I finally did it... nothing will ever be the same!

It has not been by design, but apart from a little dropshotting all my fishing has been on commercial waters. For the past few weeks I have been debating whether or not to fish my local river. On Friday, I finally decided to give it a go.

I am still not sure if I am allowed to fish it but working on the fact there is nothing saying I can't, I am just going to fish it until somebody says I can't. I am fairly sure nobody will.


My first ever river perch

Whip in hand, bait and minimal tackle in my newly acquired rucksack stool, I set off with my better half to go and see what we could catch. In less than two hours we had caught several species of fish including chubling, roach, perch and even what turned out to be a stickleback. If that was not enough we did a bit more urban fishing yesterday, this time in Canterbury.You can see what we were up to HERE and HERE.

Well, that is it. Fishing will never be the same to me. I love this river fishing lark. This time of year, being able to fish until late, or for that matter early this morning is an advantage but the style of fishing is so much more about learning the water. Okay, the same can be said about commercials but once you know how to fish it, I find it becomes easy and on some lakes it ether becomes boring or frustrating if the fish have become wise to the anglers. Don't get me wrong, I will still fish commercials but I will be seeking out good river spots with a new-found enthusiasm.

I may be asking a few questions over the next few weeks, please forgive me if I am asking what seem to be obvious questions but as my encounter with a stickleback proved, I still have a lot to learn.

Ralph.

Well done Ralph, those rivers will wind their way around your heart

Yep, "you're gonna need a bigger float"

Lovely bit of fishing :thumbs:

I know nothing about river fishing. I always skipped the bits about fishing the rivers in the magazines, when I used to buy them. I might have to buy a few new ones. I have just dug out my copy of John Wilson's Coarse Fishing Method Manual, so by the morning I will be an expert...

...Lots more to learn. Who are the respected names in river fishing who have made videos. There are so many out there, any recommendations, bearing in mind we are only talking about small rivers at the moment. I am not sure I am ready for the lower reaches of the Thames just yet.

Ralph

good stuff on you tube-for small rivers Mark Erdwin is as good as any-not a great deal of instructional tips, but worth a watch.

Never mind the size, look at the colours!! Just wonderful.

............and congratulations, BTW!

Nice one Ralph learning your craft on small rivers will see you in good stead for the larger ones don't worry about that, plenty of time for that an adventure that is only just starting :thumbs:

Welcome to the club. I bet you won't be able to walk over a bridge now without wondering what lurks down there in even the smallest trickles.

I have the river bug too. Not had much chance though over the past couple of weeks.

I caught my first river perch plus a few little nippers last weekend.

here is my perch

http://imgur.com/a/ME8W7

Feels so much better catching "wild" fish.

P.s. Can I ask what bait you used?

john step said:

Welcome to the club. I bet you won't be able to walk over a bridge now without wondering what lurks down there in even the smallest trickles.

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The funny thing is, we have been doing that for years, just had not got around to doing anything about it until this last weekend. Now I am thinking about how I can get down and fish it.

sheffields12 said:

I have the river bug too. Not had much chance though over the past couple of weeks.

I caught my first river perch plus a few little nippers last weekend.

here is my perch

Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet

Feels so much better catching "wild" fish.

P.s. Can I ask what bait you used?

Click to expand...

That's a nice looking perch, it looks bigger than mine

I have been using maggots and bread. feeding really small rolled up pieces of bread, about the size of a small peppercorn, and a few loose maggots.

On Sunday, in the weir pool we were using ridiculously large chunks of meat. John, s63 on here, caught a couple of decent sized chub there using it earlier on in the day.

I agree, it is much nicer than a commercial and the water seems cleaner - my net does not smell half as bad as it does when I get back from a commercial venue.

Ralph

It was a very nice Perch, especially for my first one!
I can't wait to get back out and fish it more.

I agree with the more more cleaner comment. My net, hands, clothes are really smell awful after a day at a commercial!

I've only used Maggots and worm on the river, so i will have to head out with some bread too next time see if I have much more luck!

Videos?

This bloke's "instructional" videos are fantastic - he did a whole series for Shakespeare. (Not William)

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=james+robbins+fishing


And Andy May is an amiable lunatic as well as a top-class angler( See his match-type videos) and his small river approach could be just what you're after. Never a dull moment in his videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KWXLvd62KY

The chub are out in force this morning, with no lines in the water they are swimming around without a care.

fishplate42 said:

The funny thing is, we have been doing that for years, just had not got around to doing anything about it until this last weekend. Now I am thinking about how I can get down and fish it.



That's a nice looking perch, it looks bigger than mine

I have been using maggots and bread. feeding really small rolled up pieces of bread, about the size of a small peppercorn, and a few loose maggots.

On Sunday, in the weir pool we were using ridiculously large chunks of meat. John, s63 on here, caught a couple of decent sized chub there using it earlier on in the day.

I agree, it is much nicer than a commercial and the water seems cleaner - my net does not smell half as bad as it does when I get back from a commercial venue.

Ralph

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well done ralph get your watercraft head on and you'll be up to speed in no time,tackle wise you can be a bit free'er as "wild "fish are not as clued up(in my own case i think a stupid angler(me)needs stupid fish if im going to catch) the more time spent on a small river will help on bigger ones, but imho big slow rivers tend to fish like lakes and need to be treated as such, tight lines!!!

Ralph have a look at the Bay Malton angling club website for a couple of videos of Andy May on the River Dane. I am a member!

I said i would to do one but they declined my offer; cannot understand why!

john step said:

Welcome to the club. I bet you won't be able to walk over a bridge now without wondering what lurks down there in even the smallest trickles.

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I don't think you can call yourself an angler if you can walk over without having a look?

Something about river and stream fishing that grabs you inside. The pull to stop at ever bit of flowing water just beckons you to look some more. Ponds are ponds and lakes are just lakes but a bit of wild waters are like a drug that always need another hit. For me the wilder the better, i feel a bit like David Bellamy mixed up with David Attenborough searching for that fish hide out. It's so bad that i have a little 6.6ft 0-7g LFR rod set up in the boot always. I've been known to fish the tiny streams that runs in front of cottages. The family think am mad fishing in a foot or so of water but i alway catch something even to the people that live in the cottages are surprised that fish are there

iain t said:

...It's so bad that i have a little 6.6ft 0-7g LFR rod set up in the boot always. I've been known to fish the tiny streams that runs in front of cottages. The family think am mad fishing in a foot or so of water but i alway catch something even to the people that live in the cottages are surprised that fish are there

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Funny you should say that, I was thinking about trying that. I have a couple of LRF/dropshotting rods and small 1500 reels.

What set up and rig do you use with yours?

Ralph.

Congratz Ralph! I just came back from holidays in Lake District (had amazing perch sessions on Ullswater!) and went down to the river to check progress on my side, happy to report gish growing nicely, some already worth catching! The perch you caught at your side is insane though, no fish anywhere near that size over here yet mainly chublets down here anyway. I think I will give it a try this weekend