pole

July 2025 Part 2 -pot pourri

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Gareth et al arrive and Tuesday evening sees us at the Hazeland Weir for a short session (5:45 – 7:45pm). I took the Frenzee 10ft waggler while Gareth opted for a bomb rod. I had two trout of 12oz and 10oz ion the first 15 minutes then one further missed bite between us! Not off to a good start!

Wednesday 16th and we have a couple of hours on High Penn with Zachary watching. Gareth fished a pellet waggler and I went with a hybrid feeder holding micros with a 8mm pellet. We chose what we call the beach pegs on the North bank as they are basically the one large peg. Gareth had two roach on the pellet waggler!!!!! and I blanked in terms of fish having two knocked off on a snag on the retrieve. Casting shorter I hook the “snag” which turns out to be a spool from a Daiwa Crossfire and about 100m of line that took me about 10minutes to land by carefully wrapping it up in a ball – this was passed onto the club secretary as we have only just acquired the water and this was not a good start!

Friday we head off to Witherington and fished the inner snake, Gareth bagged peg 93 (the bridge peg) and I went on 92. Gareth was into a fish from the margin before I had plumbed up. He carried on in a similar vein to land 8 carp for 47-00 (each carp weighed) whereas I struggled and ended up with several lost fish, several foul hooked but some lumps that took me around the island although I did get the biggest of the day at 10-08 in a 5 fish total for 26-00. I had to go across to 13m to get consistent bites fishing corn over 4mm pellets.

Sunday sees a short session with Zachary at Hazeland where Gareth and I both fished bomb and maggot he managed 8 rudd and a minnow, I had 3 minnows before 6 year old Zachary took over for 3 minnows also.

Monday sees a short session on the Marden at Hardens. We walked up to the pool and I managed a trout, a small chub of about 10oz and 8 minnows for roughly 2lb, Gareth had a small chub from the first downstream peg on our walk back and three minnows from the pool. We desperately need some rain in the rivers.

Thursday sees a session from 2:30 to 4:30 on section 1 of the Marden. I fished the waggler on the 10ft Frenzee rod while Gareth fished a bomb. Walking up to the end of the field we fished the “Wall” peg and I managed to sneak out a roach and a trout, Gareth had 3 minnows although to be fair we did spend most time walking and trying to find fishable areas with flow. Gareth’s minnows came from the barrage peg near the car park on our way back.

Friday and we head off for a day on the Severn, starting at Bridgnorth to get tickets for the Golf course section, only to be told that had stopped over five years ago- so much for clubs keeping their web-sites up to date! Fortunately I had identified a day ticket water at Highley – Bert’s, so we made our way there and armed with hemp and pellet and casters we found a swim where we were hopeful of a few bites.

Like most rivers the Severn was low and the area was shallower by at least a foot or so, than it should have been.Basically Gareth hooked and lost two chub on a snag on the way in but managed a dace on caster, I was snapped once and in an effort to avoid a blank changed to a light bomb and cast a single caster into the shallows, missing several bites I finally succeeded in getting a minnow! A disappointing but interesting day.

We managed to get a short session (7-8:30pm) next day at High Penn when Garth fished the hybrid and I fished the Frenzee rod with a normal waggler. Result was 1 roach and 6 perch for about 1-06 on double maggot, Gareth had some raps on the feeder but had a roach and perch on the waggler when we swapped for a bit.

Next outing was Wednesday to High Penn for a 2.15 – 4:45 session, this time fishing the last peg on the east bank.

Gareth was fishing a method feeder loaded with micros and a 6mm orange wafter cast towards the weed beds at 30m. Overhanging branches meant we both had to cast with an underarm sidewards flick. I was on my usual waggler with 16 hook and 2aa homemade reed float. To cut a long story short I had a roach fairly quickly but then struggled until a shoal of perch arrived, ending with the roach and 8 perch for approx 1-02. Gareth had a better time landing a carp of 7-12, a roach of 1-04, another of 10oz and losing a carp close in.

Last day of the month sees us travel to Harescombe fishery between Stroud and Gloucester as we had to pick Wendy (Gareth’s wife) up from just outside Gloucester as she had been visiting a friend. We ended up on Meadow lake with me on 4 and Gareth 5.

Peg 5 right
Peg 4 left
Peg 4 right

Now the tackle was kept to a minimum as we went in Gareth’s Ka and had to fit 3 adults in on the way back so Gareth used a 12 ft telescopic carbon rod that I bought from Ali some 8 years ago that packed very small (approx 18 inches) and I used a three piece match rod, both fishing a waggler with corn on a 16 hook to 0.16 hooklength – this was later upped to a 14 on 0.18mm. Feeding micros and 4mm we both fished the edge of the lilies, Gareth in the little bay seen in the picture and myself at the outer edge of the right hand side. Gareth did best getting carp of 8lb, 8lb and 7-04 while losing 4 from directly in front of his platform. I managed to hook 4 and lose 4, comprising of the first lump that I had on for a while before it managed to snap me on the pads, two were hook pulls and the fourth a foul hooker that gave me a scale. Four rudd saved the blank but it was very frustrating as there were fish coming into the right margin mopping up the pellets but very few bites- just three losses . The weather was not nice with several showers interspersed with heavier rain and the odd bright spell – typical summer weather!

8lb
7-04
8lb

More outings to come until they depart for China on 14th!

June 2025 -Part 1, the shortest one yet!

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June has been a busy month with family commitments meaning I have been as far afield as Yorkshire (family) and Shepton Mallet (for an Antiques Fair acting as PA to my daughter-in-law who was over from China!) .

Fishing has not gone well! Two sessions, first the third round of the Summer League took place at Hungerford on the K&A Canal. I was drawn on C9 which was down from Dunmill Lock.

To cut a 5 hour story short it was hard with me ending up with 15 fish 2 perch, 6 roach and 7 gudgeon for 4oz – yes they were tiny! If you had a bit of shade you caught a bit better but the shade you see in the photos had disappeared by the start of the match. At the weigh in I was amazed that I was not last, indeed the lowest weight was 1oz and there were 2 others on 4oz. The K&A is the best canal in the country but this particular stretch is pretty dire compared to the rest, it tends to be used because there is a large car park whereas parking is an issue on the better stretches closer to Marlborough and Devizes.

June 16th, first day at Bowood, parking up there were only two other cars so I hoped I would get onto my favourite start of season peg -peg 1. Walking down it was good to see the one time ravine you had to cross with the stream had been sorted so there was now a duct with a solid hard surface over it, but that is when the good news stops. Peg 1 was like tap water and badly weeded, of course I had left the weed rake at home but decided to give it a go by clearing two holes in the weed at 11m in front and 13m to my left. Initial loose groundbait with corn and corn deposited I then started in the two feet of water as 9 was being chimed out by the clock tower. When it chimed for 11:30 I packed up, biteless despite having fish roll in the weed on three occasions. Can only improve – next time deeper water will be cleared with the rake.

Gareth had an unusual fish in his swim in China!

May 2025 – a Mish-Mash

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Sunday 11th sees me back at Boddington for the first leg of the North Wessex Summer League with 10 teams taking part. I drew A section, permanent peg 12 on the dam wall which I was not unhappy with.

Setting up a 5m whip, pole and waggler the plan was to start on the whip move further out on the pole and use the waggler if struggling. It was hard! The wind was blowing off the dam wall down to sections C and D and despite ringing the changes I ended up with my worst ever weight at Boddington 3-01 comprising of 18 roach and 2 perch , 5 on the whip, 6 came to the pole and 9 the waggler. The section was tight but I ended up with 9 points, beating the angler on the right by 12oz but losing by 11oz to my left. The team bombed out and were 10th.

Rolling on to the 20th I find myself getting up at silly o’clock to get to Monkhall near Bridgnorth for the MFS three day festival which once again I was charged with running. We had been allocated Lark and Owl on the Tuesday, followed by Buzzard and Hawk, then Swallow and Hawk, with the proviso that if you fished Hawk on Wednesday then Swallow was for you on Thursday. Money taken in, pegging sorted the draw takes place with fishing from 11:30 to 4:30. Last peg in the bag places me on Lark 7, the one lake I have not fished before and the peg that is furthest from the car park, added to which once again the wind was blowing to the other end of the lake which had a nice ripple while peg 7 was like a mirror!

The peg did look nice with inviting margins and I set up a shallow rig (for the hell of it!), a paste rig for 2+2, a pellet/corn rig for 10m and a margin rig. It has to be said that I did not intend to fish the shallow rig as I know I cannot compete now in a fish race and my line of attack was to target the carp on paste and then the margins. Well things did not go to plan, firstly the fish were not really feeding properly due to getting ready to spawn again, so it was a frustrating time with tails visible in the margins but only weighing in 36-13 while losing at least three times that with foul hookers both on the 2+2 and margin line. Needless to say last in section, I know my place! To rub salt into the wound the heavens opened with half an hour to go!

Day 2 sees me on Hawk peg 3, a peg I have drawn before. Set up as before, paste on 2+2 line, corn and micros in margins and micros long. First put in a carp of about 4lb on paste before anyone else had caught, then a series of missed bites and foul hooked fish. I managed to land a couple more before looking in the margins but had to fish very short (next to platform almost) to get proper bites, again lost 10+ carp and weighed in 56-11 which amazingly was not last (last but one!)

Final day and Swallow 8 called but again the weather gods had a joke and the wind was going down the far end of the lake so it was another case of fishing in a mirror!

Similar approach with the addition that the pellet rig now became a far bank rig as I was on the corner of the island. Again I was off to a flier on paste but it was a case of rotating around the swims, taking a couple of fish then moving on. The right margin produced nothing but the left margin seemed to be favoured by the carp. Far bank I fed with maggots via a toss pot with double maggot as hookbait that produced a fair amount of action but was difficult with the corner and snags. I managed to weigh in 56-06 despite losing more than 10 carp again. Colin Mercer on peg 6 said I had beaten him but I knew he had beaten me as was the case. Last again.

On to Sunday (25th) and round 2 of the Summer League at Walters lake South Cerney. Talk beforehand was that it would be hard as it was not fishing at all well pleasure fishing so a match was bound to be difficult and so it turned out.I was drawn on B1 (scales) which was permanent peg 16.

I set up a hybrid feeder, a margin rig, one for the 2+2 line and one for 10m. Bait was to be maggot/caster/worm/pellet/corn – anything I could get a bite on! Three balls of F! Sweet groundbait mixed dry were deposited on the 10m line laced with casters, a single ball was cupped in on the 2+2 with a pinch of casters fed every couple of minutes. Red and white maggot seemed to attract some attention and 4 fish in the first hour meant at least I avoided a blank! Things went downhill, next hour saw no bites on any of the areas. Re-feeding the long swim saw a couple of small skimmers but I was struggling. I then decided to put in a toss-pot of chopped worm with a few casters and began repeating it every 10 minutes with half a small dendrabena on the hook – finally some response – a small perch but then a bite that pulled the elastic out – a bream. The match ended with that bream, 4 small skimmers, 3 roach and the perch for 4-06 and 6th in the 10 man section. The team improved coming 4th on the day.

Last action this month sees me return to Rowde on Tuesday, same pound and swim, partly because although it is wide it is a short pound and realistically only two could fish it and I picked the flattest area that gave a stable sitting position for the seat-bag. Feeding the remnants of the groundbait and casters from Sunday on the 5m Chinese whip and rig I was soon into fish. Fishing 9:18 to 10:59 I had 20 roach, 16 skimmers, 9 rudd and 6 perch for between 4 and 5lb (I don’t bother taking the keepnet) before the boats and the CRT workers cutting the grass around the locks made it an easy decision to pack up.

Next up round 3 on the canal at Hungerford.

March 2025 part 2 – Going light

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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!

February 2025 part 2 – The woes are still there!

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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!

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!

June 2024 Part 1 – Thank you rain!

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June has been a slow burner so far with Bowood on the horizon I only managed to get down to the canal at Horton for what was going to be a couple of hours, however…

Picked up the exchange tickets from Jackie at TK Tackle and headed off to Horton armed with the whips and half a pint of maggots and a bit of groundbait. The long grass revealed that nobody had been fishing there for some time! Set up a 4m whip and Chinese float and got the first cast in at 9:50 over the top of two small golf balls of groundbait and a pinch of maggots. Bait unusually for a canal was double maggot but I have found that this does produce results despite the accepted wisdom of small baits!

It was not long before the first fish, a roach, was swung in and over the next hour I had thirteen roach, four skimmers and a perch for between 1.5 and 2lb but then five boats came through, two in one direction and three in the other all in eight minutes and that killed it so my two hour session was ended after seventy minutes!

Bowood was now looming and I made up some new bags of wheat. My method is not to stew the wheat as the convention but I cover in boiling water and leave covered for 2-3 days before draining off the water and bagging the wheat. One bag for the fridge and the rest to the freezer. I was hoping for rain for a few days before the start of the season which may seem odd but experience has shown that the better fish tend to congregate in the shallows at the start of the season and if there is a good colour in the water they will happily feed.

My wish was delivered and three days of rain to various degrees left me hopeful, although the river through town was still running low and clear! Sunday 16th arrives and I set off at a leisurely pace as again I find the fish don’t wake up and feed until 9 or 10 o’clock! Three cars were already parked up and I suspected they may have had an early start. The long walk down was not as bad as the long walk back up the hill but I duly arrived at peg 1 but was unable to spot it at first due to the undergrowth but finally located it and got the gear in situ. As I hoped the bottom could not be seen (it is only 18-24 inches deep) with a good colour. A couple of minutes was spent pulling out rushes that were encroaching across the front of the platform so that fish could be netted and keepnet positioned safely.

Two lines of attack were identified – straight in front at 10m and 45 degrees to the left at 10m. Both were identical depth so the same rig could be used for both. Said rig was going to be an Ugly Duckling taking 1g of shot bulked six inches from a size 14 hook to 0.16mm Shogun line. Two balls of groundbait laced with a bit of wheat and 4-5 grains of corn went on the left line while the main line had three balls of similar! Throughout the session I was feeding a pinch of wheat every five minutes or so. First drop in was at 9:24 with corn on the hook, after twenty minutes of inactivity I succumbed and put a pair of maggots on only for two two inch fish to drop of, probably they were only holding the maggot. A half ounce rudd in the net finally sees me back on the corn and at 10:10 a proper bite sees a bream of 2-03 in the net followed by another of 2-00 five minutes later but then nothing.

At this point I made the decision to introduce more groundbait but this time to cup it in loose. This seemed to do the trick and when I placed the last bream of 3-10 (left hand pic) in the net at 1:10 I had secured seventeen bream for 52-04, my best weight at Bowood. The reason I stopped as the fish were still feeding was that I realised I might struggle lifting the net out. Anyway I managed and placing the net on top of my netbag I took a quick photo and then released the fish back into the water.

Wife’s birthday means no fishing today so Tuesday next chance but I think the colour may have gone and a different swim will be needed. End of the month sees Makins Pairs.

April 2024- Part 1 The Bs continue!

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With the forthcoming match at Boddington on the near horizon I took my self up there on Tuesday 2nd, mainly to check the water levels and confirm with the bailiff that he had all the details. I decided to go light and just took the whips, setting up on peg 38.

Unusually for Boddington it was like a millpond when I arrived so set up a 6m Chinese whip with a new float that had a long multi-coloured bristle with a sight bob on 0.14mm line and 0.10mm hooklength to an 18. The water was lapping the top platform and I had about 9-10 feet at 8m.

I started off with three balls of groundbait and loose fed over the top. It was slower than normal but plenty of bites, unfortunately the fish were predominately very small with just the odd better example. In the 3 or so hours I was there I had 60 roach and lost two lumps on the whip, the first probably a carp, the second a pike.

Saturday arrives along with the 47mph winds! To be fair it was very windy all day with certain periods that were worse than others and this caused problems with presentation for most. I was running the match and at the draw the last peg in the hat was mine – peg 38! Just where I had been in the week! I had intended to take the pole but with the projected winds I settled on the whips and a waggler rod. To cut a long story short I had 36 roach, lost a lump that was a pike (scale on hook) after a brief fight, had most of the fish in the first 2 hours and then struggled, a couple on the waggler but most on the whip. One of the comments on the day – “presentation was impossible with the waves, one moment the float was a foot out of the water next it was a foot under”. I did manage to sneak a couple of pictures at the calmest point of the day, at points the waves were crashing into the platforms and sending spray up in the air, particularly on the dam wall.

So Monday sees me continuing with the B theme – Burbrook, as I had booked into a match on the Sunday. As I had to collect the exchange ticket first I did not start until 9:30 and set up on peg 1. Plumbing up I had a full top kit in depth once past the initial margin shelf then it was consistent. I set up with a 0.10mm hooklength to a modern 18(explanation to follow) with a 0.6g homemade float. There were a couple of others fishing further down the other end also. I began with two hard balls of groundbait laced with casters at 8m and fed a swim to my right just over the shelf plus one to my right where I put in some chopped worm. By 1 o’clock I had caught 4 small perch all on maggot, one from the right and the rest out in front. I had lost a better fish with my only bite on the left and had two very small roach drop off on shipping back. At this point I decided changes where the order of the day, so first I put on an old style 17 hook which when you compare it to a modern day 20 is smaller! The modern hooks do not have any consistency of size across not just brands but also within brands! Secondly I put out three large pots of loose groundbait with just a pinch of caster on the 8m line. This seemed to work as between one and two o’clock I added 4 chub, a hybrid and a roach.

As the old adage goes – if you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got! Change was needed and this is probably something I need to work on as I can be stubborn trying to make a method work!

Sunday arrives Burbrook is only small and the ten pegs that were in filled the place. The four left out were 1,6,11 and 14, either because they crossed other pegs or were in the process of being “desnagged”. I drew peg 13 which after being told by a regular that it was in the corner, which I thought odd as that I thought was 14, the match organiser then came around and indeed the regular was on the wrong peg so we shifted up one and finally on 13 I looked across and there was peg 1 about 20m away!

Setting up like on peg one I also set up a rig for close in (2+1) which was the same depth but used a light float for on the drop and a heavier margin rig for the left margin where I planned to put chopped worm, micro and caster. The match got under way and it was hard, after 2 hours I was blanking while the regular on 12 was catch small fish at mid depth. The light rig produced nothing but finally on my peg 1 rig I got a perch on a tiny piece of worm over my caster line. I had one perch from my margin line, so at 12:30 I cupped out three pots of loose groundbait and sat and waited. Maggot had not got me a single bite so I persisted with small pieces of worm then at 2 o’clock I had my first bite, a small chub. Twenty minutes later another came to the net along with another perch and roach. That was it, I missed three bites that I am sure were liners as the float shot under but nothing and no marks on the bait.

The match had been hard for all, with some only having one fish, with three left to weigh I was lying second with a level 2lb behind a single carp of 3lb, peg 2 then put 2-06 on the scales and Darren who was on peg 3 put 3-06 on the scales to make me 4th and one out of the money! Darren, who had lost a big fish earlier in the match said he had a last minute chub that swung it for him, proving you need to keep going right to the end.

My thoughts now turn to the three day event I am in charge of at Woodland View at the end of the month.

December 2023 – Bah humbug!

jacksonb1 Uncategorized , , , ,

December arrives and as is usual at this time of year time for fishing is limited and often non-existent due to the weather. Anyway I decided to chance my arm at Bowood peg 10 on December 3 following a rise in temperature from -4C the previous day to the balmy heights of 3C. Setting up with a chianti style float on a 0.08mm hooklength to a 20 with spread shotting to investigate all depths – I got nado, zilch, not a sausage or as it is that time of year not even a pig in blanket! HOWEVER, the pike rod saw action having acquired a new batch of sardines with fish of 7-10, 14-04 and 5-08 in a session lasting only 2.5hrs.

The 14-04.

Rain on the Monday meant that on my return to peg 10 on Tuesday I was faced with water that looked like stewed tea and flowing! I did not expect to get any pike and was right! I did surprise myself as ten minutes in the float (a 1g Paster) disappeared and a rather shocked blade of an ounce came swinging in! That was i,t I had started at 9:15 but packed up at 10:50 knowing any further efforts were futile.

Weather and family visits then prevented any further outing until the 15th. I fished from 9:30 to 12:15 and by the time I left the three other anglers who were piking had blanked as I had with the pike. I was surprised to see the water still very coloured with a visibility down to about 3-4 inches despite a fairly dry period, this may have been partly due to the major construction work taking place to repair the bridge into the estate. I persevered with the light rig and size 20 but as usual could only get interest when using double maggot, ending with 12 blades, 6 roach and a rudd for a level 1lb.

Hopefully I will get out a few times before the end of the month but Merry Christmas to anyone who reads this!

Cheesey what?

jacksonb1 Bait, Fishing, Tactics , , , , ,

More than 45 years ago I learned the secret art of  cheese fishing – not for chub in a river but for roach and tench in a park lake! Brynmill Park, Swansea was the venue, home of small roach and cheese fish of wondrous proportions in the eyes of a teenager more used to catching 1oz fish!

PCD-04863Alas Brynmill Park no longer allows fishing but the skills learned from the gurus of the day – Alan Godrich and Paul Huxtable- live on. Poles were not available then, you could get fibre glass telescopic whips up to 6m, elastics unheard of, everything was rod and line.

Alan developed a method of catching the better roach using cheese  just over his rod top in about 3 foot of water. A pointed stick float was dotted with strung out shot to an 18 or 20 hook and a piece of cheese was moulded around the hook so that it was soft and just covered the hook. Small pieces were moulded and rolled as loose feed, only half a dozen at a time, one after the other they were tossed around the pimpled stick, the process repeated every five minutes or so. Bites when they came were dictated by the size of fish! The bigger fish rarely submerged the float, usually a minute lift or dip were all you would get, occasionally just a ripple emanating from the tip of the float, the medium to small fish would just submerge the float. Bait was interesting, Cheddar was the favorite closely followed by Red Leicester for the roach, but Caerphilly picked out the odd tench although it was a sod to keep on the hook!

Today’s weaponry makes it far easier to fish cheese at a greater distance and when combined with a micro pellet loose feed can prove deadly- especially for bream! Most commercial waters these days are fed with pellet, either by the anglers or the owners as a supplement to the anglers bait. Fish become accustomed to pellet but can also become wary, particularly the silvers who often have to wait for any left overs from the carp. Cheese can score as so few people think of using cheese it becomes a new flavour/food for the pellet fed fish and will pick out the older and wiser (usually bigger) specimens in the swim.

So how do I fish cheese today? Depending on the venue, the depth of water will dictate how far out you need to fish. You are looking for a flat bottom with at least 3 feet of water, at Blacklands I am fishing at 8m in 6-7 feet (as the depth is constant) but I would not try cheese any deeper than this unless there was a large head of big roach present. The basic rules still apply, float pimpled, strung out shot if in a shallower swim, my rig at Blacklands has a bulk 2 feet away from the hook and 2 no 10 droppers to a 6 inch hook length of 0.10mm Shogun, with a 20 0r 18 barbless B911. Elastics are very much dependent, as always,  upon the size of fish likely to be encountered. At Blacklands I tend to opt for a no 6 latex, but have an 6-8 hollow rig set up as well if the bigger skimmers or roach move in, although generally I tend to stay on the no 6.

I use two types of float for my cheese fishing, both homemade; the first is a 0.5g version of the “Roach” with a 1.5mm tip for those times when you want a delicate approach and may want to string the shot out later in the day,

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the second is a long glass stemmed diamond body variant taking 1g with a 2mm tip. I use this second float when I am confident that there are skimmers around and want to get the cheese down fast. Pimpling the 2mm tip gives a good visual marker even in wind affected water while the long stem gets down past any surface tow.

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I prime the swim with a handful of micro pellet and half a dozen “pellets” of cheese cupped in, this is left for at least an hour and is topped up with a similar amount every 30 minutes.

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When I go over the swim I am expecting a bite within 5 minutes but this time the bites can be sail-aways if coming from bream or skimmers but the big roach give the same type of bite as all those years ago!