CANAL CROCKIN

Hello to all

As I write this piece I can hear the generic drone of a must spend all the money you own on shit for Christmas commercial.Now I'm not a Scrooge or grump but I will admit this is my least favourable time of year,mainly due to the harsh weather and lack of sunlight.This time last year I was sat on a sports fishing boat sipping rum,smoking high quality cigars and partying my time away with the beautiful people of Cuba.....

A far cry from recent day to day life.I mean the weather has been proper rough here in the south west as late.so rough that it has scared off the majority of anglers from even looking at there rods,once again mother nature had scuppered my plans for the weekend and I woke up Saturday morning with not much of an agenda,The wind was howling through the streets of Topsham like the apocalypse was on its way,old ladys were being blown about like the lottery balls as I waded my way through it all to fetch a wake up call from the local cafe.

with my stomach now happy I now needed to scratch another itch,that being the disease that is angling.Stepping out in such conditions is not exactly inviting,more like essential! either way I spoke to Moxy who is just as dumb and desperate as me when it comes to catching Pike and so it was,a quick load up of the pike tools into the van and off to get blown inside out on the canal with Mox and Pepe.With a bait rod plus a lure setup each, we planned to cover the water spending 20 minutes or so in each swim.Thankfully the first swim produced 2 fish almost straight away,one on each method too!had the winds whipped em up into a feed? the lack of action over the forth coming few hours answered that notion,just another small jack and a greedy perch of a pound or so was our reward for hanging on.

The next day was even dirtier than the last,I even spent the morning trawling consumer zombie lands for a new freezer,I mean how boring is that,Comet was numbing the shit out of me when again old Mox was on the blower,He talked me into going back down to the wind tunnel,I didn't need much convincing mind.

We started as we began the previous day but the wind was to much so we opted to find somewhere a bit more sheltered where we could settle for the afternoon to soak a few baits.After casting out the traps I kept my self busy fanning a lure around the swim when out of the blue my float rod was away,I was really excited as I wound down.For some reason I was expecting a big fish but a sprat sized jack was no big fish,still we were off the mark.

I continued to work the Replicant twist using a number of different retrieves when Bingo, a speed up of the lure provoked a savage take! the tip of my rod hammered down as a few yards of braid crunched off the heavily set clutch.This aint no jack I enthused to Mox.She went berserk for a while but our charms persuaded her otherwise,a lean double was my prize.

 Minutes after slipping her safely back Mox's dropback indicator clanked against the metal bank stick,the line was pissing off the spool at a rate of knots.Mox was now into something intent on snapping his rod,the fish held stubbornly deep and although perfectly in control of the fish, Mox had that slightly worried look on his face.The nerves were settled minutes later as he scooped the net round a huge framed canal Crocodile.....Buzzing!

Well done mate, fully deserved.

For more canal pike fishing check out this weeks Angling Times,where I explain my methods in more detail.

Til next time

Good luck

SCRATCHING ABOUT

Hello to all

After a fairly long slog of a weeks work, I set my self the pain staking task of sorting my fresh water predator gear for my up coming assault on all things toothy.

after a good rummage round the house I had managed to gather myself a huge pile of goods,something that resembled a hand grenade being lobbed into the local tackle shop.I reunited myself with some faithful old bits but without getting too nostalgic I did wonder how the hell I had built up such a collection,the realisation of having to sort through such a mess had me a bit cold, but needs must.

With predatory plans in the diary I had found the inspiration I needed to get the chore done,I must admit that it felt good to have all the gear in order,Perch,Pike and Zander watch out!

Fishing-wise I have still been on the salt water tip trying to catch a big Bull huss,these things are definitely my bogey species of the moment.The amount of hooked fish I have lost and unmissable bites I have struck with chuff all on the end are uncountable.Such is angling I guess,there's nothing wrong with the rigs and hooks!The rough ground I have been fishing also provides home for many other species which can prove entertaining whilst waiting for the bigger traps to be sprung.

That point being proven by my buddy James Nicolls here with a fine Ballan Wrasse and a specimen rockling taken whilst fishing for Bull Huss.I think I will have to wait until next year to get a big Huss,I may have missed my chance plus the fact that I need to concentrate more on the freshwater side of things now.
That being said I took a trip out with the dog and some other angling chums to a small commercial that I had not visited in a few seasons to reacquaint myself with still-water and see if any Perch were about.

The weather was ridiculously hot for November,so hot I had to take my shirt off and scare all the fish away with my pale complexion.That may of been the reason for a bite-less morning but I still remained confident and didn't really care to be honest,I was content enjoying the warmth and surroundings.With two livey's out in prime spots and a lure rod to explore the water with it was just a case of waiting for the light to drop a bit and keep on casting the lure in the hopes of provoking something with stripes.

Eventually my persistence paid off as the livey that I had placed amongst some old pads got slammed.It felt a goodun and was scrapping like a bitch,I have heard people say that perch don't fight....wrong.
A fish of around two pounds had given me the proper run around,I thought it was going to be a big perch but what he lacked in size he made up for with aggression.I was pleased to be off the mark with my first stripey of the season and went on to catch a couple more which made my day.

Til next time

Good luck

WATER BOYZ

Hello to all

What can I say..... no blog for 2 months,that's a bloody poor show! since I last wrote on fish tales allot has happened in my angling life.As I mentioned in my last couple of posts,I fished my way to the final of the Fox Rage salt water British lure angling championships.To cut the story short I ended up taking the trophy and a £500 prize package to which I donated to get hooked on fishing.On the day I managed to tempt 14 species which clinched me the podium finish.The highlight for me was catching a rare leopard spotted goby,I love Goby's.

On another LRF trip I caught myself a small Coalfish Which brings my ultra light lure caught tally to 34 species.Im sitting here struggling to think how to write up 2 months of angling,its been a busy day at work and the thought of looking at the computer all night is not  a good one so I will keep things brief and let the pictures do the talking for now and try to keep things a bit more regular in the future.

I have been spending an awful amount of time hanging around various coastlines having a great time learning about sea fishing.Catching fish from the shore gives me a real buzz and sense of achievement.A few of my other coarse fishing pals have also caught the sea fishing bug but that's not to say the freshwater predators wont be targeted when it gets a bit colder but for now every fish from the sea is a result and to say I am enjoying it would be an under statement. 

A stand out moment would have to be a session on Budleigh Salterton beach that I spent in the company of Ty and Pepe,we opted to fish a quick evening session in the hopes of getting a few bites,I really wanted to catch my first flat fish as I had heard there had been some nice Plaice being caught in the area but the worm baits I put out for the flatties were to much for the hordes of pouting and whiting to resist.

The evenings draw in far to quick for my liking, it was soon dark and we were running low on bait which led me to sack off a rod and switch the remaining over from a worm flapper to a pulley pennell with one of the bait stealing pout as the bait, after-all we all know where there are concentrations of bait fish the predators wont be far behind,plus the fact I was fishing after a few days of harsh onshore winds which often sees the larger fish move close in to feed on the freebies left buy the sea's rough conditions.

An hour or so passed and we were now at the top of the tide,despite it being spot on for a big ol Bass I was feeling hungry and decided that I was going to do one,after a quick natter with Ty I walked over to my rod and it gently nodded twice.I wound down to inspect the enquiry and the rod started to bend and bend and bend some more until it was at the full test curve.I stared to howl at Ty to get the head torch as a heavy fish took off in the surf towards Exmouth.My thoughts were that of a donkey Bass,but when I eventually hauled it to land we were all gob-smacked at what laid on the beach.

    

My first Cod 15lb 8oz,I was one happy angler and one jammy git to boot! looks like the fish has had a close call with a seal by the looks of its tail.  

       

Til next time

Good luck

LORDS OF THE MANOR

Hello to all

I hope you have been catching lots of fishes and enjoying the summer!

Summer used to mean lots of lazy days sat behind rods in the hopes of catching Carp and Catfish,but since I have been infected by the lure bug my efforts towards these species has taken a bit of a dive.Not that it matters as I am loving my fishing and that is all that matters so what the hell am I banging on about?

Well I keep looking at my lovely set of carp gear sat dormant gathering dust and thinking to myself that I must get out and give the Horizons a good flexing.Back in the winter I was invited to a catfish fish in at Todber manor with the motley crew of the region 12 ( Somerset )Pike anglers club,

A few months passed and the time had come to load the gear into the van,head up to Dorset and give those rods a good bashing.upon arrival the lads were itching to get going,but not before Paul Western presented us all with some excellent t shirts he had knocked up in his sweatshop,I mean factory.Anyway we drew swim numbers from a hat to keep things fair and as luck would have it I drew a nice little peg with an island feature a short chuck in front of me and some lovely reedy margins flanking my swim.Old Mox had drew the peg next door to me so if anything we would have a laugh even if the fishing was shit.

Thanks for the shirt Paul,spot on!

It was a boiling hot day so after lathering myself in crem de sol and setting up my home for the weekend , cracked a beer and mused on my tactics for the session.I know this was meant to be a cattin trip but I had Carp in mind and after having a bit of a lead around I found a silty patch located at the bottom of the island shelf,on this I presented 2 naked choddy's either side of the feature and pulted out a bunch of boileys around the area.After giving the line a moment to sink and settle I attached the bobbins and began the waiting game.

The going was slow on the lake and the first night only produced a lone Cat of around 10lbs which fell to a whole squid on one of Moxey's rods.Not the haul we were all hoping for but as we all knew cats can be very fickle,nevermind,we still had another night ahead of us and a day time bite is not unheard of.I was a bit peeved that I had not had an inspection of either of my pop ups so I wound in and put on fresh glugged baits with a plan to cast singles around over the course of the day whilst keeping an eye on the area I had been baiting.

An hour or so later I was boiling the kettle to fix a brew when I noticed the limp line tightening on the rod I had pubbed to a reed-line past the right hand side of the island.the alarm was yet to sound but before it did so I piked up the rod and wound down the slack to be met with what felt like the bottom,a bit of pressure was applied which woke the fish up and sent it ape-shit.The line was being ripped of my reel as the fish went on a huge unstoppable run to my left getting her self round the back of the flippin island.I had the worst angle on the fish and could feel the line grating on the side of the island,this left me no choice but to strip off and get into the drink to get a clean angle on the fish and do some serious arguing with what was clearly a good Cat.I got into the lake and made my way along the reeds to get to the channel between the islands,thankfully I persuaded the fish to come out into clear water.A few tense minutes passed before she gave up to the charm of mox's seamless netting skills.

Its wasn't until we had the fish on the mat did I realise how big she was,the gutt was huge.She had certainly been living the good life.At 62 10 I had landed myself a UK PB beating my last by 8 ounces! on a chod rig of all things.After a few snaps it was time for her to go back into the pond,I held her for a moment before she swam off strongly to go and fill her face again I imagine.

 What a result! I wasn't about to win any prizes for clever angling mind,what a jammy git.The second night was a bit more active with a few of the lads taking cats in the dark,all in all we had a great laugh and managed to bank a few kippers in the process, so cheers to Paul Curry for organising the jaunt and here's to next years smash up.

If your not already bored of seeing Mullet and Bass pictures, here's another fine example of the fun that can be had using ultra light lure tackle.

Til next time

Good luck

GONE FISHING

Hello to all

I cant believe that its nearly August already!!! where does time go?

If you have been following the British lure fishing championships you will know that a salt water series has been added to the roster for 2015.

I attended the very first BLAC salt water event which was held at Portland near Weymouth,I have always wanted to have a go there as I have seen many awesome pictures of big Wrasse as well as some hefty Bass posted up on facepaint.The rules for the saltwater comp differ to the freshwater heats as it is all about the number of different species caught rather than overall length,Which I think makes for a much fairer and interesting challenge!

It was a scorching day with a light breeze blowing, perfect Wrasse conditions I thought.My plan was to try and bag a Ballan at the start of the match then search around rockpools and slacks to try and maximise my species count,I had both LRF and HRF rods to hand but it was the latter that I started with in the hopes of a pig of a Wrasse.The terrain looked amazing and certainly wasn't for the faint hearted.after spending around an hour casting slug like soft plastics on the Texas rig, I had caught bugger all and was staring at a blank scorecard,I couldn't find a Ballan or a Pollock, so it was time to break out the spracking setup and go scratching.

I setup a size 14 hook on a leader of 6lb fluro carbon to which I mount a sliding 4g olivette sinker,I dropped a small peice of Isome worm into a dark slack spot which instantly scored me a long spined sea scorpion.

Happy days I love those little creatures,after exploring a few more spots I had caught 4 Corkwing Wrasse which I was really pleased with but wondered where the hell the Ballans had got to? (the capture of the Corkwing puts me on 32 ultra light lure caught species) 

With only 2 species on my score-sheet I decided to target the rockpools,the trouble was that most of them had already been plundered by other anglers but eventually I found Tyrone Norah winkling a few Shanny out of a secret pool he had discovered,I sneaked in and managed to poach a Shanny of my own which put me on 3 species just in time to make it back to the car park for the results.

I was pipped of the podium finish on the biggest fish rule as me and Julian Chidgey had both caught 3 species each,he caught a Ballan Wrasse that was 2 cm larger than my biggest Corkwing.That twice now,last time it was a matter of a single centimetre that done me out of a top spot at Ferry meadow last year,still a place in the final will do nicely at this stage.

 Devon boyz rule!

On other exploits I have been back after the Bass and Mullet on light tackle, a truly marvellous way to kill a few hours.I also caught my first Spotted Ray thanks to the guidance of my buddy Jon Goodfella's Pattern so thanks for that mate,was a good crack and a hell of a hike.

Til next time

Good luck

PREDATORS IN THE DAM

Hello to all

As you may have now gathered I have been turned into a bit of a lure nut, Ultra light finesse style especially.Without sounding to romantic I can honestly say it has brought back the fun element into my day to day angling.Which is invaluable as we all go fishing to enjoy our selves right?

Last Year myself and Mox booked ourselves Some flights to Amsterdam,now we all know what goes on in the Dam but this was just an innocent fishing trip.....honestly
For those of you that have not visited the city is a beautiful place and its seems like no matter where you may be you will never be further away than a stones throw from some water containing Zander (or Shnookbah as they are known to the Dutch ) and the ever present Perch.

Our first stop was to be the nearest tackle shop so we could seek some local knowledge and licences,we got the documents no problem but the geezer in the tackle shop was useless when it came to info,I think he'd been puffing on Amsterdam's finest or perhaps he didn't like the English,either way we came out the shop with a few lures but chuff all regarding the hotter spots of the labyrinth of water we were about to embark on.

Fear not,After a shit load of walking, snagging and casting old Mox's rod arched over and it wasn't a plastic bag or some old crap from a houseboat.After a short battle I did the gentlemanly thing to do of scooping the first Schnookbar of the trip!

I went back to the hotel fish-less that night but whilst making our way back we bumped into another street fisher who kindly invited us out on his boat the next day,turned out this dude ( Leo )is a top guide that knows his way round the maze very well,talk about right place right time.

The next day we met up and headed to the marina were Leo's boat is moored,I couldn't believe my eyes when he pulled the cover off her.this was a serious bit off kit,fitted with just about everything known to man in terms of fishing technology.Leo took us out to a huge rig of some sort situated smack bang in the main part of the river,P&O ferries went past us to give you a picture of the size and depth of the water.

I sat back in the luxury leather swivel seat with a drop-shot rod in one hand and a beer in the other,Buoootiful;it wasn't long before my lure was inspected,a gentle lift saw me connect with a feisty perch of around a pound or so,My next drop produced a lovely sprak sized Zed.

I was lovin life,teasing Leo about me thrashing him on his home turf.He soon replied with a zed that could of eaten mine for breakfast,next came a double hook up with Mox and Leo simultaneously playing fish Mox was unfortunate as his made an escape,We were on some fish alright.

The wind started to blow a bastard so Leo suggested we went into the inner city canal to troll small crank baits for Perch.bloody nice bloke that Leo and if you are thinking of fishing Amsterdam I would suggest getting in contact with him via his facebook page Predator fishing Amsterdam,trust me this guy will put you on some fish even when the going is tough.

The trip out on the boat was great but we still had two more days of casting from the bank,Thankfully the fishing was allot better than our first day on the street.Both of us caught both species at a pleasing rate. Couldn't of asked for more really,other than a kipper of a zed but hey you cant have it all.

 The rest of the time was spent brushing up on the Bible.

Til next time

Good luck

SALTY DAZE

Hello to all

The time has come for me to go out and get my hands on some dedicated sea fishing tackle,this salt water fling is turning into more of a full blown affair.I almost feel like I'm cheating on my fresh water friend's.

The other day I found one of them tripod things ( that the fella's on the beach use ) under a rarely moved pile of tackle belonging to my old man.I took it out for a quick bait session for bass where I planted a couple of carp rods fitted with standard fixed spool reels on it.Basic running rigs on both rods with peeler crab for bait and 3-4oz leads which just about did the job of holding bottom was how it went down.

I sat back admiring my cobbled together set-up,it looked awesome in my eyes but I'm sure any proper sea angler would not agree,anyway just as the tide was about to reach its limit my left hand rod slammed over.I wound down and connected,the sea noddy strikes again I thought to myself ; after a spirited tussle I banked myself a beautiful Bass of 3lbs,no monster but I have only caught them on lures and live baits from a boat previously so I felt it was a bit of an achievement.

Another salty day

I was kindly invited to join Mox and Seb on-board Sebs friend Mikes boat that he runs out of Watchet harbour,upon arrival I noticed an immediate problem.There was no water in the harbour leaving the boat sat stranded on the mud.Not a problem replied Seb "we set tackle and drink beer" he said,Sounds like a plan pal.

After a good catch up over a can of strong Polish lager the water had flooded in setting it all good for the go,We were soon on our way out of the harbour making our way into the mighty Bristol channel.Conger and Thorn-back ray were the target species and it wasn't long before my squid bait was being investigated,tap tap tap was met with a strike.I could feel a fish thumping away in the strong tide,I soon was leading a dogfish to the boat.A few more doggy's made an appearance before I hit into something that felt like the bottom,I soon realised it wasn't the deck of the sea and got my crank on.

Kinda felt like a plastic bag that had the ability to perform the odd glide,sensations were all pointing towards a Ray of some sort so I wasn't surprised but very pleased when a nice Thorn back hit the surface.

My first ever Ray,What an amazing creature it was too! with all those sharp spikes and the lovely mottling pattern make them a awesome looking fish.Another first was the capture of a Conger eel,now I have seen plenty of them being caught on the box and web and some bloody big ones to boot,but my first must have been around 6lbs hardly the loch ness monster but a conger non the less.Moxy had a larger one that fought like stink in the tide but again not really a proper'un.

Through the use of what I think is called a T bar all the eels were effortlessly unhooked an sent on there way,good job we had it an all as I would rather unhook a big shark than put my hand near one of those skwirmy chaps.We had a great day out with Mike so thanks buddy and here'to a big eel next time.


Til next time

Good luck