Specimen Hunter

Back Again

After my birthday session on the 18th, or rather birthday blank, I just had to get back out to the weir pool again. This time, reacquainted with tying a rig and casting a lead, I felt a lot better prepared. The session was to be from about 4pm until 11pm on Thursday 23rd February.

I opted to fish donkey choker 20mm halibut pellets attached to PVA meshes of smaller 3mm pellets. Along with some halibut hookbait dip for extra attraction. The tidier presentations, the clearer ideas in my mind about what I was doing, and fishing well into the evening rather than a bright morning left me feeling a lot more confident.

Arriving at the nearby car park I noticed a car full of gear next to where I’d parked. Panic set in immediately. Had I been pipped to the post by someone who was checking out the weir pool at this very moment and was going to head back down with his gear just before I could get there? Fortunately, three blokes came round the corner and got into the car ready to drive away. They had been fishing the afternoon for roach and dace on the nearby tributary and my luck was in.

As I caught a first glimpse of the water I noticed it was up an inch or two since the weekend. There had been no real rain to speak of so I can only assume the weirs around the area had been opened up to let more water flow down the Thames. Along with the continuing warm weather I hoped this would all work in my favour.

A couple of hours into the session it dawned on me that I’d not stopped at the shop to purchase a sandwich, but fortunately my Mum and Dad had mentioned they were stopping by to say hello so I sent a quick text to The Mother to ask her to pick me something up. I didn’t anticipate a freshly cooked jacket potato with cheese and sweetcorn, wrapped in foil in a cool bag and delivered to the bank but there you go. Gotta love your Mum. (I was 25 years old last week!!)

Shortly after finishing my dinner I had a take on the rod in the run-off… I lifted into it and connected with a reasonably heavy feeling fish. A few minutes later, my father was slipping the net under what I thought was the most enormous chub I had ever seen. It actually only went 7lb 2oz, which is four ounces short of my PB, but nevertheless I was extremely happy with my third ‘seven’.

No other fish came out to play for the rest of the evening before I had to pack up. However, since I’ll be too busy to get out again for the next couple of weeks, I can’t complain about ending the river season with a fish like this. :)

Angling Trust

I finally joined. You should too. Why? This is what they get up to.

Membership is only £25 a year for adults (aged 22 and over), discounted to £10 for those 18 - 21 and free for juniors.

Join Online.

Cormorants

BBC News: Thousands sign petition calling for cormorant cull

The issue has been covered on the news and by the BBC at that… Wonder if this is the help of Martin Salter’s influence?

Weather Report

I think I just have to get out on Thursday or Friday and fish into the night. It may just be my last chance on The Thames before the end of the season…

Birthday Session

I’m currently in the final leg of the final year of a software degree, which means whether I am actually sat at the computer working hard or just sat here watching youtube fishing blogs I don’t really go fishing as much as I’d like. Couple this with the fact that I live in south-east London without ownership of a car, while my tackle and fishing (mentally) is still tied up in Berkshire at my parents’ makes it all quite a bit of effort to just spontaneously nip down the river. That said, I’ve never lived closer to the Thames in my life than now (<500 metres) and if anyone reading this has any experience fishing around Greenwich I would absolutely love to be pushed in the right direction, I’ve no idea how to approach it or what’s even swimming out there.

It’s been a bit cold recently, but the weather thawed up a bit during the week in time for my birthday visit to my folks, so last Saturday morning I got out by sunrise and fished until the afternoon. This was my first trip of the year. Sadly the river was running low and clear as gin which didn’t put me in for a good chance but you probably know the feeling, it was great to finally get out this year and enjoy a bacon sarnie on the river bank. Also tried out a new location that I intend to give some attention next season when I’ve graduated.

Photo by Lara Ruffle.

Redmire Pool

“The Phone Wars”

Today I tried to book a weekend at Redmire Pool for the first time, unfortunately I wasn’t successful. Bookings are taken on just one day of the year and it is extremely popular. I tried calling from 10am until 1:30pm, I made roughly 1750 phone calls and heard the engaged tone each and every time. I clearly wasn’t alone.

Around about that time I checked the forum and found out all sessions had been booked up until November so decided to give it up.

Oh well, maybe next year.

The Pool

If you don’t know about Redmire Pool, it is a small pond of about two acres near Ross-on-Wye and considered to be the birth place of modern carp fishing. Three British record carp were caught from this small pond: The first, a carp of 31lb 4oz caught by Bob Richards on the 3rd of October, 1951. A slightly unpleasant picture from a different era, of a gaffed, dead carp that we’ll skip over…

The second was Ravioli caught by Richard Walker (The fish was moved to London Zoo where she was renamed Clarissa), caught at a British record weight of 44lb on 13th September 1952.

Richard Walker was the inventor of the Arlesey bomb and the electronic bite alarm.

Third, The Bishop caught by Chris Yates at a British record weight of 51lb 8oz on 16th June 1980. Yates was initially denied the British record as he only had witness statements and photographs to back up his claim and the records body of the day demanded to physically witness record captures. This eventually led to the formation of a new British record fish committee as many specimen anglers did not want to kill their captures to make a claim.

A Passion For Angling

The best episode of the best angling series ever made is named ‘Redmire Legends’ and this is where I first learnt about the place. If you haven’t seen it I recommend keeping an eye out on the Discovery channels if you have them, or getting hold of the DVDs from the website. Filmed by Hugh Miles and narrated by Bernard Cribbins, starring Chris Yates and Bob James… You couldn’t ask for more.

I guarantee you’ll be on the phone listening to an engaged tone for three and a half hours next year too…

The infamous “Gudgeon Match at Dawn”.

Chris Yates and Bob James carp fishing from half way up a tree at Redmire pool… As you do. You can view a clip of this here.

The Lobworm and The Perch

During the school holidays, circa 1996, a number of different elements came together which led to me catching my first coarse fish; my first six, in fact.

In stereotypically traditional-style, all were perch caught on lobworms dug from the garden.

• On a Sunday bike ride with my dad, uncle and cousin to Pinkneys Green I discovered the clay pits and my old man told me that he used to fish them for tench when he was a boy. I remember those bike rides that summer fondly. Occasionally we’d stop at the pub and my dad and uncle even fell off their bikes a few times. Not that I realised at the time, but they were clearly both shit faced.
• I acquired a set of fish cigarette cards. No idea where these came from. Before this I probably didn’t know what coarse fish looked like.
• Whilst my Dad had stopped fishing and sold his all his gear. My friend’s Dad had stopped fishing and had tackle in his garage and lots of it, I can remember digging around the garage and finding all this gear pretty exciting.
• I rediscovered the rod and reel from when my Dad first took me fishing.

Friends were called, my Mum was begged for a lift and one morning we were away. Armed with end tackle half-inched from my Friend’s Dad’s garage, a tin of sweetcorn and some lobworms dug up from the garden the night before, a group of four intrepid young piscators arrived at the pond….

The moment when the float slides off stops your heartbeat every single time and I can recall the first time so well even now. I wasn’t quite sure what the fish was but, fortunately armed with my cigarette cards our group ID’d it as a perch. I caught 5 more that day. Not to be too childishly smug but the other three lads blanked. When my Dad arrived that evening he plumbed the depth and sorted my rig out properly to try for a tench. I cast out into the pond and hooked another small perch, the fish tugged about and I recall seeing it in the clearer upper layers of the water before it was engulfed by an explosion. A pike had taken it and bit off the line in the process. You couldn’t make a more exciting end to the day up.