Cracking Common

Lovely looking Common Carp of 19lb 10oz's, caught yesterday evening.

Autumn Harvest

The Autumn Equinox fell on the 23rd September and beneath the brightness of the Harvest Moon we have banked a few fish this week. I managed a 26lb Mirror, which is the same fish I caught on float tackle earlier in the year when Tench fishing, and My friend also banked a nice 19lb common Carp that put up an awsome fight, almost as if it was being powered by the lunar light! We have also had numerous other double figure Carp one of which is pictured below.

                                                                                        



Cruel nature

My friend and I were sitting fishing at our local lake yesterday evening, dusk was settling in and the Pipistrelle Bats were dive bombing the gnats and moths around our heads providing a little entertainment on an otherwise quiet evening session. All of a sudden there was a high pitched screeching and two objects shot past our line of vision. In that brief second as they passed we observed a Kingfisher being hunted at very high speed by a Sparrowhawk! We could hear the Sparrowhawk screeching as it sped after the poor little Kingfisher, who, despite being fast and agile, was obviously no match for the sheer startling pace of the Sparrowhawk who was no more than a foot behind, Seconds later they again blinked past our vision and if we had indeed blinked we would have missed them! Truly amazing to see these two locked in a fight to the death, whether the poor little Kingfisher got away I don't know, I hope so because they are truly beautiful birds and are the epitome of waterside birds for me. It's hard to hate the Sparrowhawk for hunting the Kingfisher, I love to see them flitting about when I'm fishing, but you cannot control nature, it is what it is, cruel, and at times brutal yet awe inspiring in it's raw beauty. A sight like that is reward enough for getting out and sitting for a few hours into darkness, despite the lack of fish. Angling isn't always about catching fish, it's often about the experience, the moment and feeling free to observe such wonders as this, something I would have missed if I had not been bothered and just stayed indoors.

Nice fish shame about the picture..

....Or lack of one! Had a beautiful 19lb fully scaled Mirror Carp yesterday evening, caught on the ever effective 6lb line, hooklinks and small hooks. The problem was I didn't have a camera to record it with as My eldest son had borrowed it for a school project!! Oh well, never mind there's always next time..!

I must stress here that while using the light lines and small hooks I ensure that I have plenty of room to play the fish and at no time do I fish near any snaggy areas with this tackle. It's also surprising just how much control you can have using 1.5 test curve rods. A fair amount of pressure can be applied if need be, and the small hooks penetrate well and generally give a firm hookhold without the danger of pulling when excercising control over the fish.
Obviously the right rod action is crucial for this type of fishing, a fairly soft action is needed but still with some balance of stiffness and flex in the lower sections to ensure the fish is not able to run a way with the battle.
I use a pair of the original Fox 1.5lb barbel special rods, which are incredbly versatile tools, from specimen Roach and Perch, to Bream and Tench to upper double figure Carp and possibly beyond, these rods seem to be able to cope with it all, and have done for me over the several years that I have had them, and they have even performed the task they were designed for and landed me double figure Barbel!

Autumn Approach

So here we are, almost the middle of September. I'm noticing a slight yellowing of the leaves on a few trees here and there, and those summer flowering waterside plants have gone to seed and are now beginning to wilt and die back. Heavy morning dew is becoming a regular feature, and My thoughts are turning increasingly towards My winter fishing that lies in the months ahead. I'm still hoping to get in at least another Saltwater fly session or two before the season is out and winter takes a firm grip. Once October is here I will begin My Autumn and winter Angling in earnest, Trying to track down a 2lb Roach, Exploring a water's Perch stocks, trotting for Grayling on the river Itchen, a trip or two to a gravel pit for big Bream, Roach and Carp, and hopefully a couple of foray's to the Throop fishery in Dorset for Chub and Roach. A few winter Carp from a local water and there's plenty coming up to challenge me and my Angling friends and keep us busy for the next few Months. I'm looking forward to some Fly tying during the long dark mid week evenings, some float making and perhaps a rod build to help pass the time between fishing trips too! I love being an Angler!

Bass on the Fly again at last!

I sat looking out of the kitchen window this morning while drinking my second coffee after the school run and suddenly realised there was barely any wind. A quick check of the weather and wind sites confirmed what I thought; that the wind had been light enough for the last couple of days for the possibility that the sea would be settled enough for some Fly fishing. A further check on the Tides and I hedged my bets towards a venue where I knew that it would settle fairly quickly. I set off this evening with just a couple of short hours in front of me to make it count.

Arriving at Low tide the water was settled but with a bit of stain to it still, that might prove a bit tricky with regard to fly choice and colour. I there were fish about I was expecting them to begin showing at a certain state of the incoming tide. That state of tide arrived about an hour later and no fish were forthcoming still, despite several changes of Fly. With the light now fading I selected what I hoped would be the right right pattern and colour...Bingo! The fish started to feed in the failing light of dusk, suddenly the water was alive with topping fish and I began to recieve hits on My Fly. I took around ten fish to just over Two pounds in a very short space of time, and it was almost dark by the time I had my last fish, it was only the fact that I was so tired that stopped me continuing into dark as the fish were clearly having it! I thoroughly enjoyed the short session after so long without being able to find a window in the weather, and to catch a bonus Two pounder was a nice little reward too. Good to be back!

Memories...

Old red eyes is back!

Tench, synonymous with mist filled dawns and lilly studded estate lakes, over shadowed by their Carpy cousins in the species popularity stakes, though still a cult fish to some.

It's a bit late in the season to be waxing lyrical about the humble Tench, but I missed out on any early season sport with the Tinca's due to passionately pursuing the Bass on the coast.

Despite this I have still managed to catch up with a few this year, especially lately. The fish in my local waters seem to be on the feed big time, obviously they are sensing the Autumn just around the corner, followed closely of course, by winter. The odd thing is nearly all the fish that have been falling to my feeder mix in conjunction with an artificial corn hookbait, have been males. I wonder whether this is just a coincidence or wether there is a specific reason for this.

Tench do display varied feeding habits throughout the season, early doors they will take just about any type of bait, large small or otherwise, but as the season moves on they seem to become pre occupied with very tiny food items and can be frustratingly difficult to catch on anything other than maggot or small worms. At some point they seem to disappear, exactly when seems to vary from year to year, but again is this due to the exhaustion of a particular food source? triggering the Tench to begin hibernation? Very oddly we have caught occasional fish in the winter, sometimes when the lake has been partly frozen over!

I find Tench quite mysterious as well as enigmatic and very lovely, though strange in appearance when compared to other fish! There is certainly something about these green bodied, red eyed hard fighting beasts that I can't quite put my finger on. But one thing I do know is that I love catching them and always will, and if I have my Coarse fishing head on at the right time next year I will make an extra effort to target them specifically and maybe even from a mainland gravel pit if time and energy allow.