A pb chub

I fished the River today with the intention of trying for chub and pike. Conditions were mild, and the river was fining down after a recent spate. Ideal really. I set up my drennan avon quiver with it's 3oz tip (owing to the flow) and using 8lb line straight through to a size 10 drennan wide gape, fished with cheesepaste. The fish were there, and indications were forthcoming, but they clearly knew all about cheesepaste and i didnt receive very confident takes. A switch to luncheon meat brought an immediate response, and the tip wrapped round connecting with a chub, which put up a dogged and determined fight. Eventually landed, i felt it was easy a pb, and probably a 5lber. At 4lb 13oz, though slightly dissapointed at not getting a 5, I was still please to be my pb by 5oz.

I also managed a fish of 4lb 3 oz to cheesepaste / bread crust balanced rig, and went home with a smile on my face. There's only a couple of weeks to go until the close season, and i'm going to miss the rivers.

Chub on steak

Despite there still being snow underfoot, the conditions felt milder today. However, the river was still low, cold and clear and I knew it wouldn't be easy. I decided to fish steak on the hook, with mince in the feeder, using a drennan avon rod with 2oz tip, complete with the new drennan FD 4000 reel (cracking piece of kit!) and 5lb line straight through, with the feeder stopped by a couple of grippa stops. This was cast into the flow and allowed to be pushed back in to the nearside bank, underneath some overhanging willows.

FIrst cast and I was soon into a fish of 3lb ish, which gave a good account of itself.

Next cast produced a couple of plucks, followed by a good wrap round and i connected with something substantially heavier than the first. Unfortunately, despite my attempts to keep it out the willow, I couldnt and that was that! Despite getting a couple more pulls, i didnt connect with any more and went home with just the one fish.

Winter is here!

I knew, after last nights snow, that I just had to get out fishing this morning. I also knew i was unlikely to catch, but I just needed to be there! Bizzarre yes, but we anglers are a bit odd at times.

I got to a very cold, low and clear river, and tried a balanced crust / cheesepaste approach, with a light ledger link, with just the one slight pull offered. I tried pike fishing with some lamprey (hoping the blood would leak in the clear water). This provided me with no success either. Suddenly a flotilla of 25-30 cormorants surfaced - they covered the wolewidth of the river and were just making there way downstream, presumably gobbling all the small, cold, docile fish in their wake. One glance at me and they all flew off - they must have been there as the lakes were frozen. This is a problem with rivers up and down the country.

Back to the fishing, and simplistically I blanked, but I left with plenty of cold, snowy memories...

3 Chub for 12lb

I've just got back from a great morning's fishing. I got to the river at 7am, and the weather was wild with heavy gusts and the odd shower. Walking to my favourite peg, I fed with liquidised bread whilst setting up. Casting out a feeder of liquidised bread, and some smelly cheese paste on the hook, it didn't take long to start getting some indications (i find if the chub are there, they will soon be on your bait). The first proper pull was missed, but second time round I hooked into a nice chub of 3lb 3oz

I could have stayed in the swim and hope for another, but decided to move on. My second choice of swim involved casting out into the middle of the river, and allowing it to swing the bait in to the near bank under some overhanging trees. I the balled the bad in by hand. Again, it wasn't long until I hooked into something, and this time it felt bigger. I had to put a serious curve on the rod to keep the fish out the near bank, but eventually it grudgingly came over the net, and at 4lb 8oz was a new pb for me.

My last swim was a real birdcage, but by squeezing through some branches, I was able to cast out and let the bait swing in again underneath some overhanging trees. Same tactics as before, and this gave me my final chub of the day at 4lb 3oz - the end to a brilliant session.

A Cold winters day on the river

Today was one of those tough days where I knew it would be difficult to catch, but I also knew it would be an achievement just to be out there on a cold crisp morning. I was trying a new stretch of water, one I intend to fish a fair amount this year. With the river cold and clear, I decided (after reading a recent magazine article on the river) to use steak on the hook, with mince in a feeder. It certainly provoked some interest from what was presumably chub but, try as I might, I failed to convert the many knocks and small pulls into a fish. Not suprising really, given the temps. Here are a few photo highlights from a cracking morning...

chub

After last weeks success, and with the mild temperatures and the river dropping off following midweek floods, I decided to go for some River chub again. Tactics were similar to before, with smelly cheese paste (blue stilton of course) and liquidised bread in the feeder, to a size 6 barbless super specialist hook and 8lb Drennan double strength. The cage feeder was stopped with two float stops up the line, so that the line wasnt weakened by any knots (you really have to hit and hold with these chub!). My first peg provided an instant response and i hit into what was obviously a big chub. No matter how hard i pulled, i just couldn't get him out of his snaggy lair, with the inevitable result of the hook springing back. Despite some further touches, i had no more action and decided to move to a new swim..

Using the same tactics, i had to cast out into the middle chanel and allow the bait to be pushed under the tree, which meant hand feedeing liquidised bread. A couple of nudges on the rod indicated some interest, and it wasn't long before the tip pulled right round. I hit into this one and, similar to before, it tried it's best to get to some nice tree roots. Fortunately i managed to hold this one off and despite a little argument with a tree to my left, it eventually came in. The result, a fin perfect 3lb 1oz chub.

First cast of 2012....

Feeling a little despondent with the local, my first cast of 2012 saw me changing venues, with a trip to another river. This is a smashing river, and one i wish i fished more. I've decided to set myself a chub target of 5lb for this year, and decided that cheese paste (the smelliest, garlic flavoured blue cheese paste you can imagine) balanced with crust and feeder fished with liquidised bread would be the tactic. 8lb drennan double strength and a size 8 drennan super specialist hook finished the rig off. First cast in to a likely looking raft of weed underneath a fallen tree showed the odd indication, and i struck at a quick jag of a bite but missed. I decided to let the bite develop, and within 5 mins the rod pulled round confidently, which was met with a strike and solid resistance. I stopped the initial surge for the tree, before playing the fish in open water. This resulted in a satisfing start to 2012, with a 4lb chub the result.

A mention about another recent fishing trip of mine. Between Xmas 2011 and the end of 2011, I had 3 fishing trips that all ended in blanks. The first was a boxing day trip to a small local river. Try as I might, nothing was interested in my float trotted maggots, and the pike did not find my well presented smelt deadbait of interest. Conversely, my brother Jono decided on an interesting little swim with a sunken tree and, using swimfeeder tactics managed to tempt 5 chublets to half a pound topped off by this smashing 2lb brown trout. If it wasn't out of season, i'm sure it would have made a lovely lunch.

Trip no. 2 saw me roving the banks of the middle river  and dropping a smelt into every likely looking spot. Despite being confident, once again i could't buy a bite. Finally, a move to the lower stretches saw me casting a deadbait to the base of the shelf in 25ft of water, a spot which the Pike usually like to roam. However, once more i failed. Prior to these blanks, a night trip to the coast in temps of -3C had me trying for that elusive shore cod. It was a stunning night at, with little wind, clear starry sky and freezing temps. Despite a promosing looking sea, my ragworm / lugworm / razorclam cocktail tempted the one fish only, a whiting, and I left for the comfort of my warm car at 1am. 

A bag of prime winter roach

A quick check to see how the river was faring on the EA website revealed a bit of an issue - it was 7m up and rising, near record height. I briefly considered hunting down some backwater, but thought better of it! Ah well, a trip to a local stillwater was in order, with quality roach the target. Despite all the rain, the day dawned very cold, and this meant match tactics. I scaled right down to a 1lb 8oz bottom, size 22 spade hook and used caster as bait. The float was shotted down to a pin prick, and loose feed kept to a minimum. Some of the loose feed was being eaten by a friend....

By shotting the float down, it was possible to hit the tiny indications i was getting, and most resulted in roach that averaged 6oz or so, with the best probably hitting 12oz. It was enjoyable fishing, but i couldn't cope for more than a few hours with the biting wind. On a seperate note, i was trialling out my new drennan floatmaster, 13ft to 15ft combo - what a cracking piece of kit. Easily deals with fine line, and the 'jag-jag' of a roach run is no longer a problem. I also hit into something bigger on it, probably a carp, which was ultimately lost, but the rod does have some back-bone as well. Anyway, my bag of roach...

A little trick when you have a pint of maggots - riddle them twice a day to seperate the casters. Put these casters in a small amount of water to stop them taking on air (alternatively, seal them in a bag tightly). The day before fishing, dry them off and bag them up. You will find all are sinkers, and perfect for loosefeed.

On the next day i decided to try the river out, which was starting to fine down, but stil a couple of foot up with plenty of colour. Chub and Barbel were the intended species, but despite flogging away in various choice swims, i failed to catch any. The temperatures dropped to -4C the night before, which probably didn't help.

The lady of the Stream

For a change, i decided to leave my pike rods at home today, and head for some fast clear water. Upon getting there, i noticed the river was up a bit and pushing through hard. I attempted to float fish for a short while, but found it difficult. Out came the quiver, a swimfeeder and a pint of maggots. Initially i dropped it in near some weed nearside to see if any chub were interested, unfortunately i got minnowed out...

In the meantime i'd been dropping a constant stream of maggots going in along a crease that had formed in the water, where fast met slow water to see if anything was feeding (see pic)..

Conditions were cold, and my setup was a size 20 on a 1ob 10oz hooklength, to try and breed some confidence into the bites. However my patient feeding provided it's reward, as dropping the swimfeeder into the crease resulted in two instant grayling, a fish which are to my mind the most beautiful around (note the teardrop eye).

It was a nice, cold morning fishing, and in such conditions few fish feed as well as the grayling - the lady of the stream.

A couple more Pike Trips

I've been piking again, on Sunday just gone on the Lower river, and then today on the middle stretches. The first trip resulted in a blank, but there was a lot of water pushing through, with weed (and the barrage was probably open as well), coupled with the wind making it difficult fishing. Still, you learn with all fishing trips and it was good just to be out...

The second trip, to the middle stretches, was a different story. I tried two lines of attack, the first was a float-fished bluey deadbait under a nearside bush, the second was float-fishing maggot for dace. After building up the swim for an hour or so with maggot, i eventually got a couple of small dace, using my new rod - a Drennan Floatmaster, which i would add is an incredible bit of kit. I then hit into something a bit better, near a raft of weed, which was clearly a chub as it knew exactly where to snag me up! Never mind.

Out of the corner of my eye, i noticed my deadbait float started bobbing, and then moving. I hit into it quickly, and felt an initialy resistence followed by nothing. A quick lob back out resulted in a bit instantly, and this time i left it longer. I hit into it once more, and this time it hooked up. But, it then sprung out, and try as i might, the pike never came back.

Back to the float, and a couple more dace later got me thinking. I rigged up a livebait rig (i've never tried this, and felt a twinge of guilt, but it's another option with my piking which i have been consdering trying lately). A dace was swung out to the same position, and within minute the bobbing of the float took a more determined course. I hit into it, and landed this pike, presumably the same that had dropped my deadbaits.

No more fish followe this, but all in all a very interesting day, and i've finally tried and succeeded with livebaiting. Another string to my fishing bow...

It's been a while - River Pike

It's been a while since i updated my blog, mainly because i haven't been that successful! I dedcided on a trip to the river today, with thick fog and after a cold night. Tactics involved fishing towards the middle of the river, in approximately 25 - 30ft of water, and regurlarly twitching the deadbait (smelt) back up the marginal shelf towards me. A simple running ledger completed the rig.

After 15mins or so of fishing, i decided to reel the deadbait towards me with 3 or 4 turns of the reel, and within 5 mins the drop arm indicator sprung free and line was pouring out the reel. I lifted the rod, tightened up and felt a gradual knocking which indicates a pike is on. I hit into the fish, and felt the weight of a nice pike, lip-hooked. It turned out to be just under 8lb...a nice start to the day (especially after a recent run of 5 blanks).

Nothing much more happened, but i was happy with that.

Other recent trips have seen me beach fishing with limited success, mainly a small dab, whiting and a flounder. All good fun though...here's some pics

Rob the Fish' Birds nest (Sorry Rob!!)

River Piking - 25 September 2011

As the darker morning start to set in, with a hint of freshness in the air, pike fishing takes on a different character - this is what it's all about. I got to the river at first light this morning, with the hope of catching a few pike.

After trying a few different swims, i got to a slow paced glide going under an overhanging tree which quickly provided my first run. The float bobbed a few times, and with the hope of avoiding deep hooking a struck quickly into something solid. Unfortunately the hook pulled after 10 seconds or so....they always seem bigger when you lose them!

Moving to the next swim, this offered a much deeper hole close in next to a raft of weed and overhanging tree - a perfect pike swim (also a perfect chub and perch swim!!). It wasnt long until my float bobbed and then quickly dissapeared, mackerel head the bait. I picked up my rod, and was about to strike when i noticed my overfilled spool of line was tangled. Before hitting into the pike, i had to sort this, all the time knowing a potential leviathon was munching at my bait. After 30 seconds or so it was sorted; the pike was ponderously moving upstream with the mackerel, and i hit into it - the result being an 8lb pike in fighting fit condition.

A short piking session on the River

With the river being high on my local river, i decided on the lower reaches. The water was still pushing through here, but easily manageable.

With most of my river piking, location is simple. There is a fair depth by my feet, so i simply look for features such as overhanging trees. However, here the water is inches deep by my feet, but gradually slopes away to a fair depth. Also, there isn't sufficient flow to be able to read the water. I'm pretty new to stretches like this, so decided to start pretty far out, and gradually bring it closer in further up the slope until i connected. Bait was half Mackerel (i have a freezer full to use up!) using float ledger tactics. Third cast out, and about 2 rods out, i had a take after 30 seconds or so, which ended up with this low double ar 11lb 4oz. 

Despite a short move downstream, the only other action was trying to catch a pike by my feet, which bolted. All in all, a nice few hours on the bank. 

Birdflight Goit, Saltburn - 29/08/11

I decided with the nice sea on to have a wander round huntcliff to an exposed gulley called birdflight goit. I got there with the sea too far in to get round the cliff, so a wander on the beach got me a couple of nice pics, including this seal which was intent on getting away from me as quickly as possible...

The gulley was round the other side of this cliff, a fair walk in rugged terrain and to try and maximise my time there, i had to get past the cut off point at the earliest opportunity which meant dodging waves and being careful of rocks falling from the cliff!

Once there, i set up a pennel pulley rig with size 3/0 Sakuma hooks, 60lb shockleader and 30lb main line. Long casts weren't necessary into the relative depths of the gulley, and crab / mussel was used as bait. Unfortunately, the fish werent having it but it was a big tide, with the sea pushing further out than normal. Might have to try it late one evening on a smaller tide, with some nice sea running. I've heard that big cod are present with persistance, so i will be back!

A word of warning with this venue, i've been recommended to leave approximately 1.5hrs after low tide. The nearest cut-off point is a good 20 minutes walk away and i wouldnt want to be stranded! Also, falling rocks are a serious risk.

Back to the sea

I've been trying for some bass lately. The first occasion was on Friday, going to a mark i chucked some lures out for an hour or so without success, however i knew from experience that it fished well at HT+1. Low and behold, at just the time i was expecting it, i started seeing terns diving after sandeels. Suddenly, a big shoal of sandeels appeared at my feet, clearly 'herded' by some bass and then i witnesses a couple of them splintering the pack and attacking the prey fish. Amazing! A quick change of lure, and i was into a small bass first cast which unfortunately got off as i was bringing it in (lightly hooked!). As quickly as they came, the sandeels had gone and with them the bass, i was a little annoyed!

I got back out again this morning for some bass at the same mark, but conditions were bright and water very clear. The bass were uncooperative but i managed a mackerel which made a lovely lunch! I'm definitely back into sea fishing mode...