As one season ends, another begins!

As one season ends, another begins - around mid-March marks the opening of many trout reservoirs. Rainbows and Browns that have been returned last season, or escaped capture, have been able to overwinter and grow on. The prospect of hooking one of these fish, in amongst the stockies, is always exciting. Many competitions also start at this time of year, although my first wasn't on a reservoir - it was on a small stillwater I'd never fished before - Blackdyke. It was one of the many fisheries where you could qualify for the Airflo World Bank Masters. Some of my team-mates from the Sonik Pitsford Pirates had given me an insight on what methods and flies work well there, and as I hadn't practised, I was hoping that they'd put me in the right direction!

I set up with a midge tip and a team of 3 flies, fishing the washing line with two nymphs on the droppers and a booby on the point. For the morning session I'd drawn the bank that was facing the chilly wind - not really ideal when there were gusts of up to 20mph, which made casting an 18ft leader difficult! I had to make short casts, making sure the leader landed straight and the flies didn't fall in a heap. In the morning session I managed to land 7 fish - the trick is to try and land a fish from every peg, as this will give you bonus points, and by lunchtime I'd caught from every peg.

The opposite bank, that was sheltered, had fished extremely well in the morning, with lots of fish caught and as it was my turn to fish the pegs along that bank in the afternoon session, I just hoped that it would continue to fish well. Luckily, it did and by the end of the match I'd caught 19 fish, at least one from every single peg, bar the last one! Fishing the washing line method had worked really well, and I won the match, qualifying for the final on Elinor on April 28th.

A few days later we'd planned a trip to Grafham, but the night before we'd made a long drive to Redditch and back, and we were so tired we slept through the alarm clock! Still wanting to go fishing, instead of travelling up to Grafham, we prepared ourselves for an afternoon lure fishing on a local lake. In fact, it's so close I can see it from my house!

It was an incredibly cold afternoon, with temperatures struggling to get above freezing - there was still snow on the ground, and with the wind it felt more like -10°C! Even trying to slide a soft bait on to a jighead was difficult, my hands were so cold! The fishing seemed to be as bleak as the weather conditions - I'd been watching a pair of Grebes searching for much of the time, and even they weren't catching. Despite moving several times around the lake and trying 3 or 4 softbaits of different colours, profiles and actions, we hadn't had a bite all afternoon.

I was starting to wonder whether we should have stuck to our original plan and gone flyfishing, when suddenly, my shad was hit on the drop around 30 yards from the bank. At first I thought it was going to be a Pike, as the fish had some weight to it, but as it was getting closer I started to feel some headshaking - tell tale signs it could be big stripey. When it boiled on the surface 3-4 yards out, I was amazed to see it was a clonking Perch. Thankfully, I managed to get it safely in the net!

My Dad and I were certain that it was over 4lbs, and sure enough, on the scales it revealed a weight of 4lb 5oz. I was a bit gobsmacked and not really expecting to catch a fish like that. We fished on until dark, but that was the only bite we had between us - a tough afternoon, but well worth enduring the freezing cold!

However, the lure fishing at Rib Valley closes on March 31st, so with just a couple of days to go, we had 2 more short sessions there, catching a few small Pike, and around 10 more Perch to 2lb 12oz jigging and drop shotting.

My next trip was practising for another qualifier - the Lexus Team Championships, this time fishing with the Sonik Pitsford Pirates. The first day I practised with my Dad and we caught plenty of fish between us, mostly on Boobies and Blobs fished on a Di7. In the afternoon I switched over to a midge tip and caught a few fish on buzzers and crunchers too.

The following day I practised with the team, and we found quite a few areas that all held fish - some held slightly bigger fish than others.

On the morning of the match I drew Andy Taylor from the 'Second String' team as my boat partner. We both had the same game plan, so we headed off to Sykes Lane. I had a dreadful start, losing my first 3 fish, landing one, then - disaster! As I was hanging my flies after finishing my retrieve, I had a good take, set the hook, and somehow my 3 piece rod exploded in to a 5 piece! It's the first time I've ever had a rod break on me, so I was a bit shell shocked at first. Thankfully, I had a backup rod and managed to get my act together, and it wasn't too long before I was in to fish again.

Our morning then became even more action packed when Andy hooked in to a fantastic Pike, right by the boat, on an Orange blob! It was one of the best looking Pike I think I've ever seen - it reminded me of some of the Italian Pike you see in the magazines with the beautiful markings. I'm guessing it was getting on for 23lbs!

Not long after that, we both bagged up literally at the same time and it was time to go in. Many others had caught their limits too, and by around 4.30pm everyone had bagged up!  The Seighford Sharks, pipped us by two points to third place, so we finished fourth and only the top 3 qualify. Everybody had done well but sometimes you need just that little bit of luck! Our team were gutted - but well done to those teams that did make it through and I wish them all the best in the final.

Searching for big Stripeys!

I can't believe that another season has come to a close - once it gets to February the countdown starts, and before you know it, it's all over!

Last year, in the final few weeks we fished a few sessions for Chub and Barbel, but this year I have had so much fun targeting Perch on lures, that's all I've really fished for over the past couple of months!

One exception was the opening day at Elinor trout fishery. I'd never fished Elinor on opening day before and my Dad and I had planned to meet up with the Pitsford Pirates for a get-together and BBQ. The recent snowmelt had caused the River Nene, running adjacent to the lake, to flood and when we arrived we could see the lake was still very coloured from floodwater entering - the visibility was only inches! This made for tough fishing - however, I fished two very big, bright lures under the bung as slowly as I could, hoping they would show up enough for the trout to see. I ended the day with 6 fish, including a nice Rainbow of around 5lbs. My Dad lost a real lump just before we were about to pack up, a fish he reckoned was getting on for double figures, and ended the day with 2 fish. It was great to get together with the Pirates, and catch up with some of the England Youth Flyfishing Team.

Apart from this, most of the time I've been wandering along the banks of my local rivers and canals, on the search for stripeys. Two days after fishing Elinor, on the first day of my half term, the river levels had dropped and the colour was looking spot on, so we decided to fish for a few hours that afternoon.

On my third cast I hooked in to a good fish of 3lb 7oz that took a 3" shad, and from the same hot spot my Dad also landed two fish on crankbaits, both around the 2lb mark.

After another half an hour of trying different tactics in the same area without any other bites, we started to leapfrog each other along the bank, covering the water in front of us. We got carried away exploring and ended up covering about a mile and a half of water, but still without a bite. Then completely out of the blue, I had a good whack and hooked in to a heavy headshaking fish, one I knew was definitely a good Perch. But when it came to the net I really did get a shock as it was the biggest Perch I'd ever seen - my Dad and I were both gobsmacked at the size of the fish!! I don't often shake with excitement, but it was a stunning looking creature and we both thought there was a chance it may weigh 5lbs, but at 4lb 12oz it was still a monster, and a new P.B! We were both so blown away it was hard to stop thinking about it for the rest of the session - we carried on fishing but that was the last bite of the afternoon.

The following day we decided to explore another stretch we hadn't fished for a while, and despite it being bright and sunny, it didn't seem to put the fish off and we landed 5 Perch to 3lb 9oz, plus a couple of Pike to just under double figures. The biggest surprise of the day though was when my Dad caught a mint looking Common Carp of 14lb 7oz, hooked clean in the mouth! We have accidentally foul-hooked them before but this fish had taken the lure properly. We're guessing it had mistaken the shad, which was almost white in colour, for a piece of bread, falling on the drop.

 The night after I caught the 4lb 12oz Perch, I came down with a really bad cold. It was really frustrating as it was my half term and I had plenty of time to fish. A couple of days later my Dad also came down with the cold. He seems to get colds or flu a lot worse than I do, and he ended up in bed for the following few days! However the conditions looked so good for fishing, the temptation was too great and despite still feeling really rough, I popped down one afternoon for a few hours fishing before dark, hoping to bump in to another big billy.

I quickly caught a nice Pike and a small Perch on a Texas rigged shad, before deciding to make a last-minute dash before dark to an area I don't often fish, but I was confident I may get a bite there. On my first cast I hopped a Berkley Pulse Shad from a bush on the far bank, right to my feet before noticing a large stripy figure behind it. When in this situation, what I always do is let the soft bait fall to the bottom, and keep very still - watch the lure and often, the fish will move in over the soft bait and suck it up off the bottom. This has happened many times with both Pike and Perch, and there was one occasion where my Dad literally waited 4 or 5 minutes before a Pike engulfed a suspending jerkbait, but luckily on this occasion I only had to wait about 20 seconds and I was hooked up!

It weighed 3lb 8oz, and as I knew my Dad was on his way to pick me up, I kept it in the net for a photo when he arrived. Whilst waiting, I had another cast and hooked in to another fish - this one again took the Pulse Shad and weighed 3lb 1oz!

We caught quite a few more fish on the following couple of sessions, mainly Pike, but a few Perch too to just over 3lbs.

My half term was over and it was back to College for me, but seeing as it was my Dad's birthday, he decided to have a few hours lure fishing by himself. On his birthday last year, he caught a 14lb 9oz P.B Barbel, so decided to return to the area I'd caught my 4lb 12oz Perch in the hope he could catch another P.B. He fished hard all afternoon without a single bite. Whilst driving home, he was a bit frustrated he hadn't done very well, so he decided to stop off on the way back at an area where, sometimes, we catch a few fish in the dark - even a small Pike would have cheered him up!

After 3 or 4 casts he hooked a fish, but this unfortunately came off. Not giving up, he carried on and minutes later, he had a nice Perch just over 3lbs in the net. He was very pleased and was about to pack up, but there was one good looking spot he hadn't tried, so he had a few more casts. With bats flying in to his line, moments later he hooked in to another fish which felt like a decent Pike. After a good fight, he had a big birthday surprise laying in the net - a cracking Chub that weighed 6lb 14oz which had taken a 3" shad. It was immaculate and the biggest Chub we've ever heard of from this particular section of the Lea - and as it was a new P.B, he was chuffed to bits!!

With only a few days to go, and the temperatures plummeting, we were back on the river again a couple of days later. We had a tough start, going 3 or 4 hours without a bite, but as with a lot of bites, they take you by surprise and my Dad hooked in to a nice Perch weighing 2lb 11oz. Around half an hour later he was hooked up again, this time in to a much bigger fish. After a nervy fight, he netted a pristine looking Perch. On the scales, it read 4lb 1/2oz - our fourth 4lb'er in as many months!

On the Monday before the end of the season, we fished on possibly one of the coldest days I have ever ventured out in! It was so cold that the Nanofil we were using was getting shredded as it went through the iced up rings, and we had to keep cutting off sections of damaged line! We probably shouldn't have even bothered fishing, but we did! The wind was biting cold, and we had to keep getting back in the car to warm up. Our efforts were rewarded though, with 5 stripeys to just under 3lbs, and a nice Pike. I must admit though it was nice to get home that evening and back in the warm!

The conditions on the last day of the season weren't ideal - a really hard frost, a crystal clear river and bright sunshine, which lasted until around 2pm. We tried a couple of areas that we hadn't fished for a while because they hadn't been fishing very well, but we were hoping that may have changed! It didn't pay off though, with just one small pike coming from that section. So for the last couple of hours, we headed to an area where we felt our chances were greater. It was still tough going though, but we both managed to catch a couple of nice 2's.

Although the last day wasn't as good as we'd hoped, I've had a great time fishing this past season, and I really hope that the next one is just as enjoyable!

Perch in the Snow

Catching Perch any time of the year is great, but in the snow it's extra special - no matter what the size. Their stripes and red fins look stunning against a white, snowy background.

Just two days after returning from our holiday in Tobago, before I could get back on the rivers fishing for Perch, I flew out to France to join the Shuttleworth College lads who were netting Lac de Villedon, situated near Limoges. I was lucky to get out there actually, as the Shuttleworth boys had flown out the same morning as I'd arrived back at Gatwick, but with the help of our tutors Chris Vaughan and Steve Waters, I managed to fly out two days later.

In the week we were there, with the help of our great hosts Paul, John and 'Dams', we completed many jobs around the site, including netting, felling trees, building embankments around swims to protect them from bank erosion, smashing down and rebuilding pegs, litter picking and clearing debris from the sluice gate at the top of the lake. The netting produced thousands of fish including Carp to 31kg, Catfish to well over 100lbs and a rack of other species including Roach, Perch, Pike, Pumpkinseed, Zander, Tench and even a Sturgeon.

Now back to the Perch! Whilst I was away at Villedon my Dad borrowed my Abu Veritas rod and fished an afternoon session on our local river. He was really impressed with the rod and the Revo SX reel, and managed to catch 3 Perch to 3lb, plus a jack Pike.

Not long after returning from France we had a good dumping of white stuff, so I was really looking forward to trying to catch some Perch in the snow. Fishing 4 short sessions we managed to catch a few nice stripeys, as well as some Pike, either jigging or on the Texas rig.

After a few days the snow melted rapidly and overnight, many rivers around our way (and I guess everywhere else) were bombing through and the colour of chocolate. So the rivers were well out of the question, so we decided to try a couple of gravel pits for Pike, using my new Veritas baitcasting set-up and some of the Sébile lures, including the Magic Swimmer Soft. Between us we landed 7 Pike up to double figures.

The Magic Swimmer worked really well - it was great for fishing in snaggy or weedy areas. We found that just giving it a split second before setting the hook resulted in better hookups, as the hook is hidden inside the bait.

We kept an eye on the rivers and about 6 days later, they were looking spot on for some more lure fishing for Perch. So a trip back on the Lea was planned!

My Dad started the day by catching a nice Brownie on a shad. He then went on to catch 3 more Perch before I'd even had a bite! I was beginning to wonder what I was doing wrong!! We decided that for the afternoon, we'd try a different stretch of river and a spot where my Dad had lost a big Perch on a previous trip, which he reckoned could have been a 4lb'er, a couple of months back. We'd been back numerous times trying to catch it again with no success, and wondered whether it was still in the same area. Unfortunately, Perch are not in every swim, especially big stripeys, and I'd love to know how many miles of bank side my Dad and I have covered searching for Perch. But it's very addictive and great fun exploring!

My Dad quickly caught another nice 2lb'er and I was getting a bit concerned! But moments later I had a good whack and hooked in to a fish. I couldn't believe it when I got it in the net - it looked a whopper! We're pretty sure it's the same fish as my Dad lost, and he was right - it weighed fractionally over 4lbs, at 4lb 1/2oz. It had been well worth the wait (I told him afterwards I was only after specimens!!).

That day we ended up with 10 Perch, 1 Pike and a Brownie. My Dad also lost another good Perch at the net which was getting on for 3 and a half pounds.

We've had a couple of outings since that day but the fishing has been quite tough, catching only a handful of Perch and a few Pike, but two of those were crackers that my Dad caught, weighing 3lb 8oz and 2lb 15oz.

Before I end this post, I'd just like to say a big thank you to Adam Entwistle. A few months ago he asked whether he could use a couple of photographs of Perch I'd caught for reference for some line drawings. I couldn't believe it when I received the print in the post! The Perch have been brilliantly illustrated in pencil - one drawing showing the whole Perch and the other, a head shot, with an Ondex spinner hanging from it's mouth. It's now hanging on the wall at home! Thank you Adam!

With only a month to go before the end of the season, time is running out - I think my Dad is looking forward to the closed season just so he can give his legs a rest from all the walking!

Tobago - Sun, Sea and plenty of Fishing!

Over Christmas and New Year, my family and I enjoyed a great holiday in Tobago. We stayed in the small, friendly fishing village of Castara, located midway along Tobago's mountainous Caribbean coast. Whilst there, we explored the island as much as we could with our lure and fly gear, and fished some incredible looking coral bays, beaches, ponds and mountain rivers.

Most of our fishing was either from the shore or wandering up the many rivers that empty in to the bays. We also had 3 half days fishing off shore  - 2 of those were with a guide called Roachee and his daughter. We had a great time - our best fish with them was an Albacore Tuna around 35lbs that my Dad caught. Unfortunately though, we didn't get a picture, as when we were holding the leader and about to gaff it, the fish fell off! We did catch some smaller Albacore though and a few other colourful, interesting species - some we hadn't caught before.

Our third half day trip was with a different guide, Kester Herbert. We came really close to hooking a Wahoo when fishing with Kester - he is known as one of the top fishing guides on the island and extremely knowledgeable. When trolling a dead Ballyhoo at about 30ft deep, we had a good whack and reeled it in to find the Wahoo had bitten the bait cleanly in half and missed the hook by millimetres!

Our good friend, Jack Simpson, was also staying in Tobago whilst we were there, and had half a day fishing with Kester too. He fished for Permit and unfortunately lost one. I think he did well to get a take as it was a really rough morning when he went out and the sea was very coloured - not the best of conditions for spotting Permit. Jack was staying about an hour from us and one afternoon we went to meet him at his hotel. It was great to see him and his wife, Mavis, out there, but quite strange seeing them in another country!

Apart from the 3 half days with guides, my Dad and I spent the rest of our time exploring along many miles of beautiful, untouched coastline and mountain streams. Puddingwife, Hairy Blenny, Whitespotted Filefish, Bigeye, Palometa, Bigmouth Sleepers, Mountain Mullet, Tilapia, and Black Durgon were just some of the species of fish that we caught.

 

On most days, from our balcony looking over Castara Bay, we could see large schools of baitfish (see photo below) being attacked from birds, bigger fish and fishermen with their nets. I felt quite sorry for them as they were being bombarded from all angles!

There was one particular bay that was quite difficult and a little dangerous to get to about an hour's walk from where we were staying. Here, we saw some huge Jacks that patrolled the coast. One particular group was enormous - about 30-40 of them came racing by, and most of them looked over 20lbs. Fishing from the rocks, I cast a homemade white bucktail jig to them and instantly hooked one of the larger fish around 30lbs - and I could not stop it. I had the drag fully locked and this fish was ripping off braid as if there was no drag at all. In the end I had to clamp down and break the shock leader as it was going around a huge rock - I would have lost well over 200 yards of braid if that had cut, plus it wouldn't have been fair on the fish.

We returned to the same cove a few days later with some stronger spinning gear and, after missing a powerful slam on one of his first casts, my Dad hooked in to a really good fish, this time from the beach. From the way it tore off, we were sure it had to be another big Jack - the first run was insane!! We really didn't think he was going to land it! After nearly losing it on the rocks and an exhausting 20 minute battle, he landed a fantastic Horse Eye Jack that was getting on for 20lbs. What a fish, especially caught from a tiny coral beach with lots of hazardous, sharp rocks!!

Many of the fish we caught were on Sébile lures and a couple of our favourites were the Sébile Stick Shadd and Magic Swimmer. Unfortunately though, I lost the Magic Swimmer half way through the holiday on a Tarpon, but I caught many different species on that lure.

We did manage to land a Tarpon in the end though - a fish of around 25lb. It was on a great morning's fishing where we hooked and jumped 3 or 4 Tarpon and also caught 16 Snook between us - only small fish but awesome fun on light lure and fly tackle!

Whilst fishing, we saw plenty of wildlife - the bird life in particular was unbelievable. A couple of my favourites were the Mot Mot and the Rufous Vented Chachalaca. For such a small island it has over 240 species - a real bird watcher's paradise. Some other animals we saw were Armadillo, Red-rumped Agoutis, Turtles, Iguanas and Snakes.

 

Tobago is covered in tropical rainforest, and on some nights we had some torrential rain - there were many waterfalls and mountain streams that carried rainwater down to the sea. Unfortunately, this did have a bad effect on the fishing as it quickly coloured up the bays and pushed many of the saltwater species further out to sea - with the exception of Snook. One day, whilst fishing around the mouth of an estuary, I'd just caught a small Fat Snook (an unusual but smaller, rounder species of Snook) when my Dad decided to try the same spot with his fly rod. He soon had a good take, but the fish quickly came off. When he checked his fly, he found a Tongue Eating Louse hooked on it, which had been ripped clean off the fish's tongue. It's an ugly looking parasite which we found in quite a few of the fish we caught, especially the smaller Jack species.

We also enjoyed wandering up some of the many rivers and streams, that lead to some amazing looking waterfalls. Using an 8wt fly rod (as that was the lightest we had) and using small Bonefish and Permit flies, we caught a couple of unusual freshwater species, such as Mountain Mullet, and an odd Bullhead-like fish called a Bigmouth Sleeper. We caught quite a few of these, even when the water was coloured.

Although we were a little unlucky trying to catch Wahoo, as that was one of our main aims, we did manage to catch 28 different species, nearly all on lures or flies - 15 of which I hadn't caught before, and now looking forward to add to my species list. I don't care how big there are - I just love catching different types of fish!

We really enjoyed our stay in Tobago - spectacular views, fascinating wildlife, winter sun and plenty of fishing. I must admit we're missing it already - I've just checked the thermometer outside our door and it is well below zero. I'd better start saving!!