Everyone knows where the fish are, there’s absolutely no
secret there and there’s room for a few anglers in the area too. Two things get in the way though; complete
stubbornness and the desire for solitude, could I overcome this? I got as far as meeting Kevin at the
‘hotspot’, when I say meet I actually reversed into his car but no harm done to
either! To make amends I helped him
carry his gear to his chosen swim, the stretch looked nice but not as
nice… Roach were topping as we stood
chatting but still I just didn’t get a feel for it. I went to my preferred area, will some big
fish move in like they did last year?
One good one would justify my decision.
I blanked, Kev caught a net full.
Things are different this spring; the water is lower and clearer, the
weather has been dry and cool too. I
shouldn’t expect the fish to behave the same way. Sometimes being a stubborn angler is good
because I don’t give up, the game isn’t over until I win. Sometimes it makes me too slow to adapt.
Still it’s been an enjoyable month chucking feeders,
watching quiver tips and learning a little more about a species I’ve neglected
for years. Just the one photo worthy
fish this spring, shame I was too disorganised to get the camera out. In truth I assumed there’d be others. Now I reach the time of year when my fishing
gets frustrated, I want to be making plans for some spring Tench fishing but
other aspects of life have to take priority.
My calendar is full for the next five weeks so any fishing will just be
a few hours here and there for who knows what?
The Roach fishing seemed to have peaked early this spring,
some speculated the fish had spawned and moved away early this year, certainly
my two most recent trips seemed to endorse this. The first saw just a couple of twitchy missed
bites at dusk and the second a total blank.
The following day I still had the car loaded but as the work day wound
down I still hadn’t decided whether to bother or just go home. The weather was hardly encouraging, dry and
bright but the North easterly wind was keeping things cool. Should I turn right at the gate and head for
home or should I turn left and fish?
Half an hour later I had two rods out in a sheltered swim,
surrounded by tall trees. As fishing for
Roach was obviously hopeless I decided to change things, instead of identical rigs
fishing the same area I decided to drop one in close and bait it with
corn. Before the splash of the feeder
subsided I chucked two handfuls of corn on top and another two of maggots, then
I left it to its own devices. Ever the
optimist I had Tench in mind on that one.
As usual the other was dropped down the shelf, baited with maggots and
recast every ten minutes or so.
Once settled down with a brew I felt content. In all likelihood a blank was on the cards
but I was in a lovely spot watching Grebes, Mallards, Tufties and a Swan. There was plenty of birdsong coming from the
newly greening trees, Blackbirds, Green Woodpeckers and a Pheasant squawked away
to the North. When all is said and done
this is a pretty good place to unwind on a spring evening, even if the wind did
mean the heavy coat was required.
However if tonight is another total blank should I reconsider my future
plans?
1930, an hour has gone.
The pheasant is still noisy, Pigeons and Crows have joined the chorus
but there are still no fishy signs in the swim.
A week ago this wouldn’t have bothered me, it’s still early in the
session but now the doubts creep in.
This is a moody water, stuffed with fish of all species but they are
highly nomadic and this is one of those times when you wonder if you are within
a mile of one.
2000, the wind has dropped briefly and the swim is calm,
revealing nothing. A week ago I started
getting unhittable rattles about now but not yesterday and I’ll be surprised if
it happens tonight. 2010, A faint but
definite rattle on the tip! I’m all
attention now… A couple of minutes later
I wind in maggots that look untouched…
Was it a liner? My optimistic
side wonders if a nice Tench has brushed the line on its way to my baited spot
in the margin. Another prolonged gust of
wind makes me glad the Catch Cult hat is pulled down tight over my lugs… Was that another rattle?! If so I’m too late again, sure enough the maggots
have been chewed! Its growing dark now
and I untangle the head torch, there’s a splash under the tree near my margin
rod, was it fowl or fish? Shortly after
the recast the tip thumps round and it’s unmissable! But I missed it… this has happened a few
times this spring.
By 2025 the bats are out, my hands are cold and I’m hungry.
I’ve run out of groundbait and it’s not really worth making more so I start
tidying up. It would be nice to end on a
tale of a big fish against the odds but I finished with the blank I
expected. If I’d been a bit more
positive I’d have probably fished better but at least tonight brings a bit of
hope. There are still fish around, I
should have known better as it was hit and miss last year. I just have to stick to my guns and keep
going whenever I can, there’s still a chance this spring.
By the time the Pike fishing season finishes I’ve usually
pushed my luck with the family as far as it will go and actually feel like a
rest from early mornings and physical fishing.
However I still need to get my fishing fix so what I really need right
now is some interesting (that word again) short session fishing. Luckily a year ago I stumbled, almost by
accident, onto some good Roach fishing so right now this fits the bill
nicely. Once upon a time I would have
laughed at the thought of finding myself fishing for Roach but apart from being
interesting (!) it ticks the other boxes too.
The water in question is quiet and beautiful, the fish grow big.
As I get older I realise the benefits of keeping an angling
diary too, I was able to go back a year and remind myself exactly how I went
about it from location to groundbait mix to hook size. This time I felt confident enough to tweak
things a little. Open end feeders, helicopter rigs and short hooklengths, my set ups would still
make a proper Roach angler weep but I’ve gone a little lighter all round
without breaking my philosophy of not wanting to get a bite if I can’t actually
land the fish.
Since the Pike rods went to the back of the shed I’ve fished
three times, all short evening sessions covering the last couple of hours of
daylight and the first hour of dark.
Already a pattern has formed, during the early period it seems as if
there isn’t a fish within a mile of my baits but this gives me an opportunity to
soak up the sights and sounds of the birdlife which is constant. When this subsides at dusk the silence is
stark and the flight replaced by bats. I
recast regularly to keep the feed going in and half an hour before the bats
come out the Roach switch on. This also
coincides with the dropping temperature requiring warm head gear in the form of
my new ‘Catch Cult’ hat. Of course it
could just mean that the new hat is a lucky one. So far I’ve caught a few Roach and missed a
few too, only one required the scales and if I’d have been a bit more organised
I should have used the camera too. To be
honest I’d have settled for this but I’ll be back soon, hoping for more and
bigger!
Talking of 'Catch Cult' the new magazine has been very well received and actually sold out! Well done Rob and Martin, roll on issue 2!
Once the New year turns the Pike season disappears at an
alarming rate and all too soon its mid March.
There was no time to get back to Norfolk before the river season ended
but I did manage to fit in a couple of social trips on stillwaters in the days
that followed.
The first of these saw four of us sharing two boats on a
dull, breezy day. I teamed up with Giles
which was nice because despite socialising often our fishing paths haven’t
crossed for a while. In the other boat
was a particularly motley crew consisting of Rich and Jason. Our venue hadn’t been on the regular radar
for a long time and there was much to learn again.
Both boats began in the same area and kept mobile, Giles had
a fish early on and I missed one. In the
other boat Jason and Rich reported similar.
The fish didn’t seem to be where we thought they might be so we split up
and went looking. Plan B brought a Jack
for me but this was the only reward for a lot of searching. We crossed paths with the other boat and
after the mutual hurling of abuse ritual we learnt they too had only had one
each.
In the early afternoon we finally found a group of fish in
an area which surprised us. Things
started to happen, Giles managed a succession of fish to double figures and
finally I had another that might have scraped.
For a while it was exciting fishing as every cast was made with
confidence but after a while it seemed we’d caught all that were willing to
feed and it was time to move on.
Back at the car park we compared notes, our boat had the
bragging rights, thanks mostly to Giles but things could have been different if
not for the one that got away…
A few days later I was in a boat with Rich on another away
day. I was knackered and Rich was ill so
we couldn’t be arsed to get up for the crack of dawn and only had the boat away
by 0800. It was another good Pike
fishing day, mostly cloudy, brighter at times and with a good westerly
blow. With this in mind and with no clue
as to where to find Pike we decided to troll on the oars, with the wind, until
we found some Pike. This took about half
an hour before three quick takes saw Rich with a fish and me lose one. We’d found some Pike so dropped the weights
and started fishing with lures and deadbaits.
We were on fish and Rich was soon in again boating two fish
to low doubles. I also had two takes but
managed to bugger one up and the other was dropped. Then it went quiet so we began moving and
searching. The first spot brought no
reward, was it going to be one of those days?
Surely I can’t end the season with a blank? Thankfully I managed to get off the mark with
a nice fish on deadbait in the next swim and unfortunately it was Rich’s turn
to drop one.
After that things kind of clicked, every move brought a fish
or two, mostly on deadbaits but a couple took lures and as the afternoon
lengthened we got a couple of fish that required the scales and camera
too. We trolled back and Rich caught the
final fish of the day bringing the scores level with a total weight well into
three figures.
This Pike season has passed too quickly, I don’t want it to end which is a sure sign that I’ve enjoyed myself.Despite some seriously hard fishing at times I’ve still managed to catch plenty of Pike from different types of water.There have been several big ones but a proper lump at the back end eluded me, there’s always next year. I shared boats with nine different partners this season, which must be a record for this anti social git? Sadly there were a couple of friends I didn't fit into the hectic schedule but we'll put that right next year. After nearly four decades I enjoy Pike fishing as much now as I ever have and as I get older I appreciate the whole thing more.I have an affliction, maybe an obsession at times but definitely an addiction. I’m very glad to have it and there's no harm in sharing it.
I know many people share my addiction or hits of their own and
angling bloggers are lovers of real angling writing, which is exactly what you
will find in ‘Catch Cult’ magazine. Catch Cult has been put together by friends Rob Shallcroft and Martin Mumby, two people with a passion for real angling. The website
is up and running you can order a copy here;
I was all set for what should be my last trip to the special place, but I managed to right off my car... My fault, no one hurt. Thankfully I had my priorities and with help from a good friend I made it to the boat yard, hitching a lift with Rich, top bloke!
It was raining when we got there but this had cleared by the time we set off. After that it was glorious and a pleasure to be out for a day, a night and a day. Conditions were pretty good too, if we can find some...
Perfect setting to soothe the soul and get the shit out of my head. Things could have been worse...
Small victories
Another tough season comes to an end. It is what it is, there's still nowhere else I'd rather spend my time.
I don't think I have any photos of my boat from the outside, apart from this one. It's scruffy but I love it!
My friend Rich is a keen summer carper and has lent me a few carpy books over the years. In particular Dave Lane's two books are as good as anecdotal writing gets. An old favourite of mine is Rod Hutchinson's "The Carp strikes back" which surely was an inspiration to a teenage carper and once again features superb anecdotal writing. It is said that Rod isn't in the.. "best of health" these days and his last book was published in 2010. This book is called "Carp Inspirations" and Rich recommended a chapter on weather conditions, so with a diminished reading pile at the time I ended up reading the whole thing. The book is not Rod's usual brutally honest "fishing stories..." type of thing but more of a technical piece about how he goes about his fishing after a lifetime of experience. The title comes from the guest chapters throughout the book which are written by anglers who have inspired Rod to chase Carp all over the globe. The book opens with a great chapter by Walker's cohort Maurice Ingham and followed by another member of the Carp catchers club.; Fred J. Taylor. Both are really interesting covering the early days of specialist carp fishing. This is followed by Jim Gibbinson talking about his pioneering winter fishing and this is another really good chapter by another author who inspired me as a youngster. Fred Wilton's original articles on his high protein bait theories are really good too, I'd never read these before. I bet he didn't have a scooby doo how lucrative his ideas would be for others. A little deeper into the book, Lee Jackson writes about plastic baits and although I know they work I can't get my head around Lee's take on why. Len Middleton's original article about 'the Hair rig' is reproduced and this was another i'd missed first time around. Alan Smith writes a sensible chapter about weed fishing, good commonsense stuff. Towards the end there is a chapter on Carp leaping by Albert Romp which didn't convince me and there are two chapters by old school angler Brian Mills. The first is about the neglected art of float fishing for big carp, something I know works but definitely don't do enough. The next is about weather conditions and is the reason for Rich lending me the book. It's pretty good and makes sense to me and sits alongside pieces written by Barrie Rickards. Obviously Rod Hutchinson himself writes his share and his chapters cover just about everything you'd expect in a book on carp fishing. Rod's use of particle baits was groundbreaking at the time and he was one of the first players in the bait trade. All told there was a bit too much about bait for my liking, all the theorising and experimenting was great at the time but now we just have to pick up a bag. There was loads of good sense though, Rod can break through the bullshit of carp fishing and simplify things. The theme throughout is a little bit more thought and going against the grain will catch you more fish. this applies to all types of angling at times. Rod Hutchinson is much better at telling stories than writing a 'how to' types of books and it does get a bit jumbled at times. For an occasional carp angler this book was OK but not great.
Talking of fishy writing I got my hands on a 'Special edition' of the forthcoming "CATCH CULT" magazine. Why me? Because I've written something for the mag and I'm really proud to see it in there. Don't let that put you off though, there are excellent articles covering the whole specialist angling scene (even carp), my favourites being Richard Wesley's article on Perch fishing and Danny Taylor's brilliant story of a night of urban Eel fishing. Theo's pitch is a great diary piece from an experienced and successful angler and lookout for Mr Crabmeat, a future Icon in the making. CATCH CULT is different to the advert driven crap fishing mags we have to put with, it looks and feels different too. Well done to Rob Shallcroft and Martin Mumby for pulling it together and good luck! More details about CATCH CULT to come...
Fishing... I found myself with a couple of days to spare and couldn't resist the pull of the marshy wilderness, for once the weather was mild and dry too. Actually with decent westerly winds it was pretty good fishing conditions. Things didn't go to plan, when do they? It didn't matter though, I had a fantastic time in my comfortable boat, floating around the most glorious place in the east. The fish made me work hard but this always makes it sweeter in the end. Life will allow me one more visit before the season ends and I can't wait to get back.
Fishing lately has entailed two days in the boat. The first in the company of Mr B, who has
been catching big Pike for longer than I’ve been alive and has shared boats
with legends. I first met him nearly
thirty years ago but it’s only been the last few when our paths have crossed
more regularly and this was the first time we’d fished together. We survived a near calamity at the boat yard
and later a hook in the hand incident.
We also endured a day of darkness, gloom and drizzle, yet another time
this winter when the sun hasn’t shown its face.
We had a day of constant chat, Pikey tails from through the years to
brighten a dull, gloomy atmosphere. We
also found a few Pike, Mr B started with two fish to low doubles, I equalised
with a pair of jacks in quick time then Mr B pulled away with two more small
fish before the end. It was a nice day
and we’ll do it again sometime.
A few days later I was back again with my Nephew Josh, the
unluckiest Pike angler around. The weather
was an improvement with occasional glimpses of blue sky along with the light
rain which always seems to make an appearance when we fish together. We set off in good spirits and with a few
clues to where the Pike might be, confidence was high. This was one of those frustrating days where
we found Pike but struggled to actually boat any. Every time we dropped the weights down we got
at least a take but every time the fish dropped the bait before we could set
the hooks. This happened three times
before Josh at last managed to put a proper curve in his rod, just as I was
reaching for the net his cursed luck stuck again. The fish thrashed on the surface and threw
the hooks.
We moved around and kept finding Pike but they were still
dropping the baits, even after a slamming take to a float-trolled bait was spat
before Josh had taken up the slack. So
why were the fish dropping the bait? I’m
not going to blame the set ups or baits as they were exactly the same as had
worked earlier in the week. Some
stretches of this water get a bit of pressure bit I don’t think it’s enough to
make Pike all over this water react the same way. Some days you just have to accept that the
Pike just don’t really want it.
Eventually I managed to hook a fish and succeeded in bringing it
alongside the boat where I easily nicked the hook out with the pliers. I’d been lucky to land this one, just the
bottom double had been nicked in the scissors.
Would you believe we actually saw the sun today? Late in the afternoon it dipped below the
clouds and was bright enough to have me reaching in the bag for my
sunglasses. We rowed back, float
trolling again, trying to break Josh’s jinx but it was not to be. We’d laughed loads today and my nephew enjoys
the fishing whatever and it’s only a matter of time…
I’ve had a very enjoyable midwinter period and
have managed to catch loads of Pike for a change. It’s also been a long time since I’ve done
much social Pike fishing, for the last few weeks all my Piking has been shared
with another angler and it’s been really good fun. However it’s time for a change, I’m starting
to get the urge for something different yet familiar. As enjoyable as this fishing has been it
doesn’t get the juices flowing and doesn’t keep me awake at night. I don’t find myself drifting off into mad
thoughts and theories about where to find a monster. I’m missing the special place and I’m missing
my bigger, much more comfortable boat!
