tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24798015040427661222024-03-13T07:45:37.517-07:00Fooling FishAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06169765753884961319noreply@blogger.comBlogger187125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2479801504042766122.post-90621074842403214812015-02-25T09:21:00.000-08:002015-02-25T09:23:28.223-08:00ObsessedIts been awhile since Ive posted on my blog, the main reason for this is because Ive also started using Facebook. I didn't think I'd ever use facebook but used in a certain way there is lots of interesting stuff on there. I've always hated it because i didn't want people hassling me on it that Ive known in the past, I'm not one for being bothered about people that are no longer in my life, i live for the next day and that's it. The other thing i didn't like about facebook was people talking a load of crud that didn't interest me, like 'joe blogs has just eaten a packet of cheese and onion crisps' Or 'betty boo is sat watching TV tired after a long day at work' SERIOUSLY? There are people out there that really want to know about that chuff?<br />
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Anyway as i was saying that has always put me off facebook, so i took the plunge and joined but didn't join as my actual name, that will prevent people in my past hassling me and telling me what they've just eaten. Its purely for fishing interest so i only Friend people that share the interest.<br />
Facebook lets me keep in contact with fishing mates and join fishing related groups, it also lets me do quicker posts than i can with my blog and its generally more interactive. I'm not going to give up on my blog but will probably just keep it to a monthly post, more of a round up of what Ive been doing. If anyone enjoys what i do on my blog and want to follow what i do in more depth on facebook you can find me under the name <a href="https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100005508765939" target="_blank">'MAtt Seventyninejh Fish Fooler'</a> or click the link if it works.<br />
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So what have I been up to? Basically I have developed a massive obsession to pike fly fishing, its all i want to do at the minute, Ive been catching loads of fish, way above average for what i would usually catch on the venues I've fished. I almost feel guilty for letting my lure rods gather dust.<br />
Here's a few photos of some fly caught fish from recent sessions..<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06169765753884961319noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2479801504042766122.post-28933613047724625192015-01-25T08:27:00.003-08:002015-01-25T08:28:30.547-08:00An awesome session ended early.Typical isn't it, you have a full day to go fishing and you struggle, but when you have the odd hour here or there you bag up! But every now and then you get those bag up days all day, well yesterday should have been one of those but even then It didn't go right.<br />
Basically i wasn't supposed to be going fishing and wasn't too bothered to be honest, but something at the back of my mind said i should get out while the rivers are decent because when you plan to fish they will be knackered again! As i was thinking of going my Mother phones to say she has to wait in all day for a delivery so i could drop the kids off, get in! I stick the fly gear in the car as my bag was already set up from my last session with fly gear and it was already getting on for dinner time so just thought I'd enjoy a bit of PFF.<br />
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It started off great with 3 pike in the first 5 casts and it was looking like it was my turn to land on a venue fishing well with lots of hungry pike to be had. I started to get action in every available swim with fish banked and missed takes. Sometimes your not bothered missing takes and loosing fish as it all adds to the action and excitement. This was great fun and just what i needed, however just as i was settling into some much needed winter sport i could feel a headache coming on, it got worse and within an hour and a halves fishing i was starting to feel worse for wear. I nearly threw up my head was insane with pain (checking out me with a rap..innit). It was too much to bear feeling i was going to pass out so had to call it a day. I could not believe my luck after banking 11 fish in such a short space of time at this time of year, with the possibilities of carrying on the action and i had to cut it short, such bad luck! I enjoyed the flurry of fish i did manage though so it was still worth the unexpected opportunity to fish.<br />
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I fished one of my new and improved flash flies, i love this fly and i had a few suggestions from my mate Martin from <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MScustomFlies" target="_blank">MScustomFlies</a> on how to improve it further. One thing it was missing was a wider more natural profile, this was lost as i like to nip my eyes on hard with epoxy to make them bomb proof but in doing so i flattened the profile. Marts suggestions improved this however and i even incorporated a rattle.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06169765753884961319noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2479801504042766122.post-89949411084676695482015-01-20T12:19:00.001-08:002015-01-20T12:19:46.857-08:00Adapting for changing conditionsIve been out a few times just recently so thought I'd save it till i had a bit more to talk about before blogging.<br />
Every year our fishing is dictated by the changing conditions and it seems to get worse each year with more colour in our waters. I wanted to try and build a bit of confidence for fishing in colour because usually your heart sinks when you get on the bank and faced with horrible colour. I've fished in the past allot in colour with mixed results but usually its very tough fishing. If you think about it, it shouldn't rule out much chance of catching because pike still feed in pitch black. Obviously the quality of sport is greatly reduced because your lacking the visual side of things but its not the end of a session.<br />
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So I've not had chance to go out exploring too much due to time limitations so have had to stick with venues that are probably the worse for colour than allot of other options. Thats good for trying things out but rubbish when you want to get on better venues with better chances of catching. If that's all that is accessible though its perfect fodder for getting to grips with getting better results in those worst of conditions.<br />
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I had the usual things in mind which was to fish slower, closer to the bottom, black or really flashy lures, lures with vibration, weedless lures for fishing along the bottom etc..<br />
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Results came but it was bloody hard work, often covered in mud, freezing cold and nearly blown off your feet..<br />
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I was starting to get a bit fed up as it just felt like i was putting allot of effort in with not allot of reward, and it was frustrating not being able to fish where i would have liked. I was catching the odd fish here and there, which wasn't bad given the conditions, but i wanted some better sport.</div>
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I tried bouncing lures along the bottom with weedless crays, the trouble with that is i didn't have the right weight weedless hooks that i needed to fish effectively, plus I'd prefer a much bigger lure to give a bigger more visible target. I'm thinking of making my own big weedless softplastics to try this theory out.</div>
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I caught a couple on spinnerbaits which makes sense, and i caught a few on my shads which were not the best lure for the job really, i caught on a black one though on a last cast in very cloudy water after going through many other lure types/colours which was satisfying. </div>
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I then started to think about it a bit more, and realised there was one method i had been missing, and that was fly. In theory i can imagine fly has the potential to totally obliterate lures. The trouble with allot of lure types is that they sink so you have to keep working them to prevent them hitting bottom or snagging etc, this means often you will be working lures at a varying speed. The trouble with that is that at this time of year pike are hard on the bottom, more often than not i would think they will not be prepared to tear off and chase after something if its moving too fast. Also with the heavy colour if you work too fast your not giving the fish a chance to see, sense or catch up with your lure.</div>
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So what does fly offer? well you can fish them much slower often even pausing them and just letting them suspend, you can just imagine a pike sat on the bottom with a fly slowly undulating over its head, i bet it would be hard to resist such an easy meal!</div>
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Giving it more thought, my theories also fitted in with a few lads i know that have been catching recently, firstly a mate is catching quite consistently on fly, but a few lads have also been catching on squirrely burts. The thing about burts that got me thinking is that they enable you to pause giving the fish more chance, add to that the enticing nature of the grub tail fluttering away, it kind of matches the appeal of what a fly would offer.</div>
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I have plans to make my own pull baits similar to burts but not got round to it yet, so i thought I'd get out and give the fly theory a go.</div>
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I can't really conclude anything from my session on the fly because the conditions were pretty bad, obviously it was bad conditions i was trying to get to grips with but these conditions were the worst id fished recently so wouldn't be fare to compare these results to previous sessions where the conditions were bad enough but not as bad. </div>
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I chose a same venue despite not doing very well on it previously, this was on purpose, i wanted something to compare. Despite the degraded conditions and not expecting to do very well anyway, i still had two fish on which was quite surprising! A great result but still early days to say whether or not the fly made the difference or not.</div>
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And lastly, i often get photos which i don't use mainly for one reason or another there crap, but i was bored so played around with a few recent crappy photos and came up with some nice images, a bit like graphic art style.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06169765753884961319noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2479801504042766122.post-60953836453043543212015-01-06T09:36:00.000-08:002015-01-06T09:36:37.520-08:00A new Year beginsAs much as i love Christmas I'm always glad when its out the way and I'm back into a routine. Family stuff and kids being off school make it difficult for me to get out and to be honest if theres any time to give fishing a little rest and spend more time with the family its at Christmas.<br />
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I was glad to get out in the new year anyway after not really getting out much at all in the past 4-5weeks, maybe just a handful of times. Monday was to be a half days fishing even though the kids were not back at school until today.<br />
You cannot beat that feeling of a fish on knowing its your first of the year and the start of hopefully another good one. I managed 3 pike in difficult conditions so i was really pleased with that, a couple of low doubles and a jack to start me off was brilliant. All fish caught on my 7" shad too, still unable to put them down.<br />
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I wasn't going to fish today but with rain forecast for the rest of the week I thought I'd make the most of that small window we seem to get allot of at the minute. usually it times wrong and rivers come up just before your due to fish.</div>
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The conditions were not great with only 6" visibility but this was a fresh year and i hadn't been out much so i wasn't going to let my confidence wain over clarity. It was just about getting out again and chucking some lures. I did OK in the end with 5 fish and a couple of misses, even better when i bumped into some deadbaiters and a couple of lure anglers who had all caught zilch!</div>
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A new year off the mark and i have so many plans this year so allot to look forward to but for now I'm just enjoying a bit more consistent fishing time. Happy New Year.... (sick of hearing that now)</div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06169765753884961319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2479801504042766122.post-8430117958813868292014-12-28T09:08:00.000-08:002014-12-28T09:09:18.469-08:00Rod TestingGot out today to try out the rod Ive been modifying and mentioned previously. The rod is a savagear butch light 50-80g 8'6" and i wanted a longer handle as i have long arms and wanted the butt to rest along side my ribs and not the butt end digging into them.<br />
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So I extended the handle by about 3-4" and also added about 35g right in the butt to balance it better. I gave it a test last week with some duplon grips just pushed on but on Christmas eve i had time to fully build the handle. First off all i tried to match the gold of the blank above the fore grip but it didn't look right so i went to wipe it off while still wet and it left me with a really nice effect. I liked the custom look of of it so decided to leave it. I went for duplon behind the reel seat for comfort and added a trim ring of dark cork. The butt was turned in cork, i went for cork because the butt would be sat under my arm allot and cork would be much more durable than duplon that is prone to ripping and marking easily. I made the butt quite slim to also make it more comfortable when tucked under arm, and finished it off with a couple of rings of composite cork to cap it off to protect the end. Finished with a black thread and silver trim.<br />
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Onto the fishing.. well i was up early looking to make the most of it and out in the sub zero conditions. It was the first time id felt id needed gloves and even with those on my finger tips where painful. I always wear surgical gloves under other gloves to protect from getting wet when using baitcasters as they can spray water all over your hands. I'm not one for wearing gloves and never wear them unless i know I'll be in pain as its just not worth being uncomfortable when fishing. </div>
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The fishing was quite tough to be honest and i didn't expect any less given the temperatures but i was always hoping for something big to show up but sadly it didn't. I managed 3 pike which keeps me in the fish and away from any blanks but it felt like i put allot more effort in than i got out in reward.</div>
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Chuffed to bits with the rod though it does and is exactly what i wanted for throwing my shads on, which i fished with today and caught on. Only trouble is now I've developed a problem, and that's the feeling of needing to use my shads because Ive made them. It will be difficult to fish with other lures at the minute, not so much a bad thing if there catching for you but if i had varied things up a bit i might have caught more, finding a lure that they wanted. </div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06169765753884961319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2479801504042766122.post-16824201711271089052014-12-23T08:21:00.001-08:002014-12-26T12:58:56.496-08:00All work and no play..Ive been pretty busy recently and just not been able to get out fishing for many reasons. Its not often i go a week without fishing but this month i think Ive only fished twice. So I was pretty keen to get out this week for a few hours before Christmas came.<br />
I've been pouring more shads and wanted to try some out along with another rod project i wanted to test. I've been wanting a longer rod (ooer) for awhile now for chucking my 7" shads amongst other things, i wanted a longer rod to help reach over the margins on the bigger rivers, sometimes, due to the quite dangerous banks you can be perched on a mound further up the bank unable to get low enough to the water but still within netting distance. A long rod help with this amongst other things like control and casting distance, i think it also feels better with a fish hooked on a longer rod. Another requirement i had was for a longer handle from the reel seat to the butt, i have quite long arms and find the butt can by right in my ribs at times which is not comfortable. I was looking about for the ideal rod/blank when a mate offered me a savagear Butch light xlnt 30-80g and at 8'6" it certainly fitted the bill. I thought I'd take a punt on it and had plans to re-build the handle anyway. As it turned out the handle did need to be longer so i extended it by 3-4" which sat right under my arm and left comfortable.<br />
I got to try the rod out the other day along with some new poured shads, if the rod suited what i wanted it for my plan was to order the parts to complete the handle. I was a bit dubious whether or not I'd catch and having gone so long without fishing its surprising how the confidence wains not to mention your updated knowledge of venue conditions. I find when your fishing regularly you build up a kind of mental note of conditions on different venues and you can near enough guess what they will be like after differing weather, but i had no clue what was going on out there as id not been out enough.<br />
The river were still going to be a bit of a chance but what the hell i was just glad to get out. I was chuffed to bits when i got a fish on and was already enjoying the rod alone which did everything i wanted it to do for the job in hand. I ended up with 3 pike to scraper double size which was enough to keep me happy until next time.<br />
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Some more natural patterns experimenting with subtle multiple pours.</div>
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I've also been trying some foil inserts as shown below which should give off lots of flash and at the bottom some of my 4" shad with Mylar tubing inserts. Still enjoying it and finding it addictive, the trouble now is using other lures as you always tend to favour your own when you make them and catch on them, but i don't suppose theres anything wrong in that.</div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06169765753884961319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2479801504042766122.post-82935748355439804502014-12-17T07:53:00.001-08:002014-12-17T07:54:17.763-08:00No FishingWell my fishing has really ground to a halt, i was quite hungry to get out this week but my Mrs car broke down so until we get that sorted we are down to one car which she needs for work. I'm hoping i get it back in the next day or so as I'm desperate to get out before Christmas.<br />
In the meantime I've been doing a few more shads and have done some really nice colours, the pearl effects don't show on the photos but they look really nice.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06169765753884961319noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2479801504042766122.post-7434521182122527372014-12-09T12:18:00.001-08:002014-12-09T12:58:22.563-08:00Product testingFor the first time in probably years i have gone a full week without fishing, and this has been down to getting obsessed with making soft plastic lures. I'm really enjoying it at the minute and today i finally got out to give my fruits of labour a wetting. To say it went well was an understatement, i started off by loosing a decent fish i didn't see that took on the drop while i had slack line due to the wind, even with the bow in the line i felt the pluck but i struck into slack and just felt contact at the end of the strike, not enough to set the hooks and it was off after a short while. Casting back out in the same swim saw me snag up, i pulled for all my might hoping not to loose my shad despite having a box full, the facilities at home to make endless copies and a dealer half an hour down the road to supply me with the stuff to make them. It gave way and i felt i still had my shad on, but then half way back i got another take and i struck and it was off straight away. When i lifted my shad out i realised my stinger had gone, so basically when the fish took i had no hook on!<br />
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Off to the next swim with a bit of confidence that my shad was doing the business and i was in first cast after starting the retrieve, a fish that wouldn't have made double but it was seriously fat pushing it into doubles. I was fishing with Paul who was also trying out a shad and he was in on his first cast in the same swim while i was putting mine back. Another double and another obese fish, they had really been feeding hard.</div>
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Paul had a jack and we missed a couple of takes before it was nearly time to call it a day with the light fading so it was time to go over a couple of swims again where we had missed takes. I was soon into a fish and thought it was a reasonable jack because it was whizzing all over with allot of energy, not your usual slow plodding of a big fish, i nearly got it in sight and it tore off which made me think, hang on a minute. With the slight coloured water when it came closer you could make out the shape but not enough to see it but it was a big shape!</div>
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Finally in the net and weighed on some reputable scales of Paul's (hes learnt his lesson with scales now) it came in at 21lb 8oz. I'm absolutely chuffed to bits, i could have had any lure on and probably caught it but the fact id not been out for a while and then gone out to test my lures and caught such a nice fish made it extra special.</div>
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If you really are thinking of giving soft lure making a bash get in touch with Mark at www.lurefactors.co.uk, its easier than you think! You can buy moulds already made so you can pour your own or go the full hog and design your own. The best thing is when you get that lure that catches and gives you confidence in it you can make hundreds cheap! so no worries about shops not selling them.</div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06169765753884961319noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2479801504042766122.post-10728669527190639212014-12-07T06:26:00.001-08:002014-12-07T06:28:15.815-08:00More softbaits<span style="font-family: Lucida Grande, Trebuchet MS, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">I'm hardly doing any fishing at the minute as I'm totally engrossed in making soft lures, i don't think Ive been missing much though as the fishing hasn't been great.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Lucida Grande, Trebuchet MS, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">I've been pouring more of my 7" shad trying to improve the way i pour and get the best quality end product i can and its starting to come together now, my favourite so far are the two below, which are followed by a few random coloured ones trying things out</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Lucida Grande, Trebuchet MS, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">I'm looking forward to getting out and actually catching on these as so far Ive only tested them and not fished to catch with them. I'm as pleased with the action as the look though and I'm sure its only a matter of time before i catch on them once i start throwing them at fish.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Lucida Grande, Trebuchet MS, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">I then moved onto my next soft bait which is something i will use allot in my fishing, a 4" shad. I use this size allot as its a good size to throw at pike but still stand a good chance of a decent perch or chub too. While pouring my other lures i i had an idea i wanted to use on a smaller sized shad, that being to try and emulate the really pearly belly shape of a fish, Ive noticed this before on minnows and took this as my inspiration. Although slightly bigger than a realistic minnow i went for a minnow shape with the 4" shad, and then tried to replicate the belly with my pouring. Below shows the concept, hard master and the first poured bait after making the mold.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Lucida Grande, Trebuchet MS, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">I'm really pleased with how these turned out and although the pearl effect does not show in photos i pretty much got the look i wanted. I have ideas to improve this particular pattern as i want to include so black along the flank and also use some better eyes. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Lucida Grande, Trebuchet MS, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">I can't stop pouring lures at the minute its very addictive, i actually had to go to the pound shop to get some Tupperware cos I'm running out of storage for them.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #ececec; color: #323d4f; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06169765753884961319noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2479801504042766122.post-19872745580267008102014-11-30T08:10:00.000-08:002014-11-30T08:13:12.877-08:00When ya can't buy what you want..<span style="font-family: Lucida Grande, Trebuchet MS, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">Make it ya self!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Lucida Grande, Trebuchet MS, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">Theres been a few things ive wanted recently that ive come stuck with getting hold of, either because its too expensive shipping in or because we just dont have anything here that i like. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Lucida Grande, Trebuchet MS, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">I've made pretty much everything in lure fishing now except a few things which recently ive finally got round to doing and now i have a whole new avenue to go down, theres nothing like supplying yourself with things to fish with. Its not just the satisfaction of catching on something you have made, its a whole interest in itself and the interest keeps going at home when not out on the bank.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Lucida Grande, Trebuchet MS, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Lucida Grande, Trebuchet MS, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">So recently it started with not being able to get hold of decent nose weights to screw into bigger sized soft shads to replace the use of jigheads and make a break away rig so that soft lures hopefully last longer by not being chewed up inside a pikes mouth while playing it. This was done surprisingly easy by just making a mold of a 10g weight to put a wire through and then form it into a screw in spiral. I've allready gone on to make some 20g versions but these 10g versions were my first.</span></span></span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7SvIe-r0tdw/VHs-TEm361I/AAAAAAAADOI/B2wKf81sp1c/s1600/diya.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7SvIe-r0tdw/VHs-TEm361I/AAAAAAAADOI/B2wKf81sp1c/s1600/diya.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Lucida Grande, Trebuchet MS, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">Then i struggled to find decent loose body soft shads bigger than 6" most were either crap or just too expensive. At this time Wayne Fletcher from the lure anglers society started showing some of the brilliant work hes been doing with soft shads and this sparked off ideas in my head that id had for awhile. I fish with soft plastics in all sizes probably more than i do any other lure type, but yet i made every other lure type except soft plastics. I had a go with a decent sized shad earlier this year but it didnt turn out as good as i'd wanted and at that point i felt like i was wasting time and money not achieving what i wanted. I put that on the back burner meaning to come back to it until as i say Wayne reminded me of what could be done.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Lucida Grande, Trebuchet MS, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Lucida Grande, Trebuchet MS, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">So i set about making another 7" shad master to make a mold of, as i was doing this i was starting to get allsorts of ideas of how i could make more and more soft plastics of all sizes. I finnished my master and it was a case now of making a mould of it into a top pour.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Lucida Grande, Trebuchet MS, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">While i was waiting to mould my 7" shad i got side tracked with something else i'd not been able to get hold of. A few years ago i bought some Aji ringer shads, these were tiny little paddle tails, to this day ive not seen anything else as small as these and they worked great for trout along with foreign species with them LRF. I was running out and could not get them here anymore.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Lucida Grande, Trebuchet MS, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">This lead me into making my own injection molds, i'd watched a video by Paul Adams from <a href="http://www.homeluremaking.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">http://www.homeluremaking.blogspot.co.uk/</a> who had made his own worm mold for injecting so i set about doing something similiar to make tiny little paddle tails. I made my originals out of oven baked modelling clay and now my head is absolutely crammed with ideas for other possible things to make its endless! </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Lucida Grande, Trebuchet MS, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">I got carried away with the little shads and made a few different types and just raided my boxes for softplastics i never used and melted them down to inject new lures. This became addictive and before long i had hand fulls of the little bleeders.</span></span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xBLGBLdH-Qo/VHs-W5eUQCI/AAAAAAAADOo/j4q9t2vpLHw/s1600/diye.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xBLGBLdH-Qo/VHs-W5eUQCI/AAAAAAAADOo/j4q9t2vpLHw/s1600/diye.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Lucida Grande, Trebuchet MS, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">I still have loads to do and im now trying drop shot lures as again it is endless what you can do, here an example of one i did the other day.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Lucida Grande, Trebuchet MS, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">Friday came and i'd arranged to go and see Mark Kelly from <a href="http://www.lurefactors.co.uk/" target="_blank">http://www.lurefactors.co.uk/</a> and check out and choose some of his Lure factors products, i spent a good 3-4 hours there i think chatting and watching Mark pour and chuck stuff together and it was quite apparent my thoughts on this being endless possibilities was more infinite than id thought. Mark has probably poured thousands of baits before but by just chucking a few things together showing me pouring, he was coming up with many new things to try himself and coming up with some great looking mixes of lure flex. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Lucida Grande, Trebuchet MS, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">I had in mind what i wanted to do colourwise with my 7" shad so Mark showed me a just a few examples of mixes of colours to suit what i wanted.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Lucida Grande, Trebuchet MS, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">I moulded my master friday night when i got home and i didnt sleep all night, i was too excited to pour my first shad and see if my hard work had been worthwhile. As soon as i woke saturday morning i ran downstairs like a kid at christmas and checked my mold which was ready! Time to take over the microwave and get pouring.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Lucida Grande, Trebuchet MS, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">I was chuffed to bits with my first results and now ive gained a whole new route to go down with my lure building.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Lucida Grande, Trebuchet MS, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">While doing all this i've noticed how cost effective it can be, if your sat thinking you'd like to give this kind of thing a go dont hesitate its great fun and not expensive at all once you get going.</span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: #ececec; color: #323d4f; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06169765753884961319noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2479801504042766122.post-55865141336567985862014-11-24T10:57:00.000-08:002014-11-24T10:57:20.894-08:00A good unI've done my blog for that long now i struggle to come up with new titles for Posts these days.
Popped out today for a short drop shot session, its that time of year now where it excels over other methods and its great when you just need to bag a few fish. Its one method that i actually don't mind catching minute fish on, in fact it kind of gets my heart going when i get a really tiny bite and then lift into what feels like a minnow, the reason for that is because i really want to catch a ruffe and every time i get i tiny perch I'm hoping that's what it is.
The water was quite badly coloured today and it had been an over night frost so i didn't expect to do brilliant, i just expected to bag a few little perch down the margins and around structure.
I had a steady session with the highlight being a lump of a perch. Most lures worked but my favourite at the minute is the lake fork Live<br />
baby shads, love the smell of them too!<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06169765753884961319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2479801504042766122.post-76523970180385601252014-11-20T14:04:00.000-08:002014-11-20T14:04:31.346-08:00Grinds to a haltI don't know what happened and when but the fishing this year just totally grinded to a stop. Sure fish still get caught but a few weeks ago it felt like options were still numerous and everything you tried seemed to work. Then it rained typically on a Friday and then we've been waiting for the rivers to settle after going up and down but not quite reaching good conditions. You know in the middle of winter it is always going to be tough but it seemed to come all of a sudden this year.<br />
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I've not been able to get out that much recently and to be honest Ive not been too bothered, Ive been busy with a few things I'm working on which I'll talk about when finished and that's kept my hunger for going fishing at bay.<br />
The few times Ive been out it made sense to dust off the drop shot gear and prove to myself that in tough times it really does hammer anything else. I caught ok numbers wise but nothing big, although i did have some nice ones in size, colour and condition. Catching big ones isn't what its all about though in winter, its just about ticking over and carrying on catching when conditions are tough.
I actually caught a couple of pike on the drop shot gear too which was unexpected given that Ive fished this venue in numerous spots literally hundreds of times and only ever had one single pike in 4-5 years.<br />
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The last photo below shows my tally from a couple of hours today, i thought it would be a bit of fun using one of those click counters to see how many i caught, recently seeing them being used on the 'perch pro' episodes on Kanal Gratis. Its not anything serious, just another thing to introduce to my own fishing to make it a little more interesting and fun. The counter was only £1.39 off ebay so was worth it just to give it a go.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06169765753884961319noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2479801504042766122.post-33106031013576247092014-11-06T08:18:00.000-08:002014-11-06T08:18:32.597-08:00Minger saves the dayWas out today with Paul chucking some big soft plastics about, we was hopeful of a good day when we saw the water was reasonably clear. It was an over night frost though and high pressure, despite most pikers praying for cold weather to come i still think they need a little bit of time to adjust to it and a sudden change could put them off straight away. Its a guessing game with pike at times and your constantly trying to work them out, sometimes you get it right and often your left with not knowing if your theories are correct or not.<br />
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It was certainly cold on the hands to start with and the wind was a bit sharp too, we soldiered on and Paul was having a stinker again missing a couple of fish. Eventually i found a fish though and it turned out to be a nice double in great shape, but hell what a gammy mouth it had! I think it was slightly pug too but don't know if that was due to what ever was going on in its mouth, it had a few growths and generally looked sore. A shame really as it was a nice looking pike but it was obviously still feeding, i think we sometimes think pike are allot more fragile than they really are. They have been around as long as dinosaurs so they can't be that fragile, often you will catch fish pretty beat up with injuries but there still feeding and thriving.<br />
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The day never really improved although i did miss a couple of further fish myself, it was a day off work though and catching a gammy pike was better than working.<br />
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<span id="goog_530346182"></span><span id="goog_530346183"></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06169765753884961319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2479801504042766122.post-85662062511821107662014-11-04T11:34:00.001-08:002014-11-04T11:36:47.587-08:00Riging stingersJust recently Ive been playing around with rigging stingers and for one of may favourite pike sized kopytos Ive settled on a rig that does exactly what i want. Basically once you start using bigger sized soft plastics they get pretty chewed up from being in a pikes mouth so i wanted to rig them in a way that they would break away from the stinger out side of the pikes mouth which would mean they last allot longer.<div>
I want to get away from using jig heads on larger sized soft plastics because i just don't like to lace my lures with hooks, the thing that appeals to be with the smaller sized shads is the fact that you only need a jig head and pretty much get a good ratio of hook ups and its better for the fish and easier to unhook. I could fish my bigger sized shads with just jig heads but i feel id not get a very good ratio.</div>
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So basically i wanted a rig with just one treble placed in the right spot to increase hook ups, this is my rig below unattached.</div>
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This comprises of a treble, a nose weight and a pin, the nose weight adds some weight obviously without using a jig head and it is also screwed into the nose of the lure to basically hold it. I then clip my stinger and nose weight direct to my trace clip, the stinger wire is held inline with the pin and then the treble is just lightly hooked into the lure. When a fish takes the treble and pin pull out and the lure swings away out of the way of the teeth. The photo below shows the rig attached in place.</div>
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Of course doing it this way is not essential at all but the little things Ive done work in a way that it works for me, i like a neat presentation, the fish don't care but i enjoy it more if i do a better job of it. I like the addition of a pin with the stinger, not only because it neatens things up, that's an after effect, its main purpose is to keep the stinger inline so that the wire does not rid up the side of the lure bringing the treble offline, why is that important you ask? Theres two reasons, firstly if the treble isn't inline it can sometimes cause the lure to spin or not fish right. The second reason is because if the treble rides up one side and the fish takes from the other the rubber lure can actually impair the hook up so for those reasons i like to keep the treble exactly where i want it. </div>
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I really enjoy messing about at home with rigs and stuff, i have plans to make my own nose weights, allot better than the few i have made so far, these were just trials and trying things out. Below is an example of a nose weight i made using a bullet weight and stainless steel wire to form a corkscrew and spike. After making this first one i also made a few with the line tie at the top like a jig head, ensuring that the lure balances right.</div>
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I got out today to give the rig a go and it did exactly what i wanted, i actually a great little session with 10 pike banked and on all occasions the lure remained outside of the pikes mouth, the hook up rate was also very good, often fish being hooked in the scissors making for easy unhooking. I caught some nice fish with really orangey coloured backs, i didn't get a photo of the best of the day, a low double as just before my camera fired off it started to kick off so i was out of shot when the camera took. I then noticed i was being watched, so thought it best to put the fish back than mess about setting the camera up again.</div>
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I had a few casts with the fly rod too and hooked a really strong fish that tore off to the other side of the river before unhooking itself.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06169765753884961319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2479801504042766122.post-81047510523471704522014-10-30T15:24:00.000-07:002014-11-04T11:36:22.295-08:00A 3 Cast Day Changer.Today was a day on the river with Paul, which didn't start off too well. We had a planned a day on a particular spot but when we got there we had cocked up and could not fish there, i won't go into why on here.<br />
We quickly came up with a plan B and spent a good 2 or more hours fishing this river spot with nothing at all showing, we have had many tough sessions on this venue but you usually get follows off weary fish at least. Paul managed to tempt a jack before we decided we were wasting time here and opted for a plan C.<br />
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On arrival we was not overly confident due to the amount of colour in the water, but this was soon restored after a few casts from Paul with a savagear real eel which tempted a good mid double to come up through the colour to investigate right at the surface, before vanishing never to be seen again.<br />
Not too long after i manged a respectable jack to save a blank.<br />
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We fished a couple of swims before deciding to fish in the opposite direction and Paul was into a fish straight away which sadly came off, in the next swim Paul had a few follows but they would not take.<br />
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Then in the next swim everything changed dramatically, first cast and i get a solid thump and a fish is on.<br />
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After releasing the fish i then cast back out a few metres to the right of where i hooked the first fish and another thumping take. This time it did the all too familiar thing of a big fish and it stayed low for a while, then it did the complete opposite and came straight the surface and lept out! Leaving myself and Paul in a little shock, what a sight to see. I was papping it a bit at that point though thinking its the prime time for the hooks to pull. Luckily it held and when we looked at her in the net we thought it could possibly be a twenty. It had all the characteristics, a big head, deep and fat body and just looked massive. The scales however only went round to just 17lb, but we later confirmed the fish to be 18lb 6oz after the scales were tested. A cracking looking fish which will easily make that twenty pound mark when it has a full belly, despite it having the belly already it did feel somewhat hollow which explains why it didn't quite match its looks in weight.</div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">I was still beaming over my fish so let Paul fish that swim out before we moved onto the next. First cast and i was in again, three nice fish in 3 consecutive casts, a total day changer! I now thought it only right to let Paul fish around any more swims first before i had a go just to give him that extra chance of catching. A frustrating day for Paul with more fished lost which probably made about 4 lost fish altogether along with follows from a few decent fish. A classic case of being in the right place at the right time and casting right on the money.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06169765753884961319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2479801504042766122.post-31984864632279377032014-10-28T10:57:00.000-07:002014-10-28T10:58:12.831-07:00Steady MorningToday i was up early again and heading for a river spot, Ive still got pike on the brain at the minute and have really ignored the autumn perch fishing this year which is a shame. You can't help what your enjoying though and sticking with what you really want to do, besides its not as if i don't catch enough big perch so I'm not really missing that much.<br />
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I'm also really enjoying my fly tying and have been tying and catching mainly on my blended flash flies. I just love the look of them and the pike don't seem to mind either.<br />
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The morning started off great with two fish in two casts and they were really good takes, i was kind of up a highish bank looking down and saw the pike following the fly into the shallow margin as if it was herding it there. Then just as the fly got with in a foot of the margin the pike surged inhaled the fly and turned at speed, i love takes like that. I ended up with 8 pike with the scabby looking fish below being the best of the session. It felt like id been fishing for ages despite probably only getting water side at about 8:00am but when i checked the time after my stomach started rumbling it was only 12:00. I thought I'd head back to the car and fill my face. I don't usually take a break from fishing i just fish till i drop, the only time id really eat is when heading back to the car to change spots etc. It was nice to just take time out to sit and have a bite to eat and a rest, in fact i was so content with how the morning had gone i didn't feel like i needed to fish on so scrapped my ideas for venue two and just headed home. Its quite a hard slog fishing day after day all week and really its often not as enjoyable as you'd think, i do prefer when you haven't fished for a day or two and you have the desire to get out.</div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06169765753884961319noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2479801504042766122.post-149459830798870952014-10-27T08:56:00.000-07:002014-10-27T08:56:59.567-07:00Rifle PikeThe start of my week off work saw me out with my mate Mart, hes mad keen on fly fishing so it was great to get out with someone that shared the interest. We don't often get out together as Mart works night so fishing time is very limited and doesn't match when I'm free.
We decided on a new stretch of water, when I'm off work and have more time to fish i like to use the opportunity to fish places i can't when I'm only able to grab a few hours.
Things started off slow but eventually Mart got into a fish, I was pleased at this as Mart has recently moved and doesn't have the local pike fishing he used to have. The pike only just stretched out a little longer than the fly he was using but a fish is a fish! I missed a couple of takes before mart was in again and this time a better fish. I wanted to try mixing the photos up a bit as lots of photos all looking the same can get a bit boring, so here's a standard pike photo and one done in a 'rifle' pose, super condition fish.<br />
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We walked quite a bit of water with no action other than a follow from a big perch to Mart and a follow of a good pike for me, eventually i hooked up and was glad to get of the mark with a rifle... erm.. i mean pike.</div>
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We caught a few more smaller pike and Mart nearly tempted more decent perch but that was it, definitely more hard work than reward, i think that's the longest Ive fly casted for and I'm bloody knackered. Was great to see Mart though and chat about fluff and fancy hooks.</div>
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Onto day two of my week off, not sure what my plan is yet but I'm on my own for this one and cannot make my mind up where to go, watch this space...</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06169765753884961319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2479801504042766122.post-86557196965787431882014-10-23T05:14:00.002-07:002014-10-23T05:15:05.772-07:00Some for the moaners...Apparently someone has been moaning that I'm catching too many fish, I don't really know the details, and I'm not really that bothered but its good to know my blog gets read at least. I hate that side of fishing, all the moaning and bitching behind peoples backs borne purely out of jealousy. I suppose i must be doing well if Ive sparked off some jealousy, not a bad problem to have i suppose lol.<br />
Those moaning probably come across multiple postcode regions to fish my local waters and then bitch about what I'm doing on them, classy eh! Wouldn't surprise me if there also posting the fish its taken them years to catch on the biggest social media platform on the world bar none, then moan about a few photos i post on a small probably hardly even read much personal blog, oh the irony. I'm guessing its either someone local that is jealous I'm doing well cos there doing shit, or someone coming from further away trying to lay claim to waters they don't own jealous cos there shit, either way, your shit!<br />
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If your reading, massage your green eyes on some more fish, and check in now and again (probably to spy on what I'm doing if truth be known) as there will be allot more to come so get over it and try harder...<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06169765753884961319noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2479801504042766122.post-56457431313781786142014-10-15T09:15:00.000-07:002014-10-15T09:15:41.165-07:00Flash, bang and wallop..<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
This week Ive been tying some flash flies, the first one pictured below was tied with a whole mix of different flash materials to give it a really textured look, i loved this fly and was keen to get out and try it.</div>
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It did the business and i banked an early fish before loosing another off and then missing a take. I was happy with that though as the weather on that day was horrendous, chucking it down with strong gales. I didn't was glad i was rewarded for going out in such conditions.</div>
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The following day i went back to the vice and tied a few more but instead of just chucking the materials together i tried to create a different blend for the belly, mid body and the back to create a subtle roach kind of look. I love this fly and it looks great in the water. Definitely a favourite of my flies just recently.</div>
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I popped out today to try the fly but was disappointed with the coloured conditions. I suppose at least the flash would cut through it a bit. It was a bit of a struggle compared to other sessions recently but i managed a nice fish in the end to get my fix!</div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06169765753884961319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2479801504042766122.post-56415153420667688042014-10-08T12:10:00.000-07:002014-10-08T12:11:32.077-07:00First taste of Winter...What the flippin heck happened Sunday night then? It went from summer to winter overnight! we didn't even get an autumn. I had to check the date and everything as it was such a sudden change, not just the weather either, even the light seemed different.<br />
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I was driving about at work Monday in the horrible wind and rain and all i wanted to do was go fishing, I have a weird thing about putting myself through the worse conditions just so i get that nice feeling when you get home, dry and sat warm with a nice hot drink thinking about what you caught. Then it all seems worthwhile. Nothing stops me fishing and I'll purposefully go in horrible weather just to prove to myself that I'm dedicated, its fishing after all and nothing gets in the way of that!<br />
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I did however have to change my plans, i really wanted to get out and try some recent tube flies i had tied but knew it was going to be hard going with the blustery weather, so chucked my light baitcasting set up in the car at the last minute as a back up plan. I quite enjoyed it actually as a change from what Ive been doing recently and its always nice to get a rod out you've not used for abit.<br />
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I had a bit of fun with some jacks and decent perch, no trophy fish but they are all enjoyed, Ive never been a big fish hunter. I don't concern myself with all that, i just like to fish and catch and what comes along is a bonus. I'm not even a fan of big lures, not bothered about going big to catch big, it might increase your chances but personally i get no enjoyment from that, for me its all about the method. I'm not going to knock those that like to fish big, that's what they enjoy so that's right for them, i don't believe in knocking anything anyone else does, each there own really. I used to dislike the idea of drop shot when the craze took off thinking it wasn't for me but its another method and i like to try these things out for myself before condemning them. Its not something I'd do all the time but it definitely has its time and place, i proved that to myself this winter when people around me where struggling and I was giving it a go and pleasantly surprised to be catching in excess of 50 fish in the grip of winter!<br />
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I got a bit of a surprise when I'd gone out to target perch on the fly the following day, thinking id hooked the mother of all perch i suddenly realised the fight was not perch like at all, i love surprise catches especially when there trout from canals!</div>
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Today i just couldn't resit getting out again, anyone would think i was addicted! My kids had after school clubs which gave me an extra 15mins so thought I'd use that to drive abit further away. </div>
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I was back on the fly for pike with an outside chance of a big perch, i chose to fish a 4" fly so if i did find a big perch it would likely have a go. When i got my first take it was clearly not a perch as the line shot out my hand, it was a nice double and just what i had hoped for, i was looking forward to getting this on the bank and getting a nice photo, so i set the camera up ready while still playing the fish. I then did something daft which left me standing there feeling like a right Rodney! Every time the fish came close it would see me and fly off at a rate of knots, i kept getting it closer so thought as soon as it was close enough I'd just slip the net in front of it so if it bolted, it would bolt into the net. Well that's just what i did, with a big smile on my face i went to lift the net up and it was light as a feather. What had happened was id actually missed, but the fish had brushed against the net which unhooked the fly without even feeling anything, What a bloody wazzack! </div>
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Spitting feather for the next half hour i was eventually into another fish which also looked a nice fish but smaller than the first but at least it was a bonus after that first mistake. I took my time with this one learning my lesson for rushing the first.</div>
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Now thinking i was going to go all out for the pike i stepped up my fly size slightly to improve its visibility, the fly i chose has a little story behind it. On Friday i had been using it and had a decent short session but as i was packing up i must have dropped it, knowing this, i went back Monday thinking someone would surely have been fishing on the weekend and picked it up. They hadn't and i found it again!</div>
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After a few casts i saw a huge perch come for it but turned away as it saw me, i bobbed down and recast quickly and it came again, i ran out of water so started walking along the margin and the perch was following but not taking, flippin typical! I thought the best option was to quickly change for something smaller and hope it came back again, sadly it didn't so back went on the bigger fly.</div>
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Now getting closer to having to leave i got once last bite of the cherry when another decent fish took, thankfully this one was the best of the session and a good one at that! I've caught a few doubles recently on fly and not weighed any of them as i mentioned earlier, its not something that concerns me greatly, having said that again, I'm not actually sure now what my fly caught PB is, would be nice to know but I'm not going to lose sleep over it when i have a nice photo of a cracking fish as my memory.</div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06169765753884961319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2479801504042766122.post-3133362646860111822014-10-05T01:53:00.000-07:002014-10-05T01:54:01.317-07:00Recent tiesThought I would stick up a few more recent flies, I've also been really wanting to give tube flies a go. I like the idea of them being versatile in that you can change the hooks if they get damaged, another thing that appeals to me also is the fact that you can position hooks further back in the fly for bites where the fish are just nipping. The best example of how this is done is by Nicklaus Bauer, his tube flies and rigs look brilliant and i love the look and style of his tube flies.<br />
I was bored yesterday so thought I'd knock up a device for my vice to hold a tube and try and tie a Bauer inspired tube fly. As previously mentioned I'm still building up my collection of materials so i don't have everything to do a good job of these but I'm pleased with what i have done. The heads are a little on the small size really this being down to the lack of materials for that job. I don't usually fish this big (12"+) as the waters i fish don't hold a decent number of bigger fish so i don't feel i need to fish big. I'll be interested to see what results i get with them though, whether or not i still catch the same amount of smaller fish, if the hook ups are good and if the material wraps round the hooks at all.<br />
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I got out the other day too for a few hours and caught on the bait fish flies pictured below, I'm building a serious addiction for PFF now!<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06169765753884961319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2479801504042766122.post-3701043826526507512014-10-01T12:25:00.000-07:002014-10-01T12:26:02.356-07:00Local potentialJust got in from a local session with Neil on the boat, we finally got round to trying a localish spot we have had our eyes on for a few years now but never got round to fishing as we didn't want to risk wasting the chance of a full day on a venue we knew we could do well on. Our plan was to get on it after work and fish into the evening as it was local enough to do that and gave us enough time to try it out and suss out the potential if any for a full days go at it.<br />
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We got set up and Neil set us on our way ready for a troll downstream, i flicked my tail dancer over my shoulder and no sooner had it settled into its path than a jack hit it and we was off the mark straight away. I flicked back out and a perch took it straight away!<br />
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It didn't carry on like that but it was steady sport. We didn't want to go too far as we was limited for time, it was more a case of just trying a few spots, seeing what the depths were like and seeing what potential there was by any fish we caught. I chose to fish the taildancer as it would get down deep, be big enough to attract a decent pike but not too big that it would put off perch. It seemed like a perch magnet as i was getting quite a few which was a surprise as we expected most of the action to be from pike.<br />
I'd say the majority was in the perch favour by the end of the session but we managed a good number of both with a tally of fish into the 30's that was enough from a tester session to really encourage us. We didn't even fish some of the best spots on the river.<br />
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The few highlights of the session was a nice 2lbish perch for Neil, a mid double that Neil lost off then right at the end a couple of half decent pike to finish off with, Neils maybe just tipping double.<br />
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There's was some real good signs for potential and we cannot wait to get back there for a full day at it.<br />
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Last week i got out for a few short perching sessions, nothing big caught but some decent enough lumps to put a bend in ultralight rods. There in super condition at this time of year and even the smaller fish are stunningly coloured.</div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06169765753884961319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2479801504042766122.post-12658320338964909822014-09-24T09:45:00.000-07:002014-10-05T01:54:18.247-07:00Ticking along nicely..<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Been out just a few times since my last post, although the fishing has been a bit slower its definitely the best time of year to be out. </div>
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I managed to get out with Neil for a few hours as Ive not fished with him allot recently. I put the fly rod down for this session and we went to target some canal pike, as it turned out the pike were not playing ball but Neil got a result with a cracking 3lb perch.</div>
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I enjoyed the change of method but I'm really addicted to fly rodding for pike at the minute so had to get my fix for the week. Again the pike were not as on it as previous sessions, possibly down to the cold nights and warm days confusing them a little or making them feed at certain times. I managed a few fish though which satisfied my craving.</div>
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Still really enjoying my tying too, its great to be able to relax at home and do something fishing related, and its much more comfortable sat tying then in a cold damp shed making lures.</div>
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I thought I'd have a change again today and went with soft plastics for the perch, there starting to shoal up nicely now and i had quite a few with a couple of 2lbers mixed in.</div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">The highlight was literally the last cast, which produced a clonker of a fish, it was absolutely stuffed and a shame i didn't have any working scales as its been a long time since Ive seen a fish of this size, it was never going to threaten my PB which is into 4's but this fish would certainly have gone into the meaty side of 3lb with the girth of it! It makes my reel look tiny! A bit disappointed with the self take, there not the easiest fish to get a good representation of there scale in photos and even more so with self takes.</span></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06169765753884961319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2479801504042766122.post-32515426660136970162014-09-14T14:01:00.000-07:002014-09-14T14:02:14.537-07:00Into the backing....I was looking forward to today as i was going to travel across two counties to visit a venue i went to a year or two ago. I caught quite a few jacks when there and that was with coloured water, id always planned to go back when it was much clearer. I suspected it would be in good nick with this quite dry weather we have had this year and thought it would be a perfect venue for more fly action.<br />
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I made my way down to the bottom of a bridge to set up for my first few casts and was surprised to find it totally weed choked, then a voice came from above me asking if I'd caught anything. It was another lure angler, he said he had not done anything at all. I carried on setting up then looked up again and there was now 3 guys on the bridge, a few more minutes and more turned up, i think there was 7 altogether. Not there fault, but I'd travelled miles and spent precious fuel to get here and following on water that had already been fished by 7 others was not good at all. I gave it a go anyway but i was finding myself getting frustrated, the wind that had got up was not in a favourable direction for fly casting, the bank vegetation was high making it awkward with tangles, then there was all the weed to negotiate, along with the fact that i was fishing water already fished. I gave it an hour or so with just an 8oz pikelet to show for it. Sometimes its about making the right decision and this was one of those times it was right to decide to sack it off and go elsewhere. I had options on the way home so came up with one that i thought would give me the best chance of salvaging something for the day.<br />
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I went for another spot i had caught on in the past. I feel like I've been on a good run just lately with some nice fish and today was feeling like it was going to be the end. The second spot did not produce either so i was about to walk back with my tail between my legs when i thought i might as well try for a few small perch just to get something out of the day.<br />
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I flicked a smaller perch sized fly down the margin and was just going to take a few paces the other way when there was a big splash where i had just chucked the fly. I lifted into a fish and at first it felt very odd, it didn't feel like a sizable fish but it wasn't coming to the surface, i was stripping my line back in wondering what was going on. I then realised the fish was heading towards me and i was actually just catching up with it, when i did i suddenly felt the weight and i reckon the fish realised it was hooked at that point as it took off. When i say 'took off' i really do mean took off! I've never experienced anything like this before, the fish absolutely shot off leaving me wondering what i had hooked. Pike usually surge at great speed and then stop but this was surging at break neck speed continuously even on a tight drag. I kept trying to palm my spool but it was spinning so fast i kept getting whacked by the handle. I couldn't believe the distance this fish had gone then i suddenly felt something as i held the line, i felt the line disappear and become allot thinner through my fingers, looking down i realised i was into my backing. I now started to think it could only be a large stray trout or maybe even a salmon i just could not envisage anything else sprinting off like that.<br />
Then, as i was getting excited at the prospects of seeing it, disaster struck. The fish had took off to my right, i couldn't chase after it to gain line as there was a big overhanging bush blocking my way, i didn't even want to get closer to the bush as it was cutting the angle down from where the fish was. the fish then started heading towards the bank again meaning my line was going to get pulled into this bush. It did exactly that and i had to fight the fish into the bush where it became snagged, i could do nothing other than hope if i let it thrash it would come free. Luckily it did, id have been devastated not seeing what it was if I'd have lost it. Still fighting but i was gaining on it now and eventually got a look at it, and again i was surprised, and twice. Firstly when it did surface, at first i could only make out its size and i was still thinking trout, so if it was it was a bloody trout of a lifetime. I was actually more surprised i think to see it was in fact a pike. I've caught a few bigger pike than this just recently so thought i knew what to expect and had adjusted my drag with each one to as much as i thought i could get away with. Then this fish comes along and blows everything out the water like its on steroids! If this fish was an athlete it would be Usain Bolt!<br />
I try to explain it as it happened but no words will ever cover it like it happened, Ive just never known a pike to travel so fast continuously for that distance even big fish including a twenty Ive had on a 3g ul noodle did nothing to compete with this. The noise my reel made was gorgeous and not sure i'll ever hear that again.<br />
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The fish was a minter with not a mark on it, id certainly made up for the day so far anyway.<br />
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I changed back to a bigger fly, my tail fly actually and covered more of this area now i thought i had a better chance of pike. I had another couple of fish that also fought well for there size so they must be eating something good.<br />
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So it seems my roll continues.... best to enjoy it while you can because when your on one its totally in the laps of the fishing gods and eventually they will look down on you and decide your turn is over...Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06169765753884961319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2479801504042766122.post-24949287356960744602014-09-13T07:17:00.000-07:002014-09-13T07:17:30.917-07:00BBzzzzzz.... chewed alive, flies and mozziesLast week was a bit slow as my car was in for an MOT so i didn't get out till Friday for a few hours. I'm still really enjoying Pike fly fishing and tying the flies is equally as fun, its actually very therapeutic tying flies. I've mainly been tying bait fish patterns and trying slightly different ways to tie them to get a better profile. The trouble is if you use too much material, when the fly is in the water the materials puff out and you totally loose your profile. It doesn't really matter that much, pike will still chew it but i like to make things realistic as this is what there used to seeing and eating and it also gives me confidence in what I'm using.<br />
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Ive been playing around with blending materials and chucking colours together than don't even go together to slightly alter the shade of the more prominent colour, it gives a really nice effect actually.<br />
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You will notice one of the flies has a tail on the end, this is something else Ive been trying to make the profile even more realistic. The tail is attached to a central core of material, i was going to try some fluro but thought if i matched what the rest of the fly was made with it would blend in and also move in the same way. I also thought by using 10-15 strands of material was better than just one in case a fish ripped it off or bit through it. </div>
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The effect is more realistic than i thought and it looks brilliant in the water, i went out yesterday to try the fly out and ended up with a really nice fish on it. It was awful taking the photos though as i was getting swarmed by mosquito's and had to keep wafting them off me so to have to stay still for a photo meant i was getting chewed by the little bleeders!</div>
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This morning i had the chance to get out again for a few hours so chose to go visit somewhere id not been to this year due to not having access to get to it, i looked on maps and managed to find a new way to it but this meant allot of walking. I knew this place was like hell on earth for mosquito's and after getting chewed yesterday i went and bought some repellent. It worked great keeping them off my skin even though they were still swarming me which was annoying. You can see them flying for me in the photo below.</div>
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I had a great couple of hours with 6 fish banked on the tail fly, the best of the bunch was the fish below which was a nice looking fish as well as a nice size. I seem to be on a bit of a roll at the minute with a decent fish most sessions, you've got to enjoy times like these while you can.</div>
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