The Third Age Angler Posts

I don’t know why but I seem to have developed hayfever this year which has made me feel really grotty on some days when I haven’t felt like doing much, let alone go fishing! I am wondering if it is the time I have spent on the bank amongst all the plants and pollen! Anyway I did get out for a few hours on my regular river spot which I found much different than the last time that I went. The first clue was the muddy footpath leading down to the river where I had to tread carefully as I was only wearing trainers. When I got to the bank the river was brown and fast flowing and much higher than expected, clearly it had been raining more upstream than where I lived. I thought about turning round and going somewhere else but decided to unpack my chair, have a sit down and look at the river. 

My usual spot for catching was flowing very quickly with a number of swirls and eddies but nearer to the bank was a calmer back eddy which looked more promising. I chucked a few maggots in and some groundbait while I tackled up my float rod which was the only one I brought and cast out into the middle of the river which just proved what I had observed, the float shot off downstream bobbing and jerking and no use to anyone. I then proceeded to cast closer in and watched the float progress slowly upstream still bobbing and weaving a bit but much more under control. I carried on for a bit and was just beginning to think that I was wasting my time when the float disappeared and I was into a dace, not enormous but not tiny either. That gave me encouragement so I decided to carry on. The float was at the other end of the swim in the eddies and going up and down a few times when I suddenly realised that this might be a bite! I struck and immediately felt a bigger fish, not enough to give much of a fight but big enough to get the landing net out and get it in safely. I took a couple of pictures and returned it, not being exactly sure what it was.

It had been about twenty minutes since the first fish and it was the same until the next one, another dace and twenty minutes after that the last dace of the session. When I got home I checked on the internet and found that the biggest fish was a chub, the first one that I had ever caught so I was well pleased with that! Overall it had been a good session fishing in difficult circumstances and encouraging enough for me to want to return.

I went back a few days later and the river was back to its clear, lower self. I spent a couple of hours trotting and only caught a small dace and a roach although I got a lovely view of a kingfisher. Last autumn I was pulling fish out of this swim very regularly and could see them in the shallows and was plagued by minnows. Even earlier this season I saw some beauties but this session again I saw nothing. I am going to leave this spot for a few weeks and come back to it in the autumn and see if it has picked up at all. In the meantime I can look for some different swims to fish to see if I can do any better.

I don’t know why but it seems like Monday is turning into my fishing day. This Monday I went to a club water that I had fished a couple of times before with varying success. The first time I had a couple of carp and tench and the second time I blanked!

It was a pleasant enough day in my part of the world, it had stopped raining early in the morning and the sun had come out. I arrived later than I wanted but that’s always the case! I decided to have a carp rod out and also float fish so it was my first chance to try out my cheapo barrow bought second hand off Facebook. Marketplace. It seemed to work well and was a lot easier than trying to carry all my gear. There were a couple of other anglers so there was plenty of room and I was able to find a swim that I liked. No trees, which was good for casting but also no shade from the sun, good job I remembered to put my sunscreen on! What I didn’t remember was my big landing mat and as I already had my carp rod in the water I decided that I would have to make do with my small one which lives in my rucksack and if that wasn’t good enough fold up my jacket and use that. I was fishing a method feeder with method feeder mix with some pellets added and an old pineapple boilie on the hook.

I set up the float rod, plumbed the depth and got fishing. Immediately I was into a fish and yes, it was a rudd! After my last couple of sessions I was hoping for something else but the rudd are really on it at the moment so I occupied myself with pulling them out a fish a chuck. I noticed that I was not losing as many fish as last time and wondered if that was because I had changed the hook after losing so many. I kept this up for a while and after a dozen or so decided to try the feeder rod again. A new hook was needed on this rod too and I was puzzling out how to tie a twizzle boom, it is so easy when you are watching Youtube, when the carp alarm started sounding. I hastily put the rod down and picked up the carp rod which was bouncing up and down, I was definitely into a fish! It fooled me into thinking that it wasn’t resisting as it swam towards me and straight into the reeds where it stuck solid. Pulling wasn’t getting me anywhere and neither was moving about the bank so I tried giving the fish some slack. It must have moved as when I pulled again it started to come and eventually came clear and into the net. I was trembling when I lifted it, a nice tench, which weighed in at three and a half pounds. After the photos I put it back into the net and lowered it into the water where it took a few moments to sort itself out before swimming away. My first decent fish for a while made me very happy!

Carp rod out again and back to the feeder rod and very shortly a bite, it was another rudd! This was quickly followed by a small perch who had swallowed the bait all the way down and no amount of prodding with the disgorger would free the hook so I cut the line and put him back. I hate it when that happens and it seems that small perch are the worst culprits, they don’t seem to take any time to savour their food jus swallow it straight down! Then the carp alarm sounded again and I was into another fish, it didn’t seem to fight as hard as the first one although that may have been me not giving it as much chance to get into the reeds as the first fish! Pretty soon I had it in the net, another nice tench, slightly bigger at four and a half pounds. This one was a bit more lively on the bank though and quickly swam away when I put him back in the water. I got to wondering about fish personalities later in the afternoon as I went back to the float rod and pulled out rudd after rudd. None of them were enormous but some were bigger than others and you couldn’t tell until you saw them as some bigger ones didn’t put up much of a fight while some smaller ones did. I also tried using different baits as I had read that this would help get better fish. I tried sweet corn and casters then a bit of bread flake, crust and bread pinched on the hook and they all caught fish but there was no increase in size. As they were biting so eagerly I even tried just an empty hook but they didn’t go for it! I even tried a small hemp boilie and could see from the way that the float was rocking that they were having a go at it but it was too big to swallow. I brought it in and cut it in half with the same result so I reduced it even further and was successful!

After playing around with baits that was it really, it all went a bit dead in the afternoon, apart from the rudd that is and towards the end of the session I caught another couple of perch, hooked in the lip this time, and a nice roach which I didn’t take a picture of as he jumped out of my hand into the dirt and spoilt his good looks! I would have liked a carp or another decent tench but there you go, always wanting more! I did catch a couple of decent ones and the rudd stopped me from being bored so all in all a good day and one to make me want to come back and catch more fish but not rudd! 

On the way back to the car the barrow folded up, that will teach me to buy cheap stuff of Facebook! I will have a look at it in the morning as it is raining again this evening!

At last it had stopped raining and I had a few hours in the day to go fishing. I decided to return to a series of club lakes that I had fished a couple of times before and try again in the lake where I had previously blanked. As it contained a mixture of fish I took my feeder rod and float rod. It was mid-morning when I arrived and I got my first bite before I got to the swim! Something had bitten me on the back of my hand which quickly swelled up and became quite puffy. I tend to attract insects which bite and can get quite swollen so I always carry Anthisan bite cream and insect repellent so it was a quick application of both and on with the fishing.

I decided to fish in the swim next to the one where I blanked before, baited the swim and set the rods up. I realised that the float rod was still set up for the river instead of having a waggler for still water but decided to carry on regardless. Immediately the float dipped and I was into a small rudd, followed by another and another and another! Then I had a bite on the feeder and yes, you’ve guessed it, another rudd. After a while of pulling out rudd on the float rod I decided to put it aside and concentrate on the feeder rod as I still don’t think I have got the hang of it yet. I think what I was doing wrong was not to strike when I had the first knock or two and instead wait for it to develop, which often it didn’t. After a while I began to get the knack and began pulling in rudd. I had hoped that being on the bottom it might attract different fish like tench, which the lake is known for. When I picked up the float rod it was in a terrible tangle so I ended up cutting the line and re-rigging with a waggler float after all! It really puzzles me how fishing lines can tangle just by putting them down and lifting them up again!

Sometime during all this it began to rain so I put up the brolley and collected my gear under it. As it was not windy I was able to put it up to its full height and tied it to my camping chair for security. This gave me room to carry on fishing fairly comfortably and stay dry. I went back to the float rod and carried on catching rudd. They weren’t particularly big, say four or five inches, but it was better than catching nothing. I did think about moving swims as there was plenty of space but the rain showed no sign of stopping and as I didn’t want to get everything wet I stayed put. I was fishing above the bottom and the bites were amusing, the float would be going sideways, lift, sink, anything you could think of! It didn’t matter when I struck it seemed that half the time I wouldn’t connect with a fish and when I did some of them would drop off before I could swing them in. It maybe the hook, which has been on there quite a long time and I could feel that it was getting blunt by the way the maggots were resisting when I tried hooking them.

Then the float did something different, it shot under and I had a little perch but pretty soon it was back to the rudd. Just occasionally I caught a bigger one and needed the landing net and funnily enough this was when I was fishing nearer the bank. It was soon lunchtime and I did something that I had never done before, I took the rods out of the water so that I could eat my lunch without interruption! Usually I hope that sod’s law will apply when I have a cuppa in one hand and a sandwich in the other and I will get a bite.

I had the usual visit from a robin during the session. Although this one was very young he had his eye on my maggots and wasn’t too scared to come close and eat the ones I threw for him. I don’t know how they learn that anglers are good for food but his one must have learnt at his mother’s wing!

So, back to the fishing and more rudd. By mid-afternoon the rain had eased and eventually stopped and I was thinking about going home when I hooked several bigger rudd and a run of perch. My final tally was 32 rudd and 6 perch, not a bad session!

I had hoped to catch bigger fish but at least I had an entertaining day and caught something! I want to go back to a couple of the waters which I only fished once last year and will take my carp rods as well and see if I can catch something decent sized. 

For one reason or another I have not been able to get away for a decent length session this week so have been to my usual spot on the river a couple of times. The first time was an evening session as I thought this might be better and I only took my float rod and travelled light. It was a nice evening but I did begin to feel a bit chilly when the sun went behind the trees but at least I could see as before that it had been in my eyes. The session followed the same pattern as the first, I caught three dace in about two and a half hours with plenty of time between each bite.

The one bit of excitement led to disappointment when the float bobbed and I could see that I was into a decent perch. As the water was so clear I could see him under the water and he didn’t seem too bothered about being hooked until he decided to swim away and broke the line! I was gutted! I had seen big fish here and caught a nice perch before but wasn’t having too much luck since the river season began.

The next session was in the morning, at least it would have been in the morning if it hadn’t started to rain just as I arrived so I sat in the car for twenty minutes until it stopped which made it the afternoon by the time I got started. Conditions were much the same and I set up the feeder rod and carefully placed it near the bank where I had hooked the perch last time and seen bigger fish the time before. I used red maggots in a feeder and on the hook and replenished them from time to time but got absolutely no interest from the fish.

The float rod had a bit more luck, I fed the swim with maggots and groundbait and managed to hook a fish which got off and then landed another dace. Then the float dipped again and I could feel something tiny on the end, yes, it was a minnow, they were back! A few minutes later I got another one but no more after that. I pulled the float rod in for a while as it was time to have a bite to eat and on my first cast afterwards I was into another fish, which I landed. That was it and after about another thirty minutes of trotting the float I decided to pack up and go home.

So, that was it, three sessions at a spot which was productive last autumn and winter with very little to show for it. Perhaps it is too clear and shallow in the summer and the fish are elsewhere. It certainly seems that the fish are not there in any great numbers, I usually find that when I am fishing and catch one there are several more to come, but not here. I think that I will give this spot a rest until we have had some decent rain and there is depth and colour in the water. Still, I have given it a decent go over the last week and added to my angling knowledge. Next week I fancy a longer session with a carp rod out again.

I didn’t think that I would be able to get to the river on the 16th as my wife had a hospital appointment at the other side of the county in the morning but all went well and we got home for lunch so there was time for a short afternoon session. After a quick trip to the local tackle shop to pick up some maggots I was off, although it wasn’t exactly ideal weather, hot and sunny, with thunderstorms forecast for later and rain for the rest of the week.  My favourite river spot is next to a bridge and surrounded by trees so there is some shade for me at least. I had scouted the swim a few days ago so took some garden shears and cut down the nettles to make things more comfortable! 

The water was shallow and clear and I could see the bottom with a few fish moving about. I tackled up and the first thing that I did was to stick the hook into my finger! Not a slight scratch but right in, blood and all so it was out with the antiseptic and plaster and grateful that I use barbless hooks! A little while ago I had been fishing a small pond with overhead tree cover and another guy was fishing there with a short rod so he didn’t get tangled and I thought this was a good idea so I had brought my spinning rod for float fishing and decided to give it a try. In the end I went back to my ten foot rod as it was just too stiff and having to cast out underhand I just wasn’t getting very far.

When I started to fish and could see some fairly small fish then two larger shadows about a foot long followed by a third slightly longer. They seemed to be attracted by the handful of maggots which I had thrown in and although I trotted my float down they took no notice of my bait. After a few minutes the larger one glided off and I got a better look at him, from the shape of the nose I could see he was a pike! The others could have been carp as they are in this river but it was hard to tell, it was nice to see them though but they soon drifted off as well.

Then it went quiet for a bit until the small fish returned and I hooked one which fell off just before the bank. Then I did manage to catch one, a dace I believe, which got the prize for the fish not wanting to stay still for a photograph as he wriggled about something shocking! He must have told his mates about me as they all disappeared and I was on my own again! Still, it was very pleasant sitting in the shade with a warm breeze listening to the birds singing. There was not much traffic on the bridge either so for the most part it was quiet which is how I like it. Then the fish were back and I caught another small one which was just as lively, then they disappeared again. Nothing much happened except that I saw a kingfisher flying down the river then a few minutes later fly back again. You don’t get to see much of them, just a quick flash of blue then they are gone, still, it is nice to know that they are around. The last time I was here a cormorant popped up in my swim, I don’t know who was the most surprised, me or him! Also, every time that I have fished here before I have been plagued by minnows but this time I didn’t see a single one, I wonder if the cormorant was responsible.

I was getting a bit bored by now, not seeing or catching anything then one of those bigger fish glided out of the shadows but again wouldn’t be tempted by my bait. I decided to try the other side of the bridge and cast up underneath it and was soon rewarded by another small fish but as soon as I put him back they all disappeared. I decided that it was time to go, three fish in a two hour session wasn’t a lot but I had had a good time and was very excited by seeing the bigger fish. The low, clear water hadn’t helped and I will return after the rains have raised the water level and given it a bit of colour. 

I was awake early and decided that I would go back to my “go to” lake and try and catch some of the carp off the surface. I arrived to an almost empty car park and walked up to the same swim I had the other day to find that the only fisherman on the water was there! We had a chat and then I had a walk round to the overgrown side of the lake where I could see a few carp cruising a fair way out but none close in. Conditions were the same as the other day but the fish were doing something different!

I decided to fish round there and chose a swim which had a bit of shade for me and looked good for fish and went to get my gear. Of course, I had to make two trips as I hadn’t brought my newly acquired second hand carp barrow as I thought that I would be fishing near the car! 

Before fishing I threw some bread out and immediately ducks appeared from nowhere and ate it! I should have stopped there but carried on disentangling my carp rods from each other. I have a nice ebay bargain rod case but it seems however carefully I put the rods away the lines get tangled together when I come to take them out. I thought that keeping the rods set up would be quicker than starting from scratch every time but now I’m not so sure! Anyway I persevered and fifteen minutes later cast my bread on the water and soon it had been noticed. Unfortunately it had been noticed by a duck who made a bee line for it! Not wanting to hook a duck I pulled the line in and belatedly realised that fishing on the surface was a non starter today so got out another carp rod. This one was set up with an adjustable zig rig only it wasn’t adjustable any more as it was all tangled. I made a start at untangling it, time passed, the sun got higher and eventually I got the scissors out and rigged with a method feeder which took a bit longer than it should as I put the feeder on back to front and had to undo everything and start again. 

I cast out and after being at the swim for about an hour I was eventually fishing! Time for the float rod to give me something to do while waiting for the buzzer to sound but you’ve guessed it, it was all tangled to the point that it was quicker to cut the line and re-rig the rod. I had also been feeding the swim with particles and groundbait and saw one or two carp cruising through so was feeling quite optimistic. Float cast out and time to sit down and have a cuppa but in my hurry to get out this morning had decided that I would make do with water, which wasn’t quite the same! Sitting there quietly I could hear the sound of flames crackling, someone was having a bonfire in the farmyard next door but as the smoke was blowing away from me I wasn’t unduly bothered. More of a nuisance was all of the fluff from the willow trees which was floating on the water and sticking to the line and building up to the point where I had to pick it all off so that the line could flow smoothly through the rings. Fishing once again the float suddenly shot sideways and I was into a fish and not just any old fish either as it was taking line. I was hoping that it wasn’t another eel when I got a glimpse of a golden colour and could see that I had hooked a carp! I played the fish gingerly towards the net and nearly got him in but he cracked off and was gone leaving me bitterly disappointed but not surprised as I was fishing with a light line and single maggot on a size 16 hook and expecting roach and rudd not a high single figure carp!

So, time to re-rig again but instead of doing it straight away I thought that I would have a try with the feeder rod. Not much happened for a while but when I brought the feeder in there was a roach on the hook, once again I had not noticed. A few more casts with the feeder produced nothing but then I saw that the wind had cleared the surface of the lake from all the willow fluff so it was back to the float rod and I had a couple of smallish fish as well as a couple of small branches. It seems like the less fished swims contain more branches to trap the unwary.

Then the wind changed and brought the surface debris back and even worse the smoke from the bonfire was blowing directly at me. It wouldn’t have been so bad if it was just wood smoke but there were all kinds of things burning including plastic so after a while I decided not to breathe any more toxic fumes and packed up and went home. As soon as I got indoors the Mrs said that I stank so it was into the shower for me and my clothes went into the washing machine. 

So, I didn’t have a great time and I wasn’t happy but some things are clear. I set off with a plan which is good as it is a way to progress and improve my fishing rather than just rocking up on the bank as I used to do but I wasn’t adaptable. When the swim I wanted wasn’t available and the fish I was looking for weren’t there I just carried on with the plan instead of re-thinking it which led to a frustrating day. You do live and learn with this fishing lark!

My club has asked us to give the carp a miss while they are spawning so it was back to my “go to” lake where I could be sure of catching something. Summer has eventually started in this corner of the world so it was slap on the sun cream and take plenty to drink. It is a bit late for the cream really as I should have used it back in the day but then who did? With a little care three operations to remove basal cell carcinomas could have been avoided!

Anyway, back to fishing. I arrived and there was one guy fishing so we had a chat and he had caught a couple, carp I think! I had already decided to fish around the other side for a change and was getting the gear out when another angler arrived. We got chatting and he said that it was his first time there and started asking me for advice! Well, that made a change but I quickly slipped into the role of the knowledgeable regular and told him what I knew about the lake.

I walked up to the swim I wanted only to find that the banks were covered in geese poo so I walked to the next one which wasn’t so bad but still not perfect. I was to find out just how far from perfect it was when going down the bank my foot slipped and I fell heavily on my back. My back didn’t hurt but my knee did so I lay there for a minute or two then found that I could get up and move around so I did. I also found that while I managed to avoid landing in poo my nice new rucksack didn’t! I set up the feeder rod with maggots in and cast it out and started sorting out the float rod which was in a bit of a tangle. I had it across my lap when the quiver tip went round strongly and I was into a fish. Putting the float rod to one side I could feel that it was more than a baby roach which I usually catch and soon brought in a nice skimmer bream. Casting out I was just finishing with the float rod when the tip went round again and I was into another bream, a bit bigger so I decided to weigh it with my new scales and it came in at two and a half pounds. 

That was about it for the feeder rod as I caught no more bream on it and instead started pulling out roach and rudd on the float rod. By now the morning was ticking on and as seems usual on this water the bite ratio was declining. It was also getting hot and so I put up the trusty old Diawa umbrella to give me some shade. I also had time to look round and saw that seagulls and terns were diving into the water to scoop up fry. I also heard the cuckoo still singing clearly and a heron made a circuit of the lake but didn’t land. A robin made the obligatory raid on my bait box but as is often the case I didn’t have my phone in my hand and any movement would have frightened it away. I am beginning to realise that taking pictures when you are fishing is not so easy, the shot of my big bream wasn’t good enough to put on the blog!

I also noticed carp in the margins and after lunch, which was not interrupted by a bite, I took the rods out and went for a walk along the side of the lake. Carp were basking in several places and went for the bread that I threw in for them. Again I found out how difficult it was to get a decent picture or video of them but managed a few. I will certainly come back here with a stalker rod, alright a carp rod with bread on the hook and try going for the fish on the surface again. I suppose this is what is meant by watercraft, keeping your eyes open and having a look round.

Time for a cuppa and as there had not been much action for a while I decided to pack up. I had nearly put everything away and was left with the feeder rod when I noticed that the quiver tip had straightened and the line had gone slack. Now I know this is the indication of a bite so I picked up the rod and started winding in. I could feel something but couldn’t tell what it was until it got nearer when I saw the long silvery body of an eel. My heart sank, eels are my least favourite fish as they are very uncooperative when it comes to lying still so you can get the hook out so I was quite relieved when it broke the line just as I was putting the landing net out. I understand that eels can shed hooks and so this one will probably be fine. It wasn’t a bad one either, about eighteen inches long. So, that was it. I must have caught about twenty fish, some quite nice and learnt where the carp were basking on the surface. This is the water that I have fished the most and I am just beginning to realise how long it takes to get to know a venue. For example, I was quite prepared to be bothered by swans or ducks but they weren’t there today. I went to catch silverfish but saw carp on the surface and on another day would have had a try for them. I suppose that to be successful you have to be adaptable.

After last week’s blank at the irrigation reservoir, I decided to pay a second visit to a water nearer home where I had some success last year and wrote about it in my Blog on 6^th February about fishing next to four year old Ben. The weather was still unseasonably cold with showers and wind but the morning started off sunny and still with showers forecast and when I arrived at the venue there was no-one else there and I continued to have the place to myself all day.

I decided to start by walking around the lake, taking the advice of anglers on YouTube and the book that my wife bought me for my birthday and found a few fish on the surface but when I got to the other side I came across a group of about twenty carp just lying under the surface soaking up the sun. A few yards along there was another group and then another one, I reckoned that there were over fifty fish altogether. I decided that I would try and catch a fish on the surface and so tackled up with a bubble float and a size ten hook, put some bread on and cast out. At first the fish took no notice and were not spooked by the float but then one sucked on the bread and pulled it off the hook. This happened a couple of times more before the float started to drift away and I struck and was into a fish. A few minutes fight and it was into the net and landed, my best fish so far this year and the first one ever caught from the surface! I decided to weigh it and it came to 9.68. 9.68 what, I don’t know. In the hurry to get it done I couldn’t work out how to switch from kg to lb and it didn’t seem to tell me! So much for digital scales! Next on the shopping list is a pair of simple spring scales which don’t require batteries or adjusting in any way!

Then it started to rain, so I quickly put the brolly up and gathered all my gear under it, it just fits but there isn’t room to do anything under it if you haven’t got a rod out so I passed the time by throwing in some groundbait where I was going to put the feeder rod out and texting a picture of my carp to my wife. After about twenty minutes it stopped raining so I got my feeder rod in with maggots and got out my other carp rod with the adjustable zig rig and cast out to where the carp were showing in the middle of the lake. In the meantime I put some particles in my swim and some well soaked muesli and Tesco small dog mixer, which floated. There followed a period of quiet reflection until the carp started showing up in my swim again eating the dog mixer so I brought the rig in closer. Still no luck so I went back to the surface rig and watched the carp cruise slowly by and ignore the bread until one slowly took it and I was in again! Another nice fish landed proving that it wasn’t just a fluke!

Lunchtime passed quietly and although I was getting knocks on the feeder rod I wasn’t getting any fish. Just as I thought that I was getting the hang of it I don’t seem to be able to catch anything, well not much as I did bag a fairly small roach. After lunch I decided to have a walk along the bank and spotted a number of carp cruising in the far corner where the wind was now blowing so decided to relocate there. Over the next hour I caught four more carp off the surface to make a grand total of six for the day, my best ever! It looked like rain again and time was getting on so I decided to call it a day and gathered everything together in no kind of order which meant two trips to the car and back, will I never learn?

So, an interesting day, taking the advice to look for fish and adapt my tactics paid off with half a dozen carp caught from the surface, the first time I have ever tried this technique. I will have to look up how to get bread to stay on a hook though as it sometimes came off when casting, perhaps Tesco’s cheapest isn’t the best to use! I was a bit disappointed about the lack of silverfish on the feeder though but you can’t have it all! I am just hoping that the weather picks up and the fish get more active as I reckon I could have had a lot more if they hadn’t been so sluggish!

I did go fishing this week, in fact I went twice, the second time because the first was a blank! It was to the furthest club lake and I only went as it was part of my target to fish every club water. It was right out in the country and very quiet, one of those places where you don’t even hear traffic noise which is most unusual where I live! It was a farm irrigation reservoir and I have to say that these are not my favourite waters as they are usually square with steep banks and fairly featureless, not at all attractive. When I arrived there was one angler there and he had been there since five a.m. and caught nothing! It was about nine by the time I arrived and I had a walk round to find a swim. The water was high which left very few places with a bit of flat ground to put my brolly up as rain was in the air but I eventually decided on a swim in the corner and set my gear up. 

I fished a feeder rod with maggots fairly close in near some reeds and thought that I would be into some silverfish this way. I fed the swim, put the rod out then got out my carp rod. I had set it up with an adjustable zig rig which I had seen on YouTube and thought I would give it a try. It was not as easy as I thought but I eventually managed to get the hang of it, sort of! Then I waited. The occasional fish was jumping out of the water so I knew they were there but nothing took the bait. I fed the swims, recast the rods, waited patiently but nothing. Time passed, it rained, it stopped, a pheasant came to see me and ate some of the sweetcorn I threw for it and strutted its stuff!

I changed the depth of the zig rig, I moved the feeder rig a bit further away I changed baits but nothing! Not a bite, not a twitch, nothing. Soon it was lunchtime and I decided to bring the feeder rod in and put out another carp rod with a method feeder as I could see the carp still jumping and one cruised past my swim and the first cast was taken by the wind and straight into the bushes! After a struggle I managed to retrieve it and cast out. I settled down to lunch hoping that I would get a bite when my sandwich box was balanced on my knee but still no luck. By mid-afternoon I was getting frustrated, the other angler had given up and gone home and I decided to follow his example. I packed up and left feeling that I had wasted my time. My wife says she can tell what sort of session I have had as soon as I come in the door, in this case she was right!

I woke up a couple of days later with the wind howling around the house and the feeling that I wanted to go fishing. I had a few things to do first but I thought that I knew just the place, the neglected lake just up the road. There is only one swim so I hoped that no-one else would be there so stripped down my tackle bag and took my float rod and set off. A few minutes later I was there and the swim was free and, as I anticipated it was sheltered from the wind and the trees overhead would keep off most of the rain! One thing about travelling light is that it doesn’t take long to set up and I was soon fishing. I had brought my keep net, which I don’t usually bother with, as I thought that I might catch a few fish and a group photo would be good. First cast and the float dipped but I missed it! Second cast and there was a wait, I thought that it might be harder going in the day time as I have had better luck in the evening so I was prepared to be patient. Then the float did one of its trademark slow slide aways for this lake and I was into my first fish, a small tench. I had to be patient before the next bite but tidying my gear up away from the rain kept me busy for a bit then another bite, or was it? I decided to wind the line in and there was another small tench on the hook.

Although I was catching it was very slow for this water so I decided to shallow the rig and try in different parts of the swim, not that there is a vast expanse you can fish as the hornwort is growing back quickly and will have soon taken over again. This time the float started to drift with the wind so that I knew that I was fishing above the weed and I soon had several more fish, mostly from the same spot. I had been feeding the swim with pellets and maggots as groundbait is not allowed and decided to concentrate on this spot which was right next to the weed and was pulling out fish on almost every cast. The tench were biting very gently even though I had a very small float on but occasionally the float would vanish suddenly and I had one of the varieties of small carp on the hook. I had only meant to go for an hour or two and hadn’t taken any lunch but hey, who wants to go home when they are catching fish?

About two o’clock I decided that enough was enough and packed up and brought in the keep net to take a picture. I had caught 29 fish, mostly tench but with a good number of carp and nothing very big which is the way with this pond. I felt much better about myself and had also seen a bit of nature as a heron had paid a quick visit and I also saw a jay, colourful birds. Of course, travelling light I only had my phone camera and so didn’t get a decent picture of either of them. 

So, what have I learnt from this week? That I like catching rather than fishing, that I don’t have the patience to be a serious carp angler and that perhaps I had a bit of luck last summer. I certainly haven’t been catching at that level this year but then summer hasn’t started yet where I live! I have also been missing the river but it is only a few weeks until I can get back there and I am looking forward to it. In the meantime I am hoping that the weather will pick up so that I can go sailing!

At the beginning of writing this blog I wrote in the About page that my main hobby was sailing and that I had gone back to fishing because I couldn’t sail last year. This year sailing is back on the agenda and I have been getting the boat ready over the last couple of weeks after nearly two years out of the water. I have not been at the sailing club all day every day but when you are fixing things there is only so much that you can do each day before you have to bring more tools or buy stuff that you need. It’s a good job that I only live thirty minutes drive from the boat!

Anyway, during this time I was thinking about what to write for this week and I started comparing fishing and sailing. They have a lot in common as they are both outdoor activities that involve water! The weather is also important to both and I would have to say that for me fishing has the edge as with a bivvy or umbrella you can stay out in the kind of conditions that would have me sailing for home pretty quickly! Both activities have clubs, although you don’t have to join one and you can do both with friends or on your own. One difference is that you have to have a licence to go fishing but not sailing. Strange as it may seem anyone can buy a boat and sail off into the distance without any training whatsoever and sometimes people do. They are often, but not always, the ones that you see on those lifeboat rescue programmes on TV!

Then there is the cost and believe me that despite what you hear about “carp tax” sailing is a far more expensive hobby! For me the annual subscription for my angling club is well under £100 and that is all the annual expenses I have, anything else is bait and new gear. I pay £850 per annum for my sailing club but that does include a mooring on the river for my boat and a space in the dinghy park for my sailing dinghy. If you think that is a lot then mooring my boat into a marina would cost three times as much and if I moved her to the Solent, the Mecca of English sailing, you could double that again! Then there is insurance for both boats which is another £300 so I have already spent well over £1000 without actually stepping on my boat! Then there are the ongoing costs, diesel, oil, filters, mooring fees if you visit somewhere else, repairs because things break, improvements because you want to make the boat better etc. etc.

Because mine is a self-help sailing club where everyone mucks in together the fees are pretty low and they can be even less with a smaller, older boat but you always have to be aware of the ongoing fixed costs. Older boats are not worth much and people are now giving them away in order to stop paying the storage fees on them. Of course you can always spend much more on your boat and gear than I do, just like you can for fishing. You can buy a new rod from Sports Direct for £11.99 or pay hundreds for a top name brand but just to give you some idea of the cost difference between sailing and fishing here is a comparison.

A Fox winter suit £174.99 from Angling Direct. This is high quality carp gear which will keep you warm and dry. Force 4 Chandlery will sell you a Musto coastal suit which will also keep you warm and dry in normal conditions for £289 or an Offshore suit for more extreme conditions for £469 and you can pay more, much more!

How about shorts? Musto Evolution Performance shorts at £99.95 compared to the highest price on Angling Direct of £39.99. Or Scierra Tracer Wading Shoe Cleated Sole for £109.99 when they are in stock compared to Dubarry Ultima sailing boot for £278.95. 

It is hard to make other direct comparisons between the sports but the overall picture is one of higher prices for sailing and even if you are doing it on a shoestring it is still more expensive. I noticed that a replacement pair of sailing wellies is going to cost me £69 so I hope mine are going to last a few more years yet! 

So, where does this leave me? Hopefully going fishing next week as the weather forecast is not great for sailing, chilly, rainy, low pressure, maybe the carp will be biting, I will let you know!