How did you get on?

[The Runner]

Was going to be knowle Sands again today but car park was rammed when we got there so went back to Quatford. Went well downstream, nice looking swim with slack inside and a good depth down the flow coming off the end of a tree. Barbel about 6 lb first chuck and a real lump an hour later, thought might have my first Severn double but just short at 9-10. Added two more good fish at long intervals later and half a dozen nice roach to 1-4. Might try for a day on the float for last day tomorrow

 

[john step]

Re a previous entry what are cockroaches? Was it an automatic spellcheck for something?

Anyway. One for all you carp lovers on here. I had a nice break on a hard local lake with my bivvy (horror). I didn't expect much apart from being under the stars. There were kingfishers and egrets plus the other usual suspects. I gave my new Ridge Monkey toaster a good bashing. Thanks to Mr Dynanite and his boilies I had a couple of nice doubles weighed on my new Korum Scales. Boom Boom.

picture hoster

 

[flightliner]

A very enjoyable day on the Upper River Don today, it looked. A nice level tho appearance wise it had changed since my last visit in the autumn of 2019.
In my first swim (Notts kevs last year) a whole chunk of far bank had come adrift and is now an island near midriver.
Anyway little matter as the Greyling were still there in abundance,
I had seventeen before it quietened down but I persevered instead of making an easy move further on and eventually finished with it on twenty good Greyling, Trout and Dace-- I was impressed with the biggest Dace that I felt compelled to weigh - - 7oz, up there with some of my best, I was chuffed!!
The other swim tho faster in pace proved more prolific, no hesitancy on the fishes part with an easy 23 or 4 more fish of equel quality.
After 3hrs of standing in the river my back was giving me jip and one of my Hunter wellies had started to leak, I mean- come on! £100 and only 4years old and with obvious signs of perishing--not good enough Hunter-- be expecting a letter your way soon- grrrrr!
Here's a few piks.

 

[Philip]

It was quite a night on the river after Roach. Arriving after dark it was a quiet start until a small Wels took the bait. At first I was disappointed as if the Roach are present you know fairly quickly but tried to console myself that with the little predator out of the way perhaps they would make an appearance. So it proved to be as a Roach of 1.4 came to the net. The bites were spasmodic but I landed a Bream then 5 more Roach with 3 of those over a pound and two just under. I had the distinct feeling it was one of those nights when anything could turn up. A couple more Bream gate crashed the party around midnight & I was going to call it a night when another Roach of 1.7 came to the net. This was getting interesting. I had learnt that if the better Roach were present late on like this then you had to make the most of the opportunity as a real biggie could turn up. Its difficult to describe but when you start to get in tune with a swim you begin to know when its worth sitting it out so despite being very tired I knew I should fish on. Holding the single rod I touched ledgered, I was ignoring any sharp tugs and my cue to strike was any continuous pull. An hour or so passed and another very good Roach came to the net. At first glance I thought this could be something extra special however the scales said 1.10 …it looked bigger but was empty in the stomach. This fired me up even more to sit it out and despite almost nodding off a couple of times in the chair at just after 3am my persistence was rewarded when there was a firm pull. I struck and the rod hooped over to solid resistance. I knew immediately it was a good fish as it held deep the only question was would it be a Roach or a Bream. The jagging fight had my expectations sky high and as it surfaced, I saw a large silver flank of a clonking great Roach. Drawing it towards the net it made a last ditch surge , pulling the rod down, and forcing me to give line , quite unusual for Roach, and became snagged in a patch of weed close in. It was heart in mouth as I gingerly pulled to extract it, thankfully it came out without hiccup and I slid it into the net. The scales confirmed what I already knew as they went past the 2lb mark to settle on 2.4. Ever the optimist I had to have a few more casts and landed one more Roach over a pound for quite an evening’s sport. The final tally being 10 Roach with 8 over a pound including the 2 & 3 Bream plus the Wels. Happy days!

The 8 Roach over a pound best 3 going 1.7, 1.10 and 2.4

Another shot of the 2.4 - gottcha ;-)

 

[seth49]

Back again to new fishery yesterday, Neil joined mick and I at twelve pm, fished till 7.30pm, the nights are drawing in fast now, fished a new swim in a corner, I’d looked at this a few times, and decided to try it today, usual sleeper rod in the right hand margin, with either mussel or paste, tight into the bank by a large patch of irises, free lined the other rod from my chair with the same baits, little perch were a nuisance they kept shoving the bait under a stone, and leaving me snagged, did manage to free the hook easily.

Slow at first the cold night seemed to have put them down, usually see them cruising around on the surface, but not today did get the odd one in the swim, but they weren’t settling, so I left them to feed in peace for awhile, let them get more confident, did get three carp later but it was slow, lost a couple as well later on, did have one of the larger carp come into the swim once, but it didn’t stop, no tench or F1s today, which surprised me, thought there would be some here, not a bad swim though will fish it again. All mirrors today, after all commons on Tuesday.

 

[Mark Wintle]

I'm still doing a lot of videoing (and long may it continue as it makes me think) and last week I dug out my mid 70s gear on the Stour.
Here's how I got on: Retro fishing

Since then I've done more roach fishing and had plenty on the Stour and elsewhere with a best of 1-14.

 

[108831]

Thought you were on something,was going to ask if you could send some through the post???

 

[103841]

AAAAAARGH!!!

Yes, you know that scream of misery.

With some live prawns still kicking well I headed down to the beach for a short session at HT 7am. Floatfished a dancing prawn without any action, that was until one retrieve when something had a definite lunge at the bait, very pike like.

Ditched the float and just put on a small bullet with line straight through to the hook and cast out with a slow retrieval, two casts and a huge bow wave in front of me followed by a bang of the rod that was nearly wrenched from my hand, fish on! The clutch was screaming as it tore off in the direction of a groyne, even on 8lb line I could‘not stop it and inevitably the the line snapped.

It’s been a while since I lost a big fish, I don’t hook that many! The frustration and annoyance doesn’t get any easier though.

Will try again tonight or in the morning.

 

[mikench]

The latest episode of " Mike and Gordon go fishing" commenced just before dawn at 6.15 am. We inspected our proposed swims and decided they were sufficiently weed free to not need raking. Just as well with my sciatica.

I had a plan to catch tench on the lift method invented by one A Wood and apart from the conspicuous absence of tench and any other fish, the method worked well. The float is attached at the bottom and 5cm further up with float rubbers. The tag end on the swivel connection is left on and 2 ssg shot are attached. An 18" hooklength completed the rig. The float was eased down , once settled, to just visible. I will try it again.

Gordon may start a new thread entitled the "smallest fish caight on a bare hook with no bait" but this is a winner.

I have never seen a smaller roach on a hook.

Gordon had about 20 fish including a nice bream which are scarce in this water.

I just about managed 6 roach to 8oz but it was a struggle and the water disappointed as it often does. Never mind we enjoyed being out in the fresh air despite a gale developing in the afternoon directly in our faces. Our swims were full of detritus from the other side of the lake and we packed up. There were lots of dragon flies and damsel flies flitting about like this.

Thanks again Gordon; it was a great days fishing just a shame about the fish.

 

[The Runner]

Went to Knowle Sands for our last day today and a bit of a struggle.
Barbel second chuck, then nothing. Had three hours on the float either side of midday but couldn’t line anything up, two decent roach , about 15 dace and the odd chublet trotting 4 mil pellet. Back on the feeder, lost a barbel to a snag and no other indications at all.
Mate above me had a nice day on the dace, one a chuck on maggot (got bleaked out if I tried it)
Final score for the week 41 barbel between the five of us, far and away our lowest since the first year we came in 1998. I top scored with 14 which in most years would have got me the wooden spoon....
Still, had some nice fish, good company, good food and good beer...

 

[wetthrough]

Another enjoyable day with Mike despite the fishing being less than spectacular. Given the conditions it was a bit of a gamble for the venue but worth a try. In hindsight it might have been worth a bit of raking just to stir the bottom up a bit as the water was near gin clear.

 

[bullet]

Had a rare excursion outside of my usual maximum of half an hours drive the other day.
Went with a friend, and the idea was float and pin in the morning in a couple of spots that have produced well in the past, then, if nothing much happening, on the lead for the afternoon.
The float was slow going, we got a few small Chub and a decent one that was missing half it's tail....

A change of swim and going over to the lead soon got us in to what we were really after...

Nice wildlife about, including the ubiquitous friendly Robin...

The fish weren't really on it, but a bit of roving about in some tight swims brought a few more nice ones..

Had a good day, but a lot of driving, so looking forward to fishing locally again over the weekend.

 

[The Sogster]

Hi all, been a while since I posted on this thread.

Recently I joined a local lake on a half season permit deeming it safe enough to go fishing.
Having been a few times over the last couple of weeks the fishing is quite good averaging between 10lbs and 20lbs of silvers and bream over 6 or 7 hours.

There are also some large carp present which are not what I am after.

Well today started quite well with a bream of around 3lb which fought like hell for 10 seconds including a marlin like leap from the water.
Next cast the float dipped and I struck what felt like a snag. Cursing the missed bite and my misfortune the snag started moving and then I suddenly realised I was a attached to a large carp using a light float rod and light bottom 2.5lbs.

For fourty five minutes I was attached to the leviathan, never have I put my float rod under such pressure. I swear at times the rod tip was less than a foot from the reel. My mind was racing with thoughts of the rod exploding a la Jeremy Wade with the Thai stingray.
Then the beast surfaced and I could see it was a lovely common carp of around 12 to 15lbs, before rolling shaking the barbless size 16 hook and escaping.
Gutted.

Next six hours, blanked.

 

[peterjg]

Yesterday fished the Kennet - fed up with the boats on the Thames and following Peter Crabtree's warning of PK too terrified of fishing the Loddon! Caught 10 roach on hemp then (in hindsight) stupidly moved to a nearby club lake - should have stayed on the Kennet. Anyway on the lake had 2 roach and 4 snotties.

 

[peter crabtree]

Bit bashing on the Colne last night....Stick float and maggot...

 

[TimFB]

Had an absolute blinder...on the method feeder, ran out of groundbait/pellets (as I am too tight to take the bags and mix enough for the day before I leave home ) and packed up 2 hrs early...! To busy for photos 18 Bream and 7 carp. That running out of bait thing has only happened to me once before and that was in France...

 

[Notts Michael.]

Decided on a 5pm 'til dark session on the disused canal near me, hoping for a Tinca. slow going until about 6.30pm, simple tactics, luncheon meat cube, small 1/3 oz lead, QT rod. 3 Bream obliged, all + or - a few ounces of 4lb
as bad light was threatening to stop play around 8.45, the tip went round and the hoped for Tench put up quite a good impression of a Carp for a small fish of around 2 1/2lb. No pics sadly as the phone (and flask, annoyingly) were left at home in my rush to get to the canal.
Starting to really enjoy these short, evening outings, after lockdown caused a long break in fishing, then a few blank sessions meant I was losing enthusiasm a bit, but getting out and netting a few Tench, Bream and the odd Carp lately have definitely done my brain some good.

 

[Alan Tyler]

Er... does the piled-up weed generate maggots? I know some go after mullet with a fly rod and either imitation or real grubs...start from the upwind end and work down as your nose numbs?

 

[rubio]

Er... does the piled-up weed generate maggots? I know some go after mullet with a fly rod and either imitation or real grubs...start from the upwind end and work down as your nose numbs?

Someone who has been there done that?
You'll deserve any rewards for your efforts. I've not managed any success with it personally. Just one of many ways to not catch mullet I have seemingly perfected.
I plan to try smoked kipper on this evening's tide. Also somewhat aromatic. If I can add mullet smell, quite distinct I think, it'll be the first time this year.

 

[tigger]

Had several hours trotting on the river for the latter part of this afternoon. The river was still up a touch and steaming through my swim and the wind was quite strong. Luckily the wind was upstream and was actually helpfull with the extra bit of water on.
Anyhow, I lost a barbel in half a submerged tree. I got my float and shot back but my 6 grame wire stemmed float was shaped like a capital letter L. At least I got it back and I was able to bend the wire into more of a wiggly small letter l.
Finnished up with a few very nice chub and a barbel, so it wasn't all bad .