One out of three an't bad

It started as three and ended with one. The catcher alone headed out in conditions that would have made Scott of the Antartic think twice. Car packed the night before, red maggots purchased and coffee galore. Optimism as ever the motto of the crusading angler. 6.15am dark, cold, car frozen. Such a contrast to the mild day before. Typical. Race down the A50 found a Cudmore very busy with Milo one of the main lakes and a match pending at 7.20am! Mentalists.

But luck was with the catcher the hot peg on Milo was free. Quickly paying,loaded up with kit and slipping in the mud the peg was claimed for Queen and country. Feeder, red maggot feeder and off I went.

10 minutes - nothing? 20 minutes - nothing? 30 minutes - nothing? And so it progressed for one and a half hours. Not one angler on the lake appearing to have a bite.

With enough being enough plan B was launched. Loaded up with kit headed to Drumble. Well to cut a long story short. It warmed up a little. Fished tight to the island when I could. Caught 5 carp and 4 chub on red maggot. Fished until 10am on Milo and from 10am until 12noon on Drumble. Pleased with result. Nice session in very cold conditions. There is hope amigos!

Casting to Home Furnishings....

With both Anglers freed from commitments this weekend there was a hastily arranged session at the Butterley Arms.
7am and 11 degrees seemed 'do-able' for a few of those pesky bream from the 80's. Nico arrived to find Cootcatcher beating a retreat from the Carp Front back to Swanwick ...... a wave of the hand had ended the masterplan and it was all downhill from there.

We hummed and arrrhed and eventually did the only thing we could which was to place ourselves on the viaduct in prevoiusly fished pegs ( they didnt produce that time either).....

We knew from that moment it was going to be tough.....

An early liner for Nico was a false dawn and for the next 2.5 hours our tips never moved....

The monotony was broken briefly when Coot hooked a Jack Pike on the retrieve but lost it just as quick.

We discussed Weddings / Decorating / Family / Work / United / Every possible angling scenario and much more.....it wasnt to be.

With both flasks being drained the writing was on the wall....at 10.30 we called it a day....

Shellshocked.

The Bailiff also came with tales of winter carp shoaled in 3ft of water?...mmmm....


Derek contemplates the Megan Stammers scenario....

 
               
Butters in Autumn

Late Summer Butterley - A winners tale

With summer drawing closer to its end, and the mornings a little damper, the cobwebs a little more visible it was time to revisit that craggy viaduct known as ' The Rocks'.

Plans were made but not too intense, both anglers knowing what it takes to draw fish from the butterley gods on these pegs.

Nico arrived early and set about the long walk ( it seems long even with light kit) to the pegs the sun wasnt up but forecast was great, and no need for anything more than a polo shirt at 7am said it all....it was going to be a scorcher.

With customary skill the two now middle aged anglers clambered over the ' Leap of Faith' past the reed peg and into the unknown ' Chris Yates' area.....it holds many a secret and usually a tit with a rod pod dressed in green!!....today it was coot catchers turn to work his magic. Nico took a peg just this side of 'Yates' and with both Feeder and Waggler rods ( and as it turned out later Pike) kit it was the first visit to Butterley maybe since May for Nico....what would the water dish up today?

Sensas Breme and Dynamite Baits Swimstim were mixed 50/50 and Nico also had 2 pints of Bronze Maggots ( more on that later) with the usual Ringers Shellfish and pellets

Within 15 mins on the first cast with a baited hook Nico was into his first fish.....blank avoided.




Number 2 soon followed and from then on it was a steady 1 here and 1 there...Derek also having a couple a little later on pellet

Now this was all lovely but there was a nagging issue here....we wanted to fish waggler!!....both anglers reluctantly set up wagglers expecting a stream of roach to make up the numbers!!....it wasnt to be....both Anglers plumbed to find around 13ft of water straight off the bank side.....shallow it was then....

With 6 bream in the net Nico changed to waggler and began a pattern of catapult, cast, and repeat.....it was very quiet. After 5 mins a stray carp snatched a maggot shallow and charged off into the distance...the hook pulled and grateful in a way.....back to silvers....



Derek worked hard to fish at depth and then later on a maggot feeder but with the exception of one big bite it never really paid. Nico used approx 1 pint of maggots in the catapult over an hour to tame two roach and a perch.....again it hardly seemed worth it.

Today was a species match and Nico had 4 ( Carp, Bream, roach, Perch) Derek had only 1 ( bream)....could weight / number and species go to Nico ??? never heard of....

Derek then hooked a roach ( loaned by Nico speciesmaster) and tried for a pike or very big perch....neither were hungry as the little roach towed Dereks bobbin around the margins like a little boat.....

With the Sun high and both anglers back at distance on the feeder it was proving too still and warm to have high hopes for the next couple of hours....with Derek having moaned for over 2 hours about the colour of the maggots ( they werent red) ??

Nico snagged one Bream short in 14ft of water and a late one to push his tally to 10 for the session. Derek finished on 7 but banter and private pegs ruled the day.

The nets dried in the now scorching Sun and my face felt a little red.....the kids pointed that out as i walked in the door....

Casters / Maggots and Worms next time?





      

TV Detective Appears at Festival !!

Zip Nothing Motionless Still Dead Lifeless Stationary

My tip for fours hours on the rocks at Butterley. Pointless Weird Waste of time Will try again Sunday

Ultimate Angler 2012 - Are you brave enough!

Having had time to reflect the writing of this account doth prove no easier to write. As usual the festival provided the main escape for the trio as they sort the opportunity to escape from the challenges of family and work life. New tackle was view, reviewed, discussed, purchased and old tackle sorted, organised, packed, unpacked and polished in readiness for the sessions ahead. But as usual too much preparation was bound to lead to chaos. Gaining an early pass I headed to the mecca Spring Lea a day earlier than Nico. Arriving mid day Friday, setting up a small tent in Olympic timing and in desert temperatures. A customary walk around all the lakes and establishing which lakes had matches on etc, the brollie went up at the base camp to protect myself from melting and reading a few pages before the white van A Team BA style came wheel spinning across the field as Dangler arrived. Quick discussion under the protection of the brollie resulted in Mallard being chosen for a session on the waggler. Picking pegs 7 and 8 with easy access from the road and the ability to place the cars behind the pegs we set up and started to work through the 6 pints of maggots. Small bits proved a frustrating foe as both CC and Dangler missed fish or snagged small perch. A change to fishing fairly close in, steady feed of pellets and pellet on the hook resulted in a few carp.

A few carp in CC hooked a zoo creature and after a lengthy battle as captured in the photograph above, the fish below came to the net. Weighted at 9.5lb best fish of the day and the weekend. Not bad on the waggler and good sport. The session continued with Dangler ending with 5 carp for 5lb and CC 8 carp. Fished 1-6pm in hot as hell temperatures. Pleasing to catch as not a lot going on else where around the lake, but as usual fished the worst part of the day. 6pm-9pm would have been interesting. Shower, two pints in the local and fish&Chip followed. After a good nights sleep Day One of Ultimate Angler loomed.

Day one saw the Dnagker as BA from the A Team, Day two the Dangler transformed into Magnum PI zooming in his white van into the arena at 7.55am. Anglers decided that Orfe was the logical option after practising on Mallard the day before? Pegs 34,35 and 36 were chosen and they awaited the arrival of Nico. Not to let the team down Nico arrived on queue after ignoring all speed restrictions between Nottinghamshire and Shropshire, like Smokey and the Bandit, but this time more like Feeder and the pellet.

It was now time for the Ultimate Angler 2012 to start. First learning point was that using 3 methods means bloody ages in tackling up ready to fish. It was calm, dead calm so obviously feeder was the best option! CC fish first cast of around 5lb, Dangler and Nico early fish, but then very little. I tried fishing every peg, Dangler had a few more. After two hours fishing and 3 hours tackling up, teas, moaning and cobs it was all square.

Round Two - The Waggler. Not the first choice of method for the trio especially when the pole is to hand. Anyway much like the feeder, fish came fairly equally across the three anglers. Odd roach, odd carp, odd bream - total mixed bag. Again a break, banter, teas and reflection.

Round Three - Pole - this would sort the men from the boys. Nico quickly into catching ide at his feet one every minute of good size. The pressure was on. Dangler in the dreaded middle peg went a little further out but was plagued with small stuff. CC caught ide and small stuff close in always feeding the margin for the last hour.

Well fish kept coming. Plenty of ide for Nico with CC responding with carp from the margin. Dangler increasingly frustrated by 'bits'. With the final whistle approaching it was between Nico and CC, neck and neck. CC then hooked a decent carp in the margins of 5lb pipping Nico to the finishing line for Day one. CC 37lb Nico 32lb Dangler 15lb

Nice net of fish for Nico. Orfe classic.

Well after fighting their way through the Shrewsbury Flower Show massive the trio managed to have a few pints, green chillies, curry and a 5 minute firework bonanza in preparation for Day 2. CC woke to the feeling of being microwaved and feared that Day 2 would not happen. Medication, water and sausage roll to the rescue. With local knowledge Trevors lake was chosen. Snake lake with evidence of carp and ide. When we arrived it looked as dead as the photo above and over the session got worse. Dangler was allowed an outside shot of catching up by being given Peg 1 with features a plenty. Dangler promptly took advantage of these by using a black rubber band as elastic and allowed each carp hooked to swim into the mangrove swamps. Result lost more fish than caught. Nico and CC played a tactical cat and mouse game, matching fish for fish and CC ensuring Nico never made up the 5lb difference. Even the one carp Nico caught was luckily equalled. A frustrating session typical snake lake - forget it unless you are right up against the far bank and in amongst the mangroves and the lost float grave yard. Anyway after the usual 4 seasons in one day with down pours. The final weight in came. Nico 14lb Dangler 13lb CC 16lb Or something like that! On reflection and like many other things in life - it took a long time coming and over too quickly. Enjoyed it and the lesson learnt is avoid Trevors. Evening session must be on the cards as Spring Lea appears an evening venue. Centenary next year will need some thought. Match on, game on, fish on!

Trophy back where it belongs. Roll on next session. Need a Nottingham session in Autumn at the mighty Butterley !!