Mixed Feelings

This update is long overdue but folk who know the full story will understand , I originally wrote a long explanation but know it would have been misinterpreted by some and cased more problems .

On the 27th of march just 5 weeks after his  27th birthday my son Joseph passed away in Sheffield of 2 brain tumours , just 9 weeks after been diagnosed , obviously due to lockdown I was unable to attend the funeral and with other things in the background I may not have been welcome . this left me devastated and on the da of the funeral me and Lou took the 10 mins of the time of the funeral to stand quietly and reflect . I am planning to do some sort of a memorial to him in our garden at a later date but bought this plaque to stand in it for now .

Anway on to the fishing , this may not make full sense as I lost my notes and have had to use my memory .
I left my last blog as I was about to embark on my first session on my season ticket lake , there is not much to report other than the area I decided to fish meant I had to use my barrow for the first time in 6 years plus due to the rain we had had the track was abit like the somme .
2 nights of rain and mud and not a sign of a fish but I felt comfortable on it .
After been offered bits of info , I went on to do 3 more 2 night sessions and a single one without a sign . To put this into perspective in the time I had been on the venue only 3 carp , a few bream and 1 tench had been caught .

A rethink was needed and I went back to my rigd from the tricky gravel pit and played around with balancing baits .

These changes proved a revelation , my next 2 night session I picked 3 spots and put a rod on each and all produced fish with commons of 18.09 , 15.15 and 13.06 and a mirror of 15.07

 


My next session was a week later and me being me I moved to another swim , still a barrow job and still a bit damp , again 3 spots chosen and all 3 produced the first within 20 mins of putting rod out , this time I ended up with commons of 13.10 and 9.14 and a small tench around 2lb .

My  last session for carp to date was the following week and again moved swims but back the other side of first swim , sticking to same tactics again proved spot on as all three rods produced inlcuding my first 20 off here in the shape of a 21lb common which was backed up with 2 other commons of 14.10 and 12.01 and another mirror of 15.02 .

The carp in this lake fight like crazy and look forward to adding more to my album . Due to a couple of appointments the following week I did 2 day sessions , the first was using my specialist rods with heli rigs fishing for tench and crucians , I managed one crucian around 1lb plus half a dozen small roach and a couple of skimmers .

What was to prove my last session was a couple of days later and I just took my specialist tench float rod and chose the shallow side of the lake , first put in and I hooked what was either a good tench or a small carp that ran me through a sunken tree branch and transferred the hook , I ended up with numerous roach between 6 and 10oz , all in immaculate condition.

Then of course came the lockdown and all we can do is read and watch videos , as I type this there is a chink of light as lockdown is been reviewed in a couple of days with strong rumours that some non contact sports may get back to some sort of participation .

Also while lockdown has been on it has given me the chance to sort out some shore lure fishing equipment as I will be venturing along the coast when we can . Hoping for a bass or 2 plus anything else that comes along , I have used Google Earth to pick a couple of likely spots to recce once were allowed .I have also joined B.A.S.S , The Bass Anglers Sportsfishing Society and already read Hooked on Bass , The Lure of The Bass , A bass anglers life and The Song of the Solitary Bass angler and currently reading Bass and B.A.S.S .

Finally a small tackle review .

The NGT rechargeable head torch , it has 2 buttons on top that have the following functions , first button is for white light and has 3 brightness's , thr brightest is spot on for walking round lake and the other 2 for doing stuff in the bivvy .The other button has 2 different red and green lights and are perfect if you need light to net fish without causing problems . I have used this so far on roughly 20 nights and as yet have not had to recharge it and at around 15 quid its a bargain .

Well thats all for now , hopefully will be able to enjoy some fishing of some sorts before too much longer and mabe next time i will be sharing pictures of more carp and other course fish and who knows maybe even my first sea bass.

Take care and stay safe   

The End of an Era

I had hoped to do this blog update before we moved but I could never settle down to do it , so here I am sat in my new fishing and entertainment room in our new home .

This blog wont be as long as normal as I have managed to lose my notes and will be picking bits up from memory and will probably miss something out .

After my last blog I went back to my original lake to do a few last sessions .

on my first one I dropped into a swim I know well and that with the wind banging into it I frelt confident of action . the first 5 hours produced 8 bream between 3 and 7lb . Early the following morning and my first carp arrived in the shape of a 20lb 8oz common , this was followed just on dark of a 16lb 4oz common and nothing further .

2 weeks later and me and Lou are back on the same lake but different area , this was Lou's and as it turned out my last session on here .
We had an enjoyable 48 hours having the obligatory catch of bream between us . On our final night just after 1.30am one of my rods went into meltdown , Lou joined me while I battled the fish that took out my other 2 rods and generally beat me up , eventually I netted a big common carp , I decided to put it in the retainer for a couple of hours til light and went back to bed , around 3am and Lou shout4ed she was in and again following a spirited fight she netted a nice mid double common , with only a couple of hours til light we sacked it up with the opportunity of us getting a pic of us both with carp .6am and I carry my mat , scales and camera to Lou's swim and set everything up for a shot of both fish together , I started retrieving my retainer and could tell something was wrong , the zip and had not meshed together right on one side and the fish had forced it open and had gone , I was gutted as was Lou , it was certainly over 20lb but no pic or weight means it dont count , we returned to Lou's swim and retrieved her sack and her fish was still there but was playing dead til I unzipped the sack and it made a bid for freedom , which I stopped .On the scales it went 14lb 6oz I believe .

I know decided it was time for a couple of final sessions on the river , hoping for a final barbel , roach and chub . Now am sure you all know how wet its been for last 3 months and catching the Trent fishable for anything but barble has been impossible .

I manged one short session with bread but could not manage any chub but took 6 roach all around 8oz .

I decided on a few hours barbelling next which for the last 3 seasons have avoided .
With the river carrying 5 feet of muddy floodwater , I picked a swim I knew well and with 20 mins of putting out a lump of meat I managed a 6lb 10oz barbel , deciding another 3 hours maximum due to river still rising rapidly and very slippy banks with 20 mins left I hooked a bigger sample that gave me an epic scrap , snagging me in first in the rocks and then a nearside reed bed I eventually coaxed my last ever barbel into the net at 11lb 7oz it was a fitting end .
As I left the Trent I felt very emotional as I have fished both the tidal and middle river since I was 12 years old , some 45 years . I was hoping to get a chub session in but sadly the river was never right before I left to move here .

My last 4 ir 5 sessions have been day sessions trying 2 different venues for big perch using lobworm , sadly despite landing 12 perch none were over 12oz , I managed a couple of nice looking carp , 1 a nice 6lb mirror and the other a common that due to me only having my small species scales with me that went to 12lb I had to call it 11lb 14oz as it well bottomed them out . I also had a bonus 3lb tench , all very enjoyable on my tench rod , centerpin and goose quill float.

And so my time to move had arrived . Now I have been involved in numerous charity events But in october I met up with a bunch of guys who had set up a special charity that I have now committed myself to .

#abiteoutofcancer 

It's a fantastic cause and got some great people involved in it , please take a look .

And finally tomorrow I will be doing my first overnight session since I moved here 2 weeks ago , I picked my ticket up last friday and walked the venue , I wont say too much about the place but its got lots of surprises in .

So thats it for now , thanks for reading and tight lines to you all

Not what I expected

Well its 2 months since I promised to update this and that it would be different to normal but as you will see things have not gone as planned .

I spent my time straight after my last update fishing 4 of the clubs venues for tench , due to wanting to get this done I wont go into details but it was a very successful campaign for them this year , I had 38 over the 2 months I targeted them .

I fished our new lake for 6 sessions which resulted in 34 of them between 3lb 6oz and this the biggest at 4lb 12oz

I then moved onto the clubs estate lake for what was to be a one off visit and after sitting through freezing fog all day I was rewarded with a very late take and a tinca of 5lb 15oz came to the net

My next tench was a bit special as it came out of our special tench lake plus was the first on my Free spirit tench float rod and weighed 6lb 2oz

I moved onto another one of the clubs lakes and again worked very hard for one bite but a pristine 6lb 5oz specimen

My final tench was a bit of a fluke as there a very few in this lake but do run a bit bigger and so was not complaining when this 8lb 2oz beauty showed up

It was now time to switch my attention to the clubs tougher carp but never in my wildest dreams could I imagine what would happen .

My first session was with a mate over 2 nights , sadly he had to leave after the first as an emergency involving work called him away . This session saw a rare thing for me in that I forgot my camera but figured my mate could take any pics , so when he left I knew it was down to improvising with my mobile if the unthinkable and I caught happened , well it did happen and after receiving a ridiculously fast take and a monumental battle I netted this 20lb 6oz common and thats when the fun began as balancing my mobile on my tripod and having to use a torch as a light I managed to take probably the worst picture ever .

I returned to the lake a week later but since my visit someone had posted a fish on clubs page and lake was busy , such is the nature of this lake that get 5 or 6 folk on and unless there is an end without anyone on the pressure puts them off , so I took myself off the the biggest lake on the complex .

Now I dont know much about this lake so had a good lead round , I found a spot at about 30 yards that where a foot deeper and clear of weed , so 2 rods got put out onto it with a big scattering of boilies , for my other rod I found a small hump at 90 yards , so 3rd rod went onto that and I scattered half a kilo with my throwing stick . Over the course of the next couple of hours leading into dark I was getting the odd bleep so turned in confident of action at around midnight I was awoken by several bleeps and I landed and returned a bream of around 6lb , strangely enough I dont remember anything clear about it . At 5am the other rod on the spot ripped off and I connected with a very angry carp which shot towards the margin to my right which actually went behind me , there was no way I could get into the water at this side and the fish hit the overhanging marginal trees and became stuck and after trying everything I could to free it the hook pulled , knowing this was a tough lake left me gutted , I slumped on the floor in front of my bedchair and stared at my rods , when out of the blue the left hand rod at 90 yards took off the tip flew round towards the left margin and by the time I lifted into the fish it was already in the margin trees on the opposite side to the last one but this time I could get in the water but not before struggling into my chest waders , I could see the branch the fish had wrapped the line round and began edging my way towards it ducking under other branches and finally getting to it I realised I couldnt wade close enough to it as the water was lapping the top of my chest waders but having struggled all this way not just with the rod but also the landing net I wasnt giving up and managed at full stretch to free the line the the landing net pole , I reattached the net to the pole and set about guiding the fish which had laid sulking a few yards further down the margin , it gave me no more trouble and I only wish I could have taken a picture as she came over the net cord and near eye level .

Back on dry land , it wasnt as big as it looked at eye level but I was more than happy with a lovely pristine 15lb 6oz common .

If I thought I couldnt top the last session I was completely wrong . My next session was to be back on m first choice lake plus my mate was back joining me , the first night was horrendous we endured torrential rain and gale force winds and on waking up I discovered that once again the clubs less than considerate members had driven their vehicles into the swim and the result was some nice ruts that had filled with water flooding my bivvy , I ended up having to scrape drainage channels with a back stick to free it up .

The wind continued to be very strong and we still had odd heavy showers and no action , now the spot I had my main rod on  was one I had been prepping for a few weeks by using a castable weed rake and regular top ups of bait to prime and this was my first time in it .

By the 2nd morning I was into my last lot of dry clothes and out of the blue my banker rod screamed off into the middle of the lake I lifted into it , the rod hooped over and sprung back , I retrieved the rig to discover my hooklink had cut off half way along . I stood and stared and thought not again , checking the time there was 3 hours of the session left and as unlikely as it was I decided it was worth putting a new rig on and recasting . The lead hit the spot right on the money and having sorted the captive back lead out , I set the bobbin and started to walk away just as I got level with the rod buts the rod incredibly was off again , from the moment I connected to the fish I just new it was special as it tested my CTX to the limit and after a good 20 minute battle I netted my first mirror from the lake . I put in my retainer and went to get my mate who was having a lie in and never heard my shouts for help . As soon as he saw the fish he said thats a 30 . Well on the scales she went 31lb 2oz a new pb and my first 30 , my mate did me proud with the pics and as is tradition with a pb when fishing with anyone I got a bucket of water over my head while returning her .

My last session to report is another happy event . I dropped into the same swim and incredibly after no action for 24 hours the same spot that produced the 30 again produced a bite and after another epic fight I netted a nice looking common . If breaking my mirror pb the previous week I was  shell shocked to find I had now netted a new pb common and 23lb 9oz .

Right now comes an unexpected end to this blog . I first went to Newquay when I was 19 and loved it and for the last 15 years I have been there with my lovely 2nd wife Lou , we love it down there and have spoken about wanting to retire down there . This year we went down and decided to just check out our options , we spoke to the lovely Liz a local PCSO about the good and bad areas and came up with a 5 year plan to find a suitable area and place . Well on the last day of our holiday we found the perfect place and suddenly our 5 year plan became a soon as possible plan . We returned home and sat down and worked some figures out and decided to go for it . The house went on the market , expecting a bit of a wait we were pleasantly shocked as it sold within 2 weeks , added to this the day after we agreed a price for our new home just 7 miles from Newquay and are now just waiting on the paperwork and contracts to be sorted . Theres a good chance that my next update will be from Cornwall .


Well thats all for now ,, I do have a 3 night session planned with my mate at the beginning of september a last hurrah before we move , plus a few shorter sessions which will be reported next time until thanks for reading and tight lines to you all


     

Not many fish

When I originally started this blog my fishing was alot different and fish came regularly but the last couple of years has , as those who read these ramblings changed to fishing in low stock , hard lakes . So updates have become less regular and at times not many fish to report . I have toyed with the idea of trying to do more regular posts but put other things in like , reviews of books , tackle and the like plus some stuff to start debates and thinking .

Now for an update , well still off work and seeing a private counsellor , which is starting to improve my mental state and get me back to work .
Since my last write up I have been chopping and changing between the lake and the river . Other than my annual roach session on local specimen lake which produced just 5 roach to 1lb 3oz and a 12oz rudd .

After this I spent the rest of december blanking on the lake . On the 31st december my wife Lou wanted to have a few hours on the Trent after her first barbel  so while she tried for one I stuck a chub rod out , our only bite came just as we were about to leave as Lou was feeling the cold , it fell to my rod and was a season high chub of 5lb 9oz

On the odd trip I did in /january I caught quite a few chub te smallest of which was 4lb 1oz and the biggest this 4lb 11oz . For some reason the Trent chub just didnt want to co-operate much and bites were very subtle and no matter what I tried could not get them to do the usual wrap arounds .

February I returned to the lake and other than dropping a fish on a session that turned a little cool , nothing much was happening .

For a while now I have been trying to find a multi sectioned frying pan that wasnt £80 or a Ridge Monkey . Finally ebayer came up trumps and for £16 I got this beauty that has been providing me a full English with changing items .

I returned for 2 nights on the lake at the beginning of march and despite things looking good nothing touched my baits . Unfortunately this session illustrated a down side , now any of the knowledgeable anglers reading this will know that gravel pit carp are easily spooked and aware of things on the bank side . So slamming doors , using bivvy mallets , parking your vehicle in plain view and worst of all marching into someones swim , will scatter fish . All of these things have happened to me including having people walking into my swim and shouting are you awake if I am not in plain sight plus walking right up to my rods , one of which is always in my own margin . I pointed this out on the clubs Facebook page and alot understood but others thought I was anti social and one said carp are used to all these things , yeah they are and they understand its a sign of danger . This particular session I was actually in an area that folk dont walk if someone is fishing but today I got 7 female oaps and 1 bloke coming through my swim , despite telling them I was fishing and their werent supposed to be walking there , they totally ignored me and carried on going and then the last woman managed to catch my unhooking gear with her foot and turned round and kicked it . luckily for her my meds have calmed me down . After this I took the action of putting perimeter tape up round my swim . Within a hour an old guy turns up with his dog and promptly tears it down and walks through , I asked what the hell and he just stuck his nose in the air and walked on .
Back to ebay and now got this sign for future sessions

Now I go fishing not just to fish but to chill my head , I am not anti social but I dont want my session ruined by inconsiderate anglers and other folk . If I didnt actually want to catch I would go camping somewhere .

My last session was done against my better judgement . A mate fancied a change and go to the old lake I fished , now I said I wouldnt fish there again but felt even though the usual suspects were still throwing shit about , 2 nights wouldnt hurt , well long story short mate set up to pull bream in and hope carp followed , while I went down the carp or bust road . Result was he had 4 bream and I lost a bream , session was cut short due to the heavy rain causing the lake to flood.

Now the fun begins , my mate left mid morning but I felt that the lake might not move much but sadly it became apparent that was not going to happen , I did a slow pack up and decided to have a couple of hours on the Trent next to lake , big boilie , 1 rod and see if a barbel was at home but after 45 mins I didnt feel like barbeling and left . I was gobsmacked when I had a post from a Facebook page where yet again my old friend and former bailiff had another of his insane rants and calling me a rather less than complimentary name and yet again told folk how he helped me with my last breakdown and got me into carp fishing . 1, the first breakdown was partially caused by his ranting about things and dragging me in , 2 , he got me into carp fishing , really check this picture out from 1985 .

The first of many carp from this particular club lake but as happened in the mid 90's I didnt feel the time was right to go all out carping , now thats changed but was my decision . Am sure someone will read this and pass it on , as thats the way the low lifes are getting their stories , nothing like a snake in the grass .One more thing , when is a birthday present not a birthday present ? Well it seems when you no longer talk to someone and sell it when think you should return it .

Anyway thats it for this time . I hope to get 2 nights on the lake next week . I cant tell you when next blog will appear but in the mean time if anybody reads this a has anything they want me comment on then feel free to let me know .


Tight lines

Where are the mirrors

Hopefully this blog will make sense and if not I can only apologise . The reason for this is that I have had a relapse in my mental health and have been signed off work initially for 4 weeks while my increased in strength meds take affect .

I will start off from where I left off last time . My next trip was after the tufty had become my first bite , settling into a new swim and using my marker float , I found 3 nice spots for my rods , 2 were bottom baits and the 3rd was a chod rig put into some light blanket weed surrounded by Canadian pond weed .

During the hours of daylight I received a few liners but saw no other activity , at 5.30am the following morning my middle rod gave out a few bleeps and on getting to the rod found the bobbin rising and falling , lifting into the culprit , I was relieved to see no birds around but the fight told me it was one of the lakes large bream and so it proved as 10.15 slid into the landing net .

The clarity of the lake was already starting to increase .

My next trip and again I started in a new swim , risking spooking any fish I had a good lead round and found a nice silt patch with a bloodworm bed . 2 rods were placed on it and then just to be different I placed a rod right in the left had margin near the bankside over hanging trees . I scattered 3 or 4 broken boilies and 2 handfuls of hemp in the margin and set my bivvy up well back from the waters edge .

At about 2.30pm the left hand rod in the margin absolutely shot round and the alarm screamed , after one of the best fights I have ever had from a carp and eventually lead a pristine common over the net cord . On the scales she went 20.04 .

No further action occurred on this session . My next session was to be more a few hours leading swims as I didnt have the night to play with , half way through my 3rd swim and signs of rain started , rather than go straight home I dropped in to the swim where I had the common and just put one rod down the margin . The wind suddenly increased in strength and swung straight at me and the rain went nuts , climbing into the back of the van with my receiver I shut the doors and sat to wait it out , I had 2 bleeps on my receiver and that was it , the rain eased and on getting out of the van the rod tip was bent round tight to the right , lifting the rod I could feel my lead running down the line then nothing , winding in I was gutted to discover I had been cut off on the margin zebra mussels .

My next 2 trips were in new swims that produced nothing , the lake was starting to fish even harder .

Success on my next trip though as dropped into a swim with some very deep water , 2 rods put on one spot and bait spodded over the top , the other was a chuck and chance it , hi viz pop up launched 70 yards into open water all on its own .

Nothing happened until 8.30am the next morning when I received what looked like a typical bream bite on the pop up rod but on hitting it , it became obvious this was no bream and after another epic fight another nice common slid into the landing net .

On the scales she pulled the needle round to 21.15 and a new pb !!!! A very happy Bob packed up a couple of hours later .

2 days later another new swim but no success but I did have some good fortune in that I met another member and after a long chat we agreed to help each other out through the winter .

A week later back over to the end of the lake I had the last common from but a new swim facing the same area of water . While setting up I saw half a dozen fish show , not all carp but a few bream as well plus some bubbling .

I decided to fish 2 rods on my normal tactics and the 3rd was deployed using a method similar to the ones the other member had mentioned . no action occurred til       when the bobbin did a yo yo impression and this time it proved to be another one of the lakes big bream that tipped the scales at 11.04 .

 I took a week off due to other commitments but on my return settled in to the swim the pb common swim . 3 different approaches , 1 rod hi viz pop up , 1 fished bottom bait over half a dozen broken boilies and the 3rd was the same as had produced the bream on the last trip . With no sightings of fish and no action all day I was just in the middle of a call to my wife Lou when the bream rod bleeped and the bobbin pulled tight and held there , after a wet sack of a fight I netted another bream that was obviously an old fish and didnt look its best that weighed 9.04

All was quiet and I retired to my sleeping bag , a single bleep around 10.30pm saw mr sit up and watch the bobbin pull quickly up the blank and the baitrunner ticking , bream or so I thought but no it was another common , that yet again went mental , relieved to get it into the net , up on the scales and 19.10 and just like the other 2 absolutely pristine .

My last trip was a 2 night affair that resulted in a blank but not before I lost an unseen fish that may have been a bream .

That brings this upto date , I am unsure of my next trip as I am concentrating on getting my head right but hopefully a nice quiet session at the lake will help .

Until next time when I hope to report my first December carp .

Take care and tight lines