The Flying Tench

In my 20 year sojourn in Newbury I never caught a roach from the lakes over 8oz. Congrats! A novel way of fishing to my view, which brought the results!

Ah, of course, that's why I've seen carpers with no bobbin - they use bolt rigs! But do bolt rigs work with pike?

I hadn't realised there was a cut-off time for bleak, though I'm glad if there is. End of Sept? Could it be that they go into the lock cuts? I've known them, when casting a groundbait feeder in to the lock cut, attack the bits of crumb that escape even in winter. And often Ms perch is waiting for them, though I've neve caught Mrs P in these circumstances.

I have rarely fished 2 rods, but quite enjoy it when I do, even though I'm a clumsy so-and-so and tend to trip up over one rod when trying to attend t'other. It's mostly been bream fishing, and I've had bobbins and bait alarms, which seems to work OK. But yesterday I had one rod for chub or bream (no takes) and one for pike (one take which I missed, and another attack while winding in.) The take which I missed consisted of a serious of little jerks which slowly moved the bobbin up to the rod, when I felt semi-obliged to strike, but in retrospect shouldn't have done as I think the pike was still playing with the bait. Maybe just using the bait-runner would have allowed me more flexibility? But it raises the general question of whether to use bobbin or bait-runner or both. Am I right that carp anglers don't bother with a bobbin nowadays? What do you do?

It would certainly be an interesting experiment to heave in 4 pints of maggot. The trouble is, while there are no minnows there are abundant bleak. Also float fishing is limited by my eyesight - though not impossible. I'll think on't!

I returned to Swift Ditch where the swim had gone dead on maggot feeder, though my first experiment was to try float fishing with hemp'n tares in a slightly different swim. In an hour I had just 3 roach, all no more than 3 inches long. I don't know how the greedy little fish could eat such a large bait as a tare! I wasn't fishing well, partly because I had set up too log a rod for the various trees and bushes. So I switched to a ledger rod, and moved back to where the swim had died the day before. This time I was more circumspect and used a mixture of groundbait and maggot in a smaller feeder. The bites seemed more steady, though all the fish were small roach with just a couple of skimmers apart from 2 pike which I failed to land. One had taken a skimmer, and let go when it came to the net. It was a jack, 2 or three pounds. The other bit through the line. I never saw it, but it felt a fair bit bigger. So I must teach Esox some manners. Had a go the next day. Missed a bite, and another pike got off the hook, so no pike landed so far.

Thanks to you also Martin

Thanks, Whitty and Martin. So I may be overfeeding. That would certainly explain it. But a number of times I've heard it said 'You can't overfeed on the Thames' and I've thought (with Martin) 'They'll come in eventually.' Whitty, can you explain how you came to the decision to feed one maggot a trot? Was it winter? It occurs to me, should I start feeding only a little, and then build up as I get bites? I remember buying some paste for tench fishing years ago and it said to feed more pellets as I got bites. At the start there will probably only be a few fish in the swim, so should I have the feeder only, say, a third full at the start and then build up? Let's say in autumn conditions when the expected catch is roach.

Thanks, Bayleaf. Yes, I half wondered about the splash factor, though the swim is about 5 feet deep. I once heard a speaker at an angling club meeting, possibly Newbury AA, it may have been Dave Harrell, and he was fishing a match against a friend on a canal. He started by chucking a couple of bricks into the canal to attract the fish! He reckoned they associated it with the sound of match anglers throwing in bait. I don't think he intended us to take that too seriously, though!

Am I unique? First cast, before the groundbait has had a chance to act, I often get a bite within seconds. Then one or two bites fairly soon. Then the swim goes dead. It happened today when I was fishing a Thames 'carrier' with maggot feeder, but it has happened in a multitude of venues. Do you find the same? I know that sometimes a pike has moved into the swim, but usually there are signs such as attacking the hooked fish. There was nothing like that today. Could I be over feeding? Maybe, but today I put in less than a pint of maggots in two and a half hours. Is there another factor I'm missing?

Thanks all of you. I'm convinced!

Thanks Whitty. Re power station outlet, I'm a member of Sutton Courtenay and I pricked up my ears when someone mentioned warm water going into the river, but the last person I spoke to said it doesn't happen anymore. But I'll keep my ear to the ground. Re Benson, I don't recall the stone parapets, but I'll have a look when I'm next there. I assume you're meaning 'far bank' as viewed from the mini wharf by the fishing shop, and therefore the parapets are on the west bank below the weir?

5.15 - 7.45pm weather cool and cloudy I've tended to dismiss maggot feeder for the Thames, particularly in summer, because my past experience has been that it just attracts very small fish. But I have met a couple of anglers recently who have done OK with it, which has made me wonder if I have given it a fair crack. Having joined a club that has a stretch of what is in effect a 'carrier' for the Thames, much narrower than the main river, I decided that I could concentrate the maggots in a limited area, which would hopefully build up a swim and really 'get them going'! I used a bigger feeder than normal, and my plan was to keep building a swim in the hope that it would attract some chub which would chase away the very small fish. It started well. First cast brought a skimmer, followed reasonably soon by some small dace and bleak, a chunky dace of 4 or 5 oz, a half pound jack pike and a small perch. But as so often, I find, the bites dried up. Why? Just when in theory the swim should have been starting to build. The modest tally was: 1st half hour 5 2nd half hour 3 3rd half hour 1 4th half hour 0 5th half hour 2 The only theories I can come up with are: a) a pike entered the swim (but there were no obvious signs of it; b) I was over feeding (but I don't think I was, less than a pint of maggots in two and a half hours) I'd be grateful for any suggestions

That's interesting, Alan. I live near Didcot, so my nearest are Wallingford and Culham, but I've also fished Sandford, Abingdon and Benson - so I'll pick your brains at some point!

I'm interested that the last three contributors don't use braid mainline for barbel. It would be interesting to hear why. I haven't barbel fished for several years, but when I did the rivers generally had quite a fast flow, and having a low diameter line helped handle this. What breaking strain mono do you use?

That's interesting to hear it said so strongly. Do you feel this is a particular Thames thing, or does it apply to most rivers in summer, maybe 'cos the fish are up in the water? And you mention 'missing 9 out of 10 bites'. Are you meaning this literally, that the fish are biting but feeder isn't sensitive enough to register them, or are you just saying we'll catch less fish because they don't want a static bait? Incidently, I think you are a relatively new member. In case no-one has said it, welcome to AN! It would be interesting to know where you fish mostly nowadays and what type of fishing you like to do. I'd personally be particularly interested to know if you still fish the Thames

Do you use pellets for general coarse fishing? Which do you prefer and why? The only ones I've used are halibut pellets, originally for barbel but I've also had one or two roach, and 'carp pellets' on which I have had roach, bream and crucians. But in terms of working out a strategy for general coarse fishing I'm not sure which is best. An instinct says that it might be best to keep off the halibut ones in winter as they're so oily, but what about autumn? You'd think the strong smell of the halibut ones would be an advantage, but I've certainly had more bites on my 4mm carp ones than on the 6mm halibut ones. But maybe that's due to size? Any views?

I don't think I ever tried hemp and tares when I was in Newbury. I could imagine them on the canalised bits of river. What I hadn't realised till recently is that the roach mainly switch onto 'seeds' in August and September, and they are supposed to work well near elder bushes dropping their berries in the river. Having said that I do remember try elder berries on the wharf with limited success.

I take Ken's point about fishing a long pole being tiring. It's always looked a bit like that to me, and I've got a weak back so haven't ever bought one. But at the lake I've been fishing recently quite a few people use a shortish pole, just 2 sections I think, and it doesn't look too bad. I think they out fish my float rod, though of course that might be a case of the angler not the equipment! But I've asked myself why the pole should do better, and one obvious answer is the very accurate groundbaiting using a pole cup. How do you groundbait with a whip?

4-5pm. I had two false starts in other swims so only left myself an hour in bright sunlight. Pleasantly surprised, though. About 10 roach up to half a pound up in the water on hemp and tares. To me it's a slight puzzle. My general impression is that the lock cuts are pretty well devoid of fish in the summer. Why is Sandford an exception? Maybe I'm wrong and there are more fish in the others than I suppose. I must give a couple of the ones nearer my home another try. To be fair, the only one I've tried hemp and tares in is Sandford.

2.30 - 5.15pm I started off 'up in the water' with hemp and tares and casters hoping for some of the quality roach and rudd I've had in the last couple of months here. I had 6 roach in the first hour, but none were over about 5 ounces, so I switched to fishing on the deck practising the lift method. One nice bream about 3lbs, and 3 crucians all about 8 oz. Enjoyable fishing.

I've delayed responding to this till I've been out for a couple of outings, and I certainly see the point in what you are saying, Dave. Is there any reason you don't mention orange, the commonest colour for shop bought floats? My problem today will be hard to solve, I suspect. I was trying to trot a Thames weir stream, and the reflections from the trees around my float were a mixture of dark green, light green, yellow, bright, dark - with lots of ripple in the water as well. The effect was like camouflage, I lost my float completely in it all. Any views, anyone? I gave up and moved to another swim.

Thanks - I'll probably subscribe to the Ginger Fisherman in that case.

Thanks, but how does my subscribing mean they get more money? Is it that the advertisers are more willing to support if they know a good number have subscribed?

Leon recommended the Ginger fisherman a while back, but I thought I'd mention this one on pike fishing in a hidden pond which I thought was exceptional. But at the end, as with other videos, he asks you to 'subscribe'. What does that entail, and how do you do it?