Enjoying the finer things...

I'm really enjoying my fishing at the minute, Ive got a fresh outlook on what I'm doing and at the minute I'm not concerned about chasing big fish. Of course that time will come but its great when you can just let yourself go and enjoy your fishing regardless of how many fish you catch or how big they are.
I had another short session today on a little river i just love, I really do love the tiny intimate little streams and rivers. After fishing there the other day and being abit frustrated at not landing many of the fish i hooked, I thought I'd go back for another try with some freshly tied flies.
There is one fly I tie that seems to be really liked by the roach, i don't know why they like this particular pattern but its caught me endless fish and it usually out fishes any other i try.

 

I also tied a few really small flies for use on a canal i fish where dace often rise, i like a really small fly for dace as they take flies like lightening so the smaller the better which helps hook ups. This fly is tied on a 20, it could probably do with a smaller hackle but i didn't have any left for such a small scale. I find anything small and black is usually best for coarse species.

 

So when i arrived at the river i was pleasantly surprised to see that in the couple of days since my last visit, they had chopped the bank side vegetation down. This was going to be a god send, not only could i get better access and fish more areas but it would also mean i wouldn't get my fly line tangled as much on the floor.

As i walked along the river i noticed the shoals of fish were not in there usual place, maybe due to the banks being chopped and less cover. I had to walk further before i found them, funnily enough it was a pike i saw first that was sat just downstream of the first shoal. Just goes to show how they follow the shoals and are never too far away from bait fish even in this small river environment.

I got above the shoal and cast back down to them, today they were not interested at all and i had to go through a few flies before i hooked one, and just like the other day the hook pulled not long after hooking the fish! I decided to move on and see if i could find another shoal that might show more interest. The next shoal included some rising fish so i switched over to a small klinkhammer and started to pick off a few small Rudd. I wasn't bothered that they were small as it was all in keeping in the enjoyment of it, wandering down the bank of a tiny little river with a small #3 fly rod and a small box of flies presenting them in such a delicate and accurate way.... the enjoyment is in the method.

 

 

 

 

I started to catch smaller and smaller fish towards the end but it was still as much fun. I had a frustrating time with one particular fish, what looked like a golden Rudd, which is a Rudd but a very orange coloured one. Ive caught these on a few different venues so I'm not sure whether someone has put them in from ponds/tanks or if its a freak occurrence and the odd few pop up naturally. Anyway i kept seeing this particular orangey coloured Rudd and i could see it come up below my fly and half heartedly attempt to take it, but could i heck hook the little blighter!

 

Time was up and i had to meet my old man who was with my kids while i was fishing, we had a quick bite to eat then set off for a walk. I remember when i was a young lad myself and there was this particular wild spot where i once went for a walk with my Dad, in those days i used to love exploring in the wild and seeing wildlife. There was about a mile walk until you reached another part of the small river i was fishing, it was along way up from where I'd been fishing though so i was wondering whether or not it would hold many fish.

I suggested we go have a walk here so i could check out the river. It was still a fantastic place and I had the pleasure of being there now as a grown man with my own kids, we spotted a fox, hare and a few deer all within a very short distance from us, the deer were just sat on the grass looking at us before getting up and leaping away when we got quite close. I was really enjoying the walk and then we reached the river... well it just looked fantastic, a little bit narrower than where I'd been fishing but i was actually surprised that it had some reasonable depth for the small size of it, it was probably only 8ft wide if that. My thoughts soon wandered onto the possibilities of pike being around these wild areas,  it was difficult to see where the bank ended and the river started so there was certainly plenty of hiding space for pike. In my mind i could already visualise myself there hidden in the long bank side rushes flicking a small lure or even a pike fly along the inside of the vegetation.

 I doubt there would be anything of great size but id be happy enough knowing it held a reasonable head of jacks to be honest. As previously mentioned its not all about size and the thing about this river was its wild location, the fact it would most definitely never have been fished much if at all.

 

I left with that buzz you get about fishing when your really enjoying it and you have new places you want to try. I'm not getting too excited yet about this new location as it might not prove to be very populated with fish but it will be good to go give it a try and find out....

 

Craziest 30mins ever...

Having just got back from Holiday down south i was rearing to get out fishing at the first chance i got. I took some gear with me on holiday as i usually do but just didn't get the chance to have a go while away as there was nothing near enough to try on the odd hour i had spare.

So this morning I rang around the parents to let them know we was home and managed to wangle a couple of hours fishing while they watched the kids. i didn't have time to go very far so just stuck local, the problem with this was all my locals were either weed choked or just not fishing well.
I decided i just wanted to catch fish and wasn't bothered about size or species so thought I'd opt for the fly rod and go try and catch some mini species. Knowing the weed choked venues i chucked a frogging outfit in the car too as a back up.

My first venue was a little river, i found some fish and had a really frustrating time getting roach and Rudd to take small bead head nymphs but none of them would stick. I managed to get a few out of water but they kept dropping off as i lifted them out. The bank was overgrown too and it was getting on my nerves untangling my fly line at my feet all the time. I decided to move to a canal and try for either perch on kopyto's or more silver fish on the flies if i saw any signs of fish. I like to carry both ultralight lure gear and a #3 fly rod as it gives me the chance to fish for most species i might come across, i like to be opportunistic when i see signs of fish.

The perch fishing didn't really produce anything and the best area i wanted to fish was already taken by a group of kids fishing.... oh joy... is this what the next 5 weeks is going to be like, until they all go back to school?

There was no sign of any fish at all so i thought I'd call it a day and walk back, as i did so i left the kopyto in the margin and walked along trolling it down the edge. I walked a fair distance from where i usually fish when i got a good tug on the line and a fish on, only a small perch but as it came closer it was followed by masses of others. I've never seen anything like it before, sure Ive had shoals following in but this was a hell of a shoal and they were hitting the kopyto from all angles. It was like watching a pack of piranha's.

I caught a few on consecutive casts, well i say casts... i was just literally dipping the kopyto in the water and they were savaging it! I thought I'd try something different and got out the #3 fly rod and tied on a small minkie fly. I had the craziest 30mins ever flicking the fly out and getting a fish on within seconds, they were all small but it was great fun. Typically i only had the 30mins left to fish when finding these fish, i must of had getting on for 50 fish in that 30mins and god knows how many id  have had if i'd had no time limitation.

An enjoyable day...

I already did a pre Holiday blog but i managed to get out for a couple of sessions since then.

Yesterday I went for a few hours to try and bag a load of perch at a favourite spot, its been very hit and miss this year. I was hoping things had improved as its been awhile since Ive been there. The water clarity was good and things were looking up, first cast i could feel lots of little nips which was pretty much the story of the session. The area was packed with both fry and very small perch, i went through just about every lure and size and still they wouldn't take confidently enough.
I saw some fish rising so switched over to the fly rod and managed to save the session with a few roach, most of a small size but a few better ones mixed in that i didn't photo. It was great fun on the dry flies, the water was that clear and the with the sun light, i could see them coming up and sipping the flies down.

 

While i had the fly rod set up i thought I'd try a few bead head nymphs hoping to tempt the little perch and for a moment i thought i was going to bag up as a few little stripeys obliged straight away, but it soon dried up. A good little session on the flies in the end.

 

 

Today I had more time to fish so thought I'd go try some spots abit further away i hadn't been to in awhile. The rivers had filled up with colour with the heavy rain, but it ran off really quickly and the very next day the rivers were surprisingly clear, well there was abit of colour but it was clear enough to feel confident of catching.

I was mainly fishing small cranks in water likely to hold chub or trout, to be honest it was chub i was more interested in but i wouldn't turn my nose up at a trout. I fished about an hour and a half before i finally got a take, which turned out to be a modest chub after initially thinking it was a small trout. I was happy with that and it was in mint condition.

 

 

 

I kept seeing things moving on the rocks out of the corner of my eye, but every time i looked i couldn't make out what it was, finally i happened to be looking at the rocks when a little millars thumb came right out of the water climbed up a rock and sat there looking at me! It was having a little bask in the sun, i was very surprised as i didn't know they did that, especially coming out of the water. I saw a few doing in the end so it wasn't a one off. The little chap even let me gently pick him up for a photo.

 

 

I went on to take a couple of chublets from the same swim before it all dried up and i was ready for a move, so back to the car and onto the next spot.

 

 

I was really starting to enjoy the day now and just love wading in the river and getting that lovely wild water smell up my nose, theres nothing like it!

I was wading downstream in quite a shallow section when i felt a good tug on the line, i knew it was a fish so cast back into the same area. From previous experiences i know you can often get another solid take if it was a shoal of good chub so i was expecting it but still got that big surprise that only chub can give you by the sheer force they take the lure with. A good fish was on and initially it took abit of line, but t soon started to give in like chub do, its a shame they don't fight to the death like trout do as they'd be the best fighters going if they maintained that force from the take. I was chuffed to bits to get a decent one as i love chub fishing with cranks and its really got to be done in summer so there isn't a great deal of opportunity in the year. 

 

 

Now you know how easy chub spook so i don't always expect another from the same shoal but sometimes you do get them. I cast again to the same spot but nothing, another few casts and then the rod was ripped round once again, this felt a little better and when i got it in i could tell it was but only by a little bit. Not sure whats going on with its eye, it looks abit pop eye but it was perfectly ok on the fish itself, must be the angle of light reflecting from the flash of the camera as it was quite dark where the camera was so the flash went off. 

 

 

Both fish were in top condition and i was really pleased to have got some more chub. I went on to fish a few more spots but nothing was doing so took one last look at the river before getting out and heading home for a well earned bath, like most chub fishing sessions, they always end up with your arms covered in nettle stings, scratches, fish slime and muck!

 

 

Pre Holiday update..

I'm due to go on holiday down south very soon so thought I'd do a quick update of what Ive been upto.

On Sunday I had a session wading along a river with my mate Steve, we had fished this river before on previous years and it always produced a good day and some nice fish. We usually get quite a few perch of a very good average size, a chub usually shows an appearance and Steve usually gets a pike or two, funnily enough I've never had a pike from this stretch yet. There is also the good chance of a trout too so I'm always excited about fishing here with the prospect of a mixed bag and possibility of all four species.

The session started off pretty well with us picking up the odd perch here and there, most were small and not the usual stamp we have come to expect, this was one of Steve's better fish and it still put a great big smile on his face, its always good fun catching fish of any size.

 

We also, including myself for the first time on this stretch, picked up a couple of jacks along the way but the majority of fish caught were perch, most falling to small cranks. Towards the end of the stretch we came to a familiar couple of spots that we knew always held chub, things didn't go well though. Firstly the river was so low we didn't even expect the chub to be in the first spot, the water was only 1foot deep, i was first to wade towards the spot and it was too late when i noticed them. They had obviously seen us long before we saw them and it was game over for that shoal, chub are so spooky at times!  We headed towards the second spot that usually held chub and just before we got there I hooked what i thought was a snag, soon realising it wasn't. A nice stocky pike was on and it was acting very strange, it was using its weight to hold back but wasn't really fighting much, not until i got it in close anyway. It then started to jump and eventually the hook hold came away.. bugger! To add to that, when we looked at the chub spot someone was already fishing it! we had waded all that way to get to the glory at the end and it was going to be no cigar today!

 

We got out the river and walked further up where the water changed abit and it generally becomes more trouty with faster water and more features, we expected trout and chub from here. Again we fished our way upto the best spots and along the way nothing at all was showing, even in areas that looked really fishy. Eventually i got a take which i thought was a small trout but it ended up being my best perch of the day and something along the lines of the usual stamp we get.

 

 

That was pretty much it for the session, we caught a few fish but generally abit disappointed with the quality of fishing given the better conditions, i think the oxygen levels being so low with no rain for a long time must be effecting the fish to some degree.

The only other highlight to mention was the nice brown trout i caught below from the last stretch we fished, it was a lovely dark brown colour and matched the water colour really well. I just love catching trout from different water systems as they differ so much which is a result of there surroundings and water condition.

 

 

On the lure building front Ive done a few nice things recently, firstly i was asked to re-finish a couple of lures. the first was a cobbs jerkbait and the other a manta, both lended themselves to a pike pattern and this is exactly what was wanted. I'm rather pleased with how they turned out.

 

 

Along with the pike re-sprays i also did a small shoal of little 3.5" perch jerkbaits, these have been foil finished too. I love doing foils when Ive not done any for awhile.

 

I might get one more session in before i go away, between you and me though..... I will be sneaking a rod or two into the boot when the Mrs isn't looking, you never know what your going to come across on unfamiliar land and an opportunity is not to be missed!

 

 

 

 

Beans bonanza..

Here's a whole stack of bean lures i have just finished all at 2.5cm and around about 2g

These little lures have proved really deadly for those small jungle shallow streams, they work very shallow so there perfect for not clipping the bottom in the shallowest of streams and fish absolutely love them. I've adapted these ever so slightly from previous ones by moving the hook position slightly nearer to the back of the lure, when worked through the water the treble kind of drifts back and upwards so it sits just behind the back of the lure waiting for anything to attack from behind.

I just love adding new patterns to this size lure...

Too hot for fishing...

I just got back from a short session for pike on weedless hollow bodied frogs. I wanted to check out a small river to see if it had bank access and whether or not it had weeded over, which would make it perfect for surface frog fishing.

It was ridiculously hot and i made the stupid mistake of leaving my drink in the car because id just grabbed a 2litre bottle of water in a rush on my way out. Not wanting to carry it i left it behind. I walked about 3 miles up the river casting the frogs about and it wasn't until i started to walk back that i realised my mistake. It was now mid day and the sun at its highest and hottest. My mouth was dry and I was sweating buckets. the closer i got to my car the further away it looked, i could see the mirage of heat billowing off the roof when i eventually got closer. Each step seemed to be slower than the last, all i wanted was a drink.....

Finally back at the car, Ive never appreciated a drink of water so much in all my life and i supped a full litre without even taking a breath, i only stopped as i feared for drowning! I poured a few glugs over my head and i felt allot better. I had just past a big shoal of fish including lots of perch but i just didn't feel like fishing anymore, I'd had enough! not often i can truly say I've had enough but this was one of them, it was just too hot to carry on.

As far as the fishing went there wasn't allot of action but enough to keep me happy, i think i had 8 takes on the frogs all together, landing 3 and just loosing the biggest off at the net as i had to reached over the margins to get to it because of all the weed, it wasn't anything special but would have been nice to have got it. Nothing special photo wise i really just rushed a couple of snaps for the blog and got the fish back asap with the heat.

Just look at that sky, it could have been Australia!

Trolling in the heatwave..

Yesterday I had planned to fish with my mate Neil on his Bote, It was going to be a day of trolling our way up and down a river with small deep diving lures. Its more of a numbers game than looking for big fish so its always exciting at the prospects of a fish filled day which really does have the potential to do a tally into the treble figures.

I've only been trolling with Neil a handful of times since he got his boat last year and its a totally different experience which i love. The change of being able to sit down is quite refreshing with lure fishing but you still have the freedom to move about and explore because your in a boat so for me I don't get 'itchy feet' sitting in the same place looking at the same scenery.

Since doing abit of trolling I have started to make my own deep divers, i generally always look to start making my own lures once i start getting into a new field of fishing. I made the lures below especially for deep diving/trolling and finished them in time for my day on the boat with Neil.

 

I got up at 4:20am which incidentally is the time i get up everyday for work, so to be doing it on my weekend off felt a little odd. I shot over to Neils and we were on our way by about 5:15am.

The first thing Neil said when we got in the boat and launched off was 'we will just troll down past these few boats and if we get a fish that means its going to be a good day'. The water was really clear so we were both quite excited. True to his word, it wasn't long before we set off that i got a fish followed not long after by another 2. The average stamp of perch is good here and this set us up for the what we hoped was going to be a belter of a day.

 

 

We fished the first bit as Neil suggested, then turned around and headed upstream, things didn't go as well as we had thought after the initial few fish and it was a little while before Neil found his first.

 

We had pondered on the way if the recent hot temperatures and bright sun would put the fish off to some degree which is why we made the initial decision to go that little bit earlier than we usually would. The more we trolled and the more water we covered with any fish it felt like our worries were starting to become a reality. We reached an area that we knew from the past would always throw up some fish and we had a good little spell here with a flurry of fish, Neil found the best of the day so far with a nice perch.

 

The day did improve to some degree throughout the day and we started to build a tally of fish, it was slow going on the troll and we kept stopping to cast around features on the drift which picked up a few more fish, the average stamp of perch was good but it took a while for the pike to start showing.

 

Neil even managed a pike off the surface which was very much enjoyed followed by a micropike that had a go and was hooked momentarily. By this point we was heading into town with more structure and we had a good tally behind us but with all the boats that the hot weather had attracted it was becoming abit of a nightmare, far too busy and lots of idiots that would not slow down!

Neil had some good perch around the town and a pike that gave him right old run around on his light gear, it was some time before we actually got to see it as it was staying low and kept running.

 

After some time we had had enough of the busy town so thought we would troll our way back, we added to our tally again and we had really had a decent day with a final tally of 54 fish, probably 60% of which were perch and 40% pike. At some points it felt like we was covering too much water with no action at all so it was a funny day, a good days fishing but with that little bit of disappointment in the back of the head that it could have been allot better. i do sometimes think we expect too much but we are not daft and know that there is much more potential to double that kind of tally so it will be really enjoyed when everything does come together.

 

The lure of the day for me was one of my deep divers, after initially testing a few it was evident that we needed to play around with tuning them. I usually do this in the bath with my shallow cranks but its just not deep enough for these kind of divers! The boat is the perfect way of testing them because the sounder will show you what depth it is when they are tripping bottom. In the end we didn't fish with many of the ones I'd made as we were too keen to fish and didn't want to mess about tuning lures. The one below didn't need tuning so i used it abit and it caught me more fish than any others on the day.