28/3/12 Better Plaice Fishing

Russ took me over to #35 and some mussel beds to try once again for some plaice-a mark he'd had some considerable success on a previous trip.Fishing both at anchor and on the drift a few plaice to about 1 1/2lb showed along with a hound and the inevitable doggies.
Drifting seemed to work better and worth bearing in mind for future outings though due to the tide speed on the shallow bank a small tide would be preferable.Mussels were clearly present, as we were dragging them up on the hooks.
The little feathered visitor , obviously on a big journey, spent half an hour resting , perched on the anchor.Can anyone Identify it?

 

 

24/3/12 Progress and Decisions.. Land Rover #4

With Jack around for the week-end, there was another  opportunity to carry on with work on the Landie, and tackle the first of the welding.Having removed both master cylinder and pedal box assemblies the extent of the corrosion to the driver's foot well was severe,and fitting the full replacement panel was justified.
Everything was fairly straightforward once I'd mastered the technique and reacquainted myself with the M.I.G welder, and the finished result was pretty satisfactory. However, we both agreed that further repair work to the bulkhead, which is really the heart of any Land rover,  would be much easier with the vehicle completely dismantled down to rolling chassis and all the panels removed.
So the major decision was made that the next phase of the project would be to completely strip the truck down, and work on the bulkhead in the comfort of my garage. It would be very easy to raid the bank account, and buy a replacement bulkhead but, they are stupidly expensive and this project is being carried out very much on a shoestring- the plan being to get the Landie back to a roadworthy state ,spending as little cash as possible.
Lifting the body, apart from being a whole heap of fun, would also greatly improve access to the major chassis components that will need repair or replacement. At the moment it looks like both front spring hangers will need to be replaced along with a side bulkhead support, and some welding work is need to the rear cross member, if not a complete replacement section. All this stuff is pretty cheap to buy so there's no great issue.
The remainder of the chassis appears sound , as I discovered when i first looked underneath her prior to  parting with my 'hard earned' but, it's highly likely that there are some hidden surprises (horrors) in store..............There usually is!

23/3/12 Hunting Flatties

Jack was staying up for a few days so , as well as getting some welding done on the Land Rover, we decided to venture out in the boat for a spot of fishing and my first trip out this year. Warm weather a flat calm seas with a small tide saw us heading to #34 to drift rag baited spoon rigs in search of plaice. A very smooth and easy mark to drift but the fish weren't obliging with Jack taking the only plaice.
We regrouped, investigating a recommendation just inshore of #33 but this proved to be too snaggy so we ended up at #20 with me finally catching a dab and a doggie. Slow fishing indeed, but the 'boy' still seemed to enjoy it and equally enjoyable was cooking up the two flatties for a snack-the dab winning hands down in the taste stakes.

 

14/3/12 A Busy End To The Season.

I wanted to finish the season exploring uncharted territory, and fish the only area of this massive stretch of river that, in five years of chasing its pike , I've never quite reached. In fact, I've never even walked the banks here but of course, have visited it several times in both my own, and Dave's boat. Memory fails me when it comes to remembering whether or not we've cast a bait for pike along here whilst afloat.
After a healthy two mile 'yomp', we'd arrived at our destination and what we found was a much shallower area than we're used to. In  summer the river here is choked with streamer weed and combined with the gravel river bed, has always struck me as a likely haunt of barbel.
Today the shallow water warmed by the recent sun was the haunt of pike but, not very big ones. In fact, some were very small! I had six all told, with one conveniently dropping off in the margins all taken on roach, and Dave added another to the total on a sea dead along with some more inevitable eel activity.
Starting off cold, the weather soon improved enough for me to change hats, and revert to 'T' shirt 'drill', and it was pleasant enough to while away the last hours anticipating the arrival of a bigger female pike, which never showed, reflect upon the season past, and make plans for the next.
Personally, despite my best efforts this season has not been that productive, but Dave has fished a 'blinder', with some stunning pike in his net and luckily, I've been there to see them all. Well done mate.
According to my diary, I tend to take a little break from fishing at this time of year and to be honest yesterday, I felt a little 'fished out' and welcomed the 'rest'. Twenty four hours later, and I'm raring to go again. However, I do need to exercise a little restraint, maybe decorate a room and score a few brownie points. Yeah right!

13/3/12 Snakes and Pikes

Having finished my second night shift I joined Dave mid morning at the lower end of P1 by which time he'd given the 'hot area' a good go, and worked his way upstream a hundred yards with no luck. The intention was to complete the section, finishing where we left off last week, but give the middle sluice a good try. We also had the luxury of being able to fish most of the ebb which is useful, as the flood here leaves the river in a real mess.
Half way along the lower straight Dave had a good take on the mackerel and commented that it was 'pulling back hard'. It wasn't a pike that surfaced, but a good sized eel, in fact a three and a half pounder .This eel had obviously evolved into the predatory strain having a wide head and a full set of gnashers which I would be reluctant to get near my fingers.Photographing the 'beast' did prove a little problematical, but we eventually succeeded and it's capture has sparked a bit of interest in the species for both of us, particularly as they seem to be flourishing in our tidal rivers. Apparently, nationally, they're in decline.

 

 

 

Having crossed the sluice my roach baits started to do their job and the first pike to show was a nine pounder followed shortly after by a dropped take that left the bait in the margins, whilst I was moving the second rod.

We're fishing a little more 'out' in the river this season and it appears to be paying dividends but, unless I keep a keen eye on my floats, this sort of run can remain undetected as it has no effect on the back up bite alarms. Usually it's not an issue as I'm mostly concentrating hard on the floats, willing them to disappear-unfortunately not that regular occurrence this season.
Hopping the rods upstream we finally reached the location of Dave's brace success last week and, just on slack low water, once again my roach did the trick with this beautifully marked 15-08.

Whilst returning my pike , I glanced upstream and noticed my second float , again with a roach under slung, had performed another rush to bank side cover but, this time, I was quick enough to hit the pike and up came a pretty single to complete the hat-trick. This is one of numerous occasions that we've experienced a feeding spell but quite how the pike are triggered simultaneously into feeding is one of the great mysteries of pike fishing.
Dave had to call it a day at this point but i decided to hang on until the light faded but had no more action. Once the flood had set in, the debris washed into the river by the recent big tides made fishing impossible although I did try to fish the far bank, which was fairly clear, with the rods propped up 'beachcaster' style.

 

12/3/12 Dave and Dave

Joined Dave and Dave on the Lock Estate for a bit of a social today in between night shifts. Beautiful sunny day after the fog had lifted, just right for dozing on the bank and chewing the cud .
Dave N landed a low double just as I arrived and the only other action , apart from eels nipping at the baits, was a similar sized pike to Dave W later in the day.
Jon Cook came and joined us for a banter in the afternoon having blanked at the fork, though he'd fared better the previous day, and plans were hatched for a spring pit tench campaign-something I've been meaning to do for a while.
I've only 'piked' the 'Lock'  once before but both Daves have been regulars here in the past taking good numbers of fish on wobbled dead bait methods. Being non-tidal it's a comfortable place to fish and has big pike heritage too so perhaps it would provide an alternative venue for next season.

 

9/3/12 Exceptional Piking

In my enthusiasm to go pike fishing on Monday I'd completely misjudged the quantity of rain that had fallen the previous day and, when I reached the river, fully kitted up for old esox, I found it in awful condition and running the colour of strong tea. An hour or two later I was back home playing with the Land Rover.
Tuesday, I tried again, but this time despite no further rain, I found the river in worse condition  , so didn't even get out of the van. Driving east to inspect the 'other' river, and I found it even more coloured which is highly unusual.
I spent the remainder of the day and  Wednesday giving Daryl a hand with his own Landie as he's doing a bit of an epic engine swap, in a bid to improve fuel economy, exchanging his silky smooth two and a quarter petrol, for a bone shaking 200Di .Brave man!
Thursday afternoon, and I returned to the river and gave it a bash for a couple of hours but, it was still a little too murky for my liking, and I blanked although it was nice to come across Paul with his wife and a mate fishing for bream and roach. They'd had a few, but it was slow going.
The 'hot' area seems to have run it's course and , as i mentioned at the end of my last pike entry, it would be nice to catch some big pike from a different area of river so today, Dave and me decided to head upstream finding the river had finally cleared.

Within minutes of dropping in my roach bait, and before Dave had even finished setting up his gear, I had a run, and out came this nice 'little' double of 12-04....confidence restored.

We fished the area for another couple of hours with a slight move upstream but no more pike showed.
Rather than make steady progress along the bank we decided on a complete move to an area we've not fished this year, but one that has produced some exceptional pike  in the past, especially this late in the season.
Dave mentioned in passing that he'd like to catch something big and , right on cue, proceeded to drop his baits on a superb brace of pike, on consecutive casts, and from the same swim. The first at 18lb, shortly followed by 22-08 (pic) both magnificently conditioned pike neither of which thankfully, we've  not seen before.
The opposite bank is very shallow and weedy and could possibly be a spawning area which might explain the presence of the pair but equally of course, this may be pure conjecture. Whatever the case it's still an excellent catch and Dave continues to have an exceptional season-well done mate!

29/2/12 Mastering The Pole.

  

In complete contrast to yesterday's wrecking i decided sample the other extreme of the angling spectrum today, and persevere with some pole fishing for a couple of hours , making the most of the unseasonably fine weather. On my last trip to the pond, I found the pole a little cumbersome to use, and thought it of little advantage to standard rod and line gear, but I've always admired the simplicity and finesse of the method, and thought it deserved a little more application.

When i was a youngster, Ray Mumford-a famous 70's match angler gave a talk on the method at my local angling club in Leatherhead, Surrey. At the time very few British anglers used poles, although they had been  popular, albeit in a bamboo form, with Thames roach fishermen for many decades. Fascinated by Ray's presentation, I decided to save my pocket money and buy a pole-an 18ft fibreglass Shakespeare model with an alloy crook that weighed a ton. I did fish quite successfully with it and not just for tiddlers. I remember a 3lb chub from the Mole giving me quite a hard time although it was successfully landed.
Of course, nowadays poles are a common sight, and not just among match anglers. My coarse angling friend Paul uses his quite successfully on the Arun for roach and bream fishing. Mine is a very cheap model borrowed from Dave and is a world apart from my old 'Shakey' being comparatively light and stiff. I tend not to use it at full length at the moment, but on this pond there is really no need.
Because of the still conditions, I changed tactics slightly today by dispensing with the bait cup, and feeding both crumb ground bait and maggots by hand and still keep the feed in a tight area of about a square meter. Things took a while to get going but, once I'd got the fish on the feed, it was a bite every cast, and my hit rate was, i reckon about 90%. The results were very good and after only about three hours of fun fishing, I'd amassed a nice bag of 40 odd fish, mostly roach in the 4oz-8oz bracket with a couple of perch and a rather tatty 1lb 4oz rudd.
Once I'd got my pitch sorted and  myself comfortable with everything in easy reach from my perch, I found the pole much easier to use, and it was definitely more effective at hitting the shy roach bites, but I don't think for one minute that I'd ever become a threat to the local match angling community.
Interestingly, the roach were very wary of white maggots, ignoring them whenever i tried them on the hook even though they were in the feed. Nearly all fish came to reds and I'm sure if I'd had casters, I'd have done even better. The brown crumb seems to have been very effective at bringing the fish in.
Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, there were only a couple of 'pike bait' sized tiddlers in the catch, and it remains a mystery why smaller fish don't show up more often.

...

 

 

28/2/12 Wrecking!

I've never been wreck fishing before and , if I'm honest,had a preconceived opinion as to what it would be like. The thought of travelling relatively huge distances out to sea, compared to what I'm accustomed to, was also a little daunting but when Russ invited me out for a trip today in the spell of unseasonably fine weather we've recently been experiencing, curiosity got the better of me, and I wanted to find out for myself what all the fuss was about.
Lots of big numbers here;
 We started out at 6-00 a.m from the marina, returning a full 11 hours later.
We fished three wrecks up to 22 miles off shore, right on the edge of both my admiralty chart, and the shipping lanes. I did wonder whether I should have brought my passport.
 The wrecks were in 200ft plus of water...all I could think about was that equated to twenty storeys underneath me!!
We(well actually mostly Russell) caught 110lb of Pollack up to 14lb and a Ling-a boat weight record , and a pretty spectacular catch considering it's February-usually a very quiet time even on the wrecks.
Finally, the total distance travelled in the boat , is probably as much as the distance from my house on the coast to The Houses of Parliament.

We spent the majority of the day drifting (and losing) Russ' 6" Sidewinders on ten feet of flowing trace-a red tailed mackerel imitation seemed to be most successful, but I was extremely pleased when, after one pollack regurgitated a tiny sprat, to 'match the hatch' with a four inch Manns Shad from my own lure box, and score.
The method involved dropping the lure to the sea bed(itself a time consuming activity) then slowly winding up to about twenty turns(counted) of the reel handle before lowering again and repeating the exercise. I would estimate that the lures were in the take zone for no more than a minute on each 2 kt drift and  the bites were surprisingly finicky, and missed if 'struck'. It was also important to concentrate, and lift the lure just as the wreck was approached to get the best possible chance of a take-mistiming this could mean a lost lure, or no take. The level of anticipation is higher than in any other branch of fishing I've ever experienced.
Initially, i couldn't keep up with the skipper's catch rate but, with a bit of coaching from 'the man' on the subtleties of this highly subtle method, i managed to start catching.
Unsurprisingly a very high level of boat handling skill was required. Accurate positioning for each drift is absolutely essential, and extremely difficult especially with changing tide conditions but Russ made a superb job of it,improving as the day progressed and obviously managing to find us the fish.
Opportunities to get out to these far off wrecks at this time of year are rare indeed due to the required combination of good weather and tides  that logistically allow enough time to carry out the whole exercise.
A thoroughly enjoyable, and enlightening day's fishing.

 

27/2/12 Mojo's Back.

Usually when my pike fishing's not going too well, it takes me all of about a couple of hours after an unproductive session to get over the depression of not catching, and plan the next assault which invariably means a change of location .Today's outcome could have been very different had I not had just enough dead baits for a short session because I'd actually 'planned' to give up on the 'hotspot' area for a while and try my hand in other proven areas, stopping at Pulborough Tesco on the way to buy some of their finest, and highly reputable frozen sardines to replenish my diminishing stock.
On the drive up I hesitated, and actually pulled over to check exactly how many baits I had in my bag,six were found, and that sealed the deal.........or was it that I was just so doggedly determined to catch a decent pike from 'that' swim.I changed plan and pointed the van in a different direction .
The state of tide was much better today with the majority of my available fishing time spent on the bottom of the ebb and the conditions  were just perfect. Mild,overcast weather and unusually clear water contributed to a feeling of quiet confidence on my part.......but then I felt the same last week!.............
The flow was so gentle that I was able to fish both baits on the far side of the river with a sardine on one rod and lamprey on the second.I didn't have to wait long and within minutes of casting the ever trusty sardine float disappeared instantly,and the bite alarm shrilled signalling a take from a decent pike.(Jack's tend to fiddle about with a bait of this size)
The pike immediately felt reasonable, staying deep throughout the short battle and attempting to dig herself into the submerged tree branches.
Luckily I'd remembered to collect the net(the two rods are fished either side of a tree) but it wasn't easy landing the pike in the confined swim on my own, especially as I was very close to some 'tricky' mud.Thankfully,I kept her clear of the snags and she went in the net first time.Thinking it would be nice to finally get a picture of me with a decent pike this year, I sacked her immediately noticing that, despite being liberally adorned with leeches, she was very warm to the touch. I really must get a suitable water thermometer.

16lb 12oz and not a bad self take pic .I've spent some time studying the picture and comparing the markings with the other big pike we've seen and I can confirm,once again, that this is a new fish-the 12th from the area, and 6th double. Not my biggest pike but, one of the most satisfying that I've caught recently, and proof indeed that, having finally managed to pick one from this swim myself, It's still showing form.
The sardine bait continued to provide action from over active eels-another sign of warmer water conditions, but it was a dead roach on the other rod that produced the next pike action-luckily a jack which unhooked itself as , due to the size of the tide,and consequently very low water level,I'd ventured too far down the mud bank and  become firmly stuck.
Managing to eventually successfully self rescue ( I did at one point think that I might still be there now)I decided that I'd rather not risk the area any longer, and instead fished the last half an hour on firmer ground with the baits on the fringe of the 'hot' area No more takes were forthcoming.
It would have been interesting to fish on if I'd had more time but at least I'd achieved my goal (eventually) and, In a way, it would be nice to leave this area alone for the remainder of the season if only to retain my sanity.Brave words indeed especially as its highly likely that a twenty pound pike (Dave's) is in residence at least some of the time

 

             

23/2/12 From Bad To Worse.

I booked a day off work today to try and break my run of bad luck with the pike and failed yet again. In fact, I did even worse than last time with not even one take to show for a long hard session.
After spending what i thought was more than enough time for a pike to take in the 'hotspot', I moved upstream a quarter of a mile fishing all the 'usual' haunts on the way but to no avail. What makes the situation even more frustrating is that I was fishing with the very best of 'live' baits(and deads) and apart from the state of the tide, which i must concede was not ideal for this stretch, the conditions were pretty good.
If there were pike about-they just weren't havin' it!

20/2/12 My Mojo's Gone!

Yesterday took a trip with some WSFers to Dorset . Andy's done a brilliant write up ,and it can be found here http://www.worldseafishing.com/forums/showthread.php/896663-Who-shrank-my-fish-West-Bex-Durdle-19-2-12
With so few fish being caught for so much effort, I had to get out again today to try and redress the balance and a return to the' hotspot'.............................but failed miserably.
One take-one pike at HW slack, and that pike turned out to be, yet again, 'yellow spot'.If the bigger girls were in residence, they weren't tempted by my 'finest quality' roach baits. I'm not going to attempt to reason why....it's just fishing.
Mojo's definitely gone..............................temporarily.

 

18/2/12 Dave's In Again.

Four pike to 18lb plus two more lost for Dave today in the 'hotspot' confirming that this is a really very special place indeed. I had one chance at a fish when my bait, cast  on the fringe of the area was taken whilst I was landing one of Dave's fish. Unfortunately, the pike took the bait straight into a tree before |I could get to it, and I was extremely relieved to be able to retrieve the end tackle complete, albeit with some bent hooks, bits of tree, but minus said pike. Bugger!
 Thanks goodness I was using heavy braid as i would never have forgiven myself if I'd left the gear in that fish-it felt like a good'n....but I'll never know.
My second rod outside of the take zone didn't even get a sniff. We're pretty sure they were all 'new' pike suggesting that there is a very high concentration of fish in a very small area and it will be interesting to see how long they stay around.

 

16/2/12 Private Piking

Jon Cook  kindly invited me to join him today as a guest on a private stretch of a tidal East Sussex river  which he'd secured permission to fish from the land owner. Water clarity is apparently essential to success but, with snow still showing on the downs , and plenty of melt water evident in the river, it was still quite coloured which didn't Instill confidence in Jon. I, on the other hand, was just pleased to be doing something different.

In the past the pike fishing here has been very prolific for Jon, with several doubles being caught in a session and today, despite the poor water conditions, those pike were still showing to our single trotted live roach. Takes were quick in materialising and we both had a single and double figure fish, as well as a dropped pike each in a session that was called to a halt at lunch time-Jon being actually quite disappointed with our results and eager to get me back and show me what it's like when the water's clear and the pike on form. Who am I to refuse.
It reminded me a little of the trips I 'd had with Mike Ladle on the Frome, not so much for the physical characteristics of the rivers, which are completely different, but for the style of fishing and the frequency of takes. The roaming approach, fishing one bait ,and carrying the bare minimum of equipment ,made a pleasant change from the  usual 'sit and wait'  methods that are used on the Arun and Adur. We've tried, and failed with more mobile approaches on our local tidals.
Interestingly one of the pike we caught displayed a similar blue hue that is found on our own Arun pike-perhaps common among tidal river fish.
Jon thinks that he's probably caught most of the pike in the small section he fishes ,which run to upper double figures but, studying the river, my feeling is that it would be perfectly capable of producing something special despite it's diminutive size.

 

13/2/12 Piking and Poling.

I'm sure Andy won't mind if I poach his post on this trip;
After what seems like ages I finally got out to wet a line with Jeff who I haven't fished with for ages. First we tried the fields below Houghton bridge for Pike, we passed 2 good looking swims in the woods on the way which need a revisit sometime. The fields swim was interesting since I've not fished it for more than 20yrs, still much the same with a nice bit of sheltered water on the near bank (not quite a back eddy) and water steaming through on the far bank. The bottom was harder than I remember and you could feel the lead hit the bottom and bounce, to me that screams Barbel and I might have to put some time into this area especially since we didn't get approached to move on (I was hoping we wouldn't but it's a bit unknown who owns this field now). It did look very fishy and we fished the later half of the ebb until the point the water just about stopped moving at which point Jeff wanted to hit the farm pond to get a few Roach/Rudd and I said I'd join him.

I really thought a nice bit of mashed bread would score well with a bit of flake on the hook but after a couple of hours of watching Jeff get a few on the pole and maggots I relented and very cheekily parked myself right next to him and cast my float within 2ft of his (I'd only get away with this on this pond but my excuse was he was feeding very tight with a pole cup and I couldn't stray too far, plus it was too late to start feeding a new swim!). 2 Rudd in 2 casts before they got much more finicky, for me I was fishing very light with 2.1lb line and a size 18 hook and tbh it's starting to get difficult to focus on this small stuff when you're used to the great big gaff sized hooks used in sea fishing, I don't think I could've gone any lighter that's for sure!

None of the fish in this pond are that small but there weren't really any big ones today with just one decent 12oz+ one to Jeff but they continue to amaze me just how well conditioned they are considering the venue and it's size, feisty little things to that put up a decent scrap and it was a pleasure to return to this venue and have some fun fishing. Might have to have a rethink on the mashed bread though!

 

12/2/12 Land Rover Diary #3 She drives.

      Since my last installment I've fitted three wheel cylinders,both front flexibles ,and a new master cylinder, in an attempt to get the brakes working so I can take her for a test drive. The brakes have proved to be extremely difficult to bleed despite having help from the missus but, after scanning the forums, it would appear that this problem is not uncommon.
 Jack came up for three days to spend some time messing with the 'landie' and, after another fruitless attempt to bleed out the brakes, it was decided to renew the rear flexible, and wheel cylinder along with a couple of rear pipes, and try again.
Whilst shopping, I also managed to pick up a bargain. £15 for a complete O/S floor well repair section shop soiled (bit of surface rust)from Paul at 'Drop Zone' which will save me a heap of work and hopefully make a neater job of the steel work.
We did eventually achieve a solid pedal but it took some clever work, and no end of patience, getting pressure in the system and momentarily releasing each bleed valve in turn. Definitely the simplest brake system we've both ever come across but, probably due to it's single circuit design, with inherent 'air traps', THE most difficult system either of us, have ever had to bleed. Without a 'brake bleed' gismo , which I'm not entirely sure would have worked anyway, I couldn't have done this job on my own so, thanks to 'the boy'

With the brakes done the fuel line was connected to the tank, glass bowl filter cleaned out, a small in-line plumbed in and the petrol pump tested. Fuel pick up and sender unit were also investigated (even the fuel gauge works)No problems there so we connected it all up and we were finally able to carry out a proper road test which showed that all the transmission components functioned properly.4WD,High and low ratio and overdrive all worked without fault and the ne pulled smoothly. Here she is driving properly at last;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqgQyTdLjcY&context=C3858af5ADOEgsToPDskJDh0mb9zjAWDfeQQBn5Vtu
Things didn't last long though as soon we experienced some rough engine running no doubt caused by crud entering the carb, and the in line was decidedly 'manky' but at least we'd been able to assess the condition of the running gear which appears to be good.
The tank will have to be removed for a proper flush out as the drain plug appears to be welded up tight.
We finished up by removing the O/S/F wing to give access to the first section of welding work which is required. Not too onerous a task although a few of the rusted bolts had to be attacked with the ever faithful mini grinder and it was far easier having a second pair of hands to remove the panel. It's now temporarily fixed in place with about three bolts.
The welding will probably have to wait until the weather perks up so, in the meantime, I'll have another go at the fuel system especially as the carb's accelerator pump does not seem to work-probably a blockage.

 

9/2/12 Birthday Piking

Returning again to our newly found 'hot spot' saw Dave see me off yet again with three pike landed-one a decent double whilst I missed my chance, and a  birthday pike, with one dropped run on the first cast.....and a lost pike, definitely in double figures, on the subsequent chuck out- a fish that stayed very deep during the battle which lasted for barely a minute.
In addition, Dave experienced two dropped runs and a lost pike so it was an action packed session, all on dead baits, despite the air temperatures being very low. We sat in the one spot all day and the majority of the action was during the ebbing tide. 'Yellow Spot' which turned up on my last visit ,was one of the pike to show up again today.

I am now becoming rather an expert at landing , and photographing Dave's pike but the boot could so easily be on the other foot, as it has so many times in the past.

 

 

25/1/12 Land rover Diary #2

On Sunday evening after work, and despite it being dark, I managed to bleed through the clutch hydraulics, and get a decent pedal. Unfortunately , it was too late to start her up to see if she'd drive, but Tuesday morning in pouring rain, i did give it a try and here's the result.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgxeVJlffMQ&context=C3858af5ADOEgsToPDskJDh0mb9zjAWDfeQQBn5Vtu

with a bit of humour thrown in.

Flushed with success ( 4WD and free wheel hubs seem to work fine) I decided to go for a bit of a shopping trip collecting the remainder of the glass from Dunsfold Land Rovers, and a pair of seats from drop Zone.
It would seem that 'Dunsfold' cater for the more upmarket L/R nut as their prices were very expensive. Luckily the glass panes that i needed ( the safari side windows) were on special offer at £8 each as they had a massive stock to clear, but I don't think I'll be using them again.
Today I started on the brakes and came to a grinding halt when the bleed nipple on the first wheel cylinder just sheared off through corrosion. Looks like I'm going to have to do a bit more shopping when I find out the condition of the other three but, as they're only a fiver a go, it shouldn't be too painful and brakes are rather important.
It started to rain, which is not conducive to working on the ground, so i decided instead to remove the remainder of the rear seat framework and fit up one side of the safari glazing. Bit fiddly but I got there in the end and i even managed to get a couple of the locks working. Finished up by fitting the front door slider on the same side so she's now weather proof(ish) on the side that faces the prevailing wind which means i can store stuff inside.

23/1/12 Turn Of The Tide Pike

I returned today to the scene of Dave's success but at a completely different state of the tide. Starting virtually a LW I soon had a take and a pike of around the double mark was on for a minute before the hooks let go. Fumbling for the landing net didn't help but having the rods spaced either side of a bush I had little choice. Things are much easier when Dave's about.
I had to sit on my hands to stop myself moving swims as the tide came in-not my favourite time, it has to be said. It did prove to be quiet until once again the tide had topped out, and another bite was forthcoming in the shape of this single.
Unfortunately I had to call it a day as it was time for work which was a shame as I feel that more might have been about.

 

20/1/12 Red Letter Piking-A Twenty For Dave

Two days ago I commented 'We've been consistent in the past with every recent season producing something 'spectacular' to reward our efforts. I'm sure that by March 15th, something will have turned up.'
Well, we didn't have to wait long because today something 'spectacular' did turn up, along with some pretty hectic 'side show' action and, although my own baits didn't see so much of a sniff from old Esox, I still think it was probably the most exciting pike session I've personally experienced in a long while.
Both Dave and me had 'stuff' to attend to during the morning, but both agreed that, as the weather and river conditions(I've never seen the river looking this good at this time of year before) were SO favourable, we'd be fools not to get out piking in the afternoon.
Having settled in to our swims after lunch it was literally only minutes before Dave's drop off signalled the first take...........and seconds later, the bait itself was dropped off. Naturally he re-cast to exactly the same spot and, if it was the same pike, he didn't take long to have another bash at the bait and was this time successfully hooked and landed-a fish of about 7lb-good start.
Within half an hour the same rod, and bait-a dead trout, in exactly the same spot produced another take , but this time it was no jack. The pike gave Dave quite a bit of trouble especially as the swim was a bit 'tight' and the fish very lively undoubtedly because of the unseasonably high water temperature. I thoroughly enjoy watching my mate tussle with big pike, especially if they decide to perform some tail walking aerobatics, as this one did, and it was a rare and priceless moment  when we both agreed that she was an obvious 'twenty' as she finally gave in, and slid over the rim of the net.
At 23-13 she was a truly outstanding looking pike, in pristine condition and obviously gravid. I still think that big pike are stunning creatures and it was yet again a real pleasure to be there to share this one with my mate. River 'twenties' don't come along that often-Dave and me have both now landed two for each other and in a way, I'm sure Dave will agree, it's entirely appropriate that we're both present when they do turn up. I'd have been very disappointed to have missed this one.
But that wasn't the end of it!
Dave landed two more double figure pike from the same swim at 12-00 and 14-08 all in the space of a couple of hours to conclude a very exiting session indeed. It's unusual for us to contact such a number of pike from the same swim on this river. I've said before that we've never actually come across an obvious hot spot or holding area but something about this relatively tiny area of river was special.
Why were they there?
It's entirely possible, that the pike were gathering to spawn especially as the water is so warm. The big female was obviously ready, and the close proximity of a suitable spawning area in the form of a reed bed and sluice channel may hold the key, though premature and untimely spawning activity is not unknown and can be short lived .Alternatively, the swim , from past experience, is also slightly deeper than surrounding areas and is a known banker  for good bags of bream and roach. It has produced the odd good pike for both of us in the past and is a regular stopping point, but never in the numbers seen today.
What was the trigger ?
Once again the tide was topping and turning when the action began and, along with the contributory factor of conditions that are conducive to 'livening' up the pike, and from experience almost Induce them to take a bait presented close by be it dead, or alive.
Of course all this is just pure speculation and, likely as not, the pike just happened to be in one spot having a bit of a social before all deciding at once that it was time for a snack.
Neither of us feel that the old adage of pike going on the feed when there's a frost holds water. In fact, we've definitely experienced quite the opposite-the pike becoming lethargic, and difficult to move in such conditions, with a live fish as bait becoming a necessity. The usual 'classic' early morning/evening feeding spells couldn't be further from our experiences either. I've now lost count of the big pike that have shown up in the early afternoon often after the baits had remained untouched since dawn.
Whatever the reasoning, today's angling  was a bit special on Dave's part. Nice one mate.

Landie update; Despite my bad luck on the river bank i did get bit of a result with bits for the Landie. Dave and me spent an hour this morning at Drop Zone where along with all sorts of useful snippets of info, i managed to pick up the cab glass I need for the princely sum of a fiver a pane.

19/1/12 Land Rover Diary #1

Not fishing related at all, although it's entirely possible that this vehicle may indeed one day be used as  fishing transport, but i thought it would be interesting to keep a record of progress with my latest 'tinkering' project.
My good friend and ex-colleague Paul James has recently emigrated to Canada, seeking his fortune, and a complete change of lifestyle. Parked in his garden for several years, rotting away under a tree, was an old Land Rover which had to be removed before Paul's house is rented, in March. I'd had my eye on it for a while, and as P.J only wanted scrap value for her, I decided to take the plunge and part with the readies. She cost about the same as a reasonable quality reel.
For L-R aficionados ,HMV 260 K is a short wheel base, petrol engined, series 3 station wagon with overdrive, registered in 1971 and therefore qualifying as a historic vehicle and free road tax. She's actually the second vehicle that I've rescued from the back of Paul's house. In 2003 I acquired a 'one off' prototype 2cv based 'jeep' as a non -runner from his neighbour's ditch. The GRP body tub had been laid up by a fibre glass tech at the 'Orkney' factory in Yapton-birth place of my own boat. Despite the cylinders being full of water, as the air cleaner had been left open to the elements, i managed to get it running, secure an MOT and, after having some fun running around in it (on it) for a while, sold it to a local entrepreneur (dodgy character)from Middleton. It is now in production as a kit car in Holland.
I've always admired 'proper' Land Rovers mostly for their rugged simplicity, but also for their heritage which is distinctly British. Although I'm decidedly unpatriotic, I do get some satisfaction from owning a vehicle that was built in the midlands, as opposed to my usual choice of manufacturer from mainland Europe. In fact , this is the first British vehicle I've owned for well over a decade.
There was a time, roughly in fact when HMV was built, when Land Rovers ruled the world, but then the Japanese brought out a vehicle called the Toyota Hi-Lux............and the world changed. If you've ever driven a Hi-Lux and a cart sprung Land Rover, you'll understand why this happened. However, it's an astonishing fact that 70% of all Land Rovers ever built, remain on the road today.
Steve assisted me to drag her from her resting place with his Pajero(another Land Rover crusher) a couple of days ago, tow her home on an 'A' frame, which  proved to be trouble free, and park her up in my back yard, with Jan's approval of course. She doesn't even bat an eyelid-remarkable!
Unfortunately most of the glazing had been vandalised by beings of a lesser intelligence, and the truck had been used by Paul as a rubbish tip, so the first job was to spend a day clearing her out, disposing of the trash using Gavlar's ever dependable trailer and, as she was now parked on a hard surface, get underneath her for a proper assessment.
Being completely objective, the chassis is in reasonable condition needing some minor welding but the bulkhead, will take a bit more effort. I'll be able to get a better idea when the front panels are off but first impressions are that it's savable.......just. Gav's offered to lend me his  welder which will save me buying a new one as my well used , and now totally knackered 25 year old 'Clarke' finally went to the tip with the rest of the junk from the 'landie'.
The rest of the panels are alloy(Birmabright), and apart from the usual dents, that seem to be found on every Land Rover of this vintage, are pretty much O.K.
I decided, when removing the remains of the glass from the hard top, to try and retain the side window feature and shall attempt to track down some identical 'Safari' sliders. There were four folding rear seats fitted, but, as I'm unlikely to need them and they take up valuable room in what is a relatively small payload area, I removed them but may possibly recycle the cushions by using them in the cab.
The real attraction for me of a vehicle like this is that when I open the bonnet, EVERYTHING is recognisable, and I know what it does and how it does it.I cannot say the same for more modern automotive technology. I passed my driving test in 1978 and cut my teeth on repairing leaking Mini brake wheel cylinders, welding cover sills, and tuning lucas points and S.U carbs, so the stuff under the Landie's bonnet an d behind her wheels is somewhat familiar.
The aim of the project will simply be to try to get her running and driving through the gears and four wheel drive before deciding whether an M-O-T is feesable. She last faced the Ministry tester in October 2005.
Today, having cleaned off a considerable accumulation of 'greenery' from her bodywork with the pressure washer, I made an attempt to try and wake her  from her slumber. Everything mechanical is still connected and complete, and although P.J hadn't run her on the road for at least five years, she had been started at some time in the intervening period, though I 'm sure she's been under that tree for a couple of years.

Using one of the auxiliary batteries from the camper for the spark side of things, and because the Landie's fuel tank and lines look a bit cruddy, I nipped up to the boat to borrow its tank of nice clean petrol, which i would simply connect to the carb inlet via some fuel hose to give her the necessary 'go juice'.
I rigged up the battery but before connecting the fuel, turned her over a few times on the starter to loosen things up, prime the cylinder walls to gain a bit of compression, check I had oil and charging lights and the starter motor actually functioned. All was well. Oil in the sump and remarkably, nice blue coloured liquid in the rad, quick touch up of the plugs and points with some emery, and then a check that I had a spark....which I did.
Fuel line connected, pump the bulb, float needle worked as there was resistance and no leaking fuel. Turn the key and held my breath..............She turned over for a while and then suddenly burst into life amazingly firing evenly on all four pots immediately, and subsequently settling down to nice even idle akin to a quiet 'purr' . I ran her up for about twenty minutes and she had good oil pressure, charged effectively and kept her cool with a nice warm top hose indicating excellent circulation. Lights. wipers and even the heater fan are working-what a result!
Time will tell whether or not I keep and run the Land Rover as a second 'knockabout' motor. Being a tax exempt vehicle with ridiculously low' classic car' insurance costs, she has inherent value, even in a non-roadworthy state, and turning a profit on her would make a substantial contribution to the coming year's boat mooring fees. In the meantime, it'll be absorbing to do some spannering again-it's been a while.
For a bit of fun, I managed to you-tube the engine running. It's here http://youtu.be/Eajzj1w23yM

18/1/12 S-L-O-W Piking.

Dave and me tried yet again to extract a pike from the 'new' area today with dead baits but the only taker was a jack to Dave on a stiff trout! Minutes later a second run failed to materialise-it was probably the same pike back for another spot of 'munger'
As usual the river, despite being in peak condition, is proving reluctant to give up it's pike, but we're used to this level of inactivity, and it only takes one good fish , which is always a possibility, to turn the tables.
I'm still not entirely sure whether the use of coarse baits would improve matters. With the current mild weather conditions our usual 'sea  deads' tend to do the trick but with the lack of recent action, my confidence is beginning to wane and it is perhaps time to make the effort and catch a few roach and rudd.
We know there are some big girls in there...............somewhere. We've been consistent in the past with every recent season producing something 'spectacular' to reward our efforts. I'm sure that by March 15th, something will have turned up.

10/1/12 Pikelets.

The river is back in shape now following a period of unsettled weather and heavy flooding evident by the huge amounts of debris scattered high up on the flood defence.Interestingly, Dave and me met up today with 'Paul' an RSPB worker from the reserve who suddenly appeared over the flood bank startling us both. Our surprise visitor reported some fishy presence in the ditches that litter the flood plain which are unfortunately out of bounds fishing wise. Roach, tench and big carp apparently live in these tiny waterways undoubtedly , and unsuspectingly arriving there in times of flood, and subsequently returned to the main river when 'ditching' is carried out.
Today's fishing was singularly unspectacular with a tiny pike each,  falling to trout and rudd baits. My own miniscule fish was barely bigger than the bait that it decided to try and eat, but it was nevertheless, a fine day to be out, despite the lack of action.

9/1/12 A Trip In The Barbarian

Russ took me out today for my first trip in his 'new' boat The Barbarian-a very impressive craft indeed.
The weather was kind and although the fishing was again, unexceptional, we were kept occupied by a steady stream of dogs , whiting etc until Russ managed to sneak in a cod of 4 1/2lb just to confirm that they could indeed be caught in our locale.
We did try some jigging on #31, but the water is still too coloured following rough weather for the method to be effective.
Very few other boats about although some excellent conger fishing was experienced by Dick Leggett who appeared to be on the Ore Wreck-bit on the limit for my boat but still worth noting.

30/12/11 Boat Trip No. 40

It's been a very lean December fishing wise with this, only the fourth fishing trip of the month. Unfortunately my main boat engine has caused me some problems which thankfully now, seemed to be sorted.
A couple of weeks ago I'd intended to get out on a cold frosty morning but, although the engine fired up to begin with, some very erratic cutting out before I'd even left the pontoon, led me to remove the boat from the river and investigate the problem at home.
On that same day Brian , a neighbour at the marina offered to take me out as he was going solo. Unfortunately , his engine suffered some similar running problems and we were forced to abort before we'd even left the river. Not a good day.
With the boat at home and having gone through the basics, I suspected a fuel problem so stripped the carb down for a clean up.Unfortunately, it was perfectly clean but at least the engine appeared to start and run reliably on the drive.
I say 'unfortunately' because it meant that I had not successfully identified the problem so, it was with some trepidation that I returned the boat to the water for a test up the river. Things started well but again, the engine died suddenly leaving me stranded for a while as the auxiliary was proving extremely temperamental to start.
I nearly had to employ the services of the marina but. at a £100 for a boat rescue, i think it was sheer determination that eventually led me to successfully start the little 'donkey' engine,  limp back to the marina, and spend another twenty quid just to have a tractor drag my trailer twenty yards up a silky smooth slipway! I even hitched the trailer and loaded the boat myself, so at a £1 per yard I think the marina is somewhat taking the piss out of me.
Back home again and she fired up and ran perfectly....until I stumbled across a possible cause for the problem by accidentally shorting out a coil lead. On closer inspection, a tiny, barely visible piece of insulation was missing from the wire causing it to momentarily cut power when earthed against the engine block......and it was probably the motion of the boat that caused it to die on the river. A quick bit of fine tuning to both engines was also carried out before putting her back in again.
This time I enlisted the help of Steve, a cheaper option, the drive the rig whilst i dropped her in  at the public slip and tentatively sailed her up to the mooring. She seemed fine, but I needed to gain confidence in her again, and this meant a proper trip out to sea.
Today was a rare opportunity with light wind forecast and the plan was to stay relatively close in and try a simple one mark at anchor session for a few hours making sure that I had ample opportunity to return on the flooding tide if needed, which would be achievable on the little engine.
Giving myself plenty of time at the marina  I started, and thoroughly warmed up both engines before setting off to #28.The fishing was unexceptional because of the lack of a cod, but virtually a bite a drop produced an endless stream of LSD's, whiting to a 1lb, a nice thornback and a tiny dab so I'm not complaining.
Far more satisfactory, was the outcome of the engine(s) saga and I'm happy to report that my fettling seems to have given the main engine a little more grunt, making a couple of extra knots on the run home , even with the added tail weight of a newly fitted, but lighter, second bait tank battery.
So, confidence is now restored, some very valuable lessons learned , and it was pleasing to get that 40th trip of the year in before the end.

 

11/12/11 Wet, Windy Piking

A wet and windy session on P#1 with Dave, starting where we left off on our last trip together and producing only one take to my sardine which was positioned just in front of the reed bed in the picture.
I've almost fished the entire stretch now having ended this session within sight  of a long straight  where I'd finished last year fishing down from the Pulborough end. Interestingly, this area looks to be a little deeper so , from past experience, looks worthy of further attention especially as it creates a huge area of slack water even on the flooding tide.

2/12/11 Two Decisions.......

But only the decision to actually go fishing was the right one.
Low tide was at 10-00 meaning ideally, I'd want to be leaving the river at 8-00.Ten to eight and I was still at home looking out my bedroom window when I spied a familiar shape in the distance heading in a SSE direction. It was almost certainly Alan, aboard Walrus and If the weather conditions were O.K for him, then they were fine by me.
I'd hesitated mostly because on Windguru it was showing double figure MPH winds......but from the West which , with most of the fishing time today being on a flooding tide, shouldn't have been too uncomfortable. Having decided to go , I was crossing the bar at 0830 which , given the size of the tide, and the fact that it was ebbing which gives a little more leeway, was just in time to make it, although in places I had less than three feet under me.
It's not really too much of an issue heading out with the tide as , if it does get shallow, you just up engine and drift out hoping that there are no nasty scrapes but, memories of my stupidity in the early season when I trashed the prop came flooding back . Luckily nowadays, I'm a little wiser.
The second decision of the day which would eventually turn out to be the wrong one, was where to go. I'd called Alan up on the radio as I'd left the river but he was nine miles out at #11 after channels. He commented that the water clarity out there was 'reasonable'. I did think of heading to #31 but two things stopped me. Neil's recent comments about a coloured sea and, I was still a little unsure of how the weather conditions would pan out and felt I should stay in a little closer.
I chose to head for #27 and #28 in search of a cod........and proceeded to catch every single dogfish in the sea. Or at least that's how it felt. Even moving to an apparently barren area of what might have been Neil's 'mud' produced an endless stream of the  blighters, so many I lost count. The only let up in proceedings was a couple of nice bream ,one taken for the table, and a lonely pouting.
Luckily, the weather actually stayed fine, and for most of the day I was wearing sunglasses. Although there were very few boats out( I was the only one from the marina)I gathered from a bit of banter that there had been a bit of action over on #31 or thereabouts.
Alan and Ray had moved over there towards the end of the day and had indeed picked up a few 'spikeys' on lures, confirmed to me by meeting Alan at his mooring on the way in. I could have kicked myself.
The water clarity didn't seem too bad(not perfect) from about a couple of miles out and it's worth remembering for the future,that this was approximately 24hrs after the winds had calmed.
At the end of the day both my caution and inexperience might have caused me to miss a valuable and rare opportunity(the weather is looking pants for days ahead) to have a go at the bass but, I can't really complain as i did catch plenty and felt safe all day. Lesson learnt.

1/12/11 A Fat Bass

1000-1200hrs  LW-0907   5.4m tide

Compared to last year, It's been a very lean surf bassing season thus far, and not for the want of trying. O.K it's December but everything's running a bit late this year so IMHO it's still worth a go.
It struck me this morning, as I pondered over my porridge, that the surf visible through my kitchen window looked close to perfect and, the tide clock on the wall was luring me with it's indication that the 'optimum time' was NOW!
Within five minutes, I was out the door. On closer inspection and,  although there was hardly a breath of wind, the water conditions were indeed favourable, driven no doubt from the swell left over from last night's 'storm'.
Both water and air temperatures were agreeable which I was grateful for as I'm still feeling a touch 'delicate'. A whole squid on my usual  big hook pennel,100yd wade out into the 'wash' and a gentle 30yd lob with a 3oz lead saw me settling comfortably into one of my favourite fishing environments, though a little cautious about the prospects of a capture.
I didn't have to wait long. Second or third chuck and I felt an unmistakable 'thump'. I immediately responded by dropping the rod tip, the line tightened and the take was unmissable.
The fish battled hard, giving the impression of being far bigger than it's actual size and to be honest I was a little surprised when I caught sight of it. Running it up the beach for a quick pic before slipping her back, she measured out at 21 inches nose to fork but, as can be seen in the pic, she was a 'proper porker'. I'll settle for her being a four pounder but , who really cares, it's a bass caught from the surf and this year, for me, that's ALL that matters.
Now, I  suspect that there were a few more fish about as I'm fairly sure that I had a couple of further positive hits on subsequent casts but it's irrelevant as I failed to hook up.
After a couple of hours fishing, the tide had reached the foot of the shingle, I'd watched the 'energy' gradually disappear from the water, and by then I'd had enough anyway. Back at the house the conditions had changed so quickly that the view of the sea through the kitchen window suggested that it would be calm enough to go out in the boat.
A very pleasing result .