2014 A review of the year.

 January.

As with last year I had a number of trips abroad organised and the first of them was a trip to Surinam in South America.  This would be my first venture to that country although I’ve been next door so to say in Guyana; this fishing would be very similar being a wild river running through quite dense jungle.  Although we would be wild camping on the bank we see very little in the way of animals etc., you hear them, but the trees are too heavy to see very far and we are too noisy trying to get close.

The main target was a catfish known as a Lau Lau by the locals and the river we fished gave an excellent chance of catching them.  That was indeed the result and numerous 100lb fish were taken with my 175lb being the largest of the trip although 200lb fish had been caught on previous trips.  The fight off the Lau Lau has to be experienced to be believed, a 50lb class boat rod bent 90 degrees for 20 or 30 minutes and you’re almost ready to pass the rod to someone else, but you don’t.

                                                             175lb Lau Lau

February.

This month gave me a very good result off the local Warwickshire Avon, conditions for barbel held near perfect for some weeks and I managed a string of good doubles with fish of 11lb-6oz 11lb-7oz and an 11lb-13oz fish that I caught a second time from a swim well downstream of its original capture. 

                                                                 11lb-6oz

                                                                      11lb-7oz

                                                             Caught twice at 11lb-13oz

Even better than this was the capture of an 6lb-5oz chub from the upper Avon, a comparatively rare event when even 5lb fish a noted as very good.

                                                            6lb-5oz Avon chub

March.

The overseas bug came on again and this month I travelled back to Guyana.  Although the countries and rivers are next door to each other the fishing is totally different.  This difference is in the range of fish in Guyana, it is very wide in scope with three or more different species where a 200lb plus fish are possible and dozens of smaller species are also available.  This adventure is at the extreme end of wild fishing, that being indicated by the fact that when we finished the fishing holiday at the furthest upstream we ventured, it took four days to get back to the hotel in the capital, Georgetown.  The holiday was a big success with all anglers catching their share of fish, my personal bests for the trip was a redtail catfish of 59lb and the largest of the jau captured at 106lb.  Piranha can be a big problem here and you can see bite marks out of the jau’s fins where the piranha attacked the fish whilst it was being played, often the damage to the fish you’re trying to land is far worse and they can be lost as the main line is bitten through as they attack.

                                                          59lb Redtail

                                                         106lb Jau.

April.

I missed out on the crucians this year, taking fish to short of 3lb on the one trip I managed before they spawned.  Good size fish can be caught post spawning but I felt that I would leave it and try for a big eel.  I did catch, though the very big fish eluded me and the best in this month was a brace one night of 4lb-2oz and 4lb-5oz, pleasing but below my target.

                                                       2lb-3oz, 4lb-2oz and 4lb-5oz.

May.

Off to Spain this month for the roach fishing.   Wells Catfish are the main target here with the large carp a close second, but I along with my companions are happy to fish for the big roach that live in both the Ebro and the Segre.  Fishing with Catmaster Tours at Mequinenza we can travel about trying different areas of both rivers and over the previous trips we have built up a list of spots that produce consistently.  This trip was no different and amongst a lot of 1lb plus fish, I took ten over the 2lb mark to a best of 2lb-10oz.  We have not had a 3lb fish yet but Pete Reading came close with a magnificent 2lb-15oz specimen.

                                                         2lb-10oz Spanish roach

                                                               Pete with a 2lb-15oz specimen

                                                                       

June.

As always I try to fish on the 16^th opening day and most times it is a disappointment, this time I caught four barbel with two over 9lb to make it a good start to the season.  Other barbel would follow, but that starting day is still worth a mention here.

I also had a few days after sturgeon a fish that fights as hard as any in our waters and a favourite of mine.  The best I took out a number of 40lb plus captures was a giant of 44lb, well pleased with that although the bigger fish in the lake still evade me until another day.

                                                            44lb sturgeon.

July.

A few barbel and eels but overall a fairly quite month with the most notable specimen being a 4lb-8oz eel.

                                                                   4lb-8oz eel.

August.

Yet again I had agreed to do the northern leg of the barbel challenge arranged by Gerry Gleeson and accomanied by Paul Floyd.  Last year was a very limited success for me with just one double off the six rivers I fished, this year was different.  Starting on the Dove I feared the worse when I blanked while the other lads caught barbel including the hoped for double to Paul.  We move every 24 hours so the next day saw us on the Derwent and this time I was smiling by the following dawn with two doubles of 11lb-12oz and 13lb-5oz, time to move again. 

                                                            13lb-5oz  Derwent

                                                           11lb-12oz  Derwent

This spell was on the nearby Trent and yet again I got a brace of doubles in a catch of seven barbel, these went 10lb and 10lb-14oz.

                                                             10lb Trent

                                                            10lb-14oz Trent

The following move saw us on the Soar and I fished a swim that was new to me though it proved a good choice when I landed eight barbel.  One of the early fish in the spell looked good but when Paul gave his comment it was at 9lb-10oz.  Later in the session my grin returned with yet another double at 10lb-11oz.

                                                                  10lb-11oz  Soar.

Now we moved across towards the Nene near Peterbough a river I had been targeting for a new river double, so far without success.  Now riding my luck I put a fish of 10lb-14oz on the scales and the local bailiff Mark Smith was delighted to take the photos for me.  He was even more delighted when Paul took the largest known fish on the stretch at 14lb for a new pb for himself.

                                                          10lb-14oz Nene pb

With five rivers down it had been agreed we would split up, Paul and Jerry going onto the southern leg while I went onto the Warwickshire Avon to try for the double off that river.  With the way things had been going for me it was almost a foregone conclusion and sure enough amongst other barbel on the session I took an immaculate 10lb-6oz specimen to end my contribution. 

                                                             10lb-6oz Wark Avon.

I had fished six rivers with a brace of doubles off two of them and a single double off another three rivers.  Add to this that the Nene double was my 24^th different river double and you can see why I was a happy lad. 

September.

I continued to catch barbel through this month and a couple of highlight were the capture of four doubles with a best of 12lb-8oz off the Trent.  This does seem to be the inform river and it will be interesting to see the results from it over the coming months. 

Coming up to yet another trip abroad I took the chance on a 200 mile round trip to the Goyt since conditions were perfect and even though it was only for the day I just felt the need to go.  That feeling proved true when I slipped my net under the 25^th river double, this one going 12lb-6oz.  Saying I was pleased just does not do the feeling justice.

                                                                     12lb-6oz Goyt pb.

                                                          12lb-8oz best of four doubles.

October.

In a year where I travelled abroad far more than usual it will come as no surprise that yet again I was overseas, this time to Canada.  As mentioned, I love sturgeon fishing so it stands to reason I would have to try the Frazer River for the monsters that live there.  I did fall ill with some bug for three days but never the less the guides looked after us and we had 21 sturgeon between us.  My best was one inch short of the five foot mark which gave an estimated weight of 110lb, each fish gave a tremendous fight and I’ll definitely be back there next year.

                                                                      110lb Sturgeon

November.

Now I was off to Spain but this time it was a two pronged attack.  Catfish and roach were the target and since it seemed the cats had been mostly caught at night it fitted in with our plans quite nicely.  One of the reasons for my trip to the Goyt just two days before the Spain trip was the severe drop in temperatures that had been forecast, sure enough just one day after we arrived there was a ten degree fall in temps and it did us no favours.  Unfortunately there were four groups of anglers for this week and only three baited swims, it worked out that we missed out on fishing the baited areas and foreseeably the cats would not move too much resulting in an almost total failure for our group to catch.  John was first on the rods and at the end of the fourth night he took his chance and landed a 214lb cat, the largest of the week.

                                                               John's 214lb cat

The roach played a little better and even though our time was limited to between 9am and 4pm we did catch a good number of fish.  I managed five over 2lb with a best of 2lb-12oz so it did save what would have been an inglorious blank week.

                                                          Best of the trip at 2lb-12oz.

                                                        Caught on the last day 2lb-9oz.

That was at the beginning of the month and was followed by three days on the bank of Chew Valley Res, unfortunately for one small jack pike.  Then the weather picked up and I decided on a trip to try for yet another new river double, this time the River Mole.  I had already been down for a single day where a local lad was good enough to show me how to access the water on the club ticket I was to use.  Unfortunately many clubs produce maps for their waters that almost defy your ability to find the water and then the access, this was such a case so a big thank you goes to that lad.  The trip was for two days, I’ll sleep in the van overnight and with the M25 to negotiate I either leave home very early or after 9am to avoid being in the traffic jam at peak times.  I decided on the 9am start and arrived about midday without too much traffic hassle.   The river, when I finally settled into my chosen swim looked perfect and I could not believe that at the very worse I would at least catch barbel off this new river, at the best one of them would be a double.  The write up of this trip comes immediately before this update to the blog so sufficient to say that over the two days I caught two doubles of 10lb-9oz and 10lb-14oz, river 26 completed!

                                                                              10lb-9oz

                                                         26th river double 10lb-14oz.

December.

December seemed to fall off a little and while I caught fish there were none of particular note.  I have highlighted some of the more noted fish and of course there are many I’ve left out.  With 21 doubles off seven different rivers I’m well pleased with the season.  Add to this there were three new river doubles among those numbers and I can increase that to very pleased.

A big advantage of my style of fishing is that there are always new horizons and targets to be met, next year will be no different and I’m already set with trips to Surinam, Canada and Spain, add in UK and there is no shortage of places and species to set my eyes on.  I hope your year has been as enjoyable as mine and I wish you all the very best for the next year.

Highs and lows of 2013.

Well we reach the end of yet another year and of course that means a review of some of the highlights and a mention of those low points.

                                              My third book continues to sell but copies are left.

January
With the very cold January it seems that lots of us anglers stayed home and read a good book, my sales at this time were quite reasonable but by the end of this year they had fell off dramatically and I've copies of both hardback and leathers still available.  With very little fishing done and no big fish caught I will move on to February.

February
Slightly better weather and with trips to Chew Valley and local waters the pike were the saviour of the day.

                                                  Chew pike, short and fat with small heads.

                                  At 19lb-14oz this would have been a 20lb+ but removed five sardines from its throat in order to remove a previous set of trebles that had been left there, this done before weighing it. :)

                                              The first of two local 20's caught this month 22lb-11oz.

                                                  The second pike at 20lb-12oz.

On the downside for this month we were reminded how fragile is life with the news of the death of the legend that was Terry Lampard, a good friend and one that will be sorely missed.

March
Normally the end of the river effort and the start of my bream fishing but this time South America's rain forest rivers called.    A trip to Guyana was too much to miss and although we struggled there were still plenty of big fish to be caught.

                                               One of my targets achieved 64lb Redtail Catfish.

April
Amongst lots of other fishing for this month the week at Lochnaw Castle always stands high, especially when the magical 3lb roach is landed.

                                                 A 3lb Lochnaw specimen roach.


May
May is always an exciting time though this year nature seemed well behind its normal state possibly by as much as 4 to 6 weeks.  fortunately the crucians at Johnson's Lake on the Marsh Farm complex did not seem to mind with good fish being caught over several trips there.

                                   At 3lb-12oz this was the best of 12 crucian on this session.

                                    7lb-3oz pb for the lake, one of 17 tench taken along with the crucians on this trip.

June
With a few local tench along with trips after bream and crucians the highlight of this month or even the year was the capture of a 12lb1oz tench, almost into the fish of dreams.

                                                Highlight of the year - 12lb-1oz personal best tench.

July
I had applied for a ticket for a carp syndicate in order to try for the eels after reading that two big ones had been caught by accident, it finally came through with a start date of July 1st.  The first night session was to prove both exciting and disappointing in equal measure.  At just gone midnight I hooked and landed a 6lb-4oz eel, weighed and safely secured in a Queenford tube I continued and took another eel of 4lb-3oz.  Through an amateur mistake the bigger fish escaped back into the lake whilst I was trying for a photo.  A later visit almost made up for the lack of the photo with the capture of a 5lb-10oz and two others over 4lb.

                               Normally I would be pleased with this eel but a poor 4lb-3oz consolation prize.

                              At 5lb-10oz the best of three eels the others going 4lb-9oz and 4lb-2oz.

August.
Plenty of fishing and a reasonable number of barbel caught, but the highlight for this month was my inclusion in the Barbel Challenge of trying to catch a double figure barbel of 14 different rivers in 14 days.  I joined Jerry Gleeson and Paul Floyd on four rivers and we caught on all four.  Dove, Derwent, Trent and Soar.  Over the total effort there were doubles caught off 9 of the 14 rivers, a remarkable effort by those involved and over £2500 was raised in the process.

                                             One of the doubles taken at 11lb-1oz.

                                         The largest of the doubles taken at 12lb-10oz by Jerry.

September.
Always barbel time and this month was no exception although I've still to get the hoped for River Nene double.  Sturgeon have always atracted me with the look and power so I was very pleased to capture a 42lb8oz specimen from a midland lake.

                                             42lb-8oz the best of four sturgeon on the day.

Over the years I've caught lots of 6lb plus chub along with four over 7lb, but I was very pleased to get a couple of big 5's off the local River Anker.

                                                    5lb-12oz River Anker Chub, one of the pair.

                                                5lb-11oz to make a very pleasing brace.

October
Along with lots of other fishing I got the chance to fish on the River Test for the roach again and fortune smiled in the form of a 2lb-4oz specimen as the best on the day.  Later in the month I was on the Chew Valley water again but this time it came up trumps with a 25lb-11oz specimen pike.

                                             2lb river roach are always that little bit more special.

                                                 25lb-11oz reward for a lot of effort.

November.
For a very long time I've not bothered to fish for carp having caught large numbers in the 1980's and 90's now I had decided to try and better my pb common with a fish of hopefully over 40lb.  I'm not a purist here so I was quite content to try for the shortcut to catch such a fish and booked with Catmaster Tours in Spain and they did not let me down.  On the first day our guide dropped us in a swim he thought offered the best chance and a few hours later I was looking at a 44lb-14oz specimen that met my target.  The rest of the trip was spent after the roach and again my companions John Found and Pete Reading all succeeded in getting into the 2lb plus specimens.

                                                Target set and Achieved.  44lb-14oz.

                                                 My 2lb-8oz best for this Spanish trip.

December.
This has been a very strange month and although I've fished in what I consider to be quite reasonable conditions along with those that were less favorable I did not catch any even moderate fish..  A small double figure pike from my main venue that has failed for all fishing there, small chub and no barbel, definitely not a good end to this year.  In just over a weeks time I will be back off to South America, this time Surinam after large catfish.  I might get wet but at least I'll be warm.
Tight lines for 2014 and I'll let you know how the year goes as always.
Phil

         

Guyana Part 3

It had taken three days to arrive at our destination but at last we were in the camp and waiting to go out onto the river for our first session.  With temperatures of 35C+ in the shade we would wait until about 2 hours before dark before we went, then fish for two hour into dark, it seemed a good session and with luck plenty of time to catch fish.

We already knew the river was not in the best of conditions since the rainy season had been weeks late and instead of the moderately low river we had hoped for it was at least two metres above normal levels.  This gave two different detrimental effects to our chances, first was that the water had gone well back into the trees in many places and some fish went with it.  The second was that many of the previous trips productive areas could not be fished since the flow was too fast at these higher levers, we should be fishing many holes that went down 70ft or more and we would not hold in the main stream over quite a number of them.  That first afternoon was enough to show that things were not going to be the same as the previous trip in Sept  2012; then numerous fish were caught, and four of the anglers caught 200lb plus fish with three of these getting yet another 200lb plus fish of a different species.  We would still get our chances and knowing that any moment a monster could pick up the bait makes for exciting fishing.

                     The main 3 bit of tackle used. tandum trace, single hook and silver spoon.

                                          The hole in the nut shows it had hatched already.

                                               Laurence holds a fine peacock bass.

My tackle comprised of a four piece travel spinning rod of 30gr-50gr power, this was added to a three piece 30-50 uptider rod.   As a back-up for extreme power there was also a 5ft 50lb boat rod that looked a real beast and could tackle anything this river could offer.   The spinning rod was primarily for bait catching on bits of fish and the grubs that we were shown.  These grubs are found inside a local nut similar to an almond nut and just as hard.  You find one without a small exit hole and cut it with a machete to give access to the centre where the grub is waiting to emerge.  Great bait but I would not like to try and get a gallon of them for a barbel fishing attack.   The peacock bass would also be targeted using the spinning rod using lures and they would give terrific sport on the light rod.  It had been coupled with a standard fixed spool reel loaded with 50lb braid and when bait catching, it was necessary to use a wire trace to beat the piranha.   It would appear that there are five different species of these notorious fish in the area and I saw three of them with the black piranha being the largest.

                                                  These were one of the best baits.

                                                                    Red belly and Black pirahna

                                                                Little fish, big teeth. 

 These were to prove to be a right pest since they will bite through 150lb braid as though it was not there.  Time and time again you would reel in and find the lower of the two hooks in use had gone along with half the fish bait you were using.   For some of the target fish it was necessary to use wire and for this we had 100lb test available although the black piranha can bite through even this.   Hooks were size 10.0 singles and about 5.0 for the trebles, both in a very strong pattern.   My line on the uptider rod was 100lb+ braid using a Shimano 6500 reel, a choice I was to regret but more of that later.  I find it extremely difficult to use the standard RH multiplier reels and the 50lb class boat rod had such a reel in place with 200lb braid loaded for bear but I rarely used it.

                                                        Andy with one of the wolfish.

                                                               Now, they are wiskers

Over the next few days we fished hard, out just after dawn, about 6.0am and we fished through to 11.00am when it began to get very hot out on the river in direct sunlight.  Back out again about 4.0pm to 8.pm and then back for the evening meal.   I had taken factor 100 sunblock and it was one of my better decisions as for the first time ever I did not burn at all.  Quite often one or more of our smaller fish would be taken back to the camp to form part of the meal, I must admit that although I’m not a lover of fish the fresh samples done in batter that were delivered up were very tender and second helpings  were often taken.  The guides had fish stew and that they can keep! 
 

                                                                           Our boats. 

                                                  Rain did not stop play & it rained a lot.

It was the Tuesday before we got one of the specimen fish we had come for and I was fortunate that it fell to my rod.   Andy and I had been fishing further up river with Mark as the guide and Raymond on the motor.   Mark knew the location of many deep holes and places where fish tended to stay and we had fished about half a dozen of these spots when we headed for what would have been our last chance for the morning.  Joe had gone with Laurence to a location downstream in the hope of catching a fish called a wolfish; one that needs wire to beat its formidable teeth although he was to fail on this particular trip. 

                                                    There are submerged rocks here!

 Back to our spot, we had now come into an area of rocks, lots of rocks and travelling in the boat was quite an experience, one of these obstructions could be just below the high water level and it is a credit to Raymond that in the whole holiday we only hit a rock once.  We had been fishing both holes and long glides, but this time we stopped at just a smallish eddy where the slight depression in the bank allowed comparatively still water to stay just off the main flow.  My tackle at this stage was the uptide rod; the trace was 200lb braid with a single 10.0 hook attached.  Having been fishing in strong flows I had an 8oz lead on but now I felt it ok to take the lead off and fish free line.  The bait would be the head half of a fish of about 2lb, lots of blood and hopefully just what was needed.  I cast into the slack and Andy placed his bait into the flow down from the boats position, then we sat back to wait.  It was some 45 minutes later that my line began to move and when I struck the clutch literally did begin to sing with the aluminium sound of the spool as it spun, the clutch was set quite tight but that did not matter to this fish and he was heading for the waterfall a little way down from us.  Holding the spool with my left hand I eventually stopped the fish and began to retrieve line, not quickly, but definitely he was forced to come back to the boat.  When I had made plans for this holiday one of my main hopes was for a big redtail catfish, I had already caught them to low double figures over the last few days but now I could see I had my hoped for specimen.  Once landed, the fish was made safe and we went to one of the rocks where it could be weighed and photographed.  At 64lb it met my hopes with a lot to spare and we went back to the camp with me having a big smile on my face.

 

                                                      Redtail near to being landed.

                                                  But sometimes it got exciting.

 

                                                        A prize 64lb Redtail Catfish

The following afternoon Joe put another big redtail on our list, at 62lb it was well below his best but never the less it brought a big smile and we could only hope the river was recovering as it slowly fell back from its flooded position.

                                                      Joe with his 62lb Redtail Catfish

Both Andy and I caught nice stingrays that need to be handled with care, the photo shows the smaller of the two barbed stings that can inflict a terrible wound to the unwary.   Hooked in 70ft of water they give the impression of a much larger fish since they initially will not leave the bottom, once you manage that they still give a good fight but at a far lower level of power.

                                                             This stingray had stung itself.

                                                  The smaller of the two stings of the ray.

I lost three fish over the two weeks on the river that I would have loved to have seen.  The first picked up a bait and tore off at the usual great rate of knots, it is amazing just how fast these monsters can take line off a well tighten drag that is difficult to pull line off by hand without it cutting you.  I did the usual and slowly applied pressure to stop it and it was going to plan until the hook pulled.   The same thing happen with a specimen that may well have gone over that magical 200lb mark, but hook pulls are part of the scene with these very big fish.  The last fish I lost goes back to the earlier comment on my Shimano reel and 100lb+ line, strong enough for most occasions but not this one.   We had gone into one of the many creeks and I drop a bait off the end of the boat and hooked into an absolute monster, 6ft or 7ft of angry fish and all I could do was lock up completely and pray.   I did stop it and was playing the fish if that is what it could be called on perhaps 15ft or so of line, but even then it got into woodwork below the boat and I could feel it see-sawing back and forth over the few feet it moved until finally the line broke and tears nearly came to the eyes.  In very similar circumstances Andy did hook and land a fish of 230lb plus but that is his story to tell one day, I’m just pleased I was there to see it.  Joe has caught many big fish here on his previous trips and he did his best to ensure we got the chances this time, but it was not to happen above that already related.  He did catch a new personal best wolfish of 23lb, and a medium sized Jau of 44lb amongst those he did take along with a couple of peacock bass but those other species that were about on the last trip did not appear.  I’ll include a few shots of those catches just to illustrate what we missed by the river being up throughout the stay, hopefully on my next rip it will be right and numerous monsters will be landed.

                                                Swim where I broke on a monster.

                                                We had smaller periah but none this big.

                                               Joe's pb wolfish - note the teeth again

                                          Tiger shovelnose cat - none caught this trip.

                                                           Giant Lau-Lau from previous trip

                                                     A previous capture of a big Jau.

If this story has wetted your lips and you would like to try it for yourself then you need to contact Gary Newman on 07971475818 and he will be organising trips with Navin who comes with at least my recommendation for a very good holiday.

Navin’s website is www.adventureguianas.com but it does not really show these trips since it is a new venture only now being developed over the last year.