ice-fishing

February 2026 Part 1 -How many magpies?

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Tuesday 3rd February I set off at 9:53 in the rain for the Three Magpie stretch of the Kennet and Avon Canal and got out of the car at 10:06. I am so lucky to have a number of decent venues within short distances of home! Anyway I gathered my tackle, haversack seat on my back, bait bucket, whip mag, landing net, handle unhooking mat and pike rod and set off up the canal towards the swing bridge but stopped about 40m past where the concrete moorings stop and half way between two moored boats, giving them a good 30-40m space each. Pike rod was set up with my usual float and two single hook wire trace with a sardine and was lobbed out towards 3/4s across. Set up the 5m whip with a 1g Chinese float with a 18 hook and double maggot. I chopped up some worm in a bait box and added a handful of groundbait then mixed it up with just a dash of water. Two squash ball sized helpings were introduced along with a half dozen maggots. Started to get bites immediately with a couple of roach coming to hand before the pike float bobs and disappears, a strike, an initial heavy weight then nothing – it had left go leaving me cursing!

Back out and within five minutes another run, this time it was connected with properly and soon a pike of 9-06 was on the unhooking mat.

The session carried on in a similar vein as by the time I was driving away at 12:18 I had added pike of 3-00, 8-12 and 8-04 with 6 roach, 4 perch and a skimmer for about 2lb.

As you can see from the pictures, I needed to make some repairs to the net!

Friday 6th, day before Gareth and family arrive, sees me back at the Three Magpies but this time a lot further up as the boats had moored in the previous spot. Fished 10:40 to 1pm when heavy rain descended. No runs on the pike rod and fishing the whip in the same way but with a different Chinese float (with a bulbous tip shotted down) accounted for 22 roach, 2 skimmers, 2ruffe, a gudgeon and10 perch, the best being 1-10,1-04 and 1-02.

Sunday afternoon Three Magpies near the swing bridge end as the boats were multiplying! Gareth and I fished but the weather was wet and cold, during our time we had three deer in the field opposite watching up from the relative shelter of a hedgerow! Gareth fished a 4.5 m whip and I stayed on the 5m but it was hard with Gareth ending up with about a pound and a half while I managed about 3lb, boosted by skimmers of 1-04 and 12oz to go with 3 roach, a micro-perch and6 smaller skimmers.

Gareth et al fly off to Finland on the Tuesday and will return the following Tuesday so Friday 13th (good job I’m not superstitious!) I am back at the Magpies fishing 5m from the bench started at 9:40 and packed up at 11:40.Fished the same way and ended up with 18 roach, a ruffe, 9 skimmers including 4 net ones and two micro perch for about4lb plus a pike of exactly 6lb. Should really have been two pike but just as I started to get the initial bobs as a precursor to a run I had to wind in as the Canal and River Trust barge came down just at the wrong time! At which point I packed up.

As you can see the net repairs were not great! Meanwhile in Finland Gareth and Zachary where ice fishing to no avail!

Chew valley coming up soon!

January 2025 Part 1 – a frozen landscape

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The high winds, rain and freezing temperatures have been so far this month limiting me to just two excursions so far. Friday 3rd sees me head to peg 10 at Bowood in bright sunshine but the air temperature was -2C on arrival lifting to 2C just under 3 hours later. The Pondtail was still frozen after the cold days and nights we had been having and there was ice still on the main lake all the way down to just after peg 7. It was very still with a gentle breeze rippling the water at times but fishing from 10am to 12 produced not a single bite or run. Fish were starting to show (silvers and pike) at the edge of the ice around peg 7 which was just about fishable when I left; I should really have chanced it and fished up to the edge of the ice rather than going to the deeper water but hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Eleven days then pass before the next visit as a further deep freeze put a firm lid on the lakes and I resolved to let the ice melt and for the temperature to be stable for a couple of days before venturing out.This time I went on peg 9, mainly as there was a couple of pike anglers on the far bank, one of which had his pike float about 20 yards from peg 10. There was still thin ice on the lake up to peg 5 and I was tempted to fish there but knowing that it was only 3-4ft deep did not appeal.

I got a bait in the water by 9:55 and fished until 12. I mixed up one 250ml cup of dry groundbait on the wet side to act as an attractant and fed a single ball with some pinkies. Ten minutes in and the float dipped under and a small roach came to be resident in the keepnet. Just after this the swans swam by and the pike float bobbed almost as if their wake had caused it but I was not convinced. A couple of minutes later the run materialised and the strike resulted in what felt like a decent fish, until it let go- I obviously struck too soon in my haste!

No further runs which was annoying as the water was constantly erupting with small fish evading marauding pike although one of the anglers on the other bank had a pike which from a distance looked to be around the 5-8lb mark from just up from peg 5. I had an interesting time on the pole ending with 3-03 comprised of 33 roach, 20 rudd and 7 skimmers/blades – yes they were small! I did catch a couple on a Chinese honey jelly ball that I had bought, I will try these further as I bought them in a variety of flavours.

NO pictures this time as I did set the video up for the session and the weighing but on playback there was nothing!