I am still plugging away at the same venues as last year basingstoke canal and the river eden, it's been hard very hard with not a lot to talk about but there has been some success. I just want to talk about cheese as a bait for a moment, bear with please.
Many years ago I use to fish the river wandle a hell of a lot I mean this river is small and urban as you're going to get, it all started when my eldest son (luke) and I were fishing a part that runs through an industrial estate with what we thought was the two best baits for chub, bread and luncheon meat, we couldn't get a sniff it wasn't until a fella turned up with his Woolworth rod and tesco's mild cheddar and showed us how to empty the river, we just stood there in amazement these fish were big 4lb plus. So next time we went with cheese as our bait my son and I had 10 chub up to 3lb 10oz we were gobsmacked how can this normal everyday food item catch so many fish when probably the best two baits didn't get a sniff.
Now roll forward 15 or so years my eldest son is at uni studying criminology, and I am fishing a
small urban river no bigger than the wandle with my youngest son (louis) @FryChaser, I've had a 4lb 2oz fish out of this river on cheese (just normal cheddar) but I wanted a larger one, and they go bigger in here over six pound.
Since that last big chub I haven't had another one nor has the boy, this piece of intimate water does get a lot of pressure from anglers so the fish are very weary of bankside noise. The local bellends don't help either throwing rubbish in the water and parking cars up at the rivers edge playing loud music, and just generally being a nuisance to the wildlife and the people trying to enjoy this place. This could be one of the reasons for blanking or they are just very hard to temp, it's not just me but a few other anglers I know fish this stretch and they've blanked as well, and a couple of them use maggots they can't hook anything. I'm not giving up though and it's this type of attitude that's going to serve me well in the next few weeks, trust me it's hard to keep going fishing at a venue where you keep blanking and there has been many a time I've turned over and switch the alarm off and gone back to sleep.
small urban river no bigger than the wandle with my youngest son (louis) @FryChaser, I've had a 4lb 2oz fish out of this river on cheese (just normal cheddar) but I wanted a larger one, and they go bigger in here over six pound.
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| 4lb 2oz of old warrior my only fish from the river eden |
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| My wife and julian
I'm in need some inspiration so me and my family have a day at the carp society show at sandown racecourse in november 2014, great show with lots of bargains and yes i spent all my pennies near dinner time we sat down and listen to what julian cundiff had to say. Now i don't have to tell you who this man is as most of you should know if not get researching as he is one of the very top carp anglers out there today, and you might be thinking what has this got to do with fishing a small river with cheese paste and your be right it has nothing to do with it until you've sit down and listen to how dedicated his is to his fishing 100% focused on catching carp when his goes or it's not worth going his words.
So after taking these words in and using his enthusiasm to boost my own fishing mojo i want to get back out there and keep trying. The reason julian is so good at what he does is the commitment and focus he puts in i could learn from him and so could you.
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This is where it's get interesting because I wanted a bait which is going to give me that edge, we've spoken of just plain cheese which i used last time and caught but now i need to change something, i need not just a cheese that's going to hum really bad like your dads socks!! But something i can use and change easily like a paste. I turned to twitter and that's where a fella called @anthonywood58 who I have spoken to on many occasions and is a bit of a guru on bait not just bollies or naturals but all baits, he is a member of Bait-Tech street squad and has published four books so he knows a thing or two about home made bait.
So the question was asked have you got a recipe for cheese paste, five minutes later i had what i needed.
340g frozen ready rolled shortcrust pastry
160g extra mature cheddar
160g stilton or blue cheese.
Right grate the cheddar and the blue cheese mix together roll out the pastry and place cheese on top fold over edges and knead until you've got a good smooth paste, and that's it. Wow simple or what i'm not going to tell you anymore but check out the fella's blog!
anthonysanglingcorner.wordpress.com
This is where it get interesting because i made up the first batch and as i'm fishing i thought to myself not only have i got a recipe for cheese paste but a base to add any ingredients as i like. Now my brain is in overdrive, i never caught on the first batch (but the misses made plenty of cheese straws up and they went down a treat lol..) so i decided to leave the blue cheese out and add garlic puree.
This is great as i'm making my own paste now with my twist and i've only got Anthony to thank for putting me on the right path.
The only problem is trying to keep the misses from cooking the dam paste as a snack they did taste very nice but i didn't make it for her i made it for my other love Mrs Chub xxx. Two trips later and i'm still blanking and getting very frustrated, but as jules says you must keep at it so that is what i doing and i am rewarded with 2lb chub, yes there are fish still in here.
The thing was i had to keep chopping and changing, i.e:- hook size plus the hook link length and i eventually found what combination worked as i had a fish in the bottom of my landing net.
No more fish came out of the swim all the casting and bankside noise seemed to kill it dead so another move is on the cards. Walking up the river there's a couple more people fishing i had a quick chat and apart from a few small perch nothing else had been caught. I carried on walking up the river past the men throwing large rocks into the water for their dogs to jump in and retrieve. While standing there thinking to myself was it time to go home i noticed a rather large bend further up the river, i never notice that before it wasn't until i got up close to the swim i realised how far i had walked There was no one around it felt like i was transported to the spot was i meant to be there.
Then thats where the magic comes in i'm here so i'll have just one more cast thinking i will give it 30 mins then i'm going home. Well to say i was surprised to see the top of my rod smash round in a matter of seconds caught me completely off guard, i didn't have to strike just catch the butt of my rod as it jumped up into my hand let the battle commence. This fish whatever it was dived straight into the weed bed got it out then again in another this went on for what seemed a lifetime eventually a beast of a chub rolled on the surface but i couldn't grab my landing net as it was just out of reach so i had to try and get the fish to swim up stream which it did diving into the weed bed i just got it out of i grabbed the net and made a mad lunge and boy was i lucky.
Lying in the bottom of the landing net was the biggest chub i have ever seen in the flesh, i zeroed the scales twice and i weighed it twice just to make sure it was what it said and at 5lb 2oz it is a new P/B for me. But the story doesn't end there i couldn't take a photo as the camera wouldn't stand up so i can take a selfie, there was no one around so it looks like i'm not going to get a picture of my chub, but then in the distance i see a figure of a man jogging with a dog so i frantically wave at him for help he obviously thinks i'm in trouble and sprints over and asked if everything is ok i reply yes but ask him to take a photo for me. When i show him my catch his words were F*** me thats a monster you never caught that from here, i did mate and he gladly took my photo and patted me on the back to congratulate me on an awesome fish after releasing my prize i sat in the chair and laughed out loud and said to myself i never gave up i never gave up. So thank you to the jogger and Julian, until the next post Tight Lines..
p.s my new ingredients are not going to taste so nice to us so i'm hoping it will steer the misses away ;)
I'm also on instagram @thegudgeon
TheGudgeon
I'm on FaceBook, have a look at my page.
https://www.facebook.com/TheGudgeonsGadets
So the question was asked have you got a recipe for cheese paste, five minutes later i had what i needed.
340g frozen ready rolled shortcrust pastry
160g extra mature cheddar
160g stilton or blue cheese.
 |
My saviour garlic flavor |
anthonysanglingcorner.wordpress.com
This is where it get interesting because i made up the first batch and as i'm fishing i thought to myself not only have i got a recipe for cheese paste but a base to add any ingredients as i like. Now my brain is in overdrive, i never caught on the first batch (but the misses made plenty of cheese straws up and they went down a treat lol..) so i decided to leave the blue cheese out and add garlic puree.
This is great as i'm making my own paste now with my twist and i've only got Anthony to thank for putting me on the right path.
 |
scene of previous capture, no fish here!   the smile says it all |
No more fish came out of the swim all the casting and bankside noise seemed to kill it dead so another move is on the cards. Walking up the river there's a couple more people fishing i had a quick chat and apart from a few small perch nothing else had been caught. I carried on walking up the river past the men throwing large rocks into the water for their dogs to jump in and retrieve. While standing there thinking to myself was it time to go home i noticed a rather large bend further up the river, i never notice that before it wasn't until i got up close to the swim i realised how far i had walked There was no one around it felt like i was transported to the spot was i meant to be there.
Then thats where the magic comes in i'm here so i'll have just one more cast thinking i will give it 30 mins then i'm going home. Well to say i was surprised to see the top of my rod smash round in a matter of seconds caught me completely off guard, i didn't have to strike just catch the butt of my rod as it jumped up into my hand let the battle commence. This fish whatever it was dived straight into the weed bed got it out then again in another this went on for what seemed a lifetime eventually a beast of a chub rolled on the surface but i couldn't grab my landing net as it was just out of reach so i had to try and get the fish to swim up stream which it did diving into the weed bed i just got it out of i grabbed the net and made a mad lunge and boy was i lucky.
Lying in the bottom of the landing net was the biggest chub i have ever seen in the flesh, i zeroed the scales twice and i weighed it twice just to make sure it was what it said and at 5lb 2oz it is a new P/B for me. But the story doesn't end there i couldn't take a photo as the camera wouldn't stand up so i can take a selfie, there was no one around so it looks like i'm not going to get a picture of my chub, but then in the distance i see a figure of a man jogging with a dog so i frantically wave at him for help he obviously thinks i'm in trouble and sprints over and asked if everything is ok i reply yes but ask him to take a photo for me. When i show him my catch his words were F*** me thats a monster you never caught that from here, i did mate and he gladly took my photo and patted me on the back to congratulate me on an awesome fish after releasing my prize i sat in the chair and laughed out loud and said to myself i never gave up i never gave up. So thank you to the jogger and Julian, until the next post Tight Lines..
p.s my new ingredients are not going to taste so nice to us so i'm hoping it will steer the misses away ;)
I'm also on instagram @thegudgeon
I'm on FaceBook, have a look at my page.
https://www.facebook.com/TheGudgeonsGadets
