A summer dawn
The walk to the waters edge from the dusty car park was short. It was ridiculously early but even though the very tip of the sun was barely visible it was still t-shirt warm. As the sun rose the scene became illuminated, lightened a shade with every passing second. Hues of blues, pinks and oranges slowly dominated the sky. A laser beam tract of light shimmered on the surface of the water, a scintillating white path formed, starting at my feet and ending beyond the limits of my imagination.
The body of water in front of me that morning is vast. Two friends of mine have recently joined a large water. At a little over two hundred acres they could happily fish it for the next ten years and still enjoy a certain amount of mystery surrounding its occupants. This water is roughly eight hundred and fifty thousand times bigger than that. If you could it walk across it and briskly paced for twelve hours a day you would not reach the far bank for nearly ten days.
Luckily I had some help that morning in the shape of Lee, fellow SHUKer and all round good egg. With the baits out we pontificated at length, trying to keep each others spirits up. An hour passed without incident. Deep into the second hour something finally happened, something rather magical. I watched agog as my rod tip thumped over (it is worth bearing in mind that in my sixteen previous visits I hadn't seen any bites whatsoever). After the initial hit the tip sprang back and I rushed over to the rod, by the time I had covered the short distance the tip had taken an alarming curve. My eyes fixed momentarily on the spool as it spun, the twenty pound braid being pulled as if it were cotton from a reel and the metallic noise of the drag pierced the still morning air.........
River Magic
I was in no rush to get to the river on the first day of the season. The lovely people of Lincolnshire don't pay the few small rivers we have much attention. This is great for me and sure enough I had the stretch to myself despite my lunchtime arrival. As usual the bankside vegetation was shoulder height and it made fish spotting very difficult. Eventually though I managed to find a few Bream languishing mid-water at the end of a narrow run. As carefully as I could I crept upstream and threw in a handful of corn. Now Ivan Marks used to describe waiting for people to introduce their bait in matches because the fish would often be spooked by over-enthusiastic feeders. Sure enough and despite my best efforts the Bream didn't take too kindly to the corn and they shot off upstream. At first they went about thirty yards away before moving again to a spot over a hundred yards from where they were originally.
After an hour I managed to coax them back down to the original spot where my feed was still waiting for them. I decided to fish blind a short distance upstream because I couldn't watch my bait without spooking them again. A simple one swan shot link with 8lb Double Strength line straight through to a size 12 Korum hook was the rig of choice, baited with two grains of corn. The reeds made it hard to present the bait but my perseverance was finally rewarded. After a short battle I netted a beautiful bronze slab of 7lb 14oz...........
Once again the fish became skittish and although I did have another chance about half an hour later I missed the bite much to my annoyance. The next time I will set a trap further upstream with a small bed of bait, just as Ivan used to do with so much success in those massive matches he had a knack of winning. A near 8lb River Bream is still a great fish though and I left happy as the following day was one I had been really looking forward to for a couple of weeks. The main event if you like.........
Fame at last
Having sent in my better catches to the Angling Times over the last couple of years I had built a relationship with resident senior reporter Antony. It was still a surprise though when he asked if he could come and do a feature with me as he was planning to be in the area for a few hours. The only stipulation was that it had to be free fishing. I had a few choices but eventually stumped for the River Bain in Horncastle.
To cut a long story short I had a great day. Again even though the season was a day old there were no signs that anybody had been fishing. Quite amazing when you consider I had five Roach over a pound to 1lb 12oz, a 4lb Chub, a 12oz Dace, a 3lb Brown Trout and several other smaller fish. All taken on Bread on the stick float. Remarkably simple fishing and all for the price of some fuel and a loaf of bread. Even more remarkable was the fact that I made the front cover. I've been reading the Angling Times since I was a child so it was a really great honour.......
The following week I agreed to meet Martin down at the river in the hope of getting him a few nice Roach. It fished a lot harder than the week before but he did manage to catch lots of smaller Roach upto just over a pound. I was keen to put him in all the likely spots and my fishing took somewhat of a back seat. We wandered about off the beaten track and the river was full of life and unfortunately also weed. The spots we could fish though gave us lots for smaller Roach, a great sign for the river. The bigger fish just weren't there though but as ever Chub Study Group member Martin managed to find a Chub.....
The river was painfully low and I had to wait until some much needed rain before returning. With a tinge of colour the Roach were more keen to feed but the best fish of the day was this absolutely fantastic Dace. 13 1/2 oz..............
And also pictured here with a couple of bruising Roach......
With the summer season getting into full swing I had to reduce my travelling somewhat due to my extra workload. This gave me the opportunity to get reacquainted with the inhabitants of my local drain. It too was quite low and crystal clear. I saw a few nice Perch in among the shoals of Roach and Rudd. I did catch some to around a pound and a half but the bigger fish eluded me. Fishing in the clear water I could get a couple on small lures before the rest of the shoal completely ignored them, even different patterns. I've experienced this before and it is most frustrating. They were preoccupied with feeding on this years fry and I presumed that was the problem. A group of tiny fry near the surface is difficult to replicate, if not impossible.
The evenings were interesting too. Throughout the day you could see hundreds of Roach, all fairly small. It wasn't until the last hour of daylight that the bigger ones began appearing from the massive tracts of weed, still fairly cautious in the open water but they would pick bread up in the bottom third of the water column and occasionally from the bottom too. One of my favourite captures this year is the biggest Roach in the picture below. It came into my swim with a few others and a manged to cast into a really tight spot and watched my hook bait flutter invitingly in front of its nose. At well over a pound it was a nice fish for such a small venue. I caught a few of his mates too.....
Tested to the limit
I alluded to the fact that I had endured sixteen trips out without a bite earlier. Some were only an hour or so but it was still a bad time. Just being there wasn't enough. The large water I was referring to is of course the North Sea. The Smoothounds were late this year, very late. The culprit of that first bite was this very modest chap..........
When you consider the bite it gave me you can maybe understand why I had tried so hard to catch one. The pursuit of these marvellous creatures has pushed me to the limit this year in a variety of ways. I spent to long fishing at high tide in the wrong place. I should have been further down the coast fishing at low tide. In only my second season in pursuit of them though I can surely be excused a few fruitless sessions. To be fair the numbers of fish are down on what was a remarkable season the year before and the fish this time around are all seemingly at range. Despite this the guys at my local tackle shop (Big Catch Tackle) were a great help in locating a few fish and soon I was having far more success.....
The biggest fish of the lot would have worried my PB of 10lb 14oz but alas, I forgot my weigh sling so it will remain. They really are great fun to catch. The one pictured at the top actually pulled my tripod over. Feisty things they are. I'm pleased to report the others I saw caught were all returned although I do have some comments to make on Sea anglers in general. The ones I have spoken too and met on my travels have all been very nice. I only delve into the salt water world for a few weeks of the year so I bring a different set of views to those that sea fish all year round. It's always easier looking from the outside. So, Sea anglers, totally clueless when it comes to fish care and most of them couldn't take a decent photo if their lives depended on it.
For those Sea types that haven't disappeared in a huff it is relatively simple to explain. When you catch and release you employ what is called best practice or to put it another way- common sense. I've seen hounds dragged up the beach and left to writhe about on the sand while the captor re-baits or moves their tackle back from the incoming tide. They then get a mate to take a photo or take one themselves, the fish barely visible for the coating of sand. Honestly, they are atrocious. A beautiful memory reduced to a crap visual reminder. Does it do them any harm? I don't know but surely it cant be good for them, their skin is tough but why let them thrash about? The sand will get in their eyes and gills, if not fatal it'll surely be irritating. No way to treat such a fine adversary.
I don't know best, I do what I think is best. Take a look at my hounds, they don't touch the sand at all. I pick them from the surf and take the photos myself using a camera on a bank stick and a timer. I then walk them out into the surf and place them back. No sand, no throwing, no problem. If by pure chance one of these anglers has joined us this time and has taken some notice then it has been worth the rant. Thanks for bearing with me.
While I'm upsetting people, hello to my Carp angling regulars. Take at look at this Mirror Carp I reversed over (winking face).......
SHUK News
Our regular feature now on our little group Specimen Hunting UK. First up is Andy Wilson who has been sneaking into Lincolnshire for some fine Bream into double figures.......
Andy also caught this massive hybrid of 7lb 1oz. What an amazing looking fish.......
Next up is Andy's partner in crime, Dave Owen who is still upping his Eel PB on a regular basis....
Our pint-sized superstar also had a few Rudd too topped by this fish of 2lb 14oz........
Lure fanatics Leo, Carl and Jamie all took part in the recent Cornish Lure Festival. No doubt Leo will document it in his own brilliant blog (although he hasn't at the time of writing, pull your finger out Leo)-
Yorkshire based Andy Loble travelled up to the Shetland Isles and enjoyed some superb sport. Countless double figure Cod and a couple of big Skate, all caught from his little inflatable. Incredible........
Unfortunately he fared a little less well when he came down to Lincolnshire for the weekend. He was still smiling though.......
Back the rivers now and Darren Clarke has been enjoying some cracking Barbel sport........
Dave Varnam with a fine Leicestershire Chub........
Jamie Potts with a massive river Zander..........
Martin Barnatt took up the offer of a days Rudd fishing taking some fine examples topped by this fish of 2lb 8oz......
Kent based Nate Green travelled over to the River Wye to sample some of its hard fighting Barbel......
Before concentrating closer to home to up his Chub PB yet again with this beauty........
He also enjoyed some sea sport catching his first Wrasse followed by this lovely Bass......
Last but not least is our old friend Barry Fisher with this Catfish from an all expenses paid trip to Thailand he won in an Angling competition.......
That folks is just about it this time around. Just a couple of mentions to round off. A fellow came to me in Horncastle while I was fishing and said some really nice things about this blog. It really does make it all worth while to know you are all still enjoying it. Thanks very much and long may it continue.
One thing that isn't going to continue is Tackle 4 U in Skegness. Now closed for good thanks to Sports Direct. I miss it already, in particular Neil who ran the shop. Best of luck to him.
Talking of luck we have a bit of a superstar in our group, Mike Lyddon. In the last couple of years he's threatened the Drennan Cup but alas, he's struggling of late. I'm only mentioning him because he claims not to read this when we all know he does. Pull your finger out Mike.
Next month see's our annual species hunt which is always great fun and who knows what else I'll be upto. Probably wrestling angry sea fishermen on the beach. I'll leave you with some photographs and thank for reading......
Photography
Till next time............
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