Let's talk fishing

[Hicky]

How much do you fishists tend to spend on your sticks, string and those little boxes that look likemp porta potties? Im guessing a good few quid in many cases?

Marketplace/ebay, fishing groups on FB, you can find some bargains on there. I'd say I've spent a couple of hundred on kit for my son. The latest whizbang kit seems to make stuff all difference beyond showing off.

 

[delb0y]

Spent £33 at a local tackle shop this morning - bag of groundbait, some hooks, and a new landing net :-) Yesterday I was really struggling with my old landing net that glides through the water like a breeze-block. So I've bought a new fangled easy-flow one. We shall see if it lives up to the hype.

 

[oldwheels]

When i first got back into cycling many years ago - this was my original idea. Id use the bike to travel up and down the river but it honestly seems like too much faff and another extra 7-12kgs of stuff to carry around that doesnt need to be. Never mind that towpaths are quite narrow and you'll have to stop thievin'bast*rds from stealing your bike while you fish (At least where im from muggings on towpaths are an actual thing)

a more convenient option which ive seen some people do is get an electric scooter. you can fold them up and carry them with you or fold them up and dump them in a bush somewhere when you start fishing as they are low profile and inconspicuous enough not really to be noticed compared to having a bicycle laid out behind you.

-- It doesnt make much sense to me as im going to be roaming 99% of the time but if you just need it to get from point A-B where you'll be for for the entire trip then i dont see why you cant do that on a bicycle or electric scooter

Some electric scooters come with chunkier tyres so they will handle light off-roading but the only downside with electric scooters is they can be pricey so its up to you if you think its worth the investment.

I'll probably consider the scooter option too at some stage -- at least when they get cheaper.

For an electric scooter it would need to be one with bigger wheels than the usual ones seen. The ones with small wheel are pretty much useless on anything other than smooth surfaces. Pricey as well.
Depending on the area how about a canoe trailer behind a bike for carrying rods etc.

 

[oldwheels]

why not? Fewer fish? I thought you could still throw in a line with 6 feathers on and at least reel in one or two an hour? Mind you I'm talking about 25 years ago. Lots might have changed

In my area sea fishing is pretty well done. We used to get loads of big [ 4 or 5 lbs average] cod, haddock, whiting, pollack and coalfish fishing with lugworm half way between Mull and Tiree. Mackerel with feathers could be got at any of the known spots . Now you can go out and get virtually nothing except perhaps a few mackerel on the way home. Size of fish has also changed and many are put back if possible as too small to bother with. At one time most of these fish could be caught inside Tobermory bay. I used to put creels out for prawns[langoustine to you] and got fair catches for a few years but they have also gone mostly. Scallops which we dived for have also got very scarce due to dredging.

 

[RoubaixCube]

well, its been 5 trips at 3 or 4 different stretches of the same river with a few miles in between stretches. No bites, no follows, nothing at all.

I was considering pouring more money into lures and grabbing a few more but i dont think thats the answer to the 'no fish' problem. I switch lures often but I cant catch what isnt there

My dad who has joined me in quite a few of my trips who was thinking about getting into lure fishing is also starting to think that there is no pike in the canal. And he was more optimistic than me who was already moaning about it after my second session.

6th trip tomorrow. If i dont get anything then i'll probably pick up the waterway wanderers permit and head down river instead but the issue of it still being the same river could mean i still end up catching nothing at all

Those people really cleaned the lea out

 

[delb0y]

Lovely short session on the club lake this morning. Caught a few nice carp including a 12 minute battle with a lovely common. Didn't weigh it or get a photo as I wanted to get it straight back in - probably a double, which is big for me. Also got a bit of jolt when landing it as my three metre landing net handle - carbon, no less - touched the electric fence that I forgot was behind me... ouch!

 

[RoubaixCube]

went out for a hike up the river today. Came across a rather sad looking pike floating on the surface 6 or 7miles into it.

Had to have been at least 6-8lb. Pretty sure it had been dead for a while as it's eye was completely clouded over. Not sure if this was due to it having been dead in the water for a while or if it was for other reasons. A quick google tells me its either parasites or bad/contaminated water. (The Lea is fairly polluted in any case)

From the outside it still looked normal. its markings and camouflaging were a little faded but still there.

Didnt poke it with a stick but I stopped and watched it for a while to see if it would move and it didnt, so I assume that it had already passed on.

Ive been fishing much further down river for pike without so much of a knock or a follow since last October. I had never seen any tell tale signs of pike in the river (small fish jumping) but local fishermen that i have spoken to tell me there are pike in the river and they have seen people catch although maybe only jack pike as certain group of people have taken all the bigger ones for the pot.

Further up river is not worth fishing because there are too many boats moored and what little gaps there are between them are few and far between (that and its a bloody long way to walk)

Happy that I have finally seen a pike and find out that they do exist after all these blank months, but sad to see the condition that it was in.

 

[delb0y]

Always sad to see a dead fish floating in the river, that way. I guess fish do expire through natural causes, but as you say, pollution is on the increase again and could well be a factor. But at least you know the pike are there now!

 

[Kempstonian]

Give it a while and that river will be teeming with pike. The big ones they have taken would have kept the numbers of jack pike down.

I have a ton of fly tying materials & books I want to sell if anybody is interested.

 

[gbb]

Always sad to see a dead fish floating in the river, that way. I guess fish do expire through natural causes, but as you say, pollution is on the increase again and could well be a factor. But at least you know the pike are there now!

As a kid in the early 70s, we'd see dead bream, roach et al in the Trent, you're right i think, it's not indicative of anything except fish die too

 

[delb0y]

Had a couple of hours out on a park lake first thing this morning. Absolutely freezing. I can't recall being so cold in a long time. Lots of roach and a couple of decent skimmers. But it was just too cold to be enjoyable.

 

[RoubaixCube]

Some of my adventures last year:

and most recent, albeit a terrible picture from me:

I assure you it was a pristine looking fish with a lovely pattern.

Gave up with the local river and canal... After after the spinning season ended on the club stretch. I bought a wanderers permit and went up the canal, same result. No bites, no follows, no signs of pike life.

Ended up joining a club that held some medium sized lakes. First two fish were caught on a light 4-14g spinning rod. cant remember the weight of the first one but the one below was a solid 18lb. Not a particularly healthy looking fish but it had a lot of length to it. The last fish was quite a chunk despite how terrible the photo is.

 

[rockyroller]

Some of my adventures last year:
and most recent, albeit a terrible picture from me:
I assure you it was a pristine looking fish with a lovely pattern.
Gave up with the local river and canal... After after the spinning season ended on the club stretch. I bought a wanderers permit and went up the canal, same result. No bites, no follows, no signs of pike life.
Ended up joining a club that held some medium sized lakes. First two fish were caught on a light 4-14g spinning rod. cant remember the weight of the first one but the one below was a solid 18lb. Not a particularly healthy looking fish but it had a lot of length to it. The last fish was quite a chunk despite how terrible the photo is.

oh those must have been fun to catch! good job! interesting lure. looks like a little octopus

 

[Drago]

Anyone making the most of the good weather with a bit of fisting?

 

[RoubaixCube]

oh those must have been fun to catch! good job! interesting lure. looks like a little octopus

Funny enough. That wasn't the lure that caught the pike... That ones never caught me anything (Savage Gear Da'Bush - if youre interested in checking it out, Its supposed to be pretty good but maybe im not fishing it correctly)

I caught it using a 9g version of one of these...

Barely any bigger than my thumb. Was casting around the margins near some overhanging trees/bushes and I had already lost a few lures that day so I honestly thought I was snagged on log or something. There was nothing that indicated that I had hooked into a pike till it floated out of the depths without any resistance. Wasnt until I tried to net it that it went berserk and really started trashing. I think that old girl was on her way out sadly.

The rod that caught it is like a medium/light. tip is light but its got some backbone for some jacks so 18lb made for some great fun. Most of the pike caught are with the 4-14g spinning. The last pike pictured was caught using a proper medium 15-50g setup throwing a slightly larger version of the lure pictured.

I normally go around with both setups in hand - one for the perch and one for the pike but I couldnt seem to find any perch so far this year. Last summer it was absolutely shoaling with them.

::EDIT::

actually, I told a lie. The octopus looking lure was what is called a 'chatterbait'

I had to take a good look at it. Its had me out some perch as well that one nothing specimen size. about 18-20cm.