The Final Entry
Well here we are, after over a year documenting my weekly fishing, we’ve reached the end… Of course, I’ll be continuing on with my angling pursuits, and new projects. If you wish to stay up to date with what I’m up to, head over to my Facebook or Instagram accounts – Robbie Northman.
I’m proud to have documented my weekly fishing over such a time span, and hope these past articles have been enjoyable and helpful in your own fishing. So let’s break down a year in angling, what I target over 12 months, and when I target each species. I’ll cover the tactics I find most effective through each month.
APRIL
An exciting month for me. After a short break I begin my trout fishing adventure. Restricted to fly fishing in East Anglia, I fish with a mixture of nymphing and streamer tactics. Occasionally cashing in on short spells of dry fly action during hatches of olives and hawthorn flies.
MAY
As we creep into May, fly hatches become more prolific, eventually the Mayfly appear. A great time to single out large trout on dry fly. With the change in weather bass frequent a now much clearer coast. Soft plastics and jigging metals fished at range single out fish in rough and calm conditions.
As May transitions to June the minnow gets his spawning colours
JUNE
A very special month for all anglers. Trout and bass get my attention up until the 16th, then it’s chub time. Still naive, topwater tactics can prove deadly for early season chub. Lures like the Savage Gear 3D Cicada and shallow diving crankbaits are the most deadly through this month.
JULY
Throughout early July I’m still cashing in on naive chub, as the month draws on they require a little more finesse. Weightless soft plastics and beetle flies come into play, tricking wary fish. Meanwhile, the bass have been another target, calm consistent conditions have kept the fish at range most days. Extreme casting with distance metals and jigs picks up fish at long distance, occasionally with awesome results.
AUGUST
Bass, chub and impossible fish. August is a varied month, bass can be tricky but quality mackerel make great coastal sport. Range metals and sandeel cranks produce the best action. The chub are difficult, small crankbaits and plastics, fished with a stealthy approach produce. As for the impossible fish… sea trout. I’ve been trying to catch them around the coast for a few seasons, I haven’t cracked it yet.
SEPTEMBER
Still a great month for coastal fishing, bass, mullet, the odd big mackerel. All sorts of tactics work as cooler weather creates more storms and turbid water. The late summer chub fishing can be quite amazing too. The fish will often feed with aggression, taking large lures. Topwater perch are a valid option throughout September.
OCTOBER
The start of my winter’s predator fishing. The bass are still active but I turn my attention to perch and pike. Big lures, jerkbaits, swimbaits, and tailbaits provoke aggressive strikes. Meanwhile, perch are keen to hit active lures, big creature baits and swimbait shads are my go-to.
NOVEMBER
Seasonal changes take place. The pike slow down a little, big lures fished with more finesse work. While finesse shad tactics pick out lazy fish. The perch are migrating and can be tricky. Creature baits and ned rigs work the best for me. Let’s not miss out zander. November onwards proves the best for me when it comes to targeting Zs on a mix of slow shading and dropshot tactics.
DECEMBER
Often a tricky month, the predators are nearing the end of their main migration, cooler waters have slowed the metabolism. December is a finesse month for me. Small shads, ned rigs, and crankbaits. Fishing slow will pick up both a mixture of perch and pike for me.
JANUARY
Usually the first truly cold month, frosts are more frequent now and the fish have acclimatised and settled in to their winter hunting zones. Slow tactics work well for the bites. Shads, creatures and neds dragging the bottom. Equally when things are going slow try crankbaits and jerkbaits to entice a reaction bite or two, they often pick up big pike.
FEBRUARY
My favourite month for big perch. They are well settled and hungry most sessions. I like to give them a big snack to entice a take. Large jerkbaits, big cranks, big craws, and stick baits all work well. Keeping an eye on weather changes, looking for consistent conditions to fish aggressive lures, and sudden pressure drops to slow things down, and then fish the larger static lures.
MARCH
A perch and pike fest. The final weeks of the season, fish are moving out and beginning to migrate to spawning grounds. If you can find them and entice a take there’s often the chance of a specimen. Suspending jerkbaits and slow sinking paddle tails work well for the pike. While almost anything can trigger a big perch frenzy. Often bright and warm, slow ned rigging tactics prevail. When overcast, cool conditions hit, faster hard lures can produce.
Now we’ve come full circle and reached the end of my year in fishing. A plan I’ve followed as a lure all-rounder for the last few seasons and will again this year. Thank you for following my adventures over the past year.
