Fishing Diary: Spring/Summer/Autumn 2024

How did we get here?

I hadn't been to the river Bain for nearly a year and a half. Anywhere I frequented with my dogs I initially avoided as a kind of protection mechanism. When I eventually returned I had my emotions prodded in an entirely different way. I bumped into one of you, chances of that? Paul looks late fifties, Nick says he's actually about ninety. Paul is always unfailingly nice to me. He isn't on Facebook and after a long chat he said that he always checks to see if I've done a new blog post and has been highly disappointed with the radio silence. So here we are, post 101, the entry that I was never going to write. Nick won't know I've dropped him in it, he only looks at the pictures.

Close Season.

Withern Mill trout fishery was amazingly accommodating of my dogs and I, it was a favourite place of theirs. That was that off the list. Skegness Water Leisure park was my other usual option. There are some really quite ugly carp in there but also some beauties and they're a good average size. Easy to catch too. Sadly the old bailiff retired and we got a shiny new one. One of my failings as a human is a lack of forgiveness. If you treat me in a way I don't think I deserve you won't get a second chance. He was an absolute helmet. I never went back.

With my options limited Leo threw me a lifeline. He'd found a place near to Grantham almost equidistant from us both that contained some nice catfish. On arrival it was quite a small lake, with two other anglers already present. With lots of overhanging trees and a couple of islands there was plenty still to go at though. Leo and I chose our spots, I was furthest away from everyone in a corner while Leo had a chap to his right whilst still having a big margin and point of an island to go at. By lunchtime we were all set up and fishing.

That afternoon the chap to Leo's right caught steadily. I think he'd caught six catfish by the time the light started to fade. It was quite frustrating sitting there watching a masterclass but he was a venue regular and knew the place like the back of his hand. Leo was far more proactive than me, befriending the chap and 'borrowing' some of his bait (big flavoured pellets). I stuck steadfastly to my squid approach which I had ultimate confidence in. Strangely when it got fully dark Leo's friend wound in, preferring uninterrupted sleep over more catfish.

About an hour into dark I started to get the odd liner which pricked my senses. It was bloody cold for a spring night and I didn't expect much but knew I was in with a chance. Sure enough I had a steady take and struck into a very angry cat. It gave me the runaround, snagging me twice but my stiff rods and 30lb mono eventually tamed it. Leo came over to help.

43lb

Half an hour later I got to return the favour as Leo had a slightly smaller example.

Sadly that was the last of the action. On speaking to Leo's new friend in the morning it was highly likely that I'd managed to catch the biggest cat in the lake. I couldn't have asked for better than that on our first visit.

Next up was another catfish trip, this time a few of us had booked Oakwood Park predator lake in Norfolk.

Marin Barnatt, Rob Thompson, Dave Owen, Mrs P (my wife), Nate Green, Me and the wonderful David Frame. Mike Lyddon and Andy Shaw were there too.

It was a fabulous trip, although sadly not everyone caught. I struggled and reckon I missed more chances than I actually converted. It was incredibly frustrating having braid pour off the reel and striking into nothing on multiple occasions. Luckily I did manage a couple of nice ones......

41lb

Mid thirty

Andy Shaw stole the show with a magnificent cat of 83lb

Andy Shaw 39lb

Dave Owen 75lb

Dave Owen 36lb

Rob Thompson 37lb

Mike Lyddon 31lb

As you can see Oakwood is a great place for catching cats. It's expensive but not prohibitively so for the occasional trip. Dai had missed the early summer trip due to his guiding schedule. We arranged for another session later that summer. The lake was relatively quiet and we settled in the swim I'd fished before.

Tonight Matthew I'm going to be a catfish angler

I was set up and had two cat baits out in a matter of minutes. Dai took considerably longer as he did lots of weird stuff proper specimen hunters do- plumbing, deepering, marking, spodding, generally faffing about. He's the british record roach holder and also caught the biggest tench ever by design I think but he wasn't immune from some barracking from the heckler next to him. As we were having what I believe the kids call 'bants' I noticed some bubbling in my swim. I watched intently for a few minutes and reckoned they were being caused by carp. I quickly set up a carp rod and cast a 20mm pop up over the bubbles. Sure enough about ten minutes later I had a screaming take and after a spirited battle I had a fine common in the net....

20lb 2oz

Now anyone that knows me will tell you I'm a big Superbowl fan, it's the razzmatazz you see. Unrivalled as a spectacle and the anthem is always particularly rousing. Less well known is my appreciation for a brass band. As I sat there that afternoon after catching a reasonable fish, having a laugh with my friend I sat on my chair and heard something in the distance. A nearby American airbase was having some sort of parade and the faint tones of a brass band drifted towards me. As the tune progressed they got louder, it was the star spangled banner. Some moments in life are obvious to appreciate, others less so. Those little pieces of a jigsaw I didn't know I was doing combined to form a random magical moment that will never happen again.

Anyway, we never did see a catfish for two days. The lake exclusive booking for three days after us never saw one either. Miserable bastards.

The rivers open up

I had a change of job this year. Combined with major surgery for my wife fishing opportunities were limited. One memorable trip I dropped Mrs P off at Nottingham hospital and made my way to one of the best areas of the Trent, sure I wouldn't get my favoured area while she went under the knife. Amazingly not only were the pegs free but I had the entire stretch to myself. I'd just set up and was ready to cast in when my phone went. Her surgery had been cancelled and could I pick her up again?

A few weeks later I dropped her off for her new appointment and stayed closer this time, just in case. When serious life stuff happens fishing pales into insignificance. I wasn't really bothered, I was just killing time until she was ready to go home. I caught a barbel, about 8lb from memory. Excuse the tash, it was a dare.

With Mrs P safely home I was happy to look after her. In fact I probably did less fishing last spring/summer than I had for years. When she was fully recovered I spent the night on a new to me stretch of tidal Trent with Nick. That was less productive than we expected but I did manage to catch one during the night. Probably the hardest fighting barbel I'd ever caught. It almost comically refused to give up.

11lb 2oz

Closer to home the rumour mill had been in overdrive for many months about a new carp lake very close to my home. 40's, maybe even a 50lber had been stocked into a small caravan park lake. Zak and I were going to be some of the first to try it out. I expected it to be far easier than it turned out to be. In an effort to keep the carp growing they were fed on a daily basis. Great for the carp, not so for those trying to catch them. I did catch a couple but sadly none of the big ones. The biggest one out that I know of at the time of writing is 38lb.

Not 38lb

The Witham

Nick had moored his excellent Linder boat at one of the few marinas on the lower Witham. It gave us access to areas we knew well. Pike and Perch were to be the targets for the Autumn. On one of the first sessions on there I was on my own. After motoring some distance downstream I saw a paddleboarder coming towards me. I slowed right down to let them pass and had a speculative cast with a TRD. Unbelievably I had a take as soon as it hit the bottom. I've caught a lot of three pounders from the Witham's various tributaries, often yards from the main river. If memory serves me correct I think this latest fish was only my second three from the main river proper.

3lb 1oz

Of course I spent the next couple of hours in the area thrashing the water to a foam with only one modest perch to show for my efforts. It just highlighted what a fluke the first one was.

Nick captained the next trip and as usual he was late. I had a little look around on my own and thought I may have found some perch. Eventually Nick arrived and we set about them. They were in residence and some good ones too....

3lb 7oz

Nick 3lb 5oz

Along with the three pounders we had several two's each before we exhausted the swim.

The next few sessions weren't as productive. I lost a very big perch while Nick sat on the landing net one day. How big we'll never know. We caught plenty of perch but no really big ones. We also had plenty of Pike, again nothing spectacular. I did catch an errant 5lb Tench on the dropshot which was amusing. We also saw more people fishing from boats than ever before. "Your fault" proclaimed Nick. The increased pressure and weird weather has made things a little more challenging.

That just about concludes my highlights. Slim pickings compared to previous years. I've enjoyed being a bit more relaxed about my fishing though. I went through a period of being quite focused on upping all my PBs, then I found enjoyment in watching others catch theirs, now I like the social side of bigger gatherings. Where we go from here is a mystery, just how I like it.

Round up

I've never done a PB list so without further ado....

Lincolnshire only

Pike (lake) 23.8

Pike (river) 22.2

Carp 23.5

Chub 6.11

Roach (river) 3.4

Roach (lake) 2.8

Rudd 2.11

Perch 3.15

Bream (river) 8.11

Tench (river) 6.4

Dace 15oz

Eel 3.0

Catfish 43

Brown Trout 9.4

Rainbow 8.2

Smoothound 15.10

Bass 4.10

Thornback 5.0

Mackerel 2.2

Other stuff

My wife organised a surprise party for my 50th. I was humbled by the attendance of everyone, including my fishing friends from all over the country......