Just not having it today!

Arrived at the Leeds Liverpool Canal, at around 1 O'clock, and had around a thousand casts, tried pretty much every lure in the box. I stayed until 6 O'clock. I Didn't have one take, no follows, and definitely no Pike! Today was just one of those days, no matter what I tried I was never going to catch

Tarleton Canal

Had just under an hour to spare today so took my lure rod out for a few casts. Had to pick Ellie up from school, so I stopped off at the canal at Tarleton. I didn't get much action, however just when I was getting ready to leave, I saw a small Jack Pike follow my ABU Lure, it hit the lure and then backed off, I quickly changed my lure to a small Jig and it struck straight away. It was only small, but a fish is a fish, and this was my first at Tarleton Locks.

A great day at Hurlston Hall

Controversial Personal BestLast knockings

3lb 7oz Tench for Beef

Beef gets Chubby

Hurlston Hall was the venue for the day today, after Beefs last success here, it was going to be difficult to get him to go anywhere else. It was literally a race to the good pegs today as it's half term in some areas. We managed to grab the pegs which we wanted, but I did have to run for it. The place was very busy, much too busy for my liking. The first fish of the day came to Beef, a Chub of around 2lb 7oz. The second fish also came to Beef, a nice Tench of around 3lb 7oz. It looked like I was going to be in for one of those days. However things were about to get rather interesting. There were a couple of young lads fishing to our left, they had been making a nuisance of themselves for most of the day. They were bombarding the ducks and other wildlife with boilies. At around 17.30 they decided to have a wonder around the lake. They were completely out of sight when one of their rods had a blistering run. Unbelievably they had left all of their rods baited up and in the water. I ran over and struck into the fish. Beef soon followed and he found their landing net, not long after I landed a Common Carp weighing 10lb 2oz. The lads came running back "You're too late lads" I said. They looked absolutely gutted. There is a lesson to be learnt here, and that is to never leave your rods in the water unattended. My dilemma here though is whether or not to claim this catch as my new PB? A few minutes later I landed another Common Carp from my own peg, weighing in at just 6lb 6oz. I later pointed out to Beef that I had clutched victory from the jaws of defeat, as although Beef caught 2 fish today he didn't catch any Carp. After all we were Carping mate not Chubbing or Tenching. You're only as good as your last catch. ;-)

Smallest Pike I've ever caught!

Smallest Pike

Made my way to Leeds Liverpool canal, at Sollom, The conditions at first looked very good for my first Perch session of the year. It's about time my Quiver Rod saw some action. The Weather report for today was dry and sunny spells....... What a load of piffle! Wind, Rain and Sleet more like. I fished for around 2 hours, and the only fish i caught in that time was a little Jack Pike. Possibly the smallest I've ever caught, it must have took a liking to my double worm presentation. It was around 7 to 8 " long. ;0) Better than a blanking session!

Rosemary Wood First Visit

My First visit to Rosemary Wood Fishery. This place has some Pro's and Con's. It is the most expensive day ticket water I have been to, priced at £8 for two rods I found this way too expensive. The water is not that special and is not that big. On the plus side you can park right up to your peg that you're fishing, which was very handy today as it was blowing a very bitter northerly wind and also the odd shower. There are apparently Carp to 28lb and Pike to 20+ Around 12 O'clock Ben came down and chucked out a Pike rod, he never got a touch on it the 4 hours he was there. In total I had 4 Carp, 7lb 4oz, 6lb 3oz and 2 at around 5lb. All caught on the same bait. Pepperami and plastic corn. It's worth a mention that there were some Carpers on the opposite bank, one of them came over for a chat and he told me they had been there since the day before and hadn't had a bite. They must be doing something wrong ;0) I packed up at around 7.30 well into the dark. my last 2 fish came just as the sun was setting.

Ellie's first Pikeing session

Easter Sunday

Took Ellie for a walk along the canal at Rufford. I saw the opportunity to take my Spinning rod. Had a take from a Jack Pike on my third cast. Fell off at the net though. Ellie was fascinated by the way it jumped out of the water, so much so she soon took the rod off me and was having a go herself ;0) Sadly she didn't catch, but I think she liked Spinning (see footage above) so I'm sure we'll have quite a few sessions together over the summer.

Windy Day at The Saracens Head

Packed up soon after I Saw this coming in

I was determined to get some Fishing in today, It was Good Friday and the weather was awful. 50mph gusts and the odd shower. Made my way to the Leeds Liverpool canal Saracens head stretch. Dead baited on two rods and the occasional chuck out on my lure rod. Set up my Brolly and took shelter. Stayed for around 5 hours and didn't get a touch in all that time. The wind was blowing from the North and made conditions very difficult, will perhaps not fish into a hurricane again. :-)

Quick Lure session on Leeds Liverpool

WEDNESDAY

Just a quick one today, well about a 3 hour session, had quite a few follows, could see them just about to strike the lure and then back off at the last second, was quite sunny today so i presume they could see my shadow on the water. Did catch one, a little fella of about 1lb. Tried side trolling in between swims and just missed one as this too backed off.

THURSDAY

Today's only catch!

Don't quite know why i bothered today, wet and windy a horrible day. Tried everything but didn't catch, except some swan mussels. I had one follow whilst side trolling, but no takes. Still gave it a good go though i was there about 2 hours.

Beef's First visit to Hurlston Hall

Beef's First Tench of the day
The Clonker! 21lb 4oz

My 6lb 7oz

Early morning shot of the Rod Pod

Today Beef and I headed to Hurlston Hall Fishery. This would be officially Beef's first carping session, and would give him the chance to christen his new rod and reel set up. The first fish was landed by myself, a Common carp weighing in at just 6lb 7oz, my fist carp of the season. Beef watched on and called me a few names. Perhaps the fish were going to feed well today and I was hopeful of bagging my Carp personal best. However the moment of the day was left to Beef, at around 1 O'clock his bite alarm screamed in to action. I've never seen him move so fast as he finally got some rod bending action that he thoroughly deserved, it'd been a long time coming. Earlier in the day Beef had been saying that he'd take a double today, and he got his wish. When the Carp was near the net i was shocked by the size of what I saw, and the line actually snapped right by the net, I had to do a deft manoeuvre to rescue his catch, luckily I managed to net it for him. You owe me big time mate! We scurried over to the scales and weigh sling and weighed it. It was a monster common carp weighing in at a whopping 21lb 4oz. And it was in immaculate condition. What a way to christen your new rod and reel, this is the stuff of dreams. To say he was pleased is an understatement (See Photo's) Not satisfied by this awesome catch he then had the cheek to land 2 tench to 3lb. Caught on Beefs special bait which he named 'THE BEEF BURGER' I only managed the one fish all day. A fantastic day by all accounts, and one that Beef will not forget in a hurry.

Anglezarke and 2 welcome Jacks

Beef waiting for the big one !

2lb'er4lb 7oz

A short but sweet trip to Anglezarke. Beef collected me at 11.30 and made our way to Anglezarke via Coppull Angling to stock up on some bait. Rod's in by about 12.30 lent Beef one of my rod's and he had chance to use his new Rod and Reel set up. Whilst Beef went away to try his new spinning rod set up I landed a Pike at 4.7oz on the rod and reel i'd lent him, Much to his dismay. ;-) Landed another Pike of about 2lb a few hours later. Both fish were caught using ledger rigs, one on Mackerel and one Mackerel Tail. Best not to use mono ledger links and just a weight running freely on the line, there is less chance of getting snagged on the rocks. Packed up just after 6pm. No massive fish today but beautiful surroundings and a great day out. Looking forward to a Carping session with Beef tomorrow.

Carping at HurlstonHall Fishery

Last day of the season and a couple of catches!

Met up with Ben at Sixfields, nice and early. Rods in by 7am. Last day of the season so expected it to be busy. Caught my first Pike by 9.30. Only about 5lb. Ben had two runs but both fish came off. Landed another of a similar size a few hours later. It got very busy later in the morning, i'd say about a dozen people expected to turn up and fish where we were. Got to get up earlier in the morning to beat us two. Had another run but this one came off mid fight. Well that's the end of the River Pikeing Season, plenty to go at on the canal though.

Sarencen's Head Wobbling Rig. Nothing!

Wobbling on the Canal, went to The Saracens Head section for a change. Spent around 3 hours and caught nothing. Stopped to chat to some kids that were Pikeing. On closer inspection it turned out that they didn't have a clue what they were doing. I spent around half an hour with them. Sorted out their rigs and gave them some advise. They were Spinning on their ledger rod and Dead Baiting on their Spinning rods. Snapped them down and made good of what limited set up they had. Even gave them 2 of my Perch. Had a recce at Hurlston Hall Fishery, a Carping water which has a good head of Carp and Tench. I haven't fished there since September, and with The river season finishing tomorrow, I may have a session there on Saturday.

Another Double on the bank ;-)

First catch -10lb 7ozSecond catch- 7lb 8oz

The Weather report for today was terrible. It said that a big band of rain and high winds were on their way, and would hit our area around dinner time. Well after weighing up my options I decided to risk it and go Pikeing on the sluice. This time it paid off as it wasn't that windy and the rain held off all day. According to the moon phase today would be good for fishing. And it was right, although my first bite took a long time to come it was worth it. A decent Pike 0f 10lb 7oz and a very good fight, it didn't want to come in, a lot of line was pulled off my reel as it tried to swim to safety. It made a second run when it saw my net, and tail walked as it tried to shake the hooks. Managed to net a second fish weighing in at 7lb 8oz. Spent a lot of the day talking to fellow Piker Danny, who despite having 3 rods out blanked today, Gord Burton turned up later on and told us loads of Pikeing stories, he stayed for about 2 hours. Today could possibly be the last trip of the season as it closes on the 15th March. Although Thursday and Friday are given as good moon phases next week, so I'll see what the weather does over the coming days.

Just one of them days!

More Wobbling on the Canal and a good scrapper!

Walked from Sollom to Bank Hall bridge.(about 20 mins at pace) The idea behind this is to get some exercise whilst I'm out fishing. Walk the distance first and then chuck some lures out on the way back. Two for the price of one! Once again I had one hit and one fish, this came within the first 15 mins. My choice of wobbling bait was Perch. The Pike followed my bait and struck right by my feet. Good little scrapper on the spinning rod. Fantastic! Hardly a monster about 3lb

Wobbling on the Rufford Canal

A couple of hours on the Leeds Liverpool Canal at Rufford produced one take and one fish. I used the wobbling method with a dead Perch. The Pike actually came off the first time, so I chucked the Perch straight back out. It hit it almost immediately. Only about 1lb 7oz but it went crazy, obviously never seen hooks before. It's quite good fun wobbling dead baits over the side as you can see the Pike come out the water and strike. An awesome sight no matter what the size.