Jump to content

Del_R

Members
  • Posts

    175
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    1

Everything posted by Del_R

  1. Hi Ken. Yes, it was easy enough to cast accurately on the canal, it was more about trying (and failing) to find a methodology that might work at distance. I also feel nervous about having the line clipped up and a big fish taking my bait - although that's never happened yet! Cheers Derek
  2. I've never really used the line clips on my reels before now, other than to keep the line nice and neat in between sessions... In fact on all my reels getting the line behind the clip is a bit of a pain. That aside, I've been doing some feeder fishing on the Gloucester Sharpness canal and have been experimenting with clipping up in order to get the feeder to the same spot every time. But my brain is hurting... Let's say I cast to the centre of the canal, do I stop the line (with a finger) the moment my rig hits the water, and thus as the rig sinks (this canal is probably 20 feet deep) the rig swings towards me underwater. Or do I not let trap the line, and let the rig sink where it landed and strip out another 20 feet or so of line? Either way, I now clip up. If I do the first of my choices, the rig isn't where I want it to be, instead it's swung towards me under water? If I do the latter, when I recast the extra 20 feet of line will see my rig sailing past the centre channel, hit the water with a big splash, but instead of then sinking down and arcing towards the ideal point underwater, it'll now rest on the far side ledge. The same puzzle would occur if I was trying to cast to a far island (not on the Gloucester Sharpness, of course, There are very few islands on the Gloucester canal). If I amazingly managed a cast that saw my rig land within, say a foot of the island, and the rig now sinks, say four feet. If I now clip up my next cast will be onto the island. How do I clip up to get that close again? On the canal I gave up and just cast to the middle of the channel each time and caught some nice bream, but it's still puzzling me. Cheers Derek
  3. Thanks for the reply, Phone. Following on from the above I found a Facebook group for Teme anglers and they said the same - that the upper reaches dry out every year, so maybe the photos above had a hint of the non-story about them really. Their recent photos of the Teme downstream look a lot more healthy and folks are catching a few chub and barbel, so I think I will give it a go one of these weekends. Derek
  4. A few years back I used to get up to the Teme in Worcestershire. Caught my first ever barbel and chub there and it was a beautiful river. Thinking about getting up there again, but can't get last summer's photos out of my mind when the heatwave dried up great swathes of the river. How long would it take for a river like that to get back to some kind of natural equilibrium - I would have guessed several years? (Assuming no repeat of the heatwave). Anyone been on the Teme this season yet? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-44722945 Derek
  5. I'm thinking of just sitting on my unhooking mat - it's quite thick and comfy, and rarely wet...
  6. I've been lure fishing a lot these last few years and enjoyed the freedom of just taking a small bag, one rod and reel, a net, and just a few items of tackle. Compared to my river fishing trips of the same period - a great big rucksack (that itself is meant to be part of the roving angler's arsenal, and I guess it is when compared to the wheel-barrows of many anglers), and two rods, and every pocket of that rucksack filled with something... I swapped that great big rucksack for a much smaller bag.But I found I was still carrying way too much. So the last couple of trips I've kind of reverted to long lost days of yore - one rod, a small trout bag, in which I have a small box of bits and pieces, a few floats, a flask of coffee, and a pint of maggots. I have a light roving chair, unhooking mat, and a landing net. It's been brilliant. Bag over the shoulder, chair and net in one hand, rod and landing net handle in the other. Just the job. I've jotted down what kit I actually used in anger these last few trips: Rod, reel, chair, flask, scissors, packet of hooks, disgorger, split-shot, maggots, float, float adaptor, rodrest, towel, loop tyer, unhooking mat That's it. When I look at all the stuff I'm still taking n addition to the above, I reckon I can get down lighter still, although one needs to keep a few options open for the river bank. Derek
  7. ... Sensas Easy Loop. My loops have never been so neat! Fine addition to my very small tackle bag. Derek
  8. I thoroughly enjoyed the series. I know who the two of them are, but I must confess I've never ever seen a Bob Mortimer or Paul Whitehouse programme in my life, so I came to the show (on the recommendation of a friend) with an open mind about them and their humour. I thought it was a lovely show, and they fished some beautiful venues.
  9. I've logged in for the first time in an age, too - forgot my password and there's no way to retrieve it as the forgotten password routine doesn't work. But now I've remembered it and here I am :-)
  10. I got into lure fishing a few years back partly because I didn't have a car at the time and I could carry all I needed on my pushbike. As you say, it was like going back in time. When I was a kid we cycled everywhere and didn't think about carrying too much tackle - all the tackle I had fitted in a small box, with my one rod and reel tied to the cross bar off we went. A while back I noticed I was starting to carry too much stuff again. I bought a small holdall to force my hand a bit... yet I'm still carrying too much! I'm on a session by session mission to reduce stuff to the minimum. Part of the joy of angling for me is to be able to wander along the river bank, for miles if necessary, enjoying the walk and the scenery as much as the fishing itself.
  11. I was loading my rucksack this morning and realised that the most voluminous and weighty items was the feed - for me! It was freezing cold so in went a litre of water, a kettle, a metal mug, two pot noodles and some coffee, a stove, knives and forks,and a cannister of propane. All the fish had was a pint of maggots and a tin of sweetcorn! Was nice sipping on a steaming pot noodle watching my float do very little though
  12. Interesting! I've been lure fishing for several seasons, partly because I had to get the kit down to a level I could carry on a push bike. Alas, I'm so rubbish at lure fishing I'm going to try some regular bait fishing again. This methodology looks to be just the job... even though I have a car again now :-) Kind regards, Derek
  13. All my fishing the last few years has been done via bicycle. No only is it a great way to combine two passions, but I get to cycle along the tow-path to swims where few other anglers seem to get to. Alas, few fish appear to get to these swims, either. Derek
  14. Hi Emma, I haven't posted here for a few years, but have been actively lure fishing in that time - often with good folk I met through the LAS. A great little organisation and very much alive and kicking ;-) Lure fishing is the only style of fishing I've done since selling the car at the height of the recession as I can fit everything I need on my pushbike. kind regards, Derek
  15. Yep, it felt great. One of those things that I wished I done months back. Cycling actually took the place of angling in terms of Saturday and Sunday mornings over the last year or two. Had to do something and I like to be out there in the open air away from everyone. To combine the two will be superb. Derek
  16. ...for the first time in over a year. Well, the first time since I sold the car two summers back. I'd got into the habit of taking a couple of rods and a chair and plenty of tackle and bait and alarms and metalwork and food and it all seemed rather impossible without a car. Then Sunday morning I thought I never had a car when I was a kid. I just tied a rod and a net on the crossbar of my bike and off I went. So that's what I did this weekend. Just tried a spot of lure fishing because that didn't need a whole lot of anything. Great fun. Very liberating and I was even able to cycle way down the towpath to areas I probably wouldn't have bothered walking to. Can't understand why I left it so long, and didn't realise how much I'd missed it. Roll on next weekend! Now need to rig up a carrier and a means of carrying a bit more kit and I might head further afield. Del
  17. My season only really started a few weeks ago, due to non-fishing time pressures, and floods. Since then I've been to the Severn three times and the Avon once and caught nowt. This time last year I was catching some decent barbel and bream on the same venues. In desperation, last night I had a short post-work spinning session on the canal and managed to pull out a single jack. That's been it, so far. Derek
  18. I'm not averse to a spot of lure fishing myself. Maybe I'll have to look into the telescopic rod world. And to answer Dunk's question, I'm in Gloucester. Always happy to meet up on the bank or on the road, but generally the decision to go fishing or riding tends to be made at short notice (such as midnight Friday, when I decided to set the alarm for 5 and have an early session at Severnstoke. What a wast eof a good lie-in that was!). Hope the hip gets better rapidly! Cheers, Del
  19. Mine's a ZRX1200. But you're right, I can't see a way the two hobbie scan mix. It's a shame. Would be great to combine a great ride with a great fishing trip. Derek
  20. Well, not strictly fishing on a motorcycle, but does anybody use a bike to get to their venue? I qauite fancy the idea of combining a couple of passions but so far haven't been able to figure out safe and robust ways of carrying landing nets and longer rods. Derek
  21. Hi Rabbit, Thanks for the reply. The Lower Severn seems to be in a similar mood, too. My fishing time is very limited these days, and usually it's spur of the moment short sessions. But I might well drop you a PM when I next plan to have a go on the Avon. It'll be good to meet up. Cheers, Del
  22. Been a while since I've posted here. Been a while since I've been fishing, what with all the floods, and work and one thing or another. Anyway, this evening I was visiting in Stratford so I took the opportunity to head up there a little early and have a few hours on the Avon at Bideford. I've never fished there before. It's a beautiful spot. There's a weir, a lock, an island, loads of eddies out in mid-stream. It was very peaceful. No-one else was around. But the river was a raging torrent just below the weir pool. All I had with me was a lightweight leger/feeder rod. I tried fishing the feeder just off the main current but nothing was doing (using the set-up that usually works well for me on the slow moving Lower Severn). I tried fishing the heaviest lead my rod could handle - 2.5 oz - out in the weir pool but it wouldn't hold still. Basically I didn't have a clue what I was doing or what I ought to be doing. Anyone else fished this stretch and have any hints or tips for next time? Cheers, Del
  23. This is a bit of a strange request, I know, but is anyone, or does anyone know, an ex-prisoner who'd be willing to anonymously share a few details of prison life with me? When I'm not fishing I pen the occasional novel(*) and the latest one has a few chapters set inside a fictitious prison and I'd like to get the facts as realistic as possible (or as realistic as an angler can make them: "He was this big! Honest!"). It's boring mundane stuff I'm after mostly and therefore not the type of thing that appears in prison memoirs and on the web. Anyway, it's a long shot I know, but as you all strike me as having some dodgy friends I thought I'd ask Cheers, Del (*) Mostly they're still in my bottom drawer.
  24. I'm determined to keep cutting down, down, deeper and down. I've also just made a (pretty obvious, on reflection) discovery. My rucksack that is large enough (I'm guessing about 40 litres - it's not one of the really huge ones) to fit all my tackle in along with extra clothes, food, bait, cameras etc etc weighs a ton when empty! No wonder that however much I cut back in my attempts to travel light my back and shoulders still ache. Derek
  25. I think I need to increase my bank stick / pod capabilities. Whilst looking through various catalogues I keep seeing storm poles. These appear to be no different to bank sticks but tend to be on the bivvy pages so I assume they're something to do with the camping side of angling, but are they different to banksticks or, if a storm pole came in a length that was more what I wanted, would they do the same job? On a very similar subject, I need a new lower section for my bottom-of-the-range brolly. The lower half (which slides out of the upper half and is locked in place by a simple screw fitting) got bent when I sneezed rather heavily the other day. I quite fancy getting an improved bottom half pole, one with a screw-type point to enable better purchase in hard ground, but nowhere can I find any details on the diameter of poles on sale. Are these things all of a standard size? I'm assuming not, but it's worth asking. Cheers, Del
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We and our partners use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences, repeat visits and to show you personalised advertisements. By clicking “I Agree”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit Cookie Settings to provide a controlled consent.