Looocal Loafing

Spending a bit of time on the local big stillwater. When I say big, it's seven miles round with lots of bays and inlets.

My tench swim seems to be tenchless. This particular bay is very clear and at the moment has next to no weed growth. It doesn't fill me with confidence but it's early days.

The shallow end, on the other hand, has a bit of colour and may be a better bet right now.

Take a look at this photo, taken from the same place ten days apart. Amazing the speed stuff is growing.

I spent a bit of time up this tree not spotting any fish.

Yesterday I tried a different area, fishing for the bream. Most of the bigger fish are still not on the shallows and I was fishing in fifteen plus feet of water at fifty yards.

The first hour was biteless but soon I started getting knocks on the tip. It was a bit nippy but the wind had dropped away and as the light faded, fish started rolling over the baited area.

The indications increased and soon I was into a nice fish of around 5lb. In absolutely immaculate condition with lots of spawning tubicles and surprising totally snot free.

Half hour later I had a bigger one of around 7lb. Again, in mint condition.

I somehow managed to hook somebody else's broken off hooklink. Somehow the hook had impaled itself through the swivel eye. How the hell did that happen ?

As dusk approached, the rolling continued but bites dropped off. I packed up in the gloom, surrounded with bats hunting insects along the margins and the sound of nightingale in the distance.

I'll have some more of this very soon.

Quick Trip

Me and Bully were due to have a week long trip around the canals of Shropshire and Staffordshire after tench, but the awful spring weather put us off.

In the end we went to the GUC in Warwickshire for a few days.

First day was cold and windy, so much so that I went back to the camper to warm up. We had a few bits and pieces, but nothing exciting.

For a man that "doesn't drink in the week", Bully managed to put away a beer or two in the evening back at the camper. Curry and chilli, cheese and biscuits, lots of unhealthy snacks, we dined like Kings. 

I got through several sets of earplugs too, as the man who doesn't snore was wheezing like a throttled pig.

Friday was a fantastic day. We were sheltered from the wind and I sat there in a T shirt soaking up the sunshine.

I fished a pole but also put out a sleeper rod, hoping for a tench, short hook link, cage feeder, bolt rig styleeeeee.

I swung the bait out a couple of yards from the bank to my left and got on with the float fishing. 

Within ten minutes the sleeper rod whacked round and a decent bream ( by canal standards ) of around 3lb was the result. 

Next cast same result, another bream. And so it continued. I heard sniggering and looked round and Bully was poaching my swim. No shame some people.  

The sleeper rod continued to produce on and off all evening, unlike the float, which was very slow, although right at last knockings I had a couple of very nice rudd to 1lb 5oz and a decent hybrid.

Bully managed to catch quite well on the pole in the end too, having several decent bream, plus rudd and hybrids. He nabbed this 1lb 5oz roach from a different swim in the morning too.

We packed up in the fading light, the birds still singing and bats darting overhead, a fitting end to a really enjoyable day.

Start of a Campaign

I know I'm a moany old git, but this absolutely ridiculous spring ( winter ) weather is getting on my tits. Fecking rain since the beginning of March on and off and cold with it.

I've fished about three or four times since the river season closed. I hate sitting under a brolly in the wet and cold.

I've been baiting a bay in a very large stillwater for the past week and decided to give it a go this morning.

I arrived a bit late and noticed it was very clear. Not what I wanted.

Bait in, float fishing in the margins and after an hour there were no signs of life, so I climbed a tree and peered into the swim. The good news was that the area I've been baited was nicely clear, so they'd been clearing the feed up at some point.

I saw one fish, which I think was a smallish tench. 

I gave it another couple of hours before packing up and before I left I gave it a bit more bait.

I think with the clarity it will mean fishing at dawn or dusk. 

When I got back the float rod was put in the garage and a self hooking feeder rod set up. I think I may have to put more than my  two or three hour sessions to catch a few, so I've changed the tactics accordingly. 

It's not an easy water, but I'm confident of a few fish over the next few weeks. I'd be even more more on it if we ever get some warm weather.

Ah, the good old swans. They're even more arrogant and persistant than usual on this place and I'll be taking a leaf out of Wak Baines' book when it comes to remedial action. Wish me luck.

Toodle pip.

Out With The Old....

The river season went out with a whimper, all the hopes and plans in ruins l, thanks to a flooded river. Not quite the end of the world though.

I've been waiting for some settled weather to get down to the canals in the camper, but the relentless rain and crap weather had made me put it on hold.

In the end we decided to go for a short two-three dayer. Let's see how many essential items I've left at home this time.

Bully said he was travelling light. " Just a pole and float rod ". Hmm.

He then proceeded to show me a couple of lovely Sportex ( I think ) tench rods he's bought with him and enough bait for a month. Nothing wrong with being prepared though.

First session started slowly, with Bully having a roach and me blanking. This is never good because within half hour tops I'll be bored and itching to move.

Out of nowhere the float shot under and the elastic ( yes, I'm a pole expert now ) done it's job as a decent sized, but as yet unseen fish darted about. Turned out to be a cracking rudd over the pound mark.

Next put in another. Then another and in about twenty minutes I'd had seven or eight clonking rudd, the best two going 1.07 and 1.05.

Pity the photo is totally out of focus, no idea what happened there.

Next day we tried a pre baited swim that was totally dead apart from a rogue bream.

Back for lunch, my speciality, dirty omelette. It's messy and magnificent. Onions, chorizo, cheese and piri piri sauce. Or it would have been if the sauce hadn't had six months of mould on it.

We then decided to try a different canal nearby. The wind was howling, but we found shelter. Comfortable but fishless. 

I tried another swim. Nothing.

Bully tried in the windswept hotspot and had a lovely perch of over a pound and a roach. I concentrated on gripping my pole ( oooooh matron ) as the wind tried to rip it out my hands. I wasn't enjoying it one bit. Luckily Bully suggested a move back to the GUC and we spent the evening having a bite a chuck. Nothing big but welcome anyway. 

Back to the camper and it was cheese, biscuits, crisps, nuts, Crunchies, beer and wine. It's the law when you're in da camper.

Great music was played, tales exchanged and the world was put to rights.

Bully surprised me saying he'd always wanted to go to a rave and, erm, indulge. He's almost seventy you know. I mean, he didn't want to go that evening, which was handy as we were at a farm in Warwickshire in the arse end of nowhere.

He contented himself with dancing around the farmyard, dressed only in crocs and five day old Y fronts, whistle in mouth, hands in the air like ya just don't care, shouting " Anyone in the house got some Vera's? Loooovely "

Actually he didn't. Thankfully.

Next day we woke to yet more rain.

Bully left early and I, being a hungry bastard, had to have one last go. Four nice rudd, two skimmers and half dozen silver bream in just over an hour made it worthwhile before  I made the journey back home.

We'll be back soon.

Bollocks

 Fecking weather.

It's Coming

Yes, it's bloody cold and grey and miserable but spring is sort of here.

The fish know it. At dusk the river is full of topping roach.

Tonight it was freezing but there was activity everywhere. I had a couple of roach and missed loads of bites from a couple of different swims.

I was feeding sweetcorn and the roach were on that too, though they prefered bread.

I went to reel in to re cast, only to find something that was definitely not a roach attached to the line.

It was a pig of a chub, in pristine condition and a very welcome addition to the roach.

After that, the wet net froze rigid, the rings iced up and my fingers stopped working, so I packed up and went home. Looking forward to the next session already.

Searching

Much as I love the chubbing, I was keen to find out if I could get a winter bream from the "forbidden" stretch and if you know bream the way of doing that is give them a bit of bait.

Of course, the pre baiting coincided with much colder weather, but if you don't try you won't know. I'm sure that most fish still feed in very cold temperatures, but only at certain times and for shorter periods.

Those times are often around dusk and that suits me.

I picked two swims. First one a very deep run with cover on the far side and reeds on the near bank and the second a wide, featureless, shallower bit. Why ? Because bream like wide bits in small rivers. I know that sounds daft but it's often the case.

I've now baited and fished them four times with mixed seed and sweetcorn.

First swim, not a bite. There are roach topping which are probably on the bait though.

Second swim. After the first baiting I arrived just before dark for an ultra short session. First cast the tip went round and a lovely winter bream around 4lb was the result.

I also had some roach. A great start.

Next two sessions just roach and yesterday I decided to fish in to dark for an hour. It started slowly and after twenty minutes ( I'm an impatient sod ) I started thinking about a move. 

Then a had a tiny bite, the tip barely moving, just like a bit of debris had slowly hit line. I left it and when I wound in the worms had been shredded, so had obviously been in the fish's throat.

Next cast, again a very slow small movement on the tip which I hit and yes, "the rod hooped over". Decent fish too and in lovely condition.

6lb 13oz but looked bigger. Not huge by national standards but the best I've had off this river for a very long time. Well chuffed.

I had a couple more of those bites. I don't think they are shy, I think with it being cold they are barely moving when feeding.

I just hope we get some milder weather before the season ends because I think there's a chance of a fish or two if it does. 

Also, it's very clear with no flow at the moment. If we get flow, colour and warmth we could gave some top fishing.

As always, time will tell.