Month: <span>October 2022</span>

What with one thing and another and having Covid I was unable to go fishing for a while so I grabbed the first opportunity that I had. Perhaps that was the problem, I went fishing because I thought I had to rather than because I wanted to. It was a bit chilly and windy so I thought I would visit my “go to” lake and see how it was getting on. You may remember that I didn’t fish it for nearly a year because of the water quality and when I went back I had a good session so I thought I would try again. I had a few jobs to do before leaving the house so I didn’t get to the water until about 10.30. I was the only one there and found a swim that I could park next to so I was quickly able to get my gear out and set up. As usual I put out a carp rod on a buzzer and instead of using the float rod, which I usually do, I got out the feeder rod and thought I would try that as well.

I put a pineapple boilie on the carp rod and some sweetcorn on the feeder. I had method feeders on both roads so mixed up a decent amount of method mix to last the day. Carp rod out and buzzer set and I was ready to set up the feeder rod. I cast out I was able to sit down and take in the surroundings. The wind was blowing towards me and despite the forecast of cloud it was quite sunny but I didn’t reap the benefit of that as I was sitting in the shade, fortunately I had brought plenty of layers to keep myself warm.

The water did not look as welcoming as the last time I went a few weeks ago, autumn has truly set in. The swans that used to live on this water don’t seem to be there at the moment so at least I didn’t get pestered by them. I do hope they haven’t been affected by the avian flu which has been recoded locally. There were a few ducks but even they stayed away from me, I could hear a robin but he didn’t come and visit, perhaps when it gets colder the birds will be hungry and more likely to come closer.

Time passed I kept refilling my method feeders and cast out using aiming points on the far bank to try and land the feeder in roughly the same place each time. I was fishing the feeder rod closer in and I was able to use my catapult to ping pellets, maggots and ground bait around the area. Time passed, more time passed, it was getting towards lunchtime and I hadn’t had a bite or a twitch. I was getting a bit fed up so I thought I would try the float rod. Leaving the carp rod out I put some maggots on the hook and fished fairly shallow because this is a shallow water. I thought I might get some sport with a few small Rudd or Roach. I leave the feeder rod and the float rod set up as this saves time and I’ve got some nifty little sleeves which fit on the ends of the rods and keep everything secure, however I must have lost a split shot as the float was riding too high in the water. I sorted this and soon had a bite but the fish slipped the hook as I was bringing him in.

I’ve managed to avoid tangles for quite a while now, there was a time when my home time would be decided by how bad the tangle was but as I was only a couple of hours in when I got my first one I couldn’t really go home yet. It is amazing how fishing line can get tangled! I was just bringing the hook are in to check the bait and somehow the float wrapped itself round and round the rod tip and was a complete muddle. I did have a look to see if I could do anything about it but decided the best thing to do was cut the line and sort it out at home. I was just in the middle of doing this when the buzzer sounded which took me by surprise, sometimes fish bite at the most awkward moments! Standing up I felt something fall off my lap and splash into the water in front of me but ignored it, put down the float rod, grabbed the carp rod and I was into a fish. I could tell at once it was not a carp as it came in quite calmly. You’ve guessed it, it was a bream, which is all I seem to catch on the carp rod these days! He was neatly hooked in the top lip, I unhooked him, took a photo and popped him back. It was a nice-looking fish, about pound and a half I didn’t bother weighing him as he wasn’t record breaker. Getting my carp rod back in I proceeded to re-rig the float rod and decided on a bigger float, wide bodied at the bottom to try and ride through the ripples which were coming across the water, of course that meant I had to set the shot pattern again so it took even longer but once sorted the float did stay more stationary in the water but I didn’t get any bites.

As it was lunchtime and things were quiet I decided to have lunch and got all the way through without a single bite, beep or any indication of the fish whatsoever. After failing to catch anything on the float rod for an hour or so  got another tangle, once again the float went round and round the rod itself and was a complete bird’s nest so rather than sort it out on the bank I cut the line again, tidied that rod away and got the feeder rod out again. It was early afternoon by now and apart from the one bream I wasn’t catching anything, I was getting a bit cold and a bit fed up, nothing much was happening, nothing much to look at, wildlife was conspicuous by its absence so I decided to give it until 2 o’clock and then pack up. 2 o’clock came without a fish so I packed up went home a bit grumpy, I only had two bites and landed one fish. I wondered if my performance was because I thought I had to go fishing rather than because I wanted to. I don’t know, does your success on the bank have anything to do with how you feel when you go there? Can you catch fish if you’re in a bad mood? Can you have blank days when you arrive full of hope and happy and cheerful? My logical self says that how I’m feeling can’t affected whether the fish bite or not but my mood may affect the decisions that I make on the bank, where to fish, what bait to use etc etc. so it may have some effect. I decided that I’m not going to go back to this water again this winter, the club has plenty of other waters so if the fish have gone off again I think I’ll wait until the summer before returning.  In the meantime I would like to get back to the river now that the water levels are up due to recent rains. I hope that the undergrowth will have died back a bit and I will be able to find some weed free spots with some fish. I think that I will wait until I am in a better mood though!

Most of my club’s waters are on farms, either old gravel pits or reservoirs and some of them are closed during the autumn so I had to take my chance before it was too late. The water in question is a series of three lakes fed by a stream which runs through and connects them. The lake I wanted to fish is the furthest from the car park so I took my barrow as it is quite a long walk. Of course, if you take your barrow then you have to take all your gear as it would be a shame not to and so I staggered up the field taking frequent rests when my stamina gave way!

On arrival at the swim I noticed that the water level was well down, leaving a three feet drop from the bank onto a stony beach. This was quite convenient as the bank and undergrowth sheltered me from the wind which was forecast to build during the day. It was a sunny morning and sheltered from the wind I got hot so it was down to my T shirt and jeans. I mixed up some method mix and soon had the carp rod out with a pineapple boilie and plenty of pellets and sweetcorn thrown in for good measure. I was fishing just along the bank next to where a bush had grown over the water and where I had a good take last year but lost the fish. Carp rod set up and buzzer on and it was time to get out the float rod. I had to tie a new hooklength on and decided to plumb the depth as I couldn’t remember how deep it was and in any case the water level was well down. I gently cast the plumb bob out and “Splash” in it went along with the hooklength but not the line, I must have not looped it on properly, it wouldn’t be the last bit of cack handedness of the day!

I always like looking at a float but only seem to catch small fish and soon got fed up with pulling out rudd and roach when, just for a change, I got a perch, beautiful but small. The wind was causing ripples on the water making it difficult to see the float, which was blowing about so I decided to use the feeder rod with a quiver tip to fish on the bottom and try and catch something bigger. Once the switch was made I was able to sit back and relax a bit while keeping my eye on the tip and my ears open for the buzzer. I had a few line bites, which was encouraging as it showed that fish were about but no proper bites. I had been keeping my eye on the water to see if there were any carp on the surface and one or two began to show so I tossed some pellets in and they began to drift towards them. I was getting nothing on either rod so was beginning to take notice of my environment, no road noise, just the sound of the wind in the leaves, then I heard a tractor the other side of the lake which was soon followed by the sound of a buzz saw and falling trees, so much for peace and quiet!

Anyway, back to the fishing, I was idly glancing around when my feeder rod started chattering away and I quickly grabbed it and struck to find nothing there! The line had broken above the feeder and I had lost it, the hook and possibly a nice fish as well! My cack handedness returned when I tried to attach a new feeder and hook length, I won’t bore you with the details but it took four attempts to get the rig correct! I cast out and this time the tip bent round and I was into a fish of some size. It wasn’t putting up much of a fight so I wasn’t surprised when I saw that it was a bream. I then realized that I had left my smaller landing net at home so had to land it with the big carp net which worked OK it was just a bit of overkill! The fish looked in nice condition and weighed in at just under 2lb. 

Moving on to the carp rod I decided to change bait to a smaller hemp boilie and cast out again. Sitting quietly I noticed a reddish brown bird fly past and land in some bushes, just before it landed it flared its wings which were iridescent blue, it was a kingfisher.

The next bite was on the carp rod, the buzzer sounded and I was in, I wasn’t getting much of a fight as it was another bream, that makes three bream and no carp on that rod on my last two outings! It was slightly smaller than the first one but still in lovely condition.

A few carp were still on the surface so I decided to have a go with my stalker rod. As bait it had a white pop up boilie already on so I thought that I would give it a go, a carp came and looked at it but they then left it alone so I gave up on that and went back to the feeder rod. It was lunchtime and mercifully the chain saw had stopped and I heard the sound of an approaching plane. I thought the engine note was a bit different, more like a Merlin from WW2 so I was expecting a Spitfire or Hurricane bit it was neither of these but a stubby looking aircraft with wheels. I followed it with my eyes and it started doing acrobatics, looping, stall turns etc. then after about five minutes it flew away leaving me in peace again.

I have mentioned before that lunchtime can be bite time, not just for me but the fish as well and on this occasion it was, with another small bream, or was it a skimmer? He came to the net quite easily bit then got lively and flipped himself into the water before I could take his photo! After this, things went quiet although I could hear the slurping of a carp at the end of the lake and then one appeared around the bush where I was fishing. I floated some pellets down towards him but couldn’t get him to come any closer so I decided to have a look the other side of the bush. Pulling my rods out I tiptoed along the bank to the next swim which was accessed by a path about three feet wide though the nettles. Creeping closer I saw that I was at the end of the lake and the wind was blowing food and debris into it. I could clearly see half a dozen carp hovering just under the water and occasionally rising to take a mouthful from the surface. All fired up I went back for my rod, landing net pellets and the crusts from my sandwiches which I had kept just in case. I crept forward again and threw in some pellets then lowered my bread into the water. The lake was only about twenty yards across at this point and I could see carp under the far bank but my bait was drifting slowly away from them and nearer to me. They were very shy and feeding slowly and I began to wonder if they were at all interested in my bait. I knew that if I lifted my bread it would come off the hook and I didn’t have much more so decided to leave it. Then the fish disappeared and I gave it a few moments then decided to go. I stood up and immediately saw several fish so I crouched down again. They were still on the other side of the bay so I wasn’t very hopeful but as I was looking there my bread disappeared and the rod began to shake. I grabbed the rod and slid down the bank onto the beach and I could feel that I was into a fish and yes, it was a carp! I played him gently and he didn’t put up much of a fight and within a few minutes he was in the net. I then had to scramble up the bank and back to my swim to unhook him and take his photo. As it was the hook had freed itself, saving me a job and he behaved himself to be photographed and weighed and was soon returned. He came in at nine and a half pounds, a nice looking common!

I took a look back in the swim but there were now no fish to be seen and so it was back to the carp rod and feeder. I changed bait on the carp rod to sweet corn which got a few buzzes but no takes and the quiver tip didn’t move either. I sat and relaxed for a while, putting on my fleece as the sun had now gone in and the wind had got up. I was feeling pleased that stalking a carp on the surface had worked and I am really getting into this type of fishing where you can actually see your quarry. Soon it was time to pack up and stagger back to the car feeling that even if I had not caught many fish I had caught some decent ones and had a successful session.