http://www.fishingmagic.com/forums/blogs/peter-jacobs/ en Tue, 18 Jun 2013 04:33:27 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.fishingmagic.com/forums/images/misc/rss.jpg http://www.fishingmagic.com/forums/blogs/peter-jacobs/ http://www.fishingmagic.com/forums/blogs/peter-jacobs/1521-south-africa-does-again.html Mon, 23 Jul 2012 07:59:43 GMT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ]]> Peter Jacobs http://www.fishingmagic.com/forums/blogs/peter-jacobs/1521-south-africa-does-again.html http://www.fishingmagic.com/forums/blogs/peter-jacobs/141-free-last-clattercote.html Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:51:53 GMT The reference to being 'free at last' is all about having finally moved into my refurbished apartment in Paris. After spending every week night since June 6th in hotels I finally got to move in last night to the new apartment.

Anyone who has ever read "A Year In Provence" by Peter Mayle and didn't believe the stories surrounding the infamous French word; 'demain' (translates to Tomorrow) should come and talk to me.
When a French tradesman says he will be here 'demain' what he really means is that 'I will return but dont know when'

Anyhow, I have finally moved in and against all the odds and French tradesmen's Gods everything seems to be working as it should.

At long last I can now stop humping a suitecase back and forth every damn week, providing of course that I can find a decent laundry somewhere locally.

Clattercote.

Anyone who has fished an FM event at Clattercote will tell you that it is more about the social side of the day rather than 'bagging-up' (how I hate those words) on the Carp, Bream, Tench and Roach.

For sure, on some very odd, and far inbetween, days this venue will produce - just not when 30 or 40 clodhopping FM'ers have yomped down the boards on the way to their pegs.

So, it was with little confidence that I approached my peg number 22 knowing that all but about 4 or 5 FM'ers would be passing by on their way to the distant pegs.

I had done a little research (and chatted to Neil a few times) so my tactics for the match were to be to fish 3 main lines ; A Method Feeder at distance, an open end feeder at about 25 yards and the back-up line being the waggler (the good old wag and mag approach) at 2 to 3 rod lengths out.

Neil yells for the "All In" (and amazingly enough Mr. Spiller resisted the urge to jump in this year)

Out went the Method Feeder, rod into the rest and I started to make-up the second feeder ready for the re-cast. A few casts later and at 24 minutes into the 'match' the tip goes crashing around and I am into the first Carp of the day, a nice little mirror of about 4 pounds.

Full of the new found confidence that the first fish in a match always brings I recast, and then recast, and then recast; ad nauseum!

Duing this period I had been feeding the waggler line at about 2 rods' lengths with both 2mm pellet and a lot of maggot So, time for a 'waggle' and then another waggle, and another until - you get the picture? Yes, it is called Clattercote!

To cut a long story short, I switched and changed between the 3 lines for most of the match and remained bite-less, until with about an hour to go, and on the waggler rod with 4lb main line and 3lb hook length my (Preston - just had to get the advert in) waggler disappears at a rate of knots, a lift more than a strike is met with unbelievable resistance before the clutch on my 2500 simply screamed. (now had they offered me money I might have said 'my Shimano Stradic 2500 GTM) - but they didn't so they can go whistle)

Now, when attached to a somewhat 'miffed' Carp of approaching double figures in weight, on said tackle, there is little you can do to persuade Mr. Cyprinus Carpio to come and join his mate in your keepnet. Suffice to say that after a pretty long and tiring battle it did eventually grace my landing net. At the weigh in it went 9 pounds 5 ounces.

Well, after that fish had beaten-up my waggler line it was back onto the method feeder line for the rest of the match.

Now, my good firend golden-boll ****. . . at the next peg (Mr. Maidment to you all) had already put 3 Carps into his keepnet, so I needed one more to push him for the points.

Six minutes remaining of the match and the tip goes craching around again, a lift and a decent bend stays in the rod - I've got him (both the fish and old golden balls) but NO! On its first run it breaks the hooklength leaving me with a pretty useless rig, egg all over the mush, and in second place to The Clattercote King.

In all seriousness though, Neil fished a damn tidy match all around and was a worthy winner on the day.

Well done my friend - but next year . . . . . . ]]> Peter Jacobs http://www.fishingmagic.com/forums/blogs/peter-jacobs/141-free-last-clattercote.html http://www.fishingmagic.com/forums/blogs/peter-jacobs/136-rivers-poor-month.html Mon, 26 Oct 2009 06:00:52 GMT It has been a somewhat uninteresting month from a fishing point of view with a very low and 'sour' looking Hampshire Avon and Itchen.

The river Trout season is over on my syndicate stretch but the coarse fishing has just started but the river is in a bad condition; low water, no colour and little flow to speak of either.

It makes this river angler none too keen to venture out in these cooler days, and even my enthusiasm is on the wane. From what I read on the FM fora (yes, that is the plural of forum) most of the rivers are suffering albeit in different ways.

I have only ventured out once in the past 3 weeks due to not only the awful condition of the river but also having been unable to shake-off this damn flu' that has lingered for almost a month.

The session was late afternoon through until it was too dark to see my quiver tip. A few Roach upto about 8 ounces and one solitary Chub of around 3 pounds being the only reward.

So, these last few weeks have been occupied with tackle maintenance, hook tying, seat box cleaning and tidying as well as making the odd few purchases of new bits and pieces.

Some of these have been excellent ideas (the leg extensions to my Preston box) but others have been dismal failures; the Waterline Meat cutter being outstanding in the failure department.

I am looking forward though to the annual Aces versus Chavs match which this year has been moved to Clattercote.
As an 'old' match angler I can still become very eager as match day approaches, and my river woes are put to one side as I plan and get ready for the match. Rods are checked, reels re-spooled with new line, baits bought, prepared and some of them frozen too.

My previous record at Clattercote has not been all that great, but then the Aces versus the Chavs 'match' is more about meeting up with old friends and making new aquaintances with anglers that have up until now been just names on the forum.

The lovely Claudia came round last weekend to return my waders from her Mullet trip with Nigel Connor; but I'll leave it to them to tell about how their day went. Even the ever enthusiastic Claudia is also suffering from the fishing 'blues' at the moment so we are both hoping for some good long periods of rain to help the local river back to its' former glory.

The only glimmer of 'hope' on the horizon is that I will be moving into my new apartment in Paris next month, and after having been in various hotels through the weeks since early June believe me, I am really looking forward to that!

Tight lines.

PGJ ]]> Peter Jacobs http://www.fishingmagic.com/forums/blogs/peter-jacobs/136-rivers-poor-month.html http://www.fishingmagic.com/forums/blogs/peter-jacobs/114-make-plan.html Mon, 28 Sep 2009 05:43:33 GMT It is said that if you want to hear God laugh, then _make a plan._ Regardless, Dave Slater and I made our plans for a day on the Hampshire Avon... It is said that if you want to hear God laugh, then make a plan.

Regardless, Dave Slater and I made our plans for a day on the Hampshire Avon in search of some large Chub and Roach.

I booked the day off of work and travelled home on the Thursday night but, as usual, the FlyBE flight was late which meant I didn't arrive home until just after 11pm. So, I didn't bother too much with preparations and went to bed early for a 5am start.

Added to the late flight was the fact that I'd managed to catch a heavy cold/flu, so I reckoned that God was already having a big smile at my expense.

No need for the alarm as I was up and about by 4.45 got my flask made, rod quiver packed, backpack sorted and the car packed. I was on the road by 6am for the 22 miles from my home to the chosen venue.

Driving through the Wiltshire countryside in the early morning mist through the valley is always an exciting time; expectations tempered by the poor river conditions, but as I drove past the Bull at Downton I began to hope for the best rather than fear for the worst.

Meeting Dave at 7am in the gloomy misty morning we made our way to the swims where Dave gave me a little 'local' knowledge on what to expect, and handed over the pre-booked baits.

So, as Dave wandered off downstream I started to set-up; first disappointment being that I'd left my landing net handle at home! No problem as I substituted the missing handle with a long bank stick, and rigged two quiver tip rods, one with a maggot feeder the other with an open ended feeder.

Bait was trickled in for about 20 minutes before the first cast, and I settled down, still hopeful, but realising that with the ultra low water level and the general 'sour' look to the river that we were both probably only fishing for 2 or 3 bites in the day.

As the sun rose and began to burn-off the early morning mist, and the coffee from my flask began to warm me up, my hope for the day reached their inevitable high.

Well, to avoid boring you all to distraction with accounts of continued casting, feeding and changing of baits and methods; come late afternoon both Dave and I were not only fish-less, but also bite-less as well.

Dave came over and gave me some of his 'secret cheese' that he has used with great success in the past, so with my last bit of optimism I baited up and cast in again.
Looking over towards Dave I virtually missed the viscious bite that ensued; grabbing for the rod and hearing the clutch giving way, I struck into . . . . . Nothing, as the smile on God's face grew larger.

Rebaiting and casting to the same sopt I sat with my hand over the rod butt, and waited.
The quiver tip gave a few little jerks and then shot over to the right, I made a lightening strike and struck into the first resistance of the day. A short, but spirited battle followed until i saw the 'culprit' a bleedin' eel of about one and a half pounds.

Now, Dave and I both agree that the only thing worse than a 'blank; is a day when you only catch a single Eel. I've never liked Eels and never will; slimey twisting beggars that swallow hooks.

So, thoroughly dejected by now, I packed up and spent a last few minutes chatting with Dave, and making plans for another trip later in the year, before driving back home. On the way back I had to stop and collect my daughter for the weekend.

As she got into the car there was a distant rumbling that my daughter asked if it was thunder?

"No darling" I replied;

"It's just God having a damn good laugh at your Dad"


]]> Peter Jacobs http://www.fishingmagic.com/forums/blogs/peter-jacobs/114-make-plan.html http://www.fishingmagic.com/forums/blogs/peter-jacobs/111-weekend-happenings.html Mon, 21 Sep 2009 10:40:20 GMT Well, Saturday's fishing was okay; a low and very clear Itchen didn't make things easy, but I did manage to fool a couple of old Trout in the deeper pools at the bottom of Beat 5.

Nice looking fish too, typical soft yellow and brightly spotted fish that are the trademark on the lower river.

I stopped of on the way home at a couple of spots on the upper Hampshire Avon and was quite surprised at how low the water level is at the moment. Very low and still a lot of weed, but then even the upper reaches across the road from my home are very low at the moment. We need rain!

I also took a trip to Dave Moody's tackle shop to order a new rod and pick up a new Shimano 4000.

He was telling me that business has been pretty good in the weeks after the children went back to school, and that is unusual for our area. He reckoned that quite a few of his customers have been collecting bait for river sessions, and asking his advice on the local stretches too.
If anyone can put you onto decent fish on the Avon then it is Mr. Moody.

The lovely Claudia came round on Sunday to borrow some waders, as she is off for a Mullet session with Nigel next weekend, so it was nice to sit and have a chat over coffee with one of the nicest people in angling today.
She even helped me spool-up my new Shimano 4000's ready for Friday's Hampshire Avon trip with Dave Slater.

Thankfully I am booked on the Thursday evening flight home so it is only a 4 day week for me this week - mind you, Dave wants a 7am start on Friday so there will be no lay-in for me on Friday morning.

Roll on Thursday! ]]> Peter Jacobs http://www.fishingmagic.com/forums/blogs/peter-jacobs/111-weekend-happenings.html http://www.fishingmagic.com/forums/blogs/peter-jacobs/15-random-thoughts-musings.html Fri, 18 Sep 2009 07:48:05 GMT As most people know I work in Paris and commute back and forth for the weekends at home. Home is where I prefer to be for my fishing, but all too... As most people know I work in Paris and commute back and forth for the weekends at home. Home is where I prefer to be for my fishing, but all too often 'work' gets in the way.

Take this week for instance, I was due to fish with Dave Slater on the Hampshire Avon today, but thanks to a couple of mindless Yankee VP's who decided to visit Paris, our fishing trip had to be postponed - dammitt!

Thankfully I managed to avoid their company for dinner last night, and, as is my habit, I usually go into the centre of town for dinner on Thursday evenings.

Now, being a smoker I have been happy to sit outside to eat all through the Summer, which hasn't been too bad this year. However, last night even I was forced inside due to a chilling breeze that seemd to spring up from nowhere.

From the warmth and relative safety of the inside of the restaurant I was able to sit and watch the lovely young ladies of Paris as they sashayed down the Champs Elysees, with that pronounced butt swing that they all seem to adopt, almost from their teenage years.
Now, these ladies know how to dress and how to walk, and this Autumn's in colour seems to be black, which is a bit of a shame really as they all look like they are going to some mass funeral somewhere around George V.

So, what of ,my fishing?

Well, I will take one of my last trips onto the Itchen for Brown Trout on Saturday, but Sunday will be occupied with getting everything ready for next Friday's trip with Mr. Slater.

Roll on next week. ]]> Peter Jacobs http://www.fishingmagic.com/forums/blogs/peter-jacobs/15-random-thoughts-musings.html