Short Sesison on Dane, Evening Piking and River Dee tides.

A warm welcome to this week's blog update I hope i find you well and your nets wet.  In this weeks update i cover a session we did at the weekend on the River Dane and a few evening trips for pike i have been doing of late, a little early but the urge to get out was too much! Also featured in this weeks update is some information around staying safe on the banks of my favourite river the River Dee.

The feedback i received from the change in layout of last weeks blog was all positive so i will be looking to continue with the blog in this format for the foreseeable future.  The breaking up of the Introduction and my rambling can only be a good thing haha.  With that its onto the update and i hope you enjoy....

Something Fishy.......

Pike fishing is something that has always captured my imagination and are a species that do get me excited when i know i am heading out fishing for them.  Last year my dead baiting for pike only started in the new year and that is something i am looking to change this year as i aim to be all set for October 01st.  Looking ahead pike fishing is certainly going to feature heavily on this blog this winter and my hope is to dove tail short pike trips with my normal stick float and pole fishing on the rivers. 

A while back on a trip for pike with a friend i was asked if i was interested in joining his bulk order for bait he puts in every year as it would save me a Lot of money buying in bulk and also would get me Free Postage.   With a lot of piking planned on both still waters and rivers and also knowing the price i was paying last winter for individual packs of bait i was more than happy to take up his kind offer.

On Sunday i left the order in his experienced and capable hands with a limit of between 20-30 pounds.  Wednesday morning and a picture arrives of my order and i was taken back by the sheer amount of dead baits that came for the money, flowers where ordered on the way home for my other half with a nice note about her now not having a bottoms shelf in the freezer.

Thanks again mate, now to see these in a pike mouth as it comes to the surface to be netted!!

Troutin' About.......

Late on Sunday night with nothing really to do and a pint of maggot left over from the previous days session myself and my uncle decided on visiting a remote out of the way part of a local river that a friend had whispered to us could hold a nice fish or two having been seen off a few times on recent visits.  The venue being a nice stroll from the car and with unknown fish it was going to be a risk to devote our full Saturday river session too so this short two hour scouting mission was aimed at filling in a few blanks for us to judge its potential for a full days fishing.

The river was low and clear but seemed to go into a deep hole and then continue round a bend.  The swim afforded a snug fit for two people trotting and the result of the session was a nice selection of perch, dace and gudgeon with the ever present minnow but we also had a trout a piece and i was left gutted at leaving my scales at home with the beauty above which was certainly a personal best trout.  I also had a hook pull on two better fish so plenty of potential for a full trip soon.

The Tide is High Don't Get Left Holdin' On..

I make no attempt to hide the fact that the River Dee is by far my first love when it comes to rivers and one of my hopes is this blog in some way makes up part of the jigsaw that See's anglers being interested in my captures to get on her banks and enjoy her beauty and plentiful fish stocks.    I always love to hear form anglers who have made such a decision based on reading my adventures on the bank and that they have normally been left surprised by their experience of such good fishing.

I do worry sometimes though that a lot for a lot of these people it is their first trip to the River Dee and I don't think i do enough to promote the dangers that go with this river.  One of the main dangers on the river dee are the tides and i am filled with fear when i read comments on forums where people say not to worry about the tides as they don't reach as high as Farndon! The not only reach farndon but go above it.

Whenever i know i am visiting the River Dee the first thing i check is the Tides chart at Liverpool and i use the link below:-

River Dee Tides: http://www.ntslf.org/tides/tidepred?port=Liverpool

A simple rule is that if the tide is higher than 9m on the chart above then it will incoming tidal bore will reach over the weir in Chester and start to back up the river.  A lot of the swims as you move up the river can look very appealing, a shingle bank at Almere ferry is a prime example when you can get caught out easily.  

My best advise if you see tides over 9m:

1. Know what time the tide is expected

2. Be sensible and if swim is low don't take too much gear to peg

3.  Place a stick on the water level when you arrive so you can spot the rise happening

4. Don't be put off by the river backing up and flowing the other way this can offer some of the best sport.

Congratulations On First River Dee Barbel.......

A good month of two ago i received a message on social media from an angler who had put in a few sessions on the river dee hoping to connect with an elusive river dee barbel but was just after a few pointers on tactics and if he was going about it the right way.  The question around river dee barbel is one i get asked about a lot as i have been quite fortunate to have crossed paths with one or two in my tine fishing the dee.  These fish are spreading more and more each year but still remain a challenge for any angler looking to put a tick next to the River Dee barbel box.

I have receive a lot of emails around river dee barbel and past experiences of anglers asking for exact swims, bait, length of hook length and even where to cast in the swim left me wondering just how much effort they have already put into doing it like i did for myself.  Some emails anglers had not even done a single session or even fished the dee just wanted the glory of saying they had caught one, where is the achievement in that?

Ian was different this guy had put in more than a few trips to the dee for these fish, blogging his trips through facebook and on his email he didn't want to know any of the above that others had asked only if what he was doing was right and if i thought he was in the right area, he was ban on on both counts and i knew it was only a matter of time.

This week after i think it was 6 blanks in the same area he got in touch with the news of his capture, a well earned fish and i know Ian said to me he know wants to catch a proper one but no matter of size this fish is a priceless capture, well earned and well deserved.  Well done mate a fish caught the proper way and a lesson to all about how to go about achieving goals you set and i am sure Ian would agree had he been told the exact swim etc etc and not had the blanks the capture would not have felt as good.

Piking Sessions With Some Bite......

In the past week or so I have managed to get out on the bank for two evenings pike fishing with Garry in search of some pre season pike action.  The first session the dead bait rods where left at home and this was simply down to the hot conditions.  The day time temperatures where still well into double figures and with plenty of fish topping it just felt like deads where going to be a waste of time.  It was a one rod approach from me and Garry went armed with a pike rod and a lure rod hoping to lure a fish to the shimmer and dazzle of his trusted lure, the Judge!

I don't know what it is about pike fishing but as soon as that bait hits the water i am expecting a instant reaction from a pike.  I guess this comes from my pike fishing rivers where most of the time i am fishing for a pike that has found me not the other way round.  The first two swims showed no signs of fish despite our exquisitely placed baits in obvious pike lairs but alas the pike where conspicuous by their absence.

We moved swims again leap frog style and eventually a pike was coaxed into following a lure in and pulling away at the last minute.  A hungry pike in the area both rods where placed in the margin and the lottery of which rod would go began.  The pike gods shone on my bait as the float slid away and i struck into the fish only for it to let go, line relaxed i waited for its return and again the float went and this time i gave it a little longer before striking and thankfully the fish was on.  Only a jack but it was more than welcome.

We fished on into dark but we only managed one more take and it took until it was so dark we could only just make out the floats in the darkness.  The run went to Garry and he had the fish on for a a while before the fish spat the hooks.  I must admit i was gutted as when a few of you head out you always hope you all get a fish for your efforts.  Thankfully a few days later he was out again and i nipped up to meet him with my daughter and he settled the score with the pike and put this nice jack on the bank, a capture my little girl loved and called "Big Fish!!"

The next outing we had came on the Wednesday and it was a right spare of the moment session arranged in the afternoon in work.  We travelled light and with one dead bait rod each a lure rod for Garry and a simple wobbled sprat rod for myself we set about covering some water we had done well in last year.  The evening really warm and the midge flies out in force biting us at will we persevered through the pain barrier in search of an esox.  The warm sticky evening left me feeling less than confident in the deads but i was optimistic on the wobbled sprat but alas it was not to be and it was "the Judge" lure that again sparked a reaction from a pike as it nailed the lure.  A epic feisty fight endured with a pike that had quite clearly had its weetabix and then some.  Some pike you can just tell they are going ti be trouble on the bank, you can see it in their eyes and this one looked full of mischief and i was not wrong as he did his best to make a mess but confident and assured handling and unhooking soon saw this jack tamed on the bank as it had in the water and ready for its picture.

It always great to see the pike feeding so well but it has been obvious from speaking to pikers and also our experiences on the bank that the pike are not interested in deads at the moment and are still up for a moving bait.   We endured the midge fly bites into dark before calling it a night and checking my face in the car mirror i looked every bit like the elephant man.  A great catch up session and one of many this season i hope.  The next day in work my best friend was a tub of Anthisan and Germolene, i was itching off and bit all over, even on my legs through thick jeans, how is it even possible?

Short Dane Session.....

Saturday saw us returning back to the banks of the River Dane for our normal fishing session and we chose to target an area we had done well in earlier in the season.  This river is so quiet with anglers we took our time selecting our swims for the morning session we had planned.

All set in i settled in a swim i had done well in before while my uncle tired a new swim further down stream hoping to discover some new fishing.  knowing the depth quite well from recent trips i set up my 17ft rod and the reason for this was simply down to control.  Experience in this swim has taught me that from first light till around 9am it can be a bite a chuck but from then on in you need to be fishing right far over to get the fish.

The early exchanges for me where good, bites wise i was getting a bite a chuck, only problem being the fact the fish where small chublets, you know the ones you cant tell if there dace or chub there that small. The problem with a big group of chublets in front of you is the sheer amount of bait like maggots they can eat.  A decent shoal in your swim and very little of your bait, if any, gets to to the point down stream you are putting your hemp.

The only way around this i could think of was to mix up some heavy ground bait and lace it with hemp and maggot.  This was fed where i was feeding my hemp and this combined with casting a bit further down stream saw me starting to pick some different species up as they settled in bed of bait, one such fish was this perch shown below.

When you can get a better bed of bait down on the bottom on this river you start to attract the better fish as the session goes on and the inclusion of ground bait i have found brings the bream onto the bait as well.  Over the next hour or so the skimmers started to come with regularity, never one a chuck but the odd one sprinkled between roach and dace.

The swim continued to tick over till around 9am when all action completely died and it is happening a lot on this river, whether its pike or the fact the low conditions spook the fish i am left with no solid evidence to this only it happens more often than not.  The odd fished being picked up was nothing compared to the fish i was getting earlier on and even the small chub on the far line had dried up.

There is one fish that you do not catch too often on the river and to be honest its a fish that most river anglers never like to see as it is synonymous with a completely dead swim, that fish is the Ruffe.  The fish is very much like a perch only smaller and lighter coloured.

We decided to call it a day not long after this capture as no more fish where forthcoming.  My final net was quite a good result for the short session on the river.

As i was bringing my net out there was an almighty stink coming from it and it was one of those smells that makes your instantly feel sick.  Looking in my keep net i saw a unusual fish in the mix that was almost pink.  Looking closer revealed it to be a part digested fish and i can only imagine it was spewed up by one of the small perch in the net.  The fact the perch where not massive and had spewed up such a fish shocked me but there can be no other answer.

Well that's it for this weeks blog, i wish you all tight lines this weekend,

Danny





River Dane Fishing: Perch Heaven and Exploration

A warm welcome to this weeks blog update.  The past few weeks i have managed to get out on the bank on a number of occasions during the week and as such i have decided to break the sessions down into a midweek blog update, as such it has meant that the main weekly blog update for that week has not been live on the front page of the blog for long at all.   I thought it might be worth including a few links to the
past few updates since the season has started.

Chub Fishing on the River Tame: http://satonmyperch.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/river-tame-fishing-sticking-it-out-for.html
Session to Forget on Dane and how i prepare Hemp: http://satonmyperch.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/river-dane-fishing-tough-times-how-to.html
Busted by the coppers on the bank: http://satonmyperch.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/river-dane-fishing-coppers-show-for.html

As of writing this introduction section of this blog I am just about to start a week and a half break from work and at the moment the only plan i have is to get out on the Dane on Thursday and of course our Saturday stint where i think we have got plans to get our discovering boots on to hike a few farmers fields discovering those never fished before swims hidden behind the walls of Balsam that suffocate the river further upstream.  After Saturday I have no idea what I am doing fishing wise, a bit of me wants to put some hours in on the carp quest but I am a running water man at heart and the lure of those rivers pulls hard for me when setting off in the car but its something i need to get my head back on track with so i may find my way out for a few evenings for the carp and maybe a sneak trip to the Tame, either way its going to be an exciting week to be off work and on the bank.  Born to fish Forced to Work.

This weekend is always a weekend i look forward to so much and that is because it is the Fishomania final.  As regular readers will know Saturdays are my normal fishing day so i will be setting a recording on Sky Plus for the match on Saturday but it is the Sunday International match i look forward too more and i guess that is down to the fact it is more similar to to the fishing I do in the way they target all species and the emphasis is not so much on carp catching methods and you get to see baits like worm and caster used.

Fishomania has been a great success and we can only hope that one day the Riverfest gains as much popularity that it also gets a televised final on Sky although the logistics of filming such an event along a long stretch of river bank may a problem.  The hope that this will on day feature may not be far off being a reality though in future years given the fact that every match in this years competition has sold out and the competition is attracting some big sponsors this year.

Away from the actual fishing i have this week been contacted by a company with a view of me writing a review of their product on my blog.  As i have said before on the blog i get many of these emails asking me to review all types of products and it may seem silly to stare a gift horse in the mouth but if i can not relate the product back to my fishing in some way then i politely decline, in past years there has been some "out there" ones like Hammocks and a full head to toe mozzy clothing!  As said may seem mad to  turn it down but it is what it is and if i can not find a use for it and relate it back to my fishing in some way then how can i give it a true review.

Speaking of past reviews i to this day still use most of the products i have done reviews for on the blog.  The lamp get used every week when walking the bank in the dark and to thread my line through the rod rings in the dark and the grill to go get used on the few sessions where you can get close to the car to name a few.

Before we get onto this weeks fishing I thought i would just go into where i feel we are up to this year with the river fishing and write up a bit of an update.  When i set out my plans for the season it was aimed predominantly around discovering what the river Dane has to offer and not just in the popular well fished areas.  I feel in the past few weeks we  learnt a lot about the lower reaches of the Dane in that it offers us a steady 10lb net of fish at least on most sessions when the river is in low summer conditions and looking back to the winter sessions it seems the chub stick around but in winter the better fish seem to shoal up as you would expect in certain areas of the river.

The steady nets available here and the good fishing we have found i must admit has halted our exploration upstream and this has been remedied a little in this update but in all honesty i had in my mind that we would have began moving a little earlier but it is so hard to branch out to other spots when you have such steady fishing with easy access already there and as such hacking your way through brambles upstream to fish the same river makes you think twice.  Then there is the River Dee, a river both me and my uncle love to fish but a river that seems to have fallen by the wayside of late but i am sure that will all change come winter and then there is the River Weaver that i planned to fish and i am pleased to say that i have a session planned on the Weaver next Friday so that will feature as a midweek blog during the following week as it will be too late for that nights blog so keep an eye out for that.

on to this weeks fishing.

River Dane Fishing: Perch Heaven and Exploration 

The idea this weekend was to take advantage of the dry conditions and head for a section of the River Dee that fishes really well for dace at this time of year if the river is at the right level so all day Friday whilst i was in work i had in my head we would be heading off to my beloved River Dee the next day.  All the bait bought as i headed home from work i had a quick glance at my phone and it showed that the next day we were in for some rain, not a problem for us as we go out all weathers, it was the predicted high winds that drew our attention as the venue on the dee is very open and does involve you to fish right down the middle of the river so these high winds would make line control and presentation of the bait difficult.  With this in mind we went back to the drawing board and looked through the venues we had at our disposal and we decided to scrap the idea of fishing the river Dee and decided on a early start on the River Dane at a very sheltered spot.

Waking in morning to the sound of rain tapping against the window i set about my normal morning routine, cup of coffee, round of toast, bait out of fridge and into my basket and all set to load the car.  The time come to load the car and in the pitch black and with the rain bettering down i loaded the car as one or two of the younger neighbours stumbled home from a drunken night out, been there done that and i was glad i was going fishing although i did wonder just how many anglers had set their alarms, woken up and saw the rain and turned back over.  You think it does not happen but when you see how quiet the banks are on these days it makes you realise it does effect a lot of peoples decisions to go fishing although this nature is not confined to angling as dog walkers, bikers and ever boats on the local cuts numbers are drastically reduced, at least until mr sunshine comes back out. Heading out along the roads with the window wipers doing double time we chatted about the session ahead and what we expected.  The river Dane is a river that shows the effects of rainfall quite quickly and even after a good month of hardly any rain we knew she would be carrying a little bit of water and we thought maybe a bit of colour too.

Walking the banks in the early morning light with the rain coming down we quickly scouted out two pegs and set about getting out gear set up, now i did say before fishing in the rain does not bother me but i must admit setting up in the stuff does as everything it soaking we through before you start so priority one for me was to get my basket down and the brolly set up over it and as we had chosen our venue wisely there was no wind so the risk of my box getting blown in was eliminated totally.  Putting the landing net in the margin i noticed the water clarity was quite good and i could see quite a bit of the keep net in the water even in the dim light.

Tackle and Bait

Rod: 17ft Preston Carbon-active Float rod  Line: 5lb Drennan Float Fish 2.2oz Bayer Perlon (hooklength)
Float: Dave Harrell 8 number 4  Hook: Size 20 Kamasan Animal
Bait - 2 Pints of white maggot 1 pint of hemp

We had timed our arrival well as no sooner had I set up it was light enough to run a flat through and as normal with this venue the fish had come straight onto the feed i had put in while setting up and the very first run down the fish where there.  I always take a photo of the first fish of the day and in this case it was a small roach.  The rain was still coming down at this point but with fish coming quite regular and my brolly up i was as happy as a pig in muck.  The great variety of this river was shown in the first three fish of the day which were a roach, dace and a chublet and this variety is what draws me to this river, not knowing what the next fish is or what is in the river that day just makes the session for me.

Having fished this river since the season has opened we have began to get a feel for how she fishes and it has been very noticeable that the swim starts with smaller fish and builds in both number of fish and the odd better fish start to show and it is normally around a hour or so into the session.  It has also been a huge feature that the swims build and build and then completely die so although i was catching very well i knew to make the best of it as it would almost certainly not last.

After around a hour and a half the better fish had started to show on my peg in the form or a few nice skimmers and perch.  It is around this time that my uncle normally visits my peg or vice versa to see how the other is fairing and when my uncle visited he brought the news he was having a session similar to mine the previous week where nothing had gone right to the point he had not even cast in yet with a mixture of getting caught on the trees and stuck on bottom first cast accounting for two hook lengths, needless to say he was far from happy and i would have been exactly the same, well i was the previous week so i knew how he felt.  A quick brew and he was back on his way to his peg and i got back to my peg and set about trying to get as many fish together in the early bumper period as possible.

The session moving along nicely i was catching some nice roach and even had one or two better chublets coming on my trots down the swim.  It was great to also see some nice perch showing if the float dropped into a slack on the far side of the swim and although we have caught perch on here before these where of a better standard.

Another reoccurring feature of our trips so far on the River Dane has been the appearance of some really nice perch both harassing small fish as they come in and also stalking the fish in our keep nets.  I knew they were ever present on the peg in was on so i had set out with a game plan and ever since setting up i had been feeding a margin line with bait and around two hours into the session i saw the first signs of predators in the area with all the silver fish coming up in my keep net and i was sure i saw the flash of a perch following my feed down.  The swim in front of me was starting to die off a little with fish coming in dribs and drabs and having to be worked for so it all pointed to it being time to try for the perch.

In i went with my bait and no sooner had the float settled was it sliding under and i struck into a fish that left no doubts to its identity as it went straight for the margins and feeling the pounding of its tail down the rod blank i knew it was a perch.  When the fish surfaced i was taken back as to the size of the perch it was massive and with that i started praying for it not to come off and playing the fish with a lose drag i managed to get it to the top only for it to dive time and time again and with every dive my heart rate increased till eventually i managed to slide my net under its crocodile skin flanks.

On the unhooking matt it looked huge and i thought it was for sure a new personal best but on the scales she went exactly 2lb and her stomach felt quite hollow.  I was in no way upset i was over the moon in fact and this fish was the fish of the season so far and could quite possibly be the fish of the season.

over the moon!!

As i was landing this fish my uncle appeared at the back of my peg and after taking some pictures and returning the perch back we got chatting and my after my uncles late start the fish had been poor and i concurred that the fishing down the swim had got worse over time so we decided to photograph my net and go and spend a few hours discovering an area we had scouted out upstream.

The Discovering Continues Upstream, 

Heading of upstream to discover what the fishing was like on an area we had scouted out a few weeks back filled us both with excitement and although we only had around 3 hours of fishing on the new stretch we knew it would give us a good idea of the potential of the area.  What would we find?  What species were present? and would we find the location of the better chub that we know must be in this river?

My uncle set up in a swim that had a deep run on its inside that led down to some really fast water and it was at this really fast water i set up in a swim.  This was not the plan but the upside of setting up in these swims would ultimately give us a chance to see what fish species are up here as you would think we would encounter fish that live in slow glides as well as the fast runs.

The great news is that although we did not break any records with the weight if our nets what we did catch gave us great confidence.  We both had a good few silver fish in roach, dace and even a perch while we both caught some nice grayling one of two i caught is shown below and was two fish of a 13 fish haul of grayling i caught and returned.

 We both caught chublets and my uncle also had a better stamp of chub than we had been catching down stream which really pleased us both.  The highlight of the short session for me was two brown trout i caught which both put up an epic fight in the fast water.

The two final nets although not going to set the world alight weight wise will give us the push to search out other areas around here and let us know that dedicating a full day to this area will be worthwhile.

till next time its tight lines from me,

Danny

If you never try you'll never know...River dee Exploring

A warm welcome to this weeks blog update and thank you to all the people who sent me nice messages around my weight loss i mentioned in last weeks blog. Thank you it really is appreciated and although with Christmas looming large temptation will be all over the place i am sure i will get through it and still be on track come the new year.

The first thing i would like to do this week is congratulate Dave Harrell in his capture of this fantastic match winning weight of chub below.  The story behind it goes that he woke up really late for the match and only arrived just in time for the start of the match and goes to show that sometimes you can think to much about your different options on the river and not do them all justice, all these fish were caught on the same rod, on the rig and even the same hook if i remember rightly and as i said goes to prove that sometimes narrowing down your options and concentrating on one can be the best way to go.  A fantastic net of fish, a dream net for any river man and it is great to see that after a the bad draws in the RiverFest competition that the river is starting to repay its debt to Dave for all his hard work in putting together that fantastic competition that has really put river angling back on the map.

I have always believed that to write a blog every week and keep it as interesting as possible you need to have great planning and believe it or not this past week or so my mind has been running wild with my plans for the blog for 2014 past when the rivers close.  You can of course only plan so much as with river fishing you really are at the mercy of mother natures winter wrath but some things do run in set cycles and we all know that come next spring and summer carp and tench will be at the forefront of our minds as anglers and with that i began putting a few ideas together another Quest for the blog. As regular followers of the blog will know the last quest i did was to catch my first ever double figure carp, it took me two seasons but considering i started from nothing knowledge wise on carp fishing and i learnt as i went along i think that is quiet an achievement. This time i  am running over a few ideas as to what i want the quest to entail am slowly putting together a small portfolio on each idea taking into account venues as in are they local and easy for me to fish?, do they contain my target? and most of all is it something that is going to keep me motivated as whatever challenge i choose its going to be a step up for me.

The past quest for a double figure carp can be found here: http://www.satonmyperch.blogspot.co.uk/p/10lb-carp-mini-blog.html

The quest for a 10lb carp of course taught me lessons on rigs and watercraft when fishing for bigger fish but i also noticed a few things as i was completing the quest and the two main things that occupied my mind where 1)  how much a second rod would be use full, there were plenty of times i wanted to try two areas but only had the one rod and times where i did not know whether a pop up was best of bottom bait and two rods would allow me to experiment on one 2) how under gunned i felt fishing with my 1.75tc barbel rod in its Avon form, i didn't know if i was under gunned or not but just the thought of not knowing really worried me at the time, what if i hit a 20 would i get it in? that's not fair on the fist at the end of the day, so i made a promise that once the quest was over i would make sure i was equipped properly before embarking on the next one.

With that in mind i have been keeping my eyes peeled for a pair of carp rods in the 2.75lbtc bracket for some time now .  I had originally had my eyes on the Sonik SKS  range as i wanted a rod that could do the job but not see me spending a fortune on it and 50 quid per rod was the maximum i wanted to spend and with my birthday coming up quickly time was running out to make a decisions, so on Tuesday night i was all set to make a buy a pair of these rods when i decided to make a quick brew, on my return there in front of me was a big advertisement on facebook of a sale on at Climax Tackle, Prologic C3 carp rods reduced down to 49.99.  In my research i had come across these rods but with each costing well over 100 pound they were well out of my price range, needless to say i took no time at all in snapping two of them up and all being well by the time this blog goes out i should be the proud owner of a pair of these rods.

These rods will not be sat gathering dust as they will be going straight into use for my piking as i have a session planned for the pike this very weekend all being well.  My barbel rod will become just that from now on a river rod for barbel and chub fishing and the ultimate aim is to be able to vary my fishing at easy without having to keep changing the same rod over from barbel fishing to pike fishing, having two rods will also add to my options with the pike fishing and will see me targeting pike on future sessions on the Dee as two rods give you the luxury of two baits in the water.   All in all there are exciting times ahead for the blog there a a few conversations ongoing with people with ideas going into 2014 and i must say i cant wait to make a start.

This weekend marks my birthday and as is the tradition i have booked an extended weekend off work with the plan of getting out on the bank as much as possible.  All being well there should be some river fishing for dace and chub and also i am hoping to get out for a pike fishing trip on dead baits as well, of course these plans are always subject to change but all being well a nice weekends fishing lays ahead.

This does not fit in with the blog right here but as many of you know who follow me on twitter and facebook i write this blog over a few evenings, anyhow i fear there is never a right place for this.  Tonight as i set up the laptop to continue with the blog the news has broke about the passing or Nelson Mandela. In my younger years  in college i was fortunate enough to travel to South Africa for three weeks playing Rugby Union on tour, i left full of enthusiasm for a holiday playing rugby and i returned having learnt a huge life lesson from a country this main carved from a cell.  During my time there we saw many shanty towns and saw the poverty that still exists there and also saw the very island that nelson Mandela spent 27 years of his life imprisoned on.  The whole three weeks changed my thoughts on life dramatically and the stories of how life was during apartheid stick with me to this day, at the time the country was still far from a reformed and perfect country but it was certainly nothing like the stories we heard. RIP Nelson Mandela a true great of our era and a man that whose actions will be taught in history lessons for hundreds of years to come.,

on to this weeks fishing:

"if you never try you'll never know...River Dee Exploring"

  As the title of this weeks blog suggests it was a weekend of discovery for me and my uncle on the River dee this weekend and although it is always great bagging up on the more productive sections of the river a big part of my river fishing is about discovering new areas and hunting out those little spots where fish shoal up.  Along the whole of the river course there are places where the fish will go to in numbers at different times of the year and if you find these spots in winter it can mean you can really bag up on fish whilst also getting some peaceful fishing away from the crazy, hectic, much busier areas of the river that can become irritating over time.

Rivers are unlike their sillwater counterparts in more than just looks, on a river you always feel like you could start catching at any time, this is of course a common feeling on a still water but as a river is constantly flowing and pushing your bait downstream you can draw fish from great distances downstream onto your bait, but you also need to know when to cut and run and this comes down to knowing the river well from past visits and experiences and Saturday was a great example of this as we actually left the swims whilst we where still catching.

We decided to visit a stretch we had fished close to before and had noticed a decent depth change on the visit and had earmarked it for a visit in Winter.  The nature of this area means it is only really fish able at a certain water level and with the unpredictable British weather we knew if we were to try it out last Saturday was our chance as the river was in perfect condition and the water level favourable.  The area we fished before had produced some nice nets of dace and it was this species we had our sights locked on, on Saturdays trip.

Maggot and hemp was the bait for the day and i made my first cast as always full of expectation and excitement.  The float went down the deep glide a dream, not a breath of wind meant the float was a mere pin prick in the surface of the water and utilising my 17ft trotting rod i was able to tease the bait through the swim searching out those different places in the swim where i expected a bite.  As with most sessions on the river the wait for that first bite seems like an eternity, unless that is you hit the ground running on one of those magical trotting sessions the dee can grant an angler.

That first bite took an age to come but when it did it was solid resistance i was met with, certainly not a dace or a roach but i did think i could have been a chub due to its stand and fight stance.  This was short lived as the fish soon gave its identity away the fact it moved upstream with the grace and elegance that only the lady of the stream possesses, this was a grayling and i knew given the cold conditions she would have her full winter colours in bloom, although capturing this fishes beauty on film is easier said than done as any angler will testify they are as wily as they are strong.  During the time we spent at this venue i went to pick up 4 more fin perfect grayling, not all made it in front of the camera though.

With grayling fishing slowing down i  took a walk down to see my uncle who had also had a similar session to myself with a mixture of grayling, salmon par and trout but none of us had even had a sign of the dace we were so hoping for.  I sat with my uncle for a good half hour and i tell you now you cant help but learn something when you watch a person who can trot a float down a swim as well and he can i could literally sit and watch him trotting for hours, a little hold back her and slowing the float down there almost guiding the bait into the fishes mouths, it almost inspires you to want to get back to your peg and try and replicate it and that i did although not with the touch that he does, the way he holds the float back without it rising out of the water at all is so hard to do.

I returned to my peg and first trot down i struck into a fish that had me chuckling like john wilson as the fish jumped time and time again and it was not a bad fish so my heart was also in my mouth each time.  A trout it was of course but it was this fishes markings that caught my attention it was mesmerising in its beauty i certainly have never caught a trout with such vivid markings as this fish.

Both myself and my uncle where desperate for one dace to show up as we both knew where there is one dace there is more but as time passed and more and more grayling continued to show up we both knew a decision had to be made, the dace where not here and it was obvious from the amount of game fish coming to our swims that there was no dace in the area, if they had been around we would have certainly hit one by now.  With this we decided to drop back on another venue on the way home to a place we knew held some dace.

Dropping back for the Dace 

Like i have mentioned before on this blog we always have a plan on our trips we very rarely hit the bank without a plan B and we visited this stretch on Saturday with the intention that if we did not find the dace we would drop back on a stretch we knew held some dace.

Arriving on this popular beat we were amazed to find it so quiet,we quickly settled into our pegs and instantly was into dace action.  My uncle was out of sight but i could hear form the noise of his striking he was getting a few fish going.  The dace where right there from the off and i soon was over the ten fish mark and although i didn't have much time i was sure i was in for a decent net.  The dace action was steady but it was not over my help and i found the dace to be coming at all areas of the swim and not really in one place which can happen in a fast swim.  It was during one of these trots down i hit a fish right on my hemp, i was actually taken by surprise as i wasn't expecting it but luckily for me it was one of those unmissable bites, my reward? A fantastic river dee roach, the fish of Saturdays session for me.

The session for me got a bit hit and miss after this fish with the fish seemingly moving in and out of the swim to the point they were there one minute and not next.  I visited my uncle during one of these dry spells and he had got the fish going right under his feet, one a chuck.  I returned to my peg for the last hour of the session and continued to pick up the odd dace and on last knocking had a fish taken by a pike that spat the fish at the last moment, like last week, seconds before i was to get a glimpse of him.

The final nets:

my net:

uncles net

That is is for this weeks instalment for the blog,

till next week i wish you all tight lines and stay safe.

Danny