Restless Oblivion

Well its sad that it died as a direct result of angling, accidental or not, will we ever see another pike that size in british waters? So many people fish for pike without any knowledge of how to handle them, which is terrible for the pike, theres a small lake near me, which used to have a high percentage of jack pike, and the kids used to go down there spinning, i ve lost count of how many times i ve come across people jumping around on the bank, terrified of a little jack pike thats flapping about at there feet, and i have had to unhook it for them, normally to find large barbed trebles, no wire trace and often stupidly light line, i pulled out one pike which was rolling about in distress in teh margins, it was only about a pound in weight and very thin, i opened its mouth to find a whole small cheap plug, with barbed trebles all wrapped around its gills, i removed the as best i could with the por fish bleeding all over me, to find about two inches of what must have been about 2 or 3 lb line tied to th plug, th poor thing had no chance, i held it in th water for about 30 mins, then staked it upright, but it kept flapping free and going belly up, in the end i took pity on it and killed it quickly, there was no way it was going to live, that fish died as i direct result of angling too, i strongly believe there should be some kind of pike fishing test for new anglers. The local fishing shop are very good at disencouraging kids to pike fish, but of course, when kids see a pike, and they have a small plug in there box, they dont think twice about tying it on and casting out, thats how pike die.....

I would personnaly go for a shorter lighter rod, sea trout have very soft mouths, and a 10 -30 gm rod might be a bit powerful, although obviously its ideal for a salmon, but if hes going to be catching trout, sea trout, perch mostly, i would go for a 7 ft 2 - 15 gm rod, far more fun, and i d still have 100% confidance of landing a salmon, its not ideal for salmon, but will do the job ok! I use a shakespear 7 ft 2_ 15 gm Areial spinning rod, which set me back about 40 quid!

Well, not bad, not bad at all, just got back from another trip down th canal with the fly rod, got down to find it cold windy and damp, so i didnt bother with looking for fish to cast to ( i only saw three chub on the top all day) so i just set up a short 8 ft leader of 4.5 lb nylon, and added a small hares ear nymph on the end and set about roll casting it under the trees and bushes on the far band and just the retriving blind, the first time i tried this, the other times i was casting only to moving fish, and well, damn, it worked alright, took about 3 casts before i got a good solid pull, and caught a 6 oz chub, then followed that up with about another 30 chub up to about half a pound and a small roach and dace for good measure! Not a bad mornings fishing!

i fish on the river lea, and it sounds very simlar to the river you decide, i would go for 5 lb line if theres not too many snags, use a link leger with just enough swan shot to hold bottom, and a 2 ft hooklengh with a size 10 hook and quiver tip meat in all the dark holes, up against features, underweed beds undercuts etc, also try early and late, they seem to be best times, hemp is a good loose feed, but if they ve not been fished for before, just a few bits of meat as loose feed should do! Also, hold the rod tight, very big takes!

quote: Al Don't tell anyone else, but a blast frozen kitten casts like a rocket at long as you cut off its ears with a pairs of scissors. That young fur really takes a treble, and cast-offs never occur. A live kitty is best mounted on a balsa raft using elastic bands (break-away attachment), with its legs protruding through the raft and into the water. Use stick-on artificial finger nails on its claws (the purple Bitches-R-Us ones are cut price in Woolies right now) and it will paddle out rapidly if you stand behing it, going 'woof, woof'. You can even wire up a small bar spinner to its tail, to increase the attraction to hungry Mrs (big mumma)Esox. They're so versatile for other species. A small, liquidised Manx to 5lb of method mix will have the pasties crawling up your pole. If you like that sort of thing, that is. But first you have to obtain your bait. Take my advice and get 'em free! I usually go for the small ads. section of the local paper - they've always got "kittens, free to good home" in there. Whatever you do, don't tell anyone else. This one is for your eyes only - right? I like this guy.... didnt some bloke in Australia get done a few years back for buying puppies and using em as shark bait, i heard that one somewhere, might be ****** though!

hey steve thanks for the welcome! And thanks for the link to the other thread, just read it all, good stuff, its nice to know who everyone else is! Reading Andy Cappeds post where he says he is disabled and still goes, good for you mate, reminds me of a guy i met at hazelcopse trout fishery, he was an old boy he came with his wife, he had a heart problem and was in a wheelchair, and can only fish the first peg, due to the access, anyways, he fished in his chair all day long, his wife sitting with him and had not touched a fish by about 3 pm yet they were being caught all around him, still he was in great spirits and chatting with everyone and didnt seem to mind, anyway, just as i was ready to leave suddenly his little old rod bend over and there was a thrashing on the surface as if a cow fell in, anyway to cut a long story short about half an hour later the fishery owner netted for him a 17 lb rainbow with about most of the anglers on the lake standing watching... magical stuff, and he asked for the trout to be returned as well, made me really happy, although not quite as happy as he was! that was a fish well deserved!

quote: For those who haven't tried it fly casting isn't nearly as hard as some would have you believe. What's more fly fishing can sometimes be the most effective way of catching coarse fish as well as trout. But above all it's FUN hell yeah, i second that, after a bit of practise its easy enough and after doing it for a while you can cast as accurately with a fly as you can a float, spinner or anything else! Also i 100% agree with the effectiveness of fly fishing, on the river lea near wheathamstead where i fish, id confidently say i could outfish chub for chub any pleasure angler with my fly rod, i ve had over a hundred chub in a a day many times up there up to 3 1/2 lb all on fly, and belive me, the fight on light fly tackle is amazing, even a 6 oz fish puts up a good little struggle, and along th way i catch plenty of perch, roach and the odd carp and dace! If you fish a water where the chub are visible, belive me, you can catch em on fly, give it a try, the excitment of dropping a small fly amid a group of cruising chub and watching one lumber up and suck it in, has to be some of the most exciting fishing out there! and then theres using lures on the shallows, watching a huge bow wave appear behind your fly then getting a huge pull and a massive swirl as you retrive, great stuff!

Ok, seing as im still quite new here and dont know any of you, i thought id take be lazy and ask you all to introdusce yourselfs I ll go first! Name: Alan Age: 22 Started fishing / first fish: i was 4 years old, my father took me to the Thames at Runnymead and i caught a bleak, had me hooked, then i started fly fishing at 7! Personnal bests: Perch 3lb on spinner Grand Union Canal, Chub 5 lb, floating crust small overlooked stream , Pike 16 lb, same stream, Carp est 15 lb, floating crust GUC, tench, 5 lb GUC, Bream 4lb, GUC, Roach, 1 lb 12 oz GUC, Brown trout, 4 lb 12 oz river Gade, Rainbow, 12 lb, Hazelcopse, Salmon 8 lb ( landlocked, so i guess it doesnt really count!) Hazelcopse, Sea trout, 2 lb River Teify! Fav venue: The grand union canal, between kings langley and Boxmoor and all the interlinking streams that run in and out of the canal! its a great area of water, so many people pleasure fishing never catch to the waters full potential, which i reckon is huge, theres so many good fish and you never know quite how big either, i think people need to experiment a bit more to catch the bigger fish, and get up earlier! Anything else: I usually fish in short 2 to 4 hour sessions, normally starting in darkness, be it 3, 30 or 7 am in winter, to fit around work and women so i like to spin and fly fish 95 % of the time, no clutter to carry, bait worries, just grab the rod and go! I also like to experiment alot with different methods etc, try something new now and then! Im trying to catch all speceis on fly, so far only, barbel, tench, bream and crucians have eluded me, any tips? Funny fishy stories: Im still yet to catch a real wild salmon, while fishing one bright hot morning on the river Teify in wales, having not seen a sign of a salmon all holiday due to low water levels, i was wading up the pool and watched as a salmon of about 6 to 8 lb swam lazily towards me across the gravel towards me, i stood completely still, and couldnt belive it when it swan straight towards me and through my legs then turned and held in the current about 6 ft downstream of me in about 2 ft of gin clear water, and typically, all i had in my hand was my little trout rod with a 3 lb tippet and a tiny dry fly on the end, sods law that was! id kill to go back there now and have a had a worming rod or something in my hands at that moment, who knows..... ah well, such is fishing, its an experience i ll never foget! anyways, thats me now your turn!

thinking about atempting to land a 43 lb carp on fly tackle..... nice, how long did that take? I spend most of my fishing time either fly fishing or light spinning, and a bit og baitcasting with plugs for pike, and the occasional bit of freelining, its been years since i last took float fishing or quivertipping gear out! I dont belive there is anywhere where you cant catch fish on flys if you have a bit of patience and are willing to experiment, and seeing as i use my 7 1/ 2 ft 4 weight most of the time, any fish feels like a monster!

great stuff chevin, let us know how you get on! that tope fishing sounds like serious fun, hope they had plenty backing! Anyways, i went again this morning, down the canal with my fly rod, against my better judgement, due to pouring rain all night, which continued the entire time i was out! the canal was really thick and grey coloured and looked ever so uninviting..... Still, i decided to give it my best shot seeing as i was out, so i headed two miles down from Hemel to where a small river joinings the canal on the far bank and an out flow of clear water from a near by gravel pit flows into the canal under the towpath, ( just above the ovaltine factory for those who know the area ) cos i guessed the water would be less murky here, anyway, after 30 mins fishing with the buzzer as before and not a sign of a fin, i set up with a small white lure, and cast it across into the current coming from the stream, anyway as it sunk, the line shot forwards, i struck and landed a chub about 3/4 lb which was a huge relief, no blank, and it gave me a bit of confidance! Anyway, no further takes at all, an hour later i moved down the canal looking in the murky water for signs of life, and over the next few hours by fishing very hard, and concentrating on the slightest strange water movement and odd rise in the rain i was able to catch 5 more chub between 4 and 6 oz on a floating black beetle! Not a massive catch, but im really pleased that i caught that many despite the odds, lets face it, fly fishing in pouring rain in a really thickly coloured canal on a cold summers day doesnt exactly inspire great confidance! Well happy now!

great stuff, not had carp out of canal on fly.... yet i ve had some good chub, roach and small pike out near boxmoor on fly though! I ve had small carp to 3 lb out of the lea at wheathampstead on fly and a 10 lb golden and 12 mirror on fly at a small private lake in st albans whislt trout fishing, suprisingly the 12 lb one was caught on a pink and white catswhisker! the only fish i ve not had on fly so far is , bream, tench, crucians and barbel.... one day.... I had 17 pike out in about an hour in the canel at kings langley a few years back, all on a large orange lure, that was a day to remember!

nice one andy lol, i once was fishing the river kent in kendal for trout on fly, and after creeping along the band to get a good cast at a rising trout, suddenly i see this big jolly smiling woman stand next to me, chuck a great big log in for her dog in my swim!and then start merrily chatting away about it being a nice morning and asked me how the fishing was going....... I dont think she had a clue that i wouldnt apprciate her mutt swimming in my swim! i was polite and just left to fish somewhere else, couldnt be bothered to explain!

Well, having seen loads of fish ( chub , carp, roach, rudd) on the surface of the grand union canal at kings langley i decided to take my fly rod down and give it a shot! Firstly, i noticed the looks most ( not all) of the pleasure anglers were giving me, a mixture of ' lol, he aint going to catch' to ' downright dirty looks' as i was walking along the canal to the area i wanted to fish, which really just hardened my resolve to catch something..... anyways, setting up my little 7 1/4 ft carbon fly rod, with a a no 4 floating line and about 8 ft of 4.5 lb flourocarbon i tied on a small black buzzer and started to walk slowly looking for signs of life, then ah ha, midstream i spotted a chub about 6 oz cruising along... ( not big, i know, but i wanted to prove it worked!) so i expertly flicked th fly a few inches in front of its nose..... and watched as it bolted away from it.....hmmmm..... not going to plan! Luckily, that one seemed to be a one off, for a minute or two later i saw another couple of small chub, out went the fly, and the two chub practicly fought there way after the fly, and the first one snapping it up in a swirl as quick as it could, a flick of the wrist and he was on! and the beauty of such light tackle being although he was only about half a pound, the rod bend round and he put up a good little scrap on such a light rod with no weights on the line, great fun! After that i lost count of how many chub i watched chase after, splash on, take, turn away, and snap up my fly, i spent the next hour or two continually hooking , landing and losing chub up to about 10 oz, great fun, despite it being a typical hot summer day, thick cloudy water on a busy canal the chub still went for the fly! And as for the pleasure anglers... well, i didnt see any of em catch a a thing, and on the way back i passed two of the most miserable looking anglers i ve ever seen who gave my black looks as i passed them the first time, and again this time, anyway, about 30 yards past them i saw another small group of chub, i couldnt resist flicking my fly among them, and as luck would have it caught one straight away, the looks of suprise on there faces was priceless! and really made my day! Never be afraid to experiment and do something a bit different!

hi, i do a lot of light spinning too, with small spinners and rubber worms etc for perch and chub, i use a shakespear 7 ft 2 - 15 gm casting Aerial spin, its 2 pc and has a great action for flicking out light lures, it bends well even on a half pound perch yet has plenty back bone, i landed a 5 lb carp on it no probs the other week! It has a cork handle, screw locking seat, fully lined rings, carbon with a wrap around it, a very nice looking rod, and a great fishing tool! i paid 40 quid for mine, i think thats about the retail price! hope that helps!

i went chubbing down the grand union canal near kings langley in winter a few years back, and after not having much luck, i dragged out my chub fly rod wich i had in my holdall, set it up with a big orange lure and wire trace, and bang, i couldnt belive it, in 45 mins i caught 17 pike!!!!!!!!! not very big, best was a bout 5 lb, but i was gobsmacked! all caught on a large marabou orange lure about 4 inches long! best advice i can give is, use a mobile lure, and retive it very jerkily to make it move, the pike love it! oh yeah, hold on tight.....