View from your swim part 2

[Jackknife 823]

This one not so lucky so ferret food

 

Edited April 23, 2023 by Jackknife

[Nicepix 5,650]

An afternoon session on the Charente. 10 foot cane rod, centrepin and sliding float. Used up last weeks maggots and worms for three bream. 

Bit of a tight swim, four foot above the water line. It is 12 foot deep a rod length out and I just drop the float that sort of distance making sure there is enough line coming off the reel to allow the full depth to be reached. 

First bream was the smallest and didn't put up much of a fight. The other two were bigger and used the current to their advantage. 

[Blackmag 6,035]

On 24/12/2022 at 11:28, Jackknife said:

Bain of my life these poxy things constantly diving on the bait,this one stayed clear after it's little fright lol

A lad that fishes one of my local waters uses a laser pen but had to get permission of the bailiff 

[Jackknife 823]

6 hours ago, Blackmag said:

A lad that fishes one of my local waters uses a laser pen but had to get permission of the bailiff 

Yes pal,you can get rechargeable Tufty Torches for about £50,I'm going to treat myself

[Daniel cain 44,961]

[Nicepix 5,650]

On 29/12/2022 at 10:00, Daniel cain said:

Any luck?

[Daniel cain 44,961]

31 minutes ago, Nicepix said:

Any luck?

Had one run and missed it,my lad had 2  small perch on his dropshotting outfit...the water level was down around 2 metres  because the barrage was open because of the volume of rain water

[Nicepix 5,650]

1 hour ago, Daniel cain said:

Had one run and missed it,my lad had 2  small perch on his dropshotting outfit...the water level was down around 2 metres  because the barrage was open because of the volume of rain water

Do you dropshot with worms or lures? I tried it a couple of times and vever had a touch using latex jelly worms. 

[Daniel cain 44,961]

30 minutes ago, Nicepix said:

Do you dropshot with worms or lures? I tried it a couple of times and vever had a touch using latex jelly worms. 

my young lads into it ... yesterday he was using small rubber shads

[Nicepix 5,650]

13C overnight rising to 18C today and dry. For once they got it right and the car had been packed last night ready for the off at 9am. Local tackle shop was closed so I detoured to a larger national chain that opened bang on 10am. There were five trays of what used to be maggots to choose from. Mostly it was casters and bran. I reckon they hadn't ordered any this week and what was there was last weeks order. I filled a hallf litre tub by taking the best few from each tray so I had squatts, pinkies, red maggots, white maggots and gozzers all in the same tub. The guy at the counter never opened the box. I reckon he was ashamed. Instead he picked the box up, shook it once and from that deduced that I owed him €3.95.

Next stop was a boulangerie where I got a quiche, apple crumble and custard flan and the nice lady gave me a pen as a momento of my visit. Then after arriving at my chosen swim all I had to do was walk the dog, put her back in the car, carry most of my stuff 200 metres to the swim, return for the rod and dog and after all that I could start fishing.

The method was simple; one rod length deep, one rod length out and one rod length downstream. Bait was applies via a dropper on my mini-spod rod

 

I also invested some groundbait based on ground maize, hemp and Gros Gardons mix. The water was clear enough to see the bottom, 10 feet down and I saw my first customer enter the swim. The bite was typical bream, i.e. fannying about then bobbing a few times before the sliding float went under. The fight however was not typical bream. It actually took line. Then it realised its mistake and became a bream again.

I didn't want to waste good worms on such unworthy quarry so I put a large grain of sweetcorn on for the next cast. The bite was more decisive and the fish took off towards the far bank. I really struggled to control it and on landing the fish I saw why. Whilst it was hooked fairly somehow the line had lasooed one of its pectoral fins and that was the point of contact.

And that was it. I packed up at 3:30pm, walked the dog again and made my way home in the last of the sunshine. The local tackle shop was still closed so tomorrow on the Vienne will see a combination of dead maggots from the freezer along with half dead maggots from today.

[hambone 949]

Don't do a lot of course fishing so it may be obvious to most but what are "gozzers"?

[Nicepix 5,650]

9 minutes ago, hambone said:

Don't do a lot of course fishing so it may be obvious to most but what are "gozzers"?

They are larger, softer maggots. Traditionally they were bred on wood pigeons as pigeons attracted the fly that bred gozzers. 

[hambone 949]

39 minutes ago, Nicepix said:

They are larger, softer maggots. Traditionally they were bred on wood pigeons as pigeons attracted the fly that bred gozzers. 

Thanks 

[gazjon5 803]

18 inches of ice, minus 18 and nothing but a few tiny perch and a solitary small walleye....  Heading home now to get ready for the celebrations, all the best to everyone for 2023!

[Daniel cain 44,961]

my birthday today..so a day fishing before going back to work tomorrow.