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Anthony78

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Everything posted by Anthony78

  1. I too sleep In my head torch as a previous attempt to find it while a tench was screaming off with my method feeder saw me give up and run out in the dark resulting on me getting disorientated and falling on my arse. In addition to this I then had to reach back into the bivvy to find said torch as I couldn't see the fish for netting. Lesson learnt Thanks again for the advice guys. Just waiting for the weather to warm up so I can actually get out in the evening to use one of the 4 new head torches I now have
  2. It does look very similar doesn't it. I have already asked the girlfriend to get me a couple more for my barbel bag and as a spare. Will also keep my fox one in the car, just incase
  3. Hi guys, Look what the girlfriend just bought me back from Asda :-). http://groceries.asda.com/asda-webstore/landing/home.shtml#/product/910001423130 Its not the brightest head torch out there but it does exactly what I asked for. Thanks again for the replies, I'll keep your suggestions in mind if this ones no good. I think the lesson here is.......when it comes to shopping, let the girlfriend do it :-)
  4. Hi guy's, Hope you all had a great Xmas and are looking forward to the new year ahead? I took advantage of the sales and ordered a new Chub head torch. Unfortunately this was out of stock and the tackle shop sent me a more expensive alternative in the form of a Fox Halo HT-90. Dont get me wrong it's a quality torch but having to go through all of the "safety features" to switch it off is incredibly annoying. I wanted a torch with a red light so as not to affect my night vision but in order to switch the torch off I then have to go through an EXREMELY BRIGHT white light, then a flashing red light, then a flashing white light by which point I've not only ruined my night vision but probably scared any present fish out of my swim as well as blinded any fisherman opposite. Ok, in all seriousness I know I could cover the light as I go through the unwanted settings but I'd rather ask you guys if you know of a light that has two settings only, a red 'night vision' light and a nice bright white light for walking back to the car etc. In addition to this I want these lights to work on a sliding switch so I can choose between one or the other rather than having to go through an unwanted setting to switch it off. Does anyone have any reccomendations please? Thanks in advance, Ant
  5. Can't wait to polish off the tench gear again. Wingham is the highlight of my fishing year. Just hope I get a spot again this year
  6. Wingham Fish-in report 2014 Firstly a massive thank you from both myself and Cliff to the bailiffs for all their hard work and shear determination to make this fish-in happen again this year. This fish-in literally would not have happened if it weren't for you guys so thank you all. Secondly another big thank you to Peggy for an awesome BBQ as always. I needed an afternoon siesta afterwards... Probably shouldn't have gone back for seconds. Thirdly I must thank Steve himself for both hosting the event in the first place and also for inviting both myself and fishing partner Cliff to his incredible fishery for another year. Now on to the fishing, this year I was given the choice of fishing 1st, 2nd or 3rd platform which gave me a heck of a lot of features to fish to. I decided to fish the 2nd platform which would allow me to cover most of these features. After some advice from Steve and the regulars I decided on 3 different lines of attack using 3 different methods which would hopefully allow me to figure out 'how they wanted it!' My left rod was to be my perch line after Steve advised me that some good fish had been caught here in the past. This was fished to the base of a gravel hump at 37 yards on a running maggot feeder and worm hook bait, although I swapped over to fake maggots at dusk to avoid the eels. On this line I fed around a kilo of black crumb along with a pint of dead red maggots and only topped up through the maggot feeder which I recast every 30-45 mins. This line produced 3 perch @ 2lb 6oz, 2lb 2oz and 1lb. My middle rod was cast to the top of a gravel bar at 54 yards in 5 feet of water. This rod was fished on a method feeder wrapped in a mix of halibut method groundbait, expo, black crumb and contained lots of freebies. On this line I also fed around a kilo of of plain groundbait but with no free offerings. I wanted the fish to grub around but wanted my feeder to have the only real food content. Just behind this bar I found the smoothest bit of silt I have ever felt so decided this would probably give me the best possible chance of one of Wingham's giant slabs so at night I removed an extra 4 yards of line so my method feeder with balanced fake corn hook bait would be sitting on this lovely feature. Unfortunately the giant bream didn't put in an appearance over the weekend but a new pb tench of 8lb 14oz did pick up my fake corn hook bait from the top of the bar. To say I was a happy chappy was an understatement. And what a cracking fish it was too! My right hand rod, after some advice from both Glynn and Tincatinca (aka Paul), was fished choddy/helecopter style in conjunction with a solid PVA bag of crushed boilies, pellets and dead red maggots. This rod was cast to various areas in and around the weed of a very large gravel bar. I had a bite on the very first cast within 30 seconds of casting out this rod but the fish came off after around 15 seconds due to a hook pull. I convinced myself that this was a pike as I don't even think the PVA nugget placed on the hook had even melted at the time of the bite. After this initial bite I had no further action to this rod despite trying lots of different areas of the swim along with a number of different hook baits. To summarise, although not the most productive session I have ever had due to the conditions, I did manage to break my tench pb and catch a few perch to boot which is not a bad result even if I do say so myself. Each year I fish Wingham I learn something new and have been applying these new findings/skills to the next year, which, considering I have now broken my tench pb 4 times and set my old perch pb at Wingham in recent years it appears to be working. Just wish it was on my doorstep as Steve would definitely be receiving an application for a season ticket. Thanks for reading and I hope to see you all next year Anthony78
  7. Sorry Steve but I also caught an additional perch Monday morning weighing 2-02. Will post report and pics soon.
  8. Myself and fishing buddy Cliff will be there again this year. For me Wingham is the highlight of my fishing year as no other lake even comes close to matching the beauty and atmosphere of this incredible lake. This year I will be hoping to up my tench pb which I have broken at Wingham on many occasions, and still currently stands. I've just returned from a 3 day session tench fishing down Linear to refine rigs etc and even though we only managed 2 fish each we will still be going into this trip beaming with confidence as we just don't get to fish gravel pits and have always found Wingham to be a little daunting. Noticed we've got dropping air pressure over the course of the weekend. Hopefully this will get those tench on the munch See you soon
  9. Just checked again Steve and have 2 transaction ID's for payment sent to yourself and 2 email confirmations also. All a little confusing! Hoping it's just taking a little time to come through. I'm away from home until Thursday but if it hasn't gone through please let me know and I'll get my girlfriend to send the payment again. Thanks Ant
  10. Payment sent Steve but got an error back so please let me know if it's not received your end. Cheers
  11. They are 1.75lb tc but have a very through action which, although brilliant for playing fish under your feet, are not great for stearing fish away from snags at distance. I use them for all my tench and barbel fishing and they're superb rods but just did not have the backbone to stop the tench from getting to the snags in open water when fishing at 50 yards at Wingham.
  12. Thanks Paul. I'll have a look at this one as I need to stock up ready for Wingham.....if I get a place that is. Thanks again Ant
  13. Oh crap! I was afraid you'd say that Rob as I was torn between this one and the ESP Syncro XT after the advice you gave me on FB. I'll probably put this one on my long distance carp set up then as with a shock leader it'll probably be perfect for this. Going on the advice of everyone I'll probably stick with the 10lb Sensor now as it seems to work ok for most. When I lost those fish last year I was using my barbel rods which just did not have the back bone to stop those Wingham tench from getting in the snags in front of me. Thinking back this was probably the main reason I lost them so thinking that maybe this year I use my 2.2lb rods instead which will hopefully give me the power to stop them getting to the snags In the first place.
  14. Thanks Paul. I do remember that you had quite strong views about the Sensor I was using at the last fish-in but I do like using it :-). I've been checking out the Tacklebox line tests that they carried out last year and it makes for very interesting reading. I've decided to go with some Shinano Tribal Carp in 10lb as, in tests, it had an actual diameter of .26mm but broke at just under 13.5lb. This should hopefully give me a strong line without hampering my distance too much. I've been using the Fox tungsten anchor tubing which sinks like a brick and threads incredibly easily but does have the drawback of being quite thick. Which one do you use if you don't mind me asking?
  15. It is a shame it's so far away. I'm heading down to Bradley's the week prior to the fish-in to try and refine things a little because I don't fish gravel pits as often as I'd like. Where you fishing now then or you giving the tincas a rest at the moment?
  16. Cheers Andrew, fingers crossed there shouldn't be too much weed around although it has been a mild winter. Have you fished it yet this year?
  17. Thanks Rich, going to be stepping up all my gear this year as I felt a little under gunned last year. You gonna be showing your face again the fish-in this year?
  18. Think the Bobbinger has a better ring to it . Interesting concept though! Is it hinged at each connection?
  19. One of the reasons why I use it for 90% of my fishing, and the fact that it's so cheap. Just looking for something that will take a bit of a hammering when it comes to snaggy waters and gravel bars. Just hate losing fish, especially somewhere like a Wingham when the next fish could be something special!
  20. Ok chaps, I'm praying for a place at Wingham again this year and after losing a couple of fish last year in snags I'm looking to load my spools with some new line which is more abrasion resistant that the sensor I use for so much of my fishing. I know it's personal preference at the end of the day but need a few ideas please? Thanks in advance Ant
  21. Incredible achievement! Massive congratulations to both the capture and yourself Steve. These fish are a testament to the way you run Wingham. And they're still growing too!
  22. Hi Steve, hope the op went well and you had a good Xmas? Hope to see you all again this year.
  23. Well apart from waking up on Saturday morning with an ear infection which was incredibly painful and gave me 50% hearing loss in my left ear I had another awesome weekend at the wingham fish-in. I've been incredibly lucky over the years and have been able to fish a few of the Wingham fish-ins but I'm still amazed at the sheer beauty and incredible atmosphere of Wingham coarse lake. The Wingham fish-in has now taken over from the glorious 16th as the kick off to my fishing season, it really gets your fishing brain working overtime. Myself and Cliff discuss tactics, conditions and bait for 2 weeks before the fish-in and it really gets the juices flowing. Unfortunately we have nothing in the way of gravel pits up here in the midlands so its a learning curve for us every time we go and I feel that we've made so much progress over the years. This year the conversation's in the days leading up to the fish-in were mainly about the conditions and incoming weather rather than tactics and bait. With the late spring we've had and the incoming north easterly winds bringing that horrible wet stuff with it we knew that fishing would be tough. Thankfully wingham offers more than just quality fishing. The surroundings are incredible, the banter was lighthearted, fun and, quite often educational and the food was .....well delicious as always. So once again a big thank you and congratulations go out to Steve, Peggy, Glynn, Terry & family for an excellent weekend. Right now on to the fishing report. Apologies if its a bit long Day 1, I had been allocated 'first platform' which looked spot on for my target species as it had a very distinct gravel area at 50 yards with weed surrounding the area. Perfect for mr tench :-). Cliff was in the 'Y swim'. We call it 'Pot noodles' now as it was the spot we fished in together on our first ever wingham fish-in and had come totally unprepared with a trade pack of pot noodles which would serve as our breakfast, dinner and tea for the next 3 days. I've not eaten one since!!! Both of us would be targeting tench using tactics which we know to work back home on our local estate lake. I opted for a method feeder surrounded with a mixture of Expo and marine halibut groundbait mixed with lots of molasses on one rod while the other rods would be set up as scaled down bolt rig tactics with short hook lengths, fake maggot or caster and placed in a PVA bag full of the reel stuff. Cliff used similar tactics but also had a rod out with a worm hookbait looking for perch in the deep hole he had to his right. Although warmer than I was expecting it just didn't seem right for a bed of bait which has seen me catch quite a few of the shoal tench from wingham in previous years so I stuck to the little and often approach to feel my way into the weekend. After finding 3 spots at the base of the gravel, all in around 8ft of water I clipped up and marked the line so I could be accurate with every cast. I was fishing just past the weed so if I cast short of the clip I would wind in and recast to ensure my bait was not buried. With all rods positioned I didn't have to wait long as the rod on the method feeder, after a few single bleeps, rattled off. Unfortunately it was one of wingham a smaller residents at 4lb 6oz but it meant that I was doing something right. I recast this rod and settled down for a cuppa, only to be disturbed by a single bleep and a 1 inch lift on the caster rod. Nothing else happened so I put down to a liner and reset the bobbin. 15 mins later and another single bleep and 1 inch lift of he bobbin saw me striking into what I thought was a load of weed. As I was dragging the ball of weed in I noticed that it was starting to veer off to my right and as it got into the clear water infront of me I could see that it was actually a very good male tench of around 7lb. Just as I shouted to cliff that I'd got a good fish on, it gave a single shake of its head and as it did so the hook popped out and I watched in horror as it just drifted back into the depths...gutted!! I recast the rod and went back to my bivvy to have a little cry and to finish my cold tea. At around 8pm the same rod gave a 1ft screamer which nearly had me falling off my chair but then it stopped. I decided to hit it anyway and once again it just felt like I had cast into weed. I had no idea if there was a fish on or not so I placed the rod back in the rest and watched the tip for 10 mins to see if there was any movement. Nothing occurred so I decided I would need to pull for a break. As I straightened the rod and walked backwards I felt the weed tear away from the bottom and start moving towards me. After a few minutes of slow pumping I heaved the giant ball of green stuff into the net, it wasn't until i started to peel back the weed that I realised there was a tench sat in amongst it. Not the best scrap I'd ever had off and tench and by far not the prettiest one I've ever caught but it was a wingham tench and I was a happy angler. 5lb 12oz Apart from this fantastic sunset nothing else happened on day one. Day 2, Apart from waking at 2am with severe pain in my badly infected ear I was undisturbed for the whole night which was disappointing as the tench had been feeding during the night in the days running up to the fish-in. I recast the rods with fresh bait and put the kettle on for a cuppa. With no action coming to the rods in the morning either it was time to head up to the club house for one of Peggy's awesome BBQ's and to catch up with a few old faces and to put names to the new. Going on the previous days experience we knew that the afternoon was the best time for a bite so we cleared our plate and headed back to the lake to get our rods back out. Having not slept well the night before because of my ear and having a belly full of BBQ my body was telling me it was time for a nap. I got myself into the sleeping bag and was about to nod off when my right hand rod screamed off. Nearly missing my bivvy slippers on the way out the door I hit it and felt a good fish running around to my left. As it passed over my left hand rod I felt it grind to a holt and everything went solid, as I applied a little more pressure to see if I could get it moving again I felt a kick and then everything went slack. I was totally gutted but as it was still early I tied up another PVA bag and got it back out on the spot. No sooner had a set the bobbin on my right hand rod when my left hand rod burst into life. This fish did exactly the same as the previous fish and kited around to my left. Having learnt from my previous mistake I piled on the pressure to keep the fish up away from the week. Alas it wasn't to be as, once again, I felt everything go solid as the fish ran into heavy weed again. I tried piling on the pressure as well as letting everything go slack for 5 minutes to see if the fish would swim out of its own accord but after 15 minutes it wasn't going to budge so I had no choice but to pull for a break. 2 fish lost in 20 mins which, in a place like Wingham, plays heavy on your mind as just one of those could be a fish of a lifetime or even a British record . Hands shaking with adrenaline and frustration I repositioned the rod and put the kettle on again. Just as I was settling down to watch another sunset, which was nowhere near as impressive on the Sunday night as it was on the Saturday but it was a pleasant evening none the less, I had a very quick run on the method feeder rod. Determined not to let the fish get its head down I bullied the fish away from the weed. Getting a glimpse of a very long flank I thought I had something very special attached to my hook but couldn't have been more disappointed when a jack of around 5lb hit the surface. Damn vegetarian pike! Unfortunately that was all the action for day 2 as I woke on Monday morning without being disturbed at all. Day 3, Well what a contrast to the previous 2 mornings! Cold, wet and windy. Not ideal conditions for tench fishing which was proven by the lack of activity for the whole morning. Typically it rained long enough to get all the kit soaked while packing up but thankfully we didn't have to carry it back to the car as Glyn was on hand with the trailer. Cheers fella! Well, although not great fishing, we didn't blank which, given the conditions, means that we were two very happy anglers. Once again we leave Wingham for another year but it will stay fresh on our minds for many weeks to come. We will be back!! once again a big thank you to all involved. Everything you do is massively appreciated by all! Cliff's tench of 6lb 9oz
  24. As no doubt I will be catching a dozen or so of these wonderful fish (I wish!) can you advise if a scale from near the tail would give you the same information as one from the flank. I would feel very guilty pulling a scale from one of these beautiful fish anyway but if I can grab one from somewhere near the tale where its not so obvious I would feel much better. Ant
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