New stretch, short session

Last Thursday (16th) I had another try on the same stretch as my previous post, however it wasn't very successful and my baits didn't receive any interest.

I was on a course last week so hadn't had the chance to get on the bank for the last 10 days. I only had enough time for a short session today so I was on the bank for 05:30, it was dark for the first hour and as it was my first visit to this stretch I decided to stay in the one spot until it was light. The river was pushing through fairly strongly so I decided to just fish the margins. The first hour passed and as I was sorting my gear out to move upstream my backbiter sounded as a half mackerel was taken. The fish surfaced straight away and was probably in the 8 to 10lbs range but after another few seconds the hooks pulled. I put off moving and quickly recast to the same area, I gave it another 20 minutes but nothing happened so I moved further upstream.

The rejected bait

On this section the bank was a lot clearer so I was able to 'leap frog' the rods and cover a bit of water. 20 minutes later a large sardine was taken and after a short tussle (tail walking/leaping out of the net) I had a jack of 6lb 8oz on the bank. The jack had a bit of damage to its mouth, probably from poor handling, other than than it was pristine.

Ten minutes after casting a mackerel tail the backbiter sounded, line was peeling from the reel, I took up the slack and lent into a better fish. The pike fought very aggressively and I could see it was a 'lower double'. I had a couple of opportunities to net the pike but I struggled with the steep banks and the shortish landing net handle (need a longer one). I pulled the pike into netting range however the pike was thrashing its head from side to side and managed to throw the hooks. Again I quickly cast back to the same area, hoping to tempt the pike again. Unfortunately there was no further interest in my baits and I had to leave shortly afterwards, begrudgingly I was home by 11:00. I'm hoping to get a mid-week session in, but as it's school half term I might be pushing my luck.

New camera

I managed to bag an eBay bargain, a canon bridge camera for £13. It's an older model but it should be  more than adequate for fishing. I had a bit of a play with it today but struggled to get the self takes to focus, hopefully I can figure it out for the next session.

Midweek pike sessions

On Tuesday I fished a stretch of river that I had wanted to fish for a few years but for one reason or another hadn't got round to it. The stretch has produced a few twenty's and numerous high doubles over the years but access to the bank is quite difficult so it is largely unfished.

I was fishing with Mick and after meeting up and a short drive to the stretch we were parked up by around 0630hrs. The walk to the stretch was interesting, as it was still dark and I hadn't been there for a number of years, the 10 to 15 minute walk I had expected turned into a bit of a hike. Under and over some barbed wire fencing, up a few hills, through some woods and across a giant hogweed forest we arrived at the bank some 40 minutes later.

The river had swollen overnight and it was pushing through quite hard, there was lots of leaves, branches and fallen trees coming downstream. The fishing was hard going with the river conditions making presentation difficult at times. Despite regularly changing baits and tactics we both blanked.

On the way back to the cars we found a more direct route, but after 5 minutes I realised the tyre on my barrow was punctured and I had to push the barrow (off road) with the flat for the best part of a mile. As we were approaching the cars Mick noticed that we had 'parking tickets' on both out windscreens, luckily these were only 'parking warning notices' for parking on a grass verge (F*#*ing jobsworths!!!!)

Not the best of sessions but now we know the easier route I'm sure we'll be back and hopefully the river will be in better condition. 

On Thursday we fished a stretch further upstream, Mick couldn't get there until mid morning but I managed to drag myself out of bed and was on the bank before 7. I had my first take of the day 20 minutes later, initially the pike didn't really put up much of a fight and I thought I'd netted it at the first attempt but when I lifted the net the pike wasn't there. The fight started again but despite the fish trying to get into the marginal snags it didn't really last too long and I made sure it was definitely in the bottom of the net on the second attempt.

First of the day, caught on a 'fresh' supermarket sardine 

The pike went 10lb 6oz and was caught on a fresh supermarket bought sardine. Usually I buy my sea deads from a bait supplier or they are caught on summer mackerel trips, but I'm impressed with the quality and the price of the supermarket fish (£3.70 for 9 large sardines), I will definitely be stocking up the bait freezer with these for future sessions.

Sat back (on my bargain chair) waiting for the next take

Mick arrived just before nine and shortly after I had another run on a sardine bait, the pike was taking line, but unfortunately I had forgotten to tighten the drag (after the earlier fish) and I basically struck into thin air, the pike was gone and the bait had came off the trebles.

I decided to use an old large mackerel that had been in my bait freezer since catching it 3 summers ago, the bait was cast into a similar area as before. A short time later the mackerel was picked up and a pike was taking line, I struck but nothing was there. I got the bait back and could see that a pike had the bait but it was either a jack or I had struck to early. The same (mangled) bait was cast into the same spot and I was hoping that the pike would have another go. Half an hour had past when the backbiter sounded again, line was peeling from the reel, I waited a second or two longer than the last take and struck in a fish. The pike didn't put up that much of a fight and Mick quickly netted at the first attempt.

The second of the day (7lb 14oz) caught on a 3 year old mackerel

Mick had the next take, again this was on a fresh sardine. Line was peeling from the spool, but when he struck he didn't connect with anything. The bait was marked and it was definitely a pike, so he had either struck too early or it was a only a jack, either way we both agreed that it is better to miss a few take rather than deeply hook a pike.

Neither of us managed another take and as we were packing away I had a phone call, I was hoping it was to give me a start date for my new contract but it was in fact a call to say that the contract had been cancelled ! I had put a lot of effort in to get the contract offer so needless to say I was pretty pi$$ed off when I received the news, I suppose it will give me the chance to get on the bank a few more times whilst I wait for the next contract to come along......

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.

My last session for a while....

With a short term, long hours contract starting in the coming days, today was the last chance I would have to get on the bank for a while.

I had my mind set on pike and decided to head for a stretch that is very lightly fished due to the long walk involved. I arrived just before first light and found a few areas to explore, I set up a light stickfloat to try and snatch some bait and fished a deadbait into the slack water. I was expecting plenty of small dace but they were harder to catch than I thought they would be. The kingfisher on the opposite bank was easily out fishing me taking 3 small fish in succession.

I started to pick up the odd fish but they were quite small, after a few (slightly) better fish were taken I decided to stick one on as the deadbait hadn't been touched. After 20 minutes with the live bait on the float slowly went under and held just under the surface, a few seconds later it slowly slid away towards the middle of the river. I leant into the fish and it seemed like a decent size, the fish but up a decent scrap and I had a bit of trouble netting it (could do with a longer net handle), but eventually the fish was sat in the bottom of the net.

The pike went 14lb 6oz and is my second largest to date. I spent another half an hour in the swim and had a few casts with the lure rod, the first cast with a 'Manta' and I briefly had another fish on, it felt decent but was off after a few seconds. The lure was also taken on the next cast but I pulled out as I struck. I had a couple of moves downstream spending 45 minutes in each without any more action. On the way home I called into a different stretch further downstream for an hour, I dropped a lamprey section into the margin and spent the hour casting a few lures. The bait went untouched and I didn't get any interest on the lures either.

I was hoping for another fish but I wasn't too disappointed, hopefully I'll be able to fit the odd session in-between shifts but I'd be surprised if I was out again this side of Xmas.

An unexpected personal best

I had arranged to go barbel fishing with a mate (Ben) on Saturday, however things came up making it a non-starter so we decided on a short stick float session today instead. The day didn't get off to the best of starts, the fridge that our maggots were in had been turned off and most of the maggots were dead, the ones that were alive smelt, were sweaty and crawling all over the fridge!

After a bit of a mess on we arrived at the car park well before light and even after a 20 minute walk to  our chosen stretch it was still dark. I was aiming to fish the stick for the dace and perch, then live bait for the bigger perch later in the session.

Tackle I used

Stick float - 14ft Drennan Acolyte Plus, Abu 506, 4.4lb Float fish, 5BB stick float, size 18 hook

Live bait - Drennan 1.25lb Series 7 Avon, 5010 reel, 6lb sensor, medium loafer float, 15lb trace, size 12 hook

My rods were already made up so I spent some time baiting the swim, 10 maggots every 20/30 seconds for about 5 minutes. I was getting bites straight away but it took a few adjustments to the rig before I started to hook the small dace. The swim was building steadily and I was getting a fish most casts. The dace on this stretch seemed larger than other parts that I'd fished this season. Although there seemed to be less, the average size was bigger and most averaged around 3oz with the odd better ones going to 6/7oz.

The perch started to show but these were smaller than I was hoping for, averaging 4oz with the best going 12oz. I had around 30 fish in the net (mostly dace and perch with 2 grayling and a small chub) when the swim died. I could see some movement in the water, a large shadow or two moving in the current, I stopped casting and fed a pinch of maggots every 10 seconds for 10 minutes. I was hoping the shadows were chub or large perch. On my next cast the float buried and I hooked another small dace, this was quickly snatched by a pike.

I grabbed a dace from the net, lightly lip hooked it and dropped it into the swim. The bait was taken instantly but I pulled it straight out of the pikes mouth. It was taken a second time and the pike was on for about 10 seconds before the line went slack.

I decided to keep the feed going in whilst fishing a live bait, nothing happened for 20 minutes and the bait went untouched. Eventually the dace was grabbed, I struck and I was confident that the hook had found a good hold. The pike fought hard on the light perch set up, I missed a chance to net it early on but I saw that it was hooked in the scissors and I was confident I would get it in. I applied pressure only when the fish was heading towards the snags and I give it line when it was in open water. Eventually I got the pike on the surface and could see it was easily a double, after a couple of failed attempts I managed to get the fish upstream of the net and allowed the current to push the fish into the waiting net.

Easily beats my 3 year old p.b

A new p.b and a smile!

The pike went 15lb 14oz and beat my old p.b by more than 2lb. The light gear performed well and although I wouldn't specifically target pike with it, it's good to know that it's capable enough to land a decent sized pike if hooked.

After the pike I only managed 2 more perch before we had to go. Ben ended up with a similar net of fish as I did but he had more perch than dace, his perch went to around the 1lb mark.

A first grayling and the lightly hooked pike

He also managed to catch his first grayling, which went 1lb 1oz and equalled my p.b. We took a detour on the way home for a pint to celebrate our new p.b's.

A few pike sessions

Last Tuesday I had a short lure session on a stretch that usually produces a fish or two, however after a quiet 90 minutes without a touch I accepted the blank and called it a day.

On Thursday I fished a new stretch with a bait rod, which was also fairly uneventful, the only highlight being catching a new grayling p.b whilst bait snatching in the margins.

1lb 1oz - a new p.b

Today I had a deadbait session on a stretch I had only fished once before, two rods, one with a running lead cast towards the far bank and the other fishing the near bank with a float. After a couple of quiet hours the first take came on the far bank rod, the lamprey was taken and line was peeling from the spool. I wound down, struck and the fish was on, after a short fight a pike of about 7lb was on the surface. As I was drawing the fish towards the net, it managed to get under some marginal snags and shed the hooks.

Fourty minutes later the smelt on the float rod was taken, the pike put up a short scrap and when it surfaced it looked a similar size to the first one (possibly the same fish). Again whilst bringing the fish towards the net it managed to shed the hooks !

Despite regularly recasting with different baits I had no other takes, this stretch is probably more suited to a roving approach but the banks are still massively overgrown so I'll stick to the more static sessions for now.

New book

Earlier this year I pre-ordered Stephen Harpers latest book, Extreme Pike. I'd actually forgotten that I had ordered it so it was a nice surprise when it arrived last week. The book is in a similar style and format to 'Dream Pike' and after reading a couple of chapters it has definitely whetted my appetite for the coming months.

First pike session of the season

I had planned an eel session on Thursday night which didn't happen, then on Friday evening I decided not go as the weather looked a bit grim. Saturday night the kids were staying at their grandparents so we went to Sunderland dogs and somehow I managed to pick fluke 6 out of the 10 winners !

I decided to skip a Sunday morning sleep in and have my first pike session of the season. I picked a section of river that can only be accessed by a longish (30 minute) walk, hoping to have the stretch to myself. I was pleased when I arrived at the stretch as it was empty, and looked as if it hadn't been fished in a while. I setup 2 rods, a float ledger in the margin and a running lead mid river.

Initially it was overcast and even though the river was in desperate need of some water I was confident that I would catch. After an hour the sun had broken through the clouds and with the polaroids on I could see the majority of the river bed, my confidence was starting to fade until I had a tentative take on the mid-river rod. The arm dropped but the line remained still, I held the line and I could feel the odd tap, I waited for a more positive knock and struck into thin air ! Half of the sardine had been taken, most probably by a chub.

Only interest of the session - probably a chub

I stuck it out until lunch but I didn't get any more interest. This stretch definitely needs more water in but I'll be returning in the coming weeks/months hopefully when the river is carrying some more water and I'll get a better result. With the possibility of a new job, which will see my fishing time massively reduced, I'm hoping to fit a few more pike sessions in before my start date towards the end of the month.

More barbel

Yesterday I had another go for the barbel, I arrived just after first light and the river was still very low and clear. I decided on fishing the same tactics as my last session, a single bait with very few freebies. I had my first cast at around 06:20 and thirty minutes later I had my first bite. The rod wrapped round and the fish felt fairly heavy, it didn't put up a typical barbel fight, instead it stayed in the deeper water getting itself into every snag and weed bed it could find. Eventually everything went solid and I had to wade downstream of the fish, I put a bit of pressure on and it swam straight out of the weed. The fight lasted a good 5 minutes and I was very relived when I finally got into the net. The barbel was smaller than I was expecting but I still pleased as I knew it was a new p.b.

An early barbel - a new p.b of 6lb 7oz

After the barbel had recovered I checked the hook length, put on a new boilie and was about to recast when I noticed what I initially thought was weed on the mainline. After a closer look I realised that I had been lucky to land the fish, as the mainline had been damaged, it was split and very frayed.

Shortly after 07:00 the sun broke through the clouds, the forecast was for bright sun until 14:00 and I thought that I would struggle to get any interest during this period. I was right, I didn't have any indications on the barbel rod during this time, I had a couple of casts with my lighter rod, a link ledger and worm placed tight to the bushes and a 6oz perch was tempted. There was plenty of wildlife activity to keep me entertained though, plenty of kingfishers, a pair of large herons arguing over a prime spot, a trio of red kites and a 3lb (ish) chub managed to beach itself while chasing fry and minnows in the margin.

For once the weatherman was right and the cloud cover arrived at 14:00, a few minutes later I had my 2nd take. It was another barbel and after a more typical fight it was netted at the first attempt.

Second of the day 5lbs 10oz

Thirty minutes after the last fish the rod wrapped rod again, however no line was taken from the baitrunner so thought it was most probably a chub and didn't bother to strike. Things went quiet again but I was quite happy sat on the bank catching up with the transfer news on talkSPORT. At 19:00 the rod went round again and another barbel was hooked, the fish stayed in the shallower sections and went on 3 or 4 powerful runs downstream before it was netted. The barbel was quite a short fish but it was very broad and deep, it took the scales round to 6lb 4oz.

A short, stocky fish.

I decided to stay until after dark, in the hope that the larger fish would be on the feed. I had a final cast at 20:15 while slowly packing away my gear. I was getting knocks fairly regularly but it took about 20 minutes for the rod to go round properly. I was into another barbel, it didn't feel as big as the earlier fish but it still put up an interesting fight in the dark. The barbel was the smallest of the session and weighted 4lb 4oz. As with the last session all fish were caught on the boilie, the meat and pellets went untouched again.

Four barbell including a new p.b, a good day

This barbel fishing is becoming addictive and I'm hoping to try another new stretch of the river in the coming weeks. I'm also going to try and fit another eel session in this week (hopefully).

A more pike friendly dyson rig

I have never had a bite off while pike fishing but during an eel session earlier in the season, I was bitten off whilst using a deadbait on a dyson rig. I was bitten off just above the short wire trace. I was annoyed it had happened as I don't like leaving tackle in fish and it made me think twice about using the dyson rig again.

After some thought and a bit of messing around, I came up with a simple 'all-in-one' trace to use with the dyson rig. The 'all-in-one' trace incorporates a hook length, buffer bead and up trace. It is basically an extra long trace with a moveable buffer bead.

I tried a few different methods of attaching the bead to the trace but these either didn't work how I wanted them too, were too bulky or they damaged the trace. I remembered reading about a rig on Dave Lumbs blog, which used float stops on the trace to hold a ledger bead in place. This seemed like a good solution so I 'borrowed' the idea and used it on this trace.

I use around 24" of wire, which allows for a 6-8" trace and sufficient for an up trace. The hook is attached in my normal way (3 turn half blood knot), a large float stop is slid onto the wire, followed by a John Roberts buffer bead then a loop is tied at the end of the wire. The trace is threaded through the run ring and attached to the main line via a sleeved quick link swivel.

1. Mainline 2. Quick link swivel and rubber sleeve 3. Wire trace 4. Buffer bead/Float stop 5. Run ring 6. Hook
7. Mainline 8. Sunken float 9. Swivel 10. Mono weak link 11. Lead

The float stop is usually enough to stop the buffer bead from slipping, but on finer diameter wire I hold it in place with a bit of super glue. Slightly melting the float stop with a lighter also worked very well but when testing the trace snapped, so I stick to the super glue. After gluing the float stop it can be moved if required, however some care is needed to avoid kinking the trace. I usually change the height of the bait by adjusting the length of weak link between the sunken float and lead.

A dab of super glue prevents the float stop slipping

I have used the rig and it works fine, during a recent session I caught my modest p.b eel on it and I am confident that it will continue to catch. The rig is very simple to make and it also removes the need for additional swivels/links which reduces the number of knots on the rig (which can only be a good thing in my book) and with the up trace it is obviously more pike friendly/safe.

My p.b eel caught on a Dyson rig with a modified 'all-in-one' trace.

The trace isn't by any means revolutionary but it helps simplify an existing rig and I feel it makes it safer. I am also working on a bottom/ledger rig that could be used as an alternative to the J.S rig. I want to catch a few fish on it before posting it on here, which will probably be next season now.

Back for barbel

After my latest failed barbel attempt I was planning on concentrating on the eels, however I decided to give the barbel another go. The plan for the session was to use a simple running ledger rig with a small pva bag or stringer.

Tackle used

Rod - 1.75lb Series 7 Avon
Reel - Shimano 5010 baitrunner
Line - 12lb sensor
Hook length - 10lb ESP Ghost Fluro or 10lb Super Specialist Sink Braid
Hook - size 8 or 10 Super Specialist Barbel

For bait I had boilies, garlic spam and a mix of pellets. I had my first cast by 0615hrs and for the first hour the tip remained motionless. At 0715hrs the tip went round and the baitrunner started spinning, a small barbel was hooked. It didn't take long to land, weigh and take a quick photo, the barbel was held in the margin to recover and shortly after it swam off strongly.

2lb 6oz

It took another 2 hours for the tip to go round again and when it did it felt like a better fish. After a 3 minute fight I had another barbel in the net and it was a definite p.b. The barbel went 5lb 1oz and beats my previous best by around 2lb.

5lb 1oz - a new p.b

At roughly 1000hrs the sun came out and the bites dried up, despite trying different baits, hook length material, hook sizes, longer hook lengths  etc... I couldn't tempt another fish. The rain clouds returned by 1500hrs and almost instantly I had another take, the fish felt a decent size but after a minute it managed to find some weed and the hook pulled ! I took my time packing up, hoping for another chance but it never came.

All takes came to a hair rigged boilie on the braid hook length, it was the first time I'd used the Drennan Sink Braid and it seems to do the job well.

Boilie/stringer combo

My next session should be on Tuesday, possibly another attempt for the barbel or a stick float session for chub and perch. I'm also aiming to be out on Thursday night for the eels....