The Flying Tench
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Posts posted by The Flying Tench
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I take the point in principle, but it's a bit of a bother changing all your reels to get an automatic line clip. Though if I was a regular carp or barbel angler I'd doubtless see it differently.
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I understand pop-up baits, but what is pop-up powder?
The cheese paste I bought from HInders hardly pongs at all. Quite disappointing! I've now taken the lid off in the hope that will help it mature.
Has anyone used cheese paste on a large river? I can imagine using it on the Kennet where I used to fish, casting all along the far bank under trees etc. But the Thames is quite a large river, and there's so much water to cover. I had a brief go today, but wasn't getting any touches so decided to try maggot with feeder instead. I thought if I could find where any fish were that could give me clues about the chub, though I don't know if that is right. I caught a small roach and a chublet close to the bank, so next mild day will go back and see what else is there.
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13 hours ago, Blackbird said:
River match anglers are a dying breed, most matches are on F1 packed venues in the winter, especially.
On my local river Arrow the last match was won with a weight of 15lb of Chub mainly, and runners up weighed either nothing or just a few ounces, which supports the shoaled up theory.
On the cold rivers a pleasure angler can do worse than using cheese paste and rove.
One part cheddar, one part blue cheese grated together, with half part shortbread pastry or fine crumb, add margarine or Philadelphia to make a moist mix. It gets better with age use with at least a size 6 hook, no need to loose feed, Chub love the stuff.
So this suggests the shoaling up theory applies to chub, not just roach. In fact, where were the roach? Presumably shoaled up somewhere where no-one had a peg? So I'm not sure what I think. In a case like the one I described in my last post today on the Thames, should I go back with finer tackle to the place where got a couple of bites, or keep searching for the shoal?
Blackbird, I'm interested that you are into cheese paste. A couple of people have recommended this recently. I've got the paste. Feebly I bought it just for the first time and to see the texture. But when I cast into the middle of the river with no feeder I find I can't believe a fish will find it! Maybe I should use a light maggot feeder to give me confidence if nothing else? Do you use link ledger or straight lead?
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So Chesters doesn't believe the shoaling up theory except in a modified way, and I think Keith may be implying the same. The fact that he got a few ounces when that wasn't a key shoaling up point shows there were at least some fish there, and the reason others blanked may have been cos they didn't fish fine enough etc rather than there not being any fish there. I fished somewhere a bit like that today. My plan was to trot along 2-300 yds of bank, moving my chair along from time to time, till I got a bite. On the basis of the shoaling up theory that should have meant I had hit a shoal and it should enable me to bag up either today or in the future. But fairly soon I got a couple of bites, at least the maggots were chewed, so I stayed put. Part of the problem was my eyesight wasn't sharp enough to detect the bites, but it could well be if I'd fished finer or done something different it would have made the difference. Though it was quite mild, not very cold as Keith was remembering.
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So Blackbird found the shoaling up theory applied. Martin and Chesters, did you find the same - most people more or less blanking but one or two getting a decent weight?
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I've never fished a match, but I think I at least partly understand the appeal. One part of it for me would be learning from other anglers.
But one thing I don't understand is match fishing canals or rivers in winter. I admit this is a bit theoretical by me, but as I understand it the fish shoal up so you can have long stretches where there are no fish! This is pain enough for a 'pleasure angler' like me, but at least when I blank I can say 'I won't go there again.' And I can move and try out different bits of river or canal during a session. But in most matches you are stuck where there may be no fish!
So what goes on in match anglers heads to take part in this type of fishing?
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My trusty fishing chair was bought very cheaply at a garden centre. It's bright blue, which I hope doesn't scare the fish, but it's light to carry and generally suits me well. Except, just occasionally, I fish somewhere where the bank is uneven and I wish I could adjust the legs. And I wish it was slightly higher for float fishing. I'd always assumed until recently that the kind of chairs you can buy specifically for fishing were very low and laid back with carpers in mind. But a bit of judicious surfing the web reveals that you can get a more sit-up kind of chair with adjustable legs for about £100, much more than my existing chair, though could be worth it. So I'd like to try it out, I mean just sit in one for a few seconds, but unfortunately my local fishing shop doesn't have any at present and apparently they are hard to get hold of at the moment.
So I need to make a decision from my desk. Can I ask 2 questions for those who have such chairs. Do you find yours is viable for float fishing including trotting? And, on a flat surface, how much can you raise the chair using the leg adjusters?
Thanks
John
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Tigger, your aquarium experiments are interesting. Did you try casters by any chance?
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11 hours ago, Blackbird said:
Agreed, even the birds don't like deads. John why not get yourself a dedicated fridge freezer? I have a small one in the larder that houses all my lives,meat and hemp. You mentioned you don't like handling them, but maggots are clean dudes in themselves, and of course through the ages have been used medically. A good tip is to add a few to water for the hook, they will swell up and provide the edge.
Thanks both of you. Blackbird, nowadays I do have a bait fridge with a small freezing compartment in the garage. I'm perfectly happy handling live maggots. It was the dead ones that didn't appeal, though I'm sure I'd get used to them if necessity dictated.
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I can still remember when they first started talking about dead maggots in the angling press, and it seemed logical to use them for loose feed, at least, so they didn't wriggle away into the silt. I think I tried them once. But it was a problem killing them as I didn't have an available freezer, and I didn't particularly like handling them. So I came to the conclusion that you got the same advantages (and disadvantages) with casters and forgot all about them. Then I didn't hear any more about them for quite a while, but recently I've heard about them a number of times from different people, so here goes. Three questions:
1. Hook bait. Am I right guessing they are comparable with casters, not quite as many bites as with live maggots, slightly bigger fish, and not quite as much bother from bleak etc?
2. Groundbait and loose feed - comparable with casters?
3. Storage and killing them. Do you just put a box of maggots in the freezer or ice box, or is it best to put them in a freezer bag? And once you've defrosted them can you freeze them again?
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33 minutes ago, Peterjg said:
Flying Tench, it's probably the same with rivers. As for lakes I don't know as I mainly stick to the rivers and canals in winter. One thing for sure though with roach is that they are so fussy about light or/and water clarity. I appreciate that there will always be exceptions but generally light or/and water clarity is so important for roach.
The problem is that my enthusiasm always over-rules common sense and I still go roach fishing at the wrong times and conditions!
So presumably you are saying there should not be much light, and there should be a reasonable amount of colour in the water?
Incidently, it's interesting that they shoal up near a lock. I wonder if that is often the case. I'm thinking that they might go as far as they can in a given direction until they come to a lock and can't go any further. I'm thinking this might shorten the time needed to find out where they are.
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6 hours ago, Peterjg said:
Logically you would think that in the winter when supposedly natural food is scarce that the roach would spread out looking for it? They obviously don't though, they do the opposite, they shoal up in which I think is a safety in numbers strategy. It definitely pays to move until you find them, whole bits of river or canal can be fishless. There is a long section of the K&A canal which in winter is empty of roach because they are tightly shoaled very near a lock.
As an ex Newbury person this is fascinating. 20 years, and I never discovered! Though to be fair I didn't try for roach often in the canal. But I knew it was true for perch, and you had to find their 'winter quarters' though I think it wasn't as extreme as you're saying with the roach. I'm not aware that big sections were perchless, and the shoals of perch were quite small. With the roach, would you say the phenomenon is more extreme on the canal than the river or lakes?
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14 hours ago, BoldBear said:
In built up areas in towns and cities it is often a degree or so warmer than in the countryside away from built up areas which is why the fish can sometimes congregate and feed a bit more often than their out of town brethren.
Plus as Martin says; any bread or other feed which is put in to feed the ducks or swans etc. can also attract feeding fish.
However in wet weather when the rain water is running directly off of the road surfaces in towns then the opposite can also be true.
Keith
There's a swim on the Thames near me where some warm water comes in. When I took the temperature a few days ago it was 10degC warmer than the main river, so I fully expected to bag up. But I blanked!
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This is the time of year when, for me at least, the number of blanks increases and I occasionally look for a fishing 'shot in the arm'. 'Do not fear!' say the angling magazines. There are wondrous places, often town centres, where the roach shoal up in winter, and you can't fail to bag up. The reason they shoal up in town centres is not clear to me. Some say it is to get away from cormorants, but that seems to be based on some research in Denmark where it seems the roach from a big lake abscond in winter to the little rivers that flow into the lake - a bit different.
But for whatever reason there are places where it seems you can bag up on roach in winter. Not necessarily monsters, but good sport nevertheless: the old river Nene in March; the Wye in Hereford; the Welland in Spalding; the Forty Foot Drain at Ramsey St Mary's, near Huntingdon.
Has anyone had any experience of these places, or similar ones, in winter? Is it really as the angling mags say?
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OK, but why then is the nice green colour good for fishing? Is it just that the brown mud etc has dropped out?
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Someone said to me recently that river fishing would be good when we've had some frosts, we've had some rain to wash the dead weed away, and the river is a nice green colour. I know what they meant about the green colour. There's something about it that tells me instinctively that it will fish well. But does anyone know why?
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12 hours ago, chesters1 said:
What are you ?sea fishing?
Roach fishing Chesters with relatively large bits of flake
John
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15 hours ago, Tigger said:
I haven't looked through them John, but they sell them here....
https://www.fishfriend.co.uk/mustad-coarse-hooks
Certainly worth a check through, but I don't think they do a fine wire eyed 8 or 10
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7 hours ago, chesters1 said:
These look pretty fine ,not sure where the company is though?
You can get these from UK sites, but I think they only go up to size 14, whereas our main problem seems to be size 8 and 10
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On 11/25/2021 at 7:37 PM, Tigger said:
If I remember rightly mustad did some fine wire hooks. I have some but they are spade ends. They are strong also and would be idea to use in a bread flake for roach.
Ian, I checked Mustad out and as far as I can see they just do hooks for lure fishing. John
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Thanks, Ian. Yes all makes sense.
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Your catches demonstrate that float is best, certainly on your river, but my problem is seeing the float even with the hopefully-very-visible ones I bought recently! But I'm interested in what you say about freelining. Does this involve having maybe one swan shot on the line, where you can allow the bait to trundle through the swim, ie a semi-moving bait?
I haven't met anglers on the Thames who float-fish for chub, but several people have said they don't use a feeder cos they think the chub can feel the resistance. So they cast the line, with just one or two swan shot, into the flow and wait to see where it settles, I think on the basis that that is where other food will settle also.
Have I got the right end of the stick about how you freeline?
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Welcome from me also Peter. I also really like roach, though I am a very unsuccessful roach angler! Until 6 years ago I lived in Newbury (Greenham) and was a member of Thatcham and Newbury angling socs. Doubtless you are aware the two main blogs on this site are from Newbury. Now I'm on the Thames near Wallingford where I've found it quite hard to adapt to a much wider river.
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Ian, I see that even in bad conditions and a deep swim you fished float. Is that always the case, or do conditions sometimes mean you resort to feeder and big baits? I ask of course with reference to my local Thames where my success with the chub is limited to say the least!
A few hours out yesterday.....
in Coarse Fishing
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Good stuff, as ever Ian. I don't recall you catching a sea trout recently. Out of interest what is the float you are using there? For some reason the tip looks a bit thicker and more visible than my recollections, though that may be just me.