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

BESIDE THE SEASIDE

Hello to all

It has just dawned on me that I have not been coarse fishing in over a month now, If I'm honest I cant say I'm missing it..... for the moment anyway.

The rivers will be open soon so that will probably all change come the 16th but for now there is no finer place to be than down the seaside.I don't have a whole lot to report since the last post but lets try and keep this blog more regular,a climb down the rocks in the company of Neil and Moxey turned out to be very eventful.Not with the fishing mind,only the one Wrasse around the pound mark which I snared on a weed-less soft plastic fished texas style on a 10g sinker.

But aside from that, after fishing for around half an hour it dawned on us that we were stood on the dance floor of what looked like the aftermath of boy Georges birthday gang bang,not that have been to one of his bashes,or even been invited for that matter. But this quiet cave entrance was completely littered with used Johns, not to mention the many packs of lube strewn about, man can only imagine the carnage that went down on the rough terrain of the newly named Batty rock.

Pepe was not interested in our dirty discovery,he was busy exploring.Whilst working a lure over the rocks I looked round to see the dog almost nose to nose with a big ass seal,My god did I get a fright. Pepe was unperturbed as I franticly jumped down the rocks to scoop him up.Mr seal didn't give shit either he just lazily wallowed waiting for me to give him a fish,I told him there would be no fish as he had scared them all off but I don't think he understood.

Aside from the Wrasse I have been attempting to catch a flounder on lrf tactics,no flounder so far but a couple of Bass showed up for me and mox whilst bottom bouncing strips of Isome,I can tell you; when these things go on a 1-7g finesse rod you really know about it.

Mullet are also a worthy target for the light lure angler,myself and pal Jules had a great time targeting them on the Ultron finesse gear which makes for a right old tussle.

Til next time

Good luck

THIS IS HOW WE DO IT

Hello to all

Well what can I say? I have failed you on the regular blog updates.

Anyway since we last spoke I am pleased to say a shit load of fish have been caught by myself and my chums,I am struggling to know where to start as I have no shortage of material,so I will keep it brief and more of a catch report in gallery form.

I blame the release of Battlefield Hardline and the fact of there simply not being enough hours in the day to keep everything running smoothly.

 

 

It was screaming reels at Todber manor,I fished for the carp with a boiley only approach whislt Mal fished loads of pellet for an all out cat assault,the lake was very kind to us producing 33 catfish to 42 04 and 5 carp to 26 02.Malk had 28 of the cats mind, but I took all the carp and 5 slightly unwelcome cats to 30lb.Hella session!

SEA FISHING

LRF

I'm still loving the finesse fishing,my lure caught species list now sits on 31,

recently I have been experimenting with some new methods,well new to me.Whilst HRF fishing I have been using the jika rig and Texas rigs to present weedless slugs deep down in the rough stuff where the Ballans hang.

As allot of you will know these things go like stink and when hooking into them its a real hit and hold affair,this style of fishing has really got me going.Exploring new territory and climbing some proper dodgy terrain all adds to the excitement, especially when you finally find that special gully you just know screams Wrasse.

Til next time

Good luck

KILLING TIME

Hello to all

You know when you are really looking forward to something?Maybe a holiday or in my case a really special fishing trip to a venue that you know contains the fish of your dreams. Then, time seems to plod along at the pace of a snail.Yet when your are doing what you have been waiting for the clocks run at what feels like 30 seconds per minute, an it is over in a flash.This has certainly been the case for me lately,couple this with my preconception and fantasy's of cradling that monster fish with the reality of a miserable cold blank and your usually left with that feeling I would describe as disappointment.

Welcome to the world of specimen hunting! well, my account of it anyway.

I'm not an angler that turns up to a venue and expects to catch a whopper every time,that would be a stupid notion.Saying that I did fish a BLAC event up on the Thames which proved to be very tough.I blanked along with most other's but 2 exceptional Perch were caught during the match at 3lb 02 and 3lb 10 this along with the amazing news of a friend catching a 5lb 01oz triple whopper from another venue left me feeling,and I don't mind admitting, a bit sour,with myself not other's,anyway the point I was getting too was a joke I made to a competitor about turning up and catching easily.

I had just made my five thousand four hundred an fifty ninth fruitless cast of the day when a geezer dressed up as a Nazi solider crept round the bush near to where I was fishing.I turned to him with an expressionless face and said "this is rubbish, I thought Its 4lber's every time on the Thames?" he looked at me as if I had some dog shit on my chin and carried on his way probably thinking what a fool I was,I got the impression he had the sense of humour of the average twot that lives in my village but there you go.I also attended the Exeter match,which also was rock hard but I did get to spend the day in the company of Adam Kirby,who proved to be a bloody nice bloke and a top angler, and I also caught......which was nice.

your probably sensing my catch rate has not been the richest recently? that is true,I have spent allot of time on the banks suffering allot of things that rhyme with banks,tis not all doom and gloom tho,I have managed to trick a few of our finned friends, the highlight being a 21lb 8oz river Pike.But it is the striped ones I really want and I'm buggered if I'm packing away the perch gear until I get a big one!

A bit more LRF in the evenings has produced countless sprack pollack and a unusual capture of an Alice shad.


Til next time

Good luck

PLENTY OF FISH

Hello to all

With January gone in what felt like the blink of an eye I'm beginning to think this year will be done before I even know it. My angling diary is already looking very busy,Which is a good thing but it highlights how little time in life there is to do the thing's we all love,but on a good note the evenings are becoming increasingly lighter and we will be soon feeling the warmth of spring.

I have not the time to wait for warmth an fair weather,as I am what you may call an angling addict;I need to be waterside at least a couple times a week be it a session or a quick chuck of lures. plus the fact we've finished Sons Of Anarchy and True Detective,so now I'm bored shitless of watching  movies and playing video games an other mundane things we all do to pass the time of a winters evening.

It may be cold and dark out there but the fish don't mind and there still in the water for those willing to brave such situations. LRF has been the key to beating the boredom,

For those of you that are unfamiliar with the term LRF this means light rock fishing,an art that is rapidly growing in popularity along with the ultra light lure fishing and dropshotting.The aim of the game is to use super light tackle and small lures to target the many types of small fish that live around our coastlines.Trust me this is great fun and often throws up a surprise or two.

A quick Dip on a slack tide did Me and Neil a bite a chuck,Micro fry or small curly tales on 2g jig heads were being smashed up by the Pollock that were shoaling in a dockland taxi channel, on a 1-8g finesse rod these little sprack's proved to be fine sport.

On another recent trip to the sea I caught the smallest fish I have ever had on a lure,come to think of it he may be the smallest fish I have ever caught on rod and line full stop.The Pollock Were not there in numbers this time so I scaled right down to a tiny piece of Isome mounted on size 10 1g jig head to target the mini beasts that can be found tight into the grooves of the steel piles that hold the place together,after a few fruitless drops I received the lightest of plucks, a gentle lift was made and I had caught a fish.Me or Neil neither knew what it was but a quick look on tinternet confirmed I had caught my 24th species on a lure,that being an epicly  small Sand Goby.

Aside from the lure fishing another trip up the M5 in search of them Zander was made,unfortunately I did not have much luck.The freezing cold conditions and ice in the margins may have had something to do with that but never the less we held on well into dark as the day had produced chuff all.

 
As you can see from the photo above we didn't blank, Danny had a pb Zed of 7lb's on the nose, I also managed to get one too.Not the monster I have been dreaming of but non the less the target species.

Til next time

Good luck