Another Dave
Well-known member
FM pic of the year for me that one. Had no idea they had such cracking colouration.
How did you get on?
- Thread starter peter crabtree
- Start date
FM pic of the year for me that one. Had no idea they had such cracking colouration.
mikench
Well-known member
Thank god for that ! I thought you might have given it to the wife on toast!
Nice fish by the way ! Love the grayling pic!
Nice fish by the way ! Love the grayling pic!
peter crabtree
AKA Simon, 1953 - 2022 (RIP)
I was up early this morning preparing for a club do on the river Thame near Oxford but I didn't really fancy it. The canal 10 minutes away seemed a far better option so decision made off I went. There's a nice bend, so getting out of the cold NW wind wasn't difficult...
The water was predictably clear and it was bright and sunny, whilst I unpacked my pole a girl came along and told me there was a half marathon being run along there this morning, pole back in bag and waggler it was...
A long cast wasn't necessary so I selected my John Wilson balsa waggler and shot it up shirt button style with no8's and 10's.
Punch on a 20 b611 to 0:07 and it was roach after roach down the track, a few bleak and a short run of dace. The first runner came along after a while followed by countless others of all shapes and sizes.. The heavy feet pounding the towpath didn't seem to deter the roach and some were proper ones...
Around 3o'clock the sun dipped below the trees and it turned decidedly nippy,
time to call it a day...
Edit; just seen the results from the Thame match today...
1. 0:7:0
2. 0:3:0
3. 0:2:0
Lol.. Glad I stayed local...
The water was predictably clear and it was bright and sunny, whilst I unpacked my pole a girl came along and told me there was a half marathon being run along there this morning, pole back in bag and waggler it was...
A long cast wasn't necessary so I selected my John Wilson balsa waggler and shot it up shirt button style with no8's and 10's.
Punch on a 20 b611 to 0:07 and it was roach after roach down the track, a few bleak and a short run of dace. The first runner came along after a while followed by countless others of all shapes and sizes.. The heavy feet pounding the towpath didn't seem to deter the roach and some were proper ones...
Around 3o'clock the sun dipped below the trees and it turned decidedly nippy,
time to call it a day...
Edit; just seen the results from the Thame match today...
1. 0:7:0
2. 0:3:0
3. 0:2:0
Lol.. Glad I stayed local...
Last edited:
Graham Elliott 1
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Cracking day Simon. Should have taken one of those roach ti the Thame match!
itsfishingnotcatching
Well-known member
Decided on the Arrow today, first time in a while as I'd been sulking over a Barbel that smashed me on my last visit. River was lower and clearer than I expected, bright sunshine, downstream wind (again!) and the complex flow below the weir, reverse flow on far and near banks, means it's really a spot to fish the feeder. Obviously, I set up a 4g chubber on a fs reel with the 11'6 float rod
Had an inkling of how the day was going to go when the first two hooks failed to tie properly and the float ended up in a tree on it's first cast , Started on castor to a 16 hook with no joy, switched to red maggot and got minnowed. After 30 mins of striking at what seemed thin air, settled on worm. Finished with three roach, five dace, a perch, (around twenty bl00dy minnows) and a couple of chub, one small the other weighed in at 3.13. Apart from a couple of the minnows, everything was caught on worm, tried a bolo and a 3BB chubber before settling on a Lignum stick which seemed to behave best.
Next week the hunt for a 3lb Salwarpe chub continues
Had an inkling of how the day was going to go when the first two hooks failed to tie properly and the float ended up in a tree on it's first cast
, Started on castor to a 16 hook with no joy, switched to red maggot and got minnowed. After 30 mins of striking at what seemed thin air, settled on worm. Finished with three roach, five dace, a perch, (around twenty bl00dy minnows) and a couple of chub, one small the other weighed in at 3.13. Apart from a couple of the minnows, everything was caught on worm, tried a bolo and a 3BB chubber before settling on a Lignum stick which seemed to behave best. Next week the hunt for a 3lb Salwarpe chub continues
The Runner
Well-known member
Club match today on the Colne at Uxbridge, had a slight tinge of colour when I walked it yesterday afternoon to decide on the pegging but predictably enough that had gone today and the river dropped 3 or 4 inches over the course of the day.
Really wanted a draw on the backstream but pulled 46/47 towards the bottom end of the main river from the hat (two pegs are too close together to use both so we give a choice of which you fish). After a bit of deliberation decided to fish it from 46 to give myself a longer trot in the clear water and so as not to sit on top of the fish which are usually right in front of 47 below which it shallows right up. Set up 17 footer with a 3 no 4 stick. 20 to 0.10, bomb rod 20 to 0.10 and heavy bomb rod ( barbel in the area) on 0.15. 20 minutes before the off put float rig in to check the shotting and had an ounce dace on the drop on a bare hook. I'm an honest man so it went back.. Started on stick, and had a two dace and a roach in the first twenty minutes but missed a few sharp bites so went down to a 22 on .08, bit of a gamble here , used to be a real chub flier ( actually had my PB of 6-9 from 47) but only the very occasional one here now. Anyway, that seemed to sort out the bites as had another eight dace and perch in the next 40 minutes but no size and all a long way down the swim, and then it died completely. Had put a bit of chop and pinkie in a little inside slack a few yards down the swim, went over it but this resulted only in four whitebait sized roach that went about half an ounce between them.
So, bomb and maggot time. Nothing, so time to just sit it out and stayed on meat or pellet for a good while with the only sign of fish being a little pike that grabbed the feeder on the retrieve while I was introducing some hemp. An hour and a bit from the end saw a chub probably about 4lb drift out from behind some cabbage and drop downstream followed by a smaller one which I didn't see so well so could just have been the pike again.
That's enough for me, picked up the float rod again, changed to 0.13 and started feeding quite heavily with maggot. Half an hour of this and out of the blue had two fish, unfortunately only a roach and a dace, never saw the chub again and no more bites.
13 fish and the four amoebas went 1-3 and nowhere, only one other weight over the pound on the main river with a 2-2 from near the top end.
6-14 of roach won it, then 6-8 mostly dace, then a single chub for 3-10 and an all perch 3-3 so a bit of a mixed frame. Low weights but a bit better than some of us were expecting in the conditions
Checked my old records when I got in and the last time I fished 46 in a match I weighed 1-3 then as well. That was eight years or so ago with the river in flood and my weight was made up of a single shubunkin...
Really wanted a draw on the backstream but pulled 46/47 towards the bottom end of the main river from the hat (two pegs are too close together to use both so we give a choice of which you fish). After a bit of deliberation decided to fish it from 46 to give myself a longer trot in the clear water and so as not to sit on top of the fish which are usually right in front of 47 below which it shallows right up. Set up 17 footer with a 3 no 4 stick. 20 to 0.10, bomb rod 20 to 0.10 and heavy bomb rod ( barbel in the area) on 0.15. 20 minutes before the off put float rig in to check the shotting and had an ounce dace on the drop on a bare hook. I'm an honest man so it went back.. Started on stick, and had a two dace and a roach in the first twenty minutes but missed a few sharp bites so went down to a 22 on .08, bit of a gamble here , used to be a real chub flier ( actually had my PB of 6-9 from 47) but only the very occasional one here now. Anyway, that seemed to sort out the bites as had another eight dace and perch in the next 40 minutes but no size and all a long way down the swim, and then it died completely. Had put a bit of chop and pinkie in a little inside slack a few yards down the swim, went over it but this resulted only in four whitebait sized roach that went about half an ounce between them.
So, bomb and maggot time. Nothing, so time to just sit it out and stayed on meat or pellet for a good while with the only sign of fish being a little pike that grabbed the feeder on the retrieve while I was introducing some hemp. An hour and a bit from the end saw a chub probably about 4lb drift out from behind some cabbage and drop downstream followed by a smaller one which I didn't see so well so could just have been the pike again.
That's enough for me, picked up the float rod again, changed to 0.13 and started feeding quite heavily with maggot. Half an hour of this and out of the blue had two fish, unfortunately only a roach and a dace, never saw the chub again and no more bites.
13 fish and the four amoebas went 1-3 and nowhere, only one other weight over the pound on the main river with a 2-2 from near the top end.
6-14 of roach won it, then 6-8 mostly dace, then a single chub for 3-10 and an all perch 3-3 so a bit of a mixed frame. Low weights but a bit better than some of us were expecting in the conditions
Checked my old records when I got in and the last time I fished 46 in a match I weighed 1-3 then as well. That was eight years or so ago with the river in flood and my weight was made up of a single shubunkin...
maggot_dangler
Well-known member
Had a dabble down the pool today .
Thought i would try and target the Chub that inhabit one area of the pool but hour and a bit later not a sniff also out of the sun so dang cold been as i was the only mug there today i had the entire pool to myself so rund to the sunny side of the pool on maggot straight into a couple of roach and a perch biggets not quite a pound tried a switch to bread but that just got sardine tin fillers back to maggots ( but only yellow ones ) tried all sorts reds not a sniff whites the odd knock but yellows and i woke up strange but at least i got a bit of warmth back into me in the sun .
Then it started heading below the roof line thats i packed and off a dozen or so fish so no blank pity the chub did not want to come out and play today ..
PG ...
Thought i would try and target the Chub that inhabit one area of the pool but hour and a bit later not a sniff also out of the sun so dang cold been as i was the only mug there today i had the entire pool to myself so rund to the sunny side of the pool on maggot straight into a couple of roach and a perch biggets not quite a pound tried a switch to bread but that just got sardine tin fillers back to maggots ( but only yellow ones ) tried all sorts reds not a sniff whites the odd knock but yellows and i woke up strange but at least i got a bit of warmth back into me in the sun .
Then it started heading below the roof line thats i packed and off a dozen or so fish so no blank pity the chub did not want to come out and play today ..
PG ...
Had a go at the pike on my club lake. Bitterly cold Northerly wind kept me tucked behind a conifer hedge.
I had one of 9lb and two that did not stay on.
I had a similar experience to a recent thread about screaming runs and nothing on the end.
I have been prebaiting for a week with bits of chopped fish. I am sure it was perch grabbing the lamprey and not pike.
I am thinking this may be a pointer for a bit of perching there as it seemed to work better for them than the pikemg:
I had one of 9lb and two that did not stay on.
I had a similar experience to a recent thread about screaming runs and nothing on the end.
I have been prebaiting for a week with bits of chopped fish. I am sure it was perch grabbing the lamprey and not pike.
I am thinking this may be a pointer for a bit of perching there as it seemed to work better for them than the pike
mg:
I buy a bulk pack from Nev. Fickling at the Tackle Shop, Gainsborough. £29 for a sizeable quantity. One lamprey does me two baits. The skins are quite tough. As the blood oozes for ages, any bait used and is still oozing at the end of a session I re freeze. Still gets me runs.
Its only a half hour drive for me.
However, if you look up his web site there is an interesting page about what baits he does frozen.(Quite a selection ) .
Somewhere on there I read that he supplies frozen baits mail order and the packaging is OK to last and keep the bait in good order whilst in the delivery system.
Had another go on the river, which was barely flowing so waggler seemed best approach. Started off on red maggot to search around a little and decided on a spot downstream at 2 o'clock position with about 7 feet of depth.
Once happy with my target zone I started feeding some bread above that in the hope of better quality than the 2oz roach I was already getting.
Catch rate slowed tho size did increase but not by much. Don't think I was on my game today but enjoyed it all the same.
I'll be taking a pike rod along next time. Must be a few of them around since the roach have settled for a while now.
Once happy with my target zone I started feeding some bread above that in the hope of better quality than the 2oz roach I was already getting.
Catch rate slowed tho size did increase but not by much. Don't think I was on my game today but enjoyed it all the same.
I'll be taking a pike rod along next time. Must be a few of them around since the roach have settled for a while now.
sam vimes
Well-known member
Out for a loiter at a not so local tackle shop in an attempt to intercept the Drennan rep with the new 17' Acolyte.:wh Managed to get home in reasonable time, the weather wasn't bad, so I grabbed my gear and headed off to the river for an hour or two. The prime motive for going was to reacquaint myself with my old Daiwa Tommy Pickering stick float rod. Three grayling and a parr were the fruits of my labours. Sadly, two of the grayling were the same size as the parr. Also had a good chat with the Dalesman of this parish.
:wh Managed to get home in reasonable time, the weather wasn't bad, so I grabbed my gear and headed off to the river for an hour or two. The prime motive for going was to reacquaint myself with my old Daiwa Tommy Pickering stick float rod. Three grayling and a parr were the fruits of my labours. Sadly, two of the grayling were the same size as the parr. Also had a good chat with the Dalesman of this parish.Jim Crosskey 2
Well-known member
Went on Sunday afternoon for a few hours on the thames a little upstream of Oxford. It was chillier than I expected, so finding somewhere vaguely sheltered for me and my lad to sit was high on the priority list. Heading upstream from Godstow bridge, I bumped in to Jason Bean (who posts on here regularly) who was fishing a match... somehow getting several metres of pole to stay still in a very strong wind. We had a quick chat and it seemed like the roach had started feeding, so buoyed up with that knowledge we made our way upstream, well beyond the last of the match anglers to a gap in the bankside trees which offered a little comfort from the blasting downstream wind. Up went the fox evolution shelter and suddenly it felt like a nice day and I noticed the sunshine for the first time.
Junior went out with a grounbait feeder and maggots to the far bank, nothing on the first cast but a bite every cast after that, decent roach and small chub... nothing over a pound but no tiny fish either. After a good deal of faffing about setting up a waggler rod, getting in a tangle, changing a hooklength and then the float, snagging in a tree (proper chuckles brothers stuff) I finally got fishing and got amongst some decent roach. The water was relatively deep (8 or 9 foot) and by the time the bait had sunk the run I had in front of some over hanging trees was only about 10 feet on most casts, however as is the way at this time of year there was a definite hot spot where more times than not the float would sink away. After a number of nice roach I finally struck in to something with a bit more resistance that initially took some line from a lightly set clutch... a 1lb8oz perch proving to be the culprit. The float rod was then unceremoniously grabbed by Junior, helping himself a couple of casts later to a perch of 1lb.
The fish never stopped biting and we fished until we couldn't see a float or quiver tip. A lovely afternoon spent in a swim we'd not tried before. Pretty sure we'll be going back to that one. Nice to hear subsequently that Jason won his match too!
Junior went out with a grounbait feeder and maggots to the far bank, nothing on the first cast but a bite every cast after that, decent roach and small chub... nothing over a pound but no tiny fish either. After a good deal of faffing about setting up a waggler rod, getting in a tangle, changing a hooklength and then the float, snagging in a tree (proper chuckles brothers stuff) I finally got fishing and got amongst some decent roach. The water was relatively deep (8 or 9 foot) and by the time the bait had sunk the run I had in front of some over hanging trees was only about 10 feet on most casts, however as is the way at this time of year there was a definite hot spot where more times than not the float would sink away. After a number of nice roach I finally struck in to something with a bit more resistance that initially took some line from a lightly set clutch... a 1lb8oz perch proving to be the culprit. The float rod was then unceremoniously grabbed by Junior, helping himself a couple of casts later to a perch of 1lb.
The fish never stopped biting and we fished until we couldn't see a float or quiver tip. A lovely afternoon spent in a swim we'd not tried before. Pretty sure we'll be going back to that one. Nice to hear subsequently that Jason won his match too!
peter crabtree
AKA Simon, 1953 - 2022 (RIP)
A slight improvement on numbers today on our old codgers match on the GUC near Hemel.. 6 hardy souls spread out along the leafy towpath..
I chose to fish opposite an overhanging wild rose bush, it's bright scarlet hips looked like glowing fairy lights.
At the off at 9am I tried punch down the middle, slow to start but soon started to produce small roach. All the while I was pinging 6 or so maggots across to the rose bush on a regular basis. An unofficial runner in the form of an angler on his way to work told me someone had a big chub first chuck below the bridge...
This compelled me to change to a slightly heavier waggler and try maggot across to the bush. It soon became apparent I needed to cast really tight to the bush to get bites, chublets and quality roach were the result, I lost about 6 hooks in the process. It was really tricky to be honest what with the leaves floating to and fro and casting to the right place being paramount...
At the scales I had just 2lb:12:8 for 4th place..
Local ace Steve had 7:12 fishing opposite some moored boats and Dave who had the chub was 2nd with 6:3:8, his chub weighing 3lb:12...
I chose to fish opposite an overhanging wild rose bush, it's bright scarlet hips looked like glowing fairy lights.
At the off at 9am I tried punch down the middle, slow to start but soon started to produce small roach. All the while I was pinging 6 or so maggots across to the rose bush on a regular basis. An unofficial runner in the form of an angler on his way to work told me someone had a big chub first chuck below the bridge...
This compelled me to change to a slightly heavier waggler and try maggot across to the bush. It soon became apparent I needed to cast really tight to the bush to get bites, chublets and quality roach were the result, I lost about 6 hooks in the process. It was really tricky to be honest what with the leaves floating to and fro and casting to the right place being paramount...
At the scales I had just 2lb:12:8 for 4th place..
Local ace Steve had 7:12 fishing opposite some moored boats and Dave who had the chub was 2nd with 6:3:8, his chub weighing 3lb:12...
theartist
Well-known member
Any big Perch show at all Simon? I saw some of your lot as I drove over en route to the post office, couldn't stop though, you look like you're almost opposite the homeless bloke's camp.
sam vimes
Well-known member
Another couple of hours grabbed, but I ventured firmly into chub territory for a bit of a change. Unfortunately, I neglected to disengage my adipose magnet and caught eight grayling and two parr.
Back to the river with my new waders. They made the difference being able to reach the water or not! Winter levels have been lowered as per normal and the edge is a mire of silt.
3 Pike. 15+/ 8+/ and 5+ all on the lamprey.
Saw one kingfisher,one barn owl and Binkered my landing net h
[/url][/IMG]ndle
Should have said landing net handle!.mg:
3 Pike. 15+/ 8+/ and 5+ all on the lamprey.
Saw one kingfisher,one barn owl and Binkered my landing net h
Should have said landing net handle!.
mg:There was a strong sense of deja vu about today's outing. I didn't want to waste a pleasant, mild afternoon, but I didn't feel like tackling any new worlds, so a 20 minute drive later, I was standing on a bridge over the Trent and Mersey canal. After briefly expressing thanks that I didn't have to fish it, I got back in the car and carried on down the lane to the lower Derwent.
I set up in the diagonal crease swim, where you feed at your feet and get bites 2 or 3 rods out. With the river low and clear, tackle was light, with a titchy 3no4 stick, a 22 hook and a .8 bottom. After a quick flurry of bites from small grayling, it was all over. I used to fish for grayling on the Welsh Dee, where they behaved themselves: they lived in the streamy swims, fed near the bottom and took your bait 20m down the swim. Fishing for grayling in the lower Derwent is like herding cats. They live in slacks and eddies, take the bait 18” below where you fed it, throw themselves on the hook for half an hour, then get bored and disappear. The half-dozen I caught in this first swim came from just past where you could see the bottom. It would be easy to drop the float in beyond them and never suspect they were there, lounging around in the slack water.
After an hour I upped sticks and moved to the opposite kind of swim – where the flow hit the bank I was sitting on. This was deeper, naturally, and bites kept coming for a bit longer. A couple of nice perch showed up
And a mixture of grayling, dace and roach.
I'm not sure how often I'll be fishing here. It's a lovely river, but the ceiling on catches seems low. Today I was yards from where a famous angler once caught 100lb of chub in a match. I'd have been amazed to catch one here today, and more than a couple of roach would be a talking point.
I set up in the diagonal crease swim, where you feed at your feet and get bites 2 or 3 rods out. With the river low and clear, tackle was light, with a titchy 3no4 stick, a 22 hook and a .8 bottom. After a quick flurry of bites from small grayling, it was all over. I used to fish for grayling on the Welsh Dee, where they behaved themselves: they lived in the streamy swims, fed near the bottom and took your bait 20m down the swim. Fishing for grayling in the lower Derwent is like herding cats. They live in slacks and eddies, take the bait 18” below where you fed it, throw themselves on the hook for half an hour, then get bored and disappear. The half-dozen I caught in this first swim came from just past where you could see the bottom. It would be easy to drop the float in beyond them and never suspect they were there, lounging around in the slack water.
After an hour I upped sticks and moved to the opposite kind of swim – where the flow hit the bank I was sitting on. This was deeper, naturally, and bites kept coming for a bit longer. A couple of nice perch showed up
And a mixture of grayling, dace and roach.
I'm not sure how often I'll be fishing here. It's a lovely river, but the ceiling on catches seems low. Today I was yards from where a famous angler once caught 100lb of chub in a match. I'd have been amazed to catch one here today, and more than a couple of roach would be a talking point.
Pete Shears
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Piking again on the reservoir this morning,managed to get a jack of around 4lb on a silver Mepps fairly quickly then it was back and partake of wildlife watching until one of the alarms went bonkers resulting in a short,stocky pike of 8lb on a single hook rig baited with a sprat.
Spent some time watching a kestrel working along the top of the dam until it was mobbed by seagulls,a kingfisher flashed by and a small wader flew in for a few minutes until it noticed me and took off with a distinctive 3 note whistle - still no idea what it was in the dull,flat light of an overcast November day.Around 100 Canada geese have turned up from somewhere,noisy nuisances and a white egret appeared out of nowhere,stalking along the waters edge until it was about 20 yards away and retraced its steps.
Spent some time watching a kestrel working along the top of the dam until it was mobbed by seagulls,a kingfisher flashed by and a small wader flew in for a few minutes until it noticed me and took off with a distinctive 3 note whistle - still no idea what it was in the dull,flat light of an overcast November day.Around 100 Canada geese have turned up from somewhere,noisy nuisances and a white egret appeared out of nowhere,stalking along the waters edge until it was about 20 yards away and retraced its steps.