Hopes and Targets for 2012

So far it looks as though this winter won’t be as bad as the previous two (I hope I’m not tempting fate!). Catching fish in January was not possible in the last two winters, lets hope the mild weather continues.
Once the Spring arrives I intend to become a “Rixton Regular” targeting the Tench, Bream and of course the Pike. Reading the last two years catch reports in “Franks Column“, the end of March seems to be when Rixton comes alive again!
Once April arrives I’ll give the successful “walk trolling” method another try on the Bridgewater Canal for the Pike, .
I hoping once the New season on the rivers opens, to get back to fishing rivers, it’s something I’ve neglected for a few years now, Trotting a float was something I used to enjoy when I lived in Stockport, fishing the River Tame.
A few hours after work on The Bollin at Bowden is something I can do, and I intend too.
I’d like to fish The Wide Hole on the Macclesfield Canal once again, I’ve had some wonderful sessions there in previous years, but I haven’t fished it for several years. The Pike in the Wide Hole were plentiful and very good sport, The Wide Hole also contains a good head of Bream.
After seeing some of the Pictures, and talking to some of the anglers who have caught the Pike in the Mersey, I’m certainly going to give the Mersey a try, not only for the Pike but all the rest of the course fish that must be in the river, I think Ledgering will be the method, I think my John Wilson Quiver Tip Rod will be my weapon of choice!
I’ll try to get a few sessions on Cicily Mill, how can you describe the “mill” it’s beautiful, and it has the advantage of having two feet of water and four feet of fish! What a place.
Most of my fishing will be within 15 miles of home, I don’t like driving home after fishing, but I have a thought, of getting a couple of weekends away, in my folding camper, staying on campsites that either have lakes on site, or boarder a river. To me I can’t think of a more perfect weekend!
To all the followers of my blog and to the occasional visitors I hope you have a wonderful 2012.

Best Wishes Lawrence Pearson.

Blank Session on the Bridgewater

It had to happen sooner or later, I had a blank on the Bridgewater Canal.

I was Dead Baiting for Pike at Lloyds Bridge, using tactics that had been successful previously, but today I caught nothing.

I tried using the Blood Red Pike Attractant but that didn't bring any bites.

I saw some Pike attacks but they weren't having Dead Baits at all. I tried wobbling the baits over the areas where the attacks were taking place but with no luck!

It was an unusual day for December, Overcast and cloudy with a light wind but it was warm for this time of year.

I did see a couple of Pike today, another angler turned up, he also put a Dead Bait Rod up, plus he had a lure rod with him, it was lures that proved the successful method today, he had a couple of small Pike (see photo below).

Both Pike were taken on a Rubber Roach imitation pattern.

I used my Shakespeare box with the wheels,using the adaption I made yesterday, it made transporting my gear much easier.

Change of Plan Regarding Trolley, Bought some Blood Red Attractant for Pike

I thought hard about a trolley for my Shakespeare Box, as I already have an Octoplus Leveling kit and a set of wheels for it, I worked out a method of using it without having to take the legs off before attaching the wheels (which is a pain), I've done that now and it works well, I'll give it a try tomorrow.
I went to Leigh Bait and Tackle this morning as well as North West Angling Centre, to buy a few bits and pieces, I bought a bottle of Blood Red Pike Attractant, so I'm going to give that a try tomorrow and see what happens.
I also bought an Octoplus Umbrella Arm to fit on my box.

Going to buy a Trolley Tomorrow, then have a last session of the year on Saturday on the Bridgewater Canal

I'm fed up of lugging my Shakespeare Seat Box on my back, so I'm going out tomorrow to buy a trolley, going to Leigh Bait and Tackle and North West Angling Centre to see what they have.
On Saturday (just seen the weather forecast and Saturday looks the best day of the weekend) going up to Lloyds Bridge on the Bridgewater Canal to see If I can land a last Pike of the year! I still have some bait, seems a pity to waste it!

Pike Fishing Bridgewater Canal 28 December 2011

Arrived at Lloyds Bridge after an interesting journey, I got stuck behind a foreign lorry which had been following instructions from a Sat Nav, and turned in to a very narrow country lane, which, as it needed to reverse out of the narrow lane caused chaos and delayed me by twenty minutes.
Once I got to my peg it became clear today wasn’t going to be easy, due to the weather conditions, it was very bright , very cold and very very windy.
I fished hard on the bottom, to start with I used Smelt as bait. I fished as close to the moored boats as possible. It was a good hour and a half till my first run arrived, the float started to dance across the surface, I gave it the standard 5 seconds then struck, the Pike was on for a few seconds then it spat the bait out, frustrating, but that’s Pike fishing, I re-cast to the same spot hoping the fish was still there but it didn’t take it again.
The Smelt was well and truly chewed up so I changed to a Sprat.
Twenty minutes later the float began it’s dance across the canal , this time I managed to hook the fish properly and after a short fight I slipped the net under a Pike of 3 to 4 pounds. This was followed by one more Pike, a slightly smaller specimen of 2 to 3 pounds.

All three of Pike, the two I landed and the one that got away were hooked in a two hour period between 12 and 2 pm, I beginning to wonder if the theory of Pike have a defined feeding time is a fact. Over the years I’ve caught Pike the afternoon has always been my most productive time.
I saw more people along the bank of the Bridgewater Canal than I’ve ever seen before, there was so many dog walkers and cyclists, must all have been trying to work off the Christmas excess!

Short Session on the Bridgewater Canal Tomorrow

I'm having a short Pike session on the Bridgewater Canal tomorrow at Lloyds Bridge.
I'll fish close to the moored boats. I'll fish hard on the bottom as I did last time, I'l be using Smelt and Sprats as bait.
It's not a brilliant weather forecast, high winds are forecast, I'll give it a try see how I get on!

Changed the Quiver Tip on My New Telescopic Feeder Rod

My new Browning Ambition Tele Feeder Rod came with a spare Quiver tip which is a softer tip than the one fitted to the rod. I wanted the softer tip so I decided to change it, which wasn't too difficult, First I heated up the tip ring using a candle, on the tip that was fitted to the rod and slid off the Tip ring, then slid off the remaining rings, which were the sliding type. After extending the rod I unscrewed the end cap on the Handle, tipped the rod up and the tip slid out. Then I took the unglued tip ring off the spare Tip and slid off the sliding rings,the slid the tip through the end of the Handle until it popped out of the top section, then pushed on the sliding rings and fitted the tip ring using Hot Melt Glue, then re screwed the cap to the end of the Handle, Job done, writing it down sounds complicated, but it isn't!

New Rod

After saying in my previous post, I won't be buying any new Tackle this year, I go and buy a new rod

I bought myself a Telecsopic Feeder rod, something I've been looking for, for a long time. I bought a Browning Ambition Telescopic Feeder Rod.

I bought the rod from Cheshire Fishing Smashing place, not only does it have a very good tackle shop, there are several lakes available to fish, both course and Trout lakes, set in the heart of the beautiful Cheshire countryside.

My Fishing Year 2011, Highlights & Lowlights

Looking at the weather it looks as though my fishing year is at an end, so now looks like the appropriate time to publish my review of the highlights and low lights of my fishing year, so here goes.
The year started off with the worst winter in living memory, most of my local fisheries were frozen over for weeks and weeks.
I also had a broken hand at the beginning of the year, so that prevented me from having any time on the bank.
By the time the weather improved and my hand repaired, we were into the early spring.
In April, Richard had his best ever Pike. Trolling lures along the Bridgewater Canal, he had a beauty on a Big “S” plug.
I began to fish Rixton regularly, working out where and how to fish this wonderful piece of water.
I had some nice Tench and my best ever Bream. Working out how to mix Groundbait properly, has helped my feeder fishing tremendously.
Turning up at Rixton at 06.00 on the morning of the Royal wedding and finding every Peg taken, must be one of the low lights of the year.
At the beginning of the year I’d hoped to get some time on the rivers close to where I live, but the summer was so wet and miserable, I tended to stick to waters that were not going to affected so much by the amount of rain we were having.
The summer was a washout for me fishing wise, a combination of bad weather and other things going on, prevented me from getting out.
Although I didn’t get out much during the summer and Autumn, that didn’t mean I stopped thinking about my fishing, I’d been thinking about Rixton, more importantly, Rixton Pike, I’d seen plenty of evidence of Pike in Rixton earlier in the spring, I witnessed numerous Pike strikes at prey fish when, I’d been Tench and Bream fishing.
I’d never seen another Angler fishing for the Rixton Pike, so I came up with a plan to try to target them come the Autumn.
Come early November I put my plan into action, it turned out a partial success, I had four visits targeting the Pike, being successful on three out of the four visits, I say “partial success“, because I only caught one fish each time I caught.
Most of my Pike fishing over the years has been a very simple Float Fished method, setting my float to about 3feet in depth and hoping for a bite. In November I attended a “Pike Teach in” for Warrington Anglers members, run by the Pike Angling Club, I picked up some useful tips on different rigs, so I’ll be giving those a try in the coming year.
The rumours of Pike in the Mersey, are actually fact, not just rumours, I’ve seen the pictures, so that will be one of my targets for the coming fishing year. I will find fishing a big river daunting as I do prefer smaller more intimate rivers but If I do manage to connect with a big Pike it will be worth it!
For me one of the saddest things this year was the closure of Bennett’s of Sheffield, which, in my opinion was the finest On-Line fishing shop, a sign of the times I’m afraid!
In the coming year I hope to get on to some of my local Rivers, the Bollin at Bowden is a beautiful little river, not much more than a stream, but if it has improved, in the same way lots of other rivers in the North West have improved, it will be a gem. I used to fish the Bollin a few years ago but I’ve neglected it in recent years, but this coming year I intend to correct this oversight. There’s a beautiful swim which is an ideal trotting swim, I will get into my chest waders and trot a stick float, once again, this another area of my fishing I’ve neglected.
I don’t think I’ll be buying any major items of fishing tackle during this next year, I think I own all I could possibly need, having said that, I do find it hard to walk past a Tackle shop and not get the urge to go in and buy myself something!
A finally, a big thank you to all the people who have helped and encouraged me this year, also a big thank you to all the people who follow this blog, it is encouraging to look at the stats and see all the different parts of the world where people are viewing from. So far I’ve had over 2300 visits to my Blog
Good luck to everyone who reads this. If you’re an Angler, I hope this coming year, fishing wise, is better than the last.
Have a great Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all!

Take a Look at The Mersey This Weekend

The weather looks as though it going too be to cold for me to fish this weekend, so I think I'll start planning next years fishing. I'm going to take a look at the Mersey at Woolston weir, have a look at the pegs that I've been told are there and try to workout the methods I'll use come next year.

Bridgewater Canal Lloyd's Bridge

Today must have been the worst conditions I've fished in for years, High winds, driving rain and very cold.
I fished at the moored boats at Lloyd's Bridge,fished two rods hard on the bottom, one with Sprat, as bait, the other with Smelt as bait.
Just as I arrived the rain started, it was coming down horizontal, been driven on by a driving wind, which made casting interesting.
After an hour the float of the rod with Sprat as bait began dancing across the surface, as I was fishing over depth the float didn't go under, but moved across the surface, this rod was my fathers Fox boat rod, which to be honest, the handle is a little short and not really suited to casting dead baits from the bank.
I managed to land a little Pike of about 3lbs.
That was the end of the catching for today, I moved around to quite a few different swims but no runs materialised.
The conditions were very much against me today, so I think landing one Pike was a good result considering!
No photo's today as I was so cold I was shivering when I took the pictures of the pike and photos I have are very blured!

These are the boats I fished close too.

Bridgewater Canal Tomorrow

I was going to give the Mersey a try tomorrow but I've had a change of mind, so it's the Bridgewater Canal to try for the Pike.
Going to start at Lloyds Bridge, fishing hard on the bottom, close to the boats. I'll spend half an hour in each swim and see how it goes.
Going to fish two rods, dug out my Fathers 10ft6 Fox Rod, first time that's been used in a few years!