More lures and little else

 Well time seems to be speeding up !!!! 

Since last time I have put around 50 miles on the costal path , checking and fishing new spots . Learning loads and catching very little but its been a hell of a time .

First my lure collection has grown quite a bit here's a sample of them 

 

I've managed to fight my anxiety and drove to some new spots on the opposite coast , which will help when the weather makes one coast unfishable . 

The scenery and the epic walks make up for the lack of fish caught . Apart from the distance to walk to the spots part for the path rises and falls over 100ft . One spot I went down to there was no way I would get back up and my plan was to wait for low tide and walk round front of rocks to next beach along and an easy exit , ti soon became apparent that the tide would not clear front of rocks so I had to wade so far and then get back on rocks and clamber to the beach , now 2 things made this more difficult , firstly because of the decent and general poor planning I hadn't took my waders so it was zip off legs of trousers and walk in , the 2nd problem was that on google earth the traverse across the rocks looked about 50 yards but in reality it turned out to be over 700 yards !!!!! . You'd think after all this I would be rewarded with a fish but no I was actually given more problems , this spot is definitely a last 2 hours of the flood and a couple on the ebb , I arrived an hour to low and a long clamber across the rocks to get to a suitable spot but then things went wrong again as a group of holiday makers turned up snorkelling right round where I was fishing . So I left fishless again .

I tried another new spot the week after again a lovely long walk to look at 2 beaches that looked about a mile apart but turned out to be nearer 4 miles , nice trekking with you gear this distance in 28 degrees heat , when I eventually got to the 2nd beach I had again timed it wrong but it looks perfect for high tide , things ended very badly on the fishing front when my rod exploded on cast half way up the butt section , so needed to buy new rod . So have I actually caught anything in these trips ? well yes I have managed 1 wrasse  and a schoolie bass . Last week I tried yet another new venue , this time it was an estuary , which is a new type of thing to me , I had a round walk of 6 miles and never saw a fish but again it was my inexperience , after speaking to someone who knows his stuff he gave me a few pointers regarding best tides and the like .

I'm going to stick a few pictures in now before I finish , a couple of explanations , one is a dead dolphin which had washed up quiet a while ago , I cant describe the smell . the tail less lure is the reason I switched to the texas rig and eventually caught the wrasse

As I have decided to target wrasse more and may need to be high off the water , I bought myself a new landing net which extends to 4m .

As I come to the end of this post I have say that I have decided to sell virtually all my carp gear .I will save a few bits for odd short session when the coasts are unfishable , well next week is the lure jam and as things stand I have no clue where I will be targeting but hopefully will find someone to team up with , you will hear all about it next time .

Just going round in circles

 Well hi everyone , when I left my last post I had virtually decided to move to a new lake , then to just go sea fishing , well a few days after that decision all hell broke loose with the Iran war and diesel hitting ridiculous prices and seeing as I only work 16 hours a week at minimum wage I took the decision to re-join lake from last couple of years , I have to pass it going to and from work so no extra cost . Within an hour of getting back from paying for a ticket I get a message from an ex member saying he had heard I had gone back , when I told him my reason and asked how he found out he told me a guy I had passes while walking round had told him , I contacted a mate who was on the lake and he spoke to the individual , who said he hadnt had any contact with the ex member for months even rang him to give him and earful . So no idea who actually did tell him and all the others on the lake denied saying owt , not  good start and really it hasnt got any better . I did a day session for carp and it was very busy and nothing happened , I returned a week later and still loads of match type holiday makers on and set up in a swim behind an island out of the way .

The result was 2 bream in 20 hours , we had taken the decision not to let Eddie on the lake so I could relax and he could avoid stress , so my sessions at least for the foreseeable future would be 20 hours max so he wasnt left long after mrs went to work , a couple of days later I nipped over with just a bit f corn and dropped in a quiet swim for hopefully a fish or 2 

I managed half a dozen bream , 4 Rudd and a roach 

. Fast forward a week and arrive to find again loads of the same types of anglers in the better carp option swims fishing for small stuff , so I had a look around , was told some more eye opening news that over the weekend a group of 4 teenage members had set up the far side , made quite a bit of noise and cast into trees on island , at 11.30pm and 2am one of them had taken the boat out and gone through 2 guys swims taking their rods out , now this boat has one oar and no life jacket ( accident waiting to happen , considering last year a 70 year old lost his pole section , took the boat out and fell in ) . They apparently tried again at 7am but were stopped due to lake been full , then one of them decided to wade round the margins which is actually banned . All this just adds to reasons I dont fish weekends or holidays . Anyway I eventually set up in a new swim that just been reopened after some major work , stuck the kettle on and phone rang , mrs informed me Eddie was ill and only vets appointment was after she had to be at work , so I packed up and went home , definitely my shortest ever session , think the rods were out 5 minutes lol .

Suddenly my interest in been back on the lake fell away and having been told by mrs not to worry bout fuel costs I decided a drive to the coast was in order but only after ordering a couple more lures ( you can never have enough , hence since then I am awaiting some more ).

Sling shot surface irons from https://luresedge.com  , look them up Wayne is a top bloke

So yesterday after work I took myself off for a spot of bassing , it started badly with my arrival delayed and the tide had already turned and had been coming back in for an hour , now if you have read my previous lure fishing exploits you will remember the cliff fall and subsequent ban on rock fishing well I decided a careful and concentrated effort would see if I could get to the waters edge and it turned out not to be as bad as expected .

Unfortunately I have decided this mark maybe a high to low tide one , as if you look at the lone rock stuck out at the top of the picture , this was 2 feet clear of the water when I got to it and after 6 casts it become obvious the tide was barrelling in and the gulleys around me were filling up , so I made a strategic retreat . 

I embarked on a mile walk to the another spot , I really should have got my waders from the van as ended up on a beach and wet feet plus it seems the recent increase in wind and swell had dislodge a fair amount of weed .

   

I stuck on a small black pearl seeker and on my 2nd cast had my fist ever wrasse .

Despite having another hour no other fish appeared though I did have a possible small hit and with the tide still flooding in with more weed and a danger of even wetter feet I called it a day and returned home , I totally enjoyed been out and am planning on an afternoon into even session tomorrow .

Hope you enjoyed reading this and catch you all later

   

An Unexpected Turn

 Hi All

Well you didn't have to wait 2 years for this one .

What's been happening ? I hear you ask .Well I have not actually fished since the last blog but have met the guy running the new lake I was going to look at and was invited to join .After having a good luck round I left to mull it over , as ticket didn't start til today so had 2 weeks to review this and it took me that long to finally decide . This may come as a shock to anyone who either knows me or has followed this blog for any length of time but I have decided to stop coarse fishing , this will either be for a year or possibly for good .

So what is the plan ? Well here goes , over the last 3 weeks I have been scanning google earth for possible lure fishing spots , I have found at least 4 more spots to add to the ones I fished last year , here is one spot that was taken at high tide and low tide .

     

And same place at low tide

This spot looks ideal for bass and will be trying it in a few weeks time .

One of the biggest issues is parking as the charges are extortionate , with that in mind we have upgraded our membership to a joint for this fine organisation .

 They masses of car parks in Cornwall and Devon and I will be investigating plenty of them .

I have also joined a local sea angling club and had numerous offers to accompany people on trips , which is a massive help .

Another thing I have done is jump in with both feet and signed up to this .

 This been run in august by local tackle shop , I have no clue how I will get on but aim to enjoy it .

As anyone who lure fishes for bass will know you can get silly with buying new lures and the named companies charge quite a bit so I have taken a punt of a few from Teemu including these .

Not had chance to try them yet but will hopefully be heading next week . I have also been looking into getting a bait fishing set up but thats just in the planning stage .

Other than that the other thing I have got involved in , is going to local football teams games , have been to 6 so far and they have 4 more home games before end of season .

I have been going with my wife but the last home game her shift got changed and I had to go alone , which was something new , as with my anxiety and panic attacks meant I had to get the bus into town which is a major thing but it went ok and I arrived a good hour before kick off and spent time in the clubhouse having a couple of pints of cider with the away fans and watching the game on sky before our game , which was great .

Well I'm going to leave it there for now and hopefully the next one will at least have an actual fishing report even if there's no actual fish caught .

Stay safe everyone and thanks for reading  

 

Where has time gone ?

 Hi all well first things first  yet another apology , for all my plans to do updates its all fallen apart .

This update was planned over a week ago but on trying to turn my laptop on I discovered it was dead and had to source a decent refurbed one .I was told by the wife that the proviso for splashing cash on this was I had to do more blogging so after this quick catch up I will lay out my plans for the future .

Where to start , well so much has happened in the last 2 years that I couldn't cover it all so will just skim the big bits , again I'm afraid there wont be many pictures on this one .

The biggest thing that's happened and it is very sad news that my beloved little dog Dizzy has left us . in the last few months of her life she had several issues due to doggie dementia , her arthritis and to cap it all she started suffering from severe kidney issues , we put her on a special diet which she hated and so we took the decision to let her have what she wanted and enjoy her last times .On the 4th of august 2024 after a terrible night with her ,  where at the end she crawled up my chest and looked it my eyes I could tell she was ready to leave us .Holding her in the vets while they injected her is the worse experience of my life . Both me and my wife were heart broken and were in floods of tears for weeks and even typing this is bringing it all back . it was the hardest and easiest decision ever , a week later we had to pick up her ashes and that was even worse , she is sat in a special box with her favourite toy sat on it looking at me . 14 year old rescue who changed our lives and gave us so many happy memories .

   We decided we would not even consider having another until I retire and even then would take something special , well best laid plans and all that in April 2025 we spotted a rescue online at a local rescue center , I didn't feel anywhere near ready to have another but we decided to at least meet him , well he was a totally different character to Dizzy but he seemed ok so asked for another meeting at our home , well he came running into the room , went straight to the table with Dizzy's ashes on and put his paws on the table sniffed the box which scared me death but he just dropped straight back down and came and sat and looked at me , sounds crazy but it felt like a sign and so he is now part of the house hold , he is a mixed breed rescue from Spain and we have named him Eddie , he has had a few issues and is a work in progress but he is settling down with just a few wrinkles to sort out . Fishing was a bit hit and miss with him but something we have adjusted to but more of that in a moment .So I give you Eddie or as I call him quite a lot knobhead .

So fishing , well its been up and down emotion wise . Had a good year in 2024 landing 79 carp including another 21lb leather and multiple 19's and 18's but also noticed alot more smaller fish appearing , also had some serious issues with a couple of new members who were only 14 years old , one of them was abusive and aggressive to a number of senior members including me , he came close getting a slap on more than one occasion plus him and his friends made loads of noise let massive amounts of litter . The attitude of those in charge was that they couldnt do anything as they were minors , these was the beginning of multiple problems not just from them but from other new members . 2025     was a poorer year for me , a mix of not focusing and letting things around me on the lake affect me resulted in reduced catches , this wasnt helped by changing my bait , which I then changed back , more issues began to affect things in the shape of dodgy rigs , people fishing out of bounds , multiple fish trailing rigs and rigs left hanging in the trees , the only bailiff who only got down for a couple of hours twice a week in the afternoon was a bit powerless , we also had issues with people turning up after dark and suspect that fish thefts were in progress . Me and another member were asked if we would help out checking tickets , checking rigs and generally keeping an eye out , well it started off well enough a few dodgy rigs were found on inspection and most accepted the advice , however there was a coupe who didnt and it came to a head with the other guy when he was almost pushed into the lake , the guy was banned , his fishing partner wasnt happy . my own watershed was the first week of July , I was alone on the lake with Eddie who once he is in his crate for the night never moved even if I had a fish , well 4.15am in the morning he went mental and when I checked outside found a bloke with a head torch on walking round , when I told him he wasnt allowed on til daylight when the gate was open , following load of abuse and lies from him he disappeared and the next thing I know he is setting up just down from me and started doing a video . As soon as it was light enough I contacted the main bailiff for advice and also took the decision to cut my session short and began packing up , when the bailiff arrived he asked me to go round with him to speak to him . After he called me a liar 4 times I gave him some free advice , the bailiff told him he had broke 5 rules plus some of his tackle was illegal and told he had to leave and was banned , he wasnt happy and claimed to know the owner and was going to speak to him , he was advised not to and me and the bailiff went to report the incident , the owner agreed with the action taken and it was left at that . A week later I arrived for another session and a couple of hours after I had set up the owner came round and after a quick catch up he told the  guy from the previous week and rug him and given his version and he was to be allowed back on , when I questioned this he said it was my word against the bloke , I asked if he thought I was lying and he refused to answer , I said it wasnt very good not backing your bailiffs to which he replied who said you were a bailiff you are just a punter !!!! After 3 years on there keeping an eye out and supposedly be classed as good friend it was like a slap in the face , on speaking to the other guy he told me he had been told virtually the same and that they didnt want people banning as they want the money , so the question asked was why have rules if you aint enforcing them . I left and other than a few hours fishing for roach I have not been back yet and no one has been in touch and asked why .

So what next ? well I decided to do some early morning surf fishing luring for bass , big learning curve I managed 3 on 3 sessions but nothing bigger than a 35cm one but enjoyed it . Unfortunately times when I could get out after the first 3 sessions coincided with a mixture of wrong tides and mental storm conditions , which I suspect someone with more experience might have done better but I will be keeping at it come spring , including a few wanders looking for spots .

    So to bring it up to date have had a couple of sessions on a new place but only days , the first was a blank and was told its a hard venue , its 1 acre and currently has 67 carp in it including 20 new fish that have replaced the ones that the otters killed before the fence was put up , my 2nd trip resulted in one of the stockies at 14.10 .

 

So where am I right now ? well I have a choice of 3 possible places , the one in the last bit , ticket starts in April but only has limited places , another place that as of yet I have seen that again starts in April and you have to meet the owner first to see if you are going to fit in , the downside to this one is you cant do nights on your first year and my final choice is to bite the bullet and go back to original venue and after speaking to my wife , she told me that wherever I end then I just go fish and dont get involved in anything .

So the new blog system I have planned is at least a fortnightly update even if its just an explanation of what I have been upto or even reviews of tackle or books .

So til next time stay safe everyone

A sad end and an unexpected return

 Well after saying my last blog that I would do more regular updates , well best laid plans and all that.Having my rolds stolen still hurts over 2 years later , truth is I never felt comfortable on the venues after it but stuck at it and continued to catch but things started going downhill .

Like most clubs the rules state everyone is a bailiff and you should report any rule breaking or problems .On 2 occasions I reported  trees been down and damaging the otter fence , the first time the lake warden at the time came down and i reeled my rods in and gave him a hand for over an hour to remove the tree , the 2nd time the fishery manager replied saying it had been down a few days and wasnt a problem , this was very frustrating as the club committee was constantly banging on about closing gates and been vigilant about the otters . Things deteriorated more when I reported 3 different guys on 3 separate occasions for breaking rules . I found out that 3 had either friends or friends of friends on the committee , so nothing got done and they were even told that it was me who reported them .

I have encountered the odd jealous angler in the past but when 90% of those fishing the lake are moaning about you catching and them not then you have to take a step back and think about things .I had virtually decided my time was coming to an end when I saw a video on a members facebook page showing how he was set up in a swim and he was setup way beyond the legal distance from his rods , when I gave him a heads up about this and that the club was clamping down on this , he commented he didnt care , I said he shouldnt worry anyway as club didnt really care about enforcing rules .

What happened next was unbelievable , a lake warden from another lake and the membership secretary got their heads together and concocted a story that I had posted it on the clubs own facebook page and that they had removed it before anyone saw it and banned me from the page .

I heard that I was to discussed at a committee meeting and would be getting a warning letter .I heard nothing official but there was at least one genuine bloke on the committee who knew the truth and even had a quiet word with the chairman and told him but he didnt want to know . Interestingly enough the lake warden who was in on it is in the club under an assumed name plus the rule breaker is now the lake warden . I took the decision that I would leave the club when my ticket ran out and wouldnt fish the big lake again but do hit and run sessions on a couple of others . Having heard guys leaving the club due to not catching any carp from the big lake and others saying it them a year to catch one , my figures were 45 nights landing 49 carp , 25 over 20lb , I also lost 8 .

I ended up doing 8 or 9 day sessions on a couple of the other waters , landing 15 carp to 19lb .

I heard that the club lost 100 members the year I left , the majority due to a couple of rule changes that impacted people financially .

 1 year on I admit I do. miss a couple of the venues but the hassle was worth it .

When we moved down here I accepted the trade off , a better quality of life for reduced fishing choices . I now had to find somewhere to go , I could rule out most of them as they were commercials or holiday park venues , ok for the odd day for anything other than the carp. In the end I returned to take alook at Oakside , the subject of my fishing for ghosts blog . I got permission from Brian the owner to have a few walks round again . I chose the quietest times so I could spot fish in the margins , I managed to see enough to convince the precious fish moving rumours were not true . I spoke to Brian and secured a ticket . I completed my first year back 2 months ago and managed 74 carp , my biggest been a pb leather of 21.04 , also landed 5 different 19lb commons . Its not an easy venue which suits me , the fish are lovely hard fighting ones . I have had a few sessions for other species including a session on bread punch that put 30lb of roach , rudd , bream and crucian carp . I had a couple of exploratory sessions for eels and caught them to just under 3lb but it has done a 7lber .

Since I renewed my ticket I have done 5 sessions , the first 2 I landed 3 fish in each but have not had a sniff since .

From my understanding the history of the lake is as follows . Brian had it dug to his own specifications in 1988 , it is roughly 4 acres and has 4 different size islands , depths vary between 3 and 11ft , its a multi species lake but has no pike in it but does have some nice perch , which I have yet to fish for . It was was stocked with 250 carp originally and a smaller stocking of 80 a few years later , the biggest official is around 28lb but there are bigger uncaught ones . the way things stand other than the odd day ticket else where this will probably be my final fishing venue .

I apologies for the lack of photos and less than brilliant content , I will add a few photos here and try and be more proactive from now on