Thursday 17 January 2008

White Water Chub (phils day)


The recent rain as put a temporary stop on the rivers , so while posting a message on a forum ;passing away the hours till my next outing; I mentioned white water Chub so I visited the blog and discovered Phil had posted a write up . He describes the day very well .......................
Blogger phil-k said...

The fishing I did on my local Irwell had always been to find a fairly slow section of river to trot a stick float through.With my limited knowledge about river fishing it seemed reasonable that this is where the fish would be as opposed to the fast stretches where the fish would have to hold against a strong current.
Anyway me and Tony had started to fish the Ribble together and one of our early trips found us on a busy Ribble with lots of Barbel anglers on the river with the usual two rods & heavy ledgering approach.
We have no interest in this type of fishing preferring to use the stick float and a centrepin.
A long walk was needed to escape the barbel brigade but this meant having to fish a stretch that would have suited white water rafting.
Tony was not put off by this one bit.Had I been on my own I would probably have gone home and what an experience I would have missed.

Tony waded up to a point where the current was strongest and he was physically pushing against the force of the current to get to a position he obviously had his eye on.I thought he must be mad.After a short while he was into a big fish and after a mamoth fight he landed a 4 1/2 lb chub.

After releasing the fish he immediately said'right,it's your turn'.
Not wishing to offend this generous offer I waded up to the white water and every step was a huge effort against the mass of water being forced through a gully between the rock plates.If I had slipped I think I would have ended up hundred yards down stream but still I battled on against the tirade of water as now the noise of the rushing water was becoming ever louder.

Tony was behind me the whole time egging me forward to the 'spot'.
The 'spot' was in fact an area of slow water at the edge of the fast water and the technique was to cast accross the fast water to an area of a couple of metres of slow water whist allowing the wind to get behind the line to lift it high behind the float and in the air so that the current couldn't drag the float into the fast current.
This was no easy task whilst trying to stay stood upright and feed the swim with maggots.

After 10minutes the float buried and I struck and the rod arched in an alarming curve as the fish gave its tremendous first run away from me reaching for the far bank.
Maintaining a tight line I began walking backwards in an effort to get out of the raging current back to my own bank.I nearly lost my footing on the slippery pebbles under foot but slowly crept back still maintaining contact with the fish and holding it in its position on the far side.
Once on firmer ground I felt a surge of relief to be in the slack shallow water of the near back and in the relative quiet I could now think about gaining line on this fish.
The best was yet to come though as when gaining line the fish came into the fast water between me and it and I felt the centrepin whizz round under my thumb as the fish ran downstream in the white water.
Time again I managed to get it into the nearside slacks and time again it would get back into the strong current and I would feel the pin whizzing round under my thumb.
After a while it began to tire and Tony told me to change the angle of the rod.This appeared to confuse the fish and it was soon in the net.What an awesome scrap and a lovely fish.

Cheers Phil

Sunday 6 January 2008

Dane and Centerpin ................Chub



Had a few hours to spare so decided to take Logan for a bit of fresh air . A trip to the River Dane , just needed Phil to be there for the scales or could get a pair myself the ones I have are not that good .


We had a couple of hours to spare and seeing there had been a break in the weather me and my little lad Logan decided on a bit of fresh air . So we set off for the River Dane . The stretch of River is owned by Bay Of Malton which we joined last year , I have however fished this water from being a boy ,even back then we spent more in a years day tickets than the membership fee we paid last year , at least some things are cheaper today.
We walked down the river stopping to ask anglers ;all sat behind Avon type rods, fishing pellets or the like for Barbell, which now seems the normal approach on most rivers I fish ; ''much luck ''the reply from all came back the same'' no nothing doing '' ''waisting your time today''ect...ect...
This seems to be normal response , seeing my approach with float and center pin seems to bring me fish on most visits this does not dishearten me in the slightest .
The river has changed , not just in character as small swift ones like her do , but now for instance she holds a good few Grayling . It was they that occupied my mind as we made our way along the bank, Logan was busy breaking ice which had formed on every puddle , generally just enjoying himself being outside . It may be my fault but he does not have the freedom I enjoyed as a kid , if he plays on the street I make some excuse to be in the garden , god forbid even clean the car . At his age I would be down the woods with my mates , today such places would be off limits I'm afraid ,at least something to be said for being a kid in the 70's .
We tried a couple of spots before we fell on some fish , half a dozen or so Chub between one and two pound followed in the next hour all on float fished maggot . The bites seemed to come as I held the float back along a crease between fast and slow water . It was on the legendary last cast ;by this time Logan was with me holding the rod as I tried to show him how to let the float trickle down to the rite spot , he has had a Grayling on the pin before; that the float dipped and we lifted into something more solid , I held the spool back and felt every thud from the fish as it tried to reach some sunken tree it turned just in time I was just thinking we may have got a Barbell when a pair of white lips broke the surface '' it's a beauty Dad '' Logan looked at me his eyes wide and alert he picked the net up and got it first time .
We took a couple of snaps and made our way back to the car , Logan still finding every new icy puddle to jump on .
So our couple of hours, caught a few fish , all better than playing a video game or watching the TV but would I or more importantly would Logan have enjoyed it if we had gone home after sitting watching the top of a motionless rod tip?
New year.... out with the new in with the old .


Friday 4 January 2008

For Brownie

I wrote this a few days ago on the fly forum , after giving a friend of mine ''Brownie''the link to this I thought I would post it , hope reading it brings a smile he often asks me to tell it after a drink or two.

Talking A Small River In Scotland

When I got my first car me and two mates decided to travel up to a small river in Scotland . The plan was to travel up on a Friday night , call in a pub have a couple of drinks and a small bite to eat , sleep in the car and fish at the break of day . I had never been on my own to the river ,previous visits had been with my dad and his mate .

All went well , we found a nice quiet pub and then in the dark managed somehow to find the little lane that led down to the farm , we parked in the lane just a few yards from the farm yard to catch a few hours sleep .

I did not know what cold was until that night, the sky was clear every star could be seen and we sat unable to sleep . The first rays of light came as a relief . So we slipped our waders on and what clothes we had in some attempt to keep the chill out , the waders were the old kind thick rubber chest waders not the lighter modern ones .

So off we set dropping the money through the farmers letterbox on our way to the river , it was about half a mile walk down the fields to the river it was a cold , cold morning. We reached the river and left my first friend at the first glide , I stopped at the second pool my other mate decided he would walk further, more in an attempt to stay warm rather than in the hope of finding more fishy haunts .

An hour passed and reaching the bottom of the pool I decided to have a walk.
I passed my mate who hardly spoke, in fact I'm sure the cold effected his brain in some way he has never been the same since and from being one of the keenest amongst us to fish he shortly after gave up completely

The next thing was at last a fish a small Grayling . My mates came down and said they would walk down to the other end of the stretch , I had had my first fish and thought a few more could be on the cards so I said I would join them later, so off they went .

After ten minutes I lost what felt a good fish , by this time I was stood mid river on an Island fishing the inside line under some trees which hung down from a steep bank . Then I noticed the trees shake I carried on with one eye now on the trees and it shook again I peered into the area but could not see anything, it shook again the noise was of something large , I picked up a stone from the island and lobbed it in the tree under arm thinking some large bird or some animal would run out instead the tree shook this time more I was a bit taken aback so I waded out towards it . I looked in but could still see nothing thinking back if it had happened now I may not have carried on but I was intrigued .

Using the end of my rod I poked in and tried to move back the branches the thing making the noise was a sheep it had fallen down the bank and it was stuck in the fork of two branches .
I was young and stuck in the middle of no where ,the only people I saw when we had fished the river before were the anglers with me . So back up the hill to the farm by this time the morning chill had started to wear off with the walk I knocked on the farm door told the farmer who looked at me and said ''can you not get it out'' It's half way up a tree I said , Ah well leave it he said

I was gob smacked and made my way back down the hill by this time I had decided to have a go at moving it, my mates were at the other end of the river so I was on my own .
Back at the tree I tried to climb down , the bloody thing tried to bite me I'm sure, so I slid down the bank climbed the tree and from below sort of piggy backed the sheep up and out of the tree by this time I was exhausted and sweating the walk and wrestling the sheep with the waders and extra clothes had taken it's toll . The sheep could not walk it had been hanging in the tree so long its back legs must have been numb I took my coat off pulled my waders off my shoulders and lay catching my breath .The sheep was sort of half walking away I swear it kept looking at me as if I had done something instead of saving it's life .

So the picture is the sheep's walking off dragging its back legs looking over it's shoulder bleating at me I'm laid with my waders half down out of breath sweating ............. then this bloke appears walking his dog , not one person on our previous visits middle of no where ''typical'' . He looks at me then looks at the sheep and without saying a word he's made his mind up what I've been up to and to be honest I would of thought the same .
I will never forget his face his look of disgust .

I tell this story totally fact I often wonder if he tells the tale of lad and the sheep too , by the side of a little river in Scotland ...... but very slightly different
__________________

Tuesday 1 January 2008

new camera old reel



Well after seeing some fantastic photo's on forums especially the fly fishing one (linked on here)
I decided to get a new camera . I decided to take a couple of shots of my Okuma center pin and a reel my uncle John gave me , I actually received them both on the same day. I new I was getting the Okuma ,they gave me the old one first as a joke but I liked it .
Although it was used for coarse fishing I think it may have been designed as a fly reel and it is that which at some point I will use it for again .

New Year




Happy New Year .
Had a couple of hours to spare so with a doubt hanging over the rivers, and not much time to travel , we decided to have a go for some still water Roach . Plan A went wrong the first place we went was shut ! we had know idea , we don't fish these places often anyway second time lucky Phil had another water in mind . We caught a few Roach no monsters the biggest around half a pound but it gave me chance to try my new camera . Phil had the biggest fish a Mirror carp of four pound.
I had not fished this way for a while and it was quite good although the river always calls to me .

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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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