Saturday 25 October 2008

A few hours

We have neglected the Dane a little this year
the Ribble and fly fishing responsible for
taking up much of our fishing time, also
Mike is not a member of the water on the Dane
we fish , I've fished quite a lot with him , we have
tended to fish where we can all enjoy the day
and enjoy we have looking back what a good
laugh we've had and also caught a lot of fish
along the way.

So with Mikes time for Salmon running down
he was out on his ''quest'' for old Salmo .
Phil and I decided to try for a few Grayling long
trotting .
We tried first spots at the top of the water
I hooked into two very good fish both
found snags think they were Barbel or
large Chub. Phil meanwhile was into
a shoal of Chub and managed a
Grayling .
We moved to the glide I fished last week
again I was left to regret not bringing
a net , that's two weeks running must
be my age . Hooked into another
good Grayling a lovely cock fish
over a pound . Brought it to hand
a few times before the hook slipped!
phil had another couple and I wandered
down stream to my next swim.
Second cast and as the float trundled
down the glide the float dipped the rod
was pulled round ''more like it'' few moments
later the fish was at my feet still deep
must be a ''Chub? no a Grayling!!!''
now I've been here before and guess what
hook pulled this seems to have been a big
problem last couple of months ,it's got me
questioning hooks , rod too strong and
of coarse technique it may be luck or lack
of it but I cant help but wander ?

I was now intent on just landing one I got a few small
Dace and Chub also a very small Grayling .
Phil came up he was having a move to the fast swim
we had luck with a few weeks back, he was soon
into another fish . I stuck it out and hooked a fish around
a pound and landed it ''HALLELUJAH'' I noticed at this
point a few Grayling drifting up stream past me , it
struck me that while I took the snap with the camera
I had stopped feeding, I think these fish had come up
looking for the source of feed ? I fed and watched a
dozen or so fish feed in a foot or so of water , a quick
call to Phil who I knew would be as interested as me
we took five fish from the shoal all around a pound
taking it in turn .
I spotted a much larger fish lurking at the back of the
hungry pack not sure it was a Grayling but if it was
it could be around the two pound mark , something
to dream about !! a return is now very much in my
mind sooner rather than later.

Sunday 19 October 2008

Put To The Test

I'm no kid but today was a little like a Christmas morning
the chance to try the new rod !! The rain had held off
and the weather turning cold now means you can
fish the River Dane without the plague of Minnows
attacking every run of the float . A little late ''traffic''
I arrived and made my way to a area that produces
a good amount of Grayling . On the way it was
Mushroom city all types and hundreds lined the
meadow.
The tension mounted and I could hardly wait to set up
and run the the float. The water was up but no colour
and quite cold ,I tried my banker glide for Grayling nothing!
gutted I just wanted a fish. I then hooked one in my second
swim ,at this point I realized my net was in the car
anyway the hook slipped as I brought it to hand, a nice one
over a pound but no photo .
Not to worry I have spent a lot of time on the Dane so I changed
swim again and had quite a few Grayling I then bumped a much
better one .
The rod is nice and I could tell it had a good bit of power
lower down but with a fine enough top action to make the Grayling
and Dace good fun in the fast water .
First photo of fish and rod ...... It felt good !
A typical glide on the Dane , at around 3ft deep ,always
look for a gravel bed with a swift flow if you are after
Grayling , normally you get a couple of small ones
the bigger specimens hang off the back .
If you rest the swim and feed a little between
fish you can take quite a few fish from a glide
rush and they spook I got eight from the spot.
Tried a new swim first cast a Dace quite a good
one not quite a pound but after a brief juggle dropped
it before a picture ''oops'' not going to plan .
Next cast and bang !! a great big solid lump was not
expecting a Chub in the fast water after a great fight
landed what was my best from the Dane in over
20 years of fishing her! well over 5lb plus my guess,
not very long but deep thought it was a Carp as it
turned , got a picture need some scales .
It was getting late so thought I would try a spot near
the car, I got a cracking Grayling, I put it down next
to the rod for a nice photo blumin thing jumped in!
Ended as I started but what a lovely day the Chub
put the rod to the test................''Quality''.

Thursday 16 October 2008

Avenger

Well four weeks of waiting finally ended today
with the arrival of my new rod , and much to
my joy what a quality item it appears to be .
The Normark name is very much a item
you associate with river angling and after
a few seasons with my Greys rod I thought
a change may be needed the Greys was
solid but I was not in contact the same way
that I was in the past with the fish , may seem
strange but my older stick float spliced tip was
just an extension of my arm and I only realized
how much I missed it after landing a Perch on
Pete's Drennan which was a dream to use with his
little Shimano reel .
Mike also owns a Drennan 13/15ft but on the
Ribble he worries about its strength with
that in mind I did a bit of research and after
a chat with with a very good angler on the
river who owned the Mk1 Avenger my
mind was set . The big draw back the
£399 price tag the rod retailed more like
£299 but still a lot of money .
So on to the world wide web and after a
search the price came down£260,£240
and finally just a shade under £200 the
fact that Shimano have now taken Normarks
parent company over and Normark in effect
are no longer producing the rod made the
hunt harder . After finding a couple up for
sale on E-bay I thought a bid may be worthwhile
I did not have the money to buy one at full price
and resided my self to a wait but a last minute £120
bid secured it .......... ''yes'' nearly as good as landing
a fish .
My next search is for a closed face reel
this will allow me to carry a few options,
in slow water with a light float the pin
can be a bit of hard work the closed face
will be much better ,also a waggler could be
used and seeing they come with a couple of
spools my options will be increased the
search is on for a cheap Abu 704 watch
this space .

Sunday 12 October 2008

A...n..d ..... Relax

Today was a chance to snatch a few hours
out , I sort of had a plan to nip down to the
river Dane. I was up early with the kids
Logan was doing his school project Scarlett
had found a new love for Mince pie's .


I had just made breakfast when
Melanie's Mum n Dad arrived, we got
talking and looking at old photos
and before we realized the morning
had almost gone.
Mike phoned to say he may snatch
a few hours on my local brook?
I had sort of built my hopes on a few
Grayling alas the better part of me said
I should take the kids to the park
and then catch the last couple of hours
with Mike and so it turned out
.

The little brook is shallow and it's hard to
believe the quality of fish you can catch
Mike was busy fishing when I arrived.


Setting up light for the Roach is a must the
better one's are shy fluro line 1.10lbs with
a 20's hook under a little float does the job
I use a pole float it's just rite. Again I use
the same method I feed and don't rush to
fish . A steady trickle of Maggots today's
choice was regularly fed while I fixed up
the rod . First run and first fish not a bad
start . A a few seconds later I was into a
better fish my hopes for a Roach where
dashed an out of season Trout the culprit,
a quick snap , I wrote a few weeks back
on how well marked the fish from this brook
are the photo shows what I mean.

Mike was well impressed he soon was looking
at my set up and was changing his float
and the results were instant.
We both had a good amount of quality Roach
at a rough guess we had 30 odd fish between
us almost all Roach ...... 2 Trout and a perfect
little Pearch.


We carried on into the evening and Mike
finally called it quits when he lost the ability
to see . A nice few hours spent with good
company after a week at work it's a case of
get on the bank..... A...n..d....Relax all ready
for a new week .

Saturday 4 October 2008

Abstraction

Glen Lyon: River Lyon from Bridge of Balgie
I was thinking of great places I've fished and one
place is the river Lyon in Scotland, a place I must
return to at some point . The photo above just
about does it credit , it's some years since I was
last on the banks ,and apparently like so many
other rivers water abstraction has paid a toll
on the amount of fish in the river .
The Hodder is another example of the effect
dams can have on a water way . I have no
evidence but I can almost without doubt say
the fish numbers have declined in such rivers.
The Hodder is now much slower flowing
and is more silty than a few years back
I'm sure this effects the insect life? looking
under stones during the summer I found
fewer critters in the Hodder than the Ribble
especially Baitis .
This in turn will effect the amount of Parr
both Trout and Salmon I'm sure not just that but
rate of growth .
Even so I would love to go back to a most
beautiful part of the country.

Friday 3 October 2008


I was reading Steve Dobson's Blog (linked on here)
when the post below caught my eye .................

I was driving home from a backwoods-fishing trip one time and stopped at a roadside farm market. They had the usual corn and tomatoes but I noticed the proprietor sipping from a cup of something with obvious enjoyment.

He soon offered me a glass of the best home-made, Apple Brandy I had ever tasted. I ended up buying a bottle to take home with me.

As I pulled back onto the road, I saw a local man hitchhiking. Because the trip would be long and quiet, I stopped the car and the man climbed in.

During the small talk, the man kept glancing surreptitiously at the
brown bag on the front seat between us.

"If you're wondering what's in the bag," I said, "it's a
bottle of Apple Brandy. I got it for my wife."

The man was silent for awhile, nodded several times and said, "Good
trade."

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"Life is but a dream?"

"... on a good day of fishing, the job, the noise and clutter ... fade away until there is only water and the rhythm of the rod and, now and then, a fish."

-Random Phrump

''A Thought''

A simple philosophy I have adopted over the years has been tested and re-enforced in the past few weeks. It is to celebrate those good and pleasing things encountered in daily life, no matter how small, with at least the same vigour as I bemoan the bad or merely vexing.
-Steve Dobson


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