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Bayleaf the Gardener

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Blog Comments posted by Bayleaf the Gardener

    Chris Plumb

    Posted

    20 hours ago, Chris Plumb said:

    If the 25lb haul was made up of just 2 or 3 fish then yes!!!!

     

    9 hours ago, Chris Plumb said:

    S'OK - I do remember the 87/88 2nd round Littlewoods Cup game. I was at Elm Park for the first leg which we won 3-1, losing at Stamford Bridge 3-2 to go through on aggregate. Think we got to the 4th round losing to Bradford City in a replay. Twas our season for cup competitions though as we won the Simod Cup final in '88 beating Luton (who were top flight in those days) 4-1 in the final. (Simod Cup was a 'replacement' competition as all English clubs were banned from European competition at the time following the Heysel disaster.)

    Ah, I remember the Simod cup well. Boy, it was dreary, but I'm sure you loved it. Chels did a similar thing winning the Full Members Cup (whatever that was) twice at Wembley - the first an epic 5-4 win v Man City (whatever happened to them?). Do you think your boys will do well this year? 

    Chris Plumb

    Posted

    Fab history there. Still so sad about Peter Houseman. I was 4 when my 7-year old neighbour, who was my hero at the time, cried when Chelsea lost the Cup Final in 1967. I cried for him in empathy, but didn't understand why. But when we won it in 69/70 when you were collecting your tokens, footy suddenly made sense and I've been a big fan ever since. Used to bully my Brentford-supporting Dad into taking me to maybe 5 games per year after that, before I started going to the Shed with my schoolpals from 1978,  my first unchaperoned match being a 4-3 win v Bolton having been 3-nil down with 15 mins to go, 'Big' Sam scoring the winner for us with an own goal. That cemented my love and I hardly missed a home game for the next 12 years, and from 82 til around 1990 went to pretty much every away game. Chelsea were dreadful then, and the hooliganism was horrible, but they were fab days (eg a last match 1-0 in pouring rain at Bolton (again) to stay up in the old 2nd division, cup wins v Liverpool, 4-4 at Sheff Weds and 5-3 Fill Members Cup win at Wembley - offset by 6-0 defeats at QPR and 0-4 v both West Ham and Wimbledon). I got out of the habit of going when my kids came along (as I did with fishing) but though I follow them all the time on various websites, I'm not sure I can be arsed to go watch a game anymore given the hassle and cost of getting tickets, the  journey, and Neanderthal supporters I always seem to get sat near.

    I went to a couple of Champs league games v Barca, I think Messi was quiet in both of those too- though Ronaldinho scored a ridiculously good toe punt in one, and E'to who ended up playing for us for a while scored their winner (I think) in the other. My school pals still have season tickets and have been to all 3 Champ League finals and Baku for the Europa. Me?  I'd rather spend the money and time chasing roach.

    Sorry to have hijacked your post, Chris.

    • Like 1
    Chris Plumb

    Posted

    Chris, What a woman you have there - lets you keep your maggots in the fridge AND loves the footy. I remember going to the old Elm Park following Chelsea to an ignominious league cup defeat in the mid-80's (got a feeling we went 3-up in the 2nd leg then conceded a bad goal or two to go out - but it's a long time ago now!).

    Didn't make it to the MadStad to see Stephen Hunt ruffle Petr Cech's hairline. Still a huge fan of the multi-Champions League winners (ooh, that was good to write) , but from a distance these days.

    Here's a question: if you could be guaranteed a 25lb haul of tench  in exchange for a home defeat, which would you choose?

    Chris Plumb

    Posted

    Too right!

    Sorry about this, Chris.

    S63 - I may be being presumptuous, but if if the '63' signifies your year of birth, then I share it with you. Should this be the case, you may look back on the Clive Walker/Pat Nevin and, Chris, ex-Reading Kerry Dixon years with huge fondness.

    Carp and a 3-0 win. What a life!

    Chris Plumb

    Posted

    Thanks, Imp. I keep promising myself a crack at Aldermaston, but keep hearing that it can be tough going there. Vicky Park? Do you mean that fast running bit past the old Newbury football club that runs alongside the canal? That's my local stretch. I gave it an hour there once, but was put off by the need for a huge weight to hold the bottom in such a narrow stretch, and the malevolent looks from Special Brew drinkers on the benches!

    Chris Plumb

    Posted

    Hmm, 17lb is a fair match winning weight (4 or 5 fish I guess), especially as their usual 10 til 3pm is not a great time, but it seems to be the Alders way that others may have struggled. It's packed with fish, so it does make me wonder what they key is. I was doing quite well on method feeder in Spring, but I'm going to start with float-fished pellets in the morning and see how it goes. Point totally taken re combination - I daresay there will be Disco Centre resistance to this, but something needs to be done.

    Chris Plumb

    Posted

    Of Chris, that's a bad night at the office. 

    It seems to me that Alders has flatlined lately - apart from the Welsh Wizard I saw in action a couple of weeks ago, who made it look so easy as he pulled out tench after bream after tench.

    I'm got a full day fishing tomoz, so was thinking of Alders 6 til 8am then hopping the causeway for Willows, but I'll sleep on it tonight - if you're not catching there, no one can catch there. Don't worry - if I do go, I'll take a book for the long fishless hours.

    That bl**dy lock is a nightmare waiting to recur. How I wish I'd kept the combination number when I was snared, but to be honest I was so relieved to be escaping after that panicky 45 mins, it didn't cross my bream-like mind. There must be a better way to allow us access and appease the Disco Centre who installed it - the gate on the way to Dobsons never seems to have this problem. I'll raise it (again) at next week's Committee meeting. In the meantime, personally I make sure I'm out of there before 10 now, even if the fish were starting to turn on when I left Willows on Tuesday.

    Bayleaf the Gardener

    Posted · Edited by Bayleaf the Gardener

    More than an element of truth there, Chris. However, though I would prefer to be catching throughout a, b and c, the anticipation of what might only be seconds away from major fishy action is maintained through the lean spells, and a quiet hour or three with the ducks and a sandwich is far more enjoyable than most activities I am prepared to mention on a blog. ?

    Chris Plumb

    Posted

    I had the same car park experience on Tuesday (though there were 2 others fishing Alders) 

    I've no faith in dead maggots (which presumably don't wriggle!) yet they are said to be fab. I've caught quite a few carp/tench on artificial corn on the method feeder, or using the real stuff as loose feed on the float. I suspect they pop-up which I guess makes them either more or less attractive to fish depending on your view. They are easy to hair rig with a bayonet too. I suppose like any bait, it's down to what you have confidence in. I also soak them in a flavouring, but a bit like you with your garam masala in with the maggots, I'm not sure it actually makes any difference, or even sticks as it hits the water, but it helps me have faith. 

    I stayed until 10pm on Tuesday and had no issues with the crays (nor the fish after 9pm), but that could just be coincidence.

    Chris Plumb

    Posted

    Aw, Chris. I had pretty much the same evening at Alders on Tuesday. I'm curious to hear how the over-70's match went earlier on the day of your visit.

    I read somewhere that artificial corn/maggots etc are left alone by the dreaded crays. Any thoughts?

    Bayleaf the Gardener

    Posted

    Hi Imp

    Ah, we all have sessions like that - well, I do. At least you didn't fall in after your seat. Maybe use one of two of those slugs for chub? 

    As a new member of GUGGS, I can tell you they recommend a gudgeon friendly set of scales (around £6, mine arrived yesterday) and you are also allocated a codename! You sound like a gudgeon-whisperer, so perhaps you should join...

    Bayleaf the Gardener

    Posted

    Chris, I loved the gudge piece - horray for them indeed. My first (independent) fishing trips were on the wide River Thames with my pals at Kingston as a 12-year old in 1975. Having spent the week reading of bream and barbel in the Angling Times, then spent our pocket money on maggots and coffin leads, we sat the the bank and chucked out as far as we could, doing our best to bounce in-off the Kingston Royale or any other large boat that chugged by.

    Of course we never saw a single bream or barbel, and with the river fast and deep, bite indication was impossible (apart from the occasional bootlace eel), but we worked out that if we waited until a yellow car passed over the busy bridge, if we wound in we'd almost certainly hooked a Gudge, or if less lucky, a ruffe. Some days this 'technique' had our catches in triple figures. Happy days. 

    Imp, thank you for the tips. Much appreciated, How did your trotting go? I found the flow frustratingly slow at Speen Moors the other week. Maybe this rain might have pepped it up a bit. 

    Both. GUGGS have added both the Town Stretch and Hambridge as venues to record Gobio catches on. What heroes.

    I think what I like about the gudge most, apart from their beauty, is that they are so friendly - they rarely if ever flap around in the hand they way that, for example, a roach would. I think that rather than 'catching' gudgeon,  they ordain to visit you. And they are so chamois-leather soft: surely the most strokeable of fish.

    Chris Plumb

    Posted · Edited by Bayleaf the Gardener

    I only catch the big'uns, ha ha. Curiously, I've tended to catch them (and had bouts of persistent line bites/fish playing with the bait and not taking) off the lilies aiming for tench rather than in line with the popular wisdom that they prefer open water. Do you find similar?

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