Progress of sorts!!

mikench · Oct 21, 2016

Tried a new venue today which is a day ticket water free to my club. There are 3 lakes in stunning countryside very near home and I don't know why I hadn't been before!

I arrived early about nine am and picked a spot on the lake recommended to me but which already had 7 anglers sat quietly fishing. There are no pegs as such and the banks are a little steep in places so I had a little difficulty in levelingup my chair but managed it. I then brought out my Darent Valley rod( which I love) and proceeded to break of the tip getting it out of the rod holdall!

How I managed this degree of ineptitude I'll never know. I cursed as one does and put the rod back as nonchalantly as I could and brought out another! I then set up the quiver tip rod with a small method feeder and cast out towards an island. I was way short! Next cast hit the island and I lost the feeder. At this point I was ready to pack up and go home and felt that all eyes were upon me including a gentleman in a deerstalker using an acolyte rod and a very old and large centre pin. Gulp!

I retackled and cast in again to a spot a little away from the island where I could see lots of bubbles; result a quick take and a 3.5 lb bream was on! I ended up with 7 bream to 4lb, several skimmers and roach to 12oz. I felt vindicated!

During a lull I rang the tackle box to enquire about a replacement tip. I admitted I was a plonker and that the breakage was utterly and entirely my own fault. The shop said because I had been honest they would send me a replacement free of charge if I paid the postage. I was really pleased by this and wish to reiterate what great service this shop gives. I will have the replacement on Monday. Well done to the "tacklebox"! I now intend to buy another rod from them.

An interesting day but an enjoyable one and ultimately an uplifting one due to the kindness and customer care rarely found these days. They did offer to have a look at fixing the tip if I brought it in but that ,geographically wasn't possible!

I love this fishing lark

Chefster · Oct 21, 2016

mikench said:
Tried a new venue today hitch is a day ticket water free to my club. There are 3 lakes in stunning countryside very near home and I don't know why I hadn't been before!

I arrived early about nine am and picked a spot on the lake recommended to me but which already had 7 anglers sat quietly fishing. There are no pegs as such and the banks are a little steep in places so I had a little difficulty in levelingup my chair but managed it. I then brought out my Darent Valley rod( which I love) and proceeded to break of the tip getting it out of the rod holdall!

How I managed this degree of ineptitude I'll never know. I cursed as one does and put the rod back as nonchalantly as I could and brought out another! I then set up the quiver tip rod with a small method feeder and cast out towards an island. I was way short! Next cast hit the island and I lost the feeder. At this point I was ready to pack up and go home and felt that all eyes were upon me including a gentleman in a deerstalker using an acolyte rod and a very old and large centre pin. Gulp!

I retackled and cast in again to a spot a little away from the island where I could see lots of bubbles; result a quick take and a 3.5 lb bream was on! I ended up with 7 bream to 4lb, several skimmers and roach to 12oz. I felt vindicated!

During a lull I rang the tackle box to enquire about a replacement tip. I admitted I was a plonker and that the breakage was utterly and entirely my own fault. The shop said because I had been honest they would send me a replacement free of charge if I paid the postage. I was really pleased by this and wish to reiterate what great service this shop gives. I will have the replacement on Monday. Well done to the "tacklebox"! I now intend to buy another rod from them.

An interesting day but an enjoyable one and ultimately an uplifting one due to the kindness and customer care rarely found these days. They did offer to have a look at fixing the tip if I brought it in but that ,geographically wasn't possible!

I love this fishing lark

Glad you had a good days fishing to compensate,for breaking the rod tip

..7 bream to 4lb,plus roach and skimmers is a brilliant days fishing in my book!!!!..Gazza

mikench · Oct 21, 2016

It is in my mine too. I rarely achieve results like this! I think I will go again tomorrow!

Chefster · Oct 21, 2016

mikench said:
It is in my mine too. I rarely achieve results like this! I think I will go again tomorrow!

Lucky you!!hopefully you,ll do even better!!!the great thing is ,your enjoying what your doing mate...I only really fish matches these days,and whilst i love the competition, i think,ive lost sight of the real pleasure of fishing

mikench · Oct 21, 2016

I reckon I could be quite successful in matches! My antics would put everyone else off and you can't really fish properly if you are in stitches can you!

You guys can cast, play a fish and fire out bait at the same time! But can you do this whilst watching an idiot? Thought not

Chefster · Oct 21, 2016

mikench said:
I reckon I could be quite successful in matches! My antics would put everyone else off and you can't really fish properly if you are in stitches can you!

You guys can cast, play a fish and fire out bait at the same time! But can you do this whilst watching an idiot? Thought not

We also have plenty of days when were idiots too mate,chasing squirrels up trees with the feeder,missing the net with a fish then losing by a few ounces,etc

mikench · Oct 21, 2016

At the end of the day a few guys came up to me and said they had noticed my embarrassment but they had all done it and continued to do it. One guy pointed to his float hanging from a branch on the island. I felt happier!

I have met some really nice people on my fishing journey thus far!

robtherake · Oct 21, 2016

All's well that ends well and you had a great session in the finish: well done, mate.

How much rod did you lose, Mike? It may be worth tidying up the site of the break and fitting a slightly larger tip ring to give you a heavier second tip.

WRT fishing the method against an island or far bank margin, your line clip is your friend. By letting out a bit more line each cast, then reclipping, it's possible to "creep up" to your target until you have the distance right. Those anglers you see plopping their feeder down a far bank rat-hole with monotonous regularity are (for the most part) relying on their line clip for accuracy. In addition, by lifting your rod to the vertical as the feeder nears its target it's possible to create a bit of slack which gives you a few turns on the reel - insurance for that first run, allowing time to unclip if necessary.

Personally, I'm not confident that I can unclip in time (if at all

) so I prefer to tie a stop knot on the line (using marker braid/elastic) and to tuck one or both of the tag ends under the clip. In practice, the marker braid pulls free every time without fail - I've been doing it this way for years without it ever jamming in the clip.

Wychwood and Korum do reels with an ACS line clip, which releases the line automatically, but they're a bit of a faff to use, TBH, and you still need to mark the line in some way so it can be re-clipped at the right distance, regardless of whichever system is used.

---------- Post added at 19:17 ---------- Previous post was at 19:12 ----------

Chefster said:
Lucky you!!hopefully you,ll do even better!!!the great thing is ,your enjoying what your doing mate...I only really fish matches these days,and whilst i love the competition, i think,ive lost sight of the real pleasure of fishing

I often wonder what the match guys are getting out of it, Gaz. For sure, there's the kudos of winning or framing, but it's not fishing as most of us know it. Do you get time for the odd pleasure-only session?

Chefster · Oct 21, 2016

robtherake said:
I often wonder what the match guys are getting out of it, Gaz. For sure, there's the kudos of winning or framing, but it's not fishing as most of us know it. Do you get time for the odd pleasure-only session?

Very rarely Rob

occasionally ,but usually as practice for a match,so not really pleasure fishing as such,i find it hard to get motivated,for a pleasure session,which i think is sad,maybe its just that i fish commies now,i used to love river fishing,and used to walk miles,now i just park behind the peg,catch as much as i can,weigh in,go home

robtherake · Oct 21, 2016

Chefster said:
Very rarely Roboccasionally ,but usually as practice for a match,so not really pleasure fishing as such,i find it hard to get motivated,for a pleasure session,which i think is sad,maybe its just that i fish commies now,i used to love river fishing,and used to walk miles,now i just park behind the peg,catch as much as i can,weigh in,go home

Aye, but you seem to get your fair share of those brown envelopes so it can't be all bad.

Chefster · Oct 21, 2016

robtherake said:
Aye, but you seem to get your fair share of those brown envelopes so it can't be all bad.

At the cost of losing the joy of fishing though

It helps pay for my hobby

robtherake · Oct 21, 2016

Chefster said:
At the cost of losing the joy of fishing thoughIt helps pay for my hobby

Many a match angler has turned specimen hunter in their later years, Gaz, and the skills they've built up make the transition a very successful one. A lot of the blokes on here served their time as matchmen and their results as pleasure anglers are extraordinary, so there's plenty to look forward to.:thumbs:

mikench · Oct 22, 2016

Hi Rob, thanks for your kind comments. I reckon I have lost an inch or so off the top but I have lost that bit as well. I will compare it against the replacement and see if I can have the original fixed. I will have another look in the rod bag as I couldn't see it on the ground. Mike

Progress of sorts!!

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