A new angler!

I have been promising my 6 year old grandson Riki that I would take him fishing for ages. The summer holidays, although rather long, didn't exactly grace us with suitable weather to take out a little boy on his first trip. I wanted the day to be a memorable one, a day where we could sit and chat, have a picnic and ultimately catch a fish.

Yesterday was the last day of the school holidays, the sun was shining and I had no work on. Perfect!

I thought that the canal was probably my best chance of a fish in a short space of time. I don't think Riki is ready for long days of inactivity yet, waiting for a bite that might never come.

I bought a half pint of maggots, grabbed a float rod and took Riki to a rather lovely spot on the Gloucester - Sharpness canal.

He was very excited, watching me set up the rod and asking a million questions. I opened the maggot box and he recoiled with a shout of "Yuk", "I'm not touching them". I expalined that these red moggots are special fishing maggots and they are quite safe to touch. It wasn't long before he was holding them in his hand and wanting to put them on the hook. I put him in charge of the catapult and he was happy launching maggots into space in a vain attempt at scattering them around the float.
Practice Riki, you will get there in the end!

We hadn't had a bite after half an hour (a very long time when you are 6) no matter how hard we stared at the float and willed it to go under. I told Riki that I knew the best thing to do in these situations and I got out the sandwiches! Sure enough, after a couple of mouthfulls, the float disappeared and we struck into Riki's first fish. A lovely little perch!

I think the smile says it all. We caught some more perch and bream before heading off home, two happy anglers and I listened as he told his mum his first fisherman's tale.
How big was that fish Riki?

Vintage floats and swing tip

I have just bought a job lot of vintage floats and an old swing tip. People who know me will know that I love swing tip fishing and have a growing collection. I am looking forward to receiving this one and will match it up to one of my cane rods. Just need to find a silver coloured end ring with screw adaptor.

Gobio Gobio

All week I have been working and looking at the sunshine beckoning through the office windows. Dreams of a bobbing float and a lazy weekend at the local canal gudgeon fishing distracted me from my work. Finally, Friday came and I knocked off at 3pm and dashed off to the local tackle shop for some red maggots, hemp and groundbait.
Saturday morning bright and early, sandwiches were made and flask filled and I looked out of the window. Where had the sun gone??? I made my way to the canal and met up with a good friend who was already set up and huddled in his chair complete with hat, scarf and winter coat. A northerly wind was blowing through chilling everything in it's path. To cut a long story short, we sat in the cold and fished for 6 hours solid trying every technique in our armoury, but nothing not a single bite. In desperation, I cried out to the angling gods, Gobio Gobio, wherefore art thou Gobio!

Last day of the season

Well, things didn't quite go to plan and my friend and I ended up on a lovely stretch of the lower Severn at Severn Stoke which is between Tewkesbury and Worcester. We had originally intended to go to Bishopswood to fish the Wye but my friend had gone there the day before and said that it wasn't fishing very well.
We arrived at Severn Stoke at about 09:30, the weather was good if not a little cold. Perfect conditions we thought as we walked the bank. The river was moving along very slowly and the sun was starting to burn through the cloud. There were three other anglers already set up half way along the stretch who were fishing for pike. They hadn't had any success so far but it was still early. We walked further along the bank watching for signs of fish when a huge grey heron swoop down from the trees opposite and took out what looked like a large chub. We hoped for similar success! A little further on we came across another angler, just as he was netting a beautiful 8lb barbel. He had already caught two bream at just over 9lb each and a small trout which took his maggots. We were very excited after witnessing his catches and we scurried back to the car to get our kit. We plumped for two adjacent swims not far from the car park and set the rods up. The swims are very comfortable and anglers have to sit on huge boulders that have been placed along the stretch to prevent bank erosion. I decided to go for the barbel and used some halibut pellets banded to a size 10 hook. My friend opted for the maggot feeder approach. After a couple of hours, I was finding it hard to concentrate on the quiver tip as the sun was so low in the sky. I didn't want to nod off only to have my rod pulled in by a barbel.
The sun moved around slowly and I adjusted my rod so that the tip was easier to see. I changed over to red maggots for the last few hours and although we didn't get any barbel, we caught some lovely chub, trout and the biggest dace I have ever seen. Role on June 16th, I am itching to get back out!

Fly fishing for carp

I have tried this technique and found it great fun. I bought some chum mixer flies to try. You can get them off eBay; very cheap too! Go on, give it a try.











You can also use real fluff for carp, have a look at this video from the states.

http://www.simmsfishing.com/site/gallery/gallery_display.html?gallery_id=00003&media_id=00179

Last week of the season

Well, it's that time of the year again folks. Just a few more days left to enjoy some of our beautiful rivers and streams.
I have decided to take Wednesday off and spend some time with a good friend fishing the Wye at Bishopswood. I hope that we can winkle out some end of season barbel. I hope that I will have some news and photos to share if all goes to plan.

Lid on the lake

Went to one of my club waters yesterday as the sun was shining and I had a few hours to myself for a change. Unfortunately mother nature had other plans and put a lid of ice on the lake to scupper my chances. Oh well, it is a lovely venue and I really enjoyed the peace and tranquillity. I stayed for an hour or so just walking around, picking up litter and chatting to a friendly robin. A couple of other hopeful anglers arrived and we took in the view together and vowed to return on a warmer day.