That new water feeling

I had a first look at my chosen Bream venue yesterday evening and it certainly got the old juices going. A wild and windswept gravel pit with a reputation for being something of a challenge. Every keen angler knows the excitement which comes from fishing a new water, casting into the unknown and not being quite sure of what might be swimming out there in front of you, I can't wait to get stuck in!

There's a PB out there somewhere........

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Ending a run of blanks

Over the last three weeks I've been attempting to fill the void between the rivers closing and my bream campaign beginning by catching some Carp. I've been fishing a couple of local club waters but being very deep combined with the recent cold weather they seem to have taken a bit longer to get going than I'd originally anticipated!

I endured some bitterly cold conditions for the first couple of trips, half the lake was iced over at one point as the freezing north easterly winds howled across the water. I've not been that cold whilst fishing for as long as I can remember and I think I had more chance of winning the lottery than catching a carp. I persevered though and the weather slowly but surely began to warm up. I was spurred on by reports that one of the lakes had actually produced a fish to another angler so maybe, just maybe, the fish were starting to move.

Last weekend marked the beginning of a dramatic shift in the wind direction which brought much warmer conditions with it. The sun was lovely and warm but the water still wasn't. Despite this I still managed to spot a couple of Carp mooching around some snags and they certainly looked catchable. It wasn't to be though and I ended the session on yet another blank.

That brings me up to my most recent trip and after a week of mild temperatures I was really hoping to get amongst some fish. I couldn't decide which lake to fish but after looking in on the deeper of the two and finding just one other angler in residence I opted to set up shop there. No signs of fish were obvious so I setup next to a large reedbed which had the wind absolutely hacking into it, this was the best chance I'd had in a while.

After casting in I actually felt expectant of some imminent action for the first time in weeks. When the Delkim warbled around half an hour later I was on it like a flash. I bent into the fish and knew immediately it wasn't a Carp but it still put up a good account of itself and I was pleased to net a well proportioned Tench. Tench are a relative rarity for the water and this was my first from there so I was quite chuffed.

A short while later I spotted some Carpy movement along the far margin and a fish rolled over my right hander. It certainly looked like a few were moving! I was halfway through taking a phone call when suddenly the right hand rod buckled around and I found myself connected to a nice scaley looking mirror. At 11lb It wasn't huge but from what Im told its the first to be caught from the lake since mid March so it was a good result.

No more action was forthcoming and despite a few more anglers turning up no more fish came out whilst I was there. Hopefully that trip will mark a turn in my fortunes, I'm heading to my chosen Bream water for a good look around this week. I've never fished it before myself but I've heard some good things about it from the handful of people who fish it, it'll be nice to get stuck into a new challenge again.

 

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Seeing as its snowing yet again...............

.......... I might as well write a little bit about my thoughts on the season just gone and my hopes and plans for the year ahead! I can categorically state that I WON'T be fishing this weekend as I can barely drive up my street let alone get to the bankside!

For me the fishing year now runs from March 15th to March 14th the following year, this encapsulates the four seasons nicely and the end of the river season marks something of a turning of the page. Spring time is an exciting time as everything begins to wake up from its winter dormancy and from a fishing point of view its when the so called 'winter species' take a bit of a step back and allow the 'summer species' to the fore. From an anglers perspective spring is also a good time to plan ahead especially as it usually coincides with ticket renewal time.

So what of the 2012/13 season? My spring Tench campaign wasn't as prolific in numbers of fish as the year before but the quality of the fish was better and a 9lb5oz PB was a good result. The fact the water went private with no night fishing was nice and getting a swim was never a problem like it had been in years previously when Carp anglers used to stitch the lake up. Seeing as tickets are so limited I will certainly be renewing but I won't be fishing it as much because I have other plans for this spring which I will come onto later.

Ill be leaving these alone this year I think

 

I have to say my summer Barbelling was a big disappointment in terms of big fish and also that areas which have always produced for me in the past seemed devoid of them. I did however 'rediscover' the Trent and I'm looking forward to fishing there a lot more this year. My big target this coming season is a 13lb+ fish which is perfectly achievable considering I live within 10-15 minutes of the Trent, Soar and Derwent and 30 mins away from the Dove. In fact I'm trying to work out why I haven't been able to break the 13lb barrier already but that's fishing I guess, you just get the cards your dealt!

My 43lb Catfish from last summer was a highlight and this year I have a couple of sessions booked on other waters contain fish nearly twice that size but I'm under no illusions that ill have to be pretty fortunate to latch into one. I can dream though cant I? :-)

One was messy enough!

 

Although I have embarked on Perch campaigns in the past and had some good fish its been Chub which have been the mainstay of my winter fishing in recent years but last Autumn I decided to really go for it on the Perch front for a change. Calling on wealth of local knowledge built up from spending many many hours on the bank over the years I was able to identify areas which gave me the best chance of what I was after and that, combined with more than a little luck, led to some of the best Perching I've ever had. Although it was hard, very hard in fact with lots of blank hours put in, with a crowning glory of two 4lb fish the final results went way past my expectations.

A 3.12 from the winter just gone

 

That pretty much brings me up to date, I've already mentioned a couple of things with regards to future plans but just to throw something else in there I intend to beat my Bream PB of 11.4 this year also. I've identified a couple of waters which will almost certainly do it provided I can find the fish in the first place. I've never fished either before and info is pretty thin on the ground so its going to be a nice challenge to get to grips with.

 

My current PB, not for much longer though......

 

I also intend to do a bit more Carp fishing this year, nothing serious but I just fancy going out and catching a few. Ill be happy enough just to catch a couple of twenties but it won't be the end of the world if I don't. A couple of waters on my club ticket are starting to throw up some pretty fish to a reasonable size now so it should be interesting and help mix things up a bit.

 

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Is Spring upon us?

After the icy cold weather of late things finally appear to be to be on the turn. I awoke on Saturday morning to glorious sunshine and, although I had some jobs to do in the morning, I made plans for an afternoon Carping session on a local pool. One or two fish had been out over the last week so they were obviously beginning to wake up and I quite fancied the idea of an early season twenty.
The lake had been flooded by the nearby river Trent in recent weeks and as such was still fairly coloured up and carrying a bit of water. I settled in a likely swim, positioned my baits and relaxed on my bedchair enjoying the uns warmth. As expected not a lot happened over the next couple of hours and soon enough I found myself drifting off into slumber. A phone call jolted me back to reality and I was surprised to see I'd been out for good hour or so. Suitably refreshed I set about actually trying to catch something a little more seriously. It didn't do me any good however because soon it was beginning to get dark and the temperature began to plummet due to the clear sky.
The club secretary turned up and as we chatted my right hander suddenly sprang into life and then stopped almost as abruptly before I reached it. I wound in and was gutted to find my hook had twisted awkwardly with the hair and didn't stand a cat in hells chance of a hook up. I made a mental note to always use PVA foam in conjunction with KD rigs in future!
Although a couple of fish showed as it got dark nothing else happened and I packed up with plans to hit the Trent for some Chub action in the morning.

The next day a hard overnight frost had me packing the cold weather gear but undeterred I headed to an area with some good form for cold weather captures. I started with a maggot feeder in a bid to build up some bait in the swim and get the Chub competing for the bait. The ploy seemed to do the trick as I soon missed a bite before hooking something substantial. The size 16 didn't hold though and I was left cursing my luck. That seemed to kill the swim stone dead and I didn't get any further bites for the next hour until the little chap below decided to put in an appearance. Time to move I thought.

I headed upstream and over the course of the morning and early afternoon I really struggled for bites. It seemed that the few pulls I did get I wasn't ready for and subsequently missed them. I rang Phil who was fishing another stretch downstream to see how he was faring and he hadn't even had a sniff all day!

Somewhat despondently I resolved to try one final swim before heading home. The swim I headed for wasn't one I'd fished before nor was it one that would jump out at you as a classic winter chub swim being quite fast and very shallow. The thing which drew me to it however was the amount of bird activity there, the only swans and coots on the stretch were concentrated within a 60yard area. The coots were diving and the swans up-ending constantly, a grebe was working the swim also, could it just be coincidence?

I was surprised to get a bite within minutes and I struck into a decent fish. God knows what it was though because it took off downstream like a train and the hook pulled. I was even more frustrated to bump a fish on my next cast, it seemed like I'd found a few but I felt I needed to up my hooksize, would it put them off?

The answer was a resounding no as I connected with my next bite and managed to hold onto it. After a remarkable scrap I was bowled over to stick the net under a sizeable Bream which, until it surfaced, I was convinced was a very nice Chub! The scales didn't quite make 8lb but it was still a good fish for a river Bream and well worth a pic.

I kept the bread mash going in through the feeder and the bites still kept coming. Most were little taps and knocks and largely unhittable but I did eventually manage to hook another fish. The heavy thumping on the end of the line meant that this was almost certainly a Chub and sure enough a nice fish of 4.10 was soon posing for a pic.

After that I thought that was all I could hope for from the peg but still the bumps and knocks continued, there was certainly one or two fish out there! It didn't take long to hook another fish and I was pleased to net another Chub of 4lb+.

Even after that I still continued to get a few knocks but the swans had finally homed in on my baited area and were making things impossible. Time to pack up then!

Some comparatively mild weather has been forecast for the coming few days although some rain has also been predicted. Without wishing to put the kiss of death on it, Hopefully things should be cock-on for the final hurrah!

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Another trip to the ever changing trickle

As the title of this weeks entry suggests, my most recent trip out was a bloody cold one! I'm getting so fed up with the cold now, there just doesn't seem to be any let up in it!

It's that time of year when pretty much every blogger and his dog are out there chasing either Chub, Perch, Pike or Grayling and I guess I'm no exception, I mean what else is there to fish for when its brass monkeys? I had Grayling in mind as I headed to the Dove once again and I was hoping river conditions would me more favourable than my last trip there.

I was delighted to find the river looking fantastic, normal level and carrying a lovely bottle green colour, I couldn't wait to get started. Phil was my partner in crime for today's trip and we both went our separate ways from the car. I headed straight to the scene of my Chub catch last time out. As I walked to my swim I couldn't believe how the recent floods have altered the appearance of the river. Huge silt and sand banks had formed especially on the inside of bends and the pics below show how even trees have been swamped by the stuff. The spots below were clear gravel runs under overhanging trees last winter!

 

 

 

New gravel bars have appeared where before there were none and trees have collapsed into the water creating some fantastic looking new swims. The Dove seems to change so much year on year, far more so than some of the other local rivers to me, hotspots are different every season and it certainly makes for some interesting fishing.

 

 

The swim above screamed Chub especially with a nice 6-7ft of water under those branches but after sitting there for over an hour without a twitch I soon moved on.

Two swims into the session I eventually found some fish but they were very shy biting. I was only getting tiny taps but eventually I managed to hit a couple and landed some nice Grayling the highlight of which being the pretty fish pictured below which went 1lb10oz. Not a monster but very welcome as the weather decided to try and snow on me.

 

 

Bites soon dried up and I moved on once again. Bites were proving very hard to come by and despite fishing hard over the next three hours i only managed a couple more pulls. After catching a small brownie I decided to give it best and head back upstream to see how Phil was faring.

 

 

Phil too had been moving about and after catching a couple of nice Trout elsewhere he had settled in a nice swim near the car and was getting a few bites on his favoured long trotting tactics.

 

 

 

 

I never bothered casting back in and was quite content to sit back and watch Phil get a few. Soon enough it was hometime and another weekends fishing drew to a close. I hope this weather gets milder soon cos my end of season plans are in a fair state of disarray. I've booked a bit of time off work during the last week of the season so I'm sure there's still a chance or two waiting for me out there ;-)

 

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A damp day on the Dove

After being preoccupied with Perch for so long I thought I'd have a break this weekend and head up to the river Dove to try my hand at catching a Grayling or two. Keith joined me as he'd never fished the Dove before and had been pestering me for weeks to take him there.

It was already chucking it down with rain as we loaded the car and I had a feeling we might be up against it a bit today. As we drove up the A50 the matrix boards were flashing messages of doom in the form of severe weather warnings, we must be mad I thought.

Upon our arrival the river didn't look too bad, carrying a little with a greeny tinge of colour to it, things were looking up! The rain still hadn't abated and I knew the water conditions would soon begin to deteriorate very quickly, I figured we had maybe 3-4 hours at most.

We quickly set about heading for some decent looking spots and got setup. I had brought my umbrella and was very much glad of it as the rain came down in sheets. On the downside this meant I wasn't very mobile so I decided to stay put and keep the feed going in one swim to see what ,if anything ,could be pulled in.

I started with a feeder and a bit of bread on the hook to see if there were any Chub about but after a totally biteless half hour I had lost confidence in that approach and decided to scale things down a bit and go for a maggots on the hook instead. Despite going lighter with the rig I was surprised it took over half an hour to get any indications but eventually I had a couple of little taps and a small Dace was soon swung to hand.

I cast back out not expecting much more and began to tuck into a sarnie for breakfast. A hefty tug on the rod soon had me striking into something a bit more substantial and a Chub of around 3-4lb was soon landed. This was followed within minutes by its twin brother. The session was starting to come alive!

Things slowed quite a bit after that flurry of action and it was a fair while before I had another bite. This fish felt like a good one and it hung out in the flow for what seemed like ages. I was only fishing a 2.10 bottom and a size 16 hook so I had to be a bit careful. The fish eventually surfaced under the rod tip and I could see it was a very nice Chub, certainly over 5lb. It made a last gasp lunge for some dead reeds under my feet and snagged me up. I could see it under the water so I went for it with the net, the fish panicked and bolted, snapping the hooklink like cotton. At that point the air went a little blue but after tying a new hook on I was soon composed and ready to go again.

A couple of missed bites over the next half hour told me there was still fish in the swim looking for the maggots. The river had really begun to colour up now and I knew I didn't have much longer. A gentle pull, barely discernible in the wind had me striking into what turned out to be my first and only Grayling of the day, small but very pretty nonetheless.

Whilst taking a phone call shortly afterwards I noticed the tip of the rod giving it that horrible jerky pull round that only means one thing, Crayfish! Sure enough my strike met with that familiar hook a twig type feeling and a large Cray came skittering across the surface, ughhh!

By now the river looked too coloured for much more action so I was taken by surprise when I had another bite which I duly missed. At least there was still some fish feeding. Around twenty minutes later I was just thinking of packing up when I had an unmissable pull and the rod took on a healthy curve. The fish pulled in a very similar fashion to the one I lost earlier and I was pleased to actually get the net under this one! At 5lb4oz it was a proper-un and really made the trip worthwhile.

After that I rang Keith to see how he was faring as the weather had got even worse. A strongish wind had got up and rain seemed heavier than ever. Keith hadn't even had a bite so we decided to give it best. As I got my gear together I had one last bite which resulted in a beautiful Trout with must've been getting on for 3lb.

All in all a very enjoyable trip I thought, a few bites and some nice fish in very tough conditions. My gear was absolutely coated in mud as was I but I drove home with that warm glow that you only get from a good day on the bank.

 

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SnowPerch!

Once again, time has been my worst enemy of late even more so than the snow but I had a day booked off work last week to run some errands and I decided to try my best to squeeze some bank time into the day aswell. The snow was covering the ground quite thickly in places and I was in two minds as to whether I'd even be able to get near the river. Once off the roads and on the track I pushed onwards, wheel spinning most of the way until eventually I got near enough to walk the rest of the way.

I found a nice deep swim with some cover and started fishing, it was around 1.30 so I only had around three hours of daylight left. The first couple of hours went by without so much as a twitch on the tip to trouble the scoresheet but with snow everywhere to deaden the sound of far away traffic it was lovely sitting there in almost total silence save for the local wildlife. I was sat there still as a rock and I amazed at just how many wild creatures were going about their daily business despite the arctic conditions. Mice and voles ran past my feet, kestrels hovered overhead and at one point I heard a noise behind me, turned around and was confronted by a large dog fox, his reddy brown coat looking magnificent against the white backdrop. He was only ten yards away and our eyes met for a split second before he was gone in a flash.

Time continued to tick away until, shortly after a recast, I finally had an enquiry. My hand hovered over the rod and after an age it moved again and my strike met a solid thumping resistance. A nice fish of around 1.5-2lb was soon netted and went a long way towards warming me up a bit!

The fading light conditions were obviously to the fishes liking because two more bites over the next hour gave me two more Perch, both of a similar size to the first. All in all it was a nice solid session and well worth going out in the white stuff for.

Another snowy session on Saturday afternoon ended without a bite but the temperature had risen considerably and the river was slowly beginning to rise with all the snowmelt going in. Heavy rain that night finished the rest of the snow off and caused the rivers in my locality to come up alarmingly fast. I had originally planned a day Grayling fishing on the Dove for Sunday but a glance at the EA site that morning told me it was a no-hoper.

My mate Phil had told me he was headed to a local lake complex to try his new lure setup out so I decided to accompany him for a couple of hours. The nearby Trent was only just within its banks when we arrived and within a very short time it began to trickle ever so slightly into a couple of the lakes. We decided to depart sharpish before we got stranded and head to a nearby canal. No action was forthcoming although to be fair I didn't really expect any but it was nice to be out and about. Below is a couple of pics of a very hostile looking Trent as it was earlier today. I do hope we can get some decent river conditions before the end of the season but the way the weathers been over the last couple of months I'm starting to doubt it!

 

 

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