Purely for Pleasure

The emphasis on this series is how to enjoy your fishing no matter where you’re fishing or what you’re fishing for.

TIME GENTLEMEN PLEASE

It’s that time again folks. The river season ends and thestillwaters beckon (with due regard to the restrictions imposed bythe foot-and-mouth disease of course). Spring is, allegedly, in theair and the species more associated with the warmer temperatures aremoving again.

Looking back over the last twelve months I can honestly say I haveenjoyed it more than many previous years, and mainly due to thiswebsite. I have had some good days out with fellow site members andmade some good new friends. Long may that continue. I haven’tcaught too many personal bests this year, the exception being myperch PB that I broke twice. The most disappointing aspect was thatI didn’t get my first double-figure barbel, but I’m sure that’s justa matter of time. I have had some nice fish and some memorablecatches though and here are my top three highlights.

Three Big Barbel And A PB Perch

The first is the three barbel for 25lb 12oz on my first seriousbarbel session on the lower Severn at the beginning of August. Second was 35lb of winter roach caught on the stick float from theBristol Avon on the 22nd of December. Third were the five perchcaught in the hour before dark during a January session on theBristol Avon where all were over 1lb with two over 2lbs, including mycurrent personal best of 2lb 12oz. Can’t be bad, if I say somyself.

There was an expectancy that this year we might have be able tocontinue fishing the rivers, but the recommendations of the Salmonand Freshwater Fisheries Review Board were not upheld and the riverclose season remains in place. Whether good or bad is nowirrelevant, and I couldn’t make up my mind in any case as much of thediscussion was based on emotion rather than scientific evidence and Iended up sitting on the fence with a headache.

Anyway, that’s water under the bridge so to speak and we shouldnow be looking forward to three months concentrating on the enclosedwaters and canals. That was of course before the Foot and Mouthoutbreak limited our choice. Severe restrictions are now in placethat make some our prime stillwater and canal venues out of bounds. But whatever there should still be access to a variety of stillwaterfisheries around the country providing we all remain sensible andobey the restrictions.

For me the running water close season is, in a way, actually agood thing. Not because of any belief that rivers should close down,just that if the river close season had been lifted I would probablyfish the running water for all twelve months of the year instead ofonly the nine currently such is my love of river fishing.

Rusty Carper

So, the big question now is where do I go and what do I target. As I have a French carp trip booked in October, which will be in thecompany of some very competent carp anglers, I had better get in somepractice. I don’t fish for carp very often and I know I am veryrusty. They tell me I will have to cast up to 100 yards to get toreasonable fish holding spots on this particular French lake, so afew hours in a (non restricted) field will probably be called for toperfect my casting technique. I can honestly say I have never foundit necessary to cast more than 60 yards before so I am going to haveto nearly double my personal best just in the casting stakes before Ieven start fishing! Hopefully the recent upgrade of my carp rods tonew 2.75lb Shimano’s will help me achieve this.

Also on the carp front, I have never fished a method feederseriously before, so I shall be giving that a try. I have beenlooking at the various types of method feeders available and havesettled on the Fox versions. Their design looks right to me, minimalfuss but well made and safe for the fish. I am looking forward toexperimenting with mixes until I find one that I can be confident inand I have a few venues in mind where I can try them out. A fewnoted carp waters are on the cards for the specimen group I belong toas we are discussing venues for fish-ins. I will probably fish themthere.

Another carp ‘first’ I may try is to fish for them in a canal. Ihave been reading up on stalking canal carp and I fancy a go on theKennet and Avon. Creeping along the canal looking for feeding fishand float fishing or freelining a bait over their heads is right upmy street. There are some big unknown fish to be had in some canals,but I will be happy with a ‘double’ or two.

Keith Culley Memorial Match

One date I am definitely not going to miss, F&M restrictionspermitting, is the 7th April. The Keith Culley Memorial match isbeing held on that day, where we will be fishing the pole atClattercote Reservoir in honour of the memory of our good friendKeith ‘the Pole’ Culley who sadly died in June last year. Keithfished almost exclusively on the pole, hence the theme of the match. The fishing itself should be great fun on this predominantly carpstocked water and I am really looking forward to having my elasticstretched by them. Meeting existing friends and making new oneswill probably be even more fun, with a social event to look forwardto after the match. Best not forget to pack the Alka Seltzer!

Hopefully I can get a few more sessions in on the pole too. Polefishing is a really active technique, keeping you busy andconcentrating all the time. Targeting skimmer bream and roach isgreat fun with this method, with light rigs balanced so that just acouple of millimetres of float stem are visible. I like to introducea few balls of groundbait and then loose-feed maggots, hemp andcaster over the top. Feeding when using a pole is difficultinitially, but you quickly develop the knack and it becomes secondnature after a while. Watching that float tip dip below the surfaceand lifting into a fish, feeling it thumping on the line with theelastic stretching from the pole is a joy. Those who don’t currentlyuse a pole should try it sometime.

Get Amongst The Tench

During May and June I hope to be able to get amongst some tench. They are definitely one of my favourite species. In fact they areone of the species that would keep me off the rivers periodicallyafter June 16th. Fortunately I don’t have to make that decision as Iknow a stretch of river that has some very good specimens. Butduring May and early June I shall be trying to catch them from theirmore traditional stillwater homes.

I like to fish for tench in the early morning, with a groundbaitfeeder rig combined with bite alarms and bobbins, bait being corn,worms, caster and pellets. It’s such a nice way of fishing, gettinga good bed of bait down and then waiting for the tench to startgrazing over the top. With the buzzers on you can afford to takeyour eyes off the bobbins for a while and appreciate the countrysidewaking around you.

Float Fishing For Crucians

Another species I would like to catch over the next few months isthe crucian carp. Personally, I think they are lovely fish and areanother species I tend to neglect by fishing running water almostexclusively between June and March. They are a species I grew upwith, catching them in some of the local ponds around my then home inKent. A few hours spent float fishing for crucian’s may well becalled for when the weather warms up. A traditional small peacockquill float fished slightly over-depth, probably lift style, withbread or corn on the hook. As a kid I used to catch them on pastemade just with flour and sugar. Maybe a bit of experimenting withpastes could see me come up with some nice fat, butter colouredbeauties.

Burning Ambition For A 3lb Perch

Add my other two favourite species into the equation, perch androach, and I will have some decisions to make as to where to go andwhat to do. I have a burning ambition to land a 3lb plus perch. Ireally want the first to be from a particular stretch of the BristolAvon where I have had a series of decent ‘two’s’, but if I sniff anopportunity to get a big stillwater perch I won’t need to be askedtwice. And as for roach, well stillwaters seem to be throwing upsome big fish recently, especially gravel pits that are predominantlycarp fisheries. The silver fish are largely ignored on these watersand I’m sure a few clonkers are yet to be discovered.

So, will this river fisherman be packing up for three months? Noton your life! I think I will find plenty of fishing to keep meoccupied until 16th June and I’m looking forward to enjoying everypleasurable minute. They might call “Time Gentleman Please” on therivers, but the stillwaters provide a fine alternative and anopportunity to do something a bit different.