Prepping and Blanking

I've been mulleting. I walk the river most days and like to think I know their habits and haunts, but I can't get a bite at the moment.

Loads of fish about but total failure. This will change I'm sure. 

My seven year old £3.50 Chinese bite alarms  packed up the other day, so I splashed out a total of fifteen English pounds for two NGT specials, with battery and carry case. Bargain I reckon. Whisper it, but the fish don't know what brand you're using.

On Friday I went to see Cooky on The Big Stillwater for a chat. No fishing tackle, just a chair and cooking gear. We demolished a dozen sausages, half dozen eggs, a can of beans and several pieces of toast between us, courtesy of the mighty Ridge Monkey grill.

Cooky was slaying the bream and ended up with fifteen between four and seven pounds. No sign of the big ones though.

He managed to get me a 15 kg sack of huge hemp. They'd sold the whole delivery before it was bagged up, such is the scarcity of decent quality seed at the moment.  It looks lovely. 

Sunday morning I walked the tidal river and upon returning, retired to the garden to feed on a leftover cold Chinese from the previous evening, before tieing up some mullet spinners whilst listening to Liverpool win the Premier League on 5Live.

That, as an old fart, is my version of "Living The Dream". You think I'm joking. I'm not.

I couldn't resist another go after the mullet in the evening with the fly gear but unsurprisingly blanked, despite being surrounded by active fish. Bastards.

Keeping It Local

More fly fishing for mullet along the tidal river, luckily ten minutes walk from the house. Me and PC gave it a good effort and we both had a take. Unsurprisingly, both missed.

Mine came first cast in a new area and I was day dreaming. 

Waaaak and JM joined us too for a chat and a social. As the day went on more fish showed but we remained mulletless. A good time was had by all, though.

I've also been poking about on The Big Stillwater. Looking for an elusive tench. A lovely swim in a shallowish bay was selected and baited with mixed seed and maize.

A couple of days later I returned and spent an hour with the binoculars scanning the water. A couple of coots were diving over my baited spot and after scrutinising them I noticed the feckers were eating my maize. Which meant the fish hadn't ! 

I still think it's a good spot and will persevere.

My regular riverside walk from the house, a three to four mile circuit, has seen a big influx of summer migrants over the past week.

Loads of sedge/reed and cetti's warblers, whitethroats, blackcaps, a cuckoo, the usual waders and wildfowl. Yesterday, I watched as four red kites and a sparrowhawk whirled and wheeled on a thermal in bright spring sunshine in a cloudless sky.

Three nightingales were calling in a sheltered, overgrown spot by the railway sidings, a sound that sums up spring.

The next blog post will hopefully include some fish shots. Maybe.

A Spring Day

Bit of work in the morning and then a proper breakfast.

Popped round to see the oldies and then down the Poach Pit for the afternoon. 

Full of birdsong, cettis warblers, blackcaps, chiffchaffs, blackbirds and plenty of martins and swallows. Lovely laying there in the sun.

Made some pva bags....oh I'm so carpy.

Even had time to mend my headphones, Jack Duckworth styleeeee.

Seriously,  another pair at the extortionate price of £6.50 were ordered. Surprisingly good audio quality and plenty good enough for when I'm working.

Had three nice ones, nothing big, before it was time to head back with the sun setting and birds still calling.

Grey Ghosts

The sun has been shining constantly, but here in north Essex the dreaded easterly wind has been cold and relentless. Bit sick of it now.

Until a couple of days ago I'd not fished for well over a week. I did make an hour plus trip to a pit in the Fens, but after a walk round and chat to Bully, frankly I couldn't be arsed. The hunger wasn't there, so I drove home without wetting a line.

However, on Thursday,  Me and S had a very quick go after some mullet, a couple of minutes from the house, trying out a couple of new fly rods I'd bought.

The rods were great, there were loads of mullet present, but we couldn't get a touch. Nothing unusual there.

The following day, I had a proper recce further upriver. The birdlife along here is fantastic, all manner of waders and wildfowl, the first of the summer migrants ( chiffchaffs and blackcaps mainly ) showing, a sparrowhawk, marsh harrier and several buzzards.

I'm pleased to say the mullet were spread throughout the river, it's a few years since I've seen this many this early.

Again, they didn't seem to be in feeding mood, I'd bought along the spinning rod which normally sorts a few out, but I couldn't get a take until, totally out of the blue, the spinner was grabbed and the rod whooped over.

I really don't buy the "British bonefish" tag that some people give mullet. Certainly, thin lips anyway. In my experience thicks fight much harder. 

This one shook it's head a bit and as it neared the net offered decent resistance, but it was soon in the net. Ah, the net. I bought a net for use wading or on flat banks that I could clip to my belt. Very handy and as cheap as chips. Or two bags of chips. Eight quid. Bargain.

A couple of miles away is a wood absolutely full of wood anemones. An incredible but fleeting sight, in a week or so they'll be finished and it'll be the bluebells turn. 

Enjoy it while you can.

More...

I wasn't working last week so had a chance to get back down the PP for a three more short sessions.

As you can see from the above photo, no bite alarms required, a stone on the spool and a plastic box on the ground rekindling the spirit of the late John Sidley.

Anyone under sixty obviously won't have a clue what I'm on about.

On two occasions I timed it right, with a strong north westerly blowing directly into my swim.

The margins were baited and plenty of fish caught, although nothing massive. 

The two fish in the photos fought like crazy, I was thinking they were very big fish and was a bit shocked when I netted them and saw they were around the mid double mark and not well over 20lb. Bloody good fun though.

Laying down in the swim, a cettis warbler appeared from the undergrowth and perched on a branch not six feet from me. A perfect view of a secretive bird that is often heard but very rarely seen.

The blackthorn is in full bloom right now and what a sight it is. Enjoy it while it lasts.

On the last session I was plagued by the small commons I'd seen but not caught on my first trip. I resorted to what Rod Hutchinson called the "Greedy Pig Rig", to no avail.

Working this week, so each evening I'll be walking and watching for mullet in the local tidal river. The mini campaign at the P.P is over for a few weeks but I'll be back.

The Poach Pit

Seven years on I returned to the Poach Pit, even more overgrown and neglected now. 

The small swim is tucked out of the way from prying eyes. Mostly.

The Pit is still being worked and the diggers and trucks pass in front of you, but they're maybe two or three hundred yards away.

It's probably six to eight foot deep, two to three rod lengths out, possibly the deepest part on the whole water, but was only "chosen" because it's the only accessible spot.

Two swims were baited, one hard against the margins to my right and another ten yards out on the left. I fished them on rotation and used a single rod so that one swim was always rested.

Scanning the water there was a group of maybe ten fish in front of me, but I was shocked at how small they were, maybe 4-8lb. 

I needn't have worried, the first fish I caught was an "almost leather" of just over 17lb, with just a single scale on the root of the tail. It was followed by a beautiful common of maybe 12lb.

Two days later I was back, fishing from about 09.00 to 14.00. After an hour the rod bent round and an extremely angry leather carp led me a merry dance until hitting the net. Another just over 17lb and a stunning fish.

Bites were steady and I ended up with six fish, three 10-15lb, one of 17lb+, an incredible mirror/koi of 18lb+ and a common/koi of 19lb 12oz.

The fights from the largest two fish were savage, the mirror running maybe thirty of forty yards before erupting on the surface and then attempting to tail walk.

The condition and colours on all these fish were amazing. The mouths are unmarked, the fish have undoubtedly never been caught before and there's not many places in Old Blighty that you can say that about these days.

In between catching those carp I watched a marsh harrier quartering the nearby marshes, saw a pair of kestrels, a buzzard, watched the kingfisher fly back and forth and listened to  cettis warblers and chiffchaffs calling in the undergrowth a few yards away.

The lost world, just out of the way of the hustle, bustle and bullshit of modern life.

So lucky to have a place like this

I'll be back down there at the end of the week hopefully. 

 

Scheming

This week I've been prepping for mullet, the baited spinners and floats were dug out, traces tied on the vice and I even went through the fly gear and ended up giving one old rod away and immediately ordering two more.

I know, I know.

A few days ago I had a walk around a working pit where I fished seven or eight years ago. It still looks lovely and I started thinking about the carp that were landed and lost.

They were most certainly previously uncaught and fought like demons, they were absolutely savage.

Me and Lord Pualous of Clacton were both broken several times on 15lb line as well as having hooks bent. It seems mad but it happened. 

It was massively overgrown and there was only one swim where you could fish. Unfortunately even that one is now underneath a huge canopy of brambles and birch.

I had a look on the opposite bank. It was almost totally inaccessible. Almost....

I found a bit of bank that was slightly sunken and flat for a couple of yards. Hmm.

Couple of days later I returned with power  secateurs and gave the swim a light trim, just enough of a gap to fit a rod in. Two at a squeeze.

Oh and I deposited five or six kilos of seed and maize in the swim.

 

It's a bit of a mission to actually reach the pitch, a fifteen minute walk, a climb over barbed wire and finally a hundred yards through dense birch trees. But the swim is now prepped and baited, so I'll be having a go very soon.

I'll also be looking for the mullet regularly and if and when I see them, I'll be after them within minutes, as the gear is assembled and stored in the van.

Can't wait to get fishing.