Hampton Lucy Brook - 28.08.12

Probably my last 'till dusk' fish on the Warwickshire Avon this year so with the river up a tad, coloured and dropping I only had one real option, a couple of rods out with static baits for Barbel. With only about 2 hours of the bait being in the water if there were any around hopefully they will pick up my bait.

I've been struggling keeping the luncheon meat on the hook, I suspect hit and run chub being the culprits so I swopped for a Odyssey XXX boilie on both rods, I've done well with these recently, maybe the Green Lipped Mussel additive helps or the fact they are light in colour.

As suggested by a fellow blogger I kept the hair length to a minimum so if a Chub didn't pick it up they would struggle to get rid of the hook. I've also been moulding scalded pellet around the lead, gives off a nice sent trail as well as being easy to do.

Wasn't long before I was getting indications a within half an hour a fish hooked itself and the rod violently bent over. The swim is pretty snaggy so I applied considerable side strain and eventually turned the fish in to open water and I caught sight of it, a nice Chub. It's mouth looked a bit deformed and a Pike much have grabbed it at some stage as it was scarred on one side. It was long and lean and weighed 3lb 15oz.

No Barbel this evening but I did catch another Chub at dusk, this time 3lb 7oz. Chub have a habit of disturbing the swim, maybe that didn't help.

I've been following Joe Chatterton's http://joechatterton.blogspot.co.uk/ blog with interest so when I fish the Avon next I plan use more of a roving approach and try some moving baits, I've some large chubber floats that I've never used, and they would be ideal.

I'm fishing Barston Lakes match pool in a few days, it's one of the regular Shanghai Anglers Club matches. The Avon will have to wait another week.

Snitterfield Reservoir - 23.08.12 - PB Carp on the float.

With rain due the weekend I decided to wait till next week to go back to the Avon, it should have some much needed colour by then. Back to Snitterfield for a couple of hours before dusk, the usual set-up sleeper rod for the carp and a float fish small bits of meat for the crucians.

Fishing tight to a weed bed I caught some nice roach from the off, the biggest I weighed and it was 1lb 3oz's, seems everything likes this garlic spam, I saw the tins reduced in Tesco to a quid to I bought a job lot. I've been impressed with the quality of CC Moore bait so I've bought some different pellet mixes to try, the scalded pellets wrapped around the lead on the sleeper set-up also makes a nice loose feed and I fed the float swim with small balls every 5 minutes.

Around 8.15pm, with half an hour fishing left and with the light was slowly fading I was getting crucian bites. You can tell crucian bites, their mouths are small so they mess around with the bait for ages before deciding to take it, however the crucian bites stopped for a few minutes and the float dived violently under, a fish hooked itself and the rod bent double and I was hanging on for dear life with the clutch screaming, this was no crucian but a King Carp. I gave it as much sidestrain as I dared to try and keep it out the weeds. With 5lb mainline and a 4lb hooklink with a size 14 hook it the set-up I was undergunned to say the least, I was winning though and eventually got it out in to the open water.

A memorable fight and a PB carp that after leaving resting in the landing net for a while I weighed and photographed, I'm no self take expect and shame it was nearly dusk as the flash doesn't show the background, oh and I should smile next time :)

18lb 7oz's

 



Snitterfield Reservoir - 20.08.12

With the light fading at around 9.00pm my time on the bank is getting limited, a couple of evenings a week , for a couple of hours just isn't enough now, I might have to swap to weekends again.

Back to Snitterfield to try and catch another decent Crucian, I had a float rod out with Krill pellet as hook bait and a sleeper rod with scalded pellet wrapped around the lead with 18mm Boilie as hookbait. Within 10 minutes one of the resident large carp had taken a liken to the bright pink pellet and made off with it, with a size 16 hook I had no chance and as quickly as the fight started it had finished. I set-up again and the float was bobbing up and down like a good'un as soon as the bait had hit the bottom.

Fish were topping all over the shop and with only a couple of crucians and missed bites I hooked and landed a bream. Maybe they bulled the crucians out the way as I couldn't catch anything else.

Within minutes of a chap on the gate side bank landing a 20lb leather / mirror carp my sleeper rod screamed off, with my float rod still in the air, by the time I got to the rod the fish had snagged itself. It eventually managed to free itself from the barbless hook, and I left gutted, felt like a good fish, maybe my PB carp.