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

         

Lochnaw roach and Chew Valley pike.

Normally when fishing alongside friends at different venues I get a fair share of the fish that is until this trip to Chew Valley after the pike, I became the gillie for the day netting, landing lots of big pike for my partner John George.  We had two days fishing on the boat and with the reasonably mild weather it looked good for fishing.  There had been a 42lb pike off the bank the previous day so it seemed that Chew was still on song for a big fish, a real ‘dream maker’ venue.  Of course it is not reasonable to come for a 40lb fish, but the 30lb size is caught often enough for that to be a real target and I would think it is the hope of most of the visiting anglers to get such a sample.

Initially we set off from the landing stages for Wick Point having had some success there last visit, a quick check soon showed that with the water level down by 6ft or so, it was not really right with the amount of weed still growing in the area.  We set off back towards the opposite bank and kept a check on the sounder looking for a bit more than the 6ft now showing, further and further we travelled but with a maximum of 9ft it was not time to stop and anchor.  Trying to steer clear of a number of boats already at their chosen station we finally found 16ft at about 500 yards off Nunnery Point and dropped the two anchors there.  Like a fool I had believed the weather forecast and had no waterproofs with me, it of course it almost immediately rained quite heavily for 20 minutes or more just to make sure I got well and truly soaked.  That should have been the warning that the day was not going to go well for me, but I carried on in ignorance of what was to come.

As is normal in boat fishing we put our two rods each out to the points of the compass and within ten minutes John had the first indication of a bite as his float slide away and the strike met solid resistance.  Initially it did not seem a big fish but after it woke up there was quite a scrap to get it into the waiting net.  An obvious big fish we both wondered if it would go 30lb since once they are this big it can be difficult to decide.  As always the scales told the tale, though at just over 28lb John was a very happy man, even with no more fish his trip was successful.

                                                         A very pleasing 28lb pike.

                                                 A bit dryer and 21lb-8oz.

Of course you will already have gathered he caught others and this is how it went.  We sat in that swim for another couple of hours and the capture of that first fish had brought another boat quite near our position so it was time to move.  Again we headed for open water with no boats and anchored up again.  This time it took a little longer but then his float disappeared and following an interesting fight I slid the net under a fish that went 21lb-8oz, starting to get a little worried now but then I got a chance but it only went 11lb or so.  Then John capped his day with a magnificent specimen of 30lb-6oz to give him a new pb.

                                                       The Chew Valley prize 30lb-6oz.

                                                     Last of the trip at 20lb-4oz.

Two 20lb’s and a 30lb should have been enough, but yet again he caught and this one went 20lb-4oz to end a memorable day.  The following day we blanked and it appeared most of the other anglers fishing did exactly the same.  Hopefully back again next year.

As mentioned in the last blog, I had my timing for fishing trips quite badly organised and having arrived back about 8.30pm on Friday I had to sort out the tackle and change over for a week’s session at Lochnaw in Scotland starting Saturday, big roach being the new target.

                                                                             Lochnaw Castle.

John Found, my usual partner for these trips had to call off being quite poorly with a heavy chest cough that already lasted six weeks.  At very short notice Andy Dalby stepped in and needed an even quicker tackle sort out than I had experienced.  The other two anglers who would make up the party of four were fellow Tenchfishers Group members Matt Dooley and Wyn Jones who was making a return hoping to better his 3lb-2oz specimen caught on the spring trip.

                                                     Our two camps on St Stair's Island.

The good thing about this trip was that it stayed dry both at the beginning and the end of the session, but in between it rain almost all the time broken only by times of gale force winds.  The lake is 48 acres and it has many feeder streams running into it which in turned caused the lake to raise since there is only one outlet.  Fortunately this caused very little trouble other than being fairly unsocial and our talks back at the lodge over dinner time was the main time to exchange ideas and other talking points.

                                                     Feed for the roach.

                                                  Andy set ready to launch his bait out.

My tactics which would have been very similar to the other three anglers was to use a method feeder and various 10mm boilies.  Source, Pineapple and Esterberry were my choice but others have worked in the past for different groups.  I had decided to bait drop about 1.5k of method carrying chopped up boilies, hemp and a small amount of sweetcorn.  As the week progressed and the results did not, I slowly cut this down although I do think all the feed was being taken by the smaller fish.  My rods were the usual 12ft Drennan 1.25lb test combined with Shimano 50000RE baitrunner reels loaded with 6lb line.  The size 16 hooks were tied using 4lb hook link material in a helicopter style approach.

                                                     The first at 2lb-9oz.

                                                              Kevin, the fishery bailiff takes out dead weed.

My first roach went 2lb-9oz and fell to the Source boilie this giving high hope of what was to come.  The same night Wyn took a 2lb-12oz specimen and we felt it was only time.  The next night saw just one weighed fish of 2lb-1oz to Wyn again and although plenty of roach up to the mid 1lb range were taken there was little sign of the 2lb+ fish.  The next night saw me get a 2lb-6oz fish while Wyn caught yet another 2lb-12oz roach.  At this stage we were still hopefully that the constant baiting each day would see the bigger specimens appear but for whatever reason that was it and the following days gave less and less result even from the small fish.

                                                                  2lb-6oz specimen roach.

I am at a loss as to why this should have been as the weather was mild although wet, and all else seemed to be in fishing’s favour.  Both Andy and Matt are hopeful of a return to try and even the competition between themselves and the fish but time will tell.

Lochnaw Castle - The roach fisher's Mecca

Before last season there was just one water, Willow Pool in Oxfordshire, where the odds of a 3lb roach was more than a remote possibility, now there is a water that exceeds even that prolific venue, Lochnaw Castle.  The ultimate size has yet to be proven but number wise it definitely has the edge when it comes to 3lb plus roach being caught.  My latest visit at the end of April running into May coincided with the one year anniversary of its first paying customers last year, a hell of a lot of 3lb roach have hit the bank since then but even so our group of four anglers did set a new record for the venue but more of that later.

                                                        Not a bad place to call home.

I had hoped to be on the water at a time of good weather with the fish having been feeding hard ready for their spawning that usually occurs towards the end of May, of course that went by the way.  This spring has gone missing and fish are only just beginning to get going seriously and I would think that they could easily be three or more weeks behind their normal timetable.

                                                                 Almost ready to start.

We arrive at the Loch about 3:00pm and once the car’s contents are unloaded into the lodge we can prepare to get set up fishing.  There are only four anglers allowed on the water at one time and bookings are made for Saturday to Saturday.  Our group of four had to be modified when Warren Gaunt dislocated his shoulder with just two weeks to go.  He tried to convince himself he would manage but the specialists made him give in to the inevitable and a replacement was found in the short time left.  That replacement angler was John Osborne and he joined Wyn Jones and John Found to make up our party of four anglers hoping to catch monster roach over the following week.

                                                                 Now we are ready.

 

With the period of evening going into dark being a prime time for roach both John and I were keen to be fishing by early evening and sure enough our baits were placed out into position before 7:00pm we only had to wait for action.  There had been a lot of work carried out over the winter months in new swim creation and we had taken advantage of that by fishing almost the opposite end of the 48 acre loch from our previous successful swims.  It did not take too long before I had a smile on my face when after just 30 minutes I landed a 2lb-11oz specimen which had picked up my boilie.  Our hopes were obviously high, but it was not to be quite as easy as it seemed just then.

                                                 Just 30 minutes later a 2lb-11oz specimen.

Previously the weed had been a major problem but with the late spring it was not too bad and no dragging had been required.  Our tackle was as previously used, I’ll describe mine and the others would be very similar.  Two Drennan 1.25lb 12ft Avon rods were matched with a pair of Shimano 5000 baitrunner reels.  My main line was 18.5lb test Awa-Shima Reflector, a line I’ve recommended before.  This line has proven quite successful in the you can work in thirds, the stated breaking strain is wrong by one third so this was the equivalent of 12lb line, but the diameter is equivalent to one third of the stated breaking strain and hence comes out a 6lb equivalent diameter.  I would be using a maggot feeder on one rod and a flatbed method feeder on the other obviously matching the baits to suit.  The maggot feeder was straight forward in that it was my usual short hooklink helicopter style rig with the hook just clearing the attachment to the feeder.  The flatbed was again a short hooklink but working as is normal with this system as an inline feeder.  Method mix is placed in a mould on top on the baited hook and this then presents the bait on top of the feed once it lands with the leaded base on the deck.  Hook links were 4lb fluorocarbon to a size 12 Kamasan B980 pattern hook.   I had used the Spomb to place a minimal amount of feed into the swim, maggots a few 10mm boilies and a little method mix just to try and tempt the roach to stay once they arrived.

                                                        Laying the table for tea time.

So with a big roach early in the session we thought the evening would bring more specimens but that was not to be, although we caught lots of roach they topped out at about 1lb or so.  I was up for dawn the following morning, the rods having been fishing through from the midnight retirement without an indication.  I had changed the maggot bait for a boilie and now I changed back again catching small roach up to about 7:00am when the sport as such ceased.  John Found had stayed fishing until midnight when he called it a day and retired back to the lodge, as with previous trip to the loch he does not camp overnight preferring to make use of the bed provided in the lodge.  He came back at around the 7:00am time and missed what sport there was to be had.  A pattern developed where we fished through to about 2:00pm and then went back to the lodge where a shower and toilet was available to freshen up.  We also got into the habit of having our meal at this time since all the needs for cooking were available and it was so much more easily done leaving the evening for fishing.

We were to spend most of this week in quite strong NW winds that proved to be quite cold if you were exposed for just a few minutes.  Fortunately it did stay dry for most of the break though a couple of heavy rain storms came through towards the end of the stay.  It was frustating to sit there in the cold and wet listening to the radio report of people in shorts and sunbathing in the south of the country. 

                                                                  It was wet at times.
We began the evening session but it seemed quiet until about 7:00pm when yet again the small fish came to the maggot feeder rig, this lasted until perhaps 10:30pm when they all but stopped and I changed the maggot rig back to boilie for the night.  John had just begun to tidy up his tackle as a prelude to retiring when my bait was taken by an obvious better fish.  The smaller roach had be jigging about with the bait giving a rise and fall on the indicators, this time the bobbin went to the top and if I had not struck the baitrunner would have started to give line.  Yet again the rod bent over in a battle curve against the large fish and as it came into the torch light we saw that it was indeed a good one.  In the landing net I suggested it could be a three but when John seemed to hesitate while looking at the scales I thought it would be under.  Once he turned the face to me I could see I had equalled the 3lb exactly that had been my best fish on the last trip.  He said the reading had been flashing between 3lb and 3lb-1oz before settling on the lower figure. 
 

                                            At 3lb it equals my previous best from Lochnaw

The following day arrived with no more action until just before we would have left the swim for out dinner John finally got his 2lb plus fish, a long lean fish that would surely have weighed far more if it had not been for the cold spring.  The next 24hrs passed without any sign of a weighable fish so we decided to move swims and this was soon done to leave the evening session available after a small amount of bait had been Spombed out before dinner.

                                                    I've got to have a look at the red squirrels.

                                        The only colour on the whole estate with late spring.

                                               Best fish of the week, Wyn with his 3lb-2oz pb.

The larger fish seemed to take our baits yet again and the two other lads were still waiting to catch their first 2lb specimen but that changed just before dusk as the radio crackled into life to tell us that Wyn had caught a 3lb-2oz personal best on his maggot feeder rig.  A great result, but again this was the only good fish of the period through to the next dinner time.  We had hoped for good sport but the fishing was proving to be more difficult than anticipated though with two three pound fish it was not all bad news.  That evening proved quite successful with a 2lb-10oz fish to me and John Osborne opened his account with two fish of 2lb-8oz and again a personal best of 3lb-1oz. The fishing continued like this through the remainder of the week and with just an hour to go before John Found would pack up for the night and not fish again he got his reward breaking his personal best roach of 3lb with an extra ounce to give 3lb-1oz.

                                        John Osborne with his brace of 2lb-8oz and 3lb-1oz.

                                         John's new pb at 3lb-1oz - the last fish of the trip.

Kevin the head bailiff informed up the in the one year of being open this was the first time that all four anglers had caught a 3lb roach within their weeks fishing.  I would think that Willow will have matched the four 3lb roach achievement in a week but only with far more than the four anglers fishing at the time.  With 48 acres of water and just four anglers fishing I think that there could easily be a big surprise waiting to be caught.  The largest fish taken so far is one of 3lb-13oz last November, that well might be beaten and only time will tell but whatever happens Lochnaw will go down in the records of history as a roach venue supreme.

                                              The end of the last day - until next time!

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.