stevetheangler

Thursday, July 18th at 0600, it was back again to the club’s tench and bream water (AA-B), at the club’s ‘Mike Day Fishery’ again …. hoping to hook into the inhabiting bream and tench…. or perch, barbel, gudgeon …You may notice I fish this pool a lot despite the club having 10 pools – however, 9 of them are basically carp fisheries, a species I have zero desire to encounter at any time which leaves me with the option of two river stretches (and my health doesn’t allow access to those due to steep banks and distance from the car to water or a canal stretch which at this time of year is too busy with ‘Hoiratio’s’ cruising about. However later in the year the canal is fine for general fishing … and one of the ‘carp’ pools is also a good pike water and over the winter months I tend to fish there as pike are my to-go-for species.

Anyway, I arrived at the pool to find I’d been beaten there by another member (not the same one as the previous week although he was holed up in the same peg) and for the whole session (we left at the same time) not another arrived on site. Anyway, I elected the same peg as for the previous week.

I baited up as is my norm on arriving in my swim for the day with the usual crumb/particle/etc mix – actually it was the leftover mix from the previous week that had been microwaved and frozen on my return to steralise it.

Usual setup to start – float fishing using the ‘lift method’ with a size 12 hook baited with bunches of maggots – 6lb mono mainline and 6” of 6lb braid for hooklink…

I started to get bites from the off but only from small (sub 2oz) roach and perch but after a while even those tailed away…

And then … flicking my line out it went out a bit wide to my left and a bit too high too and the line went over the edge  of a tree and despite getting all the tackle back by a quick flick the end of the line ended in an untangleable mess… and rather than retackle that rod (I tackle up my rods at home and carry them in a quiver to the waterside) I got out my other float rod … which was tackled to fish ‘on the drop’ with a size 16 hook which I baited with double maggot.This led to an increase in bites not unfortunately not in quality with the best fish of the day being a tench of approximately 8oz.

And after another couple of hours I managed to flick that line over the same tree as before but that time I was unable to retrieve the end tackle and lost my float and all below it…

SO … due to the poor fishing, loss of end tackles that required a re-tackling and also the need to pick Liz up from work that evening I decided to call it a day around 1300 as did the other member who also had not had the greatest days results…

I became reacquainted with a ‘friend’ who I’d had dealings with on my previous visit – a Canadian Goosling…

… but who became a bit of a nuisance on this second meeting. On the first meeting he/she was fine just wandering around by my feet gathering up bits of seeds and crumbs from my groundbait that had spilled from my catapult, etc … and that’s how it started on this second meet but then escalated into delving into my groundbait bucket, bait bag and maggot tub … all under the watchful eye of the parents hovering in the background on the pool who displayed concern whenever I disturbed their precious one! A few choice goosey words came my way but no physical intimidation.

No fishing this coming week as we’ve a man coming to fit gas/electric smart meters on Friday and I need to move things off shelves around the meter in the garage to allow access … and it seems next year I’ll have a 6 week enforced ban as I’ve requested an hernia fix, consent papers on the way to me as we speak and as soon as I return them I’ll be added to the list but have been told it won’t happen until 2025 and it won’t be a laparoscopic op, going to be a proper long cut …..