Thursday 22 November 2012

......Strange sort of Day Yesterday, arranged to meet up with a good friend ..Kev (also known as Gruff in other circles)
on a Piking trip.
I got up very early, well before first light, to be greeted by the sound of heavy rain and wind battering the windows....not good!
spent an hour eating breakfast and the rain never relented...so went back to bed!!.....I felt really tired, oh the joys of shift work (I arrived home just after midnight after a 12hour shift)
I got up a few hours later to go and meet Kev but decided to not take any tackle with me so I could have a natter with him and not be disturbed by Pike while we chat!!
Had a great couple of hours chatting and laughing, I just love spending time in great company, quality moments that just cannot be brought!
Kev even had a couple of dropped takes ....I have a feeling "Chub" are the culprits...kevs not convinced, we beg to differ, and time will tell when kev makes contact with one of these "snatch" takes.
Anyway he did not blank a 4.8-5iber graced the bank and gave a great show in its attempt to shake the hook, if we had not landed him we both would have assumed a much bigger specimen.

His Talents did not end here, we packed up around 3'oclock as my water heater had packed up and trust me in that situation look no further then Gruff!
...Thanks mate you have saved me from more moaning from the good lady wife!

Haven't posted for a while, or for that matter been fishing or been out riding my mountain bike due to a frozen muscle in my back, I've been suffering with it for at least three months, but it really has got bad last couple of weeks and to be honest hobbies are supposed to be fun....try picking up a rod holdall/rucksack or riding a muddy path and ask yourself if you are enjoying yourself!
I suffered a few Angling trips, but it really did get to much and decided to do lots of exercise and attend Physiotherapy which has involved acupuncture and much pushing and massaging at various points around my back....I have been told that some people find this stuff relaxing....I feel that I am slowly getting beaten up!

Anyway I am slowly on the mend and just on my way out with a hope of a Carp or two!
Going to the same place as yesterday with Gruff...lets see the Outcome!!    

Sunday 4 November 2012

A Problem Solved

Well, nothing to get excited about, but a stressful week with a second car I have owned far too long,, and held onto it for a friend that has wanted to buy it, but he has just never got round to it!
Stupidly I have hung onto it, got it serviced, MOT'ed, an even Taxed it for him!
My reason's are simple he been a good mate for more years than I care to remember and the poor guy is going through a divorce and to be honest his Life has been turned upside down by this, and I have found myself being his "Agony Aunt" and it's just been my way of giving him a clean ride, which he does not seem to be getting much of nowadays, everything he touches is always hard work it seems!
I have even told him to pay me when he's ready...but made it clear this offer is not open-ended!
.......The problem for me has been I just thought the MOT ran out on 19th Dec (god knows why!)
but when I checked couple of days ago it ran out on the 19th of bloodyOct!!!!!!!!!
Much stress was suddenly felt on my shoulders to sort out yet another problem , and surprisingly solved without a hitch.
But after obtaining the needed paperwork for another year I decided no more waiting to sort out this" is he having it or not dilemma"
I phoned him and made it clear ..."Pick it up now or it on the open Market"
.....Well its nice to see an empty space outside my house, and a weight of my shoulders,
I'm a softie when it comes down to helping my mates out                                                                          but there is certainly a morale to this post,
I'll let the reader work it out!    

Saturday 27 October 2012

I'm a fanatical Angler,.. no Apologies
I fish for all species that interest me at the time my mood takes me, but I find I tend to get caught up in One species at a time or at most maybe two....At the moment its Carp and Perch.
The Picture above is a favorite spot on a lovely river after Barbel ....just doing my own thing for a while!

Well today was very much a day I've been looking forward to, as I was taking a couple of good mates, Kevin and Jason to a little syndicate which holds a variety of fish with a lot of mystery thrown in on sizes and in some cases stock amounts.
This is a beautiful bit of paradise that hardly sees another angler but today was crowded with five (including us) fishing!......9 times out of I have the complex to myself!
Anyway when I got in the car this morning (0700) the temp gage said it was a heady 1.5 fahrenheit, with a cold NW wind blowing.....great I thought, I had not seen these guys for a couple of years and so wanted them to catch, as I had watched plenty of pike during the summer feeding so had high hopes for both of them to get a few runs .......but in these conditions..hmmmm!!
Anyway I let the guys have first pick of areas to fish as my guest its important they were happy in choosing a sport they had confidence in.


well Jason an I could not buy a take but Kev had a dropped run early on and about half an hour later this beastie appeared :

Well I'm not sure who was more pleased me or Kev
.....first fish from the water 16.8Ibs !!

To be honest I was using these guys,(in a nice way) as never having piked fish this lake before I used them as feelers and I looked at any fish as a bonus today so this day will go down as a success in my book!
I managed a small jack 2-3Ibs and a dropped run but will be down there again in the near future as have plans on catching not only pike but carp, as have this season been mostly carp fishing, and have decided on catching 20's of both species already had summer carp to 22.6Ibs....
       an to catch more like the two above would make my winter angling a real success!
Other aims include Large Perch (had a few already) but thats a subject for the future.

Poor ol Jas had not a take, but he's of the old school way of thinking (like me) an his day will come an just being on the bank in beautiful surroundings more then makes up for lack of fish. (I hope!)

Anyway anyone reading this dont expect to many technical bits or secrets given out most of my fish are hard earnt, and a lot of ground work is carried out to track down the secrets my waters hold, so please don't ask venue names etc as trust me no reply will be forthcoming!

Well a great day seeing some pals again an I must make sure it not two long before I meet up again.
I'm a funny guy when it come to my angling, as most (90%) is carried out on my own out of choice, reasons are simple I can go at odd times an leave when I want to, Many carp trips are 2'o'clock pm till 11'o'clock pm  and many other variables, I rarely fish long sessions nowadays, but try an fit in as many trips out as possible.
This year Carp have been my "bread an butter" an it's been a great summer, but I now want to begin to add pike to the list, fishing early morning sessions when my work starts in the afternoon.