Try, Try Again

After the mess I made of the last session I decided I'd have another go to see if I could do any better. I have to admit I'm never sure this is a good idea but Friday was a full moon which is supposed to be an optimum time to fish. Also I decide to try fishing a slider in the deeper swim as it would be easier to cast from under the trees. I did come across a victim of Agnes as I arrived at the ponds. 

The setups were a 1.5g waggler for the inside swim and a 4g slider for the deeper swim. A dozen balls of groundbait laced with dead reds were launched into the deep water with remarkable accuracy this time. I left this swim alone and fished the nearside to start with, feeding hemp and maggots. After half an how with out so much as a chewed maggot I tried the deep swim. This failed to produce anything either. Back on the inside I sated to get bites on the drop that I couldn't hit. After a bit of fiddling with the shot I was soon into a slow but steady flow of lovely bronze rudd. This continued until just after midday. At this point the predators turned up and fish were scattering everywhere. The attackers were small jacks, at least four of them, all around the 1-2lb mark. This seemed like a good time for lunch as no more bites were forth coming.

While I eat my lunch I had the slider rig out in the deep swim. After lunch I tried the inside line again but bites were hard to come by and the pike were still making a nuisance of themselves. I decided to stick it out over the deep swim  to see if any of the ponds bream would turn up, but all I got was the occasional small roach. A reverse of the previous session where the rudd came from the deep swim and the roach and occasional perch from the shallower swim. This time though there were no perch at all. The bream had failed to show by the time it came to packing up and the majority of fish I'd caught were in hour between eleven and twelve. A quick weigh showed there to be 5lb 1oz of shiny rudd and roach. I was quite amazed as I though there was less than three pound in the net.

If I was practising for a match I don't think I'd have learnt very much from these two sessions unless it was a pike match. In this case it seems the smaller pike feed between twelve and two. I bet they don't when I go down there pike fishing.

One Of Those Days

Despite storm Agnes heading this way the weather forecast didn't look too bad for most of the day. A tad draughty and, maybe,  the odd shower. I had a cunning plan to protect me from the worst of the wind. I would try the brick pond as the wind would hit the woods first so shouldn't affect the water too badly. I'd also acquired some 5AA insert wagglers which were nice and long so I should be able to counteract any drift. Having not been there for quite some time I was shocked to find that only a couple of swims were fishable. The rest had lilies growing in front of them. Oh well.

After a bit of plumbing about I found a clear area six foot deep in front of the Arrowhead. Further out I found a deep spot  at some eleven feet roughly half way across. I set up a 2½AA insert waggler For the inside and the 5AA insert waggler for the middle. Maggots over hemp for the inside line and breadcrumb laced with maggots and fishmeal pellet for the middle. It seemed my bait chucking skills had deserted me. Whether throwing groundbait or catapulting hemp I really struggled to hit the target. In the end I was just glad it hit the water. If I'd been playing darts I think I'd have ended up on double one.

First cast to the near line produced a bite on the drop. A tiny perch which fell off as I swung it in. Next cast i was bitten off when a jack grabbed a the fish. Things then went quiet on the inside line so I had a chuck with the heavier rig to the middle. Unfortunately I miscast straight up into the tree above me. I got a tangles mess back minus the hook. Back on the inside while I re-rigged. My feeding of hemp and maggot got a bit more accurate but it was still over a larger area than I'd of liked. The float dipped under the surface and out came a small roach.

Out it went again and there it sat for twenty minutes with out so much as a chewed maggot. With nothing on the inside line I went back to the middle, or I tried to. For some reason I'd now lost the ability to cast. Eventually I managed to get the rig where I wanted it. After a few minutes I was into something small that was grabbed by a pike as I wound it past the lilies. As the pike turned I was bitten off again and the float etc. shot into the tree again.

This seemed to be a good time to partake of luncheon. I'd been trying to fish for two and a half hours at this point. I chucked out more feed to somewhere in the vicinity of both swims and settled back with a cuppa and lunch. Suitably invigorated and with the heavy rig redone I started in the further swim. The wind had now changed direction slightly and leaves were starting to drift into the swim. After half an hour with nothing forthcoming I moved to the inside swim. The leaves were now a bit problematic as I seemed to either land the bait or the float on one. Once I got the bait through I did manage to catch half a dozen roach before and other pike attack scattered them.

Back out to the middle. All was quiet for about twenty minutes before a small roach dragged the float under. I then managed to drop three while swinging them in. The next fish in was a rudd taken off the bottom in eleven feet of water. The threatened shower finally turned up so up with the brolly. This made casting a problem again but I somehow managed to land the float in the vicinity of the feed. Four more rudd followed each taken after the bait had settled on the bottom. All bites stopped as the rain got heavier.

Looking at the rain radar showed a gap in the rain around half three before heavier rain was due along with stronger winds. The moment rain stopped I got packed up as there was a fair walk back to the car and I didn't want a soaking. I just got everything in the boot of the car when the heavens opened.  Eight roach and five rudd for five hours fishing isn't brilliant but I'd caught. One problem I did have on packing up was two of the wagglers were too long for the tackle box so they had to be wrapped in a towel and carefully tucked into the corner of the rucksack.

More Lazy Maggot Drowning

With Agnes on it's way making the coming weeks weather a tad unpredictable I got myself down to the estate lake for a spot of maggot drowning. Dry and windy was the forecast. One other angler was there when I arrived in the car park after trying every combination lock code I knew and still getting it wrong. The number of combination locks, doors, fire alarms, cards, etc. that I need a four digit code for is getting silly. Admittedly I don't need some of the codes any more but I've used them for so long those are the ones I remember. I've only got three months to remember this one before the club changes it again. Really it would be easier just to get my ticket out and look at the code on that but I'd forget it by the time I got to the gate.

 

After a bit of a wander I decide to fish the down wind end near the island. Despite the number of times, over the years, that I've fished here I've never fished this part of the lake for silvers. I've only ever fished for carp or pike. Two float rods were set up. One to fish about a rod length out with maggot over hemp and the other to fish the deeper channel near the island with maggots over ground bait. Two more anglers arrived during this time both intent on a spot of maggot drowning like myself. Having tossed several small balls of ground bait out towards the island I started on the inside line and had half a dozen very small roach and perch quite quickly. Before it went quiet.

I then went over to the island and had a skimmer first cast on half a dozen maggots on a size twelve. After waiting for the next bite I changed to a similar number of dead reds but this failed to elicit a bite. I chucked out a couple more balls of groundbait and  returned to the inside line Eventually I had four small roach. Slightly bigger than those I'd caught previously. After a couple of very small perch there was a scattering of bait fish and the swim went dead. As previously I went over to the island and caught a skimmer nearly straight away. The wind had now got up a bit more making bite detection a bit of a problem.

This is how it continued for the rest of the session. The skimmers never seemed to settle and the predators kept attacking the inside line. Unlike previous visits it took a long time for the fish to come back. After five hours I had four skimmers and three dozen small roach and perch. Reports form the other anglers were similar although had had a decent bream.

A pleasant five hours was had even if the fish weren't very cooperative. The weather had been reasonable warm and the breeze not too troublesome. Strangely I didn't catch any rudd this time. Nor would the skimmers take dead reds. We'll see if the rest of the week allows for any fishing as it appears it's going to continue to be wet and windy. I don't mind either, it's both I dislike.

More Fish Counting

I had my barbel gear ready for the rising river, but a sore ankle from slipping on a rotten apple in the garden as I picked up the windfalls suggested it might not be a good idea to be wandering around steep slippy banks. I decided instead to fish a clay pit that I'd not fished since last century. Armed with maggots, casters,hemp, and groundbait for anything that was hungry.  I decide on one of the few pegs with out a platform. This would allow me to stick banksticks in and I could park the car right behind the swim. Tactics were to be hemp and caster in one swim and groundbait with maggots in the other. Two waggler rods were set up and a bit of plumbing around was performed. The bottom seemed snag and weed free.

Hemp and caster to the left. Maggot and groundbait to the right. It took a good half hour before I got my first bite. A small perch on maggot, quickly followed by a small rudd. It was then the turn of the caster to produce another small perch. Bites came in fits and starts for the rest of the day. Three other anglers arrived and set up shop, mainly catching the same thing as far as I could tell. At one point I thought I was into something better but it turned out to be a small rudd with a twig wrapped round the line. At the end of a rather unexciting day I had 25 rudd, 23 perch, and only 3 roach.

Not the most exciting day but the weather was pleasant and the bites kept my interest with out me have to try too hard. Others had a feeder rod out but hadn't caught anything on it so I'm glad I didn't bother. It does, however, look like a good bet for a pike or two later.

No Leaves, Leaves

 I'm always a tad concerned when I arrive at a popular fishery and there's nobody else there. Do they know something I don't? It does give me the choice of swim though. The gravel pit was nice a clear unlike the other day at the estate lake.  started in a corner swim with a waggler setup and a feeder rig. The waggler fished close in with maggots or casters over hemp. The maggot feeder was cast out to the middle. The first fish out on float was a small roach with a rather bright orange patch just behind the mouth.

Small roach and bream, with the occasional perch followed in fits and starts. I'd catch two or three fish then it would go quiet for ten minutes or so. It didn't seem to matter whether I feed a few maggots and hemp or a handful. I tried casters as well but that just lead to a longer wait between bites. I was recasting the feeder every ten minutes or so but hadn't even had a chewed maggot on it. After an hour I'd had seventeen fish. Just after the hour mark the tip pulled round and I had a small bream. The pattern with the float fished maggots and casters continued as before. At the two hour mark I'd added another 18 small fish. At this point a really strong gust of wind shook a lot of leaves from the trees all over the pit. making it nearly impossible to cast the float in with out catching a leaf.

I had a wander along the bank and found the other corner swim clear of leaves so moved down there. I continued with the same tactics as before. The first fish out this time was a slightly larger roach with a injury on its side.

 
The bites were a bit more consistent in this swim but mainly from small perch. The feeder rig produced another small bream. On the float rig I tried hemp and elder berries to see if I could avoid the small perch but couldn't get a bite on them. After an hour I'd caught thirty three fish twenty five of which were small perch. Another hour passed with the leaves slowly creeping into this swim. The bites slowed down and I managed twenty four fish before this swim became unfishable as well. The feeder rod had given a couple of rattles but only produced chewed maggots.

With the pit unfishable due to the leaves I decided the frustration of trying to get the float in was not worth it and retired gracefully. Ninety four fish in just over four hours had kept me amused so not a bad day. The leaves falling from the trees are going to be a problem where ever you fish at this time of year.

Fishing In Pea Soup

I was surprised to only find one car at the estate lake car park when I arrived. I wasn't that amazed when I saw the colour of the water - a horrible green colour which didn't really show up in photos. I dip of the hand showed the water to be cool so I decided not give it a go. A light waggler was set up to fish close in. Hemp and maggot to the left. Groundbait and maggot to the right. A couple of ducks turned up attracted by the splashes and made a bit of a nuisance of themselves for the rest of the session. They even tried sneaking up behind me at one point.

Double, even triple, maggot produced plenty of bites the majority of which I hit. All small perch, roach and rudd. Quite how such small fish manage to engulf three maggots and a hook I don't know. Normally they would drive you to distraction just nipping the end of the maggot. Every now and then the predators would move in scattering fish. A bit more feed would have them back feeding. The other chap fishing had only a small bream on feeder tactics, but changed to close range float to rack up net in a short time. before leaving. Over the five hours I was there I managed 204 fish. averaging a fish every ninety seconds. Things were a bit slower for the last hour as the wind had got up and was blowing leafs into the swim. I'm sure with a whip I could have doubled that number, or maybe I'd have got bored.

Not my usual sort of thing but good fun all the same. A keep net would have been useful as the catch would have made a great photo. I also had my licence checked for the fourth time this year and the second time here.

Another Attempt At Tench Fishing

When I arrived at the lake I was surprised to find only one other angler there, fishing the swim I'd fished previously. He was pole fishing and mainly taking small roach and perch. I set up a couple of pegs further down it a peg with a bit more room. My intention was to fish double maggot to one side and sweetcorn next to the lollies to the right. A bit of plumbing around showed the swim to be a couple of feet deeper than the corner one. The waggler floats were trapped between a couple of float stops with all the shot in a bulk a foot from the hook in order to bypass the tiny rudd up in water.  I did fond one of the largest water snails I've ever seen. I knew they grew to this size but most of them I see are only half the size.

Having chucked out a few balls of groundbait laced with sweet corn by the lilies and similar with maggots to the left I settled down to fish. While not much happened to the sweetcorn the maggots attracted a fair few perch and roach Before a pike grabbed one I was reeling in and wrecked the swim for quite some time. In the mean time the carp were crashing about in the lilies. The other gent suffered a similar fate. By tea time the perch and roach had turned up again and I was the only one on the lake. I spent a little time trying to take a picture of one of the grass hoppers, but they're reluctant to stay still. When I did get one in frame another jumped in as well so two for the price of one.

As a chomped on a sandwich the maggot float shot away out into the lake, the ratchet on the centrepin panicked the moorhens. . After a while had whatever it was under control and heading back to the swim. A double figure carp came wallowing up to the surface and was heading to the net when it went barbel on me and shot off again through the lilies to me let before coming the a halt in the next swim. I wandered down there to find it stuck in piles of Canadian pond weed and silk weed just beyond the reach of the net. I left it for five minutes to see it it would swim out before opting to just heave and see. This seemed to work as it was heading towards me but it then decided to set off the other way. The float jammed in the pile of weed and the hook length gave. Bugger.

As I tied on another hook-length the float above the sweet corn lifted and slid away. After charging around the swim like a lunatic a two and half pound tench made it's way into the net. I put the last few balls of sweetcorn laced groundbait in and recast. For the last hour before dark the swim was fizzing but nothing seemed interested in the sweetcorn on the hook. I tried replacing it with a bunch of maggots but that didn't make a difference. The final bite of the night was from a tiny perch that took four maggots.

 

I suspect the tench in this lake my be morning feeders in the main.

First Spot Of Tinca Fishing In A While

While fishing the pit the other day I was pondering the fact I hadn't done much tench fishing for an awful long time. A change of plans meant I had time to give it a go. I didn't arrive as early as I'd of liked but a nice looking swim near the car saved some time. The other anglers there all seemed to be of the carpy persuasion. With some defrosted ground bait and red maggots left over from my trips to the pit also saving time. A plumb around showed it to be a tad over five foot deep. Two rigs were set up. One with a size sixteen hook and five pound hook length to fish double maggot and the other with a size twelve to fish either pellet of four maggots. I loose fed maggots to the left were the double maggot rig went and groundbait to the right where the pellet rig went.

Little roach were soon on to the double maggot. After half a dozen or so I struck into something bigger. Because i thought it was just another roach I was a bit slow heaving it away from the lilies and it crashed into them and shed the hook. More roach followed before I was into something heavier again. This time it shot away from the lilies and embedded itself in a load of silk weed. After a lot of heaving all I got was a load of weed and no fish. Things then went quiet for a while before the float above the double maggots rose in classic tench style. This time I struck and heaved and had it circling in the clear area. Another heave and a lovely tench of one and a half pounds was in the net. Things then went quiet again as the carp angler to my left battled a sixteen pound fish out in front of me. I chucked the last of the ground bait to my right this time laced with red maggots and changed the hook bait to four reds.

By now we were into the first of the drizzly showers. A small carp leapt over my float before a larger one mouthed the float. The next shower was a bit heavier and had me contemplating packing up as I had no brolly with me. A look at the rain radar showed another clear spell coming. so i stuck it out. A couple more roach put in an appearance before the right hand float rose and dived away. Again the hit and heave tactic was employed to good effect  and a tench around the  two and half pound mark was soon in the net. Another quiet spell and an other shower had me sat in the shelter of the car while I had a cuppa. The carp anglers had all departed by this point, not wanting to get everything soggy before packing it away. I had one last go as the sunshine appeared and again the right hand float rose. Hit and heave and into the silk weed it went. It managed to shake most of the weed of as I heaved it to the net and make another dash for the lilies. With my thumb stuck behind the handle of the 'pin it wasn't going anywhere and a tench around the three and a half pound mark was in the net. It was now time to go. I was quite pleased with the session on a lake I hadn't fished for some thirty years.

The Right Pellets?

I'd been to the tackle shop yesterday day for for some maggots and a couple of other bits.  The consensus in there was that the rivers weren't fishing well so I decided another trip to the pit was in order. Rather than suffer the horrible clammy windless heat of the afternoon into evening I decided to try an early morning session instead. Besides the pit generally fishes better of a morning. I double checked the pellets to make sure I had the right ones. I also had groundbait, worms, maggots and casters with me.

It was thick fog on the way to the pit and as a result dawn was nearly twenty minutes late. This gave me time to mix up the groundbait and lace it with chopped worm and crushed casters. Half a dozen balls went in next to the lilly pads. I then catapulted out a mixture of Source pellets into a deeper spot. I had two float rods set up, one for pellet and one for maggot or caster. I started on the pellet line and got a reasonable bream first cast. Would this be a first cast jinx or the start of a good day. It turned out to be the former. After that first fish I couldn't get another bite on that line no matter what bait I tried.

It was the lilies that produced all the fish mainly to double red maggot or single caster. Small perch, little skimmers and roach of various sizes and a single rudd were caught intermittently. Three or four fish were caught then things would go quiet. While it was quiet I'd try different baits on the pellet line to no avail. The other problem was that the little jack pike were active and every now and then there be  a scattering of small fish and things would go quiet. A couple more balls of ground bait would eventually get them feeding again. Sometimes though the jacks were a blessing as tiny roach or bream would move in and just nip at the maggots and make a nuisance of them selves so I didn't mind the jacks scattering them.

The fog finally lifted around eleven and as it got brighter the bites tailed off which seemed Like a good time to pack up as it was also turning clammy. Why the pellets were steadfastly ignored, except for that first fish I've no idea. I'm sure If I'd dropped to a single maggot on a twenty I'd have caught a lot more fish, but I couldn't be faffed with the tiny little things.

The Wrong Pellets

 With a couple of hours, or so, to spare I grabbed a couple of rods and a bait bucket and headed down to the local gravel pit for a dangle in the cool of the morning. I opted for the corner swim. Mainly because I could park right up to it and fish out of the back of the car. Another angler was in the next swim along and taking the odd skimmer. I opened up the bait bucket to toss a few Source pellets next to the lily bed. Unfortunately I'd picked up the bucket with Halibut pellets and the like in. I've never done well with halibut down here, but I was stuck with them so out they went. A light waggler rig was set up and a 6mm soft hooker went on for bait. Much to my surprise I had a good lift bite after a couple of minutes and a nice little skimmer was flapping about in the end.

There then followed about twenty minutes of the float bobbing about but no contact. No amount of adjusting the depth or shotting made things any better. Things then sort of settled for a while and half a dozen little skimmers were contacted with and landed. As the sun burnt through the clouds the bites started too tail off. The bites were also back to the bobbing about type which never really results in anything. The other angler had taken to hurling a feeder out to a far weed bed for the odd larger skimmer. I had a feeder rod with me but didn't really see any point in setting up as I had very little time left.

Two and a half hours for seven skimmers isn't really brilliant but a combination of bright sunshine killing it and a bait that doesn't really work it wasn't a bad result.