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A Day I Had Looked Forward To

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It has been quite some time since I have been at this lovely little pool, certainly more than one year and I had been looking forward to fishing here.

The pool looked in great condition thanks too all the work parties that had carried out works throughout the seasons.

I had brought with me my trustee Floatcaster “De-Luxe”, not my favourite Floatcaster in my collection, but it has the added backbone to tame a Tench, which is what I was looking for today.

I had setup in a swim that I do not normally fish on the opposite bank. Really nice and level with a little cover, although slightly hazardous casting. It did not take long before the float moved and Roach after Roach crossed the net. This only changed when the Perch began to prowl and I landed perhaps five; but no Tench.

As the afternoon moved onto evening I was sure that weed had begun to drift into my swim, bites became thin on the ground until finally the float dipped under and I landed a whopped of a Tench, totally out-gunned by a large Hardy Altex reel and the Floatcaster. This was quickly followed by a whopping Crucian too.

Apart from last year, I always seem to be fishing on midsummers day and now I try to always make an effort to be out fishing. This evening however was not midsummer-ish at all. The temperature dropped so much that I could see my breath in the air, and it became so cold my head hurt. Never mind, tomorrow would be the Strawberry Supermoon to look forward to.

Fishing 2020

Autumn Cast

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I had to think back to the last time that I was able to cast a line. My initial thoughts were the final days of the course fishing season back in mid-March. After looking through my own blog, I remember that I did manage a short fishing trip at the end of June – what a poor fishing year!

This particular local pond used to be full of Roach, which is what I was fishing for today. Waiting for a bite, sipping tea, I cast my mind back to the last time that I was out fishing on my birthday? I deduced that it was actually eleven years ago. At the time, I had purchased my very first split cane fishing rod, and have never opened the rod bag full of my carp fishing “carbons” since. I have added a few lovely split cane rods to the collection over the years too. One of my favourites I was using today, an old Mark IV, with one of my favourite ‘pins’, an Allcocks Aerial.

With the black death (Cormorant) circling above every hour or so, it was clear that this lovely pond had been targeted. This was confirmed when speaking with another angler there. A lot of the small fish are no longer. So I did not catch on my birthday. The wind was storm-force at times, float fishing wasn’t the best idea, making casting somewhat tricky (fishing excuses out of the way). I had a great day non-the-less. I am sure I used to class November as Winter, but today was overcast, dry and warm on this pleasantly mild Autumn day.

Fishing 2019, Perch

Christening Bob

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I was kindly gifted a new ‘Perch Bobber’ as one of my Christmas presents last year, and is a welcome addition to the second box of floats that I keep.

I have been looking forward the final day of this course fishing season, and was going to use this new bobber for a Perch on a river or pond somewhere. However, this unseasonably warm weather of the past few days has surely got fish on the feed and I was itching to get to a river or pond, it was impossible to wait until the end of this course fishing season, the 14th of March.

There is a commercial fishery near where I live, not the sort of place that I would ever fish, but I learnt of Perch up to 4lb residing there, so was keen to have a crack at one.

I only fished for a couple of hours in the afternoon today, but really enjoyed feeling the warmth from the sun for the first time this year.  I managed to catch two Perch, one of around a pound and a half, and the other a little smaller at around a pound. The biggest surprise was at the end of the day catching a small Tench (on a prawn), not the prettiest Tench I have ever caught, but it just shows how warm the weather is today; quite bizarre.

It is the rule that normally it is the kiss of death fishing with a new float, but I was lucky enough to christen my new Perch Bobber. It could have been a summer’s day.

Fishing 2018

The First Family Holiday

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Although I have managed a few fishing trips away this year; this is the very first family break since the birth of our daughter.

It is just as well that I own an estate car as the amount of gear we needed to pack was unprecedented.

I was not expecting to get fishing on our holiday as there would simply be no room in the car for my fishing gear on top of all the family essentials, even in my estate car, but a friend persuaded me to stow a rod away somewhere and said that he may join me on the river bank for a crack at a Perch.

My first choice at this time of year is always a lovely Fred J.Taylor Roach rod that I own. It is quite a large rod and really would not have fitted and possibly would have got damaged in the transit. However, I found in my pile of sticks a rod I forgot that I had, an Edgar Sealey ‘Octofloat‘. This is a three piece rod and is light as a feather, perfect to smuggle into the car.

I had also packed the bare minimum into a Brady bag including a wide drum ‘Speedia‘ that I have not used in ages and looked forward to an afternoon on my favourite Wessex river aiming to catch one of it’s lovely Roach.

Our arrival in Wessex coincided with Storm ‘Callum’ and thoughts of any fishing were very distant for a number of days. Eventually a break in the weather did show on the forecast. Rain had stopped and high pressure was to stay for a couple of days. This was great, and gave the river a little time to recover allowing the water to fine down and clear a little.

The day arrived and was greeted with glorious sunshine, something that we had not seen for ages. Bizarre for this time of the year, mid-October and the temperature was in the high-teens. In fact, as I strolled to the river it could have been mistaken for a glorious summer’s day. Maybe not perfect fishing conditions for some, but perfect for me!

The river was the lowest that I have ever fished it following a very hot summer.  The spot that I chose to fish had very little current in it, which is unusual as later in the season I have know it to be a torrent here.

I did not manage to catch many Roach today, but did land endless Gudgeon, numerous Dace, a few small Chub and a cracking Perch right at the end of the day. A lovely couple of hours were spent.

Fishing 2018

An Odd End To The Fishing Season

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It was an odd end to the fishing season this year. With the river high and coloured I ended up at a pond. Which at this time of year is not on my agenda, but it still meant that I was fishing.

Very lucky with the weather too. Rain was forecast, and although I did get light showers, the worst held off until the evening where upon it came down in rods.

Now the season is over I can look forward to spring and planting up of the allotment. Oh, and of course, the beginning of a fresh new fishing season in June.