outdoors

October 2025 Part 2 – a myth dispelled!

jacksonb1 Uncategorized , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

With the up coming visit from Clive aka SidestreamBob I thought I had better return to Semington and make sure there was plenty of bank space, so I also took a pair of shears and cut a swim closer to the pump than I fished before but still close enough to Clive’s peg.

Peg duly cut I set up a single rig of a 1g homemade float to 0.14mm Tornado and 0.12mm Tornado hooklength to an 18 fishing the 2+2 line in about 6-7 feet of water. Double maggot was again the bait with two pudding consistency balls of groundbait introduced with a little maggot and chopped worm in it. This is not the typical canal approach but for this particular area it is a basic approach. First put in was 10:15 and by 12:15 I had amassed 28 roach, 28 skimmers, 5 larger skimmers, best being 1-08, 3 perch (best 0-14), 2 gudgeon and a rudd for a total of 8-08. I had lost 3 good fish to hook pulls, two were most likely big perch and one a bream judging by the slime on the line. Perch have bony mouths so a hook pull is always possible and the bream tend to have softer mouths than usual.

Anyway it looked good for Monday. Sunday I nip down to Bowood and set up on peg 10 putting the pike rod out and fishing my usual style. However I fished from 10 to 11 at which point the heavy rain got heavier and there were no signs of any pike activity, further evidenced by no slack periods on the pole – 40 rudd, 4 skimmer and a perch for 2-12.

Monday comes around and the sunny fine day of Friday at Semington is replaced by dull wet weather! Clive and I met up as arranged and I led him along the pounds to the pump and put him on the first peg I had fished as it was flatter and no vegetation in the way while I dropped in to the newly cut one from Friday. I had told Clive pole only as it was an ideal opportunity for him to get used to the pole while getting plenty of bites. To cut a long story short the day went off with intermittent rain and dry spells, Clive lost a good fish to a hook pull, possibly a big perch but did manage to get a perch of 1-04 plus a load of smaller fish for a 4lb total.I had a similar experience losing 3 good fish , landing a perch of 1-12 in a total of 8-07. The pump was active for about 30 minutes during which bites dried up significantly. However, the myth that SidestreamBob can’t catch fish is well and truly smashed after his exploits today and earlier in the season. (You will notice he is far better at taking photos than me!)

The myth breaker

Sunday is the next time I get out and this time I head for peg 10 at Bowood armed with the pike rod and 6m Chinese whip with just the haversack seat. Pike rod went out at 9 and the whip followed ten minutes later. I admit I got fed up with the small rudd, 34 of them by the time I packed up at 11:10 when the rain started again, along with 2 roach and 3 small skimmers for 1-08, not a sign of a pike or any activity.

Undeterred I returned next day to Bowood – to peg 11, yes eleven, armed with the haversack seat, pike rod and waggler. It was a very windy blowing left to right and a cold day. The peg had not been dragged at all and was weedy but I stuck at it and from 9:55 to 11:50 did not see a pike or get a run, but did get 18 rudd on the waggler for 1-10, as you can tell a better stamp than previously but still small.

Last day of the month and a dull very windy start that would turn into wet and windy later! I decided to head for High Penn as there were water mains repairs on the road to Bowood and they were working right by the entrance which made things awkward.I decided to take the haversack seat and just a waggler rod although I opted for a 15′ Filstar Premier Match that is at least 12 years old teamed up with a Kastking Sharky reel with 0.16mm line to a 0.12mm hooklength and size 18 barbless hook. Float was a homemade peacock quill taking 4AAA with 3AAA and a BB locking the float with a number 1 shot about 2 feet from the hook and a number 4 about 9 inches from the hook. Heavy set up but in reality needed in the 10’+ of water at 16m and the heavy wind creating a flow. I fished 9:40 to 11:30 when the heavens opened for a second time but fed sparingly, simply loose feeding 20 or so maggots every time bites slowed after an initial two helpings. The rod needs a bit of explaining as it is not like the ultra slim rods available today, it is noticeably thicker and heavier but has a very nice soft action in the tip which allows you to feel even the smallest fish whilst retaining a lot of backbone further down the rod. I was thinking this gave me the best of both worlds given the number of carp in High Penn.It was bites from the off with 15 perch, 16 rudd and 4 roach coming to hand, nothing bigger than 3oz, for a 2-06 total.

Taken during one of the calmer periods (there weren’t many!)

November awaits, will it bring a pike from Bowood?

August 2025 Part 2 -normal service?

jacksonb1 Uncategorized , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Sunday 17th I head off to Bowood with weed rake in tow. I was shocked by the extent the reeds/rushes had encroached on the main channel with by my reckoning at least 9 (NINE) swims were now unfishable due to the rushes and weed growth given there are only 25 swims discounting the Pondtail (2) and Stock Pond (2) it was getting dire. I decided to try peg 8, starting at 9 o’clock with the rake and forty minutes later I had a mound of weed behind me and a narrow strip of channel to fish in out to 10m. Dirty, sweaty and knackered I set up the pole and had my first put in as the bell chimed 10. The next two hours were frustrating as despite me bulking the shot making up the 0.8g four inches from the hook the corn bait was being intercepted by hordes of 2-3 inch rudd so that the float was either not cocking or being taken for a wander as the ball of rudd failed to get the corn into their mouths. I had started with just two balls of groundbait with wheat and corn and made the mistake of loose feeding wheat which acted as a dinner bell to the ravenous juvenile rudd. By noon I had smuggled out a solitary roach and ten rudd for a 1-10 total.

Tuesday and I am back at peg 8 fishing 9:10 to 12:10. Same rig but this time starting with three hard balls of groundbait and a full pot of wheat with a few grains of corn. Loose feeding was a no-no, so any additional feed was introduced via a cup. Again the rudd proved to be a nuisance but I managed to get 2 roach, 30 rudd and ,wonders will never cease, my first half decent bream of the season at 2-10 making a 5-12 total.

What a contrast to last season when bream were seemingly plentiful. The weed has to have had a big say on the change, possibly the bream and tench (still not had one yet) are under the weed feeding on natural food.

Back to peg 8 the next day fishing 8:15 to 11:00, hoping that some bream had arrived to mop up the wheat I had thrown in at the end of yesterday’s session. Same rig and tactics, corn bait and 47 rudd and 3 roach gave me a busy session with 5-10 final weight but also dropped 20+ fish that were just holding on to the corn as they were so small.

Next opportunity was Tuesday 26th, I avoided the Bank Holiday week-end ! I decided to pop down to the Pondtail for a session on the whip but also took the Beastmaster rod set up from the visit to High Penn with hybrid feeder and intended to fish this with a 14mm scopex and vanilla boilie to see if there was any interest- there wasn’t! I set up with a 5m whip but was concerned that the reeds were starting to make an appearance here also, I had a couple at 4m directly in front of me so had to be careful when guiding fish in. Feeding wheat and fishing double maggot I only added a small ball of groundbait once bites slowed down a bit. The carp rod cast out towards the far bank lilies to my right remained “sleeping” but the whip attracted 39 roach and 6 perch for about 5lb. Sod’s Law applied once more and with the carp rod inactive the float shot under and a lift brought back the rig minus the hook- a carp !

Final outing this month was Friday 29th back to Peg 8 for a session 9-11:20. Wish I could report something different but the rudd were still there but strangely inactive, or so it seemed. The weather was cooler with a strong ripple on the water, so much so I was wearing my coat and fleece! The result was just 11 rudd for 1-02, however it was the first time I had been bothered by pike, I had a 4oz rudd taken by a pike of 5-6lb that bit through the line after a minute or so, the feed /fishing area erupted several times as the rudd scattered form the pike turning the water into a boiling mass. Hopefully this augers well for the winter pike sessions!

To date I have fished Bowood fewer times at this point of the season than previously but even so the difference has been concerning, so much so I e-mailed the estate office with my concerns regarding the encroachment of the reeds and the detrimental effect it had and may have on the spawning areas for future stocks plus the water clarity being affected by the filtration effect of the thick reed beds and asked if they had any plans to tackle the reeds. I had an acknowledgement and that it was being passed to the Estate manager – who has not yet replied after 2 weeks!

April 2025 – the excitement builds!

jacksonb1 Uncategorized , , , , , , , , , ,

Right, firstly an apology, there will only be one post this month for obvious reasons if you get to the end of the post! Saturday 5th sees me get to Boddington in good time to collect the money and sort the draw.There were three let downs so having originally booked for 10, then increased it to 11 and then 13 we ended up with 10 fishing! I was left with peg 38 in the bag- yes one away from when I came up previously! This time we were faced with a heavy (15mph) wind directly into our faces and I began to regret the fact that I had left the whips at home and had just a pole and waggler set up as the pegs either side had about 10 fish apiece before I had a bite!

Some clarification on my rigs may be in order as I was not fishing a traditional pole rig as I had converted one of my Chinese floats by adding a spring eye to the tip that could be removed if required so I had a 1g olivette 3-4 ft from the hook and 4 no8 droppers spread out below that with a 16 hook to 0.10mm. The fish finally found the three balls of caster laced groundbait and feeding casters while fishing double maggot I managed to start to put some fish in the net with some better net samples, oddly I did not get a single perch. At the end I knew I had been beaten either side but I weighed in 11-11 and was happy with a pleasant days fishing despite having approx 30% more fish bumped off due to the wind.

The results can be seen below, the only one not to weigh in was Ian who lost his landing net and first part of his handle in to the depths as it worked loose and despite best efforts he could not retrieve it. To his credit he continued to the end but tipped back and helped with the weigh in.

On to Wednesday and I paid Rowde a visit on the K&A canal. Parking up in the lay-by I had gone light again with just the whips and my seat plus of course landing net and bait. The first pound was full of boats, the second pound is not fishable as there are power lines, so on to the third pound which is about 40-50m wide and has 3 CRT fishing pegs that I did not fancy so continued on the the fourth pound and set up a 6m Chinese whip with one of my favourite orange Chinese floats and a 0.10mm hooklength to an 18. I had decided to experiment with feeding just micros after the first 5 minutes of introducing a dozen or so maggots with hookbait being double maggot.

You’ll notice the back rest of the seat is missing- lost some time ago when Gareth borrowed it! The canal here is about 30m wide as we are just below the infamous Caen Locks. Starting at 9:45 and packing up at 11:30 (reason for that coming up) I had a pleasant session resulting in six perch, two rudd, five roach and twenty one skimmers for approx 3-04.

At one point a boat came through into the pound and then proceeded to go through my swim three times while waiting for the lock gates to be opened, at this point I put the whip down on the deck and had a cup of coffee. The boat finally got into the lock and I continued catching until disaster struck, I lifted into a bite, felt a good fish (possibly a bream) and the line snapped a foot from the tip of the whip. Clearly when I put the whip down it must have caught on something that weaken the line at that point. I packed up at this point and trundled off home!

Now the reason for the title and no second part this month is that Gareth contacted me and asked if I would like to go fishing in Thailand with him as he had a couple of days holiday with the Chinese celebrating May Day, he would pay the airfare and fishing and I would just need to sort out a hotel for my arrival so I could get some rest before the fishing! Spoke to Mrs J who said go! So I have been sorting out various things in the mean time but the fishing will be two days at Jurassic Mountain Centre on the Specimen Lake, but before that a morning on a lake near Bangkok fishing for Mekong catfish – the same one that Gareth had the 80kg fish from last year. Expect pics and report in May (if I catch!)

March 2025 part 2 – Going light

jacksonb1 Uncategorized , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

So Bowood is no more, until June 16th, so the canal is available for piking until the end of March so Tuesday18th sees me heading to Rowde with the rucksack bag, a 3m whip and a pike rod, large oval landing net and unhooking mat (compulsory on canal for pike) and fold-able groundbait bucket with bait. I was planning to fish the first pound away from Devizes from the road bridge, on arrival there were several boats moored up and I ended up in a large gap well away from them about half way down the wall.

Loose feeding on the whip I began slowly with a a solitary roach and a perch before one of the boats moved off and went through the swim, it took over an hour before the next bite but I then had a further roach and two perch before I hooked a decent fish that I had on for a few minutes before the hook pulled, I suspect it was a good perch. Only other bite was a missed run on the pike rod to a smelt. I packed up shortly after to end the short session as the bank was getting increasingly busy with walkers.

Rest of the week I was tied up with various things but Saturday sees me travel up to the Glebe for a Maggotdrowners match. This was to be a 6 hour match with everything counting. I arrived in good time and ended up drawing peg 8 which I didn’t mind as I have fished it before albeit in the summer months.

I set up a feeder, a rig for 13m, one for 2+2 and a margin rig. Feeding the 13m with three balls of groundbait with a smattering of 2mm and 4mm pellet plus a few grains of corn. The other lines were loose fed with pellets. Although the day was quite settled and warmish everyone was struggling apart from peg 1. The feeder lasted half hour before moving on to the pole as others on the feeder were also biteless. From the start at 11am to 3pm I had two bites that resulted in two skimmers plus I had lost two carp in the first hour that were foul hooked. From 3pm to 4pm I lost a further carp which I had on for about 5minutes that was a real lump before the hook pulled but did manage to put a carp of about 4lb in the net plus a further two skimmers. In to the last hour and I took a chance and chopped up some worm that I put on the 13m line , worm on the hook resulted in four further carp (why didn’t I try worm sooner?). At the weigh in my skimmers went 4-12 and the five carp 27-07 for a 32-03 total and 3rd in section. It had been a good day until 15minutes from the all out when we had a biblical rain and hail storm that soaked everything!

Tuesday 25th sees me back at Rowde, this time taking the 5m Chinese whip and float with the intention of feeding micro and fishing expander, I also had the pike rod but that did not get any interest.

I started on maggot but fed micros and bumped four good fish early on, possibly perch but after a small skimmer on maggot I changed to the expander and ended up with 7 skimmers (best 1-01), 6 roach and a rudd for approx 2-08.

I waited under Monday 31st and headed off to Boddington as I was running a silvers match on the Saturday and wanted to check the water level and have a word with the bailiff about adding a couple of extra pegs. I set up on peg 39 and was pleased to see that the water level was up to the first platform down.

Fishing at 10m I had about 10ft of water and as it was very calm I fished a light 0.3g float set to fish on the drop with a 0.10mm hooklength to a 16. Three balls laced with caster were introduced and caster loose fed over the top with a further ball being added every 45minutes or so for the 3 hours I fished. It was frustrating at first as the top I had chosen was just not right as I bumped ten fish before changing for a lighter elastic which sorted the issue. I chopped and changed trying different things but still ended up with 25 roach plus a perch of 1-01. There were a couple of quiet periods when there was possibly a pike in attendance but I did not hook any.

I packed up at 1pm to get home avoiding the usual traffic around Oxford. Next month sees the Boddington match and a surprise!

March 2025 Part 1 – Out with a whimper!

jacksonb1 Uncategorized , , , , , , , , ,

March 4th I decided that as my knee was still playing up I would go “light” and take a walk down the opposite bank to peg 20 (next to the island). Armed with a waggler and pike rod plus seat-bag I slowly hobbled down to the peg starting at 9:30 and finishing at 12:05. The pike rod was cast out about 20m to the left while the waggler was set up at 20-25m with loose fed maggot and one of my homemade bodied wagglers taking 4AAAwith a couple of no 6 shot as droppers – I wanted to have a positive lift if there was a bite hence the size of droppers.

The lake was untypically flat and with the bright sun I was not too hopeful given the way things had been going, but if you don’t try you won’t succeed as they say. Loose feeding a pinch of maggot every few minutes I had my first bite after 40 minutes a roach, from there on I had had sporadic bites and ended up with nine roach and a skimmer but at the end I hooked a good fish that I played for over 4 minutes getting it in to netting range a couple of times before it finally snapped my 0.10mm hooklength on one of the old platform posts close in. I never saw the fish but I am convinced it was a tench by it’s fight rather than a pike or anything else. No further bites after that loss so it was a case of trudging back to the car wondering what might have been. The only other thing of note was that there were two anglers piking on the last two pegs on the other bank and one had a pike but they both were oblivious to the deer that broke cover and ran along the slope only 20m behind them.

Sunday 9th was my next visit and I had decided to just go on the Pondtail as my knee was playing up and it being the last week-end of the season I was expecting it to be busy. How wrong could I be! On arrival there was one car and he was fishing peg 2 on the Pondtail, so I ended up fishing the waggler on peg 1 starting at 9:30. Loose feeding did not seem to work after an hour I mixed up three handfuls of groundbait and started to introduce small marbles every couple of casts. This seemed to work and I managed 6 roach up to 12noon when I packed up. The angler on peg 2 had only one small roach so in relative terms I didn’t fare too badly! The pic shows only 5 roach as I missed the net with one!!!!

The next week had little opportunity for fishing with the funeral of Pete Sarahs, the stalwart of Peatmoor, who I had accompanied all over the country with the junior teams and helped to run the junior matches with at Peatmoor for over 15 years, taking place on the Monday,car into garage on Thursday before heading to Yorkshire the same day and Wednesday taken up with meeting a fellow angler after some floats. Tuesday then was my last visit to Bowood and I made the walk down to peg 20 again. This time there was a very strong, cold wind blowing straight down the lake towards me creating a big tow on the water, so much so it was akin to trotting a river. Even 18inches overdepth did not help and I gave up the ghost at 11:15 biteless and not having seen any indication of fish, even the grebes were more interested in their courtship rituals than fishing! So ended another season at Bowood. A great beginning but a struggle there after- I caught half my total weight of fish for the season in the first three weeks!

Now a tale of some fish! Gareth decided he fancied another trip to Thailand this week-end so he organised a trip to a lake usually reserved for locals- taxi to Hong Kong,fly to Bangkok via Hong Kong on Saturday, stay in the airport hotel and be collected 6am Sunday, hour journey to the lake, fish 9 hours then return to airport, get back late Sunday and work Monday! Oh to be young again! Six year old Zachary was going with him and the guide set him up with a light spinning rod as the main tackle was to heavy for him. Unfortunately the clutch on the reel could not cope with the red-tailed catfish and even tightened fully the catfish still took line! Anyway they had a good visit with 32 red tail catfish and 1 tambaqui. Estimated total weight 1270lbs. Zachary caught two 20kilo catfish!

All his own work!

February 2025 part 2 – The woes are still there!

jacksonb1 Uncategorized , , , , , , , , , ,

Did I really write that things can only get better! Silly me! Having sorted out Gareth’s pike rod I ventured forth to the Pondtail on Wednesday 19th in the hope that I may get a bite or two. Well I fished 9:15 to 11:15 through a mishmash of weather on the waggler, loose feeding at first but after 40 minutes and no bites I relented and made up a small amount of groundbait and started to introduce small marbles of it every few minutes. This got me a bite that I missed by hitting it too early in my anxiety to catch (or was that the shock of seeing a bite!). Anyway there were 3 further bites that I did manage to hook and land – three roach for 5oz.

Saturday 22nd sees me up early and traveling up to the Glebe fishery outside Hinckley for a Maggotdrowners event. I had decided to plan my attack on maggot fished short with the pole at 11m as a back up plus a groundbait feeder on my light bomb rod and a waggler. The woes then hit me with a vengeance – during the uneventful drive up I had a nagging doubt in my head- “why was there more space than normal in the car?”. Drawing peg 25 – the same area I frequently seem to end up in- I drove down to the bottom of the lake and started to unpack the car when it hit me – I had left the bag with the wheels and barrow kit for the Octbox at home in the garage! To make matters worse the usual path via a bridge that took you very close to the peg was taped off as it appeared the bridge needed repairs, so I had no option but to walk around the muddy slope to peg 30 then carry on to the peg. Now I do not have a strap fitted to the Octbox (it is in the bag with the wheels!) so I had to carry it up the muddy, slippery slope to the peg – in total I had 4 trips to get my kit there.

I set up as I intended a short pole (top 3) with a 3 x n08 float with 0.10mm hooklength to an 18; long pole with a 1g Paster float again to a 0.10mm and 18; the waggler with a homemade sarkandas cane insert waggler taking 4AAA and my Preston 10 ft bomb rod with the mandatory 20 inch hooklength to a barbless 17 hook. Groundbait was a mix of F1 cold water dark and Swimstim natural.

The match starts and I cup two balls on to the 11m line with a few micros and maggots and leave it. On to the short line loose feeding a pinch of maggots every put in – no response. After 25 minutes I put a marble of groundbait out and a couple of minutes later missed a bite before getting a small perch and that was it! On to the pole line expander – no interest, one bite on maggot that came from a small skimmer. That was it again, peg 26 was starting to pick up skimmers on the long pole and I probably spent too long trying to make it work to no avail, so on to the feeder.

Third cast (3/4 across hopefully avoiding the far bank carp) I hooked a skimmer of around a pound. The rest of the match sees me swap between the feeder and waggler (fished on same line as feeder) but apart from a lost skimmer on the waggler I could only catch on the feeder but I was having to wait for the bites. I ended up with a further 5 skimmers for a 6-11 total. The 5 peg section went like this Peg 22 1-7, peg 23 7-01, peg 25(me) 6-11, peg 26 11-1 and peg 28 14-11. Still it was nice to catch a few fish before making another 4 trips back to the car with the kit!

My knee did not like the slipping and sliding over the mud so it was not until Friday 28th that I ventured out but where to. My head said the canal, the monkey on my shoulder said Bowood – the monkey won! I ended up on peg 8 as another angler was just setting off as I got to the car park and he went on 10. In lieu of protecting ,my knee I had taken a waggler and pike rod plus the haversack seat. Going down was fine as the frost the night before had left the ground nice and crisp- coming back the temperature had risen by 9C and it was a bit squelchy. I fished 10 to 12 but knew the woes were going to win when I saw the water – you could just see an inch into it, very coloured very bright sunshine and yes no bites or indications of fish. The angler on 10 was blanking when I left and another angler who arrived just as I was setting out was blanking on the other bank by the island.

On a positive note I did get out and next week a visit to the canal may be in order although I still want to get this damn monkey off my Bowood back!

December 2024 Part 2 – Winter warmers

jacksonb1 Uncategorized , , , , , ,

Since the last post I have not been out much until I received a message from a reader, Robert, who asked if I would be interested in a pdf containing information of fishing in the River Marden around the 70s. I was indeed and subsequently received a pdf with the maps of the Marden and swims fished with what could be expected which certainly got me interested.

So with the imminent approach of Christmas I decided to go for a couple of hours on Monday 23rd. I went light, the haversack seat a Shakespeare Mach 1 bomb rod set up with a 3/8oz bomb on a paternoster style rig and a 8inch hooklength of 0.10mm Shogun to a 16, a waterproof bait bucket which held some worms(that I didn’t use), half a pint of mixed maggots and a towel. Landing net was the Chinese set up- a telescopic carbon handle and fine mesh net. Parking up at Hazeland weir I took a steady walk up section 1 until I reached the end of the field with a stream entering the river, the bridge across it meant I could have continued but the fallen sapling across the overgrown”path” made my decision so I began the return.

Swim 1 (I am now calling this the wall peg!)

With the branches extending over the swim I just used a gentle underhand swing to place my double maggot bait some 5m down the peg halfway across. I settled back and loose fed half a dozen maggots , not really expecting much action. I should mention, if you have not picked up the fact already, that I did not bring a rod rest as I prefer to hold the rod and touch ledger as it allows we to take in the surroundings and not miss any bites! Five minutes passes and I had a rattle that I missed, assuming it was a minnow of which there are many in the Marden (more of this later). The maggots were totally sucked out, so out again with two new maggots, another half dozen thrown out and five minutes later another bite, more of a rap/pluck again missed. Process repeated and five more minutes passed before before a gentle pluck saw me strike and hook something bigger than any minnow that tried its best to get into the bankside snags before revealing itself as a trout of 1-01.

After releasing the trout back I poured myself a congratulatory coffee and lobbed out the double maggots again, not really expecting much more before I would move to the next swim. While watching two grey squirrels play follow my leader in the trees opposite I had another pluck that I missed.Back out again and this time managed to connect with a small roach.

Now I know you are not supposed to move off feeding fish but I wanted to try a few other places on my return to the car. Quickly collapsing the landing net and making my was down stream I opted t not fish the first place as it was quite close to where I had set off from but settled on…

Swim 2

Same process repeated and result was two small roach before I moved again!

On to Swim 3

Repeat above and result was…

Swim 4

You guessed it!

Next couple I didn’t fish

Swim 5

Yep!

At this point I decided to ignore any more and just go to one more swim on the straight at the start of the field for 5 minutes before going. I was joined by another angler dressed out in sparkling blue and orange who was having a fair bit of success until he flew off. Double maggot again and after a couple of casts the tip thudded around and an acrobatic air-borne trout of 0-11 came to the net. At which point I packed up and departed.

The session made me think about where had all the minnows gone, previously it was full of them but not a single one landed/seen. It also occurred to me how much I enjoyed the simplicity of the session and how easy it is to fall into a rut of fishing the same venue/swim every time!

Christmas comes and goes along with a Boxing Day visit to Birmingham, so on 27th I fall back into the rut and wander down to peg 10 – wish I hadn’t! Fished 10-12 and didn’t get a sniff of a bite/run/fish! Packed up at 12 with the fog making the air colder and no indications of fish, even the grebes were not catching!

Sunday 29th decide to have an hour or two on the Pondtail as it was still very dull. Turned up on peg 2 with the whips and after setting up the 4.5m one and just loose feeding for twenty minutes with no indications I made up a handful of dry groundbait and began to feed little nuggets of it. After a further half hour the float without warning buried and I broke the blank so to speak with a small roach, not a good photo as it decided to flip about just as I took it!

I fished on for another 40mins and although the clouds lifted and the sun came out the temperature dropped so with no further indications I trudged back up the hill and home.

Looking down the Pondtail from peg 2. Five minutes later a breeze sprang up and the water was rippled.

Being a glutton for punishment I decided to go next day to the Marden section one. Walked the half mile or so up to the “wall peg” with the same kit as last time and started fishing around 9:30. The main difference this time was I had expectations of bites/fish whereas the last time I was fully expecting to blank! Similar approach and after a quarter of an hour nothing! I then missed a bite or so I thought as a minnow surfaced and promptly let go off the maggot! Nothing for a while and a cup of coffee and a Welsh cake gave me some interest, just as I was thinking of moving further downstream I had a faint quiver on the tip/tremble on the line a strike saw a roach come to the net (could have swung it in really!)

Another dodgy photo! Well I gave it another 5 minutes then moved on, trying a swim further downstream that I had not tried before. While it looked promising it produced nothing. Moving on down it was obvious that the river was fishing hard than before.

I tried another couple of swims and had two minnows from what I called swim 5 from the last visit before moving back to where I had caught the smaller trout last time. A couple of missed bites before a minnow and then just as I was thinking of packing up a half ounce roach. I gave it another five minutes then made my way home.

So checking my diary that I use as a log I have made 96 outings this calendar year, New Year’s resolution- to hit the “ton” in 2025. Happy New Year to you all.

November 2024 Part 1 – Rain needed!

jacksonb1 Uncategorized , , , , , , , , , ,

Friday 1st I head for Bowood fishing on peg 10 9:15 to 12:00.Usual set up but strangely quiet on pike front with mo sign of any chasing of fish or strikes! This inactivity from the pike encouraged the silvers to feed resulting in 42 roach, 13 rudd, 6 skimmers and a perch for a level 5-00, so plenty of action to keep my interest but no fish of note.

Sunday comes around and my knee is playing up so I head with the whips for a couple of hours max on the Pondtail peg 1 which had now been cleared of the undergrowth and was at last fishable. Setting up with the 4.5m Chinese carbon whip and an 18 hook to a 1.4g float I had a pleasant couple of hours if frustrating at time with the fish coming in cycles. 14 roach a gudgeon and a perch for 1-08 came to the walnut sizes balls of groundbait and loose fed wheat, with double maggot doing the business apart from the perch which perversely took double wheat!

Tuesday sees me walk back to peg 10 to find the water was quite clear and started at 9:15, my first and only bite on the pole cam after and hour and twenty minutes – a roach on maggot,. Despite trying chopped worm, wheat, pellet and all combinations of maggot I could not buy a bite so decided to pack the pole up just after 11:30, before doing so I had moved the pike rod right over the pole line. Just as I finished putting the pole away I had a take on the pike rod with line streaming off the open bail arm, striking I was immediately into a heavy fish but slowly managed to subdue it’s runs and managed to christen the new light weight landing net handle I had treated myself to! The scales showed it to be 17lb exactly, so that was my cue to go home!

Wasn’t until the Sunday that I was able to get out again, opting to return to peg 10. To my absolute dismay the water had turned to tap water clarity with the bottom 4m out being visible in 5ft of water!No bites, no runs and no signs of any fish topping or swirling! I packed up at 11:30 with a blank – a rarity for Bowood!

Tuesday sees me fancy a change and I go to Blacklands opting for peg 12 in the shade opposite the toilet block, a choice I was to regret as it was COLD but bright sun on the other banks!I fished 9:40 to 12:50 and had to adapt my approach as i had picked up my canal/silver fish hard case and forgot that the pole cup in my Bowood box that I had taken was the wrong fitment! Matters then got worse as I was intending to fish worm before moving over to a second area that was to be primed with micros, on opening the bag I thought contained micros found it was groundbait which is banned at Blacklands!

I, in the end, opted to fish a number 6 elastic to a homemade chianti style float taking 0.4g in the 6ft of water at 10m, using a hooklength of 0.10mm to an 18 barbless hook. The main problem I could see was that there were leaves everywhere so I had to be careful shipping out and lowering the float into clear water before feeding small pinches of chopped worm via a toss pot at the end of the pole. Anyway as it turned out worm head still works and 20 roach, 12 perch and a solitary skimmer came my way for what I reckoned on 6-08 after counting the ounces of each fish as I went along! The biggest fish was a perch and the skimmer, both 14oz.

Hopefully we will get some rain soon to put the colour back in Bowood.

October 2024 Part 1 – WOW!

jacksonb1 Uncategorized , , , , , , , , ,

I am going to start this a bit differently! Gareth, my son in China, had a few days off so what does he do- he books a flight to Thailand for the Wednesday, fishing on Thursday and flight back on Friday!. So he gets there with my grandson Zachary on the Wednesday, spends the night in a hotel in Bangkok, gets a pre-booked taxi to the fishing lake on Thursday (the drive is about 40mins and the drivers waits there for him) and gets to his “peg” – a bungalow/chalet on stilts at the edge of the lake and fishes from the verandah/ staging of the bungalow. All tackle and bait provided as are the services of a guide. The lake in question has a reputation of providing customers with 2-3 fish a day with 10 fish being stated as exceptional. The lake is very deep 40+ feet and the method is like a massive bagging waggler/ pellet waggler with paste.The fish are a mixture of Mekong catfish and Siamese carp. Early on he latches in to a fish and gets it in but the guide has to call for help as it is only the largest fish in the lake -an 80kg (approx 176lb) Mekong catfish, it takes three guides to get the fish out of the water!

Now if this wasn’t enough he goes on to land further Mekongs and Siamese of 20, 30, 30, 25, 40, 30, 13 (carp), 35, 30, 30, 30, 35, 40,40, 35,20,30, 20, 20, 25 (carp) all in KG! 21 fish in total plus he lost a further 15 when they went under the stilts of the chalet! He packed up early with still time left on his ticket as he was shattered! Zachary managed to get a Mekong also with the help of the guide!

Back to our reality! Bowood October 2nd peg 10 started with bait in water at 9:20 until 12:00. Pike rod out and the autumn/winter set up on pole- lighter elastic and 0.12mm to a 0.10mm hooklength and 18 hook! Two balls of groundbait with a few micros and corn plus 6 grains of corn introduced and roach appeared after 10 minutes to be rudely interrupted after a further five with the pike float disappearing! A very feisty fight ensued with a pike of 8-08 giving a very good account of itself given its size!

More roach then the rudd took over interspersed with another pike of 7-06 and a third one of about 5-6lb that threw the hooks!. Ended up with 34 rudd and 6 roach for 5-10 making a total of 21-08.

Friday 4th sees me back at peg 10 fishing 9:30 to 12:00 set up the same as last visit but today was a lot harder. 10 roach 1 skimmer and no rudd! I had two runs on the pike rod, both lost with hook pulls. The first I had on for about 5 minutes- a very big fish that was taking line of the clutch – I am a “back winder” and the clutch only comes in to play under extreme pressure. This fish felt as if it was a twenty and a good twenty at that when it broke surface you could see the thickness of its back and length. The second while smaller was also a double again lost after a shorter fight. I changed the trace after this visit!

Two days later back at Bowood but I was a bit later having to do some errands first and found someone on peg 10, so I slotted in on 8 in order to give the other angler plenty of room. Now peg 8 is a good 18 inches to 2ft shallower than 10 but can throw up surprises! Not today though as no runs on the pike rod and my one bite on the pole produced a massive one ounce roach half way through my 10am to 12pm session! The angler on 10 fared little better with just about 10 small fish.

On to Tuesday 8th back on 10 started at 9:30 and packed up at 11 after 11 roach and 6 rudd as at 10:30 the heavens opened and biblical rain fell so heavy I could not see neither my pole float nor my pike float! I got back to the car just as the rain eased in intensity. Returning home things were just about getting clear, so laid things out to dry in garage and went in to find my wife had to catch a couple of parcels from the postman as he couldn’t get close to the door because of the depth of water that was in the dip in front of the door, indeed he had to throw a stone at the door to get her attention. Fortunately the water had dissipated by the time I returned!

The rest of the week has devoted to drying kit and getting ready for the silvers match I was running at Meadowlands near Coventry. I usually only pay sections in my matches as it encourages everyone to keep going as they know they can still pick up even if the area is poor. In the end 16 fished the match with two no shows, fortunately they had paid the peg fee so my costs were covered. Anyway I ended up with the scales for my section on peg 3.

The picture was taken at the end of the match, the start was marked by a short shower! As you can see the peg was in a wooded section and the tree cover above the peg meant I would need to fish the pole only as a waggler or feeder would be catching the various branches. Calling the all in I started by introducing two balls of groundbait with caster and worm at 11m directly in front of me with a pot of wheat introduced to my right at 2 o’clock also at 11m in the ubiquitous 3 feet of water. I had set up just two rigs, the first with a bulk about 8 inches from the 18 hook with a number11 dropper. The other was set up as a strung out on the drop rig. Both rigs were 0.12mm line to 0.10mm hooklength and 18 hooks, the on the drop float was a homemade chianti style taking 0.5g, the bulk rig was a BGT2 in 0.5g

Starting on double maggot a couple of roach appeared but it was slow so single red maggot produced a faster response include one from a tench of approx 3lb, a few skimmers then appeared and after an hour I had clicked 7lb. I then switched to worm head and began to get skimmers when the inevitable blank spell heralded the arrival of carp!

I then had a frustrating remainder of the match hooking carp (two landed 9lb and 6lb, 2 snapped hooklength and 3 hook pulls) or spooking carp – striking at a “bite” to see bow waves shoot from the swim! I ended up weighing in 9-14 made up of the tench 6 skimmers, 7 roach and 2 perch! The section was close with me being 15 oz from picking up an envelope for 2nd in section! The other irritant was the trees were shedding their leaves (being Autumn and all) so at various points we were being rained on by leaves which made shipping out more awkward as you were constantly trying not to hook a leaf!

Section 1
Peg 3 BGT 9-14
4 Martin Paynter 12-01
6 Deal or no deal 8-12
7 Craig Merritt 10-00
9 Pete Hunt 10-13
10 NOT DRAWN

Now after last months lessons I did go back and reread the post from last years match and did try the close in line to no avail, however Darren who was over the other side on 20 won the section and had best weight on the day (27-12) by coming in to the 2+2 line and finding skimmers when he was being carped out on the long line.

No more matches now until next year, so my focus returns to Bowood!

September 2024 Part 1 – All Change!

jacksonb1 Uncategorized , , , , , , ,

September 1st arrives and being a Sunday I decided to just grab the 10′ waggler and the seat bag and have an hour on the Pondtail. You may remember that the bridge at the start of the lake partly collapsed last winter and it has slowly been rebuilt with a compound formed for the plant and materials that cut off both pegs. During the summer peg 2 became available again but today the compound had been radically shortened and both were now available- except peg 1 was hidden behind a forest of 3 foot nettles that I will tackle at a later date, so peg 2 it was.

Fishing the waggler at about 15m with double maggot I managed 26 roach and 6 perch by loose feeding wheat after a single ball of groundbait was introduced. The fish pulled the scales down to 3-15. The other picture is looking down the Pondtail towards the main lake. As an aside I had bought a Chinese carbon extending landing net handle to go with a net head I had bought some time ago (the threads are smaller than in UK). It allows the user to set it at any distance from 60cm to 3m, it is on the heavy side compared to the more conventional handles but is very robust and ideal to stick in the pocket of a rucksack – it worked well on this outing.

Tuesday 3rd and I decided on peg 7, still weedy but I felt there was still a chance of bream and tench while the weed remained.Fishing 9:15 to 12, it was not hectic and despite the pike activity I managed 14 rudd, 3 roach a skimmer and a bream of 3-04 all on corn for a 5-06 total. I did lose a large unseen fish in the weed that I am sure was foul hooked from the way it fought.

My focus now shifted to preparing for the three day Pairs at the Glebe, although through a series of events the pairs became seeded teams of three. We had been lucky to negotiate pools 5,6, and 7 rather than 1 and 6 which was our original allocation so my preparation for pairs went out of the window and I drew up new sheets and lists for the Teams of 3! Monday 9th came, I collected in the pools and explained the rotation of lakes Group A (the superstars!) would fish 5 then 6 then 7, Group B, 6,7 and 5 while my group (C -the poolsfodder!) would fish 7,5,6.

So the last peg in the bag for me was 104 – not brilliant but hey-ho. Arriving at the peg it was very windy and I opted to set up a feeder for the far side,four pole rigs to cover 11m, 5m and two margin rigs. Line was mainly 0.18mm for out in front and 0.20mm for the margins. During a brief respite from the wind I managed to remember to take some pictures!

Starting on the feeder, in 20 minutes there were no indications so that went on the rack and the pole went out to 11m where I had fed 3 balls of groundbait, micros, 4mm pellets and corn. To say it was slow was an understatement, after 2 hours I had managed two skimmers. Tony on my right was fairing no better, the 5m line produced a solitary carp of 3lb and a skimmer so it was to the margins I looked. I had primed the left one with hemp and corn while the right had been given micros and corn with the odd 4mm. The last two hours saw me pinch a carp from either side and by rotating this I managed to get 37-10 of carp and 11-07 of skimmers for a 49-01 total, losing just 4 carp. Tony pipped me by a pound and an ounce weighing in 50-02 with fewer fish but of a better stamp, leaving me last in the group!

Next day sees me on pool 5 peg 78, however the weather had taken a turn for the worse and we had heavy rain and wind all day. I had unfortunately looked at my phones weather forecast which suggested the odd light shower so had put on my over-trousers (which have a hole in the crotch area- you can see what is coming!) rather than my bib and brace which is watertight but more awkward for calls of nature! Needless to say by the end I was absolutely soaked from the waist down.

I did manage one picture during a brief break in the weather before the start but it was all downhill from this point on. Setting up exactly the same rigs I decided I needed to attack the swim more late on so mixed up 1.5kg of groundbait which for me is a lot!First cast on the feeder sees a 4lb mirror carp in the net then nothing so after 40 minutes on to the 11m line for a couple of bream then nothing.Basically with an hour and a half to go I had clicked 25lb in my nets, at this point I but 5 full cups of groundbait with maggots into the right margin and put 6 maggots on my size 14 hook and went in on top. Three minutes later the float started to wobble and eventually went under with an angry carp attached. That is how it played out, for the last hour or so- catch a carp cup in a pot of groundbait and maggots, repeat.I had clicked 37lb in one net and I usually start another net if it is close to 40lb simply so that I can lift it (the net limit is 60lb) I had just put a couple of carp in the second carp net when I landed a lump of a fish that they reckoned was the largest caught on that pool that day, although not weighed a conservative estimate was 15lb. The all out called, the weigh in showed I had 5-11 of silvers, the first carp net that I clicked at 37lb was 37-03, the second net I had clicked at 39lb weighed 46-01, now I had given myself 12lb on the clicker for the lump so it could well have been closer to 20lb than 15lb! My weight of 88-15 put me 4th on the lake. I then spent the night drying off my clothes!

The final day sees me on peg 92. Now dry and in the bib and brace the continuing very heavy wind and rain (once the all in was called! ) saw me struggle as on day 1. Nothing on the feeder and mainly skimmers at 11m with the odd carp, going in to the margins late on fishing as on day 2 I had the frustration of hooking 7 carp and losing all seven, most I am sure were foul hooked by the way they went. I was glad when I called the all out! My paltry net of 22-02 of silvers and 20-09 of carp put me last with 42-11. My “team” did little better so we finished last as well!

The month finishes off with another 3 day event, this time at Monkhall near Bridgnorth.