Fishing Memories of 2008

I started the year with a PB gayling on my local club water, annihilated my carp best, and finished with my best roach for 20 years and a cracking chb on very fine gear when I was expecting roach.

My biggest failure was trying to catch a big perch from the Stour; perch a plenty but all little ones, though it was good fun trying with occasional unexpected bonus fish such as big chub and bream taking double worms on an 8.

My best catch this year was new p.b Tench.Not a massive fish butsome of my targets for the year were to catch a good Tench and Carp from my local stretch of the Witham.
I managed to do both with a Tench of 6 1/4lb and a lovely common of 14lb 4oz.
The Tench was the one i was most proud of as i set out to only catch using more traditional methods and i got it down the side using the lift with some nice yellow peril.
Still keep looking at the picture now and it makes me grin like a kid at christmas!

As for failures,has to be barbel,Starting to wonder if i am ever going to catch one of any size! Oh well theres always next year!

My personal best Rudd of 1lb 3oz caught in May. As I kid I grew up catching millions of stunted Rudd from farm ponds and my best was 1lb exactly. But this fish was a beautiful creation of nature and one of my oldest PB's.

I caught far bigger fish in 2008 but none as stunning. I also caught my biggest Gudgeon for around 20 years last week from one of my local club lakes, a whacking great gonk too, I had forgotten how good the big ones look.

Biggest failure was with Chub and Perch, but I aim to correct this in 2009

Worst..... Losing my first "proper" catfish in Les Clarks swim on the Catfish "Fish In"

Best..... not falling into the river Medway again this year, despite a near miss.

My best catch this year has to be each and every one!!!To explain..… I returned to the sport this year after a 20 year break (caused by family commitments/divorce etc). I started fishing as a lad with my uncle on the Trent mainly for Silvers, then progressing onto Carp (in the days before bolt rigs and bivvys).

In them days (70’s and 80’s) my biggest fish ever was a Mirror Carp of about 7½ lbs, with Chub to about 2lbs being a good ‘un. Silvers rarely went above a few ounces (well the ones I caught anyway).

After encouragement from my lovely new wife I got myself kitted out (again) and got myself out on the river. The quality of fish I’ve caught this season has been astounding. Got my first river Commonat 10lb 8oz, average size Chub has been over 3lb, Barbel average over 5lb, Pike average around 10lb, Roach over 1lb. I’ve even been fortunate to be able to fish a pike event on a trout lake and caught a 5lb 6oz Rainbow on sprat!! (another new species and PB).

When I was a lad, if my Uncle didn't take me, my Dad used to ferry me around quite a bit before I got my own transport, so I took him (he’s in his 70’s) on a guest ticket to a stretch on the Trent and he managed to catch a 9lb 11oz Barbel which is his biggest fish ever! He’s always showing the photo to anyone and everyone (makes me smile does that). I also got my 18 year old son a day’s rod licence and day ticket and took him for a session in the Autumn to see if he liked it and also do a bit of the father/son bonding thing. Although he blanked, he’s talking of getting a full rod licence next April… so guess who’s sorting out some old rods/reels, bits and bobs for him?

All in all it’s been a very memorable year for me, and I’m looking forward to the next one, and the next, and the next….

A very young family (recently augmented in November!) has prevented me fishing as much as I'd have liked (not that I'm moaning, they'reall amazing/forum/smilies/smile_smiley.gif) but best was a 20lb redfish, caught in Louisiana whilst visiting my family in there in March... and worst is just the fact that not a single tench graced my landing net this year, a situation I fully intend to change in 2009

Happy New Year to one and all!

I caught my best tench this year and it came to the pole,but the day i will not forget for a while came when my mate suggested fishing a small water for carp,i reluctantly agreed as we take turns in venue choice. On the morning it was one degree and white over and i nearly called it off ,to cut it short i packed up after four hours having had not a minute when i was not playing a fish we caught at least 200lb between us and it did not matter what bait or where you put it ,absolute no brainer fishing ok for the first 10 minutes WHY do you not get days like that in matches?

my best was Keona (granddaughter) catching her first roach and a pike taking it on the way in .............................................

2008?

I'd rather forget it! If I had to remember it, it would be for ........ the rain.

And the cold.

Lack of sunshine.

Lack of fish.

I have had a very good year I am trying to become more off a allround angler . Then going just after one specieses all the time I.E. when its warm I would try and target say rudd / tench instead off pike or when its cold I would go for the chub instead off the barbel. Not that you carnt catch any fish in any conditions its just I prefair to target the fish I stand most chance off catching ?
So my best fish off this year are a 1lb 14 oz rudd and a 1 lb 6 oz roach
Now for the worst it was A case off A weeks bad fishing I went down south A couple off months ago one off my main targets was a pike I did manage to hook one . I had it at the net I even managed to see the big head off it but just as it was coming to my net it twisted its head and snaped my wire tracer I was gutted I had spent 3 days fishing hard in bad weather to loose that fish . Then on the way back we stoped off on the river wye for the day . where I lost two more fish one a big chub due to a badly tied not and the other one i lost just snaped my 12 lb line like it was cotton . tbh I felt like throwing my rods in the river . A 700 and odd mile trip and I had lost 3 good fish i did manage to catch a couple off small fish but I felt heart broken on that long drive home

My most memorable catches of 2008 were

Pb 6lb 3oz Chuband a 18lb Mirror Carp(both in the space of three days)from my local River colne in Hertfordshire

Also so great bags ofgood sizeRoach from the River Stour on hemp in the summer and maggot in the winter

Most notable failure would be losing a very,very large Roach to apike last week on the Stour!!!!!!!!!!!Not happy.

My most memorable in 2008,was a catch of 5 barbel with my Youngs Barbel Travel rod.

A mid-summer stopoff trip for a 3 and a half hour early evening session.

Tin of garlic spam cut into six piecesfreelined down the inside from my Purist II.

One big 10, 3 X 9lbplus, and an 8lbplus. Ran out of bait!

No bad day's, not been out enough, although I did loose 2 bigger barbel on the Wye bothto fundementalerrors of my own making. One knot that I thought,that'll be alright, and the second not useing a big enough hook for the bait!

I suppose some disapointment, that some very BIG chub caught were flaccid. Should be filled up a bit now though, so I'll have a go before year end.

Two best fish this last year has to be the 6.1 Summer chub I had at the end of July. Never had a summer 6. And the PB chub of 6 .6 two weeks ago.

Worst failure was losing the first salmon I've stayed connect to for any length of time, last week. I don't fish for salmon, life too short to fish for a fish that doesn't feed in freshwater. However, I do occasionally hook them, usually when fishing for chub on worm and light gear. It normally hook, fish jumps, and bang go! This one was on pellet whilst barbeling on strong tackle 12 lb line and 15 lbSuper Mantis hook link.

Hooked it and within a second it'd stripped 30 yards of line off the reel. Then it came out of the water 3 time and it looked well over 20 lbs. I managed to turn it and then it made a bid for the sea it had come from. No stopping it, it had the barbel rod bent down to the cork butt, which was stuck in my gut by this time. I really didn't think a rod could bend that much without exploding. At about a hundred and fifty yards the hook pulled. I really don't know whether I was relieved or disappointed that I lost it. What a fight.....totally awesome!!!!!!!!!!

I didn't have a very good year at all, in fact it was more notable for its lack of fish and lack of days out to be truthful due mainly to my longtime fishing partner going down with the big C and unable to fish and me suffering with a bad back.

I started off badly with 8 consecutive blanks on Horshoe when after those tench though I did have one excellent day floatfishing on the Belmont I remember when it was virually a fish a chuck and no telling what was going to take the bait next. I also had one, just one, great day on the middle Severn above Bewdley also on the float, taking a mixture of roach chub and barbel.

I still look forward to next season though for all that.

My best day of 2008 was when I caught my very first barbel, 12lb 5oz...I had a day out on my own the weekend before close season started at Throop....I only fished the stretch once before with Neil.

The same day I managed my PB chub of 4lb 4oz.......I was a very very happy bunny.

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Highlights were landing a new PB Chub & Grayling, from the Dorset Stour & Avon.

The fact I haven't managed a fish in 9 trips to the Lea at Fishers Green is a low point fishing wise! Lovely place to fish though...

I think spending time trotting a float again this season has been a real highlight as well.

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Started of well with a 1lb roach .Then hit a purple patch i hadmy 10lb tench at sywell , 2lb 4 oz perch and a whole load of bream from the cherwell to 6lb. Next year well the aim is a bigger barbelmy 1stgrayling ,zander and a crucian . Learn how to pike fike fish properly .

Highlights of a frustrating 2008 for me...

Finding out who my real fishing mates were when some came to collect me and carried my tackle to the bank when my leg was in plaster (thanks Terry and John).

New PB's for roach and Perch, both from the same water. 1bs 11ozs roach in a 35lbs catch which included 13 over a pound, and a blinding 3lbs 20zs perch.

And with the promise of another foot op in seven days the sincere hope that second half of 2009 will see me on the riverbank after barbel more often than I did this past year. Things can only get better....

It has been a good year for me, had some nice PB's, 2lb8oz brown trout, 1lb14oz perch, 4lb2oz chub, 10lb10oz barbel and 27lb4oz carp.

Most memorable moment for me was watching Mr Nellist having a last minute dabble at the grayling day.

I don't have worst days fishing, any day I am out is better than the daily routines of work, even 48 hours blanking on a lake in the pouring rain and then having to cart all my gear back to the car on a barrow with a flat tyre for 1/2 a mile, took 2 trips as well!! Even that was better than 10 minutes at work!

The memorable bits this year have been about places and people rather than individual fish (apart from Maurice the Minnow - he was big!)

The joy of France; both the grandeur of the Lot and the intimacy of the Lantoy - and that annoying shoal of good size barbel in the Tarn at Albi - annoying as I was visiting the cathedral and was bereft of gear!!

The company of good souls both on trips and this fabulous digital group of friends.

His Lordship and Young Corkers and the estimable philanthropist Spiders.

Unpleasant memory - other than not enough fishing - none really; although the forced Ribble route march through waist deep mud for the pleasure of a rapidly rising torrent enabled me to make accurate judgements on the sanity of Corkers, Spiders and myself.

Bring on more of it in 2009