Inverts and Jack

 I spent the morning invertebrate sampling for the River Monitoring Initiative. Along with quite a few sticklebacks and bullheads the usual suspects turned up in the samples. Plenty of Cased Caddis, Caseless Caddis, Baetis, Gammarus, and a couple of BWO. Stonefly and Mayfly are occasionally found but Heptagenes aren't found in this beck at all.

After this I headed to a local lake for a short pike session. I was the only one there so dropped in the most convenient swim close to the car. After a quick check of the depths a small roach went out to the left and a headless bluey was cast towards the island. An inspired cast saw it land very close to the overhanging tree and not in it. Next job was luncheon. Like last time here I was just tucking in when the float bobbed and moved away. A strike contact with a fish which came adrift half way back. There was surprisingly little damage to the bait though.

Lucnh passed with out any more interruptions. I shallowed up the roach to allow it to drift along into the bay. to no effect. I tossed it out to a bit of a hole near the island and various points in-between. The bluey had been cast back under the tree, again with out getting snagged up. Another cuppa was had mid-afternoon while if rained.. Not long after this the Bluey float bobbed and moved very quickly away. A quick strike again contacted with a fish, and again it fell off half way back. Nowt big, but that was probably the problem. Little jacks have a habit of picking deadbaits up but don't get near the hooks on bigger baits. Late afternoon a repeat permanence of the previous two runs. Again I contacted with a fish but I got this one in the net before it spat the hooks out. A spirited beast of 73cm.

 

That was that for the day. I'm now edging closer to one pike per trip but not quite there yet. Next day I was back, but this time for a work party. I spent my time picking litter out of the brambles with a litter picker. Others were involved with opening swims out a bit and clearing undergrowth impeding the path, along with the usual arson. 

 

 

After which it was back to the beck to assist pegging out for the Grayling match.
 

 

Three Day Bender - Day 3

 Sunday I arrived first light at another stillwater. Nobody else about until I started setting up, when another angler arrived and headed round the pond. I'd decided where I was fishing on the way there. It's roughly square and I'd caught on three of the four sides in the past so decided to fish the side I'd not so far caught from. There was a nice overhanging tree to my left and a small corner to my right. A bluey went to the left and a sardine to my right.

Around mid morning, as I was contemplating a cuppa, the righthand float bobbed and moved away. A feisty little pike had taken a fancy to the the sardine and was soon bundled into the net. A pot bellied little piggy of a thing covered in leeches. A new sardine was tossed out to the same spot.

As I set about boiling the kettle for a cuppa the 'pin stated to scream. Another. slightly longer, little piggy pike had snaffled the sardine. This one put up a bit more of a struggle but was kind enough to spit the hooks out in the net.

Another sardine was plonked into the same spot. This time I was allowed to make my cuppa in peace.  After my cuppa I move the baits about a bit. When the breeze got up I tried drifting a bait about but nowt else bothered me. The rain had stayed away, but started around lunch time just as I was packing up. Two more to the tally but the average is still under one per trip.



 

Three Day Bender - Day 2

 Saturday I was at another lake at daybreak. One man and his tent was in one corner carping. I setup in another corner with the same rigs as last time. The sardine plonked by an overhanging tree to my left and a roach over to the tree to my right. As the day wore on the floats were moved about. The sun got out and made for a pleasant day. Three other anglers arrived at various points. None caught while I was there. Nor did I either. The bright sunshine, clear lake, and very low overnight temperatures probably weren't the best combination. Still it was nice to be out on a sunny day and not be getting wet.

 The blank didn't do my average per session any good as it still remains under one.

Three Day Bender - Day 1

 After a bit of a lay-off from fishing do to the appalling weather and not knowing if the rivers were going up or down I was ready to get back to it. I'd planned a couple of sessions on stillwaters over the weekend, but a change of plan meant I could also get out on Friday 13th. While the weather over the weekend was predicted to be quite good, including the threat of sunshine, Friday didn't look so clever. Luckily for me the drizzly sleet eased off as I arrived at the empty carpark. By the time I'd setup camp the sleet and drizzle had returned.

A float-fished sardine was placed under the tree to my left and a float-fished roach over to the other side of the bay. These were moved about as the morning went on. By lunch time the sardine was under the tree to the right. As I started to tuck in to my Cheese and Broccoli Pasta the sardine rig bobbed about. As it was now sleeting quite heavily I found myself saying out loud " You can stop that", and it did. I wound down but there was nothing there so I left it where it was. Lunch passed with out any more interruptions. An hour later the float boobed again but this time it started to move away. By the time I'd got to the rod the float had stopped. Tightening up showed there to be nothing there again. No sign of damage to the bait either.  For some reason I decided to chop the head of the bait and tossed it back under the tree. A little while later the float moved away. By the time I'd picked the rod up it was heading back towards me. A sweeping strike contacted with a fish that darted all over the place before being bundle into the net. A well fed little beast of 71cm.

I had another hour before I had to be away, but nowt else showed up. The soggy kit in the back of the car soon misted the windows up. With the heater on full blast it eventually cleared by the time I'd got to the gate and undone the lock.

 

 

Perch Fishing For Pike

 Recent weather really hasn't been conducive to fishing, not for me anyway. I did. however, manage a short session on the canal initially for perch. After flinging small jigs and things about for an hour or so the perch appeared to be rather uncooperative. The scattering of small fish and a large swirl showed the jack pike were on the feed. The largest softbait I had, a 80mm white and glittering thing was put on. A couple of casts into the area and I was in. A feisty beats of 48cm put up a good struggle on the perch tackle.

Further on, above the lock, in the clearer water I spotted a similar sized jack. It wasn't a fan of the white glittery thing though. A root round the lure box and a small spinner bait was put on. I reckoned that something entirely different may persuade it to attack. The lure landed some way from the fish but once it started moving the pike was across and on it's tail. Speed up or slow down is always a dilemma. I stopped and allowed the lure to fall though the water. As I sped it up again it grabbed it. The little jack came in very easily until it was near the net. It then decided to perform all manner of acrobatics. I just managed to scoop it in the net as it spat the lure out. Slightly shorter than the previous one at 46cm.

I had another twenty minutes wandering along the canal before the drizzle started again. A robin accompanied me as I wandered back to the car. Clearly the the hope of been fed. It seemed happy with the crumbs from the bottom of the bag of cheese & onion crisps I had while waiting to see if the rain would ease off. It didn't.

Faster Warmer Poodle

 Another trip out to the Vale of Mowbray again in rather chilly conditions, along with a nasty cold breeze. I'm sure there are more sensible things to do on a day like that. Never the less there I was on a frozen river bank. Despite the welcome sunshine the wind took away any heat it provided. Even the ice at the edge of the river didn't melt.

 

 

A quick cast about with the Deeper showed 10' next to the snags downstream and 12' by the overhanging tree upstream. Tactics were to be float fished dead bait and a float ledgered dead bait. A sardine went on the float set up. This is set so the bait is just on the bottom which allows it to drift up to the snags. A headless bluey was put on the float-ledger rig. Out they went. They would be recast every 30-40 minutes. The bluey head would be chopped up and chucked about the swim once it had defrosted.

I'd recast the Bluey for the third time and was about to do the same with the sardine when the float above it started to move nearer the snags. A quick strike and I was in. Much to my surprise it shot out into the the river rather than into the snags. That run was it though. It came to the net with barely a struggle.  91cm 8lb 10oz of pike. It woke up when I started to unhook it successfully drawing blood.

The sardine was replaced with a roach and went back out near the snags. Time for luncheon. My old stove has been struggling to function for a little while now and really struggles when its cold so I'd replaced it with a shiny new OEX one. I must say it is rather good boiling water in next to no time and isn't really effected by the wind. The only problem with it is it needs a canister stand. Something the manufacturers recommend but has to be bought separately.  I'd also repurposed an old sock as a Pot Noodle cosy as it had got rather cold before I'd finished it the other day. 

With no more action I moved downstream to the next swim. Snowdrops were starting to appear in this one. With similar depths not much readjustments were needed. The roach was positioned under the downstream tree and a new bluey was placed upstream at the bottom of the drop off. Despite moving the baits several times there was no more action by the time I left. A somewhat scenic route had to be taken to get home due to an accident on the main road. Thankfully no deaths. The average pike per trip is now 0.86.


 

 

 

 

First Fish of the Year

 Some people fling themselves into the icy North Sea for fun on New Year's Day. I decided on something more daring. I ventured to the Vale of Mowbray to fling dead fish into a river while sat on a muddy river bank in what purported to be a moderate breeze. What was moderate about it I don't know as it was a damn cold northerly blowing straight downstream.

 

A quick chuck about with the Deeper showed there to be 16' of water from a third of the way out nearly to the far side. The first third was just over 6'. A small smelt under a float was dropped downstream near an overhanging tree and a half Bluey tossed nearly 30yd to the far side. Over the next couple of hours they were recast to different spots but all to no avail.

 

After a spot of lunch I moved on to another swim not far away. Fresh baits were chucked to similar spots. The old baits were chopped up in to small bits and flung around the swim. Just as I sat down the downstream float moved away. I tightened down to something but the strike hit nothing, and the bait was gone. The something happened again then minutes later with the same result. I brought the far bait back across the river until it was at the bottom of the drop off on the near side. I was beginning to think I may blank the float stated to head upstream. The strike hit a fast moving fish. After a bit of a battle a nice fish was in the net. The pike round these parts a quite powerful for their size. Given it's barbel territory it's not surprising really. A slightly battle scared fish of 12lb 15oz and 101cm. My second double of the pike season so I was well pleased.

 

I didn't recast the rod as it was nearly time to depart. The other float trundled off towards the middle of the river as I was just about to wind it in. Again I contacted with nothing. Not sure what was taking the little smelt, Jack, chub, barbel could all be to blame. The first half of the season hasn't been great with an average of 0.75 pike per session and only one double. Hopefully the second half will be better.