Perch Fishing - Longleat Estate

As you have probably noticed from my blogging activity, I have been out fishing very little this season what with work and house hunting etc. This will hopefully change in the next couple of months with Autumn/ Winter upon us and work beginning to quieten down a bit (phew).

After reading reports of some monster Perch coming from a small lake only 30 minutes drive I couldn't help but think, "I wouldn't mind giving it a go myself. The lake in question already has a reputation having produced Perch reputed over the 5lb barrier which would be a sight to behold! I would be happy with a Perch of 3lb + personally.

Believe it or not, it sits within the grounds of Longleat Estate, famed for its wonderful Safari Park. I did not want to see elephants, lions or tigers today but a beautiful stripey. We decided that we should all go for my father's 50th birthday. We bought 1kg of dendra worm, 50 lobs and several pints of red maggot and headed to the middle lake full of anticipation.

It was somewhat overcast to begin with but cleared up as the day went by. We spoke with a guy already set up who decided to fish off the spit and had no success thus far. We decided to head for the opposite side of the lake, it was that small that four of us covered it's entire bank! When I sat down it was then that I recognised the swim; I had seen it in a Martin Bowler article last year with Terry Lampard and Tim Norman so we were in good company when it came to picking swims. Could we fare as well as they did on their trip here?

After settling down and soaking up our surroundings I began by impaling a worm on one hook and a King Prawn on the other. Both were hair-rigged and popped off the bottom to lift them away from the debris on the bottom of the lake. One thing I will say is that that the lake really is stunning in the autumn. The leaves were golden, it was cool, overcast and there was a touch of damp in the air. Real autumnal conditions. Some might say textbook Perch fishing weather.

When fishing you might be lucky to hear a bird singing its merry song, what I heard next I was not prepared for. Howling; not any old howling but wolves. First one, then a whole pack in the woodlands not far from where we were fishing. It was simply stunning, I for one would think twice about fishing there at night. Scary stuff!

A nice old chap turned up whilst we were fishing and was told to not fish near the other chap as he'd already baited the spot he was about to cast in... I may be wrong but pre-baiting a spot does not entitle you to every swim of your choice... He was not interested in an argument so came and joined us on the more thoughtful side of the lake :-) You have to look after your seniors.

 

It was a while before any of us had a bite,  my Dad was rewarded with his first birthday present of the day in the form of... a slimy Bream of about 2lb 8oz. Not the greatest of starts but a sure sign that the fish were feeding. Another hour passed and our hopes were diminishing. I sprayed maggots over my baits sparingly every time I cast in the hope of catching a monster Perch's attention but to no avail. 

Then I heard one of my father's buzzers go off, "I'm in!" he shouted. Could it be the fish we were all after?

A fin perfect Perch of 2lb 5oz

Happy 50th Old man!!!

After zeroing the scales and taking into account the weight of the net we decided on 2lb 5oz of a different kind of Longleat Tiger, a stunning Autumnal Perch!

Happy birthday Dad!

Barbel fishing on the Bristol Avon. The Forgotten Barbel Baits.

At the start of every season I always find myself truly excited and full of anticipation for what my local river can offer me in terms of fishing. This year has been no different. For whatever reason I started my river season later than usual; better late than never!

My father is also a keen angler and after having an operation he was laid off work for 6 weeks, so instead of twiddling his thumbs he turned his attention to Barbel fishing on our local river, the Bristol Avon. He was greeted by two gentlemen, a father and son duo who had spent the entire opening week on the stretch without so much as a single Barbel; not a good sign. They had caught quantities of chub and apparently "lost" one Barbel.

Ever the optimist, my father told me he would catch one before he headed out to the river and I had full confidence that he would. His plan was a change of bait. Barbel are perhaps one of the more desirable fish on our rivers and as a result are often heavily fished for. The common baits are pellets and boilies and often by the bucket load unfortunately. It is my belief that Barbel are beginning to switch off these baits and are  turning their attention back to the more natural baits. This is where my article heading comes in - The Forgotten Barbel baits.

His approach was simple, a straight forward ledger set-up, 6lb line, and 2 pieces of the yellow stuff on his hook; the deadly sweet corn. He kicked off his campaign with two snakes (eels) would you believe, both around the 1 1/2lb bracket which were both a first for him for a long time. It wasn't long before his rod sprung into action and he was attached to the fish he promised me he would catch. A Barbel.

7lb 12oz Barbel for "the old man"

Going back to my point earlier, two anglers had fished two rods for 7 consecutive 12 hour days without so much as a sniff from a barbel using pellets and boilies. My father then turned up and fished the same area for perhaps 4 hours and catches on his first session using sweetcorn really makes you wonder. Are Barbel turning off the "known" baits?

I like to put a theory to the test. The following weekend me and my father headed back to the same stretch with a "fresh" approach and full of anticipation. As we arrived we were greeted with the pick of the swims which is always nice. My father headed to the weir and I found a nice little slack just to the side of the turbulence. We were slowly becoming aware that this was going to be a rather hot day as it hit 20 degrees by 9am.  This wouldn't stop us from trying though. I used worm as a hook bait, one of the most natural hook baits I conjure up and my father stuck with his beloved corn.

                                        

 

   The wait begins.... 

 It was soon 1nil to the "old man" as he pulled out another slippery eel from the depths. I became impatient and not happy with my positioning, it was only when walking away from my swim that I noticed an overhanging tree in the water that look inaccessible. However, after poking around with my landing net handle I found that the vertical drop into the river wasn't a vertical drop, there was a ledge which could fit one angler on, that angler being me.

     My seat for the day - comfy...

I worked my way down into this un-fished swim and had a surge of confidence. It looked perfect. Although it was very near the weir, there appeared to be a slack under the tree which was only yards from where I would sit. I was surrounded by reeds which I left untouched to enable me to remain invisible to river. I dropped a few handfuls of hemp into the swim and baited my hook with a dendra. I then proceeded to carefully poke my rod tip through the reeds and drop my bait amongst the hemp. 

 

My bait of choice - The Dendra

                                                           

                                                                                                   

It was only a matter of  half an hour before the rod tip twitched, it then fell back again and I tightened the reel. Moments later the rod went round and I pulled into one angry fish. As I had hooked this fish only a couple of feet away it almost exploded beneath the surface of the water. I was fairly certain this was our target species and in no time at all! I was using 6lb line and a light avon rod so I had to take my time and allow the fish to tire itself but at the same time prevent it from burying itself into the cabbages on the opposite bank.  I shouted across to my father that I was in; "jammy git" was the response. The battle ended after around 5 minutes and it was in my landing net after a couple of attempts of netting. I was certain it was a double but after taking into consideration the net it weighed in a 8lb 7oz. I was both delighted and felt that I was proved correct that natural baits are the way forward. Keep an eye on my blog for new articles on my new approach for Barbel.

 

 My first Barbel of the season and one happy angler  

 A beautiful sunset to end a great session.

                                    

Tench Fishing on the Cotswold Water Park

It has been an aspiration of mine for the last couple of seasons to catch a good sized Tench. To most specimen hunters I guess this would be a fish of around 8-9lbs? This figure for me however would be significantly smaller having only caught Tench to 5lb, believe it or not from my local river; the Bristol Avon. To be fair I have never put the time in after being pre-occupied with Barbel fishing in seasons gone by so this season I have decided to put a focus on this most beautiful of summer species.Tench are synonymously a summer species so perhaps I  have started my campaign a little early, time will tell?

I headed over to the Cotswold Water Park armed with maggots, sweetcorn, hemp and ground Vitalin in hope of pulling out a Tench or two. I have been reading up on techniques and best ways to tackle gravel pit Tench and have found that it can be both good to fish in the margins and equally as good locating gravel patches amongst weedy areas.

We arrived at around 7am to glorious sunshine, the lake is around 8 acres and very picturesque. I can remember fishing it with my father perhaps 15 years ago for its inhabitants and catching a few small tench if my memory serves me correctly. The water was calm, there was little wind and it was a balmy 12C. We headed around the lake and located a nice corner to fish in which looked Tenchy. My brother Ollie fished one rod to the left against a snag and one in front of his feet. I located a clear spot about 35yards out with the marker rod set up and fired out 6 spombs full of a combination of ground bait and particles.

The day began well with Ollie landing a Tench of 4lb 8oz close in on his centrepin and then another about an hour later. For me however the day quickly went by without a bite. We were however anticipating our trip to Horseshoe with the Tench fishers in the coming week so a blank for me wan't the end of the world.


A few tench from the last couple of days on a different lake within the cotswold water park.

A couple of pretty Tench caught on worm in the margins using a classic Drennan Tench Float Rod and centrepin reel.

Perch on my Local Commercial - Part 2

Sunday

Well, after a break from the lakes and the closed season coming into place I thought it was about time I headed back to my local commercial in search of a PB Perch. It has been 2lb 5oz for 3 years and I felt it was about time I broke it.

I attempted to fish on Sunday; as I set up my rods a couple of drops of rain began to fall. A couple of drops of rain became a full blown rain storm. Thank God I bought my brolly! I sat under it for 3 hours without a break in the rain. It's not a bad place to be trapped; I was fishing at least...

As the rain began to ease I began to get bites on my float rod in the margin, little tugs on the worm indicated the presence of fish. Eventually the float buried and the rod bent slowly, the fish shook his head a few times before surfacing, a Perch, not a monster but perhaps around 1lb.

A welcome rest bite from the rain but unfortunately it wasn't a sign of things to come. I soon packed up and headed for home.

Tuesday

I couldn't help but to head back to my local lake, having started early at worked I finished early so off to my lake I went. I stopped at the shop on the way to pick up some frozen prawns, I would have preferred fresh but they would suffice. I got to the lake and thawed out the prawns in my landing net, surprisingly they were ready after only 5 minutes.

 I decided to fish tight in the margins having been inspired by another local angler by the name of Kev. He fishes only inches from his rod tip for Perch, I used a Drennan Tench Float Rod and Centrepin reel and dropped the my prawn hook bait into the margins.

I broke up perhaps 4 prawns into small pieces and chucked them out around my baited hook and started the waiting game. I have heard the lake contains 4lb Perch and has the potential to produce something bigger so hoped I would be the one to catch such a monster. I looked away only for a second and glanced back to my float and it had disappeared; this could mean only one thing... STRIKE

The rod arched over into a hoop and initially I thought I had hooked a Carp. It then began shaking its head and it was then I realized I was into what felt like a good Perch. They aren't the greatest of fighters but they have the ability to produce "heart-in-mouth" moments. Thankfully it slid over the net! Kev and my Dad had arrived so did the honours of weighing it in the the best of all weigh slings, a plastic bag. The dial read 2lb 9oz; finally... A PB!

 

A new PB and a very happy angler!

I was chuffed to say the least and it had been a long time coming! After putting it back in the lake a few swims up to prevent the swim from spooking my bait went straight back out again. Next it was Kev's turn with a fish of around a 1lb 1/4oz and then one of exactly 2lb on consecutive casts. My Dad struggled without a bite in the corner of the lake but he has the knack of catching a monster from nowhere, unfortunately tonight wasn't his night. I caught another of perhaps 12oz.

Day turned to night and we could no longer see our floats so we called it a session. On reflection my season has been a poor one in terms of catching specimen fish, the weather hasn't helped matters with rivers above the banks on more occasions than I can remember. This fish has made up for it though.

Tight Lines.

Fish Botherer

Pike Fishing in the Snow

Fishing in The White Stuff

As the days become shorter and the temperature drops below freezing the general consensus is to stay at home and keep warm, perhaps sit in front of an open fire...? Not me. The snow was the real icing on the cake ;)

                                          Only - 3.5 degrees...

The white stuff began to fall late on Thursday the 17th January and is still falling to a lesser extent as I type. Motorways became gridlocked up and down the country, flights were cancelled in their hundreds and schools were closed in their thousands. As I watched this event unfold in front of me only one thought came into mind. Pike Fishing.

When fishing in the snow, it is not just about catching a fish. It's about enjoying your surroundings by absorbing the atmosphere around you knowing that all that snow will be gone within a week or so. I believe it's a form of fishing that all anglers should experience. As one wise man once said. "There is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing." I couldn't agree more with this sentiment.

Preparation is key and personal safety should always come first.

Anglers should consider the following:

• A thermal suit of some kind ( I'm a great fan of the camo Navy Seals flotation suits.)
• A scarf
• A wooly hat
• Warm socks (neoprene)
• A pair of fleece lined boots
• A pair of mittens.
• A thermos of your favorite hot beverage
• A Mobile Phone
• Breakdown cover (you never know)
• Some food to keep your energy levels up. 
• A First Aid Kit (I'll tel you why later).

As I arrived at my local stretch of the Bristol Avon I was greeted by a dog walker - " You're not fishing in this are you..." - "You are dedicated." I also heard him mutter under his breath. -  "And mad". I simply smiled and nodded.

                                          Where has the field gone?

I already had a spot in mind and with only a few hours to spare it was a swim relatively close to the car. With Pike fishing I would normally choose the roving method to cover as many swims as possible but with little time to spare it was about choosing a spot that I knew usually contained fish; the question on my lips was... - "Will they feed?"

I put my thermal suit on, grabbed my bag full of gear and headed to my chosen swim. As I arrived on the bank ( I actually slid into my swim and then land on my backside.) I eyed up several pike looking haunts and began setting up my rods. I generally use fairly stout tackle, a pair of 3lb TC Fox Warriors and a couple of Shimano Baitrunners loaded with 15lb Berkley's line. I personally believe bait can be an individual choice, I'm personally a great fan of Mackerel for it's hardiness and Sprat for it's knack of catching me big pike. I went for the toughest bait today - The Mackerel.

                                                    My chosen bait - Mackerel

I cut the Mackerel in half attaching the tail end to one set of trebles and the head to the other and proceeded in casting one bait under a tree on the far bank and one hard to the left and tight to the bank. In these conditions a fishes metabolism slows down and as a result as does their feeding voracity. I always find that if you don't get a bite within half an hour the fish generally aren't in that spot. I can imagine a Pike's pectorals moving slowly as it hovers Kestrel like in one spot within the water waiting for fish to come to them. For this reason I target my chosen quarry with this mentality; casting in many different spots.

                                                   The traps were set. Now for the waiting game.

Half an hour went by without so much as a tap on my rods. As I looked over my left shoulder I spotted another angler by the name of Mark. We talked all things Pike including a monster 38lber his friend had caught from Chew on his first Piking trip! It was then that Mark mentioned about a lovely Chub of 5lb he had just caught further upstream on maggots. It was fin prefect and hopefully a sign the fish were feeding.

                                          A beautiful condition 5lb Chub. Well done Mark!

I jokingly said to him that he would have to come over and photograph my monster pike when I caught it to which he laughed. I recast  my left hand rod into a bit of flow on the far bank and moments later the rod sprang into action, I instantly opened the bail arm and let the line pour off to prevent the fish dropping the bait. I let it run for a few seconds and struck into what felt like a decent fish, it juddered through the water and then... It came off. Although frustrating this proved my previous theory correct as I had only been fishing perhaps 10feet away from the new spot without a bite in half an hour - moving led to bite on the drop!

I re-baited my trebles with fresh Mackerel on both rods and once again waited for a run. In the mean time I was joined by every anglers friend, little Robin Red Breast. Unfortunatley today I had only bought with me some fishy baits rather than ones of a wriggly kind; maggots. Maybe next time my little furry friend.

                                         A Robin Alarm... Who needs Delkims?

As I was watching the Robin hop from rod to rod she acted as a bite alarm flying off as my rod began to bounce slowly round to the left and back again. Once again I opened the bail-arm of the reel and allowed the line to trickle off  for perhaps 5 or 6 seconds this time. I then locked the reel in to position and pulled against the fish and felt a solid arm-wrenching resistance. Could this have been the fish I lost earlier? Perhaps? It felt like good fish.

She began taking vast amounts of line from my reel. I tightened down the clutch to prevent her from heading for the snag on the far bank. There was an almighty explosion in the water as the Pike rose from the depths attempting to throw the hooks with little success. The fight began to ease off and once again she rose to the surface, this time minus the tidal wave. A stunning looking Pike nestled beautifully in my awaiting landing net.

I lifted her out of the water and rested her on my unhooking mat and proceeded in removing the trebles from her mouth. She felt like a good double, but I didn't want to guess. Mark came across after hearing all the commotion - "Is it a good one?" He asked. As she lay resting in the water amongst the landing net we got the weighing gear out and lifted her from the depths. The scales went round and stopped at 17lb 12oz. So minus the 1lb landing net.. you guessed it it. She weighed 16lb 12oz. Not a giant amongst the Pike world but a beautiful fish to catch in such tough conditions.

                                          16lb 12oz of pure power. Esox Lucius

I cradled this stunning fish for a few photos and released her back to her watery world. It wasn't till I looked at my hand that I realized one of my fingers were pouring with blood.  It was that cold that I simply couldn't feel it! This is the reason I have included a First Aid Kit in my list of things to have with you whilst fishing (I will always carry one with me now). It is important to remember that Pike have razor sharp teeth so must be dealt with care when unhooking them. A big thanks goes to Mark who had the sense to carry a First Aid Kit with him; cheers mate!

It must also be considered that although rather ferocious in appearance Pike are delicate; treat them with respect and they will live to fight another day. Carry a pair of long forceps, short forceps and wire cutters at all times. I would recommend Fox as they offer a great range of Predator tools. If you do catch a Pike which is deep-hooked you can then cut the trace to allow for easier access if necessary.

                                                    Ouch - First Aid kit to the rescue!

So, to all you anglers who look out of the window and think "bugger that", maybe you should also have second thoughts. Head to your local stretch of river or a lake and give it a go.

Until the next time. Fish Botherer.

Commercial Fisheries - Perch

Perch on my local Commercial

My aim for the last couple of seasons has been to catch a 3lb Perch, with commercials becoming the source of a large percentage of big Perch I thought it only appropriate to head to my local commercial. I have caught Perch to 2lb 5oz so far from this lake and I have witnessed Perch to 2lb 15oz so I'm sure there is a 3lber in there somewhere. When targeting Perch I have always fished the margins, specifically amongst the reeds as that's where I believed they always were, hiding and waiting for their pray to come to them.

This season I have changed my approach, as it has been cold consistently for the last month or so I have come to the conclusion that the Perch are in the warmer water, in the deeper parts amongst the middle of the lake. The bait of choice for this lake has to be King Prawn,cooked and broken into half a piece.

I cast one bait out into the middle of the lake on a feeder rod using a bobbin as an indicator and also set up a float rod  and flicked that amongst the reeds in the margin. The bait cast in the middle of the lake was supplemented by spraying maggots to pull in smaller fish and inevitably a hungry Perch or two. An hour soon past with just a Perch of about 6oz to show for my troubles.

A bitter wind picked up and I started doubting my chances of catching, my mind began telling me to leave when my feeder rod bobbin slammed up against the rod. I grabbed the rod and struck upwards. The rod whipped around and arched over. I could feel the head shaking through the rod. A Perch for sure but how big? I unhooked it and placed it in a sack in hope and excited anticipation that the Perch were perhaps on the feed? Another hour went by and just like clockwork the bobbin shot up again and WHACK. Another Perch. This one looked slightly bigger, perhaps 2lbs?

 

A lovely brace

Both Perch were in beautiful condition and were beginning to fill with spawn. One weighed 1lb 14oz and the bigger 2lb 1oz. Not quite the 3lbers that I was after but hopefully signs of fish to come. Keep an eye on the blog in the coming weeks as I target the lake more exclusively for a 3lber.

Pike fishing on the Bristol Avon

My phone alarm let out its morning cry. "Who in their right mind would allow their alarm to ring at 6am on a Sunday morning?" An angler of course.

I pulled back the curtains and gazed through the misted windows, the grass was white and crisp, a light mist hung in the air. Perfect solitude.

I quietly fumbled around in my partially lit bedroom for my clothing, it would need to be warm and body hugging to combat the freezing conditions that lay in wait for me. I stumbled into my kitchen and boiled the kettle; a flask of coffee is a must in such conditions. I then proceed to load my car with the necessities. Unfortunately for my fiance she would also have to get up as I was dropping her back at her parents on the way to the river.

We set off on the short journey to my fathers; he would be accompanying me on the river bank today, hopefully to photograph all the fish I had dreamed about catching during the night... We loaded his gear into the car, we were intending to cover as much river as possible in our short window of time. After dropping off my fiance we headed for the river.

As we arrived at our destination we could just about make out the meandering river through the slowly clearing mist. The conditions were perfect, the river looked as if it was clearing and a slight pace was present.

 

After all of our kit was unloaded from the boot of my car and I had replaced my trainers with warm boots we headed upstream, away from the oncoming match anglers and hopefully towards our target species. We were here to catch fish but I couldn't help but record the beautiful scenery with several pictures capturing the beautiful morning landscape that laid in front of us. 

 Panoramic Bristol Avon

Misty River

 

A Touch of Frost

If you hadn't guessed already, we were after a fresh water crocodile, Esox Lucious, the Pike. A powerful, predatory yet delicate fish, a fish that would most certainly be the icing on the cake for us (no pun intended.)

Our aim was to rove, covering as many swims as possible hopefully persuading a few Pike to trip up on our freshly prepared sea dead-baits on the way.

I took a bucket with all what I consider crucial components on any pike session. 

• Forceps - Small and Large
• Wire Cutters 
• A pair of unhooking gloves
• Several adjustable wire traces 
• Leger weights and floats
• Some baits - Mackerel and Sprats.
• A camera (just in case)

After arriving at our first swim we set up our rods, using 15lb BS line, a 1.5oz lead to hold bottom and an adjustable wire trace. At the crucial end I used half a Mackerel on one rod and  a sprat on the other. My father echoed this. After perhaps only two minutes my dad had some movement on the end of his rod, it knocked and slowly went around. He struck and felt a solid resistance. Fish on! After several powerful surges, the pike held its grounds but eventually succumbed to the depths of my Fox Predator landing net.

A Pike just under 10lb

She was in cracking condition; fin perfect. After safely unhooking her I took a picture and slipped her back into the depths. One thing we both noticed was that on the gill plates were several lice which perhaps suggested the pike were not moving at the moment? Another reason to move from swim to swim, the only way to catch today maybe to land the bait on the pikes nose.

 Cobwebs - Frozen in time.

As the day progressed we found the session didn't quite live up to a great early start. We tried perhaps a dozen different swims to no avail. Maybe another couple of weeks of similar conditions would signal a change and the fish would begin to feed more voraciously? Only time will tell.

Two Rivers Meet.

 To sum it up, fishing isn't about catching fish, it is about enjoing the moment. Just you, a fishing rod and the countryside. Or as one person once put it " a bait at one end and a fool at the other..." Until the next time.