How did you get on?

[Pete Shears]

A few hours on the upper Soar this morning,forecast milder,not in that wind, felt colder than last Monday in a northerly. River level lower than the last trip,good colour( the muddy staining gone) and a steady pace but the fish seem to have gone on holiday although a cormorant circling probably explained it with the lakes being frozen last week. Plenty of wildlife to watch - buzzards,long tailed t**s,great t**s,robins. What I did notice was all the holes in the banks which had been submerged on my last trip - watervoles?
Eventually a bite on quivertipped flake produced a brown trout of 1lb 8oz after going through flake,crust ,worm and cheesepaste, the blustery cold wind blowing downstream made trotting flake a lost cause.

 

[xenon]

Holes in the bank might be Kingfisher nests. remember seeing Jack Hargreaves episode where he and David Boag rescue some from a flood by digging them out. Might be on you tube-worth a look.

 

[bracket]

Last Monday (4/1/21) I had a senior moment. I went to the tackle shop, bought a gallon of bait and came home to find we were going into Lockdown 3, clever that. Fortunately the situation changed, with fishing locally being allowed. With that in mind, on Friday, I went to my local river three miles down the road, primarily to try out a new Abu/Garcia 506 Mk 11 my Lady had bought me. Fog delayed the start and I got on the bank around 10 am.

The temperature was minus three, I almost had to roll me sleeves down. Also, there was half a foot of water on. I fished a peg just above the bridge on the stick, and struggled for an hour until this turned up:

That turned out to be the only fish of a two hour session, so, thankfully a face saver. The reel fished a treat and I am pleased with the performance, although not so much the quality, which is no comparison to the original 506's I have, but it was a gift and I'm glad to have it.

Today I tried again, this time well below the bridge, and you would think it a different river. In perfect nick, but with a trickling down gate breeze. I took a grayling second run through on the stick:

and had a similar four more, in the next twenty minutes. I continued to get the odd fish, all a good stamp and had two around two pound:

This is a pound and a half of one of them, and here's the other half a pound:

I am rubbish at photography. I fished from 08.30 to 10.45, and then called it a day, with a tally of 15 grayling, of which 13 were net fish and two swingers. I made the short walk back to the car, cold but content. I will recuperate for a couple of days then try again on Thursday. Pete.

 

[lambert1]

Yeah the mk11 is not a patch on the original.

 

[Philip]

Apologies that this is going to sound very “Samey” to my last post so I’ll keep it brief... I went back to my little river and this time had 7 Roach, again all far above the usual average size here, the best two were absolute crackers. Amazing fish for a water literally 6 foot wide in places.

I think its fair to say I am very confident in my approach at the moment

 

[xenon]

Clonking roach Phillip-guess they are both over a pound?

 

[ian g]

Fantastic fish , they have massive tails and look in great condition

 

[tommos16]

Post them every day Philip if you like, love seeing success!

Sent from my VOG-L09 using Tapatalk

 

[Philip]

Clonking roach Phillip-guess they are both over a pound?

Thanks for all the kind words., They went 1.10 & 1.8 …three of the others went over a pound as well and the other two just under. I was in the right place at the right time …that’s fishing

 

[Hugh Bailey]

Not sure there’s a nicer looking fish than a big Roach - smashing catch Philip!

 

[mikench]

Lovely roach and well done. I am glad that some of us can and do go fishing. Lest we forget the name of the Forum is about fishing and not cooking, the big B's or other matters which I induge in along with many others. My enjoyment of FM is in the round and arguably more important in a lockdown. Keep on posting about fishing to spur us on.

 

[Rod McG]

Lovely day on the Wey Navigation (local....5 minutes drive) yesterday, my second time fishing there.
9 small Roach, 5 on bread punch and 4 on single maggot.
Been reading up on canal fishing on here as it's new to me, so excited to catch this time as last time I blanked.

 

[Hugh Bailey]

Lovely day on the Wey Navigation (local....5 minutes drive) yesterday, my second time fishing there.
9 small Roach, 5 on bread punch and 4 on single maggot.
Been reading up on canal fishing on here as it's new to me, so excited to catch this time as last time I blanked.

I started my fishing on the Wey Nav. in the 60’s. It’s never easy but there seems to be many more small roach and skimmers than before - same with the Basingstoke which joins just down from Byfleet. The M25 makes it a lot less peaceful in the places I used to fish so don’t really go much now - must give it a go again when things ease up a bit.

 

[no-one in particular]

Last Monday (4/1/21) I had a senior moment. I went to the tackle shop, bought a gallon of bait and came home to find we were going into Lockdown 3, clever that. Fortunately the situation changed, with fishing locally being allowed. With that in mind, on Friday, I went to my local river three miles down the road, primarily to try out a new Abu/Garcia 506 Mk 11 my Lady had bought me. Fog delayed the start and I got on the bank around 10 am.
View attachment 12605

The temperature was minus three, I almost had to roll me sleeves down. Also, there was half a foot of water on. I fished a peg just above the bridge on the stick, and struggled for an hour until this turned up:

View attachment 12606

That turned out to be the only fish of a two hour session, so, thankfully a face saver. The reel fished a treat and I am pleased with the performance, although not so much the quality, which is no comparison to the original 506's I have, but it was a gift and I'm glad to have it.

Today I tried again, this time well below the bridge, and you would think it a different river. In perfect nick, but with a trickling down gate breeze. I took a grayling second run through on the stick:

View attachment 12607

and had a similar four more, in the next twenty minutes. I continued to get the odd fish, all a good stamp and had two around two pound:

View attachment 12608

This is a pound and a half of one of them, and here's the other half a pound:
View attachment 12609

I am rubbish at photography. I fished from 08.30 to 10.45, and then called it a day, with a tally of 15 grayling, of which 13 were net fish and two swingers. I made the short walk back to the car, cold but content. I will recuperate for a couple of days then try again on Thursday. Pete.

I am assuming that's the Frome again Pete, lovely fish. Its one fish I wish I had around my way.

 

[no-one in particular]

This is a bit dull but got nothing else at the moment so better than nothing I suppose. Had a walk down the front today and spotted a couple fishing, couldn't resist walking over and asking the time honored,. All they had were small whiting, for the coarse anglers that's like having to get through shoals of bleak but in the sea. Brave to be out in this damp cold weather and just look at the sea gull carrying covid over from France, I warned you all but you take no notice. Anyway a couple of pics for those unfortunate enough to be land locked , one from the other day when the weather was a bit nicer and that's what I call social distancing.

 

[john step]

Urgent DIY jobs done. First trip of 2021 today locally (Half mile!) . Most of the lake refroze so I had to be content with the corner without a lid on.

One jack and then at dusk this one at 15lb 5 ozs. Suspended lamprey on Tress link and a single catfish hook. Went home pleased as punch.

 

[mikench]

Lovely looking Pike Pete; I'm envious.

 

[no-one in particular]

Yep, that is a nice looking fish, Pike are not really my thing but I wouldn't mind catching one like that, well done.
A small bass caught of the beach today, only about a 1.5lb but still a nice fish. A couple anglers out braving the wet and cold sitting on the beach.

 

[bracket]

Second trip to the Frome today. The weather was mild and still, but constant light rain spoilt it some what. I am comfortable fishing in the rain, having a good set of waterproofs, but as I always float fish standing, I can't abide using an umbrella, so the down side is the gear gets soaked. I fished what was new peg to me. On a long straight and seven foot deep. It was a slow start and I took my first grayling after half an hour:

The rain got more persistent and I didn't fanny about taking more photos. At the best of times I'm not that good with a camera. They weren't climbing up the rod, but I did keep getting the odd fish, and finished up with eleven grayling between 12oz and 1.5lb, two salmon parr and a brown trout after two and a half hours. Well worth the effort. The highlight of the session was the arrival of the only other angler on the bank today. He had just this week, join the club and was on his first trip out. He had never seen a grayling let, alone caught one. So being the obliging guy I am, I promptly caught the best fish I had this morning, a fish of around 1.5lb, to show him what they looked like. He had recently moved from New Zealand to Dorset and was new to English style coarse fishing. This was evident by the 5ft spinning rod and casting reel, complete with a bubble float rig, he was carrying. I explained the rig, tackle and technique, I was using and gifted him a 7 No 4 stickfloat to try. An hour later he came back to say he had taken his first ever grayling and was delighted. I suggested he might like to invest in a 13ft float rod and that Shakespeare gear was good and reasonably priced. So, with luck, another river convert. Pete.

 

[mikench]

Well done Pete.