Busy week

This week just gone by my Mrs and kids went of for the week, i couldn't get the time off work so was left home alone... what was i to do with my time? Fishing of course, none stop! Sadly my week didn't go to plan due to the horrible weather spoiling what i did have planned, i wanted to have a bit of variety and also use the time to go a little further to fish but the rain meant any trout fishing was near enough out the window. I did have some decent sessions though.

 

Monday

 

On Monday it was a bit unexpected when my Mrs said i could go fishing, they were not due to go away till Tuesday morning so i thought id take the opportunity while it was there. I'd recently bought a shimano scorpion 1501xt for my Loomis GL2 which was a perfect match, I thought id go give this a go and bash some jacks. I ended up getting quite a few along with a few scabby perch looking perch, think i had near enough 20 pike in just the few hours so it felt really action packed. I wanted to try the reel out on the lighter side of my rods casting range so opted for a 9cm savagear 4play and lip skull which i could keep above the cabbages on this shallow venue. It worked really well just brushing the tops of them and was basically fishing right in the zone. I could cast that relatively light weight as far as i could possibly need to so was chuffed to bits with the reel.

 

Tuesday

 

I really wanted to get on a small stream on Tuesday as i wanted to do a bit of dry fly fishing but the weather was not really right for it and there was always the risk of the stream being coloured. I got in touch with my mate Mart as i knew he was fishing that day so thought I'd go meet up with him. He suggested a small stream that Ive only fished once and he knew it well and was confident it wouldn't be too coloured.

The stream wasn't in the best condition but it was fishable, nothing was rising so it was going to be a case of prospecting. We waded and kept jumping out to fish better sections but nothing was happening on the dries, Mart was using his Tenkara rod which was proving a really useful tool as it could be packed away to nothing and set up again in a flash. He was catching a few trout and OOS grayling on nymphs so i had a quick switch and caught a few also although i was finding it hard to control and even seethe line as i didn't have the right set up for it.

Eventually we found a few rising trout and i got my first of the year on dry, only a small little fellow but he was very welcome. Mart then had to leave so he left me to carry on for abit on my own. The stream looked really good where he had left me with little deep pockets here and there so i thought id prospect these with a small bait fish streamer to see if i could get a decent fish out for the day. It proved a great decision as first cast into the first pool and a decent trout shot out and hammered the streamer. It gave a really good scrap in the flowing water and really made the trek worthwhile. I went on to catch a couple more before the water turned more flat and there was a lack of the pocket water id just been doing well on.

 

Wednesday

 

I'd planned to fish with John on the Wednesday and we decided to go off to a canal John had never fished before and i had not been to for a few years. It was very disappointing as it was totally weed choked at one end and the other was very coloured, it wasn't even the kind of weed that was fishable with frogs, it was more like the banks had totally grown over it! We drove around to look at other sections i knew of but it felt like a waste of time so we thought we would do better spending our time on a venue that I knew was fishing well. It was disappointing because its nice to fish new scenery and also being a Yorkshire man the waste of fuel was on my mind..

Although nothing new we had a good few hours in the end and again i had near enough 20 pike in a few hours on the 9cm 4 play, nothing special size wise but some big enough to give a good scrap and its all about the take when jack bashing. They really wanted it anyway as most fish were hooked right down the thought and it was like operating every time unhooking them.

 

Thursday

 

This was my last day to fish and to be honest I was looking forward to a little rest, I'm one for fishing as much as i can and for as long as i can, i really cannot get enough of it. When your up for work at 4:00am in the morning though and not getting back home after fishing until 19:00pm it was starting to catch up on me, id not eaten a meal since Monday dinnertime and was basically living out of a carrier bag of snacks and cans of pop.

So the plan was to just fish but be back in time to relax and make myself a proper tea. As it turned out it was probably my most enjoyable session of the week. Ive been doing more fly fishing recently and really enjoying it. I'd done OK for the pike this week, the trout were still not an option with all the rain spoiling the rivers so it was going to be a perch day with streamers. It took a while finding them as i was fishing a stretch i had not fished in a while, but when i did they came thick and fast, mostly smallish with a few better ones now and then, but all enjoyable on a a fly rod, it really is the most enjoyable method of catching fish, even when your not catching its fun as your more involved with the casting as you are with chucking a lure out. It really is a form of artistic expression. The best moment of the session came when i hooked into a fish and it just slowly bored away as if it didn't realise it was hooked and then when it did it went mental, it kept me guessing what it was I'd actually got on the end. At 3lb 4oz it was a new fly caught PB, i don't normally weigh fish as I'm still waiting for another over four and a half pound to make it worth while but wanted to know if it was a 3lber so i could say it was my first on fly.

I can see me doing allot more fly fishing for perch they really are such an easy and viable fish for the fly and its the most fun you can have with your clothes on.

 

 

So that's it, a busy week of fishing and lots more to look forward to in the coming weeks, nearly time for rivers and i have a solid 3 days booked off work for that! Bring it on..... (feck off rain)