Muggy Evenings

I've just got back from catching the last couple of hours at Triangle Pond. It was one of those overcast muggy evenings that just screamed tench. Having done my chores with the kids I headed off expecting to find the car park empty. Obviously some other anglers had had the same idea as me as there were a couple of cars already there. I chatted to them as I walked down to my favourite swim but thought about fishing there twice as one of the anglers said it had only been vacated in the past hour. However I decided to fish there as it is in this swim that I feel most confident which is worth it's weight in gold.
Fishing up against the reeds on the near bank my float soon started to show signs of activity and after twenty minutes or so a nice fish of 3 3/4 lbs graced my net. It then went very quiet with no sign of more tincas in the swim. There is a swan's nest close to this peg and since my last visit the cygnets have hatched. The proud parents paraded the new family before me as the light was falling.
Then I had a bite in the gloaming which produced the fish below. This is my best fish so far this year from Triangle and it pulled Little Samson down to 4 1/4 lbs. These fish are exceptionally hard fighting and make numerous runs for the near bank snags of which there are plenty. On the very next cast I hooked a good fish which I lost when the hook pulled as I tried to stop it getting back in to the reeds. Nevertheless I was happy with my evening having landed a brace of good tench.

A Tough Morning at Ellastone

The fishing at Ellastone doesn't really seem to have got going yet this year. With other reports of good catches yesterday morning on the Dove I'm starting to wonder whether there is anything some comments I have heard quite a few times. People tend to think that the short DRAC stretch at Ellastone gets hammered. I have always found that more often than not I'm there on my own and usually have no problem booking on. Normally at this time of year the fishing has really started to pick up but there are no signs of this yet. Yesterday I did have the pleasure of sharing the beat with another angler, Conrad from flyforums.

It was a really bright morning and I went straight onto a couple of nymphs on 2lb Maxima tippet. The water was crystal clear and the lowest I have seen it all year. I saw the odd rise and did manage a few fish on the dry as the morning warmed up but no sustained activity. The DHE was most successful and I also rose fish to a small olive pattern but no hook ups. My nymphs only produced one fish and this method 12 months ago would have got me a lot more on my usual Sunday morning. I also noticed either some black gnats or hawthorn flys as I walked back to the car. It seems to me like we are still a good month behind with the weather, and it will be interesting to see when the mayfly appear this year.

Tinca Tinca Triangle

Last week I took far too much notice of what the Met Office said and by Friday evening had written off fishing the rivers this weekend. Now I suspect that decision was somewhat premature. However, the prospect of my first tench session of the year although much earlier than usual was something to look forward to. The Triangle Pond did not disappoint and yesterday morning I was lucky enough to catch a brace of nice fish.

Arriving quite early but not classic tench early I was slightly surprised to find one of my favourite swims vacant. It was quite cold though and I'm sure it got colder as the morning went on. This was not helped by the fact that in my rush to get out angling I left my wellies at home and ended sitting there looking a bit of a chump in my Barbour and Crocs!!

Fishing tight against some reeds my first fish came to maggots on the drop and put up a great struggle on relatively light float gear. The second fish was a little larger than the above, I'm crap at the numbers game but would put them both in the 3lb+ bracket. Both fish made determined runs for the many snags at this pond and my old Alpha float rod was singing as they made for the near bank. It was the first trip out for my Abu Cardinal that I recently acquired. It was looking slightly worse for wear when it arrived as someone had made a complete pigs ear of fitting the bail arm springs but they are fixed now. The perch was conspicuous by their absence yesterday as I was fishing maggots or maggots and corn on the hook. Normally the greedy little blighters are quickly onto this bait but not one yesterday.

Both fish were taken in about a 30 min spell of action and then bites soon dried up as I think the north wind started to blow. These are great fish and I hope to have another tench session soon, perhaps when the weather warms up a bit though.

Trout or Salmon??

In my last post there is another picture of the small fish above. Upon seeing this Glen Pointon enquired as to whether it was a salmon parr. This was my first thought when it came to hand but if you click on the above picture to enlarge it red spots can be clearly seen. To my mind this makes it a trout but I would be very interested in comments from anglers with wider experience.

The Glorious River Dove

This morning I fished the DRAC water at Eaton Dovedale on the famous River Dove. It was a cracking start to the day which was fortunate as the river was a little reluctant to give up her treasures. The fishing was pretty tough to start with and I must admit to being on the verge of packing up for some tea when the fish below grabbed my pheasant tail nymph.

The duo had been my method of choice to start off the day but as there were little signs of a rise I soon changed to GRHE on the dropper and a PTN on the point.

This fish was taken just below the island that is about a third of the way down the section. A swan is nesting here so it will be a brave angler who dares to fish close by the island. This will also make wading up to fish above the island tricky and this is sometimes a productive spot.

When I set off this morning it was turn left for Darley Dale or right for Eaton. As I did not fancy the drive to Darley I plumped for the Dove. We forget though how lucky some of us local anglers are to have these glorious rivers not too far away. I spoke for a while this morning with an angler who drives up from Evesham for his fishing, that is a tidy step and makes you appreciate what we have in the county of Derbyshire. Interestingly, the angler suggested that a trip to Darley was not a good choice at the weekend as he had been plagued by canoeists. I only fish this stretch a handful of times each season and normally midweek so have not been particularly troubled by these trespassers. He recountered one incident that had irked him when one club had claimed they had permission when challenged. Fat chance.

This week I again may have missed the best part of the day as I departed just after noon. Either that or the car park stretch may be turning into one of the hotspots as I took a couple of fish from here before I called it a day. Many a time though I have not fished the last of the water and a number of people have mentioned to me that it is always worth a few casts.

Large Woody Debris

To blow the cobwebs away I took a quick walk along the lower section of Sutton Brook this morning. Tim Walton mentioned in his last post on the brook that there was a tree down close to one that we had cut back on one of the working partys. It was just where I expected it to be. This little stretch is one of the spots at Sutton that I feel more confident fishing and have picked up a few trout and grayling here. My size 12's did disturb one fish that I didn't spot but left a healthy looking bow wave.

The Avonmaster Strikes Again

The other evening I managed to get the Avonmaster in action with the carp again. The old lad really had to put his back into the battle with the fish above. This mirror is the largest fish I have taken from this small shallow lake, it went a tad over 6lb. I have noticed a distinct difference in the fish since I started fishing this water about a month or so ago. It is like the fish have finally woken up to spring and are putting up a great account of themselves. The bait again was my faithful Spam and this is really attracting these free biting fish. The suspicion is I am getting a few line bites as my bite to hook up ratio is quite embarrassing, probably about four. The guys on Anglersnet forum have given me some advice on this which I shall mull over before my next session here. Interestingly, one of the contributors had similar problems using a hair rig which was to be my plan A.
Hopefully I will have a 'new' reel to try on my next coarse outing, tonight I have purchased an ABU Cardinal 40 from Ebay.
The common carp below was a fantastic specimen and went straight into a weed bed. The Avonmaster had enough spring in his elbow to cope though. Just check out the superb brassy livery, what a fish.