Back to some proper fishing - part 2

....... The next evening I found myself on yet another different area of Trent in pursuit of a Barbel. It was quite late by the time I arrived and I didn't get much time to setup before dark. Straight away I was getting taps on the rodtip so there was obviously fish out there.

I didn't have to wait long to get an idea of what they were however because within minutes a large bream rolled out in the middle where my baits were, then another and another, the place was alive with them!

It didn't take me long to catch one, a typical Trent stamp of 6-7lb, and realise that I would be struggling to catch a Barbel amongst them. It was too late for a move so I resolved to stop till around midnight and hope a whiskered beast would be able to bully it's way through.

Of course it wasn't to be and after catching a more than respectable bag of several Bream to 8lb2oz I packed up still frustrated at the lack of barbellage. Looking at my records I now realise that I've never done great for Barbs at this time of year and my best results by far have come in late august through till early October, I'm not giving up just yet though!

I decided upon something completely different for my next trip as I'd recently acquired permission to fish a very private estate lake. I had no idea what to expect and even the gamekeeper couldn't tell me a great deal other than he reckoned there might be some carp and tench in there. The only way to find out was to fish it I guess so I planned a short Saturday afternoon session on there.

Armed with bread, maggots, sweetcorn, worms, ground bait and pellets I think I had all bases covered and upon arrival I settled into a nice looking corner swim fishing off a boat jetty. It was overcast but very muggy and a lot of Rudd could be seen milling around under the surface. A couple of balls of groundbait introduced alongside a overhanging tree soon turned that area of the swim into a jacuzzi as the tench homed in on it.

A good plumb around revealed that the lake was no more than 18inches deep all over and after casting a grain of corn into the jacuzzi it didn't take long to get an enquiry. A small Tench was soon swung to hand and that was followed up by several more and some Rudd aswell.

 

After around half an hour I finally managed to hook something a little more substantial which turned out to be a small carp. Well so far the lake certainly wasn't what I was expecting, it was stuffed with fish but they were all small!

 

I could see some bow waves and other signs of larger fish moving out in the middle of the pool so I decided to setup a small bolt feeder rig baited with a large pellet in bid to catch something better.

I placed the rod down on the edge of the boat jetty and before I even turned away the tip was pulling round! After a spirited scrap another little carp was soon netted.

 

And so that set the tone for the next 3 hours, cast, catch, net, rebait, cast, it got to the stage where I wasn't even putting the rod down, I just held it till it pulled round. It was still very shallow in the middle because every bite resulted in a splashy swirl out where I'd cast to.

 

I even attempted to fish two rods at one point but gave that up as a bad idea after three double hookups on the trot! The place was absolutely heaving with small stunted carp.

 

Eventually I ran out of bait and although I'd just had one of the maddest few hours fishing of my life it was a bittersweet end because I was almost expecting such an old estate lake to hold some really special fish. I'd enjoyed my trip on there though despite small carp not really being my thing, every one pulled like a demon and every one had a perfect mouth and was in great condition, certainly a lake to rival any commercial I've ever fished.

Anyway, having had my lake fix, I was soon back on the river with the lures for my most recent trip .....

 

 

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Back to some proper fishing - part 1

So that time of year has come around again and the rivers are once again open for business as usual. The start this year has been somewhat hit and miss for me but I've certainly landed a few fish albeit not always my intended quarry!

Opening day was the usual massive anticlimax and although conditions were seemingly perfect, the much anticipated Barbel never materialised. We were joined by Steve Collett and cameraman Ian who both came down to do a feature for the anglers mail . A lot of thought goes into setting up the various shots and it was fascinating watching the pros in action.

 

 

I did manage a bream of over 7lb and three Chub to 5lb and I lost something which felt suspiciously like a Barbel or a Carp to a hookpull so odd catch a few. I was a little disheartened after building my hopes so high for some Barbel but nevertheless it was great to be back on running water again and getting a few bends in the rod.

 

 

I headed to the river soar the next morning with the lure rod and after catching a Chub on pretty much my first put in I was hopeful of some fast and furious action.

 

 

The fish however had different ideas and the Perch in particular were conspicuous by their absence. By the time I had worked my way down to the bottom of the field I'd only added a small tail walking jack to my tally with very little interest from much else.

 

 

I decided to try a nearby weirpool in a last ditch attempt to build a half decent bag and was rewarded with several perch and two more Pike, the fish obviously preferred the faster and more oxygenated water in the muggy conditions.

 

 

That evening Phil and I were back on a different stretch of river which, based on past form, is usually a dead cert for a barbel. Just on darkness I managed to lose a fish in a snag after a truly brutal take which nearly pulled the rod in. I could feel the line grating through something from the off and it didn't take long to lock up solid before suddenly everything fell slack as the badly damaged line parted. Just as I was cursing my own luck a call came through from Phil telling me he'd caught something special and was in need of assistance. I grabbed my camera and headed upstream to find that Phil had indeed landed a beast, all 14lb11oz of it! Always good to get those PBS in early mate, well done!

 

 

The following day we went out with the lure gear and were joined once again by Steve and Ian for another feature. I won't delve into the events too much because it will come out in the feature but we did have some good action on surface poppers and Steve caught a very special fish indeed.

 

 

The next evening I was back on the Trent on my own and still determined to catch a Barbel. The taps on the rodtip as darkness fell certainly had my confidence through the roof so you can imagine my disappointment when my first proper pull of the evening turned out to be another Bream!

It all went quiet for a while after that until around midnight when I struck into what turned out to be a decent Chub of 5.8. With all the obvious spawning activity across the river over the previous few days the fish proved to be hollow and I'd certainly like to reacquaint myself with it come the winter time.

 

 

I packed up shortly after but I already had plans for the following evening ..........

 

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Braving the elements

First day back at work after the bank holiday and as I travelled to the gulag I couldn't help but notice that the weather conditions were screaming at me to go fishing! The wind was strong but very warm and rain showers intermittently poured out of the thick black clouds above, for the first time in ages conditions looked really good.

My local lake hadn't been at all good to me this year, in fact not a single carp had fallen to my rods and it wasn't for lack of trying either! As I sat in the office watching the wild weather battering the windows I visualised the carp stacking up on the windward bank of the pool, embarking on their first mad feeding spell of the year. I really needed to be there.

4pm arrived and I was out of the workhouse in double quick time and first out of the carpark by a country mile! after an ultra fast pitstop at home to eat and load the gear I was soon back on the road and headed to the lake. Upon my arrival there was already two anglers in residence with very little to report but fortunately neither were in my fancied areas. The wind seemed to be gusting from all different angles and no single swim jumped out at me. It was generally pushing towards the longest and blandest bit of bank on the lake which also has some very deep water in front of it so I decided to wait for the carp to tell me where to go.

Within a couple of minutes one stuck it's head out of the water in the vague vicinity of where I thought I should be so I headed around there. I opted for a boilie only approach using good old fashioned stringers as I think the fish are wary of little piles of pellets and groundbait because every man and his dog seem to be using pva sticks/bags and method feeders in there at the moment.

The weather lashed at my brolly to the extreme over the next hour and I soon got fed up with adjusting it to stop it blowing away. Somewhere in all the chaos though I suddenly became aware of a delkim warbling urgently and thank god for snag ears because my left hand rod was taking on an alarming bend as a fish made it's bid to get to the far end of the pool.

I leaned into the fish to try and turn it but it seemed hellbent on getting into the reeds along my margin. After a few hairy moments I managed to turn it towards open water where it was much easier to battle despite the ferocious wind making my wielding of the landing net somewhat difficult. A nice looking common was eventually netted and I was pleased to record a weight of 22lb8oz, my biggest from the venue so far.

After that I never bothered to recast as the weather had really started to close in and the drizzle became torrential, home beckoned! A quick result with a decent fish on a work night was a sweet reward for braving some truly shocking weather :-)

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Taking up the challenge

In past years some of my fellow bloggers have taken part in a big fish challenge whereupon points are awarded for specimen fish caught across three different catagories, river, canal and Stillwater. The number of points awarded is based upon the fishes percentage of the current record for that species. After seeing that the lads were running another one this year I thought it might be fun to have a go at it myself and, after a belated email to Russell Hilton to sign up, I now find myself in the lineup!

Everybodies got to start somewhere and after the major grueller I've been having of late I decided to head out to try and bag a couple of easy carp to kick things off. A trip to a favourite little pool in Leicestershire was the order of the day as I knew it would give me a double or two with the outside chance of a 20.

The rain was tipping it down upon my arrival which made for some uncomfortable fishing but It cleared up as the day progressed and I managed to find a few in the end. The biggest I had was a slightly disappointing 11lb on the button but points is points and I need every one I can get at the moment! I had a few bait robbing skimmers too and again it was all about the points as I weighed a veritable monster of 2lb5oz.

 

A mediocre start I know, But I'll be building on it soon enough for sure. A bonus koi touching double figures provided a nice end to my trip, shame they don't count in the comp though!

 

 

 

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