The Railway Pit

This is a water I fished for a couple of months in 2008, not a lot has changed since then really the lake looks a little more mature but then its been here a long time way before I was born. Most of my family has fished this place over the years so its was nice to have a go myself. I pulled off early last time to go fish another water so I thought I would have another go this season. Things could not of gone better for the first session. The club has a no night fishing rule and in the book it tells you what times you fish for each month.

The first session was to be in the late evening I thought this would be the best time to see the fish showing and maybe get a take or two. I ended up with four takes but lost one the best fish being a lovely mid double Ghostie, this put up a great fight and I was glad when it finally slipped over the cord.

 I had a double take later on just managing to land the first as the other rod ripped off. Over the next few days I bagged another five Carp and three Tench fishing the late evening sessions. The best of these being close to the 20 mark. The second week on the water things only got better with the size of the fish starting to increase. I have had another five carp up to near mid 20.

Its been a good start to the campaign which I hope continues. Only time will tell......

The Big Pit so far

Early on in the year me and a friend had a couple of sessions fishing on a local pit which is huge. This is a day only water which puts most carp anglers off and to add to that it can be a 15 minute walk to the spot. We tackled the water together finding a nice area with a sand bar on the far side. We have seen fish cruising up and down the bar which is around 50 yards away. The bait was to be the Nut Mix from Soar Tackle and fishing popped up Corn, Maize and Boilies over the top. The first session was a good start with my mate having a lovely golden Common over the 20 mark and us both having a take at the same time two more Commons. A good start on a water of this size.

 We returned a couple of weekends later and both had a take each my mate with another Common and me with a lovely looking Mirror.

We unfortunately didn’t get any more time on the place due to other tickets coming through the post. To be honest this was a good as the club who have the rights to the water have now aloud night fishing increasing the number of anglers ten fold. The time we did spend on her was a great learning curve and we plan to return there in the next couple of seasons....

Spinney Pool Update

An afternoon session in the middle of February turned out to be an eventful one. After having three blanks on the trot I was determined to get back on and get some bites and that is exactly what I did. I had been baiting an area right through winter but rarely fished the spot so this was going to be the place to start today. The first had only been out five minutes before it ripped off. A nice upper double Common a great start.

 I was fishing the spot with singles on both rods. It didn’t take long for the next bite on the same rod this time a small mirror. Things slowed down for the next couple of hours then the other rod was off again another small Mirror, just as I was slipping this one back the other rod ripped off I quickly got hold of the rod but unfortunately I had a hook pull. I got both rods back out to the spot and by the time I had set the second rod on the buzzers the other was off again this time I had a right battle with one of the long commons this was one of the smaller ones at around 19lb but what a fight in the deep in front of me.

On the bank this Common looked stunning and I was well pleased with the pictures for a self take. This was the end of the session and what a session to have in a afternoon five takes and four on the bank not bad for mid February....


Another great session was later in the year in July. I took my three year old lad with me for his first stay in the bivvy. He was well excited to be out fishing, we did some float fishing catching loads of Roach , Rudd and a couple of Perch.

The carp rods where out and a hour of being there I got the first take from a cracking low 20 Common. Charlie was buzzing when he seen the Common go in to the net and loved stroking the scales. We had a picture together and then slipped her back in.

Nothing else happened till the morning when I was woken at five with another common, Charlie was asleep so I didn’t wake him for this one. We did some more float fishing in-between the carp rods going off. Altogether we had eight carp and very productive session and a great one for the boy. I was really proud of the boy he never got bored or moaned all the time we was there plus he had no toys, books or dvd player to pass the time just good old float fishing.......

The following weekend I was to return with the Star-Flite Stainless Consultants for a 48 hour session. There was a few us on the lake which usually sees the lake shut up shop but this weekend that was not the case. To start with a low 20 common was caught then I was to get a mid double Common just before a big thunder storm came over us.

 Another five fish where caught the next day and I lost one due to a hook pull. The final day saw three more fish on the bank and had another one and was cut off on a snag soon after. All in all it was a great weekend, some great new products where looked at ideas thrown around for the future of Star-Flite Stainless. Keep your eyes for there stuff it real is the best you will buy and the only set up you will ever need........

The River season 2014-15 so far

  The rivers are not my main waters this year but the time I have spent on them so far this season has been very enjoyable. First day of the new season and I was off down the River Soar for a little action, due to work commitments I only had a couple of hours in the evening. On arriving I expected to see a couple of cars at least parked up but there was none at all, sweet this will make things easier. I made my way up stream checking out a few spots on the way. I didn’t see any fish signs so it was time to check out my little spot that has produced really well for me in the past. I got the gear set-up and put some bait out, I sat back watching the water and I saw a couple of barbel moving in to the swim with there dorsal out the water, wont be long for a bite now. It did not take long for a bite the right rod bent right over with a great take. I had a great fight with this one at close quarters before finally she slipped in to the net the first fish of the new season and it looks a good one looking down in to the net. I got her on the bank after a few minutes recovery time and got some snaps, what a fish to start off with a nice looking double sweet. This was the only bite I had this session but what a bite to have I was more then pleased.

 

The next visit to the river was a few days later and again no one on the section, this place is a little gem. It has been much the same for the past 3 years which has allowed me to bait swims up without the worry of someone else getting in there. Off to my swim it is then, same place as last time with the same bait and rigs. This time the swim was alive with fish when I got there loads of silvers topping and a couple of barbel could be seen in the margin. I got the rods out and under armed them to the spots with a big hand full of freebies on both rods. It didn’t take long this time for a take another absolute screaming take with the rod almost doubled over. What a great battle I had with this one with it powering up and down stream, after a few more minutes she was in the net another double sweet. After a few minutes resting time she was on the bank posing for the pictures. It was still early but I packed up with a smile on my face and headed home.

The next session was to be with the owner of Castaway Pva David, its been a while for David so I put him in the prime swim and sat with him to help out anyway I could. The swim was very quite to start with so I only put a small amount of freebies in and proceed to top the spots up every 20 minutes. It took nearly three hours for the barbel to move in but as soon as they did one of the rods wrapped around with a take. David grabbed the rod and with a little instruction he had the fish under control it was just a matter of time before the fish slipped in to the net, this spot is not the easiest to land a in as the flow is at its strongest at your feet. With a little skill the fish slipped over the cord. David was very pleased to see a very nice Barbel sat in the net after the battle he had with it. After a couple of minutes resting time we pulled her up on the mat for some pictures, on the scales she went just over 10lb what a fish to catch on the first time out for some years. Well done David...

A few days later I decided to do a over night session further down stream. Things looked promising no other anglers there again and fish showing all over the place I thought I was going to be in for an eventful night. How things change an hour in to the session and nothing was showing and the rods just sat that waiting to rip off. Around one in the morning I got in to the bag and fell asleep to be woken up at around four with a take on the left rod. I was fishing locked up giving me time to get the rods, there is a snag about 30 yards down stream fishing with a slack clutch would see the fish heading for the snag before I had time to do anything. This was a good fish stripping line off the reel heading for the snags I had to stop it and put some serious pressure on to turn the fish I thought I was going to lose this one but fortunately she turned and headed back up stream towards me. A few more minutes passed with the fish playing hard under the tip rolling in the top layers throwing water up the bank. Finally she slipped in to the net and I yelled out yes this was a good fish. I never weighted this one as I had forgot the scales but she was easy over 13lb a good size for the River Soar. I held her in the water until she was ready to swim off enjoying the moment. I was well happy.