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viney

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Blog Entries posted by viney

  1. viney

    16th october

    By viney,

    13.30- 19.00 speen moors and k&a canal
     
    Originally I was supposed to be going to the Barbel society day on the lower benyons today but due to work and family commitments I had to pull out earlier in the week. With everything done and dusted far earlier than anticipated I grabbed my spinning rod and tackle box and headed out.
     
    Starting off at speen moors I worked my way round with nothing but a missed hook up from a jack that shot out from under the concrete bridge as I was just lifting my lure from the water. With no further interest there I moved onto the canal, after seeing a few small perch follow right to the margins I switched to a small spinner which caught me a couple of half pound perch, blank out of the way!
     
    I moved up to a lock cut and switched to a white rubber tadpole on a jighead (this caught my pb perch of 2lb1 last year) first cast here produced a jack of less than a pound, first pike caught by design though!

     
    Moving to the other side produced one further perch of 1lb1. As the light was beginning to fade I decided to head back to a point where the canal narrows due to reeds in the hope that a pike or two would be on the prowl, as I walked under the a34 bridge I let the tadpole run along the edge watching the effect twitching the rod had on its motion when all of a sudden it disappeared and a healthy bend appeared in my rod and the clutch started to let off line. After a second I figured out what was going on and gained control of the fish, as it came towards the net I was convinced it was a 3lber! The scales told a different story and settled at 2lb3, new P.B so no complaints .

     
    The rest of the walk back to the car saw another two sub 1lb perch so in all a very enjoyable afternoon!
     
    <a href="http://www.freeimagehosting.net/1ea34"><img src="http://www.freeimagehosting.net/newuploads/1ea34.jpg"></a>
  2. viney

    19th June part 1

    By viney,

    Speen moors 05:00-10:00
     
    Spent the morning trotting, never had much luck here but had a chunky dace first trot and continued to catch at least one dace from every swim I fished with a few roach here and there. The dace were mainly small but around 10 warranted a net, the only one I weighed out of curiosity came in at 10oz .
     
    Really nice morning although very muggy, about to have a quick shower then see where the next part of my day takes me....
  3. viney

    20th november

    By viney,

    I returned to the widmead stretch of the canal today with a pack of roach deadbaits and a pike float purchased at the last minute on my way there. I tried 'trotting' the deadbaits at different depths and speeds past every likely looking bush and reedbed but not a single wiggle or knock on the float will be making a trip to the fishmongers in thatcham to get some sea deadbaits this week to try again next weekend.
    Current score is me 0-2 pike, any tips or hints would be very gratefully received!
  4. viney

    22nd september

    By viney,

    4pm-7.30pm river Kennet hambridge
     
    A short unplanned trip for Barbel after work, I set up in a swim just downstream of a tree that crosses the water where it is fairly shallow with fast choppy water along the far bank with a slightly deeper slower flowing glide just downstream about 4 rod lengths out. Had a chub of around 1.5lb within ten minutes of casting out then had a proper wrap around on the tip at around 6pm but the hook pulled.
    With the weather looking good for tomorrow I shall be spending a few hours down there for a rematch!
  5. viney

    25th september

    By viney,

    River Kennet hambridge 13.00-15.30
    Another short session after Barbel which yielded just one baby Barbel of around 1lb which was unhooked in the net and promptly returned to grow into a monster! I'm fairly certain the swim I'm targeting at the moment is the same swim from rustys blog!
  6. viney

    26/11/10

    By viney,

    As usual my inability to stick to a plan and go off on a completely different tangent didnt pay off.
    Originally i had two stretches of the kennet in mind, the first involved a ticket swap and traffic back towards it was a nightmare but on my way to my second choice i, for some unknow reason, decided to turn off early and fish a different stretch. As it turns out this stretch is not ideal for winter chubbing as it is very shallow and fast in most of the pegs that have access to them. I found a few slacks and likely looking holes but nothing wanted to play ball (or wasnt there in the first place). I made my way back to the wierpool and fished the slacks, not even ronnie or reggie wanted to play!
    Not wanting to blank and to see if other fish would be interested in my homemade paste i scaled down to a size 16 and cast back out to the same area my freebies were in. Less than a minute later the tip pinged round and my blank saving gudgeon was landed, shortly after it was time to get home to a beer and dinner!
    As ever today was full of small valuable lessons;
    when walking through overgrown areas move your legs slowly to prevent falling flat on your face if your foot becomes tangled
     
    a single ssg is enough to hold a bait in a shallow fast running stretch
     
    saw many barbel swims for next summer
     
    if things arent going as planned, make changes to catch fish
     
    dont fart in waders then crouch down
     
    and i now know the basic ingredients and measures for my paste mix to get the consistency i want and can start playing around with flavourings
     
     
  7. viney

    27th september

    By viney,

    River Kennet newbury 16.30-20.00
     
    6 barbel, 1 chub and a troot
     
    Decided fishing was a far more attractive idea than the gym with the weather today!
    My guesstimation was way off the mark today, I put all the fish in the 1-2lb bracket apart from the last which was considerably smaller than the fish that came before it yet weighed 1lb14! Wish I had weighed the fish that came before it! All fish fell to ledgered boilies with a small pva bag of crushed boilie.
     
     
  8. viney

    28/11/10

    By viney,

    I arrived at the naa stretch of hambridge at around 7am, my phone was telling me it was -6, loverly and warm then!
    I fished the stretch spending 10 to 15 minutes in each swim ledgering paste. As i was about to call it a day around 9am back in the first swim i fished the tip whipped round as i picked up the rod i made contact with the fish as it bolted into the tree crossing the river never to see the net.
    Cursing i packed up and headed home to warm up!
  9. viney

    29th september

    By viney,

    River Kennet hambridge 16.15-19.30
     
    2 Barbel (4lb1 3lb7) and a chub (2lb10)
     
    Another pleasant evening on the bank, fished the same swim as I have been for the last week, both Barbel on boilies the chub came after I kept getting quick jabs on the tip for around 20 minutes so I reeled in and changed my end tackle to a size 16 with just 2bb as weight and a whitefish paste pellet on the hook, cast just upstream of where my hookbait had been and let it bounce downstream and sure enough the chub took it first time! Can't put pics up at the moment as image shack has stopped working on my phone, anyone got a similar site I could try?
  10. viney

    9/12/10

    By viney,

    Another crack at the chub on a stretch of the kennet, another blank.
    i know this may sound like another anglers excuse but i largely put it down to the swans, clever creatures in all fairness, every spot we had baited they headed straight for even if they hadnt seen us bait it, makes me think they have learnt the exact spots that are normally baited and fished as they ignored every area but obvious places to put a bait for barbel or chub! they worked up and down the stretch all afternoon so any one spot was only baited for half hour or so then they returned! Frustrating to say the least! despite fishing an hour into darkness once the swans had gone not even a tremble on the tip!
    Still it doesnt matter that i didnt catch, i was on the bank making the most of the last of my annual leave
  11. viney

    A few off the top

    By viney,

    Had a couple of short sessions surface fishing for carp over the weekend, the fishing was slow with many fish just cruising around, not interested in feeding and generally avoiding areas with lots of freebies. After watching their behavior I changed tactics to a BIG lump of bread flake(around half a slice) as a single bait and cast out allowing the wind to push it around, as the fish were patrolling in small groups the big bait worked well, one would take a chunk off it causing the rest to hammer it, one would get the hook. Incidently all 3 fish taken were among the largest of their groups (all over 15lb one just scraping 20lb).
     
    The biggest bite though is the one on my leg, possibly a horse fly, the swelling is around 3" across and very hot and itchy!
     
    Oh and the sunburn............lets not talk about that!
  12. viney

    again the kennet wins overall

    By viney,

    river kennet brimpton, 0700-2300
    Two chub 4lb and 2lb 4oz and a handful of gudgeon and minnows
    After spending the last week reading up on fishing for barbel i was very optomistic, as per usual my high hopes were not fulfilled.
    My plan of attack was to fish a few swims spending no longer than an hour in each, using a whittled down source boilie with a bag of hemp, crushed boilie and pellet or a lump of polony with a bag of hemp.
     
    After twenty minutes in the first swim a rattle on my tip brought me to full attention, crayfish? Just as i settled back it whipped round and i connected with strong resistance, convinced of my first barbel i battled to keep it away from the tree downriver and out of the main flow. After a few minutes i had my second ever chub in the net. Although not a barbel i was happy when i saw the scales go to 4lb!
     
    The next few hours saw no action until i tried a rubber maggot on a 16 with a bag of hemp, this produced half hour of fun with the minnows and gudgeon! Refocused i found a lovely shallowish stretch with a fallen tree, it was tight to get into so i touch ledgered polony to produce my second chub.
    The last 7 hours of my day saw one cray and nothing else despite fishing every slack, overhanging tree, deep glides and shallow sections!
    Ive been granted a few hours sundy morning so hopefully attempt 3 will yield some barbel! Any tips or hints would be gratefully received!
  13. viney
    kennet- Brimpton 12-16:30
     
    Arrived to find a very up and very fast kennet, found a few nice swims but couldnt hold bottom even with a 70g feeder in the slacks as the line in the fast current dragged it out of the slack
    trotted lob and red maggot all afternoon and not a single bite, moving from one swim i did hook into a dead fox tho...nice!
     
    kennet side stream- colthrop 16:45- 18:30
     
    Arrived only to realise id left my pint of maggots at brimpton
    so i quivered lobworms and spam cubes in every slack on the stream and behind the bush in the pool, one bite missed, that was it.
     
    Although i didnt catch it was a very nice day exploring new waters!
  14. viney

    big roach?

    By viney,

    After hearing of a local day ticket water that holds some big roach and perch I decided to have a shot at targetting them.
     
    The plan was to catch them on the float, I missed a couple of bites early on then some noisy t**** set up the other side of the tree I was fishing to and starting hammering banksticks and shouting so I moved to quivertipping a maggot feeder to the far side. This produced 3 roach to 12oz.
     
    Another group of loud irritating types showed up down the other end of the lake (altough I could still hear every word they said!) So I called it a day, I guess that's the risk of day ticket carp fisheries but at £9 for one rod I very much doubt I will be going back any time soon.
  15. viney
    Visited the same venue my 3lb chub came from last week, we had a look at the main river first of all but only a few swims are reachable due to thick stinging nettle and brambles so we opted to fish the backstream again.
     
    I knew before I arrived which swim I was going to fish, for some reason it had been in my head since my last visit, it just had to produce a fish or two! Now, I am no good at the whole 'put some bait in and sit there for an hour then cast in' so I took a risk and baited it then went further upstream to fish for an hour hoping Steve wouldn't venture up and drop into my swim! After an hour I dropped a few more pellets and small blobs of paste in and left for another half hour.
     
    It was just getting dark as I lowered my hookbait into place (paste wrapped pellet with a small pva bag of broken pellet) and as my isotope hasn't arrived yet the baitrunner was turned on just incase. Was that a jab on the tip or did I just imagine it?.....No must of imagined it. Just as I relaxed the tip whacked round and line started screaming from the reel, as the stream is only small I had to put a lot of pressure on the fish which the rod handled superbly (only the second fish I have had on it) but, what was I attached to? Barbel? Carp? Chub? Then she surfaced a rod length out, the biggest chub I have seen, I was calm until that point then I started to worry about losing it. After another tense couple of minutes she was in the net, looking every bit of 5lb. A quick call to Steve to get him to come down, luckily he was already heading my way, and the net was then lifted from the water. A definite 5lb I thought.
    The scales told a different story, my estimation was pretty bang on though, they settled at 4lb14 a new PB A quick snap:
     

     
    And she was back in the water, after a few seconds being supported in the flow a big splash and of she went into the dark.
     
     
  16. viney
    Started off fishing a free stretch of the canal with a mate of mine who hasnt fished since he was 9!
    Got off to a good start with my first ever bream in the first hour on a single red maggot with a cage feeder and groundbait shortly followed by this slab:
    http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1131...mp;id=837105642
     
    What a strong fighting fish! the day was looking good.... then came the F#####G canoers!
     
    Most were fine and kept to the far side a few however thought it a good idea to stick right in by the near bank causing two lots of lost tackle and alot of swearing, especially to the second canoe that did it as i warned them my line was there and they just laughed and carried on to say i was unimpressed would be a very large understatement! with that we moved to behind northcroft which was pretty much shoulder to shoulder anglers!
     
    After an hour or so of nothing there we took a quick (but very warming) drive to shaw, with newly returned feeling to our fingers and toes we were confident, my mate lost one grayling and i caught a 1/2lber to finish the day.
    Will definately be returning to the canal before the end of the season to try for some more bream when there hopefully wont be any canoers!
  17. viney

    First fish of the year

    By viney,

    Spent the day fishing for carp with a mate, the original plan was to sit and wait for the whole day but after four hours without a touch i went for a wonder and saw some movement on an adjacent lake so we upped and moved, this paid off as within twenty minutes i had a fish on, first fish of the year was a 9lb 10oz common. Both my baits were withing 20 feet of each other tight to an island, one with a lobworm and pva mesh of maggot and the other a white rum soaked redfish boilie tipped with fake corn. The alcohol soaked boilie was the bait picked up so definately going to be experimenting more with this! A few more moves between lakes saw no more bites but given the conditions im more than happy to have just landed a fish!
  18. viney

    first time fishing a lake

    By viney,

    Well I thought I would start a blog as i tend to fish at least once a week! Not going to be anywhere near up to scratch as other blogs on here but oh well!
     
    Managed to get a short session in after work (3:15pm to 5:30) for some reason decided to fish a lake rather than the canal as it was closer to my car (in the thatcham lakes.
     
    Having never fished a lake before I used the same tactics i was planning for the canal (open ended feeder with a plug of dynamite black groundbait at either end with a maggot filling and a double red maggot on a size 18) and fished close in to an overhanging tree. After an hour with no bites even with a constant trickle of maggots and groundbait catapulted to the area of the feeder i switched to paste pellet...still nothing, for the last half hour i tried a float drifting across with the wind, still nothing so another blank to add to an unsuccesful year so far!
     
    not a very exciting first blog but we have to start somewhere!
  19. viney
    Canal between hambridge and widmead:
    The morning started at 6.45am cold and foggy.
    We started off on bellwood and workes our way to the canal via pallets spending ten minutes in every peg on the way to no avail.
    First hit of the day felt like a big fish but the wire holding the minnow and trebles on my spinner straightened (will be contacting the ebay seller regarding this as i am not impressed at the risk posed to fish!).
    The second and last for me was a 2lb 1oz perch which followed my rubber tadpole all the way under the rodtip so i saw the action as he struck, what a thrill watching the pure agression of a hungry perch!
     
     
     
    http://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150...69&refid=13
     
    after working our way we headed to speen mores but even though we tried every likely looking spot the only action was a jack lost at the net for steve until he cast upstream in the most unlikely looking shallow stretch and the surface exploded as his shad hit the water, the culprit? This beautty, 14lb 10oz of mr esox!
     
    http://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150...2d&refid=13
     
    Not an overly productive day as more time was spent waggling the shads infront of us figuring out how to make them look lifelike in the water and a pb each (unfortunately my other friend blanked) but i feel we all learned alot so fingers crossed for next time!
  20. viney

    Frobury farm

    By viney,

    After hearing good and bad things about this fishery me and a friend decided to give it a go. we were set up and cast out by around quater to six and settled into our chairs chatting away. The first fish of the day fell to his rod in open water, after a good scrap a nice 8 1/2Lb mirror was in the net, his first ever carp and it wasnt even 7Am yet! I followed this with a 7 1/2Lb common, 3 1/2Lb tench and a 3Lb common. My rods then fell silent until 3·30 while he added Another 5 to his list including a 10 1/2Lb mirror and a common just shy of 11Lb! Mid afternoon saw a few more fish each and after totting up our catch weights we had just under 98Lb between us!
    In all a very good and productive day at at a venue i would not only visit again but also recommend at £8 a day for two rods.
     
    Sorry if some of this doesnt make sense im writing it on a wii, not an easy task!
  21. viney
    04.00 - 10.30 am NAA stillwater widmead
     
    The weather seemed perfect warm with light rain showers, but the fishing started off slow until around 6am.
    I opened up with a small tench that managed to run into the tree to my right but i eventually got it out! I wasnt going to make the same mistake as i received my second run and applied pressure straight away but soon realised this fish was a bit different it just kited around with no real power, seconds later i had my first ever crucian in the net! After weighing it came in at just under 3 1/2lb and i knew i had something special! Perfect timing for my phone to self destruct and with no one else on the lake to verify to enter as a specimin i releuctantly put her back
    Everything fell quiet for a couple of hours until i had 3 commons to 5lb spaced around 20 mins apart, i decided to move my left hand rod from the entrance to the bay to the side of a bush on the opposite bank, as i was tightening the line to set my bobbin i realised i just couldnt remove the slack and lifted into a nice hard fighting 9lb common, mustve dropped my bait right on its nose! Had another couple of small commons before packing up a very good mornings fishing just a shame my fone didnt want to play ball at a crucian moment!
  22. viney

    Hmmm where are my scales?

    By viney,

    Firstly dont you hate realising youve lost something right when you need it?! Anyway....
    River kennet @ brimpton 0430-0930
    A very early and chilly start due a hangover induced afternoon bedtime yesterday! I had no real optimism of catching until daybreak so i settled down and ledgered pellets until dawn was beginning to show. I decided the conditions werent great to try solely for barbel, chub and perch seemed more likely quarry!
    After a couple of hours dipping my worm in and under every bush, branch, slack and eddy i was still yet to catch. I then remembered having seen a perfect swim on an adjoining stretch on NAA.
    It took around 2 minutes before my touch ledgered lob was gobbled down by a very hungry sergeant! As i got him in the net i knew straight away it was a pb (1/4lb to beat) but by how much? Oooh yeah thats right id dropped my bloody scales! So after a quick picture he was returned
    http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1478...mp;id=837105642
    If you go to the next pic along on that link therer my 4lb chub from wed.
    I slowly made tracks back to the car revisiting every spot, caught nothing else but did find my scales!
  23. viney

    I'm giving up.....

    By viney,

    On barbel until the end of August or until we have had a decent amount of rain!
     
    Another fruitless evening after barbel on the Kennet, fished from half 7 until 11pm and the only time my tip moved was when bats flew into it. Starting to get a bit frustrated with it now so I will see out the rest of summer after carp and tench. I have never caught a tench float fishing so that will be my aim fishing close in with a 'pin, may also have a crack at the crucians and of course surface fishing in the evenings.
  24. viney
    River Kennet nr thatcham 9am-6pm
     
    Not quite the early start I had planned but the lay in was much needed!
    I arrived and set up, cast just short of the trees on the far bank a few times to build up some bait then sat back watching the tip. It wasn't long before I felt unsettled and kept getting drawn to a riffle that kept appearing on the surface of the water a rod length out and 3 lengths downstream of me. I don't know why but something was telling me to recast to there, minutes later my refilled feeder was swung into position. It wasn't long before a few short jabs then a wrap around on the tip signaled I was in! After a very good battle I slid the net under my first Barbel of any real size
     

     
    Uploaded with ImageShack.us
     
    After returning all 11lb15 of her to the water I checked my rig, the feeder hadn't even had time to empty!
    The rest of the day was fruitless but that didn't bother me after such a cracking fish!
  25. viney

    Its been a while (again)

    By viney,

    Sunday 17th feb
     
    Finally made it out for my second short session of the year (first was on the k&a and produced a few decent sized brownies).
     
    I had a few hours before work and with the reports of big perch from the canal a couple of hours with the spinning rod would surely bag me a few fish! I arrived at northcroft in high hopes, then realised I couldn't get to the canal from there so the weirpool and little stretch of river it was. After trying a few different lures, spinners, shads etc. I finally hooked a bankstick, at only a foot long is was short of my p.b so I packed up and went to work.
     
    I've lost count of the scores now but the kennet is winning by a vast margin.
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