How did you get on?

[mikench]

A couple of weeks ago Gordon said he fancied trying a whip. I offered him the unused one I had which I had difficulty locating. I gave it and a prepared float to him last time we fished together. Today we went fishing and Gordon chose the venue to try it out.

This ís a large water.

I started on the feeder as usual with a gb made of corn, hemp and a method mix. I tried pellets, corn, meat, maggots to no avail while Gordon set up his whip and started to fish. Half an hour later, if that, Gordon declared it wasn't for him and set up his float rod. The whip was returned to me and it is destined to get lost again in the garage.
Gordon started to catch immediately and had this cracking roach of 1lb 4 oz.

It looked enormous and I was convinced it was near 2lb- perhaps Gordon's scales are inaccurate? Gordon also caught a duckling but with a skill and tenderness Sir David Attenborough would have been proud of, he netted it , removed the hook and sent it back to mummy and daddy and its 4 siblings. We were plagued by ducks, swans and moorhens.

I had switched to a float rod in the meantime and had 15 assorted skimmers, perch and roach. Whilst none were netters a couple were around 8 oz. As I packed up a lady came running up and almost begged me to lend her my landing net and handle as her young grandson had dropped his feeder bottle into the lake. This wasn't any old bottle but the only one the little so and so would use and he was distraught. I gave her the net and the cries of glee were audible from 150 yards away as the precious bottle was retrieved. That was the only time the net got wet but it was in a good cause and was duly returned with thanks.

A very pleasant day Gordon despite the disappointing results fishing wise. See you Friday hopefully.

 

[nottskev]

A short session on the old canal this afternoon. I thought the overcast, humid weather might suit the bream. I've yet to catch more than a couple so it's a bit of a challenge. There were a few fishing, but one of my preferred pegs was free

I set up a shallow rig to catch some small fish while I waited for the big bream to move into my carefully fed second swim. The first part of the plan went ok, with plenty of ide, chublets and roach

A swan family - parents plus 5 cygnets - made circuits of the canal. Sometimes they swam past. Other times they walked past on the towpath behind me.

Every 20 mins or so, I dropped into the swim I'd fed with pellets, caster and corn, but the only 3 bites I got came from 3 identical mirrors. I was using the same elastic for this "big fish" swim as I did in March, but now the weather and the carp have warmed up they were climbing the trees on the far bank. I'll have to step up the gear next time.

No bream and no tench, so the result looked like this

As I was packing up, a bloke passing suggested I should walk up and have a look in the lock cutting. I did, and the carp and chub cruising around have been noted for a warm evening later on this summer.

 

[john step]

A day in green heaven and solitude on the Wolds. 4 Lakes to choose from all deserted. I opted for a lazy one next to my car having tweaked my back on a work party.
A very slow dour morning until after sandwich time when they started to feed. 10 assorted carp none quite making a double on the method.
I used my 40 year old Daiwa Jaguar quiver tip as I sat on and broke my Shakey recently.
Chocolate and orange again.
Another carp photo!

 

[sam vimes]

View attachment 20867

Kev,
am I right to think that this is a minimal configuration Octbox? If it is, what's it like to carry over the shoulder(s)? Does it carry upright, or will it carry with the padded seat against your hip/side?

 

[wetthrough]

Just another pic from today, Mike and his new found friends

Thanks for the whip Mike but I'll stick with what I know.

 

[nottskev]

Hi Chris,
It is. Bought it about 6 years ago; quickly ditched the sub-frame and footplate to avoid hernias and back injuries. Octbox now market what they call a Compact Box, which is what I'm left with plus a heavy, clunky side-tray. It's reasonably portable (I'm more spasticated than the average bloke, so I find heavy what many would be comfortable with). I've just tried, and you can flip it to put the seat next to your body, but it wants to revert.
Positively, I can say it's bullet proof in construction, very stable thanks to the large footprint, and very comfortably upholstered. The leg-locking system is faultless. The frame has open ends which allow all kinds of attachments to be fitted/pushed in. For example, I can put wheels and handles on mine without need for a trolley or barrow. The telescopic legs mean you can set a height and just juggle the extensions to level, and it has 4 spirit levels. It has no deep tray, so I put reels, floats and feeders in a carryall. Two trays have proved more than adequate for all little bits and pieces, and they never spill and remain usable when your weight is on the box.
Drawbacks: it's all sharp corners and edges and will bark your shins and scratch any paint it gets near. Being rather over-engineered, it's a bit heavier than you might think.
It's not as svelte or lightweight as my Boss Compact boxes ( I have two) but I use it in preference as its comfort, stability and drawer capacity give it the edge.

 

[sam vimes]

Cheers, Kev,
The Octbox Compact is likely to be winging its way to me at some point. I really like the idea of the solid and indestructible leg system. I'm also rather fond of side trays. The slight downside is not having a chair back like my current feeder chair. However, I suspect that I'll get by until they get round to offering a hugely over-engineered solution!

 

[nottskev]

Cheers, Kev,
The Octbox Compact is likely to be winging its way to me at some point. I really like the idea of the solid and indestructible leg system. I'm also rather fond of side trays. The slight downside is not having a chair back like my current feeder chair. However, I suspect that I'll get by until they get round to offering a hugely over-engineered solution!

Oh, they've already come up with that

 

[sam vimes]

Oh, they've already come up with that

View attachment 20885

I've seen that, but I'm not convinced by it at all. Too much weight and bulk for my liking. The swivel seat they do looks better, but I'm still not sure it'll work for me.

 

[nottskev]

Met up with Mick (Flightliner) this afternoon, down from Sheffield to join me on the tench lake. We were lucky, up to a point: a few showers and squally spells aside, the weather was beautiful, and we had the luxury of adjacent good swims yards from the cars. But. A few days ago you couldn't put a bait in the water without catching a tench. But places somehow know when you've brought someone along to sample them, and we were both finding bites hard to come by.

I set up with long rod and pin. Mick had become a late-onset pole owner thanks to a bargain from a neighbour and he set about fathoming the miles of carbon tubing in a vast holdall. To good effect, as he had a couple on it and I looked up once to see his elastic stretching out to the horizon before the fish came off. Meanwhile, I plodded on getting the odd bite from the usual stamp tench.

We were both pestered by a well-built swan cheeky enough to stick its head in your bait tub and stroppy enough to peck at you for not feeding it. Mick wasn't too impressed with the pole, and swapped it for rod and reel. The pic would have ben quite artistic if I'd managed to get the top of the rod in

Just before Mick arrived. I'd chatted to some dude packing up who'd told me his best fish from the water included a 9lb 8oz tench, a 5lb 12oz perch and an 18lb 8oz bream. Incredible, I said, and I meant it literally. I can only say Mick and I caught none of those, but we did manage 30-odd tench between us on a relatively dour evening. Cheers, Mick, and I'll look forward to meeting up on the Don and the Trent this summer.

 

[sam vimes]

I'd chatted to some dude packing up who'd told me his best fish from the water included a 9lb 8oz tench, a 5lb 12oz perch and an 18lb 8oz bream. Incredible, I said, and I meant it literally.

If you encounter him again, buy his scales for me.

 

[wetthrough]

Gordon started to catch immediately and had this cracking roach of 1lb 4 oz.

View attachment 20863

It looked enormous and I was convinced it was near 2lb- perhaps Gordon's scales are inaccurate?

Just checked them. Electronic kitchen scales 1010g, fishing scales 1005g so not too bad.

 

[mikench]

You need a set like the bloke Kev met .

 

[seth49]

Usual fishery yesterday, arrived at 6am just one other angler on, it was forecast to be windy later with showers, so picked a sheltered swim which I hadn’t fished before, just tackled up with pole as there wasn’t room to put the sleeper rod in.

Slow start and then caught a few skimmers and small perch, before the tench arrived, only had three plus four crucians, before a couple of very heavy showers and a cold wind got up, that effectively killed it for the tench and crucians, only had one more tench at last knockings when fishing for carp in the margin, plus more skimmers and a few roach.

Did get one carp late on from the margins, a nice common about ten pounds, after I had packed up the margin was full of carp typical, so finished with 4 tench, 4 crucians, one carp and 18 silvers, it was looking good till the rain and wind arrived.

Did learn that the cockles I had brought worked a lot better in the afternoon, and the liquidised corn attracts the crucians here as well.

 

[Pete Shears]

The highlight of this mornings trip to the local reservoir was watching an osprey which again caught its breakfast and used the same dead tree as a dining table and a red kite enjoying the strong wind.
Yesterdays cold ,strong NW wind and todays blustery W-SW wind seems to have switched the tench off completely.Yesterday all that happened were three screaming runs on plastic corn resulting in striking fresh air,this morning absolutely nothing even after hauling out a huge amount of weed.

 

[flightliner]

Usual fishery yesterday, arrived at 6am just one other angler on, it was forecast to be windy later with showers, so picked a sheltered swim which I hadn’t fished before, just tackled up with pole as there wasn’t room to put the sleeper rod in.

Slow start and then caught a few skimmers and small perch, before the tench arrived, only had three plus four crucians, before a couple of very heavy showers and a cold wind got up, that effectively killed it for the tench and crucians, only had one more tench at last knockings when fishing for carp in the margin, plus more skimmers and a few roach.

Did get one carp late on from the margins, a nice common about ten pounds, after I had packed up the margin was full of carp typical, so finished with 4 tench, 4 crucians, one carp and 18 silvers, it was looking good till the rain and wind arrived.

Did learn that the cockles I had brought worked a lot better in the afternoon, and the liquidised corn attracts the crucians here as well.
View attachment 20899
View attachment 20897
View attachment 20895

Met up with Mick (Flightliner) this afternoon, down from Sheffield to join me on the tench lake. We were lucky, up to a point: a few showers and squally spells aside, the weather was beautiful, and we had the luxury of adjacent good swims yards from the cars. But. A few days ago you couldn't put a bait in the water without catching a tench. But places somehow know when you've brought someone along to sample them, and we were both finding bites hard to come by.

I set up with long rod and pin. Mick had become a late-onset pole owner thanks to a bargain from a neighbour and he set about fathoming the miles of carbon tubing in a vast holdall. To good effect, as he had a couple on it and I looked up once to see his elastic stretching out to the horizon before the fish came off. Meanwhile, I plodded on getting the odd bite from the usual stamp tench.



View attachment 20887

We were both pestered by a well-built swan cheeky enough to stick its head in your bait tub and stroppy enough to peck at you for not feeding it. Mick wasn't too impressed with the pole, and swapped it for rod and reel. The pic would have ben quite artistic if I'd managed to get the top of the rod in

View attachment 20889

Just before Mick arrived. I'd chatted to some dude packing up who'd told me his best fish from the water included a 9lb 8oz tench, a 5lb 12oz perch and an 18lb 8oz bream. Incredible, I said, and I meant it literally. I can only say Mick and I caught none of those, but we did manage 30-odd tench between us on a relatively dour evening. Cheers, Mick, and I'll look forward to meeting up on the Don and the Trent this summer.

Met up with Mick (Flightliner) this afternoon, down from Sheffield to join me on the tench lake. We were lucky, up to a point: a few showers and squally spells aside, the weather was beautiful, and we had the luxury of adjacent good swims yards from the cars. But. A few days ago you couldn't put a bait in the water without catching a tench. But places somehow know when you've brought someone along to sample them, and we were both finding bites hard to come by.

I set up with long rod and pin. Mick had become a late-onset pole owner thanks to a bargain from a neighbour and he set about fathoming the miles of carbon tubing in a vast holdall. To good effect, as he had a couple on it and I looked up once to see his elastic stretching out to the horizon before the fish came off. Meanwhile, I plodded on getting the odd bite from the usual stamp tench.



View attachment 20887

We were both pestered by a well-built swan cheeky enough to stick its head in your bait tub and stroppy enough to peck at you for not feeding it. Mick wasn't too impressed with the pole, and swapped it for rod and reel. The pic would have ben quite artistic if I'd managed to get the top of the rod in

View attachment 20889

Just before Mick arrived. I'd chatted to some dude packing up who'd told me his best fish from the water included a 9lb 8oz tench, a 5lb 12oz perch and an 18lb 8oz bream. Incredible, I said, and I meant it literally. I can only say Mick and I caught none of those, but we did manage 30-odd tench between us on a relatively dour evening. Cheers, Mick, and I'll look forward to meeting up on the Don and the Trent this summer.

View attachment 20891

I'd arranged to meet Kev at 1pm with the plan to go into early evening so left home at noon for the one hour drive to the lake thro the dukeries, Sherwood forest, onwards to ollerton then towards Nottingham before turning off to towards Southwell with its minster and its connections to king Charles the first and lord Byron.
The countryside roundabout is pretty stunning with some gorgeous villages equel to most anywhere near or far.
Kev was there when I turned up with the two pegs he mentioned in his post, both side by side save for a few yards in between.
I decided to set up a pole for the forthcoming hoped for action, not something I'm used to, far from it.
A little feed then out I went, slow at first for any bites but eventually I connected to my first Tench that I landed ok and was then into a perch that may have gone 6oz.
Minutes later my float buried and lifting into the bite my 'lastic stretched out heading to the lake centre at an alarming rate but sadly the hook pulled free within a few seconds, disaster!
I paid for that hookpull without a bite for well over an hour and during that time a stiff breeze began to blow making the pole difficult to handle so put it on one side for another day.
Back on the running line I had a carbon copy of my previous mishap, two small Tench then a lost fish with a good near hour before another one, they were decidedly edgy yesterday but in the final hour before having to leave at 7—30pm I began to have a few more before reluctantly having to call it a day.
A superb drive back home thro the early evening sunshine(even tho it was lowering in the west), very few cars, superb views and with Kev as company for good measure.
Thanks for the invite Kev, looking forward to the next time!

 

[flightliner]

I'd arranged to meet Kev at 1pm with the plan to go into early evening so left home at noon for the one hour drive to the lake thro the dukeries, Sherwood forest, onwards to ollerton then towards Nottingham before turning off to towards Southwell with its minster and its connections to king Charles the first and lord Byron.
The countryside roundabout is pretty stunning with some gorgeous villages equel to most anywhere near or far.
Kev was there when I turned up with the two pegs he mentioned in his post, both side by side save for a few yards in between.
I decided to set up a pole for the forthcoming hoped for action, not something I'm used to, far from it.
A little feed then out I went, slow at first for any bites but eventually I connected to my first Tench that I landed ok and was then into a perch that may have gone 6oz.
Minutes later my float buried and lifting into the bite my 'lastic stretched out heading to the lake centre at an alarming rate but sadly the hook pulled free within a few seconds, disaster!
I paid for that hookpull without a bite for well over an hour and during that time a stiff breeze began to blow making the pole difficult to handle so put it on one side for another day.
Back on the running line I had a carbon copy of my previous mishap, two small Tench then a lost fish with a good near hour before another one, they were decidedly edgy yesterday but in the final hour before having to leave at 7—30pm I began to have a few more before reluctantly having to call it a day.
A superb drive back home thro the early evening sunshine(even tho it was lowering in the west), very few cars, superb views and with Kev as company for good measure.
Thanks for the invite Kev, looking forward to the next time!

Oops, how did that happen!

 

[nottskev]

I went out for the third time in three days - but it was only an hour in the evening. I'd seen some big fish in a blanked off lock on the old canal when I was there last, and thought I'd give it a try as it's only a short distance from home.
I spent half an hour at the blocked off end

And the same at the open end

Nothing was showing on top ( there were carp and chub cruising around the other day) so I fished punched meat under an overdepth flat bit of peacock cast into the inaccessible 10m in the middle. I was geared up to land something big, but half a dozen bites produced one chub like this

and half a dozen skinny ones like this.

All the smaller chub looked emaciated, so I doubt I'm likely to catch a hefty veteran. Btw Mike, the rod in the pic is a Harrison Avon with one type of reel seat that avoids foam blobs. It's also short, and the cork looks pretty.

 

[S-Kippy]

You need a set like the bloke Kev met .

Who sounds like Spiders to me. Why weigh anything when you have a perfectly good watch ?

Anyway….as reported on the Morning thread I was up with the sparrows and away to Godalming today. For once I beat all the silverbacks there though it’s close season on the club lake so I was fishing one of the day tickets waters at Marsh Farm. Bit breezy for the float so I had a lazy day on the feeder. Rather challenging and terribly slow but between 7 and 1030 I had 6 bites….4 crucian, a joey tench and the other missed because the hooklink had tangled and the hook was pointing the wrong way. I tried some white 6mm bandums I had in my bag and had 2 crucian and the tench on those so I shall certainly be giving them another go

Best 3 crucian went 2-6, 2-9 and 2-12 which imo made the early start worth it. I was surrounded by other anglers but didn’t see them catch anything but bits so I must be doing something right surely ? The lake died completely around 1130 and I started to get grebed out so packed at 1230 and headed home.
Here are the 2 best fish.

 

[john step]

Just back from a 48 hour stint. Not an easy water is my excuse for just one carp. One photo was OK but the much practised posing shot on my new phone was not. I think I didnt set the flash..DER!
The 2 nights and days went very peacefully with lots of wildlife as I had the water to myself.
The usual sparrow hawk, kingfishers, geese creche and to cap it an Osprey.

The plan was for carp at night and tench in daylight. This morning I had what was probably the biggest tench I have ever hooked come off at the net. Oh bother I said.

Easy waters next week I think.