So far this week ... exploring

 

School summer holidays will be soon over and so the wife and kids are away for a few days through this week.  Left to my own devises (or is that vices?) I've been out over the last couple of evenings after work exploring some new stretches of river and reacquainting myself with some old ones.



New water to learn all about

....and old scores to settle !

Walking along just chucking a lure in here and there is an excellent way of finding out what lies underneath the surface of the river. Vital clues can be gained of where the fish might be lurking to give themselves away by a hook up or even a follow and a missed chance, or just a small detail of the swim that might make you return to that spot, it all goes in the memory banks waiting for the moment to be recalled at some future date when required. You can tell a great deal about each swim you care to investigate, where there are snags to be found, or even just a sense of the depth and bottom substrate can all be ascertained in a few minutes of jigging a small lure slowly along the bottom. Of course all this information can then be used for all your other styles of fishing and not just for lure fishing. Today I searched the river and found a few areas of gravel that are just perfect barbel swims. I wouldn't necessarily know they were there by just looking at the surface, but now they are logged in the memory ready for my eventual return to a bit of barbel fishing.

With a few more free evenings left yet, I might even be able to fit in something other then lure fishing this week, who knows?

Meanwhile, here's a selection  of this weeks photo's to end on.



 

Not quite a massive perch !
 

Harsh beauty

 

 

Down the Anker ...

I headed to the Anker again this morning for what will probably be the last session on the rivers this season, unless I can get a pass out for a few hours after work tomorrow.
I've enjoyed trotting a float down this stretch so decided to have one more go in case I managed a nice chub or roach etc.. for the challenge.

After a slow start I ended up with a few perch to 1lb 4oz and some gudgeon, missed a probable chub bite on the sleeper rod too. The roach were not interested at all today, maybe the rain put them off ?

Still, not a bad mornings fishing despite the rain.

The best of the perch

Stick-ing with it...

Thur 10th Feb
2:30pm - 5:30pm
Ave Temp -  8c
Pressure - Steady, with slight fall  1009 hPa
Cloudy - Light Drizzle


I managed another short session down on the River Anker again. Fishing till about 5:30pm, I managed a nice little net of roach, gudgeon and a solitary chub.

Trotting  a 5BB stick in about 10ft of water down the same run as last time, I was soon getting bites and started catching fish straight away. They were only small roach in the 2 - 3 ounce bracket so nothing to trouble the scoreboard,  but is was nice to just be out catching a fish a chuck for once.

As the session progressed I put a sleeper rod out with cheesepaste on for the chub, then later after no interest and as the light started to fade, changed to worm in the hope of anything really, but a good sized Perch was the target.
As dusk drew more towards darkness, I tried a piece of flake and caught this 3.4lb chub first run through. It had a face that reminded me of the parrot fish you see in warm coral seas.  Unfortunately that was the last of the fish and it was soon too dark to see the float well enough.



A face only a mother could love   (oi  the chub not me ! )


On the last few run through I looked up to see the tip on the sleeper rod tap forward a little, but I was too busy on the trotting rod to react. When the rod was brought in the worm had lost a good 80% of its length ! Damn.

An enjoyable few hours really.  I don't do this kind of fishing nearly enough and playing that chub on light tackle reminded me of how I started off years ago fishing all day on small commercials for anything that came along, catching all kinds of species from roach, chub, crucians, tench and carp. There's a special feeling to be had when you get a good fish on just 2lb bottom, knowing you've had to work to coax it to the net.

Finally back in business....



A beautifully marked double

 After a shaky start to my Sunday afternoon session which had me changing plans at the last minute, I finally got off the mark for 2011. These last four weeks have been some of  the toughest I've known since I got back into my fishing a few years ago.  You know the drought will end eventually, but the wait can be excruciating at times.

Since Saturday lunch time and after checking the forecasts for the next 48 hours again,  I decided to head to the Trent to fish for roach and dace,  also with a Pike rod out until it got dark. Then because its been so mild for a number of days, I would switch over to  barbel on one rod and leave a paternostered roach on a starlight float out for zander.
When I arrived at the river however, I found it running like chocolate and surging through with at least a foot or so on, plus the wind was still at gale force level in the Derby area. I didn't fancy my chances apart from maybe the barbel and then only if I could keep a lead down on the deck. What with the way my luck's been recently, I decided it was better to cut and run and head back to the River Anker, which I had noticed looked in fine form on my way up the A42 travelling towards the Trent.


At the Anker - I set up the centrepin on my float rod with a 5BB stick, the pike rod went out to a marginal bush on my right up stream. The centrepin was again a challenge especially in the gusty wind but I still managed to get a bite almost straight away.  Soon enough I'd caught my first roach, so small I thought it was a minnow at first.  This was followed by more micro roach and then the odd ' bigger' sample up to 2oz, that amazingly I  managed to weigh for the 'bloggers' percentage record weight challenge.  I had to smile when I 'hauled' this ruffe in, and on the pin too. (Keith - I don't know what it is mate, I just attract em ? )

"Taking the ruffe with the smooth "

Darkness fell all too quickly, but I wasn't ready to go home yet.  So, with a few fresh baits in the keepnet that I could use, I headed for the nearby Cov Canal to try for some zeds. 
The swim I had planned to fish was occupied ! but it was one of the local  lads I met down here at the end of the summer ( funny how you don't mind when it's someone you know, but you feel peeved if it's a stranger). We caught up on each others fishing news, then I headed to the next spot along the canal about 70 yards up.  First cast on the float produced a small zed that must have sat chewing the bait for a while as I hadn't even noticed a dip register on the float. The fish was weighed but only managed to scrape a mere 9 ounces on my scales. I hoped I wouldn't have to put that score on the board !


The other rod was set up ledger style with a bobbin to alert me to any takes, unfortunately there was nothing for the bobbin to do all evening ! Back on the float rod however, I was getting some movement from the float as it danced the telltale bobbing along dance, I wound down to strike but pulled out of the fish. This happened about 2 more times within only a few minutes between bites, until on strike three I felt the rod hoop over nicely. The fish came in towards me but hugged the bottom, the way only a large weighty fish can do.   I thought if this is a zed it could be the magic double? but at the same time I realised that the familiar head shaking that zeds usually give was not there.  From the feel of the fight I decided it would most likely be the other candidate  - a pike.  Sure enough a spotty green flank glided up through the water in the light from my head torch. The fish took off on another powerful run before finally being subdued and brought over the net cord. The duel single hook rig did the business, hooking the fish nicely in the edge of the upper mouth near the scissor on the bottom hook, I didn't even need forceps to remove it.



11lb 10oz canal pike


It seems I have lost my weigh sling so had to weigh it in the net. The total was 13lb 4 oz with the net weighing 1lb 10oz,  so by the power of my vast mathematical acumen, I calculated it was 11lb 10oz and a new PB for me - by just 10 oz (OK, OK I did check it on a calculator too - just to be sure I'd converted the ounces correctly and wasn't diddling myself). This is the second pike I've caught at night and from virtually the same spot (it's not the same fish). It's also ironic that I always catch  my pike PB's when I'm zedding ! (I suppose I could try catching zander whilst piking and see if that will bring a bigger stamp of zed !)

I landed another zander again on the float rod, this weighed in at exactly a pound. (weighed in the blue plastic bag)  My scales have been checked against several avery scale brass bell weights in 4oz, 8oz , 1lb  and 4lb and are pretty much bob on !

So I'm finally on the score board with a  few species, the roach and zed are pretty pathetic percentages I know but it's a start at least, and a damn sight better than I had on the board this time last week.

Chuffed with the pike though - thanks go to Sean who was on hand to take the photos once again !




Session 3:30pm - 10pm
Ave temp 11c
Pressure steady 1015 hPa
Wind dir SSW 20km/h
Cloudy
Moon - made of cheese !

In the snow ...

I've had two short little sessions in the snow so far this winter, both have been blanks but it hasn't put me off trying again while the severe conditions persist.

Today's little trip out to the River Anker was with the intention of trotting for a few roach, but with a sleeper rod out in the deep margin for any pike that might be stirred from the bottom by an hors d'oeuvre of sardine or roach.
Most of the margin was covered in ice to more than a rods length out in places.  Luckily I found a swim where there was good depth and cover to my left where it would be safe to land any decent fish hooked.

The ice froze in my rod rings and without any glycerin I was forced to try the grease from my face and nose to fend off the ice. Surprisingly it worked a little but soon the ice returned and the process had to be repeated again.

On the way home I stopped by at my parents where I managed to get a bottle of glycerin from mom, bless her, she said she'd had it years and couldn't think of when she would ever use it anyway. It was probably past its best for icing but would still be ideal a rod de-icer.

Just needs a 2lb Roach and this picture's complete !



As dusk started to draw in,  I called it a day and headed back into the warm 

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Victims of the ice...

Just a little mention in honour of my two koi that sadly died over the last week. The garden pond has been frozen over for a number of weeks now and this has coincided with my pump packing up just before the cold weather kicked in.  Interestingly it's only the Koi that have been affected, the two commons and an orange ghostie are fine at the moment, as are the tench and all the goldfish.  I have stepped up my efforts to aerate the water though by maintaining several holes at intervals throughout the day.

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A cold and sobering morning on the Dove




Waiting in vein

I fished the Dove on the morning after our bloggers night out.  After arriving about 8am I soon discovered I had forgotten my reel that I'd taken the trouble of reloading with new 3lb line,  ready for trotting a float after grayling.  Thankfully I'd bought  a feeder set up which was cast out with maggots in earnest.

A pike rod was also cast out after a while into the slack opposite me and also down the margins, but neither rods produced any sign in the two hours I spent fishing. 

Rings of Ice !

I was up nice and early before first light to go for a morning's lure fishing on the River Anker. In freezing conditions I arrived at about 7.45 am just as daylight was starting to emerge from the gloom. The banks were frozen solid but the river was of normal level, flowing and with a nice tinge of colour.



I had only brought minimal gear with me, just a rod, net and small bag with a few essential items including a box of lures and traces. I covered a number of swims up and down the river with jigs but never managed a take, and to be honest it was probably just too cold today, the air and water temp being 2.5c. The Perch and Pike were completely none responsive and must have been sulking in their lairs waiting for the temperature to rise enough for them to justify any movement.



In fact it was so cold, it was the first time I have experienced water freezing my rod rings up solid, which certainly hampered my casting quite a bit.

Suffice to say I blanked, and after two and half hours fishing I went home to warm my bones again. To add insult...I somehow managed to break the end eye off my rod getting it out of the car when I got home! - maybe the carbon had gone brittle in the cold ?

Ruffe end of the stick !

With the mild weather sticking around I decided to have a quick session on the Anker to try and temp a Perch or two. I arrived at about 3:30pm to find that both the pegs I had in mind were taken ! Thats the trouble with the BAA waters I suppose.
I managed to find a perchy looking swim further along so quickly set he margin pole up.
A bite developed straight away but it turned out to be a Ruffe. Its been a long while since I've seen one of these fish. Another Ruffe followed shortly after. I soon drew the conclusion that the swim I was fishing must have been full of them.


As darkness drew in I conceeded defeat (in landing any Perch) and packed up.
Still it was another important session on the river learning some more about the stretch. The temperature readings were air 9deg C & water 10deg C

Anker Flood fishing

I had the morning off from work today but was due to be visiting a site in Birmingham in the afternoon, so not one to pass up an opportunity to fish, I decided to try the River Anker again. As it is not far from where I live it meant I could spend a reasonable amount of the morning there.
I got up at 6 and was on the bank before first light about 6.45am. The weather was calm a bit overcast and cool but not freezing. The river however was in flood again and there were only three pegs I could reach.
The water was the usual flood brown but had obviously fined down a bit since the deluge at the weekend and the banks were still sodden from the receded water.

I set up my feeder rod first with the intention of Roach fishing using breadflake on a size 10 hook and a small cage feeder filled each cast with some grated bread and some leftover maggots from last weeks trip (they keep well in the fridge if its cold enough). I used 6lb straight through fiquring that the Roach would not be too line shy in these conditions as the would only be able to smell and not see, also if a chub took the bait I had a better chance of landing it in the stronger flow than on a 2lb hook length.

The swim in front of me had a nice steady flow, slowed by a bush upstream 10 yards to my right and the edge of the crease it caused was probably two rod lengths out to the main flow.
I tried several casts here but never registered a bite. On checking the water temp I decided to set the Barbel rod up too, as the temp and conditions were about perfect. With a steady 8 degC of flood water pushing through it was too good an opportunity to miss. I lobbed out some flavored meat on a 3 oz lead which held relatively well in the flow , only dislodging when too much leaef and weed litter built up on the line after 15 min's or so. Not that it did me any good as I received no bites to this rod all morning either.


After trying the other two accesable swims downstream later on in the morning, I finally packed up about 10 o'clock, in time to get home an get ready for my site meeting in Birmingham at 1:50pm.
So you can imagine what I thought when I got there and found out it had been cancelled !! To think I could have stayed fishing those brilliant Barbel conditions all day, who knows what might have prevailed ?

A bit of Anker fishing

I fished the River Anker today starting at the crack of dawn, which at this time of year is 7:00am ! so not too early. It was just about light when I arrived at the Car Park, so I quickly set up and plumed the depth. The target was to be Perch on the float rod first off, but I also set a barbel rod up with some flavoured meat on - to be left to its own devices in the margin in case any barbel decided to come on the feed.

After getting a few perch type bites on the float (twitchy bobs) and then missing them for some unexplained reason. I decided to move to the next peg to rest the first swim. This gave me almost instant results with a little sprat (Perch) on the denrobena worms I was using, purchased from Polesworth Tackle shop. I had another then I stuck at another typical perch bite that bobbed the float twice then sailed away. This time as it sailed away and I struck it instanly snagged me on an undewater branch ! Bites dried up quickly after this so I decided to try another species.
I decided to see what the fish that were topping all over the river in front of me were, so I changed the float rig over to a smaller stick float and started trotting maggots down the nice deep glide in front of me. After a short while I started catching a steady stream of nice Roach from a couple of onces to maybe 6 oz, which was quite fun from a river. I seems like along time since I last caught a river Roach and after a while I had bagged quite a few of them along with a solatary little Chublet.
None of the fish I caught were massive but as time went on I did start to get slightly bigger stamp of fish. I couldn't help thinking that a really big one would be next, but maybe thats just over optimistic enthusiasm kicking in !
It was definatly enjoyable though to trot the float down stream waiting for it to pass through the 'bite zone' that had naturally formed. I assumed this was where the shoal had gathered to intecept my free offering maggots that would be drifting down in the current. The old adage of feeding little and often was once again proved as I made sure half a dozed were fired in every cast.
A really enjoyable morning overall and I am starting to really enjoy this little stretch of river now. There were no bites on the Barbel rod suffice to say, but 'you've gotta be in it to win it' !

New stretch on Anker

Wed 8th October










I decided to try a new stretch of the River Anker I have discovered, so after finishing work early on wed this week, I was able to get down there around 4:00pm.
The Stretch of river looked good, with plenty of near and opposite bank cover and appeared quite deep in places (up-to 6ft at least I would guess at this stage.)There were a few pegs that looked good for a nice Perch or two.
I started off by baiting up a number of likely looking pegs along the stretch with a handful of pellets in each (Barbel being the target species). Then set up my gear in the peg where I thought there would be the best chance.
Twenty minutes later I had a vicious tap then the rod tip pulled sharply round. The initial fight had me wondering if it could be a barbel as the fish fought well and tried to stay down deep. However soon after I caught sight of a reasonable chub as it gave up its battle and came reluctantly to the net. At 3lb 7oz it wasn't a bad first fish to open my account I thought, I just need to get a barbel to take interest now.

I had one more bite on the next cast, which was more typical of chub tapping the tip hard twice then skillfully avoiding capture by plucking only the bait in its lips and not the hook. Striking at fresh air I made a mental note that in future I must leave the rod to wrap right round a bit more. I think that way you are more likely to connect anyway, and can hopefully choose to ignore a few of the nuisance chub taps you receive by 'sitting on your hands' a bit.

I decided shortly after to move to another peg upstream as the swim had gone a bit dead now, so just before dark set in I moved further along the stretch to another good looking swim. This one had bushes either side of me on my near bank, and a series of large bushes and trees on the opposite bank. There was also a nice raft of twigs and branches with a crease running off it from my right far bank diagonally across the river to my left near bank. I cast towards the raft to try to get in the slack water just beyond the crease but the feeder was quickly pulled back across the current to my near bank. I waited a little while to see if anyone was home, but after no response decided to try to get to bait nearer the trees on the far bank. Again the feeder was pulled across the current which must have been due to the extra flow caused by recent rainfall and subsequent rise in levels. I still fancied my chances in the first peg so after a 3rd cast to the near bank bush on my left I moved back to where I started the session in darkness to see if the Barbel had moved in onto the few handfuls of pellets I had baited up with earlier. I gave it a further half hour or so in the earlier swim but there was no further interest from any fish so I packed up and left.

I am looking forward to my next session on this stretch as being near to home it is an ideal venue with good parking right next to the river too. I may attempt a Perch session next we'll see what the weather brings over the next few days.