I will never get tired of fishing for and catching tench but when Phil called to invite me to fish a tributary of the Warwickshire Avon which he has had permission to fish for a couple of years I jumped at the chance.
I already knew that Phil had caught a barbel of 8lb already this season and that the stretch held fish to around 13lbs but now he warned me that these are not easy fish to catch as they are few in number, despite this when he picked me up at teatime I was keen to get started.
Travelling light is often the order of the day in these small river situations and over the years I have put together more or less the right kit for the job including the lightest adjustable carp chair I could find and a fly fishing waistcoat for all the necessary bits and pieces (ok you look a bit of a prat but I wouldn't be without it!).
Phil headed for a small weir pool where he caught his eight pounder and I settled in downstream and just around the corner from him in steadier water and here we stayed as roving was pretty much ruled out by several anglers fishing on the far bank.
Fishing relatively small lumps of meat, I opted for sensible sized baits due to an influx of rainwater the previous evening, I had to wait long periods between bites and when they came they were indecisive, lame affairs and each time the strike resulted in becoming snagged. I think eels were the culprits.
As darkness began to fall I walked up to see Phil and he'd just netted his only fish a bream of maybe 3lb, so I decided to give it another half an hour. Shortly after returning to my swim I had a more decisive pull on the tip, struck and was solid again, I climbed up the bank to get a better angle and the fish was free and soon to be landed. A chub of possibly 3lb at a push had saved the blank and I was delighted to see him, I packed up very soon after.
Monday, 29 June 2009
Friday, 26 June 2009
Chasing Bubbles
The last number eight finished its descent and the float cocked fully to become a small black dimple on the mirrored surface, thirty seconds of time passed then deliberately and without warning the black dimple slid beneath the surface. A sweeping strike to the side met heavy resistance and the unseen protagonist charged towards open water and the centre of the lake, the combination of backwinding and a correctly set clutch on the okuma reel dealt comfortably with the runs of the fish while the carbon rod absorbed the sudden lunges close to the net. A good tench rolled on the surface in a last ditch attempt to escape before she slid over the rim of the net.
The fish was well over five pounds and in stark contrast to the good sized tench I caught at Napton Reservoir recently these fish are in pristene condition and would seem to be much younger. So the ideal start to our latest short session, having struggled and caught nothing on my previous visit to Ryton I had now caught a fish within minutes of arriving, everything, for once, was going according to plan. The plan was formed as a result of my last experience when I attempted to build a swim by feeding reguarly with sweetcorn, pellet and groundbait, and it proved a resounding failure with bubbling fish appearing and disappearing at random intervals and not neccesarily over the baited area, my dad had, meanwhile, caught four good tench by loosefeeding corn sparingly. I summised that rather than build a swim it would be more beneficial to feed less and attempt to ambush cruising fish.
So, on arrival at Ryton on a bright and sunny Thursday afternoon my opening gambit was to sprinkle sweetcorn in small quantities at various points around the swim, I plumbed the depth and set the float to the deepest point of the swim. The instant result with the five pound tench was, however, a little misleading with regards the success of my masterplan as the next three hours were a bit of a struggle. Casting around the swim to patches of bubbles eventually resulted in two further fish of around three and four pounds while my dad fishing next door, feeding sparingly and fishing in the one spot caught two tench and a perch.
Tench bubbles surrounding or approaching your float as you bask in idylic surroundings and early morning sunshine represents the perfect early season angling scenario, just ask Mr Crabtree, but in situations when I am seeing lots of bubbles and not getting many bites I always think back to an article I read way back in the 80s. The author of article in question was adamant that these tench bubbles, rather than being a result of the fish feeding, were released when the fish are scared. I'm not convinced either way but it is food for thought.
The fish was well over five pounds and in stark contrast to the good sized tench I caught at Napton Reservoir recently these fish are in pristene condition and would seem to be much younger. So the ideal start to our latest short session, having struggled and caught nothing on my previous visit to Ryton I had now caught a fish within minutes of arriving, everything, for once, was going according to plan. The plan was formed as a result of my last experience when I attempted to build a swim by feeding reguarly with sweetcorn, pellet and groundbait, and it proved a resounding failure with bubbling fish appearing and disappearing at random intervals and not neccesarily over the baited area, my dad had, meanwhile, caught four good tench by loosefeeding corn sparingly. I summised that rather than build a swim it would be more beneficial to feed less and attempt to ambush cruising fish.
So, on arrival at Ryton on a bright and sunny Thursday afternoon my opening gambit was to sprinkle sweetcorn in small quantities at various points around the swim, I plumbed the depth and set the float to the deepest point of the swim. The instant result with the five pound tench was, however, a little misleading with regards the success of my masterplan as the next three hours were a bit of a struggle. Casting around the swim to patches of bubbles eventually resulted in two further fish of around three and four pounds while my dad fishing next door, feeding sparingly and fishing in the one spot caught two tench and a perch.
Tench bubbles surrounding or approaching your float as you bask in idylic surroundings and early morning sunshine represents the perfect early season angling scenario, just ask Mr Crabtree, but in situations when I am seeing lots of bubbles and not getting many bites I always think back to an article I read way back in the 80s. The author of article in question was adamant that these tench bubbles, rather than being a result of the fish feeding, were released when the fish are scared. I'm not convinced either way but it is food for thought.
Tuesday, 23 June 2009
Memory Lane
There's nothing I like more than having a good chat with an old friend about days gone by, especially when it comes to fishing. The friend in question was my old school friend and angling partner Phil, we have always stayed in touch despite my 23 year exile in various locations throughout the south of England, I phoned on Sunday for a general chat really but, as it always will, the conversation turned to fish and fishing, and to cut a long story short, we soon found ourselves at Coombe Pool for a little look round.
Built as part of the great Capability Brown's contracted re-landscaping of the Coombe Abbey grounds in 1771 Coombe Pool is the second largest body of water in Warwickshire and was to be a piscatorial Mecca to me throughout my childhood, very few waters in the region at that time had a reputation for either big fish or big weights of fish, Coombe Pool was known for it's big bream and 100lb catches were possible.
It's a good ten or fifteen years since I've been to Coombe and the memories were soon flooding back as we walked through the gates towards the lake. My earliest memories are of travelling by bus with my oldest friend Greg, we would catch the first number 7 of the day from Coundon into Pool Meadow and then catch another bus to take us out to Binley, we then marched (with full sets of tackle) on towards the fishery along Brinklow Road. A fallen tree across the stream behind a peg somewhere in the 80s provided a handy bridge and a useful shortcut to get us onto the water and on we would go to the furthest swims deep in the woods. At the end of the day we would endure the journey in reverse.....all in a days work for keen young anglers of the day, we took the bus everywhere were gone for 12 hours and your mum didn't need to worry. Simple, happy days!
These early expeditions were often fruitless of course as Coombe is no easy water but as time went on and I became more competent I did begin to catch some fish. I had some limited success fishing Courtaulds AS matches with my dad, these were often fished on pegs in the high numbers and would be won with 2 or 3lb of roach or a single bream but they proved valuable in terms of learning to 'scratch' for fish as my dad would put it.
In the mid eighties, now reguarly fishing with Phil, we really got stuck in to Coombe, with the confidence of youth we reckoned ourselves to be good anglers and felt we had earned the right to spend many hours in Fred Blacows shop on Holyhead Road drinking his coffee. We reguarly fished the big 100 peg opens at the water, The Coventry Championships and The Billy Lane Memorial, finding ourselves in a mans world probably for the first time. Enveloped in cigarette smoke in the Coombe Social Club, surrounded by tables of men eating fried breakfasts, some drinking pints (it was 8am) some were eating a breakfast, drinking a pint and smoking all at the same time, some wore match fishing team livery others looked like they hadn't slept, some looked like they would be more at home rustling sheep, some faces I knew, we were rubbing shoulders with the likes of Ivan Marks and Frank Barlow. The atmosphere was electric, these were big events and everyone knew their chances rested mainly on the drawbag, when the draw was announced the chatter would die down and the tension would build, the sheep stealers would wave their arms about excitedly.....
I usually drew a peg in a poor area and was fishing for a section (never won one though) only twice did I have a decent draw, peg 8 in the woods I lost a bream early on and then got battered by a Nottingham angler on peg 7 who went on to be second in the match "Oooo I've got another one Duck" he would say as he leant into another four pounder "Well done" I would say through clenched teeth as I watched my motionless tip. In 1987 I got a plum draw in the Cov Championships, 36 on the Lindley bank but the lake was fishing poorly, I was third in the match with 14lb 8oz of skimmers caught mainly on the float, probably the pinnacle of my match fishing career.
Phil and I had many good days at Coombe, memorably we hammered a shoal of very big fish from pegs one and two one day catching bream to around 7lb with not a single fish under 4lb, Phil had a good bag of tench from the big weedbed once too, I still don't know how!
Walking around the lake on at the weekend I had mixed feelings, the first Sunday of the season used to be a full house at one time but I counted just eleven anglers on the public bank on Sunday and many of the pegs on what they call the dam wall weren't sufficiently cleared of lilies to be fishable, I must admit it saddens me a bit to think that a fishery I consider to be one of 'my' waters may become a forgotten lake and it may not be getting the tlc it deserves. On a brighter note the angler on peg 16 in the woods was bagging up with some very healthy looking bream so that's good.
Maybe memories are best left as just that but then again I might just break out the tip rod.
Built as part of the great Capability Brown's contracted re-landscaping of the Coombe Abbey grounds in 1771 Coombe Pool is the second largest body of water in Warwickshire and was to be a piscatorial Mecca to me throughout my childhood, very few waters in the region at that time had a reputation for either big fish or big weights of fish, Coombe Pool was known for it's big bream and 100lb catches were possible.
It's a good ten or fifteen years since I've been to Coombe and the memories were soon flooding back as we walked through the gates towards the lake. My earliest memories are of travelling by bus with my oldest friend Greg, we would catch the first number 7 of the day from Coundon into Pool Meadow and then catch another bus to take us out to Binley, we then marched (with full sets of tackle) on towards the fishery along Brinklow Road. A fallen tree across the stream behind a peg somewhere in the 80s provided a handy bridge and a useful shortcut to get us onto the water and on we would go to the furthest swims deep in the woods. At the end of the day we would endure the journey in reverse.....all in a days work for keen young anglers of the day, we took the bus everywhere were gone for 12 hours and your mum didn't need to worry. Simple, happy days!
These early expeditions were often fruitless of course as Coombe is no easy water but as time went on and I became more competent I did begin to catch some fish. I had some limited success fishing Courtaulds AS matches with my dad, these were often fished on pegs in the high numbers and would be won with 2 or 3lb of roach or a single bream but they proved valuable in terms of learning to 'scratch' for fish as my dad would put it.
In the mid eighties, now reguarly fishing with Phil, we really got stuck in to Coombe, with the confidence of youth we reckoned ourselves to be good anglers and felt we had earned the right to spend many hours in Fred Blacows shop on Holyhead Road drinking his coffee. We reguarly fished the big 100 peg opens at the water, The Coventry Championships and The Billy Lane Memorial, finding ourselves in a mans world probably for the first time. Enveloped in cigarette smoke in the Coombe Social Club, surrounded by tables of men eating fried breakfasts, some drinking pints (it was 8am) some were eating a breakfast, drinking a pint and smoking all at the same time, some wore match fishing team livery others looked like they hadn't slept, some looked like they would be more at home rustling sheep, some faces I knew, we were rubbing shoulders with the likes of Ivan Marks and Frank Barlow. The atmosphere was electric, these were big events and everyone knew their chances rested mainly on the drawbag, when the draw was announced the chatter would die down and the tension would build, the sheep stealers would wave their arms about excitedly.....
I usually drew a peg in a poor area and was fishing for a section (never won one though) only twice did I have a decent draw, peg 8 in the woods I lost a bream early on and then got battered by a Nottingham angler on peg 7 who went on to be second in the match "Oooo I've got another one Duck" he would say as he leant into another four pounder "Well done" I would say through clenched teeth as I watched my motionless tip. In 1987 I got a plum draw in the Cov Championships, 36 on the Lindley bank but the lake was fishing poorly, I was third in the match with 14lb 8oz of skimmers caught mainly on the float, probably the pinnacle of my match fishing career.
Phil and I had many good days at Coombe, memorably we hammered a shoal of very big fish from pegs one and two one day catching bream to around 7lb with not a single fish under 4lb, Phil had a good bag of tench from the big weedbed once too, I still don't know how!
Walking around the lake on at the weekend I had mixed feelings, the first Sunday of the season used to be a full house at one time but I counted just eleven anglers on the public bank on Sunday and many of the pegs on what they call the dam wall weren't sufficiently cleared of lilies to be fishable, I must admit it saddens me a bit to think that a fishery I consider to be one of 'my' waters may become a forgotten lake and it may not be getting the tlc it deserves. On a brighter note the angler on peg 16 in the woods was bagging up with some very healthy looking bream so that's good.
Maybe memories are best left as just that but then again I might just break out the tip rod.
Friday, 12 June 2009
Grand Old Lady of Napton
Broken sunshine and a cooling breeze are, for me, ideal fishing conditions, therefore when Thursdays heavy shower subsided and dad and I rolled up at Napton at about 3pm things looked promising, few other anglers were present so this time we were able to fish from the causeway into the big resevoir.
To save some time we opted not to visit the tackle shop and to rely purely on sweetcorn as hookbait with a few slices of bread as a change bait, tackle was straightforward enough too, floatfishing with 4lb mainline, 3lb bottom and a size 16 barbless hook.
Fishing about two rodlengths out we both had indications from the off in the form of fast sailaway bites which left us striking at thin air, continuous tackle refinements were required throughout the session in order to contact the fish, changing depth, moving the tell-tale shot, switching between double and single corn. Everytime I felt I had cracked it I was soon back to missing the unmissable bites, however I was catching, albeit spasmodically, and I was catching some big and hard fighting tench mostly of three pounds and above (not the 2lb stamp which seem to be the norm at Napton nowadays).
Dad fished only about twenty feet away along the stones but his swim was markedly less active, although he'd caught one tench of about two pounds it seemed his hard to hit bites were courtesy of roach and he proceeded to catch a couple which were both around the pound mark, he also had a six ounce perch, going to prove that Napton isn't just about the tench (An angler who packed up shortly after we arrived had a couple of the magnificent Napton reservoir crucians amongst a nice bag of tench).
The highlight of my day came when after a dour struggle I landed a six pounder, only the second tench I have ever caught of this size, still a big, big fish in my book and very satisfying to catch, who knows how old she would be to have attained this size, twenty years ? Tench certainly aren't a fast growing species like carp ( and I should know, I've been involved in farming both species in my time ) in the wild it usually takes three years to attain a weight of about six to eight ounces. Maybe our paths crossed when she was a young fish ?
I ended up with thirteen tench, a couple were about two pounds and all others were over three pounds with some around the five pound mark, a nice bag from a relatively short session, I was still catching when we packed up and headed home at 7pm.
To save some time we opted not to visit the tackle shop and to rely purely on sweetcorn as hookbait with a few slices of bread as a change bait, tackle was straightforward enough too, floatfishing with 4lb mainline, 3lb bottom and a size 16 barbless hook.
Fishing about two rodlengths out we both had indications from the off in the form of fast sailaway bites which left us striking at thin air, continuous tackle refinements were required throughout the session in order to contact the fish, changing depth, moving the tell-tale shot, switching between double and single corn. Everytime I felt I had cracked it I was soon back to missing the unmissable bites, however I was catching, albeit spasmodically, and I was catching some big and hard fighting tench mostly of three pounds and above (not the 2lb stamp which seem to be the norm at Napton nowadays).
Dad fished only about twenty feet away along the stones but his swim was markedly less active, although he'd caught one tench of about two pounds it seemed his hard to hit bites were courtesy of roach and he proceeded to catch a couple which were both around the pound mark, he also had a six ounce perch, going to prove that Napton isn't just about the tench (An angler who packed up shortly after we arrived had a couple of the magnificent Napton reservoir crucians amongst a nice bag of tench).
The highlight of my day came when after a dour struggle I landed a six pounder, only the second tench I have ever caught of this size, still a big, big fish in my book and very satisfying to catch, who knows how old she would be to have attained this size, twenty years ? Tench certainly aren't a fast growing species like carp ( and I should know, I've been involved in farming both species in my time ) in the wild it usually takes three years to attain a weight of about six to eight ounces. Maybe our paths crossed when she was a young fish ?
I ended up with thirteen tench, a couple were about two pounds and all others were over three pounds with some around the five pound mark, a nice bag from a relatively short session, I was still catching when we packed up and headed home at 7pm.
The only downside on the day was the badly damaged mouths of some of the bigger, older fish, caused presumably by repeat capture over the years or possibly the unpleasant results of our bolt rig culture.
Friday, 5 June 2009
Return to Napton
Nothing re-captures the excitement and anticipation felt as a schoolboy angler like the return to your old stomping grounds, now as a 40 year old when in reflective mood and my thoughts turn to fishing two places spring to mind Coombe Pool home of huge shoals of big bream and Napton Reservoir with it's hard fighting and obliging tench.
I haven't been to Napton for a good few years but I still reckon I've put in more hours than most, it was here that I caught my first sizable tench and learnt the methods and tricks required to put a few extra fish in the bag.
The weather forecast had been proved wrong, rather than the dull and cool day expected it was proving to be yet another day of bright sunshine and little breeze, not good for Napton as a rule but dad and I set off anyway at 3pm. On arrival there were several cars in the car park, usually a sign that the place is fishing well, the venue itself was as beautiful as ever with the water shimmering invitingly in the sunlight and as usual an abundance of wildlife to enhance the angling experience.
The best pegs at this time of year tend to be those on the causeway beyond the bridge and fishing into what used to be the big resevoir (before the two resevoirs were joined) this is where the tench accumulate prior to spawning, these pegs were taken and the three anglers there were all catching quite well. Second choice would have been from the causeway into the small res but again these were taken so we settled for two pegs together on the big res car park bank.
Napton can get pretty weedy and peering into the depths as far out as I could see the bottom was covered so I opted to go out on the feeder to try to get beyond the weed, next door dad was setting up his usual float rod.
I mixed up some brown crumb about 50-50 with Sensas Lake and added maggots, casters and sweetcorn and baited up with double maggot on an 18, several casts drew no response whatsoever and dads float stood motionless too, weed was a problem with dads float refusing to settle on some occasions while each of my retrieves picked up a fist sized clump of silkweed.
It was proving hard going, sweetcorn on the hook had failed to produce and caster had resulted in a series of tremors and plucks on the tip.
I've often been sceptical where hair rigs are concerned, a bare hook next to the bait seems about as unnatural as can be, but I do carry some match hair rigs which I bought for some commercial fishery or other and opted to give one a try.
Three seconds after the feeder hit the water the rod was wrenched nearly out of my hands and a two pound tench was soon on the bank. Bites when they came, I would love to say it was all action from this point on but it wasn't, were very positive and although not a convert yet I will definately use hair rigs here again. A second tench of about four pounds and a third, about two pounds were my only other fish other than a good tench lost close to the net. Dad did manage one fish to corn but that was his only bite of a short and tricky session, but lessons, as they always should be, were learnt and we'll be back.
I haven't been to Napton for a good few years but I still reckon I've put in more hours than most, it was here that I caught my first sizable tench and learnt the methods and tricks required to put a few extra fish in the bag.
The weather forecast had been proved wrong, rather than the dull and cool day expected it was proving to be yet another day of bright sunshine and little breeze, not good for Napton as a rule but dad and I set off anyway at 3pm. On arrival there were several cars in the car park, usually a sign that the place is fishing well, the venue itself was as beautiful as ever with the water shimmering invitingly in the sunlight and as usual an abundance of wildlife to enhance the angling experience.
The best pegs at this time of year tend to be those on the causeway beyond the bridge and fishing into what used to be the big resevoir (before the two resevoirs were joined) this is where the tench accumulate prior to spawning, these pegs were taken and the three anglers there were all catching quite well. Second choice would have been from the causeway into the small res but again these were taken so we settled for two pegs together on the big res car park bank.
Napton can get pretty weedy and peering into the depths as far out as I could see the bottom was covered so I opted to go out on the feeder to try to get beyond the weed, next door dad was setting up his usual float rod.
I mixed up some brown crumb about 50-50 with Sensas Lake and added maggots, casters and sweetcorn and baited up with double maggot on an 18, several casts drew no response whatsoever and dads float stood motionless too, weed was a problem with dads float refusing to settle on some occasions while each of my retrieves picked up a fist sized clump of silkweed.
It was proving hard going, sweetcorn on the hook had failed to produce and caster had resulted in a series of tremors and plucks on the tip.
I've often been sceptical where hair rigs are concerned, a bare hook next to the bait seems about as unnatural as can be, but I do carry some match hair rigs which I bought for some commercial fishery or other and opted to give one a try.
Three seconds after the feeder hit the water the rod was wrenched nearly out of my hands and a two pound tench was soon on the bank. Bites when they came, I would love to say it was all action from this point on but it wasn't, were very positive and although not a convert yet I will definately use hair rigs here again. A second tench of about four pounds and a third, about two pounds were my only other fish other than a good tench lost close to the net. Dad did manage one fish to corn but that was his only bite of a short and tricky session, but lessons, as they always should be, were learnt and we'll be back.
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