Duncan’s
Monthly round-up – September 2015
Although
I was looking forward to September I have to say that it just didn’t
feel so late in the year and although the fishing has improved
immensely I think October and November are going to be the most
rewarding in terms of fish on the bank. The nights have certainly got
chillier but the river just seems to be in full foliage however the
baiting has continued twice a week and although I would love to share
with you what we have been catching it’s just too early into the
campaign to draw attention to ourselves.
Something
that really made me shake my head was the crayfish traps that have
been set at Stanford End on the river Loddon. I fished this a couple
of times with customers and couldn’t believe the amount of crays
that were nibbling away on our baits. Then I noticed that crayfish
traps had been placed right in each swim, obviously attracting them
into the area that anglers place their baits. I’m sure that if this
person doesn’t rethink his placement he may just find no traps
along the river soon! It’s also noticeable just how difficult this
stretch has become, don’t get me wrong the fish are still there,
but just a quick walk will reveal numerous trees and snags that have
now dropped into the river creating a safe haven for them. It’s
about time that the club started to do something about this stretch
or else we may start calling it ‘Little Carters’!
This
month’s session have been split between Guiding (5), personal trips
(11) and features (2) totalling 126hrs bankside which is a nice
split. Some of my sessions have been on the river Thames, mainly
roach fishing and the outlook is great as all areas seem to be
thriving with roach. The odd predator has also fallen and one day was
spent aboard ‘Fling Your Hook’, a guided charter boat run by
Warwick and a day out that I highly recommend if you fancy something
different as well as getting a bend in your rod. The day I spent with
Warwick was as a photographer for Anglers Mail, so watch out for the
feature that will be published very soon. Although I love the river
Thames the disappointing point is the litter, its everywhere and much
is from anglers (sorry they can’t be called anglers) staying
overnight. Why they can’t take this home is just beyond me. One of
my guiding days was with regular Ron who took me to a Newbury Angling
Association stretch of the river Kennet at Brimpton. We didn’t
catch which wasn’t surprising as it was towards the end of the warm
spell towards the end of the month when conditions were all against
us but I have to say that we had a lovely time chatting away on what
has to be one of the best looking stretches of the Kennet I’ve come
across. You never know, one day I may make it one of my regular
venues.
Enton
has been very kind to me this year and on most occasions has produced
crucians over three pound. This month has been brilliant, not just
for myself but also others as Chris, my angling mate set a target of
3lb 12oz and secured this a week or so ago. My brother also set a new
personal best with one of 4lb 2oz and ‘shock horror’ received a
weekly award (more than I’ve got this year!) as did my dad who
managed one of 3lb 14oz. I had to smile on one occasion as a carp
angler set up right next to me. He knew I was fishing quite close in
so you would have thought he would have smashed his tent pegs in once
I had left but no, he did it while I was there. Many will know that
litter and mallets as well as dog shit are my hates on the bank, it
was just fortunate that the day he decided to have no respect for
those around him was a day when the fishing wasn’t very good. The
laughing moment was when he turned around and was wearing a ‘Thinking
Anglers’ top, he certainly was thinking!
It’s
been a very busy month as you can see from my daily events and one
that’s been very rewarding in as much as travelling to new venues
and making new friends, however I now need to knuckle down to some
serious barbel fishing
DAY TO DAY EVENTS
01/09/15
– Had a really productive day in the office completing an article
for anglers Mail revealing my ‘Top tips’ as well as another on
comparing landing nets. It was productive as most of the day stayed
dry allowing me to get outside and take the images needed to go with
these.
02/09/15
– A lay-in at last, well 7am as today I was meeting fellow Nash man
Jake Curry for a roving barbel session. Unfortunately the weather was
bright and the river fining down so apart from three missed chub
bites we returned home empty handed, not surprising as we fished
between 10.30am and 3pm, not exactly the best time. We did however
manage to get some images taken and words completed for a Coarse
Angling Today feature.
03/09/15
– Met customer at 2pm to fish the Loddon. Loads of other anglers
around, seven in fact so always worried about covering, all ready
covered ground. Decided to spend longer in one area as a big fish
rolled late on but the three foot twitch never came.
04/09/15
– Today was always going to be a gamble, but my customer fancied a
go at grass carp at Badshot Lea Big Pond. Arriving at 6am my first
concern was the wind as although forecasted from a horrid north, what
little there was seemed to be swinging all over the place, something
the lake hates. I’ve always worked on the theory that if the wind
can’t make its mind up then neither can the fish and after a few
hours, working the swims hard, not a single bleep had come our way.
In fact the few other anglers around were also experiencing no action
so instead of banging our heads we decided to knock the session on
the head early and return when the conditions are more favourable.
07/09/15
– The standard Monday in the office mostly completing articles for
Anglers Mail.
08/09/15
– A morning in the office was followed by a visit to the river with
Chris. I’m restraining myself from reporting too much from these
sessions and will be simply classifying them from now on as ‘Big
fish sessions’, ones that will be reported on in full when the
campaign is complete, yet a fish did grace our nets.
09/09/15
– In the office early and getting my teeth into a Barbel rod
feature for Anglers Mail.
10/09/15
– 4hr big fish morning session followed by an afternoon of feature
writing.
11/09/15
– Having spent quite a few hours targeting big fish and with sport
rather on the slow side today was all about getting a bend in the
rod. Meeting Dad at 6.30am at Godalming’s Enton Lake we were amazed
to find just one other angler fishing. It had been a cold night, down
to 7degrees so although tempted to fish the shallows, headed for the
railway bank. Things didn’t look good as their wasn’t a breath of
air and with few fish moving knew this could be a difficult day. Two
hours into the session my first bite came, however the fish shed the
hook, however from then on through to 3pm the action for me was
steady. In all I managed six crucians including four threes at 3lb
5oz, 3lb 8oz, 3lb 9oz and 3lb 10oz plus eight tench and a couple of
rudd. Amazingly anglers around me, including dada struggled for just
the odd tench. Obviously I was just on the fish and managed to make
the most off it.
12/09/15
– 4hr Big Fish Session.
14/09/15
– Travelled up to Teddington to team up with Warwick and Lee aboard
‘Fling Your Hook’ for an afternoon targeting Thames predators.
Can’t say too much as I was only the photographer for an Anglers
Mail Action Replay, yet believe me it was a brilliant session and one
you all need to look read. If you want to check these guys out then
their website is www.flingyourhook.com,
you won’t be disappointed!
15/09/15
– Spent the morning completing an article for Coarse Angling Today
before heading to the river for a 5 hr Big Fish Session as well as
baiting up.
16/09/15
– Spent the day writing the text for the Thames Predator Action
Replay as well as sorting through images.
17/09/15
– The morning was spent proof reading the AM feature before sorting
the roach tackle out and heading to the Thames. Arriving at 1pm and
finding two of the better swims occupied, we set up on a concrete
boat mooring and cast out a couple of feeder rods. Bait was 6mm
banded pellet with a cage feeder fished helicopter style. First cast
and a net roach fell and come the time darkness descended around 15lb
of red fins had been taken, the best 1lb 4oz. strangely as darkness
fell the action ceased and 2hrs later I hadn’t received another
bite. Alan next to me was fishing slightly bigger baits and as well
as some quality roach early on only managed two bites in darkness,
one was missed the other was a 5lb bream.
18/09/15
– Today I had a regular booked in for a late session fishing the
river Loddon. Meeting at midday we were pleasantly surprised to have
the river to ourselves, probably as the weather forecast was for
heavy showers, yet none materialised. Starting in a banker chub swim
things didn’t look good when the usual chub bite failed to come.
Heading downstream we then roved a number of swims for just a couple
of chub bites, both of which were missed. Late afternoon we settled
in a pool where we tried something different and offered small
livebaits paternoster style for perch. Amazingly nothing happened for
the first half an hour, so Barrie headed to the car and when he
returned I had taken two modest perch. Half hour later and it seemed
it wasn’t his day, then the float disappeared and a good perch was
hooked momentarily before spitting the hook. Darkness was descending
so we dropped in what we felt gave us the best opportunity of a
barbel. Two bites were forthcoming but not from barbel but a couple
of chub approaching 4lb before things went quiet. Heading back
upstream for the last half an hour and dropping once again into the
banker swim Barrie had to resist striking plenty of knocks before the
tip pulled round and you’ve guessed it, another 4lb cub came to the
net. To be honest, Barrie was more than happy with three chub as
previous visits had proved unproductive, now with a winning method
all he has to do is get the right bite.
21/09/15
– This was supposed to be the start of a week off, so after
dropping the girlfriend off I headed to Enton to meet up with my
brother and Father. They were set up on the railway bank which had
fished poorly the previous day when I took a stroll around the lake.
Although conditions looked great, Enton can be a moody place and with
few fish moving it as obvious that things were going to be tough. My
brother had decided to fish maggot and was catching steadily, albeit
from rudd and small carp whilst Dad and I stuck to corn in the hope
of targeting the odd big crucians. The weather was like the fishing,
damp and dismal and come 4pm when we called it a day I had received
just four bites, all of which were converted into one carp around
6lb, a 3lb tench and two crucians weighing 2lb 15oz and 3lb 5oz. Dad
had around the same amount of bites but lost a few, taking just one
crucian of 3lb 3oz and Kevin continued to catch more fish but in
general smaller with just one tench and a 2lb crucian being the pick
of the bunch.
22/09/15
– Dad decided to give a visit to the Thames a miss as the weather
continued in the same manner as yesterday, wet. Missing the traffic
we arrived around 1pm and again fished pellet for roach, however
although conditions looked good the roach weren’t as responsive as
the previous week and come dusk I had taken around 10lb of them, the
biggest just over the pound. Kevin fished bigger pellet which made a
major difference as he struggled for maybe 5lb of roach.
24/09/15
– The morning was spent writing an article for Anglers Mail before
Alan picked me up and we headed to a different stretch of the Thames
for a spot of roach fishing. This time I took along a pike rod as
last year was plagued by them on the same stretch, however today they
weren’t as problematic, although twice I was bitten off and did
land two on the dedicated predator rod, the best around 9lb. The
roach fishing was good, although things didn’t liven up after dark
as it often does and in the few hours we were there we both caught
roach to a pound and again around 10lb of them came to my rod.
25/09/15
– Once again spent a few hours in the morning writing for Anglers
Mail before heading to the river to bait up and see if any big fish
was willing to take my bait?
26/09/15
– Up well before first light and in The Oaks swim at Broadwater by
5.50am. A chilly start, down to zero in places and with a clear blue
skies, an easterly wind and A/P on 1030mb it was never going to be
easy. Today was all about making a video with fellow Nash angler
Chris Petter who was going to fish PVA bags against my preferred
method of ‘the method’. If you want to see how the session
progressed then keep an eye out for the video coming soon.
28/09/15
– A day of two halves as the morning was spent at Enton, once again
with Chris and our target was to try and get him a personal best
crucian. Once again the weather was all wrong and with no fish
showing at dawn we knew it would be a gruller; however we also agreed
that if any bites came our way then there was a very good chance it
could come from a crucian. We fished from 7am through to 2pm and both
received a total of two bites each. I dropped the first fish,
probably a small carp however the second was a crucian of 3lb 13oz.
Chris converted both his bites and both were from crucians weighing
3lb 7oz and 3lb 12oz, both personal bests!
The
reason for packing up was we then headed down to Nash HQ to attend a
consultants Open Day where all the new products were on show. To say
we were impressed is an understatement and many of the products will
be slotting into our way of fishing very soon. Keep your eyes peeled
as these will be hitting the marker soon.
29/09/15
– Back down to Essex this time to create an Anglers Mail Venue
Expert at Churchgate Lakes. I left home at 9am and finally emailed
the article to AM HQ come 9pm that evening!
30/09/15
– Today was to be spent with my good friend Ron Jackson on the
banks of the river Kennet at Brimpton. The weather conditions were
all against us, especially fishing through the middle of the day but
we had a great time on what is a fantastic stretch controlled by
Newbury Angling Association.
Third cast, it
always happens on my third cast, the alarm sounded and a three
pointer graced my net, a 3lb 8oz crucian. Then the unexpected
happened, Kevin was away and the scores were level. Things then
didn’t look good as Kevin started to get liners, or was it just his
slack lines, wonky set up that had us on our toes! Obviously not as
once again he was away with another near three-pointer however his
little 2ft 6’ landing net pole failed to secure the points and we,
as you can imagine, swamped him in sympathetic words! I’m not too
sure how things progressed after this yet come lunchtime I had landed
a further two crucians to 3lb 9oz, Kevin another two to 3lb 9oz,
Chris sat in between us and in the flyer had only managed two tench
and Dad at the end a single tench. 
So as you can see one fish divided
us and it was all to fish for come the afternoon. Fortunately I
managed a quick fire brace of crucains weighing 3lb 6oz and 3lb 8oz,
Kevin’s swim had died, Chris was still struggling but at the end
Dad was on a roll with a 3lb 12oz crucian then the same tench twice.
Basically he caught one with an unmistakable mark under its chin,
returned it only to land the same one just minutes later, it happens!
Kevin then awoke from a deep sleep and bagged a tench, yet it was
another 3lb 8oz crucian that clinched it for us and with myself and
Chris landing a tench apiece close to packing up the match was well
and truly ours.
