Waveney One

Well said wordbender, each to his own and this sport of ours is big enough to allow everyone to follow their own course. One fear that I do have though is the number of youngsters who start carp fishing as an entry into the sport without understanding the basics. They want to catch large fish but don't have a clue about water craft or perhaps more importantly how to handle a fish once they have caught it. Some of them even have no respect for the other species of fish they may catch along the way. I have heard many of them say, 'I only had a couple of snotties, bloody things'. Tench are similarly dis respected. That is a trend that I don't like. Carp and pike fishing are the pinnacles of our sport of coarse angling and my belief is that anglers should work their way up to those heights, not start there.

James Potter fishing the deeps on the Specimen Lake at Suffolk Water Park had a very busy night Fri/Sat but I don't suppose that he was too worried about missing his sleep. He landed 5 mirror carp at the following weights:- 38lb 2oz 30lb 3oz 26lb 0oz 26lb 6oz 29lb 4oz Oh yes and to round it off he had a 'baby' common of 14lb 8oz. As there have only been 3 carp out of the specimen lake since 21st October they turned off big time during the cold weather perhaps he should change his name to Harry Well done James, congratulations.

Thanks for your good wishes lads. We have a pretty sound base already and with the word getting around in the local schools I am sure that it will be a success.

Nisa Waveney AC is looking for junior members (ages 10 to 17) to fish matches under that banner and anyone interested should contact Richard on the number or email below. The intention is to run matches for juniors during the warmer months and perhaps enter teams into those matches run by Angling Unity. The club is based in Ipswich and has members from Norfolk and Suffolk. As well as the matches it is hoped that we will have some teach ins run by senior members of the club. Nick Larkin on the feeder, Mac Collett on the waggler and me on paste! To register an interest ring Richard on 07881 953310 or email richard@fishinglessons.org.

Like gorton it is years since I fished Warren Pond, back in the 1960's in fact. There were loads of stunted tench in there then and I remember one morning before school fishing from 4 am until 6.45am catching 24 tench but the largest was not much more than a 1lb. In those days it was tench or nothing to be honest. There tales of large carp but I never saw any evidence. It was very shallow and half of it was solid reeds. Like he says it is towards Chingford from Connaught Waters opposite the pub and the Queen Elizabeth Hunting Lodge overlooking Chingford Plain. In those days the cattle were allowed to roam free through the forest and on a still summers morning looking across the plain with the cattle half covered by mist it was like being on the African savannah to a young boy! The mystery of the lake was there as well with the mist coming off the water. Oh to be young again but with the knowledge that I have now! I heard that the Tennis club he referred to is now something different, either a night club or rather exclusive sports club.

Having ha a quick look, there are bits the same but lots that are different.

It will certainly have some bits the same but I haven't watched the YouTube ones. Maybe it is all of the trailers put together as it is 33 minutes long.

I thought it was brilliant. It is at the top of my Christmas list. Hugh Miles is one of the world's great photographers, Bernard Cribbins has an excellent voice for the narrative. The fishing is terrific and the underwater shots are sublime. Won't say too much about anything else though except that in my opinion it could have been even better.

I have noticed that after the process of freezing then thawing out tinned sweetcorn tends to have some grains that float. It certainly makes for a nice soft piece of corn but attracting sea gulls is not what I want on clear waters.

Thanks Guys, it was a great fish - but lucky of course. I certainly don't hold myself out to be a pike guide, fish like that are very rare and the pressure to get a customer a run, yet alone a big fish wouldn't suit me at all. By the way Barry comes from Southend and no - he didn't give me a tip, not even a cup of tea in the cafe when he was recovering. I am sure the reason for that was that he was a little stunned by the whole thing but I still haven't heard a dicky bird from him and I want to send him the photo's. Maybe he thinks it was all a dream!! By the way Angly, is that a Speedia you have as your avatar? I have 2 that my father left me and occasionally I get them out to fish the small river here. He also left me a Hardy 'Silex Jewel' the latter having jewelled bearings. I use it once a year, Boxing Day, with his split cane Mark IV carp rod to do a little bit of livebaiting for old times sake.

You could add gravel to the sticky mag as well. That may add distance and get the maggots down a little quicker in the flow. A bowl of water to clean your hands is useful when using stcky mag.

I get a great deal of satisfaction when a plan works and it doesn't matter too much whether the fish is a small jack, a 2lb carp, a roach or this fish, I certainly still get a buzz especially when the odds are against me. I have to say that although he caught it, both of us know that he would not have done without my assistance. My pb is still 18lb 8oz. I hardly ever pike fish myself these days. Although I always take my rods they are used for demonstration purposes or by the 'pupil'. Should there be a run on 'my' rod even if I have cast it out then the pupil will strike it. I was extremely pleased for Barry and yes, I was over the moon to see such a fish. Hence the post. Probably even more than him as I don't think he really appreciated what he had achieved. We had already discussed my pb and the largest fish I had personally caught from that lake, 8lb! but I am still not sure that really understood. I was expecting to have heard from him today as it sank in, but not a word so far.

I agree it is very important, that, how to unhook and return fish. In this particular case the return of the fish was more important than the photo. I had already got him to put her back into the water whilst I had gone to the bait shop there to get the scales and witnesses. I had half a mind to hold her myself and get the staff to photograph me, but apart from me being ugly and spoiling the photo of the fish, it was such a good fish it would have felt like cheating, holding someone else's fish. Would have looked good on my web site though.

To be honest he was shaking so much he would have dropped her anyway. Once we had returned her, I sent him off to the cafe to get a cup of tea and a bacon sarnie before he started fishing again.

That shows the size of the fish off best, the depth and the breadth across the back. Here is one of the guy who caught it but he wouldn't pick it up! So it doesn't do the fish justice. It is a bit bent and is pointing slightly towards the camera.

We missed the rush and Barry Fuller my pupil turned up at 8.30 by which time the pike circus was already gathered in the deep water early pegs. After a bit of a chat we took a short stroll to the boards in front of the cafe to set up. I have caught a lot of jacks off there before but nothing of any great size. To be honest neither of the rods Barry had with him were really suitable. One was an out and out waggler rod but the other was a Fladen spinning rod. At least the Fladen had some power in it to cast a bait and some tackle out. Looking at his reels, there was insufficient line on both and what there was was about 4lb B/S. Another trip to the bait shop sorted that out and armed with a bulk spool we loaded up some new line. I set up my rod for a dead bait with a sliding float and a trace with a couple of small semi barbed trebles. The Fladen we set up with a small Fox Predator Slimline Slider, a sliding stop knot, a couple of beads, a small lead to cock the float and one of my home made traces with a size 4 single Drennan Specimen Barbless hook with a Fox Predator Bait flag on to make sure the bait stayed on and to give a target point. I use a hook to match the size of the bait as I would if I was bait fishing for bream. Showing Barry what I was doing, how to tie a grinner etc. I went through the usual explanation that whilst we may get more runs on the live bait we would probably get larger fish - if any - on the dead bait. After about 1/2 hour we managed a run on the livebait that Barry safely hooked and landed, a jack of all 1lb 8oz. Not a sign on the deadbait but Barry was a very happy bunny having had his first pike. At least I was able to show him how to unhook a pike and show that single hooks do work and are a lot easier to get out than a pair of trebles. I did manage to prick my finger on the teeth trying to clear the roach off the hook though. Another valuable lesson for Barry to learn, even tiny pricks bleed for ages and it looks as though you have had a finger off judging by the amount of blood. I showed him how it was only the bottom jaw of the pike that moved and that sliding your fingers under the gill cover you can get them to open their mouths to remove the hook/s. Anyway, pike safely returned and Barry very happy. Then about 1 o'clock with no more action, I suggested that we bring the livebait on the Fladen a lot closer in to the boards. I was packing my gear away, Barry was going to fish on. I was chatting to Barry when out of the corner of my eye I saw his float disappearing. To cut a long story short, Barry struck and played the fish well although I did suggest that he kept his rod a little higher a couple of times. Safely in the net, I knew it was well into double figures but not too hopeful it went 20. But the scales never lie as they say and in fact it went 20lb 2oz. Hooked just in the scissors and I was able to use my fingers to remove the hook. Witnessed and weighed by Stu Mill and the weekend lad from the Bait Shop. I didn't think it was an enormously long fish but it was broad across the back and deep. Should have measured it really, I'll make sure I have a tape measure next time I go piking but what the H*** 2 fish including a 20lber first time pike fishing for the lad. What a start to a pike fishing career for young Barry! To be honest that is the largest pike that I have been a party to albeit in a small way. I have had them myself up to 18lb 8oz in fact I had 2 15lbers on ledgered lobworm fishing for perch in one of the London reservoirs years ago but never a 20lber so I am really pleased for the young man. Not sure how long it will take him to get another of that size, probably all downhill from here but who knows - with luck like that he could go a long way! People next to me on that bank had had a small jack and two guys a little further along had had a couple about 6lb and 8lb by the time I left about 1.30. Moral of the story - not all the pike are in the deep water at the moment. Not sure if I can a pphoto on here, but I will try. They have some on the computer at the Water Park. By the way, the time we hooked it was about 12.50.

Now then gentlemen. Fed up with being 'done' by a young whipper snapper off the next peg? Now is your chance to fish a match with your old mates against fellow crotchety anglers suffering from prostrate problems, bad backs and stiff joints. The match is the Van den Eynde Senior Masters at the Suffolk Water Park just outside Ipswich. The date is Wednesday 4th June and the draw is at 9.45 am fish 11.00 to 4.00. There is a cafe on site and you can park behind each peg. Whilst carp are likely to win the event, there are plenty of tench and skimmers to go for along with a large head of roach and rudd. I would expect the winner to have a net of 50lb plus. Tickets are £20 which in includes the £5 pegging fee and £15 pools. To book your place, ring Richard on 07881 953310 or email me Richard@fishinglessons.org.uk

Name it 'hole in the wallet'. Reports the other day said that during it's lifetime dogs cost between £26,000 and £90,000 - unfortunately for you, the Chiuwawa was the £90,000 version but the spaniel should only cost you around £26,000. There is no such thing of course as the National Health for dogs so when they need an operation they get it within days but it costs a fortune! I realise now why I have been poor all my life, what with my dogs and 2 children who both went to university as well!

Drinking the same water time and time again happens in a lot of cities. London being the prime example where the main flow of the Thames, Lea etc is mainly treated sewerage and it is drunk an incredible number of times. If you take the average natural river flows in gallonage and the Thames Water Gallonage it can be worked out, but I have seen a figure of over 100 times. You wouldn't want to know what tonnage of seagull excrement goes into the London reservoirs either and we all know where they feed! Where do you think bottled water comes from? The ground water. That further reduces the flow of the rivers! Bottled water is an environmental disgrace. It reduces river flows and pollutes the environment with the manufacture of the bottles and the delivery of it to supermarkets in huge lorries. Think about the petrol that people use to go and buy it and the disposal of the plastic after the water has been drunk. An environmental disaster as I said, mostly drunk by Greenpeace supporters and the the loonies that think we can do anything to stop the climate getting back to where it should be as we come out of a mini ice age and back to the average that it has been in the UK in Centuries past! OK soap box put back again, now off to that fresh cup of tea that I drank last week and the month before that!

The pump at Sproughton is actually licensed by the EA to Anglian Water to abstract water for filling up Alton Res. The pump is automatic and will only take water when there is a certain amount of flow in the river and the amount of water abstracted is measured and recorded. There must be a minmum flow over the sill just below the pump as well. I have always been of the opinion that water abstraction should only be allowed at the lowest freshwater point on any river and clean sewerage pumped in higher up. Obviously it would be be very expensive to do but it has many advantages. The clean sewerage would be adding to the flow that hasn't been reduced by boreholes and abstraction. With the added flow the sewerage would be more diluted than at present. It would need to be very clean otherwise there would be a lot of complaints even deaths! There would be plenty of water for us all as every part of the country would be drinking the same water over and over again! Finally, the rivers would be restored to their natural amounts of flow throughout their course.

There is the Suffolk Water Park http://www.suffolkwaterpark.com/ just outside Ipswich on the A14 which is maybe 3/4 of an hour away where there are a variety of very good lakes all available on a day ticket. You can park behind almost every peg there as well. There is the Dock River in Harwich but I don't know who controls that. I believe it is canal like but probably has a closed season. Just outside Colchester on the A12 north is Ardleigh Reservoir which involves a bit of a walk but used be very good for big perch, roach and bream. Hope that helps.

I think the snail theory holds water. Certainly when I was younger it was deemed to be very much a summer only bait. But, a bit like the theory that carp and tench were uncatchable throughout the winter we now know this isn't entirely true.

Fishing is great sport and perhaps if you feel accomplished enough you should be trying to get other members of your family or friends involved. I often find that by the end of a training session I manage to get Mum or Dad sometimes even Granny fishing when originally they have only come along to watch little Johnny or Kimberly fishing.

I believe that hemp fishing was introduced during the war by Belgium immigrants who were fleeing the Nazi's. It had an immediate effect and was so good that hemp was banned in a number of matches for years afterwards as the new immigrants were catching and taking away too many fish. So as we all know, there isn't too much that is genuinely new in angling!

Those earlier matches on the Thames and Lea were mostly rovers. The reason that size limits were applied was that all fish to be weighed in were killed. They often took a train journey from the place of capture to the weigh-in point that was fixed before the match commenced. They were deemed to be big enough to 'go' to the weigh in, hence 'goer'. Nets were used to keep the fish fresh then the fish killed or in later times put into a bucket to be transported to the weigh in. It was some years before pegged down matches and the scales travelling along the pegs was brought in. Freshwater fish were regularly eaten in the UK well into the fifties. Rationing was still in existence until the early fifties and whilst people of my generation (late 50's) look back on those times with rose tinted glasses, they were in fact very hard. There was rarely much food around and what there was expensive. Any free protein like fish was looked upon as a bonus by many of us. I can remember meals of specimen roach and even bream and tench. Pike and perch were a delicacy and as good to eat as many sea fish. The last pike I ate was in the ROI in the mid 70's where the owner of the guest house asked that we bring one back for her to cook and make into fish cakes. Very tasty they were too.