Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘Lone Angler baits’

Autumnal Pursuits Part 1

Posted in Angling Diary, tagged , , , on September 28, 2014| Leave a Comment »


Perhaps September is one of the greatest fishing months in the barbel angler’s calender.  It often produces bigger than average fish, as they start to pack on weight ready for winter.  Added to that are the array of colours on the trees that can make a beautiful place into a simply stunning, breathtaking place.  I don’t think there’s a better time to be on a river for the sheer, dare I say, cornucopia of colours of varying hues and shades.  You just can’t get bored of it.

I had arranged with Geoff to pop up to the Trent for a couple of days fishing.  We wanted to try a couple of day ticket venues, one of which has produced a number of very large barbel.  The first stretch is well known to us but the word on the fishy grapevine was that the fishing was very slow.  The Trent, like many other rivers, was suffering with low water levels and flow.  The river was as low as I’ve ever seen it, which didn’t bode well.

The Trent

The Trent

I headed upstream and found a suitable looking spot.  I like this area of the stretch as it’s a long walk from the car park and therefore lightly fished.  I’ve had some memorable captures here and it rarely fails to produce good numbers of fish along with the occasional double.  Nothing big mind you, they tend to be scrapper doubles to be fair.  I started off in one swim but after a few hours without so much as a twitch, I opted to move into another very productive spot.  I like to get some bait out, so two rods armed with big feeders are cast every few minutes to get some bait out into the swim.  I’ll keep that up for about an hour and then recast every 15-20 minutes, depending on the action.

Well as the light started to fade so the rod top started dancing and soon the rod top whooped over and a nice feisty Trent barbel fought for freedom.  This action continued and I ended up with a number of chub and barbel.  I think 5 barbel in all to nearly 9lbs.  Not a particularly productive session but good fun and perhaps not a bad result considering.  I tried a few baits but the Lone Angler Caviar Pellets seemed to be working the best.  They have proven to be a very effective bait this season taking a large quantity of barbel and chub.  I must say I’m very impressed with them.

Meanwhile Geoff fared slightly less well, although he still took a couple of barbel and a chub or two, plus a few bream I think.  The next day we decided to try a different stretch famed for it’s very large barbel with fish to well over 17lbs reported.  On arrival we chatted to a couple of local guys who had been struggling recently.  Again the low level and lack of rainfall seemed to be the cause.  Perhaps the highlight of the day was seeing a couple of guys with swimming caps and goggles swimming up the river on the far bank.  I guess they were heading to the English Channel!!  Still that’s a new one on me.

It was pretty quiet when we arrived and the fishing was in the deep boat channel close in, just a couple of rod lengths out, which on the Trent makes a nice change.  Unfortunately as with all big fish venues, things started to change as the day wore on.  By late afternoon cars and vans started arriving and it felt like Custer’s Last Stand at the Little Big Horn.  We were slowly being surrounded on all sides by an army of barbel hunters and some didn’t seem to mind about fishing almost in our laps.  We were obviously in the popular swims.  One guy could have almost held hands with Geoff, had he been so inclined, as he was that close.  Geoff of course didn’t take too kindly to those intimidation tactics and simply cast right at the point the other guy was casting.  Eventually the bloke got fed up and moved blow me, luckily far enough away so as not to disturb my fishing.  Mind you not that it made any difference as I never had so much as a twitch.  With all of those anglers there, I think I heard of 1 bream being caught!

C’est La Vie!

Read Full Post »

Chub and Carp and Roach! Oh My!

Posted in Angling Diary, tagged , , , , on August 17, 2014| Leave a Comment »


It’s been a long month stuck at work for me with no days off unfortunately.  It does drag a bit when you know you can’t get out.  However I decided I could at least have an afternoon and evening out on the river just the once during this period.  I managed to persuade Geoff to join me.  He was freshly returned from competing in Germany in the remote control speedboat World Championships.  He made the final and came a very creditable 6th.

Anyway we arrived bankside early afternoon.  The heavy rains of late had pushed the levels back up around 18 inches and the water had a nice tinge of colour to it.  in fact as we arrived there was a storm passing through; heavy rain, wind and thunder and lightening.  Still the river looked pretty much spot on for a barbel or two and there was a really good flow on the water as well and each swim looked inviting.

Lone Angler's Deadly Caviar Pellets

Lone Angler’s Deadly Caviar Pellets

I plumped for a narrow swim with a very deep gully.  I baited up with a few pellets and settled in to see what was in residence.  Soon the rod top was knocking and it wasn’t long before the double Lone Angler cav pellets were snaffled up by a greedy chub.  That went back and out went some fresh bait and a few more freebies.  Sadly I didn’t have any swim feeders with me or a bait dropper and so it was just a straight leger in use.  Depending on the venue, I often like to just trickle in a bait or two every few minutes to keep a trail of bait going in.  I think under the right circumstances in can work a treat. Suddenly the rod top hammered round  and it looked like a full on 3 foot twitch as Trefor would say.  However once I started playing this fish and despite it being very powerful,  I began to think this wasn’t a barbel.  Indeed it wasn’t.  It turned out to be a mirror carp of around 13lb-15lb.  Very nice too and it certainly put a bend in the rod.

Another chub soon followed and I started to get some sharp tappety tappety knocks.  I often think roach when this happens and so left the pellets out for quite a while to shrink in size.  It didn’t take too long and the culprit soon showed itself.  They were roach bites and a mint 1lb roach was netted and returned.  A little while later a much bigger bite produced what felt like a decent size fish.  The fish zig zagged and that usually means roach.  It popped up onto the surface and it looked a proper lump as they say.  Thank God it never came adrift and a magnificent roach lay in the folds of the landing net.  It looked a belter.  I weighed it in the net at 3lb 1oz so hoped once the net was deducted it would go over 2lbs but I really wanted to weigh the fish in a carrier bag.  I phoned Geoff and managed to get him to pop up with a bag and have a look at this magnificent fish.

Geoff took one look at the roach and agreed with me it looked to be around 2lb 2oz or so.  However the fishing Gods and the scales sadly were against me.  The fish weighed 1lb 14oz.  It was a new PB and an absolute minter of a fish.  I was delighted and I’m looking forward to some serious autumn and winter roach fishing here this season.

Geoff saved the barbel blanking day with a lovely fish of 8lb 12oz so we both went home very happy.

Read Full Post »

Woe, Woe and Thrice Woe!

Posted in Angling Diary, tagged , , , , on July 17, 2014| Leave a Comment »


Ah good old Frankie Howerd and Up Pompeii….Pompeii, Salute, naughty, naughty, Up Pompeii.

Up Pompeii

Up Pompeii

Sorry, very self indulgent!  I spent a couple of days on a local river, new to me this season.  Its a small and intimate river with boundless twists and turns, overhanging tress and a great variety of depths and flows.  Having done so well recently on the Lone Angler Caviar pellets, I decided for the time being to stick with them as feed and hook bait.  I like to feed a mixture of 6mm and 8mm, not too much mind, just enough to get a fish or two foraging for them.

I found a cracking little swim below a small weir where the river narrows and flows past lots of overhanging trees.  It screamed barbel.  I opted for a 3 foot hooklength made from coated braid and a size 10 hook, although sadly not my normal make.  About half an hour prior to casting I put out a small handful of the mixed Cav pellets and then set-up.  I crept down the bank and swung out the rig to the far bank, letting it swing down slightly into the flow.  I kept the rod top low to the water and sat back to wait.  “Hmm perhaps a coffee would go down well” I thought.  I turned to grab the flask and heard my ratchet go on the reel!  I quickly turned back to find the rod with an alarming bend in it.  Grabbing the rod I pulled into a very powerful fish.  I managed to keep it out of the trees opposite and it changed tact by heading upstream.  It was a very powerful fish.  Under pressure from the rod, the fish rolled on the surface three times just in front of me and I could see it was a nice double.  As the barbel dived again everything went slack; the hook had pulled! “Oh what a hoot” I thought!

Caviar Pellets

Caviar Pellets

The hook appeared to be OK, although slightly smaller than I would have preferred (I really must re-stock on some decent hooks), but showed no signs of the point turning over or any other anomaly, so I guess it was just bad luck.  I did notice however that there was quite a bit of weed on the hook and bait and as further events unfolded, I began to realise the significance of this problem.  I decided to move after another hour when no more action materialised.   I headed up into a small weir.  I leaded around the swim to check depths and soon found a few areas to try.  Eventually I fished downstream of a large tree in the water and soon the rod top ripped round.  Initially I thought I was into another barbel but sadly not.  It turned out to be a small carp of around 6lbs.  A welcome fish but not quite what I was after.

Soon after that the tip yet again whacked round and this time a barbel was on.  After a spirited fight I drew the fish towards the net when yet again the hook pulled.  This was getting tiresome.  Again the hook was covered in weed, as it often was today when I reeled in.  I realised the weed was probably prohibiting the point from penetrating cleanly and resulting in poor hookups.  It was very disappointing to loose another barbel and I hoped for a final chance as the evening wore on.  Luckily the opportunity presented itself again and this time I succeeded in netting a barbel of around 61/2lbs.

The following day we returned.  The flow of the previous day had eased and the colour from the river had dropped out slightly.  In all honesty it looked less inviting.  Today I wanted to rove a bit more and try and explore much more of this delightful river.  So a few swims were visited throughout the day, which is useful to build up a picture of the river in terms of depth and what type of bottom structure is present.  There appeared to be plenty of gravel which is very encouraging.  The river has lots of deep runs and holes to explore and so much cover in terms of fallen trees and other inviting features to fish.

I dropped into a swim with a fallen tree lying in the water and a really good flow pushing into the snag.  I baited up with a few pellets and dropped in a baited rig.  I started to get a few knocks and then a constant tap, tap, tap indicated something had hooked itself.  I was delighted to see a flash of silver as a fish turned in the water on reeling in. It turned out to be a lovely roach of 1lb 10oz and bodes well for some winter roach fishing.

1lb 10oz

1lb 10oz

A few more swims were visited until I dropped into my final swim of the day.  I soon had a chub of around 3lb 12oz in the net and 3 more followed with the best going bang on 4lbs.  Then the tip slammed round and a barbel tore off downstream.  I managed to coax it back upstream and was beginning to think it was close to netting when yet again the hook pulled!  No real reason emerged for the loss, so I can only put it down to bad luck.  That was three barbel out of four over the two days.  Very careless indeed and how right the Soothsayer was; “Woe, Woe and Thrice Woe”

“Oh shut yer gob” as Frankie would say!

Read Full Post »

Wye Adventure Part 2

Posted in Angling Diary, tagged , , , , , , on July 8, 2014| 3 Comments »


The late nights and early mornings certainly take their toll and the fresh air and sunshine seem to add to the morning lethargy. Throw in three blokes all trying to shower, make flasks and sandwiches, sort out tackle etc. etc. first thing in the morning and its not difficult to see why we never get fishing until lunchtime. Mind you we also like to stop for a nice cooked breakfast somewhere too.

On this 4th day of our trip we would be heading above Hereford, so it was a good opportunity to drop into Woody’s after breakfast first. We restocked a few provisions like feeders and after a chat with the man himself, we headed off to our destination for the day. It took us a while to find the stretch but once we were bankside we were greeted with one of the most stunning sections we’ve ever fished. The great thing was the variety of water on offer from deep water and shallow gravels to deep bends and gullies. We even had some lovely deep glides on the nearside to fish and with waders we could do a lot of trotting if we wished.

We spent some time walking the banks and admiring the views and also the isolation of this place. You could stop and listen and all you could hear was birdsong and the occasional canoeist. It was amazing. After a long recce we all had a spot or two in mind to fish. Geoff headed off downstream to fish the deep gravel margins. Large overhanging trees offered dark shadowy cover for the fish. It looked perfect. Meanwhile Kevin and I fancied an area just down from a horseshoe bend where the shallow weedy water dropped into a deep gully on the far bank. Once again there were lots of bankside cover and an almost sheer cliff face opposite where large trees and bushes offered cover to the resident barbel and chub.

I opted for the usual practice of feeder and pellet hookbaits. I varied them as I had all week, from double 12mm or 8mm pellets to single banded ones. If the bites slowed up and I thought fish were present (often receiving sharp short knocks on the rod top indicate barbel not just chub) then I would change tactics and alter the bait presentation. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. A couple of friends were fishing a particularly productive beat recently and were really struggling for bites. I suggested they use two very small elips pellets on the hair, the smaller the better. The change was as instant as it was dramatic. They ended up catching a shed load of barbel that day, so it’s worth making the effort and changing if you feel you should be doing better than you are.

The deep gully ranged from around 8ft down to about 4ft for about 10-15 yards. It was a little snaggy but when aren’t there some nasty snags on the Wye. It can be a tackle graveyard sometimes. Kevin waded out and fed his top area of the swim with some bait whilst I dropped the feeder out on a regular basis to keep the bait going into my bit. Kevin was in almost instantly but the barbel headed into something nasty and the hooklink was severed about halfway up. He soon had a chub on and things were looking good.

I had settled for the shallower area downstream a few yards. Bites were slow coming but soon the rod top whacked round and a stunning barbel was landed. The fish here are a very good average size and the colours are fabulous. The chub are real bruisers too; thick set and strong with a really good average weight. Soon I was catching chub and barbel quite regularly. Kevin lost another barbel and was catching the odd chub. Geoff also reported success with several good sized barbel and chub coming from his area. He decided to stick it out there all day and ended up with a number of chub and 4 barbel.

At the end of the day I had taken 18 barbel to 8lb 8oz and maybe a dozen chub to nearly 5lbs. Kevin seemed to be very unlucky loosing a number of barbel but he did eventually manage 1 or 2 and plenty of chub. We swapped around to make it fair but Kevin was reluctant to give up on his swim without giving it everything. It was strange that there weren’t more fish in his deeper area; they all seemed to be just a few yards further down in the shallower bit I was fishing. Still we’d had a wonderful day and felt very privileged to have fished such a stunning venue. I’m really looking forward to exploring this section again through the summer, there’s just so much to go at here.

On Friday we were fishing Sugwas Court which again is above Hereford, so another trip to Woody’s was in order after a good, hearty breakfast. We have fished here once before with limited success. Kevin fished an area Woody had suggested but we struggled to find the deep gully mentioned. Geoff and I just went for a wander and found a couple of swims that looked good. Geoff moved a few times during the day and I had picked a second swim to fish, if the first failed to produce with an hour or two. I think if you haven’t had any indication within about an hour on the Wye you are better off moving. If the fish are there you’d know about it within that time frame to be honest.

I had found a really deep marginal swim. Above me was a much shallower area that then dropped down to around 6-7 feet with trees to my right. I started off fishing downstream but that failed to produce any knocks within the first 30 minutes and so I opted to fish upstream to the edge of the overhanging trees. The result was almost instant and after maybe 2-3 minutes the rod top whacked round. The result was a barbel just under 8lbs and another followed almost immediately after. Geoff and Kevin hadn’t had much action but at least knew the barbel were feeding.

I stuck with this swim for the remainder of the day. The fishing was slow but followed a strange pattern almost without fail. I would get two bites together within around 5 minutes of each other and then it would go quiet for some time. Sadly I lost a number of fish but ended up landing 9 really nice barbel. Geoff had a few and Kevin a couple of fish too. Part of me wanted to walk up to the second swim to fish which involved wading downstream to enable me to fish a deeper run. Still I’d caught a few fish and left quite happy.

Normally we would be heading home on the Saturday morning but all three of us were taking part in Andrew Poole’s ‘Bag a Barbel Let’s Beat Cancer charity event at Wyelea over the weekend. A report on that will follow.

 

Read Full Post »

The Glorious 16th (well 17th and 18th actually!)

Posted in Angling Diary, tagged , , , , on June 20, 2014| Leave a Comment »


Ah the long awaited ‘glorious 16th’ was finally upon us.  The delirium brought on by the closed season hiatus could at last be exorcised and a normal mental balance restored.  Well as much as possible.  Spring was not bad this year.  We had a good run of warm weather interspersed with warm sunshine and rain, as opposed to all of one or the other, as usual.  The fish were spawning with some vigour on the lakes and reports from our beautiful rivers were equally promising.  Lots of good healthy nookie was taking place across the width and breast er breadth of the country.  So it was fingers crossed that the barbel would have spawned and recovered from their amorous ardour and were on the munch!

Geoff and I fancied starting somewhere a bit different from our usual Berkshire opener and so looked farther afield.  It was to be Robin Hood country and so to Notts we headed.  Although the river here is slightly wider than the Kennet and so loses much of its intimacy, which both Geoff and I enjoy so much about places like the Kennet, we wanted to catch a few fish during the kick off to the new season.  We slum it at a local camp-site in a couple of pop up tents.  Oh yes, no expense spared.

The Trent

The Trent

Anyway we arrived bankside at around 7pm on the 17th.  We were the only ones in the car park, which was either great news or rather worrying and we couldn’t quite decide which.  So we loaded up like a couple of Sherpas and headed off to the river.  It was still very warm and overcast but no real rain was forecast, which was a blessing at least.  The river looked magnificent in its summer glory and we couldn’t wait to get started.

Nothing too fancy was the order of the day.  A medium sized open end feeder, 2′ 6″ hooklengths and I was going to use small hookbaits.  The fish haven’t seen an anglers bait for a few months (hopefully!) so rely on naturals and I don’t think big, clumsy looking baits quite cut it early on.  I wanted to use two small 10mm Ocean Pride squabs glued to a hair.  I also intended to use Sausage Sizzle and some matching paste for both rods on and off to see if it made a difference.  I opted for a 50/50 mixture of the Lone Angler groundbait (which contains all sorts of bits and pieces) plus a hemp and hali type groundbait for the oil content.   I find in the warmer months this leaks oil and bits float off and it really can pull in the fish.  Chuck a small ball of it into the margins and within seconds the fry are on it and it doesn’t take too long for some bigger dace and roach to find it either.

So pretty simple stuff really.  I always add some very small pellets into the groundbait to get the chub and barbel rooting around and this also works well.  It didn’t take long before the upstream rod bounced around in the rest and a chub was drawn into the waiting landing net.  First fish of the new season is always worth and whoop and a holler to celebrate.  Geoff was in before me with a bream then a barbel followed soon after.  Things were looking good.  I kept one rod on just plain squabs and the other with matching paste.  The rod tops were almost constantly knocking and twitching as fish fed in the baited area.  Constant casting early on got some bait out into the target area and the fish were responding with some gusto.

4lb 10oz

4lb 10oz

The rod tips just kept dancing all night.  I was getting chub, bream and barbel throughout the session.  I missed quite a few bites and had a few hook pulls (probably chub) which kept me busy.  They seemed to love the small squabs and I ended up with 11 chub with most of them over 4lbs to just under 5lbs, 4 barbel to 8lb 1oz and several decent bream.  My new Trefor West Torrix got a good work out and what a lovely through action rod it is.  It’s light and very sensitive, which I like in a barbel rod and playing any size fish on it is a real pleasure.  I can’t recommend them enough.

8lb 1oz

8lb 1oz

Meanwhile Geoff was really struggling.  He’d had 2 bream and a barbel early on and then nothing for hours.  He soon scrounged a few Ocean Pride squabs and the bugger promptly landed two 9lb barbel.  Git! 🙂  We called it a day at around 2.15am.  I could barely keep my eyes open and it was time for bed.

The following day we opted to try the lower extremity of the fishery.  It looked good but our gut instinct was telling us to head up to nearer the big weir at the very top of the fishery.  It made sense but we both felt that this area was seriously under fished and worth an exploratory session.  Sadly it didn’t pay off.  We both had a few fish but felt we could have caught more upstream.  I had a nice barbel, a couple of chub and a couple of bream.  Geoff had 5 or 6 bream/hybrids.  So a bit disappointing but perhaps not surprising really.  The water here is deeper and slower and after spawning most of the barbel will be seeking aerated shallower water.   Still it was worth a try.

All in all not a bad opening salvo for us.  I got to christen the new rod and put the 2 rod quiver through it paces.  All the Lone Angler equipment is made to the very highest standards and I’m delighted to be using their products.

Long Angler 2 Rod Sling

Long Angler 2 Rod Sling

12ft Trefor West LA Torrix Barbel

12ft Trefor West LA Torrix Barbel

 

Read Full Post »

Breaking Bad

Posted in Angling Diary, tagged , , , on May 26, 2014| 3 Comments »


Ah those tranquil early summer evenings. The sound of the swallows, the pitter patter from the occasional rain shower, the lush vegetation and the buzzing of honey bees. All these things go to make up a wonderful time of the year. Well except for the sound of carbon fibre snapping and obscenities drifting on the wind, across the choppy waters. Still more of that to follow!

I was joined by Geoff this week and we headed off to a club water in search hopefully of some big tench and crucians. This would be our first session on this particular lake this season. The crowds have disappeared, mainly due to the crucians spawning recently. This obviously drops the weights of the big crucians and many anglers loose interest. That’s fine by me, more swims to access.

As we arrived the heavens opened. It was like a cyclone had blown in; torrential rain and howling winds. The temperature dropped 4 or 5 degrees too. Luckily after 10 or 15 minutes it passed and we headed to the lake. The banks looked lush and vibrant with new growth. The lily pads were in full bloom too and looked very fishy indeed.

Sadly the wind was howling across the lake from right to left and it looked like float fishing would be made very difficult. Still I settled into a swim with the pads to my left and plumbed the swim to find around 4ft of water. The depth was slightly deeper close in and then shallowed up around 2-3 rod lengths out.

The plan was to float fish the pads and put a method feeder out around 25 yards. Baits were to be luncheon meat and sweetcorn, both with a few squirts of the sausage sizzle overspray, on the float rod and the Lone Angler sausage sizzle 10mm squabs on the feeder rod. I mixed up some groundbait consisting of a 50:50 mix of the Lone Angler mix and a green off the shelf mix. This created a nice light, fluffy groundbait and looked ideal for crucians. I also mixed in some corn, luncheon meat and some finely chopped prawns. After tackling up the two rods I was ready to fish.

Sausage Sizzle Squabs

Sausage Sizzle Squabs

I used a light 1lb test curve Avon rod for feeder fishing, incorporating a 35g method feeder, 4 inch hooklength with a size 14 Pallatrax the Hook. This is a nice and simple set-up. I banded a 10mm sausage sizzle squab and buried it into the method feeder mix and out she went. Second cast and whoops…..the top section snapped clean off around half way up. “Oh bother” I says, “what a nuisance”. Well words to that effect anyway. So the feeder plans were cancelled and I would have to concentrate on the float.

Geoff's PB: 7lb 3oz

Geoff’s PB: 7lb 3oz

So out went the float and it had barely settled when it buried beneath what looked like North Sea waves. A hard fighting tench was on and after a very dogged fight I finally netted a pristine fish of exactly 6lbs. Well not a bad start after the disaster of a few minutes before. The wind by now was blowing around hurricane strength, making float fishing interesting to say the least. I changed the set-up on the float rod to take into account the conditions when the float rod snapped around 8 inches from the tip! Yet again a few choice words wafted on the wind to all parts of the lake. This was beginning to get a bit tiresome.

6lb Tench

6lb Tench

So rod number 3 was set up. How long would this last? Fortunately no mishaps with this one, thank God. However my swim was rather quiet. The odd fish rolled and a couple of very nice rudd were tempted, otherwise pretty dead. Eventually the wind eased off and conditions improved for a while. Sadly it was short lived and the wind gained force again and blew directly into our faces. Geoff had found a quiet area protected by the pads and managed to present a float in much calmer water. The depth here was around a further 12-16inches deeper than where I was positioned. It seemed to make a difference and he had a couple of decent tench on the float including a 7lb 3oz beauty. He also had a couple of 3 pounders on the feeder. Later on a shoal of very small tench moved in and he caught around 5 tench barely topping the 1lb mark. In the meantime my float buried at last and a nice crucian resulted. She weighed 2lb 14oz. Not a monster but a lovely looking fish in fine condition. Not long after this Geoff also tempted a crucian of almost identical proportions, maybe even the same fish!

2lb 14oz

2lb 14oz

Eventually the rain and wind drove us off the water. Enough was enough. I know when I’m beaten. Hopefully conditions will improve next week and we can tempt a few more of the bigger specimens found here.

Read Full Post »

Spring into Action.

Posted in Angling Diary, tagged , , , , on May 19, 2014| Leave a Comment »


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

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

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

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

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

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.

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts