DO YOU WANT ICE ?

This morning we set off in the van to a favourite location of ours in search of a pb perch,i was armed with 2pints of maggots,1 red 1 white and a large bag of cooked prawns.We drove for around an hour give or take to get there only to find a lid on our little paradise,proper gutted to be honest,i had even fixed the Coleman stove in anticipation of the cold today but nevermind it needed fixing anyway!

Claire and i sat in the van for about 10 minutes almost willing an instant thaw but obviously this  wasn't gonna happen,so reluctantly we headed for home,halfway home we decided to give another favourite perch water a visit so we diverted off to headlands farm at Romsey.

Any one who has been to headlands will know that there are two lakes there which means only one thing! yep you've guessed it ,both frozen solid!! unbelievable luck.we left the car park both fish-less and dejected and headed towards home,after around 5 minutes i had an eureka moment and said " don't worry dandy's ford only around the corner they'll be open" ! we couldn't believe our luck when we pulled up outside not to find it frozen but bloody shut!! omg!

There was one last port of call on the way home called carron row farm but its not renown for its perch or winter success but i was gagging to wet a line by now.we arrived at crf to find a couple of areas of crf 2 thawed and a fair bit of lake 3 defrosted but armed only with maggots and prawns i didnt fancy my chances so we decided to call it a day and go home.Im sure i can wait till next year!!

On a lighter note,as with most women Claire likes to have the last word and when we got in and sat down with a brew she asked the question that i least wanted to hear...........


" fancy watching frozen" !    cheeky moo!!! we did laugh.

HAPPY NEW YEAR from us at pta and thanks for all your support.

FROZEN AT CHRISTMAS!!

Today saw Claire and myself with a few spare hours so we decided to do a bit of perch fishing,so off we set at 6.45 this morning flask in hand armed with a few meager prawns that survived boxing day and a selection of clothes!

We arrived at our location to find loads of people bivvied up and proper frosty,the car temp sensor read +0.5 degrees this morning so it was cold to say the least.

After finding a likely spot that had produced for us before we set about teaching a king prawn to swim and after around 45 Min's the small float bobbed in typical perch fashion and the first stripey of the day was soon on the mat! hooray worth venturing out for.I'm not saying it was cold but the net froze to the mat whilst unhooking our prize,proper cold but as I've always said you cant catch them sat at home.........not unless your playing sega bass fishing ! lol

These fish are great fun on light gear,light lure rod and tiny reel 4lb line.really takes some beating to be honest.absolutely love fishing like this.

After this first capture the bites were very slow,  i wandered around trying different areas but to no avail, so after a brew i placed the bait back on the spot which had produced the first fish,about 45 Min's later we had a very similar bite and an almost identical fish graced the bank.by now it was getting silly cold so we opted for another brew to warm us through then headed back to the car for the journey home,poor Claire was frozen!

not massive but very welcome on a cold winters day all the same.cant wait to take Aaron with us next time we go.

AARONS ANGLING ADVENTURES PART 2 !

 Aaron's Prawn Cracker!


Sunday lunchtime saw me and aaron at the wallington near staples in Fareham and we were quite excited due to the fact that the previous day we had seen a good group of fish at the base of a tree in around 18" of water,and we had also witnessed a bass of mammoth proportions further down stream and also a huge shoal of mullet! spoilt for choice we thought .ha,as if!
we opted to fish near the car where the wall was lowest to start, but after about 25 minutes we moved down stream about 50m where we encountered a group of about 10 mullet and around 5 old carp,not monsters but a river carp no less.I opted for my standard tried and tested bread approach ,but i gave Aaron a cooked prawn much to his bewilderment.
we kept flicking the baits in and out of the shoal and i pulled out of a fish after around 5 minutes.After i wound in to rebait i had a little wander back up in the direction from whence we came, when i heard a shout from Aaron,along the lines of " dad i got one" or a very similar version! 
An epic battle ensued and after quite a tussle,AJ  had banked his first ever river carp ,to say we were pleased was an understatement,the fish were very wary after this and it attracted a bit of a crowd,even a passer by in a car stopped for a natter!!

Aaron showing me how its done at the moment,but i couldnt be happier or prouder of him.
cant wait for our next trip out...........

urban paradise

Aarons adventures part 1

Well what can i say ,my middle son Aaron has shocked me yet again by telling me he wants to fish! this was a massive shock as all he normally does is take the mickey out of me with phrases like "oooh fishing" whilst holding his thumbs up!! little shit!
He had shown a little interest but it wasn't till we ventured to carron row farm one weekend in September when we were sat at home bored that he saw a different side to it all, it was when he saw a low double common on the mat that the bug well and truly struck ,and it struck hard!! this he exclaimed was the biggest f####g fish he had ever seen!

 Hes had a few fish at crf ,mainly tench but never any carp and he would never hold one,despite promising to help .After wetting his appetite at crf he fancied doing some sea fishing himself, so this then led to some lure fishing at hill head where he managed a 3lb bass on a 5" shad first trip! talk about lucky,im thinking of getting him to pick my lottery numbers next week! lol

you can expect to read and hear about Aaron or "aj" as he is known a lot over the next year or so,we have plans to travel a bit and do some sea fishing from some favorite old marks and some still waters in search of scaley old carp. its awesome to share my passion with one of my sons.it takes me back to when my dad came fishing with me,I loved sharing this time with him and i hope one day Aaron will feel the same.

A WEEK TO REMEMBER

5.30 am on Monday the 11th saw me back at crf,after a sleepless night i decided to have a short dangle before work,and all i got for my efforts for my early start was two tench both off the top!! i went to work about 7.15 knowing i would be returning that evening.

well i dont know about you guys but the thought of wetting a line keeps me awake at night and even affects my concentration at work at times when i find myself daydreaming about being on the bank,keeping busy helps but not always!

When i returned after work i found lake 2 empty so i set about putting a few mixers in to see if i could interest anything.Whilst waiting for any signs and watching all the time,i phoned Claire to say hi and whilst i was on the phone i saw a fish come out from under the bank and suck a few mixers in.

We said our goodbyes quickly and i set about getting a lump of bread and casting into the ever decreasing circles.not much happened and i kept a few mixers trickling in .shortly after i had a small common,then all was quiet.i sat on my chair looking along the margin watching the branches twitching when a good size fish showed itself big time,i needed no hesitation and i cast a crust once more in the direction of the show.i didn't need to wait long and shortly afterwards i saw a pair of lips slurp in my crust and turn away,bingo,fish on!!

this fish was proper strong,probably due to the 1.5tc rod i was using and it took a while to gain any sort of control,after what seemed like ages i slipped the net under my prize,without doubt one of the nicest looking fish I've ever caught from crf.stunning.

Decided to  pack up shortly after this as the light was fading but not before trying to bag another as they seem to have arrived mob handed ,and were now mopping up the mixers 2 or 3 at a time! after a while when i couldnt see my bread hookbait any more i headed home,knowing i would be back tuesday evening.

i returned after work tuesday to an almost identical scenario,put a few freebies in first and waited for that magical slurp!didnt have to wait long and before long i was into another hard fighting common! this gave me the proper run around and was quite pleased with this one.

I also had a small common around 6lbs but picture wasn't great!.i stayed for a while but there was no sign of any thing moving so i had an early night for a change and headed home for a brew and freshen up my bread and mixer supplies!

Wednesday evening i returned and found someone in the swim i had been fishing so i decided to have a walk round lake 3 ,didn't stay there long as i couldn't find any fish so back down to lake 2. i went into the next nearest swim to the one i had been fishing in,this turned out to be a massive result because as i sat my loaf down i saw a good fish just staring out at me from under the bush.i took a couple of steps back and baited the hook with some ever faithful bread and lowered it down almost touching his top lip with it!.within seconds it was trying its best to get back under the bush from which it came but my korum all rounder which should of been called half rounder was at full curve !! did have my doubts if it was gonna snap at one point but gladly it didn't,although my little 4000 reel was screaming,literally,and after a few long minutes i managed to slip the net under it and i need to have a stretch after wards!proper arm ache!

i went on to have a further 2 carp and a good tinca from the same spot!! and i left around 9pm,shattered and looking forward to the weekend.

me and my lovely lady returned on the Saturday morning at first light at set up in the same swim as i had fished on weds night.this water gets very busy at the weekend so we wanted a feature to fish too and as the tree had been productive all week it seemed like a no brainer!
we only use one rod at crf as it can get a bit hectic at times but things were very hard going all morning until Claire said it was my time to brew up.i laid my trusty rod on the floor and  reached for the milk when  it suddenly leapt forward from between my legs! and as i grabbed for it, it moved again,!! wtf!   i finally managed to just grab the end of the butt section as it went waterside i then  realised i had hooked a strong fish which proceeded  to try and pull my arm from its socket! after an epic struggle i got it out from under the tree by just letting the rod do all the work, and as it rolled i could see it was one of the older residents.very pleased with this capture especially after the fight it put up.we took a pic and returned her to swim with her own once more.well happy. we sat for a while after that and i finished the brew duty before continuing with my job in hand.

I sat there for some time slouched in the chair,as you do! when a shape swam across my field of vision from left to right,i literally leapt up ,baited and cast a crust directly into its path of travel only for it to suck it in at first attempt,get in,another very spirited fight and another common graced the bank once more.result.two fish when no one else catching!

we packed up shortly after this as the mallet brigade had arrived by the coach load and headed home,looking forward to the next trip when we are taking my son Aaron along,cant wait.....stay safe.

moving on

The last couple of weeks has seen me back to carron row farm for some quick evening sessions,it started on Monday 9th June.
 I arrived to find our good mate Neil " the tench" in the willow swim so i opted to go into the swim next door and fish to the rhododendron bush to my right.I had a good chat with Neil first as we hadn't met up for ages,then proceeded to free line a ball of soft bread tight into the bush,wasn't long before a common took it and a good scrap broke out,unfortunately the appearance of the common was shocking,it was badly damaged with a proper parrot mouth.poor thing.Whilst unhooking the common a fish showed in the opposite margin so i ran round there like an overweight Bambi and set about floating a bit of bread close in.This produced a further 3 fish ,which was quite pleasing but something was troubling me,upsetting my balance almost...couldn't quite put my finger on it..........
I returned various times over the next 2 weeks,had fish every visit including some stunning big tench, but i couldn't focus,relax even and after my most recent visit i have decided to move on,I've fished this place for over 10 years and caught some great fish but most of them now are badly damaged, especially on the day ticket lake,the members lake not a problem at all, but i feel the end has come for my love affair for carron row farm,no doubt ill return for the odd visit as many others do, as it is almost a guaranteed bend in the rod but i need to move on now.and move on i did,what a start......

one of crfs finest from lake 3.

Monday 23rd after work found me at tithe barn and i had looked round on the Sunday with Claire and i was gagging to fish there.I had a good walk round and decided to fish for some of the ones sunning themselves in the holes in the weed.I set up my new korum all rounder with a size 4 wide gape and folded some bread flake over as i do and cast it towards what would hopefully be my first prize from this lovely place.My intended quarry just floated inches from my offering ,totally uninterested and i started to wonder if i should have buttered the bread! lol ,i stood there in an almost stalemate situation when all of a sudden the fish literally leapt forward and gulped the bread down and proceeded to strip line from my new reel! Jesus it was strong,i suppose they don't expect to be caught whilst in the sanctuary of the weed but hey ho! this fish twisted and turned every step of the way and i was quite relieved to net him to be honest ,wasn't a monster but it was in amazing condition,absolute minter!,so there i was at a new venue with a fish on the bank within half an hour! hadn't smiled that much whilst fishing for a long long time,took few shots on the mate and returned her to her underwater world once more..

I decided after all the disturbance to venture round to the other side and fish under a likely looking bush,which seemed like a good spot to ambush one,i sat there for ages,drifting a crust in when a group of about 5 fish came out from under the bush and scoffed all the freebies then disappeared without a trace! i was gobsmacked by this but i decided to stay and after hearing that lovely slurping again i was focused once more.
i didn't wait long when as i leant over for a peak at the area i saw a common trying to back paddle to suck in my crust ,so with a tiny tweak i pulled it almost into its mouth,and bingo i was in once more,another epic battle and i was pleased to add a common to my new venues tally. over the chuffing moon!!

This was the end of my evening and i vowed to return the following evenings which i can sum up in a very few words,Tuesday,blanked,Wednesday blanked,Thursday ,soaked to the skin and lost a lump in the weed and Friday ? you got it ,blanked! i turned in early on Friday eve and vowed to return on Saturday,which i did but due to a change in the weather i opted for a bottom bait consisting of the golden grain,I set up alongside a fallen tree and within an hour the rod was away ,literally as it was locked up and as i regained control i could feel a strong prize on the end,the new rod was bent at full arc trying to keep it out the nearby weed bed and after a  few seconds the rod started to straighten and i gained line ,this next fish turned out to be a mirror and i didn't do it the injustice of weighing it,the way it looked was far more important than the weight of it ,again a few mat shots and off she swam.

I recast once more and once again the rod was away and i was into a common of a similar size and also in amazing condition,been years since I've used sweetcorn as a hook bait but will use it more now!!

sorry to waffle on but its been a while since i blogged last and i lost my way a little for a while, safe to say I'm now well back on track,cant wait to take Claire next time i visit ,she will love watching the kingfishers and the carp display team in action!! stay safe .

trouble in paradise?

   This week Claire and i returned to bobs lake to see how much stock was left after falling foul to an otter and a mink! on our first visit it was proper sunny and the fish were circling together and pairing up,obviously getting ready for some fishy loving! 

This was a very welcome sight as there was still some good size fish present.it was quite a spectacle watching them circling in the shallows and crashing in the margins.we wandered for a few minutes when i saw a solitary common looking quite sorry for its self so i offered it some crust only to see it wafting its pecs trying to find the bait to then suck it in,and strip line from my little 300 reel like a torpedo!! proper scrapper!

Once finally landed ,as Claire lifted it for a pic it dropped a huge stream of eggs onto the mat ,so we returned her asap and washed the mat off in the lake and headed for home..........leaving them to it,there's a time and a place and this wasn't it......

Three days later we returned to a very still and lifeless pond and there wasn't a sign of  life,i stood on the bank like an overweight heron looking for any movement in the reeds and pads,as i panned left a shape caught my eye and i instantly flicked a lump of crust at it,only for it to be taken upon landing and a good scrap broke out,i played it away from the small lilies and netted my prize only to find some mink damage to its Rh pec,this damage didn't affect its ability to fight though and we took some pics and returned her to swim amongst her own kind.

what a sky!

traveling light is key

LONG TIME COMING........

Tuesday 15th after work i decided to do a 48 at a local club water,home to some hard fighting and scaly carp,not massive but good lookers all the same.
Anyone who regularly does sessions like these will know that they need planning for at least a week prior to going and this was very much the case!,i even purchased new battery's for everything that required them,even for my samsung phone!!
I arrived at the water around 5.15 to find the swim i wanted and very quickly dumped a bag in it whilst i got the barrow,which was loaded already, out the van.I put a few handfuls of cell dumbells in on the two spots i had been fishing from ,whilst i set up,rods were in by 5.40 and i set about getting the house up.This took about 40 minutes! i had brought loads of stuff!!

 I started getting liners straight away and i was optimistic that i may be in for a good session,i'd not done a 48 for a few years since a social at sandhurst, where i caught the smallest carp in the lake,this was pure skill on my part,but that's another story......

Around 6.45 the left hand rod was away and a tiny dame Judy graced the bank!not my choice of species but a fish is a fish!! after a quick rig check and a recast i set about making a brew and trying to rat proof my stuff.Come 8.30 i turned in for the night as it was getting chilly and all the while a good fish was crashing near my right hand spot,it sounded like a cow taking diving lessons!! this was actually keeping me awake ! i was shattered after being at work all day and setting up but i couldn't get a bait right on it due to the overhanging trees. i finally nodded of to be woken by various liners and being blinded by my alarm leds! they are far too bright,when they lit up i couldn't tell which rod it was, it blurred my vision so much!

around 3am i had a stuttery take which then turned into a full blown one toner and the battle began,this was unbelievably strong and it was trying to get up to the shallow end with out stopping, and the old prodigy was at full bend and more,! I eventually managed to turn it and then it decided to power back down the lake whilst i was winding like fury! After what felt like ages but was only minutes i finally saw it roll on the top just within reach of my headlamp beam and it looked a good one,possibly the twenty i'd been hoping for but as it happened it was just short at 19lb 2oz. 

 I say this weight ,but my digital scales decided not to work, so i had to butcher the back off them ,and remove and refit the battery which booted them into life,a quick zero of the sling then the display read 19lb 2 just before going blank! not happy to say the least... a quick photo on the mat then i returned her to swim amongst her own.,well pleased, i recast only to put it in the nearest tree ,not once ,but twice so i had to tie a new rig in the near darkness,does it get any worse? yes in short...i retired to my bed and slept well for a few hours only to wake about 6.30 so i got up put some bait out and had a cuppa.

Around 8am i had a screamer with the rod hooped hard round to the left hand spot, and i was straight on it trying to steer it out the snags.At first i thought it was another carp but after a while it started nodding its head like a tench ,not your average tench though,a very good one,I've never been so pleased to see a tinca!!

Things during the day were very very slow,i even tried all the usual,bread,mixers and oily floaters ,trying to tempt one from the pads even at only 2 rod lengths away,sadly they were not having it at all.Around 4 i had a visit from an old friend and we chatted and i fed him till he chirped then flew off! Always love to see a robin whilst on the bank.they really are beautiful little fellows.

The day turned into evening and around 6.45 a fish crashed out in another area so i cast straight over to it,shortly after,i received a screaming take and a strong tussle ensued and after a couple of minutes a cracking mirror was my prize,my second mirror in 2 trips,very happy with this one .

I recast to the same area from which the mirror had come from and within around forty minutes it was away again,and a smaller common graced my mat, bringing my total to 3 carp and one notable tench,very pleased ,I recast once more and got into bed, but sadly this was to be the end of the action,i woke early the following morning after a chilly night and packed up and headed home for a much needed bath and to catch up with my good lady Claire,due to having phone issues,we'd not spoke for  most of the session and a sort out.looking forward to returning over Easter.

AFTER WORK CLUB!!

this last week has seen me return to a favorite club water,new membership in hand to try and tempt a few scaly ones out,and to be honest it was some off the best fishing I've had for a while,real strong fish ,great sport and good preparation for my forthcoming 48 hr trip.
Monday saw me on the members lake in the pouring rain,what i like to call Forrest gump rain,those who have seen the film will know what i mean! i was sat there totally despondent with the conditions to be honest ,just about hanging in there when a twinkle of blue sky arrived about 7.35pm followed by a huge rainbow in all its glory,and although there wasn't a pot of gold at the end of it ,there was a stunning mid double common,well happy under the circumstances and very welcome.this common had a spot on its right flank devoid of scales and i affectionately named it bald spot!

Tuesday saw me return around the same time but in much  better weather,bright and dry with a nice cool breeze,so i decided to fish the same swim,and i put both rods out on the same spots as the night before,i started getting liners straight away and i was optimistic to say the least.six or seven liners later about 6.30 the Rh rod was away and after a strong tussle another glorious common graced the bank.this beauty weighed in at 17lb 5oz,result.

the problem with the productive spot was the backhand cast whilst leaning out over the edge of the swim so i thought that on wednesday i would approach the spot from the other side.
I arrived that evening in the lovely sunshine and set up my gear in the new swim on the other side of the lake.I then put my left hand rod in the general area of the spot and 12 freebies over the ever decreasing circles the lead had made.The right hand rod went along the margin in the area where i had seen a large group of fish whilst walking along the causeway,again a good handful of freebies was introduced.
What happened next was comedy gold! I had a good tench  from the left hand spot that i had left in the net to take a phone call and as i put the phone away the right hand rod erupted into life and battle with an angry resident ensued! proper strong fish ,at this time i thought ,hold on ,net got a fish in already!!, panic! so i called to the next swim and asked for a net,luckily they didn't hesitate to come to my assistance,and a cracking mirror was soon on the mat.
I gave the lad some hook baits after he asked what they were and told him a few tips,he was well happy.Shortly after this my time was up so i thanked him and his mates and headed for home,gagging to get back on Saturday for a day session.

Evening outings

Well due to work and getting engaged recently l have been limited to a few quick evening sessions tench bashing!  Been fishing the same spot for 3 evenings ,feeding with hemp and corn and using an activ8 dumbbell cut down and topped with half a small northern special pop up in pink.This isn't my usual approach but until the water warms up and i start feeding a few secret spots,this felt the best way forward,and this is what unfolded.....

Monday 24th found me in a swim known as"the jungle",unfortunately i didn't arrive till 5.20pm,with the light just about to fade i spooned in some hemp and cast my rig over the top of it,I was only using my light stalking rod and 300 reel loaded with 6lb line so i wasn't expecting to break any records!

I sat in the dark in total darkness,rain pouring down around me,under my old leaky brolly,with my hood up! trying to watch the tip pull round wondering why? why wasn't i home watching the soaps,having a nice brew?

I suddenly remembered that i had a small flask of black coffee in my shoulder bag, and after a few mouthfuls of hot liquid i felt much better,after this i decided i would recast the rig again and top up the spot,but as i reached down for the rod it pulled away from me,in the direction of the water, fish on ! A good fight ensued and it was a real struggle to land ,my headlamp was nearly flat and i couldn't see where the line went into the water,i just held on ,finger on the spool,letting it take line on the clutch.it seemed like ages before she hit the net and i was made up! not a tinca but a beautiful mirror!.cracking....unexpected,but cracking all the same.

 I took a couple of pics on the mat and one in the net,then let her free to swim amongst her kind,i didn't do her the injustice of weighing her but from size i reckoned around 15lb or so.Shortly after a recast i had a real savage pull which resulted in a break off so i changed spool for the spare which had 10lb line on.I carried on waiting for another 40 mins or so but nothing was forthcoming,so i  had another cup of coffee then packed up as i had run out of time,vowing to return the following day to fish over the same spot.Another scoop of hemp and corn over the spot as i left for home.

Tuesday the 25th saw me return once more to the same swim ,however this time i had opted to bring my carp rods and alarms.Trying to watch a tip pull round in the dark is almost hypnotic and very tiring on the eyes.I set up using the same rig as before but one had a northern special tip on and the other had a dairy cream and pineapple tipper on.I spooned some hemp and corn in and put the pink northern rig on the spot,I put the other to the far margin under an overhanging bush,sat and waited,

About 7.15 a good size fish came out the water really close in which proper made me jump,woke me up to be honest,but i was confident i was gonna catch,and catch i did,albeit a fair size tinca with attitude,proper nailed on the custom bottom rig,fought really well,even on my carp rods!!

I returned this beauty and packed up, not realizing i was late! i set myself a target of 8pm at the latest to get away ,so i only really get just over 2hours each trip by the time i get there and set up etc.Although to be honest 2 hours is enough normally.When i got home i discovered i was out of hook baits,so i knew i would have to fish a couple out of the hemp and corn mix until new supplies were obtained.

Wednesday evening saw me return to find 1 car in the car park,and unbelievably my swim was taken,not unusual for a day ticket water,so i opted for the lower lake ,putting one under the tree and one near the dam wall,within minutes the right hand rod rattled off and as i was playing this fish the left hand rod went too! chaos but good fun ! i got the one from the right in first as it was near snags and as soon as she was in the net i set about landing the other,good fun,great sport and quite a laugh ,the tench do seem to love a bright hookbait.shortly after this scenario i packed up as i was dog tired from the previous trips,what with working 9 hours a day too!.cant wait to return,gonna focus on the members lake this year to see what i can bank.

You got to love a tinca in February!!

Winter stripes

Today started very cold and after 2 1/2 hours of traffic, the mood was very sombre.it was only after going through the McDonald's at the services that the mood lightened,when after ordering coffee to go, the young lad asked if I would like a large one! To which I replied,no thanks I hardly know you!! This lifted our spirits considerably! especially as when after I had paid, I gave the gesture and said "call me"!! We laughed about this for ages! Shortly after we arrived at our little paradise....

 we arrived to total emptiness,lovely ,not a soul there so we proceeded to search the whole lake to look for some nice stripeys.i went right with the barrow and Claire went left,both armed with Polaroids ,and we agreed to meet on the far back in the big double swim.the place looked quite moody today,overcast,almost perfect...

love these moody shots...

we met up and neither of us had seen a thing! so i crept into a hole in a nearby bush only to see a large group of old scaly carp gliding by,counted 17 fish in all,lovely dark mirrors and a couple of huge ghosties.i nearly drooled there and then!

however today was about the perch and time was short due to the traffic so i set about scattering some of asdas finest under various bushes in four consecutive swims.as i walked along the bank i could see the carp milling around so i put a few chunks of spam out to see if they showed any interest,in a word a resounding no!

i carried on walking backward and forward between swims looking for perch but there wasn't any signs,loads of carp but no perch.not happy 

seek and you will find!

was about an hour later on my fourth scout down that a couple of fish caught my eye,i stood watching them for a few moments,enjoying their movements and aggressive stance under the surface.much better than any aquarium in my opinion,when a larger fish came into my field of vision.wasn't a record breaker ,around about 1 1/2lbs but good looking fish all the same.i was only using 4lb line and my little stalking rod and 3000 reel so it had a chance of sorts!

1st of the day !

 

claire holding the second victim!

 

final capture!

 

always good to see them swim off,look closely at how clear the water is!!

there is something very special about seeing your quarry take the bait and watching the fight in crystal clear water,it really does take some beating to be honest. 

we were running short of time by now but we still managed 2 more specimens,in between the hail stones and the rain! not monsters but good sport all the same,on a carp front we seem to have established a patrol route and we watched a few fish visit the same spots again and again.mental note made!will visit again to tackle these old beauty's.

we repacked the barrow around 2pm and made a dash for the van,Claire failed to tell me the left bank was flooded ,she had wellys i didn't! this saw me roll up my trousers and remove my socks,boots back on and wade through freezing cold flowing water! i could hear Claire laughing her arse off! at one stage i lost a boot too! was a perfect end to a difficult day! roll on the weekend when i think we may return to crf again,been a while.......

Right place wrong time

Today was set for perch and them only, so armed with red maggot and lob worm, and a bag of prawns we made our 75 minute journey to a prolific perch water.

It was dark when we left home and it wasn't obvious till we were almost there that it was gonna be an unusually sunny day, not good conditions for stripeys!

We settled in a swim facing the back of the island, quite shaded and it had an interesting bay to the left of it .I set up, opting to fish one rod only and after plumming the depth two red maggots were duly drowned!! 

To say it was slow was an understatement, 9 anglers on and no sign of any captures! However Claire did manage to watch a kingfisher in action in the bay to our left, worth the journey just for that alone,shortly after 10am I had a small bite and the float sailed off, result first blood, all 6oz of it!! 

It was then that I witnessed one of the most bizarre things,a small speedboat dragging out a pike float, not once but three times only to have someone else cast a fish finder straight over the top!.,it's at times like this that I wish I had a 6oz gripper lead to hand! 

We stayed in the swim another hour and nothing so moved swims, similar action, nothing!

We then moved to a third swim to only have two lure anglers casting all around our swim so we moved again back towards the car park.

We settled again but no bites were forth coming so we sat chatting about our next idea when a lure came splashing into the swim ! Shortly after we packed up had a bite to eat and a brew then headed to a water nearer home.

Upon getting at our second venue I spotted a nice dark common in the snags so I gave it a big handful of maggots to spook it off long enough for me to cast a small piece of pepperami in the general area, literally 2 mins later I pulled into a strong little fish which was very welcome,I was only using 6lb line and I was trying to keep it out the snags,and as a good friend once said,"the rod is merely an extension of the arm!" So I fingered the spool and let the rod do the rest .

we were very relieved to have saved the day! we tried the maggot for another hour or so but to no avail so we packed up and pointed the van towards home.Not the best days dangling by a long way but I've now got the bug once more and i am back on it! 

apologies for the picture but we had an audience!!

on a serious note,quick piece of advice ,when kicking your chair out the way to bend into a fish trying to get into the snags,make sure the back feet are down before sitting on it! ahem! lol

Claire still struggling to forget this incident!! good to have a laugh !