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robtherake

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How you watched a starlight all night I don't know, when I have one at the end of my rod I start to hallucinate with it jumping about all over the place
when I know its really not moving at all.

Someone posted a pic of a 2-starlight setup recently: the one at the rear - two feet or so behind the tip - provides a reference point so you don't end up bong eyed. Must be worth a try. :)
 

sam vimes

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A new toy had me scuttling out today. I headed to the river first to find it showing its bones. You'd think it was the height of summer and hadn't rained in weeks. The glides I'd usually fish were very low and seemingly devoid of any obvious fish. After a brief try in a couple, I gave up and headed for one of the roughest riffles, knowing that the trout were likely to be in the fast oxygenated water. The light stick rod I'd set up for the glides was quite inappropriate for the washing machine torrent I ended up fishing. It was more like freelining with a float as a part time sight indicator than proper float fishing. A couple of small trout in a matter of minutes saw me looking to change venues.

On arriving at a club stillwater, my heart sank, the water was blue. Unfortunately, they must have treated the water with weed growth inhibitor fairly recently. I wasn't too hopeful. However, I did find a spot at the shallow windward end of the pond. There were a few small carp visible in the margins and the odd sign of bubbling. After feeding a small amount of maggot, the bubbling increased. However, this place has form for lots of bubbles and zero bites, so it proved tonight. It was heading rapidly towards dusk and all I had for my troubles was a small rudd. The bubbling was still ongoing and previous experience of the place has been for bites to come in flurries at the death. I didn't get a flurry of bites this time, but I did manage one. It turned out to be a half decent bream. No s******ing at the back please.;):D

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binka

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Someone posted a pic of a 2-starlight setup recently: the one at the rear - two feet or so behind the tip - provides a reference point so you don't end up bong eyed. Must be worth a try. :)

I've done that when fishing the tip at night in the past Rob, it works as long as you're looking down the blank so that the two lights are aligned one behind the other and you're looking for the separation when you get a bite.

But fidget or move the slightest inch and all hell breaks loose without anything actually happening at the other end :D
 

john step

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Disaster! The mini match on my syndi. On a water where you normally work hard to avoid the perch, rudd and roach when tenching, it was hard to get a bite from anything. Where do they go and who told the fish we were coming?

There was one blank, several one pound weights, but the winner with several pounds sat facing a bitter cold North East wind. Goes against all the common thoughts.

But there again, it just shows how little we know.
 

greenie62

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Disaster! The mini match on my syndi. On a water where you normally work hard to avoid the perch, rudd and roach when tenching, it was hard to get a bite from anything. Where do they go and who told the fish we were coming?

This is typical of our local day-ticket water - on a pleasure session you can 'bag-up' with 100lb catches not being that unusual - put a keepnet in the water and you'll be pushed to get more than 10lb - with a winning weight of 20lb and everyone else blanking!

We reckon it's the keepnet brandishing that scares them off! :eek::D:eek:mg:
 

qtaran111

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Another weekend, another new stillwater. This time we headed down to the Inn on The Lake, one of the other venues on the TWAPS ticket.

It's a nice setup of three smallish lakes (large, middle and small which are self-explanatory) just off the A2 behind the hotel in the name. There's plenty of trees and rhododendron bushes to make it look picturesque and make it more secluded.

It was busy with quite a few bivvies, which is to be expected on a bank holiday. We opted for the large lake and set up on the far bank. The water there is clear as a bell and drops away steeply from the bank (down to 20ft :eek:) which can be a bit vertigo inducing. It's also very snaggy, so a challenging water.

We both fished similar set ups with float rods for the margins and ledgers out towards the depths. It started off well with plenty of action from the roach, rudd and perch. All the fish that came out were in great condition with beautiful dark green/brown tinged backs.

Towards lunch a jack pike took up residence in my dad's swim, just under some rhododendron roots and took hold of three fish being reeled in. He was pretty hungry and only let go at the last minute just as the landing net came down. Two of the fish were ok, a bit shocked and a couple of loose scales, however one poor rudd was pretty mangled. When he went back in the jack finally had his lunch and left.

After lunch it went quiet. Bites on the float dried up. The bivvie boys alarms were silent and I had one last roach on a swim feeder 2/3 of the way across. Anyway, another great day out :)


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A fairly cold morning but warmed up through the day

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A small trek through the rho's

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All the roach and rudd had a nice greeny bronze tint

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As did the perch

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Having a bite whilst waiting for a bite
 

103841

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Had my first reccy to Repton ponds on Saturday (took a while to find them) and was surprised to find just one angler there. Lovely place and hope to return this coming week to fish it. The angler told me how popular the Inn on the lake is with the carp boys as did the secretary earlier in the week, put me off a bit but seeing your photos I'll have to check it out soon, looks another nice location.
 

sam vimes

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Anyone else think the mouth, the dorsal and the body shape look more like a dace?

My initial reaction was that it wasn't a roach. Could be a dace, though they aren't especially common in stillwaters. My thought was that it's probably an ide/orfe.
 
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binka

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My initial reaction was that it wasn't a roach. Could be a dace, though they aren't especially common in stillwaters. My thought was that it's probably an ide/orfe.

Ide crossed my mind too and probably more likely.
 

hammer_jamie

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Probably is a ide, The lake is full of them.

Binka- There is a river near by, But I don't think even with flooding it would reach.
 

maggot_dangler

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Well 2 days out 2 days of naff .

Yesterday was spoilt by an motor mouth gob ***** that just would not STFU so i wound up packing up and going home before i thumped him .

And today on my local cut 4 hours just 2 tiny perch to show for it not appy but still think i will have to try the donkey pool on Wednesday see if i can break this bad streak ...


PG ...
 

qtaran111

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Had my first reccy to Repton ponds on Saturday (took a while to find them) and was surprised to find just one angler there. Lovely place and hope to return this coming week to fish it. The angler told me how popular the Inn on the lake is with the carp boys as did the secretary earlier in the week, put me off a bit but seeing your photos I'll have to check it out soon, looks another nice location.

Don't let it put you off as its a great location. The carp boys that were there were the kind of anglers you want to meet; quiet, considerate and friendly. We chatted to a few and when we said it was our first time there they offered some tips on location, depths, features etc.

Also I spoke to one of the guys in a local tackle shop about Repton and he said the silver fish fishing on the middle lake is fantastic. :)
 

dorsetandchub

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A few days back, I was plodding down an aisle in Tesco's when the head stopped and the feet didn't, the resulting double take would, I imagine, have been something worth seeing.

Now, I thought I'd assessed just about every Tesco's product for bait worthy application, but here was a new one completely unseen to me and, even odder, there was no indication on the packaging of it being new. In short, it had to be tried.

A pack of diced Spanish chorizo sausage (a cursory glance brought me to a 6mm conclusion) and I couldn't wait to get out today.

So, this morning, I packed the new and now trusty Preston M70 with the same Middy rig of the past few weeks, a 9lb main down to an 8lb trace and a 14.

I'd also packed a Drennan Tench Mk IV, a Browning Ultimatch 50 tooled with 8lb main, a 4BB straight waggler to a Maver Match This 14 to 6.9lb trace.

My usual back up plan of corn (orange Tutti Fruitti flavoured), hemp, some leftover cubed bacon grill (8mm) and some bread.

Two cubes of chorizo went on and were poled out to the island in front of me. I felt both confident and a little stimulated, it had to produce, didn't it?

The float ploughed under like a hangman's test, an unmissable bite. I hope the 3oz roach was impressed. Not quite the start I had in mind to be honest but it was a start I guess and all fish are welcome so back it went, with a smile.

Two more cubes on and back out, and, to an accompaniment of Neil Young, the first carp arrived, at a modest 1lb or so.

Shortly after, a skimmer around 6oz arrived. Was it going to be one of those "patchy, mixed bag, what's next?" days? The short answer was yes as, over the next three hours, the skimmers seemed super keen on the chorizo, the occasional carp that got to the bait first all seemed modest, a pound or two with just one north of 3lbs, a mixed sprinkling of roach and rudd up to about 6oz and one odd perch around the same size.

After some most welcome coffee, a 1930s looking biplane flew over. I've no idea what it was except to say it certainly didn't look military, it certainly DID look art deco and I could easily imagine Hercule Poirot and Insp Hastings ploughing their way to Paris on it.

By now, the roach and rudd had backed off or been bullied out and the skimmers and carp stepped up to the plate in greater numbers but size wise, apart from two better carp around 4lbs apiece, the sizes also remained similar.

I really must try and learn bird calls and songs as there were loads of different offerings and though I could see the occasional visitor on the island, a wren, a robin and what I think were a pair of reed warblers there must have been dozens of other species lost to me.

It was well into the fourth hour when a bite and strike produced a "whoa!" moment, after a terrific tussle what I'd assumed to be a carp suddenly became a barbel around 4lbs, extremely welcome.

A few more carp and skimmers continued and, before I knew it, five hours had gone by.

As I was leaving, I bumped into one of the site staff who was engaged in fishery maintenance. After quizzing him on perch, he put me onto a fishery in Somerset that is lightly fished but believed to be a real possibility for our stripy friends once Autumn starts to show its colours so here's hoping.

Having an insurance appoint to attend to, I had to cry off and, after arriving, the question was put to me whether I partake in any dangerous sports. Ask me in February after three months of unfishable rivers and extend "dangerous" from merely physical to emotional and I just might but,for now,
I've got several months of light nights, warm weather and time away from the coal face to fill so roll on another nice Summer. Again, here's hoping.

Adieu :)
 

seth49

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A quite day yesterday most fish seem to be preoccupied with spawning,the carp were swimming round in bunches, and not really interested at all,plenty of small Rudd one decent roach about a pound, and one small ide.

Even the bigger ide weren't playing and I've had them to four pounds six ounce in here, lovely day to be out in the warm sunshine though, did manage a couple of small two poundish carp later on of the top in the afternoon, plus a barbel of about three pounds, on peperami on the feeder rod. Peperami is one of the baits on here which doesn't get destroyed by the hordes of small Rudd.

I know a lot of people don't like barbel in Stillwaters, but these have done really well, they were stocked at about six ounces in weight and the best one caught so far is just over ten pounds, there Are even small ones which seems to point to them spawning in here.the owner thinks they have anyway.

 
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