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the downs and ups of a pleasure angler

Entries in this blog

Lure fishing 3.10.11

A bright sunny day with reasonably high pressure, so I decided to leave the roach campaign and have a crack at lure fishing at dusk, on the basis that it might be the last good day for it this autumn. I went to a swim where, on a similar day 2 years ago, I had two high-double perch and a 5lb chub in 5 casts! But alas, I was without my trusty Mepps Aglia Hot Tiger no 3, and the larger lures I used were not appreciated by whatever was in there. Zilch.   So I moved to a tree on the canal where I

The Flying Tench

The Flying Tench

Around Colthrop (1 Nov)

2.30-5pm WT 10degC, 3 deg up on last week.   Not a lot to report, but I thought I should say something to show I am still alive, and also because I was fishing similar places to Rusty and Steve in Rusty's blog re 31st Oct.   Today was meant to be a roach day, but the sky was far bluer than the weatherman predicted, and for some reason I thought dace would be a better bet than roach. I headed off to the little weirpool at the start of the Aldermaston, where on a previous occasion I had one

The Flying Tench

The Flying Tench

Roach again 26.9.11

Went to the same swim as last week, a roach swim on the canalised river Kennet. Fished just over an hour at dusk, trotted bread. Air pressure a bit high so I wasn't too optimistic.   5 roach, mostly small, but one nice 14 oz fish. the best I have had from that stretch. Very pleased. Also one perch of about 6oz. I've had pike on bread before, but never perch!   I'm starting to get some confidence in using bread, ready for getting a monster when it gets colder! Though the good fish was caugh

The Flying Tench

The Flying Tench

A couple of modest ladies Nov 8

3.45-4.45pm   What to do? A sharp drop in temperature, an inch of rain in the last day or so, and the afternoon bright and clear, unlike the forecast. Also I was even more short of time than usual. I played safe and went down to the Lambourn. It seemed terribly shallow and clear, and to a non-expert like me it seemed surprising that the EA's decision to lower the weir would improve the fishing. Still, only one way to find out.   I trotted maggots and had a couple of half pound grayling an

The Flying Tench

The Flying Tench

Rumours of roach Monday 15 Nov 2010

I heard of some decent roach coming from the canal, but the bad news was that the weather was forecast to be clear and sunny. Still, there was hope as it was also meant to be foggy, clearing slowly in places. I figured the roach would like the fog, so did something almost unheard of for me - got up early!   Actually my wife's alarm normally goes off at 6.30am, but my normal response is to groan and sink into a kind of pseudo dream world where I am dictator of the world, and think of all the h

The Flying Tench

The Flying Tench

Easy carp 30/5/11

The couple of days after my last entry on Feb 14 the back wasn't too good, so I decided to leave fishing till the weather improved. Didn't fish despite the warm April (well - April!), and then we've had cold evenings through much of May which I didn't think would inspire the fish or my back. I finally got back to the bank through a promise to try and help a novice angler catch a first carp - not a difficult task, you would think. We went to WW, a local easy carp water, and despite getting drench

The Flying Tench

The Flying Tench

Where are the roach? Nov 3

2.30-5pm   Had heard of some good bags of roach from 2 of the local lakes a couple of weeks ago, so turned up at Dobsons which I have scarcely fished before. WT 10degC. Gave it half an hour, but not a touch. Wondered what to do. What would a REAL roach angler do? I went to a part of the canal where, a few years ago, they got good bags of nice roach. A strong downstream wind. Had always reckoned that a downstream wind was Ok for trotting as you can control the speed of the float, but found it

The Flying Tench

The Flying Tench

Rusty's chub live again!

Monday 27 Sept, 3-6pm   With Rusty's permission I decided to have a crack at his chub. I passed by earlier in the day and had a look, and at least one of them was there. But as Rusty had found, they weren't easy.   First I tried lure fishing - and just lost a couple of good lures. Then I tried a popped-up lobworm. I must admit I was a bit worried that my ham-fisted lure fishing might have spooked them. Also, even with the rod set up with the tip high the pull of the current racing through

The Flying Tench

The Flying Tench

Wye trip 18-20 July

A repeat of last year spending 2 nights in a b&b in Ross-on-Wye - though the river was 2 feet lower than last year, so I didn't know what to expect, as I think barbel like a bit of rain.   On Sunday eve fished a peg in the town stretch. An angler packing up had had 2 barbel, so I took over his swim and was reasonably expectant. He advised me to cast out to the edge of the main flow. Lots of yanks, shakes and bangs, but few real bites. Had 2 chub, and lost a third. I fished an hour into d

The Flying Tench

The Flying Tench

Lots to look at!

Well that's the positive spin on 3 blanks! I think the real problem is that I'm a pleasure angler who aims a bit high for the hours that I'm able to dedicate. But they were still 3 enjoyable sessions.   21 June. Went down to the syndicate lake at lunchtime, and there were loads of carp in the shallow end in the hot sun. I threw in a few dog biscuits, and one or two were taken, and I gambled on them growing keener in the evening. But they weren't!   28 June. Had a crack at the crucians on a

The Flying Tench

The Flying Tench

Lambourn 30.1.12

Quite cold (AT 3degC dropping to 0degC). I decided to have a crack at ledgering for grayling. The main reason was so I could have gloves on to keep my little handy pandies warm, but I also wondered if I'd be able to get a bait into one or two places that my trotting skills aren't adequate to reach.   I'm aware that some anglers reckon you shouldn't ledger for grayling because of the risk of them swallowing the hook, but I tried it a few years ago on a different river and didn't have any probl

The Flying Tench

The Flying Tench

Kennet weirpool 20.2.12

3.30-5.30pm   The plan was to fish with maggots and lobs for perch, chub and maybe trout. From which locals may be able to deduce the weirpool! But when I arrived, although the AT was 9degC, I was shocked to see the WT was still only 5degC, which I feared might not be to the liking of sergeant stripey.   So it turned out. I started with trotted maggot to try and find out where the fish were, but didn't get a touch. Switched to lobworm with maggot feeder, and chose to try a number of places

The Flying Tench

The Flying Tench

Lambourn 13.2.12

3.45-5.15pm A welcome relatively mild day, with AT 6degC. My original plan was to go for perch on the canal, but in the end I decided the water temperature might still be too low, and went trotting on the Lambourn.   There were a lot of people around, including some youngsters, being half-term. A couple of boys aged about 11 were fishing. One combined a 5ft float rod with waders to be an effective grayling catcher. The other, amazingly, was trying to fly fish with proper fly line but only a

The Flying Tench

The Flying Tench

Different weirpool 27.2.12

3.30-6.10pm   A nice grey day, and after such a warm week I thought it would be a great day for perch. But the news in the tackle shop was that the fishing was still hard, and my back was playing up which limited where I could get to. So I went to a free weirpool which I used to fish a few years ago.   First thing I did was to check the WT. At 8DegC it was a rise of 3degC in just a week. My spirits rose and I thought the perch would be going wild, but it soon became apparent that things we

The Flying Tench

The Flying Tench

Blankety blank

June 4, 18, 25   Just for the record, 3 short dusk sessions. The first on Warwicks Water to try and get some quality roach, the last two on Dobsons to try and connect with the bream. Blank on each occasion apart from a few small roach.   Beautiful evenings, though ............

The Flying Tench

The Flying Tench

Private weir pools

Mon 2 July 4.30-5.45pm   Well having blanked a couple of times I decided to try something easy, but things didn't look too encouraging with light rain in the morning forecast to get progressively heavier during the day. Also the back was playing up a bit, so I wanted somewhere where I didn't have to walk too far carrying tackle, and could realistically fish for just an hour or so.   I went to 2 private weir pools I am priviledged to be allowed to fish. The first is on what is really a fork

The Flying Tench

The Flying Tench

Carp on the top 28.5.12

8.30-10pm. What on earth to do on the evening of a hot bright day? I couldn't better Rusty's recent idea of trying for Carp on the top, though not being quite as perverse as him I went to the 2 lakes nearby that are supposed to have carp in them! I first looked at the bigger lake, but there was no sign of activity, so I tried the smaller easier one.   I then realised I had left some of my tackle behind, so had to go back home and didn't start till 8.30pm. It was amazing - the carp were very a

The Flying Tench

The Flying Tench

Valentine's Day Lady Hunt

I've been off for 3 months with a back problem. No big deal, but it didn't seem wise to risk it fishing in the cold weather. So the main aim today was to see how the back was, particularly standing for a while, and I decided on a short trip to the Lambourn for Grayling (Walton Way for info of locals).   Locals will know that the EA have done clever stuff heaving in loads of gravel so it's faster and shallower than it was. I find it rather tricky, for example, guessing how far the loose maggot

The Flying Tench

The Flying Tench

Lemington Lakes 17.7.12

On the way back from my Wye trip I called on an old friend in Moreton-in-Marsh, and after an excellent lunch went to try Lemington Lakes, a commercial fishery only a mile away. If nothing else it would be an interesting contrast to the Wye! I had seen a feature on the roach fishing there in an angling mag, though I think a lot of the roach have since been transferred from Westminster Lake to Priory Lake and Abbey Lake. After parking the car the first lake I came to was Abbey, and a carp angler t

The Flying Tench

The Flying Tench

Chub attack - failed 5.3.12

5.30-7pm   WT lower than I expected at 6degC. AT also 6degC at start, but getting colder, and the wind was biting.   Tried 3 swims in town centre where the sun, or rather West Berks Council, always shines, but never felt I was going to catch. Wasn't enjoying it, so cut my losses and went home earlier than planned.

The Flying Tench

The Flying Tench

River Lambourn - can the scales lie?

3 - 4.30pm. Because of back trouble I'm trying to fish where I can sit for a fair bit of the time; but with a cold day, clear sky, but not particularly high air pressure, I decided I decided there was not much option other than to try for some grayling. At least I could see how the back coped.   I haven't fished the Lambourn in earnest since the work done by EA, and the river is currently very low, so I wasn't too sure how my limited trotting skills would cope with the clear, fast, shallow

The Flying Tench

The Flying Tench

Maggot feeder 14.11.11

I had a good session on the flowing canal 5 years ago when it was bite-a-chuck small dace on maggot feeder, and through sheer luck I ended the session with a pb perch of 3lb 3oz.   The weather today was OK, AT up to 12degC and quite cloudy, but I didn't like the high pressure and east wind. Rightly or wrongly I thought the dace and perch wouldn't mind this as much as the roach, so I decided to try and emulate 5 years ago - partly in the hope that the dace would be bigger by now.   Alas I

The Flying Tench

The Flying Tench

Float-ledgering in the rain 19.12.11

3-4.15pm   I once heard a rather feeble joke about someone who kept banging himself on the head cos it was so nice when he stopped. (There may also have been something about him being an editor.) But that's what it felt like today, fishing in very cold rain - though I realise it's nothing to what some of you barmy people do, fishing for hours in freezing cold!   The sky was cloudy so I decided to try for perch, but on reflection the WT of 4degC may have been too cold. But my real aim was t

The Flying Tench

The Flying Tench

Are anglers mad? 2.1.12 2.45-3.30pm

Blue sky and cold. As others have observed, not the greatest. So I decided on a short session on the Lambourn after grayling - the less popular local bit as, being bank hol, I thought the other bit might be crowded.   It had clouded over by the time I got there, so hopes rose until I started to tackle up and a storm most foul erupted. Not a thunder storm, just a shower, but a fierce wind blew in my face and the combination of wet cold hands, wind, tangles etc defeated me. Are we anglers mad,

The Flying Tench

The Flying Tench

Near blank at Speen Moors

A friend mentioned he'd had some reasonable roach at SM in the summer, and I thought I'd see if they were still there. Other commitments usually mean I can't get to the bank till about 2.30pm at the moment, and today it was nearly 3pm before I had a line in the water.   Trotted magic bread as usual. Amazed how much water was coming through, given the recent lack of rain. Just 3 small ones and I didn't have the feeling there was going to be anything of note; and then there was quite a heavy sh

The Flying Tench

The Flying Tench

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