22/09/13 - Trent and Mersey Canal

Arranged to have a quick session down on the cut for the zander with my mate Tim. In contrast to the previous weekend it was bright, warm and sunny. Possibly not the best weather for zeds, but couldn't really complain and by tea time I was desperate to get off. Unfortunately things started to go downhill from there. A text from Tim announced that he wouldn't be able to come after all. Secondly, I got delayed on a congested M1 and didn't get down to the canal until gone 7pm. Finally, with the sun disappearing, I rushed to "the spot" only to find it occupied by three yoofs, each with two rods out for the carp. Set up some way downstream from them with a view to leap-frogging down to the next lock. Soon had two rods out with half deadbaits on single hook rigs, one in the far margin and one down the middle. Was still light when I had a pick up on the margin rod. Fish shot off like a torpedo when I struck, heading straight through my other line. Luckily a competent dog walker was on hand to net a very angry pike of about 6lb. Sorted out the tangle and got both rods back in as it got fully dark. Soon had a pick up on the rod down the channel resulting in a stolen bait, but then had to leap-frog down a couple of times before I got another run. This time the hook gained a solid purchase, resulting in a small zander.

Baby zed

The carp yoofs went around 9pm, so I decided to drop in on their swim and try my luck there as I'd had no further interest after that zander. Unfortunately, the sole action was to wind in both rods an hour later! Was so still and clear by this stage that I could see The Plough reflected in the surface of the canal, which was like a mirror in front of me. Left for home having collected three Sainsburys carrier bags full of food wrappers and empty boilie bags (bless 'em!) and scratching my head once again.......

12/09/2013 - River Trent

A conversation with my friend Tim whetted my appetite for an early return to the Trent. I still had some Brownie points left from finishing the decorating at the weekend, so set off down to Swarkestone after work again. Headed for where I started last time, but with just one small roach and a perch to show for an hour's work with the float rod I was left scratching my head. Thought a move was probably best rather than keep feeding an obviously empty swim, so headed right down to the end of the section where I could at least see some fish showing on the surface. Proved to be the right decison in one respect as I ended up having a cracking session on the "stick". It was virtually every throw a coconut as I dropped on a shoal of chublets, with some decent roach and a few dace, bleak and small perch thrown in as well. As usual, I got carried away with the simple pleasure of watching a float sail down the river and disappear. Kept telling myself, "just one more cast, one more cast"! It was only a tangle that finally made me put down the float rod and set up the paternoster with just over an hour of light left. Gave the float swim a rest and dropped in the next spot upstream. Bait had been in for nearly 30 minutes and I was about to move it when the rod tip started nodding away, resulting in a greedy perch of just 3/4lb. Moved back into the float swim but had no interest whatsoever until it was fully dark when I had a smash take from a pike that mangled the hooklink and effectively ended the session.

 

Tackle mangler

Not the start to my autumn predator campaign that I'd anticipated. Feel the need for some zander therapy.......

09/09/2013 - River Trent

Finished decorating another bedroom at the weekend, so promised myself some time off. Talk of the "last day of summer" had started me thinking about the predators again, so the perch gear was thrown together for a evening trip to the Trent near Swarkestone. Nearly didn't go as it absolutely chucked it down just as I was leaving the house, but I convinced myself it was only a shower and set off. Arrived to find a few changes since I was there last. The nettles were easily head high and virtually swamped the path. A group of game old ladies out for a ramble had warned me how bad they were as I was leaving the car, so I was glad I had the foresight to put full waterproofs on. The pegs weren't much better, in fact I got lost trying to find my first swim! There was some evidence that the peg had been fished, but not much. Also, the small bay to the left was now choked with arrowhead, rather than the thin floating weed that had been there before.

Arra's

Got the float rod going anyway and was straight into perch, lots of them - unfortunately mostly around 2oz, although one of about 3/4lb gave me a good run around. The silver fish were noticeable by their absence so, after a couple of hours hard work, I had only managed to scrape together half a dozen useable bleak and roach. Got the paternoster rod out and dropped a bait into a gap in the arrowheads. Didn't have to wait long before the tip started banging and I struck into a good fish. Unfortunately it was of the green and spotty variety and made a point of visiting every corner of the swim before I got it into the net.

Expertly hooked!

Thought a move was in order after that disturbance, so struggled down to the next swim. Managed to snag my centrepin on the nettles on the way, so a good 5 minutes was then spent recovering a 50 metre loop of line and getting well stung in the process! Eventually got the paternoster out into a gap under some trees. Had to wait a bit before the rod tip showed signs of interest and, after a particularly dithery take, struck into a perch.....all 1/2lb of it. Carried on until dark, but didn't trouble the scorer further. Oh well, can't catch 3lbers every trip can you?

Swarky Bridge at dusk

27/08/2013 - Cleddau Estuary

Another few days down in Wales and another chance for a few more bass. However, it wasn't until right at the end of the holiday that all of the conditions lined up favourably. Dawn on the last two mornings therefore saw me expectantly waiting down on the estuary at low tide.

 

Dawn on the estuary

As soon as the current started pushing in I set about covering the water in front of me with the Megabass X-130 in the sardine pattern that had done the job on previous occasions. On both days there was an endless procession of mullet making their way past me up the estuary, some of them just drifting along with the current with their backs out of the water and others speeding through like torpedoes with the occasional acrobatic leap thrown in. The water was gin clear and there were also lots of small bait fish visible in the margins, which seemed to bode well. However, on the first morning I began to wish I was fishing for the mullet and not the bass, as I eventually managed just the one small schoolie. Did slightly better the following day in terms of numbers with four more schoolies, the best barely scraping 2lb.

 

Silver bar

 

Have enjoyed my few sessions on the estuary this year. However, there'll be another opportunity for a "proper" fish during the bi-annual surf trip down to Saunton in October when I hope to meet up with Joel Squires again. In the meantime, how am I going to catch those mullet next year.......?

17/08/2013 - Leicestershire Brook

More a pre-work recce to look for some new spots to try before the end of the trout season in a few weeks time. However, took along the fly rod if the opportunity arose for a cast or two. There had been heavy rain overnight but, whilst carrying a bit of extra water, the brook only had a slight, peaty tinge about it. By contrast the stream across the other side of the field was running a nice grey/brown colour and smelled slightly of sewage! Had a poke around on downstream section again and got stung through my trousers by the nettles a few times as a result. Did spot a couple of fish rising so, as there was nobody about still, went and got the rod from the car. Had exhausted my supply of my favoured fly pattern, a size 14 GRHE with a copper head, on previous trips so went for a black goldhead instead. The trout didn't seem to mind and it was probably a better choice given the slight colour anyway. Bumped one off first cast, then had a small one to hand.

Spotty 1

Half a dozen casts (flicks, dibbles, dangles - whatever you want to call them!) later, I had a better one in the net.

 

Spotty 2

 

Left it at that, conscious of the time and the risk of drawing unwanted attention to myself, but already thinking of a couple more trips in September to try and catch an end of season "lunker".

03/07/2013 - Leicestershire brook

Couldn't resist another shot at those LBT's, so it was up bright and early and down the motorway for an early session before work again. The intention was to try a bit further away from civilisation this time, so set off upstream from the car park. Was overcast and damp again and the overnight rain had just put a touch of colour in the water, so things looked promising. However, walked past the first signs that others were showing an interest in the brook's inhabitants - a cleared area of bank and an empty tin of yellow peril!

 

Hmmm!

 

Carried on until I reached a spot where I'd had a couple of fish previously. Sure enough, first drop in resulted in a rattle on the rod tip and fish on. As usual it buried itself in the marginal vegetation under my feet. However, after sliding in to retrieve it, I found my hook connected to a clump of grass and not to a fish. Bumped another fish off before heading up to the pool. No fish rising this time, but first cast up to the top of the pool resulted in a take. This one charged around a bit before again shedding the hook, this time in some tree roots! Bumped another fish on the next cast, aargh! By my reckoning it was now four - nil to the trout and beginning to look like one of those days. Thought a third cast into the pool was pushing my luck, but tried it anyway. Bang......blimey! This time it stayed on.    

Phew!

Left them alone after that one and carried on upstream to try pastures new when I bumped into an old biddy and her alsation on the footpath. Thought she'd paused to let me past, but as I got closer she launched into a completely unexpected "people like you" tirade, accusing me of all sorts of things from taking fish to breaking down trees and bushes. Assured her that I was doing none of those things and even offered her my ID, but she was having none of it. Now I usually enjoy a good toe to toe, but I could see that this one wasn't going anywhere, so made a tactical withdrawal (yes, I ran away from an old lady, but she did have a very sharp tongue and a big dog!). Was far too early to think about going to work, so headed further downstream instead. Here the brook runs very close to houses, but is extremely overgrown with nettles and willows, so it was a question of pushing through the vegetation to try and find a suitable places to drop in. First spot yielded a little gem. The smallest, but probably the fattest trout I've had so far.

Little fatty

Two more closely followed, including the best of the morning from a hole under a mat of willow roots.

 

More like it

 



Was evens in terms of fish landed/fish lost by now. However, the trout had the last word as I bumped another one off, then snapped off the end of my hook on a snag. Took that as a natural end to the session, but was still pleased to have caught a few fish while most people were in bed.

29/06/2013 - Cleddau Estuary

The next opportunity to try for some more bass came quicker than expected when the wife suggested I take the kids down to Wales for a long weekend. It was an opportunity not to be missed - Amy had just finished her GCSE's, James had a double inset day and I had loads of flexi-time to use up, so Friday saw us pootling down the motorway to Pembrokeshire. Got there to find that the tides had worked out nicely again, with low tide on the Saturday at about 5.30 AM. Actually got there on the day about an hour later to catch it as it turned and started pushing up the estuary, hopefully bringing the fish with it. Decided to stick with the Megabass-X130 that had worked well last time, casting off the beach into the main channel. Had been plugging away for half an hour before I had a take, a good solid "clonk" as I changed the direction of the lure towards the end of the retrieve, resulting in my first bass of the day.

 

Bar of silver

 

A few casts later I had a fish hit the lure virtually under the rod top, but unfortunately failed to connect. By now the water level had crept up to my crotch, so I backed up and moved along the beach a little thinking perhaps the fish were closer in. Seemed to work as very next cast in resulted in another bar of silver.

 

 

X-130 again!

 

Carried on for a bit longer, but the tide was really racing by now and a big group of canoeists had arrived in the carpark, so decided to end it there happy with my two fish. Was even happier when I spotted some samphire sticking up out of the mud. Went nicely with a poached egg on toast and chilli sauce when I got home!

 

 

Yum!

 

Was in the same spot an hour later the following day. However, was faced with a stiff breeze blowing straight into the inlet, which made casting across the channel a bit difficult. Wave action on the shore had coloured the water up as well, so switched to an X-130 in chartreuse. Had a clonk early on and was just backing up into the shallows to land the fish when it conveniently decided to unhook itself! Carried on with the wind getting stronger and my confidence getting weaker. Had just about given up when I had a take close in. This one I managed to beach safely. Was bit cold by now and I could see the same group of canoeists arriving in the car park again so, after collecting another handful of samphire for breakfast, called it a day. As I walked back to the car I was treated to the sight of a Red Kite flying overhead. These are getting more and more common in Pembrokeshire, presumably as they move down from mid-Wales, but are still fantastic to see.

 

 

Unmistakeable