Espania mullet and a big old roach

The last few weeks have been a bit hectic with both work and a family holiday in sunny Spain, I've not been out fishing a great deal really and to be honest I've been counting down to the fishing season opening day, I've really missed being on the rivers this closed season so now it's finally time to get back on the banks, I'm raring to go.

Mullet in Spain.....

In  Spain I packed a reel and a few bits including some jigs and lures in the case but needed to buy a suitable rod when we got out there. I managed to find one but only a cheap tourist shop telescopic effort, it would have to do. I looked at the fishing options on the net but was a bit disappointed to discover nothing much to go on in terms of info for the area. I took a walk within the first day or so and found some nice looking rocks to fish from. The first couple of 1/2 hour  sessions drew a blank though and I thought it might be a waste of time. However on seeing some locals fishing from the same rocks later in the holiday I knew it must be worth another punt. With my trusty "slap up fishing gear" rod I managed to get down for a quick couple of hours before sunset and searching for signs of life I found  a shoal of mullet in the swirling cauldron of deeper water directly below the end of the rock outcrop. I decided that the lures I had would not be any help for these fish and so I managed to cobble together a two hook paternoster baited with bread and waited for the rod tip to nibble. The nibbles came and went but in typical mullet fashion were nigh on impossible to hook at first.

Eventually I watched the bread on the bottom hook drift around in the current below me, it suddenly disappeared and a dark shaped could be seen moving where the bread had been. In a split second I had struck and the fish was on ! Success a last, the fish fought well but was no match for the "slap up rod"  and 20lb braid !

 

I caught a smaller mullet soon after, an sadly lost an even larger one that slipped the hook as it violently twisted and turned below me.

A big canal Roach....

Back in Blighty after a couple of  mediocre short lure sessions on the canal catching a couple of small perch for my trouble  I deciding that a change was needed. So at the weekend I set up a rod for canal carp and a float rod to catch bits and anything else that came along. Last time I did this I hooked and lost a carp so decided to beef up the line to 4lb straight through. With the boilie rod in I set about building up a swim. It didn't take long to start getting bites and soon a steady stream of bite size roach and small to medium perch were coming to hand. The boilie rod stuttered off  at one point and my heart was in my mouth until I felt the fish fighting and new it  wasn't quite a carp but not a quite a bream either ? Turned out to be what I suspect might have been a hybrid of about 2lb which probably explained the bit of fight it had in it.
 

 

The boilie rod remained quiet after that bit of action, but the on the float things were hotting up, - I caught a few more reasonable perch in between the blade roach and lost  a better one that had run me round the swim taking line off the pin before slipping the hook just before the net slid under it.

 

Then on the fifth or sixth last cast of the evening I hooked a slow plodder that hooped the rod tip round rather nicely. Thinking bream I just let it slowly nod around drawing it steadily towards me until I caught the first glimpse of red and sliver. Not panicking I readied the net and strangely just glided it over the rim on automatic pilot. I was now looking down at a huge roach. Well huge in terms of my previous catches - in fact it turned out to be my new Roach  PB !

 

I have witnessed bigger Roach before, like when I fished with Jeff on the Warwickshire Avon a couple of years ago, but now this fish was in the bottom of my net.  The photos were taken and the fish weighed and safely rested and returned back the water. Shame it was a bit of a battered old warrior or maybe just badly out of condition after spawning.  I'd heard some tow path rumours before but now I know they are here I can always try for another in the future.

 

1lb 5oz Canal Roach

 



Learning to fish for carp again ..Pt 2

I made a quick visit back to the carp lake again last Sunday. The baiting didn't seem to work this time although the fish were still active and were seen drifting over the clear gravel area near the reed line.  I used two rods this time, bringing my 2.2lb TC floodwater barbel rod into action.  One rod near the reeds the other out to a patch of gravel in the middle of the bay, both sporting popped up baits.

The lake was a bit busier this week so I couldn't bait any other pegs nearby as they were all taken. So sticking it out in one peg again, I hoped the fish would find my pop ups of interest, they didn't, well not in the four hours fishing time I had anyway.  I think a whole day spent in the swim would give me a good chance of a pick up though, but I'm acutely aware of time running out with the Carp in this lake.  I will probably have turn to plan B and fish a match type commercial if I'm going to bag myself a carp for the challenge before the onset of winter.  I'm kicking myself that I didn't try a bit earlier in the year instead of concetrating on zander a bit too early.  I'm not really that interested in carp fishing through the winter, but I will probably be back in the spring to try again as there are some stunning fish in the lake.

Learning to fish for carp again…Part 1

Stalking of sorts...


I need to catch a decent carp for the bloggers challenge, one of about twenty pounds or more will give me the required amount of points I’m looking for.  Not as easy a task as it may sound to some, especially for someone like me who rarely, if ever fishes for carp. I don’t really know why this is as I have always been fascinated by them, and in my earlier years as an angler was quite happy catching them up to about 10 lb on various methods during the rise of the commercial water in the late eighties and early nineties.  I seem to have developed some kind of mental block with them over recent years though and have just not developed any desire to buy some modern carp gear suitable to either tackle them with, or be fashionable enough to be seen on the bank with.

On a recent zed session with Andy  I happened to mention that I still needed a carp for the challenge but didn’t feel I had a decent enough rod to handle a bigger fish of say 20lb plus. He kindly offered to lend me a Wychwood Rogue that had been gathering dust in his shed, seemed a decent enough rod and better than any carp rod I have, which is none.
So with no more excuses I headed out on Sunday morning to tackle a local water known to contain a good head of fish up to 30lb.  I arrived at dawn and walked a circuit of the lake sussing out the swims, wind direction and generally looking for any signs of fish showing.  I decided to target a few areas on the windward bank as I knew fish visited these areas and with a warm breeze blowing that way it seemed a good place to start.

I opted for a semi stalking approach baiting a few clear spots in the weed that I could see close to the margin at no more than an under arm cast away. The first peg would be base camp and the other two I would rotate round to as and when any signs of fish appeared.

After about an hour the first signs in any of the spots were some carp breaching half out of the water at about 40 yards along the marginal reeds from my spot in peg one.  I couldn’t get any closer to the fish than the peg I was in, so I went for broke and hoofed the bait out to the area where they were breaching.  The cast landed pretty close and I hoped it was clear of weed. The line was laid slack to keep the fish from spooking and the end rig equipped with a pop up on a short heli rig (chod style I suppose you’d call it).  I sat back and waited for the rod to tear off.

 I would be waiting a long time until eventually curiosity got the better of me and I wound back in to find the rig weeded up.  I re-baited and cast back out a bit nearer (as much as I dared) to the marginal reeds hoping to land it on the clear gravel. I was just answering a call of nature by the tree to my left when I noticed a shape near the baited area closer in. I froze and stared slack jawed as two large dark shapes drifted in under the overhanging willow branches onto the bait. It’s difficult to be accurate but I would guess them both to be near the target weight.  Two lovely looking dark mirrors less than 20 feet from me and they were feeding confidently on my bait totally unaware of my presence. Only one problem, my bait was 40 yards away!

 I carefully wound it back in and quickly re-rigged with an inline 1oz lead and 4 in braid hooklink baited with a pop up.  The fish had drifted back under the branch by now so with a smooth underarm lob the bait was positioned neatly on top of the gravel patch. I watched as some more carp slowly made their way along the reed line towards the willow branch, but turned and headed back out over the weed where I lost sight of them.  Time was now my enemy and so with 5 minutes left before I had to leave to get home in time to take my daughter to a birthday party (I was already pushing it), I had recast to the other side of the willow branch where the two mirrors were slowly drifting in and out of view.  Sadly the fish never fed over my bait and time was up. I packed the rods away with the fish still visible along the reed line. 

Although a blank it definitely wasn’t a wasted trip, I had successfully managed to find and bait a spot, attract and observe carp feeding from it confidently and then cast a bait to the spot without spooking the fish. You know, I think I could get into the carp fishing lark.

Finding the time for a canal carp...

greeted by the setting sun.

One evening about 8 years ago whilst walking along the canal at Fazeley, I happened to spot what I thought must be a good carp create a bow wave on the surface near to a mooring. At the very next opportunity I was back with rod and line to try for that fish. I never did catch it or anything near its size, but I did manage to land a small (baby) one on my first attempt, which I was more than chuffed with for my first go, and it proved conclusively that there were some carp around.



My only canal carp to date (circa 2003) - I haven't really tried that hard to catch another yet though...



Since that time I’ve been nagged by an urge to fit in some time trying to land myself a decent carp from the canal. With this in mind and along with the recent mild spell we have been having, I had a couple of attempts this past week.


Nothing to report as yet (except for a few small bream) I just hope I can keep the focus going until I land one of these enigmatic wild canal fish, that is before the call of other spring species takes my attention away again.
.

This is the largest of the bream I caught tonight at 2lb 11oz. It might have edged more towards the dizzy heights of three pounds if it wasn't for the nasty chunk gauged out of its side !

Blythe Spirits....

A menacing enigma has been eating into the fish stocks on the River Blythe near Coleshill this week.  The photo below was taken by a mate on the 15th Dec on a stretch  "above Coleshill ".

Approx 10lb (ottered) common

I've not fished there since late season 2007-08 but was planning to  return to this lovely stretch very soon. It's a small river with stocks of Barbel, Chub, Pike and Perch etc, and I'm sure anyone who has ever fished this river will be concerned for the welfare of these fish now !

Lets hope they have as much success as I normally do on there, give up and swiftly move on before the water is devastated - if only they ate the crayfish !!!