Monthly Report January 2017
January can always be a difficult
month which is a shame as it’s also a great month for catching big fish, that’s
if it’s possible to get to the water’s edge and cast a line which hasn’t been
very easy of late. The lakes have for a while been frozen and as soon as they
thawed the rain and wind came making the sort of angling I was trying to do,
almost impossible.
Looking at my diary inputs it’s
not been
from a lack of trying as I have still managed to brave the weather on
a dozen or more occasions but although I’ve tried actually putting fish on the
bank has been somewhat disappointing. I have always said ‘wherever there’s a
famine there will be a feast’, well I’m well and truly ready for some well deserved
rod bending action now. It’s been difficult and unproductive for a number of
reasons, firstly due to the lakes freezing has meant that quite a few features
and guided trips have had to be cancelled or rescheduled, however on a positive
note the fishing shed is sorted, the mice that were causing all sorts of
problems have now gone and a few things around the house have also been done.
I’ve also spent time writing articles but the only thing they are lacking is
any decent catch images, something that I have to get out and shoot/catch if
I’m not to use old dated images to many times, something I try my hardest not
to do, yet with February upon us, who knows what’s in stall.
All in all January has been very difficult and
I can see why many anglers dust the rods of and don’t bother during this and
next month, but if I go more than three days without casting a line I’m
crawling up the walls to get out. Yes I could have made different venue choices
and caught more but I still like a challenge, yet when things aren’t quite
going to plan, or the fish aren’t responding it’s hard to keep focused but I’m
still young enough to be slightly mad as well as keen. Hopefully February will
be slightly kinder, allow me to fish where and how I want to and the results
will come. We will see.
Day to Day event.
02/01/17 – It
might be a bank holiday but I spent the day in the office completing the Lure
Attack feature with Serhill photographed just before Christmas.
04/01/17 – Headed
to Frensham for a couple of hours pike fishing but really raw and never had a
touch.
05/01/17 – I was
hoping to get out for a few hours but being so cold and with the atmospheric
pressure really high decided it was time to start the major job of cleaning the
tackle shed due to having a new roof laid a few weeks back and the place being
covered in dust. It’s also a good time to start chucking out/giving away loads
of old stuff that I was saving to give to some youngsters which unfortunately
have shown no interest in fishing.
06/01/17 – Met a
friend outside Yateley Angling and headed to a stretch of the Loddon for a day’s
roving with deadbaits. Knew it wouldn’t be easy due to the air pressure, hard
overnight frost and a temperature that wasn’t going to rise above 4 degrees.
Very little happened until we dropped in a swim on the way back to the car when
Mark managed a pike. Sadly it wasn’t the specimen we were hoping for but any
pike on such a trip has to be regarded as a result.
07/01/17 – Spent
a few hours organising the rods for a few different sessions coming up during
the following week. A couple of area’s that I have decided are a must for the
coming year is to stop using any reel that I don’t have complete confidence in
using as well as loading the ones that I am using with new line. This will mean
having to buy a small match fixed
spool, one with a very good clutch and a
closed face reel to replace the old lumpy Daiwa 125 that has served me so well
for so long but it’s now far from perfect for trotting or playing a fish.
08/01/17 – Met my
mate Chris at Frensham Great Pond for a few hours pike fishing as well as
starting to think about our holiday to France in April for carp. The weather
feels perfect, overcast, with little wind, far better atmospherics and mild at
10 degrees but for some reason just one small jack fell during our stay.
09/01/17 – TRD
(all will be revealed).
10/01/17 –
Arrived at The Lower Itchen Fishery at 8am, headed upstream to find the fishery
nice and quiet. The weather was being kind, mild, overcast and with very little
wind which helped my two customers presenting a float down the river. Neither
John M nor John G had ever caught a grayling yet straight away that all changed
with both catching there target of a pound plus grayling within minutes of
starting. Every swim that was fished produced fish after fish which kept them
well happy before we headed downstream to the deeper, slower stretch to see if
a bigger grayling or specimen roach could be located. Sadly neither showed, yet
a few modest grayling still kept their interest before dusk fell and we had to
retreat of the river.
11/01/17 – Before
Christmas I pike fished a local lake with Paul Garner. Between us we managed
three modest pike after finally finding them smashing the small roach up along
a bank where they don’t usually show. Unfortunately due to one thing or another
this was the first chance to return and I was hoping to create a short video of
the events, however the pike had done a disappearing act and the five hours
fished saw nothing happen. Finally I headed to the Blackwater, scene of a pike
grabbing a customer’s chub a few weeks before and second cast on a
sink-and-draw dead roach saw a jack grab the bait, which fortunately saved me
from another pike blank.
12/01/17 – 14/01/17
– With the freezing conditions and the howling wind everything planned has had
to be rescheduled so have spent the time writing features and getting on top of
things such as sorting the kit out for next week and tidying the tackle shed.
15/01/17 – TRD.
17/01/17 – TRD.
18/01/17 to 26/01/17
– Due to the really cold conditions decided to spend a few days in the office
sorting words and images for an AM Carp Crew article, drumming up some new work
and still trying to get some sort of organisation in the fishing shed.
27/01/17 – Met
brother at my parents at 7am and headed to the Frome in the hope that the
milder weather would bring rod bending action. With anglers around we headed
downstream but soon after starting we knew that things weren’t quite right as
bites were hard to come by. In brief Kevin ended the day with a 3lb sea trout
and two grayling to 1lb 11oz after switching to the feeder and all I had was a
3lb sea trout and a net grayling on the float. Proves we know little about
fishing.
29/01/17 – TRD.
30/01/17 – TRD.
31/07/17 – A
guided trip to Mill Farm Fishery for silver bream last year was ruined by a
major algae bloom and although we did catch the odd fish the silvers were
definitely not playing ball. Today was meant to be a return for Neil but with the
venue closed till Easter, and knowing how much Neil loves his float fishing
mentioned a small lake that was worth trying for its roach. Well after a very
slow start he managed to start catching and come the end of the session had put
together a double figured bag of roach to around a pound.
01/02/17 – Tench
image. Maybe my fortunes are changing.
TRD – All will be revealed soon.
Chub on the feed.
Getting out for myself of late has been difficult of late due to a new job that has taken up much of my time, yet a couple of days guiding did sort of give me my angling fix. The first was whilst storm Doris blew and luckily a change in tactics saw four three-foot twitch bites come Chas's way producing three personal best chub, the best 5lb 9oz.
