an hour had five pike from just over a pound to 5lb 6oz on silver Mepps and a silver Toby. They must be getting used to the extra water after last weeks rain as three spinning trips on different venues were blanks.
Not much wildlife - just a lone buzzard and a family group of long tailed tits working the hedgerow and four too many cormorants.

 

[john step]

It didnt get properly light all day. Thick mist all day. 3 Takes on deadbait all from jacks that were not big enough to properly get hold of it.
Nothing landed.
I have a theory. No proof just observation over the years. I think the jacks come out to play when the big girls are not feeding. They seem to know.
On days I get a good un or two I rarely get runs from jacks. On days I get pestered by the tiddlers I get no sign of a big un.

Pike seem to have the ability to switch on at the same time in the darker months in unison. Several pike in a short space of time with nought either side. What makes them do this I dont know. Communication seems a bit over the top but perhaps its a short window of ideal conditions.

 

[seth49]

Well yesterday was a waste of time, it was foggy all day, and didn’t get above 3 degrees C all day, after a frost overnight, I was warm enough in my Korum suit and heated waistcoat, the fish didn’t want to know at all, I had a gudgeon and a skimmer which saved a blank, but that was it.

the robin had more maggots than the fish, he stayed with me all day till we packed up at three pm, I won’t be bothering again till it warms up a bit.

quite a few fieldfares about, plus a small flock of starlings, and the usual tits and finches on the feeders, but it was not a very enjoyable day at al.

 

[Roger Johnson 2]

I forgot to mention the bait I bought for yesterday's session. Normally I get my maggots from Arkwrights in a local town where we shop on a Thursday. I might buy them two or three times a year and always swear never to buy any more. Last time they were turning in two days and I cannot ever remember any having food sacks. I pay €8.16 for half a litre of bran with a few maggots thrown in.

Yesterday I called at a normally less conveniant shop that happened to be on route to the River Charente. I paid just €6 for half a litre of maggots with a bit of bran chucked in not the other way round and whilst being small, they actually had food sacks.

I was so giddy I bought a tub of lobworms too as they are hard to come by in this region. I harvest a few when setting mole traps in customer's gardens, but I can't find enough of them. Most worms in gardens are smaller red worms, not lobs. That cost me another €4.30 and when I checked them there were just ten, but what worms they were! I've seen boa constrictors smaller than these beauties. The first I fished in two pieces and didn't get a bite. Two more were used in halves and accounted for four fish. Five if you count the b***m I shook off at the net only to have it return 2 minutes later having taken the same half lob again.

When I got home I put the maggots in the freezer to use next week and have put the 7 survivors (that's the modern term) of the lobs in a new wormery hoping they will do what comes naturally.

Hi Clive, I feel your pain with les asticots française! During my time in France ( still heartbroken!) the only decent ones I found were at the national chain “Pacific Pêche” the nearest branch to me was relatively local, only a 70km round trip.
But they arrived weekly, kept refrigerated, and were self serve so you could push the sawdust out of the way and actually get a reasonable measure of maggots. They were €7 a litre back in April.
Could be worth finding your nearest branch and find out their delivery day. ATB


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[@Clive]

Thank you Roger. The two nearest me are each 45 minutes away and not on my usual routes. I dropped lucky with the shop less than half that travelling time and conveniantly on route to la belle Charente so I will give him my business. There is a more local shop that I call Arkwrights as he follows me around making unwelcome suggestions regards tackle I don't need. And you have to leave through a security arch. He sells more bran than maggots.

 

[flightliner]

I was back in the same Trent swim yesterday as I was last friday at the break of dawn.
The weather forecasters had it wrong as the promised fog never really materialised, the A1 section of my journey was almost as clear as a bell.
As said the same swim friday with the same tackle and bait failed but for the odd tap and nudge of the bait from what I assumed were chub, the BB were conspicuous by there absence.
Not one single rod bending bite!
The river had dropped some 3 to 4 feet in the 3 days since my last visit.
It was a little dissappointing considering how the fish were eager to feed with more water over their heads previously but hey, thats fishing!

 

[mikench]

As a typical Brit I am preoccupied with the weather and having noted a gradual drop in temperatures this week and next, I thought I would venture forth again today to the same venue as Monday but my favoured lake and peg. It was a totally different day weather wise with dull leaden skies, the prospect of rain and lower temperatures without the sun. Whilst only a breeze, it’s easterly direction really made it feel cold. Enough at least to fire up the hand warmer and wear my rather fetching Warm cap with ear muffs from Free Spirit.

If young Aknib is looking in and likely to go into production with his gudgeon rod then I want one. It felt a bit ridiculous today catching gudgeon on a 13’Acolyte plus within a few feet of the bank and in an area of a square meter at most. Unfortunately they were the only fish to repeatedly oblige on maggot. I caught at least 20 plus a few roach to around 8 oz but non requiring the net which again remained dry. I did try the feeder rod and had a few skimmers to a 1lb but nothing to write home about. I had the lake to myself and by 3 pm I had had quite enough thank you. Wet boggy ground is a World away from the hard earth I was used to a few months ago, particularly pushing my barrow.
Anyway the air was fresh, I was alone with my thoughts and I caught a few fish. I doubt I will go again this week . Oh I nearly forgot , I tried worm on the float with chopped worm using my new double bladed scissors cupped in and with comatose/ dead worm on the hook. The worms hardly wriggled during their termination but the fishies were disinterested. I bought a large tub from AD and wish I hadn’t bothered. I will put them out for the birds.

i saw a pair of buzzards being harassed by crows and amazingly a Harris hawk. I thought my eyes or brain were deceiving me until I saw the falconer with gauntlet. I had a chat with him but he didn’t want to be photographed so no pics. A stunning bird. On balance i enjoyed the day and despite the cold it was better than doing Christmas cards.

 

[Pete Shears]

Hard work walking across recently flooded fields on the upper Soar this morning,soon warmed up though with a bit of bushwhacking to get into swims and was rewarded with three chub, the best at 3lb 10oz and three brown trout, the biggest weighed in at 1lb 8oz.
Four white egrets marching about the fields and a kestrel being chased by crows otherwise not much going on.

 

[terry m]

I have spent a few days recently piking, with some real success.

Last Friday a 3 hour session on the Hants Avon produced a second high twenty at a shade over 26lb. A different fish to the 27 i banked a few weeks ago. Yesterday I plotted up on a gravel pit with the expectation of a slow day. Six takes, three landed and three lost was fun. All the fish in the 8-10 lb range.

Back on the river for a couple of hours this afternoon, one solitary bite, but the result was a perfect 16lb er.

I am not a student of moon phases or air pressure, but it seems that the current conditions are pretty damned good. I may take a look tomorrow…..

 

[Ray Roberts]

I had a day at Pete’s pond today, my club’s tench and crucian water.

It went quite well, I’ve recently bought a couple of lighter quiver tips for my Acolyte Plus feeder rod. The bites showed up really well on the 1oz tip and I wound up with 19 crucians and five tench, unfortunately no real specimens, but not bad really as the water temperature was only 8 degrees.


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[mikench]

It looks a picturesque spot Ray and you did well.

 

[Ray Roberts]

It looks a picturesque spot Ray and you did well.

It’s amazing to think that it was only dug out about five years ago Mike. I should have taken a picture of one of the crucians, they are mint.


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[mikench]

I love crucians and they do give a good account of themselves. I used to go a water on a club card( IanG will know the one) which held some crackers up to 3lb. A couple of club members from the Wirral were visiting the water I was on yesterday and asked me for advice about whether either lake held crucians ( they do and many of 2lb) and said that the crucians in the water I referred to had been decimated by pike which had been illegally stocked by some moron and the club were not doing anything about it. I would sooner have crucians than pike.

 

[Ray Roberts]

I love crucians and they do give a good account of themselves. I used to go a water on a club card( IanG will know the one) which held some crackers up to 3lb. A couple of club members from the Wirral were visiting the water I was on yesterday and asked me for advice about whether either lake held crucians ( they do and many of 2lb) and said that the crucians in the water I referred to had been decimated by pike which had been illegally stocked by some moron and the club were not doing anything about it. I would sooner have crucians than pike.

They don’t do well against predators, there are only cru’s and tench stocked here fortunately. Some fool illegally put a catfish in the adjacent lake, it was removed but why do that?


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[mikench]

Such acts are akin to vandalism of the worst kind. One can only imagine the kind of intellect ( or lack of) that thinks that is acceptable.