How did you get on?

[markcw]

Bit of a catchup.

Friday fished a day ticket club concession. The one where @mikench has been catching all the Tench but decided to fish what's known as the match lake as it's some time since I had.

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Started quite well from around 7am picking up some reasonable Roach to around 7oz and a skimmer of 1lb+. Looks like it had a close encounter with a cormorant.

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Went quiet from around 10am which seems par for the course for the venue whichever lake you're on. 20 on the clicker.

Had anglers either side who seemed to fare much the same. Saw maybe three or four Carp landed around the lake so not a busy day for anyone. Did get hooked into a sizeable Mirror which slipped the 16s hook when I showed it the net and one more Skimmer slightly bigger than the first. Nice day weather wise if a little gusty at times fishing a waggler into the wind.

Yesterday/Monday. I'd decided to have a session on the Dam. Got half way there and changed my mind (it's about the same distance) heading for the Bridgewater, another place I haven't fished for a while. Had an early fly past of a very small Kingfisher, always a welcome sight. And a pair of swans with an impressive brood, assuming it's one family.

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Again started off quite well at around 7am picking up some respectable Roach and what I think is a skimmer but may be mixed parentage.

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Went dead around 10am. Picked up a couple of small Perch the rest being see through Roach fishing about 3" off bottom down the centre. Tried other depths but couldn't find anything better. The far shelf was a bit of a struggle and plenty of things to get caught up in. Did try it several times without any luck. Got to about 3.30 and the air had a feeling of imminent rain. Checked the forecast, less than 5% which is what was forecast earlier. Then it started. Not for long though. By the time I'd got my coat on and recast it had stopped. Toying whether to pack up, all those see through fish had got me a bit dispondent. Decided to have a last chuck at the far shelf with a small ear of sweetcorn. Landed maybe a couple of metres from the far bank. I'd started with a 16s to 3.3lb FC but switched half way through to 18s to 2lb to hook caster. Just my luck that something with a bit of attitude would take the sweetcorn after all those see throughs.

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I thought it was a hybrid in the net but looking at the picture I'm more inclined to think it's a decent sized Roach (wishful thinking?). Put up a good account of itself anyway, made my day 18 on the clicker and that includes the see throughs.

Depending on where you went on the canal Gordon , there are some good roach and decent bream in there .

 

[seth49]

Back on usual fishery yesterday, all three of us for a change, decided to fish a peg that usually produces a few crucians, as it would be nice to catch a few more of one of my favourite fish, before the cold weather arrives.

tried a few different baits, before finding that cockles was the bait they wanted, good bites on these as well, no messing about they just buried the float, also caught tench a barbel and the usual skimmers, plus foul hooking a couple of carp, before hooking one properly Ive never seen elastic stretch so far, it was a mirror of about 7lbs, good fun on size 11 dura slip, 15 mm mainline and 11mm hook length.

we packed up quickly around 5 o clock as the sky was looking very dark, and a rumble of thunder told us what was coming, I was 2 miles down the road when it started, glad not to be out in that the rain was torrential.

finished with 6 crucians, 6 tench, 1 carp, 1 barbel and the usual dozen or so skimmers, good day when it went to plan for a change.
and my camera has dried out in the rice again.

 

[maggot_dangler]

Well not done a lot last couple of days been a bit under the weather shall we say , Fished a new pool a few days ago one of the club waters Moston had 5 very nice carp out tops 8lbs but nice all on my lonesome the entire pool to my self like it that way very enjoyable on sweet corn that was .
See what the next few days brings weather wise get out again hopefully

 

[nottskev]

Some torrential rain and a river rising visibly (not much, but welcome) tempted me to go back to a deeper, steadier stretch I'd not visited since the heatwave and drought. Paths full of nettles and overgrown swims told me it hadn't been fished lately - it looked more like early June than early September. If you do catch any here, they tend to be a bit bigger than the residents of the fast water. Only 3 bites in 3 hours, but I'm not complaining when they looked like this

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Waiting for a bite was livened up by a cloudburst that saturated me and every item of gear in 5 minutes. And by the thunder of fighter jets which rent the sky now and again. The RAF base is quite a few miles away, but that's seconds at the pace these things fly. I was in a bit of a parrot cage, but whilst I saw no parrots I did see herons, egrets, kingfishers, a wren and a sparrowhawk. At one point something was loudly splashing along my bank like something looking for a way to get out of the water. I didn't see it, but I guess it saw me first.

 

[maggot_dangler]

No fishing today RIP Her Majesty the Queen Queen Elisabeth II

 

[Steve Arnold]

Yesterday friend Alistair phoned to tell me he had bought a carp rod and asked me where we could go to try it.

That gave me a reason to excuse myself from family visitors and grab a rod myself. I knew there was some fresh flow arriving in my local stretch and exactly where I wanted to put a bait. I was determined Alistair would come second in todays little fishing race!

When we arrived the river looked perfect. I had prepared my tackle and bait earlier and had a bait in the exact spot I knew would hold a fish (if they were in the area at all!). Alistair was about 10 minutes behind me sorting his gear!

After about 30 minutes I had two slight pulls on the rod tip. A full 10 minutes later the rod tip pulled down and I was connected to a fast and powerful fish. Lots of snags here, rocks, fallen trees all around. I hoped my new trace and leader made out of coated braid loaded with tungsten would stand the abrasion.

After an exciting ten minutes, most of the fight the fish clearly visible, this massive carp was in my net.

Later I had one more bite but no hookup, my weight was slipped from the weight clip. But that one fish was more than enough for me at 38.5 pounds.

This time poor Alistair failed to get a fish!

 

[Philip]

Thats a stunner, and from a river not an overstocked puddle. Well done !

 

[Steve Arnold]

Thats a stunner, and from a river not an overstocked puddle. Well done !

I looked at a couple of carp ponds just before leaving the UK. The plan was to practise some carp fishing before moving to this part of France.

Somehow they just did not enthuse me! I love wild places and fishing for unknown fish in mysterious waters. Of course these great carp, almost mythical creatures, will have never seen a hook before!

 

[Philip]

With Autumn around the corner I decided to start my Roach campaign but it didn’t quite go to plan…

I had prepared a new swim on a quiet stretch of river, intentionally choosing a spot most people would walk past with tree cover making overhead casting impossible & with much more obvious spots both up and down stream to be as sure as I could that I would be the only person fishing it. I had put in a fair bit of bait over a couple of weeks & when a free moment finally arrived I shot off for a quick dabble.

The first bite came after 25mins, the rod pulled round and the clutch started to scream so it clearly wasn’t a Roach. A Carp & not a happy one by the feel shot off on a series of long runs. Just as I was getting the upper hand it made another run down the left hand margin and became snagged solid somewhere under the marginal trees. No amount of pulling or slack lining would free it but gingerly tightening up to maximum I could feel the odd tug down the line, the fish was still on! Mulling my options, I decided if I could get right above it then I could probably free it, the problem was that between me and the fish was a good 30 yards of rocky slippery bank and dense trees down to water level.

Stupid as it was I decided to go for it and began to inch my way along the margin passing the rod round each tree as I went & trying not to fall in. It took me a good 5mins to get myself above the fish and I tightened down and heaved. I felt a heavy grating on the line but something slowly began to move & then all of a sudden it was free. The fish clearly benefitting from its “rest” in the snag wrenched the rod round & shot off downriver. It was impossible to net it from where I was so I let it go on a slackened clutch & began the slow slippery journey back to the swim passing the rod back round all the trees again one of which snapped as I was hanging onto it ! Falling backwards I stuck out my free had & managed to grab the branch of another tree saving me a dunking. To add to my problems the snapped tree fell into the river creating a new snag which the fish then promptly tried to dive into! How that fish didn’t come off I’ll never know but eventually it slid into the net. I don’t think I have been so satisfied to land a fish for a long time ! It was a lovely long common, I didnt weigh it but that was irrelevant. I was just pleased to have finally landed & I am sure I will remember that one long after bigger fish have been forgotten.

The snagged one…how it didn’t come off I’ll never know..

..and the margin I had to scrample along to land it ..

Plonking myself back in my seat sweating after those fun & games I didn’t have long to wait for the next bite. This fish came in much more easily almost like a dead weight & I thought I had hooked a decent Bream. However it then started to make powerful circles up and down in front of me, occasionally taking a yard or two of line and sending heavy thumps down the rod. I continued to play it for probably close on 30mins almost entirely under the rod tip & I would have put money on it being a Catfish but finally it surfaced and I slid a clonking great common Carp into the net. This one I did weigh & at 35lb 4oz it was a very good fish for this stretch. With the fish clearly on the feed I returned later that evening for another hour or so, I got drenched in a downpour but caught another two Carp, another common & a very nicely scaled mirror.

The 35 pounder....

The other two...I caught later ....

So my Roach trip didn’t go to plan but I certainly was not complaining with 4 fish up to 35lb in about 3 hours fishing. There are Carpers who spend days on end bivied up fishing this stretch of river who would give their eye teeth for that. The key was the preparation beforehand plus, yes, a dash of fishermans luck. It also showed once again that you don’t need ridiculously OTT tackle, all the fish being landed on a 1.25 t.c rod 6lb line & a size 10 hook which while I am not advocating proves what can be done with balanced tackle even in a snaggy river.

 

[mikench]

Well done Philip and what super fish. Your perseverance paid off handsomely.

 

[Neil Maidment]

I had an overnight session on the Thames at Old Windsor on Friday. The target was barbel, more accurately one barbel would do! I last had a barbel from this area about two decades ago (in fact I had several that night) when I fished as a guest of a member of the Civil Service Angling Society. That stretch of the Thames changed hands a few years ago and is now on one of my club books.

As the light faded, two chub around 4lbs fell to banded pellet fished below an open-ended feeder and then, as it got properly dark, the bream arrived. A big slab that slipped the hook just beyond netting range was followed by two smaller examples around 5lbs. Then the cloud cover cleared to reveal a very bright full moon. It all went very quiet.

Finally, at around 3am, one of the rods hooped over. Turned out to be a nice plump barbel of around 6lbs/7lbs. A big torn off piece of meat had worked again!

Two or three hours of sleep in the car before driving home. Long delays in the local area as thousands of people headed to Windsor Castle, the majority walking down The Long Walk. I think the nearest car parking was the M4!

 

[maggot_dangler]

Well scrapped together a few pennies for a tin of corn and some bread off i went knew where i wanted to fish which peg and exactly where in the water got there to find Contest Grrrrrr that caused plenty head scratching where now was also a contest on the canal as well now i was a bit miffed i wound up going to my bogie pool fished it at least a dozen times net result 1 roach , well blagged some maggots off Roy the bait at the contest pool and i must say i enjoyed it i started getting small stripy's and Skimmers switching between maggot sweetcorn & bread seemed to work as when one went quiet switching woke them up again i had a few nice Roach and decent bream but the best was 4 carp not big fish looked like that may have been the year befores fry about 8 inches long nice fish broke my bogie on that pool glad to say .

 

[Notts Michael.]

Had a couple of hours on the club section of dis-used canal late afternoon, lots of people fishing there earlier when I drove past, but just one other fishing when I arrived. nothing fished on the bottom seemed to be acceptable to the picky fish, but I noticed a couple of pairs and threes of decent size carp slowly cruising up down so threw in a few bits of sliced white bread, they seemed to like that, so I freelined some floating bread with a few free offerings and caught a few after a short while, really enjoy this type of close range, simple but exciting fishing, waiting for those big lips to pull in the hookbait. this one was around 9lb.

 

[Steve Arnold]

Hate to do this, but that carp I caught on the Lot - did anyone think it was bigger than 38.5 POUNDS?

I certainly thought it was bigger than a 42 pound carp I caught a few miles upriver some time ago.

ANYWAY! Yesterday I dug the digital scales out to weigh a barbel, when I weighed it the big print numbers did not tally with my guesstimate weight.

I put my reading glasses on and in tiny print underneath it said JIN (Chinese measurement). I had not touched those scales since I weighed the carp.

So today I did the conversion to POUNDS ......and it came to as near as dammit 51 POUNDS.

I went out of the house joking with friends I was going for a 50 pound carp and it looks like I have done it. Just a shame this mistake will leave an element of doubt!

What do you guys estimate for that carps weight? It is on my crossed legs up against my belly - so no "trick shots" with arms outstretched!

 

[john step]

Dunno but its a great fish. Should have gone to Specsavers?

 

[Steve Arnold]

Dunno but its a great fish. Should have gone to Specsavers?

I had cataract operations earlier this year. My vision is spot on between TV distance and infinity now. But close-up still requires reading glasses.

Getting the right reading glasses is difficult and opticians in France proper rip-off merchants. So I found by trial and error that my right eye is +1 and my left eye +2.

So I bought a load of cheapos from the equivalent of the pound shop in those strengths. Hot water soaked and and I swapped lenses around until I now have a few sets of cheap reading glasses.

At least I can tie knots now.......and see when the scales say JIN instead of POUNDS!

 

[mikench]

Well done Steve . A magnificent specimen and I am happy to accept your amended assessment. Wow you will soon be famous.

 

[Steve Arnold]

Well done Steve . A magnificent specimen and I am happy to accept your amended assessment. Wow you will soon be famous.

I missed the 30 pound mark by 3 ounces, then jumped to a 42. My target was for 50 pounds and I am annoyed at myself for screwing up the weighing.

There are still bigger carp in this section and I seem to have arrived at the tackle that copes with their size and the rugged conditions.

But then it's down to luck! I have been "on-a-roll" this last four years. At my age just how long can I make it last?

What a fantastic river!

 

[Steve Arnold]

Anyway, back to reality now!

Just had a couple of days camping at lovely Cajarc. When the ski boat started running I doubted my chances of catching anything!

Hopefully by the end of the month they should be finished with this summer madness!

But a little later in the evening the barbel did show up. I took three in about an hour and two more the next morning.

All around 4 to 5 pounds. This section of river above the barrage is supposed to hold good carp, I have never seen one yet! Recent years have seen more fast boat activity, perhaps the carp have moved further up the river?

 

[Philip]

I put my reading glasses on and in tiny print underneath it said JIN (Chinese measurement).

Have you tested your scales against some known weights. That way you can be 100% certain what unit they are measuring in.

Regardless of weight its a fabulous fish and catch.