Two Trips to the Pond and Springwatch Fever
A warm welcome to this weeks blog update and i have to admit to having a wee bit of trouble putting together last weeks blog update. I walked the dogs with my good friend Ian on Friday evening and full of inspiration after seeing some spectacular wildlife in the form of Pheasants, rabbits, herons, finches and even some early evening bats i departed for home and loaded laptop, could i write a word? No, not a single paragraph I sat there till midnight with a blank document in front of me and despite getting out the notepad and jotting down some notes I could not get it down on paper right.
The time was 1am and I was due to meet my uncle at 4am maybe a days fishing would wet my appetite and the blog would come easy Saturday evening. I went fishing, had a cracking laugh and a good session in fact but sitting down on Saturday evening i was still looking at the blank screen. This continued all this week until today in work, sat at my desk on my dinner a light bulb came on and said stick to what you know and be honest and get it all down on paper and the rest will come, well here's the honesty down on paper I am now praying the rest will come..
The past few weeks you will have noticed that i have not really mentioned the carp quest and to be brutally honest it is because I am waiting for June the 16th, not for the rivers, but for the waters that have a closed season to open so the idiots on the water i am currently fishing move on to bigger and better things. My time this year on a proper carp water has in all honestly has thrown up some of the most shocking experiences in my fishing life. The only way to describe some of these people i have met is childish and down right rude, basic simple manners seem to be missing and my past drop in was the nail in the coffin a simple "hi mate much doing?" being met with "F$$K Off, does it look like" was enough for me to give this place a miss till later on, i am not saying all are like this and there is good and bad in all branches but it seems this water attracts i higher proportion of these people, I have said it before on here and i stand by it, I am yet to meet an angler on the banks of the river that has been rude and unapproachable. So keep an eye out for more updates on the carp quest in the coming weeks.
The past two weeks the upcoming river season has been at the forefront of my mind and you will remember i mentioned about the financial benefits of bulk purchasing hemp seed. This week i took delivery of 20kg of hemp seed and 20kg of brown crumb and a long evening was spent splitting the 20kg of hemp seed down into session sized pint bags. All said and done it split into 66 pints of hemp seed so 33 pints each and considering the whole bag cost us 30 quid with delivery we both saved a pretty penny when you consider that the local bait shop is selling it at £1.50 a pint. The cooking of hemp is seen by many as a difficult process that involves standing over a pan for hours, in reality is is not and i will be covering how i cook mine in an upcoming update.
The past two weeks i have loved watching this years Springwatch. I must say the improvements in technology with the crispness of the images and some of the positioning of the cameras is amazing. It was great to see the legend that is Bill Oddie back as well for a cameo role in this series and hopefully we will see more of him in future years as he really did offer a unique way of presenting to this program, maybe coming back to replace the packman who i think has gone a bit too far with his Bitten obsession this year. I must also say to be slightly shocked at some of the footage shown in this years springwatch with scenes of crows taking and attacking rabbits and then the jackdaws and magpies raiding the rabbits nest in the hay stack. I personally am OK with this viewing as it is nature in its rawest form and in a way nature as i see it when i am out on the bank, my shock come from the fact the BBC shown in at 8.30pm slot on television, I bet their complaints line was bust the next day.
The series for me though has been so awe inspiring and thought provoking this year with such a wide variety of species and so far i have to say seeing the Eagle in relation to the buzzards i see week in week out just made me sit and think how big these birds must be as they dwarfed the buzzards then we had the urban foxes living under the boarding in someone's back yard and who could forget the story about the introduction of beavers to Scotland and on this one i can't wait for the report to be published in a years time to see if the Scottish government approve their reintroduction or decide they cause too much damage and remove them from their habitat, a big decision and one that could effect the introduction of this species across the UK.
On to the fishing:
Saturday 24th April -Local Pond - Uncle Returns
With both my uncle and myself still to purchase our Warrington Anglers licence and the fact we both liking to include our keepnets in our fishing where possible we decided to save some money on petrol and not visit a Northwich water but to head back to a pond I had fished and had good results for silvers on in previous weeks.
My uncle having been missing from the bank for a good month or so was dying to wet a line and i must say i was glad to have him back in the fold. I don't mind fishing alone but when you have fished for every weekend for the past 3 years with someone you do realise when their not there, banter on the way to the bank and someone to have a laugh with and compare tactics with through the day, so to have him back again was great although the plant life behind my peg may think different with the extra watering they are about to get.
There is not really much i can put up on here that hasn't been said about this pond before, it is small, weedy and holds an incredible head of silvers and some top quality Roach and Rudd. It also holds a great deal of mystery with no one really knowing the stock and species present in the pond. In the past we have caught orange tench, green tench, nice perch, bream and crucian carp but rumours of other species are rife when you bump into the odd person you see on this derelict pool.
We both set up on the same bank utilising a big gap in the weed to present maggot and corn and despite a small amount of raking before hand to move some big clumps out of the swims it did not take long for the first roach to move into our swim. I got of to a brilliant start catching a good number of roach on the drop on both corn and maggot while my uncle waited it out on the bottom for a chance at a better fish. After a hour or so i was catching the odd fish on the drop and my uncle had moved over to the pole where he could present a bait easier than on the rod.
As the morning wore on the fish seemed to spook off my area to the solitude of the weed cover and this lull in both swims also saw us both snapped by bigger fish on a number of occasions. The scenario is a hard one to work out as if you go big line big bait, which you would need to single out the better fish and also have a chance of stopping them before they reach the weed , you then cut out all the action on the silvers line so it is a tough one to work out. Removing all the weed on the pool is also not the answer as this is thick cover is the reason these roach and rudd thrive here, removing this would open this place up to cormorants in a big way.
In the summer our sessions normally run from first light till around 2pm and this session was no different. The nets where photographed and weight and i was more than made up with my 13.5lb net and some decent sized roach. My uncle also took a fantastic mixed net of fish weighing 10.5lb which also included some lovely crucian carp. All in all it was an average session on this fantastic little pond.
Saturday 31st - Second Visit to Pond
Friday night and i found myself at the side of the pond rake in hand and a pile of pond weed piled up next to me as i attempted to clear a small swim for the next mornings session. The rake was not the best but it did the job and in 30 minutes i was bringing the rake through the now cloudy water with no weed on the other end and in my eyes it was job done.
While i was doing this my mate turned up who i go walking my dog with on Friday evenings and he said there is no way any fish would be on this side of the pond after all that commotion and he laughed as i said that i reckon you would catch a fish from there within 30 minutes and we would catch the next morning.
The next morning and we both settled into our swims, me in the swim we both fished last weekend and my uncle in the newly created swim made the previous evening. The weather on the day was a lot different to the previous weekend and the bright sunshine had been replaced with a overcast cooler day. The plan for the day for me was to feed ground bait laced with the maggots left from the previous week that now contained a fair number of caster and also i popped in a few grains of corn hoping to attract in some better fish.
The roach were showing in my swim from the off and the swim was building nicely before it completely died, after a few minutes the float shot under and in one hard run i was snapped by a better fish, it was frustrating to say the least but i had tried to combat this by using my stronger white hydro elastic but it proved to still be not power full enough. My uncle was also picking up roach and the odd rudd but was also experiencing the same lulls and tussles with better fish but he was getting his in with two tench in the net one green and one golden.
As the afternoon went on we both caught fish but the action was no where near as good as the previous week. I was made up with a nice perch and my first few crucians from this pool while my uncle had also picked up the odd crucian and some lovely roach.
The final nets we were both made up with considering it is a mere pond.
final nets
till net time i wish you all tight lines
Danny
The time was 1am and I was due to meet my uncle at 4am maybe a days fishing would wet my appetite and the blog would come easy Saturday evening. I went fishing, had a cracking laugh and a good session in fact but sitting down on Saturday evening i was still looking at the blank screen. This continued all this week until today in work, sat at my desk on my dinner a light bulb came on and said stick to what you know and be honest and get it all down on paper and the rest will come, well here's the honesty down on paper I am now praying the rest will come..
The past few weeks you will have noticed that i have not really mentioned the carp quest and to be brutally honest it is because I am waiting for June the 16th, not for the rivers, but for the waters that have a closed season to open so the idiots on the water i am currently fishing move on to bigger and better things. My time this year on a proper carp water has in all honestly has thrown up some of the most shocking experiences in my fishing life. The only way to describe some of these people i have met is childish and down right rude, basic simple manners seem to be missing and my past drop in was the nail in the coffin a simple "hi mate much doing?" being met with "F$$K Off, does it look like" was enough for me to give this place a miss till later on, i am not saying all are like this and there is good and bad in all branches but it seems this water attracts i higher proportion of these people, I have said it before on here and i stand by it, I am yet to meet an angler on the banks of the river that has been rude and unapproachable. So keep an eye out for more updates on the carp quest in the coming weeks.
The past two weeks the upcoming river season has been at the forefront of my mind and you will remember i mentioned about the financial benefits of bulk purchasing hemp seed. This week i took delivery of 20kg of hemp seed and 20kg of brown crumb and a long evening was spent splitting the 20kg of hemp seed down into session sized pint bags. All said and done it split into 66 pints of hemp seed so 33 pints each and considering the whole bag cost us 30 quid with delivery we both saved a pretty penny when you consider that the local bait shop is selling it at £1.50 a pint. The cooking of hemp is seen by many as a difficult process that involves standing over a pan for hours, in reality is is not and i will be covering how i cook mine in an upcoming update.
The past two weeks i have loved watching this years Springwatch. I must say the improvements in technology with the crispness of the images and some of the positioning of the cameras is amazing. It was great to see the legend that is Bill Oddie back as well for a cameo role in this series and hopefully we will see more of him in future years as he really did offer a unique way of presenting to this program, maybe coming back to replace the packman who i think has gone a bit too far with his Bitten obsession this year. I must also say to be slightly shocked at some of the footage shown in this years springwatch with scenes of crows taking and attacking rabbits and then the jackdaws and magpies raiding the rabbits nest in the hay stack. I personally am OK with this viewing as it is nature in its rawest form and in a way nature as i see it when i am out on the bank, my shock come from the fact the BBC shown in at 8.30pm slot on television, I bet their complaints line was bust the next day.
The series for me though has been so awe inspiring and thought provoking this year with such a wide variety of species and so far i have to say seeing the Eagle in relation to the buzzards i see week in week out just made me sit and think how big these birds must be as they dwarfed the buzzards then we had the urban foxes living under the boarding in someone's back yard and who could forget the story about the introduction of beavers to Scotland and on this one i can't wait for the report to be published in a years time to see if the Scottish government approve their reintroduction or decide they cause too much damage and remove them from their habitat, a big decision and one that could effect the introduction of this species across the UK.
On to the fishing:
Saturday 24th April -Local Pond - Uncle Returns
With both my uncle and myself still to purchase our Warrington Anglers licence and the fact we both liking to include our keepnets in our fishing where possible we decided to save some money on petrol and not visit a Northwich water but to head back to a pond I had fished and had good results for silvers on in previous weeks.
My uncle having been missing from the bank for a good month or so was dying to wet a line and i must say i was glad to have him back in the fold. I don't mind fishing alone but when you have fished for every weekend for the past 3 years with someone you do realise when their not there, banter on the way to the bank and someone to have a laugh with and compare tactics with through the day, so to have him back again was great although the plant life behind my peg may think different with the extra watering they are about to get.
There is not really much i can put up on here that hasn't been said about this pond before, it is small, weedy and holds an incredible head of silvers and some top quality Roach and Rudd. It also holds a great deal of mystery with no one really knowing the stock and species present in the pond. In the past we have caught orange tench, green tench, nice perch, bream and crucian carp but rumours of other species are rife when you bump into the odd person you see on this derelict pool.
We both set up on the same bank utilising a big gap in the weed to present maggot and corn and despite a small amount of raking before hand to move some big clumps out of the swims it did not take long for the first roach to move into our swim. I got of to a brilliant start catching a good number of roach on the drop on both corn and maggot while my uncle waited it out on the bottom for a chance at a better fish. After a hour or so i was catching the odd fish on the drop and my uncle had moved over to the pole where he could present a bait easier than on the rod.
As the morning wore on the fish seemed to spook off my area to the solitude of the weed cover and this lull in both swims also saw us both snapped by bigger fish on a number of occasions. The scenario is a hard one to work out as if you go big line big bait, which you would need to single out the better fish and also have a chance of stopping them before they reach the weed , you then cut out all the action on the silvers line so it is a tough one to work out. Removing all the weed on the pool is also not the answer as this is thick cover is the reason these roach and rudd thrive here, removing this would open this place up to cormorants in a big way.
In the summer our sessions normally run from first light till around 2pm and this session was no different. The nets where photographed and weight and i was more than made up with my 13.5lb net and some decent sized roach. My uncle also took a fantastic mixed net of fish weighing 10.5lb which also included some lovely crucian carp. All in all it was an average session on this fantastic little pond.
my net:
uncles net:
Saturday 31st - Second Visit to Pond
Friday night and i found myself at the side of the pond rake in hand and a pile of pond weed piled up next to me as i attempted to clear a small swim for the next mornings session. The rake was not the best but it did the job and in 30 minutes i was bringing the rake through the now cloudy water with no weed on the other end and in my eyes it was job done.
While i was doing this my mate turned up who i go walking my dog with on Friday evenings and he said there is no way any fish would be on this side of the pond after all that commotion and he laughed as i said that i reckon you would catch a fish from there within 30 minutes and we would catch the next morning.
The next morning and we both settled into our swims, me in the swim we both fished last weekend and my uncle in the newly created swim made the previous evening. The weather on the day was a lot different to the previous weekend and the bright sunshine had been replaced with a overcast cooler day. The plan for the day for me was to feed ground bait laced with the maggots left from the previous week that now contained a fair number of caster and also i popped in a few grains of corn hoping to attract in some better fish.
The roach were showing in my swim from the off and the swim was building nicely before it completely died, after a few minutes the float shot under and in one hard run i was snapped by a better fish, it was frustrating to say the least but i had tried to combat this by using my stronger white hydro elastic but it proved to still be not power full enough. My uncle was also picking up roach and the odd rudd but was also experiencing the same lulls and tussles with better fish but he was getting his in with two tench in the net one green and one golden.
As the afternoon went on we both caught fish but the action was no where near as good as the previous week. I was made up with a nice perch and my first few crucians from this pool while my uncle had also picked up the odd crucian and some lovely roach.
The final nets we were both made up with considering it is a mere pond.
final nets
till net time i wish you all tight lines
Danny
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