Spotties, Stripeys… and Rubber Lips!

For the last week of the season, my local rivers looked absolutely spot-on for all kinds of fishing. The never ending rain we had all winter had finally stopped, the rivers had receded back to their normal levels and in some areas temperatures topped 20°C - which is unusual for March!

However, that warm weather, combined with the longer days and perfect river conditions caused both Pike and Perch to spawn. At the beginning of the last week of the season we concentrated on lure fishing for Perch, and although Dad caught an immaculate 3lb 13oz stripey on a small deep-diving crankbait, and I also landed one of 2lb 13oz on a drop-shotted Berkley Ribbontail Grub, the fishing was really tough.

After seeing lots of small jack Pike in the margins we began to realise what was happening, so for the last three days we decided to have a change of plan and target Chub on lures.

I love fishing for Chub with lures - the bites are so aggressive, no matter what the size of the fish is. Fishing small crankbaits and soft plastics rigged on Owner Ultrahead Finesse Type Hooks, we banked a few lovely fish - the biggest, which my Dad caught, weighed 4lb 14oz and took a 65mm Sébile A.T Minnow, which looks very much like a Slug as it's falling through the water.

On one of the last days of the season, whilst targeting Chub, I spotted a Carp swimming along the margins. I thought I'd try and stalk it with the drop-shot rig I already had tied on, so I cast a couple of feet in front of it, but it started to move away. I thought I might have spooked it at first, but it did a 360° turn and sucked my Ribbontail Grub up! It was a fantastic fight on a light spinning rod!

Normally, once the season comes to a close, my Dad and I have a few days rest and catch-up before thinking about going fishing again, but on March 15th we headed to Needham Lake in Suffolk, where the Pike Anglers Club of Great Britain and the Lure Anglers Society had organised a lure fishing day for youngsters. Although we were very lucky with the weather and it was a warm, sunny Spring day, the fishing was really tough, again probably because the predators were getting ready to spawn, or already spawning. Twenty youngsters were divided in to pairs and were allocated with a coach. Each of the 20 youngsters that came along were so enthusiastic and keen - they were soon picking up different lure fishing techniques, and some were even using baitcasting reels! Well done to Max Rushbrook and Aston Lander for both catching their first ever Pike.

Jason Skilton, Suffolk R.O for the P.A.C, Ron Dalton from the L.A.S and Mark Brewster organised a really enjoyable day. Lure fishing is a great way to introduce newcomers to the sport, and I'm sure it's going to grow in popularity over the coming years.

Since then, we haven't done too much fishing. We tried lure fishing a local gravel pit for a few hours, which wasn't very successful with only a couple of small jacks to show for it, but it was great to try out some new lures we'd recently bought!

Last week I had my first trip of the season flyfishing for Trout on Grafham. My Dad and I had some fantastic sport fishing floating lines and a team of Buzzers with a small Booby on the point, as the fish were very high up in the water. We only fished for a half day but landed around 40 rainbows in total, and I also caught a Brownie of around 3lb 8oz. We probably could have moved to other areas and had a better chance of landing some bigger, overwintered fish, but it was such great fun we just got carried away and ran out of time!

I'm looking forward to another trip to Grafham, and if it warms up enough, it may soon be time to target Carp on the fly!

Yesterday Dad and I went to a training day along with others from the Angling Trust and Get Hooked on Fishing in Nottingham. Dad and I had brought along a couple of lure rods, as after the training day (if we had time) we'd planned to stop on the way back home and have a couple of hours lure fishing for Zander along a stretch of the Oxford Canal. We hadn't fished the stretch for around 6 or 7 years so we didn't know what it was going to be like. We mentioned it to James and Charlie from GHoF Ealing and it turned out they had some lure gear in the back of their car too, so they decided to join us!

Although the area still looked exactly the same, the fishing wasn't. I caught one tiny Zander and also lost one of around the same size, but unfortunately that was the only action we had. Still, it was a nice evening and even better with James and Charlie.

The season ends well for my Dad!

With only days to go until March 14th, my Dad has definitely been making the most of the good weather at the end of the season - river Carp to 22lb 5oz, Chub to 6lb 12oz, a 10lb 2oz Barbel and two 4lb Perch are just a few of the great fish he's caught recently!

Mind you, what a wet year it's been so far! The rainfall over the last couple of months has had a massive effect on fishing, but despite the wettest winter on record, we've tried to get out as much as we can on the banks of our local rivers.

A few weeks back, my Dad and I fished with Keith Arthur along the Grand Union Canal lure fishing for Perch, filming for Sky Sports' Tightlines. For the filming, we'd initially planned to lure fish along my local River Lea, but with a huge band of rain swooping across the country a couple of days before, the river was still too pacey and coloured. Plan B, which was a local gravel pit, was also out of the question as the river running adjacent had flooded in to it, so we had a last minute change of plan. I'd only fished the Grand Union Canal once and that was in a blizzard last year, so I had little idea of how it would look, but because the water in the canal is fed from the Tring reservoirs, the clarity was surprisingly clear and looked great for lure fishing when we arrived.

Unfortunately though, it was still raining and it had to be one of the wettest days Dad, Keith and I have EVER fished on - it just didn't stop! After around an hour and a half of fishing, and a change of tactic to a crankbait, on my first cast I caught a Perch of 2lb 7oz on a Berkley Frenzy! Flicker Shad, quickly followed by a smaller one. 

Dad also switched to a crankbait and caught another, which we didn't weigh, but was a low 2lb'er.

We covered a lot of ground with a variety of different tactics but the fishing was surprisingly tough - I think the damp and cold had got to us all too, so that didn't help. After exploring further along the canal with no success, we decided to return to the area I'd caught my 2lb 7oz from for the last half hour and Keith caught 4 small Perch on a tiny jigged shad, plus Dad had a couple more on a small Sébile A.T Minnow - a shad that has been great for us this season.

Only until recently have my local rivers been clear enough to fish with lures - they're still carrying a lot of water, but when they were coloured we both decided it might be a good idea to try some quivertipping for a change, targeting Chub, Barbel and Carp as we were desperate to get out and fish.

As we do with our lure fishing, we kept mobile, as normally most of the bites come within 5-10 minutes of casting out in a new spot, so after 15 minutes or so we would up and move again if we hadn't had any action, sometimes returning later to the same swim if we felt there was a good chance of another bite at a different time of day. Roving along local stretches of river, hitting likely looking spots, and using a simple running leger rig with 6lb line, size 8 or 10 hook and a cage feeder, stuffed with liquidised bread and breadflake on the hook, we had a great couple of weeks fishing.

Most of our trips were afternoons, often fishing in to the dark for an hour or two, and over a couple of weeks we landed 14 Carp to 22lb 5oz, most of which were doubles, a few Chub to 6lb 12oz, a 10lb 2oz Barbel plus plenty of Bream around the 5-6lb mark. On one of our first trips Dad landed 3 Carp in an hour from one spot, for a combined weight of just under 50lbs!

Although the river still wasn't quite right for lure fishing on one afternoon, whilst Dad was quivertipping I decided to give it a go - I had one bite and that was from a stripey of 3lb 1oz, on a Texas rigged twintail.

A couple of days later, we headed to Farnborough to spend the weekend demonstrating lures and lure fishing tactics at the Get Hooked on Fishing Funfair at 'The Big One' show. Thanks to Pure Fishing lending us their demo pool, it was a great way to demonstrate different types of lures and tactics, from large swimbaits to finesse drop-shot rigs. It was a great weekend and the amount of people, young and old, wanting to see lures in the water, or have a go themselves was brilliant. In addition to the lure pool, at the GHoF Funfair there were plenty of other activities - you could practise throwing and cupping accuracy with top anglers such as Will Raison, Des Shipp and Keith Arthur, just to name a few; make fishy crafts and even have a go on a fish playing simulator! Without the hard work of Sarah Collins and all the other great volunteers for the charity, the GHoF Funfair wouldn't have been possible - it was fantastic to be involved with so many enthusiastic anglers and volunteers from all areas of the sport.

By the time 'The Big One' was over, the clarity of our local rivers had begun to improve, though they were (and still are) carrying a lot of water, so Dad and I decided to try and make the most of the good conditions before another huge band of heavy rain fell the next weekend and have a couple of days in search of big Perch on lures. Despite the rivers looking fantastic, the fishing was quite challenging, possibly because of the unusually high temperatures for this time of year, and predators getting ready to spawn.

However, I can't think of a better time of year to catch a big Perch and Dad has had two crackers, the first weighing 4lb exactly, which took a Texas rigged twintail, and the second weighing 4lb 1oz, caught on a small crankbait the day after his birthday!

We also fished on his birthday for a couple of hours and he caught a Pike of 12lb 2oz from a local stretch of the River Lea, plus another of around 8lb, which are quite good Pike for the Lea.

Last weekend I ventured north of the border to Glasgow Angling Centre, for their Spring Open weekend, demonstrating lures in their outdoor lure pool alongside Jan Porter, Ant Glascoe and Julian Chidgey. This was the second time I've visited GAC's Open Weekend, and just like the last it was a fantastic three days, meeting and chatting to lots of interesting anglers.

With only a few days of the season left to go, I'll be trying to make the most of it before March 14th. Then it's time to dust off the fly rods!

Lure fishing in the floods!

In last month's post, I used one word to describe the fishing for me and my Dad between November and December, which was 'tough'. Unfortunately though, since Christmas, it's been even tougher!

I don't think I've put in so much time and effort in during the course of one month and been rewarded with so little. For most of the time, my local rivers, in which I intended to target Perch, have been too pacey or coloured for lure fishing, although we have managed to fit in a couple of trips and although we haven't caught lots of fish, most have been over the 2 and a half pound mark.

I was recently watching the news and they showed the River Wey near Weybridge, close to where we keep our boat, and parts of the town were underwater! So a lot of our fishing has been based on stillwaters, but even gravel pits and reservoirs haven't been easy!

On one local gravel pit, I've been targeting the predators with lures whilst my Dad, for a change, has been targeting Roach on the quivertip. Each time we fished it, he wouldn't have any bites for most of the day, then at around 3pm everything suddenly switched on and the fish became more and more confident feeding as the light diminished. Dad's been averaging 4 or 5 Roach a trip with a best of 1lb 3oz so far, though I know he's aiming for a 2lb'er!

When it comes to lure fishing, that's been much harder - I've caught a few small jacks on my outings but not a single Perch. On one afternoon I lapped the lake whilst my Dad was quivertipping, covering it well with a variety of different types of lures with not a sign of a fish. I decided to go and see my Dad and whilst he was having a break, I fished with his quivertip rod and within minutes landed a Perch of 2lb 5oz! It's not my favourite way of catching Perch, but at least it saved me from a blank!

It's not just gravel pits that have been hard going. Two trips on Grafham recently have resulted in just a couple of Zander around the 7lbs mark.

With the exception of a few days, the rivers have been unfishable with lures so we had a couple of trips roving along my local River Lea with quivertipping gear. Sometimes it's nice to have a break from the lure fishing and although we didn't catch loads, or any big fish, we enjoyed banking some nice Chub, Bream and a greedy Brown Trout that we caught twice - I caught it first then we returned to the same area the next day and Dad caught it!

However, there were a couple of spells where we didn't have any rain for a few days, and although my local rivers still stayed quite muddy, they were just about lure fishable. Previous to my first river trip of 2014, it had been nearly a month since I'd last fished them but it was well worth it as we had quite a few Pike and after catching my first Perch of the year, I quickly netted my second which weighed 3lb 7oz, on a Texas rigged Berkley Ripple Shad in Purple Chartreuse.

Berkley Ripple Shads have been a fantastic soft bait for us over the past year or so. It has a large paddletail which, when retrieved, creates lots of movement and vibration and causes the shad to shimmy from side to side. The grooves in the shad's body displace even more water and the large surface area makes it ideal for applying scents, something which I've been experimenting with this winter. They're also available in a huge variety of colours - Purple Chartreuse has been my favourite recently as it shows up well in muddy water.

Back to the fishing, at around 2pm though, a huge, never ending band of black cloud loomed over us and the heavens opened! Not only were we both soaked by the time it got dark, but the river began to rise and colour up again. As the river was colouring up again, a switch to a Spinnerbait with a bright curtail trailer in the last hour of light produced a Pike and one more Perch of 3lb 1oz, and my Dad landed a couple of smaller Perch and a Pike. We were hoping to fish the next day but by the morning the river had turned a chocolate colour again and was almost in the fields!

It took over a week for the river to fine down again, and for the first couple of days last week the river conditions were much better. Surprisingly though, the fishing wasn't easy. On the first of two afternoons Dad had 4 Perch, the biggest weighing 3lb 4oz, 2lb 13oz and 2lb 10oz, again on the Ripple Shads.

The next day was even harder and we caught just one Perch between us, although it did weigh 3lb 5oz and was coupled with some small but feisty Pike.

The next morning I woke up to have a look at an area of my local River Lea to find overnight rain had coloured it up once again and water was bombing through! We've had a warm winter so far but I've never known it to rain so much for such a long period! Hopefully next month will bring some drier weather...

Fishing you a Merry Fishmas!

My Mum has always said that lures look like Christmas decorations. She shouldn't have said anything as this year we decided to have a change of baubles and covered the tree with lures!

If I could sum up the fishing over the past month for me and my Dad in just one word, it would have to be 'tough' - literally everywhere we've fished. The rivers, until recently, have been very low, with little flow. They've also been so clear that in some areas along parts of my local rivers, standing from the bank, if you're wearing polaroids, you could almost see the whole way across the river! That's obviously not the case now thanks to recent rainfall, but along with angling pressure, it's made the fishing challenging.

Thankfully we've caught a few nice fish though - in a short morning session one day, along with a few others, my Dad landed two lovely stripeys, both weighing 3lb 3oz, that he caught on Texas rigged Berkley Ripple Shads.

Recently we've also caught a few immaculate looking Chub too. Catching Chub on lures is normally best associated with the summer months, but this time of year we always seem to pick up a few, normally whilst targeting Perch and Pike.

I don't mind it when the fishing is hard because it challenges and forces you to try different tactics and lures, learning more and more after every trip. It also seems to fire my adrenaline further when we haven't had a great day to experiment with ideas that could flick the switch.

I've been trying a few new soft baits recently and one that has really stood out has been the Sébile A.T Minnow. When retrieved, it has a very subtle action that doesn't create as much vibration as many other shads, especially those with large paddletails, but it swims just like a Minnow and I think this is why it has been so effective for Perch, Pike and even Chub!

Our best trips this month have been afloat on the River Thames. On one morning we were struggling to find fish - I'd caught just two small Perch and Dad hadn't even had a bite, when at around 2pm, we came across a huge shoal of baitfish by accident! Sure enough, the predators weren't far away, and we started catching almost immediately. We then started to see silverfish scatter, with Perch and Pike boiling and thrashing in to fish - it was so exciting, just like watching a David Attenborough film! The best bit was when I saw a Zander, of around 5lbs, jump clean out of the water, right next to the boat, chasing fish! It was a real eye opener and amazing to watch!

We enjoyed ourselves so much that we couldn't help making the 1 hour 10 minute drive back to where we keep our boat the following afternoon. However, because of the fog and the traffic it took us nearly 2 and a half hours to get there the next day! It was well worth putting up with the journey though, as the action was just as good as the day before and in total, over two afternoon trips, we boated 60 Perch (nothing massive, the biggest was just under 3lbs), 5 Pike and my Dad also landed a cracking Chub just under 5lbs too!

A fortnight ago I fished in the Rib Valley Flyfishers Fur and Feather match held on their Millennium Lake. It was the first time I'd flyfished since August, so I wasn't too sure how I was going to fare! A real mixture of methods worked on the day and luckily I caught my four fish limit, and finished joint 8th - as four people all had a bag weight of 7lb 12oz! It was great to catch up with some good friends, and it was a really enjoyable day.

Yesterday I flyfished with the Pitsford Pirates at Elinor. I always enjoy fishing Elinor and at this time of year, the team normally like to get together and have a BBQ. I don't think I've ever flyfished in such windy conditions in this country! Casting in to the wind, where the fish were, was a nightmare - we all ended up just using one fly, under a bung. The fishing wasn't easy but we all managed to catch a few nice Rainbows. I like what fellow Pirate Bart said to us all - 'at least when you're fishing in this weather it makes you feel alive!'

Now the rivers are all high and coloured, it's a case of fishing reservoirs and gravel pits until they start fining down - then the conditions should be perfect for targeting all species. It's hard to put in to words how much I've enjoyed 2013 - I've learned so much, really enjoyed being involved with the Team England Lure Squad, Pure Fishing, the Pitsford Pirates and the charity Get Hooked on FIshing, and best of all I've made some great friends.