Spanked Again!

Back to Snitterfield again today in the hope of putting the record straight after a poor session a few days earlier.

I wasn't going to scale my gear right down, so it was much of the same, but with a bit more finesse in terms of the feeding. I've become a bit of a ball it in merchant in recent years, which is fine when the fish are really in the mood. Today I went for a more softly, softly approach. It seemed to be paying off when I hooked a couple of nice stamp Roach in the first hour.

The one at the top went 15oz, with the other one going 14oz.

I only managed two other smaller Roach before the fish shut up shop completely. I couldn't buy a bite no matter what I tried. In desperation I fed the area again a bit more heavily, with the hope that maybe a Carp might show up to the sleeper rod (which saw all manner of baits tried).

All attempts to get the fish feeding failed miserably and other anglers were also reporting similar fortunes. It's possibly still a shade early in the year for the Reservoir. I'll give it a few weeks to settle down before returning.

A Frosty Welcome

Good Friday saw me tackling Snitterfield Reservoir with Brian. There had been an overnight frost and the impressive new platforms were sporting an icy coating.

Now it might have been Good Friday, but for me there wasn't a lot of good to come out of it. But for a turn of fate at the end of the session, this was a trip destined not to make it into a post of its own.

We both struggled for the whole session, suffering all manner of finicky and seemingly unhitable bites. I'm sure that a more delicate approach with a pole, fine hook lengths and small hooks would have seen more fish on the bank.

However, once bitten twice shy. Snitterfield has a few lumps in it and if you hook them on light pole gear, it's generally only going to end one way - the fish wins. I've experienced it there before and I now like to use rod and line to give me a better chance if a Carp puts in an appearance.

Although struggling to catch anything, my approach seemed justified when something relatively large picked up the double maggot hookbait and tore off at a rate of knots. 5, 10, 15, 20 yards of line was ripped off the reel and it wasn't stopping. I was fishing a size 20 to 2lb bottom, so I couldn't really apply much pressure. I had no choice but to get off my backside and chase the fish around the reservoir.

I ended up a good 50 yards to my my right but never got an ounce of control over the fish. In the end we parted company when it headed towards the now disused pier and I had to crank up the pressure. The annoying thing was that my sleeper rod which was geared up for the Carp, went totally ignored for the whole session!

We'd pre-agreed that the session would end at 3-30pm, but I managed to convince Brian that we needed another 15 minutes. It was lucky that I did, as it was during the extra time that Brian connected with a Carp on his float rig. It gave him a right old run around, but he eventually got top side of it and landed a clean looking Common Carp of 9lb 11oz.

A poor day for me on a water that I know is perfectly OK and has produced for me in the past. I just wasn't able to crack it on this occasion. I'll rethink my tactics before tackling it again soon.

College Time

Saturday came around and I woke up with a bit of a thick head from the night before. I'd been out on a mass works leaving do, courtesy of a company's desire to make "progress" by closing down our office. I've been lucky to find similar work at a local college, so it's not all doom and gloom by any means. It's just been a bit weird being back in the job market after 22 years with the same company.

Anyway, a couple of tablets, a few glugs of water, an extra hour or so in bed and I was ready to head off fishing. I opted for College Pool in the hope that one of its bigger Perch might put in an appearance in the favourable overcast conditions. I didn't arrive until 10-15am and was surprised to find the place deserted. I settled in at the far end of the pool on a peg I haven't fished for a while.

Things started slowly, but eventually the fish found my bait and I ended up with a mixed bag. Unfortunately it didn't include any Perch. A Roach and a skimmer kicked things off before the Bream moved in. The first one was 4lb 15oz.

The next was smaller at around 3lb.

A feisty and pretty little Carp was next to be banked.

I then had a mad couple of minutes when I landed a Bream. As I lifted the net, the alarm went off on the other rod. I then had to land the second fish with the Bream still in the net. Fortunately it was only a small Tench that was easy enough to slot into the net.

I managed one more Bream, which bizarrely also weighed in at 4lb 15oz.

No Perch, but a pleasant enough day yielding close on 20lb of fish. Oh, and Coventry City finally won a game away from home to pull clear of the drop zone, which made for some nice listening through my ear piece!

*** Post edited following comments***

In response to Ian's comment, I've added a further image of the Carp below.

Initially I also wondered if it was a Crucian and I actually took the extra photo and weighed it in to be safe - it was 2lb 5oz, which would easily be a pb for me. I looked at other images of Crucians and I wasn't comfortable to claim it as a true Crucian. That said, it does stack up quite well in various aspects of criteria listed on a site I visited http://www.crucians.org/html/identification.shtml

The missing scales towards the tail end don't help with accurate scale counting though. I'm no expert  and would welcome any positive identifications from those more in the know. I note that the site suggests that Crucians can vary greatly in profile. I always think of them being like this one I had last year.

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I should add that the pool in question has no history of Crucians to my knowledge. I know fish are occasionally stocked in there from a local pond and I once even caught a fan tailed goldfish, so I guess anything could be in there!  

Early Promise?

No weekend fishing for me this time around, but Monday saw me with a day off work and I headed down to Ryton Pool. With memories of past years' early season Ryton trips in mind, I was more inclined towards pessimism than optimism. An overnight frost and bright conditions did nothing to bolster my confidence.

Those thoughts aside, I wasn't at work and the day was pleasant enough, so I'd give it my best shot and just enjoy a relaxing session doing what I enjoy. I wandered round to the sand bank area and opted for the right hand peg. I baited up and rigged up a straight lead sleeper rod to sit on the alarm, while also planning to do some float fishing.

It was only when I'd set up the float rod and threaded the line through the rings that I realised the minimum requirement for float fishing is having at least one float at your disposal! I'd slipped up because I had an enforced garage clear out in the week, due to the gas board doing work in our area and wanting access. Naturally, I cleared the fishing gear out of harms way.

The float box which was surplus to requirements on my previous trip got moved and didn't make it back into my bag. Float fishing was therefore off limits. Plan B was to simply fish two straight lead rigs and it gave me an excuse to test out my new bite indicators.

Plan C then had to be hatched because I now realised that during the time wasted in setting up the float rod, the Coots had moved in. Four of the little buggers were dive bombing the baited area with ever increasing vigour. They thought that Christmas had come early! I tried to dissuade them as best as I could, but it became all too clear that they weren't going anywhere. In all honesty I knew it was only likely to end in a hooked bird at some point if I didn't constantly keep on their case. Yelling out obscenities at wildfowl for an entire session isn't good for your state of mind. Something had to give...

So, plan C was to leave them to gorge on the baited area and I would rebait the left hand peg on the sand bank. The theory was that they wouldn't bother me if I didn't bother them and that's the way it worked out. It cost me a bit of wasted bait, but probably worth it in the end. I had lost a lot of time and it was gone 10-30 before I wet a line properly.

Now when I say worth it, the action wasn't exactly frantic. It was a tough old session with nothing to show until well into the afternoon. Then, as if by magic, I had an indication on each rod - both within 15 seconds of each other. Just like buses I guess! The first bite was missed, but the second connected and I banked a small Roach.  

A further Roach followed later on and I had a couple of other brief connections with small fish that resulted in the hook pulling out early on. The first fish that gave any sort of fight was a very feisty Tench of 3lb 7oz that didn't half scrap and came well into my final hour. I thought it was going to be closer to 5lb judging by the power of it. 

Not long after a second Tench put in an appearance. This one was a little better at 4lb 4oz.

I gave it a few extra minutes to try for one more fish and I duly connected to a Rudd of maybe 8-10oz that slipped the hook close in. I would have liked to carry on fishing, but time got the better of me again.

I can't recall getting amongst the Tench at Ryton during March before, so I was more than happy to bank a brace. I'll be giving them some stick over the next few months for sure. I always like the challenge at Ryton - it can be such a fickle place, but get it right and it can bring some nice rewards.

I also noted that the bank work has now started on the road bank which now looks very open and bland - there's a lot of information desk pegs now! I'll reserve judgement for now.

End Of Season Chubbing

The final weekend of the season arrived and I was struggling to find a slot to get out. With the weather feeling very spring-like, I simply had to find a few hours - especially as I had bait already waiting in the fridge. I managed to squeeze a 4 hour session into Saturday afternoon and I took a punt that a small pool on the River Blythe would be empty. I'm pleased to say that it was!

I spent a very pleasant 4 hours alternating maggots, caster and bread on a light straight lead set up. Bites came fairly quickly on the maggot and I caught a few Chub in the 6-8oz class. A better stamp fish of around 2.5lbs then put in an appearance, which gave me a chance to test out my new camera adaptor that I'd rigged up in anticipation for some self takes.

I snaffled another similar stamp fish a while later,  but this one had  been in a few scrapes in its time. The photo actually shows its best side!

A switch to bread saw me pull out of a fish early in the scrap and things went quiet for a while. Even a switch back to maggots didn't see any improvement. I didn't use my brain quickly enough though - if I'd remembered back to my only previous session in this swim, I'd have recalled that the fish seemed to drop back down the swim as the session wore on.

As soon as I chucked the lead an extra 5 yards downstream, the tip started moving again. I managed a couple of small fish and one other Chub in the 2.5lb class before time got the better of me.

In total I had around 10lb of Chub to end my river season. No big fish, but a pleasant enough end to the campaign on a small river.

A Day At The Palace

This week saw me heading off to Blenheim Palace with Brian. I'd seen other bloggers' reports from their past trips, as well as a few other articles and I was inspired to give it a try. At £25 per boat at this time of year, it's a cracking deal when you consider the potential of the venue. Anticipation was high, but we knew it wasn't going to be easy.

A bit of homework gave me a few ideas of areas to try, but the number of other boats on the lake would dictate things. We arrived about 10 minutes after opening time and we were last on the lake, albeit only the third boat out! I didn't think it would be that quiet on a mild March day.

We headed off towards the Grand Bridge, taking a somewhat haphazard path through the water. I don't think the GB rowing team will be calling on our skills later this year! I quite enjoyed it though and being in a boat makes changing swims an awful lot easier.

I was suprised to get some early action on a Lamprey section on my first cast. I didn't actually see the float move, but I saw the line tightening up and hit it, but there was no resistance. I recast and also plopped out a second rig with a Roach deadbait.

The Roach was on the move next and this time I did connect with the fish. It knew instantly that it wasn't a monster, but I was happy to boat my first Blenheim Pike - a fish of 5-6lb.

I had a further Pike a bit later - this time on the Lamprey section. It was a smaller sample though. At this stage we were tucked up under the bridge itself, which was providing some welcome shelter from the rain that had moved in. Once it had cleared we went on a mooch around the lake taking in various swims on the way.

We didn't catch any more fish, despite returning the the Grand Bridge area for the final hour. It was good experience and one that we'll definitely do again at some point. I'd like to see the lake in the height of summer and to have a long day going for some of the other species it holds.

Opposites

I've been out on consecutive days this week, visiting two venues that were vastly different. The first session was on the River Teme, which is a venue I'd never fished before. I was accompanied by Charlie and the intention was to act on a tip off from his cousin, who had said that plenty of Grayling were showing up in a certain section. Having never caught a Grayling before (or even seen one in person) I was well up for this venture.

It was a cracking bit of water, if perhaps running a little on the clear side. Mountain goat blood and climbing skills are required in many places though to cope with the steep banks. That said, there were plenty of pegs to go at and we covered quite a bit of water.

Sadly though, the Grayling never showed up and the fishing was actually quite hard. I thought I was going to blank, but a chub of around two and a half pounds saved me from that fate. Charlie managed a couple of Chub of that stamp and also came off second best when hooking a Barbel on gear that was under-gunned.

The next day saw me heading off to tackle the more sedate College Pool with Brian. Although clearly around 4 foot below normal level, there's still plenty of depth to it. I was hoping for Perch and set up a couple of leger rods - one with prawns and the other with red maggots. I would have liked some worms, but my preparation was hampered (bad planning on my part) and I had to do without them.

The Perch didn't show up and I eventually moved from prawns to bread, pellet and boilies at various times throughout the session. All of the action came on the maggot rig, but it was tough going to find the bites. I only had 6 fish all session.

The Bream put in an appearance and I had 3 of them. The two best went 5lb 5oz and 5lb 8oz.

The other fish were small Rudd, Roach and a pretty little Carp, the latter of which gave a right old pull around on the quiver tip and tore off with such force that I thought I'd hooked one of the Barbel.

Brian didn't trouble the scorecard on this occasion.