The Flying Tench

Have just returned from hols in Switzerland, and sitting by the pool my wife pointed out something that surprised us both. An ant was pulling along a dead bluebottle, six times bigger than itself. Then it slipped down between two paving slabs, and the ant appeared to be trying to bite off one of the wings to get it out. But why? As far as I know ants eat vegetable matter, not dead flies. What did it want the bluebottle for?

Hi John Thank you for this helpful reply which I've only just read. I've been away for the past 2 weeks, and I don't know what happened before that. For all the times I've fished sweetcorn I've never thought of fishing bits instead of a whole kernel. Will certainly try it, and it should be useful on a week's trip to the Blavet in Brittany leaving next Monday! John

It'll be interesting to hear how you get on, John. Loch Ness sounds quite tough for lure angling as I imagine you need to cast out quite a way to get into any depth of water? I guess I'd find the canal easier, but that may just be that I've never cracked lure fishing in lakes. Regarding Andrew's comments about ultra-lite, it's another world in a way. I was expertly taught by Kappa, and it certainly upped my catch rate a lot (not that I do it much now because of back trouble). But I'm not sure how I would have got on without someone to guide. Plastics, of course, can be used with a conventional spinning rod, not just for ultra-lite. My favourite lure for years on the Kennet was a Mepps No 3 Fire-tiger (orangy) and I caught on that but couldn't seem to catch on anything else! But then I bought a cheap bag of plastic 'worms' with big flat tails that flashed around as you retrieved, and my favourite turned out to be glitter-gold. I used them with a 10gram jig, and when I wanted to be on or close to the bottom they out-fished even the Mepps. I'm not sure if they resembled crayfish, that you get a lot of in the Kennet. I realise you probably won't be using plastics on your forthcoming trip, but for the future I'd recommend having a couple in the bag as an alternative lure for when the fish are deep.

Gozzer, you kindly asked me to let you know how I got on. For what it's worth I used mono yesterday and didn't get any breaks - though I realise one trip doesn't prove a lot. I was pleased to get a 12oz roach, my best so far from the Thames, though of course my sights are on a bigger one!

7 - 8.30pm For the first time in the Thames I used bait-dropper. I cast out 10 bait-droppers full of 3mm pellets, and then fished feeder with 6mm halibut pellet about 5 rods out. At first it was bite-a-chuck, and very positive bites, too. Within 5 minutes I had a 12oz roach, which is actually my pb for the Thames. Then they got a bit cagey, and I missed a lot of bites. I wondered if the hair was too long and they were sucking the bait and not really having the hook in their mouth? Next time I must take sweetcorn as a second bait. Then the bites pretty well dried up, and I was getting cold so I pushed off home. But I wonder why the bites dried up? Perhaps it was a big shoal and they had eaten up all my goodies and moved on? Though some feed was going in, still, from the feeder. It could have been a pike, I suppose, but it didn't take any of the fish I had on. Next time I guess I should top up the feed with the dropper after an hour or so. Just 3 roach, but two of them over 10 oz, and I was pleased with the initial effect of the feeder.

As I understand it, in France there is one annual rod licence (carte peche) that covers coarse and game fish (category 1 and 2 rivers). This costs a little more than the UK rod licence, but beyond it most river fishing is free. That's not so extraordinary for coarse fish, but surely for salmon and trout it's amazing! Does it mean - unlike southern chalk streams in UK, they don't stock the rivers with hefty great trout? Surely, if they did, you'd have to pay! - the salmon fishing is no good, even compared to UK. Otherwise they'd be flooded out by salmon anglers from UK and elsewhere!

Thanks, Gozzer I think you've put your finger on the problem. I was half wondering this myself. The pre-stretched hooks to nylon I have been using are 'Band-its', as I find them very handy for fishing pellet. They are 4 lbs breaking strain to 14 hook. Yes, I could use a mono leader, or maybe Martin's power gum approach, but I think while flow levels are low the simplest thing might be to go back to using mono main line. Thanks for the help JOhn

Sorry, I wasn't clear. The breaks occurred near the hook in the (pre-stretched?) hook to nylon. The braid was 6lb breaking strain. I get the impression most people use mono for general ledgering, as you haven't said otherwise? Thanks for replies so far.

Carp anglers, lure anglers and many anglers who trot at a distance use braid for differing reasons. But what about feeder fishing on a river for roach and dace and the hope of an occasional bream or chub? Recently I've been using braid. I like the fact that, being thinner, it reduces the drag on the line; and I think it gives clearer indication of bites, particularly subtle ones. But I've had a couple of line breaks recently that took me by surprise as I didn't think the pull on the line was enough to cause a break. Could it have been that, with no stretch in the braid, a sudden jerk was enough to cause a break whereas with mono the stretch would have absorbed the shock? In addition I was using a hook to nylon, and I think these are low diameter lines that also have no stretch. That's just one aspect. What line do you use for general purpose ledgering, and why?

Hi Sportsman, or anyone else who has fished Brittany. Finally, a year on I am going to take up your suggestion and fish the River Blavet - in the first week of October. If you are still around, two questions: in case I want a change from the river, how does the canal compare with the Blavet? And do you particularly recommend any of the lakes? Thanks John

Wow, that's quite a club lake - a few 1.5lb roach in summer!

Thanks everyone, Andrew's comments are particularly relevant to me as he's another Thames Angler. Re using a long tail to get a dropping bait when ledgering, it makes me wonder if that shouldn't be standard practice for deep rivers in summer. I'll certainly give it more of a try.

Martin, the case for Robin Red admittedly seems strong. My problem is that I've heard similar arguments for other flavours over the years, which has made me hesitant to get drawn in. Could you say a bit more precisely what the benefits for you have been? Has it been mainly for carp, or have you, for example, had more quality roach by using it?

A related bit of evidence, at least re the Thames. I'm a member of Littlemore A.S. near Oxford. For their Thames matches they fish a stretch at Sandford, just south of Oxford, that I think has a reputation for roach. In the first 2 months of 2018/19, I see from their website that all 4 matches were won on the waggler. To me, the fact that it was waggler rather than stick float implies that the fish were at a distance, and the fact that none were on the feeder implies that the fish wanted a moving bait. To my surprise, given all the bleak in the Thames, 2 were won on maggot, and 2 on caster. Though one specifically said hemp and caster, so for all I know maybe all fed hemp rather than maggot or caster. I've never fished a match in my life, but I find this interesting info. Later in the year there is much more variety of method, including feeder. Of course it may be quite different on other rivers. It would be interesting to hear.

Thanks, Ken Interesting, because it's not what I expected. I guess I'm talking about where it's 'navigable and deeper', so your comment about 'more fish about in the open' applies. I have some evidence for saying they'll be in the middle, but admittedly it's not extensive. Comments by a couple of Thames anglers on the bank. Also, some years ago I went on a trip to Hereford to fish the Wye, and found an out of date website for the Belmont Hotel where a previous manager had been an angler. It gave a detailed, swim by swim, commentary on all the pegs managed by the hotel. For peg after peg he claimed that, in summer, the roach in particular would be out in the faster water. So it'll be interesting to hear more comments from anglers with experience of other rivers. Meanwhile I'll take your advice and try at the bottom of the marginal shelf, particularly if I can find somewhere where the flow comes in towards the bank.

Martin, what do you mean by 4 o'clock holes? Are you talking about holes under the bank, willow trees etc? Or do you mean out in the middle, bits where for some reason it gets deeper?

Thanks, Martin Is the idea that the feed stays in the feeder and the fish munch it a bit like a method feeder? Or are the wetted pellets meant to come out on the way down

7.30 - 9.30pm During the last 2 years I did some fishing with 8mm pellet. It worked well in the lake, but was pretty dead in the river. So I decided to try 6mm pellet to see if that would be more to the taste of the quality roach which are my main target. I used 3mm pellet in the feeder. Just one skimmer bream, plus a number of bites including a couple which got off. I would say mostly skimmers. Maybe the roach were up in the water?

Am I right in thinking that, in summer, the fish will mainly be out in the middle where there's maximum flow? I fish the Thames which I'd describe as a medium flow river. I realise there are exceptions. Like I think they will still hide under boats, even in summer. Do you agree? A related issue is where they will be vis a vis depth. Am I right that roach will tend to be up in the water, and will certainly like a dropping bait? That's a nuisance for me, as currently I can't see a float much further than under the rod tip, but that may hopefully change after a cataract op. And perch, now that's another question. Half of me thinks they'll be close in cos they don't like much flow. But on the Thames they can be very active chasing the bleak out in the middle, you see the bleak jumping out of the water. So am I right that ledgering has it's problems for both roach and perch in mid summer? What's your experience of summer fishing?

Some interesting thoughts there, Martin. I'd never heard of a banjo feeder, but have looked it up and will get one and give it a try. Also interesting comment about worm down the edge. Is that particularly with perch in mind? Some of the time this summer I'm going to try 6mm pellet with 3mm feed. Do you have any views about the best type of feeder for this?

Thanks, Ken As to distance out, it raises the question of where the fish will be, for which I'll start another thread. I'm thinking of the middle Thames, and assuming they'll be, say, a third of the way across, say 5 rod lengths. So I'm not sure I trust my ability to cast out quite such a heavy feeder. But nevertheless I'm sure your principle is right - use a bait dropper! I'll start with a much smaller one and work up.

I've a feeling there may be no easy answer to this one, but here goes. The issue is how to ensure the feed, in river fishing, is where the bait is. In a shallow, slow river it's no problem because, even if the feed leaves the feeder when it smacks the surface, it'll drop near the hook bait. But what can you do in a deep fast river? When does the feed leave the feeder? I can imagine it happening the moment it hits the surface. Or maybe all the way as it descends. Or maybe not till it hits the bottom, in which case I assume it will stay in the feeder till you strike. I know part of the answer is that your feed has to have the right consistency, but how do you know whether this is achieved? You wind in. If the feeder is still clogged up with feed you know it's too hard. But if it's empty it could be just right, or it could be it's far too dry and fluffy and has ended up yards downstream of your bait. Any advice would be welcome.

At the start of a new season, in case it's of any interest to anyone, here are my pbs so far. The question is, how to improve at least one of them this season given that I'm a bit of a cushy 'pleasure angler', not into all night stints and with health issues hindering also: roach 1lb 9oz River Farm Lake, Fareham Oct 2009 float single caster rudd 2lb 2oz Aquatek Lake, Woolhampton May 2009 float single maggot dace 7oz River Kennet, Newbury Nov 2014 float 4 maggots chub 6lb 9oz River Kennet, Newbury Nov 2003 feeder 2 dendrobaena barbel 8lb 0oz R. Kennet weirpool, Thatcham Aug 2006 ledger luncheon meat bream 6lb 6oz Orchid Lakes, Dorchester May 2019 feeder 8mm pellet carp 18lb 14oz Bell Wood Lake, Newbury July 2000 2 floating dog biscuits crucian 1lb 11oz Dixons Lake, Thatcham July 2002 ledgered sweetcorn 3' tail goldfish 1lb 5oz North Lake, Greenham April 2008 float lift method (maggot?) tench 6lb 4oz Wylie's Lake, Newbury May 2000 float pellet paste perch 3lb 6oz Aquatek Lake, Woolhampton March 2010 feeder - popped up lobworm zander c 1lb Rutland Water Sept 2018 jigged lure pike 22lb 4oz River Thames, Goring Dec 2014 wobbled smelt eel 2lb 3oz Wingham Lake May 2009 feeder lobworm grayling 1lb 4oz River Lambourn, Newbury Dec 2011 float single maggot brown trout 3lb 4oz River Kennet, Newbury June 1998 wobbled smelt! rainbow trout 2lb 14oz Pond near Salisbury May 1985 fly fished - fly plus pellet! So there it is. One or two good fish, and many happy memories. 6 on float, 6 ledger and 5 other. I still hope to improve on a few of them. Comments and insults welcome!

Congrats on your splendid pb crucian, Chris! Bad luck falling in. I fell in the Thames a couple of years ago. In a lunatic kind of way, for some reason, I was pleased! I think perhaps I found it funny. But I wouldn't have been pleased if I'd lost my car keys, just a hearing aid which NHS replaced for free. But a real pain losing your specs, as you say. Wow, a good start to the season having a pb under your belt already!

Thanks, everyone The Ebay tip ring worked fine