Into some fish again .... tench, crucians, barbel

I felt like I'd not been out fishing much at all recently, I had of course but only for a few short little sessions here and there for an hour or two in between domestic commitments and work. These little bankside visits have not really produced the fish I'm after but they have been a good way of learning new swims and sussing out ideas for future sessions. I know that some of these ideas may not come into fruition for a while,  even a year or two, but they will always lie dormant in my mind just waiting for their opportunity to germinate and burst into life.

Back to the present day though, and it occurred to me that getting a bend in my rod was getting a bit overdue, so last weekend I headed out to a club pool to fish for crucians on the pin and float for the afternoon. It was a great little session with quite a few fish caught and a nice afternoon was spent waiting for the float tip to rise or sink. It's not what you can call a relaxing time in the sense that you can sit back and chill out. No, you must be on full alert at all times poised and waiting for the slightest movement up, down or sideways and then let your instincts decide whether to stick or twist. The decision won't always be they right one but as long as the sport is consistent the averages will generally fall in you favour the more that time passes.

A mixed brace on the pin & float

I found that the crucians were not willing to take a maggot this time  but there were plenty of small to medium roach and rudd coming one a chuck that were ! When I switched to corn I immediately landed a small tench of about 2lb, then followed this up with a fat goldfish, before my intended quarry, a crucian, finally succumbed to a neat little punch of luncheon meat. This was quickly followed by another tench while the crucian was still waiting in the net for its photo shoot.  Staying on the punched meat in the hope of more crucians  I then proceeded to get hammered by tench after tench all around the 2 - 3lb mark. No further crucians were forthcoming but then I had to pack up soon after at 5:00pm.  With more time I may have fed the tench off eventually, allowing more of the crucians to get a look in?

A "Gold" Goldfish  (why stock goldfish when you have a good stock of true crucians that will get spoiled by hybridisation???)

How a Crucian should look - to my eyes

Thursday 5th July

For tonights session I headed to the River Dove in hope of a nice fat floodwater barbel before the expected deluge of a months worth of rain will hit tomorrow (Friday).  I have been keeping an eye on the forums and other blogs and  noticed that there are quite a few fish coming out due to these perfect conditions, so never to look a gift horse and all that I got over there to see if I could join the party.

I'm pleased to say that I on my first cast after baiting up I was straight into a fish and soon had a fine summer barbel on the bank. This is the second smallest fish I've landed from the river so my average is still not looking too bad. It was just past ten pm now and I had planned to stay till midnight. I could  have fished on but it had started to rain quite heavily and looked pretty ominous overhead. The intense muggy heat made my natural barometer suspect another thunder storm brewing. I'm not much a fan of being out in the open holding a carbon lightning conductor in my hand so my uneasiness got the better of me and I quickly called time and trudged back to the car satisfied that at least I'd caught a reasonable fish for my trouble. Only halfway back across the fields and I was regretting my decision but it was too late now to go back and set up again what with work beckoning next morning.  Half an hour later loading up the car ready to head home the skies had cleared nicely again and the threat of storms had not developed - typical. In hindsight I should have stayed on till midnight as I'm sure more fish would have come - especially judging by the results others have been reporting over the last week or so. C'est la vie !

Look at the paddle on that !!