Author: jacksonb1

Bossing the swim (Part 1)

jacksonb1 Tactics, Uncategorized

Bossing the swim (part 1) written January 2009

You know when you have a “bright” idea one day and it all goes wrong… Well read on!

I had the stupid idea of doing a short piece for the site on a method I have been using on the local river involving the use of my Giant floats, Now the usual pole float people use on the Bristol Avon at Sutton Benger is 1-1.5g, occasionally going up to 2 or 3g if it is pushing a bit. I have been using 5-6g floats on occasions but more regularly 18g monsters that I had made for some Irish customers to use in the Winter Leagues on the Erne. The rationale behind this was if I could control the float absolutely then I could deliver the “perfect” presentation for the roach, tench and bream that were my quarry.

I had a small window of opportunity before my work and junior angling club commitments took over so made the decision to go for it come what may. Well, you guessed it, Saturday came with a hard frost overnight and the river almost three foot up and rising, cursing I decided to do the shopping and chores and hoped that the river had stabilised by Sunday. Saturday night- it rained!

Dragged myself out of bed on Sunday morning and got myself sorted. Flask made, out into the garage to find that the score was now Mice 0 Me 1, sorted that out and reset the trap, loaded the car and set off thinking that at least it had warmed up.

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The river was not looking good, about three foot up and a horrible colour but I walked up to peg 136 above the bottom weir and reminded myself that a bad day’s fishing was better than a good day at work and set about sorting myself out.

The swim was about 8 foot deep at 10 metres where there was a nice crease.

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The picture shows the 18g Giant I was using, the other float is a 0.5g for comparison, my bulk consisted of 3 x 5g drilled bullets with a series of BB and AA shot either end as locking shot,. Size 20 hook (a Filstar version not available in the shops) was 12inches below the bulk with a single No 4 as dropper.

Main line was 0.20mm Shogun with a 0.10mm Shogun hooklength.

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Worms were chopped and groundbait mixed as a standby.

Three droppers of chopped worm went out at 10m and I shipped out and prayed that something would show an interest. ! I was able to present my bait at what ever pace I wanted and was able to nail it still if needed but to no avail!

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Four hours and four cups of coffee later and still without a bite, despite also introducing groundbait, I gave up – deciding to return when the river was more obliging. Hopefully during half-term (I’m a teacher for my sins!) I’ll return and finish what I intended!

To be continued…

Liquidising Bread

jacksonb1 Bait

Liquidising Bread

If you are one of the many anglers who when feeding liquidised bread wonder why after the initial run of fish the swim dies – then read on!

Preparation of your loaf is the key. If you just cut the crusts off and blast it in a food processor then that will be your problem! What follows is a step by step approach to preparing your feed that should give you more bites for longer!

  1. Prepare your loaf- don’t use a fresh loaf as there is too much moisture in the bread and it will go lumpy- cut off the crusts and cut the slices in half

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  1. Blast it in a food processor, a few slices at a time and store until the whole loaf is done.

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3. Now flour sieve your liquidised, gently rubbing any larger bits against the mesh.

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4. You will be left with a pile of perfect liquidised and a pile of lumps (these were why the bites stopped!).

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5. Put the lumps back into the processor and blast again, then repeat the sieving process.

6. What you are left with – a bag of perfect liquidised bread and a pile of lumps to be discarded.

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The texture of the liquidised can be made even finer by freezing it and then sieving when thawed.

Once upon a time…

jacksonb1 Intro

Ever since I can remember I have gone fishing, initially sea fishing with my father for tope, bass and anything else that swam by. A 30lb tope one weekend from the beach at Llangennith on the Gower followed by a 40lb monkfish the same summer saw me winning a reel, haversack and leather fishing wallet in various newspaper competitions.It was the leather wallet that led me down the path of catching firstly wild trout with a free-lined worm from a small stream and later coarse fish on bread paste from a local park lake. I was hooked on coarse angling!

Forty seven years later, after a career teaching, I am in the fortunate position that I have retired and can now go fishing more or less when I want and for whatever takes my fancy! It allows me to supplement my match commitments and try different approaches on a variety of waters. This is the start of my new adventure…