Part 4 still trying

I'm off again on my travels this time to shillinglee in chiddingfold surrey with my mate Dave who will going after the gaint pike in the main lake (29lb+), there's not to many perch in this place but the bailiff said they do go to 3lb, but the roach and Rudd grow to over two pounds and that's a big fish in my books.

Now considering the weather and Dave's back problems and my inability to be alble to shake off this flu type illness this trip could be interesting to say the least lets see what happens.?

It's 6am on the 29th of December it's a crispy Sunday morning and I'm outside Dave's house trying to squeeze his tackle with mine into the back of my citeron c3 not the best fishing wagon but will have to do, and now we can start our journey to chiddingfold, I'm always excited to go fishing, trying new places and having a like minded fisherman as a friend to accompany me is a bonus.

        Dave getting ready for monsters

Tackle wise is one of my trusty old Matt Hayes all rounders couple with a dam sexy shimano baby bait runner, now this rod will be set up with a helicopter style rig black cap feeder with a short hook link. The other rod which is a13ft Avanti waggler power carp which might sound a bit much but has a very forgiving tip but enough back bone when needed, Now this is fitted with a Browning match reel loaded with 4lb maxima line. Bait wise is going to be maggots with some Sticky baits krill powder and hemp,caster that should do the trick, and before you say anything no I haven't forgotten about the four pound perch I will be going somewhere that's going to give me a very good chance of for fulling my dream, but remember I'm a fisherman and I need to catch fish so you wouldn't want a blog after blog talking about blanking would you so onward and upwards as they say lol.

Well to say the fishing is going to be tough is a understatement the main lake Dave and I are fishing is spring fed with all this rain that's fallen it burst it's banks and flooded it's almost down to normal level by the time we get there but the influx of all that cold muddy water has killed it dead, it's either that or they know TheGudgeon is coming and they waited for me to pick my swim and said come on let's go to the other side of lake it's safer there his bound to break something or fall in (and no for you info I came back in one piece with no damage tackle).

                   Chocolate brown.

Now I got to concentrate on what I'm doing so the first rod with the swimfeeder is put straight out into the deeper water, battery works in the buzzer I checked before I came oh yes i am getting good at this, now to set the float rod up I put a 5BB loaded waggler on and some smaller dropping shot down the line,
I then plumb the depth it's about 4ft deep to my left and that's where I'm going to concentrate my efforts with the float, double caster as my hook bait with a bit of hemp and corn over the top now and again.

                        My swim

Now I sat in this swim all day fed both lines and didn't get a nibble well that's not completely true I did get a bite on the float rod but after about 6 hours with the sun in my face and very comfortable position I fell asleep only to wake with the float gone and the line tightening up not actually nowing what was going on I sat there trying to find my float which duly reappeared about six foot further out into the lake and at this point I struck, bad angling on my part I know but with nothing happening anywhere on the lake it was hard to stay focused (next time I'll take red bull).

So now I determind to give the last couple of hours my full attention, so I tied a new hook link up 1.5lb bottom and a size 20 fine wire hook replumbed up and stuck double red maggot on, it took an hour or so but the float eventually 

bobbled and slid under with smooth professional strike I connected with a solid resistance a healthy bend in the rod. I started to panic and called out to Dave saying I'm in, while walking towards me he said do you want a hand landing it I  said no I'm ok and with the professional skill of Jan Porter or Bob Nudd I duly slip the net under the biggest Roach/Rudd hybrid we have both seen and at a weight of a monstrous 1lb 14oz it's a new PB it just goes to show you that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes.

               Beauty and the beast

Now to wait all day and catch a fish like that is worth it and it's not the first time it's happened to me so it shows you persistence pays off or I'm just a lucky so and so (I'll take the latter).

I like to thank Dave for the great photo taken and being there to enjoy the moment, so until next time enjoy your fishing.

P.S just one more thing I have to say is congratulate my big brother on his biggest fish which is a common carp of 23lb plus what a great fish and the largest any of my family have caught well done bruv top angling. 

                 23lb of common carp

Look at that face only a mother could love it.

Part 3 Trying something different.

Well I have been fishing a lot lately, if you call it fishing I think what I was meant to say was I've been turning up with my fishing tackle and sitting beside the water hoping to catch what lives in there.

I'm going to take my mind off that colossal 4lb perch for the mean time, because I want it so badly I fear that I will never catch it so I need to try a bit of reverse physiology on myself, completely fish for some other species and bang I catch unexpectedly not what you call perch fishing but this is war, times are hard at the moment and I can't catch a cold. Been fishing far to many times and blanked not good for the morale but I must keep going because there's light at the end of the tunnel.

                   Admiralty lake

So now back to the fishing I've been after the carp at Gabrielle's in edenbrigde fishing the big carp lake,well more like a pond someone would have in there back garden, there reputedly fish to near gigantic proportions in this small lake wow surely I'm in with a chance of a biggy, so I turned up bright and early and buzzing at the thought of contact with a monster. To cut a long story short I sat there most of the day freezing my nuts off and blanked only time my buzzer made a noise was when Mr swan pick my bait up uuggghhh I'm not a happy angler.

              Small river at edenbrigde 

So now I want to try moving water might give me more of a chance so I'm off down to edenbrigde to fish the river that runs through the town never fished it before so let's see what happens.

First time I went down I was ment to go down with my mate Dave who unfortunately done his back in when his beloved footy team scored so I went on my own just took some bread spent a couple of hours on this delightful little river and if you believe all the story's the locals tell you there are some big fish in there. Not the day I went, totally wrong bait should of been using cheese so captain blank strikes again. So the following week I went back this time armed with cheese I know it's not worms or live bait for perch, but as I've said before I'm need to catch something that swims in water.

So the following Saturday I take another trip down the river first couple of swims I sat in not even a nibble these were good looking swims over hanging trees, dying off reed beds, under cut banks I must being doing something wrong or is it just me all the fish gather round my bait and sit there laughing at me saying look at that plonker as if that is going to catch us. So I move once again and this swim looks awesome.

                    my last swim

So this is it the last swim ill give it an hour or two in here and see what happens if I have no luck then I will have to try harder. I'm still waiting for my reward for all this effort I'm putting in, anyway a nice big bit of cheese on a size 8 drennen super specialist hook 6lb hook link with 6lb main line attach to my John Wilson Avon quiver tip rod couple with a Shakespeare centre pin reel my serial blanking brother gave me, now I must say my set up looks pretty cool but its no good if I can't catch on it.

My first cast in the swim and it lands just perfect in a nice crease slight bow in the line so I know that it's holding bottom I'm not moving it I'll just leave it there, now there always that nagging feeling is it fishing properly. By joe it is after what seems like an hour (30mins) at the most there's a slight twitch on the tip of my rod, I said to myself surely there's not a fish out there stupid enough, and with in that the rod hoops round and I lift into what seems like a dead weight, the fight is hard feels like I'm on back of a boat fighting a marlin please be a perch of colossal per portions on cheese I know I know but I can dream. The fights over within a minute or so and a clonking great big chub rolls over the cord of the landing net wow that's a beast and at 4lb 2oz it's personal best for me and I'm jumping up and down saying yes I didn't blank GET IN happy days.

                      P/B 4lb 2oz

Unsurprisly with all that noise I didn't catch anymore but still what a fish.

So it just shows you that time and effort equals reward and I think that what I've put in over the last few weeks and months I've been rewarded with a P/B not the fish I'm after but what a beast more than happy with that chub. so the search for my big perch continues I'm not going to give up because if I put the time in I know what is going to happen it's just a question of when? so until next time Tight Lines.