River perch

I’ve had a few perch sessions this autumns/winter across 3 different rivers without much to report, the odd small perch, a couple of ruffe and some decent bream was as good as it got.

Things picked up a bit on my most recent outing. Only a short 2.5hr session but I managed to land a couple, lose a very good fish and learn a bit more about the stretch.

I had a 2lb’er second cast, very small knocks on the quiver tip turned into positive bites after twitching the bait back slightly.

Bang on 2lb, my first perch from this river

Very pleased as that was my first perch from this river. Bites on the quiver tipped worm were infrequent and shy so I decided to trot a small live bait over the area I has been fishing the worm. First trot down, float straight under and I was into a nice perch. Unfortunately the hook hold failed before it was ready for netting, gutted. Possibly a 3 pounder as it was much larger than the one I landed.

Bites dried up after the lost fish, eventually a float paternoster live was snatched, however the excitement was short lived as it was a very small jack.

One more good bite on the worm before it was too dark to see produced a 6/8oz perch.

Im planning to head back down to this particular river next week for another go, given what I’ve seen so far I’m hopeful of a few decent perch from there before the season ends. 

PAC talk 

After that perch session I headed down to North Derbyshire to attend a Trent zander/pike talk by Ian Wilson and Steve Lyon. I usually head to the Trent for the day then stop off on the way back up north for the talk but this time I had my dates mixed up and couldn’t get out for the full day. 

The talk/slide show was great, some amazing fish caught by both Ian and Steve, plenty of info and advice shared meant a lot to think about on the long drive home. 

My one and only zander - I’ll be aiming to add a few more from both the non tidal and tidal Trent in the future, maybe not for a season or two as I’m on a long waiting list for the club ticket I want ( plenty of time to day dream).

Out with the old, in with the new

My struggle for time on the bank continues and the three short sessions I've managed this month haven't been very fruitful with just the one pike landed. All enjoyable sessions even a run in with a group match anglers didn't spoil a Sunday morning on the river.

My second river double of the season - 10lb 6oz

Out with the old, in with the new

For the last 7 years I've owned a 1986 Suzuki SJ, small, uncomfortable but ideal for accessing the riverbanks during the winter months. However maintaining a near 30 year old jeep was becoming an issue and an upgrade was well overdue.

The old

After some research I decided on a Honda HRV, a bit of a comprise between a 4 wheel drive and a car to fit the kids in. Should be ideal for what I need and a lot more comfortable than the old jeep.

The new

I'm hoping to get out for a pike session this weekend, hopefully on a stretch were I can give the Honda a thorough testing.

PAC Talk

At the beginning of the month Chris Leibbrandt paid our local PAC a visit, a very enjoyable presentation/talk from someone who has definitely been there and done it, well worth attending if he is in your area.

February - A struggle so far....

I've had 3 sessions so far this month and they have all been a bit of a struggle, nothing noteworthy caught but I thought I would update the blog while I'm watching the darts

3rd Feb - I fished a new stretch of a 'North Yorkshire' river for the first time, as soon as I arrived I knew it was going to be a difficult day as the river was full of snow melt. Water temps were 1°C and air temp barely passed zero, needless to say it was hard going. I was targeting the pike but after a morning without any interest in the baits, I switched my attention to the chub. Ten minutes after my first cast I had a decent chub in the net. Blank avoided I put the pike rods back out but nothing happened. A final 20 minutes for the chub, saw the rod wrapround again but I missed the bite.

3lb 7oz taken on a hair rigged piece of steak

10th Feb - A recce the day before on my local river and it was good level, fairly clear and I was confident of finding a fish or two the next day. I was on the river bank for first light (before the E.A had updated the levels) and the river had came up a good foot making it the stretch I wanted to fish unfishable. I headed to a much deeper and wider stretch 5 and a half miles downstream, I stuck it out until 13:30 without any interest in the dead baits.

The next night was my local PAC regions first talk. Dennis Moules was the guest speaker, a very enjoyable night made even better when I managed to win a nice raffle prize.

Well worth attending if Dennis is speaking at a PAC region near you

17th Feb - I headed to the same river as my first session of the month, this time I planned to stay mobile, moving frequently hoping to land on a few fish. I hedged my bets and took rods for both chub and pike. Less than 5 minutes after dropping a smelt into the margin, the backbiter sounded and soon after a (very) small jack was on the bank.

The jack was definitely my smallest this season, but the blank was avoided which was better than my previous sessions. Whilst handling the pike I noticed how warm it felt so I dropped the thermometer into the deep margin for half an hour, the reading was just over 4°C, up 3°C in the last 2 weeks. I kept on the move, moving swims after 30 to 40 biteless minutes. I did have the odd interest on the chub rod but nothing worth striking at.

The majority of this stretch is accessible with a 4 x4, so the old jeep came in handy, meaning moving swims wasn't a chore and I probably fished 8 swims by 13:00.

Roving the easy (lazy) way!

For the final hour or so I decided to move to the next stretch upstream, pick a peg and sit it out. Again within 5 mins of putting a bait (lamprey) out, the backbiter sounded, another jack but any pike is welcome on difficult days like these.

So far February has been a struggle, not just for me but most lads on the local forums have been struggling. Catch rates have increased over the last week or so, with some nice bags of chub coming out. Jim had one of these catches, 5 chub over 4lb in less than 3 hours, quality fishing. Jim's catch report can be found here.

Hopefully the temperatures continue to rise and I can get a few better fish on the bank before the rivers close, I'm out again on Tuesday, river undecided but I'm hoping conditions are kind.

Pike Anglers Club Event 26/01/2014

On Sunday I attended my first Pike Anglers Club 'fish in' event at Motorway Pond which is controlled by Hull and District Anglers Association . The 'pond' is an 18 acre pit with many features and is completely different to anything I have fished before. I was allocated a decent peg and decided on a 3 rod dead bait approach. One rod in each of the left and right margins with various baits a nd the middle bait was positioned with a bait boat using the sounder to identify various features. It was a quiet day all round with only 2 fish coming out to the 15 or so anglers on the pit, a jack and a low double. Although I didn't catch it was still an enjoyable day (apart from the torrential rain) I managed to put faces to names after meeting a few other members of the PAC.

Motorway Pond - An interesting place well worth a second visit.

New rod

After the disappointment of not getting any Chew Valley tickets(again), I decided to treat myself to a new rod, a DLST P2, which I am going to be using on the rivers (when the weather behaves) in a more mobile approach. This rod seems ideal for what I need, hopefully it will be getting a thorough testing soon, I will also be using it as a third rod in the summer when targeting eels.