Salford Quays blank

I have decided to give the Quays a go pike fishing until i go back to work in Jan

Dad and i tackled up with a 12ft pike rod deadbaiting, a 6ft spinning rod and a 9ft float rod with worm

predator fishing all angles covered - except the one that will catch - live bait

now i am not one to go against club rules but since Ordsall anglers gave up the fishing rights - i can now fish live bait - if indeed i can catch one

millions of perch in there but non to be found so i drowned dead sardines for 2 hours and no takes, but i did get something pecking away at my bait - i would have said it was crayfish except i know there is no crayfish in the quays, or is there?

Pike - 30lbers caught this year - a shut off venue - so if i seatch every inch at least they cant escape or can they?

the irwell blanks continue

Looks like i am not the only one blanking on the irwell after manchesterfishingfiend post on the tv blog.
But again 2 short sessions 1 behind the casino and the other behind the bbc saw me with no rewards - though there was fish showing behind the bbc.

Excellent morning and a nice pic was all i took from the 2hr session

As i can not show you any fish of late i thought a nice pic of one of my other passions "my grandkids" they do keep me away from the bank somewhat but one day in a few years maybe they will be getting up at 4am to accompany me on this great adventure

I tackle BBC again sunday for 3 hours - just hope my luck changes

irwell - frustrating or fantastic

The million dollar question

I have not had much time to fish this month so i have tried 3 1-2hour sessions from Ordsall to Mcr Centre - i have targeted a 200yrd stretch and tried several swims

So far no sign of fish, maggot, bread, worms etc - float, feeder - still no joy.....

Me and dad have tried unrewarded - even today with lovely Nov weather - no topping fish nothing,

while i do know the fish are still elsewhere in the stretch around the Quays i still though the odd chub or trout would have obliged,

I will keep trying - this will be my Winter water - hell or high water i will try and catch

pics from the Wye

The two of our best of the day - dads went to over 6.5lb





Minnow on pellett and trout on trotted maggot





Heres dad returning a barbel

Back on the Wye - this time for chub

OK sometimes we let our heart rule our head - my dad has a passion for chub - a species he is least successful at catching, this was barbel but he has nailed a few now and really wants a 4lb plus chub.

So when a opportuntiy came about to go back to the Wye for a weekend he was pleading with me to take him.

Its a long way from Manchester and i really wanted the weekend but i was on dog minding duties and having family helping me out for a day is as much as you could expect.
Setting off at 3,30am for a first light start was the mission - we couldnt put the rod in the water until i got tickets at 8am but at least we could get the pegs we wanted - the Hereford DAA stretch is a good one and if i was local i would definately be a member - but it has been hammered last few years - everyone knows the marks and the fish stick to these areas - meaning a short feeding spell and 20 fish of yester year is more like 2 in a session

But with nearly 11 hours fishing i was as nervous as child on Xmas day while my heart was telling me of a 20 fish haul and new pbs my head was saying "short feeding spell, a few fish.

It was going to be a hot day" - great for the anglers tan not good for catching, - typical me, i find a good venue 2 years after its best period.
Well the session started well - glorious sunshine and within 1 hour some action for Dad, there was slight movement on his rod tip and when he hit it - fish on - a good fight led to a 2-3lber in the net - these barbel dont half fight hard.Banded pellet was always the best bait here - last time we had a big shoal of chublets to 8oz so when the action died in the sunshine we switched to maggotts to occupy ourselves,
This didnt work - i even trotted a chub float with bread, maggot and worm - 1 small trout first cast - no chublets, just millions of minnows - they were ravenous - dad had 1 on halibut pellet and when we netted fish you always caught a couple in your net.

So off i went trying different swims in a mile radious - but things felt different - it didnt feel fishy - other anglers didnt seem to have anything - while the peg we fished was a known barbel hotspot it did throw up a few good chub - i have had a 4lber there.

So on we perservered - mid to late afternoon and nothing but minnows - i know the barbs were there - i just hoped for Dads sake so were the chub,

I managed a small chublet on banded pellet - maybe this was a sign?
Then Dads rod bent over - "banded halibuit again" i said - we had to be patient but they have a taste for this bait - a good fight saw a 6,5lber in the net,
Then we both lost 1 in the snags - damn.....
Are they switching on? - i said we would wait all day until the last few hours when the sunlight faded
Then at 6pm, a slight knock- a far cry from the arm wrenching takes we expect from Barbel - the bites today were very cautious - i hit it and yesssss, i was in - it scrapped for 10mins and i finally had a 4lber, after a good rest and return i got the rod out and within 5 mins i was in again - not a big fish but a good 5 mins scrap and a 3lber was in the net - we waited and hoped for one more before dark but it didnt come,
Best tactics here in summer - night fish - so if i return i will have to do so as a member because thats the only way on the Hereford DAA ticket
The fish were there, the river majestic and the angler optimistic but alas no chub - Dad will have to try again, maybe i can talk him into the ribble before the end of the season

pics to follow

River Wye adventure

We planned our annual trip to the Wye for Saturday 28th August - well i say annual but its been 2 years since i have been to this fantastic river.

First thing i noticed when i got there was how busy the stretch was, Hereford AA day ticket that 2 years ago gave me the whole of the stretch now was far busier. Talking to the bailiff, east europeans and many visitors like me made it very popular these days - i was talking to guys from various parts of the UK who had made the journey.

Well the river never disapoints, we were first to the best pegs after leaving Salford at 3am - Geoff a mate who lives near this river was first in the water and within 5 mins had a great chub of about 2,5lb on halibut pellet

Chris was next to take a chub at 3lb - pic below - on meat.

The barbel where there Geoff could see them role but they were not having any of it

Dad was bit bashing with a 3-6oz chub a chuck on maggot, there must of been millions of them as your feeder wasnt even hitting the deck - you had little chance to get through to the bigger fish - but we ploughed on to try and feed through them but it wasnt working - there was no so much a big head of big fish so you had to change your bait and be patient. I the middle of this he had a good trout pic below - which he duly returned

I decided to go for a walk with Chris after a peg or so with nothing we settled in to a wide stretch that had trees on the far bank.

I was talking to Chris and i only turned to him for a spilt second when i saw his face change - i turned round to see my rod which was 6inches from me be dragged into the water - the drop was about 4ft so once i missed it - it was gone. The fish was dragging the rod and reel over tó the overhanging trees - you could see the top 3ft of the rod stick out of the water and tight line taking you to the fish under the big tree braches on the far side. To be fair it was my fault as i had my rod in a tip position due to the landscape.

This happened to me witha cheap whip 3 years ago when it was by my side when i was legering with the 2nd rod - its not as if i was nieve and left my rod unattended!!!!!

Just then some canoeists approached and they looked like they were from the local army base - i asked them to retrieve my rod - the lad said he could feel the fish on - i asked him to take the bale arm off and paddle the 40 yards upstream to me - they needed to be athletic to get up against the current.

The lad passed me the rod but in his journey he must have smashed the rig as the hooklength was gone - still a bonus i got my rod and reel back.

So i headed back to the main pegs and the water was getting very busy - i decided to go on maggot and corn and with a 6lb hooklenth i was still catching chublets for fun - Chris managed one on a 12mm halibut - but on meat you wernt bothered by them - strange eh?

Dad was sick of catching em so was on meat - at about 3,30pm with only a couple of hours remaining Geoff was into a Barbel it was a great fight and weighed 9lb dead - it looked similar to the fish dad had a 8.6 2 years before from the same peg - it had a funny shape to the backbone and head, this was soon follwed by one lost before it was netted - straighted the hook and a 4lber

.

Dad then switched to pellet and within 30mins he was in - another good fish just short of 7lb graced his net.(sorry about the pic dad i keep doing this to you!!!)

While the fishing wasnt prolific due to the stretched being overfished everyone left happy and that included me - no big uns but it flet like i had gained a new rod and reel.

all bits no big uns

Well i have managed a few short sessions on the quays and the local canal

dad and i alternate who gets to choose the local venue

dad is not convinced about fishing local but thats all i have time for and you know there is great potential - did you see the 30+ pike taken from salford quays shown in angling times? i talked to the young lad a week or so after he took the fish - the pic is of his brothers capture he caught the same fish a few weeks later.

I have also been exploring possible swims and there is some very good potential,

Even my dad has been snapped maggot fishing for bits on the quays and we have all heard the reports about what lurks beneath

i missed my 3-4 hour window on saturday due to the torrential downpour at 5am

I will give the quays another go in aug and then its off to the wye.

Oulton Broad visit

At the last minute my wife wanted a quite few days away - i managed to persuade her to go to the broads - Oulton Broad to be precise.

I had read the big bream start to come in from down the river to spawn and fishing can be excellent around July time,

I only managed about 8 hours fishing in total.

Day1 -poor weather, raining all day so i plummed a spot in 7ft of water some 25yrds out and balled in 30 balls of vitalin,pellet corn and groundbait

24hrs later i was on for a 3hr session at 6am - fished corn/bread on the float - surprising not a bite

Day3 - after listening to locals i succumbed to the local advice and bought mags - alternating between the baited spot (now with a further 15balls) and rod tip under the boats in the boatyard

All i can say for the silver fisherman - bite a chuck, perch, roach and skimmers

I did put maggots on the spot 25yrds out and took better fish on skimmers half to a pound

I did put a pike out on live bait - again after local advice as the spinning was not returning a run

There was stories of very big fish caught in the small area between the boar yards upto 35lb

Lots of jacks - i had a livebait out for about 1 hour and after persevering with my planned tactics and finally a run, usual pike run, fish panicked, float went under, i gave it a couple of seconds(dont like to give them a chance of deep hooking - i would rather loose a few) and wound down and strike - nothing - i managed to pull the hooks out

I was using only 1 treble on a trace i made and the pike must have still had the bait side on and i hooked the roach in the lip - so pulled it straight out of its mouth - i will never now if it was a jack or a big girl.

All in all it never fished well for me and the bream were not in the broad en mass - but it has great potential for a fishing holiday

I cant wait to get back and give it a real attach

back on the clock

Well after a few sessions i am enjoying my fishing again - but not putting too many on the bank

My last few sessions on the Quays have not paid dividends - i have had the tench hoovering up my feed but not taking my bait

i have changed my line, presentation and hooklink to anteres in 3lb but still no joy, float laying on 6 inch - i can even see the bait its that clear in the spot i fish

anyway at least my dad and grandson have been getting the fish on worm bread and maggotts

sorry dad about your head - its the fish that counts

out again sunday if i can stay off the beer saturday night

WOW how time goes by

Well i havent blogged for 6 months - i think its time i started again

I had spent some months in the fishing wilderness - i am working away in Dusseldorf and this after suffering bad weather in the winter months - means very little fishing

I have also suffered from a confidence crisis - i dont seem to put many fish on the bank - well not in return for the effort

But i learnt a very valuable lesson recently - well two actually
1.) The more time on the bank does actually mean more fish
2.) Watercraft is better than the most expensive rods,reels

Let me explain

1.) I have met a few people lately on the water i am frequenting - without doing them a dis-service they are not martin bolwers - with limited kit, tactics etc but they fish it a lot, every day in fact - There catches are nothing short of awesome - one lad shown me a pic of his pike a 30plus
2.) There is another lad i talk to who again fishes it alot but has shared some of the secrets about where and how to fish it - i saw him get into two lumps in 10 mins while watching him. He has mastered this water!!!

So I finally - i took my grandson there for a 2hr session - we had no mags just worm,corn and bread - with the change in temp i knew it wasnt going to be easy - i blanked but he put a perch on the bank.

So with very little time 2-3hrs per week i will concentrate on 1 or 2 venues this season and see where we go.

Reports and pics hopefully will follow