Back to Blithfield

After last autumns successful perch trials the management at Blithfield res decided to release a couple more dates so last weekend saw me headed back over there to do battle once more. Phil was to be my boat partner this time around and seeing as this was his first time out on a trout ressie I was praying for a good day to whet his appetite for future trips.

 

As we approached the lake it didn't look too bad but as we got closer I was slightly disappointed that there was a good chop on. Being relatively inexperienced at boat fishing myself I had visions of spending most of the day wrestling with the boat in the wind but in the event, although we were drifting a little too quickly for my liking, the drogue did it's job and it wasn't too bad.

The fishing itself proved to be a pretty slow burner and although we were getting a few taps we were struggling to connect with anything. My first fish came after I had put the rod down and reached for a sandwich. Phil pointed out that my rod tip was pulling over at an alarming rate and I turned around and struck into a small but feisty Perch.

 

After that we fished on with more confidence and actually managed to catch a few even though we were still missing a fair few plucks from the depths. I'd say it was prolific but I'd be lying, there was just enough action to keep the interest up but at least we were getting our string pulled.

 

 

Small red Berkeley minnows and silver savage gear minnows seemed to produce most pulls. At one point I hooked what I though was to be a proper mansize perch but it turned out to be a lively overwintered rainbow trout, a pleasing result on the ultralite outfit.

 

We seemed to find a better stamp of fish later on in the day but the fishing didn't get any easier. Nevertheless Phil and I both enjoyed ourselves and the quicker the autumn arrives so we can get on the other midlands ressies the better!

 

 

 

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It's been a while!

Oh dear! It's been so long since my last post I'd almost forgotten I even had a blog! Even now I'm struggling to remember what I got up to 6-7weeks ago! To be honest with all the crappy cold weather I don't think you've missed much. I've spent 99% of my fishing time lure fishing still but with everywhere being iced-up, snowed under or flooded it's certainly been a struggle. Heres some pics with brief descriptions to bring you up to date anyway;

 

This little chap brightened up a miserable, snowbound Christmas. I had great fishing plans for the Xmas break but it snowed on Boxing Day and wrecked everything. Little did I know it was to be the start of a tough few weeks on the fishing front!

 

A spot of Piking on a local pit proved unproductive and, seeing as I really didn't fancy chub or grayling fishing, I resolved to try a few new waters for Perch in a bid to find some fresh specimens.

 

 

A park lake I'd been tipped off about yielded one or two fish and in hindsight I should've stuck with it but I really had my heart set on the canals even though I knew I'd be in for a grueller.

 

 

During my non-fishing time I decided to have a play about making some dropshot lures. Some of you may already know I work as CNC programmer so I have access to some pretty tasty kit for making molds and after playing about with some different designs I soon knocked up a couple of molds.

 

The end results were pretty good and in the pic above you can see how my pink creation measures up to an Ecogear grub.

 

As you can see, the pink grub does the business too! I kid you not, this little zed picked up the lure on my very first cast with it!

 

I've caught one or too chub lately on the dropshot gear too which I find slightly unusual because of the bitterly cold weather, I always thought they were more inclined to hit lures during the summer months?

I managed a pb thingumajig the other day too, not sure what it is but it pulled well on the ultralite gear!

A spur of the moment decision to hit a local lake on my way home from the canal the other day paid off with a good result. Despite trying the lake numerous times I've never had any decent sized perch from it so I was well chuffed to land on the fish above which is the biggest I've had from the pool by a country mile!

After spending way too much time lure fishing of late I decided to switch to bait fishing in a bid to catch a proper one. The first trip out gave me a blank but it was to be second time lucky when an after work session threw up this 3lb2oz fish.

Think I'm going to leave the lures for a bit now till the closed season, I've missed on on way more action than I should have this winter due to my lure fascination. In all honesty though I've not had the urge to bait fish until now anyway.

That, I think, pretty much brings me up to date, I'll try not to leave it so long next time!

 

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