PREDS AND BLUES

Hello to all

Regular readers of this blog and football fans may have noticed that I have canned my rants and unbiased views on the goings on in the Premier League, After all this is meant to be a fishing blog but then again it is also my blog so what the hell. My beloved Everton are flying very high, playing some great football and scoring freely from open play which is far cry from the classic ways we Evertonians have become accustom to. But now with all the new quality signings we look invincible....Well not from referees!, which brings me to mention the fact we have been shafted out of 4 points already this season due to the fact that the refs we have had are complete bellends. I was fumin at the ref during the Newcastle match and then a further case of the ref needs glasses the other week against Wigan,  Daylight roddery!!! fishing time now.

October is here already! and the summer has passed us in the blink of an eye . As you know I have done allot of river carping this season and faired quite well for that matter, but for me the Autumn  fills my mind with thoughts of hungry predators wreaking havok on the more friendly course fish. Perch and Pike are at the top of my hitlist for now so I have made a couple of trips in search of both.

First on the agenda, a session on a small commercial with me ol mate Neil Edgar. Perch were the target species and the conditions were pretty much spot on.The lake was devoid of any other anglers which gave me the chance to rove the water and explore the various lilly beds and overgrown corners which provide home to the striped ones. Livebaits are my number one choice when targeting perch and after gathering a few decent golden Rudd I was ready to go.

 I didn't have to wait long for a bite and was soon guiding a perch of around 2lb into the net. On this occasion I was using two rods and soon after unhooking the fish and recasting, the other rod was away which again saw me land another plump fish of similar size to the last. The perch were in a really aggressive mood and the bites were coming thick and fast. I fished a few swims that day and all but one produced a Perch or two.

As I pointed towards earlier I have also been doing a spot of Pike fishing,October brings the official start to the traditional Pike fishing season. For some this means nothing but as I fish for other species during the warmer months this time is very exciting for me. If I'm honest  I did do a quick pre season deadbait session on the river which rewarded me with two small but very accountable Pike of 9lb and 12lb, Both fish fought so hard as they tend to do this time of year.

On another session I made a reasonably long drive up to the Midlands to again fish for Pike, the venue for the day was predominately a carp water. For a fishery of around 10 acres it had a very healthy stock of Carp but along with them also swim a few decent size Crocs. I arrived just after first light to find many bivvys dotted around the lake, the wind was pushing into a quiet back bay which also had access to a deep island feature. Fortunately this area was free from any carp anglers so I quickly dragged my gear to the swim and tackled up two simple running ledger set-ups. I started of with a deadbait on each rod, on the close range rod I opted for a whole sardine whilst on the other a large mackerel tail that had been soaked in pure salmon oil. After catching a couple of decent skimmers I switched the sardine over to a livey and sat awaiting a visit from old Esox,I fed minced fish ground bait over the livey to create a scent trail for the Pike to home in on and find poor old Mr skimmer. Patience was certainly the order of the day as the option of mobile Piking was not on the cards,the morning passed without as much as a sniff but by mid afternoon I had a ripper of a take on the livebait.I hit the run and made brief contact with a fish but seconds later the hooks pulled grrrr!. I sat there for an hour or so having a bit of a sulk and out of the blue I had a take on the deadbait giving me a much appreciated second chance. Not wanting to make the same mistake twice I swept the rod back over my shoulder to be met with ( to my relief ) a solid resistance,The 3.25 tc Fox warrior deadbait rods I use make easy work of setting hooks at range. And so I was in for a tussle with what felt like a lump of a fish. After a great scrap and some proper water thrashing tailwalks I had subdued what looked like my first twentyof the season.

 

The scales proved me wrong weighing in at 18lb 14oz but franckly who gives a ratts!, what a corker to kick off the season.

 

 

Up the Blues!

 

 

Til next time

 

Good luck