November 2014
Fishing Blues
The passion for angling can dull from time to time. Mine had been diminished by some unsavoury goings on at work. I just didn't feel like going, I had to go through a few days of sulking, kicking the cat and generally feeling sorry for myself before forcing myself out of the house.........
I wasn't in the right frame of mind for anything too serious so headed to the upper reaches of the Bream river to trot a stickfloat through some likely looking glides. A few weeks ago I had bought a small green fibreglass seat box for a few pounds from the local carboot sale. I loaded it up with the minimum of equipment- a reel, maggot box and a few bits of tackle plus I could also sit on it. I love my Korum Chair but it is a heavy and unwieldy thing at the best of times so I was glad to leave it at home along with my cumbersome rod bag and most of my other usual tackle. The river looked great and as it turned out, was absolutely heaving with fish. Everywhere I tried the float kept going under. Roach, dace and small Chublets came to hand and even the landing net had to deployed a couple of times. I hadn't planned to go for long but I ended up stopping until dark. It was just the tonic I needed. One of the Roach, lovely fish and probably uncaught...........
A few days later I was still not fully feeling it and with Mrs P on my back about taking the dogs out I headed up to the local drain with said dogs and a couple of deadbait rods. As a result of the mild weather the weed was still a nightmare but I managed one in the end. Smelt was the winning bait again. Not massive but a welcome sight on a dull autumnal afternoon..........
After another few hellish days at the coalface I was back out again. A different drain this time and far less weedy. The sport was just as slow though. I actually lost interest at one point and was playing with the dogs. As ever in fishing, sods law took over and I turned to see one of my floats bobbing around before slowly disappearing. This is the moment where everything stops and the mind starts racing. As you probably know I'm fairly new to this style of fishing but it is this moment that gets the juices flowing. Will the strike result in an alarming bend in the rod while a massive beast awakens or will the culprit be a small jack? In the end it was something in between the two. Lovely markings though and it did put up a fair old tussle..............
Back on it..........
With the problems at work sinking further into the back of my mind it was time to get more serious. You'll know the hymn sheet- ever since I can remember I've always wanted to catch a 2lb Roach. A couple of years ago I developed a keen desire (almost an obsession) to catch a 4lb Perch. More recently a 20lb river Pike has been at the forefront of my angling ambitions. I was fairly sure the local drains weren't going to turn up a beast of the required size so my favourite river was the venue of choice and as it turned out I had a really rather bizarre session.......
You'll know from last month I lost a number of good Pike. The best was from the top of the section I decided to fish. I kept this area as a banker so started off at the bottom to see what was about. Bait again was the trusty smelt, float fished with a heavy-ish lead anchoring it all in place. Two long, uneventful hours later and I was on the move to the top of the section where I was sure I would catch. By pure chance I stopped halfway and decided to have a try near to some reed beds. I cast the first float out and put it in the rest. With the bait still on my second rod I soon had that in place too. By the time I had put that rod in the rest the first float had disappeared. My heart was racing as I struck into something substantial and boy did it put up an almighty fight. It was a good few minutes before I had it safely in the net and onto the mat where I quickly unhooked it. Out of the corner of my eye I saw my other float slowly sink under the surface. I bundled the first Pike into the landing net and with no time to mess about the second one joined it about a minute later. The result? A lovely brace shot................
While neither was anywhere near 20lb they were very welcome and they both swam off strongly as I returned them. Upon casting out again, amazingly the float went under almost straight away. The culprit was a smaller fish of around seven pounds but I couldn't believe it. Twenty yards away I had sat bite-less for two hours. Surely another twenty yards in the other direction my banker swim would yield more fish, maybe even a twenty pounder? After expectantly moving I sat watching my floats intently, willing them to move unsuccessfully for the following two hours. As I packed up I was slightly bemused. Did the fish just switch on at the precise moment I moved? If we knew all the answers I guess we wouldn't have to keep going back and go back I would but not before getting sidetracked (as usual).........
News of some big Perch reached me via a social network. I've thought long and hard about about this for a few weeks now so let me just say this- just quite how big is still unclear. Call me a cynical old sod but I've been in this game too long to take every catch story at face value, and photo's are not always conclusive proof either. There was only one thing for it, to see for myself just how big they were......
The whole place looks 'Perchy'. Fry and small fish were scattering everywhere as unseen predators pursued them. I set up my trusty tip rods and cast a couple of juicy worms into some likely looking spots. There is nothing like a new venue to give a sense of the unknown- exactly what I love about fishing. The tips, however, remained motionless for a while so I set up my lure rod. As luck would have it I got one on the lure followed quickly by one on the worm, having forgotten my keepnet it was the perfect opportunity for a photo..........
They weren't big fish, maybe a pound and a half but they gave me a bit of confidence. As ever I had every base covered and even took a few Roach on the float as well as a few more Perch to the worm. It wasn't until I moved later in the day and wandered around with my lure rod that things really began to happen. I took my first two pounder on a lure and was so keen to keep fishing it went back with barely a second glance. It was madness, every cast resulted in a fish or a pluck. I even had a follow off a very big fish indeed while playing a Perch of around a pound. Why they do this is unclear but to me they seem to get excited by the hooked fishes' vibrations and movements. All too soon the light faded and it was time to head home. The final tally was around twenty Perch with four convincingly over two pounds (though not by much). I feel reluctant to put a weight on the fish I saw but it was significantly bigger than anything I had caught that day.
Another day and round two provided much the same results. Slightly less fish this time and most taken on the worm. I had three two's and this time I had remembered my net which I laid out some of my catch on.........
Some welcome company.........
You may remember a few months back when I was wandering around the seedy streets of Benidorm at three in the morning and to my astonishment a guy called Dave recognised me from the diary and introduced himself. Well guess what? Benidorm Dave got in touch again and we arranged for a day on the secret river together.........
I was keen to get out with a proper Pike angler and Dave has certainly done his fair share. He even had a day with the legendary Mick Brown. However Dave was keen to beat his PB of a modest fifteen pounds, remember- personal bests are no measure of skill, just where you have been fishing. Anyway Dave turned up at my house super early and we headed to the river. On the drive over he uttered the words- 'You know, there is just something mystical about the river, there really is,' and I knew we were going to get along just fine. It what I have felt ever since I first saw it.
After a deluge of rain the river was a horrible colour but at least the flow seemed fairly steady. Dave seemed unfazed but my confidence wasn't high. I just hoped we could find some fish. The great thing about going with someone else is you can feed off their enthusiasm. After a blank first hour and nagged by the state of the river I might have given it best but Dave was soon on the move, confident he would find them somewhere. Ten minutes after moving one of his floats disappeared. To be honest it didn't put up much of fight and I think this tricked Dave a bit- 'I don't think it's a double,' he said just seconds before a big tail broke the surface. How big was it? Only a PB for my new buddy- 15lb 12oz of very fat, healthy Pike.............
The next few hours turned out to be a disappointment so we moved onto a nearby drain to try our luck there. The relationship could easily have turned sour as my new friend had take after take resulting in a couple of nice five or six pounders. I was absolutely made up for him with his PB but now he was making me look like a fool, it would never do. Luckily I wangled one in the end and the size was irrelevant.......
Dave added another small Pike before we headed back to the river for the last hour or so. Neither of us had any joy there but I did notice a bit of movement in a certain spot. With the ground we had covered I'd seen what I thought were a few shoals of small fish moving about during the day. at this last spot though they were more obvious. As Dave and I headed home we vowed to return together the following week. I however would be back the next day for those little ones........
Mr Forgetful
Maggots- check, float tackle- check, nets- check, float rod.......err.......How an earth can anyone plan a mornings' stick float fishing and not remember a float rod? Never one to be easily deterred I used one of my tip rods. hardly ideal but I could make it work. Like I've said before there is a lot of nonsense talked about stick float fishing- it's keeping line behind a float, hardly rocket science. Just as I was making my first run through another angler appeared. Now I was sort of between pegs and I knew he would want to go directly below me so I let my float go as far downstream as possible, mending it dramatically so he'd see it. After a quick chat he disappeared downstream and out of harms way. Phew.
How did it go Phil? Rather well now you ask. I had several good Roach including this absolute belter of 1lb 10oz...........
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As Dave said- The place is mystical and as a result full of surprises. I absolutely love it. My fishing mojo has been fully restored.
Tackle Talk...........
I had a great buy this month, a classic ABU Cardinal 57..........
Now the ABU is big and heavy but that is the whole point- built to last. It is a pleasure to use and my good friends at Spilsby Angling Centre did me a brilliant deal. As I've been nattering away for far too long this month I'll let you know how it performs at a later date.
Extra's
Ok, here's a few facebook pages I frequent and can thoroughly recommend.......
Barry Fisher's- https://www.facebook.com/bazfisher123
Spislby Angling- https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008466490753&fref=ts
and of course my email address should you want to get in contact-
As ever we finish off with some photos, thanks for reading.......
Till next time.................
