How did you get on?

[Pete Shears]

Yesterday was spent on the banks of the reservoir,again after pike.Could not believe it,a run,a pike of 6lb10oz landed,recast - another run 15 minutes later to the same rod and another pike of 7lb 8oz.Had to sit down and have a coffee to recover from all this action and watch the kestrel & buzzards and plenty of bumble bees.
About one hour later ,another run - same rod & bait but the pike let go.Shortly after that another fast run on the left hand rod,felt the fish and that let go too.
My mate Ady was fishing just a short way down the bank and he was also getting a few runs - all pike 5 to 6lb - he ended up with five with one dropped run.
Around 1pm another run on the middle rod resulted in a pike of 6lb 12oz,all caught on wire traces with two single hooks and returned safely.
Might go back on Tuesday after the latest forecast monsoon.

 

[thecrow]

Yesterday was spent on the banks of the reservoir,again after pike.Could not believe it,a run,a pike of 6lb10oz landed,recast - another run 15 minutes later to the same rod and another pike of 7lb 8oz.Had to sit down and have a coffee to recover from all this action and watch the kestrel & buzzards and plenty of bumble bees.
About one hour later ,another run - same rod & bait but the pike let go.Shortly after that another fast run on the left hand rod,felt the fish and that let go too.
My mate Ady was fishing just a short way down the bank and he was also getting a few runs - all pike 5 to 6lb - he ended up with five with one dropped run.
Around 1pm another run on the middle rod resulted in a pike of 6lb 12oz,all caught on wire traces with two single hooks and returned safely.
Might go back on Tuesday after the latest forecast monsoon.

Sounds like the boys were hanging around waiting for a female Pete.

 

[maggot_dangler]

Club pool for me today .

Almost got blown in a couple of times blue hoowie or what 23 fish in all highlight of ther session a couple of nice perch one just 1 ounce under 3lb the othe one 2lb7oz ( i took me scales today ) the rest consisted of the normal skimmers and mini roach with the exception of the first Crucian of the year for me not big 6oz but happy with it Still hoping for some early tench .

PG ...

 

[S-Kippy]

Sounds like the boys were hanging around waiting for a female Pete.

Just what i was thinking. Get back down there sharpish.

 

[binka]

Just what i was thinking. Get back down there sharpish.

And take some worms

 

[thames mudlarker]

GUC Tring today for a match with members of another forum, mild and cloudy accompanied by a very gusty SW hooly... The first 13 pegs had it blowing broadside but the last 3 pegs were like a mill pond so I was happy to draw one of them. The downside was the wind was on my back and likely to blow stuff straight into the water.. At the off having anchored everything down I cupped in a small pot of liquy up the far shelf @ 9m and a small ball of fish meal groundbait down the middle... Started on punch and had a nice run of small roach.



As expected this lasted for half an hour before they vanished. Out on the middle rig with double pinkie and nothing doing except this ruff.



During this period the angler to my left lost 2 topkits and a no4 section blown in by the wind whilst fishing his pole, all 3 sunk in front of him mg:



My net bag went flying too but I deftly stopped it blowing across to the opposite bank catching it with my pole tip and dragging it out...

2 and a half hours in the roach reappeared on the punchline so I concentrated on that to the all out at 3:30.
Wasn't exactly bite a chuck but I put together a respectful net considering the conditions and the calibre of the other participants, weighing in 2lb:7.



No cigar but I kind of enjoyed it despite the nerve twinging conditions, I don't mind rain, cold or hot but wind has to be my pet hate when trying to fish, especially the pole....

The winner had a 7lb carp on his roach rig first put in followed by a 4lb chub on the second! No blanks today but I beat some top matchmen nonetheless.
Had I drawn the lower section I think things may have been different:wh

Nice one Simon, well done to you for sheer persistence alone :thumbs:

I don't mind hot, cold or even wind as I never use a pole but one thing I hate is damm rain mg:.....lols

 

[rubio]

Not settled in to a stillwater routine yet. Had a go on club lake but fished poorly and caught poorly. Will find my rhythm and hopefully some crucians soon.

 

[fishing4luckies]

Had a day at a local (ish) Carp Puddle - Chart Fishery near Maidstone.

Decided to give the new Drennan Avon a tryout. I also get meself a Drennan Series 7 Carp Method BR reel - very pleased with that indeed.

Wind was blowing straight into our faces - our peg choice was limited due to a match taking place on most of the lake.

The Carp were in evidence as we got setup - lots of splashing and wallowing going on.

To be honest there's no real need for any tactics on this place. The Carp are plentiful, very hungry, and totally suicidal.

Big lumps of luncheon meat hair rigged on a size 10 to 8lb mono and heave-ho, in it goes. Set the alarms and count to 100. If you haven't got a bite by then it means you've cast into a tree.

After the first 8 or 10 fish up to 10lb boredom begins to set in.

So I removed the rig, attached a size 14 with no lead or any other accoutrements and spent a fun filled 10 minutes trying to get cat biscuits on the hook. A trip to the Van for some superglue and all was well.

A few handfuls of Asda feline food under my feet and you could practically have walked on the raft of Carpy lumps that turned up. The slurping was louder than a dining room at an old peoples home on soup night!!

After an hour or so of targeting the bigger fish like this I decided to put the time to use practicing casting tight to an island.

I chucked on a Preston Interchange Banjo feeder, stuffed it with sticky pellets and managed to get within a foot of the bank after a few practice chucks.

Then the alarm went ballistic and after about 10 minutes of wrestling this little freak turned up!! I've never caught one before and when they start the whimpering screechy noise it's most disconcerting.

View image in gallery​

So all in all a reasonable day, but if there's one thing I do know it's that I HATE FISHING IN WIND.

Best Carp - 13lb 8oz mirror
Sturgeon - 11lb 5 oz.

 

[103841]

Had a day at a local (ish) Carp Puddle - Chart Fishery near Maidstone.

Decided to give the new Drennan Avon a tryout. I also get meself a Drennan Series 7 Carp Method BR reel - very pleased with that indeed.

Wind was blowing straight into our faces - our peg choice was limited due to a match taking place on most of the lake.

The Carp were in evidence as we got setup - lots of splashing and wallowing going on.

To be honest there's no real need for any tactics on this place. The Carp are plentiful, very hungry, and totally suicidal.

Big lumps of luncheon meat hair rigged on a size 10 to 8lb mono and heave-ho, in it goes. Set the alarms and count to 100. If you haven't got a bite by then it means you've cast into a tree.

After the first 8 or 10 fish up to 10lb boredom begins to set in.

So I removed the rig, attached a size 14 with no lead or any other accoutrements and spent a fun filled 10 minutes trying to get cat biscuits on the hook. A trip to the Van for some superglue and all was well.

A few handfuls of Asda feline food under my feet and you could practically have walked on the raft of Carpy lumps that turned up. The slurping was louder than a dining room at an old peoples home on soup night!!

After an hour or so of targeting the bigger fish like this I decided to put the time to use practicing casting tight to an island.

I chucked on a Preston Interchange Banjo feeder, stuffed it with sticky pellets and managed to get within a foot of the bank after a few practice chucks.

Then the alarm went ballistic and after about 10 minutes of wrestling this little freak turned up!! I've never caught one before and when they start the whimpering screechy noise it's most disconcerting.

View image in gallery​

So all in all a reasonable day, but if there's one thing I do know it's that I HATE FISHING IN WIND.

Best Carp - 13lb 8oz mirror
Sturgeon - 11lb 5 oz.

I've fished there once and have vowed never to return, shame it's a well run and nice location but the amount of stock is just crazy.

I catch sturgeon in my local lake, a different strain to the ones in Chart.

 

[fishing4luckies]

I've fished there once and have vowed never to return, shame it's a well run and nice location but the amount of stock is just crazy.

I've only fished there once previously - the first time I'd been fishing in over 30 years. I was invited by a mate and took my son along. To be fair it gave me the bug again after a 30+year absence, but it has little else to commend it. I won't be back.

 

[103841]

I've only fished there once previously - the first time I'd been fishing in over 30 years. I was invited by a mate and took my son along. To be fair it gave me the bug again after a 30+year absence, but it has little else to commend it. I won't be back.

Most probably won't visit a water where I need to use a landing net quite as often. The owner must be some kind of masochist making you use the their own landing nets which after the first ten carp get rather heavy.

 

[john step]

As the forecast was rain today(and boy oh boy didn't it rain) I sat under the brolly with a conifer windbreak behind me on a small club fishery.

I had an itinerant rainbow that had sneaked in from the inflow pipe several carp, roach rudd and perch and to make my day a GUDGEON which is the first one I have seen in goodness knows how many years.

 

[Graham Elliott 1]

Well.....the local club has aquired a new water a quarry of about 10 acres that hasnt been fished before by all
accounts.
Rumours of tench carp and perch. I tried it with the maggot and groundbait feeder for 3 rain and windswept hours. After I was soaked through decided to go home but then thought of passing Sainsburys and popping in for some prawns and having a perch afternoon.

So back to the Millpond arriving at 12.

Still raining and lunch in the car till the rain lessened and wind dropped by 1pm.

A few hours catching bream and roach until a nicely marked perch of exactly 2lb turned up.

6pm and the float slid under and kept going. A small carp or big perch? Don't know. It came off!

10 minutes later definately a perch and a good one....
Those words...please dont come off...failed this time and it slid into the net.
Very Nice fish and beat my previous venue best of last season and weighed 3lb.9 oz . Yes.

Hopefully PC will put up pics for me.

The day ended very badly though. Those that read my report about helping a mates friend, Rob after two days Wye blanking, catch his first double figure fish.

Just got a message from my Mate to tell me his pal, a friend of 40 years suddenly passed away yesterday. 68 years old. Terrible shock.
Enjoy it while you can. RIP Rob.

 

[binka]

10 minutes later definately a perch and a good one....
Those words...please dont come off...failed this time and it slid into the net.
Very Nice fish and beat my previous venue best of last season and weighed 3lb.9 oz . Yes.

Belting perch Graham, well done and congrats on the new venue pb... I'm looking forward to seeing it

 

[peter crabtree]

And as if by magic...



Graham's big perch...


Edit. Thanks for the likes but please save them for Graham. Posting these pics is a pleasure and I deserve no merit as its pi55 easy once you know how...

 

[fishing4luckies]

Nice fish. Very nice in fact. I particularly like the way his (her) colouring matches your jacket - even the zip pull is co-ordinated with the fins. Very chic!!

 

[thames mudlarker]

Had a day at a local (ish) Carp Puddle - Chart Fishery near Maidstone.

Decided to give the new Drennan Avon a tryout. I also get meself a Drennan Series 7 Carp Method BR reel - very pleased with that indeed.

Wind was blowing straight into our faces - our peg choice was limited due to a match taking place on most of the lake.

The Carp were in evidence as we got setup - lots of splashing and wallowing going on.

To be honest there's no real need for any tactics on this place. The Carp are plentiful, very hungry, and totally suicidal.

Big lumps of luncheon meat hair rigged on a size 10 to 8lb mono and heave-ho, in it goes. Set the alarms and count to 100. If you haven't got a bite by then it means you've cast into a tree.

After the first 8 or 10 fish up to 10lb boredom begins to set in.

So I removed the rig, attached a size 14 with no lead or any other accoutrements and spent a fun filled 10 minutes trying to get cat biscuits on the hook. A trip to the Van for some superglue and all was well.

A few handfuls of Asda feline food under my feet and you could practically have walked on the raft of Carpy lumps that turned up. The slurping was louder than a dining room at an old peoples home on soup night!!

After an hour or so of targeting the bigger fish like this I decided to put the time to use practicing casting tight to an island.

I chucked on a Preston Interchange Banjo feeder, stuffed it with sticky pellets and managed to get within a foot of the bank after a few practice chucks.

Then the alarm went ballistic and after about 10 minutes of wrestling this little freak turned up!! I've never caught one before and when they start the whimpering screechy noise it's most disconcerting.

View image in gallery​

So all in all a reasonable day, but if there's one thing I do know it's that I HATE FISHING IN WIND.

Best Carp - 13lb 8oz mirror
Sturgeon - 11lb 5 oz.

Nice one fella, well done, cracking little Sturgeon :thumbs:

Don't mind the wind but hate rain

---------- Post added at 23:06 ---------- Previous post was at 22:56 ----------

Well.....the local club has aquired a new water a quarry of about 10 acres that hasnt been fished before by all
accounts.
Rumours of tench carp and perch. I tried it with the maggot and groundbait feeder for 3 rain and windswept hours. After I was soaked through decided to go home but then thought of passing Sainsburys and popping in for some prawns and having a perch afternoon.

So back to the Millpond arriving at 12.

Still raining and lunch in the car till the rain lessened and wind dropped by 1pm.

A few hours catching bream and roach until a nicely marked perch of exactly 2lb turned up.

6pm and the float slid under and kept going. A small carp or big perch? Don't know. It came off!

10 minutes later definately a perch and a good one....
Those words...please dont come off...failed this time and it slid into the net.
Very Nice fish and beat my previous venue best of last season and weighed 3lb.9 oz . Yes.

Hopefully PC will put up pics for me.

The day ended very badly though. Those that read my report about helping a mates friend, Rob after two days Wye blanking, catch his first double figure fish.

Just got a message from my Mate to tell me his pal, a friend of 40 years suddenly passed away yesterday. 68 years old. Terrible shock.
Enjoy it while you can. RIP Rob.

Well done Graham, cracking perch mate :thumbs:

I think that any 3 lb + perch are a good fish

 

[barbelboi]

Up early this morning to meet a friend at 10am on a local 9 acre estate lake. With the rivers being closed we’d had a recce last week and what a difference a week makes – T shirt weather then, sweatshirt and fleece today. Also, yesterday afternoon the heavens opened up before the sky cleared to leave a cold night. Four degrees at 10am when I arrived, gallons of cold rain water going into an already cold lake yesterday, a freezing cold strong wind and the lake is even shallow for an estate lake – two and a half feet deep.

We’d gathered by then this was not exactly to our advantage (where’s a deep gravel pit when you need one) and ended up four hours fishing, two rods (for the first time for many months as the lake is not heavily stocked and the conditions were atrocious) ) and one fish. A funnel web of mixed pellets was used on both rods. I changed the bait around on one using various pellets and boilies. The other was three buoyant plastic maggots - and that was the one that caught the fish.

Well, someone had to be daft enough to be out - I’m looking forward to returning for some sessions when things warm up a touch but I think it will be some roach fishing on one of the farm ponds on Thursday...............

 

[Pete Shears]

Saw a barn owl flying about two feet above the grass verge and parallel to the hedgerow on the way to reservoir this morning to Carry on Piking.
Bit windy but settled down in the lee of the blackthorn hedge and started to brush up on my waiting skills . . again.
A mate was further along and he had two -8lb-ish and 5lb-ish.
Leaning back in the chair I was forced to inspect my eyelids due to the bright sunshine - it took about fifteen minutes to complete.
Upped sticks and moved further back down the bank as it would be less distance to carry everything when I decided to leave.Disturbed a colourful male bullfinch in the bramble thicket and there were a couple buzzards trying to cope with the gusty wind.
Eventually a bleep from the left hand rod met with firm resistance and a hard fighting pike came to the net which was user friendly as it unhooked itself on the mesh and it weighed in at 7lb - pristine condition - don't think they have spawned yet,water still cold.
Another monsoon tomorrow - great.

 

[barbelboi]

Took a trip over the fields to a local small farm pond to have a session catching, err...., some small fish. There was a very strong easterly chopping up the water that made bite detection on a small dotted down float quite tiring. However, I decided to fish as tight to the bank reed stubble as possible and had quite a few roach and crucians plus a couple of tench that were much too large for the Binka challenge and too small for the other challenge. Fished from 10.30 – 2.30pm, by which time my eyes had had enough.