The Flying Tench

That's a great video, Cory. I think of you mainly as a sea angler. Do you lure fish fresh water as well?

I've read that with perch it is a good idea to jig the float up and down occasionally as it can precipitate a bite. I sometimes do it, though can't say I have caught an extra fish because of it. But what about roach? They can like a falling bait, so in theory if you keep lifting the float a foot it means they've got the bait falling through the last vital foot over and over. But is there a risk it will scare them? Any views?

Do you use hooks to nylon? I find it works well because it means there is usually a finer and weaker bit of line near the hook, so if there is a break you don't lose yards of line. But how do you get round this problem? In shop bought hooks to nylon, the bigger the hook the stronger the line. So if you are using a size 10 or 12 for fishing for roach with breadflake it means the line strength will be about 6-8lbs bs, whereas 2-3lbs would be better. I used to tie a length of pre-stretched (Ie extra fine for it's strength) 3lbs line to the main line and then tie on a ringed hook, but nowadays I'm finding using the very fine line too fiddly. Before that I used to tie spade end ones at home - also fiddly! What do yo do?

It's acknowledged, I think, that some species are attracted to food mainly by smell - carp, bream, tench. And others mainly by sight - pike and perch - though deadbaiters will say, rightly, that smell can be important, too. But what about roach? Surely this will influence the choice of groundbait. And there seem to be 2 views. The manufacturers of roach specific ground bait clearly believe smell is very important. One that I use has a strong chocolate smell. But others (most?) advocate liquidised bread, which, though it will have some smell, it is nowhere near as strong as the specific groundbait. Is there a case for using both? Roach-specific groundbait to draw them into your swim from a distance; and liquidised bread because the cloud gives them confidence to feed. Not that I have ever tried this. What do you think? Has anyone tried both approaches? Do you think one is best in some situations, and one in others?

I'm in range of the Newbury waters, I guess - about the same as Rusty. But after 20 great years fishing the Kennet I decided I should learn something different. For the first 4 years here, as well as the Thames, there was a really good lake, Ladygrove. As well as easy carp there were quality roach, better I think than anywhere in Newbury, and the tail end of a big perch boom. But then there was a bad fish kill and though they have restocked a bit it's nothing like it was. Still, I've joined Wantage club now. Nothing enormous, but nice fishing with lots of small crucians as well as carp, bream and roach. Fun fishing, I think, as long as I'm not worrying about pbs.

I've just realised it's been more than a year since I posted, so I thought I'd do an update to let the world and the computer system know that I am still around! What fishing happened in 2020? For me very little. I can't remember what the problem was in winter 2019/20. I think it was the time I had tennis elbow! Then in the spring and summer we had Covid and restrictions on fishing and tackle shops coupled with a house move - not far, still Didcot area. In the autumn I did at least wet a line a few times. I have joined a new angling club, Wantage and Grove, and checked out their lake a few times. I caught a reasonable bream, 4-5 lbs, and a few chunky rudd of about 6 oz. It doesn't sound much, but I like the lake, and talking to other anglers there I am looking forward to giving it more of a go this year. Then this winter I've been a few times and blanked! Most of the winter the Thames has been very 'up and coloured'. I know in the books you can catch barbel in such conditions, but I think that's further ahead on the learning curve. The good news, of course, is that 2021 will be far better! I'll keep you posted when there's something to report.

In theory my blog is still in action, though I was shocked to see I haven't submitted any entries for over a year. A mixture of reasons. House move (though still in Didcot area), Covid and tackle shop closed, health. Bad back means I need to fish very near the car, and cataract means I can't do trotting and limits driving at night - though hopefully cataract will be fixed soon. Also the Thames doesn't seem to be such an all seasons river as the Kennet, being very hard to fish when up and coloured. Perhaps I should say it's a learning curve! Despite all this I do intend to start blogging again SOON!.

Congratulations, Chris, particularly on the 3.10! I've heard some negative reports on the Kennet over the last 2 or 3 years, so good to hear it's not all bad. I also thought the conditions were OK, here at Didcot. The Thames was up and coloured, but I thought I might do OK in a lock cut, the only one around where you don't need a lock and weir permit, which are not available this year. Alas, the hard-standing that I fish from was underwater!

As I understand it, in summer the fish are spread throughout much of the river, but in winter they shoal up and there can be long stretches without any fish. So location is key. I think I know what to do for a fish like chub - I imagine it's a case of doing the leg work trying different chubby haunts till you strike lucky. But what about a shoal fish like roach? Is it again a case of test and see? But do they even stick to one place, or does the shoal move around?

Does anyone use thermal underwear for fishing on cold days? I once read in a book that you shouldn't wash thermal underwear as it will lose the thermal qualities. But there comes a time ........... What do you do?

Thanks Tigger, I've made a note of both your and BB's comments for the summer - something to look forward to! I believe the approach you use with carp with a running ledger on the bottom and the bread coming up vertically is called a 'zig rig'. I tried it once and found it hard to get the line flowing freely enough through the ledger ring, but will try it again. A question re puddle chucker floats. I must get some. But are you saying that a float comes with different weights? Surely, only one weight will give the right setting in the water unless the extra weights have their own attached buoyancy?

Thanks BB. Very helpful. Just one small question. For the rudd, why do you use a semi-loaded waggler rather than a fully loaded as you have no other weight on the line?

Thanks everyone. I'm starting to get enthused! But how do you get the bait out to them, do you use a bubble float? And Tigger, how do you tell with casters whether it's yours they have taken? I sometimes find it hard to see clearly even with dog biscuits (carp fishing). Has anyone any experience of doing it in cold weather? I'm assuming I'll have to wait till the summer, Peter Stone's book notwithstanding.

My understanding is that it is the Signals which carry a (bacterium I think) which doesn't hurt them but does so to our native crays. So from what you say it probably has the same effect on the Turkish ones.

When I lived in Surrey there was a small stream that ran nearby that was full of modest sized chub, around 1.5lbs. If I chucked a few dog biscuits in the effect was immediate, there would be plops and bangs up and down the stream as the chub took them off the surface. Though they weren't easy to catch as they would often be lying in the midst of an overhanging bush. But when I've done the same thing on the Kennet or Thames there's been no immediate response, and I haven't persevered. But in a recent thread BoldBear mentions some of his better chub being caught on floating crust, either popped up off the bottom or on the surface. It would be interesting to hear people's experience, as I think it's an enjoyable form of angling. Am I right that it works best in fairly shallow streams? And what about time of year? I've always assumed summer is best, but in Peter Stone's book 'Old Father Thames' he insists you can catch them in midst of winter this way. And what about practicalities? I'm sure a fly rod would be good, but this is not easy when there are a lot of trees to get caught up in. Do you use a bubble float?

Wow, some amazing fish. Special congratulations to Steve and Tigger for catching an 'eight'! BoldBear, you mention Signal and Turkish crayfish. Signals were abundant and a pain when I fished the Kennet. I'm not sure if you're saying they are not so frequent now? I can't remember catching any since I've been on the Thames.. But what about the Turkish ones? This is the first I have heard of them. Are they a troublesome beast?

That's interesting you got them off the surface. I'll start a thread on that.

A great catch, Tigger, given the conditions as you say!

Ken, that's a great video on your last post, with the guy catching a big chub on a dead mouse and getting hits, presumably from a pike , on the dead rat. Also poking the tench to wake it up!

Tigger, Peter Stone found he could use a wire trace and, at least in rivers, it didn't put off the chub. But other than that you and others have convinced me that deadbait probably isn't a first choice bait for chub in most settings.

I have just finished reading 'Old Father Thames' by the late Peter Stone. A good read by a very able angler writing about his experiences fishing the Thames, mainly in the Oxford area, from the 40's to the 90's. It is the kind of book I enjoy, with interesting anecdotes and a style of writing which conveys the beauty of nature and spirit of angling, with just a little on the technical side which might prove useful in practice. But I have a question. In the nineties Peter did a lot of fishing for big chub, often using a deadbait. For example he talks of catching chub on sardine (half or whole) or trout cutlet! He accepts that sometimes, fishing this way, he caught pike. But my question is this, why doesn't it work the other way? I don't recall a pike angler, fishing static deadbaits, say he'd caught chub. Personally, I don't often fish static deadbaits, preferring to wobble them, but I've never had chub, though I have had one or two good perch on the wobbled sea bait. But it's the static deadbait that most surprises me, and I'd be interested to know whether others have caught chub (deliberately or otherwise) this way.

I don't have Discovery, but I've found a 10 minute clip on Youtube and wasn't that impressed, so on reflection I'll leave it

On the Thames, and doubtless elsewhere where there are a lot of bleak, there is a phenomenon where, when you chuck in bread crumb or maggot, including when casting a feeder, there are a lot of little swirls while the bleak have a feast and then woosh they leap out of the water doubtless trying to escape a predator. I have tended to assume the predators are perch, but I've never managed to catch one, not that I've tried very hard. I started a thread on this a couple of years ago and I think it was Vagabond who said he'd had a similar experience and had managed to catch some of the preds, which were indeed perch, though not enormous ones. So I haven't doubted the predators are perch until now. I've been reading Peter Stone's book 'Old Father Thames' and in a chapter going right back to the late 40s he tells of encountering a similar phenomenon, but discovering, surprisingly, that the predators were bream! Part of it was that the bream were feeding on the groundbait near the surface, and when the bleak came the bream made it a mixed feast. One bream regurgitated several bleak. Peter Stone says 'Some may say perch or pike were responsible for the bleak "showering", but they are wrong. If a pike is the culprit it invariably shows itself, and perch chase their prey having singled out a specific fish.' He experimented with pike in lock cuts, throwing in soaked crumb to attract fry. If pike were present they jumped clear of the water or at least swirled. If this didn't happen he assumed it was bream, and caught some to prove it! I'm only half convinced regarding the 'showering' I have seen. Bream are not as frequent as they were in the Thames, whereas perch are ubiquitous. But I take his point about perch pursuing a particular fish. Any views?

Sounds like good news. I get the impression it was on TV at some point, and I must have missed it. I also wouldn't pay £27 for it, but I'd be willing to share the cost with someone. I could buy it from Amazon and then send it on when I'd viewed it, or t'other way round. Mat or Keith or anyone else, let me know if you'd be interested. John

As I understand it outdoor recreation is allowed, so we can fish in our area, but we mustn't go out of a Tier 4 area. Is that how others read it?