How did everyone get on then?

Ok who stuck to their guns and managed a session or two over the weekend and if you were out today did you manage to avoid getting blown in?

Slight change of plan in that I never got the time to get bait yesterday and sort "normal" gear out so yet again it was the jig although on my old club water this time for the first time this year where a bit of rubber managed to out fish my mate who was on the groundbait feeder by two perch to one skimmer.

I really fancied this with the higher temperature and warm southerly but the strength of the wind was horrendous at times with large branches snapping and being blown into the water and the opposite bank was nigh on impossible with it head on but I did manage the two perch from that bank, I witnessed two pairs of pike slipping by and almost touching each other on their way to spawning along with probably one of the fattest perch i've ever caught thanks to it's seasonal additional load...



So then, how did you get on?

Fishery work party in lovely sunshine on Saturday. Managed to squeeze a couple of hours in afterwards before the wind and rain swept in. Not a touch to be had.

Having had the football to watch at lunchtime, I was never very likely to get out today. As the football was excellent, for a change, and the weather was grim, I'm not too disappointed to not get out. I'll be watching the weather closely while I wait in on a bait delivery tomorrow. I may just venture out as soon as it lands.

I got out on a local mere yesterday, switched from the float to g/bait feeder after about 20 minutes (mad wind*) and pretty much had a bite a chuck, all roach and skimmers, a really nice day!



*weather, not me

Got up to Marsworth Ressie about 9:30 this morning. Practice for the annual open matches that run through until September. One of those places where if it's warm and windless when you leave home, it's going to be another planet when you get there. And it was!
As bream were the target I walked round to the windward bank, kinel you could have practiced surfing on those waves! I could have moved to the more sheltered bank but decided I was in the right place.
Casting into the wind with a small cage and groundbait was challenging, the wind by now was a raging hooly straight in the face.
3 bites, 3 washed out 5oz roach and I was thinking of my sofa.
Slowly but surely the anglers on the sheltered bank started packing up and space was there. I was round there like a shot.
It was a different world. The wind, although still raging was hitting me broadside. Despite my efforts I caught a few more roach but those slabs eluded me. Got battered by both pegs either side of me during the afternoon. Both anglers had virtually the same maggot and feeder set up as me but that's bream fishing innit...

I made it to my local lake for a session on Saturday. It began as one of those days where everything went wrong... I lost tackle, my pellets refused to bind to my method feeder and, among other things, I could not tie a decent knot for the life of me! I didn't get a bite all morning...

The bailiff came collecting his money during all of this - he suggested using pellet and corn and mentioned that over the last few days, the fish seemed to be coming alive just after lunch time. Well... as it turns out, this man was a genius! he certainly knows his waters well - my day changed drastically and I was pulling them out on every cast. The pellet and corn were working well, especially the double hair rigged corn on the method. The best fish of the day was a gorgeous lean 9lb-10lb mirror.

Annoyingly, in a bid to leave the kitchen sink at home, I had cut down on everything and only taken a small amount of groundbait (as my plan was to use pellets on the method) so I quickly ran out which brought my session to an end sooner than I had hoped, but I can't complain. All in all, a good day.

Oh, on the subject of seasonal fatness - I had to take a pic of this lady who seemed like she was about to burst! Her extra load added about 2lb by my guesstimations (which could be way out)

Work party this morning in warm sunshine - on the bank Tues. and Thurs.
Jerry

I managed to get out on Saturday and tried one of my new clubs waters.

The day started bright and sunny, I didn't get their as early as I wanted as the only shop selling Maggots is a 20 mile round trip away and they didn't open untill 8.30.

When I got to the lake all of the good swims already had Bivvies erected on them, although they where all zipped up tight and remained that way for most of the day as the anglers slept in awaiting the sound of their bite alarms, which never sounded the whole time I was their.

The swim I was stuck with was a bit on the shallow side so quite a long cast was needed to get to the deeper waters, not a problem with the feeder rod, but the float needed on the other rod ended up being too heavy for proper bite registration at the sort of distance I needed to cast it, so ended up fishing the feeder on both rods.

How did I do! well I had one more than anyone else on the lake, but that one was within 20 minutes of casting out, but sadly that was it for the day.

Mind you what is a Pike doing taking a 6mm strawberry boilie, but I was grateful for its efforts, even though it was only about two or three pounds, it was the first Pike I had ever caught in 40 odd years of fishing as well.

I will be going out again during the week, weather permitting but think I will try a different water that one was just too weedy for accurate bait presentation.

Paul