nicepix
Well-known member
Seems that Crabtree junior is getting lethargic. At one time he'd have had this week's post up and running by 6pm. These days he'll even allow three weeks reports in one thread 
So. In the interests of clarity let's hear how you got on this weekend. I'll start as its my thread anyway :w
We have two sisters-in-law in residence and it is Wimbledon week and so I packed the camper van and headed west to Marans for a spot of fishing. The weather wasn't brilliant and the blustery wind and coloured water in the canals and drains put paid to any hopes of mullet stalking. I also had the dog with me and as she is arthritic getting about was a problem. That's the excuses out of the way and no onto the fishing report.
We arrived on Friday afternoon and parked right alongside the main canal that links the town to the sea. Marans is a historic inland port and the area around has been drained and resembles the Fens. The gusting wind played tunes on the moored yacht's rigging that made for a pleasant experience. Because of the coloured water I made my way to the salt side of the sea gates where I'd had a few roach and bream a month or so back. I fished a sliding waggler in about 13 feet of water, two rod lengths out and was immediately into fish using sweetcorn on the hook. The canal or drain, was 5 feet deep at the rod end, 9 feet deep a rod length out, then bottoms at around 13 feet for the 40 yard or so it is wide. The fish were feeding in the deeper water and I couldn't differentiate between roach and bream by altering the depth as I had before. They were all on the bottom. I fished from around 5pm to around 9pm landing about 20 or so roach and silver bream up to around 12 oz roach and around1lb for the silver bream.
After a shower and hot meal I settled down for the night listening to the increasing howl of wind in the rigging. It didn't bode well for the morning.
Fortunately the morning dawned bright with the same blustery wind as I had left behind the previous evening. I was up at 7am, dog walked and breakfast by 8am and off to the boulangerie for some fresh bread bait. Roobs was feeling her old bones. I can tell by the way she breathes when she is in pain and so I left her in the camper and went a wandering on my own. I'd spotted a good chub in the town centre. 5lb I reckoned and it was tucked away right alongside a wall next to the quay built from ballast stones brought in by Canadian fur trading ships.
The wind was less strong in the town compared to the drain I'd fished the previous evening, but the water was still coloured after heavy rainfall. I was able to sneak down the slipway and cast a piece of bread flake up against the wall to where I'd seen chubby patrolling. What I couldn't do though was stop the gawking people from skylining my bloomin' swim and that put paid to any hopes of urban chubbing.
I did manage a chubby little carp though............
along with a couple of similar sized roach and the obligatory bream. If that is what I think it is, it is the first crucian I've had since I was 14.
I got back to the camper and had lunch before taking Roobs and the rest of the tackle to another swim on the sea drain where we could both stretch out a bit more than in the cramped swim of last night. I wimped out and used the quiver option of my JW Travel Avon / Quiver due to the wind but only managed to hit one bite, the very first cast, a strange roach bream hybrid............
So I changed the top section to the Avon and fished a 4BB sliding waggler down the same line as the feeder, four rod lengths out for another few roach and bream. I'd also been feeding the reeds where they jutted out from the bank, throwing in mashed bread hoping to attract mullet.
The wind had finally dropped by now and so I swapped to a 2BB waggler and fished the reedy corner around 4 feet deep. First bite was a wels catfish that was all of 4" longmg: Then another of the same size before I landed another crucian that was almost pure silver, just a hint of gold and around twice the size of the other. That jumped out of the net as I was reaching for the camera. Saltwater crucians must be shy.
Roobs kept reminding me that she hadn't had her dinner and when I looked at my phone to check the time (I haven't worn a watch for over two years) it was almost 9:30pm and so, as Zebedee said: "Time for bed."
This morning, well.....................
So I came home earlier than expected and rode in torrential rain and an electrical storm for around 120km. But the good news is that by common consent the final Wimbledon weekend can be a fixture, an annual solo fishing trip
So. In the interests of clarity let's hear how you got on this weekend. I'll start as its my thread anyway :w
We have two sisters-in-law in residence and it is Wimbledon week and so I packed the camper van and headed west to Marans for a spot of fishing. The weather wasn't brilliant and the blustery wind and coloured water in the canals and drains put paid to any hopes of mullet stalking. I also had the dog with me and as she is arthritic getting about was a problem. That's the excuses out of the way and no onto the fishing report.
We arrived on Friday afternoon and parked right alongside the main canal that links the town to the sea. Marans is a historic inland port and the area around has been drained and resembles the Fens. The gusting wind played tunes on the moored yacht's rigging that made for a pleasant experience. Because of the coloured water I made my way to the salt side of the sea gates where I'd had a few roach and bream a month or so back. I fished a sliding waggler in about 13 feet of water, two rod lengths out and was immediately into fish using sweetcorn on the hook. The canal or drain, was 5 feet deep at the rod end, 9 feet deep a rod length out, then bottoms at around 13 feet for the 40 yard or so it is wide. The fish were feeding in the deeper water and I couldn't differentiate between roach and bream by altering the depth as I had before. They were all on the bottom. I fished from around 5pm to around 9pm landing about 20 or so roach and silver bream up to around 12 oz roach and around1lb for the silver bream.
After a shower and hot meal I settled down for the night listening to the increasing howl of wind in the rigging. It didn't bode well for the morning.
Fortunately the morning dawned bright with the same blustery wind as I had left behind the previous evening. I was up at 7am, dog walked and breakfast by 8am and off to the boulangerie for some fresh bread bait. Roobs was feeling her old bones. I can tell by the way she breathes when she is in pain and so I left her in the camper and went a wandering on my own. I'd spotted a good chub in the town centre. 5lb I reckoned and it was tucked away right alongside a wall next to the quay built from ballast stones brought in by Canadian fur trading ships.
The wind was less strong in the town compared to the drain I'd fished the previous evening, but the water was still coloured after heavy rainfall. I was able to sneak down the slipway and cast a piece of bread flake up against the wall to where I'd seen chubby patrolling. What I couldn't do though was stop the gawking people from skylining my bloomin' swim and that put paid to any hopes of urban chubbing.
I did manage a chubby little carp though............
along with a couple of similar sized roach and the obligatory bream. If that is what I think it is, it is the first crucian I've had since I was 14.
I got back to the camper and had lunch before taking Roobs and the rest of the tackle to another swim on the sea drain where we could both stretch out a bit more than in the cramped swim of last night. I wimped out and used the quiver option of my JW Travel Avon / Quiver due to the wind but only managed to hit one bite, the very first cast, a strange roach bream hybrid............
So I changed the top section to the Avon and fished a 4BB sliding waggler down the same line as the feeder, four rod lengths out for another few roach and bream. I'd also been feeding the reeds where they jutted out from the bank, throwing in mashed bread hoping to attract mullet.
The wind had finally dropped by now and so I swapped to a 2BB waggler and fished the reedy corner around 4 feet deep. First bite was a wels catfish that was all of 4" long
mg: Then another of the same size before I landed another crucian that was almost pure silver, just a hint of gold and around twice the size of the other. That jumped out of the net as I was reaching for the camera. Saltwater crucians must be shy.Roobs kept reminding me that she hadn't had her dinner and when I looked at my phone to check the time (I haven't worn a watch for over two years) it was almost 9:30pm and so, as Zebedee said: "Time for bed."
This morning, well.....................
So I came home earlier than expected and rode in torrential rain and an electrical storm for around 120km. But the good news is that by common consent the final Wimbledon weekend can be a fixture, an annual solo fishing trip
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