A smashing social!

Wet and bloody windy!

What a day that was! Joel and I hooked up today at Dyffryn Springs after a 3 month gap of fishing together and my little miss tagged along for the day too. I had a bit of a crap start to the day as we left home with plenty of time to get to the lake but when i got 10 miles from home I realized I'd forgotten my water proofs!

This really was a nuisance as the forecast was pretty terrible for the entire day. I had to turn back and we ended up arriving half an hour late! Sods law!

Good times!

Anyway, we had a quick chin wag with the bailiff at the lake and headed round to meet Joel who had already got his rods out on the point swim.

Joel took first blood!

Tash and I unloaded our kit and got the brolly up fairly hastily as the weather could be seen coming in from the South. It was on us in minutes and the wind was tremendous! In fact at points throughout the day it must have reached well over 50mph!

The waves on the lake were relentless and the bobbins on all six rods failed to sit remotely still at any point..... 

Joel was first to break the silence and managed 2 fish in quick succession. Tasha was next up an managed a pair too. I however had to wait a short while for my first take.

Natasha and I both fished 50p sized bags of mixed pellets over a single 14x16mm dumbell Fireball boilie.

A smasher for a smashing little girl...

The fish were all much of a muchness in sizes that ranged from around 2lbs to 5lbs with a smattering of slightly better fish up to just on ten pounds.

The bites came thick and fast and on a couple of occasions we had double hook ups and plenty of rod bending action.

We'd decided this was our best place to put the carbons in to action and the decision was proving a good one. By lunch time we had caught about 5 or 6 fish each. 


Natashas rods were seemingly doing better than both mine and Joels though and she started to tear away with the fish qty lead by a mile!

Old baldy got amongst them too!

Single hook baits appeared to work well for the better fish and Tash found a few of these happy to grab up her Fireball single bottom baits.

The wind gradually got worse throughout the day and torrential rain throughout the morning made keeping dry impossible and making small pva bags even worse! God only knows how much of the stuff went to waste with wet hands and dripping rain from the brolly whilst baiting up!

Well in Mr Biddle!

Anyway, the short and curlys of it were that we had a cracking day tiddler bashing and an even better social, which was very needed!  

Joel managed 11 carp, I had 12 carp and a skimmer and Natasha slayed us all with 13 carp and a skimmer! Well done little Miss!

Right, I have a few days off planned now so see you all on the flip side of the Easter break!

Keith x

Break through at last!

Hi guys....

Well after 2 blank sessions on my little pool and numerous other quiet recent trips, I've finally broken the silence with a nice little fish.

I decided to take the trip over to the intimate little water Wednesday afternoon after work and turned up as usual to an anglerless venue! Great! I opted to fish the same swim I've been targetting through the past fortnight as it contains a variation in depth from 3 feet to 8 feet with a lovely mid pool drop off area which seems to be a great spot to target.

The weed in there makes presentation a little more interesting but that's all part of the appeal of the place to me and the fact that it keeps away the majority of the numpties. I put a handful of Fireball boilies out to the left of the swim near a weed bed that borders some lily beds. I saw fish in this area last week in the warmer daylight hours. The right hand rod went out to the drop off mid pool and a good helping of baits were scattered around a 10M area.

I set up the brolly, chair and made myself a cuppa. I sat back as the light faded and the temperature dropped away. It felt like it was going to be yet another coldish evening and it wasn't long before I felt the need to snuggle up in my sleeping bag to keep warm. I sat playing a few solitaire games on my mobile and eventually started to think about sleep. I had a visitor around 8.30pm from another young angler who was putting a bit of bait in for the next evening and we chatted for a good hour before he left for the night and I settled down.

I had a couple of odd bleeps from moving fish early evening and nothing else for the rest of the night. The temperature rose a little around midnight and the rains started. It was pretty torrential and the wind picked up with it. But at least it was a little warmer and I was full of confidence for a bite at some point. I awoke to the early morning sun and clearer skies around 7am and made myself a coffee.

Sometimes the size is irrelevant! What a bloody peach of a fish!

The suns rays were quite warm down behind the bankside coverage, which was keeping the Easterly winds off me. I decided to stay a little later than I had originally anticipated and I'm glad I did as at 11.30am during my umpteenth cup of morning coffee, my left hand rod burst into life....the bobbin rose in an almost breamy, twitchy take. I got up and watched the tip. The rod tip bounced about and the line went slack. I decided it was almost probably the dreaded slime monster on the end and struck in a state of disbelief.

To my pleasure it was a carp on the end and not the dreaded snot gobbler! A really decent fight ensued and amongst the dead weed and flotsam came a stunning bronze aged common. Not the biggest fish in the small pool by far but what she lacked in size she made up for in looks! Absolutely stunning classic shape and colour which glistened in the early morning spring sunshine.

At 11lb 5oz she was never going to break any records but that really didn't matter to me in the slightest. The weather was warm, the sun shining, I had a carp on the bank and I was happy! That's all that mattered for now. To top things off I'd dealt with a lot of the crappy things in my life that needed sorting out this week and I was feeling top notch! Lets hope the weather keeps up and at last we can say a long awaited good bye to the winter which seems to of lasted for ever this year!

I'm off down to visit family with the wife and kids this week for Easter so things will be a bit quiet for a few days. I have a day booked in with my old pal Joel Biddle this Saturday at Dyffryn Springs. Just a bit of fun and the chance to bag a load of stockies hopefully. Lets hope the weathers not too bad as the forecast is abysmal at present!

Whatever your all up to this coming week or two, please do enjoy your Easter!

Love yas
K

Passes and fails!

Back on the small ponds for spring....

Welcome at last to British Springtime all! Lets hope the warm weathers just around the corner now.... The last few days have felt slightly warmer in the sun and after the magnificent solar eclipse this week, we sat in the garden and felt like we were burning in the sun!

Great stuff! The night time temperatures are still falling away pretty dramatically though and this became rather apparent last week when I did a brief double overnighter session with a mate, Tom.

The Monday evening was wet and windy but fairly mild around 3 degrees C and when we awoke Tuesday it started off warm and dry. In fact the carp could be seen milling around on the surface in one of their many summer haunts! All looked good for a take that night and I left the lake for a few hours to give my wife a last few hours driving instruction before her dreaded test that was set for the Thursday of last week. Oh, she passed with flying colours too...I'm very proud of her! Well done Marianne!

I took a bit of time out to film the solar eclipse this week.

The Monday night passed by with just a few liners and Tuesday night was considerably colder at minus 4C at the lakeside! This really put the fish back down and all we had were again a few liners to show for our efforts. Not what we wanted but at least the carp are showing signs of waking up in there at last.

The final day of the fishing season was spent on a rapidly rising River Wye in Hereford. Bob and Dougie drove up from Newbury for the day and got the tickets for us all from Woodies in Hereford. I was a little behind due to traffic and taxiing kids to school etc. We started in a large swim with very steep mud banks and my first introduction to Dougie was a very personal one! I slid straight down the mud into his waiting arms!

We sat and waited and waited and waited........and waited!

The first 2 hours were incredibly slow with nothing to show for our straight lead tactics. We decided on a move to a section slightly lower down and we split our swims up slightly. I took the head of the swim, Bob was in the middle and Dougie at the bottom. We all fished at different lengths out and I covered the very fishy looking far marginal snags. Again we struggled to get a bite and at 6.30pm we found ourselves heading back across the wet and muddy fields to the cars empty handed.

At this point I'd add that on the way back, loaded up with the usual kit on my back.....I did my usual of slipping on a slightly muddy section and ended up with my knee trapped underneath me and laying on my side. Thanks to Dougie and Bob who took the majority of kit off me as I just couldn't get back on my feet after the fall. As it happened my knee swelled up and I bruised my hip and gave myself mild whiplash too. Must remember this year to travel lighter and take it easier as I am no spring chicken anymore!

Well done Marianne. 3 minor faults and passed first time!

The blank session can only be put down to poor swim choice or/and rapidly rising river, which came up over a foot whilst we were fishing. Not the easiest of conditions at the best of times let alone in the middle of a cold spring!

I was supposed to be having an overnight session tonight at my local club lake again with Tom but he's been dragged into work for overtime and in all honesty I'm up to my eyeballs with Tax Returns and banking etc....

Not my favourite of jobs but a much required necessity I'm afraid. Not 100% sure when I'll be back on the bank at present with Easter looming and a trip down south to see family in the diary for a few days.

Hope your all in good health and I look forward to seeing some of you on the bank side again soon.

K x

Trials at Todber

A stunning Todber scene by night

Hi all.....

I was rather hoping to be writing a glowing review and massive fish report for the trip Bob and I have just returned from to Todber Manor Fishery in Dorset but unfortunately it didn't go quite as to plan as we'd have liked!

Before I start with the report I'd like to say that I by no means make a habit of knocking stuff until I've tried it for myself and fishing is fishing....we don't always catch, there are many far better anglers than that of myself and I often as much blank when others catch.....many occasions down to poor swim choice or lack of skill in locating the fish. This being said I also refuse to sit and remain quiet when I feel the need to speak out about something.

I left the house early Sunday morning and headed down to Warmwell to see my dearest mum and step dad. I get very little chance to see them these days with trips numbering maybe just twice a year at best, so when I'm in the local area it's always a treat to pop in and see them. They're always welcoming and I always get a good munch up when I visit as mums forever buying the best grub!

A damaged dorsal & broken rib were the least of it's problems!

Anyway after a late brekkie early lunchy typey thingy, I hit the road for Todber some 20 miles north of Warmwell. I arrived pretty much a minute before Bob....perfect timing. Bob was in a rather unsettled frame of mind and the journey hadn't helped him one bit. Despite feeling crap we were both rather excited about the prospect of nailing a ton of the supposed carp that were residing in Big Hayes.

After a brief but polite conversation with the chaps in the very well presented and stocked shop, we got back into the cars and headed over the road to the lakes. The drive down the lane was a little lumpy but the pools were set down in the base of some sprawling countryside and peace was something we were really looking forward to.

After being told that the center of the lake was producing the best and that 2 day ticket anglers had taken 10 fish from the middle pegs that morning, we decided to attack this area of the lake. We drove around to the two free swims to find a group of Polish fellas had taken up the middle swim with a rod and sat back in the swim next door with all their kit.....Rather annoyed I had to then set up down the lake away from the 'better area'.

Slightly better looking fish for Bob at 17lb 8oz

Bob took the island point and I settled in just below but I really wasn't feeling the swim at all. Just didn't have any confidence in where I was positioned. With crap weather heading in I had to make a decision though and settled for there. The rods were baited up and sent to their chosen spots using the bait boat. I placed around 100 freebies over each rod ready for the night ahead.

Very little happened before 10pm and my first run which resulted in the fish coming off and on observation I noticed the hook point was turned completely over....I can only put this down to a foul hooking???? Anyway, back it went out and it wasn't before 2.30am that I got another chance with a mirror of 16lb 8oz. Not the prettiest of fish by any standards and with an extreme broken rib protruding from it's flank, I was keen to get it back asap.

Another 17lber for Bobster!

Nothing else occurred until the following evening when Bob finally tagged a 17lb 8oz mirror. I was made up for him to be honest as he was feeling really down. He then proceeded to loose one which was a bit of a bugger.

I had decided to move in the morning to the first choice swim that the Polish lads were in. I then took a 14lb 10oz mirror around 3am, which had yet another broken rib protruding from it's side and half its fins missing.

The sport was excruciatingly slow all around with just one fella taking a couple of fish in 24hrs. Things were very poor and when 2 guys turned up at 10am, proceeded to spomb out around 20 kilos of pellets into the swim for their 5 hour day visit, things certainly didn't improve! Bob swim died totally and it was my turn to next grab one of 14lb 2oz. Again with a broken rib and missing fins! Not at all good as this one had a horrific parrot mouth that a Macaw would have been delighted with! I'm surprised it could even manage to eat at all.

No 2 for me

Bob finished of the captures on the final night with 2 x 17lb mirrors. One of those having a broken rib too......We were really amazed at the poor quality the fish were in. Very sad.

At this point I'd like to say that I'm not knocking the venue as i'm sure there are plenty of pretty fish in there and unfortunately many of the injuries may have occurred by piss poor angling but I cannot be certain of this.

One thing did become apparent and that was that I cannot honestly believe that there were the quantity of fish coming out that had been publicized as apparently the two fellas that packed up who supposedly had the 10 fish had actually caught 13 when reported.....We never saw a fish caught???

My final fish for the 72 hr session...

Anyway, enough with the conspiracy and stuff and in all honesty the venue is well thought out and the swims are very comfortable but it just wasn't for Bob or myself.

It felt alien and unwarming....just another hole in the ground filled with ugly fish for those that really aren't interested in a real challenge. Certainly not a venue we'd head back too in a hurry.

Fingers crossed the fishing is better on the Wye on Friday as we are hoping to get back together again for one last shot at the barbel before seasons end.

Much love to you all and keep those lines tight!
Keith x
 

 

Bit of a moan!

Hi all.

Well, my trip up the Wye this week produced absolutely zero in the fish count and left me feeling a little deflated and lost! I really don't understand what's going on with the Wye this season??? It's been very up and down at the best of times. You get down there and it looks bang on and leave with nothing....and another time you'll turn up feeling it's a lost cause and you get a good head of fish. I'm confused??? Anyway, just hoping now that the last few days of the river season chucks up a fish or two for myself and fishing partner Bob. Speaking of which....Bob and I are heading over to Todber Manor this week for 3 or 4 nights of carp and catfishing. Never been there before but the videos, pictures and reports I've seen so far appear to show a very well run and prolific fishery. Can't wait to give it a try!

Paying clients or proper friends always welcome, scroungers need not apply!

Right, I'm going to do something now which goes against my grain a little but I've got to admit that I've reached the end of my tether a bit and it's pushed me to finally open my mouth and have a dam good moan, so to those of you who aren't included in this then I apologize before we start.

Since starting fishing as a young child of 6 years old, I've seen many things on and off the bank side which have made me laugh, made me cry, made me elated and deflated.....I've made some great friends and even a few enemies along the way too. All this goes hand in hand and I admit here and now that I'm not always the easiest of people to get along with when the goings tough. The one thing that keeps cropping up though is people who seek you out to get as much from you for nothing as possible.... Recently more so than ever as I have increased my visibility as an angler and person in media and Face Book etc. I've been used in the past for peoples gain and worked for hundreds of hours with little to show than ruined friendships and partnerships. This being said, I'm now in a very happy place with my work as I'm finally doing what I want and not what others want me to do for their gain.

Bait ingredients costs money, it's not free!!!!

What really pisses me off though are the types of people that suddenly appear as friends on social media etc. You know the types....comment on everything, call you bro, the usual crap. Yeas, it's lovely to be sociable and friendly but often these people have hidden agendas. It appears the usual agenda is to see just how much free advice, bait or tackle they can blag from you before ditching you and moving on to their next 'victim'......I've recently had a spate of these type of dim wit and to say it's getting on my nerves is an under statement. What gets me even more is when they then go around telling others how tight you are or other lies.

I've always been an honest and giving type of guy....I support the odd good charity, help those in need and I'm a loving, caring and reliable friend to those that know me. I've been with the same woman for 22 years and I'm as happy as I've ever been. I think that says something on it's own. So, to those people who crop up now and again who think it's ok to use me for your personal gain.....'I'm telling you now that it's not happening any more'! The minority have spoiled it for the majority.

While I'm talking of scroungers....My company Face Book page gets an almost continuous flow of messages, posts and emails regarding sponsorships, free bait, free advertising etc etc. It's almost 5 messages a day from teenagers asking for free bait because they can't find work and just want to fish full time. 'Here's my photo album with 10 carp in it, now give me something for free' is the usual type of message that I receive. This really gets my back up and despite the continuous flow of prats trying this approach, I have so far bitten my tongue and replied politely and professionally. There is no career in angling for the majority.....It's a very poorly paid industry with just an extremely small minority actually making a living from it. Get a career in something, work hard and fish in your spare time. That's the best advice I can offer!

When did our country suddenly become a place harboring so many scroungers? Something for nothing people seem to be every where....The fishing industry seems to be one of the only fields where clients or customers feels it's ok to barter for products or services and then whinge when they don't get what they want. You wouldn't go into Tesco or Sainsbury, take your product to the till and then barter for a better price? So why do it with fishing tackle or bait? The price is the price for a reason, take it or leave it! It all costs money to make, package, post etc. If we give it away for free then we'd go bankrupt overnight!

Cheap bait is cheap for a reason, cheap tackle is cheap for a reason....just like cars, you get what you pay for. You buy a £5000 car mass produced in India then more fool you. You spend more on a good quality German car for example and you know your paying for high quality, well engineered products. It's the same with bait and tackle. Lots of ingredients cost lots of money. Someone had to spend time developing the recipes, testing them, researching them, fine tuning, then marketing them. All this is time and money. So next time you look at a bait, have a think about what your paying for. Why spend thousands and thousands on quality rods etc that look nice, if your then going to garnish your rig (which is the bit that attracts the fish) with a crappy food source?

Hoping that a few of these might soon be finding their way up my line!!!

So, from now on those expecting free trips to venues, free bait and tackle, etc etc etc your either going to have to pay for it or go and find some other chump to give their hard earned up for you because I'm not prepared to do it anymore.

Sorry to those of you that aren't included in this group of bottom feeders and I hope that that's the only and last time I have to talk about these scum. Right, well back to more interesting stuff and good times this week. Hopefully I'll have some good stuff to write about when I return from Dorset next week and I hope your all in good health and catching lots of lovely fish! Take care all and see you on the bank side

Keith
X

High times!

Mathew Oneill with his new PB of 19lb 1oz...Well done pal!

Hi guys, not a huge amount to talk about this week as I've not been out much. This last week or so has been a bit of a washout with regards to my fishing....I really wanted to spend the last fortnight of the 2014 season chasing the Barbel of the Wye. Trouble is the river has been up and down like a yo-yo for the last month, with the past fortnight being the worst yet. Only today is the water abating a little and hopefully enough for my session I have planned tomorrow.

I'd like to start of this blog entry with a little congratulations to my good friend Mathew Oneill who I took pike fishing a few weeks back and despite our best efforts it was typically me that caught the fish! Well, he went out on his own to the River Ely last week and caught not only his first proper croc but a bloody big one at that too! 19lb 1oz and a new PB for him. Well in my son!

I was going to pay my club stretch a visit today but the River was still pushing out over 2M and raging through chocolate brown with some snow melt present, just to really kill the fishing! Well, the wind has dropped off a little, the air is warming slightly and the cloud dispersing....Time for a trip out in the morning hopefully.

Like chocolate and slamming through on the Taff!

I've spent the day keeping an eye on the EA river levels page and the water is slowly dropping away. Provided things stay relatively dry tonight then it should be down to around 1.7M by morning and still falling during the day. With this in mind I feel it may well be worth a dabble for the barbel. I've got myself a nice KG lump of Garlic Luncheon meat and the ever faithful River Monster Boilies ready to go. Keeping my fingers firmly crossed for a result!

Last Friday I decided I'd have a quick dabble on the Taff in Cardiff again, chasing the Grayling that reside in there. The river was a completely different place to that of the previous week and a raging torrent of brown turbulence had replaced it's rather more somber mood of the prior week. This made things a whole lot more difficult. I decided to have a go at them using float fishing tactics for a change and after donning my chest waders, setting up a 4 swan crystal loafer, I walked to the same area that I had done so well in the prior week.

A lot harder to come by this week!

I dropped down the bank side into the water and immediately I could see it was up quite considerably on the prior session and I was almost out of my depth from the word 'go'! I started pulting in a few small quantities of mixed red and white maggots at the head of my trotting area and after about 5 minutes I made my first cast into the torrent.

The water was pounding its way through and a trott lasted less than 20 seconds or so before the float was way out of my eyesight. It was a good 40 minutes before I had my first bite and it took a real scale down in tackle and bait to get that! I had to whittle things down to a single red maggot on a size 20 hook and 2lb 12oz hook link to get things going. I also had to back off the feed being introduced as well and bites seemed to only occur when I fished the float down the swim on its own without any loose feed. These Grayling weren't particularly obliging this time and after 2.5 hrs fishing I had just 4 or 5 to my name.

Well, fingers crossed for the Wye session in the morning and with the river still dropping as we speak, hopefully it'll be bang on come daylight hours. Next Sunday will see me meet up with one of my best mates, Bob Willcockson. He's talked me into parting with my hard earned spondoolies and we're off to Shaftsbury in Dorset and the rather prolific Todber Manor fishery.

I used a similar set up to this with just a heavier float

We're hoping to do a 48 hr session after some nice carp on Big Hayes Lake then we're going to have a go at a spot of early season Catfishing in the Paddock. I can't wait if i'm honest with you! It's been a bloody long time since I went to a prolific venue such as Todber and I'm really looking forward to getting my teeth into that style of angling again. It'll also be great to catch up with my buddy!

Tight lines all and see you soon
K x