Duncan’s Monthly round-up – May 2015

Duncan’s Monthly round-up – May 2015

Well what a transformation in the weather from the 1^st to the 30^th, at least it seems that summer has finally arrived now.

It’s been one of my busiest ever months seeing myself on the bank no fewer than twenty one times. These trips have been split between Guiding (9), Personal (10 and Features (2) a total of 135hrs in which a bait was in the water. These sessions have seen the short crucian campaign at Enton come to a close resulting in my new personal best of 4lb 4oz and with the opening of the river the barbel campaign commence. As you can see time has been spent getting to know a new river as well as baiting a few swims with the hope that a few barbel with get onto the feed and give us some results. To be honest I wasn’t expecting any barbel to show in June, so when the last session produced a proper ‘big un’ it was a satisfying result. Let’s just hope the flood gates open and one comes along to smash my personal best that stands at 16lb 10oz.

June was also a sad month as Sky TV has pulled on Tight Lines, a show that has been running for years and one that encourages youngsters to get into fishing as well as portraying angling in such a variety of ways.

If you’ve been reading my face book page you will see that I have tried my best to keep a few teasers posted and for all those that look forward to seeing what I have been up to in more depth, well read on…

DAY TO DAY EVENTS

29/5/15 – I didn’t expect to fish again in May and even wrote up my monthly blog however Ben at Apollo had a contact for me to do a Venue Expert feature, so put the tackle in the car as it was still made up from the previous night. Arriving around 4pm I found the venue to be busy with the weekend carpers already in position so dropped into peg 19. Using my new found method and placing plastic baits on both rods I cast one out around twenty yards whilst placing the other under the rod tip. The close in rod failed to produce but further out saw around a dozen tench taken plus three crucians, 3lb 5oz, 3lb 10oz and the fish that is being claimed as a new British record and a new personal best for myself, spawned out weighing 4lb 4oz!

01/06/15 – Summers certainly not here yet as a wet and windy weather front sweeps the country over the next couple of days. At just 12 degrees and with a strong wind I nearly stayed at home like most other anglers but suffering from a bad toothache and struggling to concentrate on anything headed out into the gloom. Should have stayed at home as after three and a half hours I failed to get a bite as did my dad who joined me and with no fish showing knew that Enton was having one of its off days and packed up once the rain started to fall. Back at home I managed to get started on tying up some rigs and answering some questions for Anglers Mail.

03/06/05 – The tooth ache continues even after a trip to the dentist yet I managed to finish off the AM answers and questions along with sorting out the tackle for a guided overnight cat trip to Badshot Lea tonight.

04/06/05 – Unfortunately apart from good company the fishing at BLBP was terrible. It wasn’t just us as others seem to be struggling and apart from one bream and a missed run, that was it. Trying to fathom out why it was so slow we have to look at the weather again. The moon was full, the temperature dropped from 20 degrees to just 5 and the wind swung from the S/W to an easterly overnight. Its one of those occasions when the two anglers will have a return visit on me in a few weeks time.

Back at home it was time to tidy the tackle, get tomorrows kit sorted for Newdigate, and visit the dentist again, before heading to the river to start a pre-baiting campaign for the start of the river season.

05/06/15 – Another early start, up by 5am and on the road by six to meet up with Lewis my customer for the day and a session at Newdigate to see if he could catch his first ever golden orfe. The warm weather continues, albeit very muggy, the perfect fishy day when you would put money on them crawling up your rods and after the last few difficult sessions I was hoping to see some consistent sport. How wrong was I as apart from a very early tench and tiny golden orfe things went quiet. The wind was swinging all over the place and a few hours past with little activity yet a spell late morning saw two golden orfe of 4lb 7oz and 4lb 8oz caught along with three modest tench. Come 1pm the sport, as predicted slowed and come 3pm it was time to head home before the traffic built up. It was great to see that the big orfe I caught at 6lb 5oz had survived the horrific injuries inflicted by a heron, although badly scared and well down in weight at 4lb 7oz, lets hope she starts putting some weight on.

Back at home it was once again all go as I needed to get the tackle ready for a Farnham Angling Society Junior Teach-in the following day.

06/06/15 – Knowing that the fishing on Badshot Lea had taken a turn for the worse of late I wasn’t over confident of catching the two youngsters, Ethan and Jack, some fish, especially as we were starting at 9am. The wind was strong and from the side making casting difficult however the helicopter rig did its business providing a 4lb bream to Ethan just seconds after casting out. Unfortunately his younger brother had to leave for football practice early so missed out on the bream action as by the time he returned his brother had managed another three along with a few roach and perch. Fortunately their were still a few fish feeding, mainly perch and roach which kept him happy. It was a great session, just a shame that so few youngsters aren’t interested in other species apart from carp and that these sessions are so badly attended, yet refreshing to help the few that are. I’m certain that their dad learnt lots; let’s just hope he puts everything into practice in next weeks army charity match!

Back at home I had to sort out the camera kit as tomorrow sees another early start, this time heading off to Larford Lakes to shoot a feature with Perry Stone.

07/06/15 – It’s Sunday and I’m a bit dazed when the alarm sounds at 5.45am, yet once I come to my senses I realise I need to be in Worcestershire around 8.30am. Fortunately the drive was a good one and I arrived to meet Perry Stone setting up on the Specimen Lake. Can’t tell you anymore, however if you want to know a few of his secrets then you need to keep an eye on Anglers Mail as the feature will be in it soon.

08/06/15 – Tapping away on the computer keyboard by 7am as well as sorting through yesterday’s images so that I can get the feature to AM by the end of the day. Come the evening I headed south to pre-bait a few swims for the fast approaching river season.

09/06/15 – A change of venue from Wylies to Willow saw myself guiding good friend Ron to a bit of floater and zig fishing. Unfortunately the strong cold north east wind and spawning activities put paid to countless amounts of fish and we arrived to find a usually active lake dead. The zigs failed as did swapping over to helicopter rigs but after careful baiting we managed to get the odd carp feeding which finally saw Ron land his personal best carp, a common of 16lb 10oz. It was certainly one of those days when one bite turned what could have been a blank into one he will remember.

Back home by 2.30pm I quickly gathered my kit so I could join up with my dad at Johnsons. It seems the words out that everywhere is fishing hard as unlike previous weeks the banks were almost deserted! Dad was already set up and had lost a tench so at least a few fish were biting and come dusk he had taken around six tench to over 6lb. I managed a dozen or more fish with two crucians and a tench of 7lb 10oz being the pick of the bunch and my mate Chris fished for a couple of hours taking three tench and a 3lb 4oz crucian.

11/06/15 – With a couple of hours spare before meeting an angler at Richardsons on the Marsh Farm Complex I cast out a couple of rigs into Johnsons in hope of a few crucians yet it was once again just tench that graced my net. Back on Richardson Trevor was steadily catching crucians for an Anglers Mail Venue Expert feature. Back home by 3pm I managed to get the tench kit sorted for a days guiding at Mill Lane as well as proof reading a couple of past articles.

12/06/15 – Once again I was up early meeting Alan at Mill Lane. He wanted an introduction to the venue as he was looking at increasing his personal best tench. We had already agreed that a bite would be a result as I know some very capable anglers that have taken a long time to get to know the venue before they started to catch. Fortunately the venue was quiet and the weather, humid and stormy seemed to be playing into our hands however the horrid N/E wind that had plagued us all over the last week or so had decided to change to the S/W. A good thing you may think yet we were at the changeover stage and found the lake to be flat calm. A few tench were rolling and bubbling and we decided to attack the venue in two ways. Alan went in positive with a few balls of groundbait just over the inside weed cover whilst I decided to fish for a bite, scaling things down and fishing the same rigs as those so effective at Johnsons. Alan looked as if it would be him that caught with loads of fizzing in his swim as well as constant liners, yet it was my rod that flew into action producing a tench just shy of 6lb. That was the end of the action as late morning the lake died and come 3pm, just before the heavens opened we headed home happy as loads of lessons had been learnt, ones that he will certainly gain from in his next visits.

15/06/16 – The standard day in the office this time writing my latest article for Coarse Angling Today. Time was also spent getting the rod ready for an early start to the new river season.

16/06/15 – Early to bed, early to rise and the alarm sounded at 4am. Meeting my mate Chris next to the river at 5am we, not surprisingly, found a couple of other anglers already on the river so as we have been baiting a few swim leading up to the start had to keep a low profile as not to be seen. This unfortunately took a part of the river out that we had high hopes off but we still had three spots to try that had also been baited. Knowing just how slow the rivers can be during the first few weeks we had already agreed that getting a bite would be a result so set about the task of achieving this. Chris fished a well good looking swim but in the five hour stint failed to get a response. I had two swims to go at and after less than half an hour hooked a sizeable fish yet it was definitely not a barbel. Unfortunately the hooked pulled and I consoled myself that it had to be a big bream, yet in the back of my mind I knew it could have been a big chub. A good fish showed itself moving up the far bank, carp I would suspect, so this was an encouraging sign for the future. The last swim seemed devoid of fish, yet it was by now late morning.

Back at home it was time for a couple of hours shut eye before taking the girlfriend for a meal as her birthday also falls on the glorious 16^th.

17/6/15 – In the office by 7.30am and working on a feature on unhooking mats for Anglers Mail. All finished by 6pm and out for another meal to celebrate my brothers birthday.

18/6/15 – This is the time of year when burning the candle at both ends comes into play as this morning I was up at 4am and at Enton by 5am as I was meeting my girlfriends dad, Mick, who had never fished the venue before. With the wind pushing into the shallows I hoped spaces would be free but there wasn’t any and after quickly trying a couple of new swims but not feeling it, I headed for the railway bank which was empty. By now the wind had swung to the north east and literally seconds after setting Mick up he was away with a tench. Thinking the flood gates would open he then struggled, yet the next fish he caught was a 3lb 1oz crucian. My dad had now arrived and I was well into a rhythm having taken two crucians and three tench, yet although steady things did slow up. Dad however was giving me a right lesson in catching and by the time I had left at 11am he had caught me up and landed five crucian to 3lb 2oz plus six tench. I ended the session with five crucians to 3lb 6oz and six tench so all in all a pretty good session.

Back at home and after lunch I was straight back into the office paperwork, banking, blog writing as well as sending over articles and images to Anglers Mail along with getting the rods and tackle sorted for my first eel session of the year and by 9pm the rods were out.

19/6/15 – Unfortunately come 5am and apart from a few very strange bleeps a run hadn’t developed. My mate Chris however had received two screamers in the night but unfortunately failed to make contract with either.

Back at home I was once again feature writing this time a ‘Venue Expert’ for the Mail before once again grabbing the eel kit and heading off again for another night, but not before dropping some bait in the river to keep our barbel swims alive.

Rods out come 9pm and soon after casting out a pike of around 7lb picks up my deadbait. Then as darkness arrives the bleeps begin but not before missing a proper eel bite. Around 11pm an aborted take occurs then I connect with the next bite and an eel of 3lb 15oz is taken. The bleeping continues before a change of bait at 12.30am sees the swim quieten down. Chris tries the same swim as the night before and again has loads of bleeps and one aborted take.

21/6/15 – It was a toss up whether to go fishing today on the river or leave it till the morning. Although the weathers far better today I decided to spend most of the day completing an Anglers Mail feature and head to the river on Monday. The main reasons are their will be far less anglers around and after baiting the swims on Friday feel that the barbel, if any are around, will be ready for some more. Let’s wait and see.

22/6/15 – On the river by 8am and covered five of the six baited swims giving each around an hour. First swim had two good fish roll and started to rub my hands together yet when the bite came the tip bent round slightly slower than I would have wished for. Straight away I guessed it was a bream and right I was, one that weighed 7lb 10oz. The fight was the same as the fish lost last week so I’m now sure that was a bream as well, albeit in another swim. Baited all the swims prior to leaving and back at home by 3.30pm giving me plenty of time to sort the kit for a rudd guiding day tomorrow and a tight lines feature on Wednesday.

23/6/15 – Managed to get to the Frensham early to see what swims were free and with the wind predominantly from the west headed to a swim with plenty of ripple. I was meeting a new customer today, one that I had met whilst guiding on the river Test at Timsbury during the winter and had mentioned how he would love to catch a big rudd. After running through the two similar but slightly different set-ups we managed to get the rods out by around 3.30pm. Regular casting to build the swim finally bought a response around 5pm however this was from a tench that unfortunately threw the hook. Around 7pm Neil Wayte turned up for a chat and whilst enjoying catching up the alarm sounded and Ritchie hooked what at first seemed to be a coot, yet with the coot going one way and the line the other he soon became somewhat jelly legged and after a short fight managed to place the fish he had dreamed of in the net, a rudd weighing 2lb 3oz. This signalled a flurry of bites to both rods and come 11pm he had managed another four weighing 1lb 15oz, 2lb 2oz, 2lb 5oz and 2lb 8oz. So happy he even knocked the session on the head an hour early so he could score some brownie points back at home. Good luck Ritchie, I know you are going to like Frensham!

24/6/15 – Up at 5.30am as today I was fishing once again for the Tight Lines crew. I can’t say too much apart from ‘I’m only human’. The show will go out on Friday 3^rd of July when I will be joining Keith in the Bothy to talk about the start of the river session.

25/6/15 – With the tackle somewhat in a state today was mostly spent tidying it up as well as getting things sorted for a tench and a barbel guiding session on Friday and Saturday.

26/6/15 – Another early morning, 4am in fact and on the banks of Frensham by 5am. Headed for the bridal path around half way along and prepared the swim for my customer Andrew who arrived at 5.30am. A few tench were rolling but it took at least an hour for the alarm to sound and a tench to pick up his double maggot offering. It was the start of a steady couple of hours in which four more tench were netted, the best two weighing 6lb 7oz and 7lb 1oz, both supplying Andrew with new personal bests. As expected the swim died around 9.30am but a shoal of perch moved in early afternoon that kept us busy. Come 3pm it was clear that the tench had switched off so both knackered decided to call it a day and miss the rush hour traffic.

27/6/15 – Today I was hoping to help young Jake and his granddad William catch their first ever barbel. Meeting at 8am at Stanford End we were fortunate to only have one angler fishing and with a couple of good barbel swims free we were soon settled with the pellet lead cast and hopefully doing its job, attracting a barbel. I initially sat with Jake who’s only 11 and just five minutes after casting in the tip pulled round and he was away, yet it wasn’t a barbel but his first ever chub, one that weighed 5lb 1oz. William hadn’t had any enquiries so I decided to keep him on the move trying all the shaded swims as the sun was now high and the temperatures on the rise. Second swim and whilst talking to him the rod started to show signs of fish and then the rod was gone with William not seeing the three-foot twitch and now experiencing just how powerful a barbel can be. After a few anxious minutes in which time the fish snagged him we finally managed to get it in the net, not a big one but his first at 5lb 10oz. Jake was also moving around and could have had another chub but we decided to wait till the rod ripped round so ignored the chub taps and pulls. Unfortunately as the temperatures rose well into the twenties all signs of fish disappeared and we decided that as we had only fished six hours to knock it on the head and return another day to make up the ten hours my guided sessions last. It’s not something that I usually do but having covered all the best swims I just couldn’t see another fish falling in such bright conditions.

29/6/15 – 1^ST FAS Barbel Teach-in, Venue Stanford End. Hot and bright with barbel spawning. One chub of 5lb 4oz and an 8lb 12oz barbel caught.

30/6/15 – The hottest day of the year with temperatures into the low thirties. Knowing that it would be almost impossible during daylight I had to make a decision between targeting eels or barbel. It was a far better night for eels with stormy conditions forecasted after dark but knowing that the river needed its regular baiting up I decided it would be barbel. Arriving to meet my mate Chris at 7pm we headed to the furthest baited swim with the plan of working back towards the car as the session progressed. Tossing a coin we picked our swims and settled in and it was obvious quickly that my swim contained fish. Two big heavy rolls, probably bream, showed that the baiting was working then the liners stated before a steady pull round resulted in nothing! Chris called soon after this as he had a good bream and needing images for the Nash e-zine magazine I headed downstream to take a few shots. Back in my swim and with the rod positioned once more the same thing happened, it was as if I didn’t have a hook on. Confident they were bream and with darkness falling we headed downstream to the next baited spots.

Once again two big fished rolled before the rod pulled round and yep, you’ve guessed it, thin air was struck. Replacing the bait and holding the rod once again saw a bite materialise however this time the rig did its job and expecting a bream I was somewhat taken when line started pouring from a tight clutch. To be honest Id seen a carp in this swim last week and expected one of these to show so was completely surprised when a good barbel showed. A few anxious moments followed before the first of the campaign slid into the waiting net and at 10lb 14oz it was a rewarding end to the session. Chris failed to get any further enquires and having to work the next day finally called it a day at 12.30am.

Let the flood gates open!

Farnham Angling Society 1st Barbel Teach-in – Monday June 29th 2015

Farnham Angling Society 1^st Barbel Teach-in – Monday June 29^th 2015

Arriving at 5pm at the river Loddon at Stanford End it seemed that at last the English summer has arrived, great for a sun tan but absolutely hopeless for catching numbers of barbel during the hours of daylight.

After a brief explanation of rigs and bait all six anglers set off for a tour of the river with myself pointing out all of the fish holding areas, however shade was going to play a massive part in swim choice as the temperature was now into the mid twenties.

Anglers then made their swim choice and settled in with myself doing my best to sit with each angler and help set up and answer any questions.

It was a swim that produced for myself on the weekend that saw the first fish landed, a personal best chub weighing 5lb 4oz for Chris Davies. I was actually sitting chatting when the bite came and was at hand to land, weigh and photograph his catch. Things then went somewhat quiet with two fish being lost, both thought to be chub.

It wasn’t until the sun had disappeared and dusk was setting in that the first and only barbel was caught, one a shade under 9lb and a Loddon first for Richard Blake. I’m sure if the anglers had stayed on into darkness that a few more would have shown however on such a muggy night and after arriving early and roving around the temperature had taken its toll on us all. I also witnessed a couple of barbel twisting and turning on a gravely bottom with no interest in food so it also looked as if they were going through their spawning ritual.

It was, as usual a great evening and its always good to get some feedback. Here are a few words from Chris that followed -

Hi Duncan;

I just wanted to say many thanks indeed for imparting your expertise yesterday. It was gratefully received and I know that all participants found it very enlightening. I was also pleased that you were on hand to witness and land a P B Chub for me!

Kind regards.

Chris.

Crucian campaign comes to an end.

Crucian campaign comes to an end.

I have to admit that I don’t really know how to feel now that the crucian campaign has ended. Was it a success?

To be honest this is the first year that I have fished Enton during the opening month, May, and to be frank I didn’t spend that much time there basically because I didn’t like the atmosphere. Some anglers made the most of the ruling, two nights on then twelve hours off. Now reading into this an angler was able to arrive an hour before dawn (lets say on a Monday) fish all day, all Monday night, all day Tuesday, all Tuesday night, all off Wednesday including a couple of hours into darkness Wed night, then leave the venue for 12 hours before returning and doing this all over again. Unfortunately the ruling states that these anglers need to leave the venue but some decided to sleep in their vehicles but not before making sure they knew when other long stays anglers were leaving, and securing the going swims for after their sleep! It’s called ‘The Circus’ and believe me Enton was a proper one last month. Anyway if you were one of those anglers that bent the rules then don’t feel bad if you can’t return for a fat spawned up crucian next year! Another thing that I couldn’t get my head around was how some anglers feel they have to ‘big’ themselves up and lie about the time scale a session actually lasts and what and how they caught certain fish. Now to me if I’m on a water for 24hrs (very rare) then the session doesn’t start when I catch my first big crucian, it started when I arrived, irrespective how many times I moved swims! Amazingly these anglers are very capable anglers so why they need to do this I just don’t understand. Oh sorry, maybe it’s because you want to win a Drennan or a Korum weekly award (another sore point at the moment). Unfortunately Enton has now lost its identity, known as a circuit water and not the fantastic and beautiful club lake I once knew.

Knowing what this fishery was many years ago I have seen its crucian’s slowly decline and the tench take hold (lets hope it doesn’t end up like Harris), however the club does now have the British record crucian to its name, yet for how long will it remain the top crucian water in the country? Not long if things continue!

I’m glad to hear that the club may close the venue next year during May (I’m well behind them if they do) as they do need to protect their fish stocks, but one thing’s for sure if they don’t close the lake and take those bloody cormorants out then they will have no fish smaller than a couple of pounds swimming around and that includes crucians. Thinking about it the smallest crucian I’ve caught this year is around 2lb 8oz and as for the rudd, well they seem to be in decline as well sadly just when they looked like they were going to thrive. So maybe the year classes behind the big crucians have already gone, so looking at it, the time bomb has already started, only time will tell.

So how did I fare, well my catch rate (crucian wise) was far better than one every 24hrs which seemed to be the case for some anglers and no, I didn’t fish the going swims doing the standard flat bed feeders at 30yards range. I fished in a completely different way to everyone else; basically fishing for one fish at a time and on occasion’s right under my rod tip. My target for the six week period was 3lb 12oz and although this was only bettered once, I did slide the net under numerous three pounders. The icing on the cake, if I can call it this, was beating my personal best of 4lb 3.5oz taken from Little Moulsham many years ago with a crucian of 4lb 4oz and, no it wasn’t carrying any spawn! My mate Chris didn’t do as well, but then again he seemed disillusioned with the place and waited till the circus had moved to spawned up tench venues before enjoying it for what it should be, oh as well as catching crucians of 3lb 5oz.

So there you have it, in terms of getting back into the big fish world I can safely say that two of the three campaigns this season (silver bream was a non-starter) have been a success with two personal bests in the shape of a 6lb 5oz golden orfe and a 4lb 4oz crucian, yet I’m still not up and running in any yearly competitions which amazes me! Maybe I will have to ‘big’ my next captures up a bit……

Duncan’s Monthly round-up – May 2015

Duncan’s Monthly round-up – May 2015

I think May should have been renamed April as the weather has been terrible this month with strong changeable winds, days of rain and cold nights. I’m not sure what happened but their was a spell in the middle of the month when bites were really difficult to come by, however the ones we did get were usually what we wanted.

The crucian fishing at Enton has been exceptional in terms of big fish which made the fishing look easy but believe me it wasn’t. Some anglers almost lived on the venue to get their rewards, something I just cant do, however the few and short sessions I did manage produced a few with the best going 3lb 10oz. Now that they have spawned the venue has returned to normal with vacant swims all around and we can get about enjoying the venue for what it is without having to dodge the glory hunters.

Looking at the sessions managed on the bank initially looked extremely poor, yet then I realised that with two bank holidays, three days spent on the bank as a photographer and one spent at a Nash Roadshow at the Linear Complex it wasn’t that bad. In total I managed eleven sessions split between guiding (6) and personal sessions (5) one of which lasted a staggering 45hrs!

Looking at June, the first ten days look really busy with features and guiding but then I'm banging lots in too leave the first week of the river season open to try and get to grips with a new venue where big barbel live. The weeks leading up will see some bait being introduced and some feature finding carried out so hopefully the hard work will repay me with a couple of good fish.

DAY TO DAY EVENTS

1/5/15 – The fishing gods were looking down on us today as I was fortunate to arrange a feature for Anglers Mail with an angler at Broadlands, Southampton at very short notice. Travelling down and arriving at opening I made my way around the lake in the hope that Shawn had bagged a carp during the night, only to find him bent into a fish. The session got even better a few moments later, yet I can’t say anymore. Keep an eye out over the next few weeks for a ‘Venue Expert’ feature as well as witnessing a very special fish!

Back at home I found myself sending the completed feature to the Mail some 14 hours after setting off from home! Foe some reason I didn’t feel tired and still found an hour to post a couple of blogs on Facebook as well as my website.

2/5/15 – Absolutely shatters as yesterdays events had caught up on me, however I still found time to do a ‘Long Term Test’ for Anglers Mail before taking a leisurely stroll around Enton. Amazingly the venue was quite empty. I did have a chat with Phil Smith who filled me in on what had been coming out. The odd angler had caught a few crucians, yet most had struggled, which wasn’t a big surprise, what with the cold spring and the place being rammed.

3/5/15 – Another stroll around Enton and once again the venue quieter than expected so back at home I quickly made up a couple of rods in the hope of finding a swim for a two-hour session, as I would be passing the venue on Monday morning.

4/5/15 – Should have known better as busy as hell so after a quick glance returned home to get the kit sorted for a couple of guiding days as well as giving the tackle shed a bit of a tidy.

5/5/15 – The first thing I did before opening the car door when I arrived at Badshot Lea at 7am to meet my customer, Mel, was to tape my ears back against my head, the wind was that destructive. Unfortunately myself and Mel hadn’t been out for over a year due to one thing and another but it was good to be back and today was all about banking one of our boggy species, catfish. Luckily the wind seemed to have kept most anglers away and we set up in a swim with plenty of water to go at. With four rods out come 8am we sat back to await the action and it didn’t take long in coming as after just an hour one of Mel’s rods rips off resulting in a cat of 20lb 12oz. The action from then on was steady with a further two cats falling, 8lb and 18lb 8oz plus a bream and a grass carp of 20lb 4oz that I fortunately landed whilst Mel played a cat! Numerous aborted takes and one fish that slipped the hook proved that cats aren’t just night feeders but at this time of the year can be taken during daylight.

6/5/15 – If yesterday was good then today, once again with Mel, was just as good. The wind was still howling making us sit in the car for half an hour at Newdigate whilst a squally shower past. Luckily we were the only mad anglers to have braved the day on this exposed venue and first cast a personal best graced Mel’s net, an orfe weighing 5lb 4oz. The action continued as a fish was taken every twenty minutes and come the end of the session ten tench plus four more orfe were landed weighing 4lb 4oz, 5lb, 5lb 2oz and 5lb 7oz. It was two days of remarkable fishing, ones we won’t forget, and proof that you need to know your venue to get the best from it as although two rods were used with identical end tackle, one was aimed at orfe the other tench. The orfe rod produced four of the orfe plus a tench and the tench rod, nine tench and an orfe! Here are a few words received from Mel –

‘Hi Duncan,

Thanks for two stellar days chasing Cats and Golden Orfe.

To catch Personal Best on consecutive days was terrific and to do it whilst battling gale force winds and heavy rain was awesome.

I continue to be amazed at the uncanny way you pick the right swims and then maximise our chances with the perfect rigs and methods.

The experience will live long in my memory.

I look forward to planning some more PB's in conjunction with your angling skills.

Kind regards,

Mel.’

7/5/15 – Well what a few days it’s been and after catching Mel plenty of fish I was looking forward to spending the night at Enton for a spot of personal crucian fishing. Arriving mid afternoon I managed to drop into one of my favourite swims, only to find out that it had produced a 4lb 10oz crucian the day before! A few anglers I knew were around so it was good to have a social before getting down to some serious fishing come 6pm, however by the sound of things just catching a crucian would be a result. The angler next door knew me and noticed that I wasn’t going with the run of the mill, flat-bed feeder at thirty yards and we shared some information which I know will help us both on the venue. He landed a couple of 3lb+ crucians plus some tench whilst I was setting up however things seemed to go quiet as evening approached. I stuck with my tried and tested rigs and around 7.30pm was rewarded with a quick brace of crucians both weighing 3lb 10oz. Rubbing my hands together I expected a big hit yet it wasn’t till 9.30pm that my next crucian came this time weighing 2lb 12oz along with a tench. My brother fished as well and managed a tench on the feeder and a 3lb 2oz crucian on the float yet Chris my fishing buddy Chris fished till 11pm but failed to get on the score sheet. I carried on till 2am and took another 2lb 10oz crucian plus three tench before getting a couple of hours sleep. Come 4.30am there was no getting any sleep as a cuckoo decided to wake the whole lake up however even after an early start come 7am it was obvious that the lake had switched off, yet two big crucians made it well worth the effort.

9/5/15 – The alarm sounded at 3.30am, the reason was that I had to be at Linear Fisheries in Oxfordshire to attend a Nash Roadshow. The weather wasn’t kind to start with yet come late morning the clouds drifted away and the sun came out as did lots of interested anglers. Back at home I was able to gets a bucket of maize, maize crimp and hemp soaking for a session targeting grass carp come the end of the week.

11/5/15 – Today was spent compiling the next in my series of articles for Coarse Angling Today, this time explaining the Pellet Waggler. Come late afternoon I grabbed the fishing kit and headed to Enton. The crucians had switched on due to the warm conditions, yet the bank they were showing was stitched up so I headed to the railway bank where I managed one crucian of 3lb 4oz plus six tench. Reports are that the records gone again with the same fish and that plenty of fours have been coming out as well as some lumpy carp.

12/5/15 – Another early one to try and get on top of things. First job was to recreate a map of Willow Park then head off with Dad to get some images of rivers for Anglers Mail.

13/5/15 – To be honest I’ve been slightly stressed this week as I couldn’t see enough hours in the week to get everything completed. Up early (again) the morning was spent writing up the Anglers Mail ‘Where to Fish’ venues whilst all the time loads of hemp, maize and Crimped Maize boiled. I was surprised to complete everything an hour earlier than scheduled so after sorting the kit out for tomorrows bream guiding session, as well as some bits for Fridays Grass carp guiding session and the kit for a days guiding for crucians on Saturday thought I could head to Enton for a few hours crucian fishing myself. Unfortunately straight away things seemed gloomy as hardly any fish had been out and with the carp going crazy spawning thoughts are that the crucains aren’t far behind. I did set up in a swim not normally crucian fished for a few minutes but it didn’t feel right so I headed home as I needed to take a few images at a local lake to complete a feature with a pending deadline. With this sorted and the final particles boiled I was able to put my feet up (no such luck) and relax for a couple of hours before getting my head down early as the alarm clock set for 5am, joy!

14/5/15 – Up at 5am and on the road by 6am, this time to Mote Park at Maidstone. It was a venue first for both me and good friend Ian who needed some guidance on how to approach a venue for the first time. Unfortunately the weather forecast was for rain, not just the odd shower but constant heavy rain and it started just a few minutes after leaving home. Now normally I would have spent time walking round the venue but with the rain still falling and knowing bream follow the wind we set up at the westerly arm, not in a corner but in swims where open water well out could be reached. Ian fished the tip, open ended feeder with initially pellet on the hook but going through the baits such as worm, boilie and finally scaling down with maggot on the hook. Knowing the bream average 7lb I went in with ‘the big guns’ scolded pellet around the lead with one rod on corn the other on pellet. Overcast, windy and pellet is a recipe for bagging up yet someone else had written the script as come 6hrs later just one bream came to Ian’s net with myself scoring a dismal blank. We both received liners to show their were fish around but the final piece of the jigsaw was missing, in fact lots of pieces were missing. Trying to work out what wasn’t right my only conclusion was yesterday the wind was variable and in the early hours it decided to swing to the east and although their were fish in front of us they weren’t settled enough to feed. Mote Park is a lovely venue and when Ian returns then I will be there to get our own back.

15/5/15 – Knowing Badshot Lea Big Pond so well, thoughts after yesterday’s cold rain were that it would be tough. Meeting Chris and Martin at 6am we dropped into a couple of swims giving access to open water and soon had the traps set, maize stacks fished over a bed of particles (delivered by bait-boat). My rods were first out and after just 10 minutes one screamed off in proper king carp style. The fight was also that of a king carp however all of a sudden the big head of a grass carp surfaced and I extended the net under her. Fortunately she was calm on the bank and gave me a pleasing weight of 25lb 2oz, my best from the venue. Not long after returning her one of Martin’s rod was away but contact wasn’t made. Rubbing our hands together we awaited the next bite, yet after resetting the traps a couple of times we were still waiting come packing away time, 5pm!

16/5/15 – Expecting Enton to be rammed we were surprised to find it relatively quiet come 6am and both myself and Steve dropped into a couple of my favoured pegs. Steve’s wife had bought him a voucher for Christmas a year or so back for a days guiding but for some reason we had to cancel last years session and reschedule (I think Steve was just waiting till the lake was doing loads of four pound crucians). Although the weather was favourable a nice westerly wind blowing into our pegs and mild temperatures over night, I soon had a feeling things weren’t going to happen. The reason why is when Enton fishes fish can be seen moving, something they weren’t doing this morning. Steve went out on the usual tactic, flat bed feeder and I did something very different. Casting every 20mins or so failed to bring a bite until my right had rod rips of in true tench style, however the fish hooked failed to give the hard battle of a tench and thoughts changed to a crucian, which it was, one weighing 3lb 4oz. Two hours later another screamer produced a tench around 6lb yet two bites in around 8hrs, ouch! Steve stayed on, loosing a good rudd as I left and then an hour or so later called me to say that on his final cast had taken a personal best crucian of 3lb 13oz. Well done that man!

18/5/15 – 19/5/15 – If you believe in the old wife’s tail ‘when the winds in the west the fish bite the best’ then think again as last night was the toughest I’ve ever known on Badshot Lea for the cats. With eight rods out, two on particle you would have thought we would have received more than one run but that was it, resulting in a cat of 23lb for Chris. The weather was strange as the skies cleared after a morning of rain leaving a clear cold night with a strong S/W wind that didn’t ease. Very little was moving and I would have put money on the cats feeding with Atmospherics of 1004mb and a stormy feel in the air but it just goes to show, when you think you have a winning combination the fish just go and kick you in the painfuls, that’s fishing. Back at home and after a couple of hours shut eye I started getting the kit ready for a couple of days tench fishing, hopefully in sunny Kent but I'm sure it will blow a gale, freeze us to bits and blow like hell whilst were there!

20/5/15 – 22/5/15 – With the final preparations made for our trip to Kent we got on the road at 12.30pm and come 1.30pm were looking at a new lake for the first time. Having a couple of nights at our disposal Chris and myself carefully set up and after baiting up and a good chilli we cast rods out in expectance, yet come first light little had happened. Fishing in general, all across the country had been tough for a while and the wind that was swinging here there and everywhere did little to boost our confidence. Ted our guide for the session managed a 7lb 8oz tench during the night and Chris had one of 6lb 15oz late morning, a period that saw myself plagued by what I assume were eels yet during this frustrating period hooked and lost what could have been tench. Baiting the swims come evening we sat and awaited action once more and come midnight another frustrating period on the maggot started, yet two tench weighing 6lb 8oz and 7lb 2oz did fall to the pop-up. At 2.30am the swim died and apart from a pike that grabbed my pop-up on the way in that was the last of the action. A really enjoyable, rewarding and enjoyable session even if the fishing was somewhat slow. Thanks Ted!

A full write up can be seen in the blog – Two days in Kent.

23/5/15 – This morning I found myself at Willinghurst Fishery to take images and take notes for an Anglers Mail ‘Venue Expert’ feature. Keep an eye out in the magazine for venues near you, this week their was one on Willow Park, near Aldershot.

26/5/15 – A day of getting on top of paperwork that had started to pile up, sort tackle for tomorrow and quickly pop up to the river Loddon at Dinton to get an image for an Anglers Mail ‘Where to fish’ feature.

27/5/15 – Having not fished for a few days I was glad to be back on the bank and what a joy it was to walk down the path at Enton and find the place relatively empty. No reason to ask if the crucians had spawned the answer was obvious and I dropped into one of my favourite swims, one that I couldn’t get near in previous weeks. Eager to try out a new tactic that I knew would work soon had the rods screaming and in the first hour I managed nine tench. Sport then slowed as the sun rose and although it wasn’t easy the fish came at regular intervals and over the next five hours a further six tench to 6lb 11oz plus three crucians, 2lb 10oz and a brace at 3lb 1oz.

28/5/15 – The morning was spent creating the words for the Willinghurst Venue Expert before grabbing the kit and heading back to Enton. I thought about fishing the whole night but with heavy rain and strong winds forecasted to arrive by 4am decided to put the bed and shelter in the car, just in case one of those red-letter sessions came along. Setting up in the same swim it didn’t take long for the tench to move in and come midnight no fewer than twenty six had graced my net, including a proper lump as well as two small commons. In fact the action tailed away come 10pm and with no crucians showing decided to head home and miss the rain; however come 9am it still hadn’t arrived!

29/5/15 – A day spent tying rigs up for Anglers Mail Questions and Answers.

Two days in Kent

Two days in Kent.

Its not often I manage to get away and fish a proper session but an invite from fellow Nash man Ted Bryan to try and beat my tench personal best of 10lb 3oz just couldn’t be ignored. Teaming up with my fishing mate Chris Petter we loaded the van and headed east expecting the trip to take around two-hours but amazingly just an hour later we were passing the gates to the Larkfield Complex, one of Ted’s favourite venues. I had asked Ted if he needed anything bringing down before leaving and he requested ‘a bit of crumpet’ so a quick shop at Tesco for their finest crumpets saw half of one carefully gift wrapped, something I know will come back and bite me on the bum one day.

Now before progressing the News stated that there was a slight earthquake in Kent over our stay but for the records this was Ted stumbling on a branch and ending up in the undergrowth moments after our arrival. After dragging him out whilst laughing loud we finally got to look around the lake and choose our swims. Ted fished to my left in what initially started out as an easy-access swim however once camp was set and rods out he spread so many rat traps around that it became more of an obstacle course. I set up in a tight swim with steps in front and Chris to my right in one with a couple of islands either side.

Ted had given us the low down on his baiting and tactics and looking at his past captures who was I to deviate away from these so a dozen or balls of groundbait laced with a few particles was deposited around thirty yards out before a couple of small yellow pop-ups descended on top. It was now time to wait and let the fish arrive, however come the following morning, and after periodically topping the swim up by spodding groundbait out, some twelve hours later, neither myself or Chris had had a bite with Ted taking one tench of 7lb 8oz in the early hours. After breakfast I decided to experiment with maggot even though Ted had said the eels would be a pain but nothing happened until late morning when a number of big drop-backs and bare hooks resulted in me scratching my head. I did finally make contact but after a second or so the hook pulled making the identity of the culprit impossible. Moments later a screamer resulted in my mono hooklink parting and initial thoughts were that this would be a bite off, but careful inspection showed it had broken on the knotless-knot, ouch! During this period Chris had his first bite and quickly dropped a good male tench in the net that looked close to his 7lb 4oz personal best but it was a few ounces shy at 6lb 15oz. The afternoon flew past and come the early evening it was time to take a risk and with just one night left I decided to give my swim the big one, depositing around thirty balls of groundbait within. I had stuck with the maggot on one rod and was surprised that since the flurry of action earlier in the day that come midnight they had remained untouched yet after a recast another spell of drop-backs got my brain going again as could I make contact, no. Whilst this frustrating action continued I received two runs on the pop-up taking tench of 6lb 8oz and 7lb 2oz, babies for this venue and come 2.30am and still getting drop-backs decided to change over to two pop-ups. Well this certainly quietened the rods down, so much that come 11am when we decided to pack away not a single bleep had come my way, the only action was from a pike that grabbed the pop-up when winding in. Ted and Chris both had very quiet nights but although the fishing was tough we had a truly memorable session and can’t wait for another invite, hopefully when the fishing has picked up.

Although I’m almost positive that most of the maggot action was from eels I still cant get my head around why when these spells came I managed to hook tench as well. Were the drop back actually from tench, yet if they were then they wouldn’t have ripped four maggots of the hook, moved a 2.5oz lead without getting hooked. My final conclusion was when the eels decided to feed this in turn attracted the odd tench as well, hence the reason for hooking a couple each time. When the eels stopped the tench stopped, a strange occurrence but strange things do happen.

Another point was why was the fishing so slow? Well over the last two weeks I have been on the receiving end of quite a few hard sessions with just one or two bites forthcoming during a session that I would have expected far more. Its not just myself that’s witnessed this, everyone else, up and down the country seems to be struggling as well. The wind isn’t helping as it seems to be swinging on a daily basis but its not just this, there is certainly some other factor unbeknown to us that’s effecting sport.

Battered but certainly not beaten!

Battered but certainly not beaten!

I’ve spent the last couple of days in the company of one of my regulars and good friend Mel. It’s the first time we have been able to get out together for over a year due to one thing and another but we certainly made up for things.

The weather was doing its worst to create havoc yet we ventured out when most others stayed at home and smashed a couple of venues. Now Mel contacted me quite a few years ago with the aim of catching as many species 50% of higher than the British Record. Obviously the early days were far easier than the present and numerous personal best graced his net, however one species that seem to elude us was catfish. A couple of nights were spent targeting them but just kittens were landed, so it was once again time to see if we could outwit something slightly bigger. To be honest 50% of the biggest UK cat would mean landing one in excess of 5olb yet Mel just wanted to get one over 10lb. Usually guided cat sessions are over night sessions yet we were to target them during the day and just an hour after setting the rods, one ripped off and after a lengthy battle Mel slid the net under one weighing 20lb 12oz. Having completed the job in double quick session we were able to relax and enjoy the rest of the day, however the wind took its toll smashing my Nash oval to pieces then causing an error on the bait boat that saw it drifting to the far side of the lake, however come 4pm Mel had landed another two cats of 8lb and 18lb 8oz plus a bream and a grass carp of 20lb 4oz which I had to play as two rods ripped off together.

The following day was an early one as we were heading to Newdigate Fisheries with Golden Orfe on our minds. Arriving at 7am we had to sit in the car for half an hour as a heavy shower and gale force winds passed. Being the only angler brave enough to sit on top of the hill we decided to fish of the back of the wind and first cast Mel hooks an orfe, one that was to weigh 5lb 4oz. Holding on to the brolly all day and dodging the showers didn’t deter us and come 3pm Mel had landed a further four orfe weighing 4lb 4oz, 5lb, 5lb 2oz and 5lb 7oz along with ten tench to 5lb.

If you fancy a guided trip after cats, grass carp, tench or orfe, or any other species then all you have to do is send me an email and I will do my very best to provide you with a day similar to Mel’s.

Email – duncancharman@me.com

Campaign is a golden success!

Campaign is a golden success!

Keeping things quiet is so difficult in the angling world, however I think myself and angling companion Chris did quite a good job, however with one of the lakes big girls being published earlier than we would have liked did draw attention slightly earlier than we would have wished, yet that’s angling.

Spending time on a venue, even when it’s having an off day, does allow an angler to get ‘in tune’ with it and come the time we pulled off the lake I feel we pretty much knew how it ticked. Temperature didn’t seem to put the orfe off so arriving on frosty mornings didn’t dampen our spirits, we just knew that bites would be few and far between (tench wouldn’t feed), yet when one came the chances would be that it came from our quarry. To give you an idea just how tough this lake can be is one day I fished two rods from dawn to dusk for just one bite with Chris managing two that day, however we both landed orfe (different fish) weighing 6lb 2oz! On another day, filming for Fishing TV I couldn’t stop catching and reckon thirty plus tench plus a few orfe would have been easily achievable if it wasn’t for having to stop and film! Probably the most interesting fact about the venue was getting to know just how mobile these fish were, not just orfe but carp and tench, as one day they would be in the shallows the next in deep water. We also realised that the fish stock wasn’t as prolific as first thought as repeats were common, in fact I caught the same orfe on the same day and on another occasion Chris landed one just two hours after I had returned her! Even the same tench were caught on the same day, on the same tactic from the same swim which strengthens the saying that fish have a two second memory.

On a sad note, it did become apparent that the orfe are very open to predation with the 6lb 5oz orfe (the same one that Fred Healy had) being caught whilst filming for Fishing TV carrying a very bad injury, probably inflicted by a heron and one that its unlikely to survive from! These injuries were caused when the orfe spawned and to show how much weight they can drop, the 6lb 2oz one shown was re-caught by a customer weighing an amazing 4lb 13oz! Fortunately after spawning they have now started to increase in weight however to get them once again at their best they will need a few weeks of feeding-up and chilling-out.

The tench fishing can be incredible with the waggler and red maggot being the main tactic as it is for the orfe and over the campaign we averaged two orfe each a session with my best being four in a day as was Chris’s. The tench average 4lb, with my best of exactly 6lb being taken whilst looking after my dad and casting out a carp rig in hope of a leaving present! Out of all the orfe caught the smallest was 4lb 6oz with the best of the bunch weighing 5lb 7oz, 5lb 8oz, 5lb 9oz and the 6lb 2oz to Chris with myself taking orfe of 5lb 9oz, 5lb 13oz, 6lb 2oz, 6lb 2oz and 6lb 5oz.

Let’s just hope the next campaign is as good.

Oh and as for the other campaign, we have decided to knock it on the head as things just weren’t happening.

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