()><(((º> Tails of fishy goins on <º)))><()

Hello and a warm Welcome back to Fishing For Memories.


It seems the weather is very settled currently and Southern England is enjoying some well earned heat and sunshine,which makes a change given this summers erratic and some what torrential rain at times.


Robert and I decided to hit the Thames for another 24 hour session,we had been steadily introducing bait over a few days and had solid hopes as I had decided to ring a few changes with the pre-baiting and throw a few different ideas into the mix to get the fish really digging about and having to work a bit more at finding the food,this I was hoping would make them really mooch about,well the day finally arrived for our session,we got down late afternoon so as to give the boat traffic time to ease off from its usual steady pace,needless to say we were both chomping at the bit.The swims looked perfect,the river whilst still carrying a reasonable flow
was looking as good as ever,with the usual bits and pieces of flotsam and weed rafts passing by intermittently.


We decided on the usual tactics that have been working for us this season: One rod out on Halibut Pellet and one rod out on a 20mm Boilie,running rigs 12lb main line and 10lb and 12lb Sink Braid respectively,to size 8 Kamasan Animals and 3oz leads.


The late afternoon ebbed by peacefully and quietly,the last of the boats had started to ease off, my left Halibut Pellet rod which had been casted to a marginal feature signaled a staccato bleep that unclipped the swinger,yet did not develop into a full blooded take,it cross my mind was it some of the large Chub playing their usual quick hit bites,ten minutes later and the same again happened bleee....eeeep and back down the swinger went way to fast to hit,whatever it was was toying with the bait and me at the same time,another five minutes past by timelessly,The old faithful Heron called out in the distance,I watched my rod with interest and amusement,when would I get my answer?

Another five minutes passed by and all of a sudden the swinger flew up hard and true and the reel went into a powerful fast lunging run,I locked up and leant in to find a very deep surging run from a fish that stayed deep just sounding and plodding away tight to the bottom,I thought to myself "this is a damn good fish,whatever it is", part of me said Carp as the fish felt very similar to The Thames Carp I have had,I was edgy the fish was making plans to dive for some marginal tree about 8 meters downstream and the way it was running was not giving me a lot of options,it was gathering ever closer to it,so I tightened up as much as I could allow and let the rod take more of the lunging and pressure,I knew I was risking a hook pull,but this was my only option,doing so worked and the fish changed direction and headed back up my way albeit with more pace,Robert had turned up in my swim and was I glad to see him,he saw the fish as it broke the surface and remarked as I did too "thats a a fair lump of a Barbel",for the first time I caught a glance of her girth and shoulders,I replied to Robert "this is a bloody large double". The thoughts of cracking my Thames pb of 9lb8oz was flowing and ebbing through me,my mouth was dry,she came to the surface again only to lunge and head back down again to the dark depths,eventually she was in the landing net,Robert took a look in and remarked "that is a cracking fish,must be 13lb at least",I was all smiles and akin to that of a school kid all over again,out on to the landing mat she went and into the sling,the scales tipped round to 14LB 8oz,I was abashed and without speech,I had smashed my Thames PB and Barbel PB by a clear 5LB,Robert`s comment was enough as we looked on "that really is some fish Mark"








So we was off to a spellbinding start,the left rod was re-cast into the same area later that night,I had a stop start sprint and shake run and was into a quality Thames Chub which went 6Lb8oz exactly,could things get any better for us?







Apparently it could,Roberts rods had been silent but as I chatted to him re-counting the night so far his right rod screamed off downstream,I saw a bow wave as the fish came straight up and sped off downstream, mentioned to him "that is a Carp" Robert was not so sure,but one thing was for certain,this fish was not going to take any prisoners if it could help it and made its way for a weed bed further downstream,Robert muttered "this things steaming along,wonder if its another big Barbel?".Only time would tell,Robert applied pressure to the fish and it kited further out into the river,towards one of the sunken obstructions Robert had found before,he felt it grinding against the snag but managed to bully the fish away and after a lengthy fight a Beautiful Mirror was in the net,I commented as I lifted her,"this is a good fish",she was slipped into the sling and weighed,she went 28LB 8oz.To say we were having a good session would probably be one hell of a gross understatement.








Well we was ecstatically happy by now,this was a blinding session and we could ask for no more.Later that night however my right (boilie rod)that had so far been silent belted off upstream and across the river,I was met with another solid resistance and a deep surging run,by now I was beginning to think there was a pile of red letter days coming in one session,what was I into this time? The answer was soon forthcoming and it was another double figure Thames Barbel which weighed 12Lb. Robert had joined me in my swim after I had landed the fish and said to me,with a broad smile on his face "can this session get any better?",I replied
"who knows,at this rate it could well be possible!"







My right rod was re-cast to the same area but I swapped the boilie round for a slightly larger Halibut Pellet,but all remained quiet until the early morning which saw me have another sprinting run on the right rod,that went up along tight to my near margins,after a few minutes of pacey running upstream a pristine,pretty young Mirror of 7lb 8oz was in the net,probably a fresh stocking since the floods,it should grow into a very nice looker in time.







by now it was around about 6am or thereabouts,so I re-cast the rod to the same area with another pellet on and at around 7am was met with another sprinting run from yet another good Chub which weighed in at 6LB exactly.







Well what a session for us,two cracking specimen Barbel,a beauty at 14lb8oz and an absolutely beautiful Carp of 28LB8oz along with a Brace of 6LB Chub and a small Mirror of 7lb8oz.

Can anyone ask for more?I don`t think so some how,this without doubt will live a long long time in our memories as a great session for both of us,but thats the thing with the Thames,you end up with such a collection of great memories,as our sessions this season so far have shown.

I think William Wordsworth put it best.


Never did sun more beautifully steep
In his first splendor, valley, rock, or hill.
Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep.
The river glideth at his own sweet will.
Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;
And all that mighty heart is lying still.

Summers finally here.......What?!!?

It seems at long last that summer has finally sprung forth as if from nowhere and just when I thought we would not see any after all the monsoon like conditions it finally seems to have settled down nicely,with the last few days hitting as high as 30c,the river conditions are however far from perfect,the water is on the drop but very coloured and carrying a heavy amount of debris.Add to this the fact that we have had such heavy flooding that it has displaced many fish from their usual haunts and patrol routes,despite this the fish when found are hungry and quite happy to feed,so don`t be put off if you find your first few sessions since the flooding quiet or harder going then normal as this will abate in time.


Robert and I set up on our usual stretch of the Thames for our 24 hour session,the prospect was one of brackish coloured water and very strong current even the slack areas were not exactly what one could call true slack areas.We opted on two separate swims Robert opting on what was not a very slack area at all,but had previously produced to him on other sessions.I decided on a slacker area and settled on fishing both rods in the margins mainly due to the fact that it was taking 3 1/4oz to hold bottom in this particular swim.


Baits for me were to be 20mm Halibut pellet and on my other rod 20mm boilie and the same for Robert,both fished on running rigs.


The morning passed without incident with just the company of the Swans as usual,things were as we expected given the recent rainfall,morning passed into afternoon and we chatted about where the fish were possibly holding up,my main reason for picking a slack area was that I had hoped some fish would have taken refuge in this particular area,but it had not thus proved correct,Robert`s swim had been very quiet with just two jacks to show for it both on halibut pellet caught late evening.

as the night drifted on the Bream decided to feed and I had numerous Bream the largest being one of 7lb,with numerous others averaging 6 to 6.08lb.Later in the evening I had a very hard and fast take on my left rod and after a short stop start fight a quality Thames Chub of 6lb was laying in the net recuperating.










I was counting myself as very lucky by now as the fishing was proving very hard going especially for Robert,whom was finding it very hard going in his pacey swim he had chosen.All went quiet for myself at 2am with not much doing at all and a very cool mist coming across the water,owls called out in the night hunting their prey and bats swooped and dived ballet-esque over my rods,however my lines remained silent.Early morning beckoned with the sun popping up and throwing back its sleepy covers at this time my left rod ripped off from the marginal cabbage patch it had been placed near and bolted off to mid-river,I was into a solid fight with the fish diving into marginal cabbage patch further downstream and hugging the bottom,I was beginning to wonder if I was into a Barbel,after some period of cabbage patch sight seeing by said fish I was rewarded with my second Thames Tench of 6lb,the fishing had been slow but made all the more worthwhile by this extra addition.








Later that morning at last doors Robert had a belting take which sped off downstream and resulted in a good spirited tussle with a Barbel,which was in great condition given the weather we have had recently whilst far from being the best Thames Barbel he has had,it was in pristine condition and very welcome indeed at 6.08lb exactly.







This ended what in the end given the conditions we have had recently in England with the heavy flooding and displacement of fish a pretty rewarding session that in all honesty if I am truthful I expected us to blank and badly.

The Thames forever in my heart and to coin a phrase used by Kojak "who loves ya baby"

Back Out Fishing Once More I Spy Sunshine

Welcome back to fishing for memories,it seems we have at last got some summer like weather which whilst not needed is always nice,given how much rain we have had of late I was begining to consider purchasing Noah`s Ark or similar.Despite the rain the fishing has been very consistent out on the river,and paid off very well this last session being very good also.


It was nice to get out again after I had previously had a bad health scare and had been in A&E and had to have some tests run,thankfully these provisionally showed negative.Robert and I got to our swims in the afternoon we had previously pre-baited them and hopes and excitement were running high as ever,the afternoon went by quietly as did late evening with just the usual boat traffic grinding to a halt,come evening time Roberts left hand rod screamed off downstream and he was into a solid fish that made a dash for an underwater tree snag and after a reasonable fight a nicely proportioned Barbel of 8lb was in the Net,This fish falling to 20mm Halibut pellet






Later that night at 1am Robert had another Screaming take on his right boilie rod and he lent into a solid fish that ploughed off upstream and to a dense cabbage patch after burying itself in the patch and needing some sensible pressure,it moved off again and came back downstream and bolted for an overhanging tree,after a lengthy fight Robert had a lovely Barbel of 9LB in the net.






My swim up till this point had been very quiet and no sign of any Carp either which had graced me with their prescence the previous session,but thats taken as given on a river like the Thames,even with the pre-baiting it`s no guarantee of getting into them every time,nothing more then a little bit of a banker or light guarantee,that they will peruse your area.At around 2am my right boilie rod screamed off upstream and I was into a very strong fish that deceptively nearly managed to snag me,luckily however,the snag which I presume was part of a rotten piece of wood,snapped and allowed me to gain on the fish,this resulted in a lovely Barbel of 9LB exactly.






At 6am I had a vicous take on my right rod again and unbeknown to me my bite alarm had died on me,the baitrunner however alerted me to the take,which was just as well gievn the fish had managed to jump the rod off the alarm I was into another fish it felt decent and sped this time downstream and off over to the mid-water area of the river,eventually it was landed and it was another pristine Barbel this time 9lb 8oz.






Four Barbel in total and despite no Carp showing,it had turned into a good session for us,30 minutes later on the pellet rod I had a stop start rattling run and the result was a perfectly formed Chub of 5lb




This was not to be the end one hour later and I received a large drop back on my right rod,which then belted of upstream,lifting in I felt a solid resistance that powered off to an overhanging tree,eventually it succumbed to the folds of the net and inside lay my first Thames Tench,which looked like it had never seen a hook and was in immaculate condition,it weighed in at 5LB 8oz.







we was within 1 hour of packing up when Robert had another run on his left rod,which resulted in another Barbel of 7Lb 8oz.





So no Carp were about or least not feeding for us,but this was without doubt a superb session,taking 5 Barbel between us,three of which were 9lb or over and with the added bonus of a 5lb Chub and 5lb 8oz Tench and proves that the Thames really is the river that just keeps on giving.

Fishing For Memories A Happy Wet Start To July

Hello and a warm welcome back to Fishing For Memories.

Well the years certainly trundling by fast as it always does when your fishing and it`s now July and still raining,the lakes are full to the brim in the South and the rivers are running high coloured and flooded in places,whatever happened to summer time? Despite this the fishing on the river Thames since the beginning of the season has been good and Robert and I have been having some good sessions.

I can`t help but feel these days many anglers who just go straight into one type of fishing without grounding themselves on other areas of our wonderful sport are doing themself a dis-service,there are many elements of fishing that when learnt can be added to your armoury and mixed up and used when you go fishing for one type of fish ,the significant amount of watercraft you can pick up from other areas of angling that you don`t learn when just sticking to one species or style of angling are in my honest opinion immensely useful,be it running a centrepin and float down the glides on a river after chub or Barbel ,or fishing for shy biting crucians and Roach and learning a different type of finesse as well as studying the water in a myriad of ways.I was brought up as a river angler by my dad (Robert) before branching out into other areas, he taught me a lot of things from the basics of tying a hook to how to fish different methods on the local rivers and what to look for in different weather conditions this I felt helped make me a more well rounded angler and gave me extra perspective and ideas.




Robert and I set out in the evening to do a 24hr session on the River Thames,main targets being Barbel and Carp,we had pre-baited some new areas,the evening was dry for a change with a reasonable breeze and cloud cover,the river itself was looking high and coloured we opted for 3 3/4oz running rigs,12lb drennan sink braid hooklinks and size 8 kamasan Animal hooks,

Bait wise Robert decided to use 18mm boile with a base mix we have been using a lot this year on one rod and on his other rod opted for doppelganger in sweetcorn flavour shaped into a 28mm hook pellet shape.I opted one rod on the same base mix in 18mm and my other rod on donkey choker pellet,whilst most times this can be a dead cert way of getting bream it has also accounted for quite a few Thames carp for us.

We settled into our swims,the evening drew in slowly with the wind easing and trees being just lightly caressed,the boat traffic had eased down,the old faithful kingfisher flew by with a fish firmly lodged in it`s beak,a wonderful flash of metallic blue,radiant in even the most overcast of weather,as the evening wore on it wasn`t long before we broke out the tea and munchies chatting to each other expectantly of what this session might hold,just at this moment my right rod gave a jerky single bleep followed by a solid take upstream,I locked the baitrunner and started playing what felt a livley fish and I did wonder if I was into one of the Thames Barbel after a few minutes of lively fight a nice looking Mirror with a lovely colour of 12lb8oz was sat in the net 1-0 to the donkey choker.









Robert and I were happy with this start given the colour and flow on the river,the right rod was recast and this time i opted to re-bait it with one of the boiliesfrom the latest base mix we had been using,the evening drew right in and at eleven it started to shower,steadily but remained nice and mild The swans paddled by with their cygnets behind them struggling in the flow,one of them sat on mum`s back taking the smart easy option.


at 10pm the right rod single toned and ripped off upstream,yet again I was met with a solid resistance as the fish went into a marginal cabbage patch and I was worried it would be the last I saw of it,luckily with a little steady pressure and some work from the fish she freed herself and then cruised off downstream to the far bank using the current to its advantage,after a reasonable scrap a long Mirror of 16lb8oz was sat in the net,I was happy,two fish in a short time,






Robert and I sat back and happily re-counted the night so far,Robert`s spot had been quiet no Carp or Barbel so far,but he felt it would come good eventually later that night about 1am, he had a screaming single toner on the left rod on the doppelganger and the fish bolted off downstream to a cabbage patch and slipped the hook,he was gutted it,had felt a decent fish,so he quickly re-cast his rod to the same spot and half an hour later the same rod bolted off downstream,Robert was into another fish that made it to a cabbage patch,but this time it didnt slip and he managed to bully it out of the patch and into a clearer area of water after 10 minutes of downstream sprinting in the pacey flow and a pristine Barbel of 8LB was sat in the net.







The next 2 hours past without incident,owls called out in the night with their hi-pitched hunting calls,a fox past by our swims and briefly halted to take a long solemn look before it padded its way off into the night,it may have been a vixen I couldn`t really tell,if not maybe he was off to find solace with one as they had been calling out during the night with their banshee-esque howls.

At around 3am my right rod bleeped once then 30 seconds later bleeped again and the swinger dropped back then in the same action hit the blank of the rod and my alarm single toned and the line ripped off and rod angled downstream,this was a fish on a mission apparently to try snagging me and nearly succeeded as I lifted in and started to take slack on the fish it found an underwater obstruction i was not aware of and the line looped under at a different position to where the fish was running,the only thing i could do was try to make it change direction,I lowered my rod tip and eased down my pressure and the fish then changed direction and ran back upstream and started heading for some tree routes,I quickly applied some side pressure and this paid off and it finally succumbed to the darkfolds of the landing net,out on to the landing mat and a very nicely proportioned spawn laden Common of 20LB was my reward.







I was very wet and very happy this ended a very good albeit wet overnight session on the Thames for us,a wonderful river you can never tell what is round the corner of each visit to it`s hallowed banks.

Welcome Back To Fishing For Memories

You know there is a special bond between father and son`s with fishing,you may not always see eye to eye at home at times,but this is always soon forgotten when your down by the lake or river bank and the atmosphere soaks into your whole being and you melt as one into the setting and scenery,time is a very limiting fire in which we burn,if you like fishing and get time to go with your old man,try to go as much as you can,they are special memories which will live with you forever.






We have been fishing and catching with some regularity on the Thames since the start of the season,however it has so far been a very very wet June and no signs of abating yet,rivers are high and coloured with some serious pace,meaning for some of the swims we have fished needing 3 1/4 oz weights just to hold ground,an odd feeling for summer.


We arrived at our swim late evening,my back had been playing up bad the previous night so I didn`t get the sleep I would have liked,the river was up very high pacey and coloured but thinning down nicely at times,only to topped up by more rain and more colour.We both opted for 2oz weights on the near margin rods and 3 1/4 oz for fishing on the gully runs of the river,baits were to be 15mm Mistral Rosehip Isotonics and 15/20mm halibut pellets.

After surveying the flow we both settled down in our swims,amid a light shower my right rod was cast to a near margin overhanging tree and the left rod down stream into one of the gullys.Not too long after and it appeared the bream were about and my right rod trundled off resulting in a plump bream of 7lb8oz






Then a few moments later the right boilie rod was off with another Bream this time a nice sized bream of 8lb8oz,Having had stillwater Bream to 11lb8oz I still always find River Bream to put up a so much fitter fight then their lake counterparts,as ever due to the fact that they are quite toned due to having to swim against the current,like any river fish.






Later that evening Roberts left rod screamed off and he was into a hard fighting fish
after calling me down for some assistance it was clear this fish was not going to give up easily and headed off with the current downstream,it hadn`t headed for any of the cabbage patches as so many Barbel normally do so we both felt it was one of the Carp,20 minutes later with some serious calculated playing a lovely 20lb8oz Mirror was sitting friskily in the net.





The Rest of the night was quiet,until 2am when my left rod hammered off downstream
single toning my alarm in the process,I was at the time filling my face on a sarnie,how many times have you had a run when eating?It always seems to occur. So I jumped up and was into a solid fight which started taking me downstream in the flow to a nice set of underwater roots on a nearby tree,so I applied some extra pressure bearing in mind i was only using 10lb sink braid and managed to bully the fish back up into my swim,that was when it decided having used the current and saving its energy,to surge off upstream on a Linford Christie sprint,15 minutes later and a lovely pristine Barbel of 9Lb was sat in the net.






Thus ended a very happy albeit very wet,productive session for both of us.

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Start Of The River Season Beckons



Well the river season has just kicked off and have the rivers ever looked better?In a simple answer not in my opinon,with the extra rain fall we have had has made them look lush and rejuvenated,dragon flys and kingfishers graced the bank and of course a few boats as is usual.Robert and I were both chomping at the bit to get down on the river and had been trickling in a little bit of pre-bait on and off,in a few spots.


We got down early on the opening day and decided we would fish into the night a little,as the action always picks up just after dark,especially when the boat traffic dies down,the river was coloured and pacey so we opted for 3oz weights,one rod each on power reflon of 8LB and one of Robert`s rods on 9Lb Black Braid and my other rod on 10LB Drennan sink braid.Bait on Roberts rods consisted of 15mm Mistral boilie on one rod and 15mm Halibut Pellet on the other.For myself I opted on loosely baiting with some mistral but fished two halibutpellets 15mm on both rods.

The day past without incident apart from being a tad windier then we would have liked,mid-afternoon saw Robert have a run on his left rod only for the fish to head down into a cabbage patch and then slip the hook,it seemed like a Thames Barbel.For the rest of the dayour rod`s remained silent,we was graced with the presence of a Kingfisher nearby and as the afternoon wore on two doormice whom apperently now owe me part of the material in my groundbait bag,come back here you thieving vagabond`s!

Evening drew in and at 10pm Robert had a raking take on his halibut pellet rod and the fightwas on as the fish opted for an excusrion downstream and to the nearest cabbage patch he could find.Well the battle of attrition lasted a total of 15 minutes when the fish was finally landed and weighed in at a nice 10LB Barbel a nice fish and our river season account was deemed well and truly open.





As we landed this fish my right rod rattled off,thud I into a bullish fighting fish that felt a reasonable weight,a short sprint and dash fight later and I had an immaculate summer Chub,better still it was a 6Lb summer Chub,I was very happy to say the least.





This was building up for one mad hour on Old Father Thames.Not long after the
Chub,then Roberts left rod was off yet again,the fish this time was smaller Barbel yet with a nicely proportioned girth and weighed 8LB







25 minutes later and during a slight downpour of rain my left rod screamed off downstream to a marginal weedbed and I was into another sprint and stop fight with yet another Chub,6 minutes later it was sliding into the net and out into the weigh sling this fish tipped the scales at 6LB 8oz an absolutely cracking brace of Summer
Chub.







Then at final bells for us,my right rod ripped off downstream and a short powerful fight later I was into a smaller Thames Barbel at 7LB a real torpedo shaped slim Jim that put up a very good fight.






That thus ended our first session of this river season and a reasonably productive one at that.

Gone Fishing


Gone fishing is a short compilation and slideshow of some of the fish Robert and Mark have caught comprising of specimen Carp,Bream,Tench,Chub and Barbel, I hope you find it enjoyable.