23lb of River Roach On Bolo & Canal Tinca......

A war welcome to this weeks blog update i hope i find you all well and your nets wet.  A few days booked off work last weekend and to start it off was a session on the river.  We knew little about whether the fish would be shoaled up on the spots but after a few hard weeks we knew it was time to go all out and see what was on offer and what a session awaited us.

The second part of the blog is a session i did recently on the canal where i decided to target an area with the idea of maximising the fish i could catch.  More on my thought processes and reasons in the update but lets just say one fish had me walking up and down the bank.  We start this update off thought with a bit of an introduction chat on the upcoming pike season that is well and truly in my thoughts right now.

On with the update..

Piking Just round the Corner...

So chilling out this week i get a message of my piking buddy Garry asking if i wanted in on our usual annual bait order and i have to say the text had me checking the calendar and low and behold we are just over a month away from the start of the pike season.  My god this has sneaked up on my and to be honest it just does not feel right just now to be even thinking about pike, least not on days where the mercury is creeping up to 90 degrees.

The order does need doing though and after two years pike fishing i think i am starting to develop confidence in certain baits as this years order, without the value back,  does only really contain around 3-5 species of dead baits. I will of course go more into the bait order when it arrives in a future blog but i thought i would just touch base with it here to let the blog know that piking is well and truly starting to weigh heavy in my thoughts.

Of course last years pike season was well documented in this week by week round up here: http://satonmyperch.blogspot.co.uk/p/201516-pike-seaon.html

One thing is for sure in this pike season and that is the fact there will be new adventures on new waters to me and with some big pike under my belt and nothing to really aim for the pressure is off and its time to build on past seasons and take this to brand new areas to see if i can tempt the odd big girl.  As mentioned previous more on my hopes and aspirations closer to the start of the season.

23lb River Roach On The Bolo....

The passed few weeks have been really tough for me and my uncle on the rivers with low clear conditions on one river seeing the bites die as soon as the sun come up and the other river we fished being a bite a chuck but swims begin ravaged by pike and killing any sport.  In short i had a choice to make i could either be selfish and go back the smaller river and try all out for barbel knowing i would be in for a shout but my uncle would be enduring a pike ridden time in a swim or we could go all out on a whim and try a completely different river all together and see if the fish had arrived in their summer and autumn haunts, we decided on the later.

The above paragraph illustrates just how fishing together you have to be a team and think of each others fishing.  The river was a good walk from the parking spot and involved the odd hilly climb and a short section of dense brambles, it was clear no one was fishing these spots recently, just our cup of tea.  We finally arrived in the swims and we decided to both fish the same swim, i was on the bolo and my uncle was going to try and fish the pole and stick float.  The ultimate aim of the session was to get the odd bite and be close enough have a natter.

I shocks me when people email me saying they live near a river but are unsure how to fish it as it looks complicated when the truth is river fishing is so basic and simple in its design and the true learning of the art form comes form repetition and putting the time in to learn how to read a river and run a float through. A quick look at my side tray shows how simple the gear is i use, 1.7lb bayer perlon line for hook lengths, size 16 hooks 3 gram bolo float and some everyday weights.  This in its entirety covers everything that goes on the line from top to bottom.

To those interested in fishing a bolo and wondering how you set it up i plum the depth with no weights at all on the line to get a true depth and then fishing a hook length around a foot long i place 3 number 8 droppers evenly spaced on the hook length.  Above all these i put most of the weight in a bulk to cock the float so only the red of the float shows, doing this you leave enough weight to place a small number 8 weight beneath your float.  This weight servers two purposes in of course stopping the float sliding on the line and i find it begins the settle the float as soon as it hits the water meaning its easier to pick up those bites on the drop.

Catching a lot on the river does not have to be expensive at all, you can make it expensive when you go down the ground bait line, but in general i take 2 pints of maggot and a pint of hemp for most of my river fishing, a great days fishing can be had on around 6 quids worth of bait it really can.

 The swim was around 8 feet deep and was of a similar depth along its length till it felt like it shallowed up at its tail.  Plumbing up a bit further out it did drop away again by a couple of inches but my initial thought was to see what i could catch on the deck and then see if the fish further out would have it just off bottom.  It is sort of killing two birds with one stone way of working out how they are feeding better.

The first few trots down went by without a tap but then slowly the odd bite started to develop with a small billy perch and the odd small roach.  A severe upstream wind was meaning the float was holding back lovely in the swim and on the day i think this certainly helped the swim.

Bites then started to come thick and fast as it was clear a big shoal of roach had moved into the swim.  It seemed bites from smaller roach where hard to hit and i missed loads of bites on the day but when the float buried with a proper roach there was no missing the bite and on some occasions i cast in, fed with the catapult, saw the float go under and still had time to grab the rod and strike.

After the first hour the swim was alive with roach as time and time again the bolo would slide away.  I knew with so much prey about a pike would soon be attracted and no sooner had i mentioned this fact to my uncle than a flash of green appeared under the surface as a small jack nailed a nice roach.  I could see the jack pike and it was no bigger than the roach.

On the day it shocked me how the swim recovered after the pike attacks, this pike would nail the odd fish but being too big to swallow it would let go and in would come a roach with a small half moon crescent bite on it.  He was on me all day but thankfully it didn't seem to bother the swim.

As the session wore on a pattern began to emerge and i started to notice that the bigger roach where holding just that bite further out than i was feeding my hemp.  A few of the better ones below.

You would nail a couple on the bounce and then a move back into the nearside line would see you pickling up an average stamp roach of a few ounces.  As the session wore on i could feel i was putting a decent net of roach together and chatting to my uncle he was sure i had over 15lb in the net as the average size of the fish was steady.

I actually ran out of hemp on the session but kindly my uncle provided me with a nice top up for the last hour.  I did think about changing over to corn but in my head i was thinking "why change anything? i am catching steady and a nice stamp"  I guess a bigger bait like corn might have picked out these better roach time and time again but given i was a bite a chuck i felt i needed not to change anything in my approach.

As with all memorable river sessions it all went by too fast and before i knew it the sun had come over and it was time to pack in.  It is always a killer packing in when the fish are still having it and i am sure had i fished on into the evening the fish would have come on even more and we would possibly have been looking at a very special net indeed.

The final net went 23lb 8oz! and was mainly made up of roach with the odd chublet, hybrid and 1 dace!

All in all a very special session on the river and although as i write this now terrible weather is battering at the window i can not wait to get out tomorrow morning back on the river and this time armed with more bait i pray i find the fish hungry, although in these conditions a fish might be a result.

Bridgewater Canal Fishing Session - Battles with a Tinca.....

A warm day previous saw me arriving on the canal to be met by one of the most beautiful red skies i have ever seen.  When people ask what will you miss most about fishing if you packed in tomorrow i would certainly say the special moments you experience like this when you know the world around you is asleep and there in that moment you are completely worry free and in ore of mother natures beauty.

First things first and it was as always mixing up the ground bait so by the time i had set up it was ready to be riddled.  Swim choice on the day was a bit factor for me, in the stretch there is no shortage of cover and fishy looking spots but on this session i was a man with a plan.

I walked the length till i found what i was looking for and i found it just after a boating dock.  A canal boat on the far side and the fact the canal narrowed slightly here meant i could fish a line on only a few sections of pole and be right by the boat and i could also fish another line on the 2m whip under feet.  My hopes for the session where to really be aggressive and attack the swim to see how much i could catch before the boats started up.

Over the far bank line went 3 big balls of ground bait laced with hemp and red maggot and i left this to settle while i fished the whip close in.  Feeding small balls of slop i was soon picking up roach a chuck under my feet and i would say in that first hour i picked up a steady weight of fish with the odd better roach.

The swim under my feet began to slow down, this is normal for the canal it seems, so it was time to try over my far bank line.  The float slid away straight away with a nice skimmer so i straight away went in with another big ball of ground bait.  My hope was for the better bronze bream to settle in the swim and the extra feed to keep them there.

Fishing maggot i knew i would be picking up anything that swims and it was literally a bite a chuck on the far bank line as the float slid away each time it settled.  For a canal it was fantastic fishing and thoroughly enjoyed the early exchanges.  The swim did die momentarily and with fish up in the net i am sure i was visited by a toothy visitor but never actually saw any signs.

The far bank line then again come alive and it felt like the swim had breathed a huge sigh of relief.  Steady bites continued and you can imagine my surprise when i lifted into a fish and it all went sold and then the elastic went zooming down the canal, a carp i was sure.  The fish went right into the thick week and all went solid, shipping back to my top kit i felt sure i was about to be ducking out of the way of a float and hook coming back at me but then something gave and the fish came free, it was still on!

Up and down the canal i walked trying to tire the fish out on a light elastic till eventually i managed to slip my net under a beautiful tench.  A perfect sight on a perfect morning.

The tench in the net i settled back into catching the silvers and it was good fishing till the boats revved up around 9am, one at first and you can cope with them when they come every 10 to 15 minutes one at a time but when they where coming along in threes and fours every five minutes i knew time was called.

A cracking 16lb canal net was my reward.

I think my only regret on this session was not taking corn as i think a bigger bait might have nailed more bream and maybe more tench but still 16lb in only a few hours on the cut i left a happy angler.

tight lines if you are out this weekend and stay safe,

till next time

Danny

21lb Of River Roach on Stick Float...Dream Fishing Part 2

A warm welcome to the second blog covering a Dream week off work i hope i find you all well and your nets wet.  In this second blog i will cover a weekend session fishing the river for roach and it really does go to prove the point i make time and time again on this blog and social media that the best fishing really does come in the deepest coldest days in winter.

So many times on Forums i see the comments "Was going to go today but being so cold i thought i was wasting my time"  This comment time and time again baffles me.  This time of year is by far the best time of year for fishing and it is certainly easier than in Summer.  How can it be easier than summer some would think? Well look at it this way and i use a canal for my example.  In summer you walk the canal and it is alive whith fish along its full length, fish of all species and sizes are spread far and wide along its full length.  Come winter and doing your homework you find that the fish are all packed into one area and the colder it gets the tighter they shoal in these areas.

The huge bonus here is that once you find the winter grounds, unless you get a huge change in temperature, then these fish will be here all winter.  The fish tightly shoaled and hungry due to the cold you can really bag up and when you take this idea and add it to a river scenario where the fish are even more on the feed as they are constantly swimming against the flow you will be amazed how ferocious these fish can come onto the feed.

Winter fishing is not for everyone and on the cold days i can understand how some just dont think about going fishing when they look out the window at a howling gale or a hard frost on the ground but if you are the type who thinks i dont want to go because i wont catch then just go out and try it.  You do need to do your homework to be on the fish but in most cases a walk on first light will give them away as the will always top as dawn breaks.  Winter really is the time of plenty for anglers and some amazing days fishing can be had for the price of a few pints of maggot and hemp seed.

On to one such session:

A Dream Winter Session For Roach.....

Waking up to the sound of rain tapping like an annoying alarm call on the window i knew we where in for a wet day on the bank.  A look at all the river levels and they looked to be OK but we both knew the rise was coming and would probably see the River rise during our session, not always a bad thing though as the fish can really come on the feed if they sense a rise coming.

The rain and the cloud cover that brought it had done little to increase the air temperature and it was a harsh cold that nipped at my nose as i loaded my fishing tackle into the car.  For the session i loaded my 13ft Korum Float Rod and my MAP125 Pole as i did not know what to expect when i arrived on the bank and if it was to be a session fishing a slack on a flooding river then the pole might come into play.  Walking the banks before the session the ground was saturated and slippy and the river up and slightly coloured, i was glad of my thermal boots for sure!

A good walk of the banks revealed two likely looking swims we had fished before, one with a slack on the far side and the other with a nearside slack, although at this point the main flow of the river was not too bad.   Plumbing up i found the bottom to be of an even depth but it was a deeper depression in the river bed i was trying to locate and eventually my float that was lying at dead depth sunk away revealing the line i wanted to fish.   Depth plummets are the most important piece of kit you can own for sure.

I started to run through the swim a few times before i committed to putting any bait in, looking for that snag free line, a clear trot found i began drip feeding 5-6 maggots every trot through and a few grains of hemp seed to coincide where i though my maggots where hitting the deck.  This way you feel your way into the swim, gaining an idea of how many fish are in the area.  you can then judge your feed based on what you catch and how fast.

Trickling maggots down the line and a few changes made to depth it was a good 45 minutes before my first bite and it was the tinniest of dips on the float but still a start and where there is one there is more.

I love river fishing for the mere fact you always feel like you can make something happen.  10 men round a lake and ones bagging how do you get the fish away or into your area but on a river you can slowly draw fish from no where up the river. Like a light switch going on the fish arrived and it was a bite a chuck with a bite coming every cast, only small at first but it was bites.

Not long after the bites coming on the rain arrived and it came on really heavy to the point the brolly went up.  The fishing went through the roof as the level began to go back up again.  The small fish at first although still showing where being mixed in with so solid size roach that had taken up residence right on my hemp.

It really was a bite a chuck fishing right through the session with small roach mixed in with the odd better one.  The key to bites was to hold back right on the hemp and as soon as the float righted itself again it would sail under.  Set in a rhythm of cast in, feed, hold back and then strike i almost was not even watching the float so loaded with fish was the swim.

Then came a run of bites i will never forget as a proper shoal of fish moved into the swim.  A hold back on the hemp and striking into something that felt a good stamp bigger.  Jagging from side to side in the current i knew it was a roach but i was not expecting it to be so big.  A huge slab of silver in my palm i quickly jumped of my seat box and raced to my uncles peg "jesus azz look at this!!" i shouted, it was easily a new pb roach for me.  What i did not expect was a few more to be down there and in the rest of the session i had 4 more special roach show.

The ones in the pic below went 1lb10z, 1lb8oz, 1lb,8oz and 1lb 4oz. Ant the mad thing was the fact that come the end these roach where the four biggest over a pound there was at least two more in that bracket.

As the session drew to an end i knew i had a decent net of fish.  I had been catching steady all session and some of the fish had been of a good size so i thought i had a few pound in the net.  My estimate was around the 12-15lb mark but when i come to pull my net in and lifting it i could feel the strain on my arms and net i knew i thought a little different.  On the scales the net went 21lb 11oz""

A 21lb 11oz mainly roach net i was over the moon.

My uncle had also had a fantastic day on the float with a net of 10lb of pristine roach and  nice chub

All in all a session to remember and as a stick float man it does not really get much better than this!!

A 17lb pike and a 20lb plus roach net from a river.....A truly dream weeks fishing

Danny

River Dee Fishing: Dog Roach On The Bolo and Pole

A warm welcome to this weeks update i hope i find you all well and your autumnal nets wet.  General observations this week are that summer is not going without a fight as temperatures of 26oc being still a common midday temperature which has presented a few problems in my fishing of late but more on that later in the update.  Before we move onto the main update i would just like to say a huge thank you to all the people who have taken the time to email this week either to comment on their liking of the blog or for some hints and tips on how i go about catching the fish on my blogs.  These emails are very welcome and if you have sent one this week i will do my best to get back to you ASAP but this week the email has gone made but i will get to them all.

Pondip Time and My Second Blog......

The 18th of the month for myself is fast becoming associated with a small Brown box called a Pondip Tackle Box as its the time when i come home to the box of goodies on my door mat.  There certainly is a lot of fun with these boxes and i am loving how varied the boxes are with Septembers containing items that cover all aspects of coarse fishing from pole fishing margins or commercials to night fishing a river.  This months blog was all around the contents of the box and writing about them  and as soon as i opened this months box it just screamed Autumn fishing to me either fishing into darkness for that special big fish or using a fine hook and pole float on a slow river for roach and bream it looked a fantastic little box of fishing tackle to really get out there and tackle an autumn session.   A link to my review is below.

Link to my Pondip Blog: http://blog.pondiptacklebox.com/2014/september/coarse-tackle-box-autumn/

Full Steam Ahead....

It has taken the best part of two months buying a bit her and a bit there and of course a huge bait order but this week i finally got to the stage where i now have two pike rods rigged up ready to go.  The sessions pike fishing are ones i love but not only for the fishing but the fact i get to leave my heavy seat box, clunky net bag and chunky holdall behind and just grab a landing net, my ruck sack and two made up rods and i am away for a days pike hunting.  Pike fishing and my silver fishing are so far apart in this respect but in reality they go together like cheese on toast as the sheer act of silver fishing a river attracts the pike to you,  any how i do digress it feels great to know that at any moment from now on i am only a few minutes away from finishing work to being on the road to a pike swim.

Hitting The Ground Running....

With all the pike gear set to go i am planning on hitting the ground running next week as i have booked off two days from work on the 01st of October and the 3rd October and at least one of these sessions will be dedicated to just piking with the other i am hoping to sneak in a cheeky pole session as well as sneak out a pike rod with all being well. 

These two days off work will make the start of a bumper few days as i will be fishing my normal river session on the Saturday and will finish the few days off with a session piking on a water with fellow piker Ste on the Sunday.  The weather at the moment is far from ideal, in fact for piking its diabolical, but i am hoping for us to put a few pike on the bank and as always with a few social sessions planned a some great banter a long the way to mark the start of my first full season in the pursuit of Esox Lucius.

Fail to Prepare, Prepare To Fail.....

There is a well know saying "Fail to Prepare, Prepare to Fail" and it is so true.  How many times as anglers have we fished a session and at its end said well i should have done this or got to the venue and found you have no tackle to fish the swim in front of you, this all comes down to preparation.  Over the past few months i have been reading up and trying to understand the world of the pike, how and where they feed, underwater videos of them taking baits so i know where is best to put my hooks and general tactics that other anglers have published on the Internet to how they go abut their dead baiting for pike.

I am also very fortunate that in the past year i have met three guys who are well into their pike fishing and share a mutual enthusiasm for the species and targeting them in the coming months.  It is safe to say that my piking has come on leaps and bounds in the short time i have met this group of piking pirates, from tying my own rigs to general help and tips on piking it really has seen me at a stage where i am feeling not only prepared but confident when i load up the car.

All in all from where i was last year struggling on the canal and not really knowing if what i was doing was right or wrong it feels good to be looking forward to a season knowing i am prepared as i can be,  i will go more into my terminal set up as the season progresses but for now, lets get out there and have em!!

Piking Gods Look Down On The Piking JetSetter....

As i mentioned above the rods set up it is now a quick run in the house to get changed and grab my gear and i am away for me now for my piking and this was certainly the case on Monday this week.  I knew two of the lads where out piking on a local river from first light and although the news from them i received on my break was bad in only one run and that coming off i was dying to get out and wet a line for an esox. 

I pondered my annual leave sheet in work for a few seconds before making the decision that in the year of our lord 22nd September 2014 was not going to be a day Danny spent a whole day in work and a hastily booked the afternoon off.  Eventually the clock creeped its way round to 12.30, i am sure someone makes time go slower when your looking at the clock, i was off out the doors or work and on my way home to load the car and before i knew it i was walking the bank to place my two floats alongside the four already in position. 

With 6 baits in the water spread evenly along the length of water and pike in the area was spoilt for choice as a banquet of the best sushi in the world dangled tantalisingly in their faces.  The midday temperature was 26oc and there was a few clouds in the sky but nothing that was making any difference.  A hour in and we had not had so much as a tap on any of the rods despite a few recasts so we settled down and Garry began to go through some rig making with me as i had come across one or too issues making them myself at home. 

Just about to thread the hook onto the line and Garry twitched and a urgency appeared in his eyes as out of the corner of one of them he spotted the slight movement on his left hand rod.  Another dip on the float confirmed the presence of a fishes interest before the fish fully committed and the float slid away, 1, 2, 3 and strike and his rod hooped over as he connected with a feisty fish that we all thought was a lot bigger than it was on the bank.  The fish obviously still full of life in the warm weather had energy to burn as it made run after run and continued to fight in the net and on the bank.  The pike was a welcome start to the fishing and we all gained confidence from this capture as the fish might just be going on the feed.

At this stage we were all spread along a short area, it was a bit of a social after all, but with bites not forthcoming and no activity on the floats we decided to spread out a little.  Garry was again first to reap the rewards of a move as in the space of half an hour he banked another two pike which both grabbed his baits as he was bringing them in.  Three pike in a short spell and Garry was having a good session indeed and getting a very good send off for his upcoming break with a pike of 6lb and another smaller jack pike. Great to see so many in the area.

These pike released i returned to my rods.  I placed one static on the bottom in front of a reed bed but having seen them taking a moving bait i shallowed right up on my other rod and began casting and slowly reeling in the bait.  It took a number of casts but eventually i felt a aggressive tug on the bait as a bike lunged out and grabbed the dead bait.  Letting the line go slack so the fish could take the bait for a second i watched as the float sunk away and just as i was about to set the hooks the float shit right back up in the water, dam the fish had spat the bait out!.  In hindsight maybe i should have stuck as the float was moving and not waited for it to go under but i guess that's fishing.  I cursed as i thought my chance had almost certainly gone!

In all honesty i was just about to move back down to the main group before this fish struck but the fact i knew i had a feeding fish in my swim spurred me on to stick it out.  I kept twitching the bait back with no success so i decided to shallow up and cast the bait fight tight along the reeds when the fish had struck.  When fishing shallow you are always susceptible to the bait drifting so it was only the fact i saw the float moving slowly towards the reeds that alerted me to the fact a fish was having a go at the bait and sure enough the float slid away as the pike took its dinner back to its dark lair. 

I struck and was met with one of the most energetic pike i have ever hooked, only a small jack pike, but Jesus did it fight with tail walking and head shakes galore during the fight.  The tackle you have to fish with for pike does make you the boss in these fights with small jacks but still great fun and i was glad to pick up a fish.

We stuck the session out till dark hoping for Ryan to pick a fish up and i have never seen a guy put so much effort into it, he had been fishing all day and even on last knockings he was still going strong, if ever a man deserved a fish it was Ryan on this session.  There are plenty of more sessions earmarked in the coming months together so i am sure Ryan will have his day where he catches and catches well and we all struggle, i only hope i can match his enthusiasm.  Great day out and a nice catch up with Garry and Ryan and looking forward to the sessions to come.

River Dee Dog Roach On Pole and Bolo.......Smashing Session!!!

Saturday morning and i don't think i have ever done so much preparation for a session in my life before as i set about making up pole rigs to fish a swim i knew was around 15-16ft deep.  This depth equated to the bottom of my number 5 section of my pole and a swim this deep certainly called for some heavy gear so i set up with a 3 gram float fished with a Olivette 2ft from the hook with a hook length of 1.7oz Bayer Peron.

Inspecting my pole at this point as i put it away i did notice a little tiny crack in the bottom of my number three section but it was a knock that had been there for some time so i didn't pay it too much thought and continued to pack the gear away. 

Walking the banks of the river in the dark we were both startled but a own flying low to the bank close in as it turned and a ghost like flash of white let off a terrible racket as it flew off upstream.  I settled into a swim and my uncle set up just down stream form myself, its been a while since we have fished close enough to have a natter all day so it was good to have a nice social fish.

A rare sight for regular blog readers, danny fishing a river with a pole, but i guess with the River Weaver on the card its a sight that we will be seeing a little more.

Setting up in no time at all i was feeding the swim and running a float through in no time at all and it wasn't long before i got my first bite on the pole which saw me land this nice little roach, i always take a picture of the first fish of the session as i know one day it will be the only fish of the update.

The next few put in saw similar small roach and perch but after that i connected with the first fish of the standard i had hoped for in a fin perfect roach that must have been up around the 1lb mark it was a stonking roach.  In fact this first roach marked the start of a precession of 3 roach that all came on the pole rig and i was excited for a good, if not exceptional, session ahead.

The next bites after the three nice roach saw some smaller roach come to the pole rig.  I was fishing away over the moon with me really getting to grips with a new method and i was delighted that my plan to eradicate the missed bites you get striking upwards on the bolo was coming into fruition.  Fishing 67 sections of pole i was comfortably fishing just over the ledge and to land fish it was simply an act of removing one section of pole and it was then fish to hand unless the net was needed.

Sadly whilst striking a bite i heard an almighty crack and upon inspecting my top two section i noticed a split right up the blank, that little crack was not a big crack and this certainly marked the end of the session on the pole as this was the only top kit i had packed, gutted was not the word.  At the time i was more upset at the fact i knew i was doing well and was on for a nice weight of roach had it continued, of course later on you are upset at the financial loss.

I took a second to lick my wounds before setting about making up my 17ft trotting rod, set up wise it was the same weight bolo float just moved over on to running line.   Moving over to the rod and fishing so deep does have its problems both with presentation and also with the line wrapping around the tip all the time, both very frustrating.  It took a while to get the bites going again as i struggled with accuracy of the line i was trotting.  Eventually my persistence was rewarded as i began to again pick up some nice roach.  In fact once i got to grips with the swim and putting the float through i caught some cracking roach steadily for the next few hours with palm sized roach coming between a few smaller roach.  A few are below and looking at the pics i think a few could be mixed with chub.

From 12 noon till around 2 pm the swim completely died of death as the roach just seemed to do a disappearing act.  It has been a while since we have been on a river where pike trouble is a regular occurrence and as such i spent a long time thinking i was doing something wrong rather that having my mind homed into the fact there was a pike in the swim.  It all clicked when right down the swim i connected with a small fish that suddenly went really heavy.  I had the fish on for a while and in typical pike fashion the jack spewed the bait at the last minute.  What a mess even a jack makes.

I knew in the back of my head this pike had no clue it was being fished for so i quickly reached for the pike rod and presented a bait at 12ft as to miss the snags.  It did not take long for the float to bob away and i knew from the erratic bobbing and the fact the float would not go under i had a small jack at the bait, i struck, but again the fish was too small to turn the bait as it had clamped across the fish and just spat it out, very frustrating.

After this fish come off i moved back onto the bolo and it must have been this fish that was putting the fish off as over the last hour i picked up a few more nice roach.

There really is not enough space to post all the separate roach i caught that i took pictures of and there was a few i did not photograph and it really was one of those sessions you look back on when you write your blog and think that was some session.  I put a little video of all the fish i took a photo of on the little slide show below.

My final net went just under 14lb.  I have had some of the best fishing of my life on this river and some nets of dace that i could only dream if years ago but as i took a second to look at this net of roach i knew i had just had a special session, i was on cloud nine.

My uncle just upstream also had got into the roach but had also connected with a nice shoal of dace as well and this will certainly be an area we visit again.

till next time thank you for reading,

tight lines

Danny

Red-fins arrive to give the season a decent send off

In the last few weeks I was contacted via email by a fellow blogger who was contacting me for help in locating a specimen sized dace of over 10oz in weight and asked if I would help him in his quest.  I gladly obliged and gave as much information as I could and agreed to meet up on the banks of the Dee at the weekend.  The person in question writes his own angling blog and what a very good blog it is as well and you can find it here: www.warksavon.blogspot.com

I was, as to be expected, very apprehensive about meeting someone I had only talked to over an email on the banks of the river but in the dim light of Saturday morning all those fears went away as I spoke to him about the best pegs for him to try and catch his chosen quarry.  Through out the day I had a few chats with him and what a top bloke he was, very knowledgeable and dedicated to his fishing and I look forward to spending a few days next year on the bank, hopefully when the fish are “having it” and not all up in the water like they where on Saturday, nether the less we almost got to his target with a few fish requiring the weigh bag but alas it wasn’t to be but the most important thing was he enjoyed his trip to the river Dee and vowed to return for that monster dace and all that remains for me to say is good luck with those perch mate!!.

On to this weeks fishing

 This weekend on the bank was as mild as the week leading up to it had been with very little rainfall and really high temperatures for this time of year which nature took no time at all in taking advantage of with daffodils standing proud and the buds on the trees looking ready to burst at any moment it defiantly had the feeling that spring was certainly already here.  The fish of course, who never miss a trick, where all up in the water gorging themselves on a hatch of insects that where being transported down to them in the current.

The sign of fish topping all over the place would usually fill you with confidence for the day ahead but for me it signalled a hard day ahead, ideally you want the fish hard on the bottom taking your loose feed as it reaches them naturally on the current and in theory when you bait arrives trundling along the bottom it looks natural to the fish.  This makes catching them so much easier and reduces the missed bites you get fishing shallow for them.  The fish up in the water in such numbers means this bait is intercepted well before its gets down to your baited area and results in a difficult day on the bank.

Saturday for the main part was tough with fish coming in fits and spurts and not of any real quality to warrant a picture to be taken and this lack of activity and quality was mirrored all around with a number of anglers concluding it was very tough.  It was during one of these barren spells I noticed some predator activity with pike or perch crashing into dace on the surface and chasing them causing some violent bow waves on the top.

I decided to try my arm for a pike as they where obviously active and feeding and introduced a small bait up in the water and was prepared for some instant action what in all honestly was not forthcoming and it was a good hour before the pike float submerged violently I was connected with a small jack of around 5lb that looked to have been feeding well.

A days trotting on the river is a very active and fast paced way of fishing and a lot of the creatures you see through out a day on the river you see but very rarely have the time to capture them on camera, Saturday was slightly different as with a pike bait fishing away I managed to befriend a local bird which took a great liking to the white maggots I threw in its direction, its confidence gained slowly through out the day as he greedily returned for more and more and it was great to help this little guy out who obviously had a mate on a nest somewhere has he often scurried away with a beak full of wrigglers.

Around noon the predicted high tide began to hit and the river began to rise steadily causing a few anglers to be caught short with one angler on the far bank hastily throwing his landing net and gear up the bank to a chorus of unmentionable swear words.  This high tide caused the river to really back up on itself and all bite completely died off as the float refused to trot at all and in some cases flowed back on its self which sometimes can get you a few bites but not on the day.

The day wined on and around 3pm both my uncle and me had a look over to each other and the prospect of packing up and calling it a day was etched on both our faces and almost like a light switch had been turned on our floats began to trundle down stream and we both simultaneously connected with quality roach and this continued for the next hour of so with roach after roach coming to the net and we gave the Dee gave up both a great send off to the season leaving us packing away already itching to get back on her banks.

uncles net:

my net:

We both chatted away about the coming months away form he river and discussed potential venues we would like to try and what we both want to achieve before the river open again. I detailed my ambitious plan last week and hope to make a start on one of those challenges this weekend when I plan to revisit Flushing meadows for the first time this year, weather permitting of course.

Till next time

Tight lines

Danny