How did you get on?

[nicepix]

Fished 'Jerry Hours' today; off around 10am for the half hour drive to the big lake and home just after 4pm. It had been -3C overnight and the day was bright with a moderate southerly breeze. Temp' was 3C rising to 9.5C.

First off I toured around one of the four arms of the lake and took the dog for a walk to check out a hidden corner. There were no signs of fish, but at the deeper and downwind end there was a squadron of cormorants hogging the area so I took my lead from them and set up swingtipping into the wind. The water dropped off to about 2 metres and I wasn't fishing too far out with worms alternating with sweetcorn skins. Nothing touched the baits.

Drove around to another part of the lake and fished on top of a sand bar in 1 metre of water with a waggler - again nothing to both baits. Then moved about 50 metres to fish down the side of the sand bar in deeper water and tried both baits on the float at various depths and swing tipping for the same result. Never saw or heard a fish rise all day.

 

[edsurf]

Had a nice day trotting on a mill stream , over twenty roach out and a dozen chub, The roach were in mint condition, good to see and a good size for the size of the stream.

 

[Tee-Cee]

I reckon we should all head down to edsurf's pad for Christmas !

In fact, forget the turkey as I'd be happy with bacon sarnies and plenty of tea laid on by the OP.... We could fish from 9 (ish) so as not to get Gerry up too early and be into our first 1,5lb fish by 10 am..

Sounds good to me ...........................................................

' Twenty roach of a good size ', indeed !!

 

[edsurf]

Tee Cee I was the only one out too, never saw a single person all day

---------- Post added at 04:18 ---------- Previous post was at 04:12 ----------

Their is fish up to at least 2 lb I saw a old boy catch one a few weeks back , some of mine were around the 1 lb plus mark yesterday.

 

[binka]

If ever there was a prime time for this little fella to accompany me for the entire session then it had to be today of all days.

Mind you, I’m sure the steady stream of mince pie crust and chopped nuts constantly being sprinkled his way had something to do with it but he seemed very grateful all the same and I think we were on first name terms by the time I left…



A very enjoyable day spent on a small river, I decided after the good chub session last Christmas day that it was time for a change and so pike it was with the outside chance of a zander. I can’t say I fancied it much on a low, clear river but the day was about a lot more than catching a fish and a thoroughly enjoyable one it turned out to be in the wall to wall sunshine.

Arrived on the bank just before dawn and was settled in nicely for sunrise, out went a light float rig under the near bank with lamprey as bait fished open bail arm with the line very lightly nicked into a run clip (I think you can just make this out in the pic above, I prefer it to the weight of the freespool when zandering), this was closely followed by the second rod which had a more conventional pike set up with a floatfished dead bream which was under armed just onto the edge of a crease.

A nice brew then followed whilst the sun steadily rose followed by the opening salvo of sausages…



Despite the crisp start it got quite warm as the morning wore on, the scarf and gloves were soon being removed and a couple of hours into the session I decided to recast the pike rig with the age old trick of giving it a very gentle twitch before reeling in and, almost immediately, the float twitched back at me before bobbing a couple of times and slowly moving out into the river.

I struck and shortly afterwards a nice plump pike, probably a low double, was soon in the net and like me she looked like she’d been feeding quite well…



I was quite contented with that and a good job too as it was the only bit of interest shown to either rod all day.

A couple more rounds of sausages, mince pies and seemingly endless brews over the next few hours, a fox which came to within a few feet of me before casually heading off back in the direction from which he had appeared and a good dose of sun on the face until the day slowly gave way to dusk.

I’ll settle for that

Back out tomorrow with a mate to do it all over again, good luck to all those out tomorrow and over the next few days and I look forward to reading all about it... I hope you've all enjoyed your day :w

 

[peter crabtree]

What a nice crisp sunny day today. Son of meldrew and I had our annual Christmas day dangle on a small pit which holds some very big perch and a good head of quality roach. He fished 2 rods on buzzers with lobs while I used my 10ft ultra light bomb rod with a half ounce glass tip to a small blackcap with choppy and a whole dendra on 16 super speci hook. Had a few crays pulling and twitching the tip to start with ( one of the hazards of using choppy ) then motionless until about 4pm when the tip ripped round but alas no fish on when I lifted into it up. son of m also had a run on one of his rods but again no fish.
Packed up about 4:30.
Happy Christmas......

 

[sumtime]

If ever there was a prime time for this little fella to accompany me for the entire session then it had to be today of all days.

Mind you, I’m sure the steady stream of mince pie crust and chopped nuts constantly being sprinkled his way had something to do with it but he seemed very grateful all the same and I think we were on first name terms by the time I left…



A very enjoyable day spent on a small river, I decided after the good chub session last Christmas day that it was time for a change and so pike it was with the outside chance of a zander. I can’t say I fancied it much on a low, clear river but the day was about a lot more than catching a fish and a thoroughly enjoyable one it turned out to be in the wall to wall sunshine.

Arrived on the bank just before dawn and was settled in nicely for sunrise, out went a light float rig under the near bank with lamprey as bait fished open bail arm with the line very lightly nicked into a run clip (I think you can just make this out in the pic above, I prefer it to the weight of the freespool when zandering), this was closely followed by the second rod which had a more conventional pike set up with a floatfished dead bream which was under armed just onto the edge of a crease.

A nice brew then followed whilst the sun steadily rose followed by the opening salvo of sausages…



Despite the crisp start it got quite warm as the morning wore on, the scarf and gloves were soon being removed and a couple of hours into the session I decided to recast the pike rig with the age old trick of giving it a very gentle twitch before reeling in and, almost immediately, the float twitched back at me before bobbing a couple of times and slowly moving out into the river.

I struck and shortly afterwards a nice plump pike, probably a low double, was soon in the net and like me she looked like she’d been feeding quite well…



I was quite contented with that and a good job too as it was the only bit of interest shown to either rod all day.

A couple more rounds of sausages, mince pies and seemingly endless brews over the next few hours, a fox which came to within a few feet of me before casually heading off back in the direction from which he had appeared and a good dose of sun on the face until the day slowly gave way to dusk.

I’ll settle for that

Back out tomorrow with a mate to do it all over again, good luck to all those out tomorrow and over the next few days and I look forward to reading all about it... I hope you've all enjoyed your day :w

Brilliant!

 

[sam vimes]

A quick couple of hours trotting on the local resulted in a solitary trout (a familiar 2lber that has now been got at by something) and fourteen grayling. Four of them were around the pound mark. The best was a big fish that was a little hollow (probably out of condition after two weeks of fairly high water levels), it only managed a slightly disappointing 1lb 3oz on the scales.

 

[peter crabtree]

An open match on the canal near tring today.


Stayed in bedmg:

 

[The Runner]

Needed a day out in the cold fresh air after the usual Xmas excesses so had a wander down the Colne. Travelled light with only two rods, rucksack and nets, actually lighter than I thought as realised when I got there that hadn't put reel in for feeder rod....
Never mind, intended to floatfish anyway and decided to have a go on a couple of swims that should be full of roach at this time of year but fished really hard in our Xmas match last week. River about 8 inches up, running hard and very dirty with lots of rubbish coming down. Started on peg 53, 2 ' 6" to 3' of water with a nice crease into slower water across.Set up 3 no 4 stick and third run through, float buried and had small chub of 2-8 or so, five minutes later a chublet of 4 oz and things were looking OK. Two hours later had added a little dace...
Decided to move up to peg 58; the extra water and pace was making it boil up really heavily and needed a 7BB bulk down in 5 to 6 ft of water to get the float to go in a straight line. Have caught well from the swim in worse conditions so stuck at it for over two hours for a few little roach and one better one of about 6oz.
No sign of chub or of the bream that can show here with extra water on so tossed a mental coin as to whether to move again and at around 2pm moved up to peg 5 in the "sluice" section- generally worth a few bits as well as the possibility a chub or two. No chub but had a nice couple of hours catching dace, 20 plus fish averaging around 3 oz with a couple of real herrings mixed in.
Much better than sitting around trying to finish off the turkey.
Back down the river tomorrow, might sit it out on a big fish peg as should be fining down a little by then.

 

[tonybull]

An open match on the canal near tring today.


Stayed in bedmg:

Make sure you get up Friday

Gonna be hard fishing mate, the Waggler just past the 16m pole line is producing, so is the feeder.

I'm gonna feed a 14.5m pole line if the wind keeps away as a through away line

 

[Tee-Cee]

Fished a small still water today for 4 + hours from around 10am. By this time the sun was well up and the temperature a balmy 2 degrees so it seemed a reasonable idea to drown a few maggots...
The first two hours passed unevenfully although the float did dither around from time to time, but minor tackle changes failed to result in any fish. Things brightened up around noon when three casts produced two roach x 1/2lb and a perch of 3/4lb (exciting stuff eh !) then it went quiet again...
Come 2pm, and with the cold now becoming more intense, a small ring appeared around the float. A couple of minutes passed and another small ring appeared, followed by the float sinking slowly from sight. The fish, and it was definitely a roach, felt very good and I slowly bought away from the swim. Then, for no reason I can fathom, the line went slack and I was left staring at the water in disbelief ( I think I read that in a book....)......

My only thought was so see how far I could throw the rod if used like a javelin.....

Sense prevailed and I went home instead.........The wife listened, with sighs of understanding - bless her...

Good news is I'm out again come Tuesday so all is not lost, just todays bl**dy fish !!!

 

[peter crabtree]

Make sure you get up Friday

Gonna be hard fishing mate, the Waggler just past the 16m pole line is producing, so is the feeder.

I'm gonna feed a 14.5m pole line if the wind keeps away as a through away line

I'll be there mate. Love them acrobatic skimmers...
Bring it on........

 

[sam vimes]

I took the attention defecit disorder nephew down to the river. He doesn't actually have any particular disorder beyond being eleven and me lacking patience, but between the two of us it can be trying!

Bizarrely, though he seems to enjoy fishing, he's quite content to watch me whilst buggering about doing something else, maggot racing, feeding a robin, drawing in the mud etc.

In between bouts of buggering about and mild paddies, he managed four grayling, which was quite enough to keep him happy. I managed nine grayling and a trout whilst he was amusing himself.

Not a bad few hours, thank the angling gods that a regular banker swim produced a few to keep his interest going. Now it's almost time to disappear to talk "carp" in the pub with a couple of local angling mates.

 

[The Runner]

Back down the river today; vicious frost so didnt start until 10.15 or so.
Reckoned that not much chance of a chub until later in the day given how bright it was so started on the stick on one of the backstream roach swims (peg 52) Hour and a half, not a touch, sun in eyes so moved round to main river on peg 35. Hour and a half alternating stick and bomb, no sign and wasnt confident as looked like swim had been fished yesterday. Moved up to 16 which always looks good but rarely fished, quickly saved blank with a dace but overhead branches were a pain and swim full of twigs so didnt give it long. Decided to move again for last two hours ; thought of 39 which I'd had in our Xmas match but when I got there one of the lads was sawing up a tree which had come down right over the path next to the swim in the last few days and reckoned that the disturbance wouldn't have helped so turned round and back on the backstream to 56 . Quite shallow and still full of streamer weed but found a couple of narrow clear runs for the stick and decided to feed quite heavily as likely to be chub or nothing and had just under two hours to catch them.
Better than I expected- had three at roughly half hour intervals, pretty much peas in a pod at around 3-12 each so job done.
Still got a bit of bait left so might be back there tomorrow again

 

[itsfishingnotcatching]

Mini "Jerry session" today on the pool at 10.30, found a spot where the ice was starting to melt, landing net broke up and netted enough ice to clear a fishable swim (last time it was needed). Commenced just before 12.00, finished at 3.00 pm, eleven Perch, four Roach, doubt the total weight exceeded 1.5 lb Fished worm and punched bread on a size 18

 

[bracket]

I had a short session on the river this Morning. Got there at 08.30, no need for an early start. The sun was shinning, fields white over with frost, river in good nick, no wind and the air temperature a pleasant minus 3 degrees. How can you stay indoors a morning like this. Second run through I took a brown trout 3lbs 2oz and finished up with four more trout and five grayling, best 2lbs 2oz. I had a good criac with two fellow anglers who were bank walking looking for a peg, all in all a decent morning, so at 11.30 I gave it best and retired to the Village Local for some seasonal cheer and liquid socializing. Pete.

. .

 

[binka]

Well, that was a cold one but like Bracket indicated... A beautiful day to be out.

The thermometer dropped to -6 on the way there just before dawn and was -4 when I started fishing the tiny river which I fancied for a few hours in the morning before moving off elsewhere for the afternoon.

I couldn’t decide whether to go for the pike or the chub so I went for the pike and caught a chub instead…



A very welcome fish all the same, I’ve had a few on lamprey but I reckon the 5” piece I was using (just above the fish’s head in the picture) is about the biggest piece I’ve taken one on, a nice looking fish too.

Snow... Chub... All that was missing was Chav Professor strolling by in his shorts!

 

[sam vimes]

Had to wait in far too long for my new toy to arrive. Luckily it did arrive with a bit of daylight left, so off to the river I went to give it a try. Arrived at the banker swim to find the only other stretch regular, and resident expert, trying to tempt the far bank chub, but struggling for anything but trout. I had to settle for a less favoured swim a little further upstream. I usually blank when using new gear for the first time, so four grayling and a half decent trout was a bonus. It was a bit of a struggle to get those, but I'd had a good play with the new rod and caught some fish. Time to move back downstream. Resident top dog was packing up, so I managed to have a couple of runs through in that peg for a sneaky bonus grayling.

 

[neil1970]

I managed to get out from 3pm til 6 today.
Spent the first 3/4 of an hour feeding the slack with a maggot feeder, then started to fish double maggot for an hour, recasting every 15 minutes.

For the last hour I fished curried spam.

No bites, not a sign of a fish, loved evey second of it.