Out of the habit

I read an interview with a photographer, Homer Sykes, who said that he was no longer obsessed by photography, it had become a habit. Thinking about it I reckon that's what fishing happens to the angling obsessed.The heatwave put me off moving around, let alone fishing, and by the time it was over I was out of the habit of going fishing. Getting back into it is proving difficult.

When someone mentioned seeing a decent perch caught locally it gave me a bit of an idea to try somewhere new. I'm definitely in need of some kind of piscatorial challenge. I rigged up that ultralight rod I'd build, threw my box of perch spinners (they are a safer bet than that new-fangled drop-shotting nonsense) in a shoulder bag and set off on the tedious journey to my destination.

It was a warm evening back in August. I only lasted half an hour before I got bored. To be honest the venue was small with not much scope for exploration, so when I'd caught a tiny perch I reckoned that was my challenge completed!

After that it was back to my new obsession - taking photographs of sheep at agricultural shows which I'd sort of set myself as a project for the summer. Even back in my twenties when I was a pike obsessive I always maintained that if angling were banned I'd find something else to do. In some ways going fishing has always been a diversionary activity for me. A way of avoiding real life!

Another habit I've been in, since the very first time it was held, is going to the Pike Anglers' Club annual convention. Originally as an attendee and latterly as an exhibitor. This year I almost broke that habit too. There was a sheep show on the same day...

From a financial point of view I'd not have been much worse off if I had taken the sheep road. In terms of cash in my hand, for the first time I can remember, it was disappointing. I usually end up with a good few empty pegs on my display board of hooks, swivels and other rig bits. Not this time, although rod orders taken on the day were worth the effort. Even so, I have to admit that three hour drives at daft o'clock appeal less and less to me as I get older and older even if there is money to be made.

What was apparent at the show was the lack of young faces. Thirty years ago I'd say the age range of the pikers in attendance was mid-twenties to late thirties. Now it's those ages plus thirty. The same old (operative word) faces as back then. I don't know if this is indicative of a lack of younger pike anglers, or whether they are out there but events like the convention don't appeal to them.

Talking to a few of the pikers of my generation and a little older I was relieved to find that I'm not alone in losing the drive to fish. As one said to me, "We've done it all." Maybe not all, but certainly a lot. And there isn't much left in angling that I haven't done that I've wanted to do. The few things left undone have probably been left because they never really interested me much. Getting them over with would be more of a box ticking exercise than a really enjoyable challenge. Sort of like cramming to pass an exam.

One display that did interest me was that from the Anglers National Line Recycling Scheme. Apart from the positive PR the scheme has the potential to generate, it is doing something practical. Being primarily a braid user my line lasts me years, but even braids can be recycled through the scheme. Although they do have to be kept apart from nylon lines.

Notable by their absence this year (not for the first time) was the Angling Trust. Despite their absence they were talked about. Listening to people with their fingers on the political pulse and reading the trade press I am getting the impression that peopel are losing patience with the Angling Trust.

I haven't renewed my membership for a few years now. Since the last time they had a stand at the PAC show in fact. I always used to renew my ACA subs at the show, and continued that with AT. But if they can't be bothered to support a member organisation's annual event then I'm reluctant to give them my money. Especially when I'm not convinced it is being spent wisely or in my interests. I'd be less cynical if I thought those who run the outfit were real anglers, out there week in week out, and not the holiday fishermen they appear to be. A few more coarse and sea anglers in high office would be reassuring too.

The argument for supporting AT because they are 'the only game in town' when it comes to lobbying government or other authorities is wearing thin. In this age electronic communication there are other ways to make a noise that don't involve going through the official channels. And if you can create enough noise in cyberspace you will be listened to. There are other organisations who may be willing to fight the angler's corner too. Time for AT to take a good look at itself. Keep an eye on Catch Cult magazine if you have an interest in the machinations of Angling Trust.

During the aforementioned heatwave I had a freezer malfunction. While it forced me to throw out some ancient pike baits it left the cupboard bare. I must be getting some fishing urges because I have started to restock the deadbait drawer. With a nip in the air some mornings I am starting to envisage a chunky orange float rocking in a gently rippling reflection of golden leaves. But there is this sheep show...

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New stuff and roach avoidance

Ball bearing swivels have never been  a big seller for DLST, but there are people who use them. I now have limited initial stocks of the Dual Rotating swivels from Stringease. Unlike many ball bearing swivels these spin at both ends. They have welded rings and stated breaking strains of 38lb and 45lb. Find them in my webshop.

I've been trying some late summer tench fishing, without success, recently. Plastic casters and corn, and real live maggots, have been ignored by the red-eyed demons. But not by other species. Small, three to six ounce, roach took a liking to my 6mm popped up plastic pellets so I thought two 8mm crab Pellet-Os on a hair tied off a size eight would avoid them. They didn't!

The year is starting to slip past quickly now, yet there are still reed warblers and kingfishers to be seen supplying their last brood of the season with food.

While summer clings on midday temperatures are high, and the sun bright, but when it dips low the air chills and a dampness rises from the ground. Although the trees remain green their leaves are becoming brittle. Bankside vegetation is similarly crisping up with seed heads drying. Hips and haws are reddening. The last of the meadowsweet flowers are fading, and when they are gone autumn will be almost upon us.

All of which makes me indecisive as to what to fish for. There's still a chance of tench, bream are a distinct possibility as are eels while the water stays warm. If I could be bothered travelling zander would be an option.

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Old school vs new school

A friend of mine had to pick up some rods I'd done some work on for him and we decided that a session trying to track down the mythical canal perch might be in order. This would give me a chance to get an idea about the Texas rig and drop-shot techniques he has scored with elsewhere. There's nothing to beat watching someone using a technique when it comes to understanding how it's done. Knowing Steve's ability for catching big fish I was also expecting to get my arse spanked as he caught huge perch after huge perch with a flukey double figure pike or two for good measure!

Steve set up his drop-shot rig with a tiny little bit of soft plastic on the hook while I clipped on my trusty silver Mepps and away we went. In my first swim it wasn't long before my first retrieve along the reeds was met with that familiar jagging take of a perch. Not a big fish but an encouraging start for both of us.

It was a bit of a dismal day. Overcast with a steady heavy drizzle and a cold wind blowing, thankfully on our backs. The canal had cleared from my last trip and had pretty much the exact level of clarity I like for lure fishing there. My hopes of more fish were pretty high.

We worked along the stretch fishing gaps in reeds and to far bank cover. Steve switched to a Texas rigged worm while I sneakily swapped to a small Mann's crankbait. In the second swim with the crankbait a cast to the far bank didn't reach the central channel before I felt head shaking and a heavier weight than the first fish had. Then the fight changed and I realised I wasn't connected to a monster perch but a small pike. The plug had been engulfed by the fish, which might have made a pound and a half, but was easily removed. I don't think the fish was hooked, but had the lure wedged in its mouth!

The rain eased and eventually stopped completely as we covered more water before retracing our steps. All to no avail.

I'm not going to draw any conclusions from this session regarding the merits of the different lures. We both thought that the spinner and crankbait are good for searching for fish, while the soft baits might be better suited for careful presentations when you know for sure perch are present in a swim. I can definitely see how the tiny bait on the drop-shot rig would tempt perch, and the value of the Texas rigged worm for fishing amongst debris strewn swims. So much so I am almost tempted to invest in the necessary kit. Almost!

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It's that time again

It seems like every year around this time I get the urge to chase the rumoured big perch in my local canal. And every year it amounts to a couple of hours getting bored chucking lures around. If that's the case my canal perch campaign is over for another year. With a little more success than usual.

I know the current trend for catching perch with lures is to use jigs and soft plastics. I find that ever so slightly more tedious than fishing spinners slow and steady. No matter what the currently fashionable Japanese soft bait is for catching perch, if I had to pick one lure to use for ever more it would be a silver Mepps. So that was what I clipped on to my trace to start with. There's the added bonus that blank-saving micro pike have a liking for silver spinners too!

My plan was a simple one. Work away from the bridge for an hour with the Mepps, cover the same water back for an hour with crankbaits, then go to the chippy. The plan worked. After about three quarters of an hour I'd reached a clear area of bankside pilings and first cast along the edge I felt some rubbish attach itself to the spinner. Except it wasn't rubbish, it was a small perch. Knowing my luck with perch on lures I used my ridiculously large landing net to make sure this little fishy didn't get away.

Filled with enthusiasm I managed another ten minutes before starting to get bored. Something, I suspect a micro pike, turned away from the spinner as it left the end of a reedbed, but the tedium of slowly winding in a spinner was getting me down. I clipped on a Mann's crankbait and started working my way back to the bridge. I was still using the slow and steady retrieve which I find better for perch than the erratic, twitching retrieve pike find so attractive and which keeps my interest up. I swapped the Mann's for a larger Bagley's shad-shaped bait and twitched it through the rest of the swims.

The chippy was almost empty. I didn't have long to wait for my chips, fish, peas and barm cake. Back home the kettle went on for a brew to accompany the fish and chips. Why does tea always taste better with chippy fish - and bacon butties come to that?

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Sunny evening

Now the clocks have altered it's easier to nip out for an hour or two after tea, particularly when the weather is as summery as it is at the moment. Quite what came over me yesterday I don't know but I dug out my perch lures and headed for the canal.

After ten minutes I was a bit bored and started fishing for pike. After an hour I'd had one take from a micro pike that did that slow flexing thing pike sometimes do when they grab a lure under the rod tip and worked its way free.

That was shortly after I had the strange experience of being watched intently by a three-legged ginger kitten, all wide-eyed and wondering watching my lure fly across the cut.

Although daytime temperatures are ridiculously high they soon plummet as the sun sets with the high pressure bringing clear skies. After an hour and  half I gave up, thinking it might be worth clearing some free time to go camp by a tench lake soon.

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All quiet on the (north) western front

I've managed to drag myself to water once since my last post, partly because I came down with a horrible cold that I couldn't shake off and then had to catch up with work. It was a couple of hours spent catching those rudd again. As before it was a bite a cast, and pretty much a fish a cast too. The problem I was having was finding the bigger fish. I was better prepared this time, having taken a tackle box and a bucket. The bucket to be used sit on and to 'store' the rudd. Te method in my plan was to get some deadbaits for later in the year. Even though I wanted the bait for zander fishing the rudd I was catching were more suitable for perching.

Eventually I found that by casting away from the spot I was feeding the rudd were a little larger. Nonetheless I still returned many tiny fish before deciding to move swims. It was to no avail, the rudd there were just as numerous and just as small. A second move was made. This time the fish were a bit bigger. Or at least the ones I caught by casting out from the margins were. Those hanging around by the marginal weed were small.

I called it a day when a rain shower moved in. Having no umbrella, and it being tea time, that seemed like a good idea. I don't know how many fish I returned, but I ended up freezing 29 including a couple of perch. It seemed like I could have fished any swim on the pit and caught rudd. It must be absolutely stuffed with them. As they come in a range of sizes from tiny to pike food I'm guessing there must be one or two better perch in there. Perch were certainly attacking one group of rudd as I saw they shower out of the water a couple of time. Maybe another session is in order - trying to catch tiny rudd for use on a second rod for the perch? Or possibly a lazier approach later in the year with maggots and lobs.

At the moment I'm in the doldrums again. I just can't make up my mind what I want to fish for, or where. Too many options are making me indecisive.

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Like perch in pod

Out with my camera looking for sunset opportunities yesterday I spotted a shoal of fry in some sparse weeds on my local canal. It looked like a perfect spot to nobble a perch or two on lures. With that in mind I returned this evening. Only to find someone floatfishing the very swim - and no other anglers in sight. Plan B. Go try a spot that was rumoured to have produced some big perch last winter.

I was travelling light, one rod, landing net and a shoulder bag containing scales, sling, camera and two boxes of lures. The 'hotspot' was tricky to fish owing to a load of floating weed. I hoped a curly tail shad would be more suited to the situation than trying to drag a treble hook rigged spinner or crankbait. So it proved, and second cast close to some stonework the lure got hit. The fish fell off but I suspected a small (tiny) jack. Another unseen fish dropped off followed by a confirmed sighting of a perch departing the scene. The perch wasn't much larger than the lure, so I swapped to a smaller bait.

It wasn't long before this lure got hit. And ejected. Then I managed to land a couple of perch both of a similar size to the others I had seen. Alike as peas, and shoaled up in a pod!

As far as fish landed that was my lot. I continued to drop fish on the small grub, one to a small Mann's crankbait, and a couple or three more to another small grub rigged on a slightly heavier pony-head jig. It was a nice enough way to pass a couple of hours on a windless summer evening. More fish landed would have improved it though!

Losing fish has been my experience of perch on jigs in the past. I don't know if it's the size of the fish or my tackle or technique. Given that only one perch I have lost on such a lure has been one that I might have weighed, I am giving the idea that it is the small size of the perch most credence.

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More not catching tench

On Thursday I headed south again after stopping to pick up some maggots and a tub of dendrobenas. If I'd set off half an hour earlier I'd have got the swim I was hoping to fish. As it was a local was setting up in it for the evening when I arrived. With a few hours until dark I had a wander around before selecting my swim. On passing a stand of uncut vegetation I disturbed a cloud of damselflies the like of which I have never encountered before. There were dozens of them in a small area rising upwards like miniature helicopters with shiny translucent rotor bladed glinting in the sun. I've seen numbers of damsels before, but never so many.

With no rain imminent I took my time setting up, getting some bait out and casting the rigs over it before putting up the bivvy. One rod fished two grains of plastic corn, the hemp and groats had a can of corn added to them for my spod mix. The second rod fished a heli-feeder rigwith three red maggots on the hook. In anticipation of perch the third rod was set up with a running in-line feeder and a worm was the hookbait. No sooner had this rig hit the bottom that I was wondering why I couldn't get the bobbin set. A perch had taken the bait! As last time it was the usual not-quite-two-pounds.

The night was mild and my confidence high. All that disturbed my slumbers were numerous 'bat bites'. In the morning the wind had swung from the south to the south east, still more or less off my back, as I spodded out some more feed just after first light and before first brew. All was quiet until eleven fifteen when I bumped a perch off after a couple of head shakes. That to the maggot rod.

During the day I had a few indications that turned into nothing. Possibly liners, possibly small fish playing with the baits - although no maggots came back as skins. The day wasn't uneventful. With the sun beating down there was an alien invasion force in a miniature re-enactment of the D-Day landings. Damselfly nymphs were leaving the water en masse, crossing the dry marginal mud as they headed for stems to cling to while there bodies hardened and cracked open to allow the adult insect to emerge.

There is always a failure rate in this process, some emerge with wings damaged or missing doomed to starve lacking the ability to fly and hunt, others don't manage to make it that far. Such are the numbers that try the success rate is sufficient to allow the species to carry on. As far as I could tell there were four species on the wing - including the red-eyed damsel, which I had never seen before. If only I'd had my macro lens with me I could have got some better shots of them while whiling the warm afternoon away undisturbed by fish.

It wasn't until darkness was creeping in that I hooked another perch. I had just switched rigs for the night. The corn rod had been recast with a PVA bag of trout pellets attached to the rig. The running in-line feeder turned to semi-fixed and the hooklink replaced with a braided one terminating in two hair rigged plastic casters. The maggot rod was now fishing as a double heli-rig with maggots on the upper hook and worm on the lower. The perch was hooked on the maggots, and when it neared the side there was a swirl near the perch from a pike. On inspection the rig it seemed that the pike hadn't been attacking the perch but had bitten the worm off!

Fancying a quiet night I lowered the rod tips to the water so the bats would avoid the lines during the night. That worked and it was rain beating down on the bivvy that woke me around two thirty. This was the first of a number of short showers that blew in throughout the day.

To my surprise it was a bright spell between the showers that signalled another bite at half past eleven. This fish felt reasonable, and like a perch. Netted it was a sure fire two pounder. So I carefully zeroed the scales before weighing the fish.  Avons don't lie. The needle settled between 2lb 0oz and 1lb 15oz...

The afternoon progressed as the previous one had done. Fishlessly. There was more rain forecast to arrive during the night. I admitted defeat and packed away well before it arrived. In terms of fish catching the session wasn't up to much. At least it hadn't been a complete blank and near-two-pound perch are nice enough to catch. Even if they're not ten pound tench.

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Spring migration

Just as our migrant birds are either heading north or arriving from the south I head in the oppsite direction in search of tench. Despite the recent heatwave I reckon it's still a bit early. The blackthorn blossom is on the turn and the hawthorn yet to burst in to bloom. Once the hawthorn is flowering the tench should be really active. What effect this unseasonably warm weather will have on weed growth remains to be seen.

My first two-nighter was the usual exploratory session. As much to remember what to do and check I have everything sorted as to catch tench. Just as well, because not a tench played the game. I was kept reasonably busy landing perch though.

Fred's not much of a tench bunny if this session is any guide...

I think I was just a bit late to capitalise on the perch. The majority of them appeared to have spawned, and even the few that hadn't managed to weigh less than two pounds by a matter of a couple of ounces. Nonetheless they were nice fish to catch and certainly stopped me becoming bored. What was interesting, to someone who always associates perch with free running rigs and light indicators, was how readily they hooked themselves using my short hooklink helicopter rig. Maybe if I had been using lobworms rather than three red maggots for bait things would have been different.

Essential equipment.

When it came time to pack up and leave I was wishing that I'd taken more food, drink and bait. Another night under the stars would have been most acceptable. With Bank Holiday piled on Bank Holiday for the next couple of weeks it might be May before I get a chance to get back. Fingers crossed the weed doesn't begin to grow rampantly, and that the tench start moving around, in the meantime.

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Tiddler snatching

Having seen some perch chasing prey fish when I had my sole canal pike session I thought a few morning perch trips would be worth a try. So I ordered some lob worms at my local tackle shop. That was about a month ago... At the second attempt 50 juicy worms arrived last Saturday and this morning was my first chance to take them out. I did some pre-planning and bought half a pint of red maggots yesterday and put my float rod in the quiver too.


The weather has been set fair all week so it was no surprise to see pike patrolling the trailing marginal reeds making swirls every now and then. After a cool night there was a ground frost and a light mist at first light, the sun only burning the mist away by eight o'clock. My first two hours were almost pure frustration trying to stop the floating reeds fouling my lines. By the time the sun broke through I had dragged enough to the bank to stop any more in its tracks and could fish my two leger rods in peace.

The worms were untouched, so I set up the float rod to scratch around for a bite or two using a single red maggot on the size 16 hook. It didn't take long before the float dipped and rose and I struck into nothingness. Two casts later I had saved the day from being a blank!


More bites on the float, many missed because I was too lazy to alter the set up to catch tiny fish, and a couple more small (tiny) bream were caught. I also had two short quick lifts on the bobbins. Possibly from perch, possibly not. As I had things to do I wrapped up at half past nine, glad I hadn't bothered with the bunny suit as the sun was quite warm.

If it hadn't been for the action from the tiddlers I'd have been in the mood to chuck the rods in the cut after the messing around with the floating reeds. As it was I'm contemplating some more maggot drowning over the weekend. Probably not on the canal though.

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Wind chill

I didn't fancy another session on the river with strong winds forecast for Thursday. A day sat under a brolly with the kettle by my side seemed like a much better option. I was sure to get plenty of action on the commercial - even if it was from small carp.

Cosy, cosy

It certainly was windy. Although the air temp was over eight degrees the chill factor was considerable. The wind was also blowing from an awkward direction for the swim I wanted to fish. So strong was it that the only way I could catapult maggots out was by doing it from the peg upwind!

Things started off well with a sucked maggot on the first cast. I didn't get another bite for almost four hours. This was from a small roach. Coincidence or not, the bite came after the heavy cloud cover had thinned and the day brightened. In fact bites started to come at intervals of fifteen minutes to half an hour during the afternoon. Maybe fish had just found the bait. Surprisingly none of the bites resulted in carp. It was mainly small roach, plus one rudd that had a much more orangey hue to its back than usual - like a goldfish. I've heard of 'golden' rudd, so I guess that's what it was. The photograph doesn't paint an accurate picture.

Not your average rudd

I'd been hoping for perch and a couple did come along, but not as big as I would have liked. One took the bait when I'd dropped the rig in the margin, and was so small it would have done for a livebait if it hadn't fallen off. The other wasn't much bigger.

Four sessions this week should help me bear the stress of building up of the batch of blanks that arrived yesterday. The weather prospects for the next few days look unsettled so the rivers might, or might not, be worth a try. It's the subzero night time temperatures that put me off - and that white stuff coming out of the clouds.

Brrr

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Review - Okuma Epix Pro EPB30 Baitfeeder

You may have seen a small black reel in a few of my perch fishing posts. That is the Epix Pro EPB30.


What really bugs me about some reel manufacturers is their insistence on using one reel body for three or more different 'sizes' of reel. I put 'sizes' in inverted commas because all they do is change the rotor and spool. I realise this is done on economic grounds, but if I want a reel with a small spool it is to use with fine lines on a light rod. So I don't want a large and heavy reel!

Okuma have understood that a reel should match the sort of rod it is to be used with and the 30 size Epix Pro Baitfeeder is perfectly proportioned. Even if you don't need the 'baitfeeder' feature this is a superb little reel for fishing with lines up to 0.25mm/8lb. I guess you could go heavier, the gearing and drag is up to the task of playing large fish, but the spool size is too small for smooth casting with a thicker line in my opinion. I have two of these reels loaded with 0.20/5lb mono and find long (comparatively) casting is a doddle. I've even used one for a spot of float fishing.

The reel is supplied with two graphite spools, one of which is a shallow 'match' spool, and one a deep aluminium spool. The line lay is possibly not as good as on some reels, but is perfectly adequate. Not only do you get three spools, there are two handles supplied as well - a double and a single (my preference).

Internally there are some ten bearings, and it feels like there are, being as smooth as silk to wind and reassuringly 'solid'. Everything operates as it should and the clutch is smooth enough for anyone - although I still prefer to backwind when using light mono.

Initially I was a little sceptical about some of the plastic parts, but they have proved tough enough (although some of the chrome has worn off) as have the reels overall. For some reason line can, very occasionally, wrap around the drag knob on the front of the spool. But that is my only, very minor, niggle.

I like these reels so much that after a couple of seasons' use I have added a third EPB30 to my collection. Given the current price is well under £60 they are excellent value for money.

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Underwater Ireland

I stumbled across a link to www.underwater-ireland.com today and found some cracking underwater photos of fish. There are also some good videos of fish in the clear waters of Irish loughs and canals which are most easily viewed on YouTube. Here's one.



By the way if you have Lumbland bookmarked, or have a link to it on your site, please change the address to www.lumbland.co.uk. It's taken me ages (and much tearing out of my remaining hair) to work out how to get the new domain name to function with all the pages displaying correctly, but I think it does now!

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All good things...

As the sun sinks slowly in the west I'm amazed that I've managed to keep this blog going as long as I have on a fairly regular basis. In my early twenties I kept a diary where I wrote each trip up in detail when I got home. That lasted a couple of years before dying the death, and it looks like this blog might be going the same way. I have an inherent loathing of routine and 'having' to do things. That's why I stopped pike fishing and writing articles - neither are compulsory activities, and neither is writing this blog.

There may be a few rig thoughts to come, probably some tackle reviews, and possibly a tale or two if anything really interesting happens. But but for now, that's about it.

Here comes summer

Seeing my first swallow of the year doesn't guarantee that summer is on it's way, but breaking out the overnight gear does. This first tench session of the spring was as much to check the gear out and see what didn't work as to try and catch some tench. In fact part of the plan (!) was to fish for perch. So I was sort of pleased to find the favoured early season tench swims all taken and my preferred perch area vacant.

A lobworm went out first, swiftly followed by a maggot feeder fishing two plastic casters on a variation of The Rig. Then I set about rigging up two more tench rods and making camp for the night. I could only manage the one night as I had an appointment with a customer arranged for Saturday morning. Which was handy as the forecast was for Friday night to show a drop in temperature!
Before this session I already knew that my sleeping bag was due for replacement and had picked up a new one from Aqua earlier in the week, and a couple of days later I discovered the waders I had bought this time last year were goosed. So a cheap pair were purchased when I bought my maggots en route to the lake. Apart from a dead isotope in one of my bobbins everything else seemed to be functioning well. A third rod went out with a method feeder and a 10mm pineapple pop-up on it. During darkness the worm rod would be swapped for another maggot feeder, this one an in-line job, also fishing two fake casters. Around seven as the sun was starting to sink I got a drop-back on the middle rod fishing a variation of The Rig and a nice surprise roach/rudd hybrid was landed.
By ten o'clock I was tucked up in my cosy new sleeping bag and drifting off to sleep. Although I was undisturbed by fish I slept fitfully as I usually do on the first night, or if doing just one night. Come morning and the feeders' contents were replenished and launched back out just over the weed edge. Shortly after breakfast there was a storming drop-back on the in-line feeder rod and I connected with something that had more life in it than the hybrid. I was thinking that my first, albeit small, tench of the year was on it's way to the net. After a bit of charging about under the rod tip I got a real shock when a spiny dorsal broke surface and a perch slid into the mesh. A decent one too, but covered in leeches.

Two plastic casters on a short hooklink and a semi-fixed feeder is hardly your actual perch method of choice, but this is my fifth, and biggest at a shade over three pounds, to the method. Food for thought? I hastily cast out a worm on a more traditional running feeder rig, but it was ignored for a few hours before I swapped it for another feeder rig and two more plastic casters.

The day progressed quietly. I failed to connect with a couple of bites, one to the boilie and one to caster and that was it. At five I put the stove on to heat up a tin of Irish stew, and before it was hot enough to eat the middle rod was away. The only trouble with using 2.25lb rods for this sort of game is that size 16 hooks can easily be ripped out if you apply too much pressure, so I tend to play fish gently by backwinding. I've reverted to the rods I used the season before last, rather than continue with my 2lb Torrixes, because they seem to handle better the heavy modified Black Cap feeders and method feeders I like using . The action is less tippy but the overall power quite similar.

Anyway, the fish was netted and proved to be another hybrid, this time a personal best roach/bream of over five pounds. Some people may scorn hybrids, but a fish is a fish and a PB a PB! Sacked up while I polished off the stew it was quickly snapped and returned.

With just three hours or so of daylight left I had two more fish, both small, one a skimmer which somehow managed to remove one of my casters from the hair (I did retrieve it so no need to fret!), and the other a roach which took two red maggots that I had replaced the casters with.

Maybe no tench, but five fish, all different, (including a hoped-for perch by accident!) and one personal best made for an enjoyable 28 hours or so.

Trial and error

British Summer Time arrived on Sunday, and with it came a light wind and sunshine. Needless to say this brought the masses out and I was hard pressed to find a swim when I turned up at the lake in the afternoon. In a way this was good as it more or less forced me to fish an area that I have meant to fish in the past, and where I usually see small fish topping when it is calm.

The plan (notice how I always have a plan) was to fish two worm rods and a mini-bolt rig with a single maggot - all in conjunction with 40g Black Cap feeders. I know there are roach and perch to be caught, although not to what size they grow. So, having my perch head on the worms got priority. It only took a couple of small roach, after an hour of recasting the feeders to see one of the worm rods swapped to fish two maggots.

This was only a short session, but bites increased in frequency to the point I was expecting big things to happen as darkness approached with the day being bright. However, the opposite occurred and bites dried up altogether. I ended up with nine or ten fish, all small. Mostly roach but a skimmer, a tiny perch (maybe they are all tiny in here) and a surprise rudd. Even though it was minuscule it reminded me how pretty rudd are, not having seen one for a long time.

Wednesday came round and I decided to spend a little longer on the lake. The reason behind this session was to decide, or try to decide, which rods would be best for some 'proper' roach fishing. The Interceptor I had been using was a bit stiff in the tip, as it is for perch fishing. Yet the Avon Specialists that are so good for perching feel a bit lacking in oomph for punching the feeders out. They coped okay with no wind to contend with, but if there had been anything stronger I reckon it would have been a struggle, and they won't cope with heavier feeders either. Rummaging around I found a Chimera Specialist 1 that felt like it might be nearer the mark. It was duly rigged with 'the rig' (which I intend to devote a blog to when I get time - there's a clue in the top photo here) and stuck in the quiver.

The swim I fished on Sunday was taken, in fact the lake was almost as packed as it had been then. I set up a couple of pegs away and started casting two feeder rigs, both fishing a single maggot, using the Interceptor and the Chimera 1. The third rod fished a worm with a maggot feeder. It took a couple of hours before an indication of fishy activity, and another hour before the first small roach was landed. As before, bites increase in frequency as the afternoon wore on. This time it was roach all the way, all small, with the biggest (which might have pushed six ounces) coming to the worm rod!


I gave it until half seven before packing up as I wanted to compare the casting potential of the rods. Although the Chimera 1 does have a slightly more forgiving tip than the Interceptor (the 1lb 10oz model) the distances I achieved with an empty feeder were pretty much identical - gauged by counting the handle turns on the retrieve. For the time being the Chimeras will be my distance roach rods, despite them being a rather heavy blank. But what I really want is a 12ft version of the Avon Specialist. I reckon that would be bob on. Lengthening the tip section at the spigot end would force the butt section to be thicker, and so stiffer giving it the additional beef for casting the feeders. As the rig is a self hooker striking power at range is immaterial with fish playing capability the overarching requirement.

I also took time to play with the underwater function on my Olympus compact. I think more practice is required!

A change of plan

The trouble with long Bank Holidays is that they mess up two working weeks. Easter put back a delivery of stock I needed to keep a couple of customers happy by a day, so I had to bring forward my perch session to the Wednesday. Not ideal, but the weather proved to be mild, and for once there was hardly a breath of wind and just light rain showers. Unfortunately the water had coloured up, but I wasn't deterred as was intending to carry on with the lobs and maggot approach. This time I started out by spodding out maggots and chopped worm using a small spod that is easily cast using my single handed lure rod, putting two feeders over the bait with the idea of leaving them out without much recasting in order to reduce disturbance.

Things started off slowly with just a couple of half hearted bites in the first few hours, and continued that way. It was in the afternoon that things perked up a bit, and a couple of twos made an appearance. One of which looked like a fish I had caught the previous week. There's never as many individual fish as you might think - even when it comes to shoal species like perch. I ended the day with just four perch to show for my efforts. But it sure beat working!

The following day the delivery arrived early and I was able to post the orders and nip out to purchase some maggots. One the way home I called in at a spot on a local canal that I had fished once before for perch - in the early 1990's! I had caught one on a small livebait, fished on a float paternoster up to the stick-ups on the far bank. The area looked just as it had done all those years ago, and with the sun shining and the canal sheltered by a bank of trees it looked, and felt, most inviting. Less than an hour later I was back with the perch rods!

With it being such a bright day I was able to fish until gone seven o'clock. But apart from a couple of tiny lifts on the bobbins, and one slightly more positive one that resulted in a bitten worm, nothing much happened. A spot to note down for further opportunistic sessions though.

Beating the cold snap

With the Bank Holiday forecast to be the start of a cold snap I had to squeeze a perch session in on the Thursday - as the Wednesday was forecast to be sunny I preferred the prospect of reasonably mild rain and it's accompanying overcast sky. I got the rain all right, it started shortly after I set up. I hadn't counted on the wind though. I knew it was going to get up from the breeze at dawn, but I hadn't anticipated that it would swing round - or quite how strong it would get.

Bites didn't come straight away, it took about an hour and a half for the first perch to pick up a lobworm, and two more hours for the second bite to be missed. The approach was maggot feeder on both rods, one starting out with lobworm as hookbait and the other a bunch of red maggots. After the first fish both rods were on worm. As the wind was initially coming from my left the brolly was standing up to the wind with ease, even though it wasn't fully pegged down owing to the nature of the swim. When the wind swung round to blow almost straight in my face I had to re-angle the brolly. Again this started out all right, keeping the wind and rain off me.

I kept recasting at intervals, despite the lack of attention the baits were getting, to keep the maggots going in. For once I was trying to be accurate with the line on both reels clipped up to ensure the feed and baits were landing in the same area each time. This was quite important with the strength of the wind hindering casting.

The next fish came at one twenty. The rain had stopped. This was the start of a period of action that lasted until half past three or so. I missed a few bites, but often a bite on one rod was followed by a bite on the other rod. A sign that the perch were moving through the swim in groups, which is common with perch being mobile hunters in my experience. During this hot period I landed six perch. Then the sun tried to break through the cloud and the bites dried up again.

Also during this period the wind really picked up, and I spent much time hanging on to the centre pole of the brolly. When the pole pulled out of the ground while I was playing one of the perch it was time to take the thing down and hope the rain held off. If it set in again I was going to pack up! Luckily it didn't.

It was almost five o'clock when the next fish came along, the sun having gone in again. It was not the signal of another flurry of activity. A bite was missed and a final perch landed just after six. That turned out to be my lot. A day that had started out slow, and fairly miserable crouched under the damp brolly, turned out as rather good. Nine perch landed, averaging over 2lb apiece, the biggest being a three pounder.

I had yet more trouble with the bulb release, this time the adaptor bracket letting me down. It was back to the self timer which is okay at a pinch but not as good as the bulb release which allows you to pick the fish up and get posed before the shutter is released. With the self timer you have x number of seconds to pick up the fish and pose - during which time the fish generally decides to wake up and flap about. Even with the custom timer that takes up to ten shots at ten second intervals things are not perfect. Better than relying on a dog walker though...

That was a week that was

Not much of a week though. Sunday saw an unexpected barbel blank on a river that was warm and coloured. At least I got away for home before the rain set in, the roving approach having proved as unsuccessful as the pick-a-swim-and-sit-it-out approach of last week.

Thursday saw me snatch an hour and a half ostensibly lure fishing for perch on my local canal. The upside was that the canal seems to be recovering from the removal of weed beds and bankside trees a few years ago when it was tidied up by the British Waterways Board. The bushes on the towpath side that provided cover for pike have all gone but there is some marginal growth in evidence. It didn't take long for me to remember how much I have grown to hate lure fishing. After a quarter of an hour of nothing other than removing dead leaves, twigs and weed from my lures I was fed up with the process. Using a small 'coffee grinder' didn't help matters either.

It took about as long before I gave up on the perch and started twitching a small minnow bait, a guaranteed jack catcher. Sure enough a small one hit the lure in mid retrieve and briefly imitated a perch. I'd bought myself a small rubberised pan net for this venture (one I had intended to repeat during the close season) as my previous attempts at hand landing perch have always seen them drop off. I thought that the rubberised mesh would be fairly hook-proof so rather than grab the little scamp I netted it. Mistake! It went berserk in the net and the hooks tangled so badly I had to resort to the knife.

I'm not too sure what caused the gash on the jack's flank, there didn't appear to be matching marks on the other side to suggest a pike attack. But you never know. I fished on and an even smaller pike grabbed the lure but fell off. That was it. I'd had more than enough. Lure fishing's okay - so long as you are getting instant action. If it's slow I prefer to sit behind the rods these days, waiting for an alarm to wake me up!

I was stuck for ideas on what to do on Friday, so I returned to Laxative Lake for a pike session. The weather was windy, but not gale force and the rain held off making it pleasant so long as I stayed behind the brolly. Four runs; one dropped, two jacks, and a pinched bait. I'm pretty sure the first jack had been responsible for the dropped run, but how a bait that was tied to the trace got pinched I haven't a clue.

On Saturday I returned for a morning session in another area of the lake. The wind had swung from the west to the south, and there were showers. Again the brolly made life bearable. A bobbin dropped off twice, neither time being the result of pike activity but wind and undertow.

So that was a week. I hope next week is the week.

I know how to pick my days

Sunday was another case of turn up, cast the barbel baits in, sit around for a few hours, wind the baits in and go home. Although there had been some rain the river was low and had a greenish tinge to it, but warm enough for some action to be expected. None happened though, not even a chub knock or two.

The early part of the week was committed to work, but when Thursday came around I was unexpectedly able to nip out and buy some 'maggits' for a perch session on Friday. I still had some lobworms wriggling in a tub so that seemed like a good plan.

Unfortunately the weather forecast I heard as I rolled out of my pit at half five turned out to be correct. The wind wasn't too bad as I got to the water, and I got set up in the dry. Then the rain arrived, followed swiftly by the wind gathering strength. The rain actually abated around midday - but the wind gathered even more strength. Although the air temperature was into double figures the wind chill made it feel much colder.

Bites were hard to come by through the early part of the morning. It was areal struggle. A carp was lost around ten thirty, and finally a perch was landed to a bunch of red maggots at quarter past eleven. This proved to be the smallest perch I've had from the lake at a pound and a quarter.

After lunchtime bites started to come more frequently, but not from perch. The first surprise was a couple of decent roach, the second was a brace of golden orfe. I wasn't aware that there were any in the place. The first weighed 1lb 12oz, and the second looked its twin but was an ounce over 2lb. Never having caught a golden orfe before that was two PBs!

Just before five I landed an imitation crucian, I assume it was an F1 thing but I'm no expert on these matters. By then I was starting to wish I wasn't there and began the task of dismantling the Aqua brolly. I must say that this has been a Godsend on the windy days I've fished this winter. Once pegged down with the stormpoles in place it stands up well and the stormsides keep the wind off me and the bobbins. Without this brolly I'm sure I'd not have lasted as long as I did today before packing up.