Neil G

Started already fishing for pike and perch (well, never really stopped apart from the close season!). Lookiing forward to frosty days and soaking a few deadbaits!

Scoped Chew out at the weekend and water levels look pretty low. All tickets to the trials sold out in Jan so I will be going there on the fly in the next couple of weeks before the circus arrives in town! N

Ha Ha, I'll have to remember that for next time!

Indeed but all I'm saying is all the information is readily available and should be looked at beforehand. I'm a big fan of summer piking and have had no experiences of pike dying after capture so am not going to take the advive of many who only fish for them after October the 1st because they want a pike full of spawn in the new year which is going to be a few pounds heavier! I think using ones loaf and proceeding using the upmost care to the fish is the most important thing. In saying that though there is something special about walking down to the river on a cold frosty morning to soak a few deadbaits!

I racked up 48 hours of blanking at the weekend trying to catch catfish. Venue was lovely but other fishermen weren't...why should everyone else have to listen to football on the radio because one plum want's to! Need to get back to the river and in the 'comfort zone' fishing for esox

Plenty of literature available on the net regarding pike welfare the PAC probably being the best. Piking does seem to be 'policed' heavily and a lot of people telling you how to suck eggs! Stick with the lures and you'll eventually succeed!

Reasons to be cheerful: 1. Because it can't get any worse 2. The cold/wet weather is coming and with the exit of the summer it takes all the fools/noddies with it.

A good read that I'm fairly new to barbel fishing and have had good results so far apart from this year (river too low and weeded up). I firmly believe that barbel aren't actually that hard to catch really, just a case of keeping the tackle simple and just being in the riight place & time when they're on the munch. When they've got their heads down they don't seem to be too fussed about much else!

Cheers, I drove home a happy man that day (for once) That reservoir is so clear and you can watch the tench feed and cruise round the edges....they were at times probably around six feet or so from the edge! Only problem with Cheddar is it can get very windy/choppy, it did just that later in the day and I had to abandon the mission!

Haven't been pike fishing once yet this season but I'm going to dust off the lure rod and fly rod and try and get out this week. Problem at the moment is water levels, not even the chub or barbel are interested round my way so not sure the pike would be up for it.

Never caught a Tench before so really wanted to tick that box. Loaded up and drove down to Cheddar Reservoir a few weeks back when it was very hot, got there to find the reservoir low and as bleak as ever! Started fishing with the usual groundbait, sweetcorn & maggots and no sign of them then after lunch lots started turning up and showing a reasonable interest in my sweetcorn...I got quite excited watching these fish feed in quite large numbers in and around my bait. A cyclist rode by and I watched the fish spook and go further out so I changed to a block feeder filled with maggots and a maggot clip hairigged. Baliff turned up to check tickets and we chatted for a bit until the sound of baitrunner going made me get to the rod quick to stop the fish getting buried in the thick weed. All went pretty well and I got excited when I saw the fish on the surface for the first time as I it was quite a sizeable specimen...just didn't want to loose it so was very aware of all the weed. Anyway, here it is...not going to say the weight of this as I don't want to argue about stuff like that, all I can say is it definately an amazing catch for a first of the species and I'm itching to go back!

Good result with the barbel, I haven't had one so far this season!

Agree, they won't eat everything moving and if your cat anglers are putting in lots of pellets which I'm sure they will be they'll probably happily gorge themselves on those! I really enjoy catfishing and think their a fantastic fish to catch but it's still not great to have the dynamics of a lake changed for a particular species which upsets a lot of the members. I think if your really concered about the issue the best thing to do would be to contact the CCG (Catfish Conservation Group) as they would be likely be able to answer questions regarding stocking/predation etc.

Well done, looks like a nice fish and a first of any species no matter how big always puts a smile on the face! I've yet to catch a Tench but am heading over to Cheddar next week to try and catch one...be more than happy with something like that

Not overly excited, the river will still be there in a weeks time lol .Probably go pre baiting tommorow and let all the masses do their thing at the weekend before starting to fish after work next week

Barbel in my local stretch of river are TBH reasonably stupid, not sure what they're like in other areas though where rivers are perhaps shallower, clearer or even pressured. Chub are a pain, can really ruin a swim but not much can be done about it but to just ignore the rattles and wait.... Good luck, I'm definately looking forward to barbel fishing this year more than anything

You won't be dissapointed, very good hooks and can take a fair bit of abuse used in rocky locations. Usually use size eights with 10/12mm pellets or boilies

PFFA usually have one over at Chew which is very close to me an dworth going to. I'll have to check details on that but I think it's in April

Nice writing Goosequill I've been lucky enough to see close up kingfishers stalking and hunting prey...TBH on the Avon where I fish they seem to be everywhere these days which is nice. My thoughts now are turning to gravelly runs & barbel but that all seems a long way off

Wow, maybe I should learn the basics at Cheddar then sign up! Anyone planning any lure/fly piking in the summer? I know it's often frowned upon but I've always found the piking to be better than in the winter with no fish showing any signs of distress.

Love to go but I think I'm going to be very short on time this year building an extension on my house & getting married!

I think the 2009/10 season is one I'd like to forget as well...utter shite to put it mildly. My love of pike fishing dwindled along with the ever diminishing pike stocks in the river so I had to resort to barbel fishing most of the time lol The highlight though and a goal achieved was catching a wels...okay, small at 15lb but was great to see. Going back for more this year.

Never caught a Tench but I think with my declining interest in Piking it's time to hit up a local reservoir known for good tench (Cheddar) to have a good go! Funny the piking as it definately has steadily declined since 2007...back then 4/5 doubles a session was commonplace...now your lucky to catch one! The big fish are still there as I heard but there's obviously fewer of them and they're harder to find!

Very nice, wish there were pike like that in my stretch of river like there used to be

The thing is there has been no pressure...it's only the good weather and end of season that brought out all the part timers, us few die hards/loonies have been fishing all winter (when the river has actually been fishable). I'm sure there will be some of our eastern european friends fishing on regardless of the close season....same old story on the Avon every year!