()><(((º> Hot Weather Whiskers <º)))><()

Hello and welcome back to fishing for Memories.

Weather currently roasting hot indeed and not making for the easiest or best conditions,but patience is a virtue and all good things come to those who use their watercraft to its best potential,so please keep plugging away,although I would love some rain as the rivers could really do with a bit and this would help with sport.


Robert and I got down to the gentleman's river on Thursday evening,weather hot and humid and the rivers water level down again by another 6 inches or more,you could stand in the side where it was dry,however though there was still some reasonable depth ranging from 4 to 5 foot+ in the channels and that was good consolation.

I put a couple of handfuls of pellets into my swim along with a couple of small balls of heavy ground bait mixed with hemp and rested the swim for over an hour and decided on one rod boilie and one on a 16mm halibut pellet.Robert however opted for two rods out with pva bags filled with chopped boilies and small pellets,with 16mm and 20mm Halibut pellet hook baits on each rod.

Meanwhile I was being kept company by the kingfisher again who had taken to perching on one of the branches of a bush,I got some more video footage this time of it,what more can I say,such a beautiful bird,the video I Took of the Kingfisher is at the bottom of this blog entry.


After I felt my swim had been given a chance to recover from my disturbance,I placed both rods out 3/4 of the way across to the far bank,one rod to a cabbage patch and the other placed underneath a bush.The evening wore on and boy was it hot and humid too,apart from some small fry there was little to no activity but as darkness beckoned to envelope us in its cloak,it was getting to what I would call "magic Hour" where you know the fading light gives you a little edge and the fish drop their guard.My swim started having a few Bream rolling in it and it was not long before I caught a couple not huge at 7lb each,but welcome in the slow conditions both on the halibut pellet rod near the cabbage patches,at 11pm my boilie rod which was fished under the bush shot off upstream and the Shimano Exage reel sang merrily,I lifted into a heavy plodding resistance that continued upstream hugging the bottom,I felt the line clip on a snag and a sudden panicky feeling set about me,luckily the weight must have just clipped a snag and i was safe again,gradually I played the fish back each time it responding in another deep run,eventually after an excellent fight a Barbel of 9Lb8oz was sat recovering in the net,it had been slow going but this fish putting in an appearance made it more than worth the effort,it was in pristine condition and second Barbel of the season from the gentleman's river for myself.








About 1 hour later I heard Robert calling for me,I turned up at his swim to find he was into a good fish that had wedged itself into a cabbage patch,after Robert applied some sensible pressure it was out and bolted off downstream again,after eventually coming close to being landed it shot off and tried to embed itself in a snag further downstream,thankfully it didn't make the snag and Robert had a lovely 9 pound Whisker nestling in the net,we was both feeling very chipper and happy.













This ended our session and we headed off homeward again,both very happy to have had another two Barbel grace us with their presence in such hot conditions.

Once again thank you for reading and good luck and tight lines wherever your fishing at the moment,till the next post best fishes and goodbye.

()><(((º> The Sweet 16th<º)))><()

Hello and a warm welcome to everyone from us at fishing for memories,guess what the 16th of June came at last,I hope everyone had a cracking start to the season,I notice from some river reports it has been slow going for some on the Thames and other rivers,personally I would not say no to a drop of rain,but I know if I wish for a little bit of rain it might end up in a Noah's Arc amount.

Well Robert and myself got out for a short session on the gentleman's river and it was a rather blustery session but beautiful nonetheless.The night before the river season starts I get so excited I cannot remain calm,almost akin to a child on Christmas Eve and over all the years of fishing this feeling has never deserted me.The buzz of anticipation filled my body with a vortex of emotions of seasons past.

Robert and I got out at and setup by 8am,both our swims looked in superb condition water level down by about 2 feet.Robert opted for Donkey choker pellets on both rods fished to some cabbage patches,myself opting for 20mm Shellfish B5 on both rods,fishing 3/4 of the way across to nearby features and opposite bank cut/drop off,all setups were basic running rigs with 12lb TFG gunsmoke mainline and 2.5oz flat pear weights coupled with 10lb and 12lb Drennan sink braid hooklinks and size 8 Gardner Talon Tip hooks,basic tidy rigs as usual (a good basic rig will out fish a complex messy one).

I was sat on the bank contemplating the beginning to another season,surrounded by a plethora of flora and fauna about 3 hours into the session the master of all fishers paid me a visit,I am of course talking about the Kingfisher,he perched on my rod for around five minutes whilst making sorties to catch fish,I managed to get a very very short video of him dropping from my rod,but managed to snap off some fantastic photos of him,an absolutely marvelous sight as always.






For such sights of wonder and beauty nature charges us nothing,but I feel in these days of technology and electronica some of the younger generation have been sucked into a hazy dreamland to which they lose sight of such gifts bestowed upon us by nature and that is truly a pity.



Evening drew in and at 7pm I heard Robert call "I'm in" and indeed he was with a strong battling fish that kited off downstream and tried to wedge itself in a sunken tree and then into a cabbage patch,but after some careful playing it finally was back upstream and resting in the net. "looks a nice fish for a season opening" I chirped to Robert and sure enough out on to the mat and weighed it went 9lb 5oz,the perfect starter to the season and very happy we were indeed.







As evening past into the first hours of darkness my swim was still silent,but I thought to myself what if the rod that the Kingfisher had been sat on might have been a sign of providence and had he blessed me with his magical fishing charm?

I was soon to be answered on that thought when the swinger flew up and the baitrunner went hyper and gave line like it was going out of fashion as the fish shot off upstream,I lifted in to feel a strong bottom hugging resistance that plodded away and ticked of line upstream,I shouted to Robert that I was in,as I was playing the fish I mentioned to Robert "this feels a solid fish",gradually I regained control and it was not long before she was nestling in the folds of the landing net,Robert commented "looks a dead chunky fish" and he was not wrong at all,she was slipped into the weigh sling and went 10lb7ozs,new start to the season and a double figure fish to get proceedings going,happy days indeed!









Along with a handful of Bream averaging 6 to 7lb this ended a lovely and fitting commencement to the start of the fishing season for us,two beautiful Barbel and two very happy anglers.Until next time on fishing for memories Tight lines to everybody and best fishes!

()><(((º> Late evening Short Session<º)))><()

Robert and myself have been waiting like hungry underfed wolves for the River season to begin and only 15 days left now,it seems like an eternity as I am sure many of you waiting to fish the rivers will agree but hang in there guys.

The waiting I must admit got the better of me and I decided to go for a short 5hr session for some Carp on a stillwater,the weather has been rather glorious these past few days and a lot of fish are heavily into their love making action.

I turned up at the water late evening and decided to fish what i consider to be a slightly deeper area where there is a run off and decided on a light baiting approach.I had some spare Shellfish b5 base mix left and the day before had made 1 kilo of mixed Dumbbell and round baits ranging from 15mm to 22mm.The usual tactics were employed running rig 3oz weight 12lb Drennan sink braid and a size 8 Gardner Talon tips.

One rod was placed near the runoff to my left and the other out to a small plateau at around 60 metres.The lake itself is not that deep and has some very silty areas.

It was an absolutely gorgeous evening with a light breeze across the water.






My confidence was not that great,with such hot weather,but I had hoped that fishing one of the deeper areas and with the breeze it would give me a chance,a few hours ticked by,I had forgotten the mozzi repellent,bad idea Mark really bad,I was gradually being gnawed away whilst they performed doodlebug attacks on me,the evening wore on and all was silent.My left rod that was placed near the runoff let out a single bleep,at the time of looking a bat had flown nearby so I did not think so much of it. Five minutes later and the Delkim flat lined and I was into a rather frisky and powerful fish who tried to wrap me round the run off area and then tried to ditch me in a weed patch.

Eventually into the net it slipped,a chunky looking mirror,which went 21lb8oz exactly,I was very happy indeed as this fish had come just 1hr before the session had to end.







A nice end to a short session in lovely balmy weather,now back to thinking about the river season opening!

As always thank you for reading,wishing everyone tight lines and good fishing from us here at fishing for memories.