Best thing about this time of year is sneaking out after work for the perching hour before dark and being home in time for tea and crumpets.
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Ribble Spearfishing
Had a cast for a last minute trout on the Ribble. Ended up spearing a minnow and catching a Chub.
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End of the Trout
Had a day on the Eden, water was low and gin clear so I struggled. Everyone else had the same idea so it was a bit busy. Had one trout on for a few seconds but that was my lot for the day.
Can’t grumble spending a day on such a beautiful river.
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Big Trout
Forgot to take the scenic pictures on this trip out to the Ribble. A little Mepps Droppen spinner accounted for this fish. Not really sure if its a Trout or a Sea Trout but it was decent, 22inch 3lb something.
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Last of the Summertime
Out for a few hours this lunchtime. Spinning, no salmon bothered, nice pork pie consumed.
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Crucial Carp
Here’s the back story… my mate needed to catch a fish to win back bragging rights from a mate who caught a 3lb bream from the Lancaster Canal.
This is serious business. There’s been an AI song written about “Bartholomew the Bream” and endless gloating on WhatsApp. My mate’s face has been rubbed in Bream slime for months. Bartholomew the bastard Bream is haunting his dreams and I feel his pain.
What’s a man to do in this situation but take his mate to a good lake, put him on the right spots and help him restore honour to his family name.
We got down to the lake 5:30am and had plenty of nibbles, pulls and line bites but no obvious signs of proper carp. After 30mins the doubts are already kicking in… has this corner of the lake got too shallow and weedy? Has it been too hot recently? have the fish wised up to my baits? Are my rigs shit?
I decided to blame the ducks. At times it was like the battle of the Atlantic out there. The duck pack is stalking, diving on the spots and giving us the sneaky side eye, waiting to pounce on the next catapult of pellets. It’s a good job I didn’t have any depth charges on me.
And just to add to the tension, we’re being eaten alive by midges and everything is getting more intense as the second freshly brewed coffee kicks in.
By now I’m fully contemplating the blank and it’s a terrifying prospect because I made statements like this…
“oh I’ll put you on the fish mate, you’ll 100% definitely catch a carp, yes mate I know exactly what I’m doing, I’m basically the legend of this secret lake, I’m on first name terms with the carp, it will be easy”
Jesus! If he doesn’t catch today it’s over for me as a fisherman. I’ve danced with the angling devil and he’s about to declare me “king of the blankers”
With all this weighing heavy on my mind and nothing caught from the prime spot (which has done all my recent bites) we decided on a move to the classic lily pad swim.
And WHAM! the rod hooped round, the clutch is screaming and there’s a fish bolting into the weeds. My mate got control of the situation and thankfully I didn’t have to go all Paul Whitehouse on his ass and bark any orders about winding. He played the fish with no drama, brought it in with a load of weed and praise the fishing gods, my man’s got his first common carp!
Just to prove it wasn’t a fluke, he sneaked another nice carp and a small tench before we packed up at midday.
My mate regained the “king of the fisherman” title from his mate, a new AI song about “Colin the Carp” is being AI’d into existence and the Cult of the Shrimp head lives on!
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Bass Blanker
Went to Piel Island with the lads at the weekend to fish for bass, drink gin, eat pork pies and camp on the beach. Apart from the lack of Bass it was a successful mission to the Morecambe Bay Riviera.
The weather probably wasn’t ideal for the fishing, crystal clear water and bright midday sun. Tides and hangovers prevented fishing in better conditions, plus we don’t really know what we’re doing when it’s comes to Bass
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Mega Pec
Another Sunday morning session on the pond. Caught 2 and lost 2 on pineapple wafters fished super light on drop off leads. Fishing in the shallows the takes are absolutely savage with the carp tearing off towards the nearest snag in a cloud of mud. Some you win, some you lose. Second fish had incredible pectoral fins, an absolute beauty.
In sadder news, this poor swan is trapped on the pond. Its mate flies off every morning and it can’t follow. Saw it do this 5 times this morning and it never gets enough power to take off.
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Pre-baiting
Sneaked down the pond this evening to sprinkle some bait in some likely looking spots. 10mm boilies, corn & pellet prepping for a dawn raid tomorrow morning.
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Failing upwards
With some rain this week and a small lift it felt right to have a go for Salmon. Cashed in half days flexi to enjoy a wild summers afternoon on the bank, all clear blues skies, torrential rain and rainbows.
Went armed with my new spinning rod and the monumental net. Fished hard from 2pm till 8pm and didn’t get a touch. Tried spinners and various flavours of toby. Saw a few fish moving again but they showed no interest in joining me on the bank this time.
That concludes my first real attempt to catch a salmon. If it’s a fish of a million casts then I am approx 400 casts closer. Onwards.