A good start to the new season.

I’ve had an interesting start to the new season, a few fish without any monsters but steady sport.  Add a couple of diversions and I can safely say it is not too bad a start compared to many I’ve had in the past.

In times gone past the 16^th June was a very special day and plans long in the making were finally going to be put into action.  Now with many still water venues available it has taken on a lower excitement profile, but lots of venues have been closed through the close season and of course we now have rivers available again as well as the many lakes that have opened.  This all comes down to it still being a special day and I, along with many others take care to celebrate the start of a new season with a trip to the river. 

All too often this has been disappointing with little or nothing being caught, but it is always great to be on the bank and often be the one to make the swim fishable again having taken down all the new growth that invariably blocks your way to the river.  This year was one of my better starts and a trip to the Warwickshire Avon proved to be a good choice.

                                                         The banks are well overgrown

I have in the past often gone in with maggot and casters though the results can be very hit and miss making the additional cost hardly worthwhile.  This can be a frustrating time of the year since depending on the weather the fish can be at any of three stages, pre-spawning and moody, spawning and it is hardly sporting to fish for them or post spawning and although well down on weight they feed with abandon.  This can also give an additional problem in that the fish may well not be in their usual haunts having travelled to spawning areas and not yet returned, these factors are the most likely cause of many of my previous blank opening days though as already mentioned this would not be one of them.

Following various reports on Facebook it was clear that many of the rivers had already seen the barbel spawning but others were still up in the air, I travelled in hope that the Avon was one of those already done and dusted.  Tackle and tactics would be the well tried and trusted mixed small pellets and hemp in a feeder with pellet as hookbait.  For those new to reading this blog I’ll expand that a bit and hopefully the regulars will either refresh their memory or just skip the next bit.

My rods are 12ft Drennan 1.75 Barbel Specialist with Shimano 6000 RE baitrunner reels loaded with 12lb Syncro XT line.  I have often use a combi hook link but at the moment I am using just 12” to 15” of 15lb braid going to a size 8 Drennan Continental Carp hook tied with a knotless knot to give about a 1” hair.  I then superglue two 10mm Elips pellets with a good 10mm gap between the hook and the nearest edge of the pellets, this can avoid hooking too many chub that often disturbs the swim and the barbel.  This is then fished with a cage feeder loaded with a mixture of pellets of different size and type, I don’t think it matters what the mix is you just need variation in this attractor feed.  Put your pellets in a container and then add cooked hemp having drained the liquid off through your fingers.  This is done at about 50/50 and the hemp will still carry enough liquid to dampen the pellet down to a point it will hold in the feeder without going to a mushy mix.

I did not get onto the river at first light, too early for me nowadays but by 6:30am I was in place on the bank.  Fishing with two rods, one out in the main stream and one on the inside edge against a bulrush bed, but both on the setup described.  Often I will have two different baits on the two rods but I thought that at the start of the season the pellet was the most likely to be effective.  It was not too long before this proved true but the bream that came to the net was not really my intended target, never the less at least it would not be a blank.

                                                                  9lb-3oz opening day barbel

                                                     9lb-8oz best of the four on the day.

I had not bait dropped on this occasion but regular casting kept a steady stream of feed going into the two swims and over the course of the day the tactic proved its worth.  I ended the day with four barbel including two 9lb+ fish that would be doubles a bit later on, three bream of 4lb to 5lb and a single 11lb+ carp that gave a great scrap ripping up rushes all over the place.  This was one trip home that had a smile on my face, but what would be coming over the next few weeks.

                                                     Opening day common of 11lb-2oz.

There are tall leylandii trees at the bottom of my garden and unfortunately they keep growing.  I had them professionally lopped down to about 20ft but they soon exceed that height again and although I’ve trimmed them over the years I did miss last year and now the home owner on the other side has been round to ask that they are dealt with.  No time like the present so through the next three days I was up the trees taking out the tops while in the evening I was off after eels on a local water that opened up on the 16^th, no joy for the eels but at least the trees are looking better.  Over the following week I tried two more nights on the local water for eels and one night on the venue that has given me a 6lb 4oz, 5lb10oz and six other eels over 4lb over the last year, a good result that, but this time they were not playing and yet another blank goes into the diary.

                                                        Gap left with just one tree done

                                                      Job done with six trees lopped down.

Once the trees had been finished I decided on a trip after sturgeon, regular readers will know I think these are very good sport fish and it does seem a shame the EA spend so much of their limited budget trying to remove them when so many other things challenge our sport.  Legering a chunk of meat down the side of the lake has always proven a successful method and yet again it gave the desired results in the form of a 44lb Siberian and a small diamond back specimen.

Then a second trip to the Avon produced a couple of medium size barbel and yet another bream, while a trip to the Trent gave up just a single bream though at least it was little larger at 7lb-2oz.  Now it was time to look at a new section of the Nene that I had obtained a ticket for.  As I made my way down the A14 I felt the van just loose power and although I could still drive it was at little more than a slow crawl up to the next layby and then stop.  I called out the AA and the service was brilliant, just 20 minutes to arrive and although he could not fix it he soon had me travelling back to Coventry as a passenger with the van towed behind.  I’m still waiting to find out what is wrong and how long it will take to fix but meanwhile Mervyn arrange a trip to the River Anker last evening where similar tactics to those used on the Avon produced a 8lb-6oz barbel and three chub to 5lb-3oz.

                                                   An immaculate 5lb-3oz Anker chub.

                                                      A pleasing River Anker barbel.

        

That’s it for the first two weeks of a new season, highs and lows in equal measure but a good mix of fish and other than the van problem I’ll take those results anytime.  I wish you all the very best for your own quest for the fish of your choice and until next time tight lines.

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

         

A personal best carp and big roach.

Well as you can see it has been a busy time on my fishing calendar, back from Lochnaw roach fishing for just a week and I was off again on a Catmaster Tour trip to Spain, roach and carp being the target.  The start of the trip was not good when the Monarch Airways flight going out was delayed for four hours, but we eventually got going after the fault had been fixed.  That ‘we’ I mentioned are John Found, Pete Reading and myself, all well-known and successful roach anglers who also fancy a bit of carp fishing on the side.  All three of us had previously tried the Spanish roach fishing on a previous carp trip, catching roach to over two pound, but this time we would allow more time in their pursuit.

                                                          Mequinenza Dam

Picking up a self-drive car at Barcelona the two hour drive to Mequinenza was soon completed and with a phone call it was arrange we would meet our guide to show us the apartment where we would stay.  This proved to be a very satisfactory accommodation with all that we needed for our holiday there but for those intending to go out to Spain, take your teabags with you!  Once settled, we had already decided not to fish on the first day and we made out way to the local eating establishment - The Citron Blue.  We again met up with John Deakin who was to be our guide for the week and over a meal we discussed the various options open to us.  John suggested we fish just up along from the town frontage in an area that had been producing a number of good fish so that was agreed and having set a start time we retired to bed.

                                      John Deakin chats with John Found after checking all was well .

Just after dawn John came along to take us to our swims and before too long we were fishing out to the distant weed beds that could be seen on the surface some 80yds or so out from the bank.  There were gaps in the line of weed as it followed the bank and we were attempting to place baits within these areas with a single 22mm pellet along with a bag of 6mm pellets as an extra attraction.  The 3.5lb test rods were supplied by Catmaster, but the Biomaster reels were my own and loaded with 15lb line and a 45lb shock leader, this would make casting the 4oz lead safer and also give extra resistance against the weed when playing any fish that was hooked.  John had mentioned that a number of anglers had lost fish through them going into the weed and becoming totally snagged, I was determined this would not happen to me.

                       John in the camp, Pete in the background, and myself to the right of the photo

The weather was very nice with what wind there was coming from slightly behind us and the temperature going over 20C.  We were spread out over perhaps fifty yards of bank which allowed for a little exchange of comments during the hours we waited for action, but then just before midday my indicator began to scream and I was quickly playing a big fish.  You will probably know that pumping a fish gives it ample time to move away as you reel in the line you have gained as you pump the rod upward, I used the other way to get him away from the weed beds.  With plenty of open space behind me available in this swim I just clamped up and walked slowly back away from the water’s edge.  This is a method I’ve used over the years at various times when snag fishing and space is available to do it, it works a treat.   Once I had gained perhaps twenty yards and I was reasonably certain he was clear of that problem I began to reel in and walk forward making sure the tension was kept on the line whilst doing so.  It took a little time, but eventually an obvious big common came towards the waiting net that John held ready and he slid in to be safely mine.  John gave a surprised comment when he went to remove the hook and all three of us looked in wonder at the state of the hook that had brought him to the net, how much longer it would have held is anybody’s guess but I soon changed to a much stronger pattern.

                                                                 Mugga hook before and after capture.

It was with a lot of excitement that the weighing was completed since I was positive this would be a new personal best common carp for me and so it proved when the scales showed 44lb-14oz.  That was to be the only carp of the day for our group, though others staying with Catmaster did get fish after dark, but we packed up at dusk having had enough for the day.

                                                           44lb-14oz pb Common.

Since the carp fishing was mostly my idea, the other two not being anywhere near as interested in their pursuit we would spend most of the rest of the holiday after roach and the next day saw us start.  From previous trips we had come to the conclusion that the roach are spread throughout the river downstream of the Mequinenza Dam and all you need is a suitable bank to fish from.  Sounds easy, but there are cliff faces and rocky reinforced banks all over the river side and suitable fishing spots can be at a premium.  Fortunately there are still plenty to go at, and we were set ready with tackle already assembled in the chosen swim at dawn.  This can always be a useful time to be on the bank if it is reasonably calm as the roach do tend to show themselves for the first hour or so of light before they disappear from the surface for the day.  Fortunately we saw enough to give us high hopes and we settled into our chosen spots.  Although you can at times get away with using bank sticks it is far easier to use the carp pods provided along with chairs etc.   At the moment Catmaster is not geared up for the roach angler but I’m sure this will be changed as they take advantage of this incredible fishing on their doorstep.

                                                  The veiw from one of the roach swims.

                                                   Griffin Vulture soars overhead.

                                                 Roach fishing Spanish style.

                               A Griffin Vulture with up to a 9ft wingspan the King of the mountains.

My tackle comprised of two rods which I had taken out with me along with a suitable small net and landing net pole.  With those rocky banks you need the longest rod it is reasonable to use and I had chosen a Drennan Medium 11.5ft to 13ft Feeder rod with the intent to use it at the 13ft length.  Along with this I also took a Drennan 12ft 1.25lb test Avon Specialist which I could use either as a standard top joint or the quivertip top joint option should I need.  My end rig was a simple water knot paternoster rig of 6lb main line.  This was tied to give a 1ft length for the Drennan 35 gram open ended cage feeder, and a 3ft tail going to a 4lb fluorocarbon hook length and a size 10 wide gape  Drennan super Specialist hook.  The bait was single grain of corn that had previously proven to be deadly bait for the roach and this was readily available from the local store, we think they must have wondered what had happen as we emptied the shelves each night of the tins they put out.

It did seem that any groundbait that carried a high halibut content worked better, and this would of course make sense with the amount of pellets fed in for the carp and catfish.  Indeed it can sometimes be a problem for those anglers to wind in and find a large roach stuck on the size 4 hook or even bigger, much to their dismay.  That first day set the pattern for those that followed and John opened the 2lb plus account with fish of 2lb-3oz and what proved to be the largest of the week at 2lb-12oz.  At first Peter was catching roach at a far better rate than John and I though we eventually realised that it was just because he was fishing at a greater range.  This did not make much sense since we were going into 30 foot or more of water just a short distance from the bank but results were undeniable so out we went.

                                                          John's best of the trip at 2lb-12oz.

                                                    The first 2lb of the trip at 2lb-3oz.

                                   A planes trail gives us our own volcano on the opposite bank.

The scenery is both bland and majestic at the same time, mountains dominate the region and very little grows on the banks while what had grown had already dried up to a tinder.  The cliffs behind this swim and also another we visited hold a group of griffin vultures, magnificent birds that ride the thermals with ease throughout the mornings.  The weather held up throughout our stay with the wind being the only problem on one of the days causing us to finish early avoiding the waves crashing over the bank and drowning us as we sat there.  Daytime temperatures went over 20C and even the late evenings were still in the mid-teens.  Over the five and a half days we fished we caught 16 roach over the magic two pound figure with the best going to John at 2lb-12oz as already mentioned.  Peter and I both had a best fish of 2lb-8oz, but all of us caught a good number of the fish just under the 2lb mark these going 1lb-14oz and 1lb-15oz, still magical fish but not what we came to Spain for.  The 3lb fish are there to be caught, but don’t make the mistake of thinking they will fall for your bait every day.  The value of a specimen fish is that they are exceptional and with 2lb plus roach being a worthy target and caught almost every day, it is nice to know the 3lb fish could be the next bite.

                                                       My best of the trip at 2lb-8oz

                                          A rare shot of me with a hat on plus a sunny 2lb roach.

                                                      Pete's 2lb-8oz taken at dusk.

                                                      An equally sunny 2lb-6oz for Pete.

 Throughout the roach days I occasionally put out a carp rod as my second rod and this did produce another carp though nowhere near the size of the first.  Meanwhile we were being kept updated on the results of the other groups of anglers with Catmaster  and these seemed to be doing very well indeed with another 40lb carp along with lots of 30’s, and two catfish over the 200lb mark falling to one lucky angler who was definitely pleased with his weeks fishing.

                                                 The larger of two 200lb cats landed by David at 205lb.

                                        The second 40lb common in the week at 40lb-2oz for Iain.

 In closing I would mention that the one essential bit of gear we missed was that of a small unhooking mat for those rocky banks, but I’m sure Colin Bunn will have those available should the anglers take up this roach fishing as should be the case.  Mild winter weather and great sport catching specimen fish, give it a try you will not be disappointed!

                                                My carp is returned but not forgotten.

Another year to remember - month by month look at the year.

Well that is another year coming to an end, but what a year.  This blog has come of age with the followers now at 100 and the total pageviews at over 66,000, it makes it all worth while to keep up the effort of the diary.

I am considering publishing a book which would be a record of this blog from its inception and your thoughts on the idea would be appreciated.  Initial figures suggest perhaps £10 for B&W and £25 for colour.

Recent weeks have proven very hard to get any consistant sport and most trips have in fact been a total blank, fortunately the year has a whole has been quite satisfactory so lets have a look at the highlights.


The 2012 year has been an exciting year with both highs and lows that I have shared with you through this blog.   Although I’ve only caught one new personal best of a species, I have increased the number of rivers where a double figure barbel has been caught as well as improving other river bests.  Improving a personal best is only one measure of success, and I was very pleased with getting my target fish in chub, and tench along with the barbel already mentioned.  The crowning feature of the year was almost the last when my crucian claim was accepted as an equal British record at 4lb-9oz.  No BRFC certificate yet, but I am advised that it will arrive early in January and once framed it will find a place on the wall.  So let us look at some of the highlights of my year, month by month.

January.

The month had started much as the previous year had ended floods with very cold snaps to interrupt consistent sport.  I had been fishing the River Anker for a couple of seasons, not often, but enough to have hoped for better results in that I had not caught a single barbel up to date.  This visit towards the end of the month put that right in the form of another different river double and a river record at the time of capture going 15lb-4oz.

                                                                   15lb-4oz Anker pb.

 February.

We sometimes have mild months at this time of year, but this was not one of them.  I struggled to catch fish at all, a few perch and an odd smaller chub was the reward for a fair bit of effort.  Then I decided to go south to the Hampshire Avon for a few days and I got my reward in the form of a 7lb 2oz monster chub along with other fish made smaller by comparison.

                                                        Magnificent Avon Chub

Although not a monster by today’s standards I was pleased to land a 20lb-12oz Common Carp from a canal on a match rod using gear suited to the silver bream I was trying to catch – the rod broke but I did land the fish.

                                                                Canal specimen

March.

Not a particularly successful month by my own standards, a chub of 6lb-1oz caught along with a 2lb-7oz perch off the Avon and a 3lb-7oz perch caught from a local commercial being the better fish landed.

                                                               Best of the season at 3lb-7oz 

April.

Always a chancy month and this one saw the start of the tench fishing produce fish to 6lb-3oz for me, and a 46lb-9oz catfish caught by Curtis from Orchid Lakes.

                                                          With a little help to hold it.

May.

This month saw me get a brace of catfish at 41lb and 34lb-4oz, but the highlight by a long way was a 10lb-5oz tench from a new water, this being the third different venue where I’ve taken a double figure specimen.

                                                                      A real gem. 

June.

A good month for me with a 12lb-4oz barbel off the Dove and a brace of tench off a local water at 9lb and 9lb-4oz amongst a 15 fish catch, the first time the venue had done such a brace.  This was topped off by a brace of roach from Lochnaw at 2lb-13oz each.

                                                                  12lb-4oz Dove double.

                                                        Best of the tench brace  9lb-4oz.

                                                          First of the brace of 2lb-13oz roach. 

 July.

Lots of barbel from different rivers with yet another different river double, this being the River Soar and an 11lb-1oz specimen.  Although I had caught barbel from both the Ribble and Goyt they fell short of that double figure target ensuring I still had plenty to go at.

                                                                    11lb-1oz Soar double

August.
This month started with a bang when a trip north to do a barbel talk gave me the chance to fish the River Swale and I was rewarded with yet another different river double at 12lb-2oz, bringing the total rivers to 23. 

                                                                       Swale monster. 

September.

A return trip to Lochnaw saw me improve the previous brace from the last trip by one ounce with a pair of roach at 2lb-14oz.  Lots of barbel for me though nothing spectacular, but Curtis upped his personal best to 10lb-15oz from the River Severn, his first ever double.

                                                                       He looks pleased.

                                               The second of the 2lb-14oz brace.

October.
Again lots of barbel off different rivers topped off by three 11lb fish, two off the Kennet and one from the Severn all within a four day spell.  Very pleased with the barbel but a new English pb put extra dimples in the cheeks when I landed a very hard fighting sturgeon of 75lb-5oz.

                                                                   It was this long!

November.

My third trip to the north for roach finally paid off with a Lochnaw 3lb specimen taken along with a 2lb-14oz backup fish.  I did not know it at the time but that was to be the last of the better fishing for this year as the weather went haywire and floods and frost made fishing difficult. 

                                                                      3lb At last.

December.

As mentioned at the start of this piece my 4lb-9oz crucian caught in 2004 has been accepted as an equal British record.  This came about as a result of a correction of an anomaly where the current 4lb-9dram fish could not have been weighed on the scales being used.  That 9 dram only came about through the Weights & Measures Dept. checking scales in the metric system and needed a conversion back to imperial.  Whatever the reason I’m delighted to have my name added to a rather exclusive club having twice previously come fourth in the bream list, once from Queenford with a 15lb-14oz fish and then again with my 17lb-15oz Broadwater specimen.  Happy days, even though they fell short of a record.

                                                         A British record at 4lb-9oz.

 

Looking at the blog for last December I can see that this was a repeat in that there were very few fish with a lot of hard effort, but yet again the year as a whole has been kind, hopefully your results have met with your hopes as well.