Eventful adventure but the target fish escaped us

Yesterday I went out with Woody to a new river, to me at leastanyway. He phoned me mid week to ask if I fancied an adventure. Silly question as I love going new places. He then dropped it to me where it was, and mentioned the zed word, Zander. I don't know what I was more excited about, the brand new river or the chance of a zed. I was a bit giddy for the rest of the week.

I arrived at Woodys house at around 5:20am. It's the first time I'd been to his house and I managed to find it on the second pass, his house is tucked in a little cul-de-sac off the main road. I pulled in to find the road was tiny so I had to spin the car around, half in someone's drive. At least at that time no one would see me. I then struggled to park as the small road was full of cars, plus Woodys car and boat but I found a space next to a fence. his house lights were on and then Woody popped his head out of the front door. He invited me in, we had a quick brew and he also plonked in front of me his iPad and a video of Matt Hayes from Youtube. A great video and it got the juices flowing for certain. We chucked my gear in his car and then I moved mine around to another spot where Woody said it would be better and then we were off. A good couple of hour drive was in front of us, which I don't mind though the only problem with this is it's fishing time wasted. We'd just have to work harder to make the most of our time when we got there. We'd only been on the road an hour when Woody got a call from his missus Becky to tell him that I'd been slagged off on Facebook for parking on a private drive, that I was this far from getting a ticket from the local self proclaimed wannabe traffic warden. Ha ha, some people are sad. They need to get fishing in their lives and chill the feck out! A bit of drama to start with but the day was going to have more events than a few saddos on Facebook. Straight on to drama number two. We were plodding along the motorway when out of the corner of my eye I see a low flying Wood pigeon. They are often a bit slack as it is but this one had decided to low fly across the motorway. At the last second it swerved to miss the car on our outside in the middle lane. It missed the drivers window by a fraction, up and over that car, but the wind and slipstream caused of that just car sucked it back down the other side and then straight in to the drivers window of our car. Of course Woody hadn't seen it and it had him shitting his pants, to my amusement of course. His window was also open about three inches, how funny would it have been if that thing had flown straight in? Me and Woody frantically doing our best to stop Tike from running around the car trying to catch a pigeon, ha ha!

Pulling up to the boat launch we were now excited. But our first thoughts after checking out what the river looked like were that the ramp was a little steep and the funny angle meant there wasn't much room for mistake as if we got it wrong the trailer would run off the edge of a tight angled, steep short ramp. First attempt saw us slightly wrong and so we had to get the car up the ramp again. The wheels span and it didn't look good, arse cheeks squeezed firmly and it was back for another run up. This time we got it right and I shoved the boat off. All aboard and we were all set for our little adventure though we both knew that getting out might be a little tricky especially if we get some rain later in the day.

We had a little troll of the light lures a few hundred meters down to the bottom of this stretch of river. There was a weir and also some lock gates which we wanted to have a jig around and that's where we were heading. I wasn't targeting a zander, the new river was enough excitement for me but I would love to catch one. Woody had zeds on the brain and wanted to get us both in on the fish, obviously any zed for me was a pb and that was his target. We pulled up at a fishy looking spot and got on with tying up the boat. Woody dropped down a kopyto and started to make it dance. There was a knock and his rod tip was bent and he was in to a fish. Is it a zander? We couldn't help but think that way as it's all we'd talked about. I grabbed the net and watched as the fish kept yanking away and putting a bend in the rod. We were in a small area and there wasn't much room so often the fish was under the boat, even the rod was bent under the boat sometimes so we never saw the fish which just added to the excitement. Eventually up it popped,  a small jack. Grrr! We both knew that there was far more chance of us catching our usual prey of pike and perch but you can't help getting excited at the thought of something different. Jigging this spot we picked up a few perch also before moving off thirty yard or so to jig another bit. Again more perch until we moved the next thirty yard where the fish finder showed a mass of black, a ball of fish? This ball seemed to move around so we knew something was here. The something turned in to more perch, they were everywhere. Small ones, half decent ones right up to around ten ounce or so. There must surely be a bigger perch or two here but after half an hour or so it went quiet and we'd not found them.

The plan now was for a steady troll up river to see what was ahead of us. We knew it was a half decent stretch but that we would cover it easily in the time we had so we wanted to get up it, see what fish we could pick up and then target the weir at the other end. There was a very strong flow to the river and this meant it was a bit of a struggle for the boat going up stream. A bit of wind had picked up which added to this but we didn't mind too much as we've fished in worse and caught. It was a little slow but we did keep picking up the odd perch and then every now and again a small pike. We expected to see more anglers on the bank but there was only a handful up to now. They can be a hazard to us trolling as often they are tucked in to some bushes out of sight. We come past trolling out our long lines, they have a couple of rods out and long lines out and then we all end up in a pickle if the lines cross. As we passed one angler, we were sure we were far enough away for this not to happen. But I had a knock which turned out to be nothing other than something on my line that wasn't a fish. As I started to bring my lure in I saw fishing line. I looked across to the bank angler and he wasn't grabbing for his rods at least. I ended up pulling in about sixty yards of strong line with a feeder on the end but no hook link. How the hell this had happened I don't know. The rig looked new and also like it had been done by someone who knew what he was doing. I tied up all the line into a ball and chucked it in my bag to get rid of later.

With the weir in sight, we'd not fared too well and thought we should have had more fish but didn't know why we hadn't. Anyway now we had the lock gates and the weir to have a go at. There were a couple of anglers around which meant we couldn't fish all of the weir but the lock was fair game and this is where we went first. I moored us up and we got to fishing a fast bit of water around the gates, with a couple of slack spots off it including a good slack right at the gates though we weren't quite on that bit yet. Woody was in to a perch in no time which was a bit better than what we'd been having though of nothing of notable size. I too got in to the perch and again a half decent one at that. I got Woody to take a photo since by now I was thinking we were having a slow day and I needed something for the blog at least.

Having given this bit of water some stick we decided to give the gates some hammer but this meant getting up close with the boat and holding in the slack water. Sat afloat just before the lock gates we both looked up and the gates were huge. We passed comment on how we needed to stay sharp and get out of there if we thought there was to be a boat coming our way as we wouldn't want to be there when the gates opened. Jigging around we picked up more perch including a few half decent fish, similar sized as before. There was then a strange noise. I can't actually remember what I heard, a squeal, an alarm, someone banging drums. I can just remember me and Woody looking at each other. I think we both thought, what the fuck? We both also then thought, there's a boat in that lock. I presume most people know why and how a lock gate works but just to highlight on the important bit. We were below the lock gates. If those gates were closed and full of water a boat from upstream can enter, then be lowered and come out our side on the downstream section. However the gates don't just open as that would be thousands of gallons of water being thrown out and a boat riding a massive wave. Instead the water comes out below and lowers the craft gently. Problem being, we were right where the water came out. All of a sudden the water below us started to bubble and boil. We were already getting our rods in at the point we heard the alarm but we were too slow. The boat started to move around and as Woody tried to put the power on and get us out it had little affect. We were riding a massive boil of water, it was churning up at an immense rate and we were in the shit. Apart from panic there wasn't much I could do except panic though I was also watching the back end of the boat to keep an eye out for bubbling water coming up and over the lowest point of the boat. Woody could only panic as he tried to get some control of the boat and some control over himself as he panicked. We finally were out of it after a combination of the boat taking us out and the water forcing us out, though we both know that it was way more the part of the water. You can laugh after an event like that but at the time it was very much arse clenching time. Make note if you are a boat fisherman for future reference.

Very windy day on the river

Next we had a go at the weir. We tried to get as close as was safe, especially with thoughts of our last episode very fresh in our heads. We tried in vain to get in and fish some of the faster water and any slacks but the force was too much and after a while we gave up. We fished plenty of the area with little success to be honest and eventually made our way back downstream, trolling as we went along. We actually started to pick up a few fish and downstream we seemed to be getting more fish than we did coming upstream. We also noted it was far easier to get the lures down than before and that the boat was hardly having to do anything, on minimum revs and we were fishing much better like this. The only thing against us now was the wind from before was now much much worse. In fact we might have been better with a sail than a motor. I took some photos to try and show how bad it actually was but even this picture doesn't look as rough. At least us going with it all instead of against it all was a little easier. We kept on trolling the light lures and as we passed a tree Woody was doing something, I can't quite remember what, maybe getting a sausage roll. He had his rod wedged in his legs to free up his hands. I just managed to look up at the right point as his rod was smacked by something and arched right over. Woody frantically grabbed the rod and it was fish on. Immediately he knew something was different and I wound in my lure and grabbed the net. As the fish came close we both spotted a huge chub. We knew we had a chance of one here and finally we had it. The fish wasn't finished and it wasn't quite ready for the net. I mentioned the current on this river was strong earlier but didn't really say how strong. I also mentioned the wind by now was strong and again hadn't really emphasised the point. We were steadily speedily drifting and as the chub came close it made one last dash, right under the boat and right under the propeller. Woody cut the engine but was fractionally too late and the fish was off and not only that his line was caught in the prop. I dropped anchor so that we could safely sort out the mess but the anchor did little except slow us down, it wouldn't bed in to anything because presumably the river bed was just soft. At one point it held up and we were actually ok but then next time I looked we were off again. We were pushed downstream at an alarming rate, easily a couple hundred meters but at least we weren't right in the middle and there was no other boat traffic about. We got sorted about a hundred metres up from a couple of bank anglers. There wouldn't have been much we could do as we drifted past, trolling the anchor and pulling in their rods!

Getting back to fishing we decided to give a bit of a stretch some stick with a new tactic. By now, even with the strong current and winds Woody had seemingly mastered it to a degree at least. We had some sense of control as we drifted down and our new tactic was to drift and throw jerk baits in all the likely looking weedy spots, under over hangs, slack spots anywhere and everywhere. However this turned out to be pretty fruitless with just one jack to the boat. So back to trolling again we picked up the odd fish and before long we were nearly back at the bottom of the stretch. We'd been back up certain stretches along the way so it wasn't just a straight return trip and so now it was late afternoon. It was time to hit the lock gates we'd had a bit of fun with the perch this morning in the hope something decent might be there.

Mooring up it was to be the same tactics, simply jigging our kopytos. I cast out and slowly started to twitch it back. Typically in perch fashion I felt a nip, then another and then Bang! "I'm in mate" I said and then in no time it turned to "it's a decent perch I reckon." Woody was sorting the net just in case while I had a bit of a battle with something on the other end of the line. As it got close it then went mental and my rod was bent double. Still confident it was a perch by the fight I was now thinking BIG perch. It then came up and gave us a flash of spikes and stripes and we knew it was good. You can now add the usual knee trembling moments you get when you see a big perch on the end of your line. The next time it came up it was in the net, result! Another brute of a perch to the boat after last week when Woody grabbed one just short of three. I didn't think it was quite three but it was a long fish and Woody sorted the scales out while I unhooked and then left it in the net to get some oxygen. It went 2lb 12oz and I was chuffed with that.


After some trophy shots I thought I'd put the fish back in the net to make sure it was fine. As I turned a voice from a moored up canal boat asked "what fish was that?". A lady and he man were sat having a cup of tea on their moored up canal boat and I'd not even noticed them before. With my attention distracted I lost co-ordination somehow and as I went to put the fish in the net I slipped and nearly went in head first. The fish went in the net and I clung to the side of the boat with just half my arm getting wet. Jeez, can we have any more dramas? We told the lady it was a perch and she chuckled at me nearly falling in and then watched on as we put the fish back and then proceeded to catch more perch though none anywhere near as big. Moving on and mooring up in another bit we pretty much chilled out for a bit. We were in a sun trap, out of the raging wind and current and it was actually quit nice now, though just in this corner. We weren't particularly catching much but it was good to just relax a little. I was casting around the kopyto, often you'll bump the bottom and you have to work out if it was the bottom, weed, or a fish. As my kopyto came to the surface it was missing a tail. I must have had a nip from something so I put on a new lure and cast out in hope of a fish. As I did so spotted Tike take a snap at the lure as it swung past his nose. Having watched him do this through the day I was now wondering if it was a fish that had bit my lure in half or the crazy dog. When I asked him him declined to comment. Hmm?

Back to trolling we gave the lower stretch a bit of stick and got a few more fish out. Woody hooked in to something half decent, especially on the light gear which after a good scrap turned out to be a pike of seven or eight pound which was a good way to finish the day. By now the wind was mental and any up stream travel was a little rough and wet. As he turned to make a last attempt for home came the final drama of the day. Woody's cap went flying off as the wind took a hold and before we knew it was drifting off yards away. Coming up behind us was a large canal boat which was actually tramming quite fast and heading for the hat. Woody span the boat and cranked the motor to full speed. I jumped and grabbed the net and we sped off to intercept the hat before the canal boat sent it to the depths. I had to treat this netting job as a 4lb perch or an any sized zander, there had to be no mistake and I had just one shot at it. Get in, as we sped past I scooped it up and Woodys Rapala Cap was saved. We now just had the tricky task of getting the boat back up the ramp. We decided to empty everything out of the boat and leave it to one side to save on weight. Second attempt and we were lined up nicely and we winched on the boat. As Woody let off the clutch, the wheels span briefly but we were off and up. I reckon it was mainly down to me though since I also put my shoulder in to it giving the car a helpful nudge. As most of you will have seen I'm naturally a big lad and it's my natural strength that played the big part. The car was loaded up and we were on our way, with Woodys Cap clamped firmly in the boat's fish finder clamp flapping away to dry off in the breeze as we went. We talked about our day, the positives and the negatives and the lack of zander action which was a pity. We weren't too disappointed but it was a shame as I've never even seen one up close. We might have to do some more homework and go off in search of them again in the near future.

2lb 12oz perch

The Fishing Quartet

What's up with me? I went out on Saturday and have only just got around to writing out my blog. I must be slacking. Saturday was another boat day with Woody though this time we had some company. Neil had his boat out and was partnered up with Matt. So four of us out in two boats which surely meant a few fish to be had between us. However in the week running up to Saturday there was a bit of rain and so the stretch we normally fish might still be a bit coloured. Without me knowing, (I tend to just agree as I'll ride on a shovel,) the lads had an idea and thought we might be better going further upstream. They knew of a marina to launch Woodys boat in and so made a few phone calls, and then tight arses Neil and Matt found somewhere to chuck in the portabote without having to pay, and we were all set.

Neil and Matt get ready for launch

It was a later start than normal as we'd been told that the marina didn't open until 9am, though we were all there an hour earlier just in case and we were in luck. Neil and Matt had already got their boat in the water and were just sorting the last few things out when we pulled up. It takes Woody and myself no time at all now to get the boat sorted and we were in the water within five minutes of pulling up. The fish finder was beeping away telling us that the water was only two and a half to three feet deep in the marina. I shoved the boat out and jumped on and Woody slowly turned the boat around. As he did I quickly whipped out a lure to put on. Usually it's something like a Rapala jointed shad rap to start off but I had an idea. Instead I grabbed my small copper Vibrax spinner, clipped it on and then cast out. We'd probably moved just ten feet and were still in the marina over less than three feet of water. My spinner hit the surface, I let it sink a tiny bit and then started to wind and within less than two feet of retrieve there was a commotion and I was in. Fish on and we were off the mark with a nice small pike of a couple of pounds. We got out in to the river and spotted the other two just fifty yard or so away and so we made our way to them on the troll. Woody then picked up a perch before we pulled up alongside.

Wait a minute, stop press. This has nothing to do with the story but I feel the need to share. As I type this I do so with a beaming smile. The missus has just plonked plate of burger and chips in front of me and I've just won a bid on eBay for a Cobbs lure for just over a tenner. Little things please me, I know.

Back to Saturday, Neil had a slight problem with a fuel line from his back up tank which he couldn't fix there and then so instead would have to just top up the tank when he had a chance as and when needed. More of an annoyance than a major concern. He sparked up the engine and that was it, we were off along a new stretch of river that to us, was pretty much uncharted by boat. We picked up a couple of fish which strangely to start with saw me catching pike and Woody catching perch. A theme that was to be later repeated a little as once I started to pick up perch it was clear that this was the main fish to be had today by us. Though when we bumped in to the other two a little later it seemed they were catching mainly pike between them.I wonder if there was something in that, something we were doing different. Woody likes to keep a nice pace to the boat and maybe Neil is a little slower, that could be it. Either way it meant that our boat by now was a couple hundred yards in front. We kept bumping in to the boats lucky mascot, a heron, which is also the name of Woodys boat. Every time we got up close it would take flight and fly off fifty yards or a hundred yards up river. I took the opportunity to take some wildlife photos for the blog in the hope of a decent heron shot, either stood or in flight. You dingbat! I forgot to charge the camera battery up! This is all I managed  to get before it packed in. At least Woody had his camera in case we caught anything decent.

It seems the lads had made a good call to fish up river. The water was dark, kind of stained but it wasn't too bad. The picture to the left kind of gives you an idea of what it looked like. It wasn't full of muddy silt and still had a decent amount of visibility so when we'd caught fish down at around twelve foot depth we were confident that the fish could see the lure and we'd keep on catching. If you've never fished from a boat the tactics are trolling, jigging and casting and you choose the technique to suit. It's up to you how you go about it and getting the choice right can prove a winner or a major loser. For the most part, we tend to mainly do trolling as you cover loads of water and if conditions are right you will pick up fish constantly. Basically trolling is dragging a lure behind the boat, as simple as that. However there are a few things that will help. Get the speed of the boat right to suit your lure. Too slow and your lure does naff all and doesn't dive. Too fast and the lure might spin out of control and come to the surface. So choice of lure to suit the depths and the speed of the boat will get your lure down to the bottom where often, most takes occur we find. As I said at the start, a Rapala Shad rap is a good choice. If you get one around 5-7cm size they can easily get down to depths of twelve foot or so. The Rapalas are also good because they are a very stable lure and even with a bit of pace to the boat they will still run straight. If you wish, you can add the odd jerk to the lure making it even more erratic and hopefully enticing the fish even more. Back to trolling speed, if you find that you are getting "plucks" which are probably perch you can speed up the boat which means those "plucks" turn in to hook ups. As said before, maybe that's why we were getting mostly perch? Trolling might look easy, or steady and boring to some but you still have lots to think about and work on. If you don't think about it and work the lure and choose the lure to suit, you will sit beside Woody all day watching him catch fish after fish while you blank. You'll think you are doing everything right but you are not.

Another useful bit of tackle in the boat owners armoury is the fish finder. Woody has a couple of units, one being his old Lowrance unit and he also recently got hold of a Lowrance DSI unit which is a good step up. Firstly the unit will tell you things like water temperature but most importantly the depth. So by monitoring the river depth and choosing your lure to suit you will get better results than just blindly trolling along. Once you get to know a bit of river you can quickly switch from a ten feet diving lure to a twenty footer and keep on catching. I've stuck with my ten footer while we've covered the deep water and watched as Woody kept catching fish while I blanked. Once we got back to ten foot of water I started to catch again. I now have lures in my collection to help me cover the depths, it's no fun watching your buddy catch all day. The fish finders are also useful for other things. You can actually see a shoal of fish on the river bed. Sometimes you're toddling along when there's a big ball of shadow on your screen and sometimes you pick up fish straight away. If they're perch you'll catch and if they're balls of bait fish you'll catch. Failing that, if it's a shoal of bream, Woody will catch a bream! lol. The units show you all sorts and it's a great bit of information to use to your advantage. The image below will show you the kind of things you can see. When you see this, you change course and get your expensive Rapalas out of the way before you lose them to a giant submerged tree.

So that's a brief intro to trolling for anyone who hadn't a clue before. Jigging might be more familiar to most without a boat as you can do this from the side of the canal or wherever. If we see a particularly fishy looking spot such as some lock gates, a water outlet, a deep hole or anything we might decide to anchor up and have a jig. Usually just using kopytos lures is all that's needed. Cast out, let them sink and then give them a little jig, twitch or whatever and if there are perch about you'll get one. Well we spotted a likely looking spot as we were trolling along. There was an outlet of some type. Water wasn't gushing in at pace or anything, there was just a small cloud of muddy water roughly ten feet square which gave it's location away. As we came up both Woody and I were looking at it as a potential fishy spot, when all of a sudden the surface erupted and fry went flying everywhere. Too good an invite to refuse we slowed up and pulled alongside. I had a couple of fish earlier at another spot when instead of jigging I'd opted for my copper Vibrax spinner. We had all been hopeful of a chub on this stretch and I felt I had a chance casting under tree branches, keeping my lure in the top two foot of water. I wasn't thinking chub this time however, it was perch I expected and felt I had a good chance. Woody though stuck to his usual technique and lobbed a kopyto into the thick cloudy water. A few flicks and as the lure came out of the murk something hit it. It was one of those, "I hope this isn't a small pike" moments and for the first few seconds you haven't a clue. You can sometimes tell by the fight, the pike lunging with strong burst where the perch tends to be more erratic often banging it's head side to side. I'm not sure at what point Woody realised it was a perch but I was getting the net ready just in case and as it came up Woody confirmed it with cries of "get the net mate." I don't think there's many things as knee trembling as a decent perch on the end of the line. As soon as it came up I scooped it in to the net, this one could be pushing three. I guessed poorly at two six but Woody guessed it spot on, 2lb 15oz. A cracker of a fish!

Woody picked up two more perch from this spot including another at around a pound or more but my spinner blanked. When no more fish showed we continued trolling and stopping anywhere we took a shine to. To say we were on a new bit of river we were still catching plenty and the sport was spot on. In total the stretch wasn't anything massive and we covered it there and back twice comfortably in a shorter time than we would usually be out. We knocked up nearly seventy fish to the boat and it turns out our fishing buddies had matched that too so to get knocking on a hundred a forty predators between us we were more than pleased. With Matt and Neil catching a few decent fish two including a few two pound perch, we can conclude that this new "back up" stretch has great potential.

Now get yourself over to Matt's page and check out his and Neil's version of the day.

My best perch from the day

Sunny Sunday afloat

It's a bit warm out there. What better way to make the most of the sun than a day afloat on Woody's boat. We didn't expect a bumper day, often the clear skies and bright sunshine, together with some clear water isn't always the best. But we were still confident of a few fish and we just wanted to get out and have a good day enjoying the sun while it is here to stay it seems. It's work tomorrow again after all. Driving to the river it was pretty dull and overcast with some mist in the air and we were hopeful it might hold and give us some cover though we both knew that the late morning sun would quickly burn off the clouds, and it did.

The engine was fired up and we were soon moving off from the launch. It was about 6:30am and we'd just managed to get on to the river before another fishing boat. Their choice of boat was an old speed boat, so not the best but at least they were going to be out on a nice day. A few words of advice from Woody to help them grab a few fish, as a brief chat found that they normally struggle to catch, in large numbers at least. I'd not even flicked my lure in to the water, we'd not moved more than fifteen feet and Woody was in to a perch. A quick unhook and then back in went the lure and within another thirty metres Woody had another perch. We were off to a great start. It then went tits up. As the boat was manoeuvred to make a U turn, the engine cut out. We started to slowly drift as he tried to get it running again. The engine fired and then died again. Fired and died. It seemed to be cutting out on low revs. After a faff, a head scratch and few bangs the decision was made to tank it up river. Maybe there was some shit or other blocking something or other. It seemed a good conclusion and so off we went.

We knew we'd missed out on a few fish and a decent bit of water which often bags us a all sorts but we had to make sure the engine was right and by now it seemed it was doing fine. We could lower the revs and tick along at a nice trolling speed without it cutting out. We started to pick up a few fish on the troll and stopped off at a bridge to check out the structure and see what was lurking. After the first pass on the troll produced a lost perch which Woody felt wasn't too bad in size we had to take a closer look. Jigging around we could see the fry, we could see other silvers including some small chub which were hammering those fry. Woody bagged a nice perch pushing a pound, I think on his first jig and then I hooked something bigger which I at first thought was a big perch. As it came up it realised it was hooked and turned in to an angry pike of around three or four pound. Nothing much more happened so we got a move on, trolling up to the next likely looking jigging spot.

Tike knew where the fish were

Repeating this up the river we slowly and steadily picked up fish. Some times we'd get nothing for a while then we'd get a couple in quick succession, both trolling and jigging. We also picked up fish as we targeted the weed which by now had got a good hold of the edge of the river in many places. The weed was stacked with fry and we knew there would be perch and pike around, we just didn't quite get as many as we thought, though it's always pleasing to spot a place where you think a fish should be, and then catch from it. In fact it was along this stretch of weed where Woody proclaimed, "if we don't catch a fish off this I will be fecking gob smacked" and no joke, as the last bit of the word "gob smacked" left his lips his rod was bent and tapping away. Needless to say that whenever we passed a similar looking spot and it didn't produce, we were fecking gob smacked!

We didn't really catch anything of size. Some of the perch were around the one pound mark with the odd one pushing a shade more. It would have been nice to have picked up the odd two pounder as they add a bit of something to the day. Similarly a nice pike pushing the eight pound mark is a good bit of fun but we didn't drop on any of those either. In total we managed 45 fish to the boat which isn't a bad day and something not to be scoffed at. As always, a few fish and a bit of banter while chilling on a nice cruise along the river takes some beating for a day out. As usual we seemed to catch on whatever lure we used, though the lures were chosen to suit depths of the river so we can take some credit on selection. But we did have a bit of success at one point switching lures to slightly smaller 4cm plugs. I pulled one out which I'd dropped on in the second hand tackle shop for a couple of quid. In no time it had a couple of perch and so Woody switched to something similar, and he picked up a pike and then some perch. I'd no idea what the lure was called but from now on it is know as the chubby little fat fecker. Just ask in your local tackle shop for it, I'm sure he'll know which one it is.

chubby little fat feckers

Here's a few fishy photos just to add some colour to the blog. I take my camera and love to take photos but for some reason, even though you can be out hours on the boat I always feel as though I haven't got time for the camera. Either we're bagging up and so we're wasting time taking photos when there's more fish to be caught. Or we're wasting time when it's slow and we really should be trying to catch more fish. No idea why it feels like that but it does sometimes. Plus I also just forget!

Woody bags up on this lure

Me and my firetiger

Woody doing the honours for me.

About as big as they got today

As usual Tike enjoyed himself. He's a crowd pleaser and gets all the attention from the girls as they pass, giving him a little wave and even taking photos. Woody thinks most of the girls are waving at him mind you, I dare not break his little heart.

Tike thinking about having a go at the swans

Enjoying the cool breeze

We got to the furthest part upstream as we'd planned, even bagging a couple of fish here to please the onlookers wondering what two crazy people were doing in their swimming area. We'd not done bad, steady at times with the odd flurry of fish but in all a good run. The plan would have been to hit a few spots on the way back. Troll and jig some places we'd piked up fish on the way up. However Woody had got a bit of a stinking head ache, despite his super hat, despite the sun cream and despite plenty of fluids. I wondered if it was a bit too much sun this weekend as he was at a wedding do yesterday. We tanked it back down stream, pretty much missing out the whole river. We got stuck at one point behind a barge and a cruiser and with all the debris they were churning up it didn't seem worth the effort to fish, especially as Woody wasn't doing so good. At least back at the boat launch I knew what to do and we were on our way home. A couple of downers with the engine and the bad head burt those aside it was another great day out.

Bagging up with Captain Woodchucker (and Tike)

I've been lucky enough to go out a couple of times now with Neil and Woody on their boats and we've had some good days fishing. Even the ones which I'm told were very steady days were enjoyable for me since it was with a buddy or two, having a laugh and catching a few fish. I managed to get out again with Woody on his boat this weekend and it looked pretty promising for a few fish. Upon arrival the water was not too bad despite a bit of rain the day before. We reckoned the bit of rain would help more than hinder as it hadn't added much colour at all and since the rivers are so low, a bit of water pushing through might be good. Only one way to find out and in no time we were on the river. It's not the hardest job to get the boat sorted but now I know what my job is I can just go do it rather than be told everything by my captain, giving us a few extra minutes fishing time and that can only be good.


Ok, it didn't go quite to plan. As Woody reverses the car down the ramp to drop the boat in, my task is to simply walk along the jetty and hold on to the rope so the boat doesn't go sailing off down stream. As I made my way on to the jetty I nearly went arse over tit. My trainers skidded on something slippery and I only just managed to stay on my feet. Phew, I saved myself from embarrassment there. As Woody made his way down to the boat he asked "who's stood in the dog shit then?". Aww crap, I didn't quite get away with it did I? I've no idea if it was boat mascot and lucky omen Tike who had done the deed, but there was only two ducks in the area so If I was a betting man! Woody cranked up the engine and we were ready for off, apart from having to clear up a chunk of vomit on the boat carpet. Strike two to Tike! lol


So not the greatest start but we were now off and on to the water. Weapons of choice were the ultra light outfits which we would be doing the majority of fishing with though we did have the large lures just in case we felt the need/urge to use them. Clarity wasn't too bad, probably five feet of visibility which is good enough for the fish to hunt on sight and react to a lure flying past them and it wasn't long before we got in to the fish. We knocked up a couple of fish between us, small pike and perch and then Woody managed a clonking perch of two pound. Excellent start and things seemed promising for a good days sport. My captain proclaimed, "if we get ten fish before we clear this small stretch of water we'll be on for a good tally". We were about ten yards from leaving the little stretch when the tenth fish was bagged. A good day ahead was in store for us, but how good I couldn't possibly have imagined.


We continued along the river picking up fish after fish. A couple of nice perch around a pound sprinkled with some smaller perch and some small jacks. The weather was pleasant enough and it was great to be afloat on such a day. By the time we'd knocked up a few over twenty fish, it was still early morning and we had loads of water to cover. We were getting all the fish on jointed rapala shad raps in firetiger pattern but eventually we both switched around and were picking fish up on most lures we tried. We tried jigging kopytos in a couple of spots that looked fishy but didn't have any luck so it was back to trolling where we got in on the fish again. I couldn't take much more and had to dig in to my Ginsters steak pasty which was polished off by Tike who had been waiting patiently for some tit bits. He's a cracking little dog and makes me smile. A real character who seems at home on the boat. Switching from one end of the boat to the other, from one set of knees to the next. I can forgive this little lad for a bit of shite and a puke, he's ace.

It was starting to become difficult to remember how many of each and what lure we caught them on and even who had caught what so we just tried to keep a tally of fish to the boat. They kept coming and often a fish would be called by Woody as we passed a tree, snag, boat or feature. "5...4...3....2....1..." he would say and then fish on, right on time. "We're due a fish now" and then BANG, fish on! It really was like that. We passed a mark but didn't get a fish. A hundred metres up stream we switched to jerk baits and slowly floated back down river trying to entice a larger jack. It was slow though I did manage one jack on a squirrelly burt. We made the switch back to the light gear and slow trolled back up the same bit of river. We'd passed it once with the trolled lures, then drifted back with the jerk baits but this third pass produced fish. No idea why this time the fish started to hit the lures but we weren't complaining.



Approaching another feature I was told "I've had a few fish off this tree" and yep, we were in, double hook up. One of many this day. Going through a bridge we had a couple of knocks and then a perch was bagged followed by another at the same time we saw a massive ball of fish on the screen of the fish finder. We turned the boat around and came for a closer look. The spot was full of fish and we made the call to tie up and have a jig with the kopytos. The action was immediate and fish after fish came. A couple of nice pound, pound and a half perch. Some small pike and then Woody hooked into something which if it was a perch like it felt, it was a good one. As it came to the surface we both went in to panic mode as you seem to do when you see a nice perch thrashing around on the end of your line. It went 2lb 8oz on the scales. Aren't big perch awesome!

For some reason, Woody fishing on the left kept picking up perch while I kept getting pike on the right. We both swapped and fished both sides and picked up a few of each. Annoyingly I snagged up. I kept flicking the rod and yanking, hoping the lure would flick clear as it often does. Eventually it freed up and I flicked the lure clear and in an instant it was smashed by a pike of five or six pound. This spot was producing some great sport and it was fish after fish. I then got another knock and I was in to a fish again. Not quite sure at first what it was, we then got a quick glimpse of a decent pike. It then woke up and put a full on bend in to my rod. There wasn't much I could do but let it rip line off. It headed for the snags under the bridge and my rod was bent right under the boat. Wow this fish has some power. Finally I got it to the surface and was pleased to see a nice pike of eleven or twelve pound. May be I should have grabbed a quick photo thinking back, but at the time all we were thinking about was the fish getting back to rest and also about catching more fish. Not sure exactly but we probably picked up 25-30 fish this one spot.



The sport eventually eased up and we moved off for some more trolling, picking more fish up along the way. We still had a good amount of water in front of us but instead decided to turn back. If we kept up the catch rate all the way back to the boat launch that would take up the rest of the day, so we didn't have time to go much further upstream. We made it back to the spot where we'd had so much success and decided to test our luck, tied up again and started jigging the kopytos. I think Woody was in before I'd tied up the boat so at least some fish were back in the spot. My first cast, and after a few jigs I felt a good hit. As it came up I was thinking  a decent perch before finally it was panic stations again as we spotted the chunky stripy. Not quite as big as the one Woody had but it went two pound on the scales and I was very happy at that.

The troll back to the launch produced fish after fish. The tally kept going up and each target was met and a new target was aimed for. Forty fish, fifty fish, sixty fish it was bloody great sport. Every fish was welcome and each gave us as much pleasure as the last one. What a day, what a cracking bit of fun we had. We pulled the boat in, unpacked the gear, hauled her up on to the trailer and headed off home. The final tally of fish to the boat for the day ended at eighty seven. A mixture of pike and perch, probably 60% perch at a guess. They fell to multiple trolled lures, jerks baits and jigged soft plastics. I reckon Woody had a good few more fish than I did too, easily fifty fish I'd say though I don't think either of us cared who had what it was just great to be out on such a day. Cheers Woody.

By the way, sorry about the lack of photos. I managed to leave my camera in the boot of my car. Woody took a couple of photos so if I can grab those off him I'll add them later.

Ultralite trolling with Chief

After getting out with Woodchucker the other week I was invited again to go out on the boats. This time there was to be two boats, with me and Neil (Chief) in his boat and Woody and Grant in the other. The river was in decent condition, the weather was pretty hot and we had the intention of using ultralite set ups to catch plenty of fish and have some good fun. I'd only previously met Neil once, bumping in to him on the local river as I went for a roam and had ventured in to his territory but we'd chatted before on the forums plenty and he actually lives only a couple of miles from me. Grant was new to both me and Neil but everyone knew Woody and we all share the same cyberspace. Grant seemed a good chap, up for a laugh with the lads, a good fisherman and plenty of knowledge, not bad at all for a Lancastrian but unfortunately he'll have to live with that large fault.

Woody rubbing it in

The bit of mist that had been rolling across the fields had started to lift by the time we got to our launch ramp. As we unpacked the gear we hit on our first problem. Woody had no power but after a bit of a fiddle Grant tracked it down to a loose connection on the battery. Having no power, and no fish finder would have been a bad thing especially when the aim was to help Neil set up and test his boat and fish finder. We got in the river and set off, only to then fall on another problem. Neil seemed to be having trouble with his fish finder. After lots of faffing around and head scratching, he found a bit of loose wiring. This didn't look good and we were getting nothing on the screen. While all this was going on, Woody and Grant were patrolling and bagging a few jack pike and perch just to rub it in. Neil was getting a bit frustrated as I would have been had it been my kit.These things happen and not everything goes to plan. While Neil carried on wiggling wires I had a few casts and got a pike of about three and half pounds. Then our luck changed and there was life in the fish finder. Whatever Neil had done had sorted it and off we went in search of some fish. There was a chance the dodgy wire could fail again at any time but at least for now we had some real time information to help us.

Neil gets his first fish

We got going and not too long in to the ride Neil bagged his first fish. I think that was a moment of relief for him and made him feel much better about everything. Hopefully now we could just concentrate on fishing, if only that cable would hold up. We then picked up the odd small perch or small pike between us and things were looking up.

Woody and Grant were now ahead of us and we could see them picking up fish too and the sun was starting to get a hold and warming up nicely. Neil then had a take but this time it felt a bit better, especially on a very light set up. I could see a good bend in the rod and as it came closer we figured a net be of use this time and then as the pike came to the surface we could see the first double figure fish of the day. I scooped up the fish, Neil got the hooks out and we both noted how slim the pike was. Had this fish been in better condition it would have been a mid double at least instead of a low one of around eleven pound, but still it was a great fish to catch on the ultralites.

Small lure big mouth

Pity this fish wasn't in top condition

When using a boat you have a few advantages, you're more mobile and can cover lots of water and lots of places you can't reach from the bank. Another advantage is the use of the fish finder, keeping an eye out for features, depth and fish. Neil had spotted an interesting spot on the fish finder and then hooked the double, so he made a call to return to the same spot and go over it another time. This call paid off when Neil hooked another good fish. This one not as long, but certainly in much better condition. Great result and a good bit of skippering. Neil was on a good run now and seemed to have the fish finder troubles left behind.

Good conditioned 8lb pike

We'd notched up a few fish between us by now and it was good sport. I then got my first decent knock of the day and was playing a fish. It felt a bit bigger and was putting up a great scrap, but I knew it was nothing in the league of either of those last two fish from Neil. Then as the fish neared the boat, the flash of stripes greeted us. Neil quickly got a hold of the fish and scooped it in to the boat. What a lovely perch, I was made up. This one went in the bag to be weighed and Neil told me it was two pound seven ounces. Not a monster by perch standards, but a lovely fish and one which I am now claiming as my pb perch, since i've never really weighed them or photographed many. It's always great to notch up a new pb and I was chuffed. That would do me for the day even if I caught nothing else. I was also glad I'd purchased the new ultralite rod because I could much more appreciate the fight this fish had in it.

2lb 7oz pb perch

We plugged on and again picked up a few more perch and pike between us with a couple more decent perch each well over a pound. Meeting up with Grant and Woody they were having similar results and Woody had bagged a nice perch over two pounds. I don't know what it was, but every time we went near that other boat, Neils fish finder would play up. The other two headed up stream while Neil tried to get some pictures back on his screen. I made a few casts to the bank and I had what felt like a hit but didn't hook. I cast back at it and felt something in the same spot again, but wasn't sure if it was a bit of a twig or something under the surface. I figured on another cast because I was certain that at least the first knock was a fish and there it was, fish on. It wasn't a big fish but as it came in to view it was a pleasant sight indeed, another pb for me. I've caught plenty of chub in my time, but this was my first lure caught chub, what a cracking result.

pb lure caught chub

We had a bit of a quiet spell with not much showing. The fish finder blinked on and off a couple of times but Neil kept managing to get some life back in to it. with Woody and Grant now visible in the distance we could see Woody was dealing with something, possibly a lump? As we got closer the boat chat told us he'd actually hooked a bream, foul hooked in the dorsal fin. We exchanged banter and threw lots of abuse at Woody, it seems that's what happens on these double boat trips. Woody is man enough to take it and dish a bit out, but I'm not so sure he's keen on those bream though.

Woody

Loves

Bream

We parted company again and me and Neil bagged a few more fish each. I had a couple of small pike totally engulf the lure and so too did Neil. The pike had seemed to have switched off and it had mainly been perch for a while but these couple of small jacks appeared and really did hit the lures.

These pike were hammering the lures

Again we caught up to the other two and could see in the distance Woody was dangling a carrier bag in the water, the carrier bag obviously full of water and a fish inside. They were saving something good we knew that and as we got there we were greeted with the sight of another clonking perch, this one falling to Grant and weighing in at two pound eight ounces.

Grants 2lb 8oz perch

We stopped off at a pikey looking spot and proceed to throw the larger lures around. Woody bagged a couple and there were quite a few follows, some decent fish too. I managed to hook one on the reel eel, felt a couple of head shakes and then it made a dive for under the boat. Unfortunately the hooks came out and I didn't get to see how big a pike it was. We headed up stream ad then Neil realised he was half way in to his fuel supply. This journey, accompanied by another boat, was to find the cracks and iron out the creases and Neil was getting those sorted. We'd covered plenty of water but I think this trip convinced Neil to bring his larger fuel can next time. We turned round and headed back downstream and to be honest much of the fishing was a bit quiet. We soaked up lots of sun, unhooked the odd snagged lure and passed a few pleasure boaters. Even though the fish didn't seem to be coming out now it was still a great way to spend the day. Finally we started to pick up a few more perch with the odd pike thrown in and at least this way we were finishing off with more fish instead of a bit of a lull. Neil then hooked into another half decent perch but somehow between trying to get a photo of the perch with lure still in it's mouth, instead we ended up with Neil and the perch attached to each other. I helped separate the two, leaving the new fishing badge to be seen in the trophy shot.

Neil with his Blue Peter fishing badge

Meeting back up again it was clear the run downstream hadn't been as fruitful but we'd all still picked up some fish each. We had one final fling nearer to the launch ramp, swapping between large lure, ultralites and even doing a spot of jigging. I'm not sure much more was caught here but I did pick up another small perch and pike jigging with some small soft 4plays to cap off a great day for me. I'm sure the other three enjoyed the day too. Plenty of fish caught, some nice perch, a double figure pike, a bream and a chub. I know my own tally was 8 pike, 13 perch and a chub. I even managed to bag more perch today than I have the whole year so far and I guess that's plenty to do with actually targeting the properly instead of half arsed like normal.  Neil had a similar result to me with a couple of extra pike to his tally than I did. This time out on the boat we achieved what we'd set out to do and that was have some fun on the ultralites and let Neil test his new (ish) boat set up.

Cheers for the invite lads what a cracking day!

2012 pike tally 

Doubles 29

Total 186

Largest 22.5lb
Twenties - 2
Bonus Perch 22
Largest 2lb 7oz
Bonus chub - 1

Trolling with Woodchucker - Part 2

So off we set, armed with the heavier set ups in the water, dipping them in the water for a troll then lifting them out and moving up river a bit faster when it didn't seem fishy. The river changed and went from a wide river to a much narrower one. The banks were lined with willows and occasionally we'd spot an angler or two on the banks, hidden away tucked behind a bush. The rain was holding off and we were even promised a bit of sunshine if it could just break through those clouds. At least we were drying out a little by.

We found a bit of water that looked good to troll the lures again. Still coloured and still probably much more murky than we'd have wanted. Woody kept me up to date with depths and would advise even before we hit a bit of water which lure to chuck on. "Something that hits 12 feet mate" or "get a big one on that gets down, it reaches 20 feet plus here." sometimes you could stick with the lure that seemed to hit the average depths while others a total change was needed. We hit a shallower stretch of water where the depth was mostly about twelve feet and so I stuck on a SG lowrider. I've caught on them before and will use them in murky water, retrieving them fast to make use of the vibrations they give off. It looked good to me in the water and providing I could get it down it should do a job.

I felt a thumb, the rod bent and I felt a few thumps in the distance behind the boat. This was a fish and Ade quickly stopped the boat. It's a bit misleading I found, the fish being towed for a short while way back down river feels like a right lump (and I was on heavy gear) but until you can get the boat stopped and get it closer it's tough to figure out just how big it is. Unless as Woody explained, it's under about five pound and then the force of the boat usually brings it straight to the top. This one was still giving it a bit and all though not a double is was the best fish we'd had so far and more importantly for me it was my first trolled fish. I was a happy chappy. It was a decent jack with a huge head on it for it's size. It gave a bit more of a scrap at the boat showering me with water. Woody got me a souvenir photo and we put it back.

First trolled pike

We moved further up river but nothing else was caught from the bits of water we trolled. We came to a bit of the river which opened up slightly, with the main flow down one side and on the inside had the odd slack bit of shallow water. Woody stopped the boat, it looked like a place a pike may lie up. We quickly switched to the rainbow and the Burt again, cast to the shallows and started jerking (woah, that sounds wrong) retrieving. A pike nailed Woody's Burt in no time, a bit of a tussle and then a few head shakes and then we got a glimpse. A good sized fish and the net was going to be needed for this. The fish went round the other side of the boat and I sorted the net, and then Woody led her in and she was safe. A nice double in the boat and we put her at about 14lb without bothering with the scales. I clicked away and got a few photos, Ade unhooked her and we got the mugshots done before slipping her back. The first double of the day and possible sign of things looking up, whatever happens it was a gorgeous fish.We put that fourteen down as a bonus fish, and a well earned one at that. Having initially set our plans on either trolling or motoring up to the weir, we'd spotted what looked like an opportunity for a fish. Yet again it showed that if your original plan isn't working you have to adapt, change and spot a chance for a fish and the rewards can be very pleasing indeed.

Decent sized lump

Trophy shot of the 14lber

We thrashed a little more in the area and I felt a small hit but no hooks set in. We moved off and Woody decided he wanted to troll with his Squirrely Burt and within less than a minute he had success as a small jack lunged. I think I need a Squirrelly Burt in my collection, it's not a bad lure is it.

We moved off up to the weir pool we'd been heading for. There was a bit of water in and you could see the brown stained water coming over the weir. The fish were here if we could find them. There were slack pools, deep pools, fast water, shallow bays and sheltered walls to target. We both cast toward the bank where it was a bit shallow and Ade picked up a jack and I lost one off. Drifting around there were more signs of pike with the odd missed take or brief sighting of one. I managed to land a small jack and Woody bagged a couple more while in between all that we stuffed a pasty down our necks and even managed to take in a bit of hot sun. The weir pool seemed to be surrounded by occasional anglers and they seemed to look at us boat men with a bit of envy as we moved in and fished all the places they had no chance of reaching.

Deciding we needed to make tracks we set off back down the river with the idea of doing a spot more trolling. We were in the area of where Woody caught the fourteen and the slacks looked inviting, I couldn't resist casting to the bank to start my trolling off as Woody started to speed up the boat. I jerked it a couple of times and then a pike crashed in to it breaking the surface. Another jack of no notable size but one that was appreciated none the less. Thinking back about it, maybe the conditions had pushed most of the pike in to the shallower slacks away from the main flow.

Jumping between making tracks and having a dabble at trolling we covered a bit of river on our journey home. I managed to hit a snag at one point while we were motoring a little and as Woody fought to slow the boat, I watched as line was stripped at lightening speed from the reel. I was glad I'd got plenty on or it could have been fun.

Nothing much more of note happened but there was time for one last bit of fun. In the distance behind the boat my lure was just tapping the bottom every now and again. I then felt a "thump" but I called "snag" only to change my mind as I felt something "thump" back. I held my rod up, and it went again, "thump, thump". It's a fish, I can see and feel my rod randomly tugging back. As I pull the fish closer I'm cautious to claim it a decent fish, but it was a bit heavy. "Thump....thump, thump". Woody noted it was staying low while all the time I was trying to reel it in and up toward the surface. Finally, it broke the surface and we burst in to laughter, tears rolling down my cheeks.

Well that's a first. Shit hole seat pb

The heavens opened as we made our way back to the car in the boat. We got a right good soaking as it absolutely smashed it down. It didn't put a damper on it one bit for me though. I know Ade has much better days and he was hoping for one of those days but with the conditions, the weather and the colour of the water we didn't get as many as he had hoped. Personally I'd set my goals on meeting a top angler, learning something new, getting out on the water for the first time and if I could get a few fish I was happy. I achieved all that and more and thoroughly enjoyed it. I bagged four pike and a toilet seat and Ade says he got eight pike but I was sure he's got a couple more at least but then there was so much happening I haven't a clue to be honest. My first boat fish, my first trolled fish, I got to piss in a bottle and Woody bagged a nice pike to cap off a great day. It was great to fish with someone who you could tell knew how to fish. He knew how to fish his bit of water and also proved he could change it when the going got tough to wangle us both a fish or two. He proved his skills at trolling and casting picking fish up both ways and more importantly for me, he put me on the fish too. It was the kind of experience I would expect to pay a decent whack if I went with a guide. From that one session alone I learnt plenty, should I rush out and buy a new boat, I would be confident to tackle a river and know what I was doing rather than figuring it all out from scratch. Maybe it's time to open a secret savings account and get saving up?

Cheers Ade!

2012 pike tally 
Doubles 28
Total 170

Largest 22.5lb
Twenties - 2
Bonus Perch 8