Flying ant day

I got as far as looking at the shingle (no sign of life) buying feathers (tiny ones, got mugged off by tackle dealer who had the  'special ones' under the counter for his mates, never going back) then taking the safe option of there is always next year.

So you'll get  the usual suspects to look at again.  I think they are in the right order. Can't keep away from the shaded swim and that is in part because the fish seem to swim away from the pads (mostly) on their first run. I  really don't want to lose any towing gear, even with barbless hooks or break my replacement  tip section again. 4mm pellets, a few 12mm Source and a gentle swing out of the Puddle Chucker. Simplicity itself. 

First up a dashing little male hitting the line with its paint brush tail. Plucky things aren't they?

I kept getting my attention on the float tip drawn away to the pair of kingfishers to my right so often looked up to see I'd missed a bite but what a delight they are to see and hear at such close quarters.

Didn't miss this slobbery old barry

or this sleek, smooth doctor fish, which did get briefly acquainted  with the pads  which of course were use to add some interest to the safe option net shots from then on in.

I'd been fishing with the anti-reverse off to avoid being pointed and the inevitable loops of line from the settling rotor arm  meant a long cast to to clear them and  the float buried almost as soon as it landed. A decent roach had taken the boilie on the drop.  They've been overshadowed by the skimmers and hybrids for a while so nice to get one of this size. Autumn plans to be hatched. Probably.

One more bream to end the short evening session and snot up the net some more. Slightest hint of moisture and  it really hums.

Hums so much (along with the obligatory large mat) that as so as I'd got them  out on my next late afternoon bash a cloud of irritating flies were swarming over my shoulder from the field and covering the net, mat and me in a horrible stinking miasma. On closer inspection they were flying ants, having made the inbuilt decision to fly as one. The swallows were on them quickly rather than the usual clacking beaked gulls they usually attract. I started off with the corn slow sinking to try for some of the roach  and had a few but no real  netters but had hedged my bets with some pellet and groundbait and once the bubblers started, bunched the shot down

I was on the lighter Drennan waggler rod and for some reason lost the first two bream and a tench. he kingfishers where still as active but my view was more distant as they swept up  and down the pond , only occasionally whizzing past just past the sunken rod tip. At one point there was a fall of much smaller flying ants coinciding with a hatch of small midges and the pond surface was covered with thousands of small fish taking them as the swallows returned, feasting on the bounty. 

Two bream did end up in the net and one tench did get in the pads with resultant carnage but I 'only' left a  fine wire #12 and 3 inches of 3.2bs line in it.

As I left two squadrons of screaming swifts scythed down the valley, their calls easily overtaking the distant hum of harvesting and the church bells tolling 8 over the water meadow as the dew fall began. Magical.

Famine and Feast

Fooking wind. I hate it. Even  a warm westerly. And when its 40mph plus... looked for a widow maker less spot on Golden Pond, tucked away just yards away from the busy main road, listening to the traffic crunching over fallen branches. Looks idyllic sheltered from the raging wind.  Idyllic may be but not one dip on the float and just two brief patches of bubbles in my allotted 90 minutes 

Off or long shore winds for the most part on this corner of heaven jutting out into the North Sea at the mo and the makkies are having a whale of a time gorging on natures rich bounty. I should get out there, perhaps next year

Another bash under some rather bigger poplars when the winds halved to a 'gentler' 23 mph, and fishing the puddle chucker again tight to some pads  lost two decent tench to sickening hook pulls before sliding the now stinky sock..sorry net under a game little tench and shortly after a surrender monkey snotter. Very good for just an hour.

Certainly very good in comparison to my next trip, 3 hours of almost continuous rain and not one bleep from my trio of buzzers and again, not a bubble to be seen.

Youngest original got himself a very hard won 2.2 in Maths from UEA so we  had a bite to eat  to celebrate on Unthank Road.

And eldest original has got himself a brand new local boozer having swopped a post code round the clockwise NR wheel going  from NR2 to NR3. Rep your endz.

Where have alll the QM1 #10s gone?

Another hot afternoon, the surface of the pond was covered in poplar fluff and great hippo like bream slowly rolled on the greasy Limpopo surface. Time to seek shade and ditch the flat beds and fish for bites, not fizzing baitrunners. A few handfuls of pellets and  a sprinkling of Source minis and draw the puddle chucker back over that bed of oozing attraction, just off the pads.

The flouro orange tip of the puddle chucker wobbled and slowly sank away, the strike hit home and the anti- reverse slipped off, The fish, a lovely hybrid did the usual, punching way above either parents fighting weight. A thick set fish, a good two pounds plus I thought.

Another bite, and another fight, unmistakeably a tench, sorely testing the 13 foot Drennan, in the pads and  then the bankside fibrous roots and trailing briars. A cracking spawned out female with an unusual white edging to the ventrals. Lovely custard yellow belly and those teddy bear red eyes.

Disaster, the next fish tore off before the grudging clutch kicked in or I could slip off the anti-reverse and I was pointed, the line parting just above the short ready tied hook link. I knew it was the last one I had, I think the bigger hook is better when using the 12mm boilies as opposed to the 8mm wafters or pellet O's. I've been searching every tackle shop I go past for a month now, plenty of #12 or #14 but no #10. Delivery and order sheets drawing blanks. A head scratcher indeed. I do like the simplicity of the push stops but the bait has to be soft or the stops split and are useless. So much so I keep my 8mm wafters and these Source 12mm quite moist.

Anyhoo, on with a back-up QM1 #12 hook link and as it happened straight on a bubbling fish and I'd only got the rod on the rests when the float slid away.  

.

Another decent scrap and another female was eventually in the onion bag. They fight so hard.

Wasn't long before another one slipped up, skinnier than the first two but still as strong.

I'd chucked a sleeper  rod out with a standard mud pig and a bigger Source wafter, it did go just on packing up time, an out gunned and under performing bream rounded off my nap hand. Drove home listening to England setting up a likely day 4 loss.....

Catch up

 Haven't fished much over the last fortnight or even checked into Blog land much so this will be  a quick catch up.

Had a splendid couple of hours last Saturday catching up with Bream Slayer and had an equally splendid pair of tench and pair of bream on the ever faithful flat beds and wafters. We both remarked on the quantity of fry and slightly bigger 'silvers' feasting on a massive hatch  that had also attracted large numbers of swallows.

This tench thought it was a mud pig, steamed off super quick (phone shot)

Back on the DSLR

  

Been warm enough for a garden night cap or two. 

With some welcome rain as well. Didn't put the crabs off (I was on Scouts taxi duties.

Much slower yesterday with just a single bream but it did put  up some resistance and took a detour through the pads.