Day of the Skimmer

I had an eight hour session at Rixton today. The weather was overcast and disappointingly cold, very different from the weather over the past week.
I fished my favourite peg on the opposite side to the car park. I fished with my Quiver Tip rod, I started off using six mm pellets on a hair rig using an open ended cage feeder. It took a while for the first bite to arrive but when it did I was rewarded with a splendid Skimmer of around  One Pound in weight, this was followed very quickly by an almost identical fish.
After the first two fish the action slowed down so I switched from the hair rig to a standard size 16 hook, fishing double maggot.
I then caught fish steadily for the rest of the day, I must have landed over twenty five fish, all Skimmers. I must be honest but I hoped the Tench would be feeding, I saw no evidence of Tench at all,none of the other Anglers caught one either. I don't think the weather helped, it was defiantly colder than of late, with a steady northerly breeze.
Fish aside, the highlight of the day was watching the various birds that live around Rixton, I spent the day feeding a Robin, I didn't realise just how territorial Robins are, I threw a steady supply of Maggots to the Robin throughout the day, he accepted the lot, if any other bird dropped by to share in the largess, the Robin wasted no time in chasing them off. There was a beautiful Tree Sparrow who enjoyed the Maggots I was throwing for them to eat, but if the Robin saw the Tree Sparrow he attacked him.

Tree Sparrow

Aggressive Little Bugger

Having a try for the Tench at Rixton

Going to Rixton tomorrow, hoping that the Tench have started to feed. With the warmer weather over the last week I have high hopes of connecting with my first Tench of the season. I'm sure the Skimmers will be on the feed. The weather forecast is for cooler conditions than of late but it should be dry, which at Rixton is always a positive!

Bad Day at Rixton

The weather forecast was dead right, it was awful, we had rain and hail. What made it worse, hardly any fish I stayed 3 hours with just one Skimmer to show for it. I tried different bait but they just weren't having it today. I fished one of the proper pegs near the car park, don't normally fish that side, won't do it again!

Another Trip to Rixton

I'm having another day at Rixton tomorrow, once again hoping for the Tench to have begun feeding.
It's not supposed to be a good forecast, I'll just have to shelter under my umbrella.

Ten Hours at Rixton

I had my first long session of the year, a full ten hours at Rixton.
The weather didn't live up to expectations, it was windy , mostly overcast with the odd bright twenty minutes thrown in between the cloud.On the way to Rixton we had some light rain, thankfully this stopped just as I arrived.
I fished on the opposite side to the car park, the same peg as last week,the second one from the road."On the way down to the peg I noticed a few Frogs "out and about", you can tell spring is well and truly on the way,all the trees and bushes are about to come back to life, after their long winter slumber.
I set up my Telescopic Feeder Rod with a Groundbait feeder, a hooklink of 3lb mono with a No16 Hook, using double Red Maggot as bait,I also set up my Pike Rod with Sprats as bait, just in case there was any Pike around.
I cast towards the the area where the Water Lilly's are, very quickly "bites" began to arrive, in no time I was landing a small Skimmer, I'm starting to get used to the "action" of my new rod. I managed to "hit" more bites than I missed. Small Skimmer after small Skimmer arrived,it was constant action right up to Lunch time. I landed two decent sized Skimmers, for which I needed the Landing Net.
After a Lunch of Sausages, very nice they were too! Bites slowed down, it was much slower after Lunch with only the occasional bite.
The Pike rod saw no action at all, I didn't see any Pike strikes, in fact the Lake was very quiet, it was only in the last hour before dark did I see any evidence of any of the larger species. There was a lack of any Tench or Carp Feeding bubbles all day.
There was a few other Anglers on the Lake, perhaps Seven or Eight, we all seemed to be catching the same "stamp" of fish.
I ended up with a catch of 19 Skimmers,2 of which were reasonable, 1 Roach, I was quite happy with the days sport.
I got myself in a much more comfortable position than last week, I used my Low Chair, with the rod on a Rod Rest pushed into the water, I was positioned so the Rod was resting on my leg making "Striking" much easier! , I think my catch bears this out.
Saw one or two unusual sights yesterday, saw a female Frog carrying a male Frog, obviously mating,also saw a "flock" of 5 Herons, never seen them in groups before,maybe they were "pairing up" for breading. 

Rixton Tomorrow

Going to have a day at Rixton tomorrow. I aim to get there around 08.30 then stay for the daylight hours.
I'm hoping the Tench have started to feed,The Bream, Skimmers and Roach were on the feed last week. I'll also have a Pike rod out.
The weather looks good with rising Barometric pressure.

Book

To help get me through the Long winter nights, I've decided to write a book. It's about my fishing adventures, how I came to fishing, some of the places I've fished, some of the people I've met and some of my most memorable catches. It's not ment to be be an instructional book I'm not that skilled. I've given it a working title of My Fishing Days and Ways. When it's ready, if anybody would like a copy let me know and I'll get one to you.

A Few Hours at Rixton

Isn't it typical, the last two days have been perfect weather, I have a day off and what happens, the heavens open!
Rain and wind greeted me as I arrived at Rixton today. There was only two other Anglers there when I arrived.
I fished on the opposite bank to the car park. I was using my Browning Ambition Telescopic Feeder Rod for the first time.I'm very pleased with the rod, it's easy to use, easy to set up, it registers bites very well.
It wasn't long until I started to get bites, but as I haven't fished for a while my reactions weren't what they should be. After two missed bites, I connected  with my first of three Skimmers, not big, but as my first fish of the Spring, they were very welcome. I was just glad to be able to get out and try my new rod.
I set up a Pike Rod, fishing a Float Fished Dead bait set up, but the Pike didn't put in an appearance.
Packed up around two o'clock
Renewed my Warrington Anglers membership at Baileys, £40.00 for a years fishing, what fantastic value. Must work out, about a pound per water!