Bream and Sunburn

We're just back from a quick day and overnight session again down at Attenborough Gravel Pits and just had a couple of nice bream in the net. We were planning on staying for 2 or 3 nights but the weather was way too hot and uncomfortable so we wrapped it up in the morning and went home to cool off. We probably should have stuck it out for a bit longer because the rain is now pouring down outside and the temperature is much more comfortable...

...and I also discovered that my boots are NOT waterproof as advertised.

A Perfect Summer Perch

I grabbed the chance of a quick couple of hours on The Trent today so I took the lure rod and had a chuck around. Only had the one fish, a lovely summer perch.

Attenborough Bream

We're just back from a two nighter at Attenborough Nature Reserve gravel pits. A lovely place to relax and spend a few days fishing in the sun... and rain!

The fishing was very slow during the days but as soon as dusk started to fall, things got hectic with the bream switching on and getting their heads down. Nothing else was caught, just bream one after another... all night until the sun started to rise then they went very quiet again. I wound the rods in at 2am on the second night and got into the sleeping bag just to get some sleep!

Finger Ponds

I recently got myself back on the road again with a van after 4 years of going fishing on my mountain bike travelling light with just the lure gear, so as the weather was about to turn nice and warm, myself and Mrs. Piker decided to have a couple of nights relaxing on Nottingham Federations (LINK) Finger Ponds at Holme Pierrepont.

We got camped up and all was quiet on the first day and night, apart from a few twitchy knocks, but around 3 am on the second night I was abruptly woken up by the right hand alarm screaming out a one toner but by the time I realised where I was and what was happening, the fish had buried itself deep inside one of the many thick weed beds out towards the middle of the lake and was lost. Disappointed, I re-bated and cast back in and got back into the sleeping bag feeling frustrated, going over in my mind the mistakes I'd made and thinking about how I should have played it and been more prepared. Just as I was drifting off back to sleep, the other rod  gave out a steady blip blip blip so I shot up and was soon rewarded with a consolation prize of a nice bream in the bottom of the net.

A Nice Bit of Weed

Back on The Trent again today with my lures and it was hard work trying to tempt a take. I had a couple of half hearted follows but the fish weren't really in an attacking mode, but I stuck it out until I finally had a very gentle take which at first felt like I'd caught onto a piece of soft weed... until it started kicking back.

Lovely

As the weather has started to turn cooler and pikier I was determined to find some free time and get back to lure fishing and to try and catch a few pike again. So I sorted my gear out and finally got my arse down to the river. Not another angler in sight, lovely just how I like it. I started off back in one of my favourite spots which has given me some nice fish over the years and eventually had one bang onto my lure only for it to drop off a couple of seconds later, but it was a start. After a quiet period without any more action I moved along to a different area and finally hit into a fish, a nice looking jack, my first fish in months and a welcome bend in the rod. I had a few casts into a few more pegs without any action before hitting into a better fish which didn't look too big from the flashes I saw of it but she went like a tiger in the flow of the river, hugging the bottom and stripping line from the reel but after a very respectable fight she was finally in the net. Thanks to a passing dog walker who stopped for a chat and took the pic below then back she went into the Trent, lovely. I tried a few more pikey looking areas before calling it a day without any other fish, just a bump bump then gone from a good heavy feeling fish but never mind, will be back next week.

Licensed To Obey

Why would you need to be licensed to fish for natural wild fish that don't belong to anyone? eh?

Would golfers be so gullible and queue up to be licensed before they could enjoy their hobby? or bird watchers? or hill walkers!

I am seriously considering not renewing my fishing licence next year, not because I can't afford it but because I don't recognise the self emposed authority of the Environment Agency or for them to work in the best interests of anglers, and I don't feel I need to be licensed to fish for wild fish that don't belong to anyone. How can anyone have any rights to 'licence' the fishing for wild natural fish when they don't belong to anyone. Someone's taking the pi55.

AND... the Environment Agency, the people we pay our fishing licence money to (approx £20,000,000 per annum) LINK have decided to give over £100,000 of our hard earned fishing licence tax to the Notts Wildlife Trust to help them buy Blotts Pit at Holme Pierrepont Nottingham so they can take ownership of it and develop it into yet another one of their nature reserves. All sounds good doesn't it until you realise the fact that anglers licence money is being given to a wildlife trust to buy a beautiful gravel pit but their policy is NO FISHING on any of their waters. As I once heard one of their spokesman say "We're not anti angling, but we don't allow fishing on our waters" ... ??? OK so you'll take anglers money to help buy gravel pits but won't allow them to fish on any of your waters? I don't think the Environment Agency are acting in the best interests of anglers here and I don't think they are spending our licence money in the best way to improve angling.

Oh... and just because you see a sign saying "No Fishing" THAT DOESN'T MEAN ANYTHING. Anyone can put a sign up saying anything, anywhere, doesn't mean it's right, doesn't mean it's the law. I could put up a sign saying you must do cart wheels but it doesn't have any more or less authority as anyone else’s sign, and if a 'bailiff' of an angling club asks you for ticket money for fishing the river tell him he has no right to take control of a river that's been flowing for 1000's of years as it's a natural flowing river that belongs to everyone and the fish swimming in it are wild creatures and are not his to licence or sell the rights to. Tell him to pay you £5 because you claim the 'talking bolllocks' rights on this part of the river... same thing. 

There is no authority but yourself

Wake up and think for yourself

Finally... Back To The Fishing

Finally, after almost a full year I got my gear together and went out to chuck some lures into the water. On arrival it was nice to see a couple of regulars already fishing and after a quick chat I got my gear set up and was soon back into the swing of things working a few different lures trying to tempt one of the Pike. Things started off very quietly with my lures being retrieved without any provocation to the pike, but then suddenly I was  into my first fish in over a year, a very welcome Jack which pulled the on braid like a fish twice its size. I ended the day with another small fish and stayed quite a bit longer than planned due to having 'one last cast'

Can't wait to get back out again

Oh... don't waste your money on budget tools. I had to snip a treble which was tangled in my net and the cheap crappy cutters could barely snip a size 4 ???

Rubbish Aldi Cutters 

Back On The Trent

I grabbed a quick 3 hour lure session today down on the river and had a nice pair of typical Trent Pike. The river was almost back down to its normal level but getting to the waters edge was like going through a jungle due to the thick growth of weeds and nettles that have filled the banks during the closed season, but the fish were lively and fought hard in the current like fish twice their size...

...oh, and the teeth were sharp! ;)

New Season

The new season is finally here and after weeks with the rivers being in perfect fishing condition they are now high, fast and chocolate brown rough. Even so, I've ventured out a couple of times to The Trent but each time I've ended the day on stillwaters and had a couple of small fish to save the day.

The sun is shining and the river level is finally dropping so I'm hoping to get a decent fish or 2 from The Trent soon. It's been a long closed season!