Mikey Bread at the controls.......version

Had about an hour after work before I had to pick the Boy Garmin (previously known as Ton Ton Macute) up from the UEA so set off armed with a loaf of Co-op finest sliced white. The top shallows rammo with families and dogs, saw a few roach dodging the chuck and fetch sticks and found the first quieter bend.
First trot of a piece of flake on a Kamasan 12 under a small Drennan stable stick and a hand sized roach.

Winkled out some dace and a gonk:

Damsels everywhere, and kingfishers and a curious magpie. Not bad for the edge of the city and a massive Uni/ Hospital/Sports Park complex.

Half an hour to go, out with a larger hunk of flake on the quivertip and a slurp of still slightly chilled Coke. A better cast to the raft, an almost instant three foot twitch and a great scrap in the clear water, I had to hang on to net it  as there were two large branches coming down which were too big for Fido.

I'd say a summer slack good  3 +. Distinctive anal fin. Long, coral and tipped navy blue. Me thinks a few trips into dark once the hordes are back at school. Free and 5 mins from work. What's not to like?

Sky's on fire

Lost a nice roach last night. Need to move spots but this view keeps  dragging me back..

Macca spotted a grass carp yesterday.

Crock of gold.

Saturday evening, we've got over the massive storm last night and now it's tropical. Macca had seen a shoal of big bream on the Ressie and some tench out as well. Macca was on the car park swim so headed round to the big willow where it is a bit more secluded, and due to the shade a little clearer of weed. Had thought of twin rod approach , one on prawn and one on corn and sit and watch the water and perhaps a break to try the waggler.

Now, I can't remember if I re spooled then Cardinals or not, but the line lay is horrific and the twist weakens the lines and leads to lots of tangles. I half freed the running link and swung out a size 8 sedge hook  full of corn and attached the bobbin. Then followed a tug of war as I tried to reset the bobbin before  it sunk in something  was pulling back. I thought it was small tench until I saw the red fins. Net not set up. Panic..Manged to scoop a rather stunning roach up and safely to the back of the swim. Straight into  a placcy bag and took the Wayfarers round to a very pleasing 1.09.

I then proceeded to fish like a prat but still found it quite enjoyable. A few smaller roach and a perch on the float and if I found a hole in the weed some reasonable roach again on corn. Half heated response to prawn. Macca lost his first carp this time round on what is his old stomping ground and headed off as the Buxton clock had just struck wine o clock (always 3 minutes early). That first roach was a belter and  the Ressie definitely needs some further roachy investigation.

Definitely last knockings

Straight off the rods with the Cardinals, retro chic but unfishable with..

Prospecting for gold

Thursday and hedge cut so off to walk the new water...nestling just by the syndicate beat.  Not that cherished recently which may be why we got it...just may be some gold in there.

Small, clear and a lot richer than Captains.

Has half an otter fence, that's a  future job.Some hefty movement  in the marginal cover and home to kingfishers..mythical 9lb bream and tench...and some big mudpigs still.

Sun sets behind the lake. The river looked in top shape with a lot of dace moving for the crust and flake I'd bought to tease out a few fish to spot.

And  a slow lingering sunset. A bit Serengetti ish over Skeyton

This week I am mostly..

This week I am mostly looking at cows..

Buccolic scene, Upper Bure Valley. Wild (and cosseted) bronwie terrtitory above Ingworth

From the car park below Mayton Bridge.

And then it rained.

Slightly stretching the truth

Whilst the inlanders were bathed in unforecast but welcome sun the North Norfolk coastal arc was hidden under an all enveloping har today: cows grazing at Horsey

Brighter on the Bure just a few miles inland though: a very stylised snapseed version of a quick shot from the Rising Sun at Colitishall.  A lot lot of fish showing on the ebb tide. You wouldn't know it from the picture but this a very busy spot, just below the last piece of navigable tidal Bure. I think back tomorrow evening for a pint then dodge the dayboats for a few hours trotting into dark.

The magic pulling power of hemp

Sunday. I'd finally defrosted, frozen, defrosted and refrozen the  hemp enough. Captains it would be. After the miserable rain early on the water was quite coloured. The night boys had pulled off except Jussie who was packing up in Dead Mans. I decided on the first jetty for close in prawn work. Despite my nimble feet (oh yeah!) I spooked three carp right in the side as I lurched onto the rickety staging. Don't know if some one had been feeding close in either to get the 2 new stockies  going or piled in some stuff to keep the swans that side of the pond but it was evident they were having it all round the jetty. Even carroty koi drifted past as I was swapping from trotting gear to the Cardinal 154 and 6lb straight through. Someone had dragged faitly recently  (and brewed several cuppas judging by the tea bags, biodegradable unlike the tube of Betnovate floating by the jetty..I have heard of carp care kits but that is taking it a bit to far).

So, fish in the swim and a reasonable chance of some of the weed having been thinned recently. In with the on the turn hemp and a tin of corn to keep the rudd quiet for a few minutes as some of  the hemp got through them. Not long before this was the scene around the float..

I am sure some of the float movement was rudd or liners as it must have been fish soup down there. This was the first fish, a bream. A bit battle scarred to be honest. Followed next cast by a mud pig that  tore off, but the hook pulled as the line ended up at a bit of an angle through a thicker clump of weed.

Another bigger bream and another hook pull on a carp,  the float sliding up and jamming in the same clump of weed. Did put out a pike bait lifter (bright red foam ball as a pop-up off the lead) as a sleeper,  Lots of pulls but not having used a hair for ages probably did not have a short enough hair.. Could have done with a smaller fake bait perhaps as I am sure again must have been rudd as well as bream/carp having a go.

One last bream as the temperature started to drop and the mist began to rise off the surface Strange deformity and lack of ventral fins...

Water craft

You know the scenario. You've crawled up to the swim through nettles and cow crap, nestled in quietly under the bank line, fed patiently before casting and suddenly..puff, wheeze thump as Diawa man drops his Riva box on the ground in full fish eye line, "got anyfing cocker?".

Saturday evening on the pool at Buxton. I'd spotted what I thoughtwas a barbel as at first the low slung snout was under the weed, just a long body and noticable pecs and caduals but it was drifted  up and over the weed and hung menacingly as only a pike could, eying up the dace and a solitary brownie. I marked it down for a livie later.

Dropped just below it and the concrete tank trap featured in a Bailey shot in Chub and Dace and elected to trot red maggot through at the tail of the clump of weed and the small eyeot pushed up by the  flow over the the twin mill races. A very shallow run and seemingly devoid of fish but for the tell tale swirls for the loose feed indicated dace at home. The gate clanged and voices trilled, "are you going in?" Two of the local Massive ran past and straight in on the sheep drink, wading and splashing past my float.."cort anything mister?"  I played a rather splashy dace past them. No adverse effect at all.  Makes you wander though, these fish are dive bombed all weekend  as it's a local swimming spot and must get used to it. I wouldn't be so sanguine if I was working up a barbel swim though.

A steady flow of hand sized and a bit more dace followed. Too much for pikie number two who ghosted up to just below me. I lip hooked the next dace and it was straight on it. I could see the the head out of its jaws and hoped the hanging treble might be inside. It was off quickly however. It spun round like a dog chasing it's tail tying to find the dace in a passable shark like fury. I swung out the dace again and it was off into the main flow to work the fish round to a swallowing position. Not a good shot as I was holding the rod and DSLR's and selfies don't quite work. You can see though the head is in the jaws and after a little tussle in 2 foot of water on the bank and smaller than I would have said (not the fish in the weed above though).

The yoot were now raiding a cherry plum tree to lob at little poly gliders they had decided to float as targets so off to the next bend. Needed to trot a long way down for much smaller dace  so back up  and few more better dace before home time called.

Lovely sunset on the way.

This one a bit further down the road not appreciated by the HDR police on a local Facebook group. Come on, it's hardly straight out of the can is it?

Solstice solace

Despite having a free add-on trout permit for the river Syndicate I have not fished flowing water since the Last Day.  Given that from Sunday the nights will be imperceptibly at first pulling in I headed off  to the river below Buxton Mill. The local yoot were tearing up the pool but just below them plenty of dace and some small, black tail finned,white lipped chub, a spot earmarked for a possible drop in on the way back to the car once the denizens of Buxton and Lamas had headed home for FIFA and Mine Craft.

The Bure is pretty much unmanaged and below the bridge clear spots are difficult to find before the winter flushes. Looked like  not many had bothered  given the general lack of cleared marginal vegetation. First decent run where I had had a 5+ chub  in the winter, a deeper run  certainly. Too deep in fact, I had not bought a dropper and the loose fed was just not getting down quick enough. I did have one bite on red maggot under a Drennan stable stick, unusually being forced to give a little line but I never saw what it was. Not head thumping  enough  for a perch, given the darts into the cover  probably a small chub but either way the 20s Drennan match hook pulled..

First trot in the next available spot  and this bigger than it looks in the picture dace required the net. One of the roachy looking ones and very broad through the body. (It is a dace)

A shallower glide and much easier to fish. Plenty of dace and this little fellow:

Bites tailed off and a further move almost immediately rewarded with this sergeant that did pull a bit. Proably around the pound and a quarter mark and beautifuly coloured.

There had been a busy pair of kingfishers up and down the river all evening, on hearing a late cuckoo I glanced up to see three sitting on the telephone wires across the river,they swooped low across the meadow, very distinctive in flight. I have not seen a cuckoo for many years and never three together.

The light was quite spectacular as the sun began to set and this section often looks like this at this time of the day as the sun dips through the poplars.

Last fish of the evening was this nice little roach.

I decide not to finish off below the mill and delivered the remaining bait in for freebies.Of course there was a decent chub fanning over a bed of runuculus in the mil pool. Heh ho. Headed back along the meadow hoping for a glimpse of a barn owl but not tonight. Did get this quite nice shot of the solstice sun on it's way down.

Bread and chubber on the Yare after work Monday or Tuesday for a few schoolie chub and some roach I think.

Frustrating Friday.

Offered an unexpected passout on Friday , hadn't prepped for the river so half cock session on Captains (hemp frozen). 2nd Jetty again: and curry corn and meat to wake up the bream.

Unfortunately I hadn't figured on the ability of a million micro rudd to intercept the corn and meat quite so successfully so I don't think that the carpet of feed I had intended quite lived up to the description. Bubbles, yes, half half hearted lift bites, yes. Fish? No. I hadn't raked through as Macca was on the next jetty and I am sure that most of the time the prawn was hung up in the weed that had grown back triffid like.