River Gade Cassiobury Park

 This little river seems to get smaller and smaller each year but still holds so many memories, with kids screaming in the park and dogs barking everywhere It seems crazy that some places here can feel away from it all in summer, overgrown and narrow and requiring a bit of wading through both water and undergrowth it is classic small stream fishing.

I started in a spot where it was hard enough bringing in the few dace and roach I hooked to kick things off so imagine the craziness of having a decent fish on. I was soon to find out as a nice chub was soon bending the rod as much as the overhanging trees would allow, with submerged branches to the left and right plus trees either side and above I played it with the rod almost pointing at the fish, waded back upstream to my poorly placed net and slipped it under a beautiful chub that somehow didn't snag me, any chub over 2lb is a monster in such confines. It was a perfect looking chub and the perfect start but I was very lucky there.

I moved downstream with a spring in my step as any good chub is a victory here now. In the next spot my peace and quiet was aided by the flooded meadow fresh with muddy waterlogged paths from recent rains, this meant a few walkers were thwarted from encroaching into my little oasis of calm, where I caught dace after dace, at times under the poncho again as the rains fell to quieten the noise from the main bit of park.

After having lunch here I braved the park which had loads of teenagers in high vis bibs being shouted at by their teacher to get under a tree as it was raining, I walked by in a t-shirt as it was hardly raining much right then, the world has changed I thought.

I always like a dabble in the weirs although I got some right weird looks fishing by this sign, it's a big no fishing sign but the small print is for the close season and it's made by the Angling Trust, I also saw one on the Avon, a good idea but maybe best if they take them down when the season starts to avoid confusion especially if joe public are too far away to read the small print.

I had visions of someone having a go at me for fishing even though I was perfectly legal so I made do with a few fish before moving on once more, weirpool fish always have great colours and this small chub was no exception.

On once more to another favourite glide of mine which looked devoid of fish until I threw some maggots in, seemingly out of nowhere came quite a few chub, snaffled them up so I jumped in upstream and waded down. I didn't catch any chub instead it was all roach and dace, I did wonder where those chub went and marvelled at their disappearing act, I was actually pleased not to catch any but to know they were there and were too wise as the sun lit up everything. It made the river look like the chalk stream it actually is, there wasn't many boats going down the canal today to colour things up that's for sure.

Finishing after a few hours with over 50 fish not counting those bleak and of course minnows, 36 dace, 6 roach, 6 chub, 4 gudgeon and a lone perch made for a decent bit of small stream fishing.

A Trip up the Avon & Severn (Fishing Therapy)

 We get away finally, for three days on the farm, it had been a hard year now any fishing would do. En route to our acommodation we stopped off at the Warks Avon and I decided to fish the wides by the car park. Feeling a bit achy and under the weather it was once again simple fishing, mostly just wetting a line, having a picnic for a few hours before booking in, that sort of thing.

Expecting it to be windy I set up a waggler and fished on the drop hoping not to be plagued by bleak and whilst a few showed it wasn't too bad, Instead it was mostly perch from the off with the odd netter plus some half decent roach. The wind didn't turn up either as we were sheltered by the hill and a cloudy but dry day was welcome compared to the heatwave here the previous year. Bubbles appeared every now and then and I finally spotted the culprit when donning the polaroids during a sunny spell as a nice tench dashed through the weeds. My glasses also revealed the amount of weed on the bottom and it was no wonder I couldn't get to a clear spot to entice any tincas, it was nice to see them though. I had three hours fishing for 25 fish (mostly perch), having coffee and a nice packed lunch with the wife before we headed off to our abode for the evening.

Day 2

A short journey to the Severn on the first full day saw more windy weather therefore it had to be the right bank so I chose Coomby's Farm at Highley, here I set up in the shallows for a few dace and one small chub around a pound. Despite feeling a bit wobbly on my feet the need to explore made me move down to just below the Borle Brook to a spot where I have had several 2 pound roach and many barbel in the past. Today saw yet more dace, in fact I couldn't even get a roach or perch which meant that sole chub was the only fish that wasn't a dace or bleak.

I didn't mind too much, the scenery was stunning as ever but there were no steam trains* and no cheeky sheep but it was pretty damn good to be here. besides I'm till waiting for this huge tree to end up in the river

It was nice to get down the Severn again following a great trip last winter although I feel I didn't fish it that well and could have chose more oxygenated water, also I should have fished eves or mornings like everyone says but I just wanted to fish, and that was it, fish I did and the dace obliged, it was a joy to run a float through so fast getting around 40 silver darts, some nice ones too. The weed was absent once again and there was algae on the gravels, this however was not a good sign.

Day 3

This was one of those days, I was low on maggots but was kindly given some left over freebies by our b&b host who is also an angler and generous to boot, trouble was these maggots had seen better days and were a congealed sweaty mess by the time I loaded the car. Not to worry I thought as I'll pop into a local tackle shop on the way to get fresh bait. I get there after taking a wrong turn only to find it only opens on Saturdays. Ok plan C was to go to the Morrisons we passed earlier, get some maize flour and do a recovery job on those sweaty reds. You have got to love the countryside as this Morrisons was tiny and it's world food isle solely consisted of pasta and rice, I decided to finally go to the river and make do with what I have got.

We finally get to Eckington Bridge on the Avon after what seemed an age, this was much lower down than I had previously fished on the river so I hoped there could be a zander, good chub or perch but knew anything but bleak would be a good session. I loaded my bib with my old but relatively clean maggots and put the gloopy freebies on my unhooking mat, the big dollop of maggots stuck together but the gentle slope meant they would trickle down into the spare bait tub and meet a bit of turmeric powder, this at least would make them useable. My missus joked that she will never cook with mince again and I commented about how funny it would be if an out of control dog came bounding in and tried to scoff the lot, they stunk the place out for sure and nothing came near us.

The fish even stayed away apart from those pesky bleak, they had to turn up didn't they? I then finally had a small bream, the excitement short lived as it soon turned into a much larger pike much to my disdain but to the amusement of the missus, cue action shot of a bending rod. 

The pike let go, then grabbed again before letting go once more, the result was a dead bream and a dead swim, everything was going wrong today.

The next spot upstream saw yet more bleak before I settled on a final spot, I didn't have enough bait to fish through bleak having only salvaged a few of the sticky ones so I was relieved to be trotting somewhere where I wasn't getting any bites at all if that makes sense. It was mighty deep mind, a good twelve feet close in under the rod tip, trotting any further out would have needed a slider. A couple of small perch here seemed like a minor victory.

A few better perch turned up along with some nice roach, for a while it was going great but the bleak soon showed, fishing right in the margins against the rushes negated this a little, dropping my stick float in vertically so the bait fell to the bottom quickly, I also figured the fish would be close in due to all the paddleboarders going by, even a wild swimmer came up the river despite the no swimming signs by the car park, she looked at me then turned around, a heavy shower or two then quietened things down on the recreational boating front.

Holding the float back just as the bait hit bottom below the rod tip worked a treat in the deep water, I ended up with 37 fish (not counting bleak of course) mostly an even split of roach and perch with a couple of dace and a pretty good perch towards the end.

Off to Tewkesbury we went for a glass of Merlot and a meal, the fishing wasn't great but was still enjoyable, the scenery was green and lush and the mini break was much needed, I felt recharged by this fishing therapy and would have fished somewhere on the way home were it not for wall to wall heavy rain. We got lucky with the weather on the days we were down there so didn't mind this as we headed back home, I started the first few trips feeling a bit weak and achy like I had caught something from all those hospital trips but finished totally recharged, fishing therapy worked.

* So my missus got chatting to a lady who said the Severn Valley Railway were having trouble getting coal from somewhere that ends in 'Stan' the end result being the steam trains weren't running except at weekends, a shame I say, hearing that beast roar won't kill the planet nor will it do any harm long term.

 

Finally Fishing a River Again

 I had missed the start of the river season by at least a month, visiting Dad in hospital had taken it's toll and I just needed the wet a line and wander down a river, any river. Feeling out of shape both physically and mentally I wanted to find peace and quiet and be comfortable, so I chose the upper Ouzel with maggots that had been in the fridge for a few weeks, finally I got to use them.

Now a river couldn't get more 'upper' than this as the little river Ouzel starts barely a few hundred yards upstream in a spring in the foothills below Whipsnade Zoo, it then fords a road and trickles away very slow and full of weed. It's narrow enough that the local wallaby escapees from the zoo could hop it no problem and is usually the pace of a sloth, a sloth awarded slowest at the sloth olympics, the most coveted of all sloth prizes. Therefore I knew after clocking a few fish in some holes that pinging out a maggot freelining would be the best bet, hopefully for a few fish and a bit of fun for a while. It was old school fishing and I couldn't wait to stretch my legs on a sunny day.

I freelined a size 18 with a no8 to sink the bait on 3lb line, it was that simple, the rest was stalking, crouching and watching fish movement and their interaction with my feed. The trout pictured is one of two rainbows I spotted, the first having given me a right old fight before shedding the hook whilst I was after perch. Before that I had some rudd down the bottom of the small stretch and some little chub up the other end, wandering up and down like a kid, my bait wafting slowly through the depths each time. In between I pursued the perch which were surprisingly cagey, managing a few which really punched for their size and showed their colours. 

With nothing fixed on the line everything is so crisp and direct and the fish feel much larger than they really are, another fun aspect is that you can try to select which fish you catch and among the perch was what I thought was a lone roach, which I finally tempted as it dashed around between the stripeys. A hybrid no doubt and I think it's roach/chub judging by the size of the mouth.

I bypassed a clearing in the weeds each time that had four jack pike sitting there like a mini flotilla of warships, even though they were small it was quite an impressive sight, this could also explain the absence of roach in the river in the vicinity both upstream and below.

Finally I had an encounter with the other rainbow trout, the larger one, a long lean looking fish, I just couldn't resist having a go at this fish. Funny thing is it totally rejected my turmeric/curry flavoured maggots earlier having taken the first one then rejecting all that followed, it was as if it was turning it's nose up at a flavouring I had concocted over years of fishing, a blend of spices so fine and so tuned yet this trout was like a Frenchman who had not got a vintage wine but was offered prosecco from Tesco's. How weird I thought, a trout with discerning taste? 

You learn something new every day when fishing but I wasn't expecting to be schooled by a trout on maggots. I had to find out if taste matters to...well trout, so I ditched my spicy mix, cleaned the bait apron and put fresh maggots in, when I say fresh they were anything but so I gave them a spray of liquid Scopex, a recent addition to the flavour armoury. The result was amazing as the turmeric adverse trout was mopping up the new Scopex ones without a care. Different species like different flavours but so do individual fish it would seem.

It wasn't long before the surface erupted with rainbow colours. I tried valiantly to keep it in the small clear area but that wasn't going to happen with my gear, luckily the fish went above the dense weeds and not through them when on it's runs, had it been a tench or chub it would have been a different story. It was all splashing and chaos but all I could think was how good it felt to get a real bend in the rod, for the first time in ages, It was not my quarry when leaving the house to go fishing today but it was so welcome. Rainbow trout are such a pretty fish but ugly at the same time, they would do well in poorly lit discos I concluded.

I slipped my femme fatale back guestimating somewhere between 2-3lb, I had the whole river to myself as not many choose to fish it as they understandably prefer the tench and trout pools and whilst I only caught a dozen fish it was a lot of fun for a couple of hours. I finished off on the adjacent pond and only caught one perch before the first heavy shower made me hunker down even though the sun was out. More dark purple clouds were about to block the sun big time forcing me to pack up before getting drenched but as soon as I had, the sun was back out. 

With more heavy showers looming I had no regrets on packing up but the only rainbows I saw today were from the river.

A Tench Amongst The Weeds

 After the reality check of the last two weekends I just wanted to keep things simple, get a few silvers under the rod tip on maggot. I arrived back at the tench pond happy to catch anything this time although a 'bar of soap' tench will do or anything that would wet the landing net. People say it's suicidal fishing maggot here but I wanted a few bites and a few fish regardless of size.

I set up in the most open spot I could find given I was going to fish lighter than last time, far away from the snaggy lillies to give myself a fighting chance should I hook anything willing to test the 3lb bottom I was to use today, going back to basics rather than the heavy stuff. It didn't take long to rack up a good tally of rudd, roach, perch and bream, for some reason (probably cormorants) none of these species grow to any size here but it was fun catching them to 6oz

More impressive was the fact that I actually got through them, well kind of, I got the bait on the deck and picked up fish mostly on the bottom with the odd midwater intercept, it was no longer the pole float dashing away and boils on the surface that I started with. It still was a fish a chuck though but I didn't that mind one bit.

I was getting close to packing up and in the process of drying out my gear that was on the wet grass all morning when a few bubbles turned up, this was the second time this happened so this time I shallowed up a touch and fished closer in dropping the pole float amongst them. Whilst doing this a chap turned up and stood next to me, the first person I had seen all day, the bubbles stopped.

But then....

The float shot under and tore across the pond, the rod bent well. Then I swear the chap asked if it was a roach, maybe I was hearing things but I said "Tench" as It was that unmistakable fight as it edged further and further across the pond. The chap then asked if there was any weed under the water, he was about to find out. I knew it was growing rapidly in this weather and I could feel it's weight as the tench crept further into it. Then it stopped, eventually, like one of those tractor pull events you see in the U.S. although there wasn't much stopping power in my 3lb line, but combined with the weed there was enough. Everything went dead weight, I feared the fish was off given there wasn't the token tail swish or head shake. I ended up dragging a massive clump of weed but there it was like a bar of gold rather than a bar of soap behind it all, lit up in the sun. I knew one kick and it would be goodbye and farewell but everything came ever so slowly to the net. The chap then said it was a carp before saying it wasn't in the net when I went for the scoop, I backed my judgement fully and was rewarded with a paddle tail just visible in the net as I lifted the heavy weight of weed and fish at the spreader.

I joked I'll take 10lb for the fish if I include the weed and remarked that it was like unwrapping a present as I pulled weed out in clumps eager to see the fish. Then a beautiful tench revealed itself in the mottled sun under the trees, a glorious sight if ever there is one. The fish here always seem to be lookers and this was no exception. It was a present all right, a mix of dark green and gold, just perfect.

Here's the weed, the poor person who fishes here next is going to think I've raked the swim.

I packed up not long after and looked at my tally of 17 roach, 14 rudd, 32 perch, 15 bream and 1 tench, a really good 4 hour session with loads of fish with one good one at the end. It beat going all in for big fish and failing although I do know I was fortunate, but that makes it more special. Soon the weed will be far too dense for this approach but for today it was ok and this trip was just what I needed.

Poor Fishing But Perfect Perspective

 Perspective is a funny thing, it's almost something you can't obtain unless it is thrust upon you, to have it you must suffer both highs and lows, to see things deeper and to put yourself in another's shoes, be it someone else or the person you once were in the place you once was. I am of course talking fishing related perspective and there's nothing like this pastime to ask questions of you on a regular basis.

The first of two trips to report was on the bank holiday, this saw a long awaited trip down the docks for a bit of sea dangling. Ok I knew the start of May was probably a bit too early but I hoped to winkle out a small bass or blenny. A long road trip for a tiny sea species is less mad than it sounds given I hadn't been down the coast to wet a line since before Covid, the missus was up for it so that road trip beckoned.

The docks looked still and lifeless when I arrived and no one else was fishing on what was a cloudy day forecast to brighten up later. I fed some mashed bread and the surface erupted as many tiny fish hammered the white stuff and with that moment the docks came to life. I even jubilantly stated that I won't blank today which as we all know is probably the most stupid thing any angler can say, some people never learn.

I was regretting my words two hours into fishing without a fish but with many a bite, these fish were too small to hook as they looked around the size of minnows with the odd slightly larger fish in there. Usually even the smallest bass will wolf down a bit of bread here on a size 12 (a small hook by sea standards) but these fish were dragging the bread around under the surface and just sucking at it. Even changing to a size 18 to get a sand smelt didn't work so I'll never know what these tiddlers were. 

I then watched a shoal of mullet sulking around just below the surface, these fish seem pretty impossible to catch here when they first enter the docks, from what I've both seen and heard but it's nice to see them turn up.

Then the first other angler of the day arrived and we had a good chat and a laugh with us both having the same mentality of any fish will do. The guy had such enthusiasm having taken up fishing during Covid and had only fished these docks with his carp rod set up, which to be fair was pretty decent and whoever had had given him advice had done a decent job. I then pointed him in the direction of a good spot where they catch on cage feeder as he was also fishing bread. The folly of me giving someone advice regarding sea fishing was negated when I saw him bend into a small bass, it was however the only fish I saw anyone catch that day.

Boats came and went as did other anglers all catching nothing like me, the newbie angler packed up and I informed him he was the only one to catch which he put down as a fluke of the bass taking his bread first cast but there you go, it happens and you have to make the most of it, he did and was over the moon and I couldn't blame him one bit. His enthusiasm was the highlight of the day as was me and the wife stopping off at a nice pub before the drive home, the sun had finally come out and fresh sea air was in the lungs, the fish were missing for me but that's sea fishing for you.

The next weekend I'm off down the tench pond with the goal to sit there and catch maybe one tench and rest the arm a bit, it had been a chilly night but It seems everyone is catching them now, I was therefore surprised to see the pond devoid of anglers although the cold night and the bright sunshine may have made the wise stay home, the fish certainly stayed away again and to cut a short story even shorter I caught nothing on a variety of baits in a couple of spots.

I then dragged the wife round the corner to the bream pond featured in the last blog entry, I knew here my bread attack would get plenty of bites - Wrong again!  This time the float wasn't getting zipped away, there were no bream bubbles and even the carp in the upper layers were ever so cagey with half hearted, infrequent takes of bread from the surface. The difference a few weeks can make this time of year.

There was a lot of pressure on the little pond to be fair, two had packed up already and another two were giving the whole area a running commentary of what carp were where. Then others stopped near why I was fishing as if to point them out by counting them. This must be what I look and sound like when I'm going "Ooh there's some mullet" down the coast, although you would think seeing carp in a pool stocked with carp wouldn't be such an unusual event.

By now I am trying to catch one of these carp off the top just to catch something. I had gone full circle in going for catch the fish I am often trying to avoid, to make matters worse one of the noisy fellas just caught a nice bream on his carp set up. I was also fishing too heavy for my liking using 6lb line as I started on the snaggy tench pond, the difference between floater fishing with 6lb and 4lb line is chalk and cheese both in presentation and casting distance, It was however gloriously sunny and I by now was too lazy to change.

Another couple of anglers then turned up, one of whom had pretty severe disabilities which put into perspective my painful arm which of course I haven't mentioned in every blog post since February. I then said to the missus I'd rather he caught a fish than me if one of us were to blank, much like with the enthusiastic lad down the coast last time. Seeing others catch can be as fulfilling as catching yourself although I'll never know if they caught or not as they disappeared around the corner choosing a spot opposite the noisy pair, even the bird life stayed well away.

Finally I slid the net under a 5lb common then an even smaller mirror before packing up, both really tatty fish which left me wondering why people target then so much, but at the same time I was grateful that they were there for me to catch today. It was hard to get perspective with my own contradiction, especially with a two carp day being deemed poor given I had blanked previously, I should have been over the moon to get two off the top last knockings but even that catch was taken for granted, maybe another blank would have served me better as I packed up rather than try for a third. 

I know the next trip will be with a small hook and a pint of reds fishing in the margins just see what mix of the unknown comes along, this of course will negate any pain in my arm, and will see me catch loads. Of course neither could well happen, I'll likely be plagued by tiny roach, be popping painkillers by midday and be opposite the noisy brigade again. Hopefully however I'll draw from the last few trips and get a bit more perspective to make the day more positive, who knows? I sure don't.

Do I Need Carp When The Bream Are Like That?

 The tench pond looked cold and foreboding with just one angler there who was wisely tucked away in the only sheltered corner. It's funny how your preconceived plans of where you were going to fish go out the window on inspection of a water. A northerly wind blowing through the woods into my face and the surface swirling around were enough for a change of plan, the sun dipping in made going back to the previously sunlit corner of the other pond I passed a no brainer.

I had heard of a 'big bream' coming out of this tiny pond recently and it's amazing how these little snippets of information log in the memory banks permanently, how big? I didn't hear, but any nice bream would do me, failing that a morning in the sun out of the wind and a few other fish would do nicely.

My corner of the this pond was sheltered and sunny for the most part early on, a quick talk to the only chap opposite revealed his one carp early doors, he was fishing a float that looked like a large cube of plastic, reminding me of a plastic container my dad used to use to put soap in, I didn't judge him as I must look strange trying out some of my ideas at times. I set up and quickly plumbed the depth to reveal five feet under the rod tip, there was no need to fish far out with the water so well up and besides I was going to try fishing left handed again.

Fishing single maggot under a pole float right under the rod tip saw bites instantly before I awkwardly unhooked a perch that was swung in with not enough line like a newbie, rather than bore you with more stories of my bad good arm I'll cut to the chase of switching back to my right hand and fishing with it as normal dosed up with painkillers. I'm glad I did as the next bite went solid and slow, it was no carp but felt good, it sure beat staying at home.

Now bream are one of those fish much like large roach and perch that look huge in the water, how many times have you had a bream turn on the surface only to be greeted with a fish that would barely top 3lb ringing wet? This fish looked massive as I squinted through the sun as it spun on top, kicking up spray that glistened like diamonds. With my light(ish) compromise set up I didn't want it flapping all the way to the net, so I let it have a little line and unlike the standard size bream it took it and took it well, a slow solid fight on light enough line left me wondering why some people don't like bream, I liked this one, very plump, very fit and good to look at in the sun weighing in at 5lb 11oz

I was off to a flyer but my feeding bought the rudd and roach in numbers that made my float settling a thing of the past, even changing to a size 12 hook with a bunch of maggots saw the float dashing off before I could get my bait to bream territory, by now every hookbait was in rudd territory.

I changed to bread having bought a loaf of Sainsbury's cheapest (twice the price of last year) and introduced a few bits of bread some of which were gulped by a carp in the margins, this gave me a back up if the rudd and roach were also a problem on the bread, although I couldn't resist winkling out that fish off the top, a ghost koi of around 4lb, a sad looking parrot nosed fish that had a tiny hole for a mouth.

Now that my carp distraction had gone I concentrated on the float line, it also served a purpose of removing one of the feeding carp from the swim with the idea that the bream would return if the carp are cagey, a fun way of solving a problem. It didn't work as a 3lb common was caught next under the rod tip before I had a break for coffee. The carp were hurting my arm but I found by holding the rod against my midriff I could play the fish with my weak arm with the clutch set right, it looked weird but served a purpose.

I then dug out the bread punch as it gets more bites, using a 10mm one is the same as a small bit of bread but it just works better. A brief rest may have also worked as had the bread I fed which lets face bream absolutely adore. Once more I was into that slow plodding fight however this time It erupted on the surface as the bream took off like they sometimes do and almost landed on the bank as I was fishing so close in, this fish wasn't as fat but seemed deeper as it filled the net and I was over the moon.

Now I don't get many good bream and I'm not ashamed to admit my pb is rather modest, maybe because I'm always fishing float and usually close in on small ponds and mostly on fast shallow rivers during the season, they sure don't grow this size on my local canal, either way it had me looking on my phone to see if it was a pb, it wasn't as a Thames weir pool provided my with one larger back in the day when I had hair but was still a lovely fish for such a tiny pond at 6lb 5oz.

By now the angler opposite was replaced by Mallet Man, who lived up to his name by hammering at everything, first a bank stick, then a second bank stick before where his umbrella fitted to his chair. I was going to say his setting up was noisy but meticulous but that wasn't the case as his umbrella took off in a gust along with his chair and deposited it back near his car which was right behind the swim. In the time it took him to set up I had landed and weighed that bream and caught two more carp. 

Bang went the mallet once more as I stopped for lunch.

A few on the main lake were catching and several came round for a quick chat whilst stretching their legs, after I while I got tired of folk asking about the carp when I was more excited about the bream, so when the second guy told me where the carp were sunning themselves to the left of me I just nodded and smiled having caught one there earlier. I felt like saying do I need 4lb carp when the bream are like that? But refrained of course, it's all a bit of fun. Sadly the tench angler also came round from the other pond who was blanking, confirming I made the right choice just by looking for somewhere comfortable, he did have the whole pond to himself though with just the company of the wildlife, no mallets just mallards.. 

A couple of hours passed with quick rudd dips of the float keeping me occupied but also frustrated, with plenty of thin air strikes and a swirling wind that bought the willow that was ever so close to my rod tip into play. Sticking with the bread bought the odd carp and a small bream of around a pound that had a beautiful blue sheen and perfect scales, I should have photographed it really but I'm a specimen angler now and only take pics of the slabs - I am joking of course.

There was time for one last bream, once again on the punched bread, once again the slow heavy pull was unmistakable with everything so close in under the rod tip, it really was a lot of fun, by now it was cold and grey and the wind was getting round so this was one last hurrah. I slipped the net under a fish which was bang on 6lb to finish the day.

As I packed up Mallet Man was finally into a fish which he landed awkwardly with not enough line out much like me with my perch earlier, I wondered if he was fishing left handed too. Tench guy had walked by having blanked and some hardly souls were still on the main lake having fun with their carp quarry in the cold wind, I left them to it so as to beat the school run. 

I probably won't tell them where the bream are though as I may get the odd strange look.

An Interesting Experiment

 I thought I'd try something out of necessity, the last few trips have been hard as the pain of my Angler's Elbow* hasn't abated. The fishing has been pretty good on the ponds of late but I feel I've lost fish I shouldn't have, it's amazing how much power you have in your good arm compared to the other. Oh and if anyone says you'll get used to fishing the other way round, you won't, I tried it last time and lasted ten minutes, ok maybe I should have tried longer but it felt awful, didn't help the pain and was frustrating bordering on the comical, I'm about as good as fishing ambidextrous as I am at spelling the word I concluded. 

Thinking of ways around this made me remember fishing as a kid on rivers like the upper Lea, Gade and Beane, tying the line to the bottom ring (no doubt after a stupid tangle by the reel) and fishing for the last hour or so for dace and small chub, with a lightness of tackle and crispness of the fight that made everything seem large, I wondered if I could use something similar on ponds where the carp don't go that big.

So here's the plan, I'm going to fish an old rod with no reel as it will be ultralight to hold with either hand, the line will be threaded through the opposite way and connected to a length of pole elastic which is tied to the rod butt, this will be my shock absorber for larger fish, but I still want the crispness of rod and line for silvers so will hold the line when playing them. My thinking is it will be similar to the makeshift set up I used on those rivers as a kid, much like fishing a whip, but with the bend of a rod and the elastic of a pole for larger fish.

I won't need to cast far (I never do anyway) and hopefully any carp will potter about in close quarters like they usually do. The safety is the elastic which is much heavier than I need just in case and also fishing a small fine wire hook which will should bend out before any kit gets snapped off, failing that there's 3lb bottom, 4,4lb mainline and the 9-11 rated elastic.

Here's the connection between elastic and line, I used a standard dacron connector the way pole anglers do after watching several Youtube clips, but I removed the stop bead and used a couple of thin pieces of silicon tubing so that the connector can pass through the rod rings smoothly.

I started fishing in a quiet corner of the pond and thankfully there was no one else there to see me make a twat of myself, the weather wasn't ideal with a sharp wind and it felt pretty cold when the sun dipped in, all pre loaded excuses for the inevitable failure even if in my mind it could work, the new margin rod whippy pole thingy (I'm still working on a catchy name) would be on everyone's shopping list and it would be a solution for those in pain who can't hold a heavy rod or pole all day. 

Yeah right.

The weird thing is it did actually work, my tiny pole float was swung out, I then pulled the line in with my hand like a fly angler until I had no slack, mending any surface bow, if anything I could have had less line tied as I had more than enough to swing fish in and a bit too much for where I was fishing. Bites came from the off with the customary shyness for this time of year, the float went under I struck each time whilst holding the line as a few roach put a crisp bend in the rod. I soon got into a rhythm.

I was conscious of having line getting tangled by my feet so placed a second mat there and I think this would be negated by having around two feet less line but the test would come when I hooked something bigger than roach. I may need that extra line I thought.

If the roach were fun the f1's were another level, although none got even close to stretching that elastic which left me wondering if there's more control gained by feeding the line in and out by hand with a fish on, they weren't big though but a lot of fun.

I wanted a test of a larger carp and it came in the shape of a good one, however the unmistakable feeling of a foul hooked fish is there no matter how you fish and after a brief battle the hook pulled from the fin. I did turn it several times and stopped a foul hooker going into the middle which was kind of impressive even if it didn't prove the theory. Sadly it was the only test of the day, although getting those f1's and bream was direct and fun, why do these gaunt looking bream always look so big in the water?

I had hoped for some nice perch but only a few small ones showed, the roach action was non stop but a bit frustrating as getting through small ones to the better fish was a problem, changing more to on the drop a few netters succumbed and once more gave me that crisp bend in the rod I wanted.

I packed up early to beat the rain as it got really cold, finishing with 30 roach, 5 f1's, 2 perch, 2 bream and a rudd in around three hours although it seemed half of that was setting up, I did bump a few and had a couple of foul hookers but that can happen anyway, I didn't get snapped up and felt in control of all the fish.

The verdict on this experiment? Well it worked surprisingly well and yet it didn't work the way I wanted it to. It caught fish well and looked like it would handle the larger fish just as well as my usual rod and line set up, however I would have caught the same amount on rod and line of that I am pretty sure. Where it failed was it was just as painful fishing this way despite being lighter, I think it was because I was holding the rod along with the line instead of resting it on my leg and that I still played every fish with my bad arm despite using a set up that could be used by my left hand, force of habit I suppose.

It's probably not a style I'll try again, but it was fun experimenting, although I know with a bit of fine tuning it would work better, perhaps on a warm sunny day just whittling out a few fish for fun, who knows. However The Beast Thruster Margin Pole Rod Whip Carbon X F1 is unlikely to feature on Dragon's Den soon.

* They've got Tennis Elbow and even Golfer's Elbow so lets have Angler's Elbow. After chatting to quite a few online sufferers it seems it's quite common in the rod arm. More painful than you would think and rather persistent. I would be quite cautious if you feel a little niggle in your arm at any stage like I did as it kind of lets you know it's coming. Before long you may be in pain and thinking up wacky inventions.