Post Covid Perch

 My youngest daughter brought covid home with her, nothing serious but after a few days I was also testing positive. I was expecting to test negative after a few days, but I was positive for the full 10 days and for the first couple of weeks back at work I was too wiped out to be getting out on the bank. Storms, floods and car problems also added to my time away from fishing. (Almost 7 weeks without setting a line !)

I had some time off booked in for the last week or so of the season, so I could manage a few sessions before the season ends.

Perch were the target, things were hard going compared to before the major floods we’ve had and although I landed a 2lb’er on each session it was a real struggle.

A brown trout, a surprise capture this far downstream 

Next session was in a similar area, similar methods as on previous sessions but most of the day the quiver tipped worm baits went untouched. Eventually a small perch hung itself, followed by a better fish at last knockings.

2.01lb taken as the last of the light faded

Nice to be back on the bank, with a couple of decent fish landed, hopeful of more during chub and pike sessions before the end of the season.

One of those days

This morning I headed to a new stretch of river with the aim of tempting a decent chub to test my new rod. This stretch of river isn't known for being very prolific, but the chub tend to average around 4lb and can reach up to 6lb at the right time of year. The river level seemed spot on and the weather was favourable with plenty of cloud cover.

I spent the first hour walking the banks finding a few suitable swims, before settling for an area with a crease around a rod length out, running parallel to the near bank. I fed hemp and maggots whilst setting up and shortly after 0600hrs I had my first cast. It took around 45 minutes of steady feeding to get a first bite, I hooked into what seemed like a reasonable fish but after my initial optimism it turned out to be a trout.

A beautifully marked trout which was safely returned

Despite continuous feeding I couldn't buy another bite from the swim so after an hour I moved to an area of deeper/faster water. I changed the float to a 'chubber' style effort which was more suited to this pacier water. The feed was kept the same as the previous swim and again I was struggling, no bites, not even from minnows. After 2 hours in this swim I had caught a tiny minnow sized chub so I moved further downstream to an area of similar depth but a lot less flow.

The third unsuccessful peg of the day

I decided to scale my tackle down to the lightest I had with me, 3.3lb mainline, 2.6lb hook length and a size 20 hook. I fed the swim with caster and hemp for around 20 minutes before casting. The first trot down with caster on the hook and the float buried, a minnow! The next cast resulted in a similar bite which was from a chub smaller than the minnow. The next 40 minutes went by without a bite so I called it a day before lunch. Even though conditions seemed spot on I had a feeling I was going to struggle, one of those days when nothing really goes wrong, but nothing seems to go as planned either.

On my journey home I took a detour to my syndicate water to see if anyone was fishing, which they weren't. I had a bit of a walk around and raked the weed from some pegs in case I can get on there later in the week for an eel session.

Wormery

Last summer I set up a small wormery in one of those purpose built bins, however after some initial success all the worms had died after a couple of months. I most probably put too much kitchen waste in and everything went mouldy. I had about a 1/4 kilo of dendras left from my last eel outing so I set it up again, hopefully I'll have more success this time around.

Looking ok after a week

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.....

New venue

Yesterday I managed a few hours on a new water with the aim of tempting a pike or a chub. I arrived at around 11ish and planned to fish until around 1600hrs, the river was carrying a bit more water than I was expecting and was slightly coloured.


Lovely stretch of river.

I headed off upstream and walked the full stretch with the aim of fishing likely areas on the way back. For the pike I was using my standard running ledger rig swapping between lamprey and smelt on the trebles and on the chub rod I was alternating between a maggot feeder and a small cage feeder with liquidised bread and cheese paste.

I spent around 15/20 minutes in each area before moving to the next, after my first move I started getting bites on the maggot feeder, initially I thought they were minnows but as I was using a size 10 hook and 6 maggots I just ignored them. After a couple of minutes I had a more positive bite, which I thought I had missed but it turned out to be a bull head. I haven't seen a bull head for around 15 years so it was a bit of a surprise, especially as it was caught on such a large hook.


Bullhead - eyes bigger than its belly.

On my next move upstream I had a positive take, again on the maggot feeder. I was hoping that it was a chub but it turned out to be a trout of around a pound or so. The trout gave a strong fight for its size and it was safely returned.

A surprise trout, unsure if its a brown or sea variant.

The rest of the session past quickly without any other bites or takes, the river seemed to lose its colour throughout the session and checking the river levels today it seems like I went a day early. I will be returning to this stretch before the season ends as the chub go to around the 5/6lb mark and the pike can push 20lb.