AddictedToScopex

That sounds ideal to me

I think if I were to bid on a book it would be a float fishing book. Maybe one that covered shotting patterns, different techniques etc. I am a big fan of float fishing, particularly on rivers but don't really own any books relating to it as I simply have got round to getting any and I imagine most modern books will talk mainly about float fishing for carp on heavier methods. I did get one from Anderoo once as part of a bundle he kindly sent me but cant for the life of me think where I have put it. Many of the other books he sent me were passed on to those who needed them as they were starting out fishing.

The depth of this place makes waggler fishing pretty tricky as it is around 12-14 feet a few rod lengths out and the margins don't seem to fish well at all due to the footfall from dog walkers etc. It is pretty busy with them during the day with dogs jumping in etc as their owners throw balls into the water for them. It is one of those places that can produce some cracking days sport by all accounts though so worth putting up with it on occasion. Its not the kind of place I could fish exclusively as I like my peace. Being so deep it allows for feeders to hit the water and not disturb your swim too much I would think.

Cheers NP. Interesting that they arent as nomadic. I will bear that in mind. I may get another session or two in on this place before wingham assuming I get the nod from Steve to go. Makes a nice change doing this to river fishing. Still cant wait to get back on the river bank after the closed season though.

NicePix, Im not after carp. Quite the opposite in fact as there arent many in there and I am trying to target the tench. I appreciate the advice would likely work for both though. I have never been one for spodding beds of bait out and would be using a feeder as mentioned in the first post so luckily there is no danger of spodding a huge bed out and waiting on that. Your advice on giving it half an hour seems reasonable as like you say if they are there and feeding then I dhould see signs at least in the form of line bites if no actual bites occur. I had previously been building the swim over the course of the day with the feeder. Usually casting 10-20 in to begin with and then attaching the hooklength and continuing. As it was long range I could confidently clip up and use the stretch of the mono and soft feeder rod to take the sting out of the tenches first runs. It worked perfectly the first session. You are right that it would be day sessions as there is no night fishing in this venue. The only time I actually bivvy up in fact is the rare occasion I am lucky enough to attend the Wingham fish in although I night fish rivers a lot but tend to just sit under a brolly and stay awake.

Cheers for the replies folks. Looks like a more mobile (hookbait not me) approach in future then til I find them. Bait wise I am pretty happy that if I could get it to them they would eat it so I just need to find them. I was always told not to spread bait all over the place and to be accurate with feeding.

Martin, The edge is a no go really as the water is very clear and the edges are really shallow and frequented by dogs and their owners so it is rare to see any fish there im told. Being a reservoir the edges is really shallow and then it just drops off to between 10-14ft.

Brian, Sounds like that would have been a better idea. Will certainly try that next time. I worry when fishing larger waters that I am casting to a needle in a haystack unless I build a swim but if others have success that way then I would be daft not to gove it a go. Martin, Tried the worm approach the time before last and couldnt buy a bite there either. I too was using the korum quickstops to hair rig them. Tried corn too on both occasions as it was what i caight with in the first session. I guess if the fish arent there I need to tr to find them rather than relying on them finding me. Another thing i plan to do next time is use lighter coloured feed as i had been using black crumb and black groundbait which they wouldnt have spotted well. When my mate was catching he had bright red pellets on a method feeder and the other chap mentioned from last time was using coarse pellets which stood out like a sore thumb against the dark bottom. I thought my dark groundbait would be good if they were shy of bright baits but i think it had the opposie effect of blending in too well.

It was blowing from my right and his left and we were both at the end of the reservoir that it was blowing into. The same conditions I had when i had my pb. On this particular place you couldnt fish into it on this day as that end is quite shallow and weeded which makes things very difficult.

Hi folks. So as you may know most of my fishing is done on rivers. Somewhere I feel very at home and bery confident in tackling. With the closed season in force I have take to finding my thrills elsewhere and rather than sit on easy waters hauling carp after carp I have opted to target larger waters such as reservoirs in the hopes of unlocking some of their secrets. My first session went well but since then I have had two blanks. The previous one i managed 3 bites and lost 2 and failed to convert the 3rd bite. Today I couldnt even buy a bite. I was using standard groundbait feeder tactics on the previous day and today I tried the maggot feeder for most of the day before switching to groundbait and corn for the last 3 hours. Nothing I did today could get a bite. I saw a chap opposite me catch 6 fish which really got me thinking what I could be doing wrong. As I am hoping to attend wingham in May i wanted to ask what you guys would do on a larger water if the fish arent forthcoming. Do you stick to a spot and keep the bait going in in the hopes a shoal will move onto it or do you cast about til the bites start? I tried two different spots today and neither produced and i played with hooklengths and presentations etc all to no effect. For what it was worth, when i packed up I put the stuff back in the car and went to the guys swim to see if I could see any evidence of what bait he had been using. I saw discarded coarse pellets and corn so deduced he was using a pellet feeder with corn hookbait which was not too disimilar to what I was using. Frustrating to think that maybe i just needed to move around a bit as I really worked hard to keep the bait going in as I had always thought that was the right way when feeder fishing. Any thoughts folks?

I've managed to clear it with the boss and the mrs so will be putting my name down this year for sure. Im still yet to be lucky enough to have a tench from Wingham but the eels I had last time were excellent and I thoroughly enjoyed fishing for them through the night.

Cheers guys. Wasn't hoping for carp and had been told that there were very few in there so was very surprised to catch one. Not a huge fan of fishing for carp myself in overstocked places but didn't mind this one so much with it being one of few present. Phone, It went 9lb 9oz. Was a very round and deep shape. I suspected it was full of spawn.

Finally managed to get out for my first tench session of the year after deciding to target them much more this year. Chose a small reservoir that I had heard held them. Fished all day and to begin with caught a good bream and a good carp (not supposed to be many in there thankfully) so thought it would be a productive day but it was hard going after that. I plugged away all day with the feeder keeping the feed going into the same area all day and with an hour to go I was rewarded for the hard work with this 7.5lb beauty. Beat my pb by 3lbs and made the effort well worth it. Then lost another at the death when my mainline broke. It must have got snagged on a rock or similar on the bottom. Very rare for me to snap a mainline. Will definitely be going back. Bait was 3 corn kernels hair rigged over a dark groundbait mix.

Thanks guys. I love seeing big roach. More so when trotting but I will take them as I find them

Sadly with the season over its a no go til June now. I will be targetting tench and crucians on the float til then I think

Well I had my final evening on the Ribble on the 13th. Turned out to be a more modest affair with no barbel caught. A few small chub and loads of plucks on the line. At first I was fishing bigger baits for the barbel but my closer rod was getting hammered with sharp bites and I suspected that it was being attacked by small chub so I decided to change my tactics on that rod. I only had hard baits with me so opted to use a 10mm boilie which was hooked directly with lots of the hook showing and continued to feed mixed coarse and halibut pellets in pva mesh. The tactic began to pay off as I landed some small chub but then to my surprise it was the rod with the large bait (2x16mm boilies) which went next. I lifted into the fish and didnt feel much of a fight but there was a definite jagged nature to the pull of the fish. I didnt suspect chub as it just didnt feel like one but I wasnt sure what else it could have been. I played the fish in and slipped the net under it and was surprised to see a very silver fish. Being dark it took me a moment to realise that it was in fact a big roach! It looked huge compared to many of the roach I had caught this year. I unhooked it and weighed it. Just shy of 2lbs. It must have had a hell of a hunger to try to wolf down 2x16mm boilies. I was quite impressed I slipped the fish back and continued fishing only for my closer rod to go this time. Again it was a very snappy series of bites followed by a characteristic jagged run pattern. I didnt think I could be lucky enough to get another big roach but as I slid the net under it I saw another bright silver flank albeit a bit more of a weathered old soul. I weighed it as it looked a lump and again it was a shade under 2lbs! What a run of fishing I have had in the last few sessions. Pb pike, pb barbel and pb roach in the last 3 sessions. Someone is definitely shining down on me!

haha maybe welly Yes I will pm you no problem. My tench campaign will be beginning very soon. I have just got my RADAC permit through the post and they have some interesting looking waters and some of which dont mention carp at all so could be really good for a decent tench and pretty local.

So last night saw my last night on the river Ribble before it closes for the closed season and what a night it was. I turned up at 9pm to meet my brother and a friend who had been there since about 4pm. I had already set up both rods at home and didnt have to do much before getting them in. My brother reported that the small chub had been on the feed and they had had 5 between them before I got there. Within about half an hour I had had one myself. It was nice to see so much action going on in this section of the Ribble as more often than not it is the kind of place where you are fishing for maybe one or two fish a night but generally speaking they will be of a good size. My last trip there had seen me beat my pb barbel taking it over 11lbs. I fished for quite a while after the chub with not much going on besides plucks from small chub. I decided to up my hook bait size and feeding option by changing from pellets to crushed boilies and putting 2 boilies on the hair rig instead of 1. Within about 20 minutes of this I had a good take and played the fish all the way to the bank before the rod went dead and I realised it had snagged me up in something below the water. I was gutted. I knew that this place didnt always produce a lot of bites and this could have been my only chance to catch. I re-rigged and stuck to the strategy and cast back in. It took a bit longer this time but I got another bite and had learnt from the last mistake to keep the fishes head up once I got it near the bank. It had a great fight in it and felt really heavy in the flow. I knew it was a good fish. I slid the net under it after bringing it the width of the river back to my bank. As I lifted the net I knew this was a really good fish. I unhooked it and weighed it and was so happy with what I saw. The fish had smashed my pb by over a pound going 12lb 4oz. I carried on fishing thinking that was me. I had achieved something I really hadn't expected and was happy enough with that. I cast back to the same spot and sat back with a big smile on my face. About 20 minutes later I had another big bite and another fish on. Again it felt heavy and strong in the flow. I wasn't sure if it was a carp or a barbel but knew for sure it was a good size whatever it was. A spirited fight later and I slid the net under another large barbel. I couldn't be sure of the size but it looked a double to me before weighing it. I unhooked it and weighed it and it came in at 10lb 8oz! 2 doubles in one evening. I was made up. Not long after that my brother asked what I was using bait wise so I told him and let him have some to use. Within 20 minutes he had had another barbel and another double figure one at that. 10lb on the nose. What an evening and what a way to end the season. I love the Ribble

I would have much preferred to leave the background in but when I posted it on facebook it was recognised right away and I would quite like to keep catching them from there

So I have been trying without success for quite some time to nab myself a river pike using dead baits. I have had a fair few goes and besides a small lure caught jack I have not had any success. All that changed yesterday. I arrived at the river at about 9am and decided to set up my dead bait rod and fish a maggot feeder at the same time. I expected the maggot feeder would keep me occupied if there was nothing else doing pike wise which I fully expected to be the case. I set up the pike rod first on a running ledger rig and decided on a small trout as the bait to try first. I forgot to pierce the bait or add any extra oil which I only realised later. I cast in about a 3rd of the way across and set about setting my maggot feeder up. Once set up I cast the maggot feeder in about 2/3 of the way across. I sat watching a motionless rod tip for about half an hour while recasting to keep the bait going in. I was very surprised not to pick up a single knock on it. I had set my pike rod up on an alarm and was keeping a watchful eye on that too. Suddenly out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw movement. I turn to look at the rod and it was pulling on and off to the left. It was very windy where I was so for a second I thought it could just be the wind. Then I realised it was a definite pull. I stood behind the rod to double check and then as it continued to nod I decided to pick it up and lift into it. At first I didnt feel anything. Then I just felt a dead weight so thought maybe a branch had come down the river and snagged me up. Then the branch went on a surging run which lasted a few seconds and it went to dead weight again. I continued to reel in still wondering what was going on but thinking it was either a very big fish or a big lump of wood. As it neared the bank I saw a shiny flank and got extremely excited. I could see it was a pike but it didnt look that huge. I attempted to slide the net under it just as it decided to tailwalk away and surge off again before going to dead weight again. I slid the net under it and I was so happy to have finally caught something. As I lifted the net up I was gobsmacked at the weight of fish. As I lifted the net clear of the water I couldn't believe my eyes. It was massive. It had the biggest belly I had ever seen on a pike. My pb before this was an 11lb fish from the canal. Another lad came running over to see the fish and I got it unhooked and attempted to lift it for a photo which was very painful due to my elbow and hence the not so great pic. I weighed it and it went 18lbs!!!! I was absolutely buzzing with excitement. I had never seen a pike so big in my life. It was clearly female and full of spawn. I gave it a good rest in the margins before she swam off into the depths to sulk. What a morning. As it happens I had nothing at all on the maggot feeder and in the afternoon I opted to go and use my maggots on a still water. Don't think I will top that pike for a while but I will certainly be trying!!!! (apologies for the blurred background)

Not smelling as much would be a nice plus lol. I am after a pan as I also use it for other types of fishing. I clip mine onto my rucksack with carabiners so it is really easy to carry.

Hi folks, It is that time again where I need to replace my barbel net. I am looking for a deep pan style net as the one I have been using hasn't been as deep as my previous one and it is a pain to lift fish up banks etc. Any suggestions based on experience?

That sounds like my ideal kind of still water Wellyphant. I am going to add that one to the list on my phone that I am compiling of places I want to try and fish this year. Tench are big on my list this year but I hate the idea of fishing muddy holes and trying to get through the carp to catch them. I managed my river pike last year and a good sized tench is this years target as well as trying to beat my 3lb pb perch.

I have heard of people using the pole on the river before and I dont doubt it can be effective on its day. I used to have a tricast pole but I sold it last year as it wasnt seeing use. I am ok to use a feeder rod just about so I can grin and bear it for now I may indeed get another pole nearer summer as I have a great swim on the Ribble that I think it would be devastating on. I have waded the swim many times and know it inside out and I can imagine this method being very good on there. I am planning to try to get out again on Friday but not sure where just yet.

Thats a shame. If it was from ebay you will definitely get the money back. Most places even. It is up to the sender to apply for compensation from the courier for the damaged goods.