stevetheangler

Tuesday 21st July and I was back on the banks of Dudmaston Hall’s Big Pool but in a new swim – previously I’d fished the same swim but this time I decided to wander further along the bank…

As usual, I baited up with the usual mix pre-tackling up and station creation, and even as I put my rods together the waters in front of me were already fizzing with tench bubbles as it they had been fed a decent dose of Alka Seltzer…

My baits of the day were the usual dendrobaena worm, maggot and bread – and also for a time I tried cubes of chopped ham with pork (like bacon grill I find this product slightly superior to the generic ‘luncheon meat’ being stiffer and less fatty).

As the forecast for the day was wind and some rain I elected to fish two leger rods on alarms and pre-installed my brolly ready for the adverse conditions although at my 0600 arrival it was an absolutely gorgeous morning – however, the forecast did prove correct in that periods of bright blue skies were interspersed with periods of wind and rain.

I actually started fishing at around 0730 and was almost immediately having bites and soon landed the first fish of the day – a perch of around 8oz. Then over the course of the rest of the day I landed several perch of similar size plus a couple of rudd plus 3 tench….

The 4lb fish was nice BUT my PB tench is 4lb 1oz – and this 4lb 0oz’er must be the 10th one I’ve had … in fact, my first 4-00 was my PB for about 10 minutes, caught last season, but then I had the 4-01… am I ever going to get a 4-02 or better?? LOL! Well, my new set of Wychwood T-Bar scales arrived in this morning’s post so I’m hoping that new scales = bigger fish!! :)

A few other things about this outing:

1. NOISY!!! Yep, first day of the school holidays and it seemed that the entire population of parents had descended with their kids to visit the Hall and grounds… luckily, I was not accosted by the people who see an angler and get overcome with that urge to chat and ask ’Caught anything?…’
2. Listerine is not a deterrent to sand flies or midges. I read somewhere that it was an ace repellent for the critters and so I have some in a spray bottle… but can tell you not to bother. Myself, I’m going back to my normal homemade citronella/cedarwood/camphor oil mix.
3. Two swans and their now sole cygnet, they did have three but down to one now, were in front of me ie 10-12 feet in front, for a good hour and a half as the cygnet decided that the water under my rod tops was a good place to harvest the bottom for food… and the parents, I think, saw me as a threat and started hissing and wing waving and I responded in similar fashion by hissing back, rising to my full height and arm waving back – and so a good old Mexican Standoff ensued for that hour and a half! LOL!

So, plans are now that tomorrow (Friday 24th, as I’m writing this on Thursday 23rd) I’m back off to the Big Pool in search of that 4-02+ tench… then next week I’ll be having a Monday outing instead of my usual Tuesday one as on the Tuesday we’ve tickets for Alton Towers.. should be a good day bar the fact that the Smiler’s still shut down :(… so my Monday trip will be one of three venues and undecided on which one at the mo… and similarly next Friday I’ll be out, venue undecided too.