AN Wobblethon - 24th February 2008

[Tony U]

Anderoo missed the most important bit: I got the Kelly kettle going first light and made tea with it. The Hogweed and Cow Parsley stems burnt brilliantly and we had the water boiling in minutes, the only problem being keeping enough fuel near the kettle to keep it going.

Oh yes I nabbed quite a decent little Perch as well Wayne has the pictures.

 

Tony

Edited February 25, 2008 by Tony U

[dant]

Well I'll start off by saying a big well done and thank you to Andrew for sorting this weekend out. It's easy to say we should do this or that but to get something up and off the ground takes a bit of effort and commitment, good work that man!!

 

I had a really enjoyable weekend. It was good to meet a few faces from the forum and quite a change for me to fish in the company of others as most of my fishing in the last few years has been solo stalking or the like. Infact I can't even remember the last time I fished with someone else..

 

The original plan for me was to leave Suffolk before lunch on the Saturday, explore the Upper Little Ouse on my way out to meet Andrew and the Z-Man, arrive in plenty of time to catch a bucket full of livebaits before settling down for the evening to catch plenty of those elusive Zander. As usual, my uncarefully laid plans didn't quite bear fruit.

Firstly I faffed around for ages in the morning, god knows what i was doing to waste so much time but it was nearly 3 o'clock as I passed through Thetford. It was at about this time that I started getting texts from Andrew eluding to run a minute Pike fishing and a whacking great big Zander.

 

Now what do I do. Do I forget about the Lt Ouse and head straight over, well yes but first I'll take a quick peek at the Ouse on the outskirts of Thetford Forest, just so I know, then I'll head over, it won't hurt, I'm sure the fish will still be on the move when I get there.

 

As I passed over a pretty little, old road bridge I clapped eyes on an even prettier, enchanting and mysterious looking little river, it looks a little like a carrier stream of one of the more prestigious Southern Rivers, a rarity in these parts. Well now I was here I had to have a quick go, It'd be rude not to.

More faffing ensued, followed by a quick hour or so's blanking/trotting a deceivingly pacy and shallow little river. I hereby swear to return in the new season and suss the place out properly.

 

I then quickly (well 45 mph) set off in the hippy hilton to meet Andrew. Needless to say after a few wrong turns I arrived in darkness, minus any baits and minus my Pike net which I'd rather handily left propped up against the shed in a do not forget position. I'd also turned up up just as the runs had dried up.

 

Nevermind. After a enjoyable chat about all things fishing and a couple of scrounged baits I settled down to a peaceful and exceptionally mild fenland evening broken only by the eery noises coming from the hedge of Herons in the trees near the bridge and the occasional bark of a Muntjac Deer. I gave up the ghost of Zander at about 2 am and settled down for a surprisingly good nights sleep..

 

One look at the Cut Off Channel the next morning revealed an almost alarming clarity and confirmed I'd spend the day on the Wissey.

 

After the meetings and greeting were done and a very welcome cup of tea from Ginger I set off to catch some baits. Fishing almost underneath Hilgay village bridge, I had enough baits in the first half an hour but stayed on to spend a very enjoyable morning striking at thin air as I played cat and mouse with a shoal of lightning quick biting mini Dace including the odd sinuous little devil to around 8 oz's or so.

 

Andrew and Will returned to report that wobbling was a little hard going but there'd been a few fish striking at baits. By this time I'd secretly already copped out a bit on the idea of wobbling as the day seemed to strongly suggest live baiting would hold sway.

 

I then spent the next few hours wandering up and down the Wissey trotting livebaits with Andrew to the tune of four small super charged jacks that were taking baits as soon as they hit the water if you landed a bait on their heads. The fish I did catch continued the current theme of drawing blood one way or another, these wiry little jacks are, I think are trickier customers to unhook than their bigger female counterparts.

 

I toyed with the idea of returning upstream to the weedy shallow bays for an hour after the goodbyes to see if I could get a few more as the fish are definitely filing ranks for spawning, but didn't, pausing by the bridge on the way home only to scoop out a dying Pike we had spotted earlier, which I intend to eat for dinner this evening. The fish wasn't fatally injured I hasten to add by anybody in AN gang but by someone fishing there earlier..

 

All in all a really good weekend..

 

Cheers. Dan T

[Dick Dastardly]

We went on to catch another couple on trotted lives. I think Budgie was the only die-hard wobbler - he'll tell you that's because he's a committed angler staying true to the spirit of the day, but I know it's only because he forgot his bait catching gear

 

Not strictly true.........it was more that I was too lazy to load up the bait fishing gear! A decision that I regreted (due to the conditions) half way up the motorway!

 

Many thanks to Anderoo for a well thought out and organised day and to Ginger for his input and welcoming cuppa when I arrived.

 

My brother and his nate Andy were keen to try the Cut Off Channel and as Mat couldnt make it I agreed to join them.Soon as I saw it I thought we would struggle and after my first cast with a 7" roach (where I could see it at over 6' deep at at least 30' out!) I KNEW we were! We pushed it out till early afternoon though with the two Andys fishing a lure rod each and one deadbait rod.I know this water quite well so to save a blank knew we would have to move back to the river.

 

Once back at the meeting point we grabbed some gear,the lads just taking their lure rods and myself my wobbling rod.As we walked down just passed the boats I stopped and chatted with Anderoo,Will and Dan for a while they had taken a few fish on mainly lives. By the time I caught up with the Andys my brother had managed a jack on a Blade Dancer lure and Andy C just lost one.

 

Around the third or fourth cast I had a take on a wobbled roach and after a spirited fight landed a jack as well! Several small fish were actively feeding and scattering fry but the daylight was going.After Andrew caught one more on the BD lure again we decided to call it a day!

 

Thanks very much to Tony and Sue for the traditional "Mulled wine".Not being a drinker its not really my thing but the small bit I had this year was really nice! if I hadnt been driving I could have fancied a lot more of it!

 

Started raining as I started the trek back to the City.London traffic at its finest when I got there but I didnt care as I had a good day.Best thing about it was that it re awoke my love of the Fens and has definately fired me up to start doing a bit more up there again.

 

Another great AN Fish In.

 

Oh and I nearly forgot! Biggest thanks from me has to go to my brother as without him shelling out the dough for my fuel I wouldnt have been able to make it at all.Cheers Bruv.

Edited February 25, 2008 by BUDGIE

[ginger]

Although there were one or two who failed to catch I feel sure that everyone enjoyed the experience. At the risk of being repetitive, thanks to Anderoo for organising the event, I have experience of such things and it can be an almost thankless task but i hope he feels duly appreciated! I camped down on the banks of the Wissey opposite the boats with the intention of fishing a single pike rod with deadbait plus situck float trotting alternated with groundbait feeder. The pike rod got off to a good start with a float gone bite, judging by the pull it was certainly a double and fter a few minutes it came up out of the water like a polaris missile it's return signalled by a sharp crack as the line parted above the trace. I probably had too short a trace so that when it turned the line caught it's teeth and was cut. Shame as it was the only run all day. On feeder and float I had a good mixed bag with roach, bleak, skimmers and perch, the best fish being a roach of about half a pound whilst the perch was just shy of a pound. With the strong wind coming straight up the river and no shelter it felt much colder than it was but I still enjoyed the day. The company was/is excellent and I will certainly be doing it again. I have a picture taken by Sue of the remaining crew as darkness drew in and I will post it when AOL is feeling a bit quicker, probably tomorrow night. If you get the chance make time to do a fish in, enjoyment guaranteed, I wish I could get to the next two but alas......

[Newt]

Budgie - glad to hear those blade dancers work with pike. It is such a great looking lure but I've seem some before that looked good to me but did nothing for fish.

[Dick Dastardly]

Budgie - glad to hear those blade dancers work with pike. It is such a great looking lure but I've seem some before that looked good to me but did nothing for fish.

 

With an action like that they just had to didnt they? I had a couple of Thames fish on them as but spent more time using the swimbaits.

[Anderoo]

Thanks everyone, glad you enjoyed yourselves

[Andrew Burgess]

Sorry a bit late in updating the thread as I been in and out of the house and getting ready for the Itchen!

 

First of all I must congratulate to Anderoo for making this day to happen. Hopefully this will be a regular on the Anglernet fish ins.

 

Well my day was getting up early on Sunday morning after been sick the night before (something to do with the too much fishing on Saturday!) We arrive at Hilgay roughly around 7.50am and it wa nice to meet Ginger on the bridge at the River Wissey, we had a little chat and walk to the car park and promptly was ask if I want a cup of tea (what a star man)

 

Me and my mate and Budgie decided to fish the Cut off Channel of the Great Ouse as it been of one of my ambitions to fish it and a zander would have been nice bonus if they have showed up! The channel was partly crystal clear as I never seen it like it before in my 30+ years of fishing. I fish near the A10 bridge on the second peg away from the bridge.

 

By 1.30pm that we decided to head back and try my luck on the River Wissey and just take my lure rod and a few lures with me. So I move along the river and my reel was playing up a bit like getting into a few of the bird nest tangles. After sorting it out the reel problem, I decided to add a red chartreuse blade dancer and on the first cast rewarded me a pike.

 

 

Again after that fish I was into more problems with the reel and I decided to strip some of the braid off to stop it getting into a tangles. I was into another fish again the blade dancer was doing it job! But sadly the fish came off

 

After resting in between talking to various members and decided to a few more cast before packing up - I was rewarded into another pike.

 

 

It was a brilliant day and I would do it again despite travelling across the county's and over 280 miles.

[ginger]

The last few to leave, probably slowed down by Tony's mulled wine or with no home to go to! Tony's wife, Sue was behind the camera even though she was by far the better looking one.

 

[WayneX2]

Sorry for the late report, been busy all week.

 

The day nearly didn't happen for me as I went straight back to sleep after my alarm went off in the morning but luckily I woke up again early enough to get there on time. Had a chat with the other guys who were there already while waiting for everyone else to arrive before heading off to the cut off channel with Tony and Sue who I was going to be fishing with for the day.

 

As already mentioned the water was crystal clear but I managed to get a pike of about 4lbs on a wobbled roach. As others have said, this fish put up a spirited fight even though he was a fat little thing. Tony walked me through the proper unhooking procedure, which was one of the reasons I wanted to go to the fish-in. Turned out to be a lot easier than I thought it would be.

 

After that I didn't get any action on wobbled baits or on lures, which I tried on a multiplier outfit borrowed from Tony. Although I wish I hadn't as I now really want one even though I know I'll hardly ever use it.

 

Tony had a nice perch as seen here

 

Unfortunately Sue didn't catch.

 

Anyway, it was a great day and it was nice meeting you all. Special thanks go to Anderoo for organising the whole thing and to Tony and Sue who I fished with.

 

Oh, and I can confirm the kelly kettle worked flawlessly.