I not so long ago received an email from Andy Walker of SBS baits,offering me the chance of joining the SBS field testing team,after having a long and friendly chat with him today I have gratefully accepted this invitation,thank you very much Andy,I look forward to working with you and the rest of the SBS team in the near future and for quite some time ahead.
Hello there and welcome back again to fishing for memories.
Myself and Robert are full of excitement with thoughts of this seasons fishing as we will be fishing a rather unknown and wild river,neither of us are sure of what to expect,we know there is suppose to be a populace of beautiful wild carp, we are not so sure about Barbel,but it would be a very welcome suprise if they are present,not knowing what to expect only adds even more to the spice and our imaginations are running wild.
Rods and reels have been given the once over and loaded up,rigs are ready and a healthy supply of weights and hooks have been purchased,bait has been pondered over and an embryonic plan of attack has been formed. Fingers crossed we will have some lovely tales to share with all of you this season.
The surroundings as I think you may agree look simply stunning.
The weather is warming up after the long winter and spring is showing here and there,with blossom on the trees and birds about chirping as well as the bee's bumbling their merry way about and the local rivers are looking in fine condition.
My mind has lately been filled with memories of a place left untouched by humans,where you rarely see another soul,where your at one with nature,where there is no light pollution and the air is clean and forests stretch as far as the eye can see,it's almost as if when you're there even drawing breath comes to a stand still.
No matter where I'm fishing,dawns are very special to me and every different place has it's own unique one,with sunrises painting a myriad of new shapes and colours on the land.
They are places that time seems to have forgotten,where the hand of technology and industrialism have thankfully not yet tainted,where if you saw dinosaurs roaming about you would not be at all suprised,when wetting a line the atmosphere is thick with expectation and what ifs?
Places where an angler can melt into insignificance and be enveloped by nature and beautiful surroundings.
I'm sure as anglers we all have special places we hold close to our heart,which hold a lot of evocative memories and emotions and they are something we should not take for granted,we should try to be involved in caring and looking after the places we enjoy fishing,as there is a fragile balance which when tipped too far one way can be irreparable.
Until next time from me on fishing for memories tight lines and I hope you're all enjoying the spring and catching a few cracking fish.
Hello again and welcome back to fishing for memories.
Well it is the final week of the fishing season and I am hoping to perhaps net one last Barbel before the season ends,but I cannot say the conditions favour it,cold north wind and poor water temperatures,to be fair I do feel it is Chub conditions overall.
And with that in mind I took with me a plan B in my rucksack,that being some nice cheese and garlic paste,which has always gone down well with Chub as well as with Barbel from time to time.
Feeling the fresh blast of north wind on my face as I made my way to the swims was a resounding shock to my senses,I observed a pair of deer one sat down and other stood about foraging in the grass,I was glad to be out regardless of the conditions,the clouds were racing by on the strengthening wind,I decided to fish the cheese and garlic paste just to the underneath of some tree roots,a likely looking area for a Chub,my other rod was placed close to the opposite bank near a bush and had a pellet and belechan paste on the hair.
The afternoon was chilly with the odd intermittent drizzle,which did eventually die off leaving a very sunny but cold and blustery afternoon,I could of cursed the weather for not playing ball,but when has it really been good conditions most of this winter,you either fish or do not and I certainly do not wish to be putting up new light fittings just yet thanks Mum,such things can wait for the close season.
A cheeky chappy of a Robin moved into my swim in the afternoon and was readily fed and treated to pieces of biscuits and maggots,I am sure without a doubt he felt most full up on such a banquet.
Time was ticking by and both rods remained silent and lifeless.My cheese and garlic rod which had been silent nodded lightly,the river was still pretty high,but not so much junk was coming down,the rod tip nodded again,a more solid and confident tap tap followed,I smiled,maybe just maybe grey lips would be about,I did not have long to wait as the rod tip thumped over and I was into a solid feeling Chub,after the short but spirited fight,it's sturdy frame was resting in the net and sure enough the scales did not lie as they settled at a cheerful 5Lb 11oz's,I was very happy as if I am totally honest I did expect a blank.
As evening drew in no more bites were forthcoming and my feet were telling me "we are cold" So I decided it was time to head off home.
So less than a week is left of the river season,I hope many of you make good use of it regardless of the conditions,after all it will be 3 months of hiatus before we can wet a line on our wonderful rivers again.
Hello there and welcome back to fishing for memories
I was sat thinking today about the very heated subject that is the re-introduction of the otter to rivers,this got me thinking back to when I was a young boy and when I use to frequently see otters on the river Loddon back in the late 80's.
Now it would be folly of me to try to surmise on what kind of impact they are having on certain rivers since their re-introduction.
Especially on rivers like the Ouse where there has been some high profile and well publicised cases of record Barbel being predated by Otter's,but I do feel that there is a lot more to some of the problems troubling our rivers than just the re-introduction of what is an apex predator,to a degree I feel it has been carpet bombed into looking like enemy number one,when it is not the only problem that is now facing many of our great british waterways.
Thinking back to yesteryear I can remember as a boy in the late 1980s seeing a few Otters on the Loddon,back then we did still have a good population of eels in the river and many an evening I would spend time deadbaiting for them,obviously with the decline of the eel populace in most of our rivers,this means when re-introducing such an animal it will thus target other viable food sources,our much loved Barbel being one of these.Now having seen many heated debates and discussions on many angling forums,I have to say I feel we have more than the re-introduction of the otter to blame as a problem with our rivers and stocks,there are many more problems.Where to start?
Over excessive amounts of Signal Crayfish in our river systems,eating small fry and eggs.Cormorants which do as they please readily gorging their way through fish stocks and not a mass cull in sight.
Large populations of escaped Mink as well as the problems with our Eastern European friends taking fish illicitly either by netting or night lines.
I have to sit and wonder with all of the above problems why the Otter has been lined up by some as enemy number one,when in reality re-introduction of this animal may merely be the tip of and addition to much more larger scale problems that face our waterways,food for thought perhaps.
Hello again and welcome back to fishing for memories.
Well I cannot say that I managed to get out and fish at all in January,what with the heavy snows and then the snow melt that followed I have to say I found it most depressing conditions.What followed was a bout of cabin fever and as soon as the snow decided to pack up its very heavy suitcases,thaw and move elsewhere,I decided with the slightly milder conditions to get in a session.
The night before I decided to get some small Pva mesh bags ready and as I did not have enough betaine pellets for the mesh bags and for on the hook,I used a few 15mm halibut pellets along with Crushed and freshly made Halibut and Belechan boilies in the bags.
I also decided to make up a nice light water based halibut and belechan paste which is cereal based and made to a plasticine concistency,I made this to wrap round the pellets and boilies.
Getting down to the river I was greeted to the sight of a red Kite taking off from one of the trees and being carried off effortlessly on the rather brisk northerly breeze,I was so very glad to be out fishing again,the river was running fast and still fairly high but lower than it had been after the snow melting.
After getting setup I popped the betaine pellet rod with paste wrapped round it 1 metre out and downstream on to a nearby gully and the boilie rod was placed expectantly upstream and near to a tree snag.
I have to say conditions favoured some big Chub to be feeding and whilst I did hope for a Barbel,deep down I knew that my chances were slim given the weather conditions.The day wore on and I had not got down to the river as early as I would have liked to,at around 2pm my boilie rod had a sharp couple of taps and then lay still and motionless,this signalled that perhaps Chub were about,I had fed some liquidised bread mixed with casters and maggots into my swim earlier in the day as I felt there was a chance of a Chub or two.
Sitting down nibbling Custard creams and sipping the odd cup of tea surrounded by nature and not any other disturbances,is to me something very wonderful,I watched the Woodpecker hop from branch to branch on the bare trees and a grey Squirrel dash along beside the brambles,only to spot it later digging up it`s winter food horde and having a good munch accompanied by two pheasants,whom to all intents and purposes looked like they were going to attempt a feathered mugging on Mr Squirrel.
The day had been pretty quiet and I had also brought with me some fresh prawns and decided to change the boilie rod to half a hair rigged prawn,by now it was coming up for 6pm and the daylight was fading away as I re-checked the Betaine pellet,this time round I thought I would place the betaine pellet back out with a slightly larger paste wrap and a cocktail of red and white maggots on the hook.
With both rods placed back out and in position I sat back looking at the full moon as it darted in and out between the heavy cloud and listened to the owls beginning their night time hunting calls,I had decided to fish until 9pm or whenever it began to feel too chilly for me,whichever came sooner and my toes were very chilly inside my waders.
7pm came calling and I sat drinking tea and wondering just where all the time goes,it always goes too fast when your fishing.
My betaine pellet rod bleeped a solitary bleep,my ears perked up and all fell silent again,40 mintues later and another bleep then another,the swinger smacked up and returned back down to earth,Chub was the first thing that popped into my mind and before I knew it the exage clutch jerked off and rod tip bent round,I lifted in and was met downstream by a solid sprinting resistance,the tell tale large flash of silver as my headlights beam hit the fish as it broke the surface gave it`s identitity away,it was a Chub and real nice one by the look of it,after trying to head shake the hook loose it was eventually sat in the net,wide backed,ample gut and in lovely condition,it looked a quality fish and worth weighing.
Sure enough it did not disappoint as the scales settled on a very pleasing 6LB,I was absolutely made up.
After slipping it back to its home,I re-cast and decided to give it till 9pm after all,at around 8:45 I heard a rustle from one of the nearby bushes and not long after this I heard the shrill howls of a vixen calling out lonesomely into the night and I decided this was my cue to head off home.
I have made a small bait and fishing trip video,it is by no means meant to be anything professional,just something to show the bait I was using and my fishing trip,I hope that you might find it enjoyable.
Until next time I would like to wish you the best of luck for the rest of the season and tight lines.
Hello again and a blustery welcome back to Fishing For Memories.
The weather the last few days has taken quite a turn for the worse,with rain and high winds.However there is still plenty of things that can be organised and planned whilst the elements are none to conducive.
I decided that I needed some larger capacity reels to replace my old and much loved Shimano Baitrunner 8000`s which are an integral part of my stillwater setup, after a lot of looking round and indecision I decided to order two Maver Tica Abyss free spool,pit reels from a seller in America, via Ebay for around £54 each inc delivery, they arrived yesterday and I must say after much toying with them they seem lovely, the real proof will be if they last as good as my shimanos have.
10 ball bearings and a capacity of 300 yards of 20lb line,along with what seems a very smooth and finely adjustable baitrunner system.
I also managed to pick up a Daiwa Regal Plus 5000BRI. Although not feeling in the same class as the Tica Abyss and showing signs of being well used, it seems in good working order and cost me £16 so I thought it would come in useful.
I do plan on loading these with fairly heavy line,I am considering Berkley big game,which has never really let me down and I have a lot of confidence in, or perhaps Nash bullet, I would use Fox soft steel again as that is what I have on my Baitrunners and it is fairly abrasion resistant, however I dislike the way it has a tendency to have memory issues and go all springy and coil up after you have used it for only a short time.
Either way I will be very interested to see how these reels live up to the wear and tear,especially the second hand Daiwa.
