Double trouble
Last fish before heading off to the Ionian Sea. Couple of tench on the waggler and a pond pig to finish off a lightly fished July. Toodle pip.
Bureboyblog
Less work, more fishing.
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Standing up to the stumps
Like the New Zealand keeper I've been standing up to the stumps, well above the knee rolls anyway.Thin water, overgrown banks and roasting temps have seen me don the beach shoes and swimmers in the cool water. Rare bankside sortie I even had an hour almost putting out a straight fly line down that far run with a couple of missed pulls. Work in progress.' The 'River Police' are now actively…
Dedicated to Darth Sidious, Emperor Palpatine
The chub were spawning at the weekend on My River. A wondrous sight and a good way to guestimate size and quantity of the stock. Very healthy. Amongst those gathered for a feast in the post spawning bonanza were these chunky chublets, my first fish of the new season. I dropped down to Soay bend and the dace were as obliging. Monday saw me back on the stretch and wading in the shaded shallows but…
From the river to the sea
First day of the new season a gentle roving affair, an hour on a low Wensum, lots of fry and minnows, and some small but perfectly formed roach and brownies. No dace. Not even in the Spoons pool. Up through Docking and Ringstead then swooping down to the wide open horizon over the stunning North Norfolk coast. Poked about a bit before meeting up with the Loafer for a pint. On to the nature reserve…
Old timers
The embargo on Golden Pond had been lifted despite what the notice on the gate said and I'd had enough of painting BureBoi Villas. On to my Island Paradise, one rod and a new bag of the Source. Took a while for the fizzing to start, the much rescued and silt stained Puddle Chucker lifted and glided to the left hand lilies, tench like. Inexplicably I picked the rod up and started to reel in, not…
One for the Loafer
Eels. The Loafer loathes eels, so this one is for him. By catch on maggots, interestingly the small number I have caught from this water have been bycatch again, on corn. Put up the customary good scrap too. I guess swimming backwards helps. Time to tie up some twig rigs and give them a proper go.
Just a spring clean for the May Queen
Definitely been a bustling in the hedgerows, lovely warm winds. Anyhoo, first rod in the water by 19:11, and a tench and two hook pulls by 19:51.Wonder how much split tail has put on as they haven't spawned yet, as this plumpy shows. Lovely high back and neat fins Intense mayfly event, roach going crazy on them, the current batch of roach are also high backed and plump and most haven't felt a hook…
Corny
Haven't been on Golden Pond for a while, and the rhodos are out, but not the flag iris yet. Cold enough to wish I'd got gloves and some pissy rain meant I wasn't on long. Any amount of feed going in attracted the chats which in turn attracted the puke, churning up the shallow swim but the (too long) waggler slid away a few times. Proper bream (a two tone the best of the bunch) and some hybrids.…
Bird app eal
Another quick raid, another plump tench. increasing the season heaviest by 4oz at 6lb 6oz. Two other chances, one shed the hook after running back under my feet and a pig that did the customary 50 yard dash before transferring the hook chub like in some vegetation. Given the abundance of birdlife round the lake I often set Merlin running and here is a screenshot of some of what was recorded whilst…
Brace, pigeon pair, a left and right etc
Brace, pigeon pair, a left and right etc. I added a small sprinkling of the new kids on the block to my Spicy Sausage and let them do their thing whilst setting up the Merlin App for a quick species count. Faint shrilling to my right in a snigger inducing thick bush. I wondered fire or gold crest, Merlin told me gold crest. The bottom was turning over but some of the bubbles were fizzes, the first…
Brand loyalty
I've used Source now for what seems donkeys years. With a bag down the side as a wafter and most sentimentally in 12mm under a puddle chucker. This year the 12mm have been harder to find and my last bag bought were 14mm dumbbells. Not 'quite' the same and less likely to pick up a bonus roach possibly. To my shame a new kid has entered the block, yellowish, pineappley and has already been added to…
Muddy mullet madness
Mission was to catch my first mullet on the fly rod. Truth be told the last mullet I caught were on bread on the Algarve along time ago. Last century long time ago. The Loafer was my man and he instructed me to buy a suitable line, in this case a weight forward floating line, they come with welded loops now and a handy tag indicating the reel end. Beef wrap with mustard and a tour of the man cave…
Red eyes
Wind has had a nip to it but the tench are feeding. Who doesn't like a tench or two?
Trot or not
Big bucket of bread and pastes and some left over just in case red maggots. River coloured (not sure why) which might get some of the zoo creatures out of their day time tucked away haunts. Long time member had fished all the way up with the only indication a quick jag jag whilst we pondered on the future of 'our' river. Binned that idea and left the bread in the charabanc and back down to Noddy…
Rollers on the river
Big, big winds, 45-50 mph in gusts and plenty of flying limbs. Piking the only option. Low rods and hunkered down. Pike Pro lifters being shoddy and crap I had to rely on my sardines to do their best against weed and crays. In the event two dropped runs and a bucket full of crays were my lot The jury is out as to whether this 3 miles of lovely lowland river I've fished and haunted for 35 years…
(Almost) Fished out.
Not much time left on the rivers and not much desire to turn to the stillwaters yet. A very short and then a longer trip back on the new river resulted in two not hit plucks. Low, clear and too bright perhaps? Spent some time watching a pair of parakeets and tree creepers over my not moving much quiver tip. More fruitless trotting on the Church bend and Pastons before beginning a vey belated…
Head above the clouds
The Loafer was booked to be ghillie for Bully but the forecast was for rain later so I got down to the rolling hills of Devil Dog and Roses Round the Cottage Door Land an hour or so earlier and headed up past the pre-baited spots into new territory for me. An abundance of skylarks and the occasional peep and brilliant azure of kingfishers. A chub day today. 2SSG or less in contrast to the…
Marsh chub
Been thinking a lot about a stretch of my 'new' river. Bang between a sprawling estate, a massive health and science park and a busy trunk road. It's free for a start. I selected a parking spot where I'd have at least a chance of watching the local populace jack the charabanc up on bricks. A grey overcast day, perfect for wily old chub but not for leaving the big coat in the boot. Which of course…
The early bird
The early bird catches the bigger rudd. On Monday anyway. I'd headed up to the away town stretch hoping for some Fen Gold but things conspired for a later start and though the tip rattled and jagged round, often on the drop the corn/worm and feeder only produced not or barely netters. Rudd of course, roach and a solitary skimmer and silver bream, both bait size. The one big rudd I contacted with…
Gonks
Rain petering out so rod out of the boot for a quick trot. Dace, roach, chublets (one better chub lost) and a whole nest of gudgeon. Good for the soul.
Another cracking away day
Bring yer wellies was the Loafer's instruction. As we walked down The Tunnel it became clear why. The river was spread over a fair bit of Essex and Suffolk and still spilling over the bank behind us onto the flood plain the whole day. Kept most of the dog walkers and ramblers away. Unusually I had settled into my swim and was fishing well before the Loafer had set up his long trotting rod. Fishing…
Diversion
Something possessed me to get the pike rods out yesterday. Which I haven't done for ages. Up past our stretch and some nice looking bends. 4 buzzards wheeling and mewing over that copse. Kestrel food sharing courtship behaviour too on the floodplain behind me. Very mild and no wind. Gloomy though. Standard lowland river tactics for me, one deadbait down the margin to twitch back and one upstream…
Back end beckons
One day of no rain forecast for Saturday so headed back to The Pastons to see if I could find the roach. First trot and the float buried. It's pacey here and the fish felt a bit better than it was but still a lovely roach. I was sitting by an otter midden and the discarded clacky claw seemed apt to add a touch of red to match the eyes and fins. That was it, tried holding back, running through at…
X marks the spot
Proper rain not due till later. I loaded up the charabanc and headed a quarter of the distance travelled yesterday up the third river valley in my locale. Diminutive in it's upper reaches, thus less likely to flood for long until nears it's bigger sister in the city limits and eventually to the chagrin of 'Careful Wilson' as described in his Where to Fish in Norfolk and Suffolk takes over the…
Pocket water fishing
Met up with the Loafer way up the A11 in the land twixt Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Essex. When the gloom lifted slightly the land had an almost Dales like feel, with villages tucked in steep valleys with spate channels running through them. I came most unprepared with a cobbled together 13 footer and as a consequence only caught in fits and starts. Mostly trees and brambles. The fish were in…