The Flying Tench

Thanks for the comments. My experience of crayfish is that they can be quite jerky - though maybe I'm thinking of deadbaits a bit there - . and hold onto the bait or even take it in their mouths. So I'm a bit surprised I never pulled one in. Still, I take the point that it's definitely a possibility. As to line strength, I admit it's a problem, but most roach fishermen say you don't have a hope of a big one on more than 3lb hooklength. Unless you're using a very short tail, I don't see that the main line makes much difference, so I accept a heavier line might be best, but the hooklength's a problem. I'm interested in the diamond geezer's suggestion of braid, but are you meaning for the hooklength? I'd be grateful for advice on what braid and how to tie it.

I tried a swim on the Kennet yesterday where I'd been told there were some big roach. I don't know quite how big, but my pb is only 1lb 2oz, so anything nearing 2lb would be a monster. I hadn't intended to night fish, but arrived later than I'd intended, and the light was already going. I started on feeder with maggots, 2ft 6in trace and 3lb line (2lb 8oz hook link.) It was only about 2ft 6in deep. On the first cast I could immediately feel my feeder being nibbled, and assumed I was in for some fun with some small fish, if nothing more. However, the nibbling stopped on second cast, and I had few bites beyond a greedy brown trout that I decided to eat as it'd swallowed the hook. I fixed a starlight onto the quivertip as night fell, and wondered if I'd get bites as the maggots weren't flavoured. I also decided that the feeder was spooking the fish and changed to a straight lead - and didn't feed, as I'm hopelessly inaccurate in the dark. Surely they wouldn't find a single maggot in the dark? However, to my surprise, the quiver tip started to move regularly - about every 5 minutes - slow pulls, just moving a cm or 2. What was it that was giving these cautious bites? Several times they took the maggot from a barbed hook. Yet I never managed to connect. there was one chunky little roach of about half a pound which pulled the tip round like a chub, but that was quite different from the shy pulls by whatever was getting the maggots off the hook. From those who are more experienced with big roach, do you think that's what I was in touch with? And how can I hit the bites next time? If I fished finer, would the bites be bolder? I used 3lb line because of chub, barbel etc

That's really interesting. Presumably the line strength was the same? My local river, the kennet, is often clear. i think I'll fish with a lighter float next time, given what you've told me. but it can't be easy casting with a float carrying two no 6s?

My brother inSwitzerland has e-mailed me an interesting excerpt from a book by a guy called Masson on 'Les Poissons du Lac Leman (Geneva)'. He lists just about every conceivable fish as being found there, and claims to like the tench particularly because of their hapit of giving you tench kisses on your mask when snorkling ( I think). Cetainly different. I haven't worked out how to copy an e-mail onto this, but would forward it to you if you gave me your e-mail address - though I'm not saying it would be of any practical value.

I don't know much. My twin brother lives in lausanne, but hasn't seriously fished since he's been out there. It's obviously a very deep lake, and i think they must net it, because all the restaurants serve pike and perch. APPARENTLY THE LOCALS FISH FOR PERCH WITH GREAT BIG FLOATS, THOUGH i DIDN'T SEE ANY WHEN I WAS THERE. (Sorry, capitals not intended.) His daughters caught some small perch but then lost interest. I think they used maggots, so there must be a fishing shop in Lausanne. I'm sure my brother mentioned carp and some other fish as well as perch, pike and trout. He also said that for pike some of the locals preferred a smaller lake. Sorry not to be more help. I'd also like to fish there some day, so let me know if you go.

Every time I buy maggots I get asked the question, and I try to answer in a knowledgeable way - a knowledgeable SOUNDING way. The truth is I find them both a perishing nuisance. I know they're meant to soak up the acid, but won't the water sort that out when you chuck them in? I know the maize will go off if you keep them too long, but won't it last as long as the maggots? I've no real basis to choose between the two evils. Whenever I chuck in the loose feed the wind seems to blow the maize into my eyes, into the crevices in the reel etc - and it's worse in the rain, when the maggots are enough of a nuisance anyway, since the wet means they can crawl out of the bait container, and out of my bait apron and up and down my jacket and into my pockets etc. OK, yesterday's fish wasn't brilliant - any advice on the maize v sawdust, though?

Sit tests for a licence!? The mind boggles. That must mean that there's a whole industry of classes. Can they learn at school? presumably learners have to have a big 'L' on their backs and can only fish in certain lakes? Ze Germans sure are thorough!

I haven't seen these streams, of course, but I've sometimes wondered the same question about fishing in weed. I guess it's a special case of the more general question of how aware fish are of a bait going in on any water. I don't know the answer, but if you throw a small pebble into a clear stream where you can see the fish it's very clear that they're all VERY INSTANTLY AWARE. On your original question, could the duckweed be less dense below the surface? Or maybe they see the ripples on the surface caused by the bait going in, and can deduce that food will be at the centre of the circle?

I find fluorocarbon floats OK if you grease it. I'm interested in Steve's comment that he actually WANTS it to sink. I've heard that you want the last few inches to sink to make it less visible. I use about a 6 foot fluoro trace, but I guess yo're thinking of a shorter hooklength, Steve? I cetainly found I got more bites with the fluorocarbon than ordinary mono, but I admit I haven't tried the double strength.

I use a half-blood knot to loop. Probably wrong, but it normally seems OK. I had some problems with breakages, which seemed to be caused by 3 things: 1. I hadn't changed my reel line for 3 years! (Oh dear, I know!) 2. I was putting used hooks to nylon back in the pccket, and I guess they were still wet and may have rotted the line. Do others agree this is unwise? 3. Faulty shop-bought hooks to nylon which were breaking at the hook itself.

Well folks, iycf will be out any moment so we'll all be put out of our misery! I hope someone puts the answer on this thread just in case some of us don't buy iycf.

It's interesting that all the teams bar 2 are from Europe. I wonder why coarse (match) fishing is such a European sport?

The only times I've used fluorocarbon have been floater fishing, and for some reason I've always used a swivel to join the lines, and had no problems. Where I've sometimes had problems is with shop-bought hooks-to-nylon. I lost a good perch only yesterday, and it broke when I was only putting on a little pressure. One thought is that I'd used the hook previously and put it back in the packet. Is this a bad practice - maybe the line rots? Having said that, I'm sure the problem is sometimes a faulty product. For some reason I don't like rig winders, so I guess I need to throw away the hook each time to be safe?

I've been on hols, so forgive late response to some helpful comments. Andy M - near 2lb roach in summer! You've made me jealous, but also raised my hope. Chris the Fish - I'm really interested in your fly fishing approach for roach and rudd, but I've never done it, cos when I've thrown bread on the water, all that's attacked it, apart from carp, have been SMALL rudd. Is it something that works on particular waters, or should i just have more faith? Chris P - amazing fish for an 11 year old! But I note they were in the deeper water, as you'd expect with temperature drop. Wunnus appears to be right about falling temps being a bad omen at any time - though I'm not sure anyone knows why this should be so in summer? I'm grateful for Wunnus' suggestion that even a small temperature rise can get them back on feed. Otherwise, on such a day when there's a big drop in temp the right strategy seems to be to keep away from the river and go for the deeper water in a lake?

Just testing as my last post didn't work

They seem to be spending the money on some good projects. I'd be interested to know where the money from boat licences on canals and rivers goes. Some of it should go to the EA for fisheries work to make up for the negative effects boats have on the fishing environment

Yesterday (Thursday) there was a sharp drop intemperature, and I wondered how it would affect the fishing. i went wobbling for pike in a favourite hotspot in the evening and blanked, but I wasn't there long, and it may have been nothing to do with the weather. But how serious is a drop in temp in the summer? I can see why it's a problem in winter. The fish are not eating much anyway, so, if the temp falls, they just stop eating. But in the summer I assume they eat all the time and, logically, a drop in temp could freshen things up for them? But, somehow, I had an instinct that last night would be a failure, but I can't explain why. Any ideas? I'm really talking about rivers and canals. I can see that in a lake a drop in the surface temp will put them down to the bottom where the temp won't have changed much, and I'm fairly sure they'll keep feeding?

Newt, it's an amazing site, and I wish we had something free like that covering the UK. Unfortunately, it seems they've put the rest of the world outside USA on a separate site where you pay $100 a year - but they do have a special offer at present where they'll send you some sliced ham if you subscribe!

I saw in some magazine recently that George Bush goes fishing too. There was a picture with his father, Henry Bush, and they were lure casting from a boat. Apparently George got a foot long striped bass.

Rogerb, so it sounds as if you agree with poledark? I just wondered whether the approach of waiting till the line moves would hit the equivalent of the ones where your quiver-tip is pulled right round, but would miss the ones where it moves 2 inches? Mind you, I accept that I strike too often, which is why I'll try the method Poledark suggests. I guess the point of the story about the carp and the bread is that they'll bite more confidently away from the bank?

Thanks for the idea. I bought some today and tried them. I've got to say the carp preferred the dog biscuits, but after a while they did take the mini marshmallows too, and these were far easier to see as light fell.

Great! After today's cricket performance, and not too much on the way in the athletics, it's great to know England can do something - even if they don't appear to represent a vast interest in angling by most women!

Poledark, I hadn't seen your last post when i wrote mine at about the same time. Very interesting, but I'll need a lot of will-power not to strike after 20 carp have approached my bait and turned awaay, and then one finally takes it! Still, it casts a whole new complexion on the problem of not seeing the floater clearly, so I'll try it. Thanks!

Thanks, Rogerb. Also Koi Carp for your rig which looks a bit technical, but I can entirely see the point after tonight's session! In the end i got one on a hair rig, but before that it was fascinating to watch the way they inspected the bait right under my rod tip, and I couldn't see how I'd beat them! I even tried dapping, which I guess has the same principle as your rig. It didn't work, but I suspect that was because I had a couple of inches of line coiled round the bait, so guess I'd need to use your rig fairly close in so I could see it was set just right?

Chris, I'm really amazed, and I guess impressed, that you can have 3 days in hospital and move house in one week and still manage to go fishing!