I’ve been playing it by ear a bit with my fishing since my Bream sessions by doing what i’ve fancied at the time. The rivers are open but i’m not going to put any hard graft in on those until September when the nights are a bit longer and the temperatures a bit lower. I’ll stick to a couple of stretches close to home for the time being and see if anything decent turns up.
These past few days i’ve had one of those itches that needed scratching. Three years ago I fished one of my club waters trying to catch one of the few old gnarly Carp that were left in there. First trip I managed a 24 and then had a run of six consecutive blanks. I never really gave it much thought after that preferring to concentrate on other species and other places. In that three year absence, they stocked a few more Carp in the place and had heard that nobody had really been fishing it.
With that info to hand, I decided to have an overnight session to see what it was like. The good news is, I had the place to myself and looking at the records there had only been a couple of people fishing it this week. I had a wander round and noticed some fish in the shallows basking in the dense weed. A couple of them looked like real donkeys. With the sun out I expected to see quite a few fish cruising in the main basin but there was nothing so it was easy to decide where to fish and set about getting set up in the shallows byt which time the fish had vanished. I was hoping they had covered themselves in the weed making them difficult to see so, I carefully positioned myself away from the waters edge so as not to spook any fish. There was a nice clear patch among the weed and I managed to get a bait on there on the left hand rod, and put in quite a few free offerings around it to try and draw some fish in. The other bait on the right hand rod I put under the rod tip as that was the only other clear spot.
It wasn’t long before a fish drifted over the left hand baited area. I could see it was inquisitive as it circled before drifting off. It wasn’t long before it was back and started to pick up a few free offerings and then the bobbin shot up and the tip pulled round. Not one of the originals but a lovely Linear around 18.
An hour later and out of the blue the same rod was away again, this time a smaller fish around low doubles. A good start, two fish which were part of the new stocking but I was still hopeful of getting one of the originals.
I was just drifting off to sleep when I had a couple of blips on the left hand rod. These continued for what I think was about half an hour. I could see the bobbin lifting and dropping back. I knew they were liners but I was just hoping they weren’t Bream as I’d also had a couple in-between the Carp. Then just after midnight the rod was away again. A slow take and as I went to lift the rod I slipped and ended up in the lake. Scrabbling out, I picked the rod up and could feel a fish on but it had gone through the weed. Thankfully the weed wasn’t particularly strong. I was gaining line and then the hook pulled. Gutted, I put a fresh bait on and flicked the rig out again. It took a few attempts to get it on the small patch of clean gravel.
I got back in the sack, minus soggy trousers and socks, but it took quite a while to get to sleep. When you lose a fish you keep ruminating over what if anything you could do differently. Not fall in, would be a good start. Eventually, I managed to drift off and then just after 3am, the rod was away again. This time I managed to get to the rod without any accidents and tightened down in to what felt like a much better fish. Slow and ponderous it plodded around, burying itself in the weed before gently teasing it out. It’s about six feet deep close in so I couldn’t really see how big it was in the head torch. Then, as it made for the trees on my left I managed to get a quick glimpse. It didn’t look that big and in fact, it didn’t look that big when it went in the net. It was only when it started to go mental did I realise that actually it was a really good fish. Long and solid looking, I knew I was going to have to weigh this one and it was one of the original ones. Dark and moody looking, it was a male, he went 26.2 on the scales. Ecstatic, I sacked him up ready for first light in just over an hours time so I could get some pictures.
I looked at him on the mat and his proportions were just perfect. Big paddle like tail, thick wrist with a little orange tip on one of his pelvic fins so easily recognisable. I have no idea if it was one of the two big ones that I spotted when I arrived but i’m guessing it was.
I packed up just before 6am and headed home to do some work, happy with a great nights fishing. I might just come back here again and see if I can find his mate.
So, in the middle of May I had my last Bream session of the Spring. Another sixty hour session which, I have to say, I wasn’t confident about at all. Social media was abound with talk of bream spawning everywhere which, seemed a couple of weeks early. I managed to get a spot that I had wanted to try before. It looked bang on for a fish or two as I know it has done form previously but my confidence levels were low. High pressure, sunshine are not ideal conditions and as I was expecting, I blanked. Well, actually that’s not true. I actually had a couple of Eels but only small ones.
I then had a trip down my local cut after the Zander. Again, it’s normally a great place to get a bite but on my previous trip, i’d heard that it may have been electrofished. I really struggled on my second trip with one small Zander, a couple of small Pike and a Perch. Normally, it’s possible to get loads of bites and catch multiple fish. The Zander had just started to get to a reasonable size but based on the last two trips its looking increasingly likely that the rumours are true. If that’s the case then it may be a case of leaving it for a few years to see if it recovers before they zap it again.
Now, i’m trying to fit in a couple of Tench sessions before they spawn. I managed to do an overnight session this weekend which, should actually have been two nights but I managed to get my dates mixed up. I arrived at the pit after work on Thursday and was immediately attacked by the mozzies. Not sure what the attraction of my pasty cotton thin legs is but they were on me as soon as I got out the car. Thankfully I had brought my mozzie screen for my shelter otherwise things could have been a lot worse.
I managed to get set up for about half six which gave me plenty of time to chill out before it got dark. I hadn’t been settle long before the left hand rod was away and the tip pulled left. Lifting up It felt like a decent fish. Tench have always been a bit of a bogey fish for me. I’ve always struggled to catch them but I put that down to the waters that I generally fish for them. It was a half decent female though coming in at 6.10 and the omens looked good.
Just on dark, I had another screaming bite, only this time the fish made for the middle of the lake so I knew instantly it was a Carp. I had a feeling I may get the odd one although, this was only a small scrawny looking one and not the usual stamp of fish that you get here. It was a common and looked to be probably just into double figures.
A couple of hours later and another screaming run woke me from my slumber. Another Carp came to the net. This one was slightly bigger and spawned out. In my bleary state, I guesstimated it to be around sixteen pounds. Another one that didn’t look in the best of condition though to be fair.
Day broke and to be fair, I really couldn’t be arsed to open my eyes and look for fish. Instead, I chose to stay in my sleeping bag finally getting up around 7am. I rebaited and put fresh baits on. No more Tench were forthcoming but, I did get a Bream. Again, spawned out but in really good condition.
I had to pack in just after lunch which is probably not a bad thing. It was getting incredibly hot and I can’t say my expectations were high. Hopefully, I can get another trip in before the Tench start to spawn.
It’s been a few years since i’ve had a fly rod in my hand so when a friend of mine said he wanted to give Pike fly fishing a go it gave me a good excuse to blow the cobwebs off the rods and start chucking some flies about. The rods were still setup from about 4 years ago. A quick stretch of the line and changing the leaders and I was good to go.
The day started early and with a couple of hours drive we wanted to get there for when the doors open. Fishing a big ressie, I like to use the whole day as a lot of it can be spent motoring around trying to find the fish. We started off in a well known bay that is known to hold decent Pike at this time of year as it is where the baitfish go to spawn. Getting in to the neck of the bay to prolong the drift, we had one follow to the boat off a small fish. We then continued to drift down towards the tower in slightly deeper water.
First drift down and I had a savage take which turned out to be a Zander. A really dark fish that looked a bit spawned out but a proper, lovely looking fish.
We wanted to return to the bay and have another drift down but by now a number of trout boats had arrived so we decided to try a different area. We had a pootle around looking for any signs of fish on the depth finder. The bait fish were conspicuous by their absence but we did manage to find a few and despite fishing that area we had no signs of Pike, just a few nips from the resident Trout.
By now, we’d started to drift towards the dam wall when I had another solid take. Keeping deep and lots of head shaking I was starting to wonder whether it was a reasonable sized Trout before I could make out the shape of a Zander in the clear water. It looked a half decent fish and came in at 8.8. Despite seeing a few bait fish on the depth finder we didn’t have any more takes so decided to head back up to the bay in the hope that we could have a few drifts around there. To our annoyance, though, there were still a number of trout anglers in there so we decided to concentrate around the area where I had the first fish.
By now, evening had arrived and with no more takes we headed down to the dam wall. Immediately I had another take which resulted in another pristine Zander that looked around the 8 mark. We could see baitfish on the sounder so decided to see out the rest of the day here.
Several drifts in and out resulted in a few more takes before another sold hit which resulted in another Zander around the 6 mark. By now though, I think they had wised up and moved on. Annoyingly, we had run out of time and it was time to head back to the jetty. I’m sure if we could have had another hour then we would have found them again and maybe caught another couple of fish.
It had been a hard slog. On the water for about 10 hours we’d had a great day. It’s a shame we couldn’t find the Pike but, we have another day lined up in a weeks time and it’s fair to say my mojo is back when it comes to fly-fishing.
I’d booked the Friday off to get in three nights on my Bream water. The plan was to finish work at 4pm on Thursday and head down the motorway in time to be able to get setup before dark and fish through until Sunday morning. The first hurdle was actually getting to the motorway. I expected it to be quieter with it being half term but it was just as packed as ever. Anyway, with those shenanigans dealt with I eventually got to the water and found someone in the spot that I wanted to fish so I did my usual anti-social thing and setup as far away as possible. The wind was blowing into my bank, which was good, but over the next few days that I was going to be there, it was going to swing in all directions.
It’s funny how, when you are desperate to get the rods out, everything goes pear shaped. I managed to stick a hook in me, get a massive tangle on the first cast with one of the rods, clip up wrong, spods not going out properly. All first-world problems obviously. I took a breather and told myself to cool my tits and just slow down. Focus realigned, I managed to get everything out on the spots before dark and then set about getting the bivvy up. It was going to be a cold night apparently so made sure everything was zipped up nice and tight and set about having something to eat.
I had an early night, more in the hope that I was going to be awake most of it, landing monster Bream. I drifted in and out of sleep before one of the alarms sounded. Picking the rod up, I managed to steer it away from the other three. It’s difficult to tell how big they are but a few heavy nods as it got nearer the net made me think it was a half-decent fish. Even when it was in the net I couldn’t really tell. I knew it was a double and estimated it at a similar size to the 12.7 that I had on my last trip but I was ecstatic when the scales pulled past thirteen pounds and settled on 13.2 and a new pb. What a start!
13.2 – A new PB
I sacked the fish up as it was due to get light soon and wanted to try and get some half-decent self-takes. It was bloody freezing too with a sharp frost and I wanted to get warm. I recast the rod and lay on the bedchair while the kettle boiled. Sat warming my hands on the mug I heard an alarm give out another couple of bleeps. Shooting out the bivvy, I could see that I’d had a drop back on one of the indicators. I picked up the rod and felt a thud thud on the other end. Slowly, I gained line and before long I was starting down at another decent fish in the net. This one weighed 12.0. Two doubles in the space of an hour, i’ll take that. I released her and went back to my now cold cuppa.
By now, dawn was breaking and I took a few shots of my PB before slipping her back. I topped up the areas with a few spombs over each pair of rods and sat there in the hope that this was going to turn out to be one of those sessions that you dream about.
Breakfast done, and a bit of a tidy round before settling in to the morning. Checking out the weather forecast, we were going to be in for a wet Friday afternoon, in to early Saturday morning despite the fact I was sat having a coffee in half decent weather. If I did get any more decent fish at night, it was going to be tricky photographing them.
A couple of hours passed and i’d had my usual 10am coffee when I had a bite out of the blue. I wasn’t expecting any bites in the day so it came as a very welcome surprise. In the net, I could see if was another good double. It was great to get one in the day and not have to worry about all the faff of setting the camera up at night and not being able to see properly. On the scales she went 12.3. Wow, I still had the rest of Friday, all Saturday and Sunday morning to go. Speaking to the regulars, this place is only supposed to do one or two bites per session and here I was with three doubles including a PB to boot.
12.3
Was the day going to get any better? Well, in a nutshell yes. An hour later, another bite. This time a fish of 9.9. I have to say, I was slightly disappointed to get one that wasn’t a double. I know that sounds a bit greedy.
The rain arrived as expected at lunch and I was confined to the bivvy for the afternoon. I stuck on a podcast and had a little cat nap but I don’t like being confined to a bivvy. It doesn’t help when the wind is coming straight at you because you can’t open the door and look outside. Anyway, to raise the spirits I had another bite at 5pm. Someone must have rung the dinner bell. This time another double at 10.14. Five fish in less than 24 hours. I’ll take that anyday of the week.
The rest of the evening passed uneventfully, much to my disappointement but, I still had the night to come and I fully expected to get a couple more fish with the way the session was panning out. I had an early night as there was bugger all else to do. I couldn’t see out because the window was steamed up and my head was pounding for some reason.
I’m not sure what time I had the next bite, but I briefly bumped a fish. Reeling in, I could see the maggot had folder over the hook point masking it. Disappointed to miss an opportunity, I recast and got back in the bivvy. Again, it was to be early morning when I had the next bite. It came in relatively easy to start with as I don’t think it realised it was hooked. Then it just hung really heavy and started to give those headshakes that make you kak yourself and say “please don’t come off”. I could see the fish in the beam of the headtorch and could see it was another double. Looking at it in the net, I had no real idea of it’s weight. It looked a bit like the thirteen pounder that i’d had. Lifting it out, I was like “oh my god”. Either that’s heavy, or i’ve become weak while i’ve been asleep. On the mat, I still couldn’t really estimate how big it was. Hoisting her up, the scales went past thirteen, then past fourteen and then past fifteen before settling on a weight of 15.3. Sweet, baby, Jesus!! What a fish, an absolute beast and I had achieved my target of getting a fifteen pounder from here. I was not expecting that so soon.
15.3 – Target achieved
I’ll admit, after slipping her back I didn’t know what to expect next. I didn’t get chance to think about it because no sooner had I got back in my sleeping bag, I had another bite. This one weighing 12.6. Off with the soggy coat and bib and brace and back in to the sleeping bag only to have another bite an hour later from a 12.10. This was starting to get a bit ridic. Dawn was breaking by now and I figured it was pointless getting back in bed. I made a brew and updated my notes. What a red letter session this was turning out to be and i’d still got another 24 hours to go.
Saturday turned out to be a totally different day weather wise to previous day. The rain had gone to be replaced by sunshine which, although not great for fishing was a bit of a relief. It gave everything chance to dry out and could get the bivvy tidyed up a bit. I kept putting a few spombs out every six hours, more to keep the areas fresh than anything. The wind had changed direction now and was blowing down the opposite end of the lake. Would this take the fish and my chances with it? I always keep an eye on the air pressure and it had steadily been rising since i’d been there.
Not bites came at all during the day or evening. I’d still got the night to look forward to but I couldn’t help but feel that the change in weather had altered the fishing. I went to bed early having not slept great the last two nights, not that i’m complaining obviously. Just when I thought i’d probably had my fill, I was awoken by one of the alarms going off. I lifted up and felt the bump of a fish. Winding in, I hoped the fish had swam towards me but on this occasion i’d been done. I checked the bait and hook point and they were ok so recast and got back in bed. I’m not sure what happened next but I must have been in such a deep sleep that I thought i’d heard an alarm but didn’t wake up straightaway. Then, I definitely heard an alarm bleep. I put my head torch on and went outside to investigate. The bobbin on my right hand rod, we’ll call it the fourth rod, was on the ground. I picked the rod up fully expecting to feel a fish. It was odd though because the line was being picked up from the left. At that point, the indicator on my furthest left rod, we’ll call it the first rod, started to go off. Somehow, the fourth rod had managed to cross over the first rod even though they were nowhere near each other. I moved them up the bank after untangling them so I could rebait and recast them.
Then, the indicator on the second rod went off. Maybe there was a fish on that one. I picked it up and that was wrapped around the third rod. I managed to utangle it without too much hassle and moved that one out the way. The only rod that was left in the water was the third rod that hadn’t shown any indications at all. I picked it up expecting to be able to just wind it in, but lifted in to a deadweight on the end. What the hell was going off? You really had to be there to understand just how far apart these lines were from each other. It makes no sense as to how they could get crossed like they did. Anyway, I wasn’t complaining and I managed to steer the fish in to the net without any drama. This one weighing 11.8. I suppose the only consolation is, I could get all four rods back out with fresh baits and hope there were more fish in the area.
I got back in to bed and fell asleep until about 8am and I woke feeling tired and had that hungover kind of feeling. I managed to drag myself out and make a coffee and collapse in my chair scanning the water. Everything was still with no signs of any fish. The goosanders were fishing and the tufties were being there annoying selves and diving over the bait.
I had a bite to eat and made a second coffee before slowly packing away. I hate that part as i’m generally knackered and packing everything away seems to take twice as long as getting setup. Still, the journey home would be sweet as I could reminisce about the past 60 hours fishing. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to get nine fish. Maybe i’d just hit it right. You hear of those anglers that are in the right place at the right time but seldom does it ever happen to me.
I’m not sure what to do now. I’ve achieved my target for this year but do I keep going in the hope that I get one bigger? Or, do I do a bit of Tench fishing or get started on my Carp water earlier than expected? It’s a nice quandry to be in. I guess I don’t have to make a decision right now. I can sit back and relax and see what I feel like over the next few days.
I’ve just had my second session on the Bream water in search of a new PB. Originally, I was going to have to curtail my session from two days to one just taking in the Friday but, I managed to get everything boxed off a day early at work so decided to take Thursday off and revert back to my original plan of two days.
Wednesday night was full of anticipation and the alarm was set for 4am to get down there for a reasonable time. I arrived at first light to find I had the place to myself which, is always a bonus. The wind was barrelling into the easterly bank and I knew it had planned to do a full swing and switch to a NE the following day. I pushed the barrow with all my gear to the furthest point of the lake straight into the wind. Knackered, after two barrow loads, I got about setting up before the rain could set in.
I decided to dispense with my usual tactics of putting in ground bait and pellets and went for a more natural approach this time, just bringing maggots and worms. I put two rods at thirteen wraps and two at seventeen wraps in slightly deeper water. I put a spomb load of chops over each set of rods and decided to fish window feeders over the top. This way I knew there would always be an attraction close to my hookbaits.
It’s amazing how quickly you can start to paint a picture of a place after a couple of trips and talking to others. Bites came during the day last time and I was expecting the same this time but it was incredibly quiet. Fish spotting was difficult due to the strength of the wind and to be fair, I prefer it when I don’t see fish as I don’t think rolling fish are necessarily feeding fish. What I do know though, is that I absolutely love this kind of fishing. The peace and quiet, the rawness of the large expanse of water and never knowing when the next bite will come, or if it will come, all add to the excitement and enjoyment. I wish you could bottle those emotions.
an anglers diary 