Ringing the changes

The blue dye put me off fishing before the weather improved and then came lockdown - accompanied by rod orders drying up for over a month. Despite always finding it easy to put off starting work, when there is none I usually go outdoors with rods or cameras but that option was now denied to me.

I spent the early days rereading novels, and then fishing books as a way to escape reality. It was a bit of a nostalgia trip. Chris Yates's Casting at the Sun first took me back. The chapter about Llandrindod Wells always brings back my memories of an afternoon spent there while on holiday with my parents. I was a particularly useless angler in my early years (not that I've improved much) so my lack of anything banked was no surprise. I did have a bite though, and saw a carp cruising by. The real highlight was seeing a VW campervan parked next to the café with a large triangular net propped up against it. Why that image struck me then and stuck in my memory I don't know.

Next up was Quest for Carp, reread for the umpteenth time. The times written of will never come again. It was a period of rapid discoveries and developments of bait, tackle and approaches. The hardships put up with for little reward wouldn't be tolerated by a modern angler!

Then it was time for tench. Both the book of that name by Chris Turnbull and Terry Lampard's great First Cast. Two more modern books which covered a period of change in tench fishing. This was a bad move. By the time I got round to those two books the weather had turned into ideal spring tench weather.I was itching to get the rods out but it wasn't possible. Locked down and locked out of the fisheries. I took top walking along the canal, scene o my very first tench fishing adventures. Days of Mitchell 300s, Fairy Liquid bottle top indicators and cans of sweetcorn. I even had the idea to pass my time writing a book about my tench fishing days over the years. I got as far as planning the chapters and writing the first chapter before I gave up having decided it wasn't working. Maybe one day.

The canal was starting to look good. With boats all locked down the clarity of old was returning. However in the forty years since I caught my first tench there things had changed. Swims had disappeared, encroached by reeds and vegetation. Also noticeable is the appearance of invasive species. The only lilies in the old days were the ones with large pads.Now there are beds of small leaved lilies. I think they are fringed lilies and they are spreading.

Worse is the widespread appearance of the highly invasive Floating Pennywort. This can cause big problems when it really takes hold, covering the entire surface and starving oxygenating plants of light.

Since these walks were only making me wish I could get the rods out, as it warmed into the 20s I was starting to think of eels as well as tench, I changed the routes for my permitted daily exercise to head out into the farmed flatlands. Out there I became a little obsessed with the landscape and started a photographic project which is continuing to keep me thinking and  motivated. So much so that now fishing is allowed I don't want to go! Besides, rod orders have picked up and I'm a bit busier than I often am in spring.

Rod building has been testing these past six months. Particularly getting reliable supplies of rings and some other fittings. The ring situation has improved a little, although it's still far from perfect or predictable.

Being forced into using rings which aren't my standard Fujis has made me realise why I prefer the Fujis! Functionally there is nothing wrong with Seymo or Kigan rings. The liners won't damage braid, the frames are strong enough. They also have the theoretical advantage over Fuji BSVOGs of being a little lighter. While they don't quite have the 'finish', or look of quality, to them that Fujis have, what I really don't like about them is that they need more work doing to them before I can whip them to rods.

Vortex ring

All rings need the feet grinding so the thread will make a smooth transition from blank to ring foot. This is easily done on a bench grinder. Some sizes of Seymo 247S also need a burr grinding off the underside of a foot. One extra step. If that wasn't enough the frames need bending to get both feet of a three leg ring to lie flat on the blank. This is an annoying trait shared with Kigans and one which really bugs me. The only advantage Kigan and Seymo rings have is that supply is consistent!

There are other rings available. I have fitted PacBay rings in the past, including their Minima rings. Again they are perfectly functional. Again they aren't as nice to work with. Minimas don't have ceramic centres. They have a rolled over metal liner. That means there's nothing to pop out or crack and there is a weight saving. They do look a bit like the ceramic has fallen out though! I'm told they are an improvement on earlier rings using metal inserts which were prone to grooving. My very limited experience of them suggests that they are okay to use with braid. The only caveat being that if the liner gets damaged it could well prove abrasive to line. But the chances of such damage is probably negligible.

This talk of Minima rings is all by way of introduction to a similar ring from American Tackle. the Vortex. The frames are not quite as nice looking as Fujis, but on a par with other brands. However, my first samples don't need any fettling beyond the usual transitional grinding. Vortex rings look even more like the liners are missing than Minimas. This is because the liners are as black as the frames! Not having used these rings I have no idea how they perform or if the black liners stay black.

With nothing better to do after varnishing a batch of rods I thought I'd get nerdy and compare some of these rings. Below is a photo of the rings I have referred to above. Click it for a closer look) These are all 30mm size.

Remaining nerdy I weighed them on my electronic scales, which don't do fractions of grammes. The results are as follows:

1. Seymo 247S - 7g
2. Fuji BSVOG - 8g
3. Fuji BCLSVOG - 8g
4. Kigan -7g
5. Vortex - 5g

Make of that what you will!

The tip rings supplied with the sample sets of Vortex rings were ceramic lined. I need to check if that was down to the sizes I asked for. The rings themselves are currently available in sizes 50mm to 8mm.

I've just realised there is another ring I occasionally fit missing in this frame style. Alconite lined Fujis. I have previously compared these with the very similar BSVOG here.

As I'm still obsessed with photography I can't see me wetting a line for a while. When I do it will most likely be for eels. As usual I don't want to start chasing Anguilla too early. Maybe another month. By which time I fully expect the heatwave to be over and the monsoon season to have arrived.

Interviews book

It's not often I sell things on this blog, but I have a 'new' book available. It's a collection of interviews I conducted when James Holgate was editing Pike and Predators and Coarse Angling Today.

Sadly, James is no longer with us, nor are the two magazines which he was responsible for founding.

I like to imagine that he would have approved of the simple and cheap black and white 'zine', 84 A5 page, format I have used as it is reminiscent of the Castabout guides which began his involvement in the world of angling publishing.

Due to popular demand I also produced a limited, paperback, edition for Pikers Pit members which sold out before publication!

To order just follow this link.

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Out of hiding

When fishing blogs go quiet it can be for a few reasons. The blogger hasn't been fishing. The blogger has been fishing but can't, or doesn't want to, say where or what has been caught. The blogger has been fishing but has caught bugger all. This blog has been quiet for all three reasons over the years. The latest hiatus has been a result of reason number three - a lack of results!

There are only so many ways you can make 'I turned up, cast baits out, hung around for a few hours, packed up and went home' vaguely interesting. So I didn't bother trying.

One session was a complete and utter blank. Not a twitch. The next provided a twitch. So I tried roach fishing using my new Avons. Nowt. Then things improved - marginally - with another of those frustrating eel sessions. I had seven runs, one of which was dropped, five of which were missed completely and one where the eel had swum towards me and when I eventually felt it's weight fully the strike brought back half a bait.

I tried all sorts to connect with the runs, which were all positive. Open bale arm with drop off, light bobbin on a drop and the baitrunner set as lack as possible both saw the line flying off the reel. Instant strikes failed, as did leaving the runs. Winding down to the fish failed, as did letting the fish take up the slack. Hook in the tail or lips of a half bait didn't work. Threading the hook through the bait wasn't successful. Even a tiny section of fish, tried to see if tiny eels were the culprits, produced a run that was missed.

After the fact I pondered other approaches. When I've had accidental eel captures on boilies, pellets and fake corn they've all bee hair rigged with the baitrunner set tight. Would that work? How about fixed leads that work so well for pike? I'd have one more try and if that was a blank I'd either give these wacky ideas a try or go bream fishing....

It was yet another hot and sticky evening when I set up the usual gear around seven. A lip hooked perch head went out to the right, a slightly larger than usual roach tail was threaded on and cast out to the left.

I've never been a one for reading books when I'm fishing as I like to watch the water for signs of fish. The only clues eels ever seem to give are trails of bubbles. On this water there are bubbles coming up all the time all over the place. Most aren't fishy bubbles, so casting to them is a waste of time. Occasionally I have taken reading material with me when there's been something I had started and wanted to finish quickly. This time I took a book I had just started to distract me from the impending lack of action.

How Keith Richards has managed to survive as long as he has must be a result of some sort of internal pickling process. One thing's for sure his life has been a full one. I've only got as far as the Stones signing their first record deal, but the book's holding my attention. Or it was until the line pulled out if the right hand bobbin with a thwack and the line coiled off the spool. There was no sign of this one stopping so I made the decision to close the bale arm and let the line tighten. As it did so there were a couple of tugs and I swept the rod back. It hadn't got far when everything went solid and the unmistakeable writhing of an eel was felt.

As the bait had been cast quite close in I soon had the eel on the surface trying to tie itself and the line in knots. Balled up like that it was easily netted, when it looked to be retain its girth further towards its vent than previous eels have done this season.

With the hook lodged in the bottom jaw the fish was quickly unhooked and weighed. Not big enough to warrant a wrestling contest for a self-take, it was still the biggest of the year so far.

All that twisting and turning had spun the lead link round the hook trace. Not the first time this has happened. As I'd been using that set up for a specific purpose last year, which doesn't obtain on this water, I finally abandoned it.

A fresh bait was put on the hook and after recasting I settled back to reading. Even when engrossed the high pitched call of a kingfisher kept disturbing me as it flew past taking fry to its offspring, as did the annoying continuous peeping of a great crested grebe chick begging for food.

The light had not long faded too much to continue reading when the right hand bobbin started pulling tight and going slack. I gave the eel a helping hand to pull the line from the recently tightened clip. I left this no longer than the previous take but the poundish eel that was landed had taken the hook deeper. Another indication a short while later appeared to have been dropped. The baitless hook I saw when I packed up suggested the bait might have been pinched. I really can't get to grips with the way eels take baits. One of the reasons I keep fishing for them I suppose. Time to stock up with more baits to carry on eeling.

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Reading matters

I mustn't complain about working I suppose as I need two new carpets that will have to be paid for. But it has been frustrating not being able to sneak a day or two piking recently. From next week that will all change and I'll be back at 'em. No matter what the weather has in store - apart from solid water, of course! Time to stock the freezer with frozen fish I think.

If you like reading about pike fishing - in the UK and Europe - or musky fishing, and are cheap like me, the second issue of EsoxWorld is in production. It's free to subscribe. If you missed issue one it's available to read on-line or download and read at your leisure. Well worth a look, given the number of blog followers in the world people are already tuned in to reading about fishing on their computers and portable devices, so it could well be the future for specialist angling magazines. I recommend the download option as it's an image heavy 'publication'.

If you prefer your reading material to be a physical publication, enjoy a well designed and made book, and are interested in the history of pike fishing then there might still be time to treat yourself to a Christmas present in the form of Graham Booth's A History of Pike Fishing.

This is the first of two volumes on the subject and covers the earliest days, dispelling myths as it goes, up to the beginning of the 20th century when the author considers pike fishing entered a dark age. It is not an easy read, which is not to say that it is written in impenetrable language, far from it, rather that it is a scholarly tome in its construction. It is best read in stages, rather than from cover to cover. Taking time to digest each portion. My first reading will not be my last. I shall return to it and refresh my memory many times.

I found it to sag a little in the middle, spending a lot of time on the history of two major angling clubs which didn't always seem relevant to pike fishing to me. However, I think the reason for this may become apparent when volume two appears as it could have a connection to the schism in angling which is mentioned in this first volume.

Steve Harper is responsible for the design so it is a luxurious as you would expect. Lavishly illustrated with reproductions of photographs, paintings and pages from early books and magazines this book is a desirable object in itself. But it's real value is its illumination of our understanding of the development, and redevelopment, of the sport of pike fishing on the islands of Britain and it's challenging of accepted facts.

This is the first pike fishing book I have looked forward to in many years, and it is not one that has disappointed. A History of Pike Fishing will take its rightful place alongside the previous historical works of Fred Buller on the shelves of many a pike angler. I hope volume two isn't far away.

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Snow's no fun

I had it all planned. Christmas rod orders out on Monday and spend the rest of the week fishing. The stillwaters had mostly turned solid but the rivers would be okay for chub, roach and grayling, maybe tempting enough for a pike rod to accompany me. I was looking forward to the change. Then it snowed. It's not being out in the cold that puts me off fishing but the journey to the river. Time was I'd have turned out anyway, but that was in the other country they call the past.

Long ago and far away

The other Christmas my present to myself was a lathe, this year it included a film/slide scanner which I used to scan the photo above. If I don't manage to get out fishing again soon I might blight the blog with some more blasts from the past.

I also treated myself to another Gierach book. Gierach is one of those writers it's easy to become a bore about, one you wish only you had discovered yet want to tell everyone about - even though those who would want to know almost certainly did before you 'discovered' him. That his writing is ostensibly about fly fishing is irrelevant, there are truths which are universal to fishing so it resonates. However, it's often not really about fishing at all. But then fishing often isn't.

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Change of plan...

For whatever reason I couldn't get motivated to risk a drive to the river today. Probably because I really want to fish somewhere else, for something other than barbel. Instead I've been packing rods ready to despatch tomorrow - after I've visited the garage...

My idle hours have been spent rereading my 1979 edition of Jack Hilton's Quest for Carp which, covering the years to 1970 and like Casting at the Sun, recounts earlier days of carp fishing when there were plenty of problems to solve - not least what tackle was best. Carp anglers, all big fish anglers in fact, have it easy these days.

A truly iconic cover photo of Bill Quinlan

Big fish angling was much more of an adventure back in the early days. Not only was it unknown what might lurk in lightly fished, secluded pools, but tackle had to be made to do the job. One can appreciate that catching a handful of what would be considered mediocre fish today was a real achievement, and that the process was as much a part of it as the catching. No twin skinned bivvies for Hilton and co. Just an umbrella, a groundsheet and some polythene sheeting. And can you imagine today's carp anglers suffering in a mail bag instead of a fleece lined duvet sleeping bag? They must have been exciting times. I wonder how many of today's carp anglers will have read Quest for Carp?

By the time I came to big fish angling it had almost all been sorted out. There were numerous glass fibre specialist blanks available and Send Marketing Brollycamps were to be aspired to as were Optonic bite alarms - and out of the price range of an impoverished student. Today tackle is almost ridiculously cheap, and rarely nasty.

The closest I've been to being involved in something like the pioneering days of the post-Walker era was the 'big lure revolution' of the 1990s. Only looking back do I see that now. I wonder if the likes of Hilton realised how much they were changing things at the time they were freelining potatoes?

Checking the webstats for this blog to see where you lot find it I saw that Ted Carter's have started a fishing blog. If you are local to the Preston area or interested in fishing tackle developments it might be worth keeping an eye on.

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One good turn

I haven't read any of his work, so don't blame me if you don't like it, but Simon Crump is an angler who sends me e-mails saying nice things about this blog. So here's a link to his new book on Amazon.

Neverland: the unreal Michael Jackson stories

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Books, writers and writing

I mentioned in an earlier post that I'd read Casting at the Sun recently. I also got a copy of My Fishing Days and Fishing Ways by J.W. Martin (The Trent Otter) at the same time. Two reprints from the Medlar Classics series - affordable hardbacks produced in an appealing format. I'm not a book snob and think books are meant to be read not objects to be admired, so the cheap price appeals to me. Paperbacks would have been even more appealing.

It must be me getting old, as I usually prefer books that are instructional rather than intended to invoke the spirit of angling, but the Yates book is a very good read. An evocative tale of his journey through carp fishing to catching the record. But for me it is spoiled by the section relating to the Golden Scale Club.

Nostalgia is fine, but trying to live in a romanticised Enid Blyton world in the modern age makes me spit. If Yates wants to fish with old tackle to catch carp, great. But please leave the silly names and ginger ale out of it. If I get the urge to read the book again I shall be taking a sharp knife to physically excise the offending pages!

The Martin book, on the other hand, is a genuine piece of history, having been written in 1906. For me the sections about the Trent and barbel are the most interesting. The famous Cromwell weir was still at the planning stage, so the river must have been tidal further upstream and somewhat different to what it is today, yet many of the stretches mentioned will be familiar to Trent regulars and are still productive today. I've caught from some of them myself. While tackle and baits have changed in some respects it's interesting to read how little some other things have altered. The fish are still the same, so they still hold in the same sorts of places they did 100 years ago and behave in similar fashion.

Another thing that hasn't changed is anglers moaning that the fishing isn't as good as it was years ago. In Martin's case I can't help thinking that taking most of the catch home, or selling it to pay for the next day's bait, can't have helped. So it's no wonder that a double figure pike was a rare capture, and a twenty pounder an absolute monster, but fourteen pound barbel were still to be had from the Mighty Trent. A good read. I must seek out a (cheap) copy of his barbel book.

You may have noticed a new quote from John Gierach in the sidebar. Not a writer I was familiar with, what with him being an American cane fly rod wafter, but I have seen a number of quotes from his writing on a few sites - notably Pure Piscator. I thought I ought to acquaint myself with his work as he clearly had things to say that were worth saying.

I ordered Death, Taxes, and Leaky Waders, a compendium of essays culled from six of his books. My third angling book purchase in as many weeks that contains no photographs of fish or diagrams of rigs! Gierach's a writer more on the 'why' of angling than the 'how' (although there's some of that slipped in almost incidentally), on anglers and their motivations. It turns out he studied philosophy, and had ambitions to become a 'serious' writer, which no doubt accounts for this. A parallel with Yates, perhaps, who went to art school - which attracts people who don't like the concept of work in the nine-to-five sense of the word, people who look at the world through enquiring eyes.

I have long felt that fishing is akin to the creation of art, be that in paint or prose. Writing, painting, and fishing are all about immersion in the task at hand, about solving problems, finding new ways to do things, avoiding repetition, keeping out of ruts. They are all three intellectual pursuits. The results (the book, the painting, the fish in the net) are not what they are about. They are about the process. While that process can be frustrating, to the point of heartbreak or despair, it is what provides the satisfaction. Gierach knows this. Joseph Conrad knew it too; "They can only see the mere show, and never can tell what it really means". That's stuck with me for nigh on thirty years - which is why the full quote appears at the foot of this page.

Books of essays can be dipped into. Having a mistrust of all things fly-fishing I turned straight to the essay Pike - hoping I might ease myself into the book through a species I have some understanding of and almost immediately found a quotable line; "Skill in fishing is a nebulous thing based largely on seasoned intuition, perhaps informed by a little knowledge, but catching a few fish now and then doesn't mean you have it". The book is by my bedside. I can see it being defaced by my corner foldings and underlinings...

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All's well that ends well

I hadn't planned to fish, but late on I got the urge. The flask and pellet bucket were hastily filled, the brolly removed from the quiver to cut down on weight, and off I went. I headed downstream of where I had fished last time out. Although the river had dropped a foot or so, was still falling and quite clear, I was strangely confident.

I was low on S-Pellets so had thrown in some near two year old Dynamite Oyster and Mussel shelf-life boilies for a change, and one went on the downstream rod with a single 8mm crab Pellet-O on the upstream rod. There was hardly any breeze disturbing the leaves or the few clouds in the blue sky. A great evening to be by the river. All that was needed now was a fish or two.

Only half an hour in the upstream rod was away. Almost literally! The rod rest hadn't been pushed in too well and toppled forward as the rod headed towards the river. The fish was lively but not too big. As it reached the net the hooklink parted. Cut off near the hook. Damn. Just one of those things and nothing to get too upset about. I was sorting the rig out when the boilie rod signalled a tap-tappy take. This felt like a much better fish. Just as I was planning the photo session everything went slack as a large swirl appeared on the surface of the river. The upper, mono, section of my hooklink had gone at the knot. And I'd checked all my knots before casting out. Double damn.

The rod was thrown up the bank, not in anger but to get it out of the way, and I went back to sorting out the first rod. Not having any small bait rigs tied up I looped on a boilie rig and cast this rod downstream before tying up some new rigs and retackling the rod that was out of action.

I'd not long recast both baits a little further across before that burst of activity, but now I was wondering if the lost fish would have killed the swim. The pva bag stock was topped up. The sky clouded over. Should I move swims? When the upstream rod went again I thought I might stick around. Only a little one, but third time lucky. Twenty five minutes later I was perking up when another gentle take to the small pellet resulted in fish that pulled a fair bit which, once in the net, looked like a scale and potential camera job.

The fish was left in the net while I wetted the sling and zeroed the scales. With the fish on the bank I was confused. I was certain I'd caught it on the pellet rod, but there was a boilie hanging from it's bottom lip. It was the fish I'd lost earlier! Both hooks were removed, lifting my spirits as I felt I was righting a wrong. The Avon's needle stopped short of vertical, but I wasn't disappointed. Ten minutes later another fish was landed on the same rod. Things were picking up.

Hooked twice, landed once!

Cloud cover was breaking up and reforming. Constellations appearing and disappearing. Dew was forming on my tackle box and bucket lids, the grass and my woolly hat. The light from my headlamp was growing dim and flickery. In the even dimmer light from my spare I fitted new batteries. Now I could see much better to slide pellet stops into small hair loops.

This was one of those nights when I was glad of the red filter on the Petzl too. Midges were drawn to the white light and getting up my nose. Not metaphorically up it. Up it! Insects had been a nuisance when playing fish too. One daddy long legs in particular. Fluttering and crawling over my specs. With all this bat food on the wing it was no surprise that Nora and her sisters were out in force. As well as getting the adrenaline flowing by flying into the lines between real bites they were also hitting the line when fish were being played. A disconcerting sensation.

A greedy scampette of about a pound was the next fish to pick up the 15mm boilie. This was followed by a second eight pounder to the same bait. I was beginning to think packing the boilies had been a good move. Five minutes later a fish fell off. Were things going to go to the dogs again? When another nine pounder was landed to the pellet rod at quarter to twelve I put such foolish thoughts to the back of my mind. While the action was continuing I'd stop later than planned. The next fish I landed had already seen the inside of my net this month. It was the kinky one. I'm sure most of these barbel get caught over and over again, only the easily recognisable ones being noted.

I read Casting at the Sun by Chris Yates last week. His wacky ways must have infected me because I found myself thinking that it was some kind of piscatorial karma that was the cause of my upturn in 'luck' since removing that lost hook. Really it was that the barbel were havin' it!

Half an hour without a bite and I was planning my departure. The small flask was emptying fast. My stomach beginning to demand a top up. Another fish came along to the crab Pellet-O. The first chunky looking fish of the season. Most of the fish are still looking a little lean and tatty but not this one. I guessed it would be the third nine of the night, but I was wrong. I popped her in the sack and set up the tripod.

Two test shots to get the framing then do it for real. One shot was fired off and I moved forward to better fill the frame accidentally taking a second shot. Ready for the proper pics and the bulb release failed. I checked it and it was deflated. I removed the bulb from the tube and it filled with air again. Another try and nothing. A squeeze of the bulb revealed a draught coming from it. It had split. The fish was slipped back.

Oops!

Come what may I'd give it another thirty minutes, but I'd tidy the inessentials away. With the rucksack packed the downstream rod woke up. This fish was more typical in appearance. Quite skinny, but longer than the previous one and only three ounces lighter. I couldn't face messing with the self timer so photographed her by the rod. Was there more to come?

Karma?

As it turned out, by the time the flask was finally drained, there wasn't. I packed up, again, and tramped my merry way back to the car through damp grass and cowpats. Then home for a slice of toast and a mug of hot chocolate before bed to dream of a large golden fish in a small pond. I blame Chris Yates.

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Book Review - A Time for Tench

It's that time of year again, and if you are thinking of doing some tench fishing over the coming months and haven't read Time for Tench by Chris Turnbull then I suggest you snap up one of the few remaining copies of this excellent book.

Instructional, anecdotal and inspirational Chris has provided something for everyone. Each chapter is in two parts dealing with the topic in hand, be that bait, tactics or whatever. The first part deals with the practicalities in detail, while the second relates a tale that is relevant to that topic illustrating how what you have just read has applied in practice.

There are masses of colour photos of big tench and tenching scenes throughout which can't fail to make you to want to catch a few of these red eyed beasties, and there are Chris's own hand drawn illustrations of rigs and so forth to clearly show how things should be set up.

Without a doubt one of the best angling books I have read in a long time, and one I keep dipping into each spring - even if only to look at the pictures to remind myself what a tench looks like!

It's priced at £24.95 plus £4.00 p&p from Harnser Books at 48 Hansard Rd, Norwich, Norfolk NR3 2PX.

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