Net Gains

A different kind of "social net-working" for me this weekend, meeting up with the lads from Exeter and District AA and the Environment Agency to try to get a rough idea of the fish population on one of the club's Sampford Peverell ponds. It was a real team effort and the group were in good spirits. We were hoping for reason to be optimistic after a tough year for the water, from algal blooms to icy, deoxygenated water denting fish stocks.

Netting itself is quite a fascinating process; far from straightforward in a lake with various snags and other challenges. Any good then? "If we blank doing it like this, we may as well give up fishing!" was a fair verdict I'd say. Our first sweep revealed little more than one or two tiny roach and so we went for another try.
As well as fish, there are all sorts of other obstacles in a deep pond: from logs, sticks and odd bits of fishing line to talk of a mini metro crashed by joy riders.
Top curiosity on the day though, was this strange morse code transmitter thingy:

The second sweep was more successful and as well as several dozen little roach we found skimmers and a little carp- a bigger one was also spotted. Numbers were obviously hit hard by a freakish winter, but fresh stock have already been earmarked and hopefully the fishing at this historic pond has a brighter future.


Credit is also due to Nick Maye and the other EA staff- let's face it, netting a silty old pond isn't the best fun you can have on a Saturday morning. Nick has also issued some sound advise with recent poaching troubles on Tiverton Canal. "Clubs and fishery owners can do a lot to help themselves by publishing their regulations in several languages and erecting multi lingual signs at common access points. It all helps, especially when trying to get someone into court." This is something sadly lacking on the Tiverton Canal which we're keen to redress. Anglers also need to report incidents however, rather than just complaining. "If it's not reported we can't take action," Nick adds, and the more detail the better (ie: note times, locations, group numbers and even nationalities and car registrations). New legislation set for June/July will also help however, making the taking of pike above a set length a criminal activity. The chief message is clear though: we can all lend our eyes and ears to the problem- and the better information we can offer, the more that can be done.

Attack of the Jacks

Canals always have a special place in my heart. They may not always contain monsters but what a beautiful, intimate setting a long, clear water such as the Taunton to Bridgewater Canal makes. Even the less productive parts look dead fishy and whereas I sometimes find my spirits dulled sitting it out on bigger, tougher places, a canal is always full of interest. Each new swim offers fresh promise, every cast another chance.
My weekend escapade was with fellow pike man Seb Nowosiad once again as we enjoyed mile after mile of reedy straights and snaggy corners. We found the fish quickly enough, but with bright light and low water levels you got the feeling they spotted us quickly enough too. In fact, it was a real illustration of just how vital conditions can be. We had struggled in the sunshine, a succesion of pike sulking away as we crept along. A little cloud cover and a healthy ripple on the water, however, and it was a different story as the pike lost their earlier caution and started to give our lures and flies a battering.

And so the pattern continued: many metres of bright skies and slow sport, punctuated by cooler, cloudier spells and some ballistic takes. One purple patch, about three miles from our starting point, saw a dramatic flurry of action. It was terrific fun; good banter, lots of laughter and the odd expletive as we missed takes. Seb took a cracking nine fish to his soft baits, whilst I picked up six on the fly rod, including a perfect little perch which had been butting into Seb's lures before sucking in my little streamer:

Delightful fishing in good company then, with plenty of fairly small but very scrappy pike. I only wish the day had been as positive for fellow PAC RO Ian Nadin on Tiverton Canal, as his was soured by encountering three seperate groups of immigrants poaching the canal. Ian is desperate to do something about this before the water is decimated. It takes more than one angler to challenge these groups however. The simple fact is that we need more bailiffs- or at least people prepared to break the silence with these individuals and that means ALL of us. Nobody puts themself at grave risk for politely checking that others are aware of the rules. And as per usual, the silence of the majority is what allows a minority of rule breakers to go unchecked.

Closing Time

What a mad week it has been, with plenty of frantic fishing before the closed season puts a large chunk of sport to bed for a healthy rest. Most recently, a ridiculous all day session on both lures and deads covering some four miles on canal and River produced some absolutely silly sport, probably my best session of all time with two twenties in day, this one a beautiful, plump twenty two and a quarter:


These ladies are proper heavy at this time, well fed and probably soon to spawn and require careful handling, even more so when you consider local angling pressure. One of the fish looked incredibly familiar, a clear recapture in fact. Recaptures are a strange feeling sometimes- but at least they demonstrate that with a bit of care these fantastic fish can continue to thrive even after our intrusion.
Could my day get any dafter? It did so with a fifteen pounder from a distinctly urban part of the Exe. It was one of those days where I just couldn't do anything wrong and this one was taken on a two inch long jig I was trying more with big perch than pike in mind:

My winning tactic? Basically I am just a very lucky bastard. By this stage, Ian was threatening to push me in the river and thrilled though I was, it was a pleasure to see him also into a good double. A truly ludicrous day! And we also captured some lovely images on the way. Needless to say, the next trip was a spectacular blank.


More lately though, I've been chasing Levels pike with Polish angler and PAC mate Sebastian Nowosiad. With the Poles getting such negative press it really is refreshing to meet an angler who really bucks the stereotype. We walked for miles between bites on a beautiful day that was probably better for photography than fishing. Even so, Seb found some action with his own special Polish jigs:

As well as being an avid lure angler, Seb is a keen eyed bailiff for Bridgewater AA. Speaking five languages, including Russian, Czech and Latvian, is a massive advantage when dealing with those who sometimes have limited English. His careful catch and release practise would put many British anglers to shame. I believe there's a story to be written here and we definitely need more individuals like Seb, who is as passsionate about conservation as he is about fishing.

I'm also tempted to pinch some of his deadly little jigs, which look just the thing for Levels piking. As well as some cracking pike, Sebastian has also taken good perch and even a surprise ten pound salmon on these Polish specials!

So, a fine end to the traditional season. My legs ache, my hands are muddied and bloodied and, like the fish, I could probably do with a bit of a rest.

Operation Pond

In the midst of some silly end of season fishing, it was a mucky job today sorting out the folks' garden pond. For me at least, it doesn't matter whether a body of water is as big as half a county or the size of a dinner table, I'm always fascinated. Compared to the land, water is always so incredibly rich with life- and part of the reason I love fishing is simply to get to know this other world better.
Today though, was a case of drastic action for a pond losing water and currently consisting of more silt and muck than water. We decided to go the whole hog and re-line the thing, keeping various creatures in buckets in the process!

As well as some hard graft, it was fun and we found absolutely all sorts: tons of frogs and their spawn, newts and juicy bugs. Catching wriggling and jumping creatures took me right back to my childhood days.
And then of course you have the fish. It baffles me to find perhaps as many as two dozen little goldfish and also one or two crucians in such a tiny space. Extracting the little beauties from a choked pond took quite an effort- but what fantastic colours:

A large butt of rainwater was a handy starter for the newly lined pond later on, with fish, muddy lilly roots and assorted creatures freed from buckets back to nature. Find of the day was lying just by the waters edge however: a brilliantly hued baby slow worm, like a little band of gold. These secretive reptiles are actually endangered, so it's wonderful to find them in the folks' garden again.

The Magnificent Severn

With miles of snaggy depths to explore and legendary zander, pike and perch fishing, a weekend on the Severn is the sort of trip you just can't pass up. And what a river; in places it makes the Exe look like a mill stream. Luckily for me I had some vital local knowledge from the "Worcester Massive" in the form of Norbert Darby and fellow angling obsessives Jim Smith and Dick Fisk.
We fished it mobile, jumping in and out of Rob's impressively beaten up van and throwing lures into likely areas. From town to country, grey streets to green fields it was quite an adventure. For every area that was dead or off limits, another would result in early bites. In fact, I pulled off the ultimate fluke by taking a zander first cast of the day on a small jig. Unaccustomed to their less than violent bites I assumed that I'd pulled into some weed before a series of slow thumps told me otherwise. What beautiful fish they are too- deadly, handsome creatures.

The weekend continued in this vein, via pubs and greasy spoon cafes, as we slowly but surely connected with more fish. It was a steep learning curve for me; as well as my inexperience of zander, the waters here are wide, often deep and really snaggy. We must have lost quite a few quids worth of jigs and other lures in the process. At least the soft baits are fairly cheap! As well as the odd zander, we also encountered beautifully conditioned pike- including a lovely 14 pounder that nearly gave me a heart attack just before dark.

I only wish I could show off the trips best zander, a 5-6 pounder taken by Rob. Whilst I attempted to keep it still on the unhooking mat, it wriggled and I managed to get spiked in the hand as it slithered back into the drink! It's to his credit that he's still speaking to me... although I did get pictures of some of his pike- not huge, but beautifully wild looking fish:

Above all it's the variety of fishing in the Severn that is so refreshingly varied. The big barbel and carp are another story- although I couldn't tear myself away from the predator fishing. What I love most is the potential for a surprise. The best subplot in this case was the appearance of perch. Having spotted some by cover I had fun scaling down for an hour or two and catching a few on little jigs and rapalas, before a really chunky specimen came from nowhere and seized a countdown right by the bank! Having done most of my perching from commercial pools, this was a real treat- a solid river perch of 2lbs 3oz.

Our weekend on the Severn is a trip I'll remember just as much for the people I met though, from Jim's thoughts on lure fishing to the enthusiasm of local lad Matt Peplow, who took a good pike as well as a couple of zander on deadbaits on the last evening whilst I was busy missing bites. These Severn Zander really are brilliant fish- new and unknown for me, and something I'll be daydreaming about when I'm back at work in Devon.

True Bloods

Whilst the bleak winter weather appears to be fading out, waters are still proving cold and the fishing less than emphatic on the trout front. Bloodworm patterns are as good a ploy as any usually when the chips are down and I was keen to spend a day at the lens with fly fishing guide John Dawson to capture this his nymphing approach at Hollies Fishery.

Testing conditions made this anything but simple but John soldiered away in determined fashion, until he and fellow fly angler Chris Tucker earned some takes. We really did go through the card- from bigger marabou creations to the more natural, smaller variants. In addition to John's elegant casts and patient retrieve a measure of determination was required though, the odd fish finally responding along the drop off into deeper water and giving the chaps some welcome action.

A far cry from the fish factory of Blakewell then, but is a challenge really such a bad thing? Rob, the fishery boss, was somewhat perplexed himself as to the tricky days fishing, but it was refreshing to speak to such an honest and enthusiastic owner. With so many trout lakes converted to coarse waters it was also nice to see the reverse happening here, with the top lake developing from a coarse pond into a pretty little trout lake. Eventually we did put one or two lures about to get a bonus take or two. Not entirely going with the script then, although the bloodworms did take most fish all the same.