Monthly Report April 2018
Day to Day events.
01/04/18 – Although
there was some family socialising I did manage to sit down for a few hours and
write up my next Anglers Mail ‘WTF’ Column, well ahead of schedule but all
sorted whilst and out of the way apart from a few
tweaks whilst the weather is
bad.
02/04/18 – It’s
been forecasted all week, heavy rain and don’t go out however was the weather
that bad today know, why oh why do we listen? In all honesty I had already
planned to stay in as I wanted to get the carp rods made up and all my tackle
boxes organised for specific species which is exactly what I did.
03/04/18 –
Another wet day but with the weather improving as the day progressed I finished
off getting organised and headed to Johnsons Lake hoping the crowds would have
disappeared and the lake would be quiet, wrong! The car ppark was rammed as was
the railway bank with around ten anglers all looking as if they were set up for
the night. Undeterred but slightly on the back foot I headed to quieter waters
and soon had a 5lb tench in the net. The same rod was away half an hour later
which turned out to be a fish of a lifetime, a crucian weighing exactly 4lb.
This close in rod then went quiet but the distance maggot feeder started to
produce, three tench in fact all around 5lb. As darkness fell the action tailed
off so at 9.30pm I called it a day. Rumours are the crucians are hard to come
by and the fishing tough so to take five fish in less than five hours to say I
was buzzing is an understatement.
04/04/18 – Up
early and at Johnsons come 6am but how two days can differ as today its not far
of a frost, the atmospherics have gone from 994mb to 1018mb overnight and the
clouds have dispersed leaving a cloudless sky , oh and the wind has swung and
is now coming from the N/W. It was always going to be tough but at least I got
a bite from a tench that is more than most! Back at home come midday and
quickly organised the zig tackle for a few hours tomorrow. Not allot happening
at Johnsons but one angler did have four crucians the day before, best 3lb 15oz
but most struggling for bites and then when they come are mostly from tench.
06/04/18 – Headed
to Johnsons early this morning really to make sure my zigging tackle is all
organised as I have a friend who wants to get to grips with this method next
week. Found plenty of carp in front of peg 7 but a few small problems with rigs
tangling meant come midday no bites had come and I needed to rethink certain
approaches. Luckily an angler called Karl was also zigging and gave me some
really useful tips to avoid these tangles. Cheers mate!
08/04/18 –
Knowing that Johnsons would be rammed first thing, decided to delay my arrival
until midday when most would have hopefully avoided the rain and headed home.
My tactic worked as just seven other anglers were around so had the choice of
swims. Heading to the railway bank I dropped into muddy peg 18 with Chris in 17
and although hopeful I did fear that there would be allot of bait still
un-eaten in front of us. Fishing the cone on one and heli-rig on the other I
was away after about an hour from a tench but things looked grim as the lake
was still, no fish showing and the rain relentless! I managed one more bite
come 8pm which came from a 3lb 1oz crucian and Chris managed just one tench.
10/04/18 – Today
was all about one of my regulars, Neal Webb learning the art of zig fishing,
even if catching a carp was a little remote due to the chilly north wind and
knowing that most of the fish were out in the middle of the lake, well out of
reach of our casting capabilities. Fortunately the rain that was forecasted
never arrived and we were able to go through the whole procedure including
rigs, baiting, clipping up, lead dropping etc. Although he had booked a whole
day I had decided that it best, due to the conditions, that this was split into
two half days, today about learning and then the second about catching. In
between time he could head out with the knowledge learnt to a heavily stocked
venue and catch a few before returning to my venue where he would stand of
catching a number of twenties. As expected the carp were showing at distance
but one of the rods did rip off, however the culprit was a decent sized tench!
11/04/18 – I was
hoping for one last chance at a big crucian at Johnsons but on arrival at
midday the lake was rammed so having my father with me decided to head to
Harris Lake. Knowing that it’s been a slow start at Johnsons I was half
expecting the same on Harris but ten minutes in and the first of more than a
dozen tench graced my net. It was a strange session as even after trying to get
Dads rods going I couldn’t and I must have had ten fish before his first bite,
however my swim died and his came alive and come 7pm he had caught me up and we
called it a draw at around thirteen fish each which included the odd crucian
around 3lb!
13/04/18 – On the
banks of Johnsons for one last try for another big crucian. Barrie and Mark
were already there when I arrived at 6.30am and amazed at how quiet it was
which allowed us all to set up in a row along the Railway Bank. Conditions once
again not great, basically as there was very little wind. I was off the mark
first with a tench which came three hours in followed by another big crucian,
once again weighing exactly 4lb. Another tench came later in the day but come
5pm it was clear things wernt going to liven up. Mark and Barrie stayed on but
Barrie couldn’t buy a bite even after moving a number of times and Mark managed
five tench and a 3lb 2oz crucian.
16/04/18 – A day
in the office getting my Anglers Mail WTF column sorted.
19/04/18 – Early
start, up at 4.30am as heading to Brighton Marina to fish for plaice. Arrived
at my brothers at 5.30am and headed down with good friend Chris. Arriving at
just after 7am we parked (free if using the marina facilities) in the marina
car park then walked to the East arm picking some black lugworm up on route.
Hottest day of the year and slightly further walk that would have liked but
finally dropped into slot 33 on the bend of the arm. Thirty minutes in and the
first bite came to my rods which produced the first plaice of the day, all ten
inches of it! Bites continued to 1pm (high tide) which resulted in a variety of
species, small plaice, dab, rockling, black bream and whitting to name a few
but all were very small. There were a few other species caught, spurdog,
dogfish, Pollock and bass but again all small and come 3.30pm with the sun
beating down, anglers casting everywhere we decided to head home and beat most
of the traffic. The session wasn’t all about catching, although a few 2lb plus
plaice would have been nice, but more of a catching up with Chris as its been
over 5 years since we all last fished together. It won’t be five years again as
we are planning a mackerel session on Hayling this summer.
20/04/18 – A days
videoing at Marsh Farm with Paul Garner had to be cancelled late Thursday night
due to car problems which put me at a loose end but managed to spend a couple
of hours with Dad and Mick (girlfriends dad) at Badshot Lea who were catching
bream even in the hot weather, before sorting the zig kit out for a few hours
at a local day ticket venue on Sunday.
22/04/18 – Should
of known the day ticket venue was mega busy so turned around and spent the day
in the office compiling my WTF column.
23/04/18 –
Arrived at my local day ticket venue at around 1pm. Only one other angler on
Horseshoe so dropped in here cast out zigs and proceeded to catch around a
dozen carp to 18lb by 6pm!
24/04/18 – The
weather has certainly changes with temperatures dropping especially at night.
Headed to Badshot Lea in the hope of getting a few carp feeding on the surface
but the cool wind made things difficult and although the odd carp did surface,
they weren’t in a feeding mood so no need flogging it out in wrong conditions.
26/04/18 –
Forgive me for the lack of news but today I lost my father, RIP my friend.
29/04/18 – It’s
what Dad would have wanted, me to continue my passion through the hardest times
so this morning I headed back to Harris where we last fished together, mainly
to keep myself active and to get some images I needed to get a European article
completed. Fished with my mate Chris who helped with images and another good
friend, also Chris so it was good to talk and share a few things. The weather
wasn’t great, horrid cold northerly and just six degrees but we had a few fish,
seven tench and a three crucians in just three hours.
30/04/18 – Spent
the day completing the article, plus getting on with my WTF column as time is
going to get eaten up over the next couple of weeks doing family things.
Essex Action.
Positive ID please!
Business as usual
Eel fishing can be slow at times, especially when targeting a big lake with just a few monsters lurking around. Just the anticipation of what the night will bring and slowly drifting away to a sunset like this is enough.
Back on the zigs!
The devastating helicopter rig.
Frensham - First come first served.
Really looking forward to getting out for a spot of eel fishing tomorrow night with my good mate Chris Petter who took this amazing eel haul, with fish to 4lb 5oz a few years back. Fingers crossed! 
Tench time...
I will point out that if you want to catch rudd then it will
have to be either a session fishing into darkness or even an all night session
which gives you the added bonus of lading a few tench in the morning. Tench
sessions are from dawn onwards.
The reason we go fishing?
Inside this weeks Anglers Mail.
Guiding days on Frensham Great Pond
What I love
about this venue is that it contains no carp so tactics can be scaled down in
order to catch the stunning crucians and tench within. My last session lasted
just three hours and was all about getting some action and catch images for a European
magazine article and fish after fish graced my net. 
Another
great thing on Harris is that it’s a great water to learn and perfect tactics
like the pellet cone, flat-bed feeder and helicopter rig as well as float
fishing in the margins. 
03/04/18 –
Another wet day but with the weather improving as the day progressed I finished
off getting organised and headed to Johnsons Lake hoping the crowds would have
disappeared and the lake would be quiet, wrong! The car ppark was rammed as was
the railway bank with around ten anglers all looking as if they were set up for
the night. Undeterred but slightly on the back foot I headed to quieter waters
and soon had a 5lb tench in the net. The same rod was away half an hour later
which turned out to be a fish of a lifetime, a crucian weighing exactly 4lb.
This close in rod then went quiet but the distance maggot feeder started to
produce, three tench in fact all around 5lb. As darkness fell the action tailed
off so at 9.30pm I called it a day. Rumours are the crucians are hard to come
by and the fishing tough so to take five fish in less than five hours to say I
was buzzing is an understatement. 
08/04/18 –
Knowing that Johnsons would be rammed first thing, decided to delay my arrival
until midday when most would have hopefully avoided the rain and headed home.
My tactic worked as just seven other anglers were around so had the choice of
swims. Heading to the railway bank I dropped into muddy peg 18 with Chris in 17
and although hopeful I did fear that there would be allot of bait still
un-eaten in front of us. Fishing the cone on one and heli-rig on the other I
was away after about an hour from a tench but things looked grim as the lake
was still, no fish showing and the rain relentless! I managed one more bite
come 8pm which came from a 3lb 1oz crucian and Chris managed just one tench. 
10/04/18 – Today
was all about one of my regulars, Neal Webb learning the art of zig fishing,
even if catching a carp was a little remote due to the chilly north wind and
knowing that most of the fish were out in the middle of the lake, well out of
reach of our casting capabilities. Fortunately the rain that was forecasted
never arrived and we were able to go through the whole procedure including
rigs, baiting, clipping up, lead dropping etc. Although he had booked a whole
day I had decided that it best, due to the conditions, that this was split into
two half days, today about learning and then the second about catching. In
between time he could head out with the knowledge learnt to a heavily stocked
venue and catch a few before returning to my venue where he would stand of
catching a number of twenties. As expected the carp were showing at distance
but one of the rods did rip off, however the culprit was a decent sized tench!
11/04/18 – I was
hoping for one last chance at a big crucian at Johnsons but on arrival at
midday the lake was rammed so having my father with me decided to head to
Harris Lake. Knowing that it’s been a slow start at Johnsons I was half
expecting the same on Harris but ten minutes in and the first of more than a
dozen tench graced my net. It was a strange session as even after trying to get
Dads rods going I couldn’t and I must have had ten fish before his first bite,
however my swim died and his came alive and come 7pm he had caught me up and we
called it a draw at around thirteen fish each which included the odd crucian
around 3lb!
13/04/18 – On the
banks of Johnsons for one last try for another big crucian. Barrie and Mark
were already there when I arrived at 6.30am and amazed at how quiet it was
which allowed us all to set up in a row along the Railway Bank. Conditions once
again not great, basically as there was very little wind. I was off the mark
first with a tench which came three hours in followed by another big crucian,
once again weighing exactly 4lb. Another tench came later in the day but come
5pm it was clear things wernt going to liven up. Mark and Barrie stayed on but
Barrie couldn’t buy a bite even after moving a number of times and Mark managed
five tench and a 3lb 2oz crucian.
29/04/18 – It’s
what Dad would have wanted, me to continue my passion through the hardest times
so this morning I headed back to Harris where we last fished together, mainly
to keep myself active and to get some images I needed to get a European article
completed. Fished with my mate Chris who helped with images and another good
friend, also Chris so it was good to talk and share a few things. The weather
wasn’t great, horrid cold northerly and just six degrees but we had a few fish,
seven tench and a three crucians in just three hours.
Anglers Mail - out today.
I also got together with top carper Jake Lund at both Willow Park in Hampshire and Linear Brasenose One where he revealed all his zig fishing tricks.
