How did you get on

GUC Tring last Thursday on a wide section. Fished waggler and maggot and had bites all day. Roach, skimbobs, gudgeon and perch for almost 20lb...
Today on another section of the GUC had an interclub match with a very good turnout. It fished hard and breadpunch was the bait needed for the roach and skimmers. First half hour was a bite a chuck on maggot on the bottom of the far shelf. 1 good perch and lots of roach until it died. Then it was punch or nothing for the rest of the match. Trashed three delicate rigs hard across @11m on hanging branches which was aggravating as I was catching some nice roach. Ended up with 3lb:0:8 for nowhere.
7lb:12 won and 7lb:11 second.
19 fished...

How did you get on?

Fished Thursday and with high pressure forecast, loads of sun (cloudier pm) and no wind I decided to try and coax a few ratfish off the top from a local gravel pit. Fished from 9am – 3pm for five carp, nothing special (small/mid doubles). Also took an 8.14 male tench (again up in the water).

Hi I haven't posted here for a while. I had this Bream which made a good account of its self. The Bristol Docks are full of them, Fishing with free lined bread as its just a fantastic way to fish. The one pictured is the biggest from the lot as my brother caught 2 smaller one's. This is easily my PB which I couldn't estimate due to my scales breaking (Any estimations would be great)

I had no loose feed as it was a spare of the moment session, So I was unable to hold the Fish unfortunately. Still great for a 3 hour session and my second Bream since I started fishing last year. The Rivers just keep me away from the canal

Sorry fellas...

The only fish I've seen this weekend was battered and surrounded by a barrow load of chips this afternoon!

As soon as I clocked the forecast I decided to give it a rare miss after spending twelve hours on Thursday watching the carp blowing kisses at each other, no interest in anything other than romance with one even taking the submerged tip of my rod off the rest with its back as it swam underneath... but not a nibble all day.

I've booked the first week of the river season as holiday and intend on filling me boots so I've been getting all the outdoor jobs out the way this weekend including the dreaded staining of the fence (24 6' x 5' panels two coats each, that's 1,440 square feet for anyone blessed with being unfamiliar with the purgatory of such a job... Grrrr!).

And I'm pinker than a new born baby lol... Oh well, 29 sleeps to go

I've given you a like Denzinho, even though they were snotties, as it's been such a good weekend......................

Fished my farm pond for twelve hours over two wet days earlier in the week and caught plenty of different species on all baits again with one or two half decent crucians and roach.
I'd had a good look at my set up and went for a No 6 Stillwater Blue (or was it a No 5?) to which I'd added a tiny foam 'sight bob' painted orange to add my visuals!

Worked well and I think I'm finally getting into this shallow water, ultra light (for me!) way of fishing but still working on bite conversion although I'm of the opinion missed bites are always on with this style of fishing......

ps Takes time getting the shotting just so with such tiny floats!



pps A big tench 'up in the water' Gerry....that'll make some think!! Very nice fish though..

High pressure and clear blue skies forced me to change plans and fish a small tributary of the Vienne. It is known locally as the Site de Corot but we refer to it as Dingly Dell............



The river reminds me a lot of the Dearne where I used to fish. Other than having no off-road motorbikes, burnt out cars in the deep pools and picnic tables that hadn't been reduced to match wood it is much the same

The River Glane is officially classed as a Category 2 river; i.e. coarse fish. But I was the only one not spinning for trout. My target were barbel and the river looks perfect for them. I learned after I had packed up that the barbel were away spawning in an area upstream that is temporarily off limits to anglers.

First cast with a 1/4 oz bomb, 14 hook and small red worm resulted in a small bream followed by a ruffe then a succession of roach..........



A change of bait to sweetcorn proved to be unpopular with the fish and so I moved downstream to more pacy water.........



Fishing the middle track in fast water was negative as was the near bank seam. The only place I could get a bite was by bouncing the bomb off that white rock on the far bank. A shoal of small chub were in residence and rattled the quiver tip like good 'uns.

Nothing to trouble the landing net, but a good afternoon out no less. First time I've fished this stretch and it won't be the last.

Looks beautiful and unspoilt and an absolute pleasure to fish I am sure. Green eyes!

Did my first "early" this morning hoping to bag a few tench. Day started well with a cuckoo calling very close by as I sat in the garden having my 1st cuppa & trying to wake up. First I've heard round my way for a few years now. Magic !

Things went rapidly downhill from then on in. My banker tench swim seemed to contain nothing but carp and Egyptian geese...both of which I hate with a passion ! I had 6 carp...biggest a scraper double and the only tench of the morning managed to bury itself round the last lily stem before the net and I just could not get it out.

God how I hate carp. I did not get up a silly o'clock to catch those bloody things. Each to their own but dear God if I never caught another chuffin carp ever it would bother me not one whit. Boring,boring,boring.

One pointer, and I'm sure you know this Skip so not for you, for those that may not - if a tench gets 'stuck' in the pads just let the line go loose and watch it (unlike carp they will not thrash about and will lie still). After a short while, maybe 30 secs to a couple of minutes they will feel safe and try to make their escape - as soon as the line moves tighten up and 'mug' 'em out before they realise what's happening...............

Just got back from a weeks eating, drinking and socialising in Normandy with three (very) old brothers of the angle. Fabulous company, star gazing etc.

Oh, and a large number of decent carp in between.

Life can be worth living.

Back to the grindstone tomorrow.

Stu

barbelboi said:

One pointer, and I'm sure you know this Skip so not for you, for those that may not - if a tench gets 'stuck' in the pads just let the line go loose and watch it (unlike carp they will not thrash about and will lie still). After a short while, maybe 30 secs to a couple of minutes they will feel safe and try to make their escape - as soon as the line moves tighten up and 'mug' 'em out before they realise what's happening...............

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Yes...this normally works but this morning's solitary tench managed to "knit one purl one" round the stems and I was basically bolloxed. Bloody pads are already a problem,Jerry. At this rate in 3 weeks it will be virtually unfishable.

S-Kippy said:

Yes...this normally works but this morning's solitary tench managed to "knit one purl one" round the stems and I was basically bolloxed. Bloody pads are already a problem,Jerry. At this rate in 3 weeks it will be virtually unfishable.

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They never died down at SP this winter Skip, it's just at times the water level has been higher than most of last year's growth. Still, I won't complain as all my geraniums bar a couple overwintered on the patio and are now some 2'+ tall with at least 14 flowers on each - saved a few bob down the garden center this year..........

Jerry....I'm quietly confident I could bully a tench out of a patch of your geraniums but those pads at SP are like Triffids.

BTW did you hear that John Chapman of HT had passed away ?

S-Kippy said:

Jerry....I'm quietly confident I could bully a tench out of a patch of your geraniums but those pads at SP are like Triffids.

BTW did you hear that John Chapman of HT had passed away ?

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No I didn't, haven't been down there for a few weeks. Saw him about a month ago for a chat and he seemed to be improving.....

I thought so too but sadly not. Went downhill very rapidly by all accounts & passed away last Tuesday. I was quite shocked because I also thought he was on the mend albeit still poorly.

I wouldn't want to work there...first Ade now John.

barbelboi said:

I've given you a like Denzinho, even though they were snotties, as it's been such a good weekend......................

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They weren't that snotty surprisingly, but god they made me stink after.

I got out for a couple of hours on the canal in croxley this afternoon,

Fishing light float gear I only managed 3 small fish, a bream, a chub, and what I'm pretty sure was a ruff.

denzinho said:

Hi I haven't posted here for a while. I had this Bream which made a good account of its self. The Bristol Docks are full of them, Fishing with free lined bread as its just a fantastic way to fish. The one pictured is the biggest from the lot as my brother caught 2 smaller one's. This is easily my PB which I couldn't estimate due to my scales breaking (Any estimations would be great)

I had no loose feed as it was a spare of the moment session, So I was unable to hold the Fish unfortunately. Still great for a 3 hour session and my second Bream since I started fishing last year. The Rivers just keep me away from the canal

View image in gallery​

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I'm from bristol too bud and have always thought about fishing the docks but never knew where/was it worth it, so anything you could fill me in on would be a real help! Thanks mate.

Hi mate.

There are many different locations through the Docks that attract different varieties of Fish. These include: Roach, Bream, Carp, Perch, Ruff and dace are the main species. The carp are very difficult to find there usually hanging around the boating area's from what I have heard (20lb fish rolling). You can get direct Info from here Bristol Match Angling Centre . There are a couple of anglers that do match's on a Thursday night but there has been no update since March so I guess there respecting the close season.

The close season does not matter at the Docks by the way. You can call or e-mail Dave at Bristol angling and he will put you in the right place for what your looking for. The best Fishing baits I have found are Maggot, Worm, and Bread. Sweetcorn always throws up a blank for some reason. Style of fishing I use is swim feeder/ground bait feeder due to the depths ranging averagely 10ft with some area's at 18ft on a running rig with a quiver tip. Your preferences may be different for bite detection. Best months to fish I find are April till July but it fishes well in all year in some spots. The match fishermen use the pole by the way (I don't know how these work regarding setup and depths).

I think i covered everything mate. I usually go to Keynsham on the River chew when the season is open again. There are some cracking fish there but some are difficult to catch due to noise and dogs jumping in your swim mg:. So i have purchased a club season ticket from Keynsham AA this year. Also up the road from Feeder road where I normally fish at the docks there is Conham park which has the River Avon running next to it running for around 2 miles. Again some great catches there including 32 Perch ranging from 10oz-1lb it was a cracking day. Also Pike that go to 20lb have been caught the year gone.

If you have anymore questions mate I would be happy to help you.

Good luck