stevetheangler

Well, following on from the last outing. I did manage to get to Ironbridge and collect my eBay purchased rod to replace the one that got damaged last week … and got home with time to tackle it up AND prep the rest of my gear and baits for this trip out before doing some odds and ends out in the garden :)

So, Monday 27th April, I again set off at 0745 to Marsh Pools and I was the first there for a change as usually there’s one car already on the car park but they are fishing Pool 2 whereas I fish Pool 1 … and usually I’m the only one on there probably because recently most of the carp (well, I heard that one didn’t get transferred) were netted and transferred to Pool 2 … and as I’m not a great carp lover that suits me, much prefer tench, bream, perch,… well, everything except carp!

I fished my ‘usual’ peg … but this time I float fished with my new rod :) Previous visits having been ‘on the lead’ although the last outing should have been a float session but the broken rod altered those plans.

The usual pre-casting operations were performed (baiting up, setting out equipment, etc) …

The tackle for the occasion was ..

• 13’ Hardy Matchmaker float rod
• 6lb Daiwa Hyper Sensor mainline with size 10 hook on a 6” hooklength of 6lb braid
• Fladen 3AAA bodied antenna float, sliding, with stop knot set at around 9’ (water 8’-8’6” depth)
• Shotting: 4 x AAA bulk shot at around 4’ from hook, 1 x No 4 shot 12” above hook, 1 x No 4 shot 24” above hook.

Bait for the day was a single worm primarily although I did try macaroni cheese for a few casts … and would most likely have tried maggot but for the fact they were still in my bait fridge 20 miles away at home! :rolleyes:

First cast was made around 0830 ….

And first fish was an ‘accident’! I’d been fishing for a while with not a lot happening, just a few nudges of the float, when a car pulled up on the car park (about 8 yards away) … and I thought I could see something on the roof of my car … and that was coupled with the sun rising a bit which made me think of my neck veiled cap which I remembered I’d put on the car’s roof whilst unloading … and when I looked that cap wasn’t with me … so I wound in my line and just left the rod with the bait dangling at the edge of the pool. Walked up towards the car, the arrivees confirmed my hat was on the roof so I went and got it. Back to my rod and the tips was bouncing up and down … and I pulled in a tiny perch, luckily lip hooked..

Bites were slow in coming and by midday I’d only had two other small perch.

Then another guy came and enquired about the water as he was thinking of bringing his son on Wednesday (today as I write this) … what depths, species, etc … I told him I knew of bream and perch, heard of tench and decent roach being in there, possibly other species too but no personal knowledge other than bream and perch…

About 45 minutes after he left the float dipped … and a heftier fish was hooked … and it turned out to be a tench of around 6-8oz … an hour later, float goes again … another tench, a bit bigger at around 12oz. So there ARE tench although I suspect from the mint condition and size they are recent stockies.

Anyway, at 1430, as I needed to shop en route home, I called it a day … a very enjoyable one too despite the lack of monsters and it being ‘slow’…

And it’s my last outing for a while … a week today is my op so that means at least  a 6 week break from fishing due to car insurance won’t cover me for that period after a major op and I will also be limited to the amount of lifting I can do and also there’s added risk of falling doing damage to the healing wounds… Hopefully, I’ll be able to get out around the end of June if all goes well :)

PLANS

None possible about getting out but hopefully manage some lightweight tackle maintenance and repairs.

Anyway, to all you getting out there… TIGHT LINES, MY FRIENDS!!!!
HOPING TO BE BACK SOON!