WINTER FISH - ?

[watatoad]

I ask this after reading a thread where one well known Bream chaser (on here at least) who usually stops chasing Bream in winter to go Chub fishing was posting a conversation to an angler who continues Bream fishing in the winter.

 

O.K. so we are not having the mildest of winters.

 

However during a relatively mild winter what do you consider to be the main target fish?

 

During a harder winter what do you consider to be the main target fish?

 

Are there local area variations?

 

Do the rivers differ much from the lakes and higher stocked commercials?

[benacre]

Pike, Grayling, Perch and Chub but Roach will also be my target. in Commercials this is the time to target big Roach on casters. I fish commercials irregularly but in winter they can be good light fishing venues.

[pearbo]

Norfolk summer carp or cat fisherman, though tend to catch a fair spread of bream and tench too.

 

Pike in the winter but i can't wait for the lid to come off my local commercial so that i can have a go on there for some of the perch, have been caught to about 4lb but being a carp puddle (which i have fished a lot in the past so im not knocking it) no one really fishes for them. It has also been bought to my attantion that there are a lot more zander in there than i had realised (seen the odd one). I would like to have a live baiting session for both the perch and zeds.

 

Went on christmas eve and all the rivers were frozen near me. The relief, the cut, ten mile bank, wissy pools, the wissy and the middle level were solid. Ended up blanking on the little ouse, but at least i was angling.

 

Main thing i can say though is ROLL ON SPRING ive had enough of cold, snow, frezzing washer jets and blanking

[Alan Roe]

Most winters it tends to be Grayling and Chub for me though if we get a mild spell I will go after barbel as well

[Dick Dastardly]

Pike,Chub and Grayling apear to have no problem with the cold in running or still (if you can get to them!) water.

 

Ive caught pike on still waters where the ice has had to be broken.

 

Oh and on cannals Ive caught Gudgeon through ice holes.

[Chris Plumb]

Chub, grayling, dace and when its a tad milder, perch.

 

 

C.

Edited December 26, 2010 by Chris Plumb

[Renrag39]

Pike and Roach mainly, regardless of severity.

 

Renrag

[Emma two]

It doesn't matter what the target species is, It's predominantly pike, but can't catch 'em in December, or January and only occasionally at the back end of November (did this year), things pick up towards the end of February, conditions permitting. It would be easy to simply write myself off as a poor angler, but used to catch lots of roach in severe German winters, even through ice holes, and could catch winter pike when we lived in other parts of the UK. I shall be out afloat when the ice thaws and have a serious go at slow trolling, I belive that the pike have moved out of shore casting range. I know that we will find fish on the echo sounder, that's not difficult, but to hook one would be a red letter day.

[tony tinca]

I ask this after reading a thread where one well known Bream chaser (on here at least) who usually stops chasing Bream in winter to go Chub fishing was posting a conversation to an angler who continues Bream fishing in the winter.

 

O.K. so we are not having the mildest of winters.

 

However during a relatively mild winter what do you consider to be the main target fish?

 

During a harder winter what do you consider to be the main target fish?

 

Are there local area variations?

 

Do the rivers differ much from the lakes and higher stocked commercials?

 

 

I think a river doesnt get that affected by the cold compared to lakes that can just shut off completely during winter

but where a heavily stocked commercial differs is that catch rates in winter can be down by as much as 90% but you can still end up catcing way more than you do at anytime on a river and thats why modern angling has changed so much and rivers have declined because people just dont want to struggle to catch fish

winter in the old days used to mean that you went fishing to enjoy just the being there and expected to blank and anything caught was a bonus (maybe im exagerating a tad )

but Theres a commercial not far from me that when we can break the ice the matches are still sometimes won with 100lb of carp which is crazy and just not nataral

as to what to target in winter it depends because you can quite easily catch carp on commersials easier than any other species if thats your thing , but its also a good chance to aviod the carp and single out better roach and perch and skimmers

Tommorrow im gonna try small stretch of the river mole next to gatwick airport just because its free fishing and just up the road from me .im just gonna trickle in a few maggotts and try to catch anything that might be there, the funny thing is im looking forward to this more than if i was doing a match on a commercial , and i wouldnt have even thought about doing it if the lakes werent frozen.

Thats what winter is for me , a nice chance to have a go at other species that arent always so welcome in the summer when im spoilt with carp or tench ( mainly carp unfortunately )

 

I enjoy allround fishing really and im just as happy catching bream and skimmers and tench( more so really )as i am carp in open matches, as opposed to alot of one dimensional anglers these days

Edited December 27, 2010 by tony tinca

[Andy Macfarlane]

I'm staying in this Winter. Normally I'd be out after pike but experience tells me this 'winter piking' thing is a myth, with sporadic catches, if any and it's just not worth the effort, freezing your nuts off.

I'll wait till Spring.

 

I used to go out after grayling and roach but now I just can't be bothered. I'm turning into a fair weather angler. It's the tench's fault.

 

No edit that....it's this bloody weather.

Edited December 28, 2010 by Andy Macfarlane