Recent Trips

A short video with some extracts compiled from my recent fishing trips.

Trouted

Wind from the North,do not go forth.

When the wind's from any direction and there is opportunity to angle,I generally take it no matter what and this was one of those occasions,rolling out of bed and pulling back the bedroom blinds I was met by light drizzle and very windy conditions.

A couple of cold pies were grabbed from the oven and a flask of coffee hastily made. Before I knew it I was winding my way to that beautiful timeless place that is the riverbank,the gusting,cold northerly wind chilling my face,one other angler greeted me and told me he had been roving about most of the morning managing one 4lB+ Chub on cheese.

This time I decided to try the bait and wait process,setting up in a slack area of the river where there was a reasonable depth and some nice gravel gullies,I dropped in a light amount of hemp and flicked out my cheese rod to the edge of a sunken tree,the maggot feeder was placed on to one of the gravel runs.

Later in the day the wind was blowing an absolute howler and many times I was hanging on to my umbrella for dear life like some kind of chubby Mary Poppins,two hours later and wind still cutting like a knife,my maggot rod tapped once,twice and was off,I was into another odd sprinting fight,which reminded me of my last trip out,the culprit was another trout,just under 2lb.



The Red Kite's that normally keep me company,were not to be seen,which was unusual as they normally revel in gliding about on the winds,Mr Kingfisher was about though and skirted by, flying as low to the water as ever,such a majestic creature and one whom I always give a respecting nod to.

Late afternoon came and the winds were getting increasingly worse,going from perfectly calm and still to instantly strong gusts,I was having some unsettling moments with the umbrella,one of which turned it inside out and as I grabbed hold of it,it uprooted itself and nearly took me with it into the bramble,I decided to put the umbrella down else risk it being ruined.A check of both rods gave me indication that the Crayfish had moved in,the maggots had been neatly snipped off the feeder rod and with the north wind blowing across the water I have to say I was not fancying my chances of catching anything more.

re-casting both rods to their spots,I moved the cheesepaste rod further out on to the edge of the flow,not long after,the rod tip jerked and slapped round,not once not twice,but three times,I was hoping for this to be a Chub,which to all intents and purposes this bite looked characteristic of,it fell quiet again,I sat back and sipped some coffee,my rump was by now comfortably numb.Sure enough the rod tip bent round again,this time holding,I struck and was greeted by another rapid running fight, "I wonder" I said to myself,not long after and the net was slipped under another very lively Trout,this one four ounces smaller than the last.


I placed my rod back out and sat musing about how many trout had been caught on the local rivers recently,I was beginning to wonder if the recent floods had brought some new stock,that being said I have had trout before,just not with this kind of regularity.

Darkness enveloped me,all was quiet except for the wind rattling through the trees,ruffling the rivers surface with its cold embrace,a solitary Owl called out into the night,I checked my watch and decided to give it another half hour,the time came and went quickly as it always does when you're fishing,that half hour turned into an hour in the blink of an eye.

My rod's remained silent though,I decided it was time to pack up and head off home,before doing so I gave the river one last loving look,it knew I had fallen for its charms a long time ago as a child and I knew that I would return again soon.

Gone Fishing

After some contemplation I have picked up some fresh bait and knocked up some fresh cheesepaste,all being well I should be out for a few fishing trips over the next few days and I can't wait.The weather forecast looks set to go rather chilly in the south east by the weekend,so it looks like Chub will be the main species on the cards,I have my toes and fingers crossed as well as a lucky rabbits foot and four leaf clover tucked inside my fishing jacket,just for some extra luck,but as one chap once said.


"The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope"

I don't think it could be more eloquently put,do you?

A Welcome Occurrence

It was wet,windy and mild and compared to how cold the weather had been previously,it was quite a stark contrast and very weclome.The night before I had got my cheesepaste ready,the hemp was cooked and the spam fried up and flavoured.I was eager to get down the river in the hope of a fish or two,my blanking had to end sometime,surely?

With the mild southwesterly wind buffeting my face I made my way to my first swim,I had decided to rove about again and try a few other areas of the river,opting to give each swim two hours.One rod out on maggot and feeder,with my other rod rotated between garlic cheesepaste and fried Spam.

the rain was coming down steady by the time I had my first touch on the feeder and maggot rod.A Gudgeon was warmly welcomed into my waiting hand,I don't seem to see as many of these as I once used to. I placed the rod back out,twenty minutes later the rod hooped round not once but 3 times,I struck but was met by thin air,judging by how the maggots looked,I would have said I missed a decent Chub bite,"damn it" I muttered to myself.

Even though I had missed this fish,I was happy to finally be getting some fish feeding.The two hours was up and I moved upstream into an area with a nice glide,I placed the cheesepaste rod out to underneath some tangled tree roots,the maggot feeder was placed to the middle of the river.Although the day was cloudy and squally,there was as ever no denying the beauty of my surroundings,woodpecker's sat on fence posts,Red Kite's hovered about above me,gliding effortlessly,Blue Tit's chasing each other in and out of the hawthorn,my thoughts were prematurely drawn to Spring-time.

The spot remained quiet so I decided to up sticks and move further upstream to another old haunt,a swim with a large slack,I took note of a large vicious crash close in,which I felt could have been a nice Pike.

Whilst I was having a cup of coffee,sods law dictated something would happen,the tip of my cheesepaste rod rattled and shook violently,the tip bent round,I lifted in and was met by a nice solid resistance,thud thud thud,came the reply from the other end,the fish took off for a nearby tree with a surging run,it felt a rather odd fight,I had seen a flash of silver and was thinking that it was perhaps a nice Chub,but no,eventually bringing the fish closer to the bank I saw a silver flank with dappled spots,it was a Trout and on cheesepaste of all baits.





It weighed 2lb 10oz and despite not being my sought after quarry I was nonetheless rather happy,as my fishing trips lately have been rather slow going to say the very least,a quick photo for memories sake and back she was slipped.By now late afternoon was rapidly changing to evening,the sky had cleared and the moon was showing its face,I moved again to another spot with a large bush hanging into the river,"a likely spot for a Chub" I thought to myself.

One hour on and the spot was trying to tell me otherwise,I decided to give it another half hour before packing up and heading home,ten minutes before packing up I was nibbling on the last of my remaining hob nobs,when the rod out on spam,wrapped round,I struck and felt a solid resistance,followed by an instant hook pull,"damn and blast!" I mumbled.


As I packed,up my mind was filled with thoughts that I may have just had a hook pull on a Barbel,but it was nice to have had a more active fishing trip,things were looking up and regardless of not being what I was expecting to catch,the Trout was more than welcome to grace my rod.


With more cold weather forecast for next week,maybe the rivers will switch off again,even if they do,you certainly won't catch anything sat at home,however you might catch a large lump of apathy, not really something I would advise,so keep at it and keep enjoying your fishing,until next time good luck wherever your fishing and whatever your fishing for.

Slow Going

Hello again and a warm welcome back to fishing for memories.

Well it's the new year and I am looking forward to doing plenty of fishing in 2011.

Needless to say I have been out on quite a few fishing trips since my last blog update,five trips to be exact in Snows,winds and heavy rains,alas with not to much to write about,during the snows I went twice and lost a cracking Chub that looked over 6lb at the net,which I was absolutely gutted about,as I have always wanted a nice Chub in the snow,sadly this for the time being seems to have eluded me once again,and my other three trips have been either blanks or yet more Bullheads.

So it has been a very slow start to 2011 for me,and it can be quite confidence sapping too,making you wonder if your doing something very wrong,or if you have lost your touch at winter fishing,one thing I feel that I need to do is to go back to some of the older baits that I use to use as a youngster,where in many ways I feel I was more adventurous with experimenting with different baits and I feel I have lost that edge and outlook,becoming a bit too stagnant and set in my ways in some areas.

The weather system for the last few days certainly is a fair bit milder and with that trend continuing for a few more days,this might see a few people landing some Barbel,maybe even myself!I suppose I can but hope and pray.


On another note,I have just recently received some new tackle in the form of a Shakespeare Mach 3 float rod,which was on offer at nimpopo in their clearance sale for £48,very light and nicely understated with Fuji Alconite guides and interchangeable Butt section,it seems like a very nice bit of kit,I will elaborate on this with more detail once I take it out for it's maiden fishing trip.


Well that's about it for this update,fingers crossed I will have some fish by the time I post again.

Till next time tight lines and best of fishes.
Mark