Friday 18 December 2015

Worth Getting Wet For.


 My Zander campaign was kicked off again with another trip to Bury Hill planned, my last trip was a success and I dearly wanted to find out that it wasn't a fluke along with the fact that I had worked out how to catch them, I touched on it briefly in my last post in regards to hooks, rigs and that I wanted to improve hook-up and landing rates, as the colder weather arrives bites will become harder to come by and conversion of bites will be very important as to not make the effort and blank.

 Blanking on this fishery isn't something I've done before and for the price I certainly don't want to either, it's no wonder why the banks are empty as you have to earn a tidy mint just to fish for the predator's, I have had this conversation in regards to the running of the fishery and I'd go as far as saying it is poorly managed, reason's why may seem trivial but silly things like the website, hasn't been updated in five years nearly and a lot of anglers presume that those fish are still there, also the cost of tickets are astronomical, to fish the night (until 9pm) you have to buy an afternoon ticket too even though you aren't fishing the afternoon at all, money grabbing is the only way I can describe it, if they lowered the ticket prices slightly it would go a long way to bringing more anglers to the bank and more money in their coffers, at the moment the management of the fishery is alienating maybe 95% of potential anglers because of the inflexibility and price of the ticket's available.

 I don't normally rant on here but it doesn't make sense to me as a money savvy person in business to make such poor decision's surely a change in policy would double if not triple daily taking's? I believe I'm right.........

 Am I?

 Business is business, there to make money not lose it.


 Anyhow, the Zed fishing wasn't as easy tonight as it was during last Saturday's session, the bites took a lot longer to materialize, but when they did it was more clear cut with the ledgered Roach section went off for the first 3 runs and all resulted in Zander, there were between 2.12 to 3.14 as the larger ones still managed to elude me, then things went very quiet. When it goes quiet it's usually become the shoal have moved and await my chance when they come back through.

A good "Four".
 The next time the fish came back around over an hour had gone by without a touch, things weren't easy and an unwelcome appearance of a Crayfish was the only event that kept me from dozing off, then the float came alive and struck into a solid fish, immediately I knew it was better than anything I've had yet, then the hook slipped and come hurtling out the water - yet again I had lost a big Zander a matter of a rod length out from the net, so damn annoying that I lose the big fish and land all the small ones with consummate ease. It wasn't long before the rod came alive again and a (4.04) Zed lay on the bank taking me up to four for the evening, shortly after number five came in (2.08) a sixth fish was connected with and it was a heavy fish like the two that I've lost over the two session's, I made sure the tension wasn't released but this fish was fighting back and causing me a couple of issues with it's lunges but with all Zander the fight's don't last forever and I slipped a cracking Zed over the rim of the net.

A cracking fish and I'm amazed how large they are compared to weight.
 Brian done the honours with some great photo's who also managed five fish on what was a tough evening but this new personal best of 7lb exactly made the remaining time spent on the bank very pleasant as the Owls were very vocal and watched pieces of space rock burn up as they entered the atmosphere before disintegrating, a very peaceful last hour of the evening and that capture of the "seven" made the journey well worth it.

Horrid thing's!

10 comments:

  1. James, Brian. A trip to the Lower Severn may be a trip worth the making, don't you think? Fuck Bury Hill, Fuck the Cov canal. Let's go for broke and try for a proper river monster!

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    Replies
    1. Often thought about about it Jeff, its proximity though, I can be Bury Hill in 40min from home and the Severn (lower) is around 2.5hr away, if the opportunity came by I would give it some serious thought.

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    2. I fished it once in summertime and had a five pounder in the evening but was wiped out by bootlace eels at night. However, the thought that the next run might be from a record breaker was something else.

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    3. Need a boat on that neck of the woods to make the best of it althou not a nessecity. The Thames will be a good place to start.

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  2. Nice mat shot of the four pounder. I'm always thinking of ways to improve shots of fish on the ground. I think a sling generally looks better than a landing net.

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    Replies
    1. Do like a Zander shot, they look impressive at 7lb what does a 16lb fish look like

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  3. Some nice looking zeds there James, but you have to get into some river zander. The Thames has to be the target though as it ticks all the boxes for you ;)

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    Replies
    1. I agree Daniel and for the purpose of this exercise of fishing BH is to work out the best setup for the Zed's so that my fishing time on the canal and river is maximised

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  4. Thoroughly enjoyed the read James... Lovely zeds, really enjoyed my session at bury hill, love the takes...

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    Replies
    1. Cheers Tom, most people will have you believe the bites are very tentative, it's anything but! Some of the takes are barnstorming and are very similar to Pike. That said on the rare occasion some bites are a little less clear-cut.

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