Match time!

Seeing as it's been a while since my last post and we are now into 2016 I think I need to start bringing this blog up to date a little!

Carrying on from where my last entry left off, my next trip out after grafham was the Lure Anglers Canal Club pairs match in Warwick. This was to be my first ever canal match and it was on a stretch I'd only fished once before so I was somewhat nervous as I entered the carpark and saw all the other competitors getting their kit sorted. There was 28 pairs fishing but I soon spotted a couple of familiar faces including my partner in crime Carl so It wasn't long before I managed to settle into game mode.

Carl and I drew number 17 out of the bag which meant seeing as Teams were to be set off at 10 second intervals we would be 17th in the que. Not a great start as it meant there was 16 teams in front of us to get to the hotspots first!

 

The teams set forth.......

 

Our plan was to try and slot in somewhere around the hire boatyard as this was a known hotspot and hopefully snag a couple of fish before moving on. By the time we got there two teams were already in residence and there was at least three further along the moored boats nearby. We managed to squeeze in further along but it was a less than explosive start for us as we both struggled to get a bite. Teams either side of us had landed fish but more teams were incoming along the canal too so we moved on slightly further to some fresh water.

Carl having a stare down with a cat

 

Within minutes Carl had a decent 30cm+ perch and we were off the mark! Buoyed by the success we fished on through the area but no more bites were forthcoming, damn this was tough! I spotted another competitor catch one and a real sense of pressure began to set in. We walked further along to a spot near a bridge which two other anglers had just vacated. Second cast I felt a very slight tap which seemed fishy and this was confirmed on my next cast when I landed my first of the match, another half decent perch.

 

Every little helps!

 

By this point we realised that we needed to find fresh unfished water as we felt a lot of the fish were being spooked by the sheer amount of rubber being thrown past them. Fortunately by now there was only a couple of teams in front of us and, knowing there was at least three bridges beyond them we resolved to get to them first as bridges are like fish magnets on every canal we've ever fished so hopefully we'd get a chance or two.

We soon overtook the last team and ten minutes of walking later everybody else was out of sight. Unfortunately the first bridge wasn't what we'd hoped for and was fairly small but high, not offering much cover for any lurking predators. Neither of us had a bite there so off we went to the next which looked way more appealing. It was quite a long bridge and pretty dark under there, perfect!

We setup either side of it and fished intensively. Half a dozen casts in I had a couple of taps which I missed before getting a proper thump on my next cast. The rod hooped over and I knew I'd hooked the zander we so badly needed. A decent looking fish flashed just below the surface just before disaster struck and the hook pulled! Talk about gutted, what a time to lose one! Minutes later however Carl landed the biggest perch so far which softened the blow a little! We fished on for no more bites and another team overtook us so off we went again.

Fortunately the other team got waylaid by some moored boats and we headed on to the next bridge which turned out to be a monster with a main road going over it and pigeons roosting beneath it right in the town center.

I went straight in with my heavier setup in case the zander were about. A sharp tug on my third cast told me they were and a couple of casts later I struck into and landed our first zed of the match, what a relief that was I tell you!

 

Never before has a small zander meant so much!

 

Carl too had a couple of pulls before netting another decent Perch, things were looking up! We gave it another 20 mins or so before deciding to head back. We had to be back at the start point by 3pm otherwise we would be disqualified so time management was paramount. We were at least 45mins away so we only had chance to put some time into probably another two spots at most.

Passing a few other teams on the way back it became apparent that most were struggling, either that or they were playing their best poker faces! We stopped at a viaduct which seemed to be twice as deep as the area around it so it had to be worth a look. After around 20mins I recieved a tiny tiny tap which was barely noticeable but instinct told me to strike and I soon had another chunky perch on the mat.

 

It's girth was bigger than it length!

 

We dropped in a couple of other spots with no more fish to show for it and soon enough the finish was in sight. A couple of other teams had reported catching a few but we were pleased with what we'd caught as we had fished hard and fished well.

Our five perch and solitary zander totalled 239cm with species bonuses added and we were hoping to scrape into a top ten finish. Considering the quality of the anglers in some of the other teams and the fact we were unfamiliar with the stretch compared to some of these guys we were over the moon when our meagre catch put us in 6th place overall. As you can see, 1st place aside, it was pretty tight at the top so we didn't do too badly at all for our first match.

 

 

 

A couple of weeks later It was time for our inaugural Facebook group lure match entitled " Annual Novelty Altogether Length championship" or A.N.A.L championship 2015 as it was so called! Ten of us descended upon a stretch of the grand union near Milton Keynes to thrash it out to see who was the best lure angler amongst our number (or something like that). Obviously it wasn't taken too seriously and much banter ensued, the fishing itself wasn't great but we all caught a few . In the event Jamie (potto) absolutely smashed the competition with over 4m of fish, I came second with 2.3m narrowly beating Carls 2.2m, my 10cm micro zed making all the difference :-)

As with all of our group jollies to date it proved to be a great day out and a proper laugh, hopefully we can sort out plenty more for 2016! Here's some pics from the day........

 

Phil started off seriously.....

 

As did Carl.......

 

Mike no so but Baz did for a little while at least!

 

Mike trying Nate for size

 

Even at lunchtime Potto was on it!

 

Perch w**kers!

 

The only snag on the stretch!

 

A popular swim for sure!

 

They came in all sizes

 

Yeah cheers Nate :-)

 

My score card, nice name change on there (mike)

 

In the end there could only be one winner, well done Potto!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Canals, rivers and the big G

This is going to be a busy update as I've been covering a lot of water in recent weeks! The canal lure fishing has continued unabated as have my quick 1-2hr trips to the local river. I did break the habit one Saturday with a bait fishing trip chasing chub before embarking upon my first ever trip to the theatre of dreams, or Grafham water as it is better known.

I recently joined the lure anglers canal club (LACC) and have been down Warwick way sampling some of their Zander and Perch sport. The grand union there is deeper and wider than the canals I'm used to and although the sport wasn't hectic we still caught a few. Dropshot tactics with micro lures seemed to be most effective although we did bump into another angler on one occasion who had caught a few on much bigger 4inch lures and jigheads.

 

Urban angling

 

The average Warwick stamp

 

The perch seemed bigger than the usual 'wasps' too

 

 

Unlike those at the other end of the LACC stretch!

 

 

Another area of grand union canal I visited recently was out towards Northampton. I had attended the annual Milton Keynes Specimen Group shindig in Newport Pagnell the previous evening where we were treated to a fantastic talk by well known big fish man Terry 'Theo' Theobold. Having booked into a local hotel I had taken my lure gear with the idea of exploring some waters in that area the following day. The locals directed me and Phil towards a couple of promising areas.

Although We awoke to the first decent frost of the autumn and had to scrape the ice off the car, the fishing didn't disappoint and plenty of bites were forthcoming despite several other lure anglers also working the stretch.

At one point Phil caught a perch which was followed right up to the bank by another of a similar size, I dropped in next to Phils fish and caught the other Imediately!

 

Double trouble!

 

A lovely stretch indeed

 

There was even some zander to be found

 

 

The following weekend I had a massive urge to go chubbing on the Trent so I packed my feeder rod, liquidised some bread and got myself down there! It was absolutely chucking it down which made for some uncomfortable fishing and bites were Initially hard to come by. After dropping in a couple of different swims though I managed to locate a few fish and even caught some before the rain finally beat me back to the car and home.

4lber, nice to watch a quivertip for a change!

 

Bread caught Bream

 

 

I'll never tire of catching these!

 

 

I used a couple of short trips to my local river soar to experiment with some flex-head jigs I'd recently aquired. I figured the extra joint in the rig would help impart more movement into the lure whilst possibly improving hookup rates, early results have been promising!

One of four in less than an hour

 

 

A hastily arranged trip to Grafham water was next on the agenda. Its not a water I've fished before and has a tough reputation but I figured my experiences on other large Trout reservoirs would stand me in good stead and I would be in with a chance at least. My boat partner Jamie had never fished it either but as luck would have it we met up with our old mucker Steve who was meant to be guiding on there but his client had cancelled due to bad weather in his part of the country stopping him flying down. His loss was our good fortune however as Steve agreed to come out in our boat for a couple of hours and hopefully show us the big G way.

We went straight to a mark Steve had found on previous trip and started to get the odd tap from the off. It turned out that these were mostly small perch but I was well chuffed when the first bite I connected with was my first Grafham Zander albeit a small one!

We had more Perch after that, Steve also nailed a Zed of around 7lb and I managed a feisty rainbow trout but it was tough going despite trying several other spots. After dropping Steve off at the boat dock around lunchtime Jamie and I headed back out to the first area as news filtered through that a couple of the other boats had found a few fish out that way.

It wasn't long before Jamie hooked what we initially though was a huge Zander or maybe a Pike but we were surprised to find he'd caught a lovely brown trout of maybe 4-5lb. We caught more perch and both lost what felt like good sized Zeds before all to soon it was time to head back in. I did snag another small Zander before hometime though which was pleasing. Upon our return to the lodge we were pleased to discover that Phil, another of our party in another boat, had caught a new PB zed of over 11lb which was a happy end to a most enjoyable day. It illustrated perfectly that Grafham has so much potential to obliterate those PBs, I've a feeling that I will be fishing there a lot over the next couple of years!

 

First one from the big G!

 

Typical grafham perch

 

Jamie bending into a good fish

 

Result!

 

Another little one at last knockings!

 

Posted with Blogsy

The Zander theme continues!

What's this? Another post within a month of the last one? I'd better steady on a bit, don't want to push myself too hard!

Ok firstly, following on from my last entry, I'll just give a quick run down of my Rutland antics towards the end of last month. The first trip I had on there since the Zandermasters was one of our Facebook socials and it proved to be a tough day fishingwise but very enjoyable with loads of banter and mickey-taking. The actual write up of the day can be found on my good friend Phils blog which is well worth adding to anybodies reading list, http://everyday-angler.blogspot.co.uk/ .

Myself and boat partner Nate managed a fair few bites but the choppy conditions is what made it hard work and we were forced to find some slightly more sheltered water in order to fish effectively. Trouble is the fish were out in the wild stuff but despite this we still managed a nice mixed bag of around 20 Zander and Perch between us and, as I always say, whether you catch or not, there's no such thing as a bad day afloat!

 

Talk about greedy!

 

My next trip to Rutland was a bit of a birthday treat to myself and I was joined by my old mucker and regular fishing partner Phil K. on this occasion. Conditions couldn't have been more different for this session than the last one, bright sunshine and flat calm, I wasn't sure how the fish would react as I'd not fished there in such conditions before.

Calm!

 

Out we went straight to our favourite spot in the south arm which was between 50-60ft deep and usually pretty reliable. There really was hardly any wind and when we deployed the drogue in an attempt to keep the boat from spinning around it jus sank straight down! The water was too deep to anchor in so we just sat there dead in the water for a bit.

 

Never a bad day afloat!

Phil struck first blood with a Zander but bites were hard to come by as we weren't moving much. I fined everything right down and eventually managed a Perch at which point a gentle breeze started up, it wasn't much but it was enough to get a slow drift and we could finally start exploring the area.

We soon started hitting fish, lots of them too! The finer tackle made a real difference with bite indication and we had a few double hookups between us. There seemed to be a gully on the bottom stacked up with fish and our drift was taking us along it perfectly.

 

 

The wind gathered strength as the day progressed and our drifts were covering a lot of water. despite having to uprate the tackle to account for the conditions we managed to stay in contact with the fish. We had a dalliance in the north arm for a couple of hours and we did catch but the south arm certainly seemed more prolific so we resolved to spend the rest of the day there.

 

 

By the end of the day we had amassed over 50 fish between us and my shoulder was actually aching from so much hauling! Red letter days like that are always welcome and are one of the reasons that's keeps most of us doing what we do.

The obligatory sunset shot......

 

Tiling the bathroom and other DIY jobs around the house took precedence over the following weekend although I did manage a bit of 'wasping' on the Trent one evening and was pleased to record 28 fish in just 2hours fishing, the practice is paying off!

 

I decided to leave the lure gear at home for my latest trip as I had been meaning to try a certain canal with deadbaits for ages in a bid to find some bigger Zander. I'd never used deadbaits there before so I was going in completely unsure of what to expect.

I started fishing float paternosters but the tow brought on by the nearby locks was akin to the flow on the Trent so I switched both rods to straight leger. I backleaded to avoid the boats and it seemed to work fine although there was a lot of debris being pushed around on the bottom by the tow and boatwash which meant I had to recast fairly regularly.

A good take early on had me striking into thin air but certainly filled my confidence reserves. As the afternoon became evening the boats died right off and my next bite was soon forthcoming. I struck a very stuttery take and was surprised to land a 2lb+ Perch.

 

That was followed around 30mins later by it's brother! Maybe I was onto something here and deadbaits could be the way forward with these better canal fish?

 

Darkness began to close in and I could hear some hefty splashes out in the darkness, sounded like the resident carp were on the move anyway! A very late boat came past which forced me to check the rigs and recast but shortly afterwards my right hand rod was nearly pulled in! After a typically poor fight I soon had a shiny Zander on the bank of 3lb-odd and was most chuffed to have finally got off the mark.

 

I only had one roach left and was in two minds whether to bother casting back out but I thought another half hour wouldn't hurt so out it went. I was just contemplating packing up when I had a couple of bleeps on my right hander once again. I hovered over the rod and 10seconds later the tip properly buckled around and I was in, These bites were mental!

This one definately felt heavier than the last although once again the battle was pretty one sided. When it came up for netting I could see it was much more thick set and I hurriedly slipped the net under it pleased to get a proper one on my first trip.

Canal PB :-)

 

At 6.4 it was easily my best canal Zander and it left me cursing myself that I'd not brought more bait to stay on for a bit longer! It was certainly an interesting trip and I have a feeling I will be back down for more of the same very shortly!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Autumn predators on the plastics

Well, what can I say? It appears I have neglected my blog for far too long once again! No I've not packed in fishing, far from it in fact but, as usual, life has got in the way and some things have fallen somewhat by the wayside.

Throughout most of August work was manic leaving me with little time to fish but I did have a cat fishing social with some lads from our little Facebook group on Office lake fishery in Notts. In the event it was tough going and the only cat caught was this little fella whilst we were trying to catch livebaits!

 

 

I had a blistering run in the middle of the night and hooked something heavy and powerful which wiped out my other rod before weeding me up and shedding the hook. I was totally gutted by this as you can imagine especially seeing as it was the only run our group had between us! It's a nice lake though and I will certainly head back there next year to even the score.

The bank holiday weekend after that was a busy one too as I had organised our fishing clubs inaugural Barbel match on the river Trent and I was fishing the zandermasters lure match on Rutland water also. The barbel match went really smoothly although I was disappointed that the barbel didn't play ball after all the effort I'd put in. No barbel were caught by the competitors and only a few chub were caught. It was decided that the prize money went to charity seeing as nobody could claim it and I got some great feedback from the lads, most of whom said they couldn't wait to come back and do it again next year.

The Zandermasters match was something I'd been looking forward to for a while and was to be a totally new experience for me considering I'd never fished a match before in my life! Organised by Steve Collett in association with the lure company Ecogear it was held on the mighty Rutland water with the aim of the game being to catch the longest combined length of Zander possible.

The match gave me an opportunity to rub shoulders with some really good anglers and the atmosphere was fantastic. Our boat partners had been drawn prior to the event and my partner, Tony, was certainly no slouch in the lure fishing stakes having already qualified for this years british lure angling champs final.

I have to admit was somewhat nervous about whether I'd end up blanking and making a tit of myself in front of all these experienced anglers but after five minutes in the boat with Tony all that was long forgotten and despite the horrendous weather we had a right laugh. It didn't take us long to find a few fish either with my dropshot tactics soon putting a couple on the scoresheet up in the North arm. Tony switched to dropshot too and quickly added some fish of his own. I even managed a Rutland PB of 60cm which helped my cause no-end!

 

 

We tried a couple of other areas and although it was tough going we managed a few bites and pretty much matched each other fish for fish. By the end of the match Tony had beaten me by two fish which had edged him in front of me by 31cm. I finished with six fish for 2.37m which I was more than pleased with especially as, when we arrived back at the boat dock, we found out that half of the field had struggled to catch 1-3fish with some even blanking altogether. It was a tough day as the results below show but it's great to see Tony made the top 10 which also means I wasn't too far behind!

 

 

The match really whetted my appetite for more of the same and since then I've been making plans to fish further matches with my next one being fished in early October.

August rolled into September and throughout the whole month I've nothing but lure fish! I just can't get enough of it at the moment and my bait fishing has taken I real backseat. Part of me feels a bit guilty because I know I could be out there catching fish for the bloggers comp or kicking my Barbel and Perch campaigns into gear but the simple truth is that I'm having too much fun with the lures and I'm not ready to stop yet!

I've been trying some new swims on my local Trent and Mersey canal with some success in a bit to overcome my mental block of catching on lures in coloured water. I know I've mentioned it before but I just can't get my head around how fish can be caught on lures, which, on the face of it is very visual method in water with little or no visibility. I did catch a few Perch but to be fair the water wasn't THAT coloured and I figured that I needed to do it properly if I was to conquer this thing.

 

 

I decided to organise a trip with my mate Carl who fishes (and catches from) the eternally chocolate coloured Ashby canal to try and get a few pointers and build confidence. On the day our first port of call was the Oxford canal which was fairly coloured but still had 8inches or so of visibility which meant we found some decent early success with some nice perch, a good start.

 

 

Pretty soon though a couple of boats went through and the water went pretty mucky but Carl assured me the fish would still feed. The perch were quickly conspicuous by their absence but they were soon replaced by a string of Zander, obviously switched on by the turbid conditions. Visibility was reduced to around 4inches by now.

 

 

The boat traffic soon became really busy and the visibility was reduced to zero as was our bite rate so we decided to up sticks and head to the Ashby canal instead. I was immediately disheartened to see that the water was as chocolate coloured as it possibly could be with zero visibility but Carl said press on so that is what we did. Half an hour later I was just chatting on my phone whilst casually bumping my dropshot on the bottom under the rodtip, at that point two boats passed each other right in front of me and I groaned inwardly at the futility of my chances when all of a sudden there was a kick on the rodtip and I found myself connected to a Zander! Well bugger me, the biggest of the day too!

 

 

How that fish found my lure I will never know because visibility was absolute zero and I can only assume the vibration of the weight hitting the bottom must've brought it in to investigate. My confidence was transformed and although it was soon packup time I already had plans to try other similarly coloured canals.

The following weekend saw me hit the Oxford and Ashby canals again aswell as the Grand Union and despite all being coloured I still caught a fair few fish. I quickly found that the dirtier the water the slower the bait needs to be fished.

 

 

In between my canal trips I was also having quick sessions on my local rivers with the dropshot gear and absolutely slaughtered them on natural coloured baits.

 

 

September also saw me back on Rutland again twice possibly for the last time this year but as usual it didn't disappoint and although the fish weren't huge there was plenty of them and the last trip in particular was very productive indeed. That will have to wait till next time however as time is short as usual and I must go, tight lines y'all!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted with Blogsy