Perchtastic

Out for another go for some river perch, after my last session I was hopeful of finding a few fish, however I failed to check the weather forecast. Overcast skies at home slowly cleared on the 40 mile drive and I was greeted with bright sunshine when I arrived at the stretch. The river has also lost all of its colour, confidence plummeted immediately and I briefly considered heading home to grab some pike gear and head to my closest river for a few hours.

Two bite-less hours later I reached for the dropshot rod to see if I could tempt something. I’ve had this setup for about 3 years without using it but I thought it might give me chance in these less than favourable conditions. It didn’t. 

It did help me find a dying weed bed a 1/3rd across the river, so I decided to bait this area fairly heavily and sit it out, hoping a perch would visit before dusk. A few dozen worms were chopped into a few big handfuls of mole hill and deposited into the area around the weed bed.

I was surprised when only 15 mins later the rod tip flew round and shortly after I had 2.09lb perch in the net. A new best for this river so I was very pleased.

2.09lb a new best from this river

The next 4 casts all produced bites…. 

2.12lb followed by a 1.11lb which was added to the net without a photo

2.13lb

The last was lost as I was bring it towards the net, gutted as it was the largest of the day! I had a bad feeling that I would struggle to get another bite and that was the case, despite trying a few different things and casting to other areas of the peg I had zero interest for an hour.

I made another couple of large chopped worm/mole hill balls, put them in the same area and then rested the peg for 20 mins.

First cast and a bite but excitement got the better of me and I struck far too early, next cast another bite but again I failed to connect. Luckily neither fish felt anything so I was still confident the fish hadn’t spooked.

A better fish was hooked next cast, a similar stamp to the one I lost, a little more care was taken this time and I managed to land the fish. A quick weigh and the fish went 3.04lb, no photo as I wanted to get my rod out asap.

Next cast and another 2 pounder was added to the keepnet. Time was running low as I had to get back home but I stayed until the very last possible minute which thankfully was enough for one last fish.

3.15lb - a very honest 3.15lb!!!

3.15 & 3.04 - my first brace of 3lb perch

3.15, 3.04, 2.13, 2.12, 2.09, 2.03 & 1.11lb

I managed to beat my best perch for this river five times, with the largest being a new p.b. Definitely my most memorable perch session.

Next Gen

Working a shift pattern of 5 days on, 3 off since July has definitely allowed me more time on the bank. I try and get one short session in after work, then at least one longer session during my time off. This worked well for the barbel over the summer and I’m planning on continuing this during the winter months, night fishing for chub after work then switching to pike when I can get out during daylight.

My first chub session of the season was a bit of a disaster, the river was low but pushing through very fast. Most of the session was spent in snags.

Next up was a pike session on my favourite river, which was extremely low and clear. Not usually a problem but I probably chose the wrong stretch, I’ve caught some decent fish from this stretch in similar conditions but not on this session. The river seemed dead, other than a mink pissing around on the far bank.  It’s rare to see another angler on this stretch but this time I bumped into a familiar face, who had the same story to tell, another blank.

A change of pace for my next outing, a short whip session on a local stretch with my youngest nephew Will. 

A quick hours fishing for silvers, I think it’s the third or fourth time I’ve taken Will out and we’ve always done ok. Will definitely seems to have the ‘fishing bug’ and I can see him being the next generation of angler in my family. It’s his birthday in the spring, so maybe a trip to the local tackle shop then a trip to a pond for crucians and tench.

Catch up

As usual I have been struggling for time to get on the bank and on the odd occasion I have a few spare hours the rivers have been in flood.

The planned chub session I wrote about on my last post didn't happen, a visit to Roker Lights lasted longer than I thought and by the time we were back home I couldn't really be arsed.

My latest sessions have both been on still waters, two very different waters and on both occasions it was my first visit to each water.

Gravel pit pike

A first visit to a water that I recced a couple of months back, an old gravel pit, actually an old coal pit which was later used for gravel extraction. Gravel pits are alien to me having only fished one on one previous session (a blank!).

I decided on a static approach, three rods, bait boat and sounder with various deads and a few lives. Fishing into the wind I spent a while with the boat and sounder locating a few underwater features. On two rods I fished with sea deads, either on the bottom or popped up and on the third I used lives with a drifter. The drifter was ferried out with the bait boat with the strong wind directing the float back towards the bank and passing over a number of features on the way back.

The first take of the day came just before 09:00, a mackerel was taken, a very positive take. Somehow I missed it and the bait was taken. A quick recast to the same area with a decent sized smelt and within two minutes the rod was away again.

Another very positive take but I waited slightly longer before winding down this time and felt some resistance on the strike.

A first pike from this water

Nothing massive, but blank avoided and it's always nice to catch a first pike from a new water. The jack was only just hooked on the bottom treble, seems like they are grabbing the bait then running. No more interest for the next hour, so I got the drifter back out, however whilst retrieving the bait boat from the margin I stupidly picked it up by the aerial and it snapped off!

Another expensive session

Not having the bait boat made fishing into an increasing wind difficult, so I decided to move to the opposite bank and fish with the wind on my back. Whilst packing away a Labrador came running over a swallowed a full mackerel complete with balsa popup and retaining wire, luckily I had just removed the trace! The owner was in a bit of a panic when I showed him what was in the mackerel, but admitted that it wasn't the first time that the dog has done this (you would think that the owner would learn to keep his dog under control!)

I suggested a packet of laxatives.

Despite trying various baits and presentations I had no further interest and surprisingly the live baits went untouched all morning.

Gravel pits are a bit thin on the ground in my local area, as are still waters that hold a decent head of pike, no doubt I'll have a second visit in the coming months.

Commercial perch

Last Sunday I headed to a commercial to target the outsized perch that the water is rumoured to hold. The comfort of manicured paths and wooden platforms appealed more than the usual waters I head to whilst the rivers are up.

Tactics were simple, 1.25lb avons, 1 running lead (with a rollover for indication) and 1 over depth waggler. Hook baits were small deadbaits, lobworms and prawns, with some chopped dendra and maggots for attraction.

The fishing was very slow with only two bites on the perch gear, one small chub was landed (air injected lobworm) and the other was missed (prawn).

Despite the healthy bend in the rod, the fish wasn't particularly large or the intended species

Even scaling down and switching to maggot I struggled to get any interest from anything other than the odd small roach. A disappointing session but it was something different, the water has produced perch that would add a couple of pound to my current best so I will be returning at some point.

The forecast for the coming weekend is more of the same, the rivers will be well up and coloured, another still water session beckons......

Target achieved

A 36 hour session on the Trent, a birthday treat. This was actually my second visit to this river, the last being a couple of months ago but ultimately wasn't that successful, I was hoping for a better outcome on this trip.

The trip was broken down into 3 x 12 hour sessions. The first of these sessions I was targeting the zander. Initially we had planned to fish a ticket water, but Ben had managed to get us access to a private stretch that we could fish for free, so we opted to fish there.

Home for the first night

The stretch isn't particularly large and without wanting to waste time opening up a new peg, we shared the one peg, which was a bit of a squeeze but manageable.

Ben has fished this stretch before catching quality barbel, bream and chub. We hadn't know of any zander to come out of the stretch, but the section is on the navigable part of the river so has some depth and is relatively slow moving compared to other sections of this powerful river.

I spent some time catching bait and within 30 minutes there was enough bleak and roach in the keepnet to see us through the night. I decided on one rod for the barbel and one for the zander, both setup with simple running rigs, the latter with a small treble wire trace. 

It was a good hour after sunset before the first bait was taken, a live roach was snatched, as soon as I struck I knew it was an eel. A decent size, unweighted, definitely over a pound, but less than two. This is the first eel I have taken on a live bait, we were both surprised with the capture as the bait was a decent size, not what I would usually class as eel size.

About an hour later a bleak was taken, initially I thought it was another eel, it felt a good size too so I was pleased. Ben caught a glimpse of it and said it didn't look like an eel, I wasn't convinced until it surfaced and those trademark eyes reflecting our head torches back towards us were revealed.

Thankfully the fight wasn't very spectacular and although it took a couple of attempts to net, I soon had my first zander resting in the landing net, a decent one as well!

A first zander 8lb 14oz

The rest of the trip could of been a blank, I didn't care, target achieved, a couple of beers were cracked open to celebrate.

The rest of the night passed without any zander being landed. Plenty of runs but they were difficult to hit, the few we did connect with were jacks, two for Ben and just the one on my rod. I also managed a couple of bream on the barbel rod, which probably only just went past the 2lb mark.

The next 24 hours was on a stretch further downstream, much more pace to this section of river so we were going for the barbel. Being a popular ticket water you have to pre-book pegs, unfortunately that meant having to fish a different peg for the day and night session.

The day session was hard, given the low water and clear skies we weren't overly confident in catching barbel during the day. Ben had the only take, on a rod he had scaled down to 6lb fluro and a small 6mm pellet. A pristine 7lb + barbel was his reward. I didn't get so much as a knock all day and I was glad when the evening came.

A new peg, a fresh start, two rods, one downstream to a near bank willow, the second would be cast into open water with a big bait and a heavy lead.

The first hour was spent putting some bait next to the willow, I recast the feeder every 5 minutes, to get a bit of the simple groundbait mix in the area. 

The first take came at 19:45 and I was kept busy thoughtout the night, 10 runs and 7 barbel landed.

My first barbell from this river - 5lb 9oz

The final and largest barbel of the session - 9lb 5oz

The 5 barbel landed between these went - 8lb 14oz, 5lb 15oz, approx 4lb 8oz, 6lb 7oz and 6lb 1oz. A very productive session for me, as the most barbel I had previously caught in the one session was four.

Unfortunately Ben didn't land anything during the night, he lost a good fish first cast, but that was the only take he had.

That's probably my final barbel session of the year, time to concentrate on the predators.

The capture of that zander means that I have achieved one of the targets I set myself at the beginning of the year. The others being a p.b eel, perch and pike. Not asking for much! Probably unachievable but I'm going to give it a good go.

A few sessions for the eels, leaving me the rest of the year to target the perch and pike.

Lower river - jack

I was waiting on a phone call (and still am) so needed to stay local, I decided to fish a stretch on the lower reaches of the river so I could get a phone signal. The plan was to feeder fish for the bream and put a rod or two out for the pike.

Early morning on the lower river

The peg I picked was quite tight and after a while I got a bit sick of struggling for space and watching the tip so I decided to switch to fishing a 5m whip to hand. I fished this method many times along this same stretch when I was younger and often did quiet well. The fishing was very easy and every put in I was catching nice perch, roach and skimmers to around the 10/12oz mark. After about 2 hours on the whip I decided to concentrate on the pike, shortly after I take a take on a herring which didn't really develop. Just before midday I landed a small jack which had taken a perch live bait.

Only a jack but I'm happy to catch pike of any size

I needed to be away by 1400hrs so I left a rod out until the last minute, I was about to pack up the last rod when the live bait was taken. Line was quickly being taken via the baitrunner, usually I would hold the spool and strike simultaneously and then disengage the baitrunner, but for some reason Idisengaged the baitrunner and the pike dropped the bait instantly!

This mornings session was unexpected as I thought that I would be working and although the pike was only small it's the first I've caught this far downstream for a couple of years. The whip fishing was enjoyable but possibly a bit too easy as it could only hold my attention for a couple of hours.

Tackle

My crimping pliers snapped today, this is the second time that I've had pair from the same company snap, both in exactly the same place. I've emailed the manufacturer to see what they have to say......

I managed to get a bargain in the shape of a Korum accessory chair, I swapped it for an old reel that I wouldn't probably ever use. I've been after one of these chairs for a while, it's bigger than I thought it would be and I'll probably use it for more static sessions as it's a bit heavier than the chair I've been using.

Still no eels but a brace of p.b tench

Last night I fished my syndicate water for eels, things didn't start too well with a few issues at home meaning I didn't set off until half past 8. Things started to pick up as I got to the car park and I found that I had the water to myself again. By half past 9 I had 3 rods in the water, 1 dyson rig with a small perch deadbait and the other rods were JS rigs with homemade ledger stems baited with worms and a roach head.

After 45minutes I had a take on the worm rig, which was a perch of around 4oz. On this rod I was using a blockend feeder instead of the usual lead, this was filled with blended worms to try and attract the eels.

Small perch

Over the next few hours everything stayed quiet and I nodded off listening to the radio, at around 0130hrs I was woken by back biter sounding and line was peeling off reel on the worm rod. I was in a bit of a daze but I got to the rod quickly, closed the bale arm, wound down and struck, I felt the kick of a fish then everything went solid. The fish had taken me into the weed bed, I kept the pressure on as I was convinced it was an eel and I didn't want it taking me further into the weed, eventually the fish was clear and came to the net fairly easy. It was a surprise tench and a definite p.b. The tench went into a sack so I could get a decent photo at first light.

4lb 15oz - the first p.b tench of the night

Three hours later it was light enough for a photo and as I just about to take the sack out of the water, the worm rod was off again. I managed to stop the fish from getting to the weed bed and although it tried to put up a fight it was no match for the heavy tackle I was using. I netted it fairly quickly, another tench and it looked a fair bit bigger than the first.

Second p.b tench of the session, 6lb

After a couple of photos the tench were returned and I recast the worm rod whilst slowly packing up, within a minute of the bait being in the water I had another take, line was peeling from the spool and I was hoping for an eel, unfortunately it was another perch of similar size to the first. I packed up and was home for just after 6.

I had 4 runs in total and landed all of them, I was slightly concerned/frustrated that I didn't get any attention from the eels but a brace of p.b tench more than made up for it!

Stick float session

On Tuesday I had another morning fishing the stick, the river was very low and clear and with the bright sun I struggled to get anything of size. Bites were steady but mainly from minnow size chub and dace, I had around 50 fish but nothing bigger than 5/6oz, I will probably wait until the river gets some more water in before fishing again.

The largest of a very difficult session

Morning on the stick

After an early start I was parked up by 5 and was making my way through the fields toward the stretch I fished on the 16th, usually a peaceful 10 minutes walk, however today the fields were full of cattle. Normally this isn't a problem but the young bulls have put on size and gained confidence and they weren't happy with me being in their field. After a couple of aborted charges I decided to jump a fence and walk the (very) long way round. I was set up and feeding the swim by 6 and had a minnow sized chub on the first cast.

I decided to feed more heavily than I did on the last stick float session, hoping to attract the larger chub. In total I had 6 pints of caster, hemp and maggots and I was confident that I could entice something bigger than last time. After 20 minutes or so I was getting a bite each trot down the swim mainly roach in the 2 - 6oz range with the odd small chub. After a change to caster as hook bait a better fish was hooked, a decent perch of about a pound and a half but the hook pulled as I was bringing it over the net. The next two fish were both perch, one just over and one just under a pound. I was hoping that I could get one over two pounds as I have set myself that target this year, no other perch came to the net though.

Caster caught perch - both around the 1lb mark

The swim kept going dead for 10 to 15 minute spells and then I would start catching again, I had a feeling that a pike was in the area. It was confirmed when I saw a pike striking at fish in the far side margin. A decent pike then followed a small dace to the net and stayed a couple of rod lengths out, probably waiting for my next catch. I quickly put a roach on my pike rod and within a second of the bait touching the water the roach was gone. The fish gave a good account of itself with a few runs down stream and a bit of tail walking  but I had a feeling that it wasn't the pike I had seen on opening day. After I netted the pike it was obvious that it wasn't the one from Monday, but it was still a good double. The fish went 12lb 10oz but looked bigger as it was very long for its weight, as is often the case with pike this far upstream.

Lean fit river pike

After the pike I had a few more roach, but the sun came out and I struggled in the bright conditions. Other than the perch and pike I had plenty of roach to 10oz, dace to 6oz and a few very small chublets.

Tip of the day!

If  you use one of those self-inflating mattresses as an unhooking mat it's not a good idea to stand on it whilst wearing studded waders!

Opening day

It has been a long time since I've had the opportunity to fish opening day so I took advantage and set the alarm for half past three with the aim of being on the bank by first light. I decided to fish the stick float for dace and roach but use heavy enough tackle to land a bonus chub or two if they came along. As I approached the river it was obvious that no one had been down during the closed season as the path I needed to take was 6ft overgrown, as was the riverbank. I spent around half an hour clearing a path and enough space on the bank.

The path to the the river bank 

I spent a while sorting out my rig, running the float through the stretch finding the weed beds and by a quarter to six I was fishing. After a couple of missed bites and a couple of adjustments to the rig I caught a small roach, the first fish of the new season.

1st of the season from the river

I was steadily building the swim and had another 3 or 4 similar sized roach in the net when I noticed a pike eyeing up the keepnet, however it quickly spooked and swam off. After I had a couple more fish in the net the pike was back and it looked a very good size, again it spooked and I went back to rebuilding my swim. Each time the pike came it took around 20 to 30 minutes to get a bite again and over the next few hours I had 4 roach snatched as I was bringing them in.

Towards the end of the session the large pike returned and was lurking around the net again, the pike was almost 3 sections of the net long, around 40 " and was most probably a twenty. I had a lure rod with me and I tried every lure I had but the pike didn't show any interest in them, at times I was lifting a shad 2" from its mouth but it never reacted.

I made a single treble trace by removing a treble from a lure and attaching it to the quick clip on the lure trace, took a 4oz roach from the net and free lined the roach in the margin, suddenly the bait started panicking and the pike appeared from the mid river depths and nailed it first time! I would love to be able to continue the story and post a picture of a new pb and a first twenty pounder however after 10 seconds of fight the pike found a patch of streamer weed and managed to free itself!

The result of a pleasing day fishing the stick

Even with the disappointment of losing that big pike I thoroughly enjoyed the day, I ended up with around 30 fish mainly roach plus a few chublets, a couple of perch and a solitary dace. I will be heading back to this stretch at some point this season with a bucket of 'fresh' roach with one target in mind........

Overnight eel session

A water I have access to still follows the traditional Yorkshire close season, giving me access to it from the beginning of June onwards. Last night was the first opportunity I've had to get out for the full night. I arrived at the water at around half seven and was pleased that there was only one other car parked up, however the car belonged to a carp angler who was only at the water to do some pre baiting, that meant I had the water to myself.

I decided to setup in a corner where I had access to a couple of marginal snags and a lot of open water. I spent the first half an hour finding features and gaps in the weed, I set up a different rig on each of the rods (3) I was using, a JS rig, a JS rig with a bouyant stem and a dyson rig. The JS rigs were baited with worms and cast towards the snags in the margins, one was fished over a bed of dead maggots the other had no loose feed. The bait for the dyson rig was a roach and the rig was set to be fished around 2ft off the bottom. Before I could cast the dyson rig I had a take on the left margin rod, line was peeling from the reel, I closed the bail arm and struck into thin air. The dyson rig was cast into a weed free spot around 20 yards out and I baited and recast the left margin rod. I was unsure if the take had been an eel or small fishing picking the bait up.

A view from the swim

The next 3 hours went by without any indications, just before midnight I had a very positive take on the dyson rig. Line was peeling off the reel, I closed the bail arm, leant into what felt like a decent fish, then a second later there was nothing. Confused I reeled in and checked the rig and it was obvious that I had been 'biten' off, almost certainly from a pike. I had been using a trace of around 5 inches of wire and 6 inches of strong stiff mono (Amnesia) which is a pretty standard eel trace. The trace had been bitten off just above the mono to wire swivel, I was annoyed as this is the first bite off I have ever had. I made a new long trace for the rig and recast into a similar area. Around two hours later I had another take on the dyson rig, instantly I knew it was a pike.

A small jack taken at 2 in the morning

I decided to use worms on the dyson rig in an attempt to avoid the pike, the next take was on this rod. However the run was missed but I'm pretty certain that it was an eel.

This water has produced eels to 7lb to carp anglers in the past and I'm hoping to night fish it regularly over the warmer months. I think that the water has a fairly low stock of eels and I'm not expecting to catch many, but I've got a feeling that if I do catch one, it will be one to remember. Next session I am going to use the dyson rig on two rods and use a full length trace when using deadbaits. Hopefully I will be able to fit in my next night session next week.

Tench session

Last week I had a short tench session on a local water, again I struggled to find any tench feeding, as did the other anglers. I ended up with around 40 roach and a few perch.

Net of small roach caught during the last tench session

Short sessions

In the last week I've had two short sessions, the first being a frogging/surface lure session and the second was an evening tench session on the same water.

The lure session was very short as I only had around an hour or so, but that is usually enough time for a fish on this water. Unfortunately the pike weren't that interested in hitting any of the lures I was using. I did have a couple of follows, all the way to the bank but the pike seemed more interested in sun bathing than striking at a lure.

Spro 'Bronzeye' frog in action

I usually enjoy a couple of early season 'frogging' session when the rivers open, however my
catch rate is fairly poor, I get plenty of strikes but usually struggle to hit them. I have a couple of
stretches in mind that I plan to spend a couple of mornings/evenings on as soon as the rivers open, usually the pike are only a few pound or so, but it is a very enjoyable method.

Whilst on the lure session I noticed a fairly large golden orfe cruising around the surface, this is probably the only orfe in the water and it has probably outgrown someone's garden pond.

Golden orfe of around 4lb

The evening tench session was on the same water, which has a fairly low stock of tench that go to

around 6lb or so. The tench on this water are renowned for being difficult to catch and numerous
blanks are to be expected when targeting them.

I decided on a two rod approach, the first was hair rigged sweetcorn ledgered over a small bed of corn and hemp near a small lily patch in the margins. The second rod was a simple waggler set up fishing red maggot on the bottom also close to a lily patch.

Spot the float ?

I was expecting the water in this area to be around 5 or 6 feet however it was more like 11ft, which 

proved challenging when plumbing up with a 12ft rod. I fed a small amount of hemp and maggots hoping to gradually build the swim. Surprisingly the float went straight under on the first cast however this turn out to be a very small perch. The next dozen or so casts I was either catching small roach on the drop or missing the bite.

Plenty of these small greedy roach willing to take a bait on the drop

I decided to up the feed, fish corn on the hook and wait it out for a better fish. After an hour or so I 

had to change the float tip for a starlight, there were plenty of fish rising but I hadn't had a touch on sweet corn on either of the rods. At around half ten I had a bite on the float rod, immediately I knew it was a better fish but after a few seconds it was obvious that it wasn't a tench but a better roach.

Better roach 8oz+

After I returned the roach I noticed that the rig was tangled so I decided to call it a day(or night) and
head home.

I was expecting a blank so I wasn't too disappointed with what I caught, if I fish that swim area again I will probably use a pole as it will be a lot easier.

I was hoping to get out this week but haven't felt like sitting under a brolly all day, it looks like weather will improve as the week progresses so I might fit a session in tomorrow, possibly on the same water or on a club water that I am yet to fish.

Nether Mill fishery (4 evening sessions)

I have been on a course for the last week and decided to take a couple of rods just in case I got the chance to get out for a few hours on an evening. I had a quick search online and found a fishery which was close to my accommodation. After finishing the first day of the course I was glad I bought some rods as I didn't need to do as much ' homework' as I first thought. I managed to fish Monday to Thursday evenings from roughly 5pm to around half eight.

Monday

I caught a small ide on the first cast which was tight to an island, but struggled for a further bite for the next 30 minutes. I then started fishing the margins and started catching small crucians and tench pretty much straight away. After the 2nd or 3rd crucian I had one of 1lb 4oz which I think is a new personal best, unfortunately I didn't take a very good photo and as there is a no keep net rule I couldn't get a better one later. I also lost a decent carp (unseen) from the margins.

Best crucian 1lb 4oz

I ended the evening with -

7 crucian largest 1lb 4oz
5 tench
1 carp
1 ide
1 perch

Tuesday

On Tuesday I fished at the opposite end of the lake as it was quieter there, the fishing was quieter as well and I struggled for the first hour or so. The first bite I connected with fought hard and went like a torpedo, it ended up being a surprise rainbow trout of 2lb 7oz. This was also a personal best as it is the only rainbow trout I have ever caught. I took a quick photo in the net as I wanted to get it back quickly as it wasn't in the best condition.

My first ever rainbow 2lb 7oz

 I finished up with -

4 crucian
3 tench
2 perch
1 roach
1 bream
1 rainbow trout

Wednesday

Half the lake was sectioned off for a match so I had to fish the quieter end again, however I decided to fish the opposite bank near a thick reed bed. It was hard going and I was struggling for a bite and it seemed that the other anglers fishing this side of the lake were too.

Eventually I caught a couple of perch, a roach and a small ide, nothing of size really and I was beginning to get frustrated then I had a run from a margin swim I had been baiting up. The run turned out to be a small ghost carp of around 3 or 4lbs, it fought very hard (as ghost carp usually do) and I was slightly disappointed when it came to the surface, as it fought as if it were much larger.

I hair rigged 4 pieces of corn and dropped the rig into the same spot, rebaited  and sat back for the final 45 minutes or so. Nothing happened on either rod and I decided to pack up, I left the margin rod out for as long as I could whilst packing everything else and just as I was about to pick it up the alarm went and the baitrunner started spinning. I struck into the fish and it felt a lot larger than anything I had caught during the week. The fish fought very hard and pushed the tackle I was using to the limit, it managed to get into the large reed bed twice but some how I managed to bring it out. Eventually after a good 10 minutes and a couple of attempts I netted a large common carp.


New best at 16lb 10oz

I thought the carp was going to be close to the 20lb mark, however the avons (only) went to 16lb
10oz but I was still very pleased as it was a new personal best for me, by a couple of pounds. I was surprised that I managed to land the carp on the tackle I was using, a Drennan series 7 1.25lb avon rod and 6lb line obviously not ideal for carp of that size. The rod performed well and despite being bent through to the butt on occasions I felt in control, well most of the time anyway.

Wednesdays total -

2 perch
1 roach
1 ide
2 carp

Thursday

The lake was fairly quiet with only two or three others fishing, I fished a peg near where I had caught  the bigger crucian in the hope of catching a few more. I fished similar tactics as the previous days with 1 rod float fishing the margins and the second with hair rigged corn or pellets. The crucians did occasionally show the were no larger than 10 ounces or so. I managed a few bream with the largest two being 3lb 15oz and 4lb 5oz, which was pleasing as these are the largest bream I have caught for a few years.


3lb 15oz

4lb 5oz

Thursdays total -

8 bream
6 perch
3 crucian
1 golden orfe
1 ide
1 roach

Although I normally prefer to fish quieter, more natural venues I thoroughly enjoyed the 4 short evening sessions I had at Nether Mill. I managed to catch a few species that I hadn't caught in years and managed to up a few personal bests. The fishery has a club like atmosphere and the bailiff 'Alan' is very helpful, at £4 for an evening and £5 for the full day I feel it is fairly priced as well.


A nice spot to spend a few hours

If any one is looking for somewhere to wet a line in the Barnsley/Penistone area I would definitely
recommend Nether Mill Fishery

Now I just need to find somewhere closer to home with a decent head of crucian.....

The biggest fish of all..... Not quite

I had a few hours on the farm pond, again hoping for a decent perch or two. I decided to fish a running ledger with a few dendrobaenas as bait and a backbiter/rollover as indication and a short whip with chopped worm. The ledger was cast to the far bank under some willows and the whip was fished around 5 meters out along side a lily patch. It took about 15 minutes for something to show any interest, a perch of around an ounce or so. Bites came fairly regularly after the first fish mainly small perch, I upped the feed rate and the size of the worm pieces, hoping that this would attract the larger perch. The plan didn't work as the perch remained a consistent size, I also caught a couple of roach that went to about 4/5 ounces and the largest perch was about 3 ounces.

Mixed catch, unfortunately the perch were smaller than usual

I have had 4 perch sessions on the pond so far, with my largest going to 1lb (which was caught on the first session), I was hoping for a better return. The pond has produced perch pushing the 3lb mark in the past and I am hoping for a 2lber over the coming months. Although it is becoming slightly frustrating catching small bits I am going to persist with the pond for a while longer as it is a nice spot and on each visit I have had the place to myself, which I enjoy.

I am away on a course next week, but I have found a small fishery close to my accommodation and if time allows I am hopeful of fitting in an evening session or two.

Afternoon session on a farm pond

Today I managed to fit in a short session, again targeting perch on a local farm pond. I decided to fish one rod on a running lead with worm as bait and a rollover/back biter combination as indication. I also had a short whip and light feeder rod set up as my largest perch from the last visit came on the whip.

After around half an hour or so I started getting a couple of knocks on the feeder and these turned out to be small skimmers. After I had a couple of skimmers in the net the weather changed and it started raining heavily, then came a thunder storm.

Picturesque despite the weather

Casting the feeder from under the umbrella started to become a problem so I concentrated on the
whip line, I was feeding a mix of chopped worm and caster hoping to attract some decent perch,
however the roach were the first to respond. I started getting bites fairly consistently, then after 20 minutes the bites dried up, a change to a small worm section brought the first perch of the day. I had another 3 perch in quick succession, but these were all small and would of made ideal live baits if I had brought that rod as well.

Surprisingly the worm rod went untouched all day, despite regularly baiting with fresh worms and casting to similar areas from were I caught perch last session the back biter stayed silent and rollover remained still.

Skimmer, roach and hybrid

I ended the session with around 20 fish, mainly roach and skimmers, 4 perch were caught but they were all no more than an ounce or two, I also added a small bream/roach hybrid. Although the larger perch were elusive today, I am enjoying fishing this pond and am hoping to get the time to fish it again next week.

Nice stamp of roach on the caster

I have set myself a target of catching a 2lb perch and a 2lb eel before the autumn and I am confident that this pond holds both, I suppose time will tell.

Short river session

I had a short 4 hour session on my local river today, targeting roach and skimmers. I was on the riverbank and setup by around 0730hrs, I initially started with a 5m whip fishing maggot on the deck and I started getting bites after a couple of minutes.

After around 30 minutes it was a bite a chuck and I was catching small perch and roach every put in. I decided to setup a feeder rod and fish further out to see if I could tempt anything larger into feeding. I clipped up the feeder rod around 40 yards out and balled in 4 large caster laced brown-crumb balls. After around 15 minutes I had a small eel on the feeder. I continued on the feeder line for another 15 minutes but I didn't have another knock. I went back to the 5m whip swim and it was still a bite a chuck, mainly small perch.

Better stamp of fish on feeder

After another half an hour I went back to the feeder and started to get bites straight away, a better stamp of roach and some similar sized skimmers.

Typical river bream

I had a couple of larger bream on the feeder, whilst the 5m whip swim was still producing numbers of small perch and roach. Bites were still coming on the feeder line, then I had a cast off and decided to call it a day as I had things to do in the afternoon.

60 (ish) fish for around 6lb

I ended up with around 60 fish in just over 4 hours made up of mainly perch, roach, a few skimmers, a couple of dace and a solitary eel. The largest skimmer being just under 2lb. Next time I'll try and concentrate on the feeder line and try get some larger bream as they run to around 6lb on this stretch of the river.

Last week I also had a day at a local commercial that I hadn't fished for over 10 years, I ended up with 15 small carp to around 1 1/2lb and around 15 roach and rudd up to a pound.