How did you get on?

[binka]

A bit of a thump back down to earth for me this afternoon following a perching session on the river.

It looked good with a few extra inches of fresh water and I had left the house in a bit of a huff as every time I even think about picking up a fishing rod just lately I seem to get hit with an avalanche of work which proved to be the case this afternoon and I never feel as though I settled with everything whirring around my head.

It was pleasant being out though, I ran a worm though beneath a bobber for a good couple of hours which accounted for several small perch, a nice roach and two very welcome Tommy Ruffe.

But then...

The peace and tranquillity ended abruptly as a feeder landed no less than ten yards upriver from me and on the same line that I was trotting right off the rod tip!

Yep, the circus had arrived and I didn't wait for their second cast before I was on my way.

Hoping for better on Saturday as I will be back again for a day with a mate... :w

 

[tigger]

A bit of a thump back down to earth for me this afternoon following a perching session on the river.

It looked good with a few extra inches of fresh water and I had left the house in a bit of a huff as every time I even think about picking up a fishing rod just lately I seem to get hit with an avalanche of work which proved to be the case this afternoon and I never feel as though I settled with everything whirring around my head.

It was pleasant being out though, I ran a worm though beneath a bobber for a good couple of hours which accounted for several small perch, a nice roach and two very welcome Tommy Ruffe.

But then...

The peace and tranquillity ended abruptly as a feeder landed no less than ten yards upriver from me and on the same line that I was trotting right off the rod tip!

Yep, the circus had arrived and I didn't wait for their second cast before I was on my way.

Hoping for better on Saturday as I will be back again for a day with a mate... :w

If you where on yer way anyhow I don't suppose it mattered but just for the hell of it I would have thrown a few big stones in on top of their feeder, maybe a branch or three also

 

[flightliner]

I know the feeling only to well Steve!!!!!!!!!!.

 

[tigger]

I had the latter half of the afternoon out trotting today, it was a bit of a cock up really. I took a reel that I loaded with fireline crystal a year or so ago and attached a 6lb mono hooklength of about 18 inches. About my third trott down river and the float buried, the fish feel great playing it on braid. It turned out to be a nice chub between 4 and 5lbs and I was expecting a decent session since that fish had come so soon on a quite a wide piece of river and a long trott. Anyhow things didn't develop as I was expecting, in fact the bites where pretty sparse! After a while I hit something, felt it's head shake then it was gone, a while longer and I hooked a seriously large salmon which did two impressions of a sailfish and my hook popped free....darn it! A while later and I hooked what i'm sure was a foul hooked barbel as it put up a wierd fight for 20 seconds before the hook flew out of the water...not again! After that I had a few chub similar to BB's PW....maybe even worse PW'ers than his. I even had a little go at touch legering and did get a take off what I think was a barbel but i'm guessing my micro swivel had lodged in a crack as I felt the tap and then my line was slack. On winding in I noticed the hooklength had been pulled clean off the swivel.
Funny enough I wanted to carry on fishing but my stomach wouldn't allow it and i'd promised the mrs a fish and chip supper so away I went...there's always another day so no worries .

 

[mikench]

Viagra factory next door? Must be why the fishing was hard?




Today's music came courtesy of the wonderful birdlife and the odd artificial flier, courtesy of the RAF

As I have a busy few days and a trip away, I packed up to attend to home front duties, hoping I can squeeze another session in before next Friday.

Take care and tight lines, all.

You were clearly in Birdland Phil! How was the weather report?

 

[rubio]

Thanks for the info. Feel like a criminal now.

Not my intention to make you feel guilty. It's not commonly known. Or at least not as well known as maybe it should be. As I understand it is killing of swan mussels in general, not merely using them as bait, which is illegal.
Wonder if anyone has applied that to a conviction for polluting?

---------- Post added at 06:06 ---------- Previous post was at 05:47 ----------

Also on the fishing front I have been able to grab an hour or so here and there of late but not a 'serious' attempt in some while. Last night I was content enough to while away the 90 mins I did have on club lake catching whatever fancied a maggot on a size 16. Luckily enough it wasn't all small perch. Not too many skimmers either, which left me on the plus side of happy with the half dozen crucians that showed. None of which were more than half a pound, but were in perfect proportion and colour. The club restocked with these a few months back and it's great to see them growing on in good health.

 

[dorsetandchub]

You were clearly in Birdland Phil! How was the weather report?

The usual hot and sweaty, mate. You find your esteemed correspondent northbound at Stafford services, dealing with the worst fish this week has thrown at me. Truly deserved to be battered this one.

Hope to be pole in hand again Weds or Thursday, having cleared up my nosebleed being this far North again!!

Cheers

 

[Keith M]

Took my son up to my local stream yesterday evening and had a brilliant few hours touch legering for Barbel. Nothing big; the biggest barbel touching around the eight pound mark with the average weight being around five pounds but still very nice on the very narrow stretch that we fished with reed beds on both banks.

We both usually setup our barbel rods before we leave home but I hadn't this time and Stuart had two barbel before I had even sorted my swim out, setup my rod and put my first bait out; in between helping him with his landing net for one of his barbel.

The stream was fining down after the heavy rain we had had the previous day and was fairly clear so we both used longer hooklengths which we pinned to the deck to try and keep the line leading up to the rod tip away from the bait and spooking the barbel and Chub.

A spray of 4mm pellets would almost immediately bring the barbel and the chub out scouring on top of them and would result in a fish picking up our bait (spiced luncheonmeat) within a minute or so but as we were using hair mounted baits a lot of the missed bites were chub just picking up the bait in their lips and moving off with the hook hanging outside of their lips; something that I'd often seen before when the water had been fairy low and clear.

We both had around 6 or 7 barbel each plus around a dozen or so decent sized chub each.

It was a very enjoyable 4 hours leading up to dusk which we hope to repeat again in a few days time.

Keith

 

[mikench]

The usual hot and sweaty, mate. You find your esteemed correspondent northbound at Stafford services, dealing with the worst fish this week has thrown at me. Truly deserved to be battered this one.

Hope to be pole in hand again Weds or Thursday, having cleared up my nosebleed being this far North again!!

Cheers

Coming oop north on occasion is good for you! I am sure a correspondent as esteemed as your good self will have picked up on my music allusion

Cheers Phil!

 

[seth49]

Back on the fishery with mick yesterday, nice and dry for a change, and warm in the sunshine, had a walk round the various ponds and decided to try one at the lower end of the fishery, some big carp in here, plus good sized bream and silvers.

Picked a couple of swims, about fifty yards apart, gave mick first choice of swims, which left me with the one I wanted ? Nice corner swim, which holds crucians and tench amongst others, and there's a bush at the side which the carp go under, put the sleeper rod under edge of bush, with a large pellet tipped with a piece of artificial corn, and threw a few pellets over it.

Tackled ten and a half foot float rod up, with a drennan glow tip float, and plumbed two swims one in the margin and one straight out, about six yards, and fed with two mm pellets.

Very quiet on the float rod, but I got a run on the carp rod after about an hour, turned out to be the same carp I caught last time I was here, a mirror of eight pounds or so, easily identifiable as a nr leather with a deformed mouth, must have caught this fish a good few times over the last three years.

Had another run in the afternoon of a nice common, dead on fifteen pounds, and gave me a good scrap as well, still quiet on the float, but did notice some roach etc, up in the water, so I shallowed up to a foot, and catapulted some maggots out for a while to get them feeding, started catching a mixture of roach Rudd and skimmers, nothing big, but plenty of bites, one a cast, good fun for a while till it was time to go, good to see that the carp seem to have finished spawning, the two I caught seemed empty, and the one mick caught of the top was the same, as we left saw a lot of bream in the next pond, just hanging nr the surface, at least the fishing is improving a bit it's been dire the last month or two.
Nice day to be out, warm and light winds, enjoyed it.?
,

 

[lambert1]

Went for my usual after work session last night. I took red worms instead of maggots this time and had a great time trotting, despite it yet again being somewhat windy. I have float fished every session this year bar one and I have enjoyed it so much. No netters this time, but plenty of hungry little Perch. I lost count after a while and was pleased to get four little Roach and a Chublet by way of variety. I thought back to Phil's post about not being able to get through Minnows and tried to remember the last time I saw a shoal or caught one. It is funny how rivers differ. They must still be there, but there seem to be an awful lot of Perch. Again as I was reeling one little one in, it was being chased by a bigger one. We do have a lot of Crayfish and I wonder if this is upsetting the balance or not. My one achievement that I am duly proud of is that I went the whole night without having to use a disgorger, as everyone was lip hooked. I have never managed that before, so I was quite chuffed. My reflexes are not as bad as I thought. Lovely evening after a hectic week. Good luck to all those out this weekend.

 

[binka]

A much improved few hours on the river for me yesterday.

I fished mid-afternoon into early evening and ran a light stick down a shallow and sheltered weir pool, just wading around trying different runs and flicking a few maggots in here and there.

Pretty much a constant run of small fish which included bleak, chub, lots of dace, gudgeon, perch and roach. I had the same perch of around a pound within forty five minutes of catching it the first time and I reckon he was far angrier the second time around.

I hit something very solid right at the end of the swim which turned and kicked before everything went slack and it was a hook pull, It could have been a big chub but just as likely a barbel making full use of the strong flow at that end of the run.

Having only taken the light float rod and lighter lines that was probably a case of all's well that ends well.

A nice few hours and sanity restored...

At least to the low levels to which it previously existed!

Plenty of the four pints of reds still left so I will likely be out again over the weekend, once I've decided where... :w

 

[theartist]

Just spent the week in Norfolk so got the chance to get out on a couple of rivers in the Broads, well it was either that or go shopping with the missus and mother in law - what a tough decision to make :wh

I had left the women folk in Norwich so had to make a day of it and it had been a while since I'd done some mag and wag slow river fishing so was looking forward to fishing a new river. Following the overnight rain I was surprised with it's clarity and my optimism sank further when I could see weed all the way across all chopped two feet from the surface by the boat props. Plus the area was very busy with boats and walkers. A stick went on instead of a waggler as that would help me get amongst the holes in the weed and despite the boat traffic I got quite a few dace. This was before the Predators showed.

There was a small jack pike having a look under my feet and it wasn't long before it was onto the next dace and after giving it some gentle persuasion it was in the net. The dace was gone but the pike was hooked nicely in the scissors with my size 18 barbless holding firm. Knowing this could well be the biggest fish of the day I was happy to slip the net under a 4lb pike. By then i'd drawn a crowd of spectators who were impressed by the size of the pike which I thought was funny although it shows the reputation pike have among the public.

Back to the float fishing and soon my fish were getting attacked again although this time it was big perch on the scene, now I have to admit to letting the perch have a second look at one or two of the dace and finally I had a take. Once again the size 18 had pinged out of the dace and the perch was well on plunging in and out of the weed in an epic scrap that once again drew an audience, because of this I paused just for a quick photo estimating the weight at under 3lb but not by much.

After lunch I resumed happy to hook my first roach but, yes you guessed it, in a massive splash another pike was on, this time a bit bigger and after the initial minute or so when you expect it to just let go it was clear it was hooked once again in the scissors, this happens so often with small barbless hooks I can't remember the last time I got bitten through, although to hook and land two pike and a good perch was pretty jammy and after a careful fight a 7lb pike was in the net. Both Pike were full of beans in the net and swam away very strongly and there was still time for another good perch using the same tactic this time around 2lb. With the predators gone the roach appeared in numbers and it was one after another with decent roach to around 10oz

With a bit of improvisation and luck i'd managed a good day with over 30lb of fish when I thought it would be a struggle, meanwhile the women folk had emptied Norwich of all of it's shoes. mg:


Day two was on another river narrower and full of boats and much more coloured, I was hoping to get some bream and managed a few small ones amongst many roach and perch, nothing over a pound but that mattered not as the wildlife was really good with Marsh Harriers, Greylag geese and even the odd Oystercatcher flying by, not a Canada goose to be seen!

What was noticeable was the boats, one after another going by but it has to be said it was not like the Thames at all. Everyone seemed to be having a good time cruising by slowly, most actually taking an effort to avoid disturbing me and many offering a friendly wave. Good to see also was how many had fishing gear and were wetting a line when moored up, hope they caught a few like I did. I Ended up with 127 fish over the two trips and whilst I would have liked to see some Eels I did manage many Bream, Roach, Perch, Dace, Rudd, Gudgeon, and a couple of Pike but no new shoes.

 

[peter crabtree]

Good to hear you had some nice fishing in Norfolk Rob, unlike me today on the canal close to your house...



I was up at 5:30 and on the bank by 6:45 and keen to start.

It was towing faster than normal and my waggler was trotting through nicely with plenty of bites from small roach, gudgeon and perch. After an hour or so it went ominously quiet and I suspected a bigger fish had moved in. This premonition proved true when I bumped a bigger feeling fish then hooked it next trot through. It led me a merry rod bending dance until it fell offmg:
I've no idea what it was as it hung deep and low in the murky water.
Soon after that a large slick of white foam floated down ( visible in the photo above ) which smelt of detergent, this seemed to call a halt to the bites and to cap it all it turned decidedly chilly and chucked it down with rain.
I called it a day soon afterwards and was actually damp and shivering so much I put the heater on in the car on the way home...
Bo££0x!!!

 

[theartist]

Hopefully just someone washing his boat down or one of the car washes in town getting flooded and not something more serious Simon.

P.s Your'e getting close to my stretch judging by the photo, lots of good perch about where the trees are.

 

[Teabreak]

After my trip Wednesda, I went back Thursday and Friday. Thursday maggot feeder again and had a small amount of roach and dace but nothing of decent size. Struggled to hit bites so sat with rod on knee and finger on the line. Got a big old knock and hooked into something decent. Gave me a good fight pulling strongly back. My mind was hoping for a decent chub or a dream ticket barbel but as it got closer it was almost my worst nightmare, an eel. Landed him and was dreading the unhooking process but he was hooked in the lip and the barbless hook came out easy. I would guess about 3 lbs. carried on fishing for a few more roach and packed up when it got dark.

Friday needed to use the last of the maggots so tried the mill stream running off the main river. Very pretty and secluded. Set up the whip and settled in. Put on the polaroids and notice a big tree trunk sunk in the swim and it was very clear water. Started catching bleak I think so was under no illusion that I would catch much but you live in hope. Eventually a half decent roach arrived that fought really well in my hand and escaped before I could photo him. Called it a day when a pleasure boat crashed through the trees and tied up directly opposite me churning the swim into mud. He apologised when he saw me but I was close to finishing so no harm done.

I am really enjoying my new found water and club.

 

[mikench]

Having investigated two adjacent meres of around 17 acres each last weekend , I decided to give one a try today. I settled on the slightly larger of the two and settled into a peg. I am unused to having two rods on the go but decided to set up a feeder rod first with a buzzer. I applied some ground-bait and cast out an 11mm garlic sausage pellet attached to a pva bag and a light lead. The only bleeps occurred when the infernal ducks came on the scene. They were a complete nuisance! They settled in my swim, dived down for the bait over the top and generally p****d me off! Not a nibble on the feeder all day! I recast and rebaited several times!

It was a good job I had a float rod! I decided to try one of those expensive Chinese floats recommended on here( 10 for £1.96 delivered) ! I cut it down a little as recommended by Nottskev and applied float rubbers and shot. I found it impossible to dot the top as it was either beneath the water or sticking out 2 inches! As it happened I could see it and it proved to be very easy to cast and very sensitive! I ended up with 10 rudd to 8oz and two roach around the same size. I do like Rudd! I thought I liked mallard; I dont

The weather was poor with regular bouts of fine drizzle driven onto me by a fluctuating wind despite my brolly! I listened to the inept england batting and just enjoyed the day. All baits except maggot failed! I am glad I tried it and will go again and try my trusty pellet feeder! A very pleasant setting and I could park very close to my peg.

 

[Hugh Bailey]

After dropping my younger daughter at the airport early this morning, i got my stuff sorted out, queue up for opening at the bait shop and was on my way a little later than hoped for my 2nd session on the Wey this year after my struggle on opening day.

Arriving with no one else in the parking spaces, I headed for the swim I started in last time. The river was very clear, but sightly highrer than on opening day and looked much better. As I was setting up, a bloke appeared (mad me jump massively) and started chatting. He said he had baited the swim with maggot and hemp the day before - perfect says I, just what I'm using - did you catch anything? No, he said - I was hoping to fish it today. Once I understood, there followed a very British argument - no - you must fish it, no you etc. In the end I move downstream to the swim where I lost the chub at Christmas.

It is very deep close in - 7 or 8 feet and had a back eddy caused by a bridge.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/16333342@N06/35771761572/in/dateposted-public/

I started on maggot feeder - small chub after about 30 seconds and a bite a cast for the next hour - chub, roach. dace and bleak every cast - it was great! It went quiet for 20 mins but I left the bait in and was rewarded when I got a huge take and after a short fight a (for me) huge perch went into the net. I knew it was a pb (it was at a pretty modest at 1.08) but was really chuffed - what a 3 or 4 der looks like I can only dream about. (poor phone photo)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/16333342@N06/35901097106/in/dateposted-public/

I continued on the feeder but following a spell of rain, I moved downstream and started on the stick. For the following 4 hours or so I moved swims maybe 6 times, catching really decent roach and perch with the occasional chub (and millions of bleak). To cut a very long day short, probably finished with 40/50 roach mostly around 4-6 oz, a dozen or so chunky perch, 6 or 7 chub to 1lb, 3 gudgeon and a load of bleak.

Fantastic day for me, not Binka-esque in terms of quality but really very enjoyable. It's nice to at least have something to report on here!

One swim continues to frustrate me - there must be some decent chub here - surely!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/16333342@N06/35942060635/in/dateposted-public/

 

[103841]

Nice report Hugh, but I need to know how the other fella got on, was the typically British argument a blessing in disguise?

 

[binka]

Congratulations on your new pb Hugh, a man after my own heart and a fine fettle of a fish!