Slim Pickings, Happy New Year All!

 

 I've barely fished since my last blog post, work and family reign supreme, that said I have been out twice, both in search of Roach, where I am currently targeting real big ones are possible, an outside chance of a three-pound specimen which would certainly be a truly momentus catch should I manage to find and land one!

 On my first trip I struggled for the first half day as a solid high air pressure and freezing cold night and biting wind made it very uncomfortable and the fish clearly weren't too bothered in feeding, thankfully I had a very productive final 3hrs where I managed over 20 Dace, most of a good size with half a dozen around 10-11ozs, 12 Grayling also came to the net along with four Roach with best weighing 1lb 11oz which was lovely to see after such a long hiatus from the H.Avon, for me dusk came and went too fast and it was off time, I could not wait to get back.

 A week later I did manage to get back and conditions were very similar with cold brisk winds blowing upstream just to make things harder, one thing I know very well with Roach is presentation is king and if its off even a tiny bit the fish will not touch it and felt all day I fished well but just could not make it happen and came away with a couple of small Grayling and slim Sea Trout. 

Little Catch-Up of Recent Ventures.

 

 Fishing has been a little thin on the ground of late, I have managed a couple of shorts sessions out for Barbel with no joy which is hardly surprising given the venues I've been targeting, no joy in the summer I don't expect it to be any easier in the cool of winter. I know double Barbel exist and I also know there aren't many around so the task set out for a R.ColnBrook double is going to be possibly one of my toughest foes. 

 On the stick and pin the other day I had a good morning where I choose a peg that had a decent inside slack behind a fallen tree and on close inspection a few days before I could see silvers turning on the gravel, so I knew that would be a good place to start my Dace fishing. Once valentines day is out the way Dace are firmly in my plans as the Hens start to gather with spawning in mind around early April. The window of opportunity looked to be quite short on Saturday too as the stiff winds looked to return, bringing with it heavy rain for about 4 hours in the middle of the day.

 So once I got in to the peg I began feeding white maggots every 30 seconds for around 5 minutes before my first trot and fish came from the off. A couple of small chub and moderately sized roach slipped into the net early doors where I then had to continually alter the depth I was fishing at to keep the bites coming, also at times I needed to rest the swim and keep feeding as bites did at times dry up, this tactic worked wonders and enabled me in the end to amass a bag weighing 13lb 7oz of quality Roach, 1x Dace (8oz), 1x Rudd and a couple of small Chub. 

Best Dace in two trips so far.

 Then the rains came which shifted the water level up quite rapidly, losing my spot where I was standing to get my trots in thus having to weigh in and move. Unfortunately for me the river everywhere just became unfishable and with the water table already full the levels increased faster than I'd anticipated, but not a bad couple of hours to start with, I will be back at least a couple of times, I haven't had a monster Dace now for a couple of seasons. A pound plus fish is certainly a possibility, it has previous, so I must keep trying!

Time to Search for Silver.

 

 A season bound by endless restriction saw very little angling of note taking place and what with a constant stream of work surrounding my garden and paid work coming in swathes to keep things afloat in the Denison household I had barely found the urge to fish beyond the odd hours after work in search of Barbel. So around valentines day Brian and I took an afternoon off from the mud-pit ( my garden project ) in the hope of finding some Dace as the females begin to put weight on in preparation for spawning around mid-April.

 We began by trotting the head waters where sometimes they start to congregate around mid-Feb but after 15 minutes of running the 6g stick float through with a generous lump of bread flake was ignored it was time to get moving, which is strange as late season can often see shoals of 100 fish plus, but recent heavy rains may have displaced the shoal so we headed downstream, fortunately for us we know roughly where they will be and chances of monsters 12oz and over bracket are certainly possible and I have achieved fish over the 1lb barrier from these very swims, so if there was ever a reason to remain focused and fired up for a trip that would be the tonic.

 Clear and cold conditions were order of the day and have been very successful when shrouded in mist, low pressure and cold, its something like this just seems to get the Dace feeding, but now after three swims it seemed like they either had other ideas on feeding or we simply hadn't found them. The game of cat and mouse is always a thrilling one and after a good two hours of searching I peeped over a hedge and could see 30-50 fish including Dace, some of which were real corkers and the sense of excitement went through the roof, like a little child unwrapping a desired toy at Christmas, we couldn't wait to get fishing for them and in the crystal clear water we could see them hovering around mid-depth, flashing on the gravel, turning at objects coming down in the water and darting in and out of the numerous beds of ranunculus. This was the chance, so I gave Brian the rod and hoped to be on camera duty for a big Dace.....

 Unfortunately for Brian, Trout and Chub decided to scupper his efforts, but I got lucky with two Dace on the alternate fish, one was around 6oz, then this one which was a welcome sight and a beautiful winter "Silver Dart", praying it didn't come off in the brisk current were answered as I got to cradle another chalkstream beauty.

 Then as the light failed the mornings rain started to affect the river and clarity was lost and then the fish started switching off. That was it for us, not a bad result for an off-the-cuff afternoon visit. Locally!

An Afternoon on the Float.

  

Given my recent difficulties in locating and catching Barbel I have decided to target other species until conditions are more conducive to catching. Having visited the dentist this morning and having an extraction at 940am I wasn't feeling up to much. But you can't put a good man down! 

 The fire still burns deep even with my mouth in absolute bits and the temps not predicted to go above 2c all day ( which for once they did get right ).  I quickly shot home, grabbed a pint of maggots and the gear then headed out for an afternoons trotting. 

 The tackle I was using consisted of a Greys Prodigy specialist float 12ft 2-piece, Greys Bewick 4¾ inch centrepin loaded with 3lb Maxima Chameleon and a beautifully made drake quill trotting float rated at 6BB.

 Swim selection on a cold day with cold water is always key and I thought I had hit the nail on the head from the beginning as my second trot resulted in a mint 7oz 3dr Dace. The next half hour was a complete waste of time. Was there just one Dace in that entire 40 yard trot? I am inclined to think not and that shoal just switched off immediately, even though I had fed the swim for 15 minutes before trotting it. I did however have another idea and that was that shoal pretty much ended where I had that Dace, so I packed the keepnet and everything up and moved another 25 yards upstream and began my feeding regime as before.

 Bites again were instant, only difference this time is that they came almost every trot and plenty of quality Gudgeon came to the net, along with Chublet, Dace and a solitary Perch (which was a surprise - highest I've had one on this river). Once the bites dried up I weighed up my bag which totalled 4lb 6oz of hard worked fish, the Gudgeon came to around a pound with the best not far off 2ozs which is a very good fish.

1oz 12dr. My best for some time.

An hour or so in the right spot, 4lb 6oz.

Awesome! Got to love a Gonk.

 Then I continued on upstream to try and find some bigger Gudgeon and maybe a Roach or two as they had been conspicuous in their absence, I normally pick up a few among Gudgeon shoals. Next up was a couple of fantastic looking trots on nice gentle bends where I have done well in the past. Bites once again weren't forthcoming, fifteen minutes spent trying I upped and moved, as I looked downstream to where my trots were roughly finishing I could see two lovely carp, both sifting through the sandy/gravel bottom and really looked like having a bait, so off came the maggots and pinch of Warburton's went on and no sooner did the bait get to the bottom the smaller of the two carp it took it. The bread vanished and with the float dipping simultaneously I struck and the rod slammed over as the carp charged off past me at a rate of knots, I simply couldn't touch the pin and allowed the pin to do its job, but bad luck crept into my game as I suffered yet another hook pull to a river carp, my third in five attempts this season.

 For me, the gear was standing up to the task, albeit fairly outgunned given the fact the carp was around the 14-15lb mark ( not that its stopped me succeeding in the past ). Had my luck not evaded me on this occasion I felt quite confident that I would have eventually won that battle. But as said above, you can't put a good man down and I hoped that another chance would materialise which thankfully, it did and what a beauty it was too! In very similar fashion to the first attempt, the only difference was I would win this battle got the chance to marvel at what a stunning little creature it was, estimated at roughly 6lb I took a couple of snaps then let it head back into its watery world. Sometimes numbers matter not. 

No words.

The last grasp of Autumn slipping away into an icy coma.

Picks of the Decade.

 Choosing candidates for this is pretty tough, so a few of these may not strike you as being particularly big for the species but in terms of its size relative to where it was caught it. Some of these places would surprise many anglers as to where the fish came from. Over the years I have been extremely lucky as to what I have managed to slip the net under, others have required the utmost skill and patience, often pushing me to the limit.

 Here are just a handful of fish from the 2010's and yes there are so many that some catches that mean a lot to me won't make this but I have to draw the line somewhere. Most of these are actually personal bests too.

This bream was my first double figure fish off a canal, since then I have been lucky enough to do it again, special fish and very special waters that certainly make you work for the rewards, a truly special fish for its environment.

Almost an entire days trotting culminated in coming away with one grayling, that one grayling weighed 2lb 11oz and still the fight gives me nightmares. The fear a big grayling puts in you when they turn broadside and power off downstream is quite something, you struggle to find words to describe it.

The river Cam is home to some special fish, this is one of them, March 13th, bitterly cold and bare footed holding one of the most awesome wild carp I'm ever likely to catch, 27lb 12oz, caught on rudd gear in the boat. Quite a fight indeed, Brian deserved a knighthood for getting that in a 22'' drennan landing net.

Having witnessed a 13lb 3oz zed to the boat the day before I had a burning desire to get back out. Less than 24 hours later I was posing with this incredible looking fish, again in the boat and with all light gone the take was so powerful the rod jolted to simply let me know it was time.

Not a personal best but my best lure caught pike off the mighty Wye, a Rapala X-Rap minnow was the savour to what was fairly tough fishing. A couple of shows just off some sunken trees indicated where the lure had to go, ten minutes later and a few casts she was in the net.

One of the best looking barbel I have ever caught, a comfortable double that fought so hard I had to rest afterwards. Just twenty feet wide and 2-3ft deep hardly seems the sort of place one would target barbel but it certainly doesn't bother them.

Two years on Newdigate with the sole purpose of catching one of the two big golden orfe had finally come to an end. 6lb 12oz of a brilliant looking fish, shame they fight so poorly but it can be forgiven. Ten trips after starting and a faithful buoyant maggot on the method feeder was the orfe' downfall.

Opening day on a sun swept Stour gave up a couple of its gems, this chub being the largest at 6lb 8ozs, there was a time I'd had two six pound chub ever, fishing the Avon/Stour that figure soon crept up quite nicely.

Canal rudd very rarely get up above 4oz and often are the bane of a surface anglers session, however this corker at 2lb 5oz certainly put a smile on my face, perfect in every way, just one day hope to follow that up with a 3lber from a canal, that would be something to rival any capture during a season. Especially off the somerset levels.

Enton....does that place need an introduction? such an awesome place but not as easy as anglers make out, many hours I spent on there in search of crucians and managed just a couple, my best here at 3lb 8oz, during all that time I didn't lose a single fish.

Possibly the shock of the decade, the river will remain nameless as I hope to one day cross paths with this incredible common once again. On my MARKIV split can rod and pin, freelined bread it really was the best way I could hope to catch such a carp, no name, wild and at 28lb 3oz she is my biggest common and river personal best, quite a fish. I still dream of that fight in my head at night after seeing the photos again.

Having literally stepped off a plane from Asia just six hours earlier this immaculate double figure barbel took a fancy to a trotted piece of meat, one of the prettiest specimens I've been lucky enough to catch, just over a foot of water, a tiny bush just hiding the front half, first cast...easy.

A snow carp? my only one of the 2010's and what a fight, 2.8lb bottom, 15ft float rod and pin, chub were the intended target. A double figure carp though certainly wasn't quaffed at.

Two hours and possibly six miles of marching the towpaths put me in touching distance of achieving an incredible feat, that being catching a cut carp. Over the last few years I devoted some considerable time to targeting canal carp with varying success. Carp however do not come better looking than that fish above, 19lb 9oz and possibly a lot older than I. 

My personal best carp and a fish known as the "ghostie leather", 35lb 8oz and on bream gear including 6lb line was not just the envy of myself, a few onlookers clearly appreciated its capture and after a couple of photos she went back like a trooper. Names and fish aren't my kind of thing, but this lake I'll make an exception to as it holds some iconic carp, this being one of them.

My first twenty pound pike (21lb 9oz) and thee prettiest I have caught, from a river too made this catch so much more impressive, I shook like a crapping dog for ages after I had landed her too, I was physically terrified! But not long after realised just how fantastic it was, simply superb.

Possibly the craziest catch from anywhere in 2010's, roach x bream hybrids are very rare throughout london and this was the first I'd caught since the late 1990's. Whilst stalking carp on a really cold morning I noticed a flash of silver under my feet as I walked along the towpath and realised this awesome/freaky creature was feeding on the weed clinging to the canal wall, a nice flake of bread soon captured its attention and forever opened my mind to the real possibilities these canals can produce. 5lb 1oz.

The last decade bore witness to some fantastic years after roach. My personal best of 2lb 15oz remained comfortably out in front but was joined by an additional 7 fish over the two pound barrier, all from Thames tributaries fishing a range of tactics. My favourite species and its not hard to see why.

My one and only dace of the decade that surpassed the 1lb barrier and fish that was immense, the images of this fish do not do it justice and have always found big dace difficult to convey in shots, however, at 8 drams over the pound mark I had numerous fish one winter over 14ozs, since then they have disappeared almost entirely.

When it comes to looks this towpath mirror has it all, black as your hat, a little battered as you'd expect a big wild carp to be, but also represented a personal best mirror off the canals at the time. 25lb 4oz and what was even better is I got to share the moment with my dad who was taken aback by its sheer size and the fight? of course it was of biblical proportions as it always is. Escape is the only plan.

I saved possibly the best barbel I'm ever likely to catch to last. First ever visit to the H.Avon and I decided to settle in the top swim on the pipes. Half an hour before dusk I popped out my 18mm pellet tipped with a grain of buoyant corn and just hoped for the best. As the light faded over the fields my tip slammed round and was locked into battle with a big fish but with no headtorch I couldn't tell what I had or how big it was. My mate Stuart made his way upstream to assist me with the weighing and photos. Having finally landed her she was resting in the net and could only make out a portion of the body, still not fully appreciating what I had just caught.

Once Stu had arrived with me I lifted the net out the river and then it hit me at what I'd just caught, she was a truly Hampshire Avon giant at 14lb 6oz and is still my personal best. The feeling of seeing that fish for the first time and holding her still plays back in my memories museum. 

What a first fish to catch off the most iconic of our rivers. Luck and skill in perfect balance and the reward was much greater than I could ever have hoped for.

 What are your favourite memories from the last decade of angling? feel free to pop a comment in the box. I am intrigued to hear your stories.

Thats A Wrap!

 My 2018/19 season was certainly my least intense for as long as I can remember. That said I had plenty of great trips in good company and on solo missions primarily in search of carp to achieve my challenge that I set myself back in April last year which is the point the new season for me starts.

 April: I set out early doors on the Tench in the vein hope of finding some good fish with a view of revisting in late May, the ultimate thinking behind that being a double figure specimen is on my wanted list. Apart from the Tench, Carp took centre stage as I looked to get hunting down an elusive canal beast which in just a couple of attempts I achieved, albeit not a thirty these were almost of the same calibre simply for reasons that those who fish these canals will only know.

First of an incredible brace. 23.4

A great afternoon on the towpath. 25.7 and my best to that date.

 May: Carp were still very much in my focus and with the weather improving the fishing improved too. Plenty of carp made it to the net with these two being the pick of the bunch. Also a trip out to Tenerife on holiday with the mrs gave me a great opportunity to target a Marlin but with it still early season I didn't manage to achieve that goal but I will try again.

 , But these cracking carp couldn't be left out, one of which was an awesome canal warrior.

 June: Now this always seems to be a busy month in terms of work, birthdays etc so I was pleased to get out a little and with that time I made my efforts count as I tracked and captured my largest canal carp yet at a staggering 27lb 9oz! Along with that were more carp, a 31.10 mirror, TWO!! personal best Bream off of a river! which weighed 11lb 15oz and 12lb 7oz!  and a few river carp to make sure that my challenge was taking off in all directions. What A Month June was! and that was only what happened in England. I also spent four days in the Netherlands in search of grass carp and I was to be spoilt rotten by the sport provided. 9 grass carp to 24lb 4oz, mirror carp to mid-doubles, my first ever Ide at 3lb 9ozs and a new PB Asp at a little over 4lb. What A Month indeed!!!

Canal PB carp.

Personal best Bream at 12lb 7oz

And what a backup fish! 11.15

31.10 mirror

Second best at 23lb 14oz

PB at 24lb+, from Holland with much love!

A cracking Ide from the tidal Waal river. 3lb 9oz

My best river carp of the season as it turned out, two ounces shy of 20lb.

 July: June was so good I knew it would be a tough act to follow, over that month I managed carp off of three different rivers with the best just over 17lb and 23lb+ from stillwaters, although I tried hard my attempts to tempt one of the biggest river carp I had ever seen were dashed, a ten minute battle became a stalemate and after much head scratching and endeavour I finally lost what can only be described as a true river giant, my chance of a river thirty slipped away right there and then.

A Mole 17+

A stillwater 22+

 August: For me time got really hard to come by and as a result I fished very little but when I did manage a couple of hours I invariably got a couple of fish to oblige, here is an old friend at 11lb 2oz, funnily its the same weight I caught her at three years ago! Thankfully for her I caught four months previous this time around so there is some progression being made.

A big smile, always satisfying to see an old friend.

 September: This was always going to be very light in terms of angling, after nine months of developing my little angel arrived into the world, with this it was understandable that I didn't get out much. A couple of short visits to my club lake were made but the blanks were beginning to mount up as plenty of angling pressure made it difficult fishing. This mirror probably the prettiest of the fish, although not the biggest.

19lb+ built like a breeze block.

This awesome common made a 4am start worth while.

 October:  During this month I managed a couple of trips out, this was for a days fishing on my birthday, 31 years of age and still thoroughly enjoying it. After 6 hours I netted a haul of chub any match angler would kill for, over 200lbs of fish with the best weighing 5lb 6ozs, a day me and my 15ft Greys Toreon trotting rod won't ever forget. The other trips were guiding my friend Yannick who made his way over from The Netherlands to sample some of what we have to offer and it didn't disappoint.

Best of a very large haul, emptied the keepnet twice!

The tourists first ever Barbel. 8lb 1oz

My Thames PB, 17lb 13oz

Another nice chunky Esox.

  November: Was spent on the predator front and it was a month to remember where I broke my personal best zander three times in about 30 hours, the first two going 7lb 13oz and then 9lb 1oz. Having witnessed a 13lb 3oz monster come to the boat that evening I found that fire that recently has dropped away a little bit. The result was my third PB of the two days! 11lb 9oz. Awesome!

The smile was a permanent fixture for days afterwards.

  December:  Pike dominated the proceedings and I capped off a good month with banking my third river twenty in the shape of a 20lb 8oz beauty, what a fish and I have to say somewhat surprised by its girth. Another half a dozen fish came over this month with most being double figure fish.

What a beautiful pike.

  January: Was much of the same as I continued my predator assault, more pike came to the net with the best weighing 18lb 9oz which avoided a proper photo by ploughing through my net at breakneck speed (thankfully I got a mat shot and weighed her first), these were joined by a few barbel from just a couple of quick fire trips, no less than two doubles were tempted in just 5 hours of fishing over two afternoons, quite a return when you take into account where they came from!

18lb 9oz escapee

First of the two doubles. 10lb 4ozs.

A not a bad back up either!!!  10lb 3ozs.

 

Oh and this happened too! 9lb+Bream on a 3-D Roach lure!

 February: Dace are always in mind when the back end of the season approaches and I wasn't disappointed either, although I didn't catch a pound plus monster this peach of 13oz 00dr made it in to cap off my efforts on the silver dart front. Pike again featured with my best going 16lb 0oz, but the best catch of Feb was a catch of Roach which was topped by a brace of 1lb 14oz and 1lb 15oz, my best two of the season.

Best Dace of a brief campaign.

A lovely 16lb 0oz female

1.14 & 1.15

  March: As work dominated the last month of the season I only got out a couple of times but I came up trumps with a nice river carp, a few chub, a couple of barbel and plenty for me to mull over for the closed season.

11lb 3oz mirror.

A mint winter barbel.

A plump 5lb+ chub to finish off my season. Not bad at all!