I bought a new centre pin reel via mail order last week, i couldnt help but laugh when i opened the box to find i had my first piece of fishing “bling”. The reel is supposed to come in a silver/grey colour but i had been sent the special edition gold coloured model instead for the same price. Should i change the name of the blog to “gangsta fisha”? – probably not.
Being keen to try out my new reel, i arranged a trip up to the river with Tony. The weather has been wet for the last few days and it was no surprise to find level up a couple of feet, and the river a dirty brown swirling cauldron. This rendered our usual swims unfishable so we decided to fish the swims closest to the car park for roach and dace.
As i have had a run of bad luck recently it came as no surprise that i lost the first two fish i hooked (both good sized roach) at the net. Funnily enough a change from barbed hooks to a new Kamasan barbless pattern did the trick as i went on to hook and land my next 7 bites which resulted in 6 cracking roach – smallest around 12oz and the largest well over a lb and also my first eel of the year.
It was good to christen my new reel by catching roach, as there are few finer looking fish than a scale perfect big redfin. The new reel worked like a dream, allowing me to hold back and run through in a far steadier and controlled fashion. It beats a fixed spool reel hands down when trotting through a swim.
Its good to fish when conditions are a little more challenging, you unlock a few more of the rivers secrets each time you go, sometimes you find out more when the going is tough than when the fishing is easy – i hope that was the case yesterday.
Uncategorised
Superb
Return To The Scene Of The Crime
Having agonised for the last few days over the big trout i lost on the Irwell, i decided to return to the scene of the crime for an evening session with beefed up tackle.
The river was 18inches higher than normal after heavy rain earlier in the day. I have previously called the Irwell Manchester storm drain, as all the run off from the roads, peoples roofs etc all ends up in the river. This means that the river can rise feet in a matter of hours after heavy rain, but also that the water levels can fall nearly as quickly, and whilst i fished for only a couple of hours yesterday evening the river dropped a good 9 inches in height.
However i should have thought about the effect of the cold water flushing through the river system as i endured a poor session, catching only a few small roach and chub.
I am going to blame river conditions for my poor catch rather than the stronger tackle that i have now decided to use.
I used the centre pin reel that Big Dave so kindly bought me for my birthday for the first time, and despite a couple of birds nest tangles i found it quite easy to use. It is most enjoyable to play fish on the pin as every thump and movement of the fish is amplified through the rod and reel to the angler – great fun – now i cant wait to catch a cracker on the pin, as i bet it will be a tremendous experience.
As always i stuck it out till nearly dark in the hope that a better fish might decide to take my bait in the failing light, but it wasnt ment to be.
Big Dave came down to the river to watch me fish for a few hours, and drink my tea and it was a pleasure to have such an experienced angler chatting and giving me tips as i was fishing.
Yet again i had trouble with bumping fish off the hook whilst playing them, size 16 BS520’s have always been a favourite of mine, but i think i am going to start having an experiment with different varieties. Mayber a wider gape hook will be better when fishing double maggot as the bait will be less likely to wrap itself over the point of the hook. I did think that maybe the rod i am using is not forgiving when catching smaller fish, but i use a 15ft Drennan Floatmaster which is designed for using light lines. Again i am going to have to experinment until i come up with a solution.
I hope to get out again on the river bank of Tuesday evening, and if i can get the fish feeding i will have a good mess about with different terminal set ups to see if i can make any improvements.
Square Lodge
So Near Yet So ………………………………Far
Ribble Again
We fished on until 10.30pm as the twilight seems to last for ever at this time of year. As we walked back down the banks, the bivvy boys were settling down for the night with beta lights and alarms glowing and primed for action. We asked a few of them if they had been successful, with only one of them reporting having caught a fish – an eel of about half a pound. This made me feel a little better about my limited success, but those of you who know meknow that i am not fazed by a lack of fish as i enjoy fishing just as much as catching fish.
I spent my first evening session of the season on one of my favourite lengths of the Irwell. As i knew Big Dave was coming i chose to fish the swim nearest to the car park. This proved to be a mistake as it only produced three minnows in an hours fishing.
Tony also came down to fish this evening, and he chose to fish one of the shallower swims behind the island. He only stayed for an hour as he wasnt feeling great but still managed to catch a couple of small chub.
After getting fed up of the first swim i moved 500yds up river to a swim i have enjoyed some success in before. I wasnt to be disapointed this time as during the next few hours i caught a succession of chub, roach, gudgeon and minnows. I love fishing at this time of the year as the twilight seems to last for ever, and this evening i was still fishing at 10.30!!!
Even though i didnt catch any of the bigger chub which inhabit this length of river, by feeding constantly i was getting bites and fish on a regular basis. I only had maggots as bait this evening so didnt have anything to bypass the smaller fish. I will be coming back to this swim in the next couple of weeks armed with hemp, caster and worm to see if i cant tempt some of the lunkers that were splashing about as night was falling.
An 8oz chub was my biggest fish of the session, but quantity compensated me for lack of quality.
Back To Normal
Good Times
Pilsworth Match Lake
Matthew and i had a couple of hours up at Pilsworth last night in search of carp, but we couldnt carch any thing other than Bream. Matt hooked into another decent fish, which took him straight across the lake and into the weeds. He is determined to bank a carp so it looks like we will be having another session together soon.
Its taken time for him to get the fishing bug, as i often think he accompanies me just to keep me happy. If he decides that carp fishing is the thing for him (which its not for me) then i dont mind spending a bit of time sitting behind a pod and buzzer bars, as long as he catches fish and learns to enjoy his fishing.
I am looking forwards to a trip out with Phil and Tony tomorrow as its the first day of the coarse season.