River Carp fishing to Reservoir Perch.

It's been sometime since I last wrote a blog so this is going to be a re-cap of the last six months fishing. As always with my fishing it's been all about variation. From River Carp to reservoir Perch and everything in between. I have enjoyed every second of it and that's the way it should be!

I started the season on the hunt for Carp on my local Fenland River. There had been lot's of hard work clearing swims and pre-baiting with Urban Bait Nutcracker in the close season and it was now time to hopefully reap the rewards. I won't go into too much detail as this will be written up in a fourth coming issue of Big carp magazine. On the opening day of the River season myself and angling buddy Giles were camped up ready to cast in at midnight. With that done all we had to do was wait and see what, if anything came our way? Early morning saw me hit into a savage take and after a strong fight land a stunning 17lb Common Carp. It was just the start I hoped for and it was to get much better the following morning! I had a drop back bite and duly wound down into a Bream. Well that bream soon turned into an angry Carp and made off down River! After several runs Giles did a great job netting a very special fish. The most stunning Mirror Carp I have ever caught was soon photographed and weighed. At 29lb 8oz it was a pb River Carp for me and will always be one of the best fishing memories i'll have!

It was a few weeks into the season before I started Rudd fishing the River. The Carp fishing had taken priority and it was now time for a change. As I live so close to the River I could maximize my fishing time and target the Rudd for the last couple of hours of light. This is prime time and much better than killing yourself in the heat of the day fishing at the least productive time. My first evening out saw me sat by the River trickling in bread crust to get the Rudd feeding. As the sun started to dip behind me the fish started taking crust off the surface. They would only take the bait in the most awkward place possible. It was a muddy cattle drink with thick Reeds and a further Lilly bed in front of that. I had no choice but to cast where the fish were even if it meant a wet foot! I dipped my crust into the Nutcracker dip for extra pulling power and cast beyond the fish and dragged it as close as I dare! Within seconds a fish slurped down the crust and I hit into it. I held the rod tip high to keep the fish out of the Lilly's and managed to pull it close to the Reeds. Sure enough one wet foot later I managed to scoop the fish up into the net! It was a good fish in mint condition and weighed in at a new pb of 2lb 12oz. Well worth a wet foot hey?!

The evening sessions continued and the Rudd kept coming. In about half a dozen evenings I had another dozen or so 2lb plus fish. All falling for waggler fished bread crust on a size 8 hook and 4lb line. I dipped the crust in the Urban bait Nutcracker dip every time as the extra attraction i'm sure gave me an edge over plain crust. One particular trip didn't really go as planned but some cracking fish were still landed. Carl and Alex of of Youtube fame came up for a session hoping to bank a Rudd or two and maybe a River Carp at night. The weather was far from ideal with strong winds, rain and cool temperatures! I managed to bank a nice 2lb plus Rudd early the first morning just before the lads arrived. I was fishing good old bread crust but suspended three foot off the bottom on a running lead almost zig style. The lads were very happy to see the fish and get at least one nice fish on film.

As predicted the Rudd fishing was very hard going through the day and we could not buy a bite from any specimen sized fish. We hoped the evening would bring on the fish activity and sure enough Carl saw a fish top in the swim and duly caught a nice Rudd about 1lb 8oz in weight which was a new pb for him. Alex also got in on the pb action and bagged a 2lb stunner on the "bread zig"! It was however the action at night that really made the session one to remember. Through the night we caught another five 2lb plus Rudd to 2lb 9oz and I even managed a mint little River Common Carp to cap a very enjoyable session off.

I had been intending to have a trip to Pitsford water for a Perch session since it opened for lure fishing in May. It was now late July and a day afloat on the reservoir soon came around. The water level was low and it had not been fishing well prior to now. That was not going to put me off so I was soon anchored up at the first spot ready to cast in various drop shotted rubber lures. It didn't take long before I started getting taps on the lures on a slow retrieve. A solid bite came along and I struck into a hard fighting fish! As I got the fish to the boat and near the surface I could see it was a big stripey. At this point it decided to make a surge under the boat and towards the anchor rope! Well I was forced to pile on the pressure and sure enough the hook slipped and the fish gained it's freedom! Gutted but not deterred I carried on chucking rubber and was soon in with another take. This time all went to plan and a lovely Perch was my reward. Several more good sized fish were boated by me and Giles but the monsters did not want to make an appearance. But there is always next time.

It was now early October and I had not done much lake Carp fishing up to now. My local club lake was the perfect place to go and get some action so I was soon there looking for fish activity. Soon enough the fish gave me the nod and I scattered a kilo of Urban bait Nutcracker boilies about 40 yards out to hopefully get them feeding. The boilies were glugged in the dip to pull the fish down to the bottom of the deep lake. Rigs were my ever reliable Ronnie rigs with size 4 wide gape hooks fished helicopter style and 15mm Nutcracker pop ups. The action was almost instant and I was soon bent into a very hard fighting fish that was stripping line and kiting to the right making it a nerve wreaking fight! Eventually I had the fish in the net and it was a leathery lump. At 28lb it was a fantastic start to the session. Scattering the Nutcracker little and often throughout the day kept the bites coming and several more Carp succumbed to the tactics including another two 20lbers to 24lb. A great session to see my Carp season out. Check the link below to see a video of the session,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-axOJnu48Vc&t=3s

Now we were into early Winter and it was prime predator time. A day afloat with Giles was soon organised on a Fenland River where Pike and Perch were the targets. It was a cold and windy day but when we started casting big plastic lures for the Pike we soon warmed up. The Pike were obviously not on the feed as many casts were made with no response. Eventually I had a hit and was into a fast fish zipping around in the shallow water. As is the hazard with boat fishing the fish zoomed under the boat and the severe angle saw the hooks thrown from the Pikes mouth! It was a low double fish and would have been nice to boat but I enjoyed the fight at least. It was clear the Pike were not on the feed so we turned our attention to Perch. Drop shotting worms was the chosen method and with lots of moored boats along the River there was lots of cover for the fish to hide. We located some large Perch under two boats. A flurry of fish came to the boat with several good 2lbers with the best fish being just short of 3lb. A couple of jack Pike took a liking to the worms too and gave great scraps on light tackle!

Fishing will be on the back burner for a while as it's just a matter of days until my second child is born. I think that will keep me busy for a while! I have some great fishing planned for the new season including more River carping. Hopefully I will have some more blogs coming out in the not too distant future.

Fenland Lake Rudd, Tench, Bream and Perch. Plus club Lake Carp.

Since the end of the river season I have carried on in my search for a big Fenland Rudd. I have been fishing a Lake I have fished on and off for getting on 20 years but mainly for the predators. I had known for some time the Lake held big Rudd but had mainly been concentrating on the Rivers.

My first trip to the lake came in late March. It was unseasonably warm for the time of year with temperatures of 19 degrees centigrade. The area of the lake I was fishing had lily pads starting to reach the surface next to an island. I cast one method feeder to this spot in the hope the Rudd would be patrolling there. The other method feeder was cast about ten yards to the left in open water between two islands. It took only a few minutes to get my first take from open water and as soon as I pulled into it I knew it was no Rudd. The first of MANY Bream was netted, unhooked and slipped back into the Lake.

It was now heading into the evening and the sun was getting lower in the sky. Just as I was thinking the were not Rudd feeding I had a take that felt very different to the Bream. I knew it was a Rudd when it popped to the surface and those golden scales glowed in the evening sun. I was so happy to net the fish and get a result the first session on the Lake! It weighed in at 2lb and I was happy enough to pack up and go home right then. But I was soon attached to another fish when the alarm sounded and the bobbin slammed the rod blank! This again I could tell was a Rudd and when it splashed on the surface I could see it was a bigger fish. As I suspected the fish was indeed bigger than the last and weighed 2lb 5oz. It was definitely a good time to pack up and leave for home. A brace of twos on the first trip left me grinning from ear to ear!

I had a few more trips over April/May and caught many more Bream. I would not be surprised if I caught well over 100lb of Bream in the half dozen trips I had. The action was crazy! I always caught Rudd too which was fantastic but nothing quite as big as the first trip. The biggest was just short of 2lb. I also had the odd bonus Tench which were very welcome as they put up a great fight on the light gear I was using. I plan to carry on having the odd trip there in the summer but I will be fishing from my boat. It will give me access to so much water that cannot be fished from the bank.

After a few trips to the lake Bream bashing I needed a change. I left the feeder rods at home and took my predator kit with me as I fancied chucking out a couple of dead baits for the Pike and Zander for an evening. I also took a light jigging set up to chuck around if the ledgered baits stayed static. A guy had just left a swim where he had been fishing for the Bream. I went in the swim after him as I know the bait he used will have attracted the smaller bait fish the predators like to feed on. I decided to cast a small crayfish type jig around to see if my reasoning was well founded. On my first cast I felt something grabbing the jig but when I struck nothing was there. This happened a few times so when I felt a hit I left it a few seconds to let the fish get the hook in its mouth. It worked and I was soon into what I thought was a small Zander. Much to my surprise it was a nice sized Perch that came angrily to the surface! At 2lb 2oz it was a welcome surprise and I will definitely be targeting them in the future to see if there are any bigger ones in there.

Carp were another species on my Spring target list. Not having vast amounts of time at my disposal I needed a water with a good number of fish with the chance of a good 20 or 30lber. My local club lake fitted that need so it was there I would have a few day sessions. This lake is large and deep so my main method of attack would be zig rig fishing as the fish have so much depth they can be feeding in. Up to 32ft deep in areas and an average of 25ft! Over 3 day sessions I had several Carp per trip. Most of the fish were caught on zigs fished around mid depth of 12-14ft. I did have a few fish on bottom baits but the zigs out fished them five to one! Most fish were mid to upper doubles but the best fish went over 24lb. The action on this lake can be crazy and keeping one rod in the water can be hard sometimes let alone two!

Now I am getting ready for the new River season in the hope of tracking down some of the stunning dark Carp that roam my local River. And while i'm there it would be rude not to do some Rudd fishing too!

River seasons end. River Pike, Chub and River Rudd fishing.

The problem with being an all round angler is trying to find time to track down the larger specimens of your quarry. But the plus side is catching a variety of species and keeping the excitement levels high. The last couple of months of the river season was great fun for me for that very reason.

Pike seem to be my bogie species as I've never caught a large specimen. Although I have caught them to just shy of 20lbs. My local river was my choice for the day as I know it holds a good number of Pike and also throws up the odd bigger specimen. I was fishing 3 rods as I wanted to up my chances of catching. Two ledgered deadbaits and one float fished. Action was not long in coming and the ledgered smelt was snapped up! A spirited fight ensued and a good fish was in the net. A mint 12lber made it worth the early start!

Not long after that a fish of around 8lb graced my net. Again it was on a ledgered smelt. The action dried up after and it was about an hour after starting so I decided it was time for a move. I don't tend to move far on rivers as the fish may not be far away and I don't want to miss them. 30 yards away gave me fresh water to spread my rods.

The river was getting busy and three row boats were right in front of me over my baits. Just as I was thinking I hope I don't get a take now I got one and the ledgered roach was away! I had to hit into the fish as I didn't want to wait for the boats to go and risk deep hooking it. I kept the rod tip under water hoping to keep the line away from the boat oars. The fish decided to come to the surface between two boats! It was a good fish and I didn't want to lose it! Some how I got the fish under the boats and into the net. What a relief! It was a chunky fish and weighed over 16lb. It was recognisable as it had a vertical scare on its back. Maybe from a propeller? And in fact I actually caught the fish again one week later. I had a couple more jacks on float fished baits in the evening before calling it a day.

I use to do lots of Chub fishing in years gone by. It had been too long in fact so I made an evening trip out to a little river I knew had good form at that time. The light was fading fast by the time I got to the river. I set up in a nice looking area with cover on the far bank. A gentle under arm cast had my ledgered cheese paste deposited on the far margin. Just as I was getting my second rod baited the first rod was being dragged off the rest! Much to my surprise it was only a small Chub of about a pound in weight that was punching above his weight! Another small Chub took a liking to my cheese paste but it soon went quiet. It was now dark and a fancied a move.

Ten minutes later I had moved a short way upstream and got my rods into position. It didn't take long before a bite on ledgered luncheon meat saw my rod nearly pulled in again! This was a much heavier fish than the previous ones. It was a very dirty fight with the fish trying to bury itself in the near margin weed! It fought hard all the way to the net but eventually I scooped it up! At just under 5lb it was a lovely welcome back to Chub fishing and has given me the bug for the new season.

Time was getting on now and there was less than a week left of the river season. A Piking trip was planned but it turned into an unexpected Rudd trip too. I decided to take a float and feeder rod with me just in case the Pike fishing was slow. I got the pike rods out first and then got a rod out for the Rudd. I wasn't expecting much to be honest but I knew there had been some good late season catches in the past. Well it didn't take long for something to happen and I soon pulled into what felt like a good fish. Half expecting a Bream I was stunned when a golden Rudd splashed as it hit the surface! I prayed it would stay on and I'm happy it did as it was a beautiful fish weighing 2lb 7oz!

As soon as the bites came they dried up just as fast. The sun was out and it seemed to put the fish off for now. I did manage a few more smaller Rudd through the day but it was the Pike fishing that kept me busy. I had several fish to 14lb up to the evening when the Rudd switched on again. I had another two 2 pounders and several approach that weight too. I had to come back and try just for the Rudd.

I returned to the river a few days later nice and early. Rudd were topping on the surface and some sizable ones too! From the off I was catching 2lbers and in 15 crazy minutes I had four 2lb plus Rudd in a row! The biggest being 2lb 5oz. My mate Giles turned up soon after and was getting among the 2lbers too.

The action soon died down so a pub break was in order at lunchtime to recharge the batteries. When I got back to the river I resisted the urge of an afternoon nap and got the rods out straight away. The Rudd were feeding again and taking the bread flake on the drop. I lost count  of the good sized fish I caught but weighed the best ones and ended up with eight 2lb plus Rudd to 2lb 6oz before packing up not long after dark. The day was such a great day that it didn't seem so bad that the rivers were closing for three months. It just builds the anticipation for the new season.