How did you get on?
- Thread starter peter crabtree
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Pete Shears
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Back to the local canal feeder reservoir yesterday,quite mild with a hint of mist and fished from the roadside for a change. Bewtween 6am and 7am ,a cuckoo sounding constantly as it moved around the woodland - fantastic,first one I have heard in ten years and that was in Devon on the northern edge of Dartmoor in May. That was the highlight of the day with only line bites and around midday packed up. Several buzzards circling as the day became brighter and hotter and family group of at least ten long tailed t**s working the willows.
Yesterday gave us something like the first summer evening of the year, warm and dry, so I went to give the secluded, unsuspected pool I'd stumbled on a try.
From the high bank on one side, I'd seen some large carp cruising and sunning themselves. It's not my scene, but I fancied trying to catch one. I'm not the most patient of anglers - if I don't get a bite in three minutes I think something's wrong - so my plan was to fish a slow sinking pellet (Simon flagged up the floats for this last year) over pellets fed continuously in one's and two's. Whilst feeding some floating stuff - floating pellets and bits of crust - and watching for any signs.
All great in theory, but no bites and no interest. I walked up the bank and chatted to a bivvied up carp angler, here for the long weekend. He marked my card - there's a small number, 20 odd, of old carp, 'wild' in the sense that none have been stocked for donkey's years, and they have seen it all and will flaunt themselves in front of you but ignore bait. The water is regarded as rock hard, but a few blokes who like the place, some of them late middle-aged men who fished here as boys - persevere. No wonder none of these carp was mug enough to go for my tactics.
A couple of other local blokes came by, and confirmed the picture. Furthermore (that's a quality conjunction, isn't it?) they all said there's a small head of big old tench that get caught very, very occasionally in the margins of this unexpectedly deep water - the centre channel is around 20' deep; the sides are steep. The place is beautiful, full of wildlife, and less than 2 miles from home. I can be there in 5 minutes, so an hour fishing at the right time is viable. So, today, I did the kind of stuff I've never done before. There are around 20 swims. Two were occupied, but I went round all the rest with a rod with a bomb and a sliding float and mapped out the depths and contours from the bank to 2/3 rods out, and wrote it all down in a little book.
I also noted which swims got the sun/shade early or late, and which got what kind of wind, and where you might be able to pull a tench out of the lilies rather than into them. I don't want to spend too much time waiting for a bite that may never come, but I would like to catch a carp or a tench from this water, even though I know - we all know these days - where you can catch plenty with next to no effort.
From the high bank on one side, I'd seen some large carp cruising and sunning themselves. It's not my scene, but I fancied trying to catch one. I'm not the most patient of anglers - if I don't get a bite in three minutes I think something's wrong - so my plan was to fish a slow sinking pellet (Simon flagged up the floats for this last year) over pellets fed continuously in one's and two's. Whilst feeding some floating stuff - floating pellets and bits of crust - and watching for any signs.
All great in theory, but no bites and no interest. I walked up the bank and chatted to a bivvied up carp angler, here for the long weekend. He marked my card - there's a small number, 20 odd, of old carp, 'wild' in the sense that none have been stocked for donkey's years, and they have seen it all and will flaunt themselves in front of you but ignore bait. The water is regarded as rock hard, but a few blokes who like the place, some of them late middle-aged men who fished here as boys - persevere. No wonder none of these carp was mug enough to go for my tactics.
A couple of other local blokes came by, and confirmed the picture. Furthermore (that's a quality conjunction, isn't it?) they all said there's a small head of big old tench that get caught very, very occasionally in the margins of this unexpectedly deep water - the centre channel is around 20' deep; the sides are steep. The place is beautiful, full of wildlife, and less than 2 miles from home. I can be there in 5 minutes, so an hour fishing at the right time is viable. So, today, I did the kind of stuff I've never done before. There are around 20 swims. Two were occupied, but I went round all the rest with a rod with a bomb and a sliding float and mapped out the depths and contours from the bank to 2/3 rods out, and wrote it all down in a little book.
I also noted which swims got the sun/shade early or late, and which got what kind of wind, and where you might be able to pull a tench out of the lilies rather than into them. I don't want to spend too much time waiting for a bite that may never come, but I would like to catch a carp or a tench from this water, even though I know - we all know these days - where you can catch plenty with next to no effort.
The Sogster
Well-known member
I had my first outing for a few weeks to the estate lake hoping for a few late afternoon tench.
I had planned to fish the float but the increasing incessant wind made things difficult so out with the old feeder rod instead.
I opted for a method feeder with sticky krill pellets and a krill flavour hard pellet. I was using the new to me MCM-B hooks again, I quite like them now having used all my PR36 supplies. Alternative baits were meat and corn dosed with lo-salt (thanks to Ray Roberts? tip)
I know it's old hat but I even used a pellet band on the hair for the first time, old dogs new tricks and all that.
The fishing was slower than expected, even my pal fishing with maggot didn't have any bites or indications.
After two hours of searching the water in front of me a skimmer of around 10oz impaled itself. This was followed about an hour later by one around 12oz.
The fishery then died for around three hours as the lilies 20 yards in front of me were thrashed to death by numerous large carp with something else in seemingly mind.
A couple of lucky skimmers followed after this before the tip went round with a proper bream of around 4lb. The bites were still scarce but I ended the day with two more slightly smaller proper bream and a hot wet arse. Courtesy of the last fish, I was having a cuppa when the fish took and without thinking I placed my cup on my chair to play the fish and promptly sat on it when I came to rebait.
I had planned to fish the float but the increasing incessant wind made things difficult so out with the old feeder rod instead.
I opted for a method feeder with sticky krill pellets and a krill flavour hard pellet. I was using the new to me MCM-B hooks again, I quite like them now having used all my PR36 supplies. Alternative baits were meat and corn dosed with lo-salt (thanks to Ray Roberts? tip)
I know it's old hat but I even used a pellet band on the hair for the first time, old dogs new tricks and all that.
The fishing was slower than expected, even my pal fishing with maggot didn't have any bites or indications.
After two hours of searching the water in front of me a skimmer of around 10oz impaled itself. This was followed about an hour later by one around 12oz.
The fishery then died for around three hours as the lilies 20 yards in front of me were thrashed to death by numerous large carp with something else in seemingly mind.
A couple of lucky skimmers followed after this before the tip went round with a proper bream of around 4lb. The bites were still scarce but I ended the day with two more slightly smaller proper bream and a hot wet arse. Courtesy of the last fish, I was having a cuppa when the fish took and without thinking I placed my cup on my chair to play the fish and promptly sat on it when I came to rebait.
mikench
Well-known member
Did i see 2 unhooking mats side by side there Kev; a clever solution.
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mikench
Well-known member
He would get short shrift from me if he did.
But he has your name,book number etc,clubs don't like members arguing with their bailiffs,in my time i've seen them all,in the main the understanding,more communicative bailiff rules,but by Christ,there is a healthy breeding population of obdurate jobsworths out there,who interpret rules to they're own levels,slimy moisture loving creatures who crawl sideways....
There you go Alan, sitting on the fence again, just tell us what you really think of them bailiffsBut he has your name,book number etc,clubs don't like members arguing with their bailiffs,in my time i've seen them all,in the main the understanding,more communicative bailiff rules,but by Christ,there is a healthy breeding population of obdurate jobsworths out there,who interpret rules to they're own levels,slimy moisture loving creatures who crawl sideways....
Another Dave
Well-known member
Youngest wanted to take a net down the river.
Club rules stipulate a 40" x 30" mat. I don't have one that size. I did the obvious thing and phoned the secretary and asked if two smaller ones would be ok. He thanked me for taking the trouble to check and said it would be fine.
mikench
Well-known member
There is more beauty in those tiny fish than all the distended carp and Slug fish put together and I'll bet you enjoyed catching those just as much Dave.??Youngest wanted to take a net down the river.
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Since retiring Bank Holidays are totally irrelevant but it would pay to remember when there is one though.
The estate gardens are closed to the public on Mondays.............except bank holidays, so to go for a days peaceful fishing was a stupid idea. It was ok when I arrived but by 10 am the place got rather crowded, what with that and the fact the carp were spawning and a cormorant decided to fish the lake I decided after two hours and three bream later to cut my losses and head home. No bream pics I'm afraid, I haven't been for two weeks and the gardens since have erupted in bloom and colour.
The estate gardens are closed to the public on Mondays.............except bank holidays, so to go for a days peaceful fishing was a stupid idea. It was ok when I arrived but by 10 am the place got rather crowded, what with that and the fact the carp were spawning and a cormorant decided to fish the lake I decided after two hours and three bream later to cut my losses and head home. No bream pics I'm afraid, I haven't been for two weeks and the gardens since have erupted in bloom and colour.
Optimistically popped over to a small river this morning, hoping it would have cleared a fair bit.
It hadn't, and was still a bit on the high side.
I only had a couple of hours, so just went with the Dry fly, covering likely spots and looking for the odd riser.
Plenty of black gnat and sedge about, but only found one fish rising.
It took straight away, and although only 10 or so inches was a stunner...
It hadn't, and was still a bit on the high side.
I only had a couple of hours, so just went with the Dry fly, covering likely spots and looking for the odd riser.
Plenty of black gnat and sedge about, but only found one fish rising.
It took straight away, and although only 10 or so inches was a stunner...
The Runner
Well-known member
Finally, a day when the wind direction didn't start with an N, so off for my first visit of the year to Aird/ Kilmalauag. Only took lure rod as am rationing my remaining mackerel supply to last until they hopefully turn up in a month or so. Good tide for the mark and a warm but mostly overcast day to give good conditions. However...
Walk in a bit easier than later in the year with the bracken not having grown yet, for which thankful as my stamina probably wasn't back to 100% after an eight hour walk up and around some of the Black Cuillins yesterday...Started where the tide rip was hitting one of the rocky points but no sign of any interest from the pollack, and spent the next three hours working my way back and forward over half a mile of shoreline for no reward.
Finally had a short take from what is usually the bigger fish gully but hook didn't set and no further activity in half an hour there.
And then, at last, an hour later and quarter of a mile away on the middle point towards Rubh'an t-Sailleir had a proper take. Even then, a bit smaller than what's usually the average size for here but can't complain about the blank saver...Nothing at all thereafter..
Two takes in six and a half hours fishing a pretty poor return from what's usually my banker venue- no idea why it was so hard. went through the card of different lures, speed/ depth of retrieve etc but fish just didn't seem to be there.
Still. nice warm day in a beautiful quiet spot, didn't see another soul until got back to the end of the township road.
Might stay there a bit later next time and stop for a listen back towards the main road. One of the hay meadows there was left uncut until August last year and this year two edges of the same field have been left as a mass of Marsh Marigold and Flag Iris . Hope I'm right, it's a long long time now since I heard a Corncrake
Quite a few Greylags on the croft lands today along with the usual Ravens everywhere here. Very little over the sea other than Fulmars and Guillemots around their nesting colonies on the cliffs towards Rubha Hunish. And there was a hatch of some sort early evening on the tiny river that runs alongside the top of the township road- there were little (biggest probably 5", mostly smaller) trout/ parr rising all along wherever there was more than a couple of inches of water...
Walk in a bit easier than later in the year with the bracken not having grown yet, for which thankful as my stamina probably wasn't back to 100% after an eight hour walk up and around some of the Black Cuillins yesterday...Started where the tide rip was hitting one of the rocky points but no sign of any interest from the pollack, and spent the next three hours working my way back and forward over half a mile of shoreline for no reward.
Finally had a short take from what is usually the bigger fish gully but hook didn't set and no further activity in half an hour there.
And then, at last, an hour later and quarter of a mile away on the middle point towards Rubh'an t-Sailleir had a proper take. Even then, a bit smaller than what's usually the average size for here but can't complain about the blank saver...Nothing at all thereafter..
Two takes in six and a half hours fishing a pretty poor return from what's usually my banker venue- no idea why it was so hard. went through the card of different lures, speed/ depth of retrieve etc but fish just didn't seem to be there.
Still. nice warm day in a beautiful quiet spot, didn't see another soul until got back to the end of the township road.
Might stay there a bit later next time and stop for a listen back towards the main road. One of the hay meadows there was left uncut until August last year and this year two edges of the same field have been left as a mass of Marsh Marigold and Flag Iris . Hope I'm right, it's a long long time now since I heard a Corncrake
Quite a few Greylags on the croft lands today along with the usual Ravens everywhere here. Very little over the sea other than Fulmars and Guillemots around their nesting colonies on the cliffs towards Rubha Hunish. And there was a hatch of some sort early evening on the tiny river that runs alongside the top of the township road- there were little (biggest probably 5", mostly smaller) trout/ parr rising all along wherever there was more than a couple of inches of water...
jon atkinson
Well-known member
Had an afternoon session on the Leeds-Liverpool at Rimmer's Bridge on Sunday. On the waggler (obvs) with single maggot fishing down the track. Quiet as usual for the first 20 minutes then a nice plump Rudd followed by a couple of 'netter' Perch then an Eel of about 1/2 lb. I then got snapped off by what felt like a pretty decent Eel after which it was a succession of small Perch & Roach with the odd Ruffe, Rudd, Skimmer & hybrid. I switched to worm later on which improved the stamp of Perch a little but not dramatically. Not an earth-shattering session but a really pleasant day to be out enjoying nature. The only down side was a lot more boat traffic than on previous visits - quite a bit of tow path activity too, but I'm sure that other stretches would have been a lot busier.
Yesterday afternoon's performance on a club water was positively woeful - fished meat on the waggler from peg 26 on the Island. Pulled out of a couple that felt OK, a solitary small Perch saved the blank. In truth it was far too hot & bright for a red letter day, but good to catch up with a couple of members on the bank. Tried an adjacent water for the last hour, again to no avail - perhaps if I could have been bothered switching to maggots?! Funeral duties tomorrow so I'll be trying harder on Sunday when conditions are forecast to be a bit more favourable...
Yesterday afternoon's performance on a club water was positively woeful - fished meat on the waggler from peg 26 on the Island. Pulled out of a couple that felt OK, a solitary small Perch saved the blank. In truth it was far too hot & bright for a red letter day, but good to catch up with a couple of members on the bank. Tried an adjacent water for the last hour, again to no avail - perhaps if I could have been bothered switching to maggots?! Funeral duties tomorrow so I'll be trying harder on Sunday when conditions are forecast to be a bit more favourable...
I fished for a bit yesterday on the old canal, but I'll skip over that. It was a hot afternoon, and I foolishly went too early, so I was packing up when I really should have been arriving, at about 5.30pm. I caught a few, but it was in the "worst" period in a beautiful day - when the heat seems to generate squalls and gusts of wind that funnel along the canal and blow everything all over the place. I wasn't really feeling it, as young people say, for another reason. The anglers I had to walk past to get to a free peg - it was a bank holiday after all - were particularly sh@t-faced about making room on the towpath, even though I asked them nicely, and made a pantomime out of shifting their poles, rollers, roosts, landing net handles and other debris out of the way. I've fished pole since they were imported in the 70's. but I don't turn the area round my peg into a scrapyard and resent people trying to pass. Funny, as all the older guys - these were 30-40 yr olds - I've met since joining this club have been so friendly. Whatever. One to forget.
Another hot, cloudless day today, so I got to the tench lake at 4pm. I felt I was due one of the comfy flat swims, but there were three blokes there. They weren't catching and all the willow fluff was building up a thick coating on the surface. The bank opposite also had a wide white belt visible from 100 yards away. So I was condemned to the most awkward swim on the lake - clear of fluff and the wind behind - for the second time this summer
What the picture doesn't show are the trees which meet overhead, ruling out the long rod and pin I was hoping to fish. I've had this cute little reel for a couple of years, and never got around to using it
But you can only fish the pole on this swim. It's the only thing that will fit under the trees, and even then you can't ship it back. There's only room to put one section on your landing net. I put the rig on I used last time in this swim. The water was 3 inches lower. I took 3 inches off the depth, plumbed to check, fed a conker size ball of ground bait and half a dozen maggots, and the first tench was on its way in
The owner came round for his money. How am I doing? I'm alright now, but how I'm going to get back up there is a different matter. I was only half joking, so I was pleased to hear him say he'd check if I needed a hand later. The fishing, though, made the effort worthwhile. I usually start off counting fish here, but invariably lose count. Today, I kept count.... 10, 20, 30, 40, 50. When you're catching every put in, when do you stop? I have a birthday this month so I thought, right, I'll stop at 64. That seemed apt, in a poetic way. But then I thought, pack up at 64? Not sure I like that, so I had a few more casts and there were 75 tench ( and two perch; a mixed bag) in the net at the end, though only a couple would make 2lb. At about 7.30, when I'd scrambled everything back up top, and I was watching the sun go down while my nets dried, the owner, true to his word, turned up to see if I needed a hand. These are the kind of people I like to meet when I'm fishing, and luckily, charmless baboons are a rarity.
Another hot, cloudless day today, so I got to the tench lake at 4pm. I felt I was due one of the comfy flat swims, but there were three blokes there. They weren't catching and all the willow fluff was building up a thick coating on the surface. The bank opposite also had a wide white belt visible from 100 yards away. So I was condemned to the most awkward swim on the lake - clear of fluff and the wind behind - for the second time this summer
What the picture doesn't show are the trees which meet overhead, ruling out the long rod and pin I was hoping to fish. I've had this cute little reel for a couple of years, and never got around to using it
But you can only fish the pole on this swim. It's the only thing that will fit under the trees, and even then you can't ship it back. There's only room to put one section on your landing net. I put the rig on I used last time in this swim. The water was 3 inches lower. I took 3 inches off the depth, plumbed to check, fed a conker size ball of ground bait and half a dozen maggots, and the first tench was on its way in
The owner came round for his money. How am I doing? I'm alright now, but how I'm going to get back up there is a different matter. I was only half joking, so I was pleased to hear him say he'd check if I needed a hand later. The fishing, though, made the effort worthwhile. I usually start off counting fish here, but invariably lose count. Today, I kept count.... 10, 20, 30, 40, 50. When you're catching every put in, when do you stop? I have a birthday this month so I thought, right, I'll stop at 64. That seemed apt, in a poetic way. But then I thought, pack up at 64? Not sure I like that, so I had a few more casts and there were 75 tench ( and two perch; a mixed bag) in the net at the end, though only a couple would make 2lb. At about 7.30, when I'd scrambled everything back up top, and I was watching the sun go down while my nets dried, the owner, true to his word, turned up to see if I needed a hand. These are the kind of people I like to meet when I'm fishing, and luckily, charmless baboons are a rarity.
jon atkinson
Well-known member
Flippin' heck Kev - did you leave any in there?? What a fantastic session - definitely worth the restricted access!
It's just that kind of place, jon, the bites were coming as quickly when I packed up. When I lived in Chester, there was a former brickyard at Tattenhall that held hordes of small tench. Your canal used to have a lot around Lydiate, but that's going back a bit.