Carp Fishing, Sky Lake, France

Lump ALERT....Lump ALERT

Sky Lake, France

Beautifal Sunset At Sky Lake

Well that time of year has come, and my yearly pilgrimage to Sky Lake in search of big water pigs had arrived. to say I was excited was a understatement, relaxing in the sun, no work, cooked for all week, and camping next to a beautiful lake with a crowd from Essex, I know it's not everyones cup of tea, who really does like West Ham fans?, but they really are a great bunch of lads, and such good fun to be around I couldn't wait to leave. We all met up at Dagenham Football club where we was picked up and made our way down to Dover, All though we were all a little concerned, we managed to avoid operation stack on the M20 and any traffic. Operation stack is where they close off the motorway and use it a lorry car park usually when the French go on strike or when the ferry or channel tunnel and not operating, again normally because of the French. But luckily with only a hour delay at the port, we hardly noticed the chaos and arrived at Sky Lake early sat morning wide awake and rearing to go after a relatively sober and bum aching journey.

A Days Worth Of Bait

The signs looked good, fish were topping from the off, and the previous lads that fished the week before had done well, my only concern was the blistering hot weather forecast which can make fishing difficult at times, but none the less was a welcome change to the normal bad weather I get on holidays, having spent a few weeks preparing my tackle for the trip I set up my new rods, 3 x Greys Prodigy GT5's paired with my 3 x Shimano Super Baitrunner XTR 8000RA spooled with new 18lb Fox Exocet mono line, I'm not ashamed to admit I asked Rob the co owner of the lake to help me pick a spot at range to fish, using my marker rod he found a spot at about 90 meters which was just on the edge of a gravel bar, the cast landed on the gravel, then pulling the lead back, up and over a little edge and onto smooth sand/silt, this was where I would fish 2 rods, one with a snowman rig with 22mm boilee and one with double 22mm boilee, all the boilees we used were Steamies "Sky Lake Specials" by Individual Baits, and I baited with 2.5 kilo of 16 and 22mm boilees and a bucket of particle over the top in an area the size of snooker table, my third rod had a stiff hinged rig with a white pop up on a choddy hook, I kept this ready and cast it to any topping big fish within my boundary.

Glugged Snowman

What can I say, boy did I struggle to cast my rods to the spot, not with accuracy but distance, falling short by 10 to 2 meters every time, yes! of coarse I used every excuse in the box, I blamed it on the rods being to soft, the reel spools are too small, the line is too heavy, the baits are too big, even the wind, the truth is although all these lame excuses would of all contributed a little I just wasn't used to the new rods, going more sea fishing recently and smashing longer stiffer rods, I had just lost the finesse of casting shorter and softer carp rods. I really struggled for the first few days and even had 18lb line cut into my finger to the bone on a cast which I believe was due to the drag not being tight enough and slipped. regardless with a borrowed finger stool and plaster protecting the cut, perseverance and sheer determination and the will to cast rather than the easy option of boating the rigs out, got me fishing where I wanted to be, and by day two all was good, I was hitting the mark within a few casts. With my camp set up, and my 2 main rods out, I put the third with a pop up over towards the corner of the lake where a few fish had crashed about 20 yards from the bank with a few loose boilees catapulted over the top. It was time to crack open the beers, and wait for darkness, although a day fish seemed just as likly as the fish were very active and crashing all around the outside edge of the lake.

Grasses Stick Together! 31lb 8oz

It didn't take long, and just after dark whilst I was snoring away after a very long day my 3rd rod tore of with a screaming bite, I lifted the rod into the fish and a very powerful fight ensued, acutely aware of my lose of carp fishing finesse and the fact I was on a barbless hook, I took things carefully and patiently, which was just as well as it took me a while to wake my neighbour Karl with gradually getting louder shouting. I couldn't believe the length of the fish and though it was a monster common, but then I realised that it was a Grass Carp, oh no I though, having in past years seen a few of these go absolutely mental once netted, but not this one, my first ever Grass Carp, and not a bad size at 31lb, it was well behaved and allowed us to weight it as it didn't thrash about, but was as calm as anything, testing the fish I picked it up and decided to try for a photo, and even then he behaved. I couldn't of been happier a new species to my list and a new PB. The rest of the night for myself was quite, But I didn't get any sleep at all, Karl had caught a few and I spent most the night excitedly running around the lake to help or photo other peoples fish, definitely fish fever running through my veins.

The Predator Got Spotted

I didn't really change tactics, I had a lot of movement in my baited area every night, either line bites, missed runs and the tell tale slow up and down movement of the bobbin which I believe is caused by big fish moving the water and weeds that are touching the line, very often a precursor to a run. I put the same amount of bait out to my spot, and recast my 2 rods. As the week wore on it got hotter and humid, and during the days the lake seemed to get quieter, I didn't mind, to keep me occupied I float fished my swim catching plenty of Rudd but hoping for a tench, and with my new polarised NASA spec Eagle Eye sunglasses I saw a pike sitting in the weeds, which otherwise probably would of gone unseen, within a minute a quick set up change, I had a small lure on a wire trace and dropped it in front of the fish, he saw it straight away and took it on the second cast, well I couldn't resist, and my biggest pike of the year at 8lb 1oz a very lean fish, which was hooked, landed, unhooked, weighed, photoed and released in record time of about 2mins.

Beautiful Common at 29lb 12oz

I had landed a few fish, a Common of 29lb 12oz and a Mirror of 27lb 4oz during the night, but when you think lightening don't strike twice, it did! A shout came out across the lake, a bad siren sound effect followed by "lump alert!..... lump alert!....." a universal call to let the rest of the fishing group aware that a big fish has been caught! first introduced when Tiddy from our group landed the lake records, a fish called Reg weighing 75lb which is still the lake record 3 years later. But John had done the next best thing and landed a fish called Jagger at his biggest weight of 72lb 12oz, weighed on brand new Reuben Heaton specimen scales, and now the second ever biggest carp caught at Sky Lake. the fish was massive and a pleasure to see. With everyone happy and excited a small celebration ensued, and a few boxes of beers were drank, but it was short lived as people disappeared one by one as receivers sounded and kept us on our toes. The fish were moving around and was only a matter of time before someone got another run.

Lump Alert!, John With Jagger at 72lb 12oz, Awesome!!!

27lb 4oz Mirror 

I took a day off from Carp fishing with all 3 rods wound in, I took a small spinning rod and wondered off to the River which runs along the Lodge bank, I found a little swim, and fished the inside bank just under a overhanging tree, All though I never got the big Chub I was after I did manage 4 smaller ones on halibut pellet, maybe time would of picked out a bigger one, but I was here for Carp and more to the point my first 50lber. Back in my swim I re baited with bollies and pop up which had spent the day immersed in glug, and recast all three rods to my baited up spot, and again boated out about 2 kilo and a bucket of particle tight on my rigs. I promptly fell fast asleep. This week, I rarely had a good nights sleep, fish captures on the good side and gnats flying in my ears on the bad side, why do gnat always fly by my ears?!? that sound send shivers down me! As the week went on I went to sleep earlier and earlier to the point where I was fast asleep by 4pm, and getting woken up for dinner. It was the second to last night, and all 3 of my rod alarm were intermittently bleeping keeping me very alert, this went on for hours I knew it was only a matter of time, and I was right, A rod tore off in the early morning just as the moon started to rise, I picked up the rod and struck into a fish and landed my 4th fish of the week a mirror at 26lb 8oz, not the monster I was after, but a welcome fish all the same.

Cheeky Daytime fish 24lb 3 oz

I awoke to the last day, still no 50lb for me, but with 4 x 30lb fish and a new species and PB I have done well enough, but was hoping. Again all three rods were cast to the same spot, fish were there every night, and to change didn't make sense. After getting all three rods out and baited up, it was time to start packing up, ready to leave at 6am the next morning, Biveys packed up we all slept under the stars on the last night, with only the essentials were left unpacked. And what a beautiful night it was, the sky was clear and you could see the stars moving as the earth turned between the large gaps in the trees, shooting stars and the eerie squawking of Barn Owls, wonderful! I even had a last and final run of the week, resulting with another Grass Carp of 29lb 13oz, what long torpedo fish these are!, would love to get a real big one, this was a bit more feisty than the first and was released quite quickly, I had finished on 5 fish, and was well pleased with myself, not only that but everyone caught and between us we had 42 fish, and nothing beats seeing a 70lb+ fish except catching one of coarse, but that was John's honour this week, top rod, with the biggest and most fish, even winning the bets and taking £40 off each of the rest of the group.

A Starry Starry Night

As always I had a fantastic time at Sky Lake, with some personal technical dramas thrown in, ruining 2 t-shirts, a pair of shorts and track suit bottom, don't ask! the rock won!! and I had caught some lovely big fish, I'd like to say a big thanks to Andy, Rob and Bernie, for making us feel so welcome, lots of invaluable advise, great cooking, patching me up after my accident, and for the birthday cake! I've said it before and I'll say it again, with out the other lads there all tirelessly helping each other to land these big fish, boating out to get fish out of weeds, or even diving in, landing fish, reeling in rods, getting torches and shoes, taking pictures, and marking out lines, without this help I would not of done as well. Thank you to Danny, John, Karl, Paul, Tony, Dodge, Wayne and Steve, for such a good crack, and fishing wise, we do all right don't we?, I mean we do have the bragging rights as a group of having the Mirror Carp lake record "Reg" and now the second biggest Mirror Carp "Jagger" ever caught at Sky Lakes,one of Frances premier Carp fishing venues. Can't wait for next time!

Tony - 46lb 8oz

Steve - 42lb

Wayne - 44lb 14oz

Danny - 37lb

Beach Fishing Dungeness

BBQ Bass and Sunday Sole

Dungeness, Romney Marsh, Kent TN29, UK

I think I can honestly say the summer has arrived, with night time temps of around 15 degrees it was time to do a over nighter, so where and what should I fish for?  I had all ready caught some Rays this year, and being May a little early in the year for Smooth Hounds, I left it right to the last minute to decide, checking catch reports and weather forecasts, I was so confused!, seriously the options were vast, and the choice baffled me, and then somehow I just decided to go target Dover Sole, how? I'm not entirely sure, I hadn't seen any catch reports saying they had even started showing, but the weather conditions and the calm coloured water was ideal for them, and If I'm honest Sarah was coming, and the hunter gatherer in me had decided that we was eating fresh caught fish cooked on a disposable BBQ on the beach tonight. I just had a gut feeling that these small mouthed flatties were happily feeding close to the shore whilst most were throwing big fish baits towards the horizon in search of Rays, 

Add caption

I had my bait ordered 40 fresh Dungeness Black Lug, BBQ and tackle ready, Myself and Sarah headed off to Dungeness, The plan was simple, to fish two rods, 1 at close range of about 20yards and a second fishing at 40yards, both with the same same Wessex rigs on, 2 flappers with short shank Aberdeen size 4 hooks to target the Dover Sole with 1" pieces of Lugworm as bait, and the bottom running leger hook, a pennel Aberdeen size 1/0 hooks for presenting a large whole lugworm to target the Bass. We arrived to a beautiful sun set, the wind was gentle, the sea was flat and the temperature was definitely a lot warmer than it had been all year or even forecast. What a lovely night! It was low water as we set up camp on the high tide mark, I cast out the rods and put the stand half way between the water and camp, and waited....... and waited.........., and waited a bit more? I checked my baits, yes they still on and untouched, so didn't forget to put bait on the hook. This didn't look good. I checked the baits several times over and the sea was well on its way in by now..

Time flew past quickly, 3 hours and still no bites? I was sitting in the beach shelter talking to Sarah, where we was considering cooking the emergency sausages that we had bought just in case I blanked for dinner. I made the statement "I'm really not impressed with this!" and as if by magic my Vercelli rod had a big pull down! running down the beach shouting "That's a big bite!"  I lifted into a fish which was a fair way down tide from where I cast, and soon landed a lovely 46cm Bass weighing 2lb 4oz, perfect! just perfect!, this fish was descaled, gutted, filleted and sizzling away on the BBQ within 15mins, Sarah had pulled out a nice bottle of white wine, cant say it gets much better that that! the Bass was delicious, the company was excellent, the scenery was outstanding and the weather was dam good for England, I didn't care if I caught another fish now, But the fishing gods had something else lined up for me, After eating our fill Sarah feel asleep and I decided to cast the rods out and fish the few hours over high tide.

It was fish from the off, well not exactly fish, but Dogfish! ranging from 20cm to 60cm, I had to laugh I took a tiny dogfish into the bivey to show Sarah who has a fondness for them, she awoke shocked as I waved the fish above her face, then as she realised what it was, she smiled and sleepily reached out to stroke it with affection only for it to bite her finger! luckily they don't have teeth! I have to say, the Dogfish tonight were all very lively, had plenty of fight and big bites, maybe the warmer water temperature had something to do with it. I fished relentlessly till dawn, apart from a handful of tiny Whiting and Pouting the majority I caught were Dogfish, Having fished later than I expected too, I was down to the last baits, The tide was about 3 hours into the ebb by now and retreating fast whilst the sun was just cracking the horizon, bites were slowing down, and the last bite was a now familiar nice firm pull down, followed by a some rattles, as I reeled it in expecting another Dogfish I was surprised to see I had landed a Dover Sole! 34cm and 15oz! get in! Could this night get any better! I really had enjoyed this session, one of the most enjoyable for a long time! I had fished close range no further than 50 yards all night long with light rods, light leads making the fishing so easy, baiting the hook with lug was a breeze compared to the messy and long winded big baits bound with elastic. I had caught lots of fish, eaten fresh BBQ Bass with glass of wine, and to top it off had my Dover Sole to take home for Sunday dinner! 

Catfish Fishing, Roman Lake, Furnace Lakes Fishery

Catfishing 

Furnace Lakes Fishery, Slinfold, West Sussex, UK.

Roaman Lake At Furnance Lake Fishery

With spring in full blossom, and daffodils, hyacinths, and bluebells appearing, my attention has turned to revisiting my favourite Fishing complex, and target the mighty Wels Catfish, this is one of my most anticipated ventures of the year, catching PB's each time I go and potentially a chance of catching the fish of a life time surrounded by beautiful scenery and abundant wildlife, I had a week booked off work, and me and my brother Scott were going for a Sunday to Tuesday 40 hour session, the weather looked good as well, 10 mph with slight gusts of up to 18 mph and sunshine with no rain forecast, and temperatures during the day of 17 degrees Celsius dropping at night to 5 degrees Celsius. Nothing was going to stop us, not even the fact my bait wasn't delivered in time for me to take. making do with some old bait, I could always buy some more on site in the tackle shop if the need arose.

What Did They Ever Do For Us?

It always amazes me how much tackle we take, and with it all ready and waiting blocking my hallway, I thought "do we really need all this?" I took stock, and the fishing tackle and bait accounted for about 1/4 another 1/4 was food and drink, and 1/2 was a chair, sleeping bag, bed, bivey and table, I thought about leaving some of the non essentials behind but without the chair and table the pile of gear just didn't look any smaller, a futile attempt, so they went along anyways. Scott picked me up ahead of schedule as I phoned and cheekily demanded he come round early as the wait was killing me, I was like a hungry dog with a biscuit balanced on my nose, and I bet he was too. We arrived at Furnace and a new tackle shop/office had been built and we discovered new owners had taken over the business, the shop was a lot bigger and a handy burger stall was now on site. We paid our moneys, and decided to fish Roman lake, unfortunately the swims we were after were all taken, but we still had 4 options of swims to pick from allowing us to fish together, and in a blink of eye ourselves and our gear were ferried by an ATV with a trailer to our homes for the next few nights.

Ever Watchfull Even Whilst Making Rigs

We decided to toss a coin for which swim we had, I won, and I picked the centre swim, I knew the other swim was more likely to produce being in the corner but I have to admit I like space and thought with an empty swim to the left I could cover more water, and with the opposite bank empty though it was unlikely that someone would pick to fish there. I set up my 3 x 12' Greys Prodigy GT5 3lb test curves paired with 3 x Shimano Super Baitrunner Aero XTE-A 8000, one loaded with 16lb Fox Exocet main line for Carp and 2 loaded with Korda Subline 20lb for Catfish. I baited an area with 250grams of small 10mm boilees as I set up and fished a single 14mm boilees on a hair rig with a size 8 barbless hook, although I was there for Catfish, I couldn't resist using 1 rod for Carp as there are more than enough big carp that would smash my UK PB to make it worth a shot, I then fished a Catfish rod on the left and right one on the far bank and the other on the inside bank margins, both running legers baited with double 21mm Halibut pellets mounted on a 40lb Catlink hair rig with a size 1 Sakuma Chinu hook, with a large pva bag of mixed smaller pellets to give scent and offer a tidy little pile of bait around my hook bait just big enough to make it worth while for any enquiring Catfish.

Snotty And Snotty, That's All

It seemed an eternity till I was settled in my camp, The mountain of gear had been unpacked, built up and sorted into a well arranged and familiar set up, with only a few hours till dark, I sat down with exhaustion but confident that it would be worth it. I done a little walk around the lake, and discovered that most the Catfish that had been caught had been on Spam (pork luncheon meat), with the known biggest of 47lb, A last minute trip to the on site tackle shop to buy the last tin of Spam and a change of tactics as I replaced one of my pellet baits for a large cube of Spam. Apart from the occasional knocks of optimistic Bream trying to eat baits that were far too big for their mouths, although I did manage to hook one of 2lb 12oz, at least I was off the starting block. I have to admit by this point in the trip, I was having a run of bad luck and planning, My camera battery was dead, Scott had asked if I had scales, which I did, so he left his in the van, but then I realised that mine only weighed up to 33lb, I'd lost 2 rigs to the island with a few poor casts, and even managed to run out of Catlink, so was unable to make anymore rigs, and had none spare now, I'd left half the condiments and food still in the fridge, anything else? oh yes, the kilo of boilees I'd thrown out for the carp rod were all eaten up by swans as I must of been fishing in very shallow wate, should of used a marker rod and checked the depths!, and all this on top of about 15 geese, 2 swans, and about 10 mallards all ferociously fighting in my and Scott's swim over nesting grounds, seriously it was like WW3 had broken out, no chance of any shy fish hanging around.

Warmongering Geese On The Lookout

As the birds settled for the night so did we, after having a small BBQ of pork and beef kebabs with salad, pita breads and fiery ketchup, washed down with a few tins of beer, I tucked my self into bed as the temp was dropping fast and we both were feeling the cold. I was immediately woken by Scott, he had a run and was into a fish, and definitely a Catfish, as the fight continued I realised by the bend in the rod and the length of the runs that this was a big fish he had hooked, the fish went to ground for almost 20mins leaving Scott no choice but to keep the pressure on and wait till he decided to move, giving me time to ask a neighbour if I could borrow some scales, which he kindly did, by the time I got back the fish had decided to move and headed back the opposite way weaving his way along the inside margins, through trees and tangled with all my 3 rods, if I didn't have had back leads on, the fish would of just gone under them but that was how my day was going, the fish then buried itself in a large reed bed to the inside left of my swim, unknown to Scott I set about untangling the 3 lines and then started untangling his line from the trees between our swims, having done as much as I could, I rejoined him where it was another long wait.

Scotty's New UK PB Wels Catfish Weighing 66lb 2 oz

29lb Wels Catfish For Me

The fish had been in the reeds for 30mins, their was no way to move him, having to be patient again, the fish then decided to make his own way out, as soon as he was on the move, Scott was able to gain line and slowly teased the fish back into his swim, I saw a flash of the fish as it turned in the water and really thought its really not a big fish, I was very wrong, as I often am! this fish was long and as I attempted to land it with the net I realised just how big this monster was, our neighbour had made his way over to help out and being a experience Catfish angler chinned the fish for us, as he pulled it out the water on to the bank using the landing mat as a slide, I could hardly contain my excitement! Scott was ecstatic, the fish tipped the scales at 66lb 2oz, a new PB for him, and a really good achievement for his second time Catfish fishing, and hats off to him, he may of lacked experience before today, but learnt fast, he played the fish carefully when he could, was very patient when he needed to be and fully deserved this fish, the 1.5 hour fight had left Scott absolutely knackered, and understandably he didn't fish for the rest of the night. I recast my 3 rods, and by now if was freezing cold, literary freezing!, 5 degrees Celsius the weather forecast said!! more like -1!! my bivey was covered in frost, the net had frozen, and I was freezing! but I tucked my self into bed and fell into a deep sleep happily knowing that this trip had been totally worth it already.

A Beutifal Dawn To Be Awoken To

I wasn't awoken till my Halibut pellet rod alarm sounded, clambering out of bed into a dark and misty cold dawn, I grabbed the rod and struck, I was on, after a relative short fight I had a Catfish in the net, weighing 29lbs, a decent fish which I was over the moon with. This day on the other hand went quite peacefully, we had got Scott's big scales from the van, stocked up on Spam, made a few spare rigs, but neither of us lost anymore for the rest of the trip. We passed the time catching float fishing for Roach and Bream on a short spinning rod, the only thing that didn't bode well for us was the wildlife, with the daylight, WW3 had restarted! with the geese fighting, splashing, squawking in our swim, I knew it was very unlikely to get a run during the daylight, even though others around the lake were catching during the day, I didn't mind though, the thought of moving was way too much effort to even consider, so I heavily baited with boilees and pellets my 3 fishing spots, and would just have to wait till night and hope I'd put enough bait down to stop any patroling fish under the cover of darkness.

My Best Of The Session a 32lb 4oz Taking a Huge Cube Of Spam

Whopping Me Again With A 34lb 8oz

The following night Scott lost a fish, but by the morning we had banked a Catfish each on Spam, his going 34lb 8oz, and mine going 32lb 4oz. and we was both lucky enough to see our neighbour catch a new PB of 69 lb with a beast of a fish, it was short but looked like it had been down the gym pumping weights and steroids all its life. This had been a very memorable and enjoyable session for myself with 2 30lb fish I really couldn't complain, even though they were dwarfed by these 60lbers, I love fish and fishing, and almost, just almost, get as excited for other people's fish than my own. I am over the moon for my brother with his new PB, taking a massive leap from 30lb to 66lb, and I will take any brotherly stick from him firmly on the chin with a big smile, it took 3 of us to get this fish on land, and when Fishing for big fish, Carp included, it is sometimes very difficult to land these big fish by yourself, and knowing the prize that could be lost, all help is very much appreciated, Its really nice to know that strangers on the bank will selflessly help each other in the middle of the night, to reel in rods, land, photo and weigh big fish, and a big thank you to our neighbour who helped with Scott's big fish, and for Scott who took some lovley photos that I used for this. Furnace hadn't let me down again! I really love this place, I only mange to get the time go once a year though, but I may make an exception this year and have a session solely devoted to Carp as it full of big specimens, and it really is time I beat my miserly UK Carp PB of 18lbs.

Ray Fishing, Sandwich Bay and Leysdown

The Thrornbacks Are Back

Sandwich Bay, Kent. UK
Leysdown-on-Sea, Kent, UK

A Lost Puppy

After catching my first Thornback last year, Ive been eagerly awaiting for this time of year again, when the Thornback Rays turn up on the shallow sandy beaches and within casting range. This time I would be targeting them with the knowledge I picked up last year, when I landed a one off large specimen, and my hopes were high. I kicked off the season quiet early, actually very early, back in February when the winds were low and the sea was flat, but with temps around 2 degrees Celsius and freezing fog, were we too eager? Three of us set off to fish Sandwich Bay, myself, a local lad Warren and his friend Matt, armed with Blueys and Herring, Pulley rigs with 3/0 and 4/0 hooks we found a completely deserted beach. We planned to fish 6 hours from low water to high, and within 10 minutes of arrival all rods were cast and resting on the tripods, and we all waited with great anticipation of that tell tale pull down followed by a slack liner.

Best Ray Bait

Warren kicked the night off with a Dogfish, and not long after I had a big bite as my rod tip bent over hard, it then slack lined and I watched the loose line start to bow over my other rod, I picked the rod up, no dogfish could of pulled the rod like that, I reeled in the slack and struck to set the hook, reeling in with a fish on the end, I was sure it was a Thornback Ray if only a small one, but my face dropped when I saw a Dogfish, Warren clocked it straight away, " That's a Smoothhound!" I looked again and sure it was!, that explained the big bite, only ever catching one before I was actually quite happy, and catching one so early on in the year and on fish baits was a bit unusual to say the least. the rest of the session for me was a mixture of Dogfish and Whiting, whilst Mark managed his first ever Rays of 4lb and 5lb with Warren landing 1 himself and the biggest at 10lb, it just wasn't my day, but we proved they were there.

Warren Showing Whos The Ray Master

The next session was a return to sandwich a few days later where myself and Warren both blanked on the Ray front, and I only just managed the one bite, which resulted in a small Whiting, such a big difference a few days can make, but 'Im finding with Rays they go as quickly as they come with each tide. Convinced Sandwich Bay was a bit too quiet, my next 2 sessions were a day and night fish over high water on the Isle of Sheepy at Leysdown, a known Ray mark, but totally new to me, I was helping my Father renovate a old clapped out shell of a holiday chalet into a luxury apartment,luckily just round the corner from my mark, both session resulted in bite less blanks with as much action as a documentary about garden wildlife, my baits were totally untouched and only necessary to change as to put some scent into the water in the hope of attracting a passing fish.

Leysdown, Shallow And Sandy

Reports of Rays were now coming thick and fast as if to temp and tease me, and annoyingly from marks I had been fishing, It seemed they were all over the North Kent coast now. It was decision time, with a new order of Blueys for bait in the freezer and new rigs pulley rigs made up with pennel Sakuma 4/0 manta extras, I was still debating up to the last second as to where to go,  I picked up an old friend Kieth from his home. Decision time! I followed my instinct and gut feeling to fish Sandwich Bay, I went against the grain, I wanted to keep away from the masses following the reports, weather conditions were ideal with light 10mph NE winds, 10 degrees at night and the water still a little cloudy. it was Friday night and would of been very busy at any producing mark, Sandwich was going to be quieter, and I decided to fish along the bay where I caught a Ray last year,

Nice 4lb 1oz Female

We arrived at our mark, a hour before low water, we fished 1 rod for Ray and used a continental rod with flatties rigs to see what was about, well Dogfish, Small Rocklings, Smaller Whiting and even smaller Poutings were about, It wasn't long before the novelty of reeling in these micro fish wore off, We were there for the Rays, The Ray Rods had been quiet all night and only accounted for a solitary Dogfish. Although I tried to keep optimistic, it was hard as all the reports and evidence pointed to go elsewhere, and even Kieth knew that. With a renewed optimism, the tide started to push through which I know will change fishing conditions and with fresh baits hoped would bring the fish in. I was right and my continental rod pulled down hard, I ran to the rod and it down it again, hoping for a a slack liner or movement from the tip, it stopped dead where it was originally, the excitement turned to disbelief, the rod tip did not move a millimeter again.

Nasty 5lb 12oz Male

I stood by the rods wondering whether to reel in the continental rod and check the bait, then my other Rod bent over hard and went slack line, they had finally turned up! I watched the line gradually start to tighten with the rig and fish well down tide now, I picked up the rod and wound up the slack and struck with confidence to set the hook. I was into a dead weight, to say it was a fight would be a lie, I think I dragged it 80 odd yards along the seabed with the Ray using its nose as a shovel. It wasn't the big fight I'd experience before. I though maybe this was a real big fish, but I was wrong, a 4lb 2oz female Thornback slid onto beach, I was relieved that she was hooked nicely in the mouth, she was unhooked, weighed and photographed in a few minutes, and released with minimal fuss. and after a minute of floating in the gentle surf, slowly disappeared in the darkness.

The fish were here, I baited up and re cast the rod as quick as I could, my heart was pumping with excitement, I then reeled in the continental rod, and the bait seemed untouched despite the big pull downs, maybe fish swimming into my leader. It wasn't long and my rod tip started wobbling slowly and deliberately and finally ping straight as the fish pulled the lead free from its grip on the sea bed, this fish was exactly the same fight, a lot of effort and pumping the rod, Then I had landed my second Ray, this time a larger male at 5lb12oz, This fish was angry and arched his back and tail and when upright on the beach looked like he was standing up, I flipped him over and saw that both hooks were inside his mouth, I struggled with long forceps and decided to get closer with stronger long nose pliers and used them to open his mouth which he was keeping stubbornly closed, then with out encouragement he opened his mouth and astonishingly both hooks minus bait flew out his mouth like he was spitting them out, job done, again the fish was released without much drama. It was nice to see a male and female together so close, the male was angry, covered in lots more thorns and more diamond shape with its clasps hanging like a big set of balls either side of his tail whilst the female was calm, had far fewer thorns and a more rounded shape. Unfortunately that was it fish wise for the session, I really wished that Keith had of caught one, but fishing is like that. his time will come, I had found them on my 5th attempt this year, it's a waiting game for them, they are there one night and not the next and even if they are there you may get a hour and they may miss your bait and pick up everyones around you, so the key is putting the time on the beach and waiting, and with some luck your paths will cross in the darkness, I've thoroughly enjoyed targeting these Rays, and makes a nice change to be fishing on a calm night rather than severely windy in your face bad weather Cod session, but there is one down side, I need to warn you about, seriously! Bluey, as good a Ray bait as it is, it stinks real bad, and even after 2 washes my fishing clothes have been hidden in the garage from the Mrs, if she gets hold of them, she won't hesitate and bin them!.

Zander Fishing, Old Bury Hill Lake

Last Knockings and Knocked By a Duck

Bury Hill Fisheries, Dorking, Surrey. RH4. UK

Old Bury Hill Lake 

After many attempts this year trying to catch a Pike, from twitching Sprats through fallen trees in river's back waters, and sitting on popped up big dead baits in gravel pits, to lure fishing crystal clear lakes and trotting baits down several miles of muddy river, All had left me scratching my head with a string of blanks, I had come to the conclusion that maybe 1.) I'm either not very good at catching Pike. nah....that's not it at all, but the reality was I do need to venture further afield and find pastures new. Going way back to my teen years I remember going once to a fishery with a friend, we hired a punt and Pike fished a big lake, I cant remember if we caught back then, but I found out it was Bury Hill Fisheries, and after some research I discovered not only was full of Pike but they also had Zander there, maybe one of the only waters in the South East to hold them. My mind was made up also instantly, I had just been in Germany lure fishing trying to catch my first Zander, and fate had just presented another opportunity to target them, and if they didn't play ball then maybe the Pike would, and decides I had another plan for catching a Pike, of which I am counting down the days till the water opens for the season.

Small Baits And smaller Hooks

I arrived at 7am, and intended to fish all day till closing time, letting me fish early morning and evening of which would give me the best chance to catch, upon arrival I paid my dues, and asked for some advice on where to fish and was shown a detailed map with the depths, I decided to fish deeper part of the lake due to the cold weather, and was advised to use small sections of fish of which I had plenty, small Bream, Sprats, Roach, and mini Mackerel. The Fishery had a rule of no trebles, so I had made up a small selection of wire traces with size 6 barbless hooks from my carp tackle, some with 2 hooks, some 1 hook  and some with hairs. I decided to fish 3 rods, 2 ledger, and 1 float, I had a different bait on each rod, the float was fished just off the bottom and the wind drifted it along the inside ledge nicely, whilst the first leger rod was about 10 meters out, with a couple of fish cut into small sections catapulted out around the bait to act as ground bait to put scent and draw any passing fish to the area, whilst the 2nd ledger was cast at range and fished close to the island. The weather was sunny with a gentle breeze, and the water was slightly coloured, and as I sat there, I felt a confidence of getting a run that I'd not had in a long time.

Wanted  For Theft

Being a weekday it was quite, for the morning at least I had the whole bank to myself, I leap frogged the rods and slowly worked my along the bank searching the water for some fish, the only thing i seemed to catch was a male mallard who decided to stay with me the whole time I was fishing, he done me a favour by keeping the other other ducks away, even though I shared my snacks with him he wasn't just innocently keeping me company and had an ulterior motive. If I gave him my back for 5 minutes, he would steal a fish out of my bait bag, but he never got to eat one, as a ever watchful Heron would immediately swoop down, scaring him and indeed myself, and aggressively snatched what ever fish he had stolen, Natures law perhaps? or maybe they were in collusion, who knows,but a effective robbery that I suspect had been perfected over a life time.

Happy Days, A New Species

Although I had fished a large amount of water, I still hadn't had any takes, and with 4 hours remaining I decided to walk back to fish the other side of the lake. but apon getting closer I could see that a few anglers had arrived and were fishing the bank I was heading to, and being spoilt for water all day, I decided to keep to myself, and fish just to the left of where I started out and work myself  left this time. I had dropped into the lodge for some mackerel oil, which I injected in to the baits, hoping it would give off a large scent trail that any close fish could not resist, but still no runs at all, With 10 mins left to fish I recast all three rods for the last time, again to different locations, As I wondered what else I could of done differently to get a run, I had used three methods trying four different baits covering a very large area, but all had seen no action then just as I stood up to start to pack up, I noticed my float disappear and reappear several seconds later, I ran to the rod, the float then started to quickly move across the water and headed straight towards the lodge, it disappeared, so I struck. The fish was on, and it carried on swimming straight towards the lodge hard taking line, fearing that if it swam under the lodge I would lose it to the wooden supports I played the fish hard and managed to stop it just short, and after a few minutes had the fish in the landing net, My first ever Zander!! a old battle hardened fish with a fearsome set of teeth on it, which luckily I didn't need to get close to as the size 4 barbless hook had fallen out after I had landed it, and was lodged in the net. I'd forgotten my scales on this occasion but estimate the fish to be around the 7lb mark, the fish still had a lot of fight and I struggled to hold him still for a picture, as soon as he went back into the water he didn't want to hang around and immediately broke free of my grip and strongly swam off. Well what can I say, I felt I deserved that fish, and was over the moon about it, Sticking it out and sticking to the game plan had payed off in the last seconds, now I've always said one fish can save the day as this proves it, a new species to my belt and a decent sized one too, a good day even though I still got a chicken to pluck with Pike, that time is coming, you hear me Pike "I'm coming for you!"

World Dab Championship, Dungeness

The Tronixpro World Dab Championship 2015

Dungeness, Romney Marsh, Kent TN29, UK

Its not very often these days I fish in a competition, but there is something about the World Dab Championship that really appeals to me, well quite a few to be honest, 1.) Its for a good charity the RNLI "Royal National Lifeboat Institution" 2.) It's only once a year. 3.) the winner gets to be a world champion 4.) its emphasis is being a friendly, and finally 5.) Its on my local stomping ground, so I should stand a chance shouldn't I? there isn't anything to dislike about this and I've been looking forward to it since last year where I was unable to attend due to work commitments, this time I had even booked the weekend off as holiday just so I didn't miss it. My brother Scott would be joining me on the little adventure, we set off early and arrived at about 30 mins before registration took place and was surprised to find the life boat station open, quick use of  the wash room facility's,  and a sausage bap cooked on a BBQ for breakfast washed down with a cup of coffee just in time to get registered. Scott had just enlightened me to the fact he's never caught a dab before, not that this really mattered but we did have a giggle and got a few laughs and strange looks as he deliberately and loudly with a very serious tone kept  asking me "What's a Dab?"

Plenty of rigs

Registered and with our score cards we headed for the beach, I had decided to fish behind the boats, in the past I have very good Dab sessions before, and I thought it would be better to have the wind in your face, The weather was sunny with a little cloud, and the wind was North Easterly quite strong at 25mph gales in the morning but dropping to a gentle breeze in the afternoon. I expected the water to be quite clear and flat, but it was the total opposite, the sea was still muddy and ferocious waves were smashing against the shingle, I think this even caught out a fishing boat that tried to launch and ended up being thrown sideways back onto the beach with a crash. well, all though it looked more like a Cod sea, we were there to catch Dabs, and I had made a good selection of rigs to cover as many situations as possible, and straight away I knew that I would need a clipped down rig to get any distance in the fierce headwind, as we waited the long 2 hours till the start of the match more and more people arrived and with each wave kept filtering in between the existing fisherman till a constant stream of anglers every 10 to 15 meters could be seen going into the distance. I did expect this to be fair, but I didn't think we would be so close to each other, and with the weather I was thinking this is going to be tangle city.

On your marks, get set, 2 hour to wait

The matched started quite relaxed, the different times on peoples watches meant we all kind of started with a few minute of each other, and no mad scramble all casting out at the same time like I had envisioned. I was using a 5oz plain lead, and was surprised at how little tide movement there was, and even held bottom quite comfortably, Straight away I had little knocks on the rod tips, and so did my brother, and both reeled in a double shot each of Rockling, in the first 20 minutes I think we landed about 14 Rockling and Scott got to know what a Dab was, landing himself a small one, but well under the size limit so didn't count. It then went dead, I tried, far out, close in, further out and ridiculously close in, I watched where the anglers to the right and left were casting, and mostly within 30 to 60 meters, so I opted to stay fishing at range as no one was catching close in. I wanted to use the current to move the rig on a plain lead about to help find the fish, but the severe lack of tide meant even my plain 3 oz lead was holding, so I opted to put the 5 oz plain lead on so I could cast as far as I can, and use the reel to drag the lead and rig back towards me 2 meters, every 60 seconds in a vain bid to locate some fish, but this didn't make any difference, there were no fish about, and now only the tide would bring them to us. High Tide came and went and for 3 hours I hadn't seen anyone catch, and my rod tip had been deathly still especially because the wind had almost died off. And I dont know if it was coincidence but the famous Dungeness seal was on the hunt around where we was for about 30mins till I lost track of him, and I'm always suprized at how big he is.

Dog not Dab

With a hour of fishing left, the fish returned with a bang, my rod at range,  buckled over hard, and again, what the hell? I picked the rod up and took the slack and felt a big pull, I didn't strike with the braid but lifted the rod gently to set the hook and reeled in, I felt the weight of a bigger fish, and honestly thought with the bite this was a Cod, but I'd forgotten how sensitive my Vecelli Continental with braid is, which gives excellent bite registration. It was a small Dogfish, the next hour was a fish a chuck, all at range, a mixture of Whiting, Pouting more Rockling and another Dogfish and 2 Dabs both of which were under sized by a long way, My brother was getting bites too in the last hour, but his fish were Rockling at closer range and another undersized Dab. we fished hard till the end hoping for one double shot that may put us in a placing, but it wasn't to be. It was time to pack up, It had been a good experience, and took me a lot longer to pack up as by now as between me and my brother we had 8 x 3 hook rigs out all needing tough sticky lugworm cleaned from the hooks.

My undersized best effort

As we arrived back at the lifeboat station for the weigh in, it was obvious by the number of buckets being carried, lots of people had caught Dabs, the length were being double checked on a match ruler, then being weighed on some big scales, it was a really good atmosphere, and I couldn't resist the smell of the BBQ and had a big double burger, as I was quite hungry as I neglected to take any other food for the day. The raffle started and a few hundred anglers stood listening as hard as they could for numbers being called, and for good reason, a large table full of goodies was up for grabs, A Zziplex rod, untold goody bags, cakes, a bait pump, to name just a few but 7 nights accommodation in Norway did catch my eye. the first winner was actually one of the raffle collectors, but in a honourable act he didn't take any of the so called top prizes and left with the bait pump to a loud appreciated applause from the room. As the draw went on the room got louder and louder, and the table was slowly stripped bare, I done good, having three numbers and getting some braid and some lures, I did miss one though as I was collecting a prize already when another one of my numbers was called out, It was a great day and the results were revealed and the presentation, with 2 new World Dab Champions being crowned. It was a wonderful day, and a very big and well organised match, which raised a fantastic £5160 for the RNLI, congratulations to all the organisers, the sponsors and all the 192 competitors for making it such a event, and not forgetting the new 2015 TronixproWorld Dab Champion Alan Wood Brignall with 6 dabs weighing 1.38kg and the new 2015 Junior Tronixpro World Dab Champion Kane Wood Brignall with 7 Dabs weighing 1.44kg.

Clueless ^^^^^^ "Whats's a Dab?"

Pike Fishing, River Rhine

Big River, Little Fish

River Rhine, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany

No smoking in the harbour

A trip to the Black Forest to see family in Germany wasn't as innocent as it first appeared, Emil my brother in law, had a little surprise lined up for me. He had passed his fishing test and was now the proud owner of a German fishing licence, not as easy to get like ours in the UK, which you just fill out a form and pay some money, he spent 4 Sundays in a class room and then took a exam!! I wonder how many English fisherman, or even myself would pass this test? But what it did mean though, was that Emil (and a guest, that's me!) could now fish anywhere in Germany with permission from the controlling fishing club. I couldn't believe my luck when he said we were going Pike fishing on the River Rhine and Little Rhine's, which I understood as being smaller tributary's to the main river, I have to admit that I have a very soft spot for Pike, and are without doubt my most favourite fish to catch. and I was so excited to be getting a chance to fish the River Rhine for them, the longest river in Germany flowing 1233km, starting in the Swiss Alps and ending at Hook Of Holland before entering the North Sea.

The winning lures

With a small selection of lures and a small reel and travel spinning rod packed into a small holdall and enough clothes for three days, I set off for Germany, and believe me when I say this, but I only just made it by the skin of my teeth. Due to increased security, rods, even travel ones that fit in very small suitcases are not allowed in hand luggage, and I was thrown back to airport entrance via the back door by customs! 2 hours later with some stern talking, long queues, helpful airport staff, and sheer luck that my flight was delayed I managed to board my flight just in time, the rod ended up just in its soft bag and wrapped in clingfilm disguised as a fragile cargo package to be stored in the hull for twice the amount of money my air plane ticket cost, this could of been worst as sporting goods would of cost four times what my ticket cost! they are budget airlines for a reason! Frustrated I did finally arrived in Germany, and somehow managed to spot my rod which had just been placed on a trolley up against the wall in the arrival lounge, and thankfully it was still only in 4 pieces.

Do you have your papers?

The first day I had to go to the Neuenburg Rathaus  "town hall", where I applied for a tourist fishing licence. this was quite long winded, and took some time as the staff seemed to learn on the spot how to process the paperwork, I was the first tourist ever to apply for a licence in Neuenburg. My licence was then taken by Emil who then obtained a fishing permits from the AKV "Anglerverein Karlsruhe" We now had licences and permits galore, and nothing would stop us. and after a few days of family stuff we would be fishing, we talked tactics during the nights and showing each other rigs and videos, then it dawned on me, I only had Pike on my mind, but I had missed an important fact, we would be lure fishing, and other species were on the cards, big Perch and Chub, Wels Catfish, and a fish I've never caught before because it has only been introduced to a few waters in the UK, the Zander!!! oh boy was I excited, seriously I couldn't wait! and maybe not as much as Emil who was about to embark on his first legal fishing trip outside the comfort of a commercial trout farm for a species he had never caught before.

Savage Gear Real Eel, Stunning Action!

Well the day had arrived and with a short drive from the snowy black forest we arrived at the first of what was going to be three locations. This was a stretch of canal that ran off the River Rhine, beautifully deep clear water with a rusty tinge to it, dead flat without any wind, the sort of place would expect to see shoals of Chub or Trout laying dead still in the gentle current waiting for some passing food. Within seconds we were set up, both with light spinning rods, small fixed spool reels, 20lb braid, traces and lure attached, I opted for the newest addition to my lure box, a Savage Gear 20cm Real Eel in olive and silver colour, whilst Emil used Lieblingskoder rubber shad tails mounted on a jig head with a stinger treble as he had been advised to use by the local tackle shop. We leap frogged our way along the beautiful canal, without much success, and even with polarised sunglasses I was surprised to not even see one fish, we made our way to end where it joined the River Rhine and was unable to fish due to large floats lining the bank, something to stop boats beaching themselves, so we turned back, a few swims later and the water started turning cloudy brown, and we watched a large barge set to work dredging the canal, with a crane it was literally ripping trees out the water, Ironically I did think to myself earlier that it was very snag free, and now I knew why, and possibly this work has temporarily scared the local fish to further reaches, so we decided enough was enough and to go fish the big River Rhine.

Making foot prints

We never made it to the River, on the way, in a large field I spotted a long narrow lake feed by a small stream, lined with dead reeds, it reminded me of the drains I fish back home, I asked Emil if we could fish it? the answer was yes, and so we stopped, we started at one end and worked our way along to the end, it was about 2 meters deep at the deepest but the majority was about 1 meter deep, and was narrow enough that it was easy to cast the lure to the far bank. the retrieve with the Real Eel had to be a lot faster so it didn't snag the bottom, I was constantly bringing in clumps of dead leaves from the lake bottom, but I did see a Pike follow the lure to the surface and turn around last minute, probably as he saw me, then disappeared into the murky water. At least I knew there was at least one fish here. and as then as if by magic, and possibly the same fish I had just seen had grabbed Emil's Lure. He was in and landed his first ever Pike, a stunning little Jack. The fish was nicely hooked in the scissors of the jaw, and unhooked easily and due to being under the 50cm size limit was quickly released to grow bigger.

Get in Emil!, can only get bigger!

I didn't know before I arrived in Germany but Freshwater fish over an allotted size limit are to be killed, Emil had advised that the laws in Germany are very seriously taken, hence the fishing licence exams, and even hefty fines for failure to fish without a priest!, I wasn't absolutely sure if it was law you had to kill a captured fish which was over its size limit, or it was culture thing, where it was normal to kill what you catch as a hunter, or even if you could release it, if you wanted too. I was a bit confused, as some of the conversation was getting lost in translation . Being from the UK where catch and release for freshwater species is the only practise, with exception of Salmon and Trout, I had no option to but to abide to the laws of the land I was in and trust Emil would do the right thing. I have to admit that catching a big Pike or any fresh water fish and then killing at this point wasn't very appealing. And to be honest, I wasn't entirely sure why either, I happily kill salt water fish and trout for the dinner table, I just never looked at fresh water fish as food before, UK big fish are known and even named, they make their home waters famous as anglers flock to attempt to catch the venues star specimen. I've even known and caught a Pike with one eye called Nelson, either way it was a bridge that we wasn't at yet or even guaranteed of crossing, so I carried on with wonder at what might happen.

We had no more takes at the lake even though Emils little Jack had given us renewed optimism, we decided to drive off to the harbour on the River Rhine. Little did I know this was an hour drive away, and seemed a little excessive considering the abundance of water around where we was already fishing, but we had been advised twice, by the tackle shop and a local fisherman to fish there, so there we did go. And Wow!!!, this was the first time I got close to the River Rhine. Its absolutely enormous, very fast flowing with cargo barges the size of ferrys, loaded with shipping containers speeding up and down along their super highway. luckily we wasn't going to tackle this beast, but fish the more tame harbour area. where a defensive wall protected a canal section of the Rhine which allowed the cargo barges out of the main flow of the river to unload there cargo directly to the industrial buildings with smoke bellowing out of their chimneys. And what a back drop! not only was it snowing, but the chilling sounds coming out of the factory's added to the awe inspiring ambiance.

"Don't tell him your name Pike"

I hadn't had any luck with my lures, and Emil kindly let me use one of his bright pink shad tail Jig because I felt that would give me a better chance of catching a Zander, but also because it had accounted for the only fish of the day so far. It didn't take 4 casts before I was in, the fight was actually really good on the light rod, and the fish put up a seriously good fight in the very deep water and even though it wasn't the main river the water was still pushing though very hard, when it surfaced I was shocked to see it was a just a small Jack. The fish was still full of energy when I unhooked him in the water, and he immediately managed to flick himself free as I had chinned him, but due to his small size I didn't have the best grip, this didn't seem to upset or phase him though, as 2 casts later he was happy to throw himself at the same lure and I hooked and landed him again, this time he was definitely a bit more chilled and happily posed for a quick photo. The rest of the session was quiet and no more fish were to be had, the sun was setting and the temp was dropping fast, It was time to call it a day, and what a lovely day it was too, we had explored what seemed like untrodden paths along a crystal clear canal, and found a secluded lake bang in the middle of agricultural field, and even fished bear face in the most unnatural of industrial settings. We had both caught a fish, not big fish, but at least we didn't blank, the amount of water here would take someone a lifetime and more to learn, we had only just scratched the surface and had a quick look, I've no doubt these waters are full of specimen fish that have never seen a fishing line before, and I suspect that I will be returning in the summer, when we would be more likely to catch, because the fish are a lot more active , well, it would be rude not to, my licence does last a year!