Dab Fishing, Dungeness

Dab attack!

Behind The Boats, Dungeness, TN29. UK

The Lighthouse At Dungeness Guarding The Point

It's been a month a half since a serious fishing session for me, although I did manage to have a half hearted session at Hastings which was left me using a light spinning rod for beach casting because it was too painful for me to use my beach casters due to my bad elbow, it has not healed properly, but thankfully due to some taking it easy and extreme anti inflammatory tablets from the doctors, the pain has subsided enough for me to venture to the bank again. my first choice would have been Pike fishing, but the rivers have all been in flood, and with a cold spell coming, I decided it would be more sensible to go later on in the year. This actually for a change left me a bit confused as to where to, or even what to fish for. But my inspiration came from the "World Dab Championships" held last weekend. a annual friendly competition held at Dungeness where all the proceeds went to the RNLI. What caught my eye was the size limit for the Dabs, they had to be over 25cm. I have caught lots of Dabs over the years, but never over 25cm as far as I can remember. After a bit of research I discovered that this was a time of year when the bigger Dabs were coming inshore, and in hindsight I'd normally miss this opportunity, due to the fact I would be hitting big baits at range for late Cod or Bass if the sea was rough. But not this time!

Lug Tipped With Squid

Me and Sarah set off for late due to a hangover, but it didn't matter we still was going to get 5 hour fishing the ebb tide from high water until it got dark, which was the perfect way to ease myself into the new season. To be honest nothing about the timing of the session seemed to be right, the tide, and lack of wind and direction were all negative but this was more of a opportunity to just go fishing for the sake of it, and decides the only thing that was right, was a glorious winters sunny day to enjoy. I decided to fish an area known as "behind the boats" which is actually the beach where the fishing boats launch from. I picked here as this was where I had previously caught a lot of Dabs before, it's a steep single bank going down to a clear flat sandy/muddy bottom that gets exposed at low water. the tide is not that strong here and its extremely snag free which makes for a easier and quieter place to fish than towards the point.

Treble Shot! And Three Species Too!

I fished two Greys 12' 6" TSX Centaur rods, matched with Shimano Biomaster 8000 XBS reel, loaded with 15lb mono with a 15lb to 60lb leader. One was fished with a single clipped down rig with a size 2/0 hook with whole squid as bait, just in case anything big was about, this would also give me the chance to concentrate on my second rod which would be targeting Dabs, a 3 hook flapper rig with size 4 Aberdeen hooks with added bling,  5mm different coloured beads with sequins on each hook to attract the little flat fish. My bait was to be half a black lug tipped with a 7mm wide, 6cm strip of squid to flap about like a flag in the tide. With my large bait at range, I fished the flapper rig where I believed the shingle meet the muddy bottom at about 80m, as I helped Sarah set up her rod, I watched my rod tip rattle repeatedly, once I was done and Sarah was baited and ready to cast out,  I lifted up my rod which was still rattling away without striking, reeled in, by the weight it felt like a sizable fish, but even better then that and to my delight, a treble shot of Whiting, Dogfish and Dab all on the hooks you would expect them to be on, text book stuff proved right. And a good start to the session, Then out of the blue, a seal popped his head up where we were fishing, then dived down, he came up for air a few times briefly for us to see him, but not long enough for a photo, then we lost him. I'd seen a seal here before, but it is quite a rare sight, and the only place I've even seen one in Kent.

New PB Dab 14oz

I had landed a few pin Whiting and some small Dabs at range, but about an hour into the ebb, weed started to push through making fishing almost impossible for an hour, but during this time Sarah was picking of the odd dab close in about 30 to 40m out, and then she landed the biggest Dab I've ever seen, I had a bit of confusion about what it was at first because it was very dark and had a dark green colouration, but it wasn't a flounder because it had no boney knobs behind the head, it was a definitely a Dab, and we joked that it was probably the grandad of all Dabs. I decided to follow suit and kept my cast to within 40m and then I started hitting the larger Dabs, This was actually what I was looking for, the area where the shingle meet the muddy flat bottom, I could feel the lead lift out of the soft mud and then bounce into and along the shingle as I reeled in. I landed four over 25cm with the biggest being 31cm long and weighing 8oz all at very close range. after an hour of frantic fun, it seemed to go quiet, until on my last cast I landed the biggest fish of the day a Dogfish. All my fish came on the one rod, and I only got a few nibbles on the big bait rod, well I was kept busy enough not to mind, I guess there was nothing big about, except the seal.

Line Up, Line up!

I have to say this was a surprisingly pleasant trip, my arm held up, and the sun shone with a warm glow that took the chill out of the winter air enough to make it very comfortable, Sarah had managed 8 fish including a Rockling, and I managed 16 fish, with 6 keepers between us, I had gone to target Dabs knowing that it was the right time for them with the right sized rig for their little mouths, and had caught the biggest Dabs I've seen. Yes, they are a small fish where a 1lb specimen is a very good fish from the shore, with their tell tale bites, of tiny little rattles every 5 seconds or so, they hardly put up a fight, They were fun to catch, and luckily for me they got bigger and bigger as the day went on. I think Dabs are normally around most of the year, and definitely make great viable target during this quiet time of year fishing from our shores. I've also read a lot about Dabs on the internet that they went out of fashion to be eaten, due to being branded a horrible tasting fish, I have to say and believe many would agree that this is very unfair, Fresh Dab fillets in flour and seasoned fried in olive oil are absolutely delicious, and even better due to their size, they are perfect for baps, Yum Yum..... fresh fish burgers anyone??!!

Happy New Year!

 Hi all, I like to start by saying Happy New Year and a big thank you to all who read my blog, I am surprised and humbled that I get so many reads a day. I was inspired to write this blog by my partner Sarah. It was obvious that I had to write about my passion in life "Fishing" and a year on, I have learnt and still learning so much from researching on the internet, I can only hope that "Fish Hooked" is as inspiring and informative as all your blogs.

2012 has been one of my most successful years fishing to date,  And I have to say that its really because I've spent more time fishing this year than any other,  I have been fishing new tactics and venues in any weather condition, day or night to catch the target fish, and put in more homework than a school teacher can mark, and of course, what we all need, a lot of luck!.

I've been lucky enough to seen two of the biggest fish I've ever seen "not in a photo" a record 75lb Carp caught by Tiddy on our week trip to France's Sky Lake which saw me land my Pb a 37lb mirror Carp, And a monstrous Catfish estimated at 60lb+ that I lost At Furnace Lakes. I've also caught my first ever Cod, a 5lb 9oz from the beach at Dungeness. Ive also Taken my first Smooth Hound, a beautiful 7lb 2oz Starry from Reculver beach and even added Pollock and Weaver fish to my species list.

It hasn't all been good though, this year it has been the wettest on record in England for 100 years, "good for fish!! not for us!" and I really can only think of one fishing trip to Folkstone which was on the hottest day of the year, that wasn't affected by the rain. And I've been struggling with tennis elbow as a result of heavy beach casting which has taken its toll. 


Anyways, to 2013, I have my sights on catching some new species and hopefully some big game fishing, if things go to plan, but most of all, visiting new places and sharing stories with random fishermen whilst at the waters edge, watching shooting stars zip across a clear winter skys, with spectacular sunsets and sunrises, whilst hoping that your next bite might, just might be the fish of dreams.

Tight Lines and all the best for 2013

Eddie

It's Not Just Fish I Catch! ;-)

Cod Fishing, The Point, Dungeness

Right Time, Right Place Equals Perfect End To Year!

The Point, Dungeness, Kent. TN29, UK

The Calm AfterThe Storm

For the record, I've been secretly after my first Cod for a few seasons now, I've done probably 13 sessions this year and frustratingly haven't managed to catch one. I've heard other fisherman talk about these shore caught Cod like a mythical creature that only exist in dreams, and some even stated that they have given up chasing them. Although I have to admit that catching a Cod was going to be more difficult than I realised, I decided last year that my best chance to catch a Cod would be Dungeness, firstly due to the fact that I could find more info on this venue online than any other venue, Its steep single beaches giving access to very deep water at low tide, and of coarse its past history of glory days before extreme commercial fishing when catching 20lb fish were common, making this one of the best Cod beaches in the UK.

Left Ot Right First?

It wasn't a waste of time whilst I fished on the deserted beach totally alone in the dark, surrounded by freezing fog and only catching a Whiting, Although I didn't catch Cod, I was learning the venue, gaining knowledge, testing theory's and perfecting rigs. I now know enough about the venue to avoid the snaggy areas, I learnt the fishes movement along and around the point during the tides, when and where the current pushes through. And now I had decided exactly where I would be fishing once I knew the Cod were in, as with sea fishing you can easily forget that you will only catch the fish that are in front of you, so if you want a Cod you have to be on the beach when they are there. I missed the last run of Cod the week before because I was fishing for Bass where I knew they would be, whilst around the corner they were smashing out Cod, right time, wrong place! "Sod's law or Cod's law?!?"

Squid And Lug On Pennel

Well, a fortnight later, and the time was now!, Big spring tide giving easier access to the deep water at low water, A few days of SW 50mph gale force winds turning the sea brown and pushing food into the coast with the fish following. I even had a weather window where I could turn up just before dusk and fish 3 hours until low water and 1 up until the dreaded weed pushing through would make fishing extremely difficult, and even get home for bed time And to top it off, catches of cod had just started coming through a couple of days before. It was now! this was going to be my last session of the year so I really hoped that I would catch a dream fish. As planned, I arrived just before dark as the day anglers were packing up, leaving plenty of spots to jump into, this was again all down to the time of the tides, getting a place to fish where you want can be very difficult as it's a hugely popular venue which becomes over crowded during the Cod season. Although I took two rods I really only fished one rod at a time, a Greys Centaur TSX 12" 6" which is a very powerful casting rod, defiantly too powerful for me to get the best out of it, but at least I could cast the extra yards further needed during the strong inshore winds. I matched the rod with a Shimano Biomaster 8000 XBS spooled with 15lb Shimano speicimen mono line, with 15lb to 70lb tapered leader, end tackle was a single clipdown pennel rig with 3/0 viking hooks, 30lb snod and 5oz breakaway lead, which is just about heavy enough to hold bottom over low water. My bait was to be large Lugworm and squid cocktails.

Get In!!! My First Cod at 5lb 9oz

It wasn't long before I had landed a few Whiting and quite a large Dab as normal, but even they died off towards low water, normally this would be a home time, but this was when I expected to catch, my bait was now being left alone, maybe the odd twitch on the rod tip but at least I knew my bait was still on and giving off scent for the bigger fish to home in on. The weather was windy, blowing large rain drops horizontally into my face and soaking me, as quick as it started the rain stopped, the gale force wind then dried me off completely! ironically, just in time for the next downfall, this was the only part of my plan that wasn't right, but only a small detail, being a fisherman you quickly learn to appreciate that you will always either get wet or cold, or both if your unlucky. It was low water and the tide had stopped moving as it turned and I had a firm medium tug on the rod tip, followed by another and another, I wondered???? shall I strike? Is it weed? by the 6th tug I couldn't resist I struck, and immediately felt two large knocks on the rods, As I reeled in it felt like something heavy on the end, and again a large double knock. I was on! and this was big, It had to be a cod!!! In fact I was definite it was!! but then my rod straightened and my line went slack, I reeled in frantically to tighten the line to the fish, had I lost it? the fish must be swimming straight towards the beach. I walked backwards up the beach to help tighten the line and then with a big relief the line tightened and a big curve was back in the rod. The fish was still on! And now it was close, and in the surf, as the waves went out pulling the fish away from the beach the drag on my reel screamed as line was taken, As soon as it stopped I went for broke Reeling in fast and walking backwards to beach the fish on this wave. But by now I was at least 30m away from the water, Had I beached it? I wasn't too sure as I couldn't see in the dark that far Lol, I pulled another five meters of line it felt like a dead weight! I put the rod down and I ran with the fishing line line running through my hand, past the obligatory annoying clump of weed that always builds up around the leader knot, then I saw the fish glisten in the moonlight, as I got closer I realised it was what I wanted, a Cod!!! and to be honest a lot larger than I actually expected to catch. I was lucky the fish had shaken the hook out and without thinking I panicked as the fish was on the surf edge and could of quite easily flipped down the shingle to freedom. I grabbed the fish by putting my thumb into the fishes mouth!! WARNING!! fish have teeth, bigger fish have bigger teeth that will hurt you! please grab them under the gills or tail. I actually danced on the beach like a madman with stinging cut thumb singing "I'm a Cod, Cod man, I'm a Cod man!" I do apologise to anyone that may have witnessed that! but I had just landed my first Cod ever, I was so excited and somewhat relieved at the same time. What a fantastic way to end a brilliant year fishing!

Bass Fishing, Dungeness

Hit And Run

Dungeness, Kent TN29, UK

Amazing View From Dungeness

I'd been down to Dungeness last weekend for a night fish for Cod, Two hours to low water and two hours up, and had caught plenty of Whiting and a tiny Dab, and the reports that week were a little scarce with the odd Codling, maybe a bit too soon for them? But this week I had seen a lot of reports of Bass being caught. So again I couldn't help but ruin my nights sleep on my one and only day off and knock the hell out of my body clock, and returned the following week for a quick hit and run four hour fish in the middle of the night. I picked my father up at 8pm and we arrived at Dungeness at 10pm, to gale force winds and heavy rain! I thought to myself I've made a mistake here, and really felt guilty for bringing my Dad along, but as we arrived at the waters edge, the wind practically stopped, the rain stopped as the last clouds blew out to sea, revealing a large beautiful moon on the horizon and lots of stars. The sea was surprisingly calm and all of a sudden whilst we were setting up we found ourselves overheating, and had to remove several layers of clothes. Very strange! but I don't get much luck with the the weather when I get a chance to go fishing, but this was perfect!

What A Big Juicy Mess!!!

I decided to fish one rod, because the Whiting are so prolific they would keep me busy all night and although I don't begrudge catching them at all, I was going to fish big baits for big fish, and concentrate on watching one rod tip rather than missing bites on the other, because I'm too busy. I also believe that's why so many whiting get deep hooked in the throat. I was also fully aware that I could be either be catching Cod or Bass, with the only difference would be in the casting, short range 40m for Bass and long range 100m for Cod, but the Rigs and Bait I would be using would be the same, a single clipped down flapper rig. large squid and lug worm cocktails mounted on 3/0 pennal wrapped with bait elastic, mainly to stop the Whiting stripping the bait off the hook before it hit the sea bed.

Just Me And My Dad On Beach

Within seconds of me placing the rod on the rod rest I had my first bite, a positive rattle followed by a pull, I struck and reeled in, Yes, a Whiting lol, it was just about twice the size of the bait and I hadn't even hooked it, it was lassoed by the snod behind the gills. It carried on like that for the first two hours but I missed most the fish due to the large bait, but it died down enough for the bait to be in the the water for 5minutes without being attacked by Whiting, then a different bite a slow rattle followed by a even slower pull and the rod tip curled round almost lifting the rod I struck, Yes a bigger fish now, I didn't recognise the bite, but as soon as I saw a 16" Dogfish on the end of the hook I remembered, and It bought back the fond memory's of doing this fishing very early on in the year.

A Super Spikey Bar Of Silver

Over high water I had another Dogfish, and a few more larger Whiting, which were thinning out and becoming less of a problem, I had been alternating between long and short range between each cast, but it didn't seem to be any different where I put my bait. Then at range I had  a secession of small rattles on my rod tip, nothing out of the ordinary exactly like all the other Whiting bites, I struck, I pulled the lead out of the sand bottom, and then I knew I was in to a bigger fish. Dogfish? I thought, no it was kiting from left to right, Dogfish curl up into a dead weight ball. Cod? not really a thumping Cod bite, I suspected a Bass and was relieved and excited to see it was, my biggest this year, I know not a monster but a very welcome catch, I actually love Bass, as a fish and for dinner! which this one was just big enough to keep being 38cm long and weighing 1lb 9oz, with the legal size being 36cm for Bass, which catches a lot of people out, because its a lot larger than the Bass you will buy from the supermarket, These are farmed Bass and as such aren't subject to size laws.

Can't Beat Fresh Fish!!!

The weather held out for us, so we decided to fish on until we ran out of bait, We had been so lucky because we'd had seen some spectacular thunder storms that passed to the left and right of us, but we stayed dry all night and seemed to miss all the gale winds that were forecast. I only manged to catch a few more Whiting but the last one was 1lb 2oz, the biggest out of the few hundred I've caught from the beach this year. It made a good substitute for a second Bass, as It's always nice to have a fish for the Mrs too. So we had a Whiting and Bass fillet each for dinner, which I just finished eating, Yum Yum!!

Carp Fishing, Sky Lake

Fishing Magic!! Personal Bests And A 75lb New Lake Record

Sky Lake, France.

Sky Lake, France

After getting the opportunity to book my place to go big carp fishing at Sky Lake in France almost a year ago I've been eagerly waiting so so patiently. I've probably spent more money upgrading my tackle than I needed too, but then again I am pretty level headed and didn't go too mad opting for reliable mid range tackle. As you may, or not know, in 30 years of fishing in the UK, I havn't landed a fish weighing over 20lb, and although going abroad to do it, was feeling a bit like cheating, I've now come to the conclusion that if I wanted to catch big fish, then you need to go where there are lots of them Because as enjoyable as it is, chasing the few monsters in UK waters, is a life long dedication, and to be honest I'm still looking forward to spending another 30 years or more doing so.

Innovate Kream Krunch 16mm Boilies

I set off in the rain (again) to meet the rest of the fishing party at a football club social bar in Greater East London, I meet John outside, who was a work colleague, and the only person out of the 11 going who I knew, as I walked into the bar I was greeted with mountain of fishing luggage almost covering 10 square meters, as I looked up across the bar I saw the party wearing Sky Lake T shirts, I nervously tried my best to ignore the scooped rifle being handed along the bar for people to examine whilst I was introduced to the rest of the fishing party, but as soon as fishing was being discussed they made me feel comfortable and the extreme banter from the excited group reminded me of my old pike fishing club. Rob a co owner with Andy of Sky Lake picked us up, and with all the tackle loaded into the trailer, we set off for France via the Dover to Calais ferry and arrived at the lake at about 7 in the morning.

The Snow Man

My first impression of the lake was good, it was large but not as big as I'd imagined, my swim "No 10 The woods" was big and being central on the lake directly opposite the Lodge gave me lots of spots to comfortably fish. after a quick coffee and prep talk from Rob in the lodge on the rules we all made our way to our swims to set up. whilst we were setting up Rob came over to discuss tactics and areas to fish, he was extreamly helpful, he examined our rigs, obviously to check the rigs were within the rules, but to also check the knots. As the week went on I realised that he genuinely just wanted us to have the best chance to catch a big fish, and as I had no knowledge of the lake I listened to his advise, which was invaluable. I marked my spot with the marker float 80 yards out, it was large weed free patch 11' deep with silt bottom. I then cast two rods to the mark and baited with 2.5 kilo of Innovate 16mm Kream Krunch boilies.

Aiming At The Money Spot

Luckily just after I'd finished setting up it started to rain, which of course it always does when I'm on holiday, and during the week it probably rained for at least 72hours, I got my head down in the bivvy and wrapped myself up nice and cosy in the sleeping bag. on the first night I had one run at 11pm and then was woken at 7am with another. I had struck and played both takes, but after a few minutes the hook pulled for no apparent reason? pulling to hard with my new 3lb test fox ranger rods? too small size 8 hook? At breakfast I asked Rob, "Your rigs are fine" he replied "some times the fish just pick up the boilie, just bad luck." The rods were quite all day, I sat on them confidently knowing that they were baited and in the baited area, but must admit this was very different from the 1 or 2 hours I was used to waiting before checking my bait in the UK. The first night saw Aidan land a 35lb carp, whilst the rest of us were still waiting to get off the starting block.

A Beautiful 30lb Mirror

The second day was better, I think three more of us landed fish, my fishing neighbour John, who had been patiently sitting on his rods since first arriving, landed a PB beautiful Common Carp of 33lb, I hooked and landed my third take, first thing in the morning waking me up from my sleep. An immaculate PB 30lb 5oz Mirror Carp. The fish gave a good account of its self, definitely more exaggerated because I played it so gingerly as the thought of losing the other two fish kept flashing through my mind. Finally I'd beat my PB, I was over the moon, no! I was on it, and in it!!!, The pressure was off! I'd done what I came to do, what I'd been trying to do for so many years.

Row, Row, Row Your Boat!

The next few days were quiet for me, I left my two rods at my original baited mark and put in another 2.5 kilo of boilies, but I pulled the third rod out of the margins, it had done absolutely nothing from day one. I found a new spot about 45 yards out and at 45 degrees to the left from my swim,  a few fish had crashed here during the early night, and with a new PB, I was more relaxed and willing to experiment more with my third rod, I opted to try a double critically balanced pop up corn over a 10 kilo bed of spod mix. To be honest I think I just wanted to have an excuse to use the boat, which I used to row out to my marker and pour the spod mix over my baited rig.

What A Beautiful Pike

The rest of the party were getting into full swing by the 4th day, only three hadn't caught yet, a 50lb had been landed, several fortys, with 4 PB's being beat, and lucky Terry seemed to be constantly on the fish and had landed about 6 to 29lb, I didn't have one take for the next three days since catching my 30lb, All the fish were crashing at the other side of the lake and maybe due to the heavy rain, it seemed to stop the fish feeding because I only recall one fish being landed during the rain showers. I stuck to my guns with the two boilie rods still in my original baited area, and with my third rod, to keep me occupied I decided to catch some live bait for some piking, I'd been watching a pike for a few days now, chasing small fish right in front of me, about 5m from the bank. I caught about 12 Rudd on a small float rig, using sweetcorn as bait, I kept a few of the smaller ones as bait, My rod had only been in the water for 20 Minutes before my first run, I landed one of the most immaculate and beautifully coloured Pike with the blackest eyes I'd ever seen. I don't think it had ever been caught before or even seen a trace.

My New PB A Mirror At 37lb.

It was day 6 that my swim seemed to come alive, fish were constantly crashing on my side of the lake for the first time, and at the range I was fishing, my bite alarms bleeped once every 20mins, just to let me know there was movement in my swim, I decided that Rather than go to sleep in my bivvy at around 3am, I would sleep in my chair next to the rods as some of the takes the rest of the party were having, were very short, this payed out for me as after a few warning bleeps, the swinger gently rose to the rod and with less than a meter of line taken off the spool, I struck and hooked into a big fish. This fight was very different from the others I'd seen, after an initial 30 meter run it stopped fighting or even trying to swim, I reeled in the dead weight with great difficulty through the weed and as John attempted to land the fish it came alive and tore off again taking about 40meters of line, I couldn't even stop it!, well this fish defiantly had a plan! it repeatedly done absolutely nothing and played dead until it reached the net, then with all its saved energy he torn off uncontrollably stripping another 40m of line. The fish frustratingly done this about 7 times, I lost count, but with John now dangerously hanging off the bank at full reach with the landing net and the fish tiring we eventually landed the fish. It was big! A new PB for me, and 3lb short of 40lb. I felt quite bad because it was the second time I'd called Rob out in the middle of the night for a under 40lb fish, but he didn't seem to mind, even admitting it looked over 40lb when I apologised.

Tiddy with Reg at 75lb "New Sky Lake Record!"

I had no more runs for the reminder of the holiday, but the rest of the lads were still landing a few here and there, on the last night, I heard quiet shouts of excitement from across the lake, my ears pricked up because this time they sounded unusual from the normal banter, more serious!, maybe they were drunk? then I heard "It's Reg!" I listened harder to the muffled excited voices "It's the biggest fish I've ever seen!" "Its Reg alright!". Then someone shouted for the lake to hear "HE'S ONLY GONE AND GOT REG!!!!" I didn't need to hear again, I ran as fast as my legs would carry me. Reg was the biggest fish in the lake. We had all been joking all week, saying we would catch him, was it a wind up? my mind did wonder during the sprint around the lake, but no! as I arrived at Tiddy's swim, "How do you know its Reg?" I asked, Aidan replied "seriously? look It's a right big ****!" I looked in the water and they had a colossus fish in the net. It was big, not just in length and I couldn't believe how wide he was. One by one, the rest of the party arrived. Nathan and Rob confirmed that it was Reg, the excitement was almost uncontrollable from the group . The fish was weighed twice using a tripod and came in at a magnificent 75lb, beating the 7 year old lake record by 3lb, Tiddy had done it! The photo shoot followed, with Tiddy getting more than his fair share of water being thrown over him. The celebration went late into the night, between us we cleared the Lodge of beers, then the vodka and followed by 2 bottle of Jack Daniels, We had been so well behaved up until now, but what an excuse to let go, after all it is a holiday too. What a end to the week, and a magical fishing moment that I was extreamly lucky to see. I will never forget this week for so many reasons. Unfortunately I didn't get the chance to photo or see everyone's fish, but here are the ones I did.

Between the 11 of us, We had a new lake record at 75lb, 2 x 50lb, 4 x 40lb, 8 x 30lb and rest were made up of 20lb fish, no one blanked, and 7 of us had new PBs. I really don't think the week could of gone any better. I would like to thank the rest of the lads John, Danny, Terry, Tony, Paul, Tiddy, Wayne, Darren, Karl and Aidan, for letting me join the group, the laughs, the memory's, and for the help in landing fish and for giving me the opportunity to catch my PB. And thank you to Andy, Rob, Nathan and Bernice at Sky Lake for all you help and lovely food, I had a fantastic time, that I'll never forget, and I'm all ready looking forward to seeing you all again next year!!.

Caution needed with Weever Fish

Venomous little fish.

During a short session beach fishing, I only managed to land one tiny fish, it was the first time I'd ever seen or caught one. The fish in question, is a Weever Fish.

Note the spines on the black dorsal fin.

As anglers are the most likely to come into contact with this fish, I would just like to introduce or reacquaint yourselves with the Weever Fish . I have to admit that when I first saw this fish spinning around on the end of my hook, I quickly presumed that it was a smaller than average whiting, and just by chance it quickly raised and lowered its dorsal fin with spines, the tiny black flash caught my eye, and after a closer inspection realised that it wasn't what I thought it was.

looking harmless with dorsal fin down!!

I'd been warned about this fish many years ago as a young boy by my father, and without the Internet or actually seeing a Weever Fish I was surprised at how harmless/bland the fish actually looked, especially with its dorsal fin down, I kind of had visions of it looking like a Scorpion Fish. But this little fish could put a end to your fishing trip if you was stung by the spines on its dorsal fin or gills. Although it is highly unlikely to kill you, the sting is worst than a bee or wasp sting, and could cause extreme pain. If stung, the infected area should be immersed in hot water for as long as 30mins, the pain should subside as the water cools. remember to check that you haven't  got any broken spine still stuck in you.

The lesson here, is identify your fish before handling, and if in doubt use a wet towel folded into quaters to place around the fish, so you can hold the fish firmly from underneath with the spines facing away from you, whilst you unhook it with long nose pliers or forceps.

Carp and Catfish Fishing, Furnace Lakes Fishery, Slinfold

One Rod Army!!!

Roman Lake, Furnace Lakes Fishery, Horsham, West Sussex. UK.

Furnace Lakes Fishery

A week off work!! what to do?!? now that's a silly question if you know me! Fishing! With the bitter after taste of losing a monster Catfish estimated 60lb+ earlier on in the season, burning inside me, which I blogged about The One That Got Away.  It is revenge I want! And a new PB, I've fished this place enough times by now, and somehow I haven't managed to catch my first fish over 20lb., and it's really beginning to bug me now. Its full of big fish! and I cant think of anywhere better to catch my first 20lb, so the plan was simple, fish big, for the biggest fish!

The superb Shimano super baitrunner XTR

I set off at silly o'clock, which is probably normal for most anglers, and arrived at 7am, armed with a lot of new tackle and equipment which I've been amassing over the last few months for a imminent Carp fishing trip to France. not only did this give me a brilliant opportunity to test the equipment, but was exactly what I needed for fishing here. 3 x 12" Fox Ranger XTS 3lb test, 3 x Shimano Super Baitrunner XTR 8000RA spooled with 20lb Korda Subline. All I needed now was a fish!

homemade boilie rig.

I was to fish one rod, very close in the margins with a simple running leger with ridiculously large 4" cubes of Spam (luncheon meat) hair rigged onto a homemade rig, made from 40lb Catlink and a eagle wave 2/0 barbless hook, this was to be heavily ground baited with loose cubes of Spam. My second rod was to be a live bait rod, using a ready made Catfish pro polyball live bait rig which was to be fished here, there, and everywhere I could. And my third rod......well, I couldn't resist! I left this for carp, a homemade 15lb braid, size 8 hook boilie rig. to be fished tight against the far bank, with 12 boilies be catapulted out every cast.

Ready and waiting.

After 2 arduous hours of setting up! I was finally ready to fish! I cast out my boilie and Spam rods, and using the live bait rod set up a quick and very crude float rig with the smallest size hook I had on me, a size 10!!!, bad planning, I know! Using 1" pieces of lobs worms I set about catching my bait. Luckily! the  tiny fish didn't seem bothered by the 20lb line and big hook, and it wasn't long before I enough Roach to start live baiting. I lost the first live bait straight away as it simply shook itself off the barbless hook and landed in the water to make his escape even before I'd even cast!! so a quick think and rummage through my tackle box saw me find a very small rubber corn which I placed on the hook and pushed down to the bend of the hook after the fish to keep them on. First cast was 1 meter from the far bank underneath a over hanging willow tree. I let the poly ball float on the surface as a visual aid, it didn't matter to much I was barely fishing in 2' of water.

First fish, a beautiful common carp

All three rods were out. as I took the time to relax. I could see the backs of several big carp just breaking the surface swimming along the far bank, I fired 2 boilies at my baited area with the catapult, the distinctive sound made from the elastic snap followed by a  "plonk, Plonk" as the boilies hit the water. Immediately two of the carp accelerated towards my baited area, and a third fish even turned around to follow them before they disappeared under the surface. I couldn't believe what I'd just seen,  I rubbed my hand in excitement and waited, I could see the fishes tails break the surface occasionally in the baited area, I knew they were feeding. My plan to spread loose boilies over a large area had worked, and now I had the fish confidently looking around and feeding on my loose Monster Tigernut 15mm boilies. It wasn't long before I had my first run. In the next four hours, I took 6 carp from 13lb to 18lb all from the same area.

Last carp of the session

The night was a different story, my boilie rod fell silent as the Carp seemed to change their habit, probably going on patrol around the lakes island. I hadn't had a touch on either of the Catfish rods yet, but I felt this would change during the night. It didn't!, just the occasional big tug of the live bait was just enough to make the alarm bleep once, The rods were silent all night. Even though, I stuck to my guns, I knew these tactics were working for other anglers on the lake, one of which had 7 Catfish to 32lb during the same night only a few swims down from me. At 3am the boilie rod kicked off again keeping me up for the rest of the night, but it wasn't Carp this time, small bream had taken their place, I managed to hook and land 6 even though I missed most of the runs because the fish were fairly small and probaly couln't get the boilie in their mouth. and then a surprise catch, again on the boilie rod the smallest kitten Catfish I'd ever seen, about 1' long and weighing a whopping 1 lb 3 oz, OK it wasn't the monster I was after! Not even close lol, but it was so cute! I really wanted to show a picture, but due to a broken camera that couldn't focus, and low battery on my phone that refused to allow the flash to work, I had to release him without a photo shoot, his day will come I'm sure!

The fish with the biggest smile :-)

Morning was quiet, the Catfish rods were still doing nothing, I landed one more Carp about 14lb on the boilie rod, but that was going to end shortly as I was down to my last handful of boilies. So I decided to pack up before the heavy rain showers that were forecast reached me. With the other two rods packed away, the boilie rod baited with my very last boilie, went screaming off, I took my time to strike this time, to savour the moment and enjoy what was going to be my last fish. I struck................the rod bent, bent a bit more and what was on the end pulled harder and swam further than any of the fish I'd caught so far. Was this Carp over 20lb?, it definitely felt like it! I played the fish tentatively as I didn't want to loose it. The fish didn't surface till the very end and by the way the fight went with slow powerful runs, and lots of those horrible moments when it feels like your fishing line is being pluked like a giant guitar string, causing a nervous wobble of the rod tip, I wasn't suprised to see a Catfish poke his smiling head out the water. Finally what I'd come for!!! still not a monster! and definitely not my PB weighing in at little over 8lb, but a very fitting end to a surreal 24hour session. I would almost count on catching catfish here at Roman lake, whilst the crafty carp are very difficult to catch, but today that got turned on its head. Just like the fact that I've never been so successful with boilies, I've never been a big fan, normally opting for baits such as worms, sweetcorn or bread, but they proved their worth today. And with all the tackle and bait I had with me, all I needed was just one rod, and 1 kilo of boilies. I still haven't beat my PB, and I'm really beginning to wonder why??? I think god may have other plans for me. but in the meantime there's nothing more fun, than trying!