Not alot to say

This is another of those quick updates with little content . Since my last update I managed to get out 3 or 4 times before the end of january on a mostly flooded trent resulting in 25 barbel including 10 doubles to 10lb 12oz .

Since then I have had some health issues regarding my blood pressure and what was work related stress , after various tests I am now still having blood pressure problems but have an hospital appointment on 4th july as they found anomalies in my blood and urine  , my mental health is something else as I am now suffering from High anxiety and depression caused but multiple things and am waiting on the local mental health unit to get get in touch to arrange some form of counselling or help . On 3 lots of meds and while I have good days I am nowhere near been myself and still having some bad slumps .

Fishing wise I managed a few hours on last day of river season resulting in 2 x 6lb barbel and my last fish of the season this perfect 13lb 6oz .I also have this pb chub of 6lb 4oz .

I have not felt up to much other than this but had a couple of sessions lasting a few hours on club lake trying to find a double figure bream but only managed them to 9lb 2oz pictured below  but did have a new pb on 3 pieces of fake corn in the shape of this 19lb 8oz pike .

Well unfortunately thats it for now , hoping in the next few weeks I will have my head on the mend and whatever is wrong with my blood and urine may have been sorted .

The rivers open midnight wednesday and hope to have a couple of hours .

Well hopefully my next update wont be as long a wait as this one , in truth I have been writing this one for the last month such is the state of my mind , putting words into sentences aint easy .

Tight Lines to you all where ever you may fish

Floods , floods and more floods

Well theres still no sign of our proper winter weather instead we are getting warm weather and loads of rain , so its still no chubbing chance and getting out has been down to experience of swims at normal level and what they will be like with extra water on . My first session was New Years Day and was just a mid morning til dark one , I drove to my usual chubbing stretch just to get a sense of how the extra water had effected the river level , on arrival I discovered the river as carrying around 5 feet of flood water but more surprising was the fact that there was already a dozen anglers already fishing , as I have said previously , normally at this time of year all these anglers are staying in doors but the mild winter means they are still active . Having had a chat with few of them and watched as those in what should be the best swims in high water and offering advice as those in them were fishing too far out but it seemed to fall on deaf ears . Not fancying any of the remaining swims given the river level , I had a drive to my other club stretch downstream , in contrast to the first stretch there were no other anglers on it but thats not unusual as last winter I fished it all winter and never saw another angler til the end of february , I walked the entire stretch looking at various swims that I knew would be both fishable and likely to produce with the extra water , settling in a swim which had a very deep margin with a gravel bottom with a snag below it and an overhanging tree above that slowed the flow and created a crease that directed all the flotsam coming downstream away from the spot I intended to place my bait . Due to the nature of the swim and the conditions I opted to fish one rod .

My plan was to fish meat and as a baiting plan I put around 2 pints of hemp on the crease and around a dozen small cubes of meat and then leave it for an hour ,having put the bait in I poured a cup of coffee and had a wander down the bank . I returned and put a bait out and sat and waited , watching as various size bite of trees , numerous bottles and even a couple of large water barrels went by . Things were looking a bit bleak when suddenly the rod lunged over and the alarm screamed and the baitrunner gave line , playing barbel in extra water is always a test of your tackle especially your knots but all held firm and I netted what I thought may be my first double of the year but in the scales said 9lb 12oz                                                                                                                                             

I  safely returned the fish in the next swim down and then decided to have a recast and give it another half hour but no further action followed and I returned home . As a side issue if you remember from a previous blog about the butchery they had inflicted on the lake next to this stretch , well with the river been up all the lake swims were under water but due to the work they had done the one swim that would have been fishable in these conditions was now dangerous as anyone who didnt know about the work would be fishing on bricks and rubble or if they went any further than 2 rod lengths out then on retrieving either a fish or their tackle would snag the front of the railway sleepers they sank into the swim , despite been advised not to another knock on from the new swims is the water they have displaced which was close to flooding the track to the river and given the other end of the lake which connects to the river with a small bridge over the inlet would be under water so the river , unless people are willing to wade through water on the track would be now inaccessible.                            

My next session was a bit of a bonus , I dont normally fish sundays but the sunday after New Year my wife Louise and I were supposed to be having a walk round the syndicate lake I am hoping to join unfortunately Louise is having a bout of sciatica and didnt feel like it and asked if I wanted to go fishing for a couple of hours , well after given it a few minutes thought I thought why not , I opened a can of meat and cubed it and set off , now having looked at the EA website for the river levels I knew the river had risen another foot or so and decided it was the first club stretch I had visited New Years Day as the other would have access problems , on arriving I was greeted by the river within a couple of feet of bursting its banks and 3 anglers again in the swims nearest the car park and where the better slack water was , again they were fishing too far out .Having learnt from my previous session I didnt offer any advice . Now knowing this stretch very well and having fished it all conditions over the last 7 years , I knew of one other swim that would give me a good chance of a fish given the river level and thats this cattle drink , arriving at it proved me right as it looked spot on for a fish .                      

  

Now the place to cast in this swim in these conditions is 2 rod lengths beyond bush on the right but upstream where the main flow starts and using just enough lead to hold so that after a few minutes you can lift the rod tip and bounce the bait a few feet downstream , so out went the rod and I walked to the edge of the river on the left and put 4 pieces of meat on the same line the rig had been cast , now most folk think I a little crazy going out in these conditions but more so this day as it had been spitting with rain all morning and now it started pouring down and with me roving I had no brolly .after about an hour and a half the rod pulled over and I was connected to was obviously another barbel but this one did something that in these conditions they rarely do and thats ran for mid river , now given the bush on the right my usual plan is to go to the left and play the fish from there but as this fish hit the flow in mid river it either shot down stream of its own accord or the flow took it , there was no way to play the fish from the left and so had to grab the landing net and head downstream after it , my first problem was to get the line over the bush which meant holding the very end of the rod butt as high as I could , just managing to get the line over the bush and now the fight was on ,pumping the fish back upstream and gaining and losing line but finally I slid the net under her 25 yards downstream of where I hooked her .I carried her back to the swim and rested her in the margins while I got all the unhooking and weighing gear ready , on the scales a very satisfying 8lb 6oz . Having released her and watched her disappear back to where she belonged . I was now soaked through and decided that was it for me and walked back to the van . I stopped off to see how the guys at the first swims had fared and but they had not seen a sign of a fish .                                                  

My final session for this blog was yesterday and the EA site showed the river had risen again but was holding steady , on arrival I unsurprised to find no one else there , I walked the stretch as far as the cattle drink and could see the river had burst its banks and had actually dropped a few inches but was still over them , back to the van and it was to be the cattle drink for the first couple of hours and the same plan as last time , the picture shows the river was a little higher than before , in fact my chair that I took the pic from was actually on the track that vehicles use .                                                      

Now my plan was fish this swim for 2 hours , walk back to van and have some lunch and a coffee and then if no one had turned up drop in the swims at the bottom of the stretch . Well after an hour and a big fish crashed in mid river and that was the start of odd fish showing all over the river for the next half hour including watching decent size perch chase a roach of around 4oz through the cattle drink its self , no seconds after this happened the rod tip sprang back and then wrenched over and the baitrunner went nuts , having already accessed that getting over and round the bush this time was a non starter so went left and out as far as I safely could and the battle was on after a few close calls of runs nearly through the bush and then feeling the line grating on the margin rocks I netted another good barbel , going through the usual weighing process the scales revealed another close to a double at 9lb 7oz .                                                                                                                                               

I didnt fancy another cast and so headed back to the van . dropping my tackle in on the swims I fancied , after a bite to eat and a coffee I went back to my tackle and quickly checked my mainline and found a foot or so of damaged from the fight and grating on the rocks and so cut this off and then checked the swim out , the first thing I noticed was the river was starting to rise again .

Knowing where the actual margin rocks were I cast 2 rod lengths beyond and sat down , within a couple of minutes I noticed a small vibration on the line and rod tip , then nothing about 15 minutes later and the rod started tapping and hitting it thought I had finally hooked a winter chub but when I netted the fish I was surprised to have a small but perfect barbel of 2lb 12oz .                                       

Now while I was happy to have caught I felt something bigger must be about , I recast and when after an hour nothing had happened I reeled in to find the meat had gone but had seen no sign of a bite ,it was now just going dark so out it went again and within seconds the rod shot over and I was attached to something that didnt want to stop running , 10 minutes or so later and the fish is near me and coming upstream , as it got in front of me it dived and the tip sprung back , I was gutted as it was obviously a good fish and on reeling in found the hook link had been cut through , another decision had to be made now pack up having caught and get home earlier than expected or tie another rig up in the dark and have another cast , I just felt it had to be the latter , given the dark I managed to get a bait back in the water fairly quick and to my surprise 5 minutes later and off it went again , this time I took my time and made sure I played the fish longer in the flow away from the bank and this time netted what was obviously my first double of the year and one the scales she went 11lb 1oz , now I had a new problem in that I wanted a pic of me holding the fish but only had the long rod rest I had my rod on as I had left my short ones in the van , I rested the fish in the margin and set the camera best I could , the resulting self takes werent the best but better than nothing .                                        

Well thats it for this write up and my next session is 4 days away , the river is rising slightly again and with the forecast should be still high by the time I go again but there is also a forecast for colder weather so who knows what will happen . Til next time as usual tight lines to you all

A couple of tough sessions and roach not ready

Its been a tough couple of weeks for different reasons . The first was that I had another quick afternoon session on the middle Trent and conditions looked good other than an strong wind blowing .

The swim I was in has given me mixed fortunes in the past from giving me a few double figure barbel to alot of roach including a nice one of 1lb 7oz but its also given me a few cruel blanks , an end of season session that failed to deliver the chub or barbel but did produce bream after bream but its most cruel day was the one covered in my high winds and heart breaker post which as those who read it was when what would have been a pb chub escaped my landing net before I could weigh and photograph it . this session turned out to be one of the blank ones despite trying numerous things resulted in one half hearted bang on the rod tip .

My next planned session was going to be a bit different in that I was planning a day of blasting maggots and float fishing in hope of catching roach and chub unfortunately 3 days before the session my van's starter motor and ignition switch decided to give up the ghost . I lost a full days pay and also despite been told it would be fixed the same day it took 5 days due to problems getting the part .

I finally go out today for a few hours and due to plans for the next couple of days I had to be on my way home by 5.30pm . The river again looked perfect and other than it been a bit bright I fancied it for a fish or 2 . Things started badly the swim I wanted to get on was free but the bank up to it and behind it was a bog and it was obvious a couple had been stuck but me been me decided to give it a go and first try got stuck , after about 5 minutes I managed to get myself free and got to terra firma and re-accessed the situation and worked out how I could get my van close enough to the swim to fish it . So got it settled and set up , spoke to couple of other guys who were fishing and they were struggling . I really should have called and picked up some maggots but with the river been just slightly up and still holding a bit of colour I went with bacon grill on the upstream rod and the down stream was using a groundbait feeder with a mix of groundbaits of halibut , krill and explosive fishmeal with hemp and krill pellets added , taking a gamble with the weather been way too warm for december I decided to go with these beauties on the hair .

These are the now defunct Teme Severn Lamprey pellets , one of the saddest loss's to angling in the last few years and unlike the 2nd rate ones been marketed by a certain 3rd rate bait company in Nottingham these are brilliant , luckily for me they supplied me with half a kilo of both the 8mm and 12mm ones and today it was gonna be a single 12mm . Out went the rods and sat in the back of the van and on went the kettle and that was it , casting the downstream rod every 20 mins to get some bait down for the first 3 hours and nothing was happening . Mark Reid turned up for a brew and a chat about our annual roach session on Woodland Waters in a weeks time and just as Mark left Lee the bailiff turned up and the kettle went on again . Lee left me at 4.30pm and still no sign . At 5pm I made one last cast on both rods , now knowing this stretch well and despite been informed that the fish that had been coming out were coming off the far bank I had been putting my bait in a third of the way out . At 5.20pm I started putting stuff away and with just the rods out at 5.27pm I turned my alarm receiver off and looked at the rods to see the alarm light up on the downstream rod and the baitrunner going , the fight was prolonged more for the reason that I didnt wanna lose it but even when I decided to give it some stick and net it the fish had other ideas and extended the fight by a couple more minutes , not the biggest barbel at 7lb 4oz but in mint condition and very welcome .

As mentioned earlier my next session is the annual roach session with Mark , not sure what it will bring with the weather been so mild but time will tell and will try and do a blog on xmas eve to bring you how it went .

Decided to just update this with the roach session and it turned out as hard as we thought , The weather is still too mild for the bigger roach to feed or indeed to get them into their usual feeding areas , the bailiff reported that while the odd fish had been coming out they were moving around alot and not much over 12oz .

After a good look round me and Mark decided on a social swim where we had caught on previous trips , the usual set ups were used heli rig fished maggots and after we were fishing it was time for a brew and annual selfie pic .

It took 3 hours for the first indication and it set the tone for the session as Mark received a typical drop back but made contact with nothing , I was next suffering the same so slight tweaks were made and made no difference then next indication I got resulted in the first roach but as the bailiff said it was a pristine 12ozer .

Unfortunately this didnt signal the usual avalanche of fish in fact I added just 2 more roach of similar size , Mark added 1 between my 2nd and 3rd and looked like that was it but he managed to add another late on and at the death a 2lb skimmer bream . We both suffered losing a couple of fish to the barbless hooks falling out .

A tougher than usual session but that has to be down to the weather , we need some frosts and colder weather but that looks unlikely . I am planning my next session for New Years Day on the Middle Trent with the river carrying a couple of feet of extra water I have a couple of swims that should produce a fish or 2 .

When will winter arrive ?

Well by now my winter chubbing has started but the weather is still too warm . Since my last brief update I have had 2 day sessions and to say I have struggled for bites is an understatement . The sunday before my first session we were on our way to Sheffield to see family and decided to call in at Newark for a walk along the river and to have a look at the devastation off one of my favourite swims on a club lake . I will put the before and after pics up but will say no more as words fail me .







While walking the river towards the lake , this particular stretch is a day ticket water that it appears still does not have a bailiff , I used t fish it quite regular a few years ago and had a lot of barbel to double figures and the odd chub , speaking to the only angler there he hadnt seen sign of a barbel but had managed a couple of chub which he didnt weigh but said they were around 4lb mark .

3 days later and I parked in the Newark Piscatorial s stretch and decided to rove the day ticket stretch and then return to the Newark stretch for the last hour of day light and an hour into dark .

I spent the first 3 hours roving 4 swims fishing liquidised bread in a cage feeder and flake on the hook for not a sign . I decided to try a cube of meat for the last hour before heading back to Newark , conditions did seem more suited to bread but the fish didnt think so .




Within 15 mins of switching to meat the rod banged a couple of times and I was connected to my first chub of winter , a spirited fight finally saw a chub of 2lb 7oz on the scales , not the biggest but in pristine condition .




I returned the fish 50 or so yards downstream and had another half hour but nothing followed . I walked back to the van for a drink and then wandered down to the river but the swim I wanted was kind of taken up as there was an old guy sat fishing between it and the one above , to make matters worse he had parked his car in the swim above as he didnt want to risk getting stuck so he was in fact taking 3 swims up . I dropped my gear 6 swims upstream of his car and decided to have a chat with him . Seems he lost his wife a year ago and travels from Halifax to try and catch his first double figure barbel . He told me had had a chub around 3lb earlier and while talking he had a very tentative take and was into a barbel , now I wont knock folk for what they fish with especially when on a budget but he was using 2 carp rods that were more like beachcasters , very little action and the last foot was a brilliant white and with 15lb line he was taking no prisoners but was playing the fish very gingerly , it suddenly dawned on me that he would struggle to get down and land the fish so offered to net it him , the barbel was around 8lb and when I turned to bring it up the bank I couldnt see an unhooking mat , when I asked where it was he replied that he didnt have one and wasnt necessary , I was going to argue but think we all know where it would end up . He asked how big and when I took the guess of 8lb he didnt want to weigh it as he only wanted a double , luckily the hook was only just in and I managed to unhook it in the margin and release it with ease . As he wound his rig in it was caught on some bank side foliage and when I freed it for him I noticed how he was rigged up , now he had only had a couple of slight taps to hit I pointed out the reason was the way his lead wass set up but again he didnt wanna know and said it worked for him . While that was true I spent another 10 mins with him and he was getting similar taps on his other rod and suspect a slight change to his lead set up would give him a more positive indication and maybe just maybe that elusive double . I bid him good luck and went to the swim I had dropped my gear in and just managed to get my rod out before dark , the river had started to rise about 2 hours earlier and had now risen 6 - 8 inches and there was a fair bit of weed and rubbish coming down and despite giving it an hour into dark I had no further action .

My next and most recent session was nearly a week ago and was to be even shorter . I had a dentist appointment mid morning and didnt arrive at the Newark stretch til dinner time and after a quick look at the river and assessing the weather which was extremely wind and with rain predicted I took the decision to pick and swim and sit it out but to do it from the shelter of the back of the van . I noticed the river was slightly up from the last trip but was obviously starting to fall . Having got the rod in position I put the van in a position that allowed me to sit in the back and be sheltered but also able to see the rod , Starting bait was cheese squab covered in paste . The wind was horrendous and seeing any indications looked hopeless , I switched the quiver tip rest for one of my alarms in the hope something would at least alert me to any action . 2 hours on nothing and the bailiff Lee arrived who I hadnt seen since feb and so wound the rod in and stuck the stove on . Lee's welcoming words were " thought I would come down but didnt expect any one out in this lot but if there was it would be you , you must be mental " , he knows me so well as been fishing the stretch for the last 6 winters in some crazy conditions . After a half hour catch up and with the light fading I told Lee I was switching to meat for the last hour and he was off home . Out went the rod with the change of bait on and sat in the van and the rain came and the van rocked and then out of nowhere the alarm went mental and the bait runner was spinning , lifting into the fish it was obvious it wasnt a chub and on my light gear it was gonna have to be a take it steady time and after a very steady and spirited fight I netted a lovely fat barbel of 8lb 12oz and I was soaked and wind swept but very happy .




If you read my last blog you will know my fishing next season is still up in the air but one decision has been made and thats the Newark Piscatorial ticket will be renewed as the chub , barbel and roach fishing is top drawer and I have missed it with the other club ticket which I will have to renew but if the syndicate ticket comes off I wont be fishing on the club ticket .

Til next time Tight Lines guys

Brief update

Ok cant believe I have not updated this since the opening of the river season but to be honest its not been worth it , this update wont have any pictures and is just a quick catch up on a season that has had the odd high but some incredible lows .

Following on from my opening on the Tidal Trent my heart wasnt in the river , I fished a couple more sessions on the middle but the fact that the fish were 6-8 weeks behind where they should have been resulted in mediocre barbel fishing and only slightly better chubbing . I took the decision to concentrate on catching a carp off the lake and had a 13lb 4oz common first session and spent the best part of the next 3 months on it and caught 5 more carp including a pb common of 21lb 8oz and an official mirror pb of 16lb 15oz . My time on the lake has been on the whole was enjoyable and included my wife Louise starting to do nights with me on fridays and saturdays and while she doesnt fish the wildlife and the relaxing nature made for some nice time together along with Dizzy the dog . Also mick the bailiff enjoyed sessions with us along with several other members unfortunately all good things have down sides and our time on the lake ended up been marred and in the end ruined by a man who somehow returned to the club as head bailiff , this guy has no idea on fishery management and using work parties and his own time while others were trying to relax to completely butcher the lake , my own opinion of this man will be toned down here but basically considering he is a pensioner he is a massive bully and god knows why but other members , bailiffs and even committee members seem scared to stand up to him . I wont go into details of what was the final straw for me but the out come was I expressed my feelings and have since learned that a meeting took place where the others who werent happy failed to back me up and I was described as been very vocal . I havent fished the lake since but have had a couple of very back to basic river sessions as the fall out from the lake devastation and a couple of back days at work left me feeling very low .

This week I was guested onto a venue I last fished 6 years ago and is now a syndicate , I received a warm welcome from a couple of the guys who were on last time and even the bailiff who is now also the syndicate boss . The guys asked if I would be putting my name down for a place for next season and I was immediately tempted but wanted time to think and access what it would mean . Well been back to have a chat with a few more of the guys today and have been told that theres no problem with Louise and Dizzy joining me for sessions and while a ticket is only for the one lake I can of course hold on other tickets for my river fix , so I am now officially on the waiting list . I am now at a stage in my fishing were the title of my blog is more important to me than ever as long as the atmosphere is right which for the last month has not been the case on the club venues , while if I end up giving up this ticket I will miss alot of the guys its not enough when there is a couple of people who have ruined my feeling for the club and with a lack of backbone by people to stand up and sort these people out I feel I cant carry on the way I have .
The syndicate lake is not an easy venue but the rewards are fantastic for several species and at the moment I honestly believe its where I should be . I did have another option for a season ticket on another venue and if I hadnt been guested on the syndicate lake it would have got my vote .

So thats where I am , waiting is now the name of the game and it could be May next year before I know if I have got in but in the meantime I will be roving the Trent and Upper Witham looking for a 6lb chub and can see the end of the season been spent on the Tidal trying to beat my barbel pb one last time .

I dont know when my next update will be but I will try and make it a positive with some nice pictures for those of you who find reading hard

Season opening

Well after 3 months off the river and the trials and tribulations that I have had this close season I was looking forward to getting back on the flowing water . Now we all know that the opening few weeks are very hit and miss as the fish get used to been fed but still wouldnt miss the first night .

My starting point was the stretch of the tidal I was guested on for the final day and of course we all know what happened then ,  this time I would be going on as a full member . The plan was to me Jon down there and decide where to go . After a substantial KFC meal I arrived at the river at just after 1pm and parked the van up off the track and began walking the stretch , surprisingly no one was in sight and half way down the venue my phone rang and Jon was on the other end saying he would be there in half an hour . Now on the last day the cattle werent in the fields but today they were.

They dont do any harm but are very inquisitive and enjoy licking vehicles and bivvies which with the acid on there tongue is not a good thing . Walking back to the van and Jon comes down the track and picks me up and we head off to the far end of the stretch a mile and a half way , in between moving cattle and looking at various swims we ended up going to the other end of the stretch ,having had a good look around we settled on an area that was not only easy to get the vehicles next to the bivvies so we could watch the cattle , the other reason was that the cattle didnt appear to have been using this particular area .
We got set up and settled and it was only 6pm so 6 hours to go and time for some chatting and a bottle of red wine , my traditional opening night drink and of course a small amount poured into the river for luck .

At 8pm I put 10 droppers of hemp and pigeon conditioner in and at 10pm we decided to have an hours sleep was in order , Jon set his alarm for 11,55pm so 5 mins to bait rigs for the off . I dont know what happened with Jon but me I just didnt stir and woke 15 mins into the new season ooooooooooops , got the rods out and went up and woke Jon who finally got his act together and rods out . Now from mid afternoon til dark they had been fish crashing everywhere so when at 1am neither of us had  had a sign it was starting to get worrying and more so when I heard a snorting sound and saw something drifting down the margin on went the head torch and pair of big eyes bounced the light back at me and then disappeared with a splash . Its not unusual to see a seal occasionally and so we settled back in our chairs , then Jon's alarm sounded and he was in but it was one of the many trent bream . 10 mins later I landed one both around 3lb and we expected to be playing bream for a while but nothing happened until 3.15am when my upstream rod went into meltdown and I was on it and connected to my first barbel of the season , after a decent fight I netted her and when Jon asked how big , I replied about 6lb but on the scales she went 7lb , she had a sore patch on her underneath with looked like gravel rash from spawning .

I returned her and put the rod back out and decided to get back in the bivvy . Nothing happened til 7am when a single beep and a slight drop back had me lifting into a small fish which turned out to be a pristine roach of 1lb 1oz .

I put the kettle on and set off with my brew to see Jon who was just coming round , he hadnt had a sign since the opening bream which is strange given the way the bream are . Around 11am with the temperature starting to soar I wound the rods in and went for a walk to see how the 3 guys round the corner had got on . After a lengthy chat they had faired a little better with 3 barbel , 5 bream and 2 chub . I returned to my swim and after a brief chat with Jon decided on a new tacked and instead of putting hemp and pigeon conditioner inside the feeder I went with neat groundbait and pellet and over the course of the next 2 hours added 6 more bream to 6lb 4oz .

I put some more of the hemp and pigeon conditioner in with the bait dropper and went back to same in the feeder while I had my tea . I took a walk to the top of the flood bank and saw the sky looked on fire .

Now what was to happen next was to be a surprise as I decided to get my head down at 10pm for an hour , imagine my shock when I woke up at 6am !!!!! I got up sorted the rods and within minutes I managed to snare a nice eel of 1lb 7oz .

I made a brew and sat back down and unbelievably managed to crash out again til 11.20am .. Jon had started to pack up as there was a threat of major rain , he had managed 2 more bream and so while I packed up I put the groundbait feeder out and added 2 more bream and small but nice hybrid , also the cattle that had stayed away til now seemed to want to eat the grass we were on so it was packing up and trying to keep them away though I reckon Jon was getting a burger urge lol.

And that was it for the first session of the season . Tomorrow I will be trying a night on the middle Trent .

Hope you have all managed to find a fish or 2 to start your seasons and may we all have tight lines til march

Stop Press just been informed the fish above that I thought was a hybrid is in fact a silver bream !!!!!!!! not seen one for years

Crap weather and fishing for carp !!!

Well hows your close season been ? Mine has been terrible to start with but with a week to go to rivers opening the last couple of weeks have picked up but not the way I was planning .

I started the close season by visiting the match ,lake to warm up my tench methods ready for my season ticket assault on Sywell but it went from bad to worse . Firstly the spring weather has been same as the winter , couple of warm days and then a couple of cold ones , so not settled and not good for tench . 4 sessions on the match lake produced 6 tench but all between 2lb 4oz and 2lb 7oz , more annoyingly was the damage they had suffered through bad angling , below are 2 pictures showing one bad one and one near perfect .

As usual the stocked carp were a pain as I was catching 6 or 7 a session , the biggest was a common of 7lb 7oz and mirror of 8lb 1oz

At least Sywell was beckoning and for the start of my campaign it would be 2 nights for the tenchfishers fish in . It was great to be back and my hopes raised of a tench as I saw the view as I left the car park .

I decided that as it was more a social and with the amount of gear I had to take a short walk and get settled . As expected things were slow and over the weekend only 3 fish were caught but the good thing is that all 3 came to 3 anglers and top blokes who had not caught a Sywell tench before . the first was for Mark Daffern the event organiser who caught a very well deserved pb of 9lb 9oz around midnight on the first night , the second came to the guy with the boy band looks Ben Kennedy whose fish I believe was 5lb 8oz , the final fish came at the last hour as we were all packing up Andy Mackenzie had his first Sywell tench around 5lb , me well I had som very strange indications that no one could work out but it was a great weekend and nice to be back .

My next session wasnt for 2 weeks and in that time the weather had been up and down but you never know so off I went , not much to report other than a pike of around 5lb taking 2 buoyant maggots and then biting me off as it went into the net and this lovely sunset .

A week later and I returned to what I can only describe as terrible conditions , I pulled into the carp park have driven the 68 miles in constant rain and found it still bouncing down . After consulting all the oracles who are my friends on facebook I climbed out of the van loaded the barrow and set off on the 3 quarter of a mile walk to the swim I wanted . this would be my first session using my new Fox Supa Brolly System shelter , the wind was totally in the opposite direction to the forecast so set up to protect me from the ensuring down pour , with everything set the rain stopped and the sun came out and the wind started swinging to the predicted direction or in English straight into my shelter on seeing the dark clouds approaching I made the decision to empty the shelter and spin it round , I literally just got everything back in position when the heavens opened .For about half an hour the rain was a deluge and then it cleared and the sun was out again .

That was the pattern for the full 24 hours deluges and then dry but not a single bleep or sign of a fish of any description . When I loaded the barrow up the following morning it was blue sky so put the waterproofs away , half way back to the van and the heavens opened and a drowned rat arrived back at his van !!!!!

I took the decision to leave Sywell for a week or so in the hope the weather would settle and my next session was to be a catch up on the club lake with the bailiff and to see how the carp were showing as I still hadnt caught one which I told him I would . I also took both my roach rods and fished maggot heli rigs while catching up . The news was the usual , odd carp coming out but mostly folk just catching bream , I took 5 bream around the 5lb mark , all males covered in tubercles , I lost 2 and was broke by something as well .

With no sign of the weather improving or settling I decided to chance the club lake for a go at the carp , at least it was only 20 miles from home . On arriving I was shocked to see  people already on , now most lakes that would be ok but there is only 15 swims on it and this was a wednesday , I walked the lake and the 2 swims I had wanted to try were both taken . Back in the van and drive to the furthest swim and well away from every one . this will do I thought as I was next to the inlet that connects the the river . A quick lead round I found a gravel patch 2 yards off the reeds on the far side and another 30 yards in front of me . Now the thinking by those in the know is not to put much bait in , this is for 2 reasons , firstly the carp dont seem to like it and the other is it lessons the chance of bream turning up . With this in mind I crushed 2 boilies up and pva bagged them and hooked them into the hookbait and sent them to the gravel near the reeds and put 6 boilies at various points up the reeds , the other rod was set up with a different flavour of boilie and a bag of matching pellets out that went and the kettle went on . As expected nothing was showing or happening , then out of the blue the rod on the edge of the reeds went mental picking it up and looking out in to the lake my heart sank as a female mallard flapped about with my bait clearly swinging below her beak , I gingerly reel her in and half expected a good pecking that you usually get when these things happen but no she calmly sat on my knew and as I held her just under the head she went limp and relaxed , the hook came out easily and when I released her she jumped on my shoulder and flew off !!! .

I recast the rod and just stood there and pondered going home , at this point I decided to have a change of tact and did something a bit different I put 6 bait droppers of pellet over the other rod . As I took the dropper rod back up to the van the reed rod screamed off again , spinning round and scanning the lake no bird life visible I lifted into what was obviously my first carp and it was very angry and heading for the middle of the lake !!!! After a spirited fight a nice common went in to the net and on the scales it went 13lb 4oz , not my biggest but my first when targeting them and also mission accomplished .

My only other action was in the middle of the night when a bream of around 6lb turned up . the following morning mick the bailiff turned up and gave me a good handshake and a well done , so tough is this lake that some experienced carpers have taken a year to catch one .

I had by now decided to write my tench fishing off for this season and so needed to think what i wanted to do , the result will have no doubt surprised alot who know me as I took the decision to carry on going for the carp . Now I have fished in some shocking conditions and had my sanity questioned but my next session was something else , the forecast was for a massive low to come in around dark and wind up to 70mph and heavy rain . I arrived to find only 3 anglers on and yet again my first choice of swim to try was taken , it was also the one that would offer the most shelter , oh well lets try another swim I wanted to get on , now I already knew that these swims had been seeing alot of angler and they had been putting quite a bit of bait in and also where it had been going , now I may be knew to carping but I do know about where and where they wont feed . I was fishing in a smallish bay that had reeds all round it and the far side was where the bait had been going tight to the reeds , a quick lead revealed silt and chod tight over and it didnt smell very pleasant coming back towards me I found a gravel bar and drawing across it I found a small pocket of silt , that would do , rod was clipped to fish right on the edge of where the gravel me the silt . one rod had the same type of boilie that had taken the common a week earlier and had the same feed set up , the other rod had a new flavour for me to try , again with matching pellets . I settled down and noticed the wind starting to build and the first rain start . By 7pm it was getting a bit wild and wet it just seemed to be peaking when the new bait rod went off and I donned the gortex and was a little disappointed to find myself playing a bream around 5 or so pounds unhooked in the margin the rod was re positioned I went back to the shelter to dry off . By now I was the only one there and after a brief respite the weather started getting worse again . I battened down the hatches and got my head down , I was awoken around 1am by an absolute one toner and by the time I picked the rod up it was still going and heading out of the bay into the main lake , I managed to stop it and bringing towards me and after several good runs it went into the net . I secured it in the margins and turned to discover my 5 litre water bucket that was full of water had blown into the lake and sunk without a trace such was the force of the wind !!!! I put the fish in the mat and discovered it was one of the lakes rare mirrors and lovely fish that went 16lb 15oz

That was the end of the action but I left the following morning happy with my result .

The session that brings me up to date was a great one as when I arrived I found Mick the bailiff and another angler called Martin on 2 of the 3 point swims , they had taken a carp each and with a swim behind Martin facing into the main lake free I decided to drop in and make it a social with the chance of a fish . Quick lead around again and I found the gravel bar around 35 yards straight in front of me so one rod went on that the other rod was put in to a drop off 20 yards to my right down the spit that forms the channel into the bay I had been in the previous session .

Martin made a brew which was to become a feature of the session as we sat drinking and talking about things ,Mick told me that my mirror was only the second out this year and the biggest of the 2 , Martin had his dog Maisey with him who loves attention and playing ball . Suddenly Martin's middle rod went off and while he played it Mick grabbed the net and stood by but before Martin could get the fish back half way one of Micks rods went off so I was left to help Martin if he needed it , now I am sure that most anglers know you dont net a fish for anyone unless they ask you to , which Martin did a very spirited fight saw the fish drop into the net and as we got it on the mat one of his other rods went off , very unusual to say the least here . He asked me if I could deal with the fish on the mat while he played the other fish , no problem I said and proceeded to put the fish in the weigh sling and secure it in the margin and then man the net for the next , as that went in mick shouted for help with his fish as he wanted a photo so off I went while Martin took a minute to take in what had happened . Micks photo done and back to Martin and weighing his he had 2 commons off just over 15lb and the other a 20lber , now this fired me up and I said that was to be my next target . With all the action over for now we settled down for another brew .

With the wind pushing into my face we all agreed I should pick one up at some point , I took the decision to rebait both rods for the night and also changed the bait that was out in front of me to different flavour and also a bigger one . Rods repositioned and once last brew and head down . I answered a call of nature around 2am and my heart sank , a clear sky and a full bright moon , conditions I hate . I climbed back into the bag and out like a light I went . Suddenly I was awakened by what sound like 2 alarms and on getting to my rods both had gone at the same time but what was more confusing was they were bending towards each other !!! I picked the margin rod up and as I did so Martin appeared and offered to sort the other out , at this point with the lines crossing we thought one had actually took the other out but after ducking under the rod Martin had it became apparent I had 2 fish on  . Martin said he would just hold the other while I played mine to the net , a lovely common was soon in the net and Martin handed me the other rod and went to get his net , he had just returned and I had the fish under the rod tip as it surfaced the hook pulled !!! for a second or 2 it hung on the surface and Martin who was stretching due to not having his wellies on to get to the end of the swim made a desperate lunge with the net but just missed it and of it swam . As much as it would have been nice to have them both on the mat I reasoned that 1 was a good result as the fish we had been taking were the only ones coming out . The fish that came off was another common and Martin said it was around the same size as the one in the net which on the scales went 15lb 2oz and Martin did a great job with the pics .

We had a celebratory brew and chatted about the fact that the fish had actually gone at the same time and were probably 60 yards apart but swam at each other . As mick appeared and congratulated me the margin rod dropped back and a bream of around 7lb was unhooked in the water and released , Mick had another common of around 17lb something before Martin added another common of 15lb+ and that was the last fish I saw before I had to leave .

My next session is a little unsure at the moment as I have to take Dizzy dog for an xray and and will have to wait to go and collect her and see how she is , while waiting I will be boiling some hemp up for the start of the river season in a weeks time .

Until next time Tight Lines and thanks for reading

Well a small update before the rivers open , just dont another 24 hours on the club lake and despite the weather been spot on and fish crashing in various areas no carp turned up and my only fish was a 7lb bream . Also had a few liners and after trying to drop short it seemed the fish were just not feeding but just swimming round . Was given some information about another species that may warrant some of my time ;) .