Roach and Crecian carp on the float
Showing posts with label roach. Show all posts
Showing posts with label roach. Show all posts
Tuesday, 8 May 2018
Woodfide Pool Lymm Anglers: Roach and Crucian Carp on Float
A session on woodside pool on the lymm anglers card, my first session on here learning this new water.
Roach and Crecian carp on the float
Roach and Crecian carp on the float
Tuesday, 9 January 2018
2018 A New Start...Winter Pond Fishing For Silvers...
A warm welcome to this weeks angling blog i hope i find you all well and your nets wet, wow its been too long since i wrote that line! Just over a year ago i made the huge step of beginning to document my adventures in video format on Youtube and when i did i never imagined that one i would enjoy creating the content this way so much and two that this page would continue to be so popular given the lack on content.
Over the past year i have had loads of emails asking if the written blog would be making a come back as they enjoyed the weekly blog. All through last year i tried and tired to put blogs together but lack of time to do so and also a lack of inspiration, the words just would not come if you get me. Over the new year a spark lit with me and this sudden urge to get back blogging kicked in, so here we are the first full week of the new year with a blank canvass so lets get this show back on the road.
Changes -
These really come down to yourselves the readers and you getting your thoughts out there on social media and in the comments section below as to what you like and what you dont like about the blog. In the past it has had many identities and themes from me answering questions i receive in to me posting my thoughts on things i see in angling, rants and all, before getting into the main part of the blog the fishing.
As a content creator if none are forthcoming then i am thinking of the blog being more like a written diary, just the fishing sessions in written form trying to capture the sessions that i fish, the sights and the scene and the session as a whole. Either way i want it to be something that you yourselves want to read so let me know please.
So lets get straight into it:-
Friday morning and with the incessant rain still tapping irritatingly at the window of the living room i sat, feet up, watching yet another repeat of Home Alone on the box. A great film no doubt but after a long Christmas period rocking around the Christmas Tree has just lost its appeal and truth be told the sound of rain incessantly falling had me feeling more like banging my head against the Tree than dancing round it.
Cabin fever well and truly set in i just had to get out and wet a line the next day so plans with my uncle where made and we made one promise, we would find somewhere to wet a line.
Saturday morning and a clear crisp morning met me as a loaded up the car for another adventure. The rain had meant silver fishing really had taken a back seat of late as the ease and versatility of conditions you can pike fish in had seen me targetting these camouflaged predators more often than not, it meant me delving right to the back of the fishing room for my box and drennan acolyte rod.
Our journey to the river my heart sank as we passed all the local ditches and run offs that where grey and carrying plenty of road run off. I knew then the river we where travelling too would also be "on the edge". You can look at the charts on the rivers all you want but the simple equation is, if the side streams and upper reaches are a mess then the main river is also going to be similar.
Arriving at the river as day light broke we could see straight away the over night rain had really come into the system in a big way, no way would we be float fishing today. A quick chat and a video of said waterway done for the blog we decided to drop back on a small pond. When picking winter venues to fish its never easy but one thing i would say is always looks for one with some depth and as small as possible. Simple physics then mean fishing the deepest but you are not too far away from any fish.
The pond surrounded by by old trees their forks bare from their summer foliage and the pond now also free from the chocking summer weed had a black tinge to its crystal clear depths. A tough day was in order for sure with such clear conditions but i set my sights on 10 to 20 fish. A solitary fishing topping right in the middle of the pool sparked some excitement as it meant the fish where at least on the move.
Tackle for the session was my 14ft Drennan Acolyte coupled with a shimano Techium reel loaded with 4lb drennan float fish line. A simple waggler was attached via a float rubber to the line and this all lead down to a 1.7lb Bayer Perlon hooklength and a size 18 micro barbed hook. The shotting pattern was strung out number 8 shots.
My bait choice was simple in the form of around a pint and half of white maggots that i planned to drip feed the swim with. The swim in front of me was like any pond, shallow margins dropping into a deep bowl, i plumbed up at rod tip just where the bowl levelled out and spent a good amount of time making sure the float was shotted down as much as i could to register even the faintest of bites.
The first cast and the float settled nicely with just the bristle breaking the glass surface of the pond. More fish began to top around the pool but my float remained stagnant in its position. I kept feeding the swim with two to three maggots and on every few feeds recast in the hope the fish where intercepting the feed on the drop.
Eventually the first bite came in the form of a small roach and despite the air being quite comfortable the roach stung my palms as it graced them such was the harsh coldness of the fish, bitter! I knew there and then bites would be at a premium and feeding had to be careful as these fish, although feeding, would not need much to be overfed.
It took around half an hour for the first bite but then like the kingfisher that past me so came a flurry of bites as the first fish was followed by two more. Many who will have watched the videos on youtube will see my thoughts on feeding and with a few bites like that it is easy to think they are having it but you have to be restrained and not go mad and over feed so i continued to drip feed the swim with 2-3 maggots at a time.
By midday a pattern had shown in the fish would move in, you would catch one or two and then would follow a period of quiet before their return, i was happy with this on the day as a good bit of banter was had with my uncle during the lean spells, i would say by midday i had around 10 plump roach like the one below in the net.
Into the afternoon and the swim completely died for a good hour and all signs of fish in the pool seemed to cease as an eerie silence came over the pool the birds seemed to have lost their voices and even dying reeds to my right ceased their whistle as the wind dropped. A solemn calm in a world crammed with impatient people clambering to get their mundane tasks completed, a moment of utter peace and tranquillity in the middle of an urban landscape, a world few of these people who partake in this modern rat race stop to even acknowledge.
The calmness was broken when my float slid away and likes its action the whole swim descended, into chaos that is, as the drennan acolyte bent smoothly into a better fish. The camera grabbed to capture this moment on film it was utter shock when up through the clear depths came the olive green flanks of a tench!!, The camera went down and all that mattered was sliding this fish into the waiting net. A winter Tinka a real surprise given the cold conditions.
The tench was a real surprise on such a cold day and i guess goes to show that these species do not just sit there dormant all winter till spring comes, a nice addition to the days sport. The disturbance of this fish did kill the swim for a bit but eventually a few roach moved back in but in reality it was not until the sun sank down onto the horizon and its oily watery winter gaze jeweled through the trees that a few better roach started to top and out of the blue right on last knocking a real beauty of a roach made an appearance,
The roach was a fitting end to a nice day on the bank with my uncle and hopefully the net below goes to show that you dont need 20lb nets of roach to have a good day on the bank, a few bites with a mate can lead to some of the best and most memorable days on the bank. A special session on a special water, see you in spring.
Till next time
tight lines
Danny
You can watch a video of the session on the blogs youtube channel on this link below
Over the past year i have had loads of emails asking if the written blog would be making a come back as they enjoyed the weekly blog. All through last year i tried and tired to put blogs together but lack of time to do so and also a lack of inspiration, the words just would not come if you get me. Over the new year a spark lit with me and this sudden urge to get back blogging kicked in, so here we are the first full week of the new year with a blank canvass so lets get this show back on the road.
Changes -
These really come down to yourselves the readers and you getting your thoughts out there on social media and in the comments section below as to what you like and what you dont like about the blog. In the past it has had many identities and themes from me answering questions i receive in to me posting my thoughts on things i see in angling, rants and all, before getting into the main part of the blog the fishing.
As a content creator if none are forthcoming then i am thinking of the blog being more like a written diary, just the fishing sessions in written form trying to capture the sessions that i fish, the sights and the scene and the session as a whole. Either way i want it to be something that you yourselves want to read so let me know please.
So lets get straight into it:-
Winter Pond Silvers on The Waggler...
Friday morning and with the incessant rain still tapping irritatingly at the window of the living room i sat, feet up, watching yet another repeat of Home Alone on the box. A great film no doubt but after a long Christmas period rocking around the Christmas Tree has just lost its appeal and truth be told the sound of rain incessantly falling had me feeling more like banging my head against the Tree than dancing round it.
Cabin fever well and truly set in i just had to get out and wet a line the next day so plans with my uncle where made and we made one promise, we would find somewhere to wet a line.
Saturday morning and a clear crisp morning met me as a loaded up the car for another adventure. The rain had meant silver fishing really had taken a back seat of late as the ease and versatility of conditions you can pike fish in had seen me targetting these camouflaged predators more often than not, it meant me delving right to the back of the fishing room for my box and drennan acolyte rod.
Our journey to the river my heart sank as we passed all the local ditches and run offs that where grey and carrying plenty of road run off. I knew then the river we where travelling too would also be "on the edge". You can look at the charts on the rivers all you want but the simple equation is, if the side streams and upper reaches are a mess then the main river is also going to be similar.
Arriving at the river as day light broke we could see straight away the over night rain had really come into the system in a big way, no way would we be float fishing today. A quick chat and a video of said waterway done for the blog we decided to drop back on a small pond. When picking winter venues to fish its never easy but one thing i would say is always looks for one with some depth and as small as possible. Simple physics then mean fishing the deepest but you are not too far away from any fish.
The pond surrounded by by old trees their forks bare from their summer foliage and the pond now also free from the chocking summer weed had a black tinge to its crystal clear depths. A tough day was in order for sure with such clear conditions but i set my sights on 10 to 20 fish. A solitary fishing topping right in the middle of the pool sparked some excitement as it meant the fish where at least on the move.
Tackle for the session was my 14ft Drennan Acolyte coupled with a shimano Techium reel loaded with 4lb drennan float fish line. A simple waggler was attached via a float rubber to the line and this all lead down to a 1.7lb Bayer Perlon hooklength and a size 18 micro barbed hook. The shotting pattern was strung out number 8 shots.
My bait choice was simple in the form of around a pint and half of white maggots that i planned to drip feed the swim with. The swim in front of me was like any pond, shallow margins dropping into a deep bowl, i plumbed up at rod tip just where the bowl levelled out and spent a good amount of time making sure the float was shotted down as much as i could to register even the faintest of bites.
The first cast and the float settled nicely with just the bristle breaking the glass surface of the pond. More fish began to top around the pool but my float remained stagnant in its position. I kept feeding the swim with two to three maggots and on every few feeds recast in the hope the fish where intercepting the feed on the drop.
Eventually the first bite came in the form of a small roach and despite the air being quite comfortable the roach stung my palms as it graced them such was the harsh coldness of the fish, bitter! I knew there and then bites would be at a premium and feeding had to be careful as these fish, although feeding, would not need much to be overfed.
It took around half an hour for the first bite but then like the kingfisher that past me so came a flurry of bites as the first fish was followed by two more. Many who will have watched the videos on youtube will see my thoughts on feeding and with a few bites like that it is easy to think they are having it but you have to be restrained and not go mad and over feed so i continued to drip feed the swim with 2-3 maggots at a time.
By midday a pattern had shown in the fish would move in, you would catch one or two and then would follow a period of quiet before their return, i was happy with this on the day as a good bit of banter was had with my uncle during the lean spells, i would say by midday i had around 10 plump roach like the one below in the net.
Into the afternoon and the swim completely died for a good hour and all signs of fish in the pool seemed to cease as an eerie silence came over the pool the birds seemed to have lost their voices and even dying reeds to my right ceased their whistle as the wind dropped. A solemn calm in a world crammed with impatient people clambering to get their mundane tasks completed, a moment of utter peace and tranquillity in the middle of an urban landscape, a world few of these people who partake in this modern rat race stop to even acknowledge.
The calmness was broken when my float slid away and likes its action the whole swim descended, into chaos that is, as the drennan acolyte bent smoothly into a better fish. The camera grabbed to capture this moment on film it was utter shock when up through the clear depths came the olive green flanks of a tench!!, The camera went down and all that mattered was sliding this fish into the waiting net. A winter Tinka a real surprise given the cold conditions.
The tench was a real surprise on such a cold day and i guess goes to show that these species do not just sit there dormant all winter till spring comes, a nice addition to the days sport. The disturbance of this fish did kill the swim for a bit but eventually a few roach moved back in but in reality it was not until the sun sank down onto the horizon and its oily watery winter gaze jeweled through the trees that a few better roach started to top and out of the blue right on last knocking a real beauty of a roach made an appearance,
The roach was a fitting end to a nice day on the bank with my uncle and hopefully the net below goes to show that you dont need 20lb nets of roach to have a good day on the bank, a few bites with a mate can lead to some of the best and most memorable days on the bank. A special session on a special water, see you in spring.
Till next time
tight lines
Danny
You can watch a video of the session on the blogs youtube channel on this link below
Wednesday, 22 March 2017
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.
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.
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
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
Thursday, 2 February 2017
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.
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
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..
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"
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
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
Sunday, 11 December 2016
Do Seasons Still Exist? And A Stolen Few Hours For Silvers...
A warm welcome to this weeks blog update i hope i find you all well and your nets wet. Life is slowly getting back to some type of normality with me getting back in work and although there a huge loose ends to tie up there the schedule of 9 to 5 working life is setting back in. The fishing blog side of things has never been as time consuming as it is now with the written main weekly blog, pike written diary and also the youtube videos arm of the blog now gaining momentum, its great fun to put it all together and really enjoying the video logs but i think next season the piking may have to reside in youtube only format or as part of the weekly written blogs with maybe the videos i do put together linked into the weekly main updates.
We will have to assess that come next year but for now lets get into the update.....
Do Seasons Still Exists..
Now i am nto for one second suggesting here that the 4 seasons we know and love are not there as we quite clearly have summer, autumn, winter and spring, what i am questioning is if those seasons still hold the same identity we assosiate with them. For example we always link summer with hot temperatures and clear blue skies and for the past few years we have had what seems abut a 2 week period of what we would call a summer period of hot weather but we have also had deluges of rain.
Rivers in summer have been in full blown flood the last two summers as a result of pure heavy downfall. Last week i recorded my first silver fishing video for the blogs youtube channel and it was done so in minus 2 degree temperatures, we forward to this weeks session and yesterday myself and my uncle where say with no thermals on at all in barmy 12 degree heat.....in DECEMBER!
Even today while i was doing a spot of piking in 11 degree heat all around be i noticed buds appearing on the trees, of course nature knows nothing of our calendar seasons so naturally they think its coming into spring. I really do think the defining weather within our seasons is changing and long gone are the days of winter being a prolonged period of cold weather as we will now be looking at mixed weather seasons with severe fluctuations in temperature.
From my fishing point of view i just wish it would settle into a steady 1 or 2 degrees, odd frost here and there and then the fish will move into their winter haunts like they have now but will stay there.
Blog Media Pack...
Safe to say this week the blog took a step and dipped its toes into a serious world of companies. Over the years i have always been contacted by companies with regard product reviews and other affiliate items. Normally a few emails and all i sorted and ironed out with regards expectations. This week a company asked for my "media pack", i was like "A whats??". Long story short its a A4 piece of paper all about me and the blog.
So we are not very official and have our own "media pack".....it all sounds too much like blue peter to me when the presenters harped on about press packer packs....never got one of them either, not even a blue peter badge!
Youtube Blog Update...
So this week the first ever silver fishing video went live on the channel, to this point it had just been pike fishing, i have to say i was a little apprehensive as i didn't think the silver fishing would be a popular choice to do over the pike fishing but i was in for a surprise. The silver video is well on its way to being the channels most popular video and im over the moon as it means i can cover all aspects of my fishing with confidence.
Check out the silver fishing here:
With regards the channel itself it is really doing well and well beyond my expectations. As of writing the blog it is on 89 subscribers so only a few to go till we reach 100 subs. As with all aspects of the blog i have no problem in letting the page grow slowly preferring a 100 people to like it because they like the content rather than 300 liking it to win a beanie!
Check out the video and if you like please subscribe..
On to the fishing..
A few Stolen Hours For Silvers...
Writing this i feel i should change the title to be more festive and call it a few Stollen hours but i fear some would not get it and the spelling police would be all over me. I do digress, this session was around a week before the silvers video above. Coming out of a period of heavy rain we had blanked big time on the weekend session and it really was not a surprise with the rivers all over in full flood which saw us trying our luck and failing on the upper reaches of the river. We had hoped this would be the first place the colour would drop but in reality we where on there right on the rise and beginning of the fall.
A few days later and the river was still carrying colour but she had lost her pace and a few feet in depth and looked bang on for some bites. A simple 6 number 4 stick float down to a hook length of 2lb kamasan perlon line and a size 18 hook. Bait for the day as always red maggot and hemp.
I literally only had around 3 or 4 hours for this session and setting up i did not really know if the river was right for the fish to feed. This section always does well with colour but i knew a few days earlier we did not get a bit in 8 hours fishing. All set up it was time make the first cast and down the swim my float trundled. Half way down i clipped bottom so a slight adjustment to the float was needed and back to it. It took a while for the first bite and i did get a little worried but right at the end of the swim i struck into a tiny roach.
I kept the bait going in and this one tiny roach told me i could catch well. Most would say how do you know from one tiny roach but? In my thinking if one small roach can see my bait then others can and these fish are never alone so i knew it was only time till the next fish.
With this better stamp or roach coming i knew it was going to be a decent session on the bank. I steadily fed hemp and maggot into the swim and bites where soon coming regular and the bites that where right at the end of the run where soon mid way up on my hemp, where i wanted them.
The swim then died and the fish moved instantly right back to the bottom of the swim, i knew it was not pike as it would have nailed one of the small roach coming through the swim. A hard hold back on the hemp revealed the culprit, a nice chub had muscled in the swim.
As the session went on this would repeat its self a few times, Small roach and then it would die and a better roach or chublet would come, all a dream to catch on my drennan acolyte plus rod, i love this rod to bits what a piece of kit and a joy to use.
The final net was one that recharged my batteries for the week ahead and took away the blues form that hard blank earlier on in the week.
well thats another update to the blog rounded off,
till next time i wish you all
tight lines
Danny.
We will have to assess that come next year but for now lets get into the update.....
Do Seasons Still Exists..
Now i am nto for one second suggesting here that the 4 seasons we know and love are not there as we quite clearly have summer, autumn, winter and spring, what i am questioning is if those seasons still hold the same identity we assosiate with them. For example we always link summer with hot temperatures and clear blue skies and for the past few years we have had what seems abut a 2 week period of what we would call a summer period of hot weather but we have also had deluges of rain.
Rivers in summer have been in full blown flood the last two summers as a result of pure heavy downfall. Last week i recorded my first silver fishing video for the blogs youtube channel and it was done so in minus 2 degree temperatures, we forward to this weeks session and yesterday myself and my uncle where say with no thermals on at all in barmy 12 degree heat.....in DECEMBER!
Even today while i was doing a spot of piking in 11 degree heat all around be i noticed buds appearing on the trees, of course nature knows nothing of our calendar seasons so naturally they think its coming into spring. I really do think the defining weather within our seasons is changing and long gone are the days of winter being a prolonged period of cold weather as we will now be looking at mixed weather seasons with severe fluctuations in temperature.
From my fishing point of view i just wish it would settle into a steady 1 or 2 degrees, odd frost here and there and then the fish will move into their winter haunts like they have now but will stay there.
Blog Media Pack...
Safe to say this week the blog took a step and dipped its toes into a serious world of companies. Over the years i have always been contacted by companies with regard product reviews and other affiliate items. Normally a few emails and all i sorted and ironed out with regards expectations. This week a company asked for my "media pack", i was like "A whats??". Long story short its a A4 piece of paper all about me and the blog.
So we are not very official and have our own "media pack".....it all sounds too much like blue peter to me when the presenters harped on about press packer packs....never got one of them either, not even a blue peter badge!
Youtube Blog Update...
So this week the first ever silver fishing video went live on the channel, to this point it had just been pike fishing, i have to say i was a little apprehensive as i didn't think the silver fishing would be a popular choice to do over the pike fishing but i was in for a surprise. The silver video is well on its way to being the channels most popular video and im over the moon as it means i can cover all aspects of my fishing with confidence.
Check out the silver fishing here:
With regards the channel itself it is really doing well and well beyond my expectations. As of writing the blog it is on 89 subscribers so only a few to go till we reach 100 subs. As with all aspects of the blog i have no problem in letting the page grow slowly preferring a 100 people to like it because they like the content rather than 300 liking it to win a beanie!
Check out the video and if you like please subscribe..
On to the fishing..
A few Stolen Hours For Silvers...
Writing this i feel i should change the title to be more festive and call it a few Stollen hours but i fear some would not get it and the spelling police would be all over me. I do digress, this session was around a week before the silvers video above. Coming out of a period of heavy rain we had blanked big time on the weekend session and it really was not a surprise with the rivers all over in full flood which saw us trying our luck and failing on the upper reaches of the river. We had hoped this would be the first place the colour would drop but in reality we where on there right on the rise and beginning of the fall.
A few days later and the river was still carrying colour but she had lost her pace and a few feet in depth and looked bang on for some bites. A simple 6 number 4 stick float down to a hook length of 2lb kamasan perlon line and a size 18 hook. Bait for the day as always red maggot and hemp.
I literally only had around 3 or 4 hours for this session and setting up i did not really know if the river was right for the fish to feed. This section always does well with colour but i knew a few days earlier we did not get a bit in 8 hours fishing. All set up it was time make the first cast and down the swim my float trundled. Half way down i clipped bottom so a slight adjustment to the float was needed and back to it. It took a while for the first bite and i did get a little worried but right at the end of the swim i struck into a tiny roach.
I kept the bait going in and this one tiny roach told me i could catch well. Most would say how do you know from one tiny roach but? In my thinking if one small roach can see my bait then others can and these fish are never alone so i knew it was only time till the next fish.
With this better stamp or roach coming i knew it was going to be a decent session on the bank. I steadily fed hemp and maggot into the swim and bites where soon coming regular and the bites that where right at the end of the run where soon mid way up on my hemp, where i wanted them.
The swim then died and the fish moved instantly right back to the bottom of the swim, i knew it was not pike as it would have nailed one of the small roach coming through the swim. A hard hold back on the hemp revealed the culprit, a nice chub had muscled in the swim.
As the session went on this would repeat its self a few times, Small roach and then it would die and a better roach or chublet would come, all a dream to catch on my drennan acolyte plus rod, i love this rod to bits what a piece of kit and a joy to use.
The final net was one that recharged my batteries for the week ahead and took away the blues form that hard blank earlier on in the week.
well thats another update to the blog rounded off,
till next time i wish you all
tight lines
Danny.
Wednesday, 26 October 2016
New Blog Supporter....Welcome Fishing.TV
A warm welcome to this weeks blog update i hope i find you all well and your nets wet. We will get straight into the blog update this week as there is quite a bit i want to cover. There is some fishing at the end of this update but it is more of an update about a blog supporter and myself than the fishing this week.
On to the Update...
Welcome Fishing.TV
Some of you may have noticed new advertisements on the side panel of the blog and i am really pleased to announce that as of a week or two ago Fishing.Tv is now officially a supporter of Dannys Angling Blog.
Fishing.TV offers a wide selection of fishing based programmes that can be rented out for a set period of time. You purchase coins from the site and each programme costs you a certain amount of coins to rent. I have been playing around with this over the past few weeks and i have found it to be really enjoyable.
The best feature for me has been the fact that the company not only has a website but also has backed this up with Apps on your phone. This meant that if i was on the laptop i could watch content on there but also if i had a spare bit of time of an evening or even on my dinner break in work i could quickly get my angling fix at the touch of a button.
The content they offer is amazing quality, being available in HD, and the content on offer i found very varied covering Match, Fly, Carp and Predator fishing, with match and predator obviously grabbing my attention. The content available on there looks to be very varied within the Genre and the programmes i rented where both as informative as they where action based.
Check out their website for yourself using any of the links on the blogs side bars.
Hows the Vlogging???
I have to say i was very very apprehensive when i set up the blogs Youtube channel. In general i am quite a shy person and although come out of my shell when i know people well it does take me time and as such was very unsure about even doing this venture at all.
So there are around four or five videos on the blogs youtube channel now and i have to say i have loved every minute of it so far. All things start of small, i love that, as you can see the development of yourself and your content over time. Even early on now the videos have gone from around 3 minutes long to one of the upcoming ones touching 10 minutes.
The actual recording of the blogs is quite addictive if i Am honest and i am slowly learning little tricks to speed up the editing of the blog as well. There has also been plenty of positive feedback in the comments section and on websites around areas i can improve them and slowly and surely they have been Incorporated into the blogs. The main additions being the addition of music, less talking on the intro and more information on how i catch the fish.
The content so far has all been pike based buit i can see next spring and summer carp trips and trips to the river and canal also getting a look in.
Please take a second to subscribe to the channel here:
Dannys Angling Blog Social Media......
The social media side of the blog has really grown over the past year and depending on what format you are on you can keep up with the blog on all formats on line now. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Youtube are all formats now where content is posted on a regular basis.
All can be found on the following links:
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCogqlnE3gK_Re7vdU5bv8sw
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/DannysAnglingBlog/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/satonmyperch
On to the Fishing...
Cold Snaps Produce Mixed Results...
When a venue gets under your skin it can be very hard to motivate yourself to go other haunts you have been and fished before. We again headed for the venue we have fished the passed few weeks and the hope was that the cold snaps would condense the shoals and also bring them hard on the feed.
A change of venue or scenery was needed but also was the urge to suss this new venue out remembering once it was sussed it would form part of our venue choices from season to season. This blog is a living document for anyone in the world to see but it also acts as a detailed diary for myself to look back on and look where we did well and where we did bad in years gone by.
The leaves all around now are a array of coppers, browns, dark greens and amber's as the trees all begin to shed their summer blankets. We are well into the change now form summer into winter and for me this is the time i get excited and as the days get colder i wake up happy at that nip on my feet as i walk on the kitchen floor. All around people wrapped up in thick coats and the odd scarf, all add that little bit of cheer to the ordinary commute to work for me. My wait now is for that first morning when that first hard frost of the year nips hard at my nose as i open the front door.
Arriving at the venue it was bitterly cold and from the look all around it was not getting much warmer. The sun rising over our shoulders did little to warm the air where we sat beneath a thick blanket of trees. The skee tex thermal boots where a necessity on this session and come the end i was glad of their warm company.
Its safe to say that you look back on sessions and sometimes you can pin point your error and i think on this one i made it very very early on. Having fished the area heavily over the passed few weeks i again mixed up a good amount of ground bait with the usual addition of mole hill soil. In went 5 balls on the line and i have to admit at the time i expected to go straight over the bait and catch.
I did this quite well and in no time i was getting steady bites from roach that occasionally where of a nice stamp.
As normal i continued to feed with the swim with maggot and back this up with a ball of ground bait every 15 minutes. The bites continued and i continued to feed for that first hour and then the swim died and i could not get a bite. We had seen no activity in all the trips from pike on here so i ruled this on out quickly but thinking better fish had moved in i continued to feed the swim.
The swim declined then and for a good few hours it was a case of a odd fish here and a odd fish there but there was no consistency to it. I stopped feeding the ground bait and going to a completely opposite stance i started up a new swim and fed it lightly with just pinkies.
This change to a completely negative approach worked a treat and i began picking up some nice fish on double pinkies.
I dont think i would have got away with this as i did had i not been fishing in such a depth of water. The last two hours of the session till 3pm we both picked up some fish and it seemed as the day went on the bites came on better. It got us thinking that maybe this place is worth trying into dark on an afternoon session.
The final net showed how sport had been hard to come by on the day with our joint net going around the 20lb mark when on previous weeks the individual nets had been around that mark.
till next week i wish you all
tight lines
danny
On to the Update...
Welcome Fishing.TV
Some of you may have noticed new advertisements on the side panel of the blog and i am really pleased to announce that as of a week or two ago Fishing.Tv is now officially a supporter of Dannys Angling Blog.
Fishing.TV offers a wide selection of fishing based programmes that can be rented out for a set period of time. You purchase coins from the site and each programme costs you a certain amount of coins to rent. I have been playing around with this over the past few weeks and i have found it to be really enjoyable.
The best feature for me has been the fact that the company not only has a website but also has backed this up with Apps on your phone. This meant that if i was on the laptop i could watch content on there but also if i had a spare bit of time of an evening or even on my dinner break in work i could quickly get my angling fix at the touch of a button.
The content they offer is amazing quality, being available in HD, and the content on offer i found very varied covering Match, Fly, Carp and Predator fishing, with match and predator obviously grabbing my attention. The content available on there looks to be very varied within the Genre and the programmes i rented where both as informative as they where action based.
Check out their website for yourself using any of the links on the blogs side bars.
Hows the Vlogging???
I have to say i was very very apprehensive when i set up the blogs Youtube channel. In general i am quite a shy person and although come out of my shell when i know people well it does take me time and as such was very unsure about even doing this venture at all.
So there are around four or five videos on the blogs youtube channel now and i have to say i have loved every minute of it so far. All things start of small, i love that, as you can see the development of yourself and your content over time. Even early on now the videos have gone from around 3 minutes long to one of the upcoming ones touching 10 minutes.
The actual recording of the blogs is quite addictive if i Am honest and i am slowly learning little tricks to speed up the editing of the blog as well. There has also been plenty of positive feedback in the comments section and on websites around areas i can improve them and slowly and surely they have been Incorporated into the blogs. The main additions being the addition of music, less talking on the intro and more information on how i catch the fish.
The content so far has all been pike based buit i can see next spring and summer carp trips and trips to the river and canal also getting a look in.
Please take a second to subscribe to the channel here:
Dannys Angling Blog Social Media......
The social media side of the blog has really grown over the past year and depending on what format you are on you can keep up with the blog on all formats on line now. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Youtube are all formats now where content is posted on a regular basis.
All can be found on the following links:
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCogqlnE3gK_Re7vdU5bv8sw
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/DannysAnglingBlog/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/satonmyperch
On to the Fishing...
Cold Snaps Produce Mixed Results...
When a venue gets under your skin it can be very hard to motivate yourself to go other haunts you have been and fished before. We again headed for the venue we have fished the passed few weeks and the hope was that the cold snaps would condense the shoals and also bring them hard on the feed.
A change of venue or scenery was needed but also was the urge to suss this new venue out remembering once it was sussed it would form part of our venue choices from season to season. This blog is a living document for anyone in the world to see but it also acts as a detailed diary for myself to look back on and look where we did well and where we did bad in years gone by.
The leaves all around now are a array of coppers, browns, dark greens and amber's as the trees all begin to shed their summer blankets. We are well into the change now form summer into winter and for me this is the time i get excited and as the days get colder i wake up happy at that nip on my feet as i walk on the kitchen floor. All around people wrapped up in thick coats and the odd scarf, all add that little bit of cheer to the ordinary commute to work for me. My wait now is for that first morning when that first hard frost of the year nips hard at my nose as i open the front door.
Arriving at the venue it was bitterly cold and from the look all around it was not getting much warmer. The sun rising over our shoulders did little to warm the air where we sat beneath a thick blanket of trees. The skee tex thermal boots where a necessity on this session and come the end i was glad of their warm company.
Its safe to say that you look back on sessions and sometimes you can pin point your error and i think on this one i made it very very early on. Having fished the area heavily over the passed few weeks i again mixed up a good amount of ground bait with the usual addition of mole hill soil. In went 5 balls on the line and i have to admit at the time i expected to go straight over the bait and catch.
I did this quite well and in no time i was getting steady bites from roach that occasionally where of a nice stamp.
As normal i continued to feed with the swim with maggot and back this up with a ball of ground bait every 15 minutes. The bites continued and i continued to feed for that first hour and then the swim died and i could not get a bite. We had seen no activity in all the trips from pike on here so i ruled this on out quickly but thinking better fish had moved in i continued to feed the swim.
The swim declined then and for a good few hours it was a case of a odd fish here and a odd fish there but there was no consistency to it. I stopped feeding the ground bait and going to a completely opposite stance i started up a new swim and fed it lightly with just pinkies.
This change to a completely negative approach worked a treat and i began picking up some nice fish on double pinkies.
I dont think i would have got away with this as i did had i not been fishing in such a depth of water. The last two hours of the session till 3pm we both picked up some fish and it seemed as the day went on the bites came on better. It got us thinking that maybe this place is worth trying into dark on an afternoon session.
The final net showed how sport had been hard to come by on the day with our joint net going around the 20lb mark when on previous weeks the individual nets had been around that mark.
till next week i wish you all
tight lines
danny
Wednesday, 28 September 2016
Roach On Pole and Blogs Youtube Channel Live...
A warm welcome to this weeks blog update i hope i find you all well and your nets wet. A week on and a week closer to the official start of the pike season. As i write this blog i already have two trips under my belt and with a week in work till a long weekend on the bank chasing pike i am sat here wishing this week away.
This weeks update see's me talk a little on developments around expanding the blog to Youtube and then a little on asking you, the blog readers, for feedback on how you want me to cover this years piking. The fishing sees us out on the banks and in true "Dannys Angling Blog sytle" we are on the banks of a new water looking to continue to explore the unknown waters with unknown rewards.
On to the Update
YouTube Channel Live...
So Friday night i decided to get on the laptop and rather than settling in to write this update you are reading now i decided to act upon my words in a previous update and set up the blogs YouTube Channel. The first video on this channel is now live to view and i thought i would dip my toes into the water with a subject i could record in controlled conditions in my house and that is how i tie up my wire traces for pike fishing.
Please take a second to watch the video and feel free to add to the comments section with any thoughts. I recorded the videos in two parts and did them both in one take. Please remember that i am completely new to this and it is going to take time and be a little raw in its make up till i improve at editing and putting the components together to make a "enjoyable watch". If you are looking for the odd bit of content on top of the weekly blogs then please subscribe to the channel for more videos.
link to channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCogqlnE3gK_Re7vdU5bv8sw
There will be a video up soon documenting this weeks pike trip on the bank. Again these videos are going to be very raw and to start with literally might be a 5 minute video of me talking then clips of what i catch posted on the screen. An example being i did a little bit of speaking in the car on Saturday and hit a problem straight away in that i travel to the venues before sun rise so the intro to this blog is very dark. At this stage i have no idea how i can combat this as putting the in car light on is going to get me in trouble with the law and to say im blogging is not going to go down well ha ha.
Again look out for videos coming shortly and do bear in mind they are new to me and they will hopefully improve.
Piking Blog Feedback Needed.....
In recent years this blog and my fishing has developed into two branches i feel, my river, lakes, canals and pond fishing for silvers and my Winter pike fishing adventures. It is giving me a great headache at the moment deciding how i blog my piking this winter and i need some feedback from you the blog readers.
The first option is to write is in the weekly blog update and if i go out chasing silvers and pike that week then in that update there will be both covered in detail. This is the easier option to do for myself the writer as i always write the blog any way but i do feel you lose out here on the the main part of my pike fishing and that's the season told as a story you can follow.
The second option is to cover it like i did last season in its own page at the top of the blog. This option allows me to cover each and every trip in chronological order but the way pages are set up you can not split them down into individual blogs within a page. It means the reader scrolling through content they have already read to reach the new addition to that blog. The nature of the page and it covering a few months means updates are not as in depth but as the season goes on you can follow it as a story of how my thoughts and actions change as the season goes on.
There are many ways you can leave feedback, you can message me on the blogs Facebook or Twitter page @satonmyperch or drop the blogs email a message at Dannysanglingblog@hotmail.co.uk. Thank you for any help and feedback.
On to the Update...
New Water New Adventure....
Long time blog readers will know how much of my fishing involves trips into the unknown. Myself and my uncle are certainly not scared of exploring places with unknown potential. Watercraft can play a huge part in selecting these places but getting out there at first light to see if any fish top is just as important as any gut instinct.
Sunday morning the week before this session we made the trip to the venue. Walking the banks we scouted out some likely looking swims and areas to target. The waterway looked a deep venue with really dark water but with some nice clarity. Experience as a kid swimming at other areas of this waterway and my dads experience form working on the boats here told me there could be potential depths of 22 feet. Not an easy proposition but having fished deep rivers in the past its not a depth that i would be really scared of, a few fished topped early doors so we knew it at least held fish.
The night before the trip was spent again on the hunt for mole hills and i have now scouted out a good area for these earth dwelling rodents. I say rodents i remember speaking to a mole catcher, yes a mole catcher! a few years ago on the canal and i was shocked that the numerous mountains of soil behind me at the time where caused by just one mole.
I sincerely hope my local moley doesn't pop his clogs any time soon.
This mole hill soil would be a key ingredient in adding weight to my balls of ground bait. Arriving at the venue i found the depth to be around 12ft plus in the middle but the shelf was a nice flat 9ft around my top kit and one or two sections out, I was more than happy that i could catch fish in this depth down the margin. My mix for the session was ground bait mixed and passed through riddle and i normally add 50/50 with molehill soil but on this trip i probably mixed it 60% moil hill to 40% ground bait as i wanted the extra weight the mole hill soil would give me.
The hook baits on the day was half a pint of caster and around a pint of red maggot with hemp seed also as a feed in my ground bait in case i felt like i needed to try and get the fish on the bottom. The key with new swims is to ease yourself into the session, you dont want to over feed it before you start. I fed the swim with two balls of ground bait around the size of my big MAP pole cup. To my shock i did not have to wait long for bites to come as small roach like the one below where straight on the the balls i had fed.
With bites coming solid you can then judge how to approach the swim. It was very apparent there was a lot of fish in the area as in front of me and down stream fish where topping and the odd bubble was coming up. The odd better fish was also starting to make an appearance on my line as well.
At this stage i was just feeding the odd few Castor's by hand into the swim and was quickly settling into a rhythm of feeding and catching fish and it was clear the Castor's where slowly grabbing the attention of the odd better roach.
Around midday i had steadily pickled up fish and i decided the time had come to test the area out and i really really upped the feed. I was feeding both hemp seed and red maggot by hand into the swim and also feeding balls of ground bait into the swim every time the signs of the ground bait working disappeared.
When i upped the feed i did not not see a huge increase in fish or stamp of fish i was still catching small roach as well as the better ones and the swim was also going through a few lulls which i later worked out was the fish coming up in the water to the feed.
The session ended with nice nets of fish with my uncle catching 15lb and me 16lb10oz.
As first sessions go on the venue we had caught over 30lb of fish between us and it was a great first session on this venue. The session provided us with enough information that there was fish to be caught and provided enough questions for us to go away and come back with a different game plan.
Another enjoyable week on the bank
and till next week i wish you all
tight lines
Danny
This weeks update see's me talk a little on developments around expanding the blog to Youtube and then a little on asking you, the blog readers, for feedback on how you want me to cover this years piking. The fishing sees us out on the banks and in true "Dannys Angling Blog sytle" we are on the banks of a new water looking to continue to explore the unknown waters with unknown rewards.
On to the Update
YouTube Channel Live...
So Friday night i decided to get on the laptop and rather than settling in to write this update you are reading now i decided to act upon my words in a previous update and set up the blogs YouTube Channel. The first video on this channel is now live to view and i thought i would dip my toes into the water with a subject i could record in controlled conditions in my house and that is how i tie up my wire traces for pike fishing.
Please take a second to watch the video and feel free to add to the comments section with any thoughts. I recorded the videos in two parts and did them both in one take. Please remember that i am completely new to this and it is going to take time and be a little raw in its make up till i improve at editing and putting the components together to make a "enjoyable watch". If you are looking for the odd bit of content on top of the weekly blogs then please subscribe to the channel for more videos.
link to channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCogqlnE3gK_Re7vdU5bv8sw
There will be a video up soon documenting this weeks pike trip on the bank. Again these videos are going to be very raw and to start with literally might be a 5 minute video of me talking then clips of what i catch posted on the screen. An example being i did a little bit of speaking in the car on Saturday and hit a problem straight away in that i travel to the venues before sun rise so the intro to this blog is very dark. At this stage i have no idea how i can combat this as putting the in car light on is going to get me in trouble with the law and to say im blogging is not going to go down well ha ha.
Again look out for videos coming shortly and do bear in mind they are new to me and they will hopefully improve.
Piking Blog Feedback Needed.....
In recent years this blog and my fishing has developed into two branches i feel, my river, lakes, canals and pond fishing for silvers and my Winter pike fishing adventures. It is giving me a great headache at the moment deciding how i blog my piking this winter and i need some feedback from you the blog readers.
The first option is to write is in the weekly blog update and if i go out chasing silvers and pike that week then in that update there will be both covered in detail. This is the easier option to do for myself the writer as i always write the blog any way but i do feel you lose out here on the the main part of my pike fishing and that's the season told as a story you can follow.
The second option is to cover it like i did last season in its own page at the top of the blog. This option allows me to cover each and every trip in chronological order but the way pages are set up you can not split them down into individual blogs within a page. It means the reader scrolling through content they have already read to reach the new addition to that blog. The nature of the page and it covering a few months means updates are not as in depth but as the season goes on you can follow it as a story of how my thoughts and actions change as the season goes on.
There are many ways you can leave feedback, you can message me on the blogs Facebook or Twitter page @satonmyperch or drop the blogs email a message at Dannysanglingblog@hotmail.co.uk. Thank you for any help and feedback.
On to the Update...
New Water New Adventure....
Long time blog readers will know how much of my fishing involves trips into the unknown. Myself and my uncle are certainly not scared of exploring places with unknown potential. Watercraft can play a huge part in selecting these places but getting out there at first light to see if any fish top is just as important as any gut instinct.
Sunday morning the week before this session we made the trip to the venue. Walking the banks we scouted out some likely looking swims and areas to target. The waterway looked a deep venue with really dark water but with some nice clarity. Experience as a kid swimming at other areas of this waterway and my dads experience form working on the boats here told me there could be potential depths of 22 feet. Not an easy proposition but having fished deep rivers in the past its not a depth that i would be really scared of, a few fished topped early doors so we knew it at least held fish.
The night before the trip was spent again on the hunt for mole hills and i have now scouted out a good area for these earth dwelling rodents. I say rodents i remember speaking to a mole catcher, yes a mole catcher! a few years ago on the canal and i was shocked that the numerous mountains of soil behind me at the time where caused by just one mole.
I sincerely hope my local moley doesn't pop his clogs any time soon.
This mole hill soil would be a key ingredient in adding weight to my balls of ground bait. Arriving at the venue i found the depth to be around 12ft plus in the middle but the shelf was a nice flat 9ft around my top kit and one or two sections out, I was more than happy that i could catch fish in this depth down the margin. My mix for the session was ground bait mixed and passed through riddle and i normally add 50/50 with molehill soil but on this trip i probably mixed it 60% moil hill to 40% ground bait as i wanted the extra weight the mole hill soil would give me.
The hook baits on the day was half a pint of caster and around a pint of red maggot with hemp seed also as a feed in my ground bait in case i felt like i needed to try and get the fish on the bottom. The key with new swims is to ease yourself into the session, you dont want to over feed it before you start. I fed the swim with two balls of ground bait around the size of my big MAP pole cup. To my shock i did not have to wait long for bites to come as small roach like the one below where straight on the the balls i had fed.
With bites coming solid you can then judge how to approach the swim. It was very apparent there was a lot of fish in the area as in front of me and down stream fish where topping and the odd bubble was coming up. The odd better fish was also starting to make an appearance on my line as well.
At this stage i was just feeding the odd few Castor's by hand into the swim and was quickly settling into a rhythm of feeding and catching fish and it was clear the Castor's where slowly grabbing the attention of the odd better roach.
Around midday i had steadily pickled up fish and i decided the time had come to test the area out and i really really upped the feed. I was feeding both hemp seed and red maggot by hand into the swim and also feeding balls of ground bait into the swim every time the signs of the ground bait working disappeared.
When i upped the feed i did not not see a huge increase in fish or stamp of fish i was still catching small roach as well as the better ones and the swim was also going through a few lulls which i later worked out was the fish coming up in the water to the feed.
The session ended with nice nets of fish with my uncle catching 15lb and me 16lb10oz.
As first sessions go on the venue we had caught over 30lb of fish between us and it was a great first session on this venue. The session provided us with enough information that there was fish to be caught and provided enough questions for us to go away and come back with a different game plan.
Another enjoyable week on the bank
and till next week i wish you all
tight lines
Danny
Sunday, 28 August 2016
18lb River Net On The Bolo....Great Fun!!
A warm welcome to this weeks blog update i hope i find you all well and your nets wet. Car troubles have plagued last weeks build up to the session and this has continued into this weeks trips to work, nothing serious to report yet but you know the old girl is not right and its a matter of time. Fingers crossed she get me to the river and back this weekend.
Serious update About Canal Featured Recently In Blog:
It has been a mixed week this week weather wise and i am at this moment unsure just what conditions will face us come Saturday. There has been one piece of disturbing news this week and it is around my canal fishing. A stretch of the Bridgewater Canal i have featured heavily in this blog of late has recently been the scene of a viscous assault and mugging. A woman was attacked by three men who beat her up and then mugged her. It is sad we live in such times it really is and i wish the lady a speedy recovery.
From a fishing point of view it has made me think twice about sessions on this part of the canal. One person causing you trouble is one thing but three is another matter and at the times of the day i fish there i feel its just asking for trouble from people who have no care of their fellow human beings. I thought it worth a mention as well just in case local anglers who read the blog had read my exploits and where thinking of trying the stretch for themselves. Please take care.
Social Media Update:
Its great to see the blog steadily doing well on Social Media and from its creation on sites like Twitter and Facebook i have never been one to run endless competitions and pay to advertise the blog on these platforms as i much prefer 10 people to like the page through finding it and finding it interesting over 200 just liking it to try and win a competition.
With that mentality the Twitter page recently hit 2000 follows and the Facebook this week reached the landmark of 750 likes. Thank you to all who follow the blog on these pages and please remember these pages where set up for followers to share their angling exploits. The Ban list on these pages remains at zero which given the shenanigans on other pages i see is a credit to the people on the page. Again a huge thank you to all who keep up with the blog on these and again feel free to share your angling exploits.
On to the Fishing:-
18lb Net Fishing the Bolo Float...
After our success the weekend before these was only ever going to be one place we where fishing come Saturday but it was not all plain sailing a decision it sounds as rain on the Friday and reports of heavy rain and severe thunderstorms on the Saturday making us question if we should even bother. Weather very rarely comes into my decision making process as to whether or not to bother going fishing but i have to admit i am in no hurry to become a human conductor.
I must admit as well that i am not a huge fan of fishing under an umbrella i find them cumbersome an irritant when trying to cast out and also then when concentrating on the float i find myself worrying more about my brolly blowing in than the fishing. Add to that the extreme extra weight added to your holdall to take such apparatus it really puts a downer on my fishing and normally i just sit in the rain and fish through it but with severe weather warnings i knew we where in for a rough ride.
We crossed the river a few times on our way to our chosen destination and on one of the more lit spots we decided to jump out and take a look. There was already a strong wind blowing down the river and i quickly worked that our section of river would be at the same angler so there was a good chance we would be facing a strong down stream wind with the odd gust in our faces, exciting stuff.
Set up wise it was a mirror of last weeks set up. My 17 Preston Innovations Carbon active float rod fishing a 3 Gram Maver Bolo down to a bulk shot of weights all attached to a 1.7lb Kamasan Bayer Perlon hook length and a size 16 hook. The major difference on this session was the amount of bait. Last time i fell short and actually ran out so this time i was taking no chances as i went armed with nearly 3 pins of maggot and nearly the same of hemp.
The river alive with fish topping we knew we where on fish but it was also clear from the sky above we did not have long to get set up before our first soaking. I had a fair idea of the peg from last week and i knew the inside line had a decent snag on it and the main line was about 2 rod lengths out in about 8-9ft of water.
From the off i was getting plenty of bites but hitting them was another matter, they where lightning quick and a far cry from last weeks solid bites. There was a huge head of fish in the swim as the float was getting banged all the way from casting in to half down my swim to the hemp and all of a sudden it would be a fast bite, hit it small roach miss it a mashed maggot.
There was the odd better stamp of roach around but not in the numbers as last week and certainly not of the stamp.
It got to a pint where the fish where lifting mt float clean out of the water as the 3gram bolo was not getting through and although i was getting bites i was hitting about one 1 on 4 of them. River fishing is a real thinking game and i had to change something about my approach. I moved my box so i was facing more down stream and i started feeding my hemp further down the run and i also started casting down stream.
The difference in sport was dramatic and that change of angle and striking at a float down stream saw the missed bites turning into fish and it seemed the better stamp of roach where around but where holding down the swim.
The bites turned into fish i was soon putting regular fish into my keep net. The odd better fish was was about in the league of last weeks but the majority of fish where small roach. I then struck into something that straight away zoomed down stream taking line form the reel. It was a strong powerful fish that put up a great fight on light tackle.
A cracking hybrid was the reward and was easily the best fish of the day.
The fish showed the potential of the area to produce even better nets than last week, a net full of those hybrids would certainly be something. I continued to pick up bites steadily and suffered through the odd rain shower but luckily the weather man got it wrong on the thunderstorms. Towards the end of the session the wind turned and blew violently upstream causing some huge waves to come lapping up the river.
Thankfully this came around 3pm when we planned to pack in so it was not too much of a problem.
Weighing the nets i felt i had around 10lb of fish and i was shocked to weigh the net and find i had caught 18lb of fish. It was a hard worked for net where i had to swap and change and really think about the fishing to get the fish. I could have easily been there missing those bites and ended with nothing.
I left the river feeling i had certainly come on as an angler from season to season as i think last year i would not have had the confidence or know how to change and get the bites and may have even given in through frustration. It is a great feeling leaving the bank with a sense of accomplishment.
Till next time
i wish you all tight lines
Danny
Serious update About Canal Featured Recently In Blog:
It has been a mixed week this week weather wise and i am at this moment unsure just what conditions will face us come Saturday. There has been one piece of disturbing news this week and it is around my canal fishing. A stretch of the Bridgewater Canal i have featured heavily in this blog of late has recently been the scene of a viscous assault and mugging. A woman was attacked by three men who beat her up and then mugged her. It is sad we live in such times it really is and i wish the lady a speedy recovery.
From a fishing point of view it has made me think twice about sessions on this part of the canal. One person causing you trouble is one thing but three is another matter and at the times of the day i fish there i feel its just asking for trouble from people who have no care of their fellow human beings. I thought it worth a mention as well just in case local anglers who read the blog had read my exploits and where thinking of trying the stretch for themselves. Please take care.
Social Media Update:
Its great to see the blog steadily doing well on Social Media and from its creation on sites like Twitter and Facebook i have never been one to run endless competitions and pay to advertise the blog on these platforms as i much prefer 10 people to like the page through finding it and finding it interesting over 200 just liking it to try and win a competition.
With that mentality the Twitter page recently hit 2000 follows and the Facebook this week reached the landmark of 750 likes. Thank you to all who follow the blog on these pages and please remember these pages where set up for followers to share their angling exploits. The Ban list on these pages remains at zero which given the shenanigans on other pages i see is a credit to the people on the page. Again a huge thank you to all who keep up with the blog on these and again feel free to share your angling exploits.
On to the Fishing:-
18lb Net Fishing the Bolo Float...
After our success the weekend before these was only ever going to be one place we where fishing come Saturday but it was not all plain sailing a decision it sounds as rain on the Friday and reports of heavy rain and severe thunderstorms on the Saturday making us question if we should even bother. Weather very rarely comes into my decision making process as to whether or not to bother going fishing but i have to admit i am in no hurry to become a human conductor.
I must admit as well that i am not a huge fan of fishing under an umbrella i find them cumbersome an irritant when trying to cast out and also then when concentrating on the float i find myself worrying more about my brolly blowing in than the fishing. Add to that the extreme extra weight added to your holdall to take such apparatus it really puts a downer on my fishing and normally i just sit in the rain and fish through it but with severe weather warnings i knew we where in for a rough ride.
We crossed the river a few times on our way to our chosen destination and on one of the more lit spots we decided to jump out and take a look. There was already a strong wind blowing down the river and i quickly worked that our section of river would be at the same angler so there was a good chance we would be facing a strong down stream wind with the odd gust in our faces, exciting stuff.
Set up wise it was a mirror of last weeks set up. My 17 Preston Innovations Carbon active float rod fishing a 3 Gram Maver Bolo down to a bulk shot of weights all attached to a 1.7lb Kamasan Bayer Perlon hook length and a size 16 hook. The major difference on this session was the amount of bait. Last time i fell short and actually ran out so this time i was taking no chances as i went armed with nearly 3 pins of maggot and nearly the same of hemp.
The river alive with fish topping we knew we where on fish but it was also clear from the sky above we did not have long to get set up before our first soaking. I had a fair idea of the peg from last week and i knew the inside line had a decent snag on it and the main line was about 2 rod lengths out in about 8-9ft of water.
From the off i was getting plenty of bites but hitting them was another matter, they where lightning quick and a far cry from last weeks solid bites. There was a huge head of fish in the swim as the float was getting banged all the way from casting in to half down my swim to the hemp and all of a sudden it would be a fast bite, hit it small roach miss it a mashed maggot.
There was the odd better stamp of roach around but not in the numbers as last week and certainly not of the stamp.
It got to a pint where the fish where lifting mt float clean out of the water as the 3gram bolo was not getting through and although i was getting bites i was hitting about one 1 on 4 of them. River fishing is a real thinking game and i had to change something about my approach. I moved my box so i was facing more down stream and i started feeding my hemp further down the run and i also started casting down stream.
The difference in sport was dramatic and that change of angle and striking at a float down stream saw the missed bites turning into fish and it seemed the better stamp of roach where around but where holding down the swim.
The bites turned into fish i was soon putting regular fish into my keep net. The odd better fish was was about in the league of last weeks but the majority of fish where small roach. I then struck into something that straight away zoomed down stream taking line form the reel. It was a strong powerful fish that put up a great fight on light tackle.
A cracking hybrid was the reward and was easily the best fish of the day.
The fish showed the potential of the area to produce even better nets than last week, a net full of those hybrids would certainly be something. I continued to pick up bites steadily and suffered through the odd rain shower but luckily the weather man got it wrong on the thunderstorms. Towards the end of the session the wind turned and blew violently upstream causing some huge waves to come lapping up the river.
Thankfully this came around 3pm when we planned to pack in so it was not too much of a problem.
Weighing the nets i felt i had around 10lb of fish and i was shocked to weigh the net and find i had caught 18lb of fish. It was a hard worked for net where i had to swap and change and really think about the fishing to get the fish. I could have easily been there missing those bites and ended with nothing.
I left the river feeling i had certainly come on as an angler from season to season as i think last year i would not have had the confidence or know how to change and get the bites and may have even given in through frustration. It is a great feeling leaving the bank with a sense of accomplishment.
Till next time
i wish you all tight lines
Danny
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