I've been Itchen for a Grayling!

Under ordinary circumstances, my morning alarm is not a welcome sound. Its terrifying timbre signifying the beginning of another working day and, whilst I enjoy my job, I commit to involuntary avoidance behaviour, akin to Pavlov's dog's salivation, and hitting snooze at the first ringing of the bell. 

But not today. In spite of an excitement induced lack of sleep I was up like a shot when first it chimed at 4am because today was the day I had been looking forward to: my first outing to the River Itchen in pursuit of grayling.

My friend Matthew was soon at the door, helping me load my tackle in his car and after I had woke the whole neighbourhood by setting off his vehicles burglar alarm by trying to open the door before it was unlocked, we commenced the long drive from Kent to Hampshire. 

Good conversation and good coffee helped the journey pass quickly and before long I was following my guide for the day down the path of this idilic rivers beautiful banks.

Today was all about new experiences. Whilst I grew up fishing in a relatively traditional style on the Longleat Estate lakes and River Wylye, these skills have been superseded, not necessarily for the better, by modern carp fishing and specimen angling. So Matthew, and later Colin who came to join us, had brought lovely cane float rods for me to test drive. I'm not sure if there was an evangelical agenda going on but I was happy to let them try and convert me! I had however brought my own carbon avon rod as a comfort blanket having fished with cane as a teen and not got on particularly well with it. Today I learned that this childhood disagreement may have been the result of the limitations of my pocket-money! Both rods I tried were a pleasure to fish with and following a little coaching on the finer points of trotting I experienced my first 'lady of the river' on traditional tackle. Double maggots seemed at first to be the winning combination, fished slightly over depth however following the capture of several small salmon parr and a few wild brownies a change to worm and slight change of depth secured grayling number two.

Meanwhile, Colin had arrived and setup a little way upstream with a 'cunning plan' for catching a bigger specimen! Whilst to the purist it might not be cricket or produce as many fish as the float, ledgering for grayling increases chances of a larger one. Colin touch-ledgered with a small maggot feeder and had a several good fish of which this was the first. 

Once Matthew commenced fishing he was quickly amongst the grayling and caught consistently throughout the day. He tells me that today was slow but I lost count of how many fish we caught so goodness only knows what this river is like when they are feeding hard! 

Unfortunately, with so much going right something had to go wrong... I must confess to having a funny five minutes when I allowed the centrepin to overspin and created a terrible tangle. It wasn't too much trouble to resolve this but I feared that in doing so I may have damaged the line in places and didn't want to risk continuing to fish and losing one as a consequence of a break. This is where my contingency plan came into play and whilst my carbon comfort zone now seemed to lack soul by comparison, I did feel more at home with it and certainly had more control with my own centrepin with which I was better acquainted.

After wading through several more salmonidae I finally caught my third and final grayling of the day.

Soon after, it was time to leave. A swift beverage in the pub at the foot of the stretch marked the end of a fantastic day and a chance to recollect some of the highlights of the session. The early start and 300 mile round trip was no bother in light of the majesty of this mile of river we had the privilege of fishing. I must thank Matthew and Colin for looking after me and giving me this experience which is quite far removed from my day to day angling. Now I look forward to the coming weekend where I shall be celebrating my dad's 60th with him on a charter boat from Dover on Saturday and then he will join me on the water again on Sunday to celebrate my 35th as we take a punt to the 'jungle' in search of predators at Old Bury Hill. Perhaps if we are successful I may be writing to you again very soon...

Esox Fables

Every fishing expedition holds a tale and very often a lesson to be learned. Todays jaunt to Westbere Marshes was no exception...
I have not been able to fish for some time due to an ever encroaching career as a Music teacher and with the winter term being one of the busiest and most stressful, I have been desperate for a moment of serenity at the waterside. Even with this craving driving me to set the alarm for the crack of dawn on the day of my only opportunity for a lay in, it was still a struggle to motivate myself to get up and scrape the remnants of the second frost of the season from my windscreen.
Once on the footpath to the Great Stour however I was pleased to be there admiring the autumnal colours which still adorned the surrounding trees. A few minutes later came a rude wake up call as the footpath, which was more than just a little overgrown and ambiguous at best, vanished and I found myself all of a sudden up to my knees in ice-cold water! My boots were full and trousers clinging to my legs catching every slight gust of wind to make me bitterly aware of the seasons character.

The footpath at Westbere Marshes (before it disappears!)

Several swims along this stretch I had passed as they clearly could not be accessed without taking a swim but now I was invincible, no more harm could be done and so I waded through flooded marshland to a prime spot.

As you might have guessed, I was fishing for pike and started out fishing a mackerel, caught whilst fishing this summer with my wife at Reculver, presented on a float/ ledger paternoster rig with a 2 foot rotten bottom. No sooner had I cast and set the rod down then the familiar chirp of my bite alarm  insisted that I picked the rod straight back up again to receive my first pike of the day, a jack of around 5lb. As soon as this fish was returned I repeated the process exactly. It was like deja vu.

My wife fishing at Reculver helping me catch the bait for todays trip!

The first pike of the session. I didn't photograph the second pike as it was identical - it may actually have been the same fish!

Having only brought 2 mackerel with me my bait was now spent and so turned my attention to spinning. I have not been pike fishing for long and so had never caught a pike on a spoon or lure before having had all my success so far on dead baits. I've been doing some dep' work for a local funk/ soul band and with the proceeds have bought myself a new spinning rod- it's made by Sonik, is 9 foot and casts up to 40 grams and like anyone with 'new toy syndrome' was keen to play with it!

The spoon that caught the mackerel and the pike!

I used a simple silver spoon and cast to features down stream, practicing different rhythms on the retrieve to make the inanimate piece of metal better resemble a living fish. I was delighted when after a long time casting and catching no more than passing pieces of debris, a slightly larger and infinitely angrier pike charged away ripping braid off the spool at a rate of knots having snatched my spoon as it approached the near margin.

The rod action was beautiful with more than enough power in the lower blank transferring seamlessly to a joyfully sensitive tip. I cannot put the sensation of the fight on this rod into words!

My first ever pike on a spoon. I did not weigh it but would guess somewhere around 8lb.

So what is the moral of the story? I've certainly learnt to look where I'm going and not to take terra firma for granted. What else? The notion 'nothing ventured, nothing gained' has been reaffirmed as has the idea of perseverance paying off. Whilst my trips seem to be few and far between at the moment I am happy to be making the most of them and enjoying every moment.

A night of firsts!

Since the flop that was the first night of the season at Fordwich Lake, when fishing tight lines to close range snags kept the fish at bay, I have been concentrating mostly on the Stour with only the odd trip to Littlebourne to remind myself what a carp looks like.

I tend not to write blogs about every trip but wait for something noteworthy and I believe tonight's session fits the bill as the fish I caught is a 'first' on several accounts:

It is my first barbel of the season, my first barbel caught on 'Big Carp Baits', my first barbel caught on this particular stretch of the stour and the first barbel caught on my new John Wilson Avon Rod!!!

It's not a massive fish - it weighed in at 5lb 6oz, but a very nice surprise indeed as I had on this occasion been targeting river carp! It gave a noble account of itself which made for good sport on the avon rod!

If I dare give any advice on barbel fishing my biggest tip is be patient. Whilst I hear of others who catch shortly after casting this has never been the case for me. There is no need to strike finicky bites; just wait - you will know when you've got one!!! Also, I have always caught after dark and usually a little too long after my wife has called to see when I'm coming home!

This fish was taken on pellet but I also had another rod fishing a 20mm sweetcorn boilie which received some very violent tugs throughout the night. Could this have been the work of my quarry the river carp? Only one way to find out...

Last chance saloon...

Though normally a relaxing pursuit and a necessary contrast to my otherwise busy and often stressful work-life tonight was the last night of the season and there was a lot riding on it...

Tonight the swim I had intended to fish where I had lost one only a week ago was taken but thankfully another spot I knew to hold a good few fish was available and considering that this time last year the banks of this same stretch were crowded I counted myself lucky.

I fished close to a feature upstream with a running ledger rig. My first cast was wiped out after about 20 minutes by passing debris. It was nearly dark and I knew that the next cast had to be spot on or I may as well go home. It landed very close indeed to the feature- a perfect cast perhaps but who could be sure? After sitting there for another 2 hours without so much as a twitch I began to wonder if I was snagged...

... and then BANG went the rod tip! It was absolutely text book. Having the current on my side was a godsend as this fish had a lot of fight in it! 

So here it is. 9lb 11oz: not a personal best - my first barbel on this stretch was 13lb 4oz and I've yet to beat that but this is a great moment and I am over the moon!

9lb 11oz barbel on the last day of the season!

Looking back at 2012

This has been an interesting year on the bank for me. I have attempted to rationalise my approach, particularly to carp fishing, and have reaped the rewards. This blog has undoubtedly been a significant part of that process of reflection. However, whilst I have enjoyed some success on still-waters, my luck has not always been so good on the river. Here I shall look back on some of my best catches and worst failures and contemplate their respective causes...

Company on a quiet session...

Carp

I have made a concerted effort to simplify my approach as far as rigs are concerned as I felt that when trying out the latest rig to be featured in the magazines all the time there are far too many variables to keep track of and far too much to potentially go wrong.

However, I have paid much more attention to feeding. Although I can't claim yet to have all the answers I can vouch for the benefits of casting and baiting accurately and constantly to the same spots rather than my previous random whim approach which was very hit or miss. 

My carp from Fordwich came as a result of spreading 20mm baits over a slightly wider area with a throwing stick - the logic here being that I felt the carp at Fordwich are a little more cautious than the other lakes I fish and may well think mountains of bait dumped by the spod load are slightly suspicious. This seems to be working so far...

18lb Common - Best from Stonar in 2012
Fatfish boilie and pink fake corn, June.

13lb 7oz Common - best from Birch Lake, Littlebourne in 2012
'Zigged' crust 1ft from the surface, March.

10lb Common - first carp from Fordwich ever!
'Matrix' snowman rig, August.

Chub and Barbel 

I do enjoy catching chub and a good thing too as they have really made pests of themselves when I have been targeting barbel!

I have found a few spots where small shoals congregate and some are pretty much common knowledge. I have seen them swimming over my bait, the rod arches round and somehow as I pick it up I find that the culprit is a pesky chub. Of course, each time a chub is caught the barbel are spooked for a while at least. A friend who catches a good many barbel has advised me to 'sit on my hands' when the rod is twitching, let chub and eels suss out the trap and clear off and wait for the unmistakable run of a barbel. I really have tried to heed this advice but even with shorter hook-links I find fish often hook themselves.

Although I must confess to getting a little depressed with this situation it has led me to think very carefully about stealth, line-lay, bait, presentation, colour of the water, water level, temperature, air pressure, time of day etc much more carefully. Until the fish start coming in I cannot draw conclusions but the process has started at least and in the mean time I have enjoyed some good chub. Early in the season I took a friend from work out a few times in the hope of helping him catch his first chub. He had a fair few out while I waited for barbel. It was a real pleasure to help him achieve this ambition.

One of my better chub this season just under the 4lb mark.

My friend Marc with a chub just over 4lb!

A nostalgic compilation of tales from a bygone era.
Some poetic words from Chris Yates and Bernard Venables
but an otherwise dull read and not much use to the
modern day barbel hunter.

In other news...

As you may have read in Bream: a little dream, I have somewhat changed my attitude to Bream as a target species though I must admit still find it frustrating when they shoal in on bait intended for something else. I have also had some fun catching carp on the centrepin. I went out for tench a couple of times and caught fish up to about 4lb which was fun. 

This colourful combination of maize and pink fake corn,
combined with hemp and breadcrumb squeezed round a method feeder
has never failed to produce tench for me!

A tench from Pump Lake, Littlebourne which fell to the rig pictured above.

A couple of days float fishing at Grove Lake produced some nice roach, small carp, tench and gudgeon. 

The highlight of a day float fishing at Grove:
a small gudgeon which reminded me of my childhood
fishing experiences.

Feeder fishing on the Worcestershire Avon in October resulted in several eels, bream and dace. A couple of short sessions feathering off Whitby pier rewarded me with over 20 mackerel and a few Coley. The mackerel have been divided between the dinner table and pike fishing. I've not fished the Stour for pike since last December when I caught my PB of 13lb but have had several jacks in Fordwich Lake to 6lb on the bait I caught in Whitby.

I have had several jacks like this 6lber on ledgered mackerel

I also started preparing my own hemp and maize. This is considerably cheaper than buying it ready to use from a known bait manufacturer (I paid £15 for 25kg!) and has many advantages besides. It is important to prepare baits correctly though to ensure they are safe to feed to the fish. Would a blog post on how to do this be useful to anyone?

A great discovery this year was bulk buying unprepared maize. 

Whilst all fishing is enjoyable, I think it is important to do a variety of styles of fishing throughout the year to break the monotony of long campaigns for one specific species. Also, sometimes it is possible to care too much about achieving goals and just turning up and having a laugh can be very therapeutic indeed!

Next steps...

I am very pleased to have improved my carp fishing on two waters I had previously found difficult. However, now I must ask if there is a way of specifically targeting larger carp as all the fish I have had from these lakes have been below 20lb. Perhaps that is just down to chance? I don't mind catching fish of any size but I am intrigued to find out if a small tweak to my tactics might produce something bigger.

I intend to continue my quest for barbel into 2013. Perhaps then I shall be able to work out where I am currently going wrong and start getting some fish on the bank again?!

Please feel free to comment on this or any of my posts. I'd equally love to hear if any of this has been helpful or if you have any advice to offer me. 

Bream; a little dream...

Early this morning I set out in my kayak to explore a lagoon near Chislet which was created in the early 1950s during a tidal flood on the Kentish Stour. Before I continue I must state that this water is only available for members of Canterbury and District Angling Association to fish and permission must be obtained from the land owner before commencing. Although I am aware of the wide variety of coarse fish that inhabit the Stour I had no idea idea before arriving (after an hour of paddling upstream!) what I would find.

Chislet Lagoon is home to a wide variety of wild fowl including *hundreds* of Swans!

The first thing I couldn't help but notice was that the water was crystal clear and about a foot deep. My paddle could push down an additional foot into very soft silt. My first impression was that this lagoon was completely baron. However, I am told it is 48 acres and had by no means explored the whole thing. Moving further in I saw an amazing spectacle; a large shoal of big bream all feeding, noses down and tails out of the water! I wish my camera was good enough to capture this but alas I could not do it justice.

This is the life!

Before long a quiver rod was set up and out amongst the shoal sporting a small method feeder loaded with a ground bait made of bread crumb, hemp and maize, a couple of grains of maize on a simple hair rig and a size 10 hook. The first fish took a long time to come but I kept the feed going in little and often in the same place each time and sure enough...

Giving up after a surprisingly hard fight!

Under usual circumstances I am not a big fan of bream. I must admit that they always seem to be an unwelcome surprise when angling for other species but today, targeting them for the first time, I was really excited to have caught this. It went into the keepnet, a second rod was assembled but all the time the water level was rising...

An hour passed before my next decent bite and during this time both rods had met with the rising surface of the water so that the reels were submerged. I could not fish like this so gave up on the bank sticks and rested the rods on my kayak. To prevent the boat from moving around I had to stand in the water (as there is very little accessible bank) with bare feet in the silt- nice!

Then came the rain... and then 6 more good sized bream! 

Having fished from 8am and being soaked through, at 4:30pm I decided to call it a day - after all, I still had to paddle for an hour back to the car! The bag weighed in at 26lbs. I know this doesn't break any records but it had been a real joy to have got out on the boat, explored a new and fascinating water and fished outside my natural comfort zone, finding unexpected pleasure in this underrated species.