Top Stick Float Tips, River Season Hopes and Reflections..

A warm welcome to this weeks blog update i hope i find you well and your nets wet.  Planning for the written blog is going well, i find myself on my dinner hour again putting together this written blog and so far so good, i am half way through the first paragraph and writers block has not set in yet. There is time.

So i thought it would be good in this blog update to have a look at my hopes and ambitions for the upcoming river season and at the same time a bit of reflection on the 3 month closed season.  What went well and what i could have maybe done better.  The blog update finishes with a session in search of tench, a species its been far too long since it featured on my blog.

Top 5 Stick Float Tips...

So this week the second video in the midweek vlog series went live on the youtube channel.  I had received a question in around my tips for stick float fishing for someone new to the rivers and as its my main type of fishing i thought i would devote on midweek blog to some basic river tips.  Stick float, rod and line choices feature as does some tips on plumming up the depth and some basic watercraft at the end.

If you read this blog and like the river fishing but are a bit daunted by the thought of fishing a river then give this midweek vlog a watch and get yourself out on the bank, you will not regret it.

A Closed Season With Cheshire Particle Hemp Oil..

So here we are at the end of our three month exile from running waters and the freedom and tranquillity they bring.  I am far from anti social but at the same time i can only take so much shouting and "banter" when i am fishing and i have to say thet my listening to "banter with mates on the bank" from the anglers around me is just teetering on the edge of madness.  That said though i have had to endure far worse closed seasons with regards dealing with idiots on the bank and this season they do only seem to have arose on the commercial scene.

"Cheshire Particle Hemp Oil The Find Of The Summer"

With the closing of the river season I normally move over to the canals for my fishing but as you have all read and witnessed on the youtube blogs fising has led me down a different path this closed season.  The finding of my Drennan Puddle Chucker and my unexpected thirst for wanting to get to grips with commercial fishing has seen my canal fishing plans fall by the side.

This diversion onto commercials and method feeder fishing has seen my use of hemp seed in my fishing go with it too but what this change did do is highlight to me the fantastic Cheshire Particle Product that is Cheshire Particle Hemp Oil.  When this oil is added to their fantastic hemp seed before a session it can be hard to judge how much impact the hemp oil is having, this last 3 months has shown me just how much fish pulling power this oil has.

Added the oil to my pellets after they have been prepared ready for the method feeder has provided me with a pungent heady hemp based pellet mix that when tested in the margins leaked for well over 50 minutes off one small nugget of pellet.  This fantastic addition to the pellets along with watercraft in placing the bait in the right place has seen me cross paths with some fantastic fish this spring and early summer.

Below just a handful of fish i have had the joy in sharing a few special moments on the bank side with..

In short this summer has shown me how good this hemp oil is on its own so when the season arrives for the rivers and its added to the fresh hemp seed Cheshire Particle are famous for it will be done with 100% confidence.  A little goes a long way and at just over 4 quid a bottle it will last you ages.

Grab a bottle here:https://cheshireparticle.com/collections/liquid-range/products/hemp-oil-250ml

The Season To Come...

The season is now literally days away and the reels are loaded with new line and the tackle box has been given a nice tidy up and organised.  The bag of hemp seed has been split down into pint session bags and i am all set for the season to come.

Early season will be all about getting back into the groove of river fishing with a few stick float sessions on the smaller rivers but this year i am alos going to try my best to devote time on the bank to targeting the barbel.  The barbel is a fish that has featured very sparsely on the blog and i have tried on one or two occasions to change that but not being really close to a barbel holding river it can make finding time very hard.

So barbel are certainly on the agenda for sure and i am also hoping as the season goes on to also delve deeper into a bait that i have never fished before in tares.  A lot of rivers i fish are abundant in roach so it would make sense for me to try and expand into this area to try and get the best from  the river i fish.

Fishing for me is all about learning and trying the develop my knowledge of all aspects of fishing so i can try and be the best anger i can be and along the way share that learning journey with yourselves through the blog.  This year has plenty of promise and i am excited to see what adventures lie along the way.

Summer is far from finished and i am hoping to also get out on the bank still for the tench and carp as i have really loved the adventures so far this year.  On that front a 20lb carp would be a lovely milestone to achieve and is at least a possibility now with the waters i am fishing, so that might happen any time which is exciting.

With regards content on the blog i don't think the blog has ever been so diversified with regards species and content as well as formats to follow it on.  I am hoping to introduce more live streaming on the blog on facebook so that's something else to look out for.

A Tench Session On The Tip....

All spring and summer i had spent time on the bank targeting carp on method feeder tactics and over that time i had began to notice a few things that worked with regards my baiting approach.  The hook bait aside for now and talking about the mix of pellets i had noticed that the micro pellets along brought bites but the addition of  4 mil pellets into this mix certainly brought the better carp onto the method.

Additives to the mix over this period have been stinky stuff sprays and Cheshire particle hemp seed oil and i have found both to be beneficial in attracting fish into the swim and are additives i certainly have confidence in when i cast them out.

The main feed sorted i now look to hook baits and one bait has been doing the business for me this season and it has been Bait Techs's the Juice dumbells.  What can i say about this bait other than it has caught me so many fish it is untrue.  It has caught me fish on commercials and natural waters.  So in these two paragraphs lays the trap i have been setting up till about two weeks ago for all my carp fishing.

A new card and a chance to try new waters and early on Saturday morning i found myself on the banks of a new club water.  Out went a method feeder and with it out went an approach i have so much confidence in.  The bait presented in an area i seen as a patrol route for fish and where they would feed confident in feeding i was out to play the waiting game and leave the feeder there until the tip pulled round on my drennan puddle chucker.

The sun creeping over the horizon to my right and its rays just starting to illuminate the bank behind me i sat listening to the early morning bird song.  A heron circling above out looking for its breakfast soon landed a few yards down the bank, good enough for him good enough for me.  A tap on the feeder alerted me to something in the area and over excited i went to grab the rod.  It can be hard to sit on your hands with this but you really have to wait for that wrap round.

Eventually it came and lifting the rod i was instantly locked into a battle of wills as a fish made hard for the reeds.  Persistent pressure soon turned the fish that by now knew it was in trouble and made for the lillies.  At a fair distance it was a tough battle but soon the power in the puddle chucker brought the fish into open water and then i knew, baring a hook pull, a fish would soon be on the bank.

Played out nicely a lovely tench was soon posing for the camera.

The fish returned i was straight back out and knowing how fast the bite had come i was optimistic of more.  A passer by stopped by for a chat and he was lovely to speak to and was intrigued by how the method feeder works.  The mechanics explained the wrap round on the tip soon showed him the results and what a fish to show someone how good a method feeder can be as though us both laughing at the battle this fish gave me as it went hard for any dark snags it could find.

A had said moments earlier if i hit a carp it would be interesting and so it proved as one hell of a tussle was played out in front of us both.  A lovely dark common carp of 9lb was my prize.

It was a fantastic start to my first session on here and i was pleased my confidence in my set up had come through.  Confidence in angling is huge i feel, it means you leave the bait longer in the good spots you find and you know that time is the only deciding factor in getting a bite.  The time it takes a fish to find your trap.

Over the next few hours a few more tench and bream fell for the trap set, check out the video below for the full story and the end of this adventure.

Till next time,

Tight lines

Danny

Cheshire Particle, Bailiff Role and Some Pond Fishing :-)

A warm welcome to this weeks blog update i hope find you all well and your nets wet.  Two blogs in short succession it finally feels like i am getting stuck into this routine and finding the time to fit it all in.  I am on top of the extra additional duties and sticking to my promise to be more proactive in my fishing this year.

Recent trips out on the bank have seen me bump into loads of people who read the blog, like buses you don't have many people mention it then all of a sudden you get people coming over for a chat everywhere you go.  I love this side of the blog and if you do ever see me on the bank please do come over and have a chat its great to hear your fishing stories.

The past two weekends has seen me targeting carp for a product review i have got coming up for a carp sling and it was great to bump into a regular blog reader on the bank and share a moment that saw him catch his first ever chub! A keen predator angler it was good to hear his stories from the same canal we fish, share some of my hot spots i have come across for perch and then sat back and waited for a run whilst watching his roach swim get stalked by a small jack pike.  We spend all winter chasing them on dedicated gear and how typical if fishing when you set up a roach rod and leave the pike gear at home, mr esox then finds you.  Who would be a fishermen eh?

I can honestly say i am loving my fishing at the moment and in that i mean all aspects of it.  The challenge of the fishing, different challenges with the writing and then the extreme challenge that is the youtube channel.  Challenge is good in any part of life not just fishing it keeps you on your toes and makes the journey one to remember.

Cheshire Particle...

Cheshire Particle is a North West bait company run by Mark.  Working from home to produce his own blends and mixes of particles he, in a short space of time, has gained a reputation for producing quality baits.  The 2016 sponsor of the wales carp fishing is a testament to the hard work put in by mark and his team of anglers.

link to cheshire particle: https://cheshireparticle.com/

The range of products on offer is fantastic ranging from parti-mixes, pellets, nut mixes to his new range of snail boilies and of course his particle mixes with hemp tares and maize, it is a range where anyone can find a bait that fits into their fishing.  I always like it when i come across anglers with an obvious passion for their sport and products and even more so when they are local, long term blog readers will remember me working with Beechwood baits a few years ago.

Of course this blog does stray into the world of carp fishing from time to time but when i was asked to work with Cheshire Particle i wanted to of course use items that compliment my fishing and dovetail nicely into my methods and ideas.  The stand out was of course hemp seed and i was also very interested in the hemp oil the company produced and the different ways i could incorporate that into my fishing.  A review of these two products will bin the coming blogs but here is a little taste of what this hemp and hemp oil can be used to catch.

Lymm Anglers Bailiff Role...

The world of fishing can be at times a world of gripes and discontent, certainly if you frequent facebook groups a lot you will certainly be open to this world.  I, at times, have also been guilty of having a lot to say on certain subjects but offering little in the way of a solution to the problem but like i said earlier 2017 i made a resolution to be more positive and more proactive in my angling,  April is fast approaching and i think i have been true to that word.

In the past 2 years i have seen the banks of my local canal, the bridge water, (Northern One) become a place i dont like, a place where you worry about its long term future and the effects certain types of behavior are having on the water.  In the past two years i have seen the pike fishing be reduced to a shadow of its former self and increasingly in that time i was catching pike with large sea hooks in their mouths and trailing tackle where the angler had been snapped on really light lines with no traces.

More and more i was seeing anglers mistreating fish when handling them and after getting chatting to  few anglers an ever increasing number of anglers with no licence.  This year i got chatting to another bailiff and i decided to put my name down to join a team of dedicated bailiffs and as a group we are now completing checks on the canal and in only a short amount of time have i think got a message that the canal is now in safe hands and being well bailiffed.

For me a bailiff role does not just confine to the boundary of checking cards and i want it to become the canal i remember as a kid, i want to see anglers back on the banks fishing the canal,  The lads and dads getting out and about to wet a line and create memories together on the local cut.    To achieve this is going to take time and a lot of effort and hard work.  I will certainly be covering in detail my sessions on there in the form of my youtube videos and on here and if you are local to the Cheshire area come and give this canal a go, you will not be disappointed.

You can acquire a licence here: https://www.lymmanglingclub.com/join-us

On to the Fishing:

Welcome to my...Pond Life...

So with a few product reviews in the past few weeks my fishing for once has been mainly dictated by the blog, not my normal way of doing things but some times it has to be done and carp fishing has been the area i have been spending most of mt time in recently.

As with all aspect of life it is always good to break away and  spend a few hours doing something completely different, an evening on a local small pond with my uncle offered such an opportunity and it was away with the carp rods and out with the maggotts and hemp.

A small secluded pond situated in the ruins of an old monastery it holds a wealth of history and the pond itself is part of that with it being a stock pond for the monks when they inhabited the local area.  How times change now someone taking carp from this pond for the pot would be seen in such a different light.

This pond is also quite sentimental to myself as both me and my dad helped to create the fishing pegs many years ago and s reward we where both granted with a fishing licence for life to fish the pond, a reward we drop in on from time to time, but in all honesty a place i fish quite infrequently.  A place, like the local canal, that holds so many special memories of mine and my dads fishing trips.

So with only a few hours in the evening we decided to give this little pond a go. The margins lined with toads in quite a amorous mood it was one of those typical early spring evenings, a warm breeze and intermittent sun and cloud, i was interested to see how the fishing had changed.

Feeding red maggot via the catty over the top of my light pole float soon saw some roach coming on the drop.  A decent pouch of hemp from the off would guarantee some feed on the bottom when the maggot arrived.  A deep swim for a pond at 10ft i fished a rig full depth with little shot to catch in all the layers as the bait fell.  Roach where soon coming steady on the drop.

As with all truly wild fish that need not our baits to sustain their existence their natural instincts soon kick in and caution outweighs the need to feed.  Changing feed and depths can fool the stranglers but keeping the fish coming can really be a game of cat and mouse.  My uncle was also getting steady bites and had actually landed a few small carp, distant ancestors of the very fish this pond was created for, the history of this place as i have said makes it so special.

A solemn silence soon came over my peg and it all felt very atmospheric as the float sat lazily dancing to the ponds tune as the slight ripple lapped up against the float.  A rhythm soon interrupted by the slightest of line bites, a fish moving on the bottom was the obvious culprit and when the float finally gave in the ever excited angler on the other end of the pole and sunk into to depths i knew little of what was going to be on the other end.

A hard fight seeing the drennan aqua elastic oozing from the end of the pole it was a good while before the fishes identity was certified especially with the severe depth of this pond.  Eventually through the surface came the shimmer of dark olive green and that most iconic of spring fish was slid into the landing net.  A teddy bear eye and a paint brush tail she was by far the fish of the session and a sign spring had finally sprung.

As the session wore on to its end and we reached that most mysterious time in any session, the last hour, the witching hour, a hour when you know those wise old fish are starting their hunt for food and if you get lucky maybe they will slip up and allow you to admire their beauty.

The last hour as the oily sun dropped below the horizon my palm was graced with bars of gold time and time again as some lovely crucian carp moved in over the bed of hemp seed.  A sight that brought those childhood memories flooding straight back.

A session end came in just as fast as the darkness began to fall and a cool mist began to creed over the pond, many say the morning mist is the ghost of anglers past then surely this mist rolling in just had the be the ghosts of the monks moving in to protect their pool through the hours of darkness.

Two nets that held so many memories.

Till next time enjoy you fishing and creating those special memories that will last a lifetime.

Danny

Pole Fishing the Bridgewater Canal - What Tackle To Use

A warm welcome to this weeks blog update i hope i find you all well and your nets wet.  I start this weeks update by again saying how well it has been getting such great feedback to these canal blogs.  This week i have received quite a few messages and emails saying that the previous two blogs have really helped them out in tackling the canal.  Feedback like this is like a big boost in the arm when writing blogs as there is no better feeling than someone letting you know that your writings have in some way helped them.

The previous two updates are listed here:

WHERE TO FISH ON A CANAL - Canals roots dating back to the industrial times can look quite featureless places and as such we have to take advantage of any features we find.  This blog shows how i go about picking out places to fish on the Canal and it also crosses over to my river exploration.

WHAT BAITS I USE FOR CANALS - This blog update covers all the baits i use on canal fishing sessions from the tiny pinkie through to corn.  This update also includes a small video on how i mix my ground bait for canals.  The session is an in depth look at how i use different baits to figure out my approach for waters.

This weeks blog update See's me looking at the tackle i use for fishing the canal and a simple rig i use for fishing the canal.  A look forward to this weekends bank holiday and my plans and the introduction finishes with a look at the upcoming river season.  The fishing is a session on the Bridgewater Canal where i have a play round with a few baits in preparation for a big hit session the next weekend.

On with the Update-

Tackle To Use For Fishing A Canal -

In this part i will try and share how i fish the local canal and i will break it down into two sub headings.  The first will cover the pole top kits i use and the second i will cover the terminal tackle with the current rig I'm using.

Top Kits For Fishing The Canal -

Number 6 Elastic - Pinkie/squatt line mainly - I have one pole kit fitted with really light elastic which is so soft you need to net every fish basically you catch it is so fine.  This is the first elastic i use when fishing a new section as you can hook and not bump every fish you strike into as it is so soft.  This i use mainly on my pinkie and squatt line as generally the fish you catch are smaller roach and skimmers.  A great place to start when wanting to judge what fish are in the section.

Blue Hydro Elastic - All Lines - This is probably my favourite elastic to use out of them all as it is soft enough for you to catch most silvers but also gives you a chance if you hit a bream, tench or big perch.  The elastic does have a lot of stretch in it so i find it lacks the back bone to ease fish like perch, tench and bream away from snaggy swims like reeds etc if you are fishing near them.  A great all round elastic for open water and my normal far bank maggot and castor top kit.

White Hydro Fitted with Puller - Castor/maggot/corn line - This elastic only comes out when i know there is a high chance of catching better fish and if i am hitting fish regular on the other elastics but either not getting them in or it being a real struggle.  I use this elastic mainly when i go all out for better fish on castor and hemp.  My though here are that in know i will bump some smaller fish but if i do i work on the mentality that if i did bump it, it was probably not a stamp of fish i am targeting any way.  As strong as i go on the canal and an elastic you should get most fish in on a canal barring big carp.  Probably the most exciting fishing is when i use this as i know i am going all out for bigger fish.

Terminal Tackle I Use For Canal Fishing -

There is no doubting that when fishing a canal our approach has to be more refined than fishing any other type of water.  In summer the canal is more coloured than winter so you can get away with the rigs i am using at the moment but come October to winter you will have to really refine right down sometimes to tiny size 22 hooks and one pound breaking strain hook lengths for bites.  The main thinking here is that summer and winter fishing on a canal are two completely different animals all together.

Canal Floats - 12x 4 floats
To be honest this is an area i am completely lost on and there are so many different weights of floats which just confuse anglers i think.  I go into the shop and i pick a float that looks light with a nice long bristle.  If i am looking at weights along the side i normally go for a 12x4 float.  I don't really look at this in to finer detail as i know when it comes to fishing with it i will have the weight shotted so the bristle is a mere pin prick.

Line - Bayer Perlon 1.7lb or 2lb1oz -

At this time of year i will fish my line straight through on 1lb 7oz line.  I find this line is fine enough to get bites all day along and catch small and big fish alike.  A lot of anglers use hook lengths but with tench around i work on the mind set that i don't want any breaks in the line that will create a weak point.  On the far bank line and when using a bigger hook like a 18 or 16 hook i will up to 2lb1oz line.

Hooks - B525 size 20 or 18 hook

On the canal i rarely go above a 18 hook unless i am using a bait like worm of corn.  Fishing rivers for chub has taught me that hook size does not necessarily equate to increased chances of getting a

fish in.  I regularly fish the river with a size 20 or 18 hook and even with the pressure of the river you find the hook well in the lips of the fish and not going any where.  Hooks i have ultimate confidence in and catching all the fish you see in my blog for the past few years.  Be prepared in winter though to tie up a few rigs at home with size 22 or even 24 hooks.

Weights -
 Probably the most important item of tackle behind the plummet shown in the picture for me.  You would be amazed how a weight pinging off your line can change how your float behaves and fishes.  When you get on the canal the first thing is do is plum up then set my use the shots to set the float.  This where your smaller shots like number 12, 11 shots can be the difference between a full bristle showing and a sensitive rig to just the tip of the bristle showing and a ultra sensitive rig.  Little difference like that make a huge difference.

My Current Rig Setup -
I always set up a few rigs at home as it saves so much time on the bank.  Tie the hook on using your favourite knott, i use a Palomar.  Then spool off enough line for the swim you are going to fish, you will find most will be covered by your top two sections. Slide on your float and pole rubbers to attach the float to the line and tie a overhand loop in the top to attach the rig yo your pole.  Set the float about the depth you are going to fish and add a bulk shot half way down the rig, for me its normally 2 to three number 8 then attach two number 12 shots equal distant apart form the bulk shot down to the hook.  One pole rig made and ready to go, it is a simple as that.

Well that's tackle covered next weeks update will cover where i fish my lines on the canal and why i fish there.

Bank Holiday Circus

In fishing you are always learning that goes without saying but i also think you have to also learn from past experiences and that is so true when it comes to Bank Holiday weekends.  They are always very appetising to me as an angler, what with 3 whole days to go at and the high chance in May of warm sunny weather.  Experience has taught me to think other wise though.

Bank holidays are a great time to go fishing but picking your right venue is a must and taking time to make sure you have chosen well is essential.  time has taught me to avoid places like canals, club waters and commercials as major hot spots for instance.  The weather and bank holidays seems to mix together to encourage all types of idiots to emerge from winter hiding and converge on waterways in the hope of either exploring the outside world of going fishing.

One example that springs to mind is a trip a few years ago on Flushing meadows fishery.  I arrived as the gates opened and enjoyed a good half an hour of peace and quiet before it happened, an idiot arrived.  A few lads spread evenly round the pool i was fishing a margin line on big pieces of meat, minimal feed, you don't need it on here when after the carp.  A whole bank to set up on he pegs in 7 maybe 8 yards up the bank.  So scene set picture this, he then opens a whole tin of sweetcorn, the big tins, then proceeds to hand full by hand full lob in the whole tin of corn.  To my amazement he then picks up another big tin of corn out of his box and begins fishing.  I just shook my head in shock at first but i must admit it was funny seeing his swim like a Jacuzzi of bubbles as the bream had a feast while he sat without a bite all day watching me catching fish in the margin.  By midday he was over asking questions and i helped him out but it just shows what it can be like had he fished the margin and put that in none of us would have caught! 

Canals avoided for the obvious regatta of boats that will be out in force come the weekend and on most canals they start quite early on compared to normal weekends out.   This weekend i am planning on getting some decorating done although i do have a pint of maggots so i might get out for one of two.

River Season Round The Corner

Where has the time gone it seems only yesterday we wrapped up the pike season and the river season and now its only just over 20 days till we will be back on the banks of the river.  Personally i have enjoyed the challenge the canals have brought me this closed season.  Working out a new stretch and then it all coming good has been a great achievement for me and i have also enjoyed writing theses blogs.

It has also been a time of great change for me both with two children under three and moving into a new house that needs decorating head to toe it has meant fishing has really been an as and when affair.  My plans for the early season are to explore the places we found chub last year and see if the warm weather brings in other species like roach and dace so that is something i am really looking forward too.  The new river season is certainly on my mind a lot now and that will only increase as we get closer.  I might run a small series in the introductions of my favourite sessions on the river as we draw close as i think that would be fun so look out for that.

On to this weeks update

Mixing It Up On The Bridgewater...

Sometimes in angling i think you have those moment where your head is full if that many ideas on what you want to do on a session you end up not giving your all to one particular plan and not getting the best from that scenario but on the other hand i also feel you need to have sessions where you try new things because if you don't how will you ever know the reaction of the fish to another bait?

The previous session i went with a game plan of fishing caster over the far side and this worked really well but i was yet to settle on a set game plan for the big hit session i had planned for this venue before the rivers opened again.  This bit hit i was hoping would be a Nice round off to the canal sessions but before i committed and drew up a final game plan for that session i needed to explore all possibilities and i think this shown in my bait tray.

As you can see it contains almost all the baits mentioned in last weeks blog with Castor, hemp, maggot, pinkie, ground bait and pellet all on show.  To gauge the reaction to the baits from the fish i fed two short lines down the shelf, one on maggot ground bait and one on pinkie and ground bait.  I also fed a line on the far shelf base and one  right over on the shallow far shelf.

Fishing 4 lines is never easy and it involves a lot of feeding and topping up of these lines and i knew concentration was the key and i also knew mine would drop as i caught fish so i set myself a short window to fish and was to be packed in for 11am. 

The conditions on the day looked perfect with a cool day planned with plenty of cloud cover i expected the middle lines to produce well early on and the far bank lines to also benefit as the fish do seem to spook on that far shelf in the sun.  Both lines fed on the near shelf with two balls of ground bait on each one laced with pinkie and one with maggot.

I started over my pinkie line and was straight into fish.

This line was providing plenty of bites but all seemed to be of this stamp or smaller so i fed one more ball of ground bait and went over to my maggot line.  The fish on the maggot line where noticeably bigger and by a good way with some nice skimmers mixed in to boot.

This in my eyes was showing me that maggot might just be the way to go down the track for the slightly better fish and this was proved even more when i moved back onto the pinkie line and picked up another small roach.  The maggot was picking up better fish but i was still picking up some of the smaller ones as well.   While messing around on these lines i was flicking the odd few casters over my far bank line whilst also stopping in between to feed the bottom of the far bank shelf line with castor and hemp.

I have to admit it was hard work juggling 4 swims while trying to concentrate on fishing the swim i was in at the moment.  I fished the inside line till bites dried up and knowing that boat traffic may hamper my chances on the 3/4 line i went over this first on castor.  The bite took me by surprise as it was quite quickly i was into a fish and as i expected the castor was picking out a better stamp of fish on a consistent basis.

On this line i expected it to be quite an unknown as it is a line i really don't fish when on the canal so it was a great discovery for me as better fish after better skimmer kept coming to the net and the session was really coming together to show me some new stuff about canal fishing.  It was then the bites died completely so i went over the far bank line as surely there would be fish waiting but no nothing at all.  I went round all three lines again down the middle but nothing, you could say big fish moved in but on all three lines at the same time? Not a chance and i knew that i had a pike in my area and it was on the hunt.

This was confirmed by the fish in my keep net all coming up to the top as if there only chance of survival was to get out of that keep net.  As with all my sessions i had a pike rod to hand so i reached over for it and put it together and readied it for action.  Eventually i managed to catch a fish on the pole and bringing it in resulted in the normal bow wave behind the fish, this pike was only small but certainly on the feed.  The fish i was bringing in had been grabbed and had a deep laceration down its flank so it was on the hooks he went.  It didn't take long before the pike claimed its meal and was having its picture taken before being released away from the swim.

It always amazes me how silver fish know a pike is on the feed and it is still quite surprising to me how quickly they settle into feeding again once the pike has gone.  Swims that hadn't produced a fish 10 minutes ago now alive with bites and this is the reason i take the pike rod as you could literally be waiting ages for the pike to move non otherwise.

I went over the far bank line as i hit the pike down the middle so i guessed it would be best to rest the lines.  The fish over the far side where OK fish but not as good as down the shelf where the better bream seemed to be.  I settled down back on my castor line down the middle and after a few bream i hit into a real bonus fish in a 4 1/2lb tench which really showed the benefit of castor.

To be honest i stuck on this line for the remainder of the session as i was intrigued as to how it would fish and learn from it.  It fished well all the way till 11am and the quality of fish coming on this line went from strength to strength with some really nice roach showing as well.

I called it a day as a load of boats trundled right through the swim.  It also felt like the right time to call it a day as i had learnt a good lesson fishing a new line and had something to build on.  A 10lb8oz net in only a few hours i was made up.

Well that sums up another blog update i hope this weekend is kind to you all,

till next time

tight lines

Danny

Baits For Canal Fishing and Tench On The Bridgewater

A warm welcome to this weeks blog update i hope i find you all well and your nets wet.  It has been great to see this week how well last weeks blog update around how quiet canals are has been received it has drew debate on all forms of social media and hopefully the debate has stoked a few anglers to give the canals a try.

It has been a busy week for myself with the blog putting together videos and getting pictures for this update and others to come.  This way of writing a blog is not really why i wrote the blog as fishing and the voyage of discovery that goes with learning the art of fishing should be down to the individual.   There is no better feeling than blanking and getting it wrong, sticking at it and then starting to get results as you learn.  I am fully aware though that some anglers don't know where to start with canals and are quite daunted by them so it can do no harm me sharing all i have learnt fishing canals and how approach them if it at least helps someone out wanting to fish the canal but not knowing where to start.

I hope the previous blog and this one don't come across as preaching or me saying this is the way to do it.  The blogs are just my way of fishing canals and how i approach them  so always bear that in mind when reading them.  It may also be the case that the canal you fish is completely different to the Bridgewater and you may need bigger baits or stronger line.

In this weeks update we look at what baits i use on the canal and we look at each one in detail and the benefits they bring.  The next section is a video on how i prepare my ground bait for fishing the canal so it is working and prepared to do the job i want it to do.  We finish the introduction with a surprise i received this week when out of the blue last weeks blog was featured in an online magazine!!   The fishing sees me again fising the canal and i begin to change things up based on what i have learnt from previous sessions on this new section of canal.

So onto the update..

What Baits For Fishing Canals??

So in last weeks blog we covered location and picking where on a canal you want to target.  You have gone out and you now have a fair idea where on the canal holds a few fish and the locations along them stretches to look out for when planning to fish.  The next step is to look at baits for fishing the canal and there is a whole host to choose from. 

We will start with the smallest baits and work form there..

Pinkie/Squatts

These tiny maggots are the larvae of the small little house fly that pester you in summer and these tiny baits are deadly on canals.  On a canal when you are trying to build a picture of an area you really want a bait that will catch everything that swims.  This includes some fish that may only be 1oz in size but fishing normal baits your float will be going under but you will miss the fish if you are not using a bait small enough for these fish.  You could literally be getting a bite every put in but not hook a single fish if you where using a bigger bait like maggot and its only when using this bait you see what the fish are.

This bait is best fished down the middle and mixed in with your ground bait, fed accurately via a pole cad pot will ensure these maggots get to the bottom and you are fishing right over the baited area.  A single our double pinkie or squatt on the hook and your away, an excellent bait and one i always take the canal.

Bread Punch

Normally regarded as a winter bait for canals liquidised bread and bread punch is great bait for silver species like roach and bream.  A bait that i normally feed down the middle track instead of pinkie and ground bait.  It is a bait you have to feed carefully as it is very easy to over feed the fish on it.  A chap days fishing can be had on a few slices of bread liquidised and two slices for on the hook.  A top tip is to place the bread in the microwave for 10 seconds and roll it thin this way its easier to punch.

Maggot

The larvae of the bluebottle these baits come in all manner of colours but over the years i have found white, red and bronze to be the best.  These baits are great fed on their own on a far bank line for better fish on your first sessions out learning a water as they will pick up the better fish that hug the far bank.  The white and red are great also when you know your pinkie or squatt line has better fish to be had but you are getting hammered by tiny fish.  This bigger bair is the same colour as the smaller pinkie or squatt but to a fish this bigger bait is too much to resist and can ofter see you picking up the better fish on your pinkie and squatt line.

Once you have fished an area for a while you will build a picture of the size of fish in the section and later on in the blog you will see after past trips hitting better fish i go completely over to maggot instead of pinkie and squatt to single out these better fish i know are there.  read on to see the results.

Caster

Casters are the cryssalis form of a maggot before it turns into a blue bottle. There is no getting away from it castors are "THE" bait on canals for the better fish.  There is a saying "You catch more fish on maggot but you catch better quality fish on Caster".  As a bait if you can get fish feeding on castor you are in for a special session indeed as it normally means you are getting the better fish in the canal.

The beauty of casters are the fact they will stay where you feed them.  I normally feed this bait with hemp, a bait we will talk about later and these two baits together make a deadly combination for big canal roach and bream.

I normally feed casters on my far bank line once i kn ow thee are better fish in the area.  Firing over 5-6 castors every 10-15 minutes while fishing my pinkie line down the middle it allows the better fish to move in and get comfortable on the bait.  The longer its left the more confident the fish feel and once you move over to the far bank caster line after a few hours you need to be prepared for the better fish to be there.  Remember though you are fishing for better fish, the small fish are more feeding on the movement of a maggot where as this static bait seems to only pick out by the better fish.  Also remember you are fishing for better fish so you wont normally get as quick bites on castor as say maggot but the fish will be better quality.

 I will be including a top tip for getting your castors just right in a upcoming blog.

Sweetcorn

No explanation needed here good old sweetcorn out of the tin add the juice from the tin to your ground bait, of course, we all know it works haha.  A lot say freezer bought stuff but its got to be jollly green giant for me it just smells so much more....well sweetcorny (not even a word).   I use this bait when i am going all out on the canal for tench, bream, carp or really big roach a few grains fed on the far bank line and then it gives you the option to try it on the hook.  A fantastic bait but careful not to over feed it.

Hempseed

The seeds of the cannabis plant these seeds are treated before they are brought into the UK so plants cannot be germinated from the seeds.  When cooked they turn jet black and a white kernal appears from inside the seed.  This bait fish love and there is one species in particular, the roach, roach absolutely love hemp and if you can get them feeding on it you would be amazed at the size of fish.

There are many theories to why hemp works but i believe the thought process that these when on the bottom of the canal resemble a bed of water snails and the crunch of the shell with the soft white centre i imagine they are similar to the feeling of eating water snails when the fish eat them.  Mixed with castor or corn its a deadly bait for feeding into the swim.

Pellets

Being quite and old school angler that generally fishes using tactics used 30-40 years ago i still see pellets as new when in reality they have been around for a number of years now and to some fish are now probably regarded as their natural diet.  There is no doubting the attraction of pellets to fish and although i never actually fish with pellets on the canal i know a number of lads who do quite well. 

The pellets i use are the 1mil micro pellets and they are simplicity itself to prepare simply empty into a bait box when you arrive, cover in water and then straight away drain all the water out, it 10 minutes they will be ready to go.  Excellent for attracting and keeping bream and skimmers in your swim and for this reason i mix them into my ground bait mix.

So that's it for baits i use on the canal next weeks update will cover what terminal tackle i use for fishing the canal

How to Mix Ground Bait For a Canal Session..

There is one bait missing off the list above and in my opinion it is the most important bait for canal fishing and a must for any session going the canal.  I would go as far to say that if i did not have ground bait in my tackle box for a session on the canal i would pick another venue to fish.

Although canals look quite small in width we have to remember that canals when considered by how much water and miles they cover are huge.  When you see shoals on the canal in summer you will see they travel along the canal in shoals in search of food and even a small shoal of roach can cover a large length of canal in a day.  What we want is for the fish to be attracted down to the bottom to feed as they pass over our swim and ground bait is what we use for this.

Canals also are major highways for boats and some canals can literally be a boat every 10 minutes.  This activity stirs up the bottom and leaves the canal quite coloured.  When this is the case the fish we are fishing for stop don't just stop feeding, this is their home remember and they are used to boats and the water colouring up, they still have to feed to survive.  The fish then move over to smell to locate their food and all baits even maggot and worms give of smells into the water that attract fish but ground bait is by far the best for attracting fish into the swim when its coloured.

With canals our approach has to be a lot more refined and as such we need to give extra attention to our ground bait.  When first mixed it will contain a lot of lumps of ground bait and these fed into the swim will over feed the fish so we riddle the ground bait.  I have put together a short video below on how i prepare mine.

Blog Featured In Online Magazine..

Sat in work on my dinner break this week i got a notification through the blogs Twitter account, @satonmyperch, that the blog had bee selected to be featured in an online magazine.  The magazine article can be found on the following link.

link to article:  http://paper.li/marineshops?edition_id=aae87e60-f890-11e4-871e-0cc47a0d15fd

It is always great when i am contacted to say my blog is being featured in top ten lists, magazines and other bloggers pages but it is special when it comes as a surprise to you.  I was having a pretty poor day in work on this day and this cheered me right up!!  Thank you for selecting my blog to be featured it means a lot.

On to this weeks Fishing...

Pole Fishing The Bridgewater Canal - A Plan comes togehter..

Although the information I am sharing about how i fish a canal might seem like i know a thing or two about canal fishing the reality is I am still very much learning.  In this weeks blog i talk about how i approach a new stretch of canal by using Pinkie and maggot to catch any fish that swims to give me a picture of what is in the stretch and then build a game plan from there with the final outcome of this to be me fishing the section of canal and getting the most i can out of it.  This may range from me finding out the stretch is full of tiny fish and skimmer so my approach to get the most might be to fish close in and get the fish feeding shallow so i can catch as many as possible quickly but it has been the other way with this section i am fishing.

In past trips i have caught a lot of small fish on pinkie down the middle and quite a few better sized skimmers and roach and i have also hit the odd really big fish that on my light elastic i have had no chance of stopping.  I was at a quandary to what these fish where but the answer came on the previous session as sat on the bank setting up in the early morning, well it was only just light enough to set up, i saw a tench roll right in the middle of the swim and there my answer was.  I didnt not have the tackle to land the fish on that session as i did again hit a better fish.

When asked for advice on fishing i always say there is no substitute for getting out on the bank, you can read and watch content online till the cows come home but there is nothing that will teach you more than getting out on the bank at the crack of dawn and fishing the water.  With all this in mind the process of formulating a plan began.

So on past trips i had fished pinkie down the middle and fed maggot over my far bank line.  The middle line had brought small to medium sized fish and the odd better skimmer and when i went over to the far line the maggot swim consistently was producing a sustained line of quality fish with the odd special roach capture.  I drew from this this that the pinkie was doing what i wanted it to do i was catching all fish that swim including the odd better fish that was keeping the net ticking over while my far bank line built up.  This part of my set up i was not going to change as it was doing what i wanted it to do, it was strangely enough my far bank line i was to make all the changes on.

Changes to far bank line attack

The first change on my far bank line attack was the pole top kit, i replaced my match kit loaded with blue hydro elastic for white hydro to give me that extra back bone i needed to get the tench under control.  The second change i made was with bait i moved over to feeding caster on the far bank line instead of maggot and teamed this up with hemp seed.  I was slightly worried about bumping fish with the heavier elastic but then again i knew fishing caster that if the fish was of the quality i was expecting then i would have no problems with hook pulls.  The next change was u upped my line from 1.7lb line to 2.1lb breaking strain and fished this all the way through.  It was only a half a pound difference but on a canal it can make the difference and feared 3lb plus line would see me not fishing fine enough for the roach.  The final change i was making was in my policy of leaving the far bank line hours before fishing it, normally around 9-9.30 when the boats come, on this session i would be going over earlier around 7.30am just a hour and half into my fishing.

Starting off just over the marginal shelf where the canal begins to flatten out i fed two balls of ground bait and pinkie, even before i had attached any lines to plum up my rigs.  I knew from past trips where i was going to fish so feeding the swim now and leaving it while i sorted out my top kits for the far bank line and for this swim would give the fish time to settle on the bait ready for my first put in.  The lines prepped i fed the far bank line with caster and hemp, initially with the cad pot for accuracy and get a set area to fish when i go over there but i knew later feedings of Castor would be by the catapult.  The lines plumed up i put my far bank rig down for a bit and fed a small nugget of ground bait and pinkie down the middle line and lay the float right over the baited area, as predicted it was not too long before the float slid away and a small skimmer was heading into my palms.

As i have said previously, with canal fishing you have to be realistic with your fishing as very rarely do you go in first time and pick up a really high quality fish, unless you are just targeting them of course.  Most of the time your first fish will be a small skimmer or roach and some times these can be tiny.  This is where i feel canals offer new anglers something that i feel some of the angling world is really beginning to miss and that is the appreciation of better fish.  When you have caught small 1-2oz fish and then say a 6-10 oz skimmer or roach comes along you really see this fish in a different light and appreciate it, better fish looked at like this then become something special and as they should be the jewels of a session rather than the expectation as they can be with commercials.

Any how i digress, as the swim built so the bites became more confident and the quality of the fish improved slightly.  The fish really got their heads down at one point and it was a fish a chuck with quite a few fish coming in quick succession.  On this bit of canal i have noticed the swim can die really quickly down the middle and i think the main reason is pike.   I did have my pike rod on me with this session but if i am honest my whole mindset is on pole fishing at the moment and having a go for a pike in the swim is really being looked at as a last resort to relocate them further down the canal away from the swim.

The fish will always back off on the canal so adding just a few feet onto the line your fishing can see you picking up bites and I mooched and etched my way to 7.30am picking up a bites here and there whilst pinging castor over the far bank line.  The time had come to have a look if anything had settled in over there.

It can be quite hard work on castor at times as you know in your head bites will take longer to come than maggot and i knew had i fed maggot over there or even put maggot on the hook i would be catching a few fish and maybe the off better stamp of fish as well but i was a man with a plan and i waited it out on castor.  The float knocked and slowly moved along the top before slipping away, fishing over depth to lay as much line on the bottom as possible to not spook the fish this was how i wanted it to work except i expected the elastic to move but to prove all the best laid plans don't work a small roach was the culprit.

Feeding the far bank line again, only with 4-5 castors, i went back over and re started my vigil.  lifting and dropping the bait adds a little attraction and it was just after letting it settle again the pole float zoomed under and upon lifting the white hydro came oozing out of the end of the pole.  I knew the fish where about and i was expecting them all the time so as soon as i knew i was into a better fish i began shipping back straight away to coax it away from the snags.  It worked a treat and the fish being played down the middle of the canal was a different animal as it plodded up and down and in knew it was just a case of letting the elastic tire it out.

As with all better fish it knew where home was so there where a few nervous moments but eventually and more a puff of the cheeks in relief than excitement the tench slid into the landing net.   Weighed it went 3lb 9oz, i knew there was a chance of  more and i also knew i was  not going to be around till much after 11.30am so i placed it in the keep net and to be extra careful i staked the net along the bank.

The tench returned i fed the swim with a good pot of hemp and caster and over i went again.  The plan had worked a treat but i must admit to being a bit lost at this point as i really did not know what to expect.  The better fish i target using this tactic are normally bronze bream that are normally in shoals so you expect maybe some more but with tench i was happily in unknown territory and learning a new lesson.

The next few bites where from roach and the odd better skimmer but then the swim died a little and i thought to myself, wait this out it could be better fish.  A good 10-15 minutes latter the float slid away again and this time the water erupted with a big swirl as i struck and i knew i was into a better fish.  The fish was strong and powerful and in the early exchanges i never had it under control as it snagged me up and come off on a number of occasions, luck pays a huge part some times.  The pole tip under the water i hoped and prayed the fish stopped and turned and came round back towards me as it headed off down the canal.  In my head i was carp all the way for sure.

Thankfully the fish turned and a battle of me letting the elastic wear out the fish in the middle of the canal endured as held the pole above the fish adding a removing sections.  It eventually felt like i was beginning to win as my float came up through the water and broke the surface.  A glimpse of olive dark green as she turned and i knew i was into a nice tench  which added a whole host of pressure!  She finally saw my side and in the landing net i could not believe how lightly hooked she was as the size 20 hook was just nipped through her top lip!  At 5lb she was a fish i was ecstatic over and am still buzzing about now as i write.  A run of the mill fish in some places but for a canal on the pole on light medium elastic a battle i will remember forever.

I guess i had not returned this tench long when i was again into a better fish, this fish from the outset was not in the league of the past two fish and the elastic had it well under control from beginning to the end of the fight.  Another tench and i was made up to have had three tench in the morning. 

Going back over i got bites from roach and skimmers straight away and i knew there and then the tench game was up really.  Time moved on and the clock ticked round to 11am and with the warmth came a regular stream of boats and people on the towpath.  The last fish of the session was this nice bream below.

I decided to call it a day after this fish as i had a mountain of decorating to do at home and in my head i thought i had caught the best of the fish and was happy with what i had sitting in my keep net.  I was also conscious that the fish had been in there for around 3 hours at this point and although settled with plenty of room the increased temperatures i knew it was time to pack in.

The final net went 15.8lb and of course a quick cheeky shot of the three tench was a must.

A quick Reflection

So packed in i looked back on the session and began to analyse it.  Firstly it was very apparent the castor was picking out the better fish and although i was waiting for bites when they come they where worth waiting for.  The odd better skimmer also showed there must be a good head of these to try and directly target on future sessions.  The tactic of going over the far line earlier really had paid off well and i was made up with that.  I feel the whole collection of sessions has shown how you can build up a picture and tailor your techniques to get the best out of a situation and i hope this blog in particular has shown that.

Till next time

i wish you all tight lines

Danny

Evening Roach Fishing and Little Billinge Tench

A warm welcome to this weeks blog update.  I read with interest many reports on Facebook and angling forums about the problems people have been having in receiving their Environment Agency licence this year with some having ordered it over a month ago now and yet to receive their licence and some have also reported that their licence did not come away from the letter cleanly leaving white paper on the front of the licence.  I was very late ordering mine this year and it was midday on the Friday before the end of March I finally ordered mine and I have to I did not experience any problems in receiving my licence which arrived the following Wednesday but I did experience the problem with the front being left slightly defaced as the licence did not come cleanly from the letter.  The Environment Agency have issued a statement assuring all anglers who have received an on line confirmation email or had a receipt from the Post Office will receive a licence by the end of May and anglers should continue to use these in the meantime to prove they have purchased a rod licence.  The statement also confirmed the delay is down to a problem with printing.

Right now the opening of the river season officially is next month and although still around 6 weeks away just saying next month makes it seem a lot closer and as such over the passed few days I have allowed my thoughts to drift to that magical opening day.  I have of course booked the day off work,well i tell a lie my boss had already booked it in the diary this year before i even asked and i do have a trip planned for the opening day.  The next river season will see me fish the River Weaver and River Dane a lot more where i hope to connect with some of the better silvers in this river and in winter do battle with some River Weaver pike.  As always I am excited for the season to come and I cant wait for the new season to arrive.

Trips like this one a few weeks ago now just wet the appetite enough to make you start dreaming of silver darts and fat chub.

link: http://satonmyperch.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/stick-float-fishing-river-dane-chub.html

This passed week or two I have made a concious effort to get completely away from the Carp quest, clear my mind and just do some other fishing and that has taken the form of some pond fishing and tench fishing.  The decision to take a break was one that was hard to make as in my heart i wanted to be at the water side as many hours as i could but it is not till you step aside you realise you are just ploughing time and effort in the wrong areas and with tactics that are not working, you sometimes only realise this when you take a step away and allow yourself time to think and summarise where you are up to with it.  The break as you will read below proved to be just the tonic i needed and was certainly the right decision.

Moving on and looking forward to this bank holiday weekend and i am hoping to get out on the bank for at least two sessions.  One thing i normally do when wanting to target just bigger fish isto spend the morning on one venue and then drop back onto another for silvers around midday giving me the best of both worlds so over the two days i will almost certainly be fitting in some silver fishing and  some hours in pursuit of Mr cap and tench.  If your out this weekend then tight lines for your session and why not drop in on  the blogs Facebook page and let us know how you got on with your trip.

blogs facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dannys-Angling-Blog/282860255069146

on to the fishing:

Thursday Evening 5pm-7.20pm - Pond Fishing: Dog Roach on Corn..

After having only limited time the previous week at this pond i was eager to try and get a few more hours in there after work.  Now on the last trip i mentioned that the roach were strangely absent on that trip so i was eager to try and connect with a few of them.  I had hoped to try and get a full day on this water but to date i have not really had time to dedicate to this place.  I am quite an organised person when it comes to my fishing and although the exact location on the river trips may change on the night before the type of fishing i am doing is normally set in stone and this week i knew i wanted to devote a few hours on Sunday to my tench fishing.

I managed to winkle another early dart from work and as with the carp fishing, pole fishing, can be such a time forgiving vein of our sport as in not time at all i was at the side of a pond, pole put together and a pre tied rig loped to the end of the elastic and ready for my first put in.  I came armed with only the remains of the half pint of maggots from the weekend that where mainly casters by this point and a half tin of sweetcorn.  My plan was to start off on maggot and feed the odd bit of corn hoping to attract the better roach in and then fish corn for the last hour of the session.  The first put in on maggot resulted in a tiny perch, not the start i was after but my worries where soon put aside as the very next put in the float slid away confidently and a swift strike resulted in elastic melting from the tip, my prize? a plump roach above.

In all angling i believe the key to catching fish consistently, especially silvers, is feeding and you can get it so wrong.  My uncle is very good at trotting a float down  a river and catching fish but it is his feeding of the swim that keeps the fish coming.  I have sat there many a time and got off to a flyer when fishing but not fed the swim well and before i have realised it the swim is ruined or I have fed too heavily and the fish have moved up in the swim, its exactly the same on still waters, you need to keep the fish where you are fishing and feed to keep them there. A good way of thinking about it is to always be thinking in your mind you are there to catch the fish not to feed them.

I began drip feeding 2 or 3 maggots and the odd grain of corn, waiting for bites to dry up before feeding again to draw the fish from the safety of the cover.  The fishing in that first hour was patchy with one decent roach followed by a wait for a small perch, I knew the better fish where about as past experience of this venue has taught me that they really do shoal on here and once you hit one nice roach your in for a decent number of them.  I made one change at this point and it still amazes me each time how little changes can have such dramatic results.  A move over to a tiny piece of corn on a size 18 hook saw roach after roach come to the bank.

The quality and quantity of the fish even shocked me and i have fished this pond for many years now and this session put this tiny spit of a pond in a different league for me as roach and rudd between 6oz to a pound came with great regularity and yet another surprise came in the last few put ins with this roach bream hybrid below.

I really am going to have to dedicate a full day to this pond sometime to see just what weight i can out together.  Sweetcorn on the night was the killer bait and picked out the better fish time and time again and i would say the majority of the final net came in the last hour of the session.  My eye on the clock it was one of those sessions that passed by all to fast and one i did not want to come to an end.  I left it until as late as i could before calling it a day.  Leaving this secluded intimate venue after catching a nice net of roach i was more than made up with my few hours fishing.

Saturday: Morning Session On Little Billinge for Tench

The past week or so I have been preferring short sessions as opposed to the mammoth 12 hour sessions we do on the river and there is one good reason for this.  I hoped that i would get more out of my fishing if i fished with full concentration for a few hours rather than 12 hours where after around 8 hours of the session sat behind bite alarms i found myself not really enjoying it and actually wanting to go home.

Saturday morning and arriving at Little Billinge on the Northwich card whilst it was covered it a thick blanket of fog was very atmospheric to say the least, especially as the road where you park actually dissects big and little billinge.  I settled down in the swim furthest from the entrance as basically it looked the best swim with a marginally sunken tree and plenty of open water it looked like it screamed tench and carp.  I cast one rod along side the the tree and the other just up the nearside margin hoping to pick up any patrolling fish.

The morning brought all manner of visits from wildlife including herons, kingfishers, woodpeckers, lapwings and wood pigeons the name a few and it was great to take in the world as it awakened from its overnight slumber.  I was amazed to see that i was the only person to visit the lake early that morning and only shared it with a lad that was on a night session, his unhooking mat hooked up to dry giving away some night time captures.  The rods remained silent all morning apart from the odd liner and it was not until around 12 noon when the bailiff arrived i was dropped a few hints on where the carp and tench had been showing of late i decided to move.

With only a hour and half of the session left I deemed it was worth at least a hour or so in this new spot before i called it a day.  Twenty minutes in and the alarm sounded out a short set of bleeps and the bobbin shot to the top, watching a few carp blogs on Youtbube all say this is you getting done over when the fish had sucked in the bait but not got hooked, being an optimist i saw this as a good sign rather than reminiscing on the fact i had not got a fish.  It was certainly more action than I had experienced in the morning.

The time slipped away and in what felt like no time at all i was looking at around 20 minutes of fishing time left before i had to leave.  Another blank was looking to hit the blog until right on last knockings as i stood to bring the first rod in it shot into life the alarm giving a complete one toner i quickly lifted into what felt like a really nice fish that had me in all types of trouble on the far bank as it went under my other rod, its all well and good having two rods in the water but i tell you what soon as you get a run you wish it wasn't there at all!.  The fish away from the bank came in like a wet lettuce with no fight at all to the point i felt like it had come off, very strange i thought as i slipped the net under a pristine looking female tench.

on the scales she went just over 5lb.

It wasn't till i lifted the fish from the weigh sling to put her back in the net for release i noticed her tail, well lack of to be more precise.  The tail had completely gone which must give this fish problems moving around but upon release did not seem to bother her one bit as she shot away.  The injury looked old and healed over and she was obviously feeding well at 5lb and in great condition.  Asking on the Internet the general consensus that this was a injury due to infection or disease that eats away at the tail when its young till the tail flesh is gone, sad really.

Well i leave you with a picture of Nemo the tench and until next week i wish you all

tight lines

Danny

(late blog this week due to problems getting pictures from camera)