How did you get on?

[offroadrog]

@mikench I don’t know how you dare to post such a politically charged comment on an Election Day!

Gordon and I went fishing yesterday. We got soaked, caught some fish, put them back and went home.

Ps Gordon caught a lovely tench

Ive just realized you may not recognize me as I can’t get onto my more used rogerjohnson account!!

 

[markcw]

Decided to have a few hours on the canal about 15 minutes away,
Parked in the layby , at the side of the canal.
Got my chair and small bag of essentials plus the trusty Drennan 12' Crystalite rod along with landing net .
Through the gap in the railings and I was on the tow path .
This section has boats moored up along part of it, some are there permanently.
I walked about 20 yards past the last boat to where there is a decent width of towpath behind me, It's possible to unship 14 metres of pole behind you if required.
I set up the landing net first as is my habit, The rod was assembled and the reel for today was a Mitchell 3310z a small square at the back design, I think I bought this around the late 1970's.
It is spooled up with 3lb Maxima
The float was another old school item , it was an original Image balsa peg leg Waggler.
I bought the full range from a tackle shop that was closing down around 20 years ago .
Hooklength was 1.8lb Drennan xstrong to a size 20 Tubertini hook.Bait was white maggot .
Casting out to plumb the depth I found around 4' towards the far side.
I set the float at 3' to fish on the drop.
I fed a little and often , catapulting 4 or 5 maggots across after each fish .
I ended up catching one each cast , a lot were roach of a few ounces and a couple of decent ones of around 6oz If I had taken hemp and a spot of groundbait I would probably have caught a larger stamp of fish similar to previous visits here .
I didn't use a keepnet, the margin on the towpath side is very shallow and a few snags along it .
I never use one on shallow venues be it pools or canals in warm or hot weather.
It's just a habit I have gotten into over the years.
Had an enjoyable few hours , hardly any boats and it was a change to just take the basics tackle wise with me .

 

[mikench]

I hadn't Roger but why the change of ñame and are you back in Blighty.

I went fishing again today but on my lonesome. It was sunny and warm early doors but clouds developed as forecast.

I had a very good day with 15 carp(14 common and 1 mirror. The carp ranged from about 5 to 11 lb.

This was the biggest common. I took a pic of the only mirror as its markings were so nice but I didn't weigh it.

Curiously I only caught 4 roach but each was was over 1lb 4 oz with this one nearly 1lb 13oz.

All of the above succumbed to 8mm Cell pellets on a hybdrid feeder with micros dosed with Cell additive. I tried corn , meat and other pellets to no avail so stuck with the ones they wanted. I used a maggot feeder catching loads of skimmers and gudgeon so all in all a very enjoyable day. I left before the forecast heavy rain came under increasingly dark and foreboding skies. It's still dry though but I ran out of micros for the first time this year.

I have bought some Mainline shares.

 

[nottskev]

Went to the big fish pool on the Abbey estate this afternoon. I chose a swim that lets me float fish down an edge full of tree stumps and bushes, with a second spot on a sand bar that runs across the pool from an island 50 yds out.

I fed the edge swim with micros , hemp and shredded meat, and put some boilie/dumbell type things on the bar a rod from the island. I dropped a bait by the island - I was feeling smug that it landed exactly where I wanted - and concentrated on fishing down the side. It was slow going, and I could only manage 3 bites on the punched meat, two modest barbel ( there are big ones in here) and a chunky ide.

This is not really my game, and if I haven't had a bite in 3 minutes, I get impatient. So I was congratulating myself on leaving my perfectly placed second rod in for the duration without a bite. I wasn't delighted when I wound it in at the end and found there was no bait on the hook. I'd bought some ready-made chod rigs and attached the pop-up to the little ring via a pellet band. The band had been on for two sessions, and I guess it had broken before a fish hooked itself. Oh well.

 

[offroadrog]

I hadn't Roger but why the change of ñame and are you back in Blighty.

I went fishing again today but on my lonesome. It was sunny and warm early doors but clouds developed as forecast.

View attachment 20577

I had a very good day with 15 carp(14 common and 1 mirror. The carp ranged from about 5 to 11 lb.

View attachment 20581
This was the biggest common. I took a pic of the only mirror as its markings were so nice but I didn't weigh it.

View attachment 20585
Curiously I only caught 4 roach but each was was over 1lb 4 oz with this one nearly 1lb 13oz.

View attachment 20587

All of the above succumbed to 8mm Cell pellets on a hybdrid feeder with micros dosed with Cell additive. I tried corn , meat and other pellets to no avail so stuck with the ones they wanted. I used a maggot feeder catching loads of skimmers and gudgeon so all in all a very enjoyable day. I left before the forecast heavy rain came under increasingly dark and foreboding skies. It's still dry though but I ran out of micros for the first time this year.

I have bought some Mainline shares.

Still in France only until the end of the month
I seem to have lost FM from Tapatalk so had to reregister and access through the website.

 

[riverman]

Went to the mushroom ponds at south milford today and after a slow start managed 6 carp (including my 1st ghostie) the biggest being 7lb 13oz 5 bream 1 ide and 1 roach all on the mussel and prawn.missed loads of bites and lost 2 more carp at the net.all in all a decent days fishing.

 

[Ray Roberts]

Still in France only until the end of the month
I seem to have lost FM from Tapatalk so had to reregister and access through the website.

Tapatalk seems to be back working again.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[nottskev]

Managed to blank for the second time on the tench lake; I'd expect to be catching by the end of April, but not this year for some reason. It didin't seem like the spring was particularly cold, but there's barely any weed yet either. This afternoon I put he football on record and drove out to the estate lake. It was great to find an empty car park

I usually just walk straight to a favoured swim, but today I decided to walk around. When I got to a part of the lake I've never fished, I was pleased I had.

One thing I didn't have - any floating baits. It was a corner swim overhung with trees all around, so I set up just the "float" rod )if you can call a Torrix 1.75lb a float rod) to fish down the deep edge with a bit of peacock and a blob of putty on the bottom. First up was one of those sluggers that never give up

Followed by a couple of chunky ide. I've never seen such big ide as the ones in here

After that, I lost a barbel that covered 10m in the blink of an eye and the hook pulled as it ploughed into the trees, and that was that for a good while. I was tempted to pack up, but I fed some more hemp and meat to give it a last chance. I was glad I did. The last fish of the day was a beauty and its first two runs had me looking how much line was on the reel.

 

[flightliner]

Managed to blank for the second time on the tench lake; I'd expect to be catching by the end of April, but not this year for some reason. It didin't seem like the spring was particularly cold, but there's barely any weed yet either. This afternoon I put he football on record and drove out to the estate lake. It was great to find an empty car park

View attachment 20615

I usually just walk straight to a favoured swim, but today I decided to walk around. When I got to a part of the lake I've never fished, I was pleased I had.

View attachment 20617

One thing I didn't have - any floating baits. It was a corner swim overhung with trees all around, so I set up just the "float" rod )if you can call a Torrix 1.75lb a float rod) to fish down the deep edge with a bit of peacock and a blob of putty on the bottom. First up was one of those sluggers that never give up

View attachment 20619

Followed by a couple of chunky ide. I've never seen such big ide as the ones in here

View attachment 20621

View attachment 20623

After that, I lost a barbel that covered 10m in the blink of an eye and the hook pulled as it ploughed into the trees, and that was that for a good while. I was tempted to pack up, but I fed some more hemp and meat to give it a last chance. I was glad I did. The last fish of the day was a beauty and its first two runs had me looking how much line was on the reel.

View attachment 20625

Never mind Kev, am still looking forward to our annual day on the little Tench venue!!

 

[mikench]

Lovely looking common Kev.

 

[nottskev]

Never mind Kev, am still looking forward to our annual day on the little Tench venue!!

I'll let you know as soon as I catch something there Mick.

 

[S-Kippy]

Trite for me today.....firstly because its trite time and secondly because I simply could not face hauling my tench/crucian gear out of the shed and round the M25 on a Monday morning.

The forecast said windy and getting windier so the plan was to leave early and finish early....except the toll bridge over the Thames at Swinford has started to open early and the traffic was backed up almost back to Oxford. 2 hours after leaving home I still wasn't there.

Eventually I arrived and windy didn't even get close.You needed the wind behind you or it was impossible to get a line out. Where I wanted to go was unfishable but an area I like was free so I dropped in there. Its buzzer time but I could not get a touch swinging them round on the wind which is normally lethal at Farmoor. Eventually I tried pulling the flies ( which really isnt how to fish buzzers at all ) and I'm in....the Serge is saved. I had 3 fish there,all pulling and lost 2 others before it died on me. Ho...for the far bank on the other ressie again with the wind behind me. First chuck and a trite ripped my top dropper clean off ! Howl ! But at least it meant there were a few fish there. I had another two and lost another two before the wind started to get very unpleasant.

By now my back was on fire fighting the wind so sod pulling....I put a heavy buzzer on, chucked it out and sat on the ressie wall. That can fish itself while I have a cuppa. Halfway back and it ripped off and trite no 6 was duly landed after some splendid acrobatics. I'd said to meself 6 fish or 2-30 and it was 2-25 so I gave it best,told the toll bridge bloke what I thought of his chuffin business plan and had a reasonable run home.

Bit too much like hard work to be truly enjoyable but at least I had a few.

 

[mikench]

I ventured forth today to the spooky pool in a search, fruitless as it turned out, for tench.

I set up a feeder rod with paste on the feeder and a pop up on the hair. It remained silent. I switched to a hybrid feeder with pellet and micros but there was no difference. I tried an assortment of baits such as pellets, corn, meat, boilies and
Orange wafters and all failed.

I had also set up a float rod with maggots and caught about 25 assorted fish , mainly roach but with a few perch and skimmers included. This was the best roach at over 1lb.

Nobody caught a tench and those who relied on feeders blanked. It was an enjoyable day and whilst windy wasn't cold and remained dry. I had a pike in my swim which didn't help and which was hovering at my feet waiting for an easy meal. I did my best to release fish away from the predator but fear he may have grabbed a skimmer.

 

[Pete Shears]

Arrived at the big reservoir in thick mist this morning with the car telling me it was 5C. Picked a swim on the right hand bank and cast out 2 method feeders, sat back with a coffee as the mist slowly cleared.
Managed to catch eleven bream, the biggest about 3lb, the rest being skimmers with very silvery scales and nearly black fins. Not as hectic as it can get but with cold nights still ,to be expected. Some large fish rolling now and again but could not identify them.
Bird watching : two buzzards,an osprey,pair of reed buntings,a kestrel and three green woodpeckers as well as crows,rooks geese ,swans,great white egrets and common egrets.

 

[chrisjpainter]

I sneaked a couple of hours in at my lake down the road this evening. I fished the lift method under a porcupine, but mainly concentrated on trying to get a carp off the top. Mission accomplished, with a nice common at 11lb 4oz... and a grass carp. There's rumoured to be only one in the lake, but that's meant to be pushing 8lb. I wouldn't normally weigh a fish of that size, but intrigued, I put it under the scales and as suspected it was 5lb 11oz. So either it's lost a fair chunk of weight, or someone can't count!

 

[flightliner]

Awake at 4pm for another trip to my Tench water where I arrived at 6—40 am where the long trek to my chosen swim seemed a little quicker today, maybe on account of getting the balence of my trolley just right.
The wind was coming from the south and with no sun and dull it seemed that conditions were as good as I've experienced since my first time on the water.
A thin scattering of cereal gb mixed with casters, corn and red maggots thro a home made feeder completed the feeding programme until a top up was reqd later in the day.
All done my baited hooks were dropped into position of left and right , that done it was simply down to the fish.
I only waited some twenty minutes for the first Tench, a male, and a nice one, maybe a littke less than four lbs but a real bulldog of a fighter.
Two more an hour later, a low five the best then a big disturbance from a group of tufties had me bereft of bites (and my GB on the lake bed) so I had no choice but to top up the feed in the swim.
It seemed to work as another Tench came my way falling to the worm, corn and fed maggot cocktail.
A friend was on the opposite bank and he rang me saying his swim had died after four decant fish.
It mirrored mine as it happened as two hours had gone by since my last Tench so I topped things up in the hope it would liven things into action .
In the last hour I had two line bites and a solid bite that had me connected to a nice fish that came adrift well out in the baited area then just as I slid the net under a nice Tench the other rod came came to life giving me another duo of Tench that signalled my time was up.
Time for the long walk back.
View attachment 20637

 

[jon atkinson]

Awake at 4pm for another trip to my Tench water where I arrived at 6—40 am where the long trek to my chosen swim seemed a little quicker today, maybe on account of getting the balence of my trolley just right.
The wind was coming from the south and with no sun and dull it seemed that conditions were as good as I've experienced since my first time on the water.
A thin scattering of cereal gb mixed with casters, corn and red maggots thro a home made feeder completed the feeding programme until a top up was reqd later in the day.
All done my baited hooks were dropped into position of left and right , that done it was simply down to the fish.
I only waited some twenty minutes for the first Tench, a male, and a nice one, maybe a littke less than four lbs but a real bulldog of a fighter.
Two more an hour later, a low five the best then a big disturbance from a group of tufties had me bereft of bites (and my GB on the lake bed) so I had no choice but to top up the feed in the swim.
It seemed to work as another Tench came my way falling to the worm, corn and fed maggot cocktail.
A friend was on the opposite bank and he rang me saying his swim had died after four decant fish.
It mirrored mine as it happened as two hours had gone by since my last Tench so I topped things up in the hope it would liven things into action .
In the last hour I had two line bites and a solid bite that had me connected to a nice fish that came adrift well out in the baited area then just as I slid the net under a nice Tench the other rod came came to life giving me another duo of Tench that signalled my time was up.
Time for the long walk back.
View attachment 20637

Lovely session Mick - very jealous!

 

[markcw]

Trite for me today.....firstly because its trite time and secondly because I simply could not face hauling my tench/crucian gear out of the shed and round the M25 on a Monday morning.

The forecast said windy and getting windier so the plan was to leave early and finish early....except the toll bridge over the Thames at Swinford has started to open early and the traffic was backed up almost back to Oxford. 2 hours after leaving home I still wasn't there.

Eventually I arrived and windy didn't even get close.You needed the wind behind you or it was impossible to get a line out. Where I wanted to go was unfishable but an area I like was free so I dropped in there. Its buzzer time but I could not get a touch swinging them round on the wind which is normally lethal at Farmoor. Eventually I tried pulling the flies ( which really isnt how to fish buzzers at all ) and I'm in....the Serge is saved. I had 3 fish there,all pulling and lost 2 others before it died on me. Ho...for the far bank on the other ressie again with the wind behind me. First chuck and a trite ripped my top dropper clean off ! Howl ! But at least it meant there were a few fish there. I had another two and lost another two before the wind started to get very unpleasant.

By now my back was on fire fighting the wind so sod pulling....I put a heavy buzzer on, chucked it out and sat on the ressie wall. That can fish itself while I have a cuppa. Halfway back and it ripped off and trite no 6 was duly landed after some splendid acrobatics. I'd said to meself 6 fish or 2-30 and it was 2-25 so I gave it best,told the toll bridge bloke what I thought of his chuffin business plan and had a reasonable run home.

Bit too much like hard work to be truly enjoyable but at least I had a few.

You must have copped for all the wind at Farmoor .
I was on a club water down the road on the Linear complex ,
Sat in polo shirt and tracksuit bottoms with sunglasses on .
I went there to try out an Angling Direct own brand reel out an Advanta 50fd.
Came with spare spool and both had double line clips on .
I set two rods up using the one reel .
Put the reel on one rod ( pellet waggler in this case) set up as normal .
Remove the reel from the rod and take spool off,use line clip so line does not go everywhere .
Set the other rod up after putting spare spool on the reel, ( feeder rod)
I started off on the feeder and had a couple of carp around 8lb , the reel performed brilliantly, stem to spool is easy to reach with finger , bail arm operates with a turn of the handle, line came off the spool with no problems .
Removed reel from feeder rod leaving spool in place , put on waggler rod , feed and cast , first put a carp of 5lb or thereabouts, kept feeding and casting , again the reel performed brilliantly, it was slightly heavier than my Inception reel, but apart from that ,it was free running and brought the carp to the net with no problems
For a reel costing just £24 it is terrific value for money.
They were the only fish I had in a few hours .
This was basically a revue of the reel and how I went on .
The trip back to Oxford over the Swinford toll bridge was a doddle ,no traffic .
Going to the complex I come in a different way from Oxford avoiding the toll bridge .
May have a trip to the Thames behind Farmoor later , the Angling Trust has a free stretch there near Pink Hill lock .

 

[barbelboi]

I took a short drive this morning to a local gravel pit that I fished a couple of times a few years ago – very peaceful, low stocked so very few anglers. My fishing buddy and I were the only ones on the water. The water is gin clear with a fair amount of pond weed so I set up two rods in this instance as bites would be hard to come by.

The method was plastic casters popped up over a funnel web of mixed pellets to a relatively clear gravel bar about 60m across for one rod. The other was set to a slow sinking bubble to sit in the weed about 15m to my left catapulting mixed pellets to a hair rigged pellet and casting quite regularly to give me something to do. Fished from 10am – 3pm for 2 small carp and and 2 tench to 6.7lb. Thinking back, predominately fishing flowing waters, this was probably my first visit to a still since before covid…..

 

[Pete Shears]

Arrived at the local canal feeder reservoir around 6am this morning,much milder than yesterday with a SW wind,overcast however the fish on my side of the reservoir had not read the same books.
Managed to get two bream within ten yards of the bank on method feeders - had hoped for tench. Had a float rod out with a float/leger set up and had a small pike grab the sweetcorn when I reeled in. This micro pike was then grabbed by another pike of about 8lb which eventually let go and I managed to unhook a rather ragged micro pike which swam off. The bigger pike kept returning to my swim and rolling as if trying to find its missing breakfast.