Get Hooked on Fishing!

June 16th is a special day for anglers that love their river fishing. However, the last few weeks since my last blog have been extremely busy, so I'm going to leave talking about the opening day until my next posting.

Since our previous trip flyfishing Grafham for predators, my Dad and I have managed another couple of trips there in the last 3 weeks. The sport has been good, landing around 30 zander so far between us. Although we haven't had any monsters, we've managed to catch a couple of scraper doubles.

Most of the fish average 7lb, which are great fun on the fly. We've also caught a couple of cracking Perch weighing 3lb 10oz and 3lb 7oz.

Occasionally, we catch the odd Bream on our Zander flies - they normally average between 8-12lb. You wouldn't expect a Bream to take a 4 or 5 inch fly, but we've caught quite a few over the years, including some big hybrids.

The next trip on Grafham we planned to target Pike. We picked a day that was forecast just 5mph winds and when we left home the conditions looked perfect, but by the time we arrived at Grafham, the weather wasn't quite what we were expecting. Instead, it was more like 16mph northerly winds with horizontal rain thrown in! We sat in the car deciding on whether it was worth going out, as if it got much windier, the boats would have to be called in anyway. In the end, we decided to brave the conditions, and boy, was it worth it!

Within an hour or so we'd boated 6 Zeds, but despite the great start, it was the Pike that we were really after, so when the action died off we motored to a different location in the hope a big Esox.

By the time we'd arrived at our new spot, the rain was really chucking it down. My Dad decided to try one of his Tarpon flies, a Black Death, and just 20 minutes later, he had a very soft take which he instinctively struck. As he was playing the fish I got a quick glimpse and guessed it looked around 18lb. After a terrific fight, as I netted the fish, I realised I had underestimated its size! It was a magnificent looking fish weighing 26lb 6oz! That was the only Pike we saw that day, but glad we'd made the decision to venture out.

That was my last trip there targeting predators, but my Dad has been back since with an old schoolfriend, John Rochester for an afternoon session. John had never caught a Zander before, but by the end of the afternoon, between them they'd landed 7 - including a nice Brownie for John!

My next trip to Grafham was Trout fishing, practising for the Airflo International Midland Heat, which the Pitsford Pirates had entered. In practice, I fished with Bart Farmer covering from Sanctuary Bay right round to the Sailing Club. We caught a fish each in Savages but eventually found lots of fish from the Nature Reserve right in to Valley Creek. After perfecting a couple of methods, and pooling all of our knowledge as to where to go and what tactics to use, we were ready for the match the next day!

I was drawn to fish with Nick Preston, fishing for the GWFFA team. I'd caught 4 and Nick had caught 5 when boat pressure in Valley Creek took a toll within the first two hours, so we had to search around for more fish. It turned out to be quite a tough match - I finished on 7 fish, and they were all tiny, but Nick had a fantastic bag of 8 fish for over 22lbs! The top 6 teams qualified, and unfortunately, after coming 4th in the Lexus heat on Rutland where the top 3 qualify a few weeks back, the Pirates came 7th! To say we were gutted was an understatement, but that's fishing! Well done to those teams that did qualify though.

The hot, sunny weather we'd all been craving finally returned a couple of days after the Airflo match, and there was only one thing on our minds - Carp on the fly! We arrived very early at one of our local lakes, hoping that there would be a few fish on top, and sure enough, there were. Teasing them in to taking a couple of mixers off the top, it wasn't long before our home made flies, made from deer hair, did the business and we were both playing fish. Dad's first fish of the day was a broad Common of 20lb 2oz, then just a few minutes later I also hooked and landed a Common of 19lb 2oz!

I was still wiping my hands with the rag when Dad hooked in to yet another fish, this time a Ghostie of 18lbs on the dot - for the first hour the fishing was quite insane!

After he landed the Ghostie though, the fish became a bit more wary and although plenty were showing, they were reluctant to take. The beauty of flyfishing is that you can land a fly right in front of a fish you're targeting, without spooking it, whereas if you cast a controller float to it, there's a good chance the fish will bolt off in the opposite direction because of the splash. I caught a couple more doubles, although not big, but it was great fun stalking them!

On June 6th, the guys from Pure Fishing, including myself, helped run a tuition day at Cob House Fisheries in Worcestershire for staff at GoOutdoors, who have recently been expanding their fishing ranges in their stores across the country. The aim of the day was to introduce them to different types of fishing, and hopefully, some of them would catch their first fish. On one of the lakes they fished for Carp with Steve Egerton, (Pure Fishing's Marketing Manager). James Robbins (Shakespeare's Brand Manager) was based on another lake fishing the pellet waggler. Roy Marlow and Wendy Perry of Marukyu were based on another lake and Grant Harris (Director of Pure Fishing UK) and I were teaching flyfishing on one of the other lakes. What I didn't realise before I got there was that there were no trout in the lakes! Luckily, I'd brought along with me a couple of mixer flies just in case there were some Carp on top, as it was forecast to be hot and sunny. Teaching someone to cast and catch a fish in one hour is quite a challenge (it took me a year or so just to learn how to cast properly), but a couple of nice fish were caught on the fly! Anyway, it was a great day, everybody caught, and I think that most people enjoyed themselves.

A couple of months ago I was invited by Sarah Collins, Chief Executive of Get Hooked on Fishing, to meet with her and Clive Copeland, Head of Participation of The Angling Trust, to see whether I'd be interested in helping youngsters learn a little about lure fishing. It was to be part of a 6 part mini series with Sky Sports and Sky Sports Living for Sport to be filmed and shown on Keith Arthur's 'Tightlines'. Part 5, which I took part in and will be aired tonight (June 21st), was filmed two weeks ago, and as there are no predators in the lakes at Ealing, we fished scaled down jigging and dropshotting tactics, using tiny softbaits such as Berkley Power Maggots and the Maxi Blood Worms. Whilst Pete Waterfield was giving the group a talk, my Dad and I set up 19 light lure rods, some of which had been kindly lent to GHoF by the Angling Trust - half of them with drop-shot rigs, and half of them with jigs.

We finished just in time before the filming was to begin! Most of the youngsters had never used a rod and reel before, only having used a pole, so they did really well catching quite a few - in fact, nearly all of them caught, consisting mainly of small Rudd and a few tiny Tench. It was a great day and I met some lovely people - Nigel Botherway, the presenter, Pete Waterfield, Dean Macey, James Thornhill, Charlie Moore, Grant Fear, Eddie Edwards, and Chris Gadsden - to name a few!

Sarah Collins and the GHoF team have put a lot of hard work in to helping young people get involved in fishing. Ealing is a well stocked fishery which is fun to fish, with good facilities, opportunities and a great project to be part of. Tomorrow is the launch of Get Hooked on Fishing Ealing, which is also going to be filmed for Tightlines.

Unfortunately, I'm finishing this blog on a sad note. For the past two years I've been studying Fisheries Management at Shuttleworth College, and tonight I will be saying goodbye to all the great friends I have made there, including the teachers, Chris Vaughan, Steve Waters and Claire Baker. I've had some great times and fantastic experiences I will never forget, and I'm going to miss them all hugely. I'd just like to wish them all the best in the future. Also, for anybody who is just leaving school and is interested in Fisheries Management, I would highly recommend Shuttleworth College.

A mixed bag of species on the fly

Over the past month, I haven't really managed to fish as much as I would have liked! Things have been pretty busy lately, with my course at Shuttleworth College coming to an end in just a few weeks. I've also been in Redditch with Pure Fishing on my work experience where I had a great time and learned a lot!

When I could go fishing, I mainly targeted trout on reservoirs such as Rutland, Grafham and Walthamstow. As the water temperatures have been slowly warming up, there have been some huge buzzer hatches and the sport has been fantastic!

I did manage to fit in one trip lure fishing last month, albeit targeting species you wouldn't normally associate with having a predatory instinct. Sarah Collins, the CEO of Get Hooked on Fishing, recently contacted me to see whether I'd be interested in meeting her and Clive Copeland of the Angling Trust, to talk about promoting lure fishing for youngsters at GHoF's new complex in Ealing. It's going to be officially opened on the 22nd June and being filmed on Sky Sports Tightlines, which I'm really looking forward to. Despite there being no Pike or Perch in the 6 small lakes on site, I took my gear along to try and target the coarse fish with very small soft baits and scaled down set-ups. I've caught Rudd, Roach and Bream on lures before, so I thought I'd give it a try, as I think it could be a great way of introducing youngsters to lure fishing.

I drop-shotted a 1cm Berkley Power Maggot on a size 14 hook, whilst my Dad fished a Berkley Angleworm on a very small jighead with a size 12 hook, and within a few casts I'd caught one of the recently stocked small Carp! It was a great bite, and fought well on my light lure rod! We fished for another hour and lost another of around the same size, but also landed a few small Roach and Rudd!

My next trip was trout fishing at Elinor, practising for the World Bank Masters Final, after qualifying at Blackdyke in Norfolk at the end of March. Although the fishing wasn't easy, my Dad and I both caught on a variety of methods over the course of the day, but the two best tactics we found were fishing blobs or buzzers under the bung, or a team of small lures and nymphs twiddled back on a slow glass line. As predicted, the fishing on match day wasn't easy, as a strong wind blasted down the lake and the fish wised up very quickly as flies of all shapes, sizes and colours were presented in front of them. I finished with 4 fish, but Pascal Rommelaire from Belgium won the match. Congratulations to him, last years 3rd place, Andrew Scott who came 2nd, and former England Youth teammate Fen Oakley who came third, and who also caught the tagged double figure rainbow. Top angling!

We then had a couple of afternoon trout fishing trips to Walthamstow and Grafham fishing from the bank. Again, it was extremely windy but we still managed to catch some nice rainbows on both venues.

Over the Bank Holiday we had a brief spell of warm sunny weather. I'd been keeping an eye on my local lakes to see when the Carp would finally start basking on the surface and taking off the top - as that's when it's time to get the fly gear out! Although the warm temperatures didn't last long, there were a few fish sunning themselves so we decided to have a session targeting them on the surface.

We started on a crystal-clear gravel pit and had a great start with two fish of 15lb 14oz and 12lb 11oz coming within the first hour.

 

It soon clouded over though, and a chilly breeze came from nowhere, which put the fish off feeding on the surface. I managed to sneak out one more of 16lb 7oz, but it looked all over for surface fishing, so on the way home we popped in on another lake. The north-easterly breeze had pushed the Carp along one bank and within 10 minutes of arriving my Dad had a cracking Common of 15lb 5oz that gave him a great fight on his 8wt.

As the wind strengthened even more, it became harder to spot fish, and after a couple of missed chances, we only landed one more of around 6lb before we decided to head on home.

On 17th May, I fished in the Bob Church Classic on Rutland. I hadn't had time to practice for the match, so I wasn't sure how I would get on! The rules of the match are that you kill your first 4 fish and then catch and release 12 plus time bonus. I was partnered with Dean Rudd from the Soldier Palmers team, but Dean hadn't managed to practice either, so we were both in the dark to what areas had been fishing well.

Luckily, between us, we made a good decision and fished along the 3 trees and Normanton and quickly started catching.

I fished a midge tip with 2 buzzers and a cormorant on the point for most of the day. I finished with 14 rainbows and a bag weight of 9lb 9oz but it wasn't enough to get me in the running, although it had been a great match which I really enjoyed, especially fishing with Dean who was great company. Congratulations to runaway winner, Leigh Pond!

The day before the Bob Church Classic marked the opening of fly fishing for predators on Anglian reservoirs so, as we were unable to fish the first two days, my Dad and I had an afternoon session on Grafham that weekend. We couldn't have asked for a better start - on my very first cast I had a powerful slam that resulted in a Zander of around 8lb.

My second cast produced another of around the same size, then on my fourth cast I had an immaculate Perch of 3lb 6oz.

During that short space of time my Dad also had his first Zed of the season - a cracking fish of 10lb 1oz! The action continued in to the evening landing a few more good Zeds and I also landed another Perch of 3lb 7oz.

In the next few days I'm hoping to get another trip flyfishing for predators on the reservoirs, and June 16th is looming, so there's plenty to look forward to!

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!