An angling oasis in the concrete jungle

With all the warm weather of late you'd think I have been out wetting a line at every opportunity but life as usual has got in the way and I've actually hardly been out all. Six day weeks at work coupled with a bout of man-flu has left me with very little energy to put into my fishing but last weekend I got my mojo back somewhat and now I'm mad for it again!
My downer changed for the better on sunday morning when i decided to join some friends on a bit of a pre-season recce along the Trent. Much fishing talk ensued and after seeing the river in its full summer glory my appetite was very much whetted for an evening trip somewhere. There's a little pool in a nearby town situated in the middle of a housing estate and I've been meaning to give it a try for some time because despite its location, its reputed to hold some nice crucians and after persuading my fishing buddy Phil to give it a go we soon found ourselves on its banks.
Neither of us had ever seen the pond before but It was pretty much exactly what youd expect from a suburban duck pond. The swims were well worn, lost floats adorned the trees and the murky waters surface was swimming with bread thrown in for the ducks by the local residents. At a glance it didnt look like any kind of aquatic life could possibly eek out an existence in there but first impressions can be very deceptive it turned out. I soon spotted a small Carp sunning itself in a quiet corner and after walking along the bank a few yards the one Carp had become dozens of them,  they were all over the lake!
Thinking i was about to get a couple of easy doubles i quickly set up a bubble float as one or two fish were confidently taking the bread that was already out there. I missed one straight away on the first cast but after that the fish did a pretty good job of proving that they were no mugs. They were obviously well used to being fished for on the surface and they had the uncanny ability to remove the bread from the hook without registering a bite or hooking up. Several times i struck at thin air and after a couple of frustrating hours in the full glare of the afternoon sun i got bored with Carp and set up a float rod to target what i had originally gone there for, Tench and Crucians.



Keith had joined us by now and had already landed a small Tench from the margins so that is where i decided to base my attack. Some of the lakes Tench obviously had other things on their mind and were frantically chasing each other amongst the tree roots and marginal reeds but i hoped there would be enough fish still feeding down there to give me few chances.
I missed a couple of fast bites in the first half hour and bumped something which, judging by the solitary scale on the hook was obviously a passing spawner. I decided to bury the hook in a piece of bread in order to try and minimise such hookups. As the afternoon turned to evening the wind got up and the temperature became more bearable, i also began to get a few more indications. It wasnt long before i finally hooked a fish and after a short battle i landed a small but fiesty Tench.



This set the precedent for the rest of the evening and although the action wasnt exactly hectic, i was probably getting a bite every ten minutes or so. Four more Tincas followed over the course of the evening and although none were very big  it was most enjoyable watching that float bury and made a nice change from my usual buzzers and bolt-feeder approach.



Phil never managed to extract a Tench but he did have a couple of nice carp in the 6-8lb range on floatfished maggots. He was only two pegs away from me but he fished further out than me so i dont know if that made the difference between getting the Tench or not? Keith finished up with the one Tench and a couple of missed opportunities.

All in all a pretty good trip i thought and certainly one i needed to get some confidence back. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the fishing in the pool and will surely be back for another session in the future.



Going through the motions?

This weekend ive been very limited timewise due to family commitments but with the weather seemingly getting a bit better i still managed to squeeze in a couple of quick evening sessions. My first trip was to what has now become my regular Tench water and although catch reports from those whod been down in the week werent very encouraging the sun was out and the wind seemed fairly mild.
Upon my arrival i found i had the whole lake to myself and had my pick of the swims. I chose one which has produced a few lately and got setup. The wind was blowing quite strongly from my right to left and the water was more coloured up than i think ive ever seen it, a couple of fish splashed out in the waves at around 30 yards out though so i was confident that i had a few in front of me.
I sat there for probably about 3 hours without so much as liner and was starting to get a little impatient, thinking about what i could do to make something happen. The chocolate brown water wasnt doing me any favours i felt although the groundbait mix i was using was full of mollasses so i didnt think theyd have a problem finding it.
As i looked out across the expanse of water in front of me a Tench rolled right in my line of sight at about 50 yards and i saw it clear as day. With nothing to lose i reeled in a rod, rebaited and cast it to where the fish showed. The wind was dropping by now but was noticably colder, in fact i realised i was actually shivering and seeing as i was dressed for the warmer weather of earlier i had no choice but to huddle under my brolly as best as i could.
It was a welcome relief when, after around half an hour, the bobbin on my recast rod began to dance and i struck into a fish. It came in very easily and didnt seem to wake up till it got under the rod tip but i soon had it netted and on the mat. It was a very odd looking Tench with alsorts of lumps and bumps on it but it saved my session bless it. I weighed it at 5.4 and after returning it to its watery home i quickly packed up and headed back myself, i was frozen!



Another evening session on a different lake started well enough, in fact i hooked a fish before id even got my second rod out but i managed to lose it to a hookpull. Over the next couple of hours i had a few twitches on the bobbins and lost another fish which felt somewhat Perch-like but i ended the trip on a total blank. 

After several trips where ive struggled im starting to wonder what im doing wrong, my fishing really seems to be in the doldrums at the minute. Others seem to be faring little better so maybe its just the fish? Certainly on my last trip out i felt like i was just going through the motions, what i need is a good bagging session somewhere to restore a bit of confidence and stoke the fire i reckon.

Its May but not as we know it!

The British weather eh, dont you just love it? Weve recently had what seems like weeks of  non stop heavy rain and although now it appears to have eased off a bit, the air temps have dropped to the extent where we actually had a light frost this morning here in darkest Leicestershire. The air temps are more akin to March than May and as you would expect the fishing has suffered considerably as a result. Looking back over previous blog entries and old diaries for this time of year i should be out there in shorts and a tshirt by now bagging up on Tench, not huddled up under a brolly in my winter woolies!

So what of my recent Fishing exploits? well, the rain hit my fly fishing aspirations pretty hard and as a result ive not really been much. I did get out for a couple of hours the other day but other than a couple of follows it proved to be pretty fruitless excursion. Instead ive been trawling the net for bits and bobs to tie some flies with. Ive now built up something of a passable fly tying kit and have been practicing my tying skills hard whilst watching the drizzle outside roll down the windows. Im a bit limited on colours at the moment but im confident the flies should catch me something at least.

I promised my lad Lewis that id take him out to catch a fish as soon as the weather lifted and the chance eventually came on Saturday morning. After a quick trip to the tackle shop to aquire some bait we headed to a tiny club pond where i knew wed get a few bites. The wind was surprisingly cold and all the other anglers on the lake had setup with their backs to it which meant we had to sit facing it. We made our way to a likely looking swim and Lewis's teeth were chattering already, this wasnt going to be a very long trip!

I expected bites from the off but it was nearly twenty minutes before the bait was picked up by a tiny Perch. A couple of missed bites over the next half hour had me thinking about packing up as it was becoming a real grueller. Normally the lake is a bite a chuck and you never know whats going to pick up next but today, even the other chaps were struggling with just one gudgeon to report between them!

The trip was rescued in the end though as suddenly the rod was nearly pulled off the rest and after a frantic scrap, Lewis, with dads assistance, finally landed a small mirror Carp of around 4lb. Job done we scurried off to the warmth of home as quickly as we could! 



On Sunday i decided to head to the Tench water seeing as i have managed to renew my ticket. I awoke to another light frost and when i got lakeside the wind was still just as bitter as the previous day. I set up, spombed out some maggots and then positioned my baits on top. Sport was proving to be extraordinarily slow and nothing was forthcoming for the first three hours whatsoever. I was kept well entertained however by the celebrity Blackbird which has featured in other peoples blogs recently, he robbed me blind at every opportunity!



Eventually i recieved a drop back on the maggot feeder rod and a fish was hooked. A brief tussle ensued and soon enough a small male Tench was netted, unbelievably the first of its kind ive landed this year, i cant believe its taken me till May to get one!  I thought this fish might signal a change in my fortunes but it was another couple of hours before i recieved any more action. My next bite resulted in very unusual capture for the water, at first i thought id hooked a baby Tench which would in itself have been unusual but i was even more surprised to see a spiky dorsal fin break the surface as a nice Perch slipped into the net.

Other than Tench, Bream, Carp and Pike there are hardly any other species present in the water, certainly not in any numbers and that Perch is the first ive heard of being caught there in all the time ive fished it. I stayed on for a few more biteless hours before finally admitting defeat and  heading back to the car.



With the Monday being a bank holiday and being a glutton for punishment  i was back down at the Tench lake for first light. The wind had swung around to the opposite direction of what it was on Sunday so i opted to fish the same swim only this time the wind would be off my back. Cloud and rain was due to roll in as the day progressed but first thing in the morning i was greeted by bright sunshine and a frozen windscreen.

Within minutes of setting up i was into a Tench and although small at around 4lb it provided a promising start and an hour later the other rod was away and an identical fish . That was all the action i was to get for a while and other than the odd gentle liner my bobbins remained motionless. Mid morning arrived and so did the cloud and wind, as it did i recieved a searing take on my left hander and managed to land a slightly bigger female Tench which took the scales around to 5.6.

After that i still had internittent liners but no more bites until i decided to pack up some time around 3ish. As i was doing so i recieved a drop back and hit into what felt like a small Bream. I was less than impressed however when a particularly scrawny looking tufted duck broke the surface and flapped its way angrily towards me, fortunately it was hooked cleanly in the beak and was soon drop kicked er.....released unharmed back in the water. There endeth my session and the rest of my weekends fishing, im getting the Tench bug back now big time and im hoping to get back down for a couple of evenings this week all being well.

Its getting very addictive!

After a successful day of car shopping on the Saturday i got home to a message in my inbox asking if i fancied spending a Sunday morning working on my fly casting at some local pits. Phil, the sender, was already an extremely accomplished fly angler for both Trout and Pike and with my own casting being so utterly pants it was an offer i couldnt refuse!
After meeting at the entrance to the fishery we headed for a quiet area with plenty of room to have a chuck about. Phil rigged me up with a shooting head line to help with my timing and it wasnt long before i felt i was starting to get somewhere with it. Compared to Phils casting, my own efforts were far from pretty but my confidence was building and soon we decided to head around the lakes to have a cast or two in anger. The wind wasnt very good on the big pit i caught from on Friday but the even bigger pit next door looked a pretty good proposition.

After a few casts it didnt appear that anything was showing any interest. I reached down to unhook my line from the undergrowth for the upteenth time in preparation to recast and when i looked back at the water i was surprised to see a Pike sat right next to my now motionless fly. I gave it a twitch and it turned and took it imediately but it then spat it back out just as quick before i had a chance to strike. It swam off slowly out of view as i recast. As my retrieve neared the bank there were two Jacks following the fly and i was certain of another take and sure enough the lead fish engulfed it yet somehow i managed to strike the fly clean out of its mouth! The second fish shot off but the first one stayed put and had a confused look about it as if it was wondering where its dinner had just gone! i dropped the fly back in front of it and it was inhaled without hesitation, this time the fish was firmly hooked!



After that, Phil and i tried several more swims and had follows but no hookups. A move to another pool proved to give a similar story although i did manage to lose a couple. I think the single hook sometimes has difficulty getting a hold in the Pikes bony mouth which is why a few drop off but from what ive seen so far the number of takes on the method more than make up for the amount of dropped fish. Im planning on trying my hand at making some flies up of my own in the next couple of weeks, its all exciting stuff!

A new string to my bow

In recent weeks ive been reading a great deal about fly fishing for Pike and i must admit the method seems to have taken something of a hold over me. My first trip a couple of weeks back was a spur of the moment affair in that i originally set off on a lure trip and chucked the fly rod in the car as an afterthought. My intention was to practice a bit of casting with it after the lures had worked their magic.
Unfortunately the lures didnt produce so much as a sniff from two circuits of the lake so i took the fly rod out of the car and found a nice roomy swim to have a cast about in. I only had one fly with me, a gaudy red white and green affair but itd serve my purposes i thought. Imagine my surprise when, on the very first cast i recieved a savage pull from the depths! i didnt hook it up but on the next cast a small jack followed the fly right to the bank before engulfing it properly. After a very lively scrap on my light fly rod i was soon gloving out my first fly caught Pike, awesome!
I walked a couple of swims along to attempt a repeat performance and was truly gobsmacked when after a couple of casts the fly was hit right at my feet. That fish made a good escape after throwing the hook as it tailwalked across the surface. The next spot gave me another surprise because as i retrieved the fly i became aware of a large shape following it up the marginal slope. As it came into view i was stunned to see a Carp of about 15lb following around 6inches behind. I think it was more curious than hungry as it turned away as soon as i stopped the retrieve.

My first Pike on the fly fell to this creation, its missing eyes are proof of its attraction!

I tried a couple more spots with no action but the wind was making casting somewhat difficult for me so i headed around to the opposite bank with the wind off my back. On my second cast into a shallow bay i saw a larger Pike slowly following the fly around ten feet behind. I stopped the retrieve and the fish swam up to the fly bristling its fins before turning away. I cast towards the direction it swam off in and as soon as the fly became visible to me the Pike shot in and grabbed it. It tore off along the bank stripping line through my fingers before suddenly the hook pulled and it was game over. This was heart stopping stuff!
Some other anglers turned up to fish at that point and, not wanting to make a prat of myself with my embarassingly shocking casting, i headed back to the car. I was amazed at the contrast in the fishes response to the fly as opposed to the lures. It was like fishing a different lake.

Over the next week i continued to read up on the subject of fly fishing and even bought a couple more big and hairy concoctions to try out. I was mad keen to get out again but the weather stepped in and ruined any chance i had of having another dabble. The rain poured all week and it wasnt until Friday that the rain had lifted enough for me to be able cast a line again.

The new additions

I arrived at the lake and was disappointed to find eight other anglers on the pool. With it being a small venue the extra rods left me very limited for spots to fish so i headed to the deeper lake next door. This lake was directly affected by levels in the nearby river due to a connecting pipe and as such was quite coloured and carrying around 2ft of extra water. It was also surrounded by trees which made casting very difficult. Not surprisingly i struggled so after doing my bailiff duties on the original lake i headed for another much larger pit just up the road.

The sky was starting to get pretty dark as i approached and i knew that some serious rain was imminent. I quickly made my way to a nice looking corner and began to fish. Third cast in and i had an explosive take on the surface which had me jumping out of my skin! the fish tailwalked left right and centre but it was well hooked and i soon had it on the bank. A nice fish and proof of the flys effectiveness as i had never caught a single fish from there before despite trying conventional lures time after time.

Mullered!



As i returned the fish the heavens truly opened and seeing as i was around half a mile away from the motor i got well soaked. I didnt mind though because id proved to myself  that i was doing something right with the technique. I always took it with a pinch of salt that fly fishing converts often boast about the method outfishing conventional lures by two or three fish to one but im slowly starting to believe that what they say might actually have an element of truth . I cant wait for the rivers to open so i can really start to explore the possibilities however, my casting does need an awful lot of work in the meantime!

Urban Breaming

The recent cold snap seems to have really knocked the Tench on the head somewhat if the reports from some of my local lakes are anything to go by. Rather than struggling for a bite on my regular Tench water  i decided to head away from the crowds to the peace and quite of a local club pool in a bid to see if its own population of Tincas had woken up yet. I say peace and quiet but the lake in question is slap bang in the middle of a housing estate and about half a mile from the town center so how quiet can it get? not very is the answer but at least there is no public access to the water which means it remains an oasis of tranquility despite the surrounding urban sprawl!
Ive never had a big Tench from the place, in fact 6lb is probably my best from there but the fish are good lookers due to the clear water and despite being relatively unpressured they dont give themselves up easily. The challenge and the quirky nature of the waters history and location combine to give me real enjoyment whenever i fish there, its not always about catching the whoppers is it?
The wind was very cool and hacking towards the carpark upon my arrival so, not wishing to sit there freezing my tits off all day, i opted to fish on the back of it into the open water of the main bowl. Theres not much in the way of features in the water other than the deep margins but i fancied a chance at some Bream should the Tench not want to play so the open water it was. Ive caught just as many Tench in the open as i have the margins there but ive never caught a Bream in the edge and i had a feeling that bites could be at a premium with such a cool breeze on the water. I set up shop and made several casts to get some bait out there before sitting back to await events.

 Both rods were cast just beyond the edge of the ripple

The left hand bobbin was soon bouncing as the first of a succession of small Roach took a fancy to my double red maggot offering. I didnt mind catching them though as it meant that the Cormorants had left them alone for another winter. I knew they soon disappear once something bigger moved into the swim. After a short while i had just recast and was tightening the bobbin when suddenly the line was snatched out of my fingers! I struck and the rod hooped over as the first Bream of the day nodded its way towards my waiting net.

The First of many!

That fish seemed to set the precedent for the next four hours or so. I had a few Skimmers and Roach in between but i went on to take several more proper slabs mostly averaging between 5-7lb with the biggest one going just shy of 8lb. It was good to see some skimmers coming through as it meant the Bream were at least spawning successfully guaranteeing sport for years to come. Eventually at around lunchtime the bites slowed right down and i was hopeful that the Breams departure might signal the arrival of a Tench or two. After a very quiet spell a stuttery bite resulted in a bit of a surprise for me in the shape of a nice fat Perch of nearly 2lb, a good fish for the lake. Considering that until fairly recently the place was heaving with stunted microperch its nice to see those steadily disappearing and fish like this one coming through.

Brightening my day!

Another similar sized Perch quickly followed before another quiet spell had me thinking about packing up. As i gathered my bits together i had a final bite which resulted in one last slab to cap off a very productive session. Those Tench never did show but another 50-60lb bag of Bream was a pleasing result considering some of the weather weve had of late.

The last fish of the trip

Half a ton of Bream but wheres the Tench?

With all the unseasonably warm weather over the last week i was well up for some Tench fishing this weekend so i planned a Saturday morning session to my favourite water with my old mucker Keith. I knew the fish had already begun to show as several had been caught by those lucky enough to be able to get down earlier in the week.
I met Keith on the bank at about 5.30am just before first light and conditions looked pretty good, calm with quite a bit of cloud cover and a mild air temperature. As it got light there was a few fish showing in front of me at around 60-70yards so i cast both method feeders out to them around 20yards apart and clipped up. The waterfowl were in full dawn chorus and after about an hour of listening to their deafening cacophony i suddenly became aware of another sound, my first bite of the day! The bobbin was bouncing in a very Breamlike fashion as i picked up the rod and lifted into the fish. The distinctive nodding on the end of the line confirmed my suspicions and soon enough a Bream of about 5-6lb was lying on the mat.
Within minutes of recasting the same rod was away again with a slightly larger specimen which weighed in at over 7lb. I noticed that the fish were still rolling over my baited area and i had a feeling that i could be on for a good day. Keith chipped in with a Bream of his own next and at 8.6 it was a good fish for the lake and worthy of a pic but it was at this point i realised id left my camera in the bag i took to Hanningfield last week, doh! Any pics now would have to be taken on my phone which is really rubbish as can be seen from the pic below of an 8.10 fish i caught just after Keiths.



By now the Bream had really moved in and both of us were getting lots of liners in between catching them. I missed or bumped at least 5 fish but i ended up landing eight Bream for a total weight of over 60lb, a good mornings sport by any stretch of the imagination. The Tench were conspicuous by their absence and i can only put the fact that we never had any down to the Bream feeding hard and pushing them out of the swim? The Tench are usually more dominant in catches as the weather warms up so theres plenty of time yet.  All but one of todays Bream were upper 7s and 8s so they were a good average size but the lakes Tench are the real draw and it wont be long before im back down to bank a few im sure.