Tigers by their tails.

Been  some good weather over the weekend but the haars (sea frets) are never far away from Bureboy Villas. Managed to get a barbie in, and several family events so worked out well, accompanied by the elixir of life.

Had to fit in a quick chevin spot. Only a few  visible, guess the rest were up the creek without a paddle. On review that might be one of the ancient barbel at the front.

In between the frivolities and reminders of our temporary tenure on this planet tench remained on my mind though anything else that came along would be welcome.  Float rod and mini boilies as is my wont of late. Sunday and a quick sortie on the very local water, adrift on an island  amongst a sea of rhododendron purple. Not that purple given the swirling sea frets. First up a solid bream 

Next cast and I thought I'd hit into a mud pig  such was the bow wave and beeline for the dam if not the horizon.  Clamping down I bought the fish to bear, and a wallowing began. I'd foul hooked it in the tail and  even with no water flow through it's gills as I brought it in backwards it was still pretty cross with events.

Curfew time approaching and a noticeable increase in grunt and that characteristic slapping of the line with the paintbrush tail. Greys to pinks dominating this tench, a decent plump female. Job done  home before the sentries had begun their countdown to lock out.

An even shorter pass out on Monday and this time I was perched on the staging, in amongst a swirling sea fret. Purple peeping out.

Despite a jacuzzi effect I only had two solid bites, one shot off, leaving a big silvery bream scale on the hook and the other was nicely hooked at the other end this time. Upper tail  lobe quite deformed. I think I had pushed my luck with the sentries on my return judging by the crossed arms and set jaw.

Secret squirrel commute sortie in a real pea souper of a haar and another tail hooked bream that had ideas way above it's station. Spawning bumps again, its a topsy turvey spring. Slipped past the sentries this time. You aint seen me right....

Chalk and cheese.

Baking hot day and an extra hour for lunch, legit and everything. What to do? It just so happened my journey  went within a gnats of another brace of waters on the commute club ticket. Separated by a yard and perhaps a field the two little waters couldn't be any different. 

Very very weedy and stuffed with tiny rudd but get past them and promise of more. One for a bit of thought for sure

Just beyond those trees is the other little water. No crystal clear water and luxuriant weed growth for sure.

It did though have shade and a lot of movement in the  marginal scum line, formed mostly of puss willow  catkins.

I substituted a (banned) mini boilie for a pellet wrapped in paste though in truth anything would have done. Tail patterns over the loose fed pellet in minutes, a few  knocks and the float shot away. With little visble signs of snags or weed it was  a pleasure to play the fish on the stanndard tench gear and  to good natured grumbling from the old bois dotted around about  johnny come lately upstarts my first fish from the water was in the net.  Not a lot of depth to it as you'ld  imagine from an overstocked pond but quite pretty.

Spot the koi.

God  do wet nets stink when they've been in a car on a  hot afternoon.

Cooled off on the very local water for a bare 30 mins but no fish succumbed. X didn't mark the spot this time. Look like an old skool Abu catalogue.

A colder andmistier sight on Sunday evening as a sea fret rolled in.

Down the rambling road

This year is the year of the red campion. It's everywhere. Flipping gorgeous it is. And the long frothy verges of white, white cow parsley (kek) and hawthorn.

Following the Wensum valley back home stopped in for a look see at the new water (s). Above the bypass there is a long stretch of quite wild river, fly only in the summer but within a week or three it'll be chock full of weed. Don't think coarse fish get a chance to establish but I did see some dace and the anglers sort of curse, many minnows. Heard some tales from Dolly 9-5 Bailey about establishing a  head of grayling back in the day from the next mill upstream 

I had  a modicum of tackle  in the New Charabanc "just in case"  Stopped to watch some mud pigs getting quite animated about some floaters  as befitted the increasingly hot conditions but the venerable piscator  at the other end didn't add to his tally of two doubles whilst I watched anyway.

Where do you go when the sun is high for tench at least? Even a small group of pads, especially in  some shade is always a good bet I'd say.

Some interest fairly early on over a sprinkling of pellet, but  it wasn't till I slipped two very realistic but strawbery glugged fake red maggot on the #14 to compliment the hair rigged mini Source that the float shot off and I was quite pleased I'd chosen a spot with some open water to the right as the tench I'd hooked had a right go. See what I mean about those fake maggots?

Feeling a little cocky I packed up having  done what I set out to do. Plus I had plans for later..

I hope that's a bank of cloud on the horizon and not an approaching tsunami...

Oddly enough tench shaped plans and a quick stint on a sadly gosling free very local water gave up the goods again on the waggler fished Source. This one fought even better. Think someone had been in the swim previously given the corn it was coughing up.

  

Tinca man

I have really got my tench head on now, before the weed takes over. However bream still lurk around in my plans and on Sunday after the rains again I headed off a but further to the oddly hued lagoon, where the weed is being retarded by clever stuff. 

I have been putting in some pigeon conditioner and mini's down in one corner that has a big , shady willow and is a bit outside of a regular cast from the usual positions. The mix that went in loose by hand had a generous helping of corn but I left the crumb just for plugging the open ended feeders. I had thought about flat bed method feeders but wanted a longer tail and some drop of feed in the water column. Plus it was quite silty under that willow.

One down the side with a standard carp set up and the two 12 foot 1.5tc feeder rods  only about 3 rods out with a mini Source on one and  two grains of real corn on the other. Both rods began to show signs of life quite quickly and after  I somehow missed a churner on the corn a confident lift in the Source rod met with some feisty head banging resistance and  a few boils the deepish margin before a paint brush tail hit the surface. My first tench from the water with a lovely pink hue. The water snail was an added extra.

I never remember that tench have tiny, tiny barbules and just look at that line of sensory receptors. And that barbless is not coming out any time soon. Well,  not till I flick it with the forceps. And they don't get caught in  the mesh. You can see why mini's work for tench, just the right size.

Next rod to go was the corn one and I didn't fluff it second time round. A powerful surge under the willow then some really determined resistance made me wonder if it was a carp with no real determination to head out into the open and this thought strengthened when a rayed dorsal broke the surface but in fact it was a powerhouse of a bream with the feeder link caught round that dorsal meaning it was like trying to hold back a train, even with the actual hook in the mouth. Not a very big train but most unusual. As it slid in the net I could see the scales all lifted up and a rash of spawning tubercles. They y do feel really rough and horrible to the touch like this.

At 6.04 not one of the 8-9's that have been coming out but what I came for anyway.

Another staccato take on the corn and  this tiny Slim Jim jack was the culprit.

One poor skimmer got it self lassoed, I slipped it back and Slim Jim's considerably bigger significant other almost snatched it out of my hand. I should take some spare pants next time..

The carp set up, with a heavier lead (all I could find in my bag),a braid hook link and a big sharp #6 was getting some interest and interestingly coming back clean and almost straight after  a cast tight to the bank the interest turned into a straight up and stay up. The rod was a heavier 3lb tc and with heavier line the fish was soon in the margins where it began to have  a bit more of a go but another tench had slipped up for a Source mini, this time with a bright pink pop up for a visual tag. A veritable football. 

Another take, this time a real baitrunner meltdown had me wondering briefly if was actually a mud pig but the rod's power turned the fish and another tench, this time a male was on the mat.

Happy, happy days. And the hawthorn is out. Where are those swifts?

Nature red in tooth and claw

Got to the very local water after the rains and tea to here some very plaintive calls and the goslings (reduced to two) all on their own. In an occasional  burst of signal  it  became clear why on the Group chat: one of the adults at least had met a gruesome end on the nearby road.

I'd just taken this, well into the session when an adult Canada Goose honked in to the pond. They were off, frantically paddling over to meet it. It didn't chase them off so it must have been one of the parent birds and indeed it did proceed to shoo me off as I was packing away when I could no longer see the float so perhaps the poor little buggers  might have  a chance after all.

Despite the rain it was fairly dry underfoot but the flag irises bore tell tale drops.

  

I'd opted for the island as I thought  I might  have less interruptions from the carp and soon had a bed of pellet and Source minis out. 

No overt bubbling but plenty of movement in the adjacent pads and it wasn't  long before the float moved off, but I fluffed it by winding before lifting the rod. Something I do now and then. I slipped the anti reverse on and lighted the rear drag a few notches.  Next  bite  was hit, and  on briefly. I was just investigating wether the hooks that had come with some mini krill boilies were barbed  when the float dipped and the fish was heading into the pads. Back out in the open area it gave a right royal performance before  stopping, bream-like and letting me glide it into the net. One of the bigger tench, that on another water might of had much more padding and poundage. A bit war wounded but still  a lovely female that went 4.14. Spat out a few of the Source minis too. Not the most cheerful  tench I've caught...

The rod is perfect for this sort of fishing, and 5lb line is just about right too. Tench certainly can pull but it soaks it all up.

The next bite was also hit and the fish went further in the pads but the rod won out and even some almost pike-like head thrashing didn't dislodge the hook, and in the onion bag it went. A chunkier but smaller fish this one and possibly a bit more cheerful looking? A paint brush tail if ever there was one. I can't see myself ever tiring of tench, of what ever size and however caught

I had one more fish on after the goose reunion, that stayed out the the pads and put up a near mud pig performance before loosing the hook right at the net and in the gathering gloom decided to leave them  to it.

 I didn't watch Eurovision.

Wanderlust

Now I have a Charabanc back on the road new vistas are opening up again.  Diesel which I'm not keen on but I'll take 20 quid tax and  around 700 miles from a tank anytime.  This sunny weather is helping too. Will probably be a jungle by the 16th of June so best I get that  #4 weight bought and in action.

Had an earlyish wander round a now neglected Wensum pit. Got to have a few tench left but don't think it'll be chucking up 20+ fish in  a few hours anymore.

New ticket on here, with some upper river fishing too. On the daily commute route

This lovely village pond has a traditional close season and is also conveniently on the way home. Almost endless numbers of little and battered but game old warrior carp guaranteed.

 

And then there were three.

Forgive the inadvertent Genesis reference in the title. But yes, the gosling population on the very local water has reduced by 2/5ths

Been making the most of the warm, and mostly dryish weather, and the arrival of the new(er) Charabanc  with plenty of action but not many conversions.

Saturday saw a very short session on the very local water into dusk. Plenty of mud pig activity over the pellets and scattering of 10mm Source then a few clusters of pin head bubbles. Quickly put in  a second rod (waggler, no shot down) and in lieu of a short pre tied method hooklink a pellet band. Tw  quick takes and both times the fish (tench) were on for a reasonable time then the hook pinged out.  

Bank Holiday Monday and probably the hottest day. I had from 12-4 to make the most of it and given the sun headed for the relative shade of an island. Waggler and  a mini Source down the side of the emerging pads. I became more and more uncomfortable as my left  eye became sorer and sorer, watering profusely. Three times I had  a tench on, and again hook pulls. Great to have the string pulled though. I'm not sure  how I saw to drive home but when I got on it  was a full scale irrigation jobbie. Worked enough to get the barbie on and down some shandies.

Unexpected pass out on Tuesday but I was mobbed by mudpigs that tore the swim to pieces. They are very aware of the stem off the waggler in the shallow water and bomb off but are pulled back into the swim by the nosh laid out. None made a mistake though.

Wednesday and I figured I had to do some thing different. Replaced the method hooklink I'd had left over from my day with John Bailey. I'd noticed it had a barbless hook.  As it happened the ones I'd bought were also barbless but it would be a fresh, sharper hook. Fed to the edge of the outer pads to give me some  clear water to let anything run into and they were onto the pellet's and Source  quickly. 25 minutes in and the float dipped and began to slide away.

Obviously a mud pig it slammed into the pads but with as much pressure as I could apply with my Drennan Tench float and 5lb line I coaxed it out and then had to work hard to keep it from getting under the stage. It did a 180 of the stage before having enough and tearing off to the dam, almost faster than I could backwind. It kited to the right hand corner and back through some more pads, before heading back to the dam.  Finally I got it back to the stage and it began to circle, and finally after about 10 arm bending minutes it finally dived in the waiting net. I'd given plenty of passing traffic something to watch.

A long, solid common, with a very obvious dorsal abnormality.We thought 12ish and it was indeed 12.11. Not a tench but a good second best.

This stuff smells  just like old Hutchy Extract.