tiddlertamer

The flip side of this is weighing and photographing a fish which probably should have gone back more quickly. The one really impressive fish of my life was a double figure barbel. It fought like stink - I have never known anything like it. The fight must have lasted more than ten minutes... it just wouldn't give up... respect But then I spent nearly a minute to release the hook which was quite tough to remove. Then I photogaphed it and went to put it back. It was the heart of summer and the water was not clearly not very oxgenated in the margins. The fish showed no signs of recovering. I therefore had to discard my boots and jeans and wade out into a much deeper stretch of the river and hold the fish against the the strong upstream current. The nettles on the bank were a touch irritating to say the least as I climbed in Glad I kept my pants on. The huge barbel showed signs of recovery and started to swim off though I can't to this day claim it swam off strongly rather than pull away from my grasp in mid water. A beautiful fish but more important than any picture...

Erm - I may be wrong but 113 may well be the number of different articles he has written in his blog... he sounds like he is a prolific writer and his photos are good too. Full respect to you as you are clearly one of the most knowledgeable people on this board but also respect where respect is due to this blogger who is producing what looks like a really interesting bit of writing.

Red Red Fin

Do grayling ever take the aerial route and leap into the air when hooked? Or is just trout that do that? Do game fishermen use barbed hooks in a bid to stop losing fish when they do leap out of the water?

Just wanted to add my name to those wishing scottca a speedy recovery and to thank you for highlighting this problem. I'm sure we'll all be more alert to this dangerous disease and the ways in which we can minimise the risk of getting it.

One of the real bugbears of being an angler based in London, is the 'joy' of using the tube during rush hour whilst laden down with fishing gear. Getting trains to and from the capital is easy in comparison. There's something about being angler that makes people use their normal inhibitions and I'd be a rich man if I was paid for every time I was asked by a complete stranger if I was going fishing. (The correct answer is to smile, a nod to mark their incredible powers of perception, and then resisting the sarcastic urge to say the net is actually for collecting butterflys...) If it's bad in the morning, getting a tube laden down with fishing gear in late evening as the pubs are throwing people out can be pure purgatory... Though I don't target bream, I bet you'd get a bit more space around you on the carriage if you've had a particularly succesful session and are still covered in slime though...

How did it go? Well if you want a tale of an expert angler landing huge coarse fish after every cast, then that could prove to be a bit of a problem... But what I can do is give those who offered so much useful advice (Thanks Chris and Rusty and everybody else), an insight into my day on the Kennet river bank. Anyone in the south of England remember Friday, November 5, 2010? Well it wasn’t very good bonfire weather. One word sums it up. Wet. It was dry however when I got up and travelled across London by tube to catch the first direct train to Kintbury from London’s Paddington Station. Sadly, a delay in a tunnel followed by a queue from hell in the ticket office meant that train was missed by fifteen seconds. I saw the darn thing leave – and I kicked my heels for 59 minutes and 45 seconds waiting for the next one. The day could only get better. Of course, this being an angling forum you want to all hear about fishing exploits. But let me just set the scene for a touch longer. As the train made its way through the countryside, all those apocalyptic weather forecasts of heavy rain looked so wonderfully wrong. And then the first spits of drizzle started to line the train windows... By the time I had paid for my day ticket and made my way to the upstream stretch of river and tackled up, it was nearly midday, and I realised that I had less than five hours before darkness fell. And the drizzle didn’t seem to be going away as the weather forecasts predicted... Anyway, so here’s the fishy bit. Don’t blink. I actually had my fist bite within ten minutes. It came off instantaneously. The next bite came after 20 minutes and this time I was given the runaround by a brown tout just under 2llb which put up a real scrap. I know I shouldn’t but I enjoyed the fight. Bit of a guilty pleasure catching trout on maggot but respect to the creature. It fought like stink. At this stage the rain was drizzling down from the sky but my waterproofs were coping. So then I moved downstream in search of coarse fish. Along Heron’s Delight to those that know BC well. Five roach were soon landed. All about the two mark. Ounces that is... And three dace though none led me to getting the scales out. Meanwhile, the rain started to get heavier... And then I hooked something huge which soared out of the river before crashing back in and throwing the hook. I’m fairly sure it was a trout but all I saw was a flash of silver. Maybe a rainbow. I hope it wasn’t a grayling – they don’t jump do they? Whatever it was it was huge. Would have fought like stink I’m sure but my barbless hook didn’t hang in there. Then just as I reached the end of Heron’s Delight, intent on fishing the railway cut, two other fishermen appeared and grabbed the first two swims. I walked past them but it was a bit like jungle warfare and I regretted having tackled up my 13 foot float road rather than my 11 foot Avon. A retreat was called for and I headed for Gunters. I switched to the shorter rod and also switched from maggot to lob worms as bait, in search of perch. No perch were interested but I wasn’t surprised as the rain was coming down in torrents. I don’t have a religious bone in my body but if I did, I would have put my rod down and started building an ark. A discarded bait box left without a lid for five minutes would have resulted in drowned worms or maggots. I would only have felt wetter if I’d fallen in. If I was a fish I'd have gone for a walk in the neighbouring fields... And Gunters made the railway cut look cultivated. Jungle warfare seemed an appropriate description. I wouldn’t have been surprised if a Second World War Japanese infantryman had tried surrendering to me... A switch back to the Middle Cut for the last half hour saw another trout surge into the air and throw his barbless hook again. A trick I was beginning to tire from... Finally I hooked into another fish and this time I landed it. Another trout... And that was that – darkness descended and this coarse fisherman trudged off down the path to the station, knowing I'd had a grueller, but happy nonetheless. Fishing can put a smile on your face, even if because it keeps you outdoors in conditions more suitable for scuba diving...

Thank you everyone for all the advice. It really is very much appreciated. Well I've dug out the waterproofs. Looks like the morning will be wet but I'm hoping, in an alarming display of optimism, that this will freshen up the river rather than turn it into a milky tea colour. Forecasts appear to indicate the rain will disappear in the afternoon before coming back in the evening to dampen down everybody's bonfire nights. 30 lob worms, three pints of maggots and some hemp are the bait. Should keep me going! I'll leave the bread at home in the hope of catching large perch... It sounds like Gunters is an interesting stretch and one I've never fished before. Which bank is accessible - the one nearest the railway line or the one nearest the middle cut? And is the railway slip best fished at the downstream or upstream end? PM if you are worried about giving away your state secrets! The morning can't come too soon...

You have me bang to rights on the location. Hoping for something a bit more 'coarse' in the way of fish though... I hear perch, roach, chub and dace are in there but my experience in catching them is limited.

Thanks guys - your help is much appreciated. In fact, from reading Chris's article I've realised the spot I'll be fishing actully falls within the middle reaches of the Kennet. The water sounds like it is low. The good news is the weather forecast. A barmy 17 degrees and cloud with drizzle. Sounds perfect. Even I couldn't blank... could I

After a very busy month at work, I've finally got this Friday off and fancy a fishing trip to the Upper Kennet. What sort of condition is it in? Does it need more water? Is there a tinge of colour? I wouldn't normally post such a specific subject on a fishing board but I know that Anglers Net is swarming with people who live closer to the Kennet. You lucky people you!

Good point Anderoo. Police state? It seems like only yesterday I had to step in front of a tank in Timsbury Square only for the army to go behind my back and crush all the protesters. Er, or was that Tiananmen Square?

I'm sure everyone to a man on this site (and woman!) believes you... But a £1.99 lead won't hopefully break the bank. And it will enable you to look again at your triumphs and share all with everybody on this forum. It could really bring your stories to life.

Just pop into a local mobile phone shop, buy a lead and download the photos to your computer or a photo site like Flickr or Photobucket. Simples.

Next you'll be telling us you've never blanked...

Yup - I agree too. 3lb perch are as rare as hen's teeth. Most fisherman carry a camera now in case they get the fish of a lifetime. If you don't have phoographic evidence, people will of course just think it's a fisherman's tale.

Advice appreciated.

Sorry to become an obsessive knot bore. Quite ironic for someone so ham fisted with his knot tying ability... But I'm looking for advice on tying on a hook length. (Even though I've always been a fan of fishing without them, it's good to have options!) Is the loop to loop or water knot method most effective?

Thanks again everybody for their advice. Vis a vis where I am fishing, it will be on Thames tributaries including the Lee, Mole and Wandle. Probably on quite upstream stretches of the Lee where it is quite narrow. Probably not the Thames itself which I have fished around the Windsor area but found it to be a real challenge. In summer whilst fishing on maggot I got completely swamped by bleak - I've never come across so many bleak! I'm sure it's no secret to post online that the Thames is probably the best place to get a really large perch at the moment but there is something about the intimacies of a smaller river which presents different challenges and which I find more appealing. That being said, some real monsters have come out of the Thames this autumn... Vis a vis hook lengths vs fishing straight through, I always thought one of the main reasons for fishing a hook length was if you got snagged you wouldn't lose your terminal tackle. Anderoo - fishing 6lb double strength as your hook length and another type of 6lb line as your main line surely negates this?

Thanks for all the advice. Much appreciated. My current perch personal best is only 1lb 1oz though I did lose one almost twice that weight at the net once whilst trotting on the Hampshire Avon. There does appear to be a groundswell of opinion in favour of using a hook length. I feel tempted to follow this advice. But I do have a few questions. Doesn't it make more sense to have a lighter hook length than main line. Anderoo - does your 6lb mainline actually have more strength than the 6lb double strength hooklength? And is the loop to loop knot solution or water knot solution most effective in joining a hook length to the main line? Or should I just use a swivel and any old knot? Maybe not a granny knot though.

Good point. I have in fact bought some pre tied hook lengths but struggled on the river bank when attaching to the main line. I believe the following two methods are popular. The first method is to tie a loop knot in the main line and then feed the hook length loop over the main line loop and then feeding the hook back through the main line loop before pulling tight. I struggled with this technique on the bank as my loop knots on the main line were a bit ham fisted. The second method is the water knot. This looks simpler on paper as it just entails one manouver with both lines. Which is most effective? See: http://www.pleasurefishing.com/html/knots.htm

The rod will be one of two: A Hardys Marksmen 13ft specialist float rod - rated for reel lines between 2lb and 5lb or A 11ft John Wilson Signature Avon rod - rated for reel lines between 3lb and 8lb. I tend to like fishing more tucked away swims, often with lots of trees and foilage nearbye so am increasingly using the 11ft rod for practical reasons. ie I don't strike into branches... A lack of hooklengths is partly down to laziness but also the fear that with my all thumbs approach to knots, especially in cold weather, two knots increases the chances of a knot failure compared to just one... Poor excuse methinks but honest if nothing else...

Should I be using barbed or barbless hooks when using lob worms as bait for perch? I've heard arguments for both. I must admit I've only recently sneaked a few barbed hooks into my tackle box, bigger sizes only, to keep a lobworm on the hook.

4.4lb then if my calculation/conversion from 2kg is correct... And just when I was beginning to gain confidence in lighter lines... ho hum Better to use a beefier line I guess and land something rather than risk losing it in snags... A vist to the tackle shop may be in order...

I fancy spending some time float fishing for big perch this autumn. The bait will be lobworms and these will be trotted into likely looking swims? I fancy a change from trotting maggots and picking up lots of small fish. What lb line should I use? I like to fish straight though rather than use a hook link. My reels currently have 2.9lb, 3.4lb and 6.9lb Drennan float fishing line. But what is the ideal breaking strain? Finally, any tips as to what distinguishes a good perch swim from a good chub swim?