At least I got out and caught a fish

[Silverfisher]

After partly other commitments but mainly bad weather kept me off the banks since October 18th I finally got back out for a short session today as after a few dry days some sunny, mild and windless conditions finally presented themselves on a day I had no other commitments. Picking a venue was a challenge as the rivers are still 4 or 5 dry days off being decent levels, my regular Stillwater is a waste of time in the winter and almost inaccessible at the moment anyway due to boggy ground and the recent match results on the canal and reservoir were not very inspiring. This left me with the choice of a couple carp puddles so I went for the closest one out of convenience. Up until about 8 years ago it fished well for silvers before they suddenly started declining leaving just carp and F1s so I hadn’t bothered with it for about 6 years.

I tackled up as I would for silvers to target the F1s (desperate times all and that) but it seemed even they have declined. I didn’t even see let alone catch one despite having caught them there in much worse conditions than today before. My only fish of the day (and only one caught on the lake as far as I could see) was a common of about 9lbs which at least used a bit of time with a good scrap on the light gear.

All in all a bit of a disappointing few hours but was nice just to be out again on a lovely day after so long without a session and at least I didn’t blank! Hopefully the rivers will be ok come the weekend to hopefully allow for a more productive session!

 

[Zerkalo]

Hopefully this weather is a sign things might pick up a bit over the next few weeks, spring is in the air, and you'll be able to get back on your usual venues, but like you say, one fish is better than none.

 

[tipitinmick]

Id have still swapped you today. Ive had do some jobs at the mother in laws. See .... Theres always someone worse off than yourself.

 

[Silverfisher]

At least it was a good sized fish as well. That said multiple fish totalling 9lb would have been better than one of 9lb as would have kept me a bit busier. I love float fishing stillwaters when the fish are biting as it’s easy fishing especially when it’s still like it was today but when the actions slow there’s not much to do unlike trotting a river.

Does look fairly dry and fairly mild without too much wind for at least a couple weeks now so things should start picking up soon on my usual venues.

 

[IanG1]

Fished my local commie today for silvers. To be honest it was tough going and struggled to put a decent catching spell together during the five hours I fished. It the end the counter said 34 fish of small roach and the odd skimmer. Least I got some fresh air and the float went under a few times.

 

[Silverfisher]

Well done indeed! Sounds a nice session for the time of year.

There's not a single Stillwater around here where I'd back myself to catch 34 silvers from at this time a year, would have to be river to have a shot at that. I find my river silvers catches on average drop by max half numbers wise in the winter compared to the rest of the year and I often do much better than that but on stillwaters I'm lucky if I can do a quarter in winter of what I do the rest of the year. That's generally starting with higher numbers on stillwaters than rivers as well so it's further to fall!

Think it's simply due to the fish having to feed more on rivers due to them having to deal with the current and the stillwaters I usually fish being fairly naturally stocked compared to some commercials.

 

[Freesolo82]

Well done mate I know you have been itching to get out and the weather has been in charge of things for sometime, Its times like this that make all those good summer days all that much sweeter

 

[Silverfisher]

Yeah going from usually fishing about 3 times a month on average to not at all for over two months drove me nuts! Was looking like I’d average more like 4 times a month this year across the year until the rains arrived. Been over to check out the Ouse today as it tends to drop quicker then the Thames and it looks like it should be ok by the weekend.

 

[The Landlord]

Well done.
When I first looked at the thread title, I thougt you'd fell in.

 

[Silverfisher]

Haha does read a bit like that doesn’t it! I’ve only fallen in whilst fishing once but luckily that was off a kayak in warmer climes.