I'm back

Well it has been quite some time since I last posted anything on here mainly due to the fact I haven't been out too much since the end of last season. The fishing locally hasn't been too good and I haven't really been enjoying it if I am honest but over the last few weeks things have picked up and I have rediscovered my love of angling.
My most recent trip was to Ferry Meadows lakes in Peterborough which as most of you know is home to some huge shoals of Bream. Having not fished there for a number of years it was almost like going to a new venue, anyway I decided to fish peg 32 on the high bank on Gunwade lake as there had been reasonable catches of Hybrids from this area recently.
Fishing the waggler at about 16m over groundbait I was soon into a few fish and although I was not setting the world alight it was steady sport non the less.
After a couple of hours I probably had 5lb in the net and decided to do something different to improve my catch rate, I started loose feeding with maggots and casters and altered my shotting pattern to give the bait a slower fall through the water. It wasn't long before the float started holding up as the hybrids were coming up in the water to intercept the loose feed and I soon started slaughtering them. The average size was about 4oz with the odd better one up to 12oz and if you start to catch a few of these the weight soon builds up. Anyway my rhythm was soon broken by a Mallard grabbing my baited hook as I cast in and me having to set up again but this time I set up a lighter rig and set it up shallower. It was only a few minutes before i was back in the swing of things and after another hour or so I decided to call it a day.

19lb of float caught Hybrids and Roach

The end result was 19lb of float caught Hybrids with a few Roach putting in an appearance and all in all not a bad day, interestingly there where 3 anglers fishing the feeder and all struggled for a few fish and none caught a proper Bream. It just goes to show there is more to the lakes than just the Bream that most people go there for, why not do something different for a change and you never know you may just like it.
Cheers Mark

Grand Union Canal - Sunday 16th Dec

Well with all the recent rain and my local rivers being flooded it was a simple choice for me and the Grand Union Canal it was to be. It was a full three weeks since I had last wet a line and I was looking forward to this as I really do love canal fishing.
I set off at 7.30am  and arrived at the canal about an hour later only to find that parts of it were still frozen over so obviously the water was going to be cold, it would be interesting to see what effect this had on the fish. I was travelling light today as it was a good 20 minutes walk from the car to the area I planned to fish and by the time I arrived at my peg a was pretty hot to say the least.

11.5m to the bush and 2' 6" of water ideal

Sunday 11th November -River Nene Oundle

Its been a while since I have written anything for you and although I have been fishing most weekends I have struggled to find the time to tell you about it, so its time to get back to it.
Sunday saw myself and my fishing friend Graham heading for the river Nene at Oundle, we had had some rain in the week and as expected the river was nicely coloured but the overnight temperature had been pretty low.

Nice colour and flow on the Nene at Oundle

A couple of early morning session on the Welland

Monday 20th:

Well it has been a struggle to find the time to fish so far this season but I have been out a couple of times just lately to the river Welland. On Monday I decided I would have an early start and get  a few hours on the Deeping section near where the cut comes into the river, I arrived just as it was getting light and the river was alive with small fish topping everywhere.

Not a Good Opening To My Season

Well I have eventually got my season started and as seems to be normal these days it has been a bit of an anti climax to say the least. Having missed the start of the season due to work commitments I was really looking forward to getting out by the water, I had a look at the Nene but it was pushing through quite hard with all the rain we keep getting so I decided to have a look at the Middle Level Drain. When I arrived it was quite windy blowing down the drain but at least it was dry, I set up a feeder and proceeded to have a a few cast to find my range before clipping up and starting to put some feed in. A few cast later and I baited up and had my first cast of the new season and with the feeder only just hitting the bottom before the tip started showing the first indication which turned out to be a 2oz Perch. A few more casts and a couple of missed bites later and the heavens opened and the wind gusted strongly, it was all I could do to hang onto my umbrella.

This was after 20 minute and it had eased up considerably

The Sun Sets On Another Season

Well that it for another river season, I have had a busy last few days although I haven't had much to show for my efforts. I had taken time off work as normal for the last days of the season and planned to fish Sunday to Wednesday to make the most of the time left and the following is a brief account of how it went.

The Sun sets on the River Nene at Wansford for another season

Ravely Drain, Round 6 Deeping Individual League

This Sunday saw the final round of the individual league fished on Ravely drain and it also included the second leg of the Newman Trophy which is an inter club match fished against yaxley.
After my win last week I was happy to be heading the league going into the final round although I still thought that it was going to be a tall order having not seen the venue for many years.
I started my match preparation by popping over to the venue midweek and having a look and a walk along the match length along with reading any recent match reports. One of these was written by Bob Nudd from a recent match where he came second with 549 fish, now this was ok but it left me with as many questions as it did answers so I emailed him to see what else I could learn. Now I wasn't sure I would even get a reply but towards the end of the week he sent me a reply giving me some useful info that left me feeling a little more confident in the plan I had put together.

A view looking towards the sluice