SpecimenSean

Ok so in the past ive not done a whole lot of river fishing. Ive fished the top weir (bottom of the main park) and had a 7lb Barbel and over the last few weeks had a few trotting (if i can call it that ha) sessions and had a few nice grayling. But basically im making it up as i go along. The biggest problem i had was line control. And im only using a fixed spool reel. Basically i just had the bail arm off and was hand feeding more line everytime the float dipped. This is confusing though, cos some of them could of been a fish! Most of the time i only realised i had a fish on the end when i retrived the float! This being said, iam now fully hooked (pardon the pun) on the river and am getting very giddy at the prospect of making this my new project and mastering the beast. For those of you who dont know the river, most of the sections i will be fishing flow quite moderatley, the best section ive fished so far (in my personal opinion) is a bend with a small sandy beach to fish from. The bend flows steadily until about 100 yards down where it shallows off and turns quite white. On the opposite bank is a sand stone cliff, and part of the flow leads round a small island with a backwater. Ok so, tips on trotting and also feeder fishing on the river. Also, if there are any local boys around, personal tips on tactics, bait and location (park stretches preferably) would be much apprcieated (sp?) as well. Looking forward to what you have to say. Cheers guys Sean

but seriously, anything over 6'' is good for eating. Stick them in a bucket of fresh water for 24hrs to purge all the nasty stuff from their gut, and then boil them and eat with butter, lemon and crusty bread! There awesome, really really good. If anyone lives nr Poynton Pool in Stockport, its infested. Walk down the field side bank and just look in the water, you'll find them soon enough!

Grayling today Such a beautiful fish isnt it!!

Leave the carp and take the crayfish! Much nicer anyway!

Ok maybe this has been answered but heres my 2 cents. Yes, catching good size Tench is possible, even in the middle of winter. Although there are some tricks you need to know. First of all is the location. You need to find a small pond that holds a good head of Tench. Big gravel pits and lakes wont work. A small mill pond or something, with a decent margin and overhangs etc. Once you find your target lake, then choose 1 swim that you are religiously throughout. Now heres the trick, feed this swim up as often as you can, even on days your not fishing. Picking a local pond is good because you can easily find the time to visit and pre bait when your not fishing. Eventually fish will find the swim, and, if you keep the food going in they wont move off to much and will also keep feeding. You have to remember that fish feed less in winter not becuase there not hungry, but because there are using more enery keeping warm. If they can find a good supply of food, with little effort, they will feed and continue to feed until the food stops. Ive been feeding a swim throughout October and yesterday (Nov 1st!) had a 7,7lb, fin perfect Tinca and ive been on today to feed up and there was plenty of bubbling. Do this and i promise you will catch tench all year round!

hasnt someone just beaten the Perch record on the Thames? I saw a news thing somewhere but cant find it now :S

Golden Orfe & a Grass Carp

Depends on the water, the bottom, what they feed on. Ive fished and raked hourly with dynamite results, other waters it kills it for the day. A muddy or silty bottom is usally good for regular raking as the only thing being distrubed is just that, throwing all the worms, grubs, larvae etc up into the water eventually settling on the bottom for the tench to come in and eat. When im doing this i dont put much if any bait in, maybe some black groundbait with chopped worm or casters and a BIG lobworm on the hook. Ive even used slugs and beatle larvae (easily "pond dipped" like when we were kids ) with excellent results. If the swim is very weedy i'll come the day before as pulling up lots of weed really disturbs the swim too much (although id like to hear if anyone has had different experiences) and also releases lots of smelly gases from rotting, dead weed which i think, and this is only personal opinion, the fish can smell and stay away from. I then bait it up with lots of dead maggots and chopped worm. I was told once that if you dont like the smell and even taste of something, a fish probably wont either! One reason i always flavour my **** smelling maggots!

I know a small pond that next to no one fishes. This 1/2acre pond im sure contains a record breaking Crucian, probably more than 1, and also BIG Orfe. This pond is a fish haven and also a haven for the small amount of people who fish it. I love walking through the woods, getting on the bank at 4am in the summer, wet grass and mist and plenty of bubbles. But if this pond was well known, considering its location (its that hard to find) and its small size, it would soon be overrun. For that fact, i would never claim a record from a pond like this. A commercial fishery would be a different story altogether though, and i'd happily claim a record for a fish i wasnt "primarily" fishing for. There arent many (if any) methods that only catch 1 fish. Tench when carping, perch when piking, you know! My first proper post, made it a good un!

Hi guys! Im Sean, 23 from Stockport. Been fishing for about 10 years, nothing better! Love the sport and also love helping out. Soon to be an official Stockport Fed baliff and member, cant wait! And had a 7'7 Tench today!