Monthly Report August 2017
August, in my mind the worst
month of the year for catching consistently and all I seem to hear from the
anglers on the banks is, where have all the fish gone? If you think about it,
it’s not difficult to work out. Firstly the water is at its richest in natural
food and the fish can just gorge themselves on this high protein diet and totally
ignore our baits. Another factor is the amount of bait that is dropped into the
lake, which is probably at its highest due to the amount of anglers enjoying
the sunshine, yet all this does is rot on the lake bed, deoxygenates and soar
the water putting the fish in a somewhat uncooperative mood, but worst still is
the weather. I might be wrong but when the wind has blown its seems to be on a
daily swing and in my mind if the wind can’t make its mind up then the fish
can’t make their minds if and where they want to feed. It’s a month that I
could quite easily hang the rods up and get loads in the house or garden
sorted, and although I have spent time doing this, in the small amount of hours
I have been on the bank I have been learning the art of zig fishing. Believe me
it’s quite technical but every session I have either learnt something or seen
someone far better getting it right and can now say that I feel very confident
that each session will see a fish or two grace my net. I’m going to keep at it
through September and October but also need to start looking at other things,
so it’s going to be a case of making more time to do more things and hopefully
start to reap the rewards over the next few months.
Day to Day events.
01/08/17 – 02/08/17
– Been looking forward to another
carp session and arrived early to see if I could catch on zigs before dusk.
Unfortunately I made the mistake of fishing a crowded railway bank and after
three hours of feeling somewhat claustrophobic and only one tench on a 3ft zig
to show for my efforts headed to the narrow swim on the end of the chicken
bank. With carp showing all over the place felt that a few fish would fall,
which they did, tench along with just one small common that may have scrapped
10lb. Chris fished in the board’s next door and took one tench and a 15lb
mirror. Another mistake that I won’t be making again is fishing a zig through
the night as this just doesn’t seem to produce.
03/08/17 – Long
day in the office, 8am – 8pm getting ahead of myself on the WTF Column for
Anglers Mail.
04/08/17 – Let’s
be honest, August is probably the worst month in the year for an all year round
angler so I can be excused for once again sitting behind the computer and
tapping away on things that will free my time up for when the weather is ideal
for fishing and I can just grab the gear and go.
05/08/17 – At
last a lazy morning and come 1pm I found myself at Johnsons for a few hours
carp fishing. Setting up half way along the railway things didn’t look great
from the start as very few fish were showing. Casting a couple of zig rigs out
and five hours later without a bleep decided enough was enough and headed home
to get supper on and gain some brownie points. Looking back the reason it was
so slow was the same old reason about the wind not making its mind up where it
wanted to head and unsettling the fish. I also found myself sheltering under
the brolly a couple of times as the heavens opened and unleashed hail, rain,
thunder and lightning!
06/08/17 – Having
such a slow day yesterday and the wind still not prominent from any direction
decided fishing would be almost a waste of time (it’s never a waste of time,
but sometimes you just know) so picked my mother up, gave here fourteen shots
over 9 holes at Bowenhurst and gave a right good thrashing (she is 80)!
07/08/17 – Start
off a busy week. On the road come 6am to meet up with a new customer Michael
who had booked me for a spot of tench fishing. Meeting in Abinger Hammer at
6.30am we found ourselves on the banks of Lodge Lake (Newdigate Fisheries) come
7am. The weather looked good for a few fish but it took some time for the first
fish to fall, a tench around 4lb. This was followed by four more, the best
maybe 5lb plus five orfe to 4lb 14oz, however it was a frustrating session in
the sense that maggots were being removed from the hook with ease from what I
suspect were small orfe. My suspicions were 12oz orfe but if these were
continually sucking maggots in on a two-inch hooklink then you would have
thought one would be hooked however the smallest orfe was around 2lb 8oz! We
did play around with our rigs and bait and finally found a solution, that’s why
you hire a guide!
08/08/17 – Up at
5am and on the bank early, this time to give my good friend, and on occasion
customer (this is what you get when you become a regular) an introduction to
GAS Johnson’s Lake (FOC as I’m not allowed to guide on GAS waters). His target was to beat his crucian best of
2lb 15oz from Harris so we headed to the railway bank, even though the wind was
coming off our backs. In my experience, in August if you want a big crucian
then head to the railway bank, it might mean less fish but the deeper water
does seem to produce the odd big girl.
Two hours gone and I had taken two crucians of 3lb 10z and 3lb 3oz plus
a tench and a small common whist Mark was still to get a bite! I had to leave
due to an urgent call but I can’t have been out of the car park when Mark
called saying he had just taken a crucian of 3lb, job done. When I managed to
get back little had happened but things seem to liven up early afternoon with
tench to 5lb, another good crucian for Mark, pesky rudd and a common of around
6lb. Come 5pm, and with little happening for a couple of hours and with rain in
the air we decided to call it a day, well happy with our results as August can
be a real head-banger on most lakes.
09/08/17 – The
weather, or should I say the weather forecasters are once again doing my brain
in! Today was supposed to be wet in the morning and then clearing early
afternoon, so I rescheduled a morning guiding session to later in the week as I
also had to attend a FAS barbel teach-in come 5pm and thought it might just be
too much for one day, especially if it was wet. As I write this up, its 9pm and
the rain is still lashing down outside. Luckily, after last month’s FAS Barbel
teach-in’s washout I made the right decision and cancelled the event, albeit
late in the day but mainly due to a couple of late cancellations! I’m certainly
not a fair weather angler but running up and down a wet river bank for the best
part of six hours in pouring rain isn’t fun and as I’m feeling somewhat chesty was
definitely the right call. Sorry to the anglers that still would have attended
but these events are supposed to be fun and in this sort of weather it would be
the exact opposite. I will be rescheduling this event for later in the month or
even late in Sept and will be in touch.
10/08/17 – On the
bank of Richardson Lake at 6.15am to meet one of my regular’s Neal who wanted
to see if he would like pole fishing. I still have a pole and a seat box and it
was refreshing to dust everything down, re-elasticate etc and see that delicate
float disappearing and the elastic stretching. Holding 8m of pole and not
really knowing what to expect the bites came quickly which was surprising after
the amount of rain that fell the day before. Meat over groundbait was are
tactic as Neal wanted to hook big fish so when the first tench tore off, Neal
was hooked and told me that the experience was going to cost him a few hundred
quid due to having to buy a whole new outfit. A flurry of tench was followed by
a lull in action mid morning and a switch to caster saw a few more fish landed.
Having learnt loads and after having experienced a whole new side of fishing
Neal left around 4pm which allowed me to have an hour and two bream and a tench
followed along with a proper zoo creature that saw me struggling at 14m and
elastic stretching to its max which finally saw the tiny size 18 pulling. Back
at home it was once again a scramble to sort the feeder kit out for a session
on Johnson Lake with another regular Adrian.
11/08/17 – On the
bank come 6am this time to give Adrian a short morning session using the pellet
cone on Johnson Lake. Things didn’t look or feel good on arrival as the temperature
had dropped over night to an unseasonal seven degrees and very few fish were
moving. Dropping in peg 27 it didn’t take long for the first bite which came
from a 5lb plus tench. This was followed by three more to 6lb plus a roach
around a pound and a small rudd before action slowed. Just before Adrian left
at midday he landed another tench which gave me a couple of hours myself before
having to leave. Action was steady with four more good tench falling, a crucian
which might have made 3lb plus a number of small rudd.
12/08/17 – At
long last a lay-in after an early night, bliss. No fishing today as I need the
day to catch up on fishy paperwork and clean and organize kit for a much easier
coming week.
13/08/17 – With a
variable wind which was cold and high atmospherics should have stayed at home
as Johnson Lake was just rubbish. A few fish were bubbling on arrival at 8am
and we did manage two tench and a double figured common between us but come
10am it was just dead and nothing done could tempt so much as a bleep. Packed up
at 2pm but knew we should have gone far sooner.
15/08/17 – A full
day in the office getting back on track along with sorting the tackle for a
day’s carp fishing and one barbel fishing on the Wye.
16/08/17 – Should
have been up early and heading to the river Wye today but had to move this too
tomorrow, so headed to Johnsons only to find a match was planned, so had to
move to another lake, Tarn but watching the water for ages failed to see a sign
of a carp and with the weather far from perfect headed to a stretch of the Wey
just to hopefully get a bite or two. Managed to get a good bite on pellet but
failed to make contact before switching to bread for a wild brownie. Even had a
cormorant surface in my swim on a river I could jump over! What chance do we or
the fish have?
17/08/17 – Up at
3am and on the road come 4am heading to the river Wye to create an AM feature.
Absolutely chucking it down when we left but come 6.30 when we arrived it had
passed. Good to see the weather forecast right for once! Barrie, a past
customer but now good friend had fished the day before with another ex-customer
Mark and between them had taken 17 barbel to over 8lb on the feeder, however
today was all about catching on the float so without too much temptation we set
about our task. All caught on the float throughout the day; however I had a
right mare as everyone I hooked either saw the hook pulling of them hitting a
snag. I think they all felt for me however it just goes to show we are all
human and all have those days when things just don’t go right, however the day
was more about all getting together and having a laugh.
18/08/17 – After
a lay-in I met good friend Tom Aldous early afternoon to see if either of us
could tempt a river carp. With only a few hours to spare in the afternoon and
with thunder, lightning and heavy downpours all we had to show for our efforts
was one modest chub, but I did have a couple of carp move through the swim.
20/08/17 – A full
day in the office compiling my weekly Anglers Mail ‘Where to fish’ column along
with making a start on a Catch More feature.
21/08/17 –
Another day in the office, this time creating a European article, my first for
a while.
22/08/17 - Kit
sorted and on the Tidal Thames come 4pm. Rivers in the fields but still managed
to get fish, albeit later than we would have liked but still caught loads of
fish. Keep an eye out in Anglers Mail for a ‘Where to fish’ opener coming
shortly.
23/08/17 – It
doesn’t take much for a week to go ‘tits’ up. A feature deadline bought forward
or a customer cancelling a guiding session at the last minute, but this week
I’ve had both. Managed to get the feature sorted along with using the free time
to take my mother for a game of golf.
24/08/17 – One of
those days where I can’t decide what I fancied doing. Shall I go barbel
fishing, crucian, no its carp fishing so headed to a local lake, however never
cast a line as initially didn’t get the right vibes that it would produce then
got chatting to an angler that literally was taking the place apart. I could
have dropped in next to him, as my approach was very similar, but as he was so
helpful didn’t want to crowd his space, so left feeling somewhat excited. Not a
feeling I have had for some time. Popped in the tackle shop, bought a few bits
then headed home to mimic what he was doing. The plan was to return nice and
early the following morning, set up well away from him and drop a few in the
net myself. In fact I was so excited I didn’t sleep much.
25/08/17 – On the
lake come 6.15am and rods out before anyone else. Baited up and happy with my
swim, now it was just a case of let the flood doors open! Unfortunately once
the mist had cleared it was obvious that there wasn’t a lot of fish in front of
me, in fact the whole lake looked dead. That was until I saw this angler I
spoke to yesterday get his rods back out, bait up and then start hauling! It
was simply that he had loads of fish in front of him and I had none. I don’t
even think moving would have helped as a friend was on the opposite side and
also said things weren’t happening. I was doing everything right, was happy
with my rigs yet if they aren’t there you are not going to catch them. I did
have three runs though, so all wasn’t lost. The first was from a duck, the
second, a screamer saw nothing on the other end and just as I was calling it a
day a double came along. It was a frustrating session but I’m close, oh so
close and a few more tweaks to my set up and baiting and I know it won’t be
long before I get the better of them. Roll on Sunday!
27/08/17 – On the
banks of the Basingstoke Canal come 8am to meet up with Jake Lund once again to
create a Catch More feature for AM. Keep an eye out for this one as it’s very interesting.
Home come 11pm and on my way to a local lake for a spot of zig fishing all the
time praying that the swim I wanted would be empty, it was. Chris was joining
me and thoughts were on a red letter day as just ten minutes after casting out
the alarm screamed and it was fish on. Ten seconds later I was reeling in a
limp line as once again the hook had pulled and my run of dropping fish was to
continue. You can imagine what I felt like when exactly the same happened an
hour later and I was beginning to think that my luck was never going to change
when the third carp hooked finally graced my net. On the scales she went 22lb
2oz and for the first time I felt contented. Later that afternoon Chris was
away but bad luck was to strike him also as he too had a hook pull right next
to the net. Thing s slowed and the fish seem to move as well as knowing what
was going on, however I managed another one around 5pm, the biggest for me so
far, an old leney of 26lb 4oz. That was the end of the action but certainly starting
to put the pieces of the jigsaw together.
28/08/17 –
Standard Monday in the office doing fishy related jobs.
29/08/17 - Tried to get out on Tuesday for
another zig session but anglers in the area that I fancied and not wanting to
bring attention to my tactics decided it was better not to fish. 30/08/17 - Wednesday I had a Farnham
Barbel Teach-in that had been rescheduled in and once again it looked as if it
was going to be wet, yet the rain cleared leaving an enjoyable evening, shame
only two anglers made it!
31/08/17 –
Another day in the office due to having a number of tradesmen booked in doing
odd jobs around the house.
Christmas is coming.....
