Escape to the country and fishing.

British weather is perhaps unique in the variation that can occur in such a small spread of time.  Just hours can separate the sunshine from snow or thunderstorms.   The forecasts seem wrong most of the time but who would want their job in this country, I’ll have it in Egypt, ‘tomorrow will be sunny’ – I would be wrong once or twice a year but that’s ok.  As mentioned in previous blogs I would take no note of weather some 20 years ago, now I hesitate when it looks like the mix we have at the moment but eventually I have to go.

It appeared there would be a slight window of better weather on the Monday and Tuesday of this week so I made plans to get out then, zander and perch would be the target species.  According to the EA and many of our fellow anglers the zander is an alien species to be exterminated at the earliest convenience and without mercy.  I think otherwise.  Along with other predator species the zander has now found its appropriate level in the food chain, it is possible that in the early days of its introduction to a new venue it does run wild, but nature soon finds a balance and food supply controls all living things including ourselves.  My choice of venue was varied in that I could fish a lake that has produced a double in the past for me, a river that I’ve yet to get my double from, but it would be high in flood, or one of the local canals difficult to get the double figure specimen, but local and most likely to produce a fish, that would do.

From Coventry I can easily reach one of many canals, Grand Union, Coventry, Oxford and Ashby canals all pass within a few miles and all hold zander.  I have already fished the first three with some success but the Ashby as always been on the back burner, today would be perfect for that first trip.  Out came the high scale map and a quick look soon identified an area to begin my search.  I’m looking for an access bridge away from main towns etc.  This is because they are less likely to have been targeted by our European cousins who with set lines can decimate a section quite easily.  The EA used to run regular culling sessions on the canal but I do not know if this practice still continues, it did seem a total waste of time in that it made very little difference with too much canal to cover.  It does seem to me that the best control of small zander is a big one, they have to eat and the same applies as with pike – take out the big fish and you end up with lots of small ones.

                                                          Surely there are zander here.

I had passed a couple of my selected bridges where there seemed no access to the canal but then found one with good parking and a nice track down to the towpath.  At first sight the venue looked promising, plenty of bushes growing out into the waterway and when I checked the other side of the bridge there was even a small marina that could give the fish that little bit of sanctuary should a cull come past the section.  I had the rods set up and this would be a simple float over a trace with a single size 1 hook and either a section of roach, lamprey or sea bait to try and tempt the fish into a take.

                                                      My float amoungst the branches.
Even in the depths of winter I was not the only idiot out for the day, a canoe went past just minutes after my arrival and was full of apologies when he went back after his return some twenty minutes later.  Three barges were also on the move where I had for some unknown reason not expected any, no problem there since often the zander take just after a boat has passed but not this time.  As darkness fell I put the tackle away and walked the 50 yards back to the van, at least I had got out of the house even if only for a few hours.

                                                                  Dinner for a perch.

The next day was a trip to one of the commercials in the hope of tempting a big perch, this time Merv would come along as well.  It was slightly colder but with the sun shining it seemed quite pleasant and I could sit there looking at my float dancing with the attention of the small fish trying to take the full size lobworm without any success.  For the last hour I dropped the bait size down to the smaller worms but nothing took those either.   Merv did manage a perch of about 1lb-8oz on a smaller hook with two red maggots, perhaps I should have tried that as well but I felt the perch I was after could easily take my offering I’ll never know now if I was wrong!

Happy birthday!

I went tench/bream fishing yesterday in the hope of catching a nice fish to celebrate the first year anniversary of starting this blog, unfortunately the result was just one small 4lb odd tench that came in one of the short breaks in the incessant rain that fell for most of the session up to when I gave up at 11:00pm.

                                                   A nice male tench that broke up the rain. 

 As you will be all too aware, the rain and the fall in temperatures that come with it, has been all too common an occurrence over the last month or more, if this is a drought heaven help us when we come out the other side of it.

Going back to the blog I would like to thank all the regular readers for their continued support.  When I write for a magazine or one of my books I am never sure as to the response, with the blog I get an up-to date feedback as to the current situation of interest and the positive results I see gives me the encouragement to continue.  I now get nearly 1000 page views per week and the site has gone well past the 27000 hits since that first feature on May 3^rd 2011.  By the very nature of how blogs work those initial hits were more in the 10’s of views until anglers found out that the site existed, more find it every day and those numbers will increase over the coming year.

Within the 86 Blogs that I’ve written so far there are reports of many big fish, 20lb plus pike and carp, bream and zander to double figures, catfish and sturgeon over 50lb, 2lb plus roach, 3lb plus perch and 7lb plus chub.  Probably the most pleasing fish for me were river best barbel  of 11lb-6oz for the Teme, 12lb-2oz for the Derwent and the new river Anker record at 15lb-4oz.  Top this with a pb tench of 11lb-14oz and you can see I had a good year!  One big difference the reader will notice when reading a regular blog as opposed to the monthly magazine reports is you also become aware of the number of blanks suffered by the author, mostly not mentioned in a magazine though they occur just as regularly. 

Hopefully the next 12 months will be just as fruitful and interesting, I’ll be reporting and with luck all of you and more will be reading it.  I cannot close this comment on the last year without a mention of the book ‘Targets set and Achieved.’  It strongly reflects the style of writing you read here and contains the story of numerous big specimens, if you don’t have a copy yet then put it on your wish list for birthday presents and the like or treat yourself.

Tight lines for the coming season and I’ll be here to give the next blog report.

Those plans and eggs.

So after nine months of walking the river banks and having success at different levels we finally came to those last few days and decisions had to be made.  I could have returned to the south, but as the last blog mentioned I had already decided not to go there.  With good barbel catches being reported in numbers off the various rivers in the area I have favoured I could have returned to the Teme or the Derwent with a fairly good chance of bagging up, even the River Severn was fishing well for the barbel, but I had made plans that way which I will come to shortly.  All this went through my mind as the dying days of the river season approached but I finally decided on a return trip to the River Goyt at Stockport.

As regular readers of my blog will have already seen I do like to vary my fishing, no matter how successful any venture might be I will quickly tire of it and move on to fresh pastures with a new challenge, perhaps to return to previous success at a later date.  My earlier one day’s fishing on the River Goyt a few weeks ago had given me the taste of the river, but not the reward, perhaps I could go one better than that and actually catch a barbel, preferably a double but in the first instance just a barbel would do.

Getting up early on the Monday morning - I would be fishing by just after 5:00am - I was soon on my way and pleased that my choice was another new challenge that if successful would complete 22 rivers where a double figure barbel had been caught.  That would be great, but we have all heard of the problem of counting chickens before they have hatched.

                                                                  Plans just waiting to hatch but will they?

I was pleased to pull up in the car-park and find myself the first to arrive, but less than five minutes later another angler who introduced himself as John Young pulled up beside me and whilst getting the tackle ready queried if I minded him fishing the next swim to my position.  No problem and we set of for the bankside together to see what the day would bring.

Setting up he advised me that he was a comparative new comer to the river and he had always fished where I had chosen as my swim but events were to give him a new perspective for any future trips he might make.  The early morning passed without any action and then at about 8:30am John got a good indication and his strike connected with a powerful fish.  Following quite a fight I slide the landing net under what was obviously a big barbel, well into doubles and I could only look with understandable envy as we prepared it for weighing and photos.  The weight came in at 13lb-3oz and later checks showed it to be the same fish that currently holds the river record at 14lb-8oz.  John was not concerned at that, it was a new personal best and then he went on to make it a really memorable day by landing another barbel of 10lb-5oz.  Meanwhile between netting his fish I blanked!

                                                               John's new pb of 13lb-3oz.

I had intended to do just the one day but with fish coming to the bank I decided at the last minute to stay over, an advantage of having the bed in the van, but the effort was wasted as the three anglers on the bank that day all blanked.  I drove back to Coventry very disappointed but determined to return next season and I will get that double off this river.

Now we arrive at the last day of the season and plans were already in place for this to be a trip to the Lower Severn after a big zander.  Again I knew my chance of a barbel would be better but I’ve caught lots of Severn barbel to over 13lb, I’ve only had one little 6lb Severn zander and would love to get one bigger.  I fished in the company of Ryan Lippet a successful young angler who I had met in the summer on the River Teme, the time passed quickly as we talked of the local fishing scene and meanwhile my indicators showed that at the very least there were fish in the swim.  With open bail-arms and Roll-Over indicators I could not have used a better system but never the less the zander would not keep hold of the bait and on over ten occasions the strike met nothing!  At close of play the frost came down along with a very heavy mist and at 8:00pm it was decided that the season was finished.

Those eggs of mine did not hatch, but that’s the nature of fishing and next week I’ll be after the bream full of ideas with eggs waiting to hatch.

Lake Perch - The last days of Autumn means big perch.

Autumn is officially defined by the met office as the months of September, October and November so with winter almost on us I cannot be too surprised that the fog and frosts have finally arrived.  At the start of the week I had decided to visit the zander lake in the hope of contacting one of the many double fish that seem to be being caught at present.  Curtis was up and ready at the 6:30am arranged pick-up time and we slowly made our way over the 40 odd miles through the patchy fog that was about.  Going along the motorway at 35-40 mph it seems amazing that these lads with x-ray eyes can flash past into quite thick fog at incredible speeds – accidents waiting to happen.

We set up our tackle and with a section of lamprey on one of the rods and a 4 inch roach on the other, with Curtis fishing the same I was reasonable confident that at the very least our offering would be acceptable to the zander, or even pike should they wish to make an appearance.  For most of the morning the fog hung about and although voices could be heard coming over the lake it was all a mystery as to who, or where, other anglers were placed.  Although the afternoon brightened up quite nicely, the fish refused to play and the bailiff suggested that only one 16lb pike had been caught on the complex, disappointing but that’s fishing.

Although it rained quite heavily over Monday night I thought the barbel fishing could suffer a double whammy.  One, the drop in temperatures, but more the case was that with the lack of floods the weed would move and make fishing quite a hit and miss affair.  Time for a bit of perch fishing so with tackle ready I set out for a local carp commercial that should offer the chance of a 3lb perch or even bigger.  Although I do use leger tactics for the perch, I prefer to float fish just so I can watch that red tip as it dips and slides away in response to a take.  My bait was the trusty lobworm and I intended to spray red maggots into the swim just to attract the silver fish along with the perch into the area.  I’ve found that on these commercials it can pay dividends to fish close into the side, it is noticeable that the match lads often do exactly the same.  This might be the side where you’re fishing, or the side of one of the islands that invariably are present, either seems to work that little bit better than open water.

                                                                  2lb-4oz best of 9

Arriving at midday I only had about 4hr or 5hr to fish, but the first perch came quite quickly to show they were present in the chosen swim.  I am not sure about putting perch back into the water where you are catching them, so to be on the safe side I walk them two swims away before returning them to their watery home.  Keep nets are banned unless in an organised match, not sure why that would be different, but it does stop that photo shot of a few nicely marked fish.  With nine perch from 8oz to 2lb-4oz caught in the remaining time before dusk I was well pleased, and a return trip is well on the cards for tomorrow - that big fish is just waiting to be caught.

                                              Sunset can be a good time for perch fishing

My book ‘Target set and achieved’ sales are going well and I would thank all who have sent for a copy for their confidence that my writings are worth reading.  With Xmas coming on quite quickly it might be an idea to give yourself a real treat with a leather bound copy of this book that I’m sure will prove to be an investment.  With just 40 individually numbered copies, bound in high quality goatskin in a shade of ‘antique burgundy’ to the very highest of standards I am well pleased with the finished article.  I recently saw a leather copy of Magic Moments sold at £350, this edition sold at just £125 in 2004.  I appreciate that at £175 this edition is more than many can afford in these trying times, hence the fact that there are copies left; but give me a call on 07980 394864 to ensure there is still one left for you and I’ll reserve it with your name against the sale.

                                                                Your Xmas box?

http://www.philsmithangler.co.uk/ for a standard edition.

Stories of River barbel, zander and sturgeon, success and failier.

It has been yet another interesting, but frustrating week in the search for specimen fish of different species.  The beginning of the week saw me take the trip to the River Severn in the continuing search for those monster zander that swim throughout the whole length of the river from Worcester to Tewksbury.  A nice, fine day, considering it was now the end of October, it was cool in the strong wind that was blowing but I managed to get down the bank out of its effects, and there I felt quite warm.  The river was still very low with the flow almost at a stop, a 1oz lead held way out towards the middle of the river without a problem.  With roach section on one rod, and a chunk of lamprey on the other, I knew at the very least the baits would be acceptable to any zander in the area.  That was probably true, but it was only the pike that found it and I retired a couple of hours after dark without sight of my target species.

Mid-week saw me on the way back up to the River Dove, it was slightly up from my last trip and the colour had certainly improved with just a tinge of chocolate that I felt should encourage the barbel to feed.  I bait dropped a few droppers of hemp and almost certainly I disturbed a fish, I felt it hit the line as I went to retrieve the dropper after one of the hemps loads had emptied.  Unfortunately that was the only sign of a fish that I, and others I spoke to had before I retired from the river about 11:00pm, better luck next time I hope.

On the Saturday I went to the Tenchfishers AGM, usually attendance at any of these agm’s is quite boring but this one went well.  Discussions on the forth-coming Tenchfishers book and a very interesting talk by Dai Gribble, this involved photographs of numerous very large fish and these in turn had my mind wandering  ‘could I catch that?’  A big bonus for me was that there seemed to be a very good call for copies of my book and probably a third of the sixty or more of the anglers present brought one – hope that continues.

                                                                        25lb- 7oz for me

                                                            25lb-8oz for Curtis.
On the Sunday I was booked in for the last visit of the year to the sturgeon water I been trying this year.  I nearly got the photograph of the big one last time, but as reported in the blog at probably over 60lb it went through the landing net my friend was using as he went to lift it from the water, no photo and not weighed.  This trip saw both Curtis and I get our hooks into sturgeon of 25lb plus but it was almost dark when Simon, another friend warned that a fish he had hooked was heading towards our end of the lake with him in very little control.  As previously mentioned these sturgeon fight like no other English species, we may argue about their place in our waters but one cannot argue their fighting spirit.  When they get as big as this one eventually proved to be, then you really are in for a scrap where most of the time you come a poor second.  At 62lb-3oz it really was a monster but unfortunately it also proved to be foul-hooked in the pectoral fin and as Simon made the comment “Just 8 inches away from total success.”

                                                                     62lb-3oz for simon.

Just a note to end in order to remind you that the 'Targets set and Achieved' book is available and there are still a couple of leather copies waiting to be grabbed with both hands, details on the web page.  http://www.philsmithangler.co.uk/

River barbel & Lake zander - If at first you don't succeed .....

It has been an interesting week, three afternoon/ evening sessions on the canal after the elusive zander that went a long way to prove they are still elusive.  Nine zander sessions spread over different lake, river and canal venues has resulted in just three fish, one of 10lb-3oz from the lakes, one of 5lb from the canals, and one maybe 5lb from the river.  I am definitely not setting the zander world alight with my results.

                                                                Best zander so far this season.

Almost everybody I've spoken to with reference to fishing the River Severn for zander has related how the river is alive with them.  Drop a bait in, and a zander will attach itself in no time, after all my years experience I should have known better than to accept these statements at face value, but I did get good information on a recent evenings slide show.

Arranged by the Birmingham region of the PAC, it was a talk by Dilip Sarker on the zander in the River Severn, well I had to go to that didn’t I?   Over the course of a couple of hours Dilip showed the development of the Severn as a premier zander venue.  He also gave ample evidence of the success both he, and a small group of friends, have achieved with fish to over 20lb being taken.  The other side of the equation was that he also identified the amount of time and effort that went into getting those results, definitely not easy.  Find a feeding pack of them and you can catch but that can take time.  I’m sure that this talk will appear elsewhere on the circuit and I would recommend you make the attempt to see it.

Of course I could not let a week go by without a visit to the river for barbel.  With all that rain on Thursday I thought the rivers would respond with a raise in levels and colour, so off I went to the Dove only to find it still at the bottom end of its summer level.  We drastically need rain and lots of it!   I fished from 2:00pm through to 10:30pm and my result was just one dropped fish.  It was still light when for the second time my rod tip on the pellet bait gave a tap-tap-tap type of bite.  I had struck and missed the first occurrence, but follow this strike a powerful fish shot downstream taking line off the clutch.  It had only gone about 10yds-15yds when the hook came free and I was left to ponder what had happened.  My conclusion was that the fish was browsing over the loose feed from the swim-feeder and my strike had resulted in a foul-hooked fish.  Most times I feel that if the hook comes free early on in the fight with any fish it is probable that it was not fairly hooked, then as soon as the line angle to the hook-hold allows, it will come free.  Not very scientific but it allows me to rationalise the loss of a potentially good fish!

Canal zander - The cost of fuel and effect on fishing.

Yesterday I had a choice of fishing venues to try, not fixed in stone, but the three choices I was considering were, the River Severn at Worcester for zander, the River Derwent for chub and perch, then lastly the local canals for zander.

Both the Derwent and Severn involve a round trip of about 100 miles, the travelling does not bother me, but fishing a number of times each week as I do the cost of that trip at near £20 needs to be taken into account.

The Derwent might provide a perch of near or even over 4lb, then the chance of possibly a 7lb chub, both of these weights being the top end of the day dream, but there to be caught.  The Severn already holds the zander record and it is quite possible that another fish swims there to beat that figure again, certainly a fish to beat my best of 16lb-5oz is in the waters I am fishing.  The canals cannot compete with this, and the target sights have to be lowered considerably.  Realistically my dream canal fish would be a double, 10lb or more of zander from a canal would be as big an achievement as the 15lb plus specimen from the Severn, maybe even better than that!

Decision made, I went to the canal with minimal tackle to allow a very mobile approach.  Two rods, landing net, tackle bag and chair, I was ready.  My bait would be lamprey on one of the rods and small 4 inch roach on the other, a small float set slightly overdepth would give bite indication and the rods would be laid along side the tow-path with the bait runner set to give line, just in case.

I was not alone, 100 boats and 200 dog walkers passed me by as I leap-frogged along the canal, it can be surprising how far you travel in this way, ten minutes in a spot and move, another ten minutes move again.  There are very few features so the move is done more by distance than to a particular spot, no worry the zander don't seem to be packed in any definate area, probably being on the search for food all the time.

                                                           Not big but pleasing to catch.
A warm day, though the wind did get up to quite a blow, I had just one take from a medium size zander, but pleasing to have avoided the blank.  Next trip out will be to more distant locations, no doubt that 50 mile run somewhere will come into the equation but that's my fishing life.

http://www.philsmithangler.co.uk/

River barbel - Lows and highs of Autumn.

As with all normal fishing it has been a week of highs and lows for me, low on the fishing front, but a high on the entertainment side.  Following the great session on the Derwent last week it almost had to be downhill, and sure enough it was.  Early on in this week I went to the Severn after those big zander again, fished 2pm to 9pm with only a munched up end to a lamprey bait to show for the effort, probably an eel.
Mid-week I went to try a new sturgeon venue, it looks good but although I saw a sturgeon of about 10lb caught my result was a biteless few hours, those fish managed to ignore my meat and salmon offerings without any effort, but I'll be back to try there again.

Then a return trip to the Severn for the zander, but this time I edged my bets.  With the usual two rods in action I had one out with a small roach deadbait for zander, and the other was fishing with a monster crab boilie for the barbel.  The barbel rod won 1-0 with a fish of about 6lb.

Then came the highlight in that the annual Milton Keynes Specimen Group had their yearly function, this one to celebrate 25 years since they began.  With 80 or more like minded anglers it got a bit crowded by the time the guest speaker - Mick Brown - began his talk.  He opened with the comment that with so many anglers in the crowded into the room we had about 20 minutes of air left before we all lapsed into unconsciousness.  Fortunately although we did not need any central heating on, the air conditioning was just sufficient to keep us alive and attentive to the talk.

Mick talked us through a lifetime of dedicated angling where he managed that rare achievement of earning his living for the last 20 years from angling alone.  Many aspire to this, but very few succeed, and Mick did highlight the sacrifices made, as well as those many highlights he has had.  A very good talk with photographs of the highest quality to show off tremendous specimen fish.

                                              Mick signing books - The wide angle lens did not do justice to the crowded room.

Books sales went well, and you can get your copies from http://www.philsmithangling.co.uk/

Another first.

By definition there is only one chance to do anything for the first time, and I always take care to record the event with an appropriate photograph if possible.  Last weekend I caught my first double figure zander for many years, and since that came from a lake, although very pleasing, it was not a true 'first'.

One of my targets this season was a double figure zander off the River Severn or Warwickshire Avon, just one trip so far had resulted in a blank, but now another trip was planned for an afternoon/evening session on the Severn.  A quick trip to the freezer and I soon had a few 3 inch roach/rudd type baits, perfect for the zander as they seem to prefer the smaller coarse fish.  I know that they can be caught on sea baits, sardine and the like, but experience suggests that if available your chances of success are far greater with the fresh-water type baits.

I had decided to use my Drennan 2lb Bream and Tench rods for the task in hand, far too often the name on the rod dictates its use, but I go by the suitability which is more to do with the test curve and action.  With 12lb main line, and wire traces made up using size 10 trebles I was ready and off I set.  Conditions could not have seemed worse, a heat wave was coming across the country and with temperatures hitting 26C or 27C I was going to melt.  Bright sun blazing down from clear, cloudless skies, did not encourage the thought that the fish would be going barmy on the feed, but it would still be nice to sit on the banks and watch the world go by.

I arrived at the venue to find one obvious effect of the dry summer, while smaller rivers and streams have dried up, the River Severn has all but stopped flowing.  A one ounce lead could have easily held in the minimal flow on the far side of the river but in order to make sure of a positive indication I would use a 2.5 ounce leger weight.  This is to make it more likely that when the fish takes the bait and runs, the line will go though the leder ring rather the moving the weight.  With two of the small roach attatched to the traces and sent out into the river, one about a third of the way across and the other two thirds, I could sit back and relax in the small amount of shade offered by the bush next to my chosen swim.  Looking at the river it definately gives concern that if we have a comparatively dry winter as well, then next year will see major problems of water shortage.  These thoughts soon disappeared as the line came out of its clip, then with the bail arm open it just trickled slowly away as I picked up the rod to tighten down to strike.  All too often this becomes an anti climax as there is nothing there, eel, chub, perch, small zander or pike, we never know, but this time the culprit was still there and the rod bent over in response to its presence.  In that bright sun I was soon looking at my first ever River Severn zander, not big, in fact under 5lb, but hopefully the start of a quest that will see many more and a lot bigger fish coming to the net.

                                                           First of many - I hope!

With dusk settling in I hoped for further action as the darkness came, but it was not to be, and about 9:00pm I decided to call it a day and packed up well content that at least I had broke the duck!

                                                              The sun setting over the Severn.

This Saturday I shall be at the PAC conference with my book, if you have not already got one then maybe that will be the time to correct that slight omission, otherwise you can order it through my web page at http://www.philsmithangler.co.uk/.

River babel & Lake zander - A double of doubles!

Friday 23^rd Sept.

With all the various jobs and activities completed that go along with normal life I decided that trip to the River Teme would be in order.  The day had been promised as bright and sunny, a prelude to a promised mini heat wave next week.  With the river really low and clear there are many anglers that moaning about the fish being even more difficult to catch, I’ve perhaps been fortunate in that it has not seemed that way for me with barbel being caught on every visit to this river so far this season.

On many occasions I have related one of my current favourite statements of “If it isn’t broke don’t fix it.”  It seems obvious, but it is also well worth repeating since so many anglers seem to break the rule at the first minor problem.  We all have blank sessions so not catching fish over a trip or two, does not mean the method is ‘broke,’ keep the faith and give it a chance to come good again.  In sport the equivalent statement goes something like “ Form is temporary but class is permanent,” and this is shown to be true in so many areas, football, cricket, athletics, you name the activity and it will apply.  The manager/trainer keeps the faith and often he is rewarded with a return to form, do the same with your bait and tactics.

Still, back to my trip to the River Teme and the fact that my chosen method would be the same as had produced the goods so many times for me this season.  Open-ended feeders with a 50/50 mix of hemp and mixed pellets, along with 8mm pre drilled pellets on the size 8 hook.  No bait dropping, just regular casts into the same area to build up the feed and attract the fish to the hookbait.  Although I always approach the river confident of success it is still pleasing when the first barbel makes its appearance.  This time the fish came quite quickly, on other occasions it can be late on in the session, but as long as it happens who worries?

The capture of that first barbel was the prelude to a most enjoyable afternoon and before dusk fell I had added a further five barbel, and a chub of about 3lb, to give a very pleasing total.  The barbel ranged from the 6lb mark through to another double of 10lb-3oz, a fish that impressed the chap that sat talking to me at the time of its capture.  This angler had been relating that he had only caught one double off the river in the previous two years of trying, that fish gave me a total of five barbel going into double figures from the Teme this season.  Did that make me a better angler than him? I would suggest not, and the only difference is that I am more fortunate in which fish pick up my baited hook and long may that situation last.

                                                          10lb-3oz best of six barbel

Saturday 24^rd Sept.

I had arranged another trip after the zander with Mervyn, this time his grandson Curtis also came along.  Following that last zander trip mistake, I had a full compliment of tackle along with a chair for comfort.  I’m too old to sit about on the deck using just an unhooking mat, it gives you back ache and it takes too long to stand up to hit a run should you get one.  Years ago I could wonder the river without a chair for the whole day and think nothing of it, but as those years have passed I have done it less and less, now it is to be avoided at all costs.  Settling into my chosen swim I soon had two rods set up, with one to be fished using a dead roach section as bait, and the other using a lamprey section.  These baits were sent out into the swim and I settled back to enjoy the almost summer like weather that was with us at the moment.  First action came on one of Merv’s rods but he passed it over to Curtis and he went on to land a spirited 4lb jack pike that had given a good impression of being a medium sized zander.  Both Merv and Curtis then went through a period where they had a number of takes with line going out but nothing there on the strike, most peculiar!   Meanwhile I had no action whatsoever, I pondered the question, “Is it better to have nothing happen or is it better to have the takes but missed them,” I’ve queried this previously in my mind and as on those occasions I did not have an answer.   Then in the mid-afternoon Curtis struck a fish and went on to land a new personal best zander weighing 7lb-11oz.  A long, lean, fish that would almost certainly have been at a higher weight in its earlier days, that gave us hope, but then it went totally dead.

                                                              Curtis with 7lb-11oz pb Zander

 

About 5.30pm Curtis suggested I move along to the other side of their fishing position since at least they had seen a number of indications where as I had been totally dead, the move was made and an interesting discussion followed.  Curtis suggested that should I catch a zander he could claim the credit for suggesting the move, Merv made the point that I might have caught if I had stayed where I was, so should I blank Curtis would have the blame!  He was not too sure about that, but at 6:45pm he was happy as my roach section went for a walk in the company of a zander, good strike and I landed a fish that went exactly the same weight as the barbel the previous day, 10lb-3oz, my first double for many years but hopefully not the last of the season.

                                                               10lb-3oz Zander for a double of doubles

A mixed bag of results.

With a dry forecast on the the Monday morning I decided on a barbel trip back to the Derwent for the afternoon.  Flasks and tackle ready I set out, on arrival at the venue I found just one car already in the carpark, though I never did find the owner, perhaps he walked even further than I did.

Settling into the swim, the river looked about the same condition as experienced nearly three weeks ago when I was last here, low as with most rivers at the moment, and a slight tinge of colour probably left from the small amount of rain over the previous few days.  I was using the same tactics that had produced the previously caught pair of 11lb barbel, open-ended feeders loaded with a 50/50 mix of pellet and hemp.  8mm pellets on the hook, though I did change one of the baited hooks later in the session to include a trimed down monster crab boilie.

It did not take too long to find that looks can deceive and there was a considerable amount of blanket weed coming down the river giving a slight problem.  One cast could be left for 15mins -20 mins, but the next would last only two minutes before the weed caught the line and I had to reel back.  Not the end of the world, and although a nuisance, I could fish and in fact went on to take a couple of barbel, a tench, a roach and a gudgeon.  Only the larger of the two barbel was weighed and that went 7lb-14oz, a weight well down for the fight he gave me.  With the roach only going perhaps 12oz and the gudgeon far less than that, it makes one wonder how they get hooked on pellets but it happens as a regular occurance.

Come Wednesday and I was going zander fishing with Mervyn and there lies the hook in that title of 'A mixed bag of results.'  We were to travel in Merv's car and I had all my gear ready waiting in the van, some to access from the side door, the rest in the back.  Merv arrived and with my gear loaded we were soon on our way, but on arrival a slight problem was immediatly noticed, I had left nearly all my gear in the back of the van.

A quick check soon showed that I had the absolute minimum to be able to fish, rods, reels, end tackle and bait, then perhaps the most important thing, two flasks that had been held in a carrier bag at the side door.  No chair, tackle bag with all its appropriate bits of extra tackle and my food supply, no camera or scales, I might catch one, but I could not weigh or photograph it!

As it turned out we had a nice day with strong winds along with warm, dry weather.  I sat on the unhooking mat, while Merv relaxed in his comfortable chair, well he is recovering from surgery and he did share his sarnies with me!  One take on lamprey, which fell off moments after the strike was the total result from the two swims tried, but there is always another day, perhaps I'll take all the gear next time.

http://www.philsmithangler.co.uk/

Reality check

Looking through this blog one could be under the impression that I go out and catch big fish every time I fish, unfortunately that is far from the truth.   I have often said, 'You need the bad days so you know when you have had a good one,' well I've had a few of those bad days of late.

My last three fishing trips went like this-  
I still want to catch one of those silver bream that seem to be swimming in our canals and getting to a respectable size.  I will not do extended fishing sessions for them, but the occasional evening after the boat traffic dies down, that will be just the ticket.  As I arrived about 5:30pm I had seen two boats moving further up the canal and heading for a lock, they were to prove to be the last barges of the day and the water eventually settled down to almost lake like qualities.  I fed the swim with a couple of balls of a mix of micro pellet and ground Vitalin, this had been dampened just enough to hold until it reached the surface of the water where it broke up, then slowly settled down to the bed of the canal.  A few maggots followed this and then the float with two maggot on a size 18 hook was placed over the baited area.  The first bite did not take too long in appearing and I struck into fish that had it been a silver bream would have met my target, unfortunately it was a bronze and so was another of similar size that followed later on.  Two pretty rudd of a 8oz each, a similar size perch and a daddy ruff completed the evenings sport.  Failier?  Well yes in that I did not catch the target fish, but all the time I thought the next dip of the float could be 'it', that's the nature of fishing and I left not feeling too disappointed.

The next trip was to Coombe Lake in an attempt to get a zander, it's been a long time since I got a fish that was even worth weighing, so maybe this season I'll put that little extra effort on both Coombe and the River Severn, in an attempt to correct that oversight.  One rod was float fished using a dead roach, while the other legered a short section of lamprey, both got the same response of not being touched by fishy teeth in the hours I was fishing, maybe next time.

                                                    The last big zander I caught at 14lb-10oz.

The third trip was yesterday along with three friends who had travelled up from the south of the country to stay in a caravan near Worcester.  They fancied a day barbel fishing on the Warwickshire Avon.  I suggested a venue with the warning it would probably be one fish between us representing success, but that one barbel might well be a big one.  You guessed the out-come, we all blanked, although one of the three travelling anglers had the audacity to claim top rod status with a gudgeon.