How did you get on?

[mikench]

Agreed Alan but he is of significant concern to all.

 

[Alan Whitty]

Yes, but one we have no control of and whatever government is in power they all kiss the American ring, maybe we should remove all American airbases/personnel, or tariff each serviceman a million dollars....our own prime minister is more of a concern to me, he is going to strip me of all my planned pension security, numpty....

 

[Steve Arnold]

I checked the weather forecast for the week on Sunday and Tuesday was to be warm, sunny and no wind. Normally I would be down the river on a day like that, but the lack of wind allowed me to do a long overdue chore.....re-silicon a main panel joint in the roof of our old campervan. It would involve removing a large rooflight, hence the wind-free day requirement!

Well, I got the job done. So I promised myself some fishing on Wednesday, of course it was back to wind and showers but maybe a calm evening

So I was fishing by 4pm and quickly catapulted some groundbait balls into the boat channel. I had taken just one rod and tried a variety of boilie and paste baits. I had one good bite on a small paste covered boilie hair-rigged on a size 8, but no fish, just most of the paste sucked away.

I decided to go up to a size 4 on a blowback rig, a trimmed 20 mm Starbaits NFS on a long hair. That would take anything hungry here, including carp.

The sky cleared a little into the evening, some sunshine but the sun was low now. Several fish had swirled over about an hour, one barbel jumped clear of the surface. Finally they stopped playing and a barbel took my bait properly.....

Followed by another slightly heavier, fatter......

and then a good chub....

I think a cormorant may have had a couple of jabs at that fish!

It went quiet for an hour so I launched the last few balls of groundbait in.......and waited....and waited as darkness fell.

Just as the last light was fading a fast take and a heavy fish hooked. It did not run far but the rod was being jerked in a rhythmic beat and then slack line as it swam towards me. I reeled as fast as I could and the fish turned and sped about 30 metres downstream......I felt line grating rocks ...then the hook pulled!

Probably that had been a big carp, but I will check my rig in daylight and see if it has been "slimed" by a silure!

 

[Alan Whitty]

Fished a club lake/pond I have never fished before, just for a change, had four commons up to 8lbs, an F1 about 3lbs and three rudd, the strong easterly wind caused major issues feeding and casting, purely because gusts interrupted play...
Forgot to say, caught on punched meat over pellet again...

 

[riverman]

decent session today,went to moor monkton pools nr york and fished cyprio lake (peg 15).fished mussels and prawns on the waggler with hemp over the top.finished with 10 carp to 7lb and 5 bream to 3lb.nice lake but the platforms were covered in goose droppings and the resident geese were making a right racket all day which was a bit annoying when youre wanting a peaceful days fishing.

 

[mikench]

Canada geese are best slow cooked im told.

 

[Alan Whitty]

I went yesterday, but I'd better lay down the events previous, at 2.10am my wife came to bed, our autistic son John wouldn't settle, her arriving stirred me into going for a wee, on getting back to bed my guts started hurting, so couldn't settle, downstairs for a spoon of gaviscon, then had to run to the toilet for a poo, no more sleep for me, three more visits to the loo and gut pain(all day), but come around 7am I felt I'd settled enough to go, I'd organised to meet a mate at the crucian lake, I'd just got the other side of Harpenden and I started to feel sick, very rare for me, so pulled into a small car park and technicolour yawned in the long grass, of I trundled thinking that would probably help clear it, which it probably did, got to the lake, mate arrived and off we went, started to fish and upon sitting down started to hurt more again and missed nine bites in a row, just couldn't concentrate , then missed several more, getting tangles every third or fourth cast striking poorly, the pain came and went and I put up with it until 3pm, when the urge to run to the loo meant I dare not risk staying, I'd managed 9 skimmers, a 3lb bream, similar sized male tench, two crucians, one good one around 2lbs, which because of the way I felt just couldnt be arsed to weigh and a 2lb common, just got the gear in the car and dashed to the toilet, found out my missus had been sick too and her and the lads had been having regular dashes to the loo, God knows what we ate as everything seemed good???

 

[Steve Arnold]

I went yesterday, but I'd better lay down the events previous, at 2.10am my wife came to bed, our autistic son John wouldn't settle, her arriving stirred me into going for a wee, on getting back to bed my guts started hurting, so couldn't settle, downstairs for a spoon of gaviscon, then had to run to the toilet for a poo, no more sleep for me, three more visits to the loo and gut pain(all day), but come around 7am I felt I'd settled enough to go, I'd organised to meet a mate at the crucian lake, I'd just got the other side of Harpenden and I started to feel sick, very rare for me, so pulled into a small car park and technicolour yawned in the long grass, of I trundled thinking that would probably help clear it, which it probably did, got to the lake, mate arrived and off we went, started to fish and upon sitting down started to hurt more again and missed nine bites in a row, just couldn't concentrate , then missed several more, getting tangles every third or fourth cast striking poorly, the pain came and went and I put up with it until 3pm, when the urge to run to the loo meant I dare not risk staying, I'd managed 9 skimmers, a 3lb bream, similar sized male tench and a 2lb common, just got the gear in the car and dashed to the toilet, found out my missus had been sick too and her and the lads had been having regular dashesbto the loo, God knows what we ate as everything seemed good???

Norovirus maybe? it's been a bad winter for that!

 

[Steve Arnold]

The sun was dominant yesterday, so I phoned fishing buddy Alistair to suggest a trip to a section of the Lot we call "the Garden". So we decided to fish from 3pm to dusk, hopefully then miss the strongest sunshine.
When we arrived there was already a family picnicking in the shady swim I wanted, so we were stuck out on the lush grassy flood meadow .....in full sun! For Alistair this is not a problem, old colonial type who would still have a coat on in these conditions, but I really have to be careful. Fortunately I had slapped on plenty of factor 50 sunscreen but still felt cooked after an hour!
The family left so as we had not even had a bite I suggested a move. Alistair was not for shifting, as I said - this sunshine and heat is just coming into his comfort zone!

So I just grabbed minimal gear and walked down to the bend. Hmmm! how long will this unwelcome visitor be staying?......

.....a fallen tree had drifted across half the swim, lucky the river is low and clear and I got to see it.

But I managed one barbel out of this swim, about 5 lbs I guess.......

.....then I had two good takes but no fish. The sun was now a bit lower so I went back to the first swim, no fish yet for Alistair.

I had put in several balls of groundbait when we first arrived, hopefully something would be attracted soon. So I cast out and not long after it was Alistair who had a small barbel. No photo of him and fish, he prefers not to touch them for danger of sliming his clothes!

A little later I had a barbel, for me fish slime, mud and even occasional soakings have become part of river fishing life.....

Love this place!

 

[Alan Whitty]

Hi Steve, don't think I was bad enough for norovirus, the night before we had chicken goujons, but my youngest being a celiac had similar but from his packet, both were from frozen, I would say that when I was putting the washing up away before we ate, the vegetables had a funny smell whilst cooking, they were all fresh though, might have been some noxious slugs in them, lol...

 

[nottskev]

I re-joined an old club and went for a recce around some of their stills at the weekend. I especially liked the look of this lake. 250 yards long, 30 odd yards wide, trees all around and lilies and reed beds just starting to grow. The setting is definitely rural - all bird song, sheep and hills rising up behind - and the stock is tench, crucians and a few carp. I don't think it's a place to catch a lot, but it looks like a lovely place to fish when it warms up a bit.

More blue skies and bright sun. Great weather, but not ideal fishing weather. This afternoon I went back to the canal as the best bet for a few bites. The roach length, unusually, had several anglers on. The ide length was devoid of anglers, so I went there

I set up the pole and a waggler rod - I was too lazy to do both last time - and fished shallow for ide at about 9m and hemp and corn over by the reeds under the tree. Plenty of ide came along while I fed the far swim

I was hoping, despite the conditions, for a tench or a bream, but when I did fish over to the far side there were only more ide. I fed more corn as it seemed the few bits I fed weren't even reaching the bottom, and eventually hooked something bigger, four more or less identical F1's. This one had been attacked by something so I could tell that whilst I might have caught the same one 3 times, I didn't catch it 4 times.

It's nice to sit in the sun and get bites, but now I've been on the canal a few times, I'm ready for a change of venue and a change in the weather.

 

[chevin4]

Last Wednesday I went with my good friend Leon to the Cambridgeshire Lake where I spent the last couple of trips pike fishing. Confidence was low owing to a cold start (2c) and a strong E wind which was due to gust at around 30mph for much of the day. As it was too exposed and windy for float fishing we both elected to fish maggot blockend feeders on helicopter rigs. The lake in question used to produce quality roach and tench before its closure in 2013. When the lake reopened for fishing in 2020 the fishing had declined but given that the lake is local to me I decided to keep my membership in the hope it would return to its former glories. It was certainly nice sitting in the wall to wall sunshine but given the strong crosswind accurate baiting was quite problematic. Having settled in it was time for the first brew at 9am. At the same time the bobbin dropped before lifting,the strike was met by firm resistance which resulted in a superb roach of 2lb 3oz my first two pounder since Feb 1985. Leon was delighted for me and as a new member is looking forward to fishing the venue with a renewed sense of purpose. Hopefully the lake is on the way back as a quality big fish water and I am looking forward in returning tomorrow.

 

[seth49]

On our club water yesterday, hoping for tench and crucians which I didn’t catch, but I caught nearly every other species in the apart from roach, I had a barbel, an ide, a chub, a F1,and six skimmers.

plus two carp one of which was a mirror of around 6lbs which was a deep chunky one, which was a nice blue slate colour.

plenty of wildlife about saw curlews, lapwing, a buzzard, and heard a woodpecker drumming on a dead tree behind me all day, also saw my first swallow of the year, which is around a week early for around here.

 

[nottskev]

The Old Lake used to be a favourite and I wanted to give it a try. This involved remembering all the reasons I liked it and forgetting all the reasons I stopped going several years ago. With one bank in the shade of a wood, at least I'd be out of the sun.

I got off to a mixed start. I threw my keepnet out and watched while the landing net head bundled with it slowly sank. Ten minutes later, I'd grappled it out with a big hook. First cast, and a bite on the drop improved things

But then an influx of new arrivals changed the mood. The scene included: two sets of mums plus small boys (I'd forgotten the school holidays), mums on their phones, boys running around; an angler shouting at a barking dog (bark bark bark shut up bark bark bark shut up); a carper opposite me who cast 2/3 of the way over to me; another in the next swim who I thought was spodding til I realised he was hurling out a floater set-up with a pike bung or something; a couple of people just quietly fishing. The smell of weed from the spod-launching area was overpowering. A JCB rumbled back and to on the construction site next door. Meanwhile, my swims had filled up - I was trying groundbait and pinkies for any surviving tench and crucians - with tiny perch. I was already thinking of jacking it in after a couple of hours when a van pulled up at the water's edge. Three young blokes set up their budget equipment, then they extracted from the van a two-seater sofa which they placed behind their rods and crammed on to. What's the saying? Never go back.

 

[mikench]

That saying is the title of a Reacher novel.