Sun up

Sun. Most unusual. Carp on the move in this area tonight.

The water is clear, shallow and silty. Makes for brightly coloured fish

Mixed fortunes

Wind changed and warmer by several degrees. Another late sortie on Captains, intending to target the bream, with an off chance of a carp. Dug out Shanus' left behind Cardinals for a trip out. C4X's says the badging. Dreadful line lay judging from the admittedly nearly 30 year old line I stripped off the spools   Can't ever remember him using them though. I actually would like some Mitchell 410's. That great Mitchell styling, straight off a Supermarine airframe and that classy blue finish.

Fished the boathouse and  probably in 2 foot of water at best and about 3 of silt. I convinced myself I couldn't see the bait and no fish 20 yards away. Meat over pellet, and then a bit later corn on one rod. Plenty of roach on the corn, the best around an impressive pound but it slipped back whilst I tried to juggle it whilst sluicing off the silt and trying to get the camera ready. Really too big to blog style self take in the hand and not big enough to justify the full Dave Plummer pose either. Certainly a fair bit bigger than than this one. The blogger's version of the Facebook avatarpose  and significantly less creepy.

Several reasonable, steady and missed  pulls on the meat but as the evening progressed increasing bobbin activity indicated that the roach and rudd wanted the meat but had not the mouths to swallow it. Increased carp activity as the light fell and spotting the other member on the water into a fish down towards the dam went to lend a hand.

Essex Scribbler would call this a mud pig. Spawn building up.

Until this last year everyone fished without expecting to catch. The otter fence, a small stocking and a lot more thinking and hard work has seen a big change on the place. The future's bright on the Pond

Bank Holiday blue skies

Late May Bank Holiday. The swifts are back, screaming overhead. The early verdant lime green has  been boosted by a rush of growth and the earth is damp and warming up. Winds have left the blossom all over the lush grass along with the new oak shoots. The birds have just about  fledged their young and are thinking of their second brood.

Walked the lower syndicate stretch but the river has not cleared  from the recent rain, except in the faster water over the mill races so no fish to see.

This can be an aquarium swim when viewed from the novelty (sorry, narrow gauge ) rail line bridge when the colour drops out of the river and especially around spawning time. This view can be found in Bailey and Miller's Crowood offering "Chub and Dace".

Long forgoton Scottow Pond looks lovely in it's late spring garb.

Reputed to be a prolific tench water once. Wilson refers to it's clouds of daphnia. No one seems to worry about tench becoming preoccupied on daphnia these days. Clear water over beds of sand and ever encroaching reed. Once saw a group of brilliantly coloured perch hanging off the marginal cover. A couple of pounds apiece. Don't know why I never went back for them.

Perhaps a speculative call to the local estate office is in order?

Someone's been busy

On the boahouse on Captains....

Blooming May

Late May is the only time I have any real colour in my lazy garden....

Be prepared

Be prepared? I wasn't. Got to Captains, and couldn't quite decide bream or another go close in for carp in Charlie's swim. Didn't really matter as the largest hooks I had were 12's and no bobbins of any description..   Fumbled up a hair  (haven't used a hair rig for several years) and fished a small pop-up over pellet hoping Liam would be down soon so I could go back and get some bigger hooks. He was, but quite a bit later so hunkered down sheletering from the rain. Two slight indications that something was over the bait with a couple of dips on the float and some bubbles. That was it.....

North Nofolk spring

Changeable spring weather on the usual Sunday morning drive to get little'un to sleep today...

Bluebells near Ebridge Mill

Grey over Walcott

Ramsons in woods, Ridlington 

Bingo time down the right wing, bingo time

"Bingo time down the right wing, bingo time" so quoth the thinking footballer's tv pundit Garry Nevile. It's the same down on Captains with two big carp out in two days to the boys. Gorging on tadpoles. I'm getting me some hemp tomorrow  to cook off and try out a few spots round the pond fishing a little bit different to the rest. It's all coming right down on there after some barren years. Only a mile and a half from door to swim. Shallow, silty, weedy and acidic but a picture in the right light. Here comes the summer.

Bank holiday musing

We've kept the weather. Had a quick look at the Yare today around Harford Bridge and Keswick Mill

Had planned a short trip on Captains after tea, got there to find I'd left  a reel behind and luckily had a 5m telescopic flick-tip in the holdall. Not quite the range of hybrids on display as I had planned though this one is a bit suspect......

I think this one is genuine..

A  bit of a tussle on the pole ( no elastic) and 1.7lb line staight through from this bream which had lost it's top lip at some point.

.

First fish since the 14th..

After a very warm pre-Bank Holiday Sunday headed off to Captains  as it cooled. Decided to ball in some feed and fish red  maggot until the bream arrived.(Or not) Catapult a goner but rigged it up with some nylon and a link  swivel but not a great job so little and often was not achieved with much grace. Ubiquitous small rudd but often beaten to the bait by some hand sized chunkier rudd,roach and the odd roach/rudd or roach bream hybrids. Fish warm to the touch and splendidly coloured.. A metallic roach blue  and glorious red fins featured fairly  heavily what ever the "species"excepting the more obvious roach/bream hybrids which had the cadual and anal fins tending to dark blue and some of the rudd retaining golden flanks.

After a lull and a few  sporadic bubbles struck into another rudd on the drop and was backwinding into something that was bending the Drennan Waggler rod left for me by Shanus before he headed off to Canada impressively whilst making sedate progress. Didn't wake up and storm off like a carp  or tear round like a tench  and sure enough a bream rolled into the net. Some already have their spawning tubercles but this didn't and was quite chunky across the back. Chunky enough to weigh and at 5lb 11oz and the biggest of the few bream I've had from the pond so far. No more bream tempted.

A few fish moving , mainly bream rolling in the thinner weeded areas and several off the island so that's an area I'll try again, probably with pellet and meat. A few more carp like rolls  of the 2nd jetty.Was fishing off one of the jetties, and my dislike of being so visible (though I do like showing off a bended rod when cars are sweeping down the hill) and the dodgy catapult meant I didn't feel I'd fished as well as I should have done but caught a few fish none the less. Plan to have a late hour off the dam tomorrow just concentrating on maggot close in and see if I can get a few shouts of some of the hybrid varieties.

Mice problem

I wondered how sometimes I seem to have broken line and lost floats in transit from water to garage until I found both drop-off lines had been cut and  the polyballs  were in the bottom of the holdall, in a very chewed state. Checking the garage I found a mess of chewed polyball and fluro paint . Micey had been busy...

Wensum meadow

Bucolic scene on River Wensum at Lyng behind Square Meadow Lake

The world is still turning.

Sitting in a marquee overlooking the beautiful Wensum valley around Drayton this afternoon on a solemn corporate occasion I was noticeably startled from my reverie by the first cuckoo heard of the year. Can't wait for the scream of the swifts scything through the air on those dark sickle wings.

Perhaps a few hours round Ringland with the fly rod soon?

I need hemp

Very different conditions on Sunday evening for an even shorter trip on Captains. Wind  coming off the dam, and a few spots of rain, no where as near as cold as yesterday.

No hemp so put in more meat and prawn but only minimal interest in the hour and a bit I fished. Several carp bream and pike moving elsewhere. Frozen prawns do sink slowly but don't stay on the hook..... Always end up eating too much bait  if it's "edible".