Like Flight I have not had much this year to report. I know blanks are included in this thread but a continual moan about my lack of ability with tench seems counterproductive. Apart from that its been wall to wall carp which most on FM are about adverse to at times. It has been fun though on a new method ( to me ) the hybrid feeder.
How did you get on?
- Thread starter peter crabtree
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rayner
Well-known member
Keith, are you going to take them home or will you leave them stranded. 
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having “fun”, nothing more to be said.
The Runner
Well-known member
Hadn't been going to fish today but it was such a lovely morning decided on a 10 mile bike ride over the hill road to Loch Bracadale so took four mackerel and the last of the squid from the freezer and away.
Its all downhill from here on...
Got there about 12 30 and fished a bit further along the point from where I'd been last time- usual starting method here of running ledger with a longish tail, mackerel strip on a 1/0
Nothing for a while, although had company behind me possibly hanging around for a freebie of some sort.
After an hour a rattle on the tip resulted in a little whiting and next chuck a nice mackerel soon followed by three others. Set up spinning rod with two feathers and a dexter wedge for casting weight but no takes.
Tide half way up now and two big pullrounds produced two doggies in successive chucks (and on the same bait which the first one had left virtually untouched- obligatory dogfish shot....
And then the pin whiting moved in for an hour- bait getting stripped quickly , managed to hit a couple but hardly worth it
Nothing on squid apart from little rattles from the whiting, thankfully they moved on and went back to mackerel on the hook- two more mackerel.
Decided to spend the last hour up to high tide on a big bait- fillet of small mackerel on a 5/0. After half an hour got the odd little indication which I left and a minute or two later the rod hooped round. Bonus fish ? Nope, another doggie.
Called it a day at 6 45 with the tide beginning to drop. Its a spot where I'm sure there are better fish to be had, will get them eventually....No idea what was going on with the mackerel- all six on the bottom and not a sniff on any lure or spinner. Waited a while for the bites as well so they weren't following the bait down
Decent wildlife day, a couple of Gannets and a Black Throated Diver over the sea, half a dozen buzzards together and two greenshank on the pebbly beach as I passed on the walk back.
Its all downhill from here on...
Got there about 12 30 and fished a bit further along the point from where I'd been last time- usual starting method here of running ledger with a longish tail, mackerel strip on a 1/0
Nothing for a while, although had company behind me possibly hanging around for a freebie of some sort.
After an hour a rattle on the tip resulted in a little whiting and next chuck a nice mackerel soon followed by three others. Set up spinning rod with two feathers and a dexter wedge for casting weight but no takes.
Tide half way up now and two big pullrounds produced two doggies in successive chucks (and on the same bait which the first one had left virtually untouched- obligatory dogfish shot....
And then the pin whiting moved in for an hour- bait getting stripped quickly , managed to hit a couple but hardly worth it
Nothing on squid apart from little rattles from the whiting, thankfully they moved on and went back to mackerel on the hook- two more mackerel.
Decided to spend the last hour up to high tide on a big bait- fillet of small mackerel on a 5/0. After half an hour got the odd little indication which I left and a minute or two later the rod hooped round. Bonus fish ? Nope, another doggie.
Called it a day at 6 45 with the tide beginning to drop. Its a spot where I'm sure there are better fish to be had, will get them eventually....No idea what was going on with the mackerel- all six on the bottom and not a sniff on any lure or spinner. Waited a while for the bites as well so they weren't following the bait down
Decent wildlife day, a couple of Gannets and a Black Throated Diver over the sea, half a dozen buzzards together and two greenshank on the pebbly beach as I passed on the walk back.
Few days in the sun having my annual bash after Med Mullet. They can be very frustrating fish to try & catch at times but I am very slowly starting to come to grips with them. One tactic I found to be quite productive it to trot for them after dark. They can be very easy to locate, often splashing and sucking in the edge then you trot a float down to them. I managed quite a few fishing like this, nothing massive, biggest would have maybe nudged 3 pound but a fish that size will keep you occupied for several minutes on light tackle. They are amazing fighters that just never know when to give up.
I also witnessed first hand just how wily they can be. One morning. With the sun fully up I thought I had missed my chance but found some mullet milling around in the margin. Dropping my bread hookbait in front of them in just a few feet of gin clear water they came up to it & started to peck and tug with the edge of their lips whittling it right down & taking the tiny pieces they tore off as they broke away yet they never took the hook. Even when 2 or 3 were competing for the same hookbait and I was sure the competitive feeding would make one slip up they just never did. It was obvious they knew I was there and there was a hook involved! I really should have videoed it as their antics were incredible.
I ended up catching one by scaling down to a size 16 and molding a tiny small bit of bread into a paste tightly round the hook. Along comes this mullet and does the usually nibbling trick but this time being a tight paste he could not whittle it down so easily. I could see he was getting really frustrated, circling endlessly round it and coming in for an numerous attempts to try and whittle it down, his attacks getting more and more violent. In the end it seemed more out of anger than anything he sucked it in and I struck and caught him. I must say I laughed!
…He was a Lucky Mullet actually as I put him back along with the others I caught which is pretty unusual as most people here knock them on the head for the Pot. This makes the fact these fish have learnt to avoid hooks even more impressive as they are unlikely to be learning by association i.e after having been caught a few times so how they learn to avoid hooks so well is a mystery to me.
Brilliant fish Mullet. Here are a couple of the fish I caught, note the betalight in the top of the float for the after dark trotting....
Sunrise on a Mullet river.
I also witnessed first hand just how wily they can be. One morning. With the sun fully up I thought I had missed my chance but found some mullet milling around in the margin. Dropping my bread hookbait in front of them in just a few feet of gin clear water they came up to it & started to peck and tug with the edge of their lips whittling it right down & taking the tiny pieces they tore off as they broke away yet they never took the hook. Even when 2 or 3 were competing for the same hookbait and I was sure the competitive feeding would make one slip up they just never did. It was obvious they knew I was there and there was a hook involved! I really should have videoed it as their antics were incredible.
I ended up catching one by scaling down to a size 16 and molding a tiny small bit of bread into a paste tightly round the hook. Along comes this mullet and does the usually nibbling trick but this time being a tight paste he could not whittle it down so easily. I could see he was getting really frustrated, circling endlessly round it and coming in for an numerous attempts to try and whittle it down, his attacks getting more and more violent. In the end it seemed more out of anger than anything he sucked it in and I struck and caught him. I must say I laughed!
…He was a Lucky Mullet actually as I put him back along with the others I caught which is pretty unusual as most people here knock them on the head for the Pot. This makes the fact these fish have learnt to avoid hooks even more impressive as they are unlikely to be learning by association i.e after having been caught a few times so how they learn to avoid hooks so well is a mystery to me.
Brilliant fish Mullet. Here are a couple of the fish I caught, note the betalight in the top of the float for the after dark trotting....
Sunrise on a Mullet river.
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sam vimes
Well-known member
I went to a painfully low and clear river for a bread experiment. I have more faith in bread than I ever used to, but I'm still hesitant about fishing it on my usual upper river haunts. As there isn't currently a great deal of flow, I thought I'd give it a whizz. On arrival, it soon became obvious that I had company that was likely to make life a little difficult.
Didn't manage a great deal, five chublets, one trout and a horde of minnows. The trout, a chublet and quite a few minnows came to a fair size lump of bread on a (big) size 14 hook. I'm not sure that I'll be repeating the bread experiment.
no-one in particular
Well-known member
At least those med mullet feed, I cant get them to even look at the bread. I expect you do this but a friend of mine used to squeeze bread on around the eye and shank but have a long tail of fluffy bread, maybe 2 or 3 inches and so that the hook was totally hidden; with the fish being hook shy and finicky the mullet would suck in the tail and with a well timed strike could hook a few fish.
steve2
Well-known member
Reading the post on here it does seem the carp are now so easy to catch on many waters. Just reading "The Confessions of a Carpfisher" by BB on just how difficult carp are to catch, also Drop me a Line by Walker and Ingram saying the same, just catching a few a year. How times have changed.
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Chris, you might be better using a larger hook, maybe a super spade or animal in a ten or eight size and use a larger chunk of bread. You could go even bigger in hook size if you wanted.
sam vimes
Well-known member
The 14s I was using are big 14s. They are closer in size to 10s of many other type of hooks, including Super Spades/Animals. Small hooks isn't the problem, a distinct lack of larger fish is the issue. I could sit it out on legered meat hoping for a single bite from one of the few, but I'd rather stay at home than do that.
neil1970
Well-known member
We managed to get down to Weymouth for 3 nights in a dog friendly B&B a couple of weeks ago.
It was nice to catch up with Andy (Co author of the Hooked on Lure Fishing book).
We spent most of the time chatting rather than fishing, but I did get a little session on every day
It was nice to catch up with Andy (Co author of the Hooked on Lure Fishing book).
We spent most of the time chatting rather than fishing, but I did get a little session on every day
barbelboi
Well-known member
flightliner
Well-known member
Jerry, I led with my chin there forgetting about you lol! ?To punish those who fish for snotties Mick....................
Yes they are certainly easier to catch than yesteryear. Particularly on heavy stocked waters. However in perspective , today fished all day for four on a lighter stocked reservoir and considered it a good result. Had I been fishing the same reservoir and caught four roach all day I would have thought it a poor day.
Biggest was a long lean 15lb with doubtful parentage. Touch of the koi in there somewhere.
barbelboi
Well-known member
I had a few hours yesterday over the fields on one of the local small streams trotting for dace. I was loaded up with the Microlite2000, pin, small bag, half a pint of reds and a net for three hours of non stop mid afternoon action.
Had another quick session on the river. Continued with my current trend of fishing like a pillock. Lost another float but did catch a single roach.
Not many spots between the duckweed. More rain needed here please.
Not many spots between the duckweed. More rain needed here please.
mikench
Well-known member
We have plenty here Rubio. Some great posts there and some good Angling going on. Note to self must try harder.
Good to see you posting again Neil and lovely pics as usual. I hope Thursday with Gordon produces a days fishing worthy of a post .
Good to see you posting again Neil and lovely pics as usual. I hope Thursday with Gordon produces a days fishing worthy of a post .
Got myself together for another go today. Plenty of bites, mainly small roach. One or two hybrids got my pulse going and an opportunist Rudd just over the pound on crust. It looked great in the sunset shadings.
sam vimes
Well-known member
Saw the forecast last night and knew that a lie in would be the order of the day. However, the rain that was forecast had changed by the time I looked again this morning. The rain that had been predicted to last all day was now due to clear mid afternoon. A quick check of the river level revealed about a foot of extra water. Ideal.
I certainly had a better day than last time out. It was also most unusual in that the chub(lets) outnumbered the dace. Despite fishing a size 12 hook with multiple maggots impaled on it, I still had plenty of minnows. The only difference was that I didn't hook some that I would have on a smaller hook. However, I did foul hook a few in some rather unpleasant ways. Ended the evening with 31 chub to just over a pound and 26 dace with a few of them well over 12oz. I was almost tempted to get the scales out for a couple of them.
If there was any doubt in my mind over the identification of the animals in my video clip, it was utterly dispelled this evening. At first, all I could hear was a regular squeaking getting steadily closer to me. Next was a very alarmed squeak and a big swirl in the shallows about three feet from the bank I was standing on. At the alarm call going up, another animal made its way across the river to investigate. It came so close that I couldn't have poked it with my rod tip. At 15'6" it was far too long for that. For about ten seconds, it just stayed static on the surface observing me whilst calling for its sibling/pup. The pair joined up and then moved off to the other side of the river where they mucked about in the tree cover for about twenty minutes. It seems we have at least a pair of remarkably confident otters.
I certainly had a better day than last time out. It was also most unusual in that the chub(lets) outnumbered the dace. Despite fishing a size 12 hook with multiple maggots impaled on it, I still had plenty of minnows. The only difference was that I didn't hook some that I would have on a smaller hook. However, I did foul hook a few in some rather unpleasant ways. Ended the evening with 31 chub to just over a pound and 26 dace with a few of them well over 12oz. I was almost tempted to get the scales out for a couple of them.
If there was any doubt in my mind over the identification of the animals in my video clip, it was utterly dispelled this evening. At first, all I could hear was a regular squeaking getting steadily closer to me. Next was a very alarmed squeak and a big swirl in the shallows about three feet from the bank I was standing on. At the alarm call going up, another animal made its way across the river to investigate. It came so close that I couldn't have poked it with my rod tip. At 15'6" it was far too long for that. For about ten seconds, it just stayed static on the surface observing me whilst calling for its sibling/pup. The pair joined up and then moved off to the other side of the river where they mucked about in the tree cover for about twenty minutes. It seems we have at least a pair of remarkably confident otters.