A Blustery Day !

" Happy Winds -Day !" - a quote form WTP that very aptly fitted today .

I went off to try my luck after a Perch from the club lakes .

I knew the wind would be a problem but...not this bad ! I packed storm poles , and guy ropes for the brolly not expecting to need them .

Oh dear !

My brolly was as standard with the central pole ,  but with the following additions :
1) Pegged
2) Guy roped
3) Two storm poles

Yet it still moved a bit in the wind ! Actually for "bit "read , " alot " .

As to the fishing ....not a sniff !

I tried the lobworm and maggot attack which had previously worked .

I use a red floating plastic maggot as a retaining point for the worm on the barbless hook .

The smorgas board of delight :

Spot the difference ?

My prize at the end of the day !

Say " Cheese" ..... a new bait ?

I took Irvin fishing for his first trip in about 15 years  .

He quickly got back into the groove and started catching fish .

 But interestingly he sneaked a few bits of cheese from his sandwiches and caught a few Bream and a small Carp . This got me to thinking , that other than the occassional bit of cheese paste , I rarely use the stuff . However its , yellow , smells and is oily , what could be better from a bait perspective ?

I used spam on that day and caught a Perch and a few small Carp .

 Still nice to be out and about !

 Lilies . Always a draw for me ,I have to fish next to them !

So the next trip with Irvin had us loaded down with cheese ! I changed the location to a small farmers pond , which has a good stock of Common Carp . I am sure they are proper " Wildies " they fight like mad and are all long and thin but have massive tails for their size . Oh and they like cheese !

 Irvin also manged to catch some " Cheesy " pants !

 A Cheese fest !

 And some more !

" The Way I Fish " - Dennis Pye

As I had the rod , I thought that I should read about DP and his exploits on the Broads.

I have never read this book before , but I have heard many things about DP and his potential exagerations of fish catches and the sizes of the fish he caught .

241 Pike over 20 lbs between 1952 and 1963 is certainly a fantastic catch rate ! Maybe he did exagerate some of his catches ,  but this man could catch Pike and in his day on the areas he knew was probably right up there with the best of his generation .

However taking things on the value of the advice in the book , DP was a one method angler when after Pike . He livebaited with large baits drifted into the areas of the Broads he had highlighted from previous recces and observation. Having fished the Broads it is a fanatstic environment and its shallow weedy waters with reed fringes is a perfect Pike habitat .

There are some intersting chapters on other species and being quiet and careful with observation and watercraft being the main points he raises rather than tackle or bait , I think he was really on top of his game.

A great read !

The Chapman 700 - Dennis Pye

E Bay ...a thing of good or evil ?
Well I put a bid on a Dennis Pye 700 rod , not expecting to win it . I won it ! At a very reasonable price too !
A quick bit of research on the TFF and a recommendation was made for a refurb of the rod via Steve Boncey and the rod has now been sent off . Hopefully it will make an acquantance with a Pike before the end of the season !

Seventh Time Lucky ....plus a surprise

My recent trips out after Pike have a common theme ; they were all blanks ! So 6 trips , with the new /old gear all fired up and poised but no luck , not even a sniff !
Well the seventh trip dawned and Jeff and I ventured into a cold dawn on the good ship " Finatic " .

The red sky in the morning adage ( Shepherds Warning ! ) did not bode well , but you have to be in it to win it !
The Hardy LRH No 2 , and the Gildex reels are performing well and just need some fishy adversary to test their mettle fully .
In the first spot , my float paternostered deadbait soon trundled off and the resulting strike produced a real Arun beauty .

She weighed 16 LBs and put a real bend in the LRH !
I quickly dropped the bait back in and a real snorter of a take took the float off into the middle of the river before it submerged . I struck and expected a small Pike to be the culprit but I was in for a surprise .

A Bass ! This is the third Bass I have had from the tidal river in the last 15 years of fishing . Amazing to get a sea fish this far up river , some 15 miles from the sea !

The next day dawned with a frost and we again headed off up river with the tide . We motored along way up river and fished a favourite area .

After a couple of moves I had a very tentative take , which I assumed was one of the local Eels which seem to take a great interest in deadbaits at this time of the year . ( Who says Eels are scarse ? They should look along the river they are packed in here ! ) A strike resulted in a very quick change of mind as to the culprit as the fish decided it didnt want to come and join us ! The rod and reel combo handled the situiation well but I must admit the left hand control of the Gildex is not my preferred option . The result was an 18lb fish in lovely condition . As we landed her , Jeff had a screaming run from a high single figure Pike as well . A feeding spell at last !

Jeff followed up with another Jack in quick time to bring the short lived feeding spell to an end .

Seven , my new lucky number !