Doubles Keep Coming and Bream Delight On River

A warm welcome to this weeks blog update i hope i find you all well and you nets wet.  In life it surely is true that it is impossible to find balance in all aspects of life and boy is that a stage i am going through right now.  I normally split my life into three areas, homes life, fishing and work and you find that at no time or should i say for such a very short time are all three all going well at the same time.  Right now? i would say we are hitting the mark with two of them, in short work is as about as depressing as a job can get, new desk facing the beige wall i talked about in last weeks blog is lets just say not inspirational one bit.  It does serve one purpose though in making you really appreciate the other two aspects, walking out of work and home to the family it really increases that sense of excitement knowing your going home to a happy home and of course when fishing comes along at the end of the week, well lets just say i could not wait to feel that fresh air against my face on Saturday.

Situations like this do also focus the mind and as always i find solace and a sense of escapism from writing these weekly musings, however ironic it might be that most of them are wrote at beige HQ.  Speaking of the blog it really is going from strength to strength under its own steam and on social media it really is being well received with the blogs Twitter account now passing 2k followers and Facebook quickly closing in on 750 likes.  Where this long road of blogging will end god only knows but all i can say is thank you to all those who come back each week to read it and in a world where we have celebrity anglers pushing their sponsors products at anglers in the weekly repetitive mags maybe amateur bloggers portraying their fishing adventures will be where its at in the coming years.

On to this weeks blog update and its just the two trips in this update but when one of the sessions contains over 10 carp then there is going to plenty of pictures for those who just like to flick though the pictures on the blog. The second trip is a trip to a new part of the river searching out unfinished swims along over grown banks.

On to the fishing

A morning of doubles....

Travelling to the lake i had began to get a feel for where the carp would be and more importantly where to present my baits.  The shocking thing i was finding was how quiet the banks where.  Arriving at first light i never really had to worry about getting in a swim or the bread drifting and ruining someone else fishing.

On this session it was a period of warm weather and i knew, like most of my sessions for carp, it was going to be a short session but i hoped a for a fish or two.  The warmer weather i knew would see the fish come up into the layers a lot quicker than previous sessions where the mornings had been quite cool.

Arriving i was glad to see the ducks had moved on and i fed quite a bit of bread under my feet, in the snags and off them as well.  The thinking here was to quickly get the carp up in top and confidently feeding and then pick out the ones taking the bread confidently.  What i got truly shocked me as the carp where straight up on top and in good numbers. In went a piece of crust sprayed with Bubble Cream Stinky Stuff and I quickly picked up a nice double to kick off the session.

As i have said regular on these carp sessions it was all about fun for me on these sessions now hence the floating crust.  I also on this session decided to use my 1.75lb test curve barbel rod and as i said on the video the carp where taking off the top and it was not long till the carbon was bent again.

The second carp again falling to the bread sprayed with stinky stuff was another double at just under 14lb.

After this double a six other carp in single figures slipped up on the floating crust and it was clear the carp where up for it as all the carp where slurping down the crust.  The best of the carp a lovely marked fish below.

These carp i have never come across before in the sessions but i was grateful to have found them and what lovely markings.  You can imagine my excitement when i slid the net under my third double and 9th carp of the morning when it had similar markings, a lovely 11lb common.

Casting the bread right over the far side i got a take from a fish and it did not fight at all, it came in like a wet lettuce if i am honest.  It was a carp and a double figure one at that and it looked to have a lovely dark colour.  The fish on the bank was very calm and if i am honest weird for carp.  All the other carp had been a real battle on the mat but this one just lied there.  I gave the fish a quick look over but could see no obvious reason for it.

A quick pic and back she went.

This double was followed by three more smaller carp and it looked like the doubles had spooked off the area altogether.  I have noticed once the sun gets to a certain point in the sky the carp turn off.  I knew my time on the lake was almost coming to an end.  One more cast i thought and i knew to get a take it would be down to getting a carp that was sitting just under some overhanging trees to come out.

A peach of a cast, well a lucky cast, saw the bread land just on the edges of the leaves.  It was one of those takes where you don't see the bread get taken as all you see is line stripping along the surface of the water a quick lift of the rod and i was connected to another good carp that decided she wanted to go back to her home under the trees.

The rod was bent right over and with my hand on the reel giving no inch i managed to stop the initial run.  As soon as you stop that initial run the carp do seem to slowly move out into the lake and this is when you can really just enjoy the battle.  Taking line and making long surges with the reel ticking over it was a good fight and i was mad up to slip the net under the biggest carp of the session in a 15lb 10oz common.

All in all a great mornings fishing with 5 doubles on the bank and like the previous sessions i left to the sound of people arriving in their cars and the sight of carp all over the top basking.

Bream On The Stick...

It feels great again to be scouring Google Earth looking for new virgin waters to fish.  We have dedicated so much time to one area of river that we hit the same areas time and time again trying to work the river out, most of the time in the same swims just different conditions.  So this week it felt good to be zoomed in on the river and following her every twist and turn to find the deeper runs and then of course the dreaded task of finding a place "close" to park the fish mobile.

A bit of likely looking river found it was a case of parking the car and making the walk to the river.  Down the first field and into the second we where greeted with livestock, never my favourite sight i can tell you, but these where horses, a new animal to share a field with for me, they seemed ok.

In hindsight my green ground bait bucket did me no favours at all and i guess the smell of sweet ground bait that lingered around it also added to the attention i was getting.  Across the fields and along the river they followed till eventually we left our "friends" behind.  The river looked deep and had a gentle pace across its width with trees lining the far bank it screamed fish.  A nice gap between us both we set up full of expectation and this was heightened when a big carp jump clear of the water just down stream, i had no chance of landing such a prize but proved this area held fish.

Early trots down i clipped the bottom a few times and i guessed this was down to streamer weed on the bottom, this would be a problem all day.  Knowing we had caught bream on other bits of this river i decided to mix up a good amount of ground bait.  The first few trots down and eventually i started catching the odd small roach.

Once the line i was going to fish was established i made my move and in went 3 big balls of ground bait laced with maggot and hemp seed.  This is entirely new to me in i never normally feed ground bait on the river but it is a branch of the sport i am trying to learn.  The feeding of the bait is easy its getting the "mix" right and also how much to feed i need to master and i have to be honest when i fed the three balls i knew nothing as to if it would kill of make the swim.

The swim continued to produce the roach and the odd chublet till it died completely and i mean it was like a light switch going off.  I trotted through the swim time and time again for around 15-20 minutes and then all of a sudden the float buried and my 14ft drennan acolyte hooped round.  It felt a huge fish in the flow and it just held there for a moment before moving over to the far tree line.  Turned it then came into the middle again and then up came a huge bream.

I don't quite know how to put in words the fight of a bream i guess if you have ever caught one you will know where i am coming from.  They kind of twist and turn in the flow in a horrible erratic way and i did struggle to get the fish upstream but eventually she came up and into the net,  buzzing the ground bait had certainly worked its magic.

The fish in the net i was straight back in and you can imagine what was going through my head when on the very next cast the float buried again and i was playing another nice bream.

Two bream in two casts and i was at a cross roads with the swim, do i feed more ground bait or do i fish it out? I decided with two of the bream there that size that there surely could be more so in went another two balls of ground bait.  If i was going to learn it was going to have to be a case of suck it and see.  If i hadn't of fed again and not caught then i would have walked away thinking what if i had fed again, did they clear me out and move on?

The second trot down after feeding the ground bait i again hit another bream and my excitement levels hit the roof and i am not going to lie here thought of a huge net of bream where flying through my head.  I think rightly so as well with 3 proper bream in 3 casts who could blame me?

The third bream in the net i settled back in and weirdly i started picking up roach again and some nice chublets

Around 9am i felt this burning on the back of my neck as the sun came up over the trees and slowly it rose till it was completely on the water.  This was the kiss of death as both mine and my uncles swims completely died.  The beauty of two of you fishing is you know if its a predator or not as if your mate is catching nicely and you are not then you know something is not right but as soon as that sun hit the water it killed both swims dead.

We called it a day around 11am after two hours with no bites but we both left having fished a new area of river.  We both took away how important ground bait was going to be on the river and again how much this river will be impacted by hot clear days.

I felt i learnt a lot in feeding the ground bait and getting the mix right.  On top of that i think i learnt that i need to get the bream out of the swim as soon as possible as i think on that last bream it certainly flapped about alot right in the swim which could have spooked the shoal prematurely.

All in all a nice quiet day on the bank and good to get amongst the fish.

Till next time

tight lines

Danny 

Rivers Open: Cracking Chub On The Stick Float...

A warm welcome to this weeks blog update i hope i find you all well and your nets wet.  The river season is well and truly open now and Facebook has been awash with mainly flood water barbel pictures.  The rain kept on copming down till late evening on the opening day and the only highlight was getting home from the carp to catch England pip Wales in the football.

We knew opportunities to get out on the river come the Saturday would hinge on a dry day on the Friday and with that we said a little prayer to the rain gods and prayed for a window of opportunity, in all honesty i feel like i am writing a winter blog here not a summer one, ridiculous weather we are having.

On to the update:

New River Season Preperation..

I have to say with all the stuff going on in work with over time and loads of jobs being done in the house the new river season really did creep up on me.  This season is without doubt the most unorganized i have ever been for the start of the rivers, normally by now i have spring cleaned my tackle box, replaced some weights and give my reel a through clean.

The beauty of the rivers is in their simplicity and in short its only a few components that come together to make up the stick float rigs i use so much and with my gear levels looking in an ok state i think i was only a new packet of weights away from being ready to go, so not too bad.

Although time to prepare for the season has not been there physically the mental thought processes have been working for some time and i did have a few changes i wanted to make in how i approach the rivers this season.  The main one is cutting down on the amount of gear i take with me, it has been ok carting my big Preston Onbox with its metal footplate to the banks of the river Dane these past few season as the walks have been quite short.  This season will be a lot different and long walks over rough farmland terrain are looking like being the norm, a wild river with wild surroundings will mean i will be lucky to have the luxury of having a peg where i sit on my basket at all.

The cutting down of gear started with me utilizing the Octoplus infinity box i was sent to review a few weeks ago, this box bos light and robust will be ideal for those river trips.  Its deep storage will spread the load i carry more evenly between my box and my net bag and should mean a more enjoyable walk to and from the river and if a swim is box friendly then i have a nice comfy box to sit on.

Of course terminal tackle would be an issue and i invested in a small tackle box above and in it is all the terminal tackle you need to fish a stick float.  This box will of course be built upon or joined by another box when we hit areas where bigger fish like barbel might be on the agenda but for my first session out this little box was ideal.  A huge reduction in weight carried losing the huge heavy box and the mountains of terminal tackle i carry but never use when fishing the river on the stick.

A Stinky Delivery...

I have really enjoyed the passed few weeks working with Stinky Stuff Bait Spray and incorporating it into my fishing for carp has been very interesting and rewarding.  Sessions where the flow on the lake has been towards the snag it gave me the confidence to know that smell was lapping into their hiding space and hopefully drawing them out.  Future blogs will show just how good this bait has been for the carp and it was great last week to receive a delivery from Stinky Stuff of two more bottles of their other products in the Stinky Stuff Match and Stinky Stuff Bubblecream.  The bubblecream is a really interesting one having spent most of my childhood next to a sweet making factory it brought back quite a few memories of summer nights where the streets where full of this sweet smell.

Excited to get out on the bank and a little teaser of sessions to come the Bubble cream is just as good as the crayfish for catching carp.

Glorious First River Session - Chubbin'

As mentioned in a previous blog June 16th passed by for me on a local lake fishing for carp, not the ideal way i wanted to spend the glorious 16th, but with rivers flooded it was better to be catching fish than struggling on a swollen coloured river.  Truth be told i had a nice day catching carp and thoroughly enjoyed my morning fishing for them and that will be covered in an upcoming blog.

Thursday gone and it was straight into a days work on Friday.  Looking out of the windows in work it was hard to judge temperature, dam air con, but i could see that the sky was cloudy but thankfully we had received some strong winds that kept the clouds passing over us and not dropping their rainfall.  It filled me with hope for the rivers the next day.

Fridays for me normally follow a set routine that see's me nipping into Widnes Angling Centre for my maggots and terminal tackle bits and pieces but seen as i already had 2 pints of red maggots left from the no go session the previous day it felt weird to fall out of this routine and not nip into the shop on my way home.

During the closed season hemp seed has featured in my canal fishing but i have to admit that despite having close to 10kg of hemp under my stairs i did take the easy option and buy some tinned stuff.  It splits nicely and is convenient for the canal sessions where you are not really using that much hemp seed.  The rivers are an entirely different animal and less care needs to be taken in the preparation for the rivers as i dont use it on the hook.  This coupled with the fact the batch we have at the moment is terrible and will not split well for us meant that come Friday night the kitchen was "high" with the smell of hemp seed on the boil.  I have to admit though i was in bad books as upon finding half a packed of chill mix in the cupboard and dded said mix into my hemp i was was soon busted by her in charge who had that put away for Saturdays tea!! House stinking like a drug den and using spices ear marked for meals i was not in good books, if the chub liked it though surely its acceptable. :-)

A quick sort of the tackle box and all the essentials loaded into the Octoplus box it was a chance to make up a few hook lengths and get the gear in the hall ready for a 2am wake up call the next morning, no rain i was excited to say the least. Over the past few years we have really put the time and effort in and now have quite a large portfolio of waters to choose from.  Time spent on these rivers in both high and low water and also time spent away from the bank studying how fast these rivers drop all pays dividends in the end when it comes to the fine lines between un fishable and fishable levels.  This info can not be gleamed just form the EA chart as it only gives you a number which means very little if you have nothing to refer that too as in how the river will be and fish at that level.

From huge spate rivers to tiny brooks all where looked at and we came to a decision to fish a river we knew would hold its colour and have some pace but we could also find a few fish willing to take a bait.  The walk to the river was quite a long one and i instantly felt the benefits of the new box, so much easier and lighter to carry than my preston seatbox.  Looking at the river in the darkness we could see she was still carrying a bit of pace, unexpected pace if we were honest, but we knew as the morning would draw on this river would drop and with it the pace would settle.  Setting up on opposite inside bends of an "S" shaped bend in the river we both had slack on our inside with the river moving fast around the outside bend.   It presented us with 2 main areas to catch, one just off the main flow as the river would naturally flow and two in the deep er inside slacker water under our feet, both i knew would bee good areas.

Setting up my 13ft Korum float rod i fed hemp right in line with some overhanging brambles as this is where i thought maggots fed at the head of the run would reach bottom.  A few hand fulls of maggots i knew would get the chub on the feed and in the flow, this huge influx of bait does quicken the process i have found on this river.

The set up a dave harrell 6 number 4 wire stem  stick float was the chosen float and with the extra turbulent flow i went with the dome top as i felt this would give me more control in the flow.  A size 18 hook to a 1lb 7oz hook length i was all set to go and it came a no surprise that second trot down the float buried and i was rewarded with my first chub of the season, it was great to be back on flowing water.

The chub in the swim and having had no pressure over the passed months i felt sure the next chub was not far behind.  Low and behold hald way down the run i was again into a aggressive and hard fighting chevin that made for the overhanging cover time and time again before giving me plenty of grief under my feet,  not a huge chub but two in the net in the first 10 minutes it was a great start to the session.

When the chub are in the swim every thing else barring trout i have found clear off and it was the same on this session you could tell when the chub had spooked or moved out the swim as i started to pick up smaller chublets and dace.  These are great to see as these are the next generation of fish coming through the ranks and although they dont always show its reassuring to know they are around and ready to make the jump into the main chub shoals when big enough. 

The dace and chublets came and went like the wind and after a few trots though without a knock i knew the chub had moved back in.  It took a few goes down but eventually i sussed it out and just holding the bait back slightly on my hemp would see the signs of a bite develop with shudders on the float, letting the float go would see it sail under with unmissable chub bites.  I can only liken chub bites on the stick to the bites you get from carp on commercials.

The action from these chub then was solid taking four on the bounce in what was crazy fishing as the cub really bullied in on the swim.

Fishing the swim i did i knew i was fishing for one shoal of chub as there was no way a shoal was moving through the rapids above and below this deep run.  The chub went and in came the dace and chublets again until eventually bites dried up completely.  My uncle had the same issue just down stream and had also had some chub and some nice roach.

The session finished for me with a 18lb9oz net of chub, dace and chublets and it was an excellent first session on the river.  Plenty of bites and had a few chub pull back so i left a happy angler.

Early Morning Carping Fun off the top......

The next carp session i got out was just after my 18lb pb and at this time i was treating carp fishing as something i would do when i wanted a challenge but at the same time some fun.  Armed with a loaf of bread and my floater rod i headed off to the lake.  Arriving at first light it was cold and many would be forgiven for dismissing floater fishing but i knew the carp would be in the shallows form the previous evening and being shallow i knew there was a good chance of them finding my free offerings of kingsmill.

upon arriving i threw in a few bits of bread all over the swim and under my feet.  Setting up the net and the floater rod it was a case of waiting for the carp to start taking.  Sure enough the rods was not even of its rod wraps before i heard the first swirl and slurp as a carp came up for its break fast.

I arrived at the water at 4.30am and i had to be leaving at 7am to get back, washed and showered before a full days overtime in work so it was a short session.  These short approaches seemed to see me do well with the early mornings also keeping the ducks away as they didn't seem to come to life till later in the morning.  The water colored i sprayed the crusts with some stinky stuff bubblecream to add some extra smell.

A cracking hour or so's fishing later i was leaving for work with 4 carp under my belt to just over 10lb.

Well thats another few trips on the bank caught up with and this format i think will continue for the next few weeks with carp trips added to the end of my other fishing,  I guess it adds loads of diversity to the blog as if you like rivers or carp fishing there is something there for everyone.

till next time

tight lines

Danny

Smashing my Carp PB's and Mixing Canal Groundbait...

A warm welcome to this weeks blog update i hope i find you all well and your nets wet.  Still loads of fishing to catch up on hence the 3 blogs in two weeks but i guess that is not a bad thing.  This weeks blog sees a bit of talk on the new river season and a question i have been asked a lot this season around how i prepare my ground bait for canals, really simple this but a few parts of the process are vital.  We finish up with some short sessions i have done recently for carp that saw the PB's roll in.  I will go into detail next update on my set up and how i have been fishing for these carp.

On to the update:

Canal Groundbait Preparation

This is a subject i covered on the blog last year and i included a video in the update so if you are looking for a bit of a video of what i am about to write then its on the following link.

link: http://satonmyperch.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/baits-for-canal-fishing-and-tench-on.html

So you get on the bank and you are ready to attack the canal in front of you, before you do anything else groundbait should be running through your mind, it is the first thing i do when i arrive on the bank is knock up the ground bait.  The mix needs time to soak up the water and settle before you can make a decision if it needs more water or not.  Ideally you mix it up and by the time you have set up all your gear and rigs you should be there or there about sto go back to it.

Canal fishing it is important to remember we are dealing here with a branch of angling that is so delicate and all parts of our approach need to be really refined, lines, baits and of course our ground bait needs that extra bit of care and attention when fishing a canal.

Opening the bag of ground bait you could be forgiven for thinking its all just a bag of finely breadcrumbs and additives but you would be wrong.  A quick run through the riddle of the dry mix reveals there is more in the bag than meets the eye.  The one i use has quite a bit of dry hemp in it but i have in the passed riddled other roach and bream mixes that have contained a huge amount ogf particles like hemp and maize flakes, for canal fishing i remove these as its just extra feed that will soon fill up the fish.  Remember we are here to catch fish not feed them.

All the below came out of half a bag of groundbait riddled straight form the bag

This extra feed removed you are left with just the crumb mix.  I add water slowly in a round bucket and spend a good few minutes really working the mix to get it as mixed in as possible and when i can form a ball in my hand with just a soft squeeze and then it breaks up completely to nothing when i rub it between my hands i know i am there.  This mix is then left till after i set up all my gear and i have plumber my lines.

Going back to the mix you will normally find it has soaked in most of the water and is drier than when you left it.  Add more water here will you get it to how it was before you left it.  Maximizing how much water your ground bait can take will see you left with a neater mix.  Once you are happy with it, unfortunately this stage does only come with time and practice as you can feel the mix is right, if you get me.

I then pass the whole mix through my riddle shaking at first to get the small bits through you are left with just the wet balls of ground bait.  These left in the mix will fill the fish up and we need to break theses down.  Gently rub these lumps though the riddle.  What you are left with now is a fine fully mixed in base mix ground bait and you can now control what you do with it and more importantly how much feed you want to include in the mix.  The most important part is you are now in control and have a mix with high attraction but little feed content to work with, an excellent starting point to build a swim with.

The "Glorious" 16th Arrived...

The actual fishing part of the blog is still a few trips behind but i feel its important to keep the main body of the blog up to date with current events.  Sat here now the night before the river season is due to open and all i can hear is the patter of rain against the window and the angry rumble of thunder i the distance.  All in all a very drab way to start the season and three months ago little did i imagine i would have to be checking the same flood tables come june 16th.

To put this in perspective in terms of my fishing being a angler who float fishes the river, a river only has to be slightly in flood for the river to be unfishable for me.  There are of course hundred of barbel and chub anglers out there jumping with joy at the sight of this extra rain, rightly so too, i would if it where me.

The fishing this year ironically enough should see me targeting barbel but there is no way i'm going straight onto the banks of a flooded river i have only ever been once to try for a barbel.  This season is going to see us taking strides into the unknown with two rivers that could not be further apart in appearance and size in the Dane and Weaver.

Not to spoil an future blog too much but the opening day actually saw me carp fishing and although not where i wanted to be ideally i caught a few carp with one being a pristine 14lb common below.  This eased the pain of not making it onto the banks of the river i can tell you that.

on to this weeks fishing:

Smashing Those Carp PB's

So with overtime schedule well and truly in place it was again short evening sessions from around 5pm till dusk that where proving to be the norm for me and my fishing.  Leaving work at 4pm it was a nice relaxed gathering of the gear and drive to the lake knowing the better fishing didn't really come on till the surrounding trees hid the sun from sight.  Again travelling as light as possible it was a rod rest, rod, net and some tackle placed in a bucket that i would be taking.

Bait wise it was again the trust wet micro pellets round a method feeder and sweetcorn on the hood.  Each cast the method was sprayed with some Stinky Stuff Crayfish spray.

Most people i saw in the evening fishing the lake popped into the first swims by the car and why not it was close to the car and quick to get off the lake but i found this swim to be better early in the morning as the sun was first to hit here.  Based on that thinking but flipping it i guessed the fishing would be better in the evening right down the other side of the lake as this would be the last place the sun would hit.  The down side to this was the fact the pegs where really overgrown and muddy under your feet and the added cover and foliage certainly meant added attention from the mozzy's.

In all angling we have to have a theory to work toward, a way of thinking the scenario through, before we hit the bank.  I guess the more you think over your fishing and the more time and effort you put into you session before you hit the bank then the more successful you will be.  In all fishing you can just turn up and cast any bait anywhere in the lake and catch the biggest fish in the lake but to be successful over time i feel you need to work a little more at it.  Luck is always needed but you can do your best to increase your odds by formulating a plan.

On this session i had one rod, fishing towards a snag its all i dared, it was placed just down in the margin to my left besides a overhanging bush.  Dark and mysterious water beneath and being un-fishable beyond its leaves it look the perfect place to find carp.  Having seen some nice carp caught by my mate Ste i knew there where better fish to be had in the pool and my mentality was now in trying to find a method that would see me picking up these better carp.

The rod placed on the bite alarm it did not take long for the tell tale taps on the tip to start, over time i have learnt to read the taps and work out if bream where at the feeder or carp, but at the time of this session i was dipping and diving for the rod with every line bite and aggressive move of the feeder by feeding fish.  The rod of course then wrapped round and it was hands on the reel to stop the fish in its tracks before it reached the safety of the roots.  Out in open water the fish was a different prospect and was soon in the net waiting to be unhooked, a nice single figure mirror.

The fish returned and the hot sun beating down i could see the odd car moving around in the upper layers and i knew it would be a waiting game for them to settle down and go on the feed.  I also knew there was the odd fish holding in the back of the snag i was fishing as tell tale swirls of them moving gave away their presence.  They where deep in though and i knew would need tempting with regular casting to build up a bed of smelly bait in the area.

A few casts and signs of a fish on the bait started and this one must have been on the feed hard as it did not take long for the the violent taps to result in a run.  A hard fighting common was my reward.

The swim after this went through a big lull and with the sun beating down hard and the mozzys biting even harder i did consider calling it a day.  Its a tough one as you know if you wait it out the fish will come but it comes down to the decision if you can be bothered waiting for it.

The lull in activity was passed a by a bit easier by some nice sized bream moving into the swim.  They where great to see and i guess any fish is better than no fish on the bank.  They showed me the need to keep casting regular as there was plenty of mouths to feed.

Although the bream where a good addition to the action i also knew they where a sure sign that the carp where not on the feed or in the area.  These bream would soon be pushed out by a group of carp coming in.  A hour or so passed and the started to finally sulk behind the tree line. As the last of its light lit my nearside margin i saw a large group of carp sulk into the baited area, where my theories correct? where these fish moving to the now warmer end of the lake?.

The excitement levels grew and having just recast i knew this shoal would be met with a nice bed of pellet.  Signs of feeding fish where soon showing as big bubbles rose from the swim and then there was two beeps on the bite alarm and a slow bend in the rod.  Grabbing the rod there was solid weight at the other end and thankfully the fish moved slowly out into the lake by itself.  The fights itself was more of a battle of attrition than any long runs for freedom as the carp shook its head from side to side.  It woke up under the rod tip briefly but as fights went it was quite poor and it was only as i slid the carp over the net i saw it was a decent fish.  Ont the scales i was rewarded with a new PB of 13lb 2oz,

By the time i had taken the pics and slid here back it felt right to call it a day on the session, i left buzzing and the woes of work where left by the waterside, i love fishing.  Video is of the carp going back in the warm evening glow.

Second Special Session in a week....

So with the last PB still seeing me floating on air i returned to the lake later that week to find the banks a bit busier and the swim i was sat in the previous week fully occupied.  I decided to set up on the other bank and there was only one spot to put the bait and that was right on the edge of the sunken tree.  This side of the bank allowed you to fish close to the snag as you have the angle to apply pressure on the fish to get it away from the snag.

To do this type of fishing you do need to have the backbone in the rod and the right strength line.  I had loaded these reels with 15lb maxima from my previous car fishing and knowing how snaggy this swim is i upped the hook line from a 7lb to a 10lb hook link, boy was a glad i made that decision!

Some would say this i far too heavy for just carp fishing and they might be right but its what i had to work with and in my opinion its better to know you have the strength to get fish out rather than be losing fish and leaving them with tackle in their mouths.  In passed sessions i had become accustomed to the set up and i could tell from how long the feeder took to hit bottom just how deep it was.  Dropping the bait about 2 foot from the snag i was pleased to find it quite shallow, great news i thought.

The rod in place the drag set quite tight and i positioned myself just next to the rod so i was straight on it.  The action was really really really slow and it seemed to take an age before i got a bite but eventually three taps on the rod and again two beeps on the tip saw me lifting into a fish.

This fight was epic it was hit and hold at the start which saw me dunking the rod below the water and holding the clutch to not give the fish an inch of line.  The rod bent round and a huge boil coming up just of the tree i knew i had stopped the fish but i just needed it to turn.  Thankfully she did and she zoomed out into the lake making one heart stopping long run to the middle she was one powerful fish!

The run stopped i noticed a little lad who was fishing with his day on the next peg appear to my left.  I had my heart in my mouth every time the fish came up to the top as i knew it was a nice fish but every time it came up and shot off on another run this little lad would jump in the air living every second of the fight!  It was funny to watch and added to the fight.  It was some fight as even when i got her up in the water she had some power and time and time again made hard lunges for the snags.

Eventually and with my arm feeling like it was about to fall off the fish showed signs of giving in and thankfully went into the net first time, she was a huge common and i knew it was a pb for sure, easily the biggest carp i had seen on the bank.  The fish rested in the landing net i sat back and got my own breath back!

I knew my mate was on his way down for a natter so i left her to sulk in the carp net for a few minutes while i recovered!  Time to weigh the fish and i nipped along the bank to see if the little lad wanted to come and have a look at the fish.  I knew struggling lift the net form water it was heave and onto the scales i was over the moon to see them settle on 18lb10oz, now that is a carp PB i thought!!

Speaking to the young lad while waiting for ste it was great to hear he had just started fishing with his dad and his biggest fish to date was a roach.  It was great listening to his stories about fishing and to see his reaction to the carp which just added to the experience but i think most of all about this evening i will remember him jumping up and down out of the corner of my eye.

A quick chat with ste and he took some great pictures for me of this special fish, cheers mate.

A good chew of the fat with Ste about our plans for the upcoming river season and he was off on his way.  After he left i fished on for a hour or two and picked up two more fish.

The night for me will be remembered for that special fish.  A upper double i knew just had to come sooner or later but as in most fishing it comes when you least expect it.  Two new personal bests in a week and i was absolutely buzzing!

Till next time

tight lines

Danny



 

Sankey Canal Widnes

A warm welcome to this week’s blog update and as a change to the normal blogs of late I think this week I will begin the blog with talking about where I am with my fishing at the moment.  The past three months the quest for a 10lb carp has pretty much taken over my fishing and really occupied my thoughts on a daily basis and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed every single minute chasing this goal from baiting up curlston mere full of anticipation only to blank to the never ending precession of tench I seemed to catch.

I started the quest not knowing a thing about carp fishing and distinctly remember sitting in the break out room in work reading up on my iphone how to tie a hair rig and then going home that evening to attempt to tie one up (with minimal success) and at that time I felt about as far away from catching a double figure carp than at any other time on the quest.  At times during the quest I did question why I set myself this challenge and it seemed all around me was pictures of nice carp being caught so much so I visited High legh for some silver fishing only to bump into a fella who had just caught a 14lb carp fishing a pellet 3 ft under a dibber float, so easy yet I was nowhere near my goal and I could feel the pressure mounting on my shoulders, little did I know I was only days from achieving my goal.

The quest to catch the carp is a challenge I am so glad I set myself it has taught me so much about the world of carp fishing and also discovered I have quite a good knack of catching tench which I never really knew I had.  The quest has also improved my angling skills there are knots that i have never tied before that I can now tie in my sleep but apart from the fact I now am confident going to the bank knowing my rigs are working I think the biggest thing the quest has taught me is patience.

To read my quest for a 10lb carp follow this link: http://satonmyperch.blogspot.co.uk/p/10lb-carp-mini-blog.html

Looking to the next few weeks I have a few jobs to do before the river season opens I have to load my new feeder rod up with 8lb maxima and also need to replace my trotting line with a new spool of Drennan float fish line and also need to take stock on how much hemp we still have left to gauge when we may need to bulk buy some more.  The rest of the work to be done before the rivers open is all about preparation in doing my homework on the new stretches we intend to visit on this subject I do get a fair few emails asking me about locations on the rivers I fish and my reply is always the same, get yourself online and searching on Google Earth to pick a few locations that look like they hold fish and then do the ground work in getting yourself on the bank and if you can fish the place fish it and if not sometimes just spending time looking at the water can give the fish that inhabit a certain stretch away especially if you visit on first light or at dusk. 

This river season I intend to mix my fishing up a bit between trotting and feeder fishing for bigger species like barbel, chub and bream and the new river we intend to fish will give me much better access to these better specimen fish and the lessons learnt from my few months carp fishing can only help me in this different angle on my fishing.   The river Dee this year will really be make or break for me with the Warrington Anglers Card and how good it is during the summer months will be the deciding factor as I already know from experience the stretches Warrington now have will not fish in the winter due to how far upstream they are.

Away from angling i have been busy watching Springwatch this week which is on BBC2 at 8pm every night and was even more pleased to see that the star if their show is none other than Monty the Osprey from the Dyfi project I featured a few weeks ago on my blog.  It was great to see the BBc taking an interest in this project and also great to see monty on the TV for all to see.  If anyone is interested in keeping up with Monty on the Dyfi Project I have added some information below as to where you can keep up with the rest of his exploits before he migrates back to Africa later this year.

Dyfi Project website: http://www.dyfiospreyproject.com/

Dyfi project facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dyfiospreyproject?fref=ts

On to this week’s fishing

The first outing this week actually put the blog back one day as I decided to take advantage of a warm evening on Friday and hit the banks of the venue I have been targeting for the 10lb carp, of course this time the pressure was off and I was able to sit back and enjoy the session.  I fished Friday evening from 6pm till 9.35pm but it wasn’t till after 9pm I started to feel confident as a few fish started showing in my area but barring one dropped run around 9.25pm nothing much happened but I did vow to return the following morning.

Arriving at the venue just before sunrise I was quickly into the swim I have targeted extensively on this lake and again decided I would just give it a few hours till around 9am.  I was full of expectation but the place was strangely quiet with only one fish showing all morning and that fish was right out in the middle.  This goes against all the stuff I have seen on this venue in my past weeks watching it and it was my thinking that the fish get in the shallow area I am fishing in the late evening and early mornings, I guess that’s fishing for you if it was easy it would be boring and this carp fishing has really got my mind ticking over about what I could do better.

This more relaxed for of fishing has given me a chance to indulge my love for British wildlife and my trusty binoculars above below have become my new best friend and I must say are great for watching wildlife from afar especially now most of the birds have young and can be quite hard to get close too.

As is the same on most angling trips 9am and the end of the session came around all to quickly but before I left I decided to have a bit of a lead around to gauge the depth I am fishing in and the bottom, I found the bottom to be very clear but quite shallow in the bay I am fishing which concurred with my feeling that this shallow bay is a place they only get to in the evening and early morning when light levels are low.   I also had a quite scout round the rest of the venue and found a lovely looking swim with a sunken tree that I certainly will be trying in the coming weeks and finally I did notice that the water was quite clear on Saturday which I think was down to the wind not blowing into this corner last  week but what it did do was allow me to test my bait in the margin and it surprised me how much silt was on the bottom, so much so I couldn’t see my bait.

Saturday afternoon I travelled down to Stapley Angling centre on the Lakemore Complex to stock up on a few bits and bobs, some of the purchases were a must like the new hook length material to replace my line that has been snapping on late and others where a bit more of a tactical gamble such as the pink pop ups which I am hoping will score me well on this venue when I am fishing the shallow swim as I am hoping this in your face bait will stand out more in the silt and hopefully score me a few more bites.  I have also put a few “additives” I purchased a few months ago to good use for glugging up some bottom baits for future short sessions.

The Sankey Canal Widnes - Warrington Anglers Card

For some time now both me and my uncle have had a real urge to fish a canal but with our past forays onto the bridgewater canal and the Trent and Mersey canal bearing little fruit we have really lacked the enthusiasm to get out on these two waters that all changed when a conversation in a local tackle shop put us into the Sankey Canal in Widnes.  The Sankey Canal is a water I have only fished one time before and apart from a few eels I cannot remember connecting with much else but that was a few years ago now and reports where it was fishing well for silvers.  We arrived on the venue and was instantly met with a few fish topping along the stretch which really did get us excited for the session ahead and with the odd fish moving in the far reeds we just couldn’t wait to find out what lay beneath its liquid gold surface I can honestly say it has been a long time since I was so excited at the start of a fishing session and as you can see from the picture below the place looked beautiful.

Setting up in swims close to each other we both decided to fish the middle as both our poles where nowhere near the length needed to reach the far reed line.  The session started well for us both with us both getting into roach and rudd from the off although we had to wait a bit between bites the fish came steadily to the net for us both during the early parts of the session and we both commented an hour or so in that we had caught more already than any session on the trent and Mersey canal.

 

As the session moved on the roach and rudd where replaced with the odd skimmer bream and perch but the tow on the canal was beginning to make fishing quite difficult and bites became harder to come by for us both.  My uncle moved over to the rod and continued to catch regularly against the far reeds while I stuck it out on the pole line.

During the session both me and my uncle had bumped fish that felt very good but we both failed to connect proper with these fish but just as the tow was becoming a real problem I connected with a fish that immediately felt solid and kept deep for the beginning of the fight before giving in and coming to the top, of course only a bream fight so poorly but little did we know till it was in the net just how big this bream was.  The bream was deep and had really dark brown flanks that reminded me of the bream I used to catch as a kid fishing with my dad on the bridgewater canal.  Topping the scales at just under 5lb I was more than made up with this capture.

Of course we both knew where there were one of these fish there was bound to be more but from the capture of this bream marked a point in the session where the tow became unbearable and the canal resembled a river then a calm canal.  We got speaking to a local angler who advised us it was the face the Fiddler Ferry where drawing water from the canal for cooling purposes and we had been really unlucky as it was a really rare occurrence.  WE continued on with the session and eventually called it a day around 2pm when the bites completely died.

My uncle net

                                                                           My net

                                                                                  

We both left feeling happy with the session and vowed to return again soon with a view to targeting those bream and silver shoals and both agreed it was one of the best still water sessions we have been on in a long time.

Till next week I leave you with the best visitor I had to my peg on Sunday, my little baby girl who paid us a visit on the canal and what a joy it was to see her as we are normally further afield and not in walking distance for her to visit me on the bank.

Tight lines

danny