Prawntastic

This week I stayed very local and fished Willow Farm on the outskirts of Evesham. The forecast was for dull and overcast weather and it stayed that way until mid-afternoon. I thought that it would be perfect for Perch as they do not feed well in bright weather. The sudden drop in temperature following the lovely warm weather all week caught me out and I felt freezing all morning.
Last week was the first time I have ever used Prawns as bait and as they had caught three Perch in quick succession I decided to try them again, just on the one rod and on the other I used half a Lobworm. What I didn't realise was just how much Tench love Prawns. They went mad for them!

I had nine of them in total up to 3lb 11oz which to begin with was good fun on float and light tackle but I often fish places where they run much bigger so I started to get a bit annoyed with them. I would play them carefully thinking they could be a big Perch only to be disappointed when they came to the net. A few years ago they would have made for a really good days angling but I have been spoilt by catching them close to double figures. It is sad how your viewpoint of fish size changes and with it your opinion on what constitutes a good fish does as well.

I also caught a small Roach on the worm and a near personal best Silver Bream which actually excited me more than the Tench. It weighed a meagre 9oz and took a small section of Prawn. For it's size it had a remarkably big tail.

There are Silver Bream over a pound in here, I know because I saw one in old man's keepnet whilst chatting to him about the species. He had no idea what he had caught as is often the way. I will keep on trying until I break that barrier.

Ruddy netful

I am not a fan of commercial fisheries and whilst this venue may have the slight look of one, once you scratch beneath the surface it is very different. This is Hailes fruit farm, there are two ponds which were obviously originally for the farm's water supply. They are not advertised at all, not even from the roadside so they are peaceful, undisturbed and overgrown. They do hold Carp but only a small stock of naturals, no F1s, stockies or pasties. The majority of the stock is silvers(and gold!) and they range in size from small to average and slightly above. So this was were I spent my weekly outing.
I have fished Hailes twice before using only maggots and I caught a lot of fish. The problem I had was trying to get to the better specimens. The maggots were eaten by everything especially the small Roach so this time I fancied trying pellets to see if that would sort out the bigger fish-it worked.

Other brands are available

Also having read about some bloggers recent successes with Perch on prawn I had a second rod primed for a margin attack.
First cast with a pellet and I landed a Rudd and a pretty decent one at that weighing about 12oz. Within a few minutes I had his sister in the net also and this set the tone for most of the day. It was very nearly a bite a chuck and watching the waggler sail away is one of my favourite things in fishing.
I also quickly landed three small Perch from the margin rod on Prawn but those bites dried up as soon as the sun came out.
The only thing that slowed me down with the pellets was a change of wind direction around lunchtime. All the crap that was gathered in the right hand corner blew across in front of me to the left hand corner. It meant the float being dragged about or the pellet not sinking but I was having such a good time I did not let it bother me.

I finished with a bagful of Rudd, Perch and the odd Roach and not a mangled mouth between them.

My ambition for the session was to beat my previous personal best Rudd, which stood at 1lb exactly. I managed to do that by a meagre two ounces. Not the target annihilation like last week but pleasing none the less.

Seems like Spring has finally arrived.

One target done (several to go!)

At the start of 2012 I set myself a series of targets that I wanted to achieve during the year. Today I annihilated the first of those. 

It has been four weeks since my last outing due to family commitments, work and visitors. It has been great catching up with family and old friends but the downside was missing the last two weeks of the river season and reading everyone's blogs has not helped in the slightest. In fact they all made me pretty jealous. 

One of my 2012 targets was a 3lb Trout, a new personal best on the fly. This branch of our sport is really exciting me at the moment, variety is the spice of life and I love trying new places and methods. I have been reading and absorbing all things fly for the last few weeks.

This morning I set out early for Lechlade fishery, a renowned big Trout mecca boasting double figure Rainbows and Brownies set in the Cotswold countryside. The lake itself is a lot smaller than I imagined but being fairly new to fly fishing it was plenty big enough for my amateurish casting efforts. I arrived about ten minutes before the gate opened and had a chat with some of the other anglers that were obviously as keen as me. They were really friendly and told me what flies had been working and what they had been catching. It was a bit of an eye opener that they were so willing to divulge information. Imagine if I had asked a carper what bait he was on. In response would be a grunt and a twitch and I would be none the wiser. The fly consensus was lures and flashy colours.

The gates opened and I got a two fish ticket, and some flies as recommended by the others plus the fishery owner.

My fly fishing is still in it's infancy so I headed to a quiet corner where I could thrash the water to a foam without too much embarrassment. To my amazement on the fifth cast the line tightened and it was fish on. I could not believe it! It was a good fish and just as I was getting control of the fight I reached for the net. Fatal mistake, the hook pinged out as I took my eye off the prize-gutted. It did my confidence good though just having hooked a fish.

I persevered with the same fly for a couple of hours but apart from a couple of tentative 'follows' nothing happened. At lunchtime I had a wander round the lake chatting to anglers on the way and one lad was having success with a yellow lure. I checked my fly box and had every other coloured lure bar yellow so I tied on an orange and green thing(no idea what any are called!) and chucked it out. It wasn't long before it got nailed. The only fly rod I own is a 5weight Orvis clearwater so is light and whippy and therefore leaves me a bit under-gunned for these big hard fighting Trout but with a bit of care I managed to land my first Lechlade Rainbow. I was elated. Easily a new pb and almost bigger than the net. I had to sit down and have a brew to stop my body shaking.

6lb 9oz of battling 'Bow'

The killer fly, 'a gold bead head green and orange thingamajiggy' just above the handle

I pulled myself together and moved swims away from the disturbance of that fish. I stuck with the same fly and kept chucking it toward the island opposite and slowly retrieving it back. For a bit of variety I had one cast along the edge and could see the fly working all the way when out of the depths another fish came up and nailed it. It was so exciting to see the whole take in the clear water and the fight was just as nervy as the previous because I knew this fish was bigger. I said over and over to myself "stay on, stay on" and thankfully it did. Twenty minutes later and I had raised my pb yet again to 8lb 5oz. I was and still am thrilled. Fish limit reached, target done, a superbly enjoyable day.

8lb 5oz

Start 'em young

I have been undecided all week as to what species to fish for this weekend but a sudden drop in overnight temperature made my mind up for me, it had to be Chub again. When there is a frost on the ground they are the most reliable for getting a bite and they didn't let me down.

I ventured out bright and early to the same stretch as last week. Last week I roved around fishing several different swims but I only caught in one. This week I headed straight for that spot and settled in for the day. I did not have to wait long before landing a decent Chub of about 4lb, first cast.

Cheese paste works quickly if the fish are in the swim. Normally I use Cheddar and Danish Blue but the shop only had Stilton. Obviously it makes no difference, in fact it is probably better.

The bites kept coming steadily throughout the morning and I finished the session with seven fish in total, a combined weight of well over 20lb.

My Wife, Daughter and Son had a walk along the river around lunchtime to feed the ducks and see how I was getting on. They were suitably impressed with my catch, especially Max (well he is only 2 years old). He has seen fish before but only Trout so he loved seeing a netful of Chub and insisted on holding one for the camera. In the interest of fish welfare I helped out.

Maisie was not so keen and she stayed well back.

 There is no doubt that Max is going to follow in his Dad's footsteps and come the summer we'll venture out to catch him that memorable first fish. I remember mine, a Tommy Ruffe from the Derwent in Yorkshire, more years ago that I care to admit to.

Cheesey Chub

It was freezing cold and the remnants of the snow crunched beneath my feet as I made my way down to the Warks Avon this morning. Thankfully there was no breeze and the sun was threatening to brighten up the day and raise the temperature to just above painful.
I thought the best chance of a fish was Chub with it's willingness to feed in all temperatures and I headed to a swim that has been a banker for me in the past. This stretch is slower and deeper than others so in theory the fish could lie up here in relative comfort. Cheese paste is my favourite bait for Winter Chub so I cast out a good lump on a simple running ledger rig, three pound hooklength and a size 8 paste hook.
I have tried hair rigging paste for Chub without success so I now go straight on the hook with just the point on show.

Last week it was dogs that kept taking an interest in the contents of my bait bucket, this week it was birds. Seconds after this picture was taken the little blighter jumped in and started helping himself. I decided to use him for an experiment. I put a lump of cheese and a similar size lump of bread on the path to see which he preferred. He ate the cheese which shocked me, I wondered if Chub would do the same?

After ninety bite less minutes I was beginning to feel the cold so decided on a change of swim, the walk would warm me up if nothing else. I went to a peg that was just down from the weir. I had seen fish in their in the summer but would they still be there in the winter. The flow is a fair bit faster.

I cast out without too much confidence but first chuck the rod shook and then shot round and it was fish on. I landed a Chub of about 3lb. I recast and the rod tip did exactly the same, this time it was a much better fish weighing 4lb 7oz. Home made Cheese Paste had done it again.

This seemed to kill the swim so I headed to the next swim, just below the weir. This time it was a replica of the first spot i.e no action. Apart from bird life again. A pair of swans came along and normally I am not a fan of these but these two were positively tame. 

They let me feed them straight out of my hand.

Big pieces of bread though! Can they really break a man's arm or is that a myth?

There was no more fishy action and I left around 2pm before it got too cold.

'Back' on the Avon

My first chance to go fishing for over four weeks coincided with Winter finally arriving properly. The Vale of Evesham has a different climate to surrounding areas so while we had the snow that blanketed the rest of the country we also had overnight rain and above freezing temperatures which led to the snow quickly melting into the river. I don't want to make excuses but snow melt is not conducive to catching fish. So I have made an excuse!
I have been out of action for the past few weeks with a slipped disc. My own fault, I did not adhere to  the health and safety manual, picking up a (large) log whilst not bending my knees and I felt my back ping instantly. It was agony especially driving. Added to that we have been short staffed at work and hence my bankside time has been severely restricted. I could only manage to get out in the morning this weekend due to Christening and Godfather duties.
I knew the fishing would be difficult Sunday morning but I had to give it a go. I thought my best chance of catching would be Chub so off I went with cheesepaste and flavoured luncheon meat.
The river always looks stunning in the snow. The peace and solitude is refreshing, well it was until the army of dog walkers descended. I lost count of the number of canines that I had to pull out of my bait bucket while their owners came running along the frosty bank apologising profusely.
Talking of bait buckets did anyone lose theirs?

The variety of stuff that floats past when you are fishing is amazing. Every single session a tennis ball floats by along with all other manner of crap. A dead cat is the worst thing I have seen so far, can anyone beat that?

Anyway I tried hard but could not muster a bite let alone a fish, still it was nice to be back on the bank again finally. Next weekend cannot come soon enough.

Pike in the 'Sham

Having spent last night in a cracking pub in Coventry(yes I didn't think there was one either!) with a gang of fellow bloggers talking fishing until late I did not get to the river until nearly lunchtime. It didn't matter, I wanted to fish dusk more than dawn anyway. 

I have been watching the river level on the Wye all week and it has been very up and down, in fact more up than down so I stayed local and fished the deep water in Evesham town centre. Contrastingly the level of the Avon has not changed for months. The stretch I chose is about 14 feet deep and has a reputation for occasionally throwing up 20lb Pike so I gave it a go.

A beautiful winters day, blazing sun and no wind made it very pleasant loafing around but a few more fish would have capped it off nicely. In the end I avoided a blank by landing this 8lb 14oz Pike on a Mackerel tail. It put up a really good fight for it's size.

Wye, we'll be back.

The first session of the new year was spent on the Wye just below Ross (on Wye) attempting to catch a twenty pound Pike. This river never ceases to amaze me in terms of it's beauty and the stretch we fished today was no exception. It looks great even in winter and we know there are thirty pounders in there.

Cockney Steve and I set off with high hopes this morning but on seeing the river our confidence waned somewhat. Five foot up, chocolate brown in coloration and bombing along at breakneck speed. Also it continued to rise another couple of feet while we were there. Far from ideal conditions but we gave it a go. I should have checked the Environment Agency website for river levels before booking.

I found the slackest water I could and slid my way down a treacherous bank to drop a couple of  Mackerel tails a rod length out. This swim was not built for comfort and I had to stand up permanently to stop sliding in. However it paid off, after about an hour I struck into a Pike and played it to the surface. It took one look at me, thought sod this, shook it's head and threw the hooks out. It was only a Jack so I was not too bothered and I recast with renewed confidence.

As is often the case with fishing it was a small window of opportunity and nothing else materialised from that swim. We roved the river looking for other likely spots and finally settled in a backwater that looked very promising. Apart from some teeth marks in one of my Mackerel nothing much occurred. 

Cockney Steve did not have a touch all day so although it wasn't the result we were hoping for, hooking a Pike in the conditions was a good result(of sorts). We will study the weather more carefully for next time. We will be back.

Review of 2011, Plans for 2012.

A busy festive season that I really enjoyed has not left me with much time for fishing, a day on the Avon trying to better my recent big Roach and a very short session with the lure rod chasing Pike. The lure rod was a blank but the Roach sortie yielded three Roach to about 12oz and a Silver Bream of about 4oz. It was interesting to find the Silver in the stretch and I may have a more concerted effort for them next year.

2011 Review
2011 was a productive year for me personally and the bloggers challenge led me to targeting species that I don't normally go for like Crucians, Silver Bream and Dace. Added to this were sea and game species I have never caught before and I also started fly fishing seriously. This led to an impressive 9 personal bests plus a river Tench that made 10.

The freezing January temperatures meant I only targeted Chub and Pike. Several Chub to 3lb 10oz.....

using cheese paste and Pike to 17lb 7oz on dead baits.

February saw a slight break in the weather and as temperatures rose above freezing I had a session after Barbel, the biggest weighing 9lb 10oz.....

and a fat Chub weighing 5lb 3oz to complete a pretty good brace. Casters were their downfall.

March was a bit of a struggle but I did land a 1lb 3oz Roach and a 1lb 15oz Perch.

April saw the start of my Tench campaign, I am desperate for a double, I hope 2012 will be my year for that. I think that May is when the old Tincas seem to really pile on the weight, but I did manage several in April to 7lb 11oz.

May 2011 was a particularly productive month of the year for me, three personal bests. A trip to Yorkshire led to a  2lb 12oz Blue Trout and a 2lb 7oz Rainbow taken on the fly, both pbs.

 A single session at Linear gave me a pb 32lb 8oz Mirror and a 9lb 6oz Tench, another impressive brace!

Both taken on worm hook baits to 8lb line and size 12 hooks.

June saw me take another couple of bests, both species that I have never weighed before, a 1lb 7oz Crucian from Marsh Farm.....

and a 7oz Siver Bream from Willow farm. Not that impressive but I will target both species for improvement in 2012.

July saw me back on the river and trying new tactics for Chub and Barbel. Freelined rolling meat certainly captures plenty of fish, the average size seems smaller than static legering but the action is fast and furious. I landed over thirty Barbel in July to the tactic, best 10lb 14oz...

and lots of Chub to 4lb 14oz. I would like to see this particular fish again at it's late winter weight, it will be well over 5lb, possibly pushing 6.

August saw the first of a couple of Shark trips out of Plymouth. No toothy critters were landed on the first but I did fluke my first ever Bass while messing about with lures while the Sharks weren't biting. A great battle on light gear and obviously a pb at 4lb 12oz.

The skipper put me on to the Garfish in the slick and they are great fun, another new species for me and I landed several to a pound.

Good fun but they are messy and smelly!

September had me Sharking again with more success, two on the boat, the biggest a 50lb Blue.

The other extreme was a 3 1/2oz Gudgeon, the biggest I have ever caught.

October and November were difficult fishing months, I blame the weather, weed, lack of rain etc. I did have a couple of good days though. I fished a session on the Irfon in deepest Wales and landed lots of Trout and Grayling to a pound.

I also enjoyed some more fly fishing taking Trout to 2lb.

December saw the capture of my favourite fish of the year, a 2lb Roach from the Avon taken on bread flake.

2011 was an enjoyable and fairly successful year on the water and I cannot wait to get out in 2012 and land some more pbs. I also finished a respectable third in the bloggers challenge.

Plans and Targets for 2012

Top priority is a double figure Tench having had plenty of 'nines' I must land a 'ten' this year.

A twenty pound Pike is a fish I would love to land and I will spend time after that early in the year.

We have a Spanish Catfish trip booked and I would love to better my 125lb pb that week.

Also a family trip to Florida should enable me to get out and target a few different species.

Two shark trips in autumn chasing 100lb Blues.

Crucians, Silver Bream and Rudd are on the cards for beating.

3lb Eels and Trout will be sought and I would love to try for Mullet as I have never caught one.

I don't want much then! I shall let you know how I get on.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, tight lines and screeching reels!!