So i sort of hibernate during the winter so i haven't done much fishing. I did have a few trips before christmas. Most notable was a Pike session in November on the Tees which resulted in two double figure fish. the 1st was 10lb 15oz

The 2nd was slightly bigger at 11lb 5oz

Both caught on popped up deadbaits. I also lost another two.
Previous to that i'd taken my son to Renny and he managed to catch his first Carp, chuffed to bits he was.
In to this year and i had my first session April at The Bricky in Stockton. Fished the Waggler for Tench but ended up with one of those famous Bricky blanks! Since i've had two sessions at Carrs which have resulted in mixed bags of Carp, skimmers, Roach and my 1st ever Crucians. The biggest was this one of about 10oz

Right up to date with my most recent trip to Thorpe Underwood for a 24 hour Carp session with my son. I had 3 runs during the night. The first was a Bream of around 3lb. The 2nd was a Carp that pulled the hook and the 3rd was a big Carp that i played for 10 minutes at 4 o clock in the morning only for the hook to pull! Anyway i decided to stay up and do a bit of pole fishing which resulted in 10 Bream, 3 small Carp and a tough little Tench that fought like fury! 3lb 10oz

I'm going to try and concentrate on big fish this year. I have two shiny new Carp rods and a new 2 man bivvy so hopefully between work and family commitments i'll squeeze a few overnight sessions in! Carp are my main target but i know i won't be able to leave those Pike alone!

Big catch up

Another big catch up to do since my last post. I'll try to keep the reports brief. This time i'll start with the least recent session and work my way back to todays. I'll start with 3 sessions in 3 days (lucky me!). 1st session was at Renny Lake in North Yorkshire, Its a 3 lake complex consisting of a large lake with carp to 16lb but mainly in the 1-3lb region, a match lake with some nice Chub but mainly Roach to 2lb and the back lake with small Tench, Roach to 2lb and Carp to 10lb but mainly in the 3-6lb range. I chose the back pond and fished the Pole. Fishing mainly Maggot i ended up with 7 Carp and few small Tench and a dozen Roach for around 30lb. Also a large carp bottomed out the elastic on my Roach rig and smash my top 2 :-(.

Next Day i drove to Catterick Bridge to fish the Swale. I set up quite light to fish Maggot under a Stick Float. Ended up with just over 4lb of Dace and 1 Grayling of about 12oz that flipped out the net and into the river before i could take a pic!

Next trip was back at Renny. I did intend getting on the middle Tees for the Chub but i was hearing bad reports about cold water being pumped in further up stream so decided to give it a miss. Anyway i fished the back pond again but the this time i fished Hemp and Sweetcorn down the margin. I had a nice shoal of Carp ripping the bottom up and managed to bank 8 of them all around the 4-6lb mark but also managed to hook and lose about another 7, grrrr! Had some nice Roach around the 1lb mark as well.

Next trip and i'm back on the Swale at Catterick. This time i'm fishing Caster and Hemp under a Stick and the Caster worked wonders getting me 8lb 9oz of Dace and a single Brown Trout in around 3 hours fishing.

Now for the next 3 weeks i went from one blank to another. I decided it was time i caught my 1st Barbel but the Barbel wouldn't play ball! I had a few sessions on the Tees at Croft and one on the Tees at Sockburn but to no avail. The Tees Barbel are notoriously few and far between and hard to catch so i switched to fishing some day ticket venues on the Swale, after 3 sessions i remain Barbeless! I've picked the brains of the local Barbel anglers and gained a lot of info that i'll put to use next summer, so not a total waste of time.

Right with the Barbel put on the back burner till next year i switched back to my favourite fish, Pike. Back at my favourite spot on the Tees and the fish didn't disappoint. Fishing Deadbaits of Makeral, Herring and Sardine i had 2 double figure fish on the bank. The 1st being 11lb dead and the 2nd 11lb 6oz. The 2nd fought like a trojan and it was good to see the rod bend and line stripping from the reel after all those Barbel blanks! I also lost another fish and had 2 dropped runs.

Catch up

Done quite a bit of fishing since my last post but haven't had any success of note. I'll start with my most recent and work my way back. Well my most recent was today. Fished the Tees at Pierecebridge for two hours. Trotted Maggot under a Stick Float but the wind played havoc with my presentation. Also the water was icy cold for some reason. I managed just one small Brown Trout so i decided to drive the 10 miles to a pond i have access to through my club membership. I wished i'd just gone home as i managed just one Roach on the Maggot feeder. Also i counted 5 dead Bream in the water and on the bank, i think we may have an Otter problem.

Going back a few weeks i took my son on a trip to a local-ish Carp water, Thorpe Underwood, which is particularly noted for its large Grass Carp that are caught regularly. Unfortunately a Carp of any kind  never took our Tiger Nut hookbaits but we did have fun catching endless Skimmers on the Waggler.

Previous trip was a 3 hour session on the Tees Bream fishing. I took my son with me, i usually just set up a whip for him to silver bash but this time he asked if he could fish for the Bream. I just sat him next to me and i did all the casting but let him strike and play the fish and i gave him a hand netting them. We missed a few bites and lost a few hooked fish due to slack lines but all in all he did really well. Ended up with 1 proper Bream, 3lb 3oz, 5 decent Skimmers, 2 Roach and 4 Perch for a total of just over 8lb. . Chuffed to bits with the Bream he was, it made his arm ache!,

Previous to that was a couple of Deadbaiting trips to the Tees which resulted in 3 Pike and 1 lost one which felt pretty damn huge. Anyway of the ones i landed the biggest was about 5lb-6lb.

 I had a brief departure from my usual fishing haunts when i got the chance to fish the River Trent at Farndon. The river wasn't anything like i'd expected. I'd gone armed with Barbel rods but it soon became apparent that the Barbel fishing was a waiting game so i decided to fish a Grounbait Feeder for the resident Bream. Unfortunately i only had 12lb mainline with me and the water was Gin clear. I managed some nice stamp Roach, small Skimmers and some fat Perch for around 6-8lb in total.

Finally a long session on the Tees at Croft hunting my 1st 'proper' Barbel resulted in a single Chub of 3lb 12oz caught on ledgered Crab Pellet. I've also had several blank session. These Tees Barbel are very frustrating!!!

Ascott Ponds in the Cleveland Hills.

I fished one of my clubs stillwaters for the 1st time today. Ascott Ponds are set in the beautiful Cleveland Hills just outside the village of Faceby. Not knowing what to expect i took 2 feeder rods, one set up to fish the Method Feeder and Halibut Pellet hookbait and the other to fish Groundbait feeder with Maggot or worm hookbait. I also took my match rod set up fairly light with a size 18 hook and a 0.14 hooklink. I finally arrived around 7.00am after returning home to collect the maggots i'd forgot! Anyway the weather was horrid. Windy & rainy so my 1st priority was a peg with some shelter which i promptly found at the far end of the big pond. Firstly i tried the Method feeder. I squashed soaked pellets around it and hair rigged a bigger pellet for hookbait. After around 10 minutes to baitrunner sprang into life and after a brief fight i had a pristine 3lb-ish Carp in the net....

Feeling like i'd nailed the tactics 1st cast, i recast to the same spot but around half an hour of nothingness followed. Being an impatient fella i felt a change was needed so i set the Method rod to one side and cast a feeder loaded with groundbait and a maggot hookbait to the same spot. It produce and instant result with a Tench of around 1lb in the net....

30-40 minutes of switching between the two rods produces nothing so i decided to have a dabble in the margin swim i'd been feeding with groundbait and maggots. I'd plumbed up earlier and was surprised to find 5 foot of water right under my rod tip. Worm was the hookbait as i'd heard the pond held some nice Perch up to the 2lb mark. The Worm had barely hit the bottom when the float slid away. After a fierce fight a Tench of around 10oz was mine.....

A few more Tench around the half pound mark followed along with some small Perch, then my 1st Skimmer appeared, followed by 2 more small Tench and another 3 Skimmers, the 4th of around 10oz being the biggest.....

Then the Skimmers disappeared and it was 6-10oz Tench and small Perch with the odd half pounder thrown in for the next 3-4 hours. I had the odd dabble on the feeder line to no avail but after a run of small Tench on the Waggler i struck into a much weightier fish. It was a Bream and came to the net without too much fuss. Around the 2lb mark.....

A final Tench followed to round off a most enjoyable session that produced around 20lb of fish.

3 weeks of fishing!

Nearly a month since my last post so i'll cover a few trips in one go. After the opening day debacle i was determined to land a few Pike from the stretch where i'd lost six in a few hours. So i returned for an evening Spinning session. 1st cast and i had a fish on! and this one i managed to land!! Only a Jack of 4lb 6oz but it was a relief to finally land one...

Shortly after i hooked into another Jack of 5lb 14oz...

 After another hour or so i landed my final fish of the session. Another Jack of around 3-4lb...

All fish were caught on a long bright yellow shallow diving Crankbait.
After that i had another blank session. This time on the Swale, a river i've never fished before. Fishing for the legendary monstrous Chub but to no avail. I fished mainly Meat and Bread but its seems trotting maggots or casters is probably my best bet for the future.
Next session of note was back at Franks Farm on the Tees. This time i took a Deadbait rod as well as a Spinning rod. I started off catching a few small Perch on Spinners, then i slipped a Makeral into the margins. Within about 20 minutes a Pike picked it up and sped down river with it. After a Brief fight i slipped the net under a seasons bests of 9lb 6oz. A very long fish which i'm sure will be around 3-4lb heavier come January February time....

That same day on the evening i popped down to a stretch on the Leven i've never fished before. I snaffled 4 Trout to 12oz on worm in an hour. I kept one for my Dad :-)

So after a blank on The Tees at Croft i was determined to put it right and ventured back there for a full days session. I found a lovely looking glide and the plan was to trot maggots under a Stick Float. But first i had a quick cast of a piece of bread to the end of the swim to check for Chub. Immediately a small Chub of 1lb 4oz took the bait but it seems his bigger brothers and sisters weren't with him after a few biteless casts. So i switched to the float. I was feeding Hemp and Maggots. It took around an hour to land my first fish. A beautiful Grayling of 14oz, a new PB for me!

After another biteless few hours i tried bread on the feeder again. After a clonking bite and a fierce fight a 1lb Eel was in the net, another PB. No photo this time i just slipped him back. After another hour or so i decided to pack up for home. On the walk back i noticed a fine looking swim and couldn't resist a few casts. My Meat hookbait was only in the water for 10 seconds when a Chub of 2lb 13oz snaffled it

 Next a Chub of 3lb 2oz, followed by another of 3lb 4oz...

That was nearly 10lb of Chub in about 30mins! Time to go home while i'm on top!

Next trip was another new venue for me. The River Ure at Kilgram Bridge near Bedale. Again i went with mainly Meat as bait. I also took some worms, Maggots and a bit of Groundbait. After a few fishless hours on Meat i switch to a groundbait feeder with Maggot hookbait. I immediately got amongst some small Brown Trout and Gudgeon. Then i flicked the baitrunner on my reel on whilst i sorted some bait out. The reel suddenly screamed off and the lump on the other end headed downstream. Praying my fine wire size 18 hook would hold i eventually slipped the net under a PB Chub of exactly 4lb..

So thats just about up to date. Apart from a quick session this morning spinning for Perch. I was using a small Chrome Spinner. I had a few Perch the biggest being around 8oz then as i retrieved to Lure the line suddenly went solid. I thought it was the bottom but then it started to move off and take line with ease. The fish casually swam right past me and towards an over hanging tree. With a massive bend in my rod i put my hand on the reel to slow down the fishes escape to the over hanging tree. At that point the hook pulled and i was left wondering what might have been. I'm convinced it was a twenty. I've never hooked a fish thats felt that big before. Gutted. Oh well thats fishing!

The not so Glorius 16th

So yesterday was the start of the river season, yipee! Anyway i just had to get out on the river, particularly as i've just join a new angling club with some prime river stretches. As i only had a few hours to fish i decided to do a bit of Spinning for Pike rather than the Bream fishing, which can be excellent but can also require a lot of patience as the Bream on The River Tees are notoriously nomadic and it can take 2-3 hours for the 1st bite to come. Anyway the river was fairly clear (which the Bream hate) so spinning was a no brainer really. Armed with my 8' Spinning Rod and my favourite battle scared shallow diving lure, i began fshing. Its a stretch of river i've never fished before, the banks are quite steep and there's lots of over hanging trees, bushes ect. Good hiding places for the Pike but it makes fishing difficult.

An hour in and i hooked my 1st fish, a Jack of around 2lb which promptly jumped out the water and spat my Lure back at me! Next cast and another fish. This was a better fish. The rod looped over and the fish ran towards the middle of the river, then it dropped the Lure, damn! A few more casts in that spot proved fruitless so i moved along the river. Again, very close in, another Jack of around 3lb took my Lure and was on, but off again just as quickly. A bit further along the river i hooked into another Jack Pike. This one headed straight towards an over hanging bush. Attempting to move along the river and free the line, i stepped on what i thought was solid ground, how wrong could i be, it was a hole covered by long grass and through it i went, straight into the river! Not only was i up to my waist in water, i'd also wiped the side off my face along the nettle infested river bank! I clambered out with full wellies, a soaking wet back pack and a face that felt like it was on fire! Still hoping the fish was on i wound my now soaked Reel to retrieve a fishless Lure.

Definitely time to go home. The pain off the Nettle stings was unbearable. It felt like a blow torch was being held to the side of my head! It took about 4 hours and a cupboard full of Pain Killers, Anti-septic Cream and Anti-histamines before the pain settled down to a bearable level.

Not one to be deterred i went down to the same spot that same night. This time i was armed with Barbed hooks (i'd recently crushed the barbs on my Trebles down but felt the lost fish on the morning was almost entirely down to a lack of barbs). This time i hooked another two Pike, and, you guessed it, lost them both! This time i knew exactly why i'd lost them. The use of an 8' rod on steep banks meant i had little control over the fish and it was almost impossible to stop the fish heading for the undercut river bank. Next time i'll used my 11' 6" Avon Rod which should give me much more control. Lesson learnt and this time i didn't fall in!


I also took my camera down on the evening and took a few snaps. The image at the top is were i lost 3 of the fish.

PB equaling Roach @ The Bricky

So lastnight i squeezed in a few hours at The Old Brick Pond in Hartburn. The 'Bricky' has a lot of problems with litter and unsavories hanging about. There's rumours of stolen cars being at the bottom of its deep depths and there's always empty beer cans floating in it. A local man has recently agreed with the council to take over the fishing rights (its currently free) and has promised to clean the place up, add new stock and start charging £40 a year. But as yet, a year after he expressed an interest, not much has been done. Anyway the fishing itself is pretty hard due low stock density, the prescience of  numerous Jack Pike and a larder of natural food. The thing that brings people back is the size of the fish. Carp to 30lb, Tench to 7lb (fisher mans tales tell of 9lb Tench being caught!), Crucian Carp to around 3lb (although they rarely get caught), roach to 2lb+ and Pike to 16lb. Most people fish Waggler or Pole for the Tench but you also get the Carpers with their Bivvies and Rod Pods down there.

Last night i fished, as usual, Waggler for the Tench with 6lb line straight through to a size 16 forged hook. These Tench can really go so you have to stay on the heavy side or they'll snap you or take you into the lilies. I usually fish Red Maggot but as i didn't have any i used Sweetcorn which can score well at this time of year. The Corn already scattered on the tops of the lilies told me that the peg had probably been hammered during the day so no feed would go in initially. 10 minutes in and the float gently slipped away resulting in a 8oz Roach. Float back in and this time i flicked a few grains of corn out with it. 20 minutes later and this time a more positive bite. I struck what i thought was a small Tench but the flash of the red eye told me it was a big Roach. 1lb 5oz which is exactly the same as my PB Roach from a few years back. Shortly after i hit into a small male Tench of 2lb 13oz which put up a short but spirited fight before succumbing to my Browning match rod. Then the swim went dead for an hour or so before i landed my final fish, a pristine 1lb Roach. Not many fish by most standards but by this venue's its a bonanza! Particularly pleased with the Roach as its commonly thought the Pike take them all.