Wonderful weather!!!

No Perch.... but this little chunk made up for it!

I managed to get a few hours in briefly last Thursday afternoon on my club water after the Perch again. I met up with my good pal 'Taffy' for a good chin wag and hopefully a stripey or two. Things started slowly and none of us seemed to be near a fish whatsoever.

I decided to move a swim round and placed a rod on either side of my swim into the marginal shelf areas. I baited with CBS River Monster glugged Prawns and loose fed red maggots, prawns and CBS Pro Fish Groundbait.

Taffy was the only one to manage a Perch!

It took a little while before the fish came into the swim and the Perch seemed very distant and all bar impossible to catch this last week. I started to get a few odd twitches but after loosing a perch I felt I wasn't going to have much luck for the day.

Sitting it out as long as possible.....

A few moments later the left hand rod sprung into life and I found myself lent into another one of the lakes fine Mirror Carp. Not the intended species but hay-ho, it was a fish on a tough afternoon! A quick snap and she tipped the scales at 12lb 9oz. A nice Mirror and a blank saver. Taffy managed a little Perch around a pound but that was all the action we had with the perch for the evening.

Mid day sun!

My next session out was with good friends Cerri Jones and Joel Biddle up to the amazing Dolygaer Reservoir in Brecon. Needless to say we chose about the worst bloody weather conditions to go fishing in! The start of the day saw relentless heavy rain and severe strong winds blowing up the valley from the South. We opted to get behind some bankside cover on the West Bank and tucked ourselves away with 2 rods each out for the Pike.

The Hail was relentless and heavy!

We all chose different baits and techniques to find out what worked best on the day. There is a small river bed that seems to run across the area we fished and we targeted this area with a good mixture of deadbait and ledgering techniques.

Then the snow came too!

Things started off very slowly and it wasn't much before 11.30am before the first piece of action occured. This was on my left hand rod with a Mackerel presented hard on the bottom in about 12-15 feet of water.

All we could do was hide in the shelter!

The run started gently and built up to a slow spool spinner! I lent into a nice curve and it wasn't long before the first fish was in the bag. A nice Jack of about 6-7lbs. Not the intended monster female but at least a fish!

We sat it out all afternoon for little all else. Joel lost a fish on a Plug and Ceri pulled out of one on a deadbait as well.....I had a few gentle pulls that turned into nothing as well. We think possibly the Pike were biting very gently and were more than likely very small too.

Not much to talk about in size but intended species achieved!

The high light of the day though had to be the incredible changes in the weather throughout the day....Like I said it started very wet and windy from the South but the sun came out at around 1pm for an hour before the real change when the wind swapped round to the North...This brought with it the most incredible hail ive ever seen! This carried on for almost an hour before turning to snow!

The temperature dropped like a stone and with the road looking ever more impassable by the second, we opted to head home! I really fancy another go at the place though as it has some wonderful scenery and some cracking fish, if you can find them that is!

Perch PB!

It's been a few weeks since I got out on the bank last, mainly due to my continued bad health really. I've set my alarm early to get up and go fishing and next thing I know I'm sat drinking coffee at 5pm wondering how on earth I've managed to sleep all day! Not good.....Hopefully the doctors will be able to sort out the fatigue issue at my appointment, if it ever comes???

wet and bloody miserable...

I forced myself up at 9am this morning, despite setting the alarm for far earlier....and eventually headed out around midday. I decided to pay a trip to my local club water again in search of that elusive big Sergeant I've been wanting for so long. As some of you will know from a previous one or two blog posts, Ive had a couple of nice ones to low 2lbs but struggled to get among the really big girls.

With the continued wet and windy, but mild weather in tow, I guessed I may well be in with a bit of a chance as it was lovely and overcast. I decided to try a new swim as my regular ones have been slaughtered over the last 12 months and I think that

Everything you need for a big stripey!

the fish may well be wising up to this...It was a bit further to walk but with light weight, skimmed down tackle I didn't mind. I'd dug out my 1.75tc specimen rods and coupled them up to my centerpin reels with some 8lb main line. I've really wanted to catch a decent perch on a pin for as long as I can remember!

I set up two rods, both with the exact same set up on each. A small 1/3 oz square pear lead, freerunning up to a small CBS rubber bead and size 11 swivel. Then a short section of 6lb 12oz fluorocarbon hook length to a CBS Trident size 4 hook. This was swung down the margins either side of the swim into the deeper water just off the marginal shelf. Bait wise, I chose to give them a nice chunky Tiger Prawn glugged in CBS Carp Bait Specialists River Monster Dip with DMPT. This gave off a really pungent fishy smell and a lovely oily slick! Over the top of this I plopped a couple of handfuls of maggots, CBS Fishmeal Groundbait and prawns mashed up into a groundbait mush. I kept this going in every half hour or so until I started to get some interest.

Stunning winter common of 18lb 15oz!

My first bit of action was on the left hand rod around 3pm. A short sharp take signaled a hooked fish and a few seconds later a pretty little Perch was sat looking at me. Not the chunk I'd been after but very welcome all the same! The next hour was very frustrating as I had numerous very quick takes which ended in nothing other than a missed opportunity? I decided to make a change to the set up and swapped the hook set up over to a short hair rig with the prawn dangling just below the bend of the hook. This did the trick and a few minutes later the right hand rod whizzed off at a rate of knots! There was no way this was a Perch! Out towards the middle of the pool it went with me hanging on like a scalded child! What a scrap on the pin with lightweight gear! While I was playing the Carp I had a run on the other rod, which was distinctly more 'Perchy' in its development. The fish was off before I had the opportunity to engage it and I felt a little gutted to have been engrossed with the carp when it was the Perch I really wanted to catch! Still, this looked a decent enough fish!

another carp on perch tactics!

Eventually I sunk the net under the fish and I suddenly felt very privileged to have caught a beautiful dark golden winter common of 18lb 15oz!  I took a couple of nice pics with the remote and put her back for someone else to enjoy!

My next fish was on the left hand rod and I was again into yet another carp. I was starting to feel a little disappointed as it was really the Perch I so wanted! This one was a less pretty mirror of around 10lbs. I introduced a little more bait to both swims and almost instantly started to get liners and odd twitches.


There was no real signs of surface life in the swim and with the light fading fast and more torrential rain falling by the second, I felt my chances were quickly diminishing! Another quick take signaled yet another carp....this one only a small common at around 6lbs. I repositioned the bait and had a couple of missed opportunities come next as I was pouring a coffee and taking a pee! Not at the same time of course! Eventually the light got the better of my session and I had to start packing away. Under torch light from my head lamp, I loaded all my gear into its bags and just left the two rods laying on the floor at the front of the swim until last. You just never know when a rogue chunk may be sat waiting until the last minute to nail your hook bait!

Well worth the wait! 3lb 5oz New PB Perch!

Well, I got the brolly down and one rod packed away, when suddenly the right hand rod ratchet sounded and the tip of the rod wobbled violently. A good Perch take I was sure!.......A few seconds later and I was hooked into what I was sure was going to be my star fish for the evening! Suddenly a large spikey dorsal fin flashed on the surface and it then became apparent that I'd hooked one of the much bigger ones at last! I finally sunk the net under the fish, after a torrid couple of uncomfortable minutes and looked down at my prize!!!! Wow, this fish was going to no doubt break my 3lb 3oz PB!
The scales don't lie and she tickled them round to a magical 3lb 5oz! Wonderful......I couldn't believe my luck! At last I'd caught a nice big Stripey! A few pics taken with the self take remote and back she went.....What a result. So pleased. I'm off out on Sunday with Joel and Ceri for the day Pike Fishing in the Brecons, so I'll look back and tell you all how we get on then.

Tight lines
Keith
x

Wet but mild

Lovely day on the Wye
but crap fishing!

Happy New Year Guys & Girls!

Well, it's hear and by god has it bought with it some horrific weather conditions! We spent last summer screaming out for a bit of rain and now we've got far far too much!

Typical! Albeit it has meant that the weather has been unusually mild for the time of year. Even up here in the Welsh hills its been 8-10 deg C at night! Unheard of in late December and January.... I have unfortunately been too unwell to enjoy it for the best part though.

Tough fishing in wet and
cold conditions

Since late October my health has slowly deteriorated and I've found myself struggling to get by from day to day with immense chronic fatigue and many other health problems including stomach issues and a very low blood count.

Standard for the day...Under the brolly!

This has meant many doctors appointments and as we speak I'm awaiting a referral to the Hematology department to find out exactly whats causing the problems.

The Tench loved the CBS Micro Boilies!!!!!

Anyway, despite the crappy weather and even crappier health issues, I did manage to get out for the day with my mate Joel Biddle just before Christmas for a day on a low and clear River Wye, in search of Monster Snappers!

The day passed by with no action and apart from Joel loosing a big fish to a snapped wire trace, we came home empty handed!

 We decided we'd start the New Year with a day session on one of our club ponds with just lightweight match gear. The 1st came round quickly and we met up at in the morning around 8am.

Our first choice venue fished very hard and after 3 hours of sitting without a sniff....we decided to change venue and fish another small club pond. A short 15 min drive later and we were setting up next to each other and trying to stay dry under our brollies while the wind and rain had other ideas!

Winter Crucian fun!

JB started on the waggler and I started on the 8m pole. Chopped meat cubes were chosen as bait and a few quick small carp made for a good starter for six! Things then died off as quick as they'd started and despite plugging away at it and Joel loosing a good fish from the off, things turned very tough! All we could bag were a few odd skimmers, roach and perch.

A change over to CBS micro boilies and things again started to happen. Joel went on the straight lead and I opted for a pellet scoop feeder and we instantly started to get among some better fish again.

I managed a lovely Crucian of around a pound and a half and Joel started to find a few nice Tench. This carried on for about 2 hours until the light started to ebb away finally and just as we were thinking of calling it a day, I had a good pull round and a great scrap started. The fight lasted around 5-6 minutes and it was clear this was a slightly better fish than we'd been catching all day.

A lovely end to the day ... 11lb 6oz common on a
CBS Micro Pear drops boilie and 3lb hook length!

I finally sunk the net under a stunning common of 11lb 6oz. A great end to a very tough but thoroughly enjoyable day. We managed to catch no less than 7 different species of fish from a water with lots of fresh, cold water influx from the stream and rain fall. The day ended as it had started with an immense down pour that drenched us and all our kit! Lovely!