Perch, Willow Farm

This swim is the most 'Perchy' looking swim I know and despite fishing 10 hours(wife and kids still away!) the only one I nearly caught would have weighed about two ounces but the hook pulled. Chopped lobworms and red maggots were fed all day to attract the small Roach to the in turn attract the large Perch but it was not to be. The weather was bright and sunny which did not help and I did miss several bites on the lobworm hookbait but put these down to small fish playing with it.

However I did avoid the blank by catching a Roach, a Rudd and a brace of Carp. All obviously 'nuisance' fish but the biggest Carp weighed 13lb 2oz and was a real hit and hold effort on 4lb line so was very pleased to land it.

It decided to behave like a Grayling too.

Grayling, Teme

A couple of days spent chasing the Lady of the stream on the stunning river Teme. This fish filled river is almost as beautiful as the Wye and the over grown banks and steep slopes can be a real challenge but the results are almost guaranteed. The wife and kids were away for a week so full sessions were possible and I took advantage. 

Only one slight issue at this time of the year and that is Minnows, there are millions of them so peg choice is restricted to the faster water where they avoid. Trotting a loafer using light gear was an absolute joy and traveling light and peg hopping made it all the more pleasurable. I think I had somewhere between 30 and 40 Grayling to 1lb 2oz, three Dace and whenever I changed to worm the Trout came along to a pound.

Her ladyship put up commendable scraps both in the water and especially on the bank so I only took photos of the biggest and as you can see she led me a right song and dance. They never give up until they are back in the water and then they go all quiet and have to be nursed back to fitness. Typical women!

Hold still ya bugger!

Thats better.

Barbel, Wark Avon

Back down to Earth with a bump following the highs of last weeks Shark expedition. The Warks Avon was the venue for a Barbel foray but despite warm, dark and overcast conditions they just did not play ball. I looked at the weather and felt full of confidence but that drained in direct correlation to the fishless hours. I had bait dropped two very fishy looking areas with hemp and was fishing flavoured meat over the top. One area was the smooth water at the bottom of a run off the weir and the other a very likely looking gravel run downstream. Four long hours into my short Five hour session and not a sniff.

I decided to chuck it and chance it so instead of cubes of meat I ripped off chunks, put one on each rod and chucked them in the 'washing machines' under the weir sill. Within minutes I was in and what thought like a really good Chub popped it's slimy head above the surface, a big Eel!

I then amazed myself. I got the hook out with relative ease and weighed it at 2lb 1oz. Also I laid it on it's back and rubbed it's belly. It then was still long enough for me to take a self portrait. I normally don't get close to them, but I was on my own so had no choice. The Anguilla swam off strongly and I went home a happy angler.

Blue Shark, Plymouth

Plymouth is a favourite venue for our sea fishing club and I would like to say it is the fishing that makes it so but that is not always the case. Sea fishing is at best hit and miss. The Tope session earlier in the year had hurt and I was not looking forward to another attack on Sharks that would end in a blank. I need not have worried though as Malcolm Jones on Sea Angler 2 is a tried and trusted skipper and has never really let us down. He works hard to get results and that always helps.

Sea fishing rigs are amazing. I wish I had photographed this one as it is different to any other I have ever used. 50lb main line leads to a matchstick which holds the soft drink bottle float so that the bait is at the right depth, which leads to a wire trace leader and a circle hook that looks like it would never hook anything. But that lot works! 

Three anglers with three rods out led to five Sharks on the boat. When they run they are unmovable, just hang on and wait  for them to tire. This can be an arm aching 30 minutes. 

A super result, all taken on Mackerel flappers at about 20 metres depth. Simon took the biggest at 87lb but I was more than pleased with my 80lb contribution. The biggest fish I have ever caught and I celebrated it in the bars of Plymouth that night, and the next morning!

Barbel, Warks Avon

The river looked in tip top condition, just fining down after a well needed flush through of rain and when I pulled into Barton car park I was not surprised to see it full of cars and vans. As I was there a few hours before dusk I decided to walk the full length of the stretch and have a chat with the anglers there to get a low down on what had been caught and what bait was working well.
I talked to all of them and there was a lot of grunted replies and dry landing nets, a few small Chub and not a Barbus between them. It didn't bode well but I told myself they were all still there to be caught then and renewed my own confidence. Pellet on one rod and Boilie on the other, both dipped in flavour.
Dusk came and went and the river sent me home with my tail between my legs, she is a cruel mistress! I went home to plot my revenge.

Eel, Warks Avon

An evening session hoping for Eels but lobworms have a universal appeal to all species so with every twitch of the quivertip you have no idea what the culprit is. The first three fish landed were all 3oz Perch and then suddenly the tip flew round with a better stamp of fish. A really tough tussle ensued with the unseen quarry battling through the far bank weedbed and causing a few hairy moments. Finally the culprit started to tire and I could see a stunning river Tench of about 4lbish. The fight was better than any of the 8lb Tench I had battled in the spring, amazing from a fish half their size. Living in running water had really built up it's muscles.

I shouted four pegs down to our lad to bring the camera and when he arrived he told me he had a decent Bream and so I put the Tench back and trailed up to take his picture in return. He was also on the Lobs and the Bream weighed 4lb 7oz. This season is his first real foray into serious specimen fishing so this is probably his fourth or fifth pb of the year!                       

Being super competitive I had to outdo him and I added several more Perch, two Chublets and my own Bream. Having already had a double figure Bream this year I would normally have put it straight back but instead I decided to wind my brother up and weigh it as I was sure it was the larger. I was proved correct but only just, beat him by 2oz! His round first at the pub on the way home!

Barbel and Chub, Warks Avon

An early morning session that blew hot and cold and we can probably blame it on this regular visitor to the swim!

We did manage a few fish between us though. I started the ball rolling with a 4lb 4oz Chub and our lad quickly followed suit with his own 4lber, a Barbel weighing 4lb 11oz. 

The swim then went dead for an hour or so. I have never seen the Avon so low and clear and it was plain to see why the swim was dead. For half an hour we watched old Esox trying to eat a Barbel of about a pound and a half, fascinating but just too far out to get on camera. I decided at that point to have a play in the lock with some worms. It was like an aquarium and  although I could see one or two better Roach the stunted Perch did not give them a chance. A succession of eight or nine in about five minutes soon spooked the Roach, one of which was well over a pound!

Having got bored of that I returned to the Barbel and they came back on the feed. I landed a battling 6lber and Nath managed a 7lb 9oz fish plus a pb Chub of 4lb exactly.

Barbel, Warks Avon

A successful overnight session on the Avon for both me and our lad with a total of five fish caught, all different species! I was fishing mainly for Barbel and the boy was after Zander and Pike. There is a huge amount of weed in the river this year and trying to find a couple of pegs where we could land fish if we hooked them but also had a reasonable chance of hooking them wasn't easy. We eventually settled into adjacent pegs and with the land rover parked behind us, we left the bivvy in it's bag. At 9.30pm the tip of my rod did a 3 foot twitch and then danced around as I tried to steer a 7lb 8oz Barbel to the waiting net. A couple of hairy moments with weed and eventually it was in the net.

It just turned midnight and my rod bucked over but this time it was a chub and having put up a really good account of itself I landed and put it straight back, probably about 3lb 8oz. 

2pm and it was our lads turn and after a weedy battle he landed this 5lb 11oz Zander taken on a Roach dead bait. 

A celebratory can of Carling and I was falling asleep in my chair so I reeled in and climbed into the back of the Landy. The wind and the rain were now really noisy and I thought to myself my brother has either fallen in or must be crazy to still be out I this. I was just thinking about checking on him when the passenger door went and he got in the front. His snoring woke me at about 5am and as it was light I got up and started fishing again.

I put a dead bait out and landed a near double Pike and also had a skimmer Bream took a size 9 hook. 

At 9am my wife rang to tell me that she was ill and I would be looking after the kids for the rest of the day. Should be fun after only three hours sleep.

Barbel, Warks Avon

I tend not to use particles for my Barbel fishing as they not discerning and any species will take them. However because the river is so low and clear and a big lump of meat, boilie or pellet will spook them I gave casters and hemp a try on a short evening session.
Constant tapping from bits and three Dace and a Perch reminded me once again. I persevered however and finally nailed a whiskers. I lost a smaller one in the abundant weed before finally carefully landing this probable 5ish pounder. Now a dilemma, back to big baits or stick with the particles?

Tope, Brightlingsea

Firstly I apologise but I wanted to show the reason we made a 7 hour round trip to the Essex coast and back. This 48lb Tope was the biggest of five Tope caught LAST YEAR when we chartered a boat out of Brighlingsea. They are called the Greyhound of the sea and they feel like a 48lb Barbel when they run. This year was a major disappointment and we should have twigged early on when even the Mackeral bait were difficult.

This year there has been a lack of a Tope run and that is probably due to the lack of bait but we were stubborn and when we should have stuck on a Skate bonanza we twisted on the Tope and bust.

Tony however landed the only non bait fish of the day, this 5lb 4oz Ray which is a club record. Still two nights away with good mates and plenty of Ale is never a total downer!

Pike and Zander, Warks Avon.

An after work short evening session down by Wick weir chasing predators with dead baits. Small Roach are a universal bait and could result in either of the big predators but last year we landed Eels on them too at around this time of year. If small Eels are around it can result in chewed bits of Roach and false takes but this year none have been caught or mouthed. Hopefully this is not a sign of their absence.
It is not often I have to be photographer and our lad is the subject but he beat me tonight. This 7lb 3oz Pike was the only fish landed as I missed my only bite of the session. Cannot win them all!!

Barbel, Warks Avon

The title and aim of the session were both Barbel but the Chub were a lot more obliging. Fun at first but becoming a nuisance. Following an opening day blank it was pleasing to get a new season off and running with a Chub on the bank. But after that there followed another eight, all between 3lb and 4lb. Normally that would be an excellent days angling and I am not that short sighted as to realise this but I was only wanting Barbel. Probably sounding like a miserable old Yorkshireman having an unnecessary moan but sod it.

I did manage one example of the target species which took the secret flavoured luncheon meat, I did not weigh it but would guess at between 6lb and 7lb tops. 

The minnows seem really abundant this year and they were a menace, stripping the meat off the hair in about 20 minutes, so I changed to boilies and that caught more Chub plus an impaled Minnow with a size nine hook in it's cheek. Swam off ok though!

Trout, Lenches Lakes

A first fly fishing trip for over twenty years to the Lenches lakes. Accompanied by Uncle Ken a breezy day made for difficult casting conditions for an amateur but perseverence paid off with a brace of Trout weighing 1lb 6oz and 1lb 10oz. Several tangles and a few expletives but a happy angler at the end of the session.

Tench, Hardwick, Linear

A final Tench session before the rivers reopen, the close season seems to get longer each year. A slow and difficult day resulting in a brace of Tench weighing 7lb 2oz and 8lb 4oz respectively. Both fish were taken in the morning as the action ground to a halt in the scorching midday summer sunshine. The usual tactics of chopped worm feeder doing the damage. Bored of still water now and cannot wait to sit by the flow.

Carp, Stubb's Pool

A short evening session with our lad, one rod, a net and some dog biscuits results in over 40lb of Carp on the bank. First blood to me with this low double, followed by a simultaneous hook up which saw us both land small commons.
Then right at last light a large common wolfed down my floater and a glorious battle ensued. After a good twenty minutes the big girl was in the net and I was looking down at a new pb. 22lb 4oz of lean muscly Carp and a trip to the pub was decided upon to celebrate.

Tench, Manor lake

A peaceful corner of Manor lake which was like an aquarium. Plenty of voluntary visitors to the margins including a brace of Pike, several Tench, Carp and a shoal of Roach. A few forced visitors also via the rod and line, seven Tench to 8lb 8oz, a 5lb Bream and a 1lb Perch. An unexpected visitor gave me a real shock. I was just sitting there peacefully taking in the surroundings when suddenly my right foot began to move. Mr mole was burrowing his way across the peg right under my chair.

Tench, Hardwick, Linear

A tough day spent battling more with weed than fish. A succession of hook pulls and lost fish in the weed made for a frustrating morning. However a change in fortunes in the afternoon saw a Carp and a Tench in the landing net. The Tench was the first fish and after a spirited fight pulled the scales down to 6lb 15oz.

The battle with the Carp was without incident which was surprising considering the amount of weed in the swim but this pretty Mirror weighing 10lb 10oz obviously does not like the stuff.

Tench, Hardwick, Linear

It is supposed to be spring with nice warm days and gentle breezes. Instead we get strong northerly gusts and a cold, shivering angler, despite a coat and two jumpers. No excuses needed for the fishing though as another bumper haul is enjoyed from the Linear complex. Seven Tench in total, most were in the 6's and 7's but one female did nudge the 8lb mark.

What was most pleasing was the 'nuisance' fish, as some anglers call them, but I do not see them that way. Bonus fish more like. A new pb Bream which was the first fish taken of the day and weighed 10lb 10oz.

Around 12.00pm my alarm signaled a slow but steady take. I struck into a fish and thought it was a bream, not much of a fight but in fact it was swimming towards me. Then everything went solid. Bream do not dive into weed beds so I thought it must be a Tench. Steady pressure for about 20 seconds and the fish came free. There was a lot of weed draped over the line but the fish was coming closer. Then it's back showed out of the water and I could see it was a Mirror Carp. This was the point it decided to find another weed bed and bury itself again. I pulled and pulled but no good, it was solid. I gave it some slack and put the bait runner back on and replaced the rod in the rests. One quick brew later and I gave it another tug. The fish was still on and I pulled a bit harder and prayed the size 12 hook and 8lb line would hold. Finally, with the steady pressure the fish started to come my way. After a 20 minute fight she went into the net and was mine. An epic battle from a stunning 16lb 4oz Mirror.

Tench, Horseshoe Lake

Trying to find a swim to fish on a bank holiday weekend was a lot harder than I thought. The intention was to try for Tench at Linear but there was literally no space on St. Johns, Hardwick, Manor and Oxlease. A fact finding mission to Linch Hill yielded a lot of information but the fishing was left for a quieter time so Horseshoe lake was were a line was finally cast some 4 1/2 hours after leaving the house.
The shortened session was still a success as a first (and second) ever Horseshoe Tench was landed.My first was probably one of the smallest in the lake and although it was a pretty fish it never got weighed.

The final fish of the session weighed 7lb 2oz and both fish fell for chopped worm-feeder tactics.