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Posts Tagged ‘Trotting’

Ivel Re-Visited

Posted in Angling Diary, tagged , , , , on January 12, 2012| Leave a Comment »


Well after a horrendous start to the week, I managed to get out fishing.  On Monday morning I discovered that my garage had been broken into and the vast majority of my fishing tackle had been stolen.  I was totally gutted.  It takes years to build up a collection like that and in just a few minutes some selfish waster has had the lot.  Luckily they missed a few bits and I had a couple of items locked in the car.  I also found some old rods and reels in a storage cupboard, so all was not lost.  I could still get out fishing.

So on Wednesday we headed to the Ivel.  The conditions looked pretty good.  The river was up slightly on our previous visit and there was just a slight tinge of colour.  I opted to float fish for most of the day and then swapped to the quiver later on.  I went for a slightly higher mainline than normal, in case of barbel.  So setting up with 4lb mainline and a 3lb hooklink, I opted to fish 2 maggots on a size 16 barbless.  I also used a 6 BB float.  This helped pull line off of the reel and through the rod rings better.  I wouldn’t normally have a problem of this sort, if using the Drennan, but alas that had been taken.

I tried numerous swims but the fish were not really responding well to these tactics.  Eventually, having waded out to fish a nice run off of a bend, I found a shoal of small roach.  Having kept the feed going in, the roach started feeding quite readily.  I ended up with 16 or 17 in a very short period of time.  I then swapped to the feeder in an effort to find some decent chub.

I moved into a good glide, of reasonable depth.  I set up a quiver rod with 6lb mainline straight through to a 4 hook with a large piece of crust.  This was anchored using 2 size 3xssg shots.  They held perfectly in the flow.  Over the remaining hour or so of the session I had a few taps on the bread but no real bites were forthcoming.  However a small muntjac deer appeared on the opposite bank and settled down to feed for a while, quite oblivious to me watching on.  It was a nice distraction to what had been a fairly poor session.  So eventaually we called it a day at about 5pm.  Geoff had just missed a really good bite but had at least caught a small chub.  Kevin had taken 2 small chub on the float plus numerous roach and gudgeon.

The day was a little disappointing, considering the conditions, but enjoyable nonetheless.

I would like to thank everyone who has offered help with fishing tackle, having heard my bad news of earlier in the week.  My friends and acquaintances in particular at The Association of Barbel Fishers and Barbel Fishing World, being particularly supportive.  Many thanks to you all.

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Builth and Back – Part 2

Posted in Angling Diary, tagged , , , , on November 26, 2011| 1 Comment »


The rain of the previous day was bound to have an effect on either water clarity or levels, if not both.  Luckily the river didn’t rise but it was very coloured.  We were at least heading to a stretch that we were familiar with.  Over the next three days we would be fishing a stretch of approximately 2½ miles in length.  This is a tributary of the Wye and is home to some very good grayling fishing.

Geoff's '2'

Due to the wet conditions, access to either the middle or lower car parks would be virtually impossible.  So we parked at the very top of the fishery.  This would involve a considerable walk to some of the spots that we hoped to fish but at least we might walk off a few of those breakfast calories. Over the following few days we walked pretty much the entire fishery a couple of times a day, or at least that’s what it felt like.

We need a bigger float

This section sits in a beautiful valley, surrounded by hills.  It really is God’s own country.  With Red Kites, Buzzards, Ravens and dippers, there was plenty to keep the ornithologists amongst us quite engrossed.  The weather had improved although it got very breezy as the week went on, which made for quite a challenge.  The idea was for the four of us to explore and hopefully find a few hot pegs, as well as fishing some that we had already discovered in the past.

We found ourselves leapfrogging each other up and down the river. Wading on the first day was made a little tricky due to the colour but we all took care and encountered no problems.  Over the next couple of days the colour dropped out and by Thursday, viability was much improved.

Beautiful

We all did reasonably well, taking lots of good quality grayling on all three days.  We found some very good, productive spots and visited some old favourites, with all providing a few decent fish.  I would say the vast majority of the grayling caught were between 1lb and about 1lb 12oz, with a lot around the 1lb 8oz mark, so a very good average size.  The sort of quality you would once of expected of the upper Kennet, Hampshire Avon, Test and Itchen.

I think most days we each got into double figure catches but again the gold medal goes to the Grayling King: Geoff.  His best day was 28 grayling to 2lb 1oz, so congratulations and you’re not coming on the next trip Geoff.  Dan, Kevin and I all caught well but couldn’t quite emulate Geoff but did end up with 16 or 17 on at least one day.

It's not always size that matters.....

Oh and we also managed to get the cars stuck in the mud on the middle car park track.  It’s probably about 1/2 mile long and quite narrow and slippery, with a few sheer drops.  I got stuck about half way but miraculously managed to reverse my way back up the slopes and out of trouble.  Kevin was stuck right at the bottom but a little bit of brute force on Geoff’s part got him moving again.  Never get complacent or blasé about winter tracks, even when they are mainly gravel!

So we ended our three days here having enjoyed some pretty hectic sport at times, despite the poor conditions.  Luckily swapping baits and playing around with the set-up and holding back quite hard on the float, all helped to make the most of the difficult conditions.  We thoroughly enjoyed the venue, as always.  There is such a mixture of features to fish.  Lots of riffles, islands, gravel runs and glides, deep pools and slacks that you are kept busy just exploring.  The scenery and wildlife further enhances what is a truly memorable experience.

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Builth and Back – Part 1

Posted in Angling Diary, tagged , , , , on November 26, 2011| 2 Comments »


Grayling fishing is a real passion of mine.  I thoroughly enjoy those crisp, winter mornings when the ice sparkles in the sunlight.  We haven’t had much ice of late and that’s possibly not a bad thing, especially considering what happened around this time last November.  The weather of late has been pretty mild.

Four of us had booked a cottage just outside of Builth Wells and we were treated to yet another superb property of the very highest standard.  The owners; Richard and Jane, were wonderful.  We joined them for breakfast at the farmhouse on 2 mornings.  Oh boy, what a breakfast.  A full Welsh cooked breakfast on both occasions.  Two rashers of delicious bacon, 2 Welsh sausages, 2 beautifully fried eggs, fried bread, mushrooms and tomatoes, plus toast, cereal and some excellent Welsh tea. God knows what my cholesterol is like now!  I have to say it was possibly the best cooked breakfast I’ve ever had.

The Wye

Anyway enough of the food already.  On to the fishing.  We were splitting the week between two rivers-the Wye and one of its tributaries.  Both rivers can be fairly prolific and both can produce big fish, given the right conditions.  Sadly on the Sunday night prior to our arrival the skies had opened.  Still, on arrival we found the Wye in good sorts.  It was quite a wide stretch, with a mixture of the usual shallows, deep glides and runs.  It looked good for wading, which we all enjoy.

The weather forecast was for some heavy rain, but at that point we seemed to be OK.  This is quite a long stretch and it was time to explore.  The fishing is simple trotting tactics.  Between the four of us I’m certain our set-ups were pretty much the same.  Rods were 14′, centrepin reels, mainlines of about 3-4lbs, floats in an assortment of styles but all around similar weights.  Baits were to be maggots, worm and corn.

The local toboggan run

We each found a swim to our liking and the fishing began in earnest.  I find this sort of fishing so exciting.  You really don’t know what to expect.  On these particular stretches there is always a chance of a really big grayling and that’s what we all hoped to come into contact with over the next 5 days.  I waded out about mid river and fished a fast run about 3/4 of the way across.  Sadly I only had 1 bite and that resulted in losing what felt like a very good fish.  At this point Kevin wandered upstream to tell me he had just caught his first grayling.  It was a magnificent fish of 2lb 10oz! Wow, what a start.  A new PB for Kevin and a tantalizing glimpse at what this part of the Wye has to offer.  What other unknown monsters swam in these waters?  Sadly at this point the rain started.  It got worse and worse and rained pretty much for the rest of the day.  We were all soaked through and so packed up a little earlier than expected.

Kevin's 2lb 10oz Grayling

I think we all caught some nice fish.  Geoff caught the most, with around 16 or 17 I think.  The rest of us mere mortals managed considerably less but they were all a good average size.  Most of the fish seemed to be in the 1lb-1.8lb bracket.  So it was off to the cottage for a spruce up followed by a very healthy fish and chip supper.

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Verlulam Stick Float Clinic

Posted in Angling Diary, tagged , , , , on September 19, 2011| Leave a Comment »


As a keen trotter of floats, the Verulam Angling Club’s ‘Stick Float Clinic’ was something I considered too good to miss.  The opportunity to spend some time in the company of such luminaries as Keith Speer, Dave Currell and Paul would be exceptional value for money, if it was costing me £20-£30.  The fact that it was a free days tuition to club members, is just phenomenal.

To all the guys who helped arrange the day, including the teas and coffee, a big slap on the back and cheers of well done.  It was a brilliant day, with good company and lots of valuable information. The day started with the usual gathering and social banter in the car park.  Then it was grab a chair and a cuppa and settle in for Keith’s ‘talk’.  Over the next 60-90 minutes Keith shared his amazing knowledge with us.  From tackle used, to bait and tactics.  Several important bits of information for me was 1. Keep the bait going in, little and often.  Never stop feeding.  No matter how tedious, keep the bait trickling in on every cast. 2. Select the right weight of float for the job.  Don’t become too preoccupied with type/style of float, just make sure it takes the right amount of shot for the flow conditions. 3. Keep changing the shotting pattern if nothings happening.

All sounds simple, but its important to have a game plan and stick to it (no pun intended….honest!). Feeding does seem to hold the key to success.  Often loose feed is thrown in quite haphazardly. You must make an effort to loose feed consistently if you want to be successful. There was a lot of useful information in Keith’s talk, which I’m certain will help to improve my catch rates and successes and hopefully enhance the overall enjoyment of float fishing on rivers.

The practical session was great.  Quite a few of the guys had never float fished a lake let alone a river.  But in the expert hands of our tutors, they started to get a feel for what some of us already know is a very rewarding method.  No matter what your target species is, trotting is a great way to not only catch, but to explore the river.  Its perfect for finding depths and features, that you can then return to in the summer months, when targeting barbel for instance.

By the end of the day most people present had tried the method out.  Some hooking and some actually landing ( 😉 ) their first ever float caught barbel.  My best efforts on the float caught me several perch, roach, dace and a few chub.  I lost one barbel on the float but then switched to feeder and finally landed a couple of nice barbel.

All in all a very rewarding and enjoyable day.  My thanks go to Verulam Angling Club, Keith Speer and the other tutors and helpers and to all those that took part.  Well done.

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