Canal Pike Fishing: Putting In The Time...

A warm welcome to this weeks angling blog i hope i find you all well and your nets wet.  Well not much to report from last weekend as Saturday the other half was in work so a day was spent in with the little lad and girl, playing shop, dinosaurs and telling fishing stories was the order of the day.  Sunday morning i headed out with our Baz for a session on the feeder...

Snow and Friendly Robin..

Setting up the weather was not so bad at all a sharp nip in the air but nothing to worry about.  A mix of ground bait made up and settled into the peg i began making a few casts.  It is always a case of patience in winter and building the swim up over time, this can take a good hour or so.  A hour in we had our first fish on the tip and small ice cold roach.

Not long after returning this fish the sky turned that shade of grey, you know the one that says one word to you...Snow!  Over the next half an hour the clouds built up and a slight rise and then drop in temperature saw the first white fluffs of winter fluff fall from the sky.  Only the odd flake at first but before long we found ourselves sat in a full on snow flurry.

A few more fish came but the weather was slowly getting worse and worse and looking back at my tackle bag it was now covered in a layer of white.  Baz sat behind me was feeling the cold a bit so we decided to call it a day and pack in and head home.  Testament to the heavy fall the picture below shows how much fell in the time it took me to put my box down and bring my keep net in.

That short session out of the way we headed home and a good natter about the footie was had while we defrosted our baz.

Chub Video

With these written blogs beginning to develop some sense of organised and regular uploads it seems the written account of a session will go live earlier than the videos do so those who read the chub blog will be pleased to know that the video of that session is now available to view on the blogs Youtube channel on the link below.

Looking ahead...

Well its been a manic weekend just gone with three sessions on the bank, one a session for silvers where it doesn't go all to plan, a session for pike on Saturday and another estate lake trip for pike on the Sunday all of which will have videos made from them and also give me plenty of memories and content to transfer into written blogs.  Having a backlog when it comes to blogging is always good and even more so when trying to create both written and video blogs. 

Looking ahead to this weekend i am  first hoping and praying the fish mobile passes its MOT and secondly that  the rivers sort themselves out so we can get some decent stick float sessions and wet a line with our baz for those river pike.   Catching pike is hard enough as it is on the river but having to make do with half hearted windows of opportunity it is very hard to build any type of campaign.

On to the session:

DeadBait Fishing For Pike: Covering the ground

As most people will know with my blogs i don't really beat around the bush and i guess in life i am quite a black or white person, there is not much of that grey area.  In fishing as it is now there is certainly a section of anglers who feed of the work of others and simply go from angler to angler trying to prise information for their own gain with then no shame of then going and fishing these spots.  These "anglers" look at pictures people post and have Little interest for the beautiful fish in the frame in fact they almost certainly look past the angler to see the back ground with the only thought process of working out the where.

There is then the "anglers" who prefer the private message route where a flood of compliments is soon slowly and smoothly into a working out of where.  In my blogs i try and help people as much as possible and thankfully over the years blogging i have managed to get a feel for the genuine anglers looking for help and some great fishing friendship's have been born from these conversations.

For those parasites who are too lazy to actually work stuff out for themselves then the session below is what us proper real fishermen do week in week out to work our venues out, try it sometime you might actually get to feel that special buzz from catching your own fish than holding up others work ;-)

Covering The Ground

Saturday morning and all week rain had battered the UK leaving the rivers again swollen with chocolate milkshake like waters any slight break in the weather was seeing them dropping fast but with the ground, natures sponge, saturated even small downpours where seeing the rivers rising.  EA reports on Twitter all week had been awash with reports of officers clearing drains and debris to allow this water to get from land to see as soon as possible and reduce the risks of flooding.

Sat at the kitchen with a brew the arm on the clock struck 6am and before me lay a blank piece of paper upon which i began to jot down a few options for the day ahead.  A few lakes and canals made up the list and all had their positives and negatives for sure whether that was hard conditions or poor reward for the effort needed.  Grit and determination to understand a clear hard venue where a blank was a high possibility was my chosen destination.  Today we would spread the rods out and cover the ground fishing a hour in each swim before moving and cover as many swims as possible to find the pike.

Tactics for the day was to fish a large herring jack on a running ledger rig in the hope of a big girl and then fanned either side of this would be my float rod on a skimmer bream and baz's on a smelt.  Arriving at the venue there was a gently left to right breeze and intermittent cloud cover which i hoped would build and give us the dark conditions this session most certainly needed.

The baits in position the waiting game began and the clock was set for a hour alarm.  In this type of scenario you have to be strict with yourself and have the mindset that an hour is more than long enough for any fish in the area to find and take the bait.  When i am piking i think pike are on you every session you go and i feel there are few session where in the hours you spend on the bank are spent when you cast in and no pike at all sees or investigates your bait.  The very splash is proven to attract the fish not scared them, just look at perch as a species they hear a plop the come to is as a signal food is there, its the nature of a predator and pike are no different.

The first swim passed by in no time and it was time for a move and swim two proved to be equally as quiet.  Moving into swim 3 i cast out the ledger and then both float rods went out.  The next action is of course to set the clock for the next hour move but so quick was the action we had no time.  Minutes after casting in my rod was away and striking into the fish it felt like a small jack, until it came close in and i realised it had wrapped on the line and was actually quite a nice pike and worth a weigh to see if it was a double.

No sooner had i gone to lift the net than our harrys float was away a jagged take i knew it was a jack just by the violent turning, fishing a smelt any pike over 5lb would generally have no trouble in just eating the bait so i knew the violent turns probably meant it was a small fish.   Giving it a few seconds to finish turning baz set the hooks and played a pike of around 2-3lb into the net.  As i say on these trips, when you both catch it is the ultimate goal and two pike in the net we where made up.

So nothing in 2 swims in 2 hours fishing then 2 in minutes from swim number 3 shows just how little these pike are willing to move to find your bait and how tightly packed in they can be.   Had we just stayed in swim 1 would we spent the day there and blanked?  I guess we might well have landed a new PB but in fishing that is the fine line we tread and two pike on the bank, for me, justified the decision to keep moving.

I placed my pike on the scales and was made up to see the scaled settle on 10lb, another double to the tally although i will have to check the records to see what number double it is, i think 15. A lovely pike with nice markings.

The pike rested and returned we gave the swim a good hour and half before moving again and with the clock edging ever closer to that 1pm pack up time we knew this was our last chance of a fish.  During the time in the last swim the weather really did change the wind got up and with it came a icy nip as a real hoolie began to build.  With presentation not being great on the float ledgers i knew my best chance of a fish was on the ledger rod on the bottom and to try and tempt a bite i changed it over to a popped up herring. 

Like two expectant herons we waited for the fish to come but unfortunately time passed by quietly with only the sound of the wind whistling through the trees to break up the silence on the rods.  A tough final few hours on the bank but warmed by the fact we had caught two in very tough conditions we made our way home via the local Costa for a much needed warming hot chocolate.

A session that shows the value in getting out on the bank and covering the ground to find your fish and a few pieces of a jigsaw put together as next time we now have a good idea of where the pike are holding and who knows next time Mum and Son might be joined by their grandmother ;-)

A video of this session is live to view now below, please take a second to like the video and subscribe ti really does help the channel out

till next time tight lines

Danny 

Pike Fishing: Estate Lake Magic....

A week of heavy rain and at times hail stone had brought a brunt and definite end to the River and Canal campaign that had been going so well.  The river running high and chocolate was a no go and would be a needle in a haystack effort of landing near a pike where as the canal had that horrible grey sheen that screamed cold and dirty run off water form the local roads, both not good.  It meant a day booked off work with my mate Ste Daley saw us looking towards the still waters.

A large old English Estate Lake was the destination of choice and a venue we make a point of visiting once or twice a year for pike.  A venue that, for me, holds that sense of magic and mystery and a day where the saying “A Fish is a bonus” does really ring true!

The morning of the session and I stood in the kitchen brimming with excitement, a kid on Christmas eve like, I peered out of the window at the houses across the way with their roof tops glistening as the moons light shone though their icy crystals, a proper winter morning.  A quick coffee and it was time to delve into the bait freezer to pick out some baits for the day, smelt and lamprey had always done me well on there so  they went in and then I threw in a few change baits in the form of sardines and herrings and I swiftly closed the door on the freezer. I would be in the cold long enough today and I wanted to make the most of the warmth, even if it was only for a few minutes.

The car loaded and jack frost melted from the wind screen it was time to meet up with Ste and move all the gear into the van.  We began out journey to the bank down the winding narrow creeping country roads of the North West the head lights illuminating the path ahead with the occasional bunny hop as the van made contact with the uneven surface below.  The farmers fields either side studded with pools of white while the horizon glowed with that light blue haze that consumed the night stars as its feint rays reached their stubborn station in the night sky signalling the arrival of day break was not too far away.

We arrived at the cast iron gates held firm with their sandstone pillars that I guess have been there for as long as the old stately home situated within the grounds they protected.  The gates opened and unlike the black Friday chaos that was no doubt about to begin around the country this was a far more sedate and relaxed affair as we passed through the gates and down the dark path to the lake.  The track was flanked either side with all manner of variations of deer that stood alert and to attention, a guard of honour like as we passed through their wooded domain.

In the dark I made my way to the lake passing through the herds of deer that rested by its banks during nigh time.  The lake, huge and daunting, lay in front of me. A lake that offers the angler a huge challenge with its gin clear water, sandy and weedy bottom and bottomless depths off the shelf.  A place where your bait truly is a needle in 20 haystacks in comparison.

A gentle breeze blowing over my shoulder onto the lake had left a huge amount of calm flat water on my bank and in the dark pre sunrise light an opera of fish topped, first one, then another and another before the water almost danced with their activity.  On a water this huge location is huge and we knew being on these bait fist was key so we set our stall out to cover the whole area they where topping. 

Your imagination just goes wild and you can almost imagine a hungry old pike stalking those shoals  meandering slowly though the weed as it does so almost lioness like with its belly hard on the bottom moving slowly as it keeps in touch with the herd only this herd was probably silver and roach shaped.

A three rod rule and in possession of a EA three rod licence it was time to take full advantage of it so out went a running ledger rig with a Lamprey offering and another running ledger rig with a smelt
and then a float ledger rig with a smelt on also.  A set up mirrored by Ste but with bigger baits on stes rods as we worked together to find out what they wanted on the day.  Normally one bait does well so we all move over to that although more than one run between us on the day would signal a good session.

All rods cast out the far bank trees caught fire as the suns inferno rose from behind the tree line, its orange wintery glow mottled through the trunks and entwined branches.

We sat back and made a brew and awaited the pike to take up their invitation to dine and true to form they stubbornly turned their noses up at our offerings.  A hole in my thermal wellingtons did little to brighten the mood and in an attempt get the blood going in my toes I went for a walk with the wobbling rod.  A few casts by the float rod and it must have awoken a pike deep down in the depths as my smelt bait moved away. A countdown and a hard sure strike to set the hooks was met with a violent volatile headshakes from the pike below its distaste for its predicament prompting it to go on long hard runs as it was coaxed up the shelf.  In a last ditch attempt to shed the hooks it surprised us all as it took to the air to try and spit free the trebles to which it was attached. 

A sure hook hold and a beautiful olive dark green plump esox was on the bank, a little under 8lb her size was irrelevant as he flanks glowed in the winter sunlight.  A proper gem of a pike and as always any pike from this venue is a prize.

A pat on the back form Ste and we got the kettle on to make that all important celebratory brew.  A recast was in order on all our rods and we settled back in and had a good old fishing chat, setting the world to rights.  It was a good 2 hours later while recasting one of my rods the next bite came.  A screaming take on the ledgered lamprey section and boy did it go off taking line from the spool in an almost carp like run.

Feeling the line for those plucks I could tell the pike was well on its way, a short wind down and a hard strike to set to hook and my 2.75lb test curve rod arched over, a sign of a good fish.  In 20 foot of water it’s a fantastic fight and this pike was no different.  It kept deep and went on a series of long hard runs peeling braid from the spool as it did so.  Side strain applied I attempted to prevent it connecting with stes lines come 20 yards up the bank such was the hard run it went on.

Eventually she came up the shelf and in the gin clear water I could see she was a nice double figure pike, short, green and like a barrel she was a fit healthy pike.  On the scales she went 11lb9oz and I was beaming from ear to ear, my first ever double form the venue and it had been a day to remember!!

The rest of the session passed by without incident from the pike but for me the icing on the session was a group of stags we passed on the way back.  A session where I got to stand among some of Englands greatest wildlife and got to hold in my hands of  the UK’s apex underwater predators in them two pike. 

The Estate lake truly is natures theatre of dreams where special moments happen in a split second and create memories that will last a life time.

Till next time

Tight lines

Danny

The Reservoir Diary Part 1 - A New Challenge...

One of the aspects of fishing i love more than anything is the diversity of the adventures that can be created under the umbrella of the word "fishing".  A man or lady mentions they are an avid angler and from that one sentence all manner of species, methods and locations can begin to sprout in all directions.

My journey, until around 2 years ago, never really involved the pursuit of carp but in the past two years i have slowly started to dip my tentative toes into the world of carp fishing.  A few sessions on a small local water chasing carp on floating crust and on the method feeder allowed we to gain some confidence in catching carp to high upper doubles and allowed we to gain confidence and an identity within carp fishing of how i would want to approach this branch of the sport.

I soon discovered i was never going to be an angler who would be bivvied up for over night sessions, i found enjoyment in short morning and evening sessions adopting and developing the mentality of a little bit of bait in the right spot over sitting over a lot of bait and waiting for the carp to find me approach.  I will never rule out the possibility of this journey winding with me delving deeper into carp fishing and the longer sessions but these short sessions on the small and intimate water and the lovely captures like the common below served the purpose of gaining confidence in my approach wetting the appetite for greater challenges.

Sometimes we set our sights on a venue and others we arrive on them by chance, this adventure began with the latter.  Myself and my mate Garry where talking about new venues and we decided that we had nothing to lose in trying a local reservoir.  Knowing the venue was quite a large one i scaled my gear right back for the trip taking only the bare essentials.  A rod bag with two rods, a bucket containing rig bits bait and my licence and a large unhooking mat with a landing net.

We arrived at the venue around 4pm and we decided to give the more well worn pegs a miss and opted for the more uncomfortable, quieter and ultimately less fished peg.  A steep slippery bank down to a flat bank of around a foot or so provided just enough room to get bank sticks in. The green untouched banks testament to the lack of occupation in the swim and i instantly liked the look of the place.

Its weird with fishing how you can instantly like or dislike a venue just by the feel and ambiance of the place and i instantly liked the look of this water.  It of course had plenty of nice pegs with features galore where you could lay out a bed of bait and wait for the carp but it also had plenty of those uncomfortable out of the way quiet pegs where i knew the carp would be found at times of high pressure.

My tactics for the session was my trust method feeder filled with a mix of dampened micro and 2mm pellets with the added attraction of Cheshire Particle Hemp Oil.  The hook bait the ever reliable Bait-Tech The juice dumbells, a combination that had done we well all spring and summer and i am know that confident in it i leave the rig out there knowing the only factor in getting a run is if a fish comes across the trap.  I know if they do then they will eat the bait its that simple ion my head now such the results its produced.

Casting around to find the gaps in the weed i soon found a clear patch out in front of me and another to my right, you could tell instantly when you had hit the spot as taps on the feeder from the roach would be instant.  I didn't mind these at all as a crowd attracts a crowd as such and i knew if the roach could find the bait then so could Mr carp.

After hooking into a few roach i began to feel the pellets where not hanging round long and this trap does reply on the carp fishing the pellets dispersed from the feeder and you bait and more importantly your line being covered by the pellets so regular and accurate casts where the order of the day.

The taps stopped and i remember watching the tip fall silent, a large line bite gave away the presence of a larger visitor to the swim, another long pluck and half way through the tip resetting it wrapped round and the delkim alarm screamed into life.  Lifting into the fish it was all heavy as the fish dived straight for the nearest weed bank.  A sustained pressure on the fish saw it come free and a wallowing almost bream like fight ensued until the fish was coming up the shelf and as it did panic stations began to kick in and the fish went on a number on long deep runs.  It was a fantastic fight.

Thankfully it was a fight that went in my favour and with an aching and relieved arm the fish slip over the mesh, a lovely dark mirror carp of 16lb 10oz1!

Whilst playing the first fish the other rod screamed off and for some time both me and Carry where playing carp.  Unfortunately a hook pull on Gary's fish put pay to a fantastic double fish brace shot that would have really set off the session.  The rods back out the taps from the roach continued and the rod tips danced almost as to the beat of the lapping waves as they washed over the rod tips.

The clouds moved in and with them so did the light rain but this did not deter the carp as again the right hand rod pulled round as the fish was hooked and bolted for the nearest reed bed.  Strong tackle and gentle pressure the fish was back on the move and it soon became apparent that these carp where fine wallowing in 10ft of water until you started to bring them up the shelf.  That part of the fight the carp where going mad and making long hard runs pulling line from the reel but soon a nice upper single figure carp was gracing the net.  Two fish on the first session i was made up.

The next hour or two passed by with nothing of any note on the carp front, roach still continued to come in spells , but it was not until right on last light that my rod again sparked into life.  I am always a great believer that when on a social its always more enjoyable when you all catch and my mate Garry had sat through the rain and the roach with me for the passed few hours so i allowed him to take the last run of the evening.

It turned out to be another fantastic low double figure fish.  The clear water giving the fish a lovely dark back that gave way to yellows as you scanned down its flank.  They where lovely looking fish to catch and this one certainly put Garry through the mill as it came up the shelf with some long hard runs.

The gear packed away it was time to reflect on the session and what a first session it had been with 4 runs and 3 fish on the bank.  We had arrived on the venue not really having any expectations but had left with the grit between our teeth for more.  This venue certainly captured me and i could feel the start of another adventure taking hold.

The full session is available in video format the blogs you tube channel here: 

New River Season, Commercials fun and New youtube Series...

A warm welcome to this weeks blog update i hope i find you all well and your nets wet.  Sat at my desk in work and these very dinner hours will now be the time where i sit down and devote some time to the written blog, lets see how we get on! I must say it does feel good to be back at the screen putting my thoughts down on paper rather than worrying about lighting and if i have the shots needed for the video of the session.

So lets get right into it,

The River Season Looms...

We are now in touching distance of the new river season and i have to say this closed season has flew by in the blink of an eye.  A trip last week to the bait shop to pick up a new licence saw me sneakily nipping down to the river for a look, she looked low and very clear of course but boy did she look beautiful.  The air was fresh and the banks willd from the 3 month exodous.  The angler inside me knew where the swims where hidden, i made most of them after all, it was not long till i was stood in familiar swims throwing floating crust down to obliging chub.

The river alive with fish a few bits of bread threw in the margins soon attraced some attention as roach and chublets moved in on the free offerings. As you can see in the short clip below, a low and clear river but a river full of life.

I left excited for the river season to come and the trip to the bait shop saw me picking up some tackle for the coming season as the thoughts of casting a feeder and running a float through still flowed through my thoughts.

New Youtube Series...

So recently i sat down and thought about all the things i do with fishing away from the bank and got down on paper all the ideas i have got coming up.  Future content for Warrington angling centre and Cheshire Particle and some ideas for the Youtube channel and for this written blog.

Some exciting stuff made the spider diagram of ideas and one such one was a new midweek series on Youtube.  A short video each week containing all things fishing, my upcoming fishing that weekend, my thoughts on the previous weeks and some Question and Answers i have received on social media.

If you enjoy reading the channel and watching the content and have any questions on my fishing or anything in the fishing world you would like my views on then post them in the comments on here or on social media and i will answer them on the blogs.

The first one went live last week, check it out below, any feedback is welcome!!

Closed Season Commercial...

So the closed season has flown by in a flash as said above and i have to say i have really enjoyed it.  I started off hoping to fish the odd commercial and then move onto the canals but isn't it amazing how fishing has this habit of sending us on its own little adventure.

We start of down a path and like the very rivers we are missing fishing takes us down its own meandering route.  This closed season has saw me splitting my time really between two ventures, firstly a series called "the hunt for the Gems of the Lake", a series where i target a water full of small carp but within its depths lies a few original carp that go up to around 18lb and are in fantastic condition.  A quest to catch these gems was started and i think has nearly come to its close during this closed season, A link to the playlist is below.

The gems of the Lake Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCdCawZSE3o

The rest of my time has been spent really on commercials and i decided very early on that this closed season i wanted to get better on commercial fishing and learning the different methods of catching fish on these venues.  It was an area i felt i was turing up and catching the odd carp or silvers but i had very little understanding of the how and why i was catching and i really wanted to improve my knowledge on these.

I started of fishing for silvers and had some lovely nets of roach over 2olb and then as it warmed up so the carp moved into play and time was spent learning margin fishing, fishing on pellets and finally fishing the method feeder.  All these areas i felt i was very weak in and although i am still learning i am certainly more confident now on going a commercial than i was before and feel i now can tackle these with a set game plan.

So really in that closed season i achieved what i wanted from my fishing and i now move onto the rivers and canals.  The canals did not feature but i am hoping that will change over the coming weeks as i spend less time on the commercials and more on the canal.

So that pretty much covers some info on where i am at now with the fishing and a bit looking forward, lets get into some fishing...

Puddle Chucker Fun....

So a few weeks ago i was back at my dads house and sorting out some of my old fishing gear and i came across a rod holdall that had a good thick layer of dust on it.  Closer inspection revealed it to be my old Drennan 10ft Carp Puddle Chucker feeder rod, a rod that had now seen any use for a good 3 to 4 years at least.

I had recently been watching a guy on youtube called Jamie Harrison, a Bait Tech sponsored angler and a feeder fishing guy and watching his videos i thought hey why not get it out and give it a go, it proved to be one of the best decisions i have made and the sight of this became common place as this my laughing with excitement at some of the battles i had with fish using this rod..

The session below is one such session:

Arriving at the lake i was armed with only my seat box, a landing net and my puddle chucker.  I had literally a few hours in the morning and i just wanted to get a bend in the carbon.  Work had taken its toll during the week and i had put many of the household jobs on hold till the weekend, this meant a severe lack of fishing time!

The bait for the session would be simple, micro pellets with a few 4mm mixed in coated in stinky stuff with Bait Techs the juice dumbells as a hook bait.  It had worked before and i hoped it would work now.  Captures on this combo this summer have surely got me confident in this set ups ability to catch fish for sure.

"Small Margins Matter In Fishing"

The more i fish the more i am convinced that small margins in fishing make a huge difference.  On this session i was fishing to some reeds and i took my time to clip up so the feeder was landing bang on in front of these reeds.

The reeds moving violently ave the game away and i knew it was only a matter of time before one of the carp came across my carefully laid trap.  Well that was the plan anyway at least in my head.

An early set back came as the tip wrapped round and a fish bolted hard for the base of the roots.  It was a short battle but as soon as the line went slack i knew the hook had pulled.  In a morning where i might only get one chance it was a real set back.  I just had to hope the commotion had not ruined my chances.

A fresh hook length put on, not that the previous one had snapped, but i always do this to put my mind at rest that the best rig possible is out there working for me.  The feeder still clipped up i was soon back on the sweet spot and if another fish did turn up i would be ready.

Like a coiled spring i waited for the tip to go round and when it did it was a lovely slow pull and i was onto the rod like a hawk,  A huge boil off the reeds told me this was a better fish and i think the slow take ave me the early momentum to turn the fish and get it out in open water.

A reed bed near by offered the fish a dark safe home to bolt for but again the puddle chucker shocked me as its power through our the rod kept the fish under control.  Slipping the net under a beautiful dark common it was mission completed.

A perfect common of around 14lbs i think it was and it felt good in the palms, well rested i returned her to the lake and thanked her for her time with me.

A short video of the session is here:

Till next time

tight lines all,

Danny

River Season End, Cheshire Fishery and Xchange Landing Net Review

A warm welcome to this weeks blog update i hope i find you all well and your nets wet.  Its safe to say that spring is well and truly here now and its fantastic to see all the little changes i spotted a week or two ago no bursting into full life and all around it seems like the world is coming to life.

Recent trips to the bank have seen the ducks starting to pair of and "do their thing" if you get me and a recent trip for an evening session on a a pond i was greeted to the margins alive with toads all preparing to spawn.  The morning commute to work is now done to the back drop of bird song and i know i always say that i love winter as the best time of year for myself enjoying my time on the bank but i think the reality is i love all the seasons for the little bits of magic they bring.

It is at this time of the year i find myself just heading out with just my camera on my phone to take some shots of nature and leave the rods tucked away at home.  The venues are always water related in some way but its just good to be out in the fresh air.  The Monday to Friday job as i have always said is simply just a means to an end to putting food on the table and pay the bills.  Its 4 walls and 5 windows do get you down so time is needed alone out in the wilderness with your thoughts or just by a river to wash away those stagnating days in the dungeon.

There have been some good changes recently in work and one of them has been the introduction of a late shift every week till 6.30pm.  The late is not great news but with a late finish comes a late start so it has meant i can take my time and after dropping the kids off at nursery i have a hour or two to burn.  This week i am writing this piece for my main blog but last week i took a leisurely walk along the local canal.

The walk was on a warm Wednesday morning the sun on my back and my camera in my hand it was a great start to my day.  Daffodils lines the path and fish where topping on the end of the wind i was heading into work in the next half hour but that was firmly at the back of my mind.

A lovely spring day

On to the update...

Time To Spring Into Life....

This week my next article for my role at Warrington Angling Centre went live.  I always try to keep these articles in a different style to this blog with them being more about the how i fish than the fishing as such.  I have always tried to keep this written blog about the experience of my fishing and not so much about the diameter of the line used.

In this latest blog i look at how i prepare away from actually fishing a session as spring arrives.  How and why i travel to the venues before i even wet a lone and the best times i have found for visiting that water you are looking forward to fishing in the coming weeks.

Here is a link the the article: http://www.warringtonangling.com/time-to-spring-into-life/

There are links at the bottom of the article to rate it out of 5 stars and to share it on your social media platforms.  It would be great if you could suport the articles in any way.

Xchange Landing Net Review

Product Info:
Price: £20.00
Link to product: https://www.tincafishing.co.uk/xchange--interchangeable-landing-net

Product description:
The XChange Interchangeable Landing Net Head is a landing net with a difference because you can change between different mesh sizes, depths and materials with ease.  It comes supplied with a set of 3 different varieties of mesh, and two more can be purchased separately.  Not only does this provide you with an all-round net, that is more cost effective, but it also means that if one mesh was to break or get a hole in it, you could easily put on a new one without having to buy a whole new frame!

Review: 
A few weeks ago i was contacted by a company asking if i was interested in reviewing one of their products.  A landing net that allowed you to change the mesh to either a deeper one or a rubber one depending on the size or species you where fishing for.  It looked a really exciting product so i agreed to take a look.  What came really did capture myself as i think it is a fantastic bit of thinking outside the box and innovation.

Like with all things the best ideas are almost always the most simple and this one i no different.  A cut in the metal allows you to slide off the widget on the landing net mesh and pull it completely off the metal rim.  Attaching the new net is a simple as sliding the next net onto the gap into the metal.

I found this net really useful on a a recent session on Cheshire Fishery where i knew the carp had woken up so i wanted a deeper net in case some of the carp showed.  Luckily i  did as in the last hour 27lb of carp appeared under my feet.

The net offers fantastic versatility whilst only carrying the one net.  The rubber net will certainly come into its own for predator anglers fishing for perch who want a lightweight net with some depth in case an esox makes an appearance.

All in all a great product and below is it up close on the bank with my first ever video review.

Cheshire Fishery Silvers On Pole...

The river season in truth came to a drab and wet conclusion with most of the rivers carrying a good amount of water as we moved into the closed season.  At times like this it can be hard to decide what to do as the natural still waters are still slowly waking from their winter hibernation.  It can mean we are left with a period of quite hard fishing and this is when i firmly turn my attention to the commercials for some action.

A fishery we headed to last year was Cheshire Fishing in Tattenhall and it served us well for both silvers and the odd rod bending carp.  We decided to again head there again in search of the fantastic roach that reside in this venue please check out the session below.

The plan for the session was to fish two lines, one on caster and hemp for the silvers and the other for carp on a heavier elastic and bigger bait in corn.  The first few hours we sat in a cold corner of the complex struggling for bites and we soon decided to have a move onto one of the other pools on the lake.  It was a move that would remind me just how mad fishing can be.  Two pools on the same complex with the same conditions and same water depth yet one was dead and the other was alive.

With only 3 hours of the session left it did feel like it was only a case of hoping to get a few bites if we moves.  I set up on pool 5 and literally went down to one line on castor and Cheshire Particle Hempseed.  My plan was to try and make the most of the time we had left and just enjoy getting a few bites.

The rig was a simple light float that took 3 number 8 weights and i spread them evenly down the line to allow me to target fish in all the water layers as the bait fell.  The bait was introduced via a Preston soft pot. 

The fish where soon coming regular to the hemp and caster and with this type of fishing you really do get into a rythm.  I find each session is different with how the fish want you to feed, sometimes it is better to lay your rig in and feed over the top and others its best to feed and then follow it in with your rig.  On this session feeding first was certainly better.

The fish in the swim in good numbers i knew competition for the bait would son see the fish coming up in the water to the castors so i quickly set my rig to half depth and i certainly saw the quality of the silvers improve.  Testament to the competition i started to even get the odd skimmer on the drop.

Why is it with this type of fishing that when its good the time flies bye.  As the session came to an end the fishing went from strength to strength as the swim built up and the dusk set in.  I knew i had caught well but i was not ready for the final net to go over the 20lb mark!!

My first session out with the Cheshire particle hem seed and hemp oil, more on that in the coming weeks blogs but as first outing s go, well 20lb of roach in 3 hours speaks for itself!

Just a quick update this one really but there is some exciting news coming in the next update along with the regular videos on youtube.

Till next time

Tight Lines

Danny

Fishing the Whip Using Mole Hill Soil and Free Kids Fishing!!

A warm welcome to this weeks angling blog i hope i find you all well and your nets wet.  So we are now a few weeks into the year and i have to say i am feeling confident and optimistic for the year ahead.  The piking is still dreadful but i guess thats where being an all rounder adds strings to your bow as the roach fishing on the rivers has been fantastic and if i am honest has drew my attention more than the piking.

A nice update this week to the written blog where i will cover a session recently using mole hill soil ground bait for the fish and of course i am as busy as ever trying to keep all angles covered there is a video to go with the session as well.  So if you like a read you can read the blog and if you like to see it in action and on film then there is the youtube arm of the blog.

Thats it from myself point of view as the only thing i need to add is the fact my profile has gone live now on the Warrington Angling Centre website on the links below and there is one or two articles already on there.

link: http://www.warringtonangling.com/about-us/our-team/danny-bellfield/

Free Fishing For Under 16's!!

I was recently contacted by a club and asked if i would share some information on their club via the blog and social media.  As you all know i am all for getting the next generation out on the banks of the rivers, lakes and ponds so i was more than happy to help the club out.

"Free Fishing for kids under 16 at Twyford & District Fishing Club"

The Club is called Twyford and District Fishing club and is based just outside reading.  They have several stretches of the rivers Loddon, Thames and St Patricks Stream which offer fantastic barbel,chub, pike and silver sport.  The club also has lakes containing bream and carp as well as some beautiful ponds on the card.  

A Junior ticket last year cost £15.00 but in a fantastic move for angling the club has wavered this cost this year and with the fact the EA has also wavered the licence costs for children from April 1st it means youngsters under 16 can now fish this clubs waters for FREE!! 

If you are local follow this link and fill in the form: www.tdfc.org.uk. 

On to this weeks fishing:

River Fishing on The Whip using Mole Hill soil Ground Bait..

A video of the following session is available here:

After 2 weekends over time i was chewing at the bit to get out on the bank and wet a line so when the opportunity of two days came up on the leave i hastily booked the Thursday and the Friday off work.  The 3 days in work seemed to pass by in a second and i was soon getting the fishing gear into the hall on the evening of the session and preparing some rigs.

The next day was due to see a drop in temperature so i made the decision there and then not to go with the stick float and decided to fish a small whip.  The huge advantage here would be speed of course and also if we had a freeze over night then i knew there would be no issue with the rod rings freezing.

The night before i prepped one rig using my favourite 2lb 10z line and a nice fine hook length.  A simple light float was all that was needed as i knew with not much rain about i expected a low and clear river.

The whip was made up in seconds and put away in the holdall and i was all set for the session the next morning.  I have to say i was really excited as the 2 weeks exile had me itching to get out on the bank, if only to wisp away the cobwebs from 2 weeks at a desk.

I awoke the next morning to the ground glistening white and opening the front door i was met with a icy blast of cold refreshing air.  Not ideal but not exactly a disaster.  As an angler who fishes all year round i am more than accustomed to the bad weather this country can produce and to be honest opening the door to a hard frost fills me with more excitement than opening the door to it blowing a hooilie and raining.

The layer of ice removed from the car i set about my normal Thursday routine of dropping the kids off at school.  A few funny looks later from the teaches who seemed a little surprised to see me in thermal boots and fishing gear and not my normal work shirt and pants i was on my way to the bank.

The luxury i have of a weekend was evident straight away as i fought through rush hour traffic to get to the river, never an issue at 5am on a Sunday morning!

"With the Ground bait my whole aim was attracting the fish
and not feeding them so reducing feed content was essential"

I arrived at the bank and first job was to mix the ground bait.  The temperature was just above freezing cold so i knew feeding the swim was going to be a balancing act and this had to show in my ground bait.  My whole aim here is to attract the roach into the swim and not feed them. My mix on the day was Dynamite baits silver x ground bait, a fantastic silver fish ground bait all year round but like all ground baits it does contain a lot of feed like hemp and maize in i so the first job was to riddle the ground bait straight from the bag.

As you can see below just a quarter of a bag contains quite a lot of bulk feed

So the extra feed removed and up the bank i mixed the ground bait as normal and then passed the mix through a riddle to give me a nice fluffy ground bait base.  I then added the mole hill soil, i add here i had riddled the soil when it was harvested.  

The aim here is to bulk out the ground bait so you have a lot more to work with and also to reduce the feed content of the mix.  The mole hill soil is neutral and contains no feed at all so it means that every time i mix a ball up that ball contains a mixture of mole hill and ground bait so its not all ground bait going in the swim.  The mole hill soil will add colour and the ground bait adds the smell and attraction with little or no actual feed when the fish arrive.

The most important component when whip fishing is feeding.  You only have a certain arc and range in which you can catch fish so you need to feed in a way so the feed is on the bottom of going through the water in front of you.  Keeping the fish where you want them is key and you control this by feeding the swim correctly.

Too much feed will see the fish come up the peg and in the water and make them hard to catch while too little can see not enough fish attracted to the swim and can see the fish back off out of range where they know its safe.

In an ideal world you feed just enough to keep the fish in the swim and to attract more but still only enough to keep the fish in your swim competing for the food.  Once the roach are competing the formula is complete and the fishing really does become easy.

The feeding established i soon got into a rhythm,  cast in, feed, hold back, hold back and then strike.  Doing this i was soon putting fish in the net at a good rate and although the fish where not of any size i knew through sheer numbers a weight was possible.

It was literally a bite a chuck all session and by the end i had the fish right off the end of the whip.  When you get the feeding right and prepare your baits correctly you can have a really good and cheap days fishing.

The final net went 19lb and the only thing that saw me leave was the coldness on my hands from holding so many freezing cold roach.  I left the bank a little sad i didn't stay a but longer for the magical 20lb net but happy with the session and the footage i had put together.

Thank you for reading and please like and subscibe on the youtube channel to be alerted when videos go live.

till next time

tight lines

Danny