June 2015

A Caged Panther

The light was fading ever so slightly as the summer evening sun lowered slowly in the sky. I looked to my right where Andy was watching his motionless rod tips intently as he had been for the previous three hours, maybe three and a half. Mrs P had just left for home with the dogs. "I hope he catches something, he's come a long way," I said as she went. "He's a grown man, he can handle it," she replied as she disappeared over the dunes........

All of a sudden Andy's near vertical rod tip hooped over. His rod butt lifted off the floor, big pit reel and all. Andy's body tensed and he readied himself to pounce. As his rod reached the horizontal there was a slight pause, Andy hesitated, what the hell was going on?. A split second later the rod was clean off the rest and being dragged down to the waters edge with the hapless Andy in hot pursuit........

Big Perch hunt

It almost pains me to write this section. The capture of a 4lb Perch started as a goal, then developed into a bit of an obsession and now has become almost a chore. My old mate Benidorm Dave got in touch and furnished me with some exciting news- he had exclusive access to a pond that contained the usual mythical Perch of gigantic proportions. To be honest I got quite excited despite hearing multiple such stories over the last few years. At least I'd have some company though and a day with Dave is always a pleasure.

It's a nice story behind the main lake actually. A young boy had a passion for fishing but for some reason he couldn't get access to the local fishing lake. His dad was not happy so he did what any decent father with the land and money would do- he dug the son his own lake. Twenty five years later the son has departed and a few select friends are allowed to have a day or two there. Dave was as keen as I was and kindly ordered us both some worms from a company called Willy's Worms. I have to say they were excellent, fast delivery and probably the best worms I had seen. If only I'd ordered some of these last winter I thought as I tackled up.

Did I get a four pounder? Of course not. I did have a few very small Perch along with just about everything else that swims including this........

Dave had a stunning Carp of eleven pounds. It looked as if it had never been caught before. Apart from that the day was a slight disappointment. There are big Perch there, no doubt about it. 'I see them quite often, they look prehistoric,' said the owners other son. Quite how big they are remains a mystery to us all. Sorry about that but I can state confidently- it wasn't for lack of trying.

Jolly Boys

I saw a woman on TV a while ago now, I think it may have been Germaine Greer. Someone asked her why she was going on that awful Big Brother show. Her reply was something along the lines of she was at a certain age and had promised herself she'd try something new every year, kind of like an open ended bucket list. This struck a chord with me recently. I've seen a float go under thousands of times, quiver tips going around the same. I've chased 20lb river Pike, 6lb Chub, 4lb Perch and the elusive 2lb Roach for a while now, it was time for a break. I wasn't bored, just a bit tired of the same old thing week in week out. What could reinvigorate my passion though? The answer came via a Facebook group that contained some rather interesting local captures.......

Every year we get certain visitors to our sea shores and living so close to the coast it would be rude not to indulge. Luckily some of our friends were keen too and so a get together was hastily organised. Dave, Andy, Leo and Phil were first to arrive at my house that Sunday morning. Lee and Martin soon followed and we all sat down for breakfast before heading down to the beach. Now I had been and had a couple of tentative practice sessions with no joy but the pictures on the group kept popping up. The Smooth hounds had arrived it was just a matter of fooling a few. I also was on the beach with the dogs shortly after two locals had landed a big Tope which fired my desire. How hard could it be for a group of seasoned coarse anglers? In fact myself and Leo were the only ones with our own beachcasters (and mine only cost a fiver off the car boot sale). The rest used borrowed gear and heavy Carp/Pike rods.

It was high tide when we arrived and it was a beautiful day. A lone angler had a shock that morning as we had chosen a fairly secluded spot and to see six coarse fishing vagabonds descending on him can't have been what he was expecting. Anyway I'll cut to the chase. I cast my first rig in with a good chunk of squid on the hook. As I was was setting up my second rod I saw my tip bounce. Not unusual I thought as the waves can do that all the time. I looked out to sea. There weren't any waves! I couldn't believe it, after no more than ten minutes I was into a fish and soon beached my first ever Smooth hound, albeit a very modest one. After a bit of whooping and air punching I carefully returned my prize only to look up and see Andy into one too. 

In those first two hours six complete novices landed a total of eight hounds a Thornback ray and a few flounders. Dave and Leo had the best examples of the stunning Smooth hounds .......... 

As the tide ebbed the fish went with it and we struggled for the rest of the day but those two hours were magical. We had children agog at the sight of mini Sharks coming out of the water. They stroked them and marvelled as they swam back out to sea. Mrs P even got in on the action, tailing one for Dave in the surf. Despite the diminishing action it was as pleasant a day fishing as I can remember. The weather was glorious, I was with great company and even when we stopped catching we all had hope and happily swapped stories on the sand all afternoon. With hindsight I should have bought the cricket set I'd been eyeing up the day before but hey-ho maybe next time. 

Hooked

A week later Lee was back and we arranged to meet early one morning. Lee was a little late arriving and by the time he had gathered his tackle and crested the dunes I was already into a fish and by the feel of it it was better than any I had caught before. They certainly do pull a bit and when they take line straight away at range it's heart in the mouth stuff.........

After taking a few photos Lee eagerly set up and we both waited expectantly. In the end after a two hours I had a couple more while Lee (who was only ten yards away) didn't even have a bite. Just the luck of the draw with these strange new foes......

After those two outings I was hooked. Sea fishing seemed to tick all the boxes- beautiful surroundings, the mystery, seclusion and expectation. I went again a few days later and looked southwards towards the favoured mark of the locals to see a plethora of rods pointed skywards. Meanwhile I had the beach more or less to myself about a mile away. It really is a circus down there and of no interest to me whatsoever, no matter how productive it may or may not be. I happily fished away and had a great session, six fish and every one while not massive was an absolute marvel of  nature...........

On the way back to the car I met another angler who had been fishing a couple of hundred yards up the beach. He had two great big bass in a bin bag. To be honest it shocked me a bit. Did he really need to take them both I thought? Bit naive I suppose. Anyway It made me want to catch one and I picked his brains for best baits. It wasn't squid apparently, I'd be extremely lucky to get one on squid by his reckoning........

Opening Day

The first day of the fishing season proper came at a bad time. I had booked the day off work but was in full sea fishing mode. Mrs P had however kindly paid for my river ticket and I owed the place a visit. It certainly looked pretty......

After a bit of wander I soon found the resident Bream but were they in feeding mood? Not really. After firing some corn in they stole a few grains and then scattered. It took me a good hour to find them again and they had moved a good quarter of a mile upstream. No feed went it this time and after a couple of false starts I managed to land one after a short tussle........

I didn't see the double hump in the water but it turned out to be my old friend and river PB from last year. It was an ounce lighter but still a great fish. As you know I try not to make a habit of catching the same fish but sometimes it can't be helped. These fish are obviously quite old though and I for one will be leaving them in peace from now on. Living in such shallow, clear water they are pretty easy targets bless them.

Bass Hunt

I had another few short sessions on the beach trying to catch a Bass. Worm and Sandeels were my baits of choice. The Sandeels produced absolutely nothing while the Flounders were devouring the worms within minutes. I switched from worms to squid and took a few small Smoothies......

With the hounds still about Dave and Andy were keen to have another go and drove up one afternoon from the midlands. The weather was perfect and after a quick trip to the tackle shop to stock up on sundries we were soon on the beach. I picked my spot while Andy went to my right with Dave on my left side. I was sandwiched. Since that first group session I hadn't failed to catch a hound so my confidence was high. We were a touch early though as the powerful flood tide was moving seven ounces of grip leads like they were marbles. Andy and I wound in while Dave persevered. I wandered over to him. I noticed his lead had moved to right in front of where my rods were. 'You want to see some of the bites you get here Dave,' I said...........and seconds later Dave's rod hooped around alarmingly. He had a lot of weed on the line which confused him a bit and he thought he'd lost whatever it was. A few seconds later it started thumping again and I readied myself in the surf. As Dave's leader came into view I saw a flash.......could it be? It bloody was. A bristling Bass........caught on squid................and out of my sodding peg!

We released it back into the sea after a few photo's (makes up for the two matey boy took). For anyone shaking their head right now see the opinion chapter below. 

High tide came and went and still no hounds. A chap who had travelled nearly four hours to fish that tide could be seen photographing a modest example a bit further up the coast so they were definitely about. Typically Dave was into one first. It turned out to be a very good one indeed.......... 

Next in was Andy with his panther-like reflexes who ended up chasing his rod down the beach.........

Dave then had another while I remained fishless. I began to get a little anxious. I need not have worried as things suddenly went crazy. Rods flying everywhere, tripods demolished, rod rests uprooted. Andy later said- 'It was like a gang of thugs turning up'. We don't know how many we ended up with but here are my best two including a fine fish of 10lb 14oz.......

We retired back to the ranch for a few night caps and a well deserved sleep. After a spot of breakfast we headed back to the beach where conditions were still pretty good. Three hours passed without any action whatsoever and with work and home beckoning we gave it best. The contrast was stark, talk about all or nothing. In fact I tell a lie, Andy did have his squid taken..........by A Chaos Twin, Daisy. She had a big mouthful off the top of his bag.

All in all I was was made up (despite Dave's fluky Bass). People beach fish for years without catching a double figure fish and I had manged it a few weeks. It really was remarkable.

Great Escapes

There's a program on TV at the moment called Escape to the Wild. It's very good. The formula is simple- Filming people detaching themselves from modern life by living in remote areas of the world. How lucky we are as anglers that we can do that pretty much at will? I knew just the place to get away from it all........

Unlike the local beach this area is absolutely littered with worm casts, razor clams, crab shells and I was dearly hoping it would hold some Bass. After a good forty-five minute walk from the car park I was at the shoreline. Once again I had a bite on my first cast, the culprit? A small Hound. A couple of hours passed and no more fish followed. It was hardly surprising as two young Seals had taken a liking to me and sat about fifty yards out staring at me inquisitively for the whole duration. A bigger Seal was further out creating all kinds of commotion, obviously feeding on something. It was massive, a very nice sight but not conducive to good Bass fishing. Maybe next month......... 

Tackle Talk

You know me by now, I use equipment that is upto the job at the best possible price. Now without getting into a debate on retail ethics I bought ordered two beach rods from the dreaded Sports Direct. They were genuinely nearly £50 each on launch. I got two, delivered to my door for the princely sum of £32.99...............

I'm a working man, I want a lot of bang for my buck. The practise of offloading discontinued stock to one big retailer is massively unfair on the independent retailer  though. As such I went to my local tackle shop (the excellent Big Catch Tackle) for my reels. The rods, by the way, are superb. As I haven't used them in anger yet the jury is still out on the reels.......

As I said before the guys used strong coarse rods to good effect so anything with a t/c of 3lb and above will see you able to cast the required 80 yards or so. Doesn't sound a lot does it? Trust me it is, especially with 15lb line and a big bait. The principles of beachcasting are totally different to normal casting. It's all weight transfer, rod loading and hip rotation. As the lads will testify I haven't quite cracked it yet but I have seen 130 turns of a Shimano big pit which is pretty impressive, if only i could do that every time.

Couple of other things you'll need- grip leads, bait elastic and a hook sharpener. As ever any other questions (bear in mind I'm still very much a beginner) you can ask me via email here-

the.power@tesco.net


Photos

As ever I've been busy snapping away and what a set of photo's we have this month, I'm very proud of these, hope you like them......

Giving me the eye

Stunning baby Hound

Andy and my hounds

Daisy

Harry

Amazing Sunrise

Sunset

Pre Sunrise

A beautiful dawn

Opinion

I'm not really a fan of opinions in blogs. I don't for one minute imagine anyone is bothered what I think (if only some others thought the same). Despite this I feel an explanation of my stance on catch and release would be ok. Smooth hounds are threatened under the International Union of Conservation of Nature. They have vulnerable status. Why tell us this Phil, nobody would kill them would they? I'm afraid to say they do. Bastards. This could lead to an unsavoury confrontation one day and have you seen the size of some of those sea fishing guys? My advice- just put them back and with care as they can get disorientated and beach themselves. One of the finest sights in my angling career came this month. I released a hound as the sun was setting, it 'top finned' for maybe a hundred yards before disappearing into the depths. Magical.

I was going to show a few pics of dead fish lined up on beaches, kayaks and boats taken this year from a local sea fishing page but you don't want to see them do you? Cod I can take (just), Bass smart a bit but what about Thornback rays? Dogfish??? They are all there. Shameful, especially the Rays that come here to breed, utterly shameful.

Bass then they aren't threatened? No they aren't but they certainly aren't as numerous as they should be. My local Tesco is a mile or so from the coast. I've never seen a Bass on the fish counter. They do have Vietnamese River Cobbler though, a Catfish from Indo-China. Why, if the far superior tasting Bass is so numerous? It certainly isn't right to my mind. One final thing and an argument that has been thrown my way a couple of times this month. 'It isn't us doing the damage Phil, it's the trawlers'. Is it really. If you live in the Honduran city of San Pedro Sula you have a greater chance of being murdered than anywhere else on the planet. Would it be ok if I popped over and knocked a couple of people over the head, after all they have a good chance of being murdered anyway? Also when do we start to worry? When there are 100,000 Bass left? 1000? 100? Until you are of the opinion that every single fish counts you'll never get the concept of catch and release.

I could go on but if these words make just one sea angler think then it's all been worth it.

Till next time.............

May 2015

Apologies

Well, we are running a bit behind but better late than never as they say. After April's debacle I've been very busy trying to catch something worthy to show you. Did I succeed? I'll let you be the judge of that.............

Lure practise

With a boat booked for the predator opening day of Northamptonshire's Pitsford Reservoir in the middle of the month I thought I had better get some lure practice in. First off though I had a bit of a problem. My new lure rod had developed a crack in a ring lining. Typically it was at the bottom where it was causing all sorts of havoc with my braid. Back to the shop it went and they ordered a replacement for me. Never mind I'll use the old faithful Ugly Stik I though as I wandered around the lake on site.

It didn't take long to get one as a fish of around a pound shot out from the near bank and engulfed my lure. Another one quickly followed before something far more substantial became attached to my line. Again I only hooked it feet from the bank but it shot out into the deeper water and bored around trying to shake the hook. It's always a bit daunting seeing a big Perch surface for the first time, even now they still look impressive. Anyway it did shake the hook but luckily it was in the net at the time. A fine fish weighing 2lb 15oz........

Sadly that was the end of the action for the evening but I left happy with my efforts. In keeping with my lure practice I popped down to the beach the day after to fling some Bass lures around. It was always going to be a long shot in the shallow murky water off the Lincolnshire coast but I had a good go. It certainly made the dog walking a little more interesting than usual.......

4lb Perch hunt

As many of you will know a 4lb Perch is one of my long term goals. With my new found confidence in lures gained on the Boating Lake where I was catching fish on every trip I headed over to the dreaded caravan park. This venue has produced a Perch of 4lb 6oz in the past (to sweetcorn!) but very nearly broke my spirit last year as I tried in vain to catch a decent fish. As I arrived at the lake in question I was pleased to see nobody else fishing which gave me a free reign. To cut a long story short after three hours I had covered every inch of the Lake with my trusty lure and had just two micro Perch to show for my efforts. I had a little dabble in each of the other five lakes on site but my enthusiasm had been blunted. My mood was further dampened on the way home. One of my favourite winter drains had been just that.....drained......

Quite where they put all the fish is a mystery. Not too far from me anglers bemoan the weed growth in the drains. They ought to think themselves lucky, at least they still have water in them.

I also visited Water Meadows fishery in Chapel St Leonards. I'd heard of some big Perch in the match Lake there and after a chat with owner and all round nice-guy Andy he very kindly agreed to let my have a go with my lures. The conditions were far from perfect and although I did manage to lose a good Perch that proved to be the only take I had. Maybe one for the winter months when the Carp haven't coloured the water so much. Thanks to Andy though for letting me have a go.

The Main Event

You'll remember some of the guys from last month, Nate, Carl, Andy and Leo. Well we all arranged to meet at Pitsford Reservoir for the opening lure fishing day. New guy Jamie joined us to make three pairs. Pitsford is a water that definitely holds 4lb Perch. It is usually fly only but after overhearing some Trout guys in the car park it seems they've opened up to the predator anglers early simply because they have been running at a loss for the last few years. Keen to oblige we each handed over £30 which gave us a full day fishing and the use of three motor boats. My boat partner for the day was to be Leo, my old Rutland compadre.

We quickly headed away from the rest of the gang and motored right to the dam end of the reservoir. This took us a good while and while it wasn't particularly cold it was quite windy which had whipped the water into a choppy maelstrom. By the time we got to the dam I was soaked from the spray of the waves crashing on the bow. Any thoughts of discomfort (typically I had no coat to wear unlike Leo who looked fit to work on an oil rig) were soon dispelled as I had my first take in nearly 40ft of water. All through the fight I was convinced it was a large Brownie as it led me a merry dance all over the place, surging off at every opportunity. I have to admit I was a little disappointed when a modest Pike popped up. 'Bloody hell, I wonder what a 20 pounder goes like,' I said to Leo as he kindly netted it for me........

After an uneventful hour the Perch were conspicuous in their absence. Leo decided to put a proper Pike lure on to see if he could get a pull. Leo quickly opened his account with another small example and then I added another. The Pike really were active as we also had several follows and takes. Every one of them fought like scolded tigers. Forget what you've heard about Trout water Pike, those Pitsford fish fight, even the small ones......

Leo and I hadn't gone to catch Pike and we decided to head back to some calmer waters with the intention of finding some Perch. Even with a drogue we were drifting too fast to work our Perch lures effectively in the open water. Setting up a drift close to the most sheltered shore seemed a good idea but even so I imparted very little action into my lure due to the rate of drift. A quick glance at the sounder revealed a drop off from 15ft to 20ft. As we went over I lowered my lure down another five feet and bang I was in straight away. At first I thought it was another small Pike but gradually it woke up and everything went a little crazy.........

The water was quite clear that day and I saw what I was attached to quite early in the fight. It was a Pike and a big one too. Towards the end of the season I detailed losing a very big fish on the secret river. As they inevitably are, the loss was still fresh in my memory and I began to get doubts. My little 5g lure rod was struggling and the fish started to take off reducing it's effectiveness even more. Leo was quickly on my vintage trolling motor and I gradually gained on it as he manoeuvred the boat into the deeper water.

All through the fight I though it would come off. My little Mustad ultra point was holding though and the fish tired begrudgingly. The tension in the boat was palpable and I fear I may even have been a little blunt with my boat partner as the bow turned in the wind alarmingly close to my line. Leo was marvellous though, he held his nerve and when he scooped the net under it he was as pleased as I was. After a quick high five a victory whoop we set about weighing her and taking some photographs. By this time we had drifted onto the shore. I still can't pick my favourite shot so have two.............

The weight? 22lb 8oz. One of my favourite captures of all time and I now knew how a twenty pounder goes. 

Before we knew it lunchtime came around. Leo rang the others and we all met for some food at the picnic area. Carl and Jamie were struggling while Nate and Andy were faring a little better not one of us had even seen a Perch. A foreign looking gentleman was also having a quiet time on his float set up, changing to a feeder as we looked on in amazement. 

By the end of the day I had seven Pike with Leo not far behind. We didn't even see a Perch and neither did any of the others. We had a brilliant time though. We could hear constant laughter from Nate and Andy's boat. Andy had also unwittingly found a lure irresistible to Trout which gave them something to do. As he says 'You never have a bad day afloat'. I can thoroughly recommend it. Even the trout anglers were friendly towards us, certainly more than the other lure anglers. Maybe I'm being a little unfair as they could have been 'in the zone'. There is however a slight elitism emerging with lure angling- I've been doing it longer, I was the first to do this, look at my £200 rod, I'm an expert etc etc. I'm happy with my cheap rods and tackling large expanses of water without a coat. All the idea and no gear if you like.

A test

So, lure fishing, just how effective is it for Perch? Back to the boating lake for a little experiment. My best catch on lures had been five fish in total. I wonder what I could do with bait I thought as the lure fishing became less and less productive over the weeks. The plastics had given me an idea of the best place to start and I arrived one afternoon with my pole, a couple of pints of red maggots and some worms. After three hours I had fourteen Perch in the net along with a couple of decent Roach around a pound. The best Perch went 2lb 9oz........

The one at the top is the 2 9 so there are probably three other 2 pounders among the best fish of the day. Certainly more productive than the lures and while it's hardly scientific I wouldn't neglect bait fishing for big Perch...........

The rest of the crew (rogues gallery)

A quick round up of this months action from my pals.....

Trout aficionado Andy Wilson with a superb midlands Bream of 11lb 6oz....

Fishing nutter Dan Sales with a traditionally caught Carp.....

Man vs food competitor Dave Owen with a mighty midlands Bream of 12lb 2oz........

Fellow Lincolnshire specialist and new acquaintance Martin Barnatt had one of the most spectacular Tench catches the county has ever seen topped by this magnificent fish of 10lb 8oz......

Over to Kent to see Tench supremo Nate Green now. He also had an unbelievable catch of big Tench. Countless eight and  nine pounders topped by this beauty of 10lb 3oz....

Also from Kent is this 47lb Carp caught while Tench fishing by my old mate Rob Thompson......

Tackle Talk

Tackle tarts need not read on......

Back in the 60's the British motorcycle industry almost totally dismissed the threat of products from Japan. Ten years later they had been humiliated into an ignorant series of bankruptcies by their far eastern competitors. I always think of this when people dismiss Chinese made fishing rods as crap. They might have been to start with but not now. Some seriously good equipment coming from there and at a price almost nobody else can compete with. I came across my latest lure rods completely by accident. The ever helpful guys at Big Catch Tackle gave me the keys to their rod room and told me to'pick anything I liked' after my lifelong loyalty to Shakespeare had been tainted by them not replacing my rod in time for my Pitsford visit. I appeared after much debating and waggling later with an Okuma Dead Ringer. I had no idea how much they were (no price) but the 7ft 5g-20g felt great even if the upper rating was a little ambitious. After my Pitsford trip I fancied a beefier version. A quick internet search revealed a 10g-30g version at guess where? The very same shop. Price? £23...........Quite remarkable, cork handles, good finish, tough rings, super light with lovely actions..........

In my search for a 4lb Perch I have been investigating new venues. Almost none of my potentials will let me lure fish. Very short sighted in my opinion. They way I fish it is almost impossible to foul hook one of their precious Carp (that gets caught twice a week anyway). Another thing to consider is the amount of detritus I can remove with lures. I've taken out line, hooks, litter and even an old unhooking mat this month. No charge, I'm happy to help those that are happy to help me.........

Contact

As ever you can contact me via email here........the.power@tesco.net

Photo's

Lure fishing from the Beach, Daisy at sunset and a beautiful Pitsford sunset..............

Till next time............