A Float Project

These are the Pike floats of choice for Jeff and I on the tidal river . They support about 2 oz and " ride " the tidal flows well .
I dont know why but the orange colour has always offended me ! They work really well , they are cheap and so on .....but !
So with my traditional hat on I am going to try and make some more " traditional" looking floats that have the same pattern and size . I have asked a few questions of the TFF and will see what suggestions come to light .

Now for Some Carping

With the river season over for another year , I have turned to some other fishing opportunities . the local club lake has some great small Carp , which are catchable all year , even on the surface .

The lake is very deep with 8 - 10 feet a rod length out , so I tend to fish in this zone either with a light running leger or with my preferred float tactics .

 Using a running leger and centrepin with the ratchet on works well and allows the fish to run . I need to perfect this a bit more if I am to fish for Eels as I have found that they need to run un hindered when fishing deadbaits .

The Last Week - it all comes flooding back !

The last week of the season still holds a great part in my fishing calandar . However many things can ( and normally do ! ) conspire to make the fishing difficult or prevent me even getting to the bank at all !

This year was no different . I had taken a few days off in the run up to the 14th .

The first thing to go wrong was the car . I had a small chip in the windscreen which suddenly took on a life of its own and began to crack in two directions . I had hoped the windscreen people would be able to quickly fix it . But no it was a new windscreen . So  the first was a write off , plus another day for the fitting .

Then the conspiracy of time and tide had wreaked its wrath . The end of the fishing season this year has coincided with the biggest tides of the year . This would'nt normally put me off but the recent rain had also added a bout three feet of water to the river .

Jeff and I tried an early morning trip in the boat but the water defeated us . I think Jeff's quote summed it up :

" If we catch a Pike I will jump in ! "

 Which bit is the river ?

So that is the river out of the question then . So what to do ?

I have joined a local Carp syndicate and the Pike fishing has taken up all of my time recently so I have not managed a trip there yet . Maybe a few trips there will allow the fishing to continue ?

One interesting feature from recent trips has been the prescence of small brown floating " balls" in the river I took them to be seeds of some description , but on picking one out I discovered it was very hard in fact rock hard . So I took a few home and on breaking one open I found that it was a ash/brick type thing . But what and where did they come from ?

2 Pye Aagh !

Another Dennis Pye rod has arrived ! How did that happen ?

Saturday took us out onto the river again . We followed the tide upstream , and dropped into a swim that I used to bank fish . Obviously nobody has been there for a while as the bank was overgrown . A great advantage of the boat !

Despite the river looking " just right " we didnt manage any interest from a Pike. We did see another boat though : people fishing OUR river , how dare they !

We moved a bit further and Jeff scored with another lovely river double at 15lb.

Now jeff has been on what can only be described as a roll ! The Pike are queueing up to be caught by him !

This is best described by my next fish ....yes it is a Pike and very beautiful , but.....

Jeff then continued his run of form ..

I then got in on the act with a 9lb Pike on the new Pye rod .

The " Sladle" in action . A great piece of kit .

The day finished all too soon , with some lovely views . What would tomorrow bring ?

Sunday dawned with the promise of some great weather . So again we motored off upsteam . The tides are building and the effect on the river was noticeable with the river colouring up .

Jeff was soon in on the action with a Pike of grand proportions !

We moved downstream and Jeff managed another at 4lb .

The scenery and light was very dramatic

 If only I could paint skies !

We were robbed !

But the cherry on the cake was the glorious light at close of play .

Cane and Pins equals Pike !

I have settled on the Dennis Pye and Seldex approach for now , and matched another Seldex to my Hardy LRH No 2 . Casting off the drum seems to be working with only a few " bird's nests" ! Well one was huge and took an age to untangle !

Jeff and I fished on Sunday and decided to follow the tide down and fish some spots we have located downstream of our mooring . We ended up a long way down and could hear seagulls ! But didnt see a Pike . But the wind was getting a bit strong . So we upped anchors and turned upstream to motor in with the tide . So began an epic journey up to our favoured swims .

I dropped a bait into a favourite spot and ....

Out came a 20lb 4oz beauty ( Thats the fish not me ! )

I dropped the bait back in and turned to get my other rod and it was off again ! Sadly I missed the fish on the strike .

The wind which had been getting stronger all day suddenly dropped , the clouds clearded and a beautiful sky developed .

We then motored home .

A scientific calculation , with the maps and a bit of string ( !) by Jeff totalled our journey as 20 miles ! Not bad on half a tank of fuel .

Fishing with gadgets - Feeling the pressure

I read an article some while ago about using a barometer to better judge the best fishing times and the most likely " taking times " . The article made you believe that you had to have a special watch that did the barometer function for you . But at a cost of a couple of hundred pounds , I was a bit reticent . I then found a cheaper option and put it on my Xmas list . Santa bought me one !

I am now plotting the air pressure during the fishing trips and its interesting how it does change during a few hours . I have yet to see a link between fishing success and the presure but you never know !