May-June 2013 Update - Various Locations

The reef at Torness at low tide

The lack of blogs has coincided with a new job but that doesn't mean I've not been wetting a line whenever I've had the chance. Rather than update loads of trips individually through a hazy memory into individual blogs, I'm going to roll them all into this one blog and provide details where I can recall them. Here goes.





St Abbs Harbour - 18/05

After some success with Pollock I was keen to return to the Harbour, but the weather wasn't playing ball.

Driech personified

It was raining when I arrived, requiring me to take shelter in some old outbuilding whose door opened when I was trying to keep dry.

Once the rain stopped, the wind made things difficult. An explore all round the harbour bore nothing and I cut the session short.

But not before discovering a seemingly abandoned gulls nest.



Loch Lubnaig/Falkirk Wheel - 23/05

Keen to give Lubnaig a shot I headed up for an evening session.

There are two permits for opposing banks and I opted for the western side which is looked after by the Forestry Commission. Knowing there are Perch as well as brownies and Char I decided on the spinning rod which was just as well as the wind was a little too stiff for casting flies.

I covered a fair amount from the southern tip upwards but didn't find a thing. In the face of the incessant wind I decided to cut my losses and head off home.

The Falkirk Wheel - we're not all trams and parliament shambles

Not content with one blank in the evening, on the way back I decided to have a quick thrash in the basin at the Falkirk wheel. Nowt.


Union Canal - 24/05

Heading out with all my kit but not quite knowing where I'd end up, I finally alighted at the Union Canal just to the west of Edinburgh at a spot known as Wilkies Basin.

Nice day for it, but no fish

I've heard of Pike being taken in here and had an offer once from a wee jack, but otherwise it's really living up to the tag 'looks better than it fishes'.

As usual I fished the entire stretch but couldn't find a fish. But I'm sure it'll get another visit at some point.


St Abbs Harbour - 30/05

In much better conditions I gave St Abbs harbour another go.

A bit more like it

The Coalies are as good as bankers here with a chance of all sorts of other fish like Pollock, flatties, Wrasse and many more no doubt.

I was in straight away at the harbour entrance and quickly hauled three small Coalfish up next to me.

Sample Pollock

The action tailed off though as the returned fish passed on the message there was a predator about so I began to explore around the outside walls of the harbour. This involves standing even higher and more precariously around the outer wall. I soon found another couple of willing coalies as I progressed around before trying the harbour mouth again from the opposite wall but still no more luck there. On the way back I hooked another wee coalie at the same spot as before making it 6 small Coalfis for the evening.


Dunbar Harbour - 11/06

There is a corner in Dunbar that I've been reliably informed held flatfish from 2 or 4 different species.

First ever flattie

I arrived at Dunbar intent on breaking my duck with these weirdly formed fish and found conditions to be excellent. I could see all the way to the bottom on a rising tide and began twitching some Isome along the bottom.

Second ever flattie

Soon I felt a little tremble and was into a fish which turned out to be a Flounder. I followed this up 10 minutes later with another and growing in confidence I almost immediately felt another bite. Expecting another flattie I was amused to find I'd connected with an aggressive wee Long Spined Sea Scorpion with two tone markings. He went back to patrol the deep and quite soon I lifted out my third Flounder.

Peculiar fellies

There were to be no more though so I decided to explore around the other side of Dunbar Castle to see what if anything it offered. I drove round to West Barns and started following the Biel burn for the mile or so until it joins the sea.

Likes his Ska

There were scores of small trout about, but nothing to get overly excited about.

Flounder number 3, come in, your time is up

Unless you're a Heron. I followed the stream all the way down to the sea and suspect it will be good for flatties or finnock in the right conditions.

Fish munching machine at work

Torness/Dunbar Harbour - 17/06

Spoiling for some Blenny action I went down to the outlfow at Torness and found I had the place to myself at low tide. I explored the whole reef but only located the odd fish in a couple of pools and couldn't get any to take my Isome.

The quickest Blenny in the pool

By the time I reached the breakwater another guy with standard Bass gear had appeared. As I lobbed my Isome down the hole next to the rock he was on, some Blenny action finally began. About 3 or 4 very decent Blennies came charging out with about double that number of small ones all looking to take my bait. Thinking a biggie had it, I struck and pulled out a little booger. Releasing him into another pool, I was back in the same spot.

PB, 6 inch Blenny

Again there was plenty of action. This time I managed to hook one of the bigger ones, probably not the biggest, but a full 6 inches long. Definitely a new PB. After a few near misses, the bigger specimens seemed to have grown a bit more suspicious and showed themselves a lot less.

The wee ones were beasting my Isome, although in time they too became more suspicious and I had to be more patient. I rebaited with a new piece of Isome and chucked the old shredded piece into the same hole, watching as it slowly sank. An inch or two off the bottom it provoked a renewed frenzy and a little bulb went on in my head.

With the weight of the jighead, my bait was plummeting to the bottom and taking them a wee while to work themselves up to the take. So I  lowered my hook into the water as if it was slowly sinking and it was met just off the bottom by a frenzied Blenny mob. I ended with 6 Blennies before it was time to head up the road to Dunbar where I was meeting a few mates later after their work for a session in the harbour.

Bonus Flounder

Arriving first I was able to pull another flounder out of 'flattie corner' and also lose a flatfish that was about the size of a limpet. Then a choir turned up and began singing Moon River. Can't say that happens too often whilst fishing.

Jolly entertaining

I then went to the rocks outside the harbour mouth to see what was about. Immediately I hooked into something half decent and was delighted to find a Coalfish measuring 14 inches. Another of the same size quickly followed, then another smaller one.

Example Pollock

After the initial success, the big ones seemed to move away, but I still managed to catch and release 7 in total. One last hopeful attempt was made on flattie corner without success as I happily toddled back to the car and headed home.

Rock in the sea with birds on it

6 Blennies, 1 Flounder and 7 Coalies.


Eliburn 26/06

First Rudd for a while

My first visit to Eliburn for about 3 months came about after H requested an evening session to use up some leftover maggots. Notoriously difficult to raise in the AM, this suited me fine. We arrived to find nobody else fishing and quickly set up at my favourite peg.

In no time we were under assault from the Perca Perca. On occasion the Perch Army would let a maggot slip through their cordon and we'd snaffle another species. I caught a couple of Roach, an Ide and a bonus Rudd, first one for a couple of years, with the rest of my 15 or so fish being Perch. Hutch motored off into the distance with over 50 fish, around 40 of whom were the stripy anger merchants.

Ducklings providing some fun

An excellent wee session, but once again, as Hutch mentions in his blog of the day, we were left scratching our heads at the blank experienced by 3 boys on the opposite bank. To reiterate, we were under assault by the Perch. I fail to see how it would be possible to blank in there in those conditions short of using a ships anchor as a hook. And even then...Genuinely perplexing.

07/03/2013 - Eliburn

One bite, one fish - Bream

Time - 1430
Weather - 1800
Water - Clear, weedy
Method - Method & float
Total - 1
Species - Bream

Some last minute serendipity designed my first trip of the season to Eliburn with H. With the temperature hardly getting above 6 or 7 degrees for weeks, the forecast was for 4-5 degrees, a fair breeze and overcast conditions. It hadn't rained for a while at least so the water should be clear enough, but whilst it would be tough going, I was still quite confident in the Perch, Gudgeon or Roach to do their thing and accept some of my juicy maggots.

On arrival I was disappointed to see the water was really clogged up with weed, the arm of the lake being particularly choked. I was later informed there will be a clean up on the 16th March. If I can get the day off I hope to make my way through and help out. Whilst this appears to be necessary, as often is the case, I was a bit disappointed to see the amount of litter as well. While not horrendous, certainly not as bad as Pumphy Pond, this is a permitted water with Bailiff's/members patrolling it every day and yet the beer cans, crisp packets and obligatory floating Buckfast bottle make me question why I should have to pay for the privilege of cleaning up other peoples junk. A small section I was asked not to fish from last year, as it is supposedly a nature reserve, was as dirty and litter strewn as any other part of the lake. It is such a lovely little venue that, while not taking much to spoil, shouldn't take too much effort to maintain either.

There was only one other angler present, after the Carp, and doing it from my favourite peg. But not a problem. The trouble with fishing is if you find a good spot and reliable method, it makes you less inclined to try elsewhere and experiment a bit. So being forced to do so is a good thing if you embrace it.

We made for the double peg in the corner at the outflow. It seems as good as any. I went for the usual float, suspending maggots and varying the depth, an absolute banker of a method here and on my other rod, for the first time, tried a method feeder with pellets, then later on maggots. H opted for a float with some maggots on the bottom and a swim feeder incorporated into a helicopter rig. Generally I'm suspicious of getting too complicated. Half of this may be justified whilst the other half is probably just laziness. But fishing with H, who as I've said before, is a hardcore fishing addict, is usually an education of sorts and it's good to view different approaches up close.

Quite soon, despite his super fine bite detection system not showing anything, he reeled in and found, of all species, a small Perch had taken his swim fed maggots. It's always great to get the first fish on the bank and it showed that if nothing else, we would be snaffling a few of the many small Perch Eliburn holds. Ha, or so we thought. After a good hour of nothing at all whatsoever, not even a phantom bite, we were starting to scratch our heads a bit. Finally, my method rod began to go for a bit of a walk (my bite detection system is about 100% cruder than H's) and despite my clumsiness, when I picked it up, found the fish was still on.

It felt half decent, but nothing special and didn't seem too keen to shoot off. Then I seen a pretty big flash and hoped I'd connected with a Carp that was about to blast off up the lake, but realised almost immediately it was a Bream. Somewhat unexpected, but very welcome. It measured 16.5 inches and would be somewhere around 2 - 2 1/2 lbs.

But that was it, no more bites (I did get twanged once more, but suspect it was a line bite), no more small Perch and so we headed around the bank in pursuit of more action. At the inflow end, where I can absolutely guarantee fish, I was extremely surprised when we didn't get a single tap between us. Most unusual. We did however see a little bit of surface activity with a fishes dorsal and tail breaking the surface at one point, but nothing on or near our hooks.

After giving up, I decided to move round to the arm for a last blast and H decided to follow. After another 15 mins or so of absolutely nothing, I decided I'd had enough, withdrew my rods and enjoyed watching a wee Robin nick H's maggots when his back was turned.

H packed up his first rod and just as he went for his other rod, the float bobbled a bit, then disappeared and he was into his second small Perch of the day.

Pipped on the last cast by 2 fish to 1, I could at least be happy with my fish of the day. Despite the slim pickings, three fish between us, one a bit more of a rarity wasn't too bad for the conditions. It just shows how much of a difference the temperature and suchlike can make. At times here I almost suspect there is more fish than water in the lake, then on days like this it's as if they've all emigrated somewhere for the winter. Lets hope the clean up is a success.

Lastly, only once home and comparing photos, it may well just be a seasonal thing, however this Bream looks a lot more silvery than my last noticeably olive green coloured Bream leaving me wondering if the most recent catch is a Silver Bream? The pectoral fins look to be a different shape too.

Here is a photo of a previous Eliburn Bream for comparison. If you click on a photo, you can view all the photos per blog full screen.

Caught July 2011

15/11/2012 - Eliburn Reservoir

Having seen the potential, H was keen to get back to Eliburn to get some more species ticked off. He arrived before me and set up opposite where we'd been situated on our previous visit. Being a complete addict, in the time since the last session he'd been reading up on method feeding tactics and couldn't resist getting a new waggler rod. His report is here.

Still recovering from the previous nights excesses I received a text saying he'd caught a Tench with his first cast on the method. Another new species for him. Then on the road another text said he thought he had an Ide as well which he'd keep in the net til I arrived. Top stuff.

On arrival one of the permit guys had been unable to identify the 'Ide'. At first I suspected it was a small Bream, but on reflection it is most likely one of the Hybrid's (Roach/Bream) I've seen caught there. Not content with one, he managed to snaffle another one not too long after. Still no Ide somehow.

So I set myself up as usual with maggots under a float at varying depths til I found some fish and another rod on the bottom. I'll usually use cubes of luncheon meat but today used sweetcorn squeezed into a ball of H's groundbait. As the latter rod is then put in a rest whilst the float rod demands more attention, I contrived to miss a few rattles on the sweetcorn rod (new bell indicator in action). However the maggot rod was proving slow and I was having to alter my depth a lot in a bid to find fish. Surprisingly, as it was a bit chilly, I had most success up in the water although these were proving to be what I call 'phantoms'. The float disappears, you strike and there's nothing, no resistance whatsoever. The fish has taken and spat the bait before you can strike. It never ceases to amaze me how quick they are able to do this. Sometimes after a missed strike, if you don't reel in, another 'phantom' bites, you strike and miss and this can repeat 3 or 4 times in the same cast. It gets to the point I occasionally do pre-emptive strikes hoping a fish has taken the bait but not yet pulled the float under. A tactic which hasn't yet worked.

Unfortunately the rest of this report is missing. After starting it, too much time elapsed before I recorded anything else and my memories have faded. Plenty more good info on Eliburn in my other reports if required.

25/10/2012 - Eliburn Reservoir

A typical Eliburn Roach

Total - 12
Species - Roach & Perch

Once the trout season had finished I'd promised to get H through to Eliburn in Livingston. I assured him I'd had t-shirt weather days there in November before (in fact, almost hot enough to go topless!!!) so there was no real rush, especially as we'd been targeting the sea a fair bit recently too.

A typical Eliburn Perch

On arrival I was a bit concerned as all my favourite pegs were already occupied. I also noticed much more pond weed than I'd seen for a while making some pegs and especially the 'arm' a bit more clogged up than would be ideal. Landing fish through the small channels between the weed might be an issue.

We set up on the east bank. H plumbed to find the depth and began with his maggots on the bottom under a float. It didn't take long before he was acquainting himself with the inhabitants. Whilst I connected with a couple of medium sized Roach a few feet off the bottom, H's first was a lovely wee Gudgeon, a new species for him. Seldom will one Gudgeon have had so many photos of itself taken.

His Majesty hard at work (the extra weed clearly visible)

There was occasional interest, but nothing hectic and I commented after an hour or so I was amazed we hadn't been ambushed by the usually prevalent Perch yet. Within seconds I had one on the bank, the aggressive wee nutjobs always amuse me with their compunction for a scrap.

The weather had been OK, but was improving nicely. Unfortunately in this country I always have the Billy Connolly weather forecast in my head. In Scotland, if it's sunny, that means it's going to rain and if it's raining, that means it's going to be sunny.

A slightly more decent Perch from the top end

I liken the Ide in Eliburn to Rainbow Trout. When you get them in your swim they are voracious, not shy at all and swirl for any thrown in maggots much like rainbows in a fish farm do for pellets. H was hoping for one of them and eventually I thought I'd spotted some moving around just in front of us (still without my polarised shades). There was the usual flurry of phantom bites (float goes, you strike, nothing there as they spit the bait before you can react). When we did manage to connect we could only land some more Roach.

A lovely Roach for H

In time things slowed down a bit. I often have success at the top end of the venue so on the way back to the car we had a dip in there. I think between us we had 5 fish in our first 5 casts (I've said it before, but I don't understand how (non-carpers at least) blank here. There were Gudgeon, some Roach and the always game Perch getting stuck right into our maggots and in no time we'd topped our catch totals right up. However the earlier sunshine had given way to blustery showers and I was happy to call it a day. H had 'won' with Roach, Gudgeon and Perch totalling 14 whilst my Roach & Perch tally was 12. With plenty more species to be caught, I knew it wouldn't be long before H dragged me back.

19/07/2012 - Eliburn

Water - See first paragraph
Weather - OK, a bit chilly around 6pm as the wind got up, before dying down into quite a nice evening
Time - 1pm-9pm
Method - Meat cubes, maggots, sweetcorn, floating bait
Total - See end of report
Species - Roach, Perch, Ide, Gudgeon.

A long overdue trip through to Livi kicked off in the early afternoon. The wettest April-June spell on record followed by a couple of big July downpours had the reservoir at its capacity and as a consequence, the water was a bit muddier looking than normal. Saying that, the visibility wasn't much different to usual.

A little surprisingly, as it was the best weather in a while, it wasn't too busy. We settled into the Railings Peg with two tactics. Firstly some chopped meat out on the bottom and then maggots under a float at varying depths until we found some fish.

2-3lb Carp in the surface

There were plenty of fish in the surface including some small carp although they largely disappeared from our immediate vicinity as things progressed. I was into fish on the drop pretty quickly managing to land one Roach whilst losing two more Roach plus a decent Ide and a wee Perch. I was fishing reasonably shallow (18 inches - 2ft) below the surface and was having most interest on the drop with a few maggots sprinkled on and around my float at regular intervals. Whilst there were some Ide getting involved, it was mostly Roach that were interested just below the 'surface layer'.

Primo condition Roach

My fishing buddy was fishing a little deeper than me and was having a bit more success. As usual, there were spells of little happening interspersed with bursts of activity as fish seemingly came into range. In between this I'd target wee Perch deeper down in the margins to boost numbers a bit. When we were both doing this a larger than normal Perch of 9 inch was taken, until that point our biggest Perca had been 5.5inch.

The monster Perch

All this time and for the rest of the session we didn't get so much as a line-bite on the bottom bait. Very disappointing. This despite chucking out sweetcorn and some extra meat cubes to try and attract some fish in to feed.

There were some other guys fishing opposite us and down in the Dam Corner peg. they were catching regularly enough as well, bith using poles and looking mostly like they were into some Roach.

Gudgeon - lovely wee fish

As it neared 9pm and the end of our permit, we were running out of maggots, so therefore struggling to find much interest from fish taking bait in the drop. So we decided to give the head of the pond a shot as it's usually a safe bet. We were quickly seeing our floats pulled under by small Perch and as it turned out, some Gudgeon too. These were all on one or two maggots. It's also where I connected with a comedy perch of 3.75 inch.

We did try some floating bait too, but nothing was feeding on the surface (other than the odd seagull).

Me (16)
Perch x 10 - 3.75"-6"
Roach x 4  - 7"-11.5"
Gudgeon x 2 - 5"-5.5"

Him (18)
Perch x 5 - 4"-9"
Roach x 10 - 7.5"-11"
Ide x 2 - 15.5"-16"
Gudgeon x 1 - 5.5"

01/03/2012 - Eliburn

Time - 1400 - 1700
Water - OK, same as yesterday at inflow, quite cloudy in main body of lake
Weather - Overcast and mild with biggish 20 min shower about 4pm
Where - 3rd peg on the arm and next to inflow
Method - Various maggots and bread, details in report
Total - 5 (3 ide, 2 Perch)

With an arsenal of bait I had plenty of options for attack. With all pegs on the 'south-west' bank and the bottom corners taken I decided to start on my favourite 'arm' peg. There was little reason for optimism as there didn't seem to be much showing and so I began on a simple maggot/float set-up deciding not to employ the 2nd rod yet.

There was a heck of a din coming from the trees down near the dam end somewhere and after about 15 mins it showed itself. There was a tractor type vehicle coming up the path which turned out to be a seriously noisy tree shredder, the noise not being any shredding, just the motion as it edged slowly forward. The operators then fired up a chainsaw and started attacking a tree that took a little bit of coercion to finally come crashing down. None of this was helping my headache and I was pretty sure it wasn't much good for the fish either. After 10-15 mins of nothing I'd decided to move when a 5 inch Perch took the maggots. At least there was something about but I was hoping for a little more. So I chucked out Rod 2 with some chopped meat and gave it another 15 mins. There was no further action and when the chainsaw got fired up again as well as the chopped tree now being shredded I was off to the inflow spot I'd fished the previous day.

17.5 inch fatty

I was delighted to see no ducks or especially swans and chucked out some pieces of the healie bread I'd brought. In no time there were fish swirling and taking it. So I put a bit on the hook and cast it out. Needless to say my bait remained untouched while the other bits of bread were taken one at a time. I chucked some more bread in and this time cast a bit farther past it. Again, most of the other bread was taken before eventually my bait disappeared and I was into what I was sure was a wee carp. It soon became apparent it was something else and into the net appeared a big fat Ide which tipped the tape at 17.5 inches. After checking my records, it comes up .25 of an inch short of my record taken at Eliburn (29/10/2009). Most probably about 3-3.5lb. Good enough and the first time I've taken a fish at Eliburn with this method.

By the time I had it in the net the swans had appeared and hung about so I didn't continue with bread on the surface and switched to maggots with the float. It was the usual with shadows cruising about and hoovering maggots on the drop. I lost a small perch and a Ide/Chub/Roach of about 10 inches and there was plenty of interest. I then had the brainwave to put some bread out on Rod 2, usually reserved for meat cubes. Although the fish were being beaten to the bread on the surface by the swans, if I attached an unsqueezed piece of bread to the weighted line, it would pop-up and sit a few inches off the bottom should anything take an interest that far down.

Double hook-up

After setting that out I returned to the mags and soon hooked another Ide. As it came near the net, Rod 2 screamed off too. I managed to net the 1st one and get the 2nd rod in time to keep it on. The result was two Ide of 15 & 13.5 inch.

Just as I released them a lady & her hubby arrived. She said I was lucky as she'd not brought her permits book but asked if I could move from the area I was fishing as it was a "sanctuary" for nesting birds. As optimistic a regulation as I've ever heard and unfortunately typical of the way so many fisheries seem to evolve. The only sanctuary was for for detritus and plastic bottles, but rules are rules and so I had to move 10 yards to my left and out of the way of the hotspot. My biggest recomendation for Eliburn would be that the folk who take your fiver should carry pincers and a bin bag and do a wee clean-up ontheir rounds. I know its not 'their' mess exactly and I wish brain dead twits didn't litter, but if you're running a fishery and charging folk for the privilege of fishing, a little TLC would go a long way.

Despite a couple of other bites, probably small Perch, there were no more fish to be landed. Apparently nobody else had caught a thing, something that always surprises me at Eliburn. Unless you're solely after Carp when long periods of nothing happening are to be expected, there's no reason not to howk out something at any time of year. Firstly, if your not catching or worse, getting no interest at all, then move. Not a notion I believe most orthodox coarse fishers seem to live by. Maybe its the amount of kit often required and the prospect of hauling it all somewhere else. And secondly, get straight to whoever is catching and find out what they're doing. My Plan A, get a small hook an a fine leader, attach a float and put 2-3-4 maggots on. Then get it out. Start at distances or spots you've caught before but don't be afraid to drop it in right in the margins. If nothing happens increase the depth right down to 5-6 foot if you need to. And if all that doesn't work, MOVE.

29/02/2012 - Eliburn

Time - 1430 - 1545
Water - Inflow clear, clouding up into the main water
Where - Next to inflow bridge
Weather - Dull but OK & improving
Method - Float, maggots, 18 inches down
Total - 6

14.5 inch Ide

Without much time on my hands I opted for a single rod assault and headed for the top end where I can guarantee interest.

Not too long before my arrival, someone had obviously been feeding ducks as there was a lot of bread on the surface, but no ducks around. However there were two or three carp in the 3-5lb range sooking and swirling at it on the surface which was encouraging for starters. Unfortunately I didn't have any bread with me.

14 inch Ide

First cast my float disappeared and I was into a decent Ide of about 16-17 inch. I was toying with how to land it as my net was still folded and after a minute or so, as I tried to set up my net it escaped.

Continuing with the method of casting and then dropping some mags over the float area was proving successful. A couple of foot or so down you could see the fish hoovering up the maggots on the drop and the float was disappearing often enough. The first fish to be banked was a 14.5 inch Ide, soon followed by a 14 incher.

As the fish began to wise up - more phantom bites were increasing as the fish gobbled then spat the mags before I could strike - I increased the amount of maggots from 2 or 3 up to full beard. Although still attracting interest from the Ide, I connected with a couple of Perch. The first was just under 5 inch and the next a veritable Eliburn monster of 6 whole inches.

I'm pretty well versed in what Eliburn holds and have caught or seen most species. On maggot and float alone I've connected with Carp, Barbel, Tench, Rudd, Hybrid, Ide, Gudgeon, Roach & Bream. However, as far as I know, I'm yet to encounter a Chub. Having never encountered them anywhere else either, I have no experience of them to use as a marker. It is my suspicion that I have caught Chub amongst hauls of Ide, but just not been aware of it at the time. I've been told they have unmistakably big mouths, but, considering the variety I've hooked, I'm very surprised I haven't even caught a Chub by accident. Most unlikely. Needless to say, now I'm aware of this I've been paying special attention to all 'Ide' I catch.

There was still a fair bit of interest in general although I was casting a bit further and wider. My next two fish were smaller than the first two Ide, but quite interesting in the old Ide/Chub debate.

Fish Five, 13.5 inches

Fishes One & Two I characterise thus: A deeper, rounder 'breamier' shape as is apparent in the photos. Quite rough to the touch when dealing with them on the bank and quite a thuddy fight without many or any runs.

The last two fish were different enough to arouse my suspicions, whilst being similar enough to allow my doubt and confusion to rumble on.

As soon as I hooked them, at a further distance than I'd caught my earlier two Ide, I noticed a difference in the fight. I suspected they were Roach as they were much flittier, a bit stronger though not heavier and making runs. Once banked I noticed their scales to be relatively larger and noticeably continuing up round and over the back of the fish. They were more slender and very slimy to touch. However the colouration was as good as identical both on the body and the reddishness of the fins. Fish Five was 13.5 inches and Fish Six was 12 inches.

So for the time being I'll continue to call the last two Ide until I determine the differences for sure, or catch a Chub which shows itself to be completely different from the Ide I've been taking.

23/12/2011 - Eliburn

Bit of a beast

 Time - 12.40 - 16.20
Water - Cloudy, cold
Where - Middle Peg & Bridge Peg
Weather - Cold, calm, odd very light shower, 6.5 degrees on arrival
Methods - Meat cubes on the bottom, multi maggots on float
Total - 14
Species - Ide (4), Perch (9), Roach (1)
Size - 4.5 inch - 17.5 inch

Five anglers in total, two of them with poles were trying their luck. The water had been frozen until Tuesday before thawing and was certainly still chilly when I dipped my hand in.

I was delighted to find my fave middle peg unoccupied and settled in. Rather than specimen hunt with both rods, due to the time of year I decided to try one with meat cubes on the bottom with one rod and vary the depths under a float with maggots or pellets on the other. A tactic that proved very productive by the end of proceedings.

I'd sat for a while with nothing doing at all. The pole fishers were on the last two pegs on the east bank at the dam end. The Dam boy got a gudgeon and the other guy landed two I think, one I defo saw was a roach of about 8ish inch. Not sure of his bait, but he was sending the pole out, tipping his bait in, retrieving the pole, adding his bait/float, then dropping it right on top of his bait again. The fourth gent arrived and took the bottom corner peg chatting a bit on the way past. His intention was to fish the bottom.

Tip top condition

After exploring depths & areas with the mag rod, I was even unsuccessful right in at the bank hoping for a guj or wee Perch. Eventually, only marginally further out I had a wee tickle and extracted a Perch that, if I had had the temerity to measure it, may have broken the 4.5 inch barrier. And it had wolfed the hook right down. About 20-30 mins later, another little bit of action on the float was met with my eagle-like reactions. Fully expecting a guj or 4 inch perch, I was delighted to feel something a bit more substantial. It turned out to be a 10.5 inch Roach in nice nick. Not quite a mad half hour, but thats sort of how it felt at the time.

There hadn't been any fish visible just under the surface, but occasionally what were probably decent carp, would break the surface, mostly near the middle of the water so with a couple banked and some sort of activity about, I was happy enough. Nothing whatsoever on the meat rod though and no nibbles at all when I retrieved the bait for inspection. As the time edged closer to darkness, I had to decide whether to stay put, maybe get another fish or two and maybe a nice one on the meat, or head towards the bridge where I would always go if I had to catch a fish if my life depended on it at Eliburn. So I upped sticks and moved.

Half way to my destination, I noticed another dude fishing where I was headed. However he was packing up. So I politely made enquiries and sure enough it would be all mine soon enough. The vacating gent said he'd taken 4 small perch on the maggot.

One of the greedy 15 inchers

First cast my float disappeared and I took my second tiny, hook swallowing roach of the day. Result. Another 3 followed, maybe reaching as much as 6 inch in length. I'd edged about as north as I could go, where the inflow drops off and struck into another perchy type bite and realised immediately I was into something a lot more substantial. A couple of minutes later I had a 15" Ide on the bank. Where did that come from? I was baiting up a bit more now and the Idey type swirls would appear now and again so I knew I was in with a chance of some more. Bang, another 15 incher soon followed which was blind in one eye, then almost immediately another that gave me a good tussle requiring a fair bit of cajoling to keep it out of the weeds beds. It tipped the measuring tape at 17.5 inches. A few more wee perch then followed before a final 15 inch Ide obliged. All fish on the maggot and all using tactics that wouldnt be out of place at most other times of the year at Eliburn, although generally deeper than usual, but not necessarily on the bottom.

08/09/11 - Eliburn Reservoir

Blank Buster

Time - 15.00-20.00

Water - OK, visibility 18-24 inches, pretty calm

Where - Middle Peg

Weather - Decent enough, not much breeze, sunny outbreaks amongst cloud

Methods - Rod 1 - Maggots, float, 3lb trace size 18 pre-tied hook link, Rod 2 - Meat
Total - 1
Species - Roach
Size - 7 inch

As unusually tough a day as I've had here. First note of interest at 17.30 on the mags. Started shallow and increased depth. Although bites did increase, nothing wonderful. Prob just a Perch or two, a Guj or two and a Roach or two. The Roach I did eventually get was a very tentative offer, on mag, about 3-4 feet down.

Worth noting I didn't have too many maggots (leftovers from previous visit) & they were in a bit of moisture & pretty unpleasant to handle so I wasn't baiting up as often as normal. If/when I did, interest certainly increased.

The meat rod had no runs, one pickup up & spit, and two or thee line bites as far as I could tell. Twas a different brand of meat from usual and I'd like to think this had a bit to do with the general underwater inaction.

Others Anglers seemed to be in the same fishless boat. Two younger dudes started in the Dam Corner Peg and about 19.30 got a Mirror Carp of about 6lbs. Method looked like maggots in a swim feeder.

06/09/11 - Eliburn Reservoir

21 inch Common Carp (est 6lbs)

Time - 12.30-19.30
Water - OK, visibility 18-24 inches, a bit choppy, no film

Where - Second Peg on the arm, then Middle Peg

Weather - Very windy, nice to start with, drizzle increasing to really miserable at times

Methods - Rod 1 - Maggots, float, 3lb trace size 18 pre-tied hook link, Rod 2 - Meat
Total - 17
Species - Gudgeon, Perch, Common Carp
Size - 4 - 21 inches

If ever a day rewarded perseverance, this was it. Six Perch to 5.5 inches, ten Gudgeon to 5 inches in 6 hours until the meat rod finally paid off big time.

Started on The Arm, another gentleman started just before me on the First Peg using a pole. I began on the next peg along. Chucked the meat in near the lilies on the right, tried a few different lies, but nothing at all. The chunk had been quite well nibbled, but not by anything substantial and not enough to show any signs of a bite on the rod.

Extracted three Perch (including the 5.5 incher) & a fat 5 inch Gudgeon on varying amount of maggots. Started quite shallow (a foot or so) and got enough interest. Went deep and interest dropped off, although not altogether. Got stuck on the bottom a bit too often, although didn't lose any tackle so moved up to 1.5-2 foot and had most interest. Possibly the odd bite from an Ide, probably the odd bite from a Roach. A carp splurged in front of me about 15 feet out and despite the wave on the water, there were enough skimmer type fish louping out now and again to keep my interest up.

Decided to shift positions and see what was doing at the dam end. Spoke to Pole Guy. He'd had a small roach and a Crucian of about a pound and a half on pellet. Also spoke to guy on next peg round. He was using bread/float but had no joy. Observing plenty bubbles near the weed bed.

Happily the middle peg was free. I'd been thinking about a Dam end peg as it looked the most sheltered from the wind but the Middle Peg proved too tempting (another couple of guys were moving pegs too and were in Dam Outflow Corner Peg).

Lobbed some meat out in the usual spot and began efforts to connect with something other than Perch on the mags. A 5lb or so carp half splatted out of the water in front of me as I was re-setting up. However the wind was dragging the float right to left and into the shore too quickly. No chance of spotting surface fish and there were a few drizzly showers too. So I tended to fish no more than a rod length out with varying amounts of maggots and was able to get loads of attention mostly from Gudgeon and some Perch.

Gudgeon 4.5 inch (not the fat one)

The weather really closed in meaning a huddle under the brolly and a few missed bites on the mags. Another Carp flapped right out of the water about 20 feet in front startling me somewhat. Nothing happened for ages on the meat rod. Thought I had a wee bounce at one point, then eventually got a definite tap. But offers/attention were few and far between and I was missing anything that did show. There was one probable line bite too.

During a drizzle break I decided to move to the Dam Wall Peg. I collapsed the net and lay it on the fence and it was at this point that my meat line screamed off and up the lake. Turned, tightened and struck only to feel the hook and fish part company. No idea of size, but defo not a minnow!!! So had to stay put. I suspected it may have been a carp. Usually its more of a bounce than a run when the meat is taken. But as the day wore on I became a bit more convinced it was a Barbel (about 60/40).

One of the Perch I caught came off with the (pre-tied) hook and line disconnecting so started using a size 16 with the mags to no obvious slowing up in offers.

Was varying the distance from the bank with the meat rod (not too far, but sometimes quite close) and had another couple of bounces but couldnt connect. Meat often showed nibble marks. Noticed the barb of the hook was a little turned in, so straightened it in the hope it would help.

Then at about 6.45 the meat rod screamed off again (very satisfying sound) and this time the hook set nicely. I was able to turn it and exert a modicum of control. It didn't try to go too far (maybe just my increasing ability and composure in these circumstances). I'd been re-baiting the mag rod when this kicked off, so the water was clear in front to play it. Tried to get it up into the top of the water to get a look but it stayed quite low, and the fact it wasn't haring off uncontrollably meant I was happy it was a decent Barbel, confirming my earlier hypothesis. Eventually got it into view and was rather delighted to discover it was a friggin carp!!!

It might not have been uncontrollable, but it was still well heavy and difficult to get near the net. When it turned away it was also doing a good job of flapping its tail on the line. After 10-15 mins I was able to get it into the net without too many frights. The hook was securely in the top lip and no prob to disgorge.  Measured it, got a couple of photos and released it back.

It might be a sign of madness, but the fish seemed to be a reasonably chilled individual. It didn't scrap any harder than a 17 inch Barbel and felt less weighty by far in the water than my previous Common. It didn't flap about at all on the bank either, almost as if he knew the script and was waiting to be released. A very nice specimen. I didn't consider it's weight on the bank, but estimate it was about 6lbs for its 21 inches in length.

Although I continued on for another half hour, there were no more bites and I packed up.