Winge of the Week - Mainline

It seems that companies producing mainline for angling have been so transfixed on reducing diameters that they have forgotten the importance of both abrasion resistance and line twist. I’m not sure what the problem is, whether its because so many are pre-stretched or if it’s the way line is placed on spools, yet one thing is for sure is that 90% of lines nowadays have the tendency to twist and coil. I have tried loads, always soaking them for hours in water yet come the day when I go fishing I still find it coiling and twisting. I’m not going to mention any specific makes of crap line but I’m at my wits end with mainline. I’ve even looked into investing into the new NanoFil but have received mixed reports on this, especially when it comes to knotting up and having tried some Fluorocarbons in the past and suffering similar problems have for the time being kept away from converting. Shimano Technium, again not cheap, is a mainline I used many years ago and remember being well happy with it when carp fishing and this may soon become what’s loaded on my reels or I may just go back to good old Maxima yet this certainly isn’t immune to the problem. For the time being I think I am just going to have to put up with the problem but if anyone can recommend a line that knots up well, isn’t wiry and brittle and doesn’t twist and coil then please let me know.

Product of the Week - Thermos Vintage Flask RRP £20

I find taking cooking equipment a real pain, especially on short overnight session, yet the need for a warm meal is so rewarding and welcoming, especially when just a few hours sleep is seen due to the constant catching of fish throughout the night. For years I have taken along meals that should be hot, but are cold, meals like salmon, chilli noodles and asparagus, yet this compact Thermos flask has solved a problem. It was a Christmas present and I have just started to get the benefits of it as food can be prepared at home, placed hot into the flask which then keeps this warm for up to seven hours. The flask has a wide top which means food can be eaten straight from it or placed into the lid that doubles up as a small bowl and if this wasn’t all, it comes with a fold down spoon that fits neatly into its lid.

Fishing is full of surprises - Weekly report starting Saturday 22nd June 2013.

After fishing Friday night I was hoping to grab a few hours sleep on Saturday but having a couple of recent birthdays found myself heading out for a meal so had to keep going till the evening.

Sunday was all about catching up on the weekly paperwork which seems to take forever along with cleaning the kit down and reorganising it for a week of guiding.

I was looking forward to Monday as I had promised to take young Jake to Frensham the previous year and with the weather being kind to us and exams out of the way we were both able to relax and focus on catching a few tench. Meeting at 4pm we headed to what’s called ‘The Oaks’ a popular swim but one I had never fished before. The wind was from the North West which was great as it was pushing gently into our faces. Tactics were to fish two Helicopter rigs in the hope of tench and rudd plus a rod with an inline maggot feeder, short braided hooklink along with a size 12 hook carrying a hair on which three plastic maggots were fixed. This was really to try and overcome a phobia I have on just using plastic. After spoding out plenty of groundbait, maggots and hemp we sat back to await the response and as so often with Frensham it didn’t take long as a tench ripped of with one of the Heli-rigs. This happened so many times that it was obvious real are better than fake, yet the rod was still cast as often as the other rods to try and gain a response. Eventually it happened yet I was so shocked that I dropped the fish, obviously another tench. Chris my tench companion joined us come the evening and also tried the more traditional inline maggot feeder set up yet with Jake regularly catching on the helicopters soon swapped come dusk, just as Jake found himself slipping the net under a big tench that weighed 7lb 1oz, a new personal best by some margin. Action slowed come darkness and come 11pm we had all settled down, yet the rods were left out and it was the plastic maggots that started to receive the bites and amazingly these were coming from rudd, five in fact, the biggest going 2lb 6oz. By 1am I was feeling the pace and decided that as the rods went of they would be left in so that I could grab some sleep. Two tench fell in the night which left one rod that hadn’t received a bite. Casting all three out at 5am saw them all rip off in the first half an hour, proving the importance of casting regularly. Jake finally awoke an hour or so later, just as Chris was packing away and went on to land a few more tench including another weighing 7lb 1oz. Our final tally was 18 fish, not a bad result.

Back at home the standard two hours kip was followed by sorting the kit out as well as sorting out the barbel tackle for a guided trip with another customer on a difficult stretch of the river Loddon the following day but not before having to attend the end of term Proms and taking some pictures for my girlfriend’s sister.

After dropping the girlfriend of at 7am I headed to the Loddon. The weather was bright, not ideal conditions yet after meeting my customer at 8am and heading to a favourite swim he soon found himself attached to a big barbel which weighed 10lb 11oz. In fact it took just twenty minutes to get the bite and once again the ‘pellet-lead’ proved its worth. We roved the river for the around another seven hours for just one more bite, a chub of 4lb 12oz which might not sound good, but on this stretch one bite a day is classified as a result. It was whilst fishing the swim where the chub was taken that a number of good fish rolled, so many in fact that I stood and watched the river, eager to see what they were. My suspicion was that they were bream, maybe barbel but they were neither, not even chub, in fact they were tench probably in spawning mode.

Thursday I was up early, 5.45am and once again headed to Frensham to meet Jake in the hope of catching a few tench on the float. With the weather bright these were always going to prove hard, yet we did manage one early on. Once the sun was up it was all about casting the feeder rods out and come 4pm a few tench to 6lb 8oz had come his way. With Jake leaving at 4pm I had another customer joining me and having never fished the venue before and being an avid barbel angler I hoped that Frensham would deliver. Unfortunately the weather turned for the worst and what was supposed to be light drizzle turned into heavy and persistent rain. We did try fishing the float but gave up at around 8pm with just a few missed bites to show for our efforts. I had cast a feeder rod out and this had ripped of four times during the evening and thoughts were of a big hit but the swim died come dusk. At around 9.30pm the rain stopped and we tried the float once more. I received two bites, one was a rudd around a pound the other a tench weighing exactly 8lb! With very few bites coming we decided to grab four hours kip before commencing our efforts come 4am. The weather was slightly better and a few tench finally started to show. We both had a feeder rod out as well and come 8am Alan had landed six tench including a personal best of 6lb 5oz. I had a few also and although the big rudd that we dearly wanted failed to show we left well happy as how often does a tench of 8lb fall to the float as well as your customer walking away with a p.b! I was in need to sleep later that day but amazingly also needed to get on top of a weeks worth of paperwork and housework and finally hit my bed at around midnight after picking the girlfriend up after the evening shift.

Winge of the Week

Something that I have noticed recently is the lack of anglers visiting day ticket waters. Times are hard and taking into consideration cost of a day ticket, fuel and bait the cost of a days fishing can become too expensive for many. Clubs offering reasonably priced membership seem to be the ones that are benefiting from this as anglers not only have the choice of venue to visit and species to target but aren’t faced with often ridiculous rules that seem only to benefit one party, the day ticket venue and when worked out on visits throughout the year these club tickets offer exceptional value for money.

Talking to many a day ticket owner, numbers are down and times are hard, yet for many I have absolutely no sympathy especially when they are charging up to £15 per day to fish and then do not offer concessions for OAP, juniors or disabled anglers. Yes, there is the argument that these venues offer a very good chance of getting a bend in your rod, yet this is normally from carp and due to the nature of the stocking density, which is often well over what it should be and these have to feed to survive, however they not always the healthiest of fish and the signs of repeat capture can often be extremely evident.

My fishing partner is my father who is 82 and often my girlfriend’s father joins us who is also classified as an OAP. I can assure you that money isn’t easy coming for these and can honestly say that unless the venue has something seriously good to offer, such as Mill Farm Fisheries Specimen Lake that offers a very good chance of catching a British Record silver bream, I will never visit a day ticket water again that fails to offer some sort of reduction for them.

What annoys me even more is when you are then told that you have to use fishery only pellets. I can assure you that although the owner will argue the fact and say that these have to be used to protect their stocks, the real reason is that they are just lining their pockets further and once again I will not fish such a venue that ties me down to such a rip-off deal.  

Product of the Week

Summer is now upon us with the carp sunning themselves in the upper layers its time to give the zig-rigs ago. I’m always up for trying something new and recently tried out Nash’s new Gyro Bug Mix. This comes with instructions but basically you just add water, mix it similar to groundbait them spomb, spod or simply ball out. The particles constantly rise and fall and when I tried it the swim became alive with carp. Teaming this mix up with the Bug’s and Critters as well as the Bug Juice you have a sure recipe for success.

Back to Frensham - Weekly report starting Sat June 15th 2013

Unfortunately angling on the first night of the season, midnight on the 15^th probably will rarely happen as it’s the girlfriend’s birthday on the 16^th. Fortunately I talked her into taking her parents dog for a walk and where better than Frensham Great Pond. Amazingly it wasn’t rammed, with most anglers that had fished the first night leaving in the morning and reports were that it wasn’t fishing that good.

I was thinking of fishing the Thames for carp on Monday night yet with plenty of swims free and a good south west wind blowing plans changed and come 4pm I found myself looking across the lake from the main car park. I had thoughts of heading for the road bank yet the wind had swung and was now blowing from the north east, great. Knowing that Frensham hates a changing wind I headed for a swim where their was a good ripple, however I wasn’t that confident, yet as its done before on many occasions it decided to defy predictability and come 4.40pm I found myself landing a tench, one that weighed 7lb 9oz! From that moment the action was steady, yet the wind and undertow was just too strong to float fish for rudd from dusk and into darkness. An angler to the side of me was also catching and asked if I could take a picture of a personal best tench which weighed 8lb 14oz! Come 11pm, a further ten tench had come to the feeder tactics, many big sixes and one that resembled a football, yet knowing the morning is usually better, wound in and set the alarm for 4am. Fortunately the wind had eased making float fishing possible, yet things weren’t as easy as expected with just three tench and three perch falling but the feeder rod continued to produce fish, all tench and come 9pm my tally had risen to twenty-two, the best 8lb 1oz.

Back at home I needed some sleep so after sorting and cleaning the kit grabbed four hours before sorting the kit for a day out with my brother and his friends at Watmore Farm to celebrate his 50^th on Wednesday. Oh how I would have loved to have been back at Frensham Tuesday evening, float fishing for rudd, as the wind had died, yet a wedding appointment in Newbury prevented this.

Wednesday dawned warm and meeting at Watmore Farm Fishery at 7am thoughts were on a day of arm aching action, yet it wasn’t to be as the fishing was somewhat disappointing, probably due to the variable wind. It was good to catch up with some good friends that I hadn’t seen for a while and the match was finally won by birthday boy and his angling partner Roger who’s two best carp weighed a total of around 14lb. I tried something different for a change, zig rigs, yet it was a frustrating day due to having around 18ft of water in front of me, yet a dozen or so small carp came to the tactic. I have to say I was well impressed with Nashbait’s Gyro Bug Mix that I spodded out and drove the carp crazy.

Come Thursday I was back at Frensham and fishing by 4pm, however once again the wind had swung and was now coming from the south west. As I was meeting my tenching partner Chris later that evening and with swims in close proximity in the North east corner decided to fish the same area as Monday with the view of moving for the following night if the fishing proved difficult. Difficult it was as I started float fishing at 8pm and my first bite came at 10.20pm. A flurry of bites produced five two pound rudd to 2lb 9oz plus a good perch and a tench before things died. The feeder rods went out yet stayed quiet and at 5.30am I was once again float fishing, however just two tench came my way. Chris had received a short feeding period from 11pm to 1am landing seven tench so he was happy as it was his first ever session on Frensham.

Friday morning I decided to head home, grab some food and return, yet this time I headed to the opposite bank, finally setting up in a swim I had never fished before. With the rods out by 1am I only had to wait around forty minutes before the first tench arrived. From then on it was steady until around 6pm when things quietened down. My dad popped down and even had an hour with my rods taking four good tench including a personal best weighing 7lb 5oz. Chris once again joined me, however the tench had slowed up by now and as dusk fell the rudd moved in with a number falling to both our rods, the best a personal best of 2lb 1oz to Chris. The dark hours were quiet but at 5am one of my rods ripped of and once again the action started with tench, rudd and perch picking up the maggot. Come 9am I had managed eighteen tench, the best 7lb 1oz, seven rudd to 2lb plus two perch to 2lb 4oz with Chris taking three tench to 7lb plus some good rudd.

Next week is going to be busy with four guiding days, three at Frensham and one roving the river Loddon in the hope of a big barbel.

The Anticipation Rises - Weekly report starting Saturday 8th June.

Having the tench lake closed I feel a bit at a loose end, roll on the opening of the rivers, for me it will be the Thames and I cant wait to get on my favourite Stillwater, Frensham.

The weekend jobs were completed which included cleaning out the bait freezer which was really forced on me as I always mix groundbait before a session and having to turn around on Friday evening needed the space to store a couple of bucketfuls that I put to good use next week.

Monday dawned and I tried to get out overnight yet it wasn’t to be as the morning was taken up with a dental appointment as well as covering the vegetable patch that I have been slowly digging with weed control sheeting. Come the afternoon I completed an Action Replay for Anglers Mail on the session that saw a few grass carp caught last week and whilst doing so felt the urge to visit my local animal feed supplier where I stocked up with a sack of maize, crushed maize and hemp. I even started soaking some for a session on Thursday. I also visited Yateley Angling Centre to buy a couple of birthday presents for my brothers 50^th next week and whilst doing so had a good catch up with Ruth who I hadn’t seen for what seems ages. I also read Steve Collett’s views on the close season in last weeks Anglers Mail and I have to say everything he said is exactly how I feel on the situation. Unfortunately the youngsters of today don’t share the same views as us! So as you can see it was well into the afternoon before I managed to turn the computer off and put the camera down, to late to head of for a night under the stars for eels, however I did manage to grab the tench rods that were made up and head of to Johnsons feeling good that I was well ahaead of myself with work. I was glad to see that all the stars had long one, probably chasing a different species at their top weights as the crucians have now spawned. This is good as the lake has returned to being peaceful and un-crowded. I headed to the dam, peg 16 as this corner had the wind into it and once again it was raining. Casting out a pellet lead with a small tutti boilie on one rod and a piece of corn next to a groundbait feeder I was expecting this to score better but I was wrong it was the tutti as seven tench, the best 6lb 9oz, two crucians and surprisingly two double figured commons came in the next five hours.

Wednesday I started the boiling process of all the particles that I have been soaking for the grass carp session on Thursday along with sorting this kit and the tackle needed for an afternoon guiding session on Friday.

Thursday dawned and all looked well. The tackle was in the car and after dropping the girlfriend of I was to meet my dad for a spot of grass carp fishing. Unfortunately this didn’t happen as three miles from home the alternator packed up. Finally with dad and the AA help I managed to get the lady to work and get my car back home. Luckily dad lent me his car and after getting a few niggling things done arrived at the lake around 3pm. After spombing loads of particles out I sat back full of expectations, yet it wasn’t to be and at dusk I returned home without even a single bleep. I am now ninety percent sure what the problem is as last week I watched an angler take the lake apart using almost identical bait and rigs, however he was using a bait boat. It hurts me to say this but in this instance having one would have given me a massive advantage, yet am I going to get one, don’t be silly.

On Friday I spent an enjoyable few hours with one of my favourite customers Ron and we headed to Lodge Pond to try a few tactics including the helicopter rig and pellet lead that he had wanted to see. The maggot heli-rig soon proved to be useless due to the small roach so both rods were soon on the pellet lead with either pellet, squidgee or corn on the hook. The session proved far tougher than I had expected yet Ron still managed a best bream weighing exactly six pounds plus a couple of slightly smaller ones and a modest carp just as we called it a day. The weather was great, as was the conversation and as we left we joked as the lake had become busy with carp campers making the idyllic venue sounding more like a building site with the constant banging of mallets and bait boats being launched in all directions, don’t go there on a weekend!