A day fishing the stick...

I managed a trip out on Wednesday fishing the stick float. I'm a big fan of watching a float, mending the line, holding back, appropriate feeding and doing everything possible to try and tempt a bite. Unfortunately, conditions were difficult with plenty of flow and extra colour. Well I was there so had to try!

The stretch...

I opted to try the drennan matchpro ultralight, in 13ft, using an abu 506 closed face reel, 3lb line and a 2lb hooklink to a size 18 drennan silverfish match hook. Dace were the target, as they migrate to these lower reaches during winter. Using double maggot on the hook, I was flicking out a few maggots or casters each cast to keep any fish interested. Starting at a depth of 7ft at two rod lengths out, I gradually increased the depth by a couple of inches each cast until I got the first bite, which resulted in a nice dace of about 4oz. Half a dozen casts and three fish of a similar stamp later, I thought I was in for a bumper catch and was enjoying it. Unfortunately, and amazingly, no more dace were caught in the next 4 hours! I did, however, land a nice perch which put a smile on my face. But it was a difficult day....

Still its nice to be out on the river, especially as there is two weeks (and just three more river sessions) to go.

A couple of carping blanks at a new venue....

With the rivers in disarray, I have switched my thoughts to different targets and species. I've never been a carper, avoiding that style of fishing in favour of running water and fishing of a more wild nature. Commercials are a definite no no, however I have found a venue by accident really that Is deep, not stocked and has a small stocking of large carp (at least large by local standards - i.e. fish over 20lb). It looks to be a difficult venue, but I like the feel of the place...If I catch one fish from it this spring and it beats my rather poor 12lb 4oz pb, I will be a happy man.

Some pics.....

A complete wash out......time to tie some flies

Well, Today was a complete wash out, so I took the opportunity to take a few photos at the awesome power of the river in flood....

 

 

 

 

 

So I've decided to stay in and start dreaming about fly fishing. I've knocked up a couple of 'bugs' in the hope of a few winter grayling on the fly next weekend. Looking forward to trying out my new fly gear, which I managed to obtain at a bargain price and pay for through selling a few bits and bobs, but cant wait.....I really want to try get in to this fly fishing lark seriously...

 

 

 

 

 



Last cast chub....

With the forecast to stop raining about 7am, I was hopeful of having a few hours fishing. Got there at about 7 and it was lashing it down. I was a local river for pike, and decided to park and walk a couple of miles in the dark without fishing, and them work my way back the two miles, trying different spots.

I didn't bother with a seat, a full on roving approach. Basically the rain just didn't stop, it absolutely poured, all morning. I tried swim after swim, the river was becoming ever more coloured, and the pike weren't feeding. 

Wasn't all bad though, plenty of wildlife, including a fox on the opposite bank completely oblivious to my existence; an otter that chased the roach that I was reeling in quickly, before it saw me and disappeared; a salmon that leapt clear of the river right in front of me, that I would put around the 10 to 15lb mark; a par of kingfishers and a heron!

After trecking back, dripping wet, I decided to try one last swim, in the vain hope of a fish. This time, I used lamprey, and the float buried in minutes. Get in I thought, pike! Nope, chub... Happy to save a blank though, didn't bother weighing it, just nice to catch.

Now I'm home, and exhausted!

A small window of opportunity...

I knew that this morning was my window of opportunity, the one I've been waiting for since I finished work for Xmas. The rivers are up and down like a yoyo, and with further flood water currently piling it's way down the wild river, I had to get out. The fact that gale force winds and torrential rain coincided with it didn't help! 

Arriving in dark and parking up, I had a bad start with car becoming stuck, which I had to rock out, but eventually after a fair walk, I slid my way down the bank into my peg. Float ledger fished smelt, my favourite tactic, was the way forward, balanced so that any movement on the bait would be indicated. I flicked out to some slack water adjacent heavy flow, alongside a nice crease, and waited for my chance. Ten minutes later, the float moved away before stopping. I held the rod, heart thumping, and waited. It seemed like forever, but in reality about thirty seconds later, the float laid flat, bobbed, and started moving away. I held the rod, waited for the thump thump of a fish, and hit it. All hell broke lose, the fish dictated everything, and using braid I could feel every movement. She went on run after run and It took a lot of coaxing, but eventually I'd tired her and she came over the arms of the net. A beast of 24lb 13oz. 

There's very little that's beats river piking in winter. Once returned, I sat in the rain, wishing I had a cigar and a whiskey, with a grin on my face. A great way to see off 2013

A frosty morning trotting for grayling on a local river

After last weekends success with grayling, I decided to try the same tactics on a different river. Chris had a similar idea, and we had soon hatched a plan to meet up on Sunday morning. From the response I got when I mentioned about meeting up at 6.30am, I can only assume he wasn't aware of such a time in the morning!

Anyway, after meeting up and walking to the peg I had the best start possible when I realised that line had been gently peeling off my centrepin for the last 150m of walking - at least I knew the way back to the car now.

The fishing was slow to begin with, but regular changes of pegs soon had us both hitting into the odd grayling or suicidal trout. Mr Vimes had 3 grayling to my 2, of a decent stamp as well, and vice versa with the trout. 

It was a good morning, hard work but a nice bend in our light float rods. And as for the scenery...

Grayling fishing with the pin after the first frost

I was on my way back from the lakes going over the pennines and I drove passed the river Greta and the upper tees, and saw signs to the upper swale, and I just started thinking about grayling, especially given the frosts. A few brownie points later I had my pass stamp for a few hours on the river, armed with a pouch full of maggots, float rod and centre pin and chest waders. A grayling trotter float, 3.2lb drennan float fish and size 16 Kamasan B911x finished off the rig.

After a few small trout, which were quickly photo's and released, I eventually hit into a very solid fish, clearly a grayling and a good one at that. What a fight on the centrepin, and I was chuffed once it was eventually landed at 1lb 10oz, my second best grayling to date...

Nothing else happened on this peg, so I wandered on.

 

The next peg was ideal, two separate flows of water causing a big crease in the current, which just shouted out to be trotted. 

 

Second cast and i had a fish on, another clonker and a long drawn out, twisting sort of fight. Landed, and at 1lb 8oz, another good grayling...

Next cast, same again, this time at 1lb 5oz...

It went quiet after that, so another move soon had me hitting into a very good grayling, this time at 1lb 9oz 

A final fish of 1lb 2oz rounded the short session off nicely!

I was a happy man!

A challenging but rewarding morning on the river

It was really challenging this morning on the river. The river was still up, chocolate coloured and the leaves flying through. I opted to try for chub with meat and cheesepaste, an after finding a swim with a nice crease, but of slack and overhanging tree, I was soon setting up the drennan big feeder.

 

This swim produced pretty quickly, but the culprit was this chublet so I moved on to try others..

After walking a good mile without success, I started making my way back to try the swim I'd caught on. This time I tried some smelly cheesepaste, and the bite was again pretty quick, this time a much better fish had to be coaxed out of the snags at an ounce under 4lb. 

Then it was time to go, happy with the days work!

Chub, coal fish and sea scorpions!

Had a nice morning on the river. Fished cheesepaste for the chub, first cast under a tree resulted in an instant bite. I spent a minute or so desperately trying to persuade the fish to come out of its lair but it was just too much and the inevitable happened.

A move to a different peg, and the link ledgered paste was taken pretty quickly again. This time, a similar fight under a tree saw me win and it came begrudgingly over the net, not massive but a welcome fish. Didn't bother weighing it...

And that was it, because te water very quickly rose after that and I couldn't tempt anything else, try as I might.

You can tell I'm not catching wen I start taking other photos 

During the week, I had a late night session fishing for cod off Hartlepool headland. Using size 4/0 pennell pulley rigs, with worm / razor cocktail, casting to a deepish gulley I managed a coal fish and this sea scorpion, which is a first for me...

I like to mix my fishing up a bit and try for different species and methods as you can probably tell!

Night time chubbing on the river

Night time fishing rivers is a new experience for me, so to roll up to the river at 8pm when all was dark was certainly a different game! Fortunately I wasn't alone, because those trees looked creepy to me.

Tactics involved a double 10mm boilie hook bait combined with a small pva bag of pellets, cast somewhere towards the far bank tree line. Once the headlamp was off, stars were out it was certainly an exhilarating experience, especially when the bait runner started screaming off. I had hoped for a tees barbel (yeah right!), but was certainly happy with a 4lb 4oz chub.

 

Ronny had two further chub of a similar size on sweet corn, a great evening and something I'll be doing again soon. 

A Morning on the River

Driving in the dark and misty country lanes this morning, I nearly got lost it was so thick. Eventually I rolled up to the spot at 6am and quietly walked through the woods, and the cold mist and an owl put the shivers up me. I stumbledy way down to the first peg, not being able to see the water much, I noted that the inside wasn't moving much but the flow kicked in two rod lengths out. A float fished sardine was flicked to this bit, whilst I sat back and awaited dawn. 

 

The float lifted, dipped than shot off to the middle, stripping line. Big pike I thought! But the fight felt otherwise, and I soon netted a good chub, a tees pb for me at 4lb 10oz, with a whole sardine down its throat!

I could now make out what I was fishing in, and it turned out to be streamer weed in 6 inche of water! Time for a move.

 

The next peg saw me fishing a roach deadbait, paternoster style in mid water, so the bait wafted in the current. I was contemplating packing up, when the float was suddenly gone! I hit into solid resistance, a definite pike. And exciting minute or so ended abruptly when me and the fish parted company. I was guttered. Absolutely guttered. 

No more action after that, and I stumbled back up the bank happy, but deflated. It's almost the official pike season, and I'm determined to get some action soon.

Cheese paste

I've just knocked up a batch of cheespaste for the winter chubbing. Absolutely stinks! Should work a treat...

 

People do it differently, I tend to use dry stinky cheese, short crust pastry and garlic powder, with a knob of butter to soften it. Works a treat for me when balanced on the hook with bread crust!

Ready for the freezer

Be interested to know how others do it?

A morning chub fishing on the river

I had a great morning on monday, not because of amount of fish caught, but just walking lightly over a completely new stretch to me and investigating some new areas. 

Tactics were dead simple, 6lb line straight through (maxima), size 10 super specialist hook, drennan medium feeder and a series 7 reel. Using a sliding rig with one or two swan shot, and a bunch of worms. I was spending about 10 mins in each likely looking peg and moving on; I probably could have baited one swim and had a fair few fish but I wanted to cover 2 miles of water just to see it. 

 

In one swim, I'd been flicking out worm sections  for a short while and on my second cast, after flicking out towards a tree, this chub took the bait on the drop and surprised me! It came in at 4lb 4oz, but was skinny. Certainly got a lot of winter potential

It was hard going, especially when I inadvertently walked into a private wooded area. I wasn't too concerned until I heard a load of hounds coming near, was well relieved when I got over the barbed wire fence!! Went a different way home after that (ie, I went the proper way round!).

Some great looking swims, I'll be trying it a fair bit.

 

A pb perch from a small overgrown river

Well that was good fun. I decided to try a 'small overgrown river', where I'd heard of one or two surprises in the shape of perch. my brother had had them to 1lb 7oz recently. Myself and my brother decided to do things the proper way, and his makeshift minnow catcher soon had us plenty of baits.

Tactics involved an 11ft 10" drennan drx river feeder, 6.9lb series 7 line straight through to a size 12 hook, where the live minnow was lip hooked ad kept in place with a single red maggot. After each catching a few small perch to 8oz, we were confident the minnows were working. The bro stayed in a nice deep section, whereas I decided to rove about (I'm not the most patient person!). First cast near a tree and the rod flew straight round. After the usual dogged perch fight, I was very happy to catch a pb perch at 1lb 13oz.

It's amazing what these small river throw up. I went home a happy man. Next target must surely be a 2lber? I reckon this one will make 2 well into autumn. 

A review of the new Drennan Acolyte Ultra

I didn't need a new rod. But when I picked up the new drennan acolyte ultra 13ft it was one of those moments; like when Harry potter picks up a wand for the first time.

At 4.75oz, and as wide as your little finger I was impressed. It felt very tippy, crisp, and fast actioned. When couple with a compact float reel, it balanced perfectly, raising the tip slightly above the horizontal - feeling almost like an extension of my arm, I knew I could hold it all day no problem.

So I had to buy it!

I had intended to give it it's first outing on the river tees, using a stick float for the shoals of dace and roach. And yet, somehow en route, I inadvertently took the wrong exit and ended up on the river swale. Oh well, I thought, lets see how much backbone this rod does have. 

Tactics involved a drennan big stick (4 1/2 bb) to a size 18 drennan super spade, with drennan 3.2lb float fish as the mainline straight through to the hook. Caster was the bait of choice, two pints of it for a mornings session. 

Constant feeding whilst setting up meant that the first trot through ended in a bite, the culprit an 8oz rod, and I was impressed by the ease of which the rod dealt with it.

Next cast I struck into a solid lump. I always find that if you are patient, you can retrieve very big fish on light gear, they don't always know they are hooked. This one though had other ideas, and I had to put a serious curve in the acolyte. And it proved to me that it has plenty of backbone in reserve! Eventually landed, the rest of the morning was bliss as I lande three more 4lb plus chub as well as some smaller specimens an a grayling.

To conclude: What an awesome rod

A morning fishing the stick float an caster on the river

Decided to fish with stick float and caster (two pints of them) this morning. Got to a stretch at 5am to find the gate closed (how dare they!) so a quick think and decided on a different part.

Set up was quite simple, stick float, 4.4lb drennan float fish (as some snags were there) straight through to a size 18 spade end. The swim was only 3 feet or so and steady so a small stick did the trick. 13 ft float rod and closed face reel finished it off

After trickling in caster whilst setting up, first cast and I was into a heavy lump on single caster. I proceeded to get me snagged up, twice, but each time patience and pressure got it out. Finally landed, a great start with a chub of 4lb on the dot.

After this, there was a bite a chuck from dace. Good fun all the same, and it didn't matter how much I stepped up the feeding, the bites from dace kept coming. I then struck into something solid which went upstream with purpose, before the hook sprung out. my heart tells me it was a barbel :(

Two chublets to 8oz followed, then I lost another big chub in some snags. 

 

Overall, a great morning. Two pints of casters didn't even scratch the surface either.