Fishing can be so so cruel........

[Janet]

Fished tonight. Had a good sesh.

 

Is that it? I've been following this thread since it started, and thoroughly enjoying it. Saw you'd posted, and sat down with a cup of tea to read another good report.

 

I feel totally deprived now!

 

Janet

[WickerDave]

Is that it? I've been following this thread since it started, and thoroughly enjoying it. Saw you'd posted, and sat down with a cup of tea to read another good report.

 

I feel totally deprived now!

 

Janet

 

Phil's fishing reports are probably only being PM'ed to those that silently supported him by PM .

 

West Midlander's are mean like that .

[Guest Brumagem Phil]

Is that it? I've been following this thread since it started, and thoroughly enjoying it. Saw you'd posted, and sat down with a cup of tea to read another good report.

 

I feel totally deprived now!

 

Janet

 

Hey, you women don't have a monopoly on being in a mood you know!!!!

 

Go on then, put the kettle on, and stick your feet up........just for you is last nights catch report, although I'll warn you now its not THAT exciting and wasn't even that good either!

 

The usual pool had been very tough with blank after blank (carp wise anyway) and the wind recently has shifted so the breeze was right in my face and making the chill evenings feel even more chill so decided to give it a break for a few days and try somewhere else, just so I could put a bend in my rod.

 

A mate of mine told me that he'd heard Rowheath park had been drained at the back end of last year and all the big carp taken out and replaced with small stuff. Now I know they were gonna stock it and put some nice stages in as it got funding for some project to get juvenile offenders and other kids into fishing but hadnt heard about the big carp. I love my surface fishing and its more protected from the wind than the other pool so decided to spend one or two evenings trying to find some of the munsters in there (I've had mirrors and commons to 17lb out of there so well worth chasing em).

 

The first night I just went mainline straight through to the hook and used a huge great big hook and great dollops of bread as this is what they seemed to go for last year. NO such luck this year and despite getting them up feeding fairly confidently (I think the season is still a bit early to get em really frenzied on the top) I didnt have a single take! One of the locals came round (a friend of the bailliff) to tell me no night fishing was allowed. I explained that I didnt plan on staying all night, but just enjoyed doing a couple of hours into dark. He was happy with that and went on his merry way. Its an odd one this no night fishing rule.......it all depends on the water as to how its enforced, with some wanting you gone the moment the sun sets with others happy for a couple of hours fishing into the darkness.

 

Had a bit of a think for the next evening and decided to drop to a nice small hook (standard size 10 instead of my specialist carp size 6 Ihad been using before). Had just one take but lost the fish almost immediately. They have really been reading up over the winter on how to remove bread from a hook without pricking themselves!

 

Right then, on to last night! I hadn't actually planned on fishing last night but was a bit fed up and stressed so thought fishing would be a good move!

 

There was a bit of a gusty breeze so not the best of conditions for surface fishing but the pool has some protection from the wind and the wind of course usually dies away somewhat on the turn of dark so I thought I'd chance it. Skies were beginning to look dark and threatening too but I just needed to get out there and fish......in fact if the truth be told, i'd have been flinging mixers and bread out last night if it had been blowing a hurricane!

 

Got there and had to fish a spot I don't normally fish due to the wind and ripple on the water. I did manage to find a few flat spots to fish on though. Took me a while but the plink plink of the biscuits got them up soon enough and tentatively feeding. I set up with a controller this time rather than just freelining and selotaped a nightlight to the controller so I could keep tabs on its position without keep putting my head torch on it and risking spooking the fish. BIG problem..........got 6 ducks who just won't leave my bait alone. Ended up pulling out of so many pieces of bread it begun to wind me up! In the end I had to do the naughty thing and let one of the ducks take the bait. 10 seconds of flapping and quacking later and I have this duck peering up at me! Nice hookhold right in the bottom 'lip' too. Didn't bother weighing or photographing him, and he left with his mates in a huff and left me in peace for a couple of hours.

 

I was still struggling with the carp just sucking the bread off my hook so decided to try sommat different. I chobbled a pop up boily down in size and popped that on a hair rig and tried that. They just wasn't having that at all and were taking all my freebies but not even sniffing the boilly! In the end as I reeled in for a recast I foul hooked a carp of 10lb........he was hooked right at the root of his pelvic fin and he took an age to land. It was a result of sorts I guess but really not what I wanted so had to have another rethink!

 

I think my mixers were a bit old as I was having terrible trouble trying to get those onto a hair and when I did quite often they would sink!

 

By now the second rain shower was starting and my warburtons bread was becoming more like warburtons soggy dough! The good news though was that the rain showers seemed to be giving the fish more confidence and I had now drawn them wihin 6 feet or so of the bank.........ain't it a great sight to see all those lips coming up and sucking down mixers!

 

Time however was really beginning to rattle on now and my midnight leaving time had long since gone! I was however determined that I wasnt leaving till I'd caught a fish in a bonafide manner..........it really was a grudge thang now!

 

I had a brainwave lets try the very end slice of bread and use a very small piece, in fact just big enough to allow it to float and see if it mimics a biscuit a little bit. Flicked it out (only about 10 ft) and threw a few mixers around it and settled down and waited for the lips to appear! Sure enough after just a couple of minutes up they came and BINGO off went the controller kiting across the surface as a carp swallowed the bread. Its a weird pool this, in that its quite deep right up to the edge and quite often after a couple of runs then come almost under your feet then just stay DEEP ploughing round and round. MY arm was falling off in the end as I don't believe in bullyingthe hell out of the fish but he tired in the end and the net slid under a lovely common which tipped the scales at just a smidgen over 11lb. RESULT!!!!

 

Whilst I packed away (its almost 2am!!!!) I flicked it out again hoping for a repeat performance but the last catch so close in and the torchlight had spooked the fish away. I hadnt clocked the ducks sneaking back in the darkness though and landed another one before I left!

 

So there you have it, the final score, 2 carp and 2 ducks!

 

One things for sure, those carp were original carp in there so the big munsters ares till lurking the depths!

 

Thanks for reading.

[Janet]

I chobbled a pop up boily

 

Sounds positively kinky!

 

Nice read - next time I expect you to post it without me having to nag!!!

 

Janet

[Guest Brumagem Phil]

Had a go on my 'tench pool' tonight having stirred up the bottom yesterday evening and popping some bait in to get em rammaging around the bottom a bit!

 

I got there just before dark.

 

First rod was running a method feeder with blended bread and sweetcorn and sweetcorn on the hook. The second rod was a very light ledger set up with a pair of maggots on the hook.

 

Initial indications were good with the sweetcorn rod knocking and twitching pretty much from the off. After just 15 mins in the water a nice 3lb bream was landed. Shortly after, the same rod screamed off and this time it was a nice 8.5lb mirror carp. A bit later still and another bream of around 2lb and then it all went awfully quiet around 11pm until I had another bream of a couple of pounds just before I left at 1am.

 

The other rod might as well have not had a hook on, it was that quiet!!! I added a small maggot feeder at one point but it didnt improve things, so switched it to method feeder and used the bread and corn combo but even then it was lifeless........in fact I don't even recall seeing the rod tip twitch the whole evening!

 

Still no tench though and thats after 3 evenings fishing on a pool thats supposedly rammed full of em!

 

On the way home I stopped off to check out the ditch from which I rescued all those pike a few weeks ago. I knew there was one left which was proving elusive but now the oxygen levels had dropped in the ditch, he was a lot less lively so he was duly rescued and popped into the lake where he belongs!

 

Another interesting thing tonight was a pair of owls who were singing what appeared to be a mating song......in the end they found each other and settled in a tree no more than 30 feet from me........and they sat there for a whole minute at least while my big torch lit them up!!! Now if only I'd had a decent camera with me!

 

Sorry its brief and a bit rushed tonight but I'm bushed!!

Edited May 2, 2007 by Brumagem Phil

[Guest Brumagem Phil]

Just a very quick update.

 

Had another bash at the tench pool tonight. Took 3 bream and a couple of skimmers. No sign of the elusive tench and the carp which were rolling and crashing out in front of me last night were conspicuous by their absence tonight too.

 

Might go back to my other venue and see if the big carp have arrived tomorrow night!

[Guest Brumagem Phil]

Sigh, this is getting frustrating!!!

 

Went for a walk this afternoon and around 4pm chucked a couple of handfuls of hemp and pigeon feed into my swim......not too much, just enough to get the beasties grubbing around and held in the swim.

 

I turned up as usual just before dark and the feeder rig was knocking and banging from the off (it always does in this spot) whilst the float set up just sat motionless in the other spot (no surprises there either).

 

A 13lb 4oz common was the first victim and boy did it scrap!!! I had a sunken tree, a weedbed and overhanging tee all within 20 feet of me so needed to grudgingly give the fish line. That greys stalker really does work its socks off in those situations.......you can see the rod bending almost all the way to the reel seat!!!

 

A short while later and a little roach popped by and shortly after that a 3.5lb bream was landed. After that the swim just died........its done this on the other occasions I've fished it, only tonight it went dead even earlier than usual at about 10.30.

 

Still no tench though!

 

Oh yeah, saw the biggest shooting star I've ever seen tonight! Normally by the time you see them in your peripheral vision, you look just to see it vanish! Not tonight though, I saw it, looked and watched it go across over a third of the sky like a nov 5th rocket!!! I made a wish too, but no 8lb tench for me tonight.

Edited May 4, 2007 by Brumagem Phil

[Anderoo]

I'm really enjoying this Phil, thanks for keeping it up! Your lake sounds intruiging, even if you are being a naughty boy.

[Guest Brumagem Phil]

Had another go for the tnech tonight and guess what?? Yep, I didn't catch one.

 

I started off in a new swim (only a few yards from the usual one) as it looked promising when I first got there. A big swirl in the weekds and numerous small rings as small fish surfaced. After an hour without a twich on either the float or feeder set-up, I abandoned it and moved to the usual swim.

 

Took 2 roach and 2 skimmers on the float set up with the feeder being quieter than usual, although I put this down to moving to the swim late and many of the fish had probably patrolled by, found no grub and buggered off again!

 

The feeder rig dig manage to pick up a carp of about 8lb though which was ok. It had proper swallowed the hook though and I had to cut the line. Only a thin wire barbless number 10 so doubt it will cause the fish any trouble. Funnily enough, all the bream this week have really sucked it down too which is kind of odd given that bite indication is good with a feeder set-up and bait runner. Maybe they are just being greedy!

 

Weather forecast looks good for tomorrow with a warmish night and very little wind so might try my other venue to see if the big carp have appeared in their spawning grounds yet! Probably end up catching a tench!!

[Guest Brumagem Phil]

Just a quick update.....tried my carp pool last night and although there were a couple of smallish carp irritating me by spawning right under my feet (andwithin 20 feet either side of me), nothing was feeding so a dry net last night.

 

Went for a walk today with the missus and took my landing net in case they were there again so I might catch and inspect them. Nothing there though, but did rescue a rather expensive lure and wire trace from the weeds!

 

A bit further down the lake she spotted a floating log in the weeds........on closer inspection this log appeared to have a dorsal fin! Further scrutiny suggested it had a tail fin too! It was out too deep for my wellies so we picked up a few small stones and tried to spook it off...........wouldn't move at all, not even move its fins. Only one thing for it, off with the wellies and with rolled up jeans I'm in there after it!!

 

Here it is........ (had no scales but between 12lb and 14lb and still fairly well loaded with spawn as you can see by my jeans! Thanks love!!!

Edited May 6, 2007 by Brumagem Phil