Fishing with Alfie - May 2016

Alfie with his first Rudd

Alfie is my 8 year old Nephew and he has shown an interest in fishing when we've been away on family camping trips in the past. With this in mind I decided to get him a fishing rod for his last birthday. It's good to nurture these things and I was amazed at the passion and patience he had displayed when I'd shown him the ropes previously.

I decided on a 4m whip as the ideal first rod for him. There's no reel to worry about and it really is fishing in a very pure and simple form. I think this is a great starting point for as youngster....the joy of float fishing. It's very visual, simple and it teaches a lot about watercraft and concentration which are all important aspects.

I took him to a local pond recently to see if we could get him into a few fish and christen his rod. He was so excited about going, it was really great to see. The weather wasn't that great on the day but it didn't put him off  at all, a bit of rain wasn't going to stop him going on his first proper fishing trip!

Plenty of Rudd came Alfie's way

We went for around 3 hours and he adored it. He got to grips with the pole in no time at all and was baiting the hook and swinging the rig out like a pro with a huge smile on his face. There are plenty of rudd in the pond and they were very obliging with Alfie managing to catch a dozen or so in the first hour.

After this, I asked if he wanted to try and get a bigger fish and the response was a decisive 'yes please'. I explained that we would have to introduce some groundbait and put a larger bait on the hook, then wait a while to see if a bigger tench would be interested in our offerings. This was no problem for Alfie at all, he was keen to see if we could get a whopper!

Sure enough, 20 minutes later there were tench bubbles in the swim and I fired his imagination and anticipation by explaining what what was happening under the water. There were a couple of twitches to the float and then it just slid away from view. He lifted the pole and was instantly in touch with a much better fish that was pulling 5 feet or so of elastic from the tip of his giving him quite a thrill in the process.

Once the tench was in the net it was quite clear that Alfie was over the moon, with 'high fives' all round and a beaming grin from ear to ear......my work was done. Hopefully he'll be hooked for life, it's great to see him getting so much pleasure from fishing. Well done Alfie!

I think the smile says it all :) Well done Alfie!!!

A Personal Best Crucian Carp - 3lb 2oz - June 2016

3lb 2oz of stunning Crucian Carp and a new personal best :)

I have been trying to catch a decent Crucian for the last couple of summers and this week it all came right. The water I have been fishing holds a low stock of very good sized specimens and the problem I have had has been avoiding the tench!

Every time I have fished the water I just seem to keep catching the beady, red-eyed tench and the crucians were just not getting a chance to get to my bait. My tactics have been traditional style on the float, shotted right down and fishing in the margins tight to the lilys using corn or small pellets as bait. 

I think my error in the past has been introducing too much bait. The tench soon home in on this and once they get their heads down they push everything else out of the swim. I had to do something differently if I wanted to catch a shy biting Crucian so I tried going completely the opposite direction by using very little bait at all.......and it worked!

On the day, the successful method was to introduce one small walnut sized ball of groundbait with no food items in it whatsoever and then fish a single grain of corn over the top of it. I had a bite within 5 minutes and it turned out to be the 3lb 2oz Crucian - RESULT! I was so happy i packed up and went straight home.....2 years of effort finally came good in the end and and I've learnt something too. What a  fish! Until the next time...CHEERS!

Fishing for Bream and Plaice - May 2016

Beautiful Brighton Black Bream

It's early May now and things are warming up nicely, it definitely feels like summer has finally arrived and there have been reports of some good bream and plaice fishing off of Brighton. My buddy Paul Harman invited me out on his small boat the other day to see if the reports were true.

We headed out of Brighton Marina just before 6 am and were greeted by a perfect sea, calm and clear. Perfect conditions for the species we were looking for. Paul took us to a nice bit of reef about a mile or so out and we dropped the anchor just uptide of the structure. The plan was to spend the morning targeting the bream and then after the tide turned head west a little and do some drifting for plaice.

One of my better bream from the day

For the bream, we use small squid baits on size 4 hooks which is perfect for the small mouths these fish have. There wasn't much tide run so we fished 2 hook paternosters which enabled us to fish up in the water column a little. When the tide run is less I find the fish are more inclined to move up in the water a bit.

Bream can respond very well to the use of groundbait which is a tip Paul introduced to me on this day. We do it all the time in freshwater fishing so why not in the sea? He freezes down fish scraps, prawn shells and left over bait scraps mixed up with some bran in small plastic take-away containers. These then have holes punched in them and are lowered down to the sea bed in an onion sack with a lead weight in it to defrost and disperse down the tide. It gives off a wonderful trail of scent and small morsels that the bream love to home in on.

A garfish that we caught as bycatch

It proved a very effective technique on the day as bites were pretty instant from the very first drop. They continued right through until the top of the tide when the action died off. We must have had in excess of 20 bream a couple of dabs, some garfish, a mackerel, a pouting and a whiting. A great and varied catch  that shows what a difference a little groundbait can make.

Paul with a very pretty fish

After the tide turned we moved a little closer in to around 20 feet of water and set a up a drift to target the plaice. Simple rigs are the order of the day here and I opted for a simple running ledger with a 3 foot trace, a few colourful attractor beads and a size 1 hook baited with lugworm and a tip of squid.

Drifting for plaice is lovely and relaxing, slowly ambling down the tide watching the rod tip for the rattling bites of the plaice. It didn't take long before we got some action and a few small plaice were swung aboard. They are such lovely fish with their orange spots and incredibly good to eat but these were a little on the small size and returned.

A double shot of plaice and bream

The bites came in flurry's, which must have been when we drifted over some particularly tasty ground - maybe some sandbanks or mussel beds. Each time we got a few bites we would make a mark on the plotter for future reference. You never know, they may just be plaice hotspots!

Paul with a nice 'Spotty'

We did eventually find some better fish....and I manged to get an absolute belter, easily the biggest plaice I have ever caught! I have to say I was totally over the moon with it. They really are very impressive creatures when they get to that size and actually it fought very well on the light spinning gear I was using which was also a pleasant surprise.

A new personal best Plaice for me! Very happy with this one :)

It was a marvellous day's fishing in wonderful weather and with great company. It's amazing what a difference it can make just getting a mile or so offshore. it's hard to find fishing as good as that from the beach that's for sure. Tight Lines!

First Tench Sessions of the Year - May 2016

A nice spring tench caught right under the rod tip on the float

Tench are a great species, a truly magnificent fish that really fights well and is exciting to catch. Add in the picturesque venues associated with them, the misty dawns, lily pads and overgrown ponds - then you have all the ingredients for some quality fishing.

For me, there is no better way to catch a tench than on the float. I just love the traditional style of angling for them. Sure, bolt rigs and feeder tactics have their place for the long-stay angler or those fishing at range but my sessions tend to be shorter, so float fishing suits me just fine. I'm a sucker for the romance of it all if I'm honest and it takes me right back to my childhood where many a happy day were spent fishing tench pools with my grandparents.

Early in the year the tench seem to be a little easier to catch, especially before they spawn and this is the time I usually concentrate my efforts targeting them. They are also at their best weight at this time. 

A hard fighting male tench taken on the float

I like to find a nice spot with plenty of cover in close and introduce a carpet of feed at the beginning of my session. Usually 4 or 5 good sized balls of groundbait laced with a couple of handfuls of pellets and some hook bait samples. I tend to top up the swim after each fish or when it goes noticeably quiet. 

Sweetcorn, soft hooker pellets and worms are my favourite tench baits by far. A particularly effective combination has been a dyed red sweetcorn and worm cocktail, the tench just love it. There's nothing to beat the anticipation of watching 'tench bubbles' frothing up around your float as the fish get their heads down....you just know a bite is on the cards!

My brother and I have been fishing a few local ponds in recent weeks and have found some good fish on the feed. The thrill of hooking them at close range and the strength with which they try to evade capture is always a winner in my book. The power from their huge paddle tails always makes for an exciting fight. Bent rods and screaming reels is what it's all about for me and our recent tench fishing has not disappointed. We've found some stunning Sussex tench just recently. 

My brother with clonker of a tench that weighed in at 8.5 lb's

Spring Fishing for Crucian Carp - April 2016

Best Crucian of the day from Bury Hill Fisheries - Milton Lake

Now that spring is in the air and I'm done with my winter fishing for the year, it's species like the crucian carp, tench, bream and rudd that grab my attention in the freshwater world. The Crucian is not a fish that I have ever specifically targeted before. Sure I've caught a few in the past when just generally fishing for bites.....but 'actually' fishing for them in particular is a new challenge for me.

They have a reputation for being finicky feeders and giving very delicate bites, so I did my homework and discovered that fishing very precisely and delicately is the way to go. That's what the dedicated crucian anglers recommend anyway. Light lines, small hooks and a small float dotted right down to register even the tiniest of bites seems in keeping with the traditional approach. Those after the real specimens favour a scaled down modern carp fishing approach with bolt rig tactics in favour.

For me, there was only one way to have a go for the crucians and that was with a float. I just love float fishing, I get all nostalgic about it as it takes me right back to my childhood angling days with my grandparents. My initial aim was to just catch a crucian, not break any records after all. The float and the concentration required to fish it really helps you engage with your environment and quarry I find. I just don't get that connection when I'm sat behind a pair of rods on buzzer bars.

As the initial aim was to simply catch a crucian by design, I chose a venue that has plenty of them in it - always a good starting point! Old Bury Hill in Surrey is one such place as this fishery has a dedicated tench and crucian lake with a good head of true crucians.

It was a chilly spring morning when my my friend Dave and I arrived at Bury Hill's Milton lake for our crucian session. We chose to fish with our backs to the wind and I focused my attention in the margins where the crucians are known to patrol looking for food. With a bait selection including corn, casters, maggots, pellets and bread we were well prepared.

I kept the bait to a minimum as it's still early in the year and I didn't want to attract the tench either. Fishing for one bite at a time with a little groundbait and a single hook bait was my approach. It seemed like a smart move as after changing the baits around a bit I got a bite on corn and hooked my first crucian of the session. A very pretty, hard fighting fish of around a pound or so. Result!

6 or 7 more followed over the next couple of hours and then as the day got brighter the bites became less frequent and more difficult to hit. The best of the day is the fish pictured above.

In the end I managed 10 crucians, 2 roach and 1 tench for my efforts so it was a resounding success. I was fishing a running line and small waggler float but Dave, on the next peg along, fished the pole. His delicate and accurate approach with the pole really scored for him, with a bag of at least 30 crucians or more. It was interesting to compare and contrast the two approaches and there's no doubting the effectiveness of the pole for these shy biting creatures.

Winter Pike Fishing - 2015/16 Season

I love my Pike fishing. I always look forward to that time of year when the frosts kill off the weed and sharpen the appetite of our freshwater apex predator. The sight of a big pike really is quite something to behold and still to this day I get a surge of adrenaline when the float starts bobbing or a big croc chases my lure in. Even after all the fishing I've done around the world there's not much that compares to the joy of seeking out a big pike on a crisp, frosty morning back home.

They are ferocious ambush hunters and impressive to look at, there's just something about them. Perfectly designed for the job they do and unchanged through evolution for millennia. They are a marvel of creation.

A feisty Jack Pike taken on a fly

There is great appeal in the fact that pike can be caught on bait, lures and also on the fly. This makes fishing for them interesting in that there is always a challenge and you can alter your techniques to suit the conditions on the day or to match the time of year.

My season started in early October with a trip to Chew Valley Lake with my West-country piking buddy Roger. He was very kind to ask me to be his boat partner during the first week of the pike trials there. It was a tough day for us both though. He blanked and I managed a big rainbow trout for my efforts on the lure. I also lost a fish on a deadbait right at last knockings but it didn't seem like it was of any great size. Chew really is a ball-breaker of a water!

You can't really complain with by-catch like this!

After that, my attentions turned to Perch fishing for a while and it wasn't until Christmas that I got back on the Pike. I prefer to fish the rivers if I can but this winter was such a wash out that the tidal stretches I favour were largely out of shape whenever I had the opportunity to wet a line. With this in mind I chose to fish a club water that I have access to. It screams 'Big Pike' and looks the part, it also has a history of producing the odd big fish so I put a few sessions in to see what I could tempt from it.

A nice lure caught fish from a club water

The water mentioned has the advantage of being spring fed so remains clear whatever the weather throws at us. It was a great opportunity to get the lure and fly rod in action. After a fair few attempts I had little to show for my efforts and was a bit disappointed with the results. I'd had a fair few fish but I'd be lucky if the best nudged 10lbs in weight. Still, it was enjoyable fishing in beautiful surroundings and it's always nice catching them on the lures and flies whatever their size. I just expected there to be the odd big girl in there as well. Maybe next season will be better, I'll certainly try again.

A little Jack takes a fly on my club water

In the new year, I got invited to fish a lake that had not had any pike anglers on it for quite a while and where the fish had been left largely unpressured. It was a rare opportunity to get access to some interesting fishing and the owner was curious to see how the pike were doing in the water. It's not every day you get an opportunity like this so I was very keen to give it a good shot.

I was fishing it with another local pike angler and we teamed up to make the best of the time we had on the water. With the lake being coloured we chose to fish baits and to draw the fish to our desired area we groundbaited with finely minced fish. The idea being to introduce plenty of scent and blood into the water but not to actually feed the fish. The only edible morsels were our herring and mackerel baits. We fished a spread of 4 rods across the baited area and waited in anticipation.

The first 2 runs were to the rods of my buddy and he landed 2 nice fish, a low 20 and an upper double. A great start that left me wondering what I had done wrong! This is just how fishing goes sometimes. It all came right for me as the light started to fade though and I had the craziest 5 minutes of piking I think I've ever experienced....

A fine brace of fish as the light fails

My left hand rod ripped off and I raced over to it, winding down and setting the hooks. It turned out to be a small Jack that put up little resistance against the heavy tackle. After quickly unhooking it and re-casting to the spot I sat back down again. Within a minute, the right hand rod was away. This time it was a much better fish that looked to be pushing 17lb or so. Just after it slipped in to the net my left hand rod was off again. I handed the net to my buddy and attended to the next fish which felt better still. After a great fight I slid an even bigger fish over the net and had the pair of them sat there together. I was shaking with the excitement, what a pair of fish. What a crazy 5 minutes!

The biggest of the pair at 20lb 10oz

I weighed the biggest and the scales settled on 20lb 10oz. I was over the moon, my biggest of the season so far. I didn't weight the other but it was a few pounds smaller, what a brace of fish!

My next session saw me back on Chew Valley Lake for the February pike trials and I was once again with my buddy Roger. This time round the weather was horrendous. We had high winds and rain which made fishing rather difficult. We struggled to pin the anchor by 11am in the rising winds and spent the remainder of the day sheltering behind the island along with many other boats! Funnily enough, the fish seemed to have had the same idea as we witnessed a 32lb fish and a 40lb 10oz caught in the boats either side of us! I was gob-smacked to be honest, I'd never seen pike of that size in my life and saw 2 in an hour. Chew really does have some potential. I've no doubt there's a record fish swimming round in there somewhere.

A nice Chew pike on a perch replicant lure

This inspired me, and I was fishing hard in the grotty conditions - continually casting my lure to cover the water. On two occasions I had a monstrous fish that looked well over 30lb swipe at my lure by the boat. It was real heart in the mouth stuff. Sadly it failed to connect properly. Just before it was time to head in I got a nice fish though, not one of the monsters the water is famed for but an incredibly beautiful fish. I was well pleased.

My best Chew Lake pike to date - a proper stunner

My final pike fishing sessions of the year were all on the fly. As the weather warms a little in the early spring this can often bring about some aggressive feeding and I love to chuck a fly at them. This is great fun and allows the pike to show it's fighting prowess to the best of it's ability.

Things were a little patchy until the fish spawned. After this the pike were ravenous and one day in particular my buddy Paul and I hit it just right. The pike were in the shallows following the silver fish in as they were grouping up in readiness for their own spawning. We waded carefully through the shallows working our flies as we went, getting some great sport in the process. We managed 4 fish each up to a best well into double figures - a great days pike fishing by anyone's standards and all on the fly rod too. Brilliant.

My best fly caught Pike to date and a happy angler

Paul with a nice fish

It was a good season really, I enjoyed it as much as ever. It's just a shame the rivers were out of sorts for much of the time. There's always next year though.....until then.....Tight Lines!

Trotting on the River Test - Jan 2016

The Test at Romsey

Once the new year had been seen in and all the Christmas celebrations were over my attention soon turned back to fishing. It was decided that my friend Dave and I would make the journey down to Hampshire to fish the River Test near Romsey.

The rivers had been all over the place locally due to vast amounts of rain over the Christmas holiday period. Our thinking was that the chalk streams of Hampshire would more than likely be fishable as they are far less affected by excess water than our Sussex lowland rivers.

We planned to float fish trotted maggots in the hope of catching grayling, trout, dace, roach and chub. The Test is a fantastic river for this style of fishing and we always enjoy our days down there. However, upon our arrival even the Test was out of shape....high and coloured. We looked on in disbelief as it was long journey to make to find the river unfishable!

Salmon Parr

Seeing as we were there anyway, we tackled up and decided to give it a go. The sun was shining for the first time in what seemed like weeks anyway so it was actually a pleasure just being out in the mild winter weather. Any fish would be a bonus.

Nice size Dace

The water was pushing so fast that our floats were 40 yards downstream of us literally seconds after plopping them in. It was very hard to find any water that was of a sensible pace. Eventually, after much searching we did find a few pockets of softer looking water and some fish seeking refuge within. They seemed to be thinking the same as us......find the steadier water to make life a bit easier!

Grayling

Once these areas had been located then a few fish started to come to our nets. Mostly dace, grayling and trout. In fact, in the end we managed a fair few fish as they seemed to be squeezed in to the steadier areas like sardines. A good day was had and we trundled back to Sussex in high spirits having thoroughly blasted away the mid-winter blues. No monsters but a great day out in good company with some beautiful fish. What more can you ask for!

Sussex Perch Fishing 2015/16

A nice Perch just over 2lb's taken on a worm bait

I love catching Perch and have had plenty of 2lb fish over the years but a 3lb fish has so far eluded me. A 3lb'er is a serious fish and anything bigger the fish of a lifetime in my book. It's nice to have something to aim for in your fishing and the colder winter months see me regularly out targeting this most impressive of fish. Big Perch are truly a sight to behold and still hold as much appeal now as they ever have.

There are some very impressive Perch to be found in many of the commercial fisheries local to me. Having been stocked as the apex predator when many of these lakes were first dug, these fish are now reaching very impressive sizes with even the odd 4 and 5lb'ers a realistic target for those willing to put in the effort.

A fine looking perch from Passies Pond taken on maggots

There are host of venues worth a look at down in Sussex close to me such as Alderwood Ponds, Tanyards, Passies Ponds, Whitevane and Sumners Ponds to name a few. All can fish well for the Perch on their day.

This winter I have done a few sessions at both Alderwoods and Passies with mixed success so far. I have been experimenting with different baits and techniques. Using prawns, maggots and worm have all brought results on their day. I've also enjoyed using the drop-shot method of lure fishing. This has produced some good numbers of fish for me but nothing of any great size as yet......still, it keeps me nice and mobile on those colder days.

Best Perch of the winter so far at 2lb 10oz on a worm bait

The best fish I have managed so far this winter is 2lb 10oz and this came from Alderwoods on a lobworm fished over plenty of worm chop. There have been a few other 2's and plenty of smaller fish as well. Some very welcome Roach have put in an appearance with some going well over a pound and a half also. Nice fishing!

A fine roach taken on a maggot hook bait

So the quest for a 3lb Perch continues.......and I am enjoying every single moment of it which is exactly how I like my fishing to be. Unitl the next time.....Tight Lines!

A Couple of Articles for the 'Anglers Mail'

After my appearance on BBC2's 'The Big Fish' TV show I was flattered to be approached by the 'Anglers Mail' magazine to put together a couple of features for inclusion in their pages back at Christmas time. I have read the magazine since I was a lad and first got in to fishing so I was over the moon to finally get a chance to grace it's pages.

I was given a 'Three Species Challenge' to complete for their cameras at a local fishery and had to catch a 1lb Roach, a 2lb Perch and a 10lb carp in one session. It was a tough challenge but I did well on the day and had a great time in the process too.......which is what fishing is all about really!

I also put together a piece about my winter pike fishing and the inspiration that I have taken over the years.

The articles are all shown below. Click on the images to see them in full size, they are the much easier to read. Tight Lines :)

Fly Fishing for Grayling on the Hampshire Avon

The Upper Hampshire Avon

The day in question was the first proper frost of the year back in mid November of 2015. Perfect Grayling fishing weather as it goes. After de-icing the van I made my way down to Hampshire to join a dedicated bunch of fly anglers on the Avon in a combined quest to catch 'the lady of the stream'.

I had been invited along by the guys from 'Wet Your Knot' who run a respected web community through their facebook page and have a dedicated following now well over 25,000 members strong. Their aim is to breath new life into the world of fly-fishing and bring it right in to the 21st century by bringing passionate fly-anglers old and new together in their own unique way. Click here for their web page Wet Your Knot.

A good day out with the 'Wet Your Knot' lads

I felt privileged to be invited along and was made to feel very welcome by the founders Adam and Julian and their friends. The stretch of the Avon was owned by the Army and we had been granted permission to fish it for the day. I have previous experience of fly fishing for grayling in the traditional upstream fashion using nymphs suspended under an indicator but was keen to learn all about 'Czech and French Nymphing'.

Mark bringing a Grayling to the net

This devastatingly effective technique was put on display to great effect by some of the other anglers that morning and I was lucky enough to be under the tutelage of a couple of well practised chaps, Simon and Lindsay. 

They put me right on the technique and showed me how the team of heavy nymphs was fished on a short line with a small fluorescent in-line indicator tied in for bite detection. By flicking the team of nymphs upstream of my position and then guiding them through the river on a tight line I was able to tease the flies through all the likely looking runs and glides. 

Had a go for a pike in the mill pool too, sadly no takes that day.

It took a short while to get the hang of it but I soon got into the rhythm of repeatedly casting and running the nymphs through all the fishy spots. It didn't take too long to bring a fish or 2 to hand and I soon realised the potential of this incredibly accurate and precise way of fishing. It may lack some of the finesse and art form associated with casting a fly line in the traditional way but it more than makes up for this in it's effectiveness. On it's day, it pretty much empties the stream....as many of the guys I was fishing with proved!

A nice Hampshire Avon Grayling

It was a thoroughly enjoyable day in fine company and always good to make new friends in the world of fishing. As well as learning some new skills we also celebrated the birthday of Adam with a fine BBQ and a very fishy looking cake. What's not to like :) Thanks to the guys at Wet Your Knot for the photos and for making me feel so welcome.

Adam and his very special 'Grayling' cake