The River Angler

Well after a sojourn across the waters to sunny Spain “Y Viva Espana” in search of my long lost golf swing, I returned to Blighty hoping the weather had warmed up. Whilst away we kept an eye on the forecast back home and I noted that the temperatures were up but mixed in with some pretty heavy rain. Still, those conditions are not necessarily a bad combination.

Las-Colinas-golf

Work has also been getting in the way of fishing lately, still that’s the nature of the beast. Work pays the bills and allows me to fish, not the other way around unfortunately! So at last it was back bankside at Marsh Farm. Tench and Crucians were the target species and we were pinning our hopes on the improved weather conditions spurring the fish into a bit more action. And so it was to prove.

We had a two day session planned. Well when I say two day I mean 2 evenings really, fishing from around 6.30pm to 11.30-12.00. Crucians tend to become much more active as the light fades, so fishing into darkness can make a huge difference to catch results. I have caught a few clonkers during the day but in all honesty they are few and far between. There’s something quite pleasing about watching an isotope on the float at night. It’s almost calming and hypnotic. Well unless it never moves that is, then it’s blooding infuriating!

Geoff, Kevin and I have been using some of the Sonubaits green groundbait recently which is proving very effective at pulling the tench and crucians in. Geoff in particular has had a couple of pretty good sessions. So both Kevin and I opted for the same groundbait and it worked over these two sessions. I had a number of baits at my disposal; luncheon meat cut up into very small cubes and flavoured with the Lone Angler sausage sizzle (they go together so well), prawns with an added boost of Ocean Pride and a couple of types of soft hooker pellets.

Sausage Sizzle flavoured Luncheon Meat

I find plumbing the depth vital for crucians. You need to try and get the bait just resting on the bottom so bites can be detected easily and quickly. Crucians are very frustrating fish to catch. They toy with the bait if they are in a finicky mood, which is around 99% of the time! You get lots of false bites, bump off loads of fish and generally they do your head in. Oh what fun!

5lb 7oz

Anyway, as the light slowly began to fade so the float began to dip and weave. Soon it buried and a hard fighting tench was beaten to the net. A few others followed, each one desperately trying to reach the sanctuary of the reed beds. I was using a 4lb mainline and similar hooklength, to ensure I could keep them out of too much trouble. Bites came thick and fast and all of them turned out to be tench. There were a few decent ones in there, topped off by a 5lb 7oz fish. As the 11th hour approached a crucian finally put in an appearance. Not a huge fish by Marsh Farm standards but at 2lb 7oz a very welcome sight. I missed around 15-20 bites, lost around 6 fish and bumped a few off. By the end of the session I’d had 8 tench and a crucian.

2lb 7oz

The following evening was less eventful. A full moon seemed to affect the fishing. However as the evening wore on some action did transpire. I ended up with several tench to 5lb 1oz and a male fish of 4lb 13oz, which is certainly one of the biggest males I’ve caught from here. Luncheon meat and prawns seemed to be the preferred bait. Kevin, Geoff and Danny also managed a few with Geoff probably taking the lion’s share over the two days. All in all a pretty successful and rewarding couple of sessions.

5lb 1oz

Possibly next week we’ll be heading to Johnson’s for a session or two. It seems that the crucians have apparently spawned there, so there’ll be a dramatic drop in anglers on the water. Ostensibly it’s a method feeder water but I have taken crucians to 3lb 9oz on the float, fished in close to the lily pads. So it may be a two pronged attack; feeder and float. I would love to top my PB of 3lb 11oz. On the feeder I’ll be using the 10mm Sausage Sizzle squabs, they are a prefect size for crucians and tench, so fingers crossed.