15 May 2010 Rixton Clay Pits

Had my best session of the year so far.
Arrived at 07.00 and fished the 3rd peg from the car park(same as last week). I fished two rods,my old Quiver Tip Rod and a sleeper rod on the pod trying for the Tench.
After only 30 minutes the sleeper rod went off and I was into a reasonable sized Skimmer, I then started getting bites on the Quiver tip,it's a long time since I'd used the Quiver Tip rod, so I was out of practice and I missed most of the first bites but after an hour or so I caught a nice Skimmer,the first fish on that old rod in years!
At last the Tench arrived, I had a smashing fight with a Tench of about 4lb and about half an hour later an Identical sized Tench gave me an incredible fight,taking me into the bushes a couple of time and it was staying deep for what seemed an age, but I managed to slip the net under it!
The rest of the day was spent on the Quiver Tip rod and I managed to speed up my reactions and connected with some beautiful Roach and some more small Skimmers
The rig I used on the Quiver Tip rod,was a version of the Helicopter Rig I've seen used in Carp fishing, I used it with a small Maggot feeder.
I had a Robin sat in a tree close to me for a while, so I started feeding it Maggots, it came very close to me to take food,then flew too it's mate and fed her the Maggots
Unfortunatly about 2.00pm I started to show signs of a Migraine starting, as I was on my own and in the car I had to leave and get home before the symptoms became to bad for me to drive.
On the whole it was a smashing day and I can't wait for my next trip out.

Starting to Miss the Rivers

There is a few weeks to go yet before the River season opens but I'm begining to get restless, it's ages since I fished a river. I'm going to have a few sessions on the River Wyre there's a campsite in Churchtown which is very close to the Warrington stretch of the river, and it's a beautiful river.(see photo)

Short Sesion at Rixton 8 May 2010

Had a short session at Rixton,very bright but windy and cold!

Fished the small peg, 3rd down from the car park.

Had a nice Tench an hour after starting(see photo), but then nothing else landed. I had lots of bites but I missed them all or they didn't develop.

Next time I fish Rixton I'm going to use my old Quiver Tip rod,to see if I can hit some of those missed bites.

Rixton is begining look wonderful as spring takes hold.

Cicely Mill 1 May 2010

Had a long day at the Mill, the weather was in and out all day,started off in good sunshine and ended the day in a thunderstorm including lightning!

Caught three nice Tench (see photos) and two bream. Used 8mm hookable pellets wrapped in Trout Paste and hair-rigged on a size 12.

The mill is still not as good as it should be with most anglers struggling.

I have a day off work on Tuesday so I might have a trip to Rixton.

Teaching Owen to Cast and a look at Moore Quarry

Took Owen to Moore Quarry to teach him to cast See Video below.He did quite well!

I'd forgotten how nice Moore Quarry is.

We saw a couple of Pike basking, we dragged a lure past them a couple of times to try to induce a take, but nothing doing.

We saw a couple of Tench cruising on the top.

I thing I'll give Moore Quarry a try this weekend.

Is The use of Bait Boats In The True Spirit Of Fishing

I was on Rixton Clay Pits today and saw a Carp angler using a Bait Boat (see photos). Is this fair,is it in the true spirit of angling?

I can understand why the Carp anglers use them, to get their baits into dificult swims and swims which are outside casting distance.

I can't help but think it must disturb the rest of the anglers and their swims, to have a remote control boat running around the water!

This boat I saw today was a fantastic piece of kit,it had a sonar fitted,so the angler could see the contors on the bottom of the lake,and judge the most likley fish holding areas.It also charged it's batteries by solar power.

I'm not sure I can't see myself using one but you never know!

Rixton Clay Pits 24 April 2010

Arrived at 05.30, A beautiful morning, only a couple of anglers on the pit (see video below), Carp anglers who had been there overnight.
Tried P.V.A. bags with no sucess, tried Quiver tipping using Maggots and caught 1 Pearch. I then tried float fishing,gave it until 11.30 then gave up and went home.
I can't understand whats happening, no one was catching, and there was a few much more experienced anglers than me on the pit today, and they strugled, not sure what to try next, I'll give it some thought in the coming week .
That's two weeks running,when I was fishing good quality waters, I along with every other angler strugled to catch. This time last year I was catching lots of Tench at both Rixton and Cicely Mill,this year is so different!

One Day Back At Work And I'm Thinking About Fishing On Saturday!

I'm going to Rixton this Saturday, as you're can use more than one rod, I'll set up a distance rod and I'll also float fish, "closer in". I'll target Tench first thing and then just see how it goes!
I'll have to get there early,I was speaking to a chap this weekend at Cicely, who had tried to get a peg at Rixton,but by 11.00 it was full.

We've just bought a Trailer Tent,so I'll be looking for some camping sites with lakes or close to rivers where I can wet a line.

Cicely Mill Saturday 17 April 2010

See attached Video of Cicely Mill at 06.30 on a beautiful Spring Morning

Today turned into a disapointment, things did'nt go as I expected. Everything at the Mill looked good for a briliant days fishing, I got the pegg I wanted, I felt I had the right bait and right tackle.
Things started off quite well, an hour after arriving I was into a nice little Tench of about 2lbs (the first of the year)and not long afterwards I was into a real zoo creature,for a couple of minutes it ran up and down and tried for the bushes a couple of times,and just as I thought I'd won, it smashed me.
That apart from one small Skimmer(see photo)that was it, for the day,not what I expected!

Reasons for a Disapointing Session
Everyone I spoke today at the Mill had a different reason why today had been so poor, a few people said "it was too bright" a few more said "the wind was in the wrong direction" a couple blamed it on the "cold overnight temperature". At one point,when a few of us "experts !" were stood around chatting I even found myself pushing forward a theory that "due to the extream and long winter we have just emerged from, nature including fish are late this year" I even sounded quite convincing, even I belived it! But when you think about it with cold logic,fishing is like that,some days,there's no reason,you just don't catch.

Loud Anglers
To finish off a less than enjoyable days fishing, there were two of the loudest and most annoying anglers I've have ever fished with!Not content with shouting the football result across the lake,they then proceded to argue,who's girlfriend was the fattest!,and it did'nt help that one of the two had a very anoying voice and used the worst language I've ever heard (don't get me wrong I'm no saint when it comes to choice language)but these two,every word was proceded with F***ING, It was mad I'd gone out to a georgous place for a nice days fishing,and I end up next to Chubby Brown!

One unusual aspect about fishing Cisely this weekend was the lack aeroplane noise,Cicely is not far from Manchester Airport and when the wind is in a certain direction, the planes fly right above the mill and it can be disturbing, but because of the Icelandic Valcano there was no flights out of Manchester airport all day, the only things flying were a pair of beautiful Buzzards.

I think I'll go to Rixton next weekend

Cicely Mill at The Weekend

We're planning a long sesion this Saturday at Cicely Mill.It'll be the first time Owen has fished the Mill.
I hope the Tench are feeding,I'd like to see him do battle with a reasonable sized Tench.I'd like to make contact with some of the Crucian Carp in Cicely, they're the most beautiful fish,like a solid bar of Butter!
We'll target the Tench until lunch time,then I'll go onto the Quiver Tip for the afternoon sesion,looking for some Bream or Skimmers,then go back for Tench as Evening approaches and the light begins to fade.

Rixton Clay pits 10 April Biggest Bream to date!

Afternoon and early evening sesion at Rixton, the best day of the year so far. spring has arrived. Myself and Owen arrived about 2.00 and after a slow start the bite alarm went off,I thought we were into a Tench, and after a good fight we had the best Bream I've ever landed between 4 and 5 lbs (see photo). We had another couple of bites and landed one more small Bream (see photo).
I was expecting the Tench to be feeding but there was no sign of the Tench or even Tench bubbles.
Rixton is starting to look beautiful as the summer approaches see video. (not very good quality I shot it on my phone)

Bollin at Dunham

Went for a closer look at the Bollin in Dunham, and it's just too shallow and fast for course fishing (I wanted to trot a float) but may be ok for Fly fishing.

River Bollin

I've been thinking about giving the River Bollin a try next season. I passed over what looked like a very nice piece of the river on Saturday last, when I was Pike fishing on the Bridgewater at Dunham.
I don't know if a club controls this section, I'll try to find out.
This section near Dunham would be nicer than the stretches that Warrington Anglers control, simply because there would be no road noise.
I've had some good fish from both the Warrington stretch, and the Bay Malton stretch of the Bollin, so it could be well worth spending a few sessions on this stretch. I've had good Trout and a few small silver fish, but reading some of the forums, there have been reports of some good size Chub and Perch and plenty of them. The reports are mainly from the Wilmslow section of the river, but there's no reason why the Dunham section shouldn't be the same.
Looking at the photo, it looks like this could be a smashing Trotting swim, using my waders, I could be in the middle of the river, and using my Centre Pin, glide a float right through the middle of the swim.
Looking at the swim, I think I could use my fly rod to try to temp a few fish, that would be nice!.

Saturday 6 March Dunham Massey and Oughtrington

I thought I'd give the Dunham Massey stretch of the Bridgewater a try. A cold overcast day with a slight breeze. I did'nt get a touch in either Dunham Massy or Oughtrington, but I did see a pair of Kestrels hunting around the narrow section of the breach at Dunham, it was great to watch them swoop down on their prey.
I had a look at the River Bollin where it passes under the canal, I'll give that a try next season.
Bought a new Landing Net from Decathlon, but the mesh was too fine and would easily get snagged when using Lures or Trebble Hooks, so I transfered the actual net from the Landing Net we broke last week onto the new Landing net body. The new landing net extends futher than the old one did.

Saturday 27 February First Trip of the year and First Pike

At last the Bridgewater Canal was fishable, Owen and myself started off at Oughtrington and walked down to Lymm. We had one Pike of about 3lb just before Lloyds Bridge. We broke the net whilst landing the fish.We also lost our favourite spoon, the Abu Garcia 35gram YP atom spoon, I've just ordered 4 more.
We did'nt hit anymore Pike after we lost the spoon.
It was a cold overcast day with a biting wind

Ice Free Stretch of The Bridgewater Canal

Had 20 minutes on the Bridgewater in Lymm village. There is a 200 yard ice free stretch just before you go under the road bridge into Lymm village. I didn't expect to catch, and I didn't! Saw Chris and Anne just as I arrived at the canal bank, they had walked to Lymm from Dunham, had a pint in Lymm and were heading back.

Bridgewater Still Frozen Over

Went down to the Bridgewater today, and it's still frozen over,checked at Oughtrington and at Lymm village. There was a small section free of ice near the cruising club but not much else. I'll give it a try next weekend. I was going to try the Mersey behind Grey Mist but It would have been very high with the melt water.

New Rod and Kettle Arrived Today

New Rod and kettle arrived today from Poingdestres of Southampton. I ordered to rod and kettle on Sunday and they arrived today,Friday. Considering the terrible weather this week, thats not bad.(see attached photos) The rod is a John Wilson Masterline Rovex 5 section Travel Avon Quiver Rod and the kettle is a an Armo,and holds .9 of a litre of water

New Rod Pod Arrived Monday

My new Rodpod(see photo)Only cost £23.00 including postage, arrived on 31 December, only ordered it on 28 December from Go Outdoors, fantastic Service.

This coming Year

This year I’m going to try and fish in a more organised manor. I’m going to target particular fish at certain times of year.
If this year is the same as last year I will target the Pike on the Bridgewater in the late winter and early spring, looking back at my posts from last year, I started fishing for the Pike in March, and had some success.

Reading ‘Franks column’ in the last couple of week,s it seems the match anglers have had quite a few Pike attacks during their matches around the Dunham area so I’ll give that ago as well as the Oughtrington area, where I did well last year.

Once the Spring arrives I’ll switch over to the Tench, in both Rixton and Cicley Mill. Both these waters are full of fish, but Rixton is beautiful, and quiet, where Cicley Mill is also beautiful it does have the planes from the airport flying low overhead and they are very loud.

I’m going to have my gear packed and ready to go at a moments notice, so I don’t have to mess about looking for my gear. I’m also not going to bother with a flask, I’m going to carry a stove with me at all times having hot drinks on tap is much nicer than a flask

I did'nt get out over Christmas

I did'nt manage to get out over the Christmas holiday, the canals are frozen over and because of the state of my ankle I could'nt manage to scramble around any river banks, so I'll have to wait for the weather and my ankle to improve
I did buy some new gear though, especially some new thermal boots, so I should be able to get out in the cold.