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  1. NAA Stillwater - Widmead 0445 - 1045 Warm and overcast with sun breaking through after 0900. 15ºC->24ºC 1 Crucian; 3lb 13oz - new PB! 2 Commons; 11lb 3oz & 8lb 5oz. 2 Perch - 1 just on 1lb and a nice Rudd of 10oz. Yippee got what I came for - had heard of some big 3's showing and even whispers of a 4lber so thrilled to have snaffled one. Sat right back and float fished under my rod tip about 2 foot from the bank - lots and lots of little lifts and movement from the off - which was obviously just rudd and perch. Had one classic lift about an hour after starting and briefly connected with something solid which quickly shed the hook - felt this was a crucian and that my chance had gone - thankfully a little after 0800 same thing happened and as soon as it was hooked I knew it was a crucian - couldn't believe the size of it when it popped to the surface for the first time and it took 3 more plunges before I had it subdued - very very nervy couple of minutes - was convinced I had a 4lber!! Had to settle for 3oz light but still can't wipe the smile of my face!!!! Biggest common off the top - with bread flake - other one on the method. Crucian beats previous PB by 3oz - a 3-10 fish from a nearby lake caught on 22/6/99 - my 2nd longest standing PB until today.
  2. Marsh Farm Fishery, Nr Goldalming (Harris Lake) 0730 - 1900 Cool, calm and overcast with light rain all afternoon from 1300. Max 16ºC 14 Tench; Biggest 3 - 6lb 2oz, 5lb 9oz & 4lb 9oz with the vast majority being around the 3¼lb mark (only 1 under 3lb). 4 Crucians; 2lb 3oz, 2lb 6oz, 2lb 10oz, 2lb 13oz. 1½doz 'bits' - mainly roach with a couple of rudd, perch and even a gudgeon! A very enjoyable day's angling - our 'annual' visit here postponed from June when we bottled it due to a poor weather forecast - a shrewd move given what we caught! Made a very nice change to fish this place in a flat calm - always been blowing a hoolie when we've come in the past. Paul had a very similar return - eventually. After a slow start, 2 swim moves - including a spell on Richardsons - he ended up with some nice fish in the last 3 hours - including a cracking crucian of 3lb 6oz - (equalling his PB for the 3rd time). I should point out though that Paul caught the vast majority of his fish on the method feeder - the cad - so of course they don't count!! I spent the whole time in the same swim on Harris - got off to a cracking start with the 6lb tinca and a 2lb cru in the first hour and thereafter caught steadily throughout the day - particularly in the afternoon after it started raining - the lower light levels appeared to bring them back on the feed after a bit of a lull late morning. All my fish caught float fishing in the margins - with 4mm or 6mm pellet. Most of Paul's fish fell to worm or worm/caster cocktail. Some Pics... My best tinca. 1st Crucian of the morning. My best Crucian of the day. Paul's 3lber. Yellow tench - caught by Paul.
  3. Newbury AA Stillwater - Widmead 0530 - 1100. Bright and sunny after a cool, misty start. 10º -> 20ºC 1 Crucian; 2lb 2oz. 8 Carp; best 2 - 12lb 6oz & 11lb 9oz, smallest 6¾lb. 3 rudd & a perch. A morning's float fishing (lift method as per usual!!). Crucian and 3 of the smaller carp on 6mm S-Pellet. Meat just got nailed by the rudd. Last couple of hours spent freelining bread - which brought 5 more carp including both bigger ones. Smallest crucian from here in 7 years...
  4. NAA Stillwater - Thatcham 0630 - 0930 Warm despite clear skies. 15º - 20ºC 1 Crucian, 2lb 15oz. 1 Carp 5lb 7oz, a rudd (small!) Mini campaign to get an autumn crucian meets with success!! Though in fairness this morning felt more like high summer! Thought my chance had gone, as despite having the odd crucian rolling it wasn't until the sun just started to bathe the swim in full light at around 0900 that I had a bite from one (the carp trashing the swim an hour earlier didn't help either! ). My biggest ever crucian from this lake - very thick set which doesn't come across in the photo...
  5. Newbury AA Stillwater - Widmead 1930 - 0000 Warm overcast and muggy night - lovely shirt-sleeves evening though needed plenty of DEET - mozzies were in almost plague like swarms! Temp still 16ºC at midnight. 1 Crucian; 3lb 3oz. 1 Tench; 4lb 9oz. 2 carp 6lb 3oz & 6lb 13oz. 1 Rudd. Mission accomplished - 1st crucian of the summer and it's a real goodun! Things didn't start off quite so well - had the 'smaller' carp practically 1st cast on my float gear - took an age to get in and completely trashed the swim. So no bites afterwards for ages. Had switched to trying to get a few carp off the top and had not long put back the other one when a very large crucian rolled in my over where I'd baited earlier. A useful reminder to stop fannying about and get back to what I'd come here for. Swim really came alive in the first hour of darkness (22-2300) with fishing rolling and lots of bubbles. Crucian caught at around 2230 with the tench some 20 minutes later. My 4th biggest ever Crucian...
  6. Newbury AA Stillwater - Thatcham 2000 - 0700 Warm and overcast night, didn't get below 14ºC. Drizzle until midnight but by dawn our brollies/shelters were dry. Lovely night to be out. 2 Crucians; 3lb 7oz & 2lb 3oz. 1 Carp 10lb 5oz. Not quite mission accomplished first cast - but certainly 1st bite!! Biggest crucian of the season, my 3rd biggest ever and the first 3lber I've ever had from this water. Plan was to try and avoid attracting the carp - so didn't feed the swim - a ploy which appears to have worked (nearly!). Paul and no such qualms and even crossed over to the dark side with the purchase of a pellet waggler for this trip! He had arrived well before me and being a true gent didn't drop into the swim I wanted - though I think he may have rued that decision when I landed my 3lber as I think it would have been a PB for him... Still he caught a lot of carp - and was landing his 16th of the session as I left - he even managed a 1-10 crucian. My 3lb+ Crucian... Not Paul's biggest carp of the night (think this was 8lb something), but certainly the best looking one!
  7. Harris Lake, Marsh Farm Fishery, Nr Godalming. 1530 - 0930 Overcast and muggy becoming cooler am. (And DRY despite the forecasts for days beforehand forecasting rain!) 14 Tench; 7 over 4lb, best 3 - 6lb 2oz, 5lb 7oz, 5lb 5oz. 6 Crucians; 3lb 1oz, 2lb 13oz, 2lb 3oz*, 2lb 1oz*, 1lb 15oz, 1lb 10oz. 4 Roach - 3 over 1lb (!) best 1lb 6oz. 3 Rudd - all 10-12oz. 3rd time Paul and I have done a night here and this cracking session was following on from last season's successful experiment which also copied the same pattern of not a lot happening until it got dark and then steady action during the night. Though all the roach and rudd were caught within the first couple of hours of arriving; a rather unexpected and very pleasant 'Welcome to Marsh Farm'! The feeding switched was flicked around 2230 - and the fish came out in 'bursts' through out the night - often 2 or 3 in quick succession followed by up to an hour staring at a stationary float. There were some notable differences to previous trips - one was bait de jour. Last time out we eeked out a precious few prawns between the 2 of us as bait (they were meant to be Paul's lunch) - as that was all we could catch on - so this time we came armed with tonnes of them - so of course - I didn't get a bite to them - and Paul hardly any better. Nearly all my fish came to good old maggot (I had 4 tench on meat - the only exceptions). Fished float fishing the margins lift method (as per usual!) I think all of Paul's float caught fish also fell to maggot or meat - and he also had a lot of tench on corn - though these were caught ledgering out by the island (the cad!) Another curiosity was in the difference of catch returns - Paul ended with 10 tench and 10 crucians - but the vast majority of his tench (8 I think) fell to the ledger rod - his float rig caught mainly crucians - whereas my float approach - some 20m away in the next swim - using the same tactics (and bait) produced mainly tench. *These 2, 2lb crucians were shamelessly poached from Paul's swim. We were packing up and I was chatting to Paul in his peg and looked into the water to see a group of crucians right close to the bank in no more than a foot of water mopping up some bait that Paul had thrown away. Watching them, they would scoot in, feed for around 20 seconds and then leave - to return a minute later to repeat the process. Simply waiting for them to return and lower a bait in front of your chosen fish resulted in an instant take - 1st time I've ever 'stalked' crucians! Paul wasn't too amused though! All in all a great night's fishing - though the lack of any breakfast (the onsite tackle shop have stopped selling bacon butties ) was a bit of a let down. Plumby's stove will be packed for our next trip here! A couple of the roach... Crucians - my 3... Paul's biggest (2½) Tench - my 6 and a 5½ for Paul.
  8. Johnsons Lake/Harris Lake, Milford (a ) 1515 - 2330 - Johnsons (b ) 0000 - 0345 - Harris (c ) 0415 - 1030 - Johnsons Warm and sunny. Night was also quite warm despite mainly clear sky. Johnsons: (a) 1 Perch; 2lb 2oz and a micro - carp (smaller than my hand!). (c ) 1 Crucian 3lb 1oz, 1 Tench 7lb 6oz. 1 Mirror carp (only slightly bigger than my hand at 2lb 10oz!) (b ) Harris: 5 Tench; all over 3lb with 2 over 5lb. 3 Crucians; all over 2lb to 2lb 9oz. A quick return to Milford and after a night on Harris on Monday/Tuesday this time Paul and I were up for more of a challenge. Just as well as conditions were somewhat challenging. We don't have the required permit to do a full night on Johnsons so the plan was to fish as long as was 'legal' (2 hours after sunset) and return as soon as allowed (an hour before sunrise) which means at this time of year little more than 4 hours to 'kill'. My plan for this time was to nip over the fence (OK style) to fish Harris while Paul - quite literally hit the sack - and got in over 3 hours kip!. I even pre-baited and plumbed a swim on Harris so that I could drop into it immediately in the dark. So Part 1 afternoon/evening on Johnsons - and what a grueller it was. Paul and I couldn't so much as buy a bite - despite numerous changes of bait and tactics. Eventually at around 2100 he snaffled a 5lb+ tench which I went to help him with (or not as the case maybe - ask him about my new unhooking method!). On recasting my float rod - loaded with 2 white maggots I was wondering why the float wouldn't cock - until I realised I had a fish on - a nice perch taking the bait on the drop - so after 6 fruitless hours both our blanks were 'saved' in the space of 5 mins. Nothing of note followed just a TINY carp which gave a good facsimile of a crucian bite to add to my irritations... Part 2 could be described as the 'easy interlude'. Paul took it easy - while I had it easy! First cast in my new swim on Harris - over my pre-baited area produced the 2-09 crucian - bites and fish came in quick succession until the action tailed off at around 0300 - ALL my fish caught over the pre-baited part of the swim. Part 3 started with us deciding to target a different part of the lake and 'follow the wind' - which meant us setting up shop in two swims either side of a large bed of lilies - a classic looking summer lake swim if ever there was. Now at least we started to get bites - the problem was connecting with a fish. I'd bumped a couple before at last connecting with something that was solid if unspectacular in resistance - unmistakably a crucian. And when it popped to the surface like a cork it was unmistakably a BIG crucian - guided thankfully to my net - a bit of a beat up old warrior it pulled the needle down the 'right side' of the 3lb marker! Next was a small (and unwelcome) mirror carp before another bite was met with a heavy somewhat ponderous fight almost like a large bream - this turned into a fat female tench - which as I guided it to the net got me thinking - could be a pb! Not quite a PB - but my biggest tench for 4 years. All the while Paul on the other side of the lily bed had the irritation of my repeated requests for a photo - without the need for reciprocation! By now the sun was rising higher and with it hopes of a big crucian getting lower until a switch to caster at last did the trick for him, First off a lovely conditioned crucian which had us both guessing 'could be' but alas wasn't (a 3lber) missing out by an ounce. His next though clearly was and at 3lb 3oz turned out to be the day's best. By now I had quite a ripple in my swim and if I was getting crucian bites I clearly couldn't see them to hit. Paul was still getting the odd clear indication but couldn't connect. So ended a challenging session - but an ultimately successful one! Fish on! (at last!) My perch heads for some near bank brambles... but doesn't escape! Paul's 5lber - it really wasn't this dark - Perch above was caught right after....! Sunrise My 3lb Crucian (with apologies from the photographer for the lack of focus!) And my 7lb tinca.... Finally Paul's 2 crucians 2lb 15oz 4ozs heavier
  9. NAA Stillwater - Thatcham 1930 - 0500 Warm, overcast and still. No need of a shelter or brolly - could have sat in shirtsleeves all night if it wasn't for the mozzies. Super night to be out. 1 Crucian; 2lb 6oz. 5 Carp; 17lb 14oz, 16lb 0oz, 10lb 1oz, 9lb 5oz, 7lb 1oz. 1 Perch (small). Love it when a plan actually comes off! One of the lake's crucians was always number one priority and I had one as soon as it got completely dark - should probably have added to it as I had crucians rolling in my swim up to midnight and bumped another couple of fish. Plan B was to try and get some of the carp feeding in the margins - so again as soon as it was dark and the ducks and geese had settled for the night I was trickling in bits of bread crust - waiting for slurps and swirls. When the carp eventually arrived it was simply a case of dapping a bit of bread under my rod tip - and then hanging on for dear life! All 4 biggest carp caught this way, the 7lb though, falling to a tiny speck of prawn meant for a crucian - which also resulted in an 'interesting' battle of light-ish tackle! My biggest carp from this lake and my biggest for 7 years... http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-263-1415-august/ . Dawn saw an armada of wildfowl head for my swim so a quick pack up saw me fast asleep in my own bed before 0600. 17lb 14oz 16lb on the nose!
  10. Marsh Farm, Milford. 1730 - 2300 Johnsons 2330 - 0530 Harris Cool clear night - down to a chilly 9ºC when I packed up. 5 Crucians: Best 2lb 15oz, all others sub 2lb. 5 Tench - a brace of 3lbers and 3 in the 1-1½lb bracket. 2 TINY carp! Just back from a week in Norfolk (took Paul's travel rod and caught 'A' mackerel off the beach at Weybourne where we were staying!) Plan for tonight was to try and get a decent tench - so even set up a feeder rod. Alas the bigger tincas weren't playing ball - in what turned out to be a slow but steady night - first fish around 2100, a small tench, followed by the big crucian. Another small tench followed before the switch to Harris. Had planned to stay longer - but a warm bed and avoidance of the rush hour were a bigger attraction than a lifeless looking lake!! A couple of the carpers in the next swim seemed pretty impressed with the cru - and insisted I had it's portrait taken!
  11. Marsh Farm, Milford 1430 - 2315 Johnsons 2330 - 0315 Harris 0330 - 0730 Johnsons Warm, slightly overcast with a full moon. Simply a lovely night to be out - never really got dark! 8 Crucians; 3lb 7oz, 2lb 14oz, 2lb 11oz, 2lb 7oz X2, 2lb 6oz, 1lb 13oz, 1lb 11oz, 11 Tench; Best 5lb exactly with another 5 over 4lb. 1 Brown Trout (!) 1lb 9oz. After the excitement of the IAC fish-in on the 16th, a quick return to MF in the hope (thankfully more than fulfilled) of some serious Crucian fishing. The session got off to a rather curious start however - with the first bite of the day producing a brown trout! Had to wait a bit for my next bite but dusk saw the crucians switch on and I had the 4 biggest ones in pretty much consecutive casts - before the tench moved in. A switch to Harris to circumvent my lack of night permit produce an hour's sleep plus the 3 smallest crucians and a 4lb tinca. Dawn saw me return to the evening swim - but it seemed to be full of tench - I don't think they were giving the crus a look in! Possibly over baited the swim! Well pleased with my 3= biggest ever Crucian... A VERY fat specimen which doesn't really come across in the photo...
  12. Willows Lake - Thatcham 1900 - 0500 Warm overcast night - lovely night to be out! 4 Carp; 6lb 5oz, 6lb 14oz, 7lb 12oz, 13lb 9oz. 5 Tench - best 2lb 7oz and all the others C2lb±2oz. 1 Crucian; 3lb 3oz. ½doz+ perch - all small. Nice to see some tench in Willows - bin many years since I've had this many in a session. All fish fell to lift method tactics less than a rod length out - with simple maggots as bait - did also bring a feeder rod but it stayed in the quiver all night. Snaffling one of the lake's big elusive crucians is always the target here - so extremely pleased to get one! Most fish caught before midnight except for 3 of the carp including the bigger one which took an absolute age to get in on a 4lb bottom!
  13. Harris Lake - Marsh Farm Fishery, nr Godalming 1230 - 0445. Warm (especially overnight), overcast, with heavy showers - though the worst of it missed us. Lots of thunder rumbling away in the distance - thankfully that's where it stayed!. 18 Crucians; 7 over 2lb, 2lb 9ozX2, 2lb 7oz, 2lb 6oz, 2lb 4oz X3, 3 Tench to 3lb 10oz (all over 3lb) Informal IAC 'match' competing for the inaugural Paul Goulborn Memorial Trophy - to be awarded to the captor of the biggest crucian caught on the day. The IAC is something of a sleepy backwater of the internet and Paul was a very early member (circa 95/96) and whilst it may not have a fancy website - it does manage to organise quite a bit of fishing and fish-ins amongst it's small membership. Twas fitting then to hold a fish-in in Paul's memory at one his favourite venues - targetting one of his favourite species. I'd booked a dozen+ pegs with GAS as if it was a match - thus ensuring we could all fish together - and that we could raise a bit more for Duchess of Kent Hospice as match fees are cheaper than Day Tickets! I'd even organised a trophy to be awarded on the day - an old print of a crucian which I had mounted and framed. Because of my desire to start the season on running water I was last to arrive and was very pleased to hear that most people had actually caught crucians already - with a smattering of 2lbers. 2 Separate fish of 2lb 8oz - one to Rusty and one to Rob were tie-ing for the trophy - a situation which didn't change as little more was caught in the afternoon! I'd set a notional cut out point of 6pm to signify the end of the competition and thankfully the afternoon rain had desisted by then for some back slapping and group photos. The winning anglers! I didn't have a bite all afternoon - though I wasn't unduly worried as I was planning to fish on into the dark - boldly announcing as everyone else departed that the crucians come into the margins at dark and I'd have some sport! Well that was certainly the case. My first fish came at around 2145 and by the time bites dried up suddenly at 0300 I'd accounted for 18 Crucians and 3 tench all caught within 4 foot from the bank float fishing! Biggest crucian of the night was 2lb 9oz (which I managed twice) - pity the match had finished some hours earlier! One of the tench - look at those pelvic muscles - no wonder it punched well above its weight - took and age to land! Nice album of pics from the day taken my Glenn (using FILM and an antique camera). https://www.flickr.com/photos/glennsmithphotography/albums/72157669925120545
  14. Warwicks Water - Thatcham 0730 - 1000 Mild, with milky sunshine becoming (too) breezy. 4 Crucians (all small). 1 Perch - circa 10oz, 1 Roach - circa 8oz(!) Around 18 months ago NAA decided to turn this small fishery into a Crucian water - the place was drained - all the fish (mainly carp) taken out, lilies were planted, fish refuges were installed and lines of tape were strung from bank to bank to keep the cormorants off! The crucians were put in last winter - as part of the National Crucian Conservation project. However reports of captures over the summer have been sparse - a match on the first day of the season yielded a solitary roach! Still I couldn't go the whole summer without wetting a line there - so a couple of hours - more in hope than expectation, were called for! I needn't have worried, though the first fish was a surprisingly chunky perch followed by the roach. A run of crucian like bites soon followed and it wasn't long before I landed my first Warwicks Crucian. Unfortunately the breeze got up making bite detection somewhat problematic - but by then I was well satisfied with my 4 fish! Perfection in Miniature! This is going to be a cracking water in a few seasons - especially if the promised tincas get stocked! More on the Crucian conservation project - here:
  15. Harris Lake - Marsh Farm Fishery Nr Godalming. 1730 - 0500 Warm overcast night - lovely night to be out - in shirtsleeves til the early hours. Pity then that at 5am the heavens opened, accompanied by an impressive electrical storm - so a hasty retreat was beat to the car - for some much needed kip! 10 crucians all over 1lb with half over 2 - biggest 2lb 15oz. 6 Tench - all over 3lb - best 4lb 3oz. A doz or so perch, roach and rudd. After the frustration on the barbel front it was nice to get my fix of crucians and tench. We had talked about moving to Johnston's at first light - but the weather put paid to that and I rather welcomed an excuse for a bit of kip in the car. Paul continued fishing in the rain - picking up crucians galore on the feeder. As my last visit - most of my fish fell to chopped prawn while Paul picked up a lot of fish on good old bread flake. The view from Paul's brolly... ( I was fast asleep in his car at the time - and anyways only cads use buzzers for crucians!) A pic of my 2-15 - Paul has done an excellent job photoshopping out the massive rip in the crotch of my fishing trousers! http://i964.photobucket.com/albums/ae125/Chris_Plumb/Crucian2lb15oz_zps2728b25b.jpg
  16. Marsh Farm, Nr Godalming 1545-2245 Johnsons 2315-0530 Harris 0600 - 0930 Johnsons Warm day - chilly night(well certainly cool at day break). 14 Tench - best 3; 5lb 14oz, 5lb 2oz, 4lb 14oz. 6 Crucians - all bar one over 2lb - biggest 2lb 11oz. 6 Carp 7lb 10oz and 5 tiddlers - and I do mean tiddlers, one was no bigger than my thumb! 7 Rudd - biggest 1lb 1oz (!) A session where the plan was to concentrate on Johnsons - hopefully for one of the big crucians and/or rudd at dusk. Move to Harris to bag up on the tincas and crucians (or in Paul's case head for the car for a kip) and return to Johnsons at day break. Parts 1 and 2 of the plan worked to near perfection - Paul had a couple of big crucians from Js (biggest a 3-02) while I had my first 1lb+ rudd in over 18 years (13/7/96 - Knotts)- all be it caught on ledgered cockle! The baby carp were actually a bit of a pain often imitating a much larger crucian in the way they fought and the 7lber was also a slight disappointment - as having eventually teased it in on 3lb bottom I was convinced I was attached to a really big tench until I eventually picked it out in my headlight and realised it was a carp. Harris fished as expected - 9 of my tincas and all my crucians were caught on here. Chopped prawn again the winning bait. Alas when we returned to Johnsons in the morning neither of us could so much as get a bite - and this despite Paul's swim resembling a Jacuzzi with bubbling fish! My biggest tench of the session - which is uglier - me or the tench!? Paul's 3lb crucian. Dawn over Harris
  17. Johnsons Lake - Milford 1100 - 2315 & 0300 - 0900, with a 3 hour kip in the car sandwiched in between! HOT! Sunny and Sultry - temps hit over 30ºC. Finding a shady spot was a (THE) major factor in considering swim choice! 8 Crucians: 3lb 9oz, 3lb 2oz, 3lb 0oz, 2lb 14oz, 2lb 13oz, 2lb 10oz, 2lb 6oz, 2lb 5oz. 21 (!) Tench - a dozen over 4lb; best 2, 6lb 13oz & 6lb 1oz. 1 Roach; 1lb 10oz (!) and, somewhat ironically, the only fish under a pound was a tiny (smaller than my hand) common carp. WOW! Wasn't expecting that! Given the conditions I thought I'd be in for a bit of a struggle - hence the plan to have a dusk AND dawn session here. However first cast resulted in the roach - a real surprise - and the bright conditions clearly didn't put off the tench - I'd had 11 by tea time when the crucians, which I was really here for, at last put in an appearance. Dawn continued in the same manner though catches were slightly more evenly split between the species. By 0700 I was bathed in full sunshine and beginning to feel hot and bothered - so was almost glad that this seemed to correspond (at last) to cessation in bites. I rotated baits between prawn, meat, hookable pellets and maggots (started by giving a hour on each) and nearly all fish fell to prawn (with the exception of the roach and a couple of tincas on maggot). All fish caught float fishing a rod length out! A trio of beauties (Crucian is my 3rd biggest)
  18. Johnsons Lake - Milford 1200 - 2315 & 0300 - 0900 Warm and overcast and quite breezy. Quite the best night to be out - no need of warm clothing - or a shelter! 8 Crucians - best 4: 3lb 11oz, 3lb 8oz, 3lb 5oz, 3lb 4oz, 2X2lbers & 2X1lbers. 9 Tench; 3X5lbers to 5-15 and 6 of various sizes. 5 Rudd, 1lb 11oz & 1lb 8oz and 3 smalluns. 1 Roach. Wait 27 years for a decent rudd and then 2 come along at once. 1-06 was my previous best rudd - from way back in July 1991! The 1-08 held the crown for no more than a couple of hours before a stunning looking fish of just under 1¾lb graced my net. The thinking was that the evening would be relatively quiet with the footy on - but I didn't expect to get the place to myself - I was the only angler on the railway bank in the evening! Cracking haul of crucians which mostly fell to float fished prawn as did the bigger rudd ( the smaller one was on maggot)
  19. Johnsons Lake - Marsh Farm 1600 - 2315 & 0245 - 0500 (with 3 hours kip in the car) Warm, muggy overcast with showery rain all evening. Bright an breezy in the morning. 11 Tench; 5 over 5lb, best 3 - 7lb 7oz, 6lb 7oz, 6lb 4oz. 3 Crucians; 3lb 14oz (new PB), 3lb 2oz, 2lb 10oz. 2 Rudd to 10oz. Another cracking June trip here - 4th season in a row - though this one was definitely more eventful! My hopes weren't high to start with as reports from the first few days were of anglers struggling. Most of these were casting to the horizon and after carp whereas I would be float fishing the first few yards of lake for crucians. Things did get off to a slow start but quickly got going as the light faded. The 2 rudd were all I caught before 2000 - then came the 3 crucians in ascending size order - I thought the biggie had to be a 4lber and was shaking as a weighed it! After that the tench moved in - bullying the crus out of the swim methinks as I didn't get another sniff of one. The morning was just as eventful - for all the wrong reasons because I, err, fell in !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No half measures either, slipped/tripped just as I was casting out my float rod and went head first into the drink. Lost my glasses and head torch - thankfully I have some prescription sunglasses which got me home. Phone seems to have gone into some kind of safe mode so it 'might' be ok - currently drying out....Pride comes before a fall they say! Pity as I was still catching and had planned to stay much longer......
  20. Harris Lake - Milford 1430 - 0430 Warm and muggy with a gentle breeze - clearing ovenight with temps down to 12ºC at dawn. 18 Crucians; 10 over 2lb - biggest 2lb 11oz. 11 Tench; 5 over 5lb - biggest 5lb 12oz. 6 Perch, 6 Roach, 1 Rudd. Very busy session with over half the fish caught in daylight (for a change). Everyting caught under my rod tips - float fishing with prawn and maggot weighing in equally with fish. Fed much more sparingly than usual which seemed to stop the tench arriving en masse!
  21. Johnsons Lake - Milford 1530 - 2315 Warm and sunny with quite a stiff breeze until dusk. 2 Crucians; 3lb 3oz, 2lb 15oz. 6 Tench - all over 3½lb - best 2; 5-12 & 5-02. 2 Carp (very small - one may have scrapped a pound the other less than half that!). 3 Rudd - all small. Very pleasant evening's float fishing the margins - as usual not a lot until dusk (just the rudd) - first fish (the 2-15 cru) at around 1930 - thereafter steady sport until 2300. All fish on prawn (apart from the rudd - on maggot).
  22. Willows Lake - Thatcham 1800 - 0600 Cool clear night down to 7ºC at dawn and very misty and damp with dew. 9 Tench: All over a pound with 3 fish over 2lb. 7 Carp biggest 2, 12lb 2oz & 8lb 15oz all the others between 3½ - 6½lb. 1 Crucian 2lb 2oz. 4 perch. A return to the swim of a fortnight ago hoping for - and getting - a similar return for what will probably be my last overnighter of the summer. As before, started off float fishing maggot but the micro perch were in residence nailing the bait before the float even settled - so a switch to meat was swiftly called for which they ignored. Really pleased to snaffle another of the lake's elusive crucians. Hopefully the tincas will put on a bit of weight in the coming seasons......
  23. 3rd Paul Goulbourn Memorial Trophy - Harris Lake - Marsh Farm. 0800 - 0800 Hot, bright and breezy. Breeze never really died down even at night. 19 Tench - biggest 5lb 4oz with nearly all the rest in the 3½-4½lb class. 13 Crucians; 3 over 2lb (just!) - biggest 2lb 3oz. Around half the rest were 'Big 1's' (had 3 @ 1lb 15oz!). 3 Roach, 3 Rudd & 4 Perch. IAC came out in force to do Pauls' memory proud! Record attendance at this meant £400 being raised for Sue Ryder. Despite challenging conditions quite a few fish caught with the lead (prize goes to biggest crucian caught) changing hands a number of times before Ed snaffled the winning fish (2lb 5oz) close to the 5 o'clock cut off. I struggled for bites for most of the day (except when using maggot) and didn't get my first decent fish until my swim was in shade at around 1800. Once it got dark however the action was frenetic - at least two-thirds of my catch coming between 2200 & 0400 and all caught in 15inches of water right under my rod tip a couple of feet or so from the bank on float fished prawn. A great day for a great guy - still fondly remembered.
  24. It is coming round to that wonderful time of year again.....the daffodils are dying back, the bluebells are out, the lawn needs cutting.....oh sod the gardening, I need to be sorting my gear for crucian carp fishing As I know a few (!!) of you on here like to pursue crucians, I thought I'd start a thread in the hope I might get some hints on this at times most frustrating of fish! Looking forwards to early mornings, and late evenings, concentrating on that little dimple of a float next to a lily pad, hoping that it is going to do more than just dance around as a crucian slowly does my head in again......just love it
  25. Having failed to catch a crucian carp during my previous visit of just under two weeks ago, I was sure this outing would be more successful. After all, Marsh Farm, Harris Lake, as per the web site, “famous for crucian carp”, and having caught nearly a hundred of them last season, my last outing must surely have just been a blip on my success rate. To further increase the odds in my favour, I was here for the night, and the hours of darkness are usually guaranteed to bring a crucian or two on the feed. Whether I would actually be able to stay awake for the night would remain to be seen. For the first time I had brought my barrow to carry my gear round to the chosen peg, about 400m from the car park. Last season I had been fit enough not to require this, but the cancer, and the treatment were taking their toll and I wasn’t as fit as 12 months ago. Setting up in the afternoon sun was very pleasant, but even though it was currently warm and dry I chose to get my overnight shelter up. One of the side-effects of my treatment is fatigue and taking this into account the large pile of equipment included a sleeping bag, with strict instructions from my wife, Kim, to use it !! I sometimes think cancer has a bigger impact on those around than it does on the patient, I can’t even try to fathom the amount of confusion, frustration, and fear that goes through the minds of Kim and my daughters, Clare and Emma, let alone the rest of my family and friends. The latest cancer statistics (2011) show over 330,000 new cases were diagnosed in that year, I wonder just how many readers of this blog know someone (me excluded!!) with the disease? Of that number, just over 10,000 were kidney cancer, and despite my predicament, as I like statistics, I can’t help but think where I fit into those for 2014 ? Anyway, in the sunlight the crucians hadn’t yet decided they were hungry, however some of the other residents in the lake were, including this little perch of 11oz. Across the lake to the east I could see some ominous looking clouds heading in my direction and it was a good thing the shelter was up, as within a few minutes of being sighted, they were overhead. My geography lessons from school gave me the skills to identify the grey fluffy things as nimbus….rain clouds. Okay, so the drops of water spattering my shelter from height helped this detective process somewhat. A few random spots of rain began to fall, shortly followed by a lot more of them! Fortunately the shower was just that, and within 20 minutes the weather had calmed down again, leading to a very nice mild evening. Throughout the night the tench and my kettle kept me busy and awake, enough to keep me out of the sleeping bag with several five minute naps being sufficient. The mild damp conditions although pleasant for a night sitting by the lake also encouraged one of my favourite creatures to be out and about….slugs….yuk….hate the damn things, especially when I find one sliming its way up the front of my coat! It is only in the last few years that I have switched from taking just a flask to carrying a small stove and kettle, one of the best upgrades I have ever made. A mug of freshly made steaming hot tea, in the depths of night, is so much better than the luke warm contents you get out of a flask made up over 12 hours previously. Just after my third mug had been enjoyed, well, it had been once I had evicted the slug from the handle, I had a tench on both rods at the same time. Bringing both fish in, at the same time, on my own, and in the dark, made me appreciate those times when I’ve been able to call on my regular fishing companion and best mate, Chris, to give me a hand. Although I acknowledge it is usually me giving him the hand with the netting process and not the other way round ! Over 10lbs of tench in the net, pity it wasn't just one fish though! These days the first entry on my list of things to make sure I have packed into my various bags is, tablets. On top of those for my blood-pressure, I also have my painkillers, several different flavours, and those for my cancer treatment, Pazopanib. Most of these are taken early morning, an hour before any food, although I also have an evening top-up of the slow-release morphine. Fortunately, the dosage of these is low enough that I am still allowed to drive, as I think I would be near on suicidal if I couldn't get out and about without pestering one of the family for a lift! After 12 months on the treatment for my cancer I still struggle with the pronunciation, so they are known as Pazowotsits in our family. These are described in the trade as tyrosine-kinase inhibitors, and they work, hopefully, and very simply, by blocking tumour growth. I take 600mg a day, and the two scans since starting the treatment last May appear to show the stuff is working. If the side effects are anything to go by, then I am hopeful the cancer cells are having as much fun as I am at times! I’ve seen some spectacular sunrises when out fishing, but unfortunately the one I sat though on this morning didn’t get anywhere into even the top 200. It kind of just went from cloudy and dark to cloudy and light and that was it, maybe next time! The fishing slowed down with the increasing light levels and I was happily distracted by trying to get a picture of a tern swooping down to take insects off the lake surface. These birds are so fast, a quick hover, a dip down, and then they are away. Twenty or so snaps later, this was the best I could get. With the thought of a cooked breakfast and then some sleep at home, I packed up, fourteen tench, plus a couple of perch and rudd was a good score for the night, but yet again no crucians! Maybe the robin which decided that my kettle made a good perch could provide some insight !!
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