Back In The Groove

" Don't be sad it's over, be glad it happened "

Ian Brown ( and lots of others )

Back from our French barbel trip and I've got the hunger back for freshwater fishing, probably helped by the fact that sea fishing is dire at the moment.

First session at the big ressie for a while. Looks lovely down there, water level dropping, giving access to lots of swims. Sat there for several hours watching the terns, grebes, kingfishers and pike chase the roach.

Out of the blue I had a determined take, bent into the fish and the line snapped. On inspection it looked like zebra mussels had badly damaged the line. Bastard. Apart from a suicidal roach which took three grains of sweetcorn that was it.

With Lord Pualus of Clacton on holiday I decided on a lone early morning session on "The Poaching Pit", just a quick couple of hours before the dog walkers appear. The previous evening I'd watched a big group of  ghostie types cruising about and occasionally going down on the bait, so I was keen and confident of a few fish.

I arrived at first light, which this time of year is in the middle of the bloody night. Several handfuls of maize and tiger nuts and I was settled and fishing.

Within ten minutes I was in. The usual savage take and crazy fight and a few minutes later a nice mid double mirror was in the net.

Shite photo, but it was dark and the flash didn't go off

A while later the rod suddenly whipped round as a very unusual looking litlun of around 5lb sped off at a rate of knots. Strange colouration, browny orange ghostie. Much smaller than anything I've seen so far.

I then immediately had another take, on bending into the fish it was obvious that this was much, much bigger. It rocketed off through several weedbeds and didn't stop for fifty or sixty yards. I managed to turn it and it started to kite around towards open water. It felt like "the one" I was after. Then the fecking hook pinged out. I was not amused.

After that it went quiet for an hour or so. A few more handfuls of maize and I had two fish in quick succession, one of which swam round in circles in a strange manner. When I got it in I could see why. A chunky mid double mirror with a freakishly small tail. Take a look.

Six takes and four fish in three hours, not bad, so I packed in and sneaked off, unseen and already looking forward to the next session.

French Barbel

" But best of all I love the barbels because they roll like big brown and white cats upon golden shallows and sing in the moonlight with the joie de vivre of June. And because, so, they are all Thames to me and wild rose time and streams running down from the weir "

Patrick Chalmers
At The Tail of the Weir

The Mighty Turdster said to me a few weeks ago he'd like to catch a barbel, a fish he'd never caught before. It's been ten years since I caught one too, so it seemed like a good idea. I looked on the internet at a few stretches of the Wye and Severn and then stumbled across a video of a very boring man catching loads of barbel on a beautiful French river.

It turned out to be the river Meuse in the Ardennes region of France and after a bit of further investigation I tracked down a B and B right on the banks of the river run by a bloke from Norfolk.
A phone call later and we were booked up for mid June.

Ade, the B and B owner, said it was a big, powerful river and recommended heavy gear. 15lb main line and long rods capable of throwing 3-5 oz feeders. I put my engineering head on and modified a sea fishing tripod with a little bit of help. See photo below. This ranks alongside the shelves I put up in 2014 as my greatest feat of DIY.

Sod's law prevailed and our trip coincided with boiling hot sunny weather with temperatures in the early 30s. Never mind, better than rain, although it was too hot ( for me anyway ) to fish in the middle of the day.

The first evening I managed to lose a couple of barbel and catch a load of bream. NeXt morning Turdster and me both got off the mark with two barbel each, not big fish, maybe 3-4lb, but a start.

It certainly is a beautiful area. The far bank is very heavily forested for miles. We saw three different types of buzzards, peregrine falcons, kingfishers and a wild boar bathing on the opposite bank.

A local French bloke we spoke to had caught carp to 45lb and cats to just under 100lb in the past few seasons, so there's some big fish there.

We managed, barbel, chub, dace and gudgeon, but there are roach, ide, sneep, pike and zander too.

On the last evening we went back to our favourite swims. I baited with half dozen big feeder fulls of sweetcorn, pellet and seed and left the swim to settle for half an hour. Turdy fished his swim straight away and was instantly into bream. A day or two ago he loved those bream but by now wasn't keen on them at all.

My first cast resulted in a screaming take and a barbel about 6lb ploughed up and down the swim before hitting the net. A few minutes later I was in again. This continued as the light faded and in that magical hour around dusk I managed six barbel, a nice chub and a few bream, as well as losing something big to a hook pull ( may have been a cat I think )

The Turdster had a couple of barbel and lots and lots of those lovely bream.

Considering the conditions we did pretty well I think. I'd like to fish it in the autumn when it's got a bit more flow and colour. We learnt plenty too and I've got the hunger back for freshwater fishing.

Another great trip.

In Like Flynn

Me and Lord Pualus the Carp King have had a couple of short "below the radar" sessions at my new favourite pit.
First trip was a very quick evening session. Nice and warm, wind pushing in to our bank, spot on.
We managed three between us, plus I lost a decent fish on the last cast. Best one to Pualus, a common of  around 14 or 15lb.
A few days later a very early morning trip was planned. We were set up by 03.15, with dawn just beginning to break and a full moon glowing.

A few handfuls of maize was spread around my area, with Pualus opting for tiger nuts because "I only have to bait up once in the session ". Fair enough.

I was in first with a nicely conditioned mirror, shortly followed by another. Then another.
Pualus hadn't had a touch. He decided that action was required, so flicked out his bait a bit further, right on the edge of a slightly deeper gully, chucked in several handfuls of tigers and within two minutes had a screaming run.

To say these fish go mad when you hook them is an understatement. They tear off at such speed you can here the line zipping through the water. Forget trying to backwind, you can't keep up with them.

The fish Lord Pualus is holding in the picture above went so crazy we were laughing our dicks off as he tried in vain to control it.

All the fish were again in absolutely pristine condition. Surprisingly, despite 80 or 90 per cent of the fish we've been seeing being ghostie or metallic types, all the fish this morning were "standard" commons or mirrors ( though that description does them an injustice ).

We finished up with six between us, best again around 15lb and sneaked off without being seen for coffee and breakfast in the garden. Happy days.

Pualus "holed up" under a bush

With A Little Help From My Friends

Lucky Bob called last week to invite me to try for a tope from a oh-so-secret-spot somewhere on the East Anglian coast. A beach caught tope is a very, very rare beast, so I didn't need asking twice.

I met Bob first thing in the morning and we started our three mile trek over two creeks, mudflats and endless marshland. I donned my  " Essex Waders " ( an old pair of trainers bound with duct tape so the mud wouldn't suck them off my feet, a technique perfected for the Maldon mud race ) and shorts, on the basis that with waders and troosers you were going to get sweaty wet at best or get them full with sea water a worst.

The marshes were full of ground nesting waders, oyster catchers, plovers and redshank and surprisingly we saw loads of deer tracks too.

We eventually reached a totally deserted beach in glorious sunshine. What a place. Very, very remote and as unspoilt as it gets.

The fishing was slow, as you'd expect when you're basically trying to win a fishing lottery. LB had a small bass and a flounder on his light gear, but other than that, all was quiet. I was happy lounging in the sun and taking photos though.

Just as confidence was beginning to wane, my close in rod bent round and the ratchet began to scream. I couldn't believe it. I tightened up and within seconds the fish was seventy or eighty yards along the beach to my right. I ran along the beach frantically winding to try and get a bit of line back whilst shouting at the top of my voice to LB. 

In a few minutes we caught sight of a big tope, thrashing around in the surf and running up and down the beach. A big wave washed the fish closer in and LB grabbed the tail and dragged it ashore.

What a beast. We didn't weigh it, but LB estimated it at 33/34lb, that'll do for me.

Local maestro Lucky Bob

We fished on but had no further action. A storm raged a few miles away as we packed up and began our long trudge back. The tide was not down far enough for us to cross the first creek, so we sat down and waited half hour. I then tested the depth and slowly, very carefully made my way across before giving the OK to LB. He managed to get his waders full of water as I'd forgotton he's only 5' 6" tall and for good measure a few minutes later he went arse over head in the mud.

We were both hot, muddy and wet when we made it back and before driving home we popped in the pub for a celebratory and much appreciated pint.

It was a fantastic day in an extraordinary place. I got very lucky and would have had absolutely no chance without local knowledge. You really do need help from your mates sometimes.

" I Coulda Been A Contender "

" Regret is the worst human emotion. If you had of taken another road, you may of fallen off a cliff. I'm content "

William Shatner


Done the Paras10, a ten mile cross country yomp with 35lb pack and boots last weekend. I was aiming for around 2.15 but somehow managed to come in under the Para qualifying time at 1.48. Well pleased.
Great event, well organised as expected . Lots of Gurkas, East Anglians and Paras taking part, not many no hopers in this one.

Managed to source some bespoke garden furniture from a large local reservoir. Bloody heavy but make perfect tables, just big enough to take a large glass of red, small plate of cheese and a book. Wunderbar.

That's me below, did I mention I did the Paras10 ?

The fish in my "private pit" have been spawning, so I've not been fishing, but have spent time watching and observing. I've told Lord Pualus of Clacton about the water and shown him round, so now have someone to take some photos. He's mega keen too and a fine fellow.

Took The Masonmeister and Young Charles crabbing at the weekend. Like all youngsters, they loved it. That was until Young Charles grazed his knee and then much wailing commenced. Unfortunately, this went on for bloody ages. I even had to finish off his ice cream for him.

Light for eighteen hours a day, warm and sunny, everything in full bloom. It doesn't get better than now,

'Ave It

" Simplicity, simplicity, Simplicity. I say let your affairs be two or three, not hundreds or thousands"

Henry David Thoreou

So do I Dave.

Nice looking water eh ? I've walked past it a few times but never seen any fish, but a few weeks ago I noticed how coloured the water was. Doesn't get coloured without a reason, so I sat down on the bank for an hour and watched. I eventually spotted a very light coloured "ghostie" carp. Then another, then a group of them. Good sized too. Hmm.

There are " Danger - Keep Out" and " No Fishing" signs everywhere, so I jumped over the barbed wire for a snoop round. No sign of anyone ever fishing, very overgrown, steep banks, but a couple of interesting out of the way spots.

The other day, I came back with some bait, selected a swim and chucked some in. Within twenty minutes half a dozen decent sized carp were tails up feeding on the bait.

Alarm clock set for 4.00 the next morning, bait in the water by 4.30 and within five minutes I was in to a decent fish that tore off, making the reel scream and rod hoop round double. A few minutes later a gorgeous looking ghostie type mirror not far short of 20lb was in the net. Nice.

Tucked away out of sight

I only fished for a couple of hours, but had five carp and lost two. They all fought like demons. The thirty plus year old Sportex 2lb TC had a real hammering.

As well as the  first fish, I had one nice common around 15lb, a couple of  low double ghostie mirrors and a litlun around 5lb. By 7.00 I was having breakfast.

Crap photo, but you can see it's a lump

You won't be surprised to learn that I'm going back for another go soon.

So's that

Later the same day I had my first trip of the season down the river bass fishing. Float fishing a few yards out in a couple of feet of water, plenty of schoolie bass were hitting the ragworm almost every cast. Nothing decent but plenty of time yet.

I saw a mate lure fishing the same spot but unusually, on this particular evening, he didn't have a touch.

It was a beautiful warm spring evening, we had a good chat and a few fish, what more do you want ?  I'm looking forward to plenty more evenings like that this season.

Pikeying

"Be outspoken but not obnoxious"

Chuck D

Pikeying ? That's a new word.
Pikeying - To search, forage or gather this, that and the other, for free.

Massive tides last week so I went down the beach to see if I could see any gullies,  bait beds, etc.
I love messing around on the beach. Found a large bed of razor clams on a stoney ridge about 120 yards out, which is only exposed a few times a year.

The clams are in the holes you can see on the photo above and squirt water a foot or two upwards as they here you approach. Walk along with a bottle of table salt. pour some down the hole and if you're lucky they'll come up and you can grab them. Got about thirty clams that are now in the freezer for eating soon.

Added bonus of half a dozen leads and it's been a nice early morning on the beach.

After a couple of half successful Alton sessions I decided that it was time for a float making session. Due to the undertow at the reservoir, you sometimes need a float 15-20 inches long to get below the drift. Lobby came up with a few full size peacock quills and I bodged together some bespoke floats.

Last weekend a great weekend in the southern Spanish hills with Mr and Mrs Turdster. Bit of walking, cycling and lots of eating and drinking. Wunderbar.