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

A Winter Wakening

Safe in the knowledge that heavy snow wasn't forecast to come till later in the evening,I decided to head off to my local river for a spot of roving.

Early morning was damp but without any frost as I made my way to the river,the sky still dark,as it is this time of year,owl's called out and spooked pheasant's dived through the hedging screaming their warbled cry of panick and shock as they went.The silhouette of a lone deer could be seen on the path,my foot dragged and hit a rabbit scrape,startled,the deer darted off into the mist.

It was a rather cold day with a biting northerly wind,I set up in hope of a chub and if I could present a bait on the nose of a barbel perhaps one of those,given the water temperature of 37 possibly a fools hope where the barbel were concerned,but hope nonetheless.

I had decided to try a few swims and then finally settle in one for the evening,in the hope that the first two hours of darkness might get me a bite.The day dawned slowly and both my rods were out in my first swim,maggot and swimfeeder cast to the roots of an old sunken tree,a likely spot for a chub,my other rod was placed to a very tired looking winter reed bed.


The day past pleasently,but without much action,that aside the winters wildlife was out in force,a squirrel was showing off his daredevil balancing on the bough of a nearby tree and the Red Kite's which are always a pleasure to watch,were gliding effortlessly on the north wind,sweeping one way and another.

I changed spots,moving downstream,to try my luck in a more slower snaggy area,swimfeeders placed to likely looking features with sunken branches,as I sipped a very welcome flask of tea all was rather silent save for the ebb and flow of the current,it started raining,a very cold icey rain,I wondered if there would be snow.

Evening came and I decided to change to my last swim,trying an old spot that had been kind to me in the past,childhood memories of Robert helping me land my first trout on a hot summers bank holiday were etched in my mind as I flicked out my rods,the evening was closing in and the cloud had lifted to reveal a starry December night,the temperature was now plummeting rapidly.Further out in the mid-water there was a reasonable swirl,which seemed like a decent
chub.

Tap tip tap,my rod tip was being gently bobbed about,I lifted in and was not met by any great resistance,on winding in I was met by a chap who had a very flat face and rather sullen look he did not seem one bit impressed at being removed from his watery home,Mr bullhead,had taken it upon himself to be the hero of the evening and save me from a resounding blank.



I decided to carry on past darkness for another hour,the droplets of rain on my rods gradually freezing the eyes up,cork handles laced with an icey skin,the riverbank was glistening with frost,I decided it was time to pack up and head off home,with thoughts of returning again and planning different tactics running through my head.On the way home I spared a merry thought for Mr bullhead.Winter was 1-0 up,but it's a long winter,who knows what the next trip will bring.



I would like to wish my readers and other blog writers a jolly Christmas and I hope you have a very healthy and merry one!

New Gadgets

Welcome back back to fishing for memories,


A few weeks ago I was considering a move to getting a Dslr Camera,after having enjoyed some good service from the Canon powershot series,naturally as I'm sure many of you are aware,that once you delve into this realm,it's quite a minefield of choices and a wide variable price range.

In the end I decided to pick up a Canon EOS60D,and although I have not yet got out on the river bank to put it to some use,I have however been learning the raft of different controls and shooting options,I have to say after using the likes of the SX10IS,this is quite a learning curve.

What I liked about the Canon SX10IS was the self timer options and ability to shoot multiple exposures in a row,great when dealing with fish shots,I used to set it to 7 shots and let it fire away,knowing one of those would be a reasonable picture.Now I had been looking for something similar for the EOS60D,when I came across a cabled remote on Ebay,which looked perfect for the job and not too overpriced at £17.






The Pickit digital timer remote is capable of shooting 1 to 399 shots with a self timer delay of up to 99 hours and runs off of two small coin watch batteries,however if the battery should die,you can still use it directly off the camera's battery sans the timer.

The length of lead you get with it is generous enough at approx 4 foot and the build quality of the casing seems sturdy,the only real area of concern being the hinge on the battery compartment,which I think you would have to remember not to be too heavy handed with.

All in all quite a nice piece of kit,now I just need to have some spare time to get out fishing,fingers crossed that will be soon.

Old Stomping Grounds Video

A short vlog of a trip back to my local river,where I was rewarded with a chestnut coloured Common Carp,a nice way to round off a November evening.

Old Stomping Grounds

As I write this my father is in hospital dosed up to the eyeballs with morphine,unable to walk,my thoughts are always with you,you have never hidden your character or suffered fools gladly and you always taught me to be who I am and say what I feel,because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.

Get well soon Dad






It was nice to be back home,but after a few weeks,the whispers of the river calls to you like a sultry lady "come fish me", "I know you've missed me".

Not seeing the secluded pools,creases and wonderful spots on my home river for sometime,was really making me chomp at the bit to get down and see if the Barbel,Chub and Carp were around. Whilst the weather wasn't snowy,the windchill was particularly bracing to put it mildly,however there was a nice colour to the water and a steady downpour of rain,not bad conditions.

With that in mind I set about getting my tackle ready,garlic Cheesepaste,mixed with three cheeses and liquidised hemp for any Chub,some small mesh bags with crushed hnv baits,as well as betaine pellets for hookbaits.

The sense of being alive and being thankful of what we all too often take for granted was what washed across my mind as I stood dithering over which spot to fish,in the end I opted to fish an old snaggy spot which had been kind in the past,looking over the swim was like meeting an old friend,who may have changed a little,but the distinctive lines and features were still recognisable,it felt damn good to be back.


This trip would be shorter than my normal trip,I like to usually fish till dark,usually that is when the activity picks up,but this time I was going to be fishing to around about 6pm.


One rod out on the ever faithful cheesepaste and one out on betaine pellet.with low resistance quick change running rig setups and hooklink of ever reliable Drennan sink braid in 10lb,with a little bit of tungsten to pin it down,non complex but very reliable.

The day as is normally the case went all too quickly,the sights of red kites,the odd grey squirrel and the kingfisher,all making the experience that much more satisfying.My cheesepaste rod was silent accept for the odd infrequent bleep as passing debris caught the line,I was checking it every 45 minutes and re-casting it with a small fresh mesh bag.


Not long after my arrival,my betaine pellet had received a couple of sharp taps,but since then had fallen very quiet,knowing what the big Chub are like in this stretch,I decided to sit on my hands and wait to see what developed,as they can be rather cagey leaving large durations between taking the bait.Two hours later as I was sipping a very welcome flask of tea,the rod sharply tapped and bleeped again,"hmm mr Chevin I presume" I said to myself.

Time passed and the rain came down at a steady pace,I couldn't for the life of me think of a better place to be,time was getting on though and I packed up most of my gear and my other rod,leaving my betaine rod out till last knockings.Twenty minutes later and it bleeped again and faster this time,kneeling behind the rod I saw the line starting to move and straighten,I lifted in and all hell broke lose,the fish on the other end which I had thought was a Chub,turned out to be larger and as it sped off I saw a golden flank,"a Barbel?"I thought to myself.


It powered off going with the flow,the drag on the reel comfortingly giving just enough line,I saw the flank of it again,it was no Barbel,but a lovely looking Common Carp,off it surged once more, this time upstream,not where I really wanted it to be going,letting the rod support the lunges,slowly but surely I finally slipped the net under it.





A lovely 16lb 2oz Common wearing lovely late autumn colours of golden chestnut was my reward,I was really happy,a lovely way to end a returning trip to an old stomping ground.