Thursday, 26 September 2013
Sunday, 1 September 2013
Wet wet wet
Lake: HFF Specimen Lake
Swim: Bus stop RHS
Date: 24th August 2013.
Session Length: 24hrs 7am - 7am.
Weather: Based upon MET office data 23 degrees Celsius wet bulb 88%RH day 17 degrees Celsius wet bulb 74%RH night.
Party: Mark Adams & Richard Short (Me)
Starting at 7 am prompt we were given the grace from mother nature with at least an hour or so without any rain at all although we knew the forecast predicted constant heavy rain until Sunday 3am and it was delivered.
We set up and fished without baitboats and baited simply as little cloud or particle bait would retain its original position. We were however aware that the water was suitably coloured therefore bright colours may well play a good part in the strategies. It was raining continually!!!!!
Following an initial bait plan little changed and after resting the bus stop double swims (me on RHS) I decided to test the rear of the island stalking but to no avail.
Once returned (after baiting the furthest most) channel between the island and the far bank catapulted with 4mm carp pellet and Mainline Activ-Maple8 tipped with matching hook bait a clockwork orange pop-up from the closest bank a well placed bait complete with matching PVA solid bag rested from circa. 13:00 til 15:00 when bang a rapidly increasing run started! Noting the weather had not desisted this 21lb beautiful French common was tamed to the net in full rain downpour.
Thereafter, yet another common was caught in the early evening on the same bait and same location with a little and often loose feed baiting strategy; 24lb with a scar 2/3rd of the way along (possibly signs of a sporning wound slowly repairing).
A fellow angler appeared later in the evening with a request for a photo of a lovely 27lb fish in swim 1 however from the bus stop end activity wasn't far away with Mark having a slight bobbin lift which resulted in a full run and a catch of a cracking 27lb mirror on Stickybaits Krill from the LHS bus stop swim.
At 03:00 (in the still constantly pouring hard rain) I dashed out of the bivvy (totally dazed from mid sleep) to a close in (circa 20ft) from the bank run which took line close to the island and back; this UK PB was netted and weighed in at 34lb 2oz. which fell to a CC Moore N Gage XP pop up tipped boilie with maize loose feed and a small bag of 4 or 5 boilies.
One of the wettest and craziest weathers I have fished in and one of the happiest days in my UK angling; HFF speci lake has done it again!!!!
Monday, 26 August 2013
Etang Bertie 2013
Once again, the terribly excited group of anglers (Claire, Jim, Nic, Paul and I) set off very early in the morning (20th July 2013) to catch a ferry from Portsmouth hopefully ending our journey by the glorious banks of the Miller's Lake Etang Bertie.
The convoy met at Wrotham hill and consisted of Paul and Nic in the van and Jim, Claire and I in their Peugeot.
Unfortunately mid journey to Portsmouth the Peugeot decided it was not going to be a smooth journey and the AA was required. Very luckily all was not lost. The van seated three and the BMW touring bike was used to successfully reunite all by the lake at just gone midnight.
Nic, Paul and I were able to just manage to do a spot of necessary shopping before arriving at the lake and using playing cards, fairly selected the preference of swims. By this time we were all essentially set-up ready for the night and ready for fishing. Nic had already started to fish and managed to wangle out a fish and again learnt lessons previously known "don't use poor and faulty rigs".
The weather good warm; circa 30 degrees Celsius with little recent rain or change in weather and clear skies.
The swims were as follows;
Claire: Field swim
Jim: House swim
Nic: Top bay (small fish corner)
Rich (Me): Point
Paul: Bendy Bivvy
Whilst the following days saw good fishing with the below attached catch list the fishing was, we believe hampered a little by the relentless dry constant heat over 30 degrees Celsius.
Through conversations with other anglers it seems, however, the only lake to be at; it is the most beautiful lake and also when all other lakes switch off (certainly the carp) with the peak heat, Bertie still offers the chance to catch through either stalking or sensible fishing.
My first full night and day saw a 34lb 6oz Mirror fall to Stickybaits Krill boilie and trimmed almond goo fed pop-up critically balanced on a Fox Armo SR size 4 KD rig.
Also a couple of Bertie's gorgeous French commons and an always surprisingly agile sturgeon were caught on Mainline Activ-Maple 8 and Cell Snowman rig respectively.
Fish were regularly landed through the days although it took me a bit of a reminder course from Paul on the skills or stalking before I was able to hook my first on double maize. By Christ was it a steep learning curve following in Paul's footsteps with a cracking fully scaled mirror from near the far end outlet.
Noting this, Maize is, to date, probably the most successful all round bait although it did appear that whenever Activ-Maple 8 or Cell was used with the already successful Tiger Nut flour boilies and extract serious activity wasn't far away.
By far the most enjoyable time was after dusk; often as late as midnight when a sudden random noises came from bite alarms from Nic, Paul and my swims. One night this "crazy time" resulted in a triple hook up and 3 happy lads..... the crazy commons....... (left to right 27lb, 25lb and 26lb I think)
The catfish fishing has progressed immensely since the first year and experience along with true angling has enabled us to draw out some monsters from the water.
The convoy met at Wrotham hill and consisted of Paul and Nic in the van and Jim, Claire and I in their Peugeot.
Unfortunately mid journey to Portsmouth the Peugeot decided it was not going to be a smooth journey and the AA was required. Very luckily all was not lost. The van seated three and the BMW touring bike was used to successfully reunite all by the lake at just gone midnight.
Nic, Paul and I were able to just manage to do a spot of necessary shopping before arriving at the lake and using playing cards, fairly selected the preference of swims. By this time we were all essentially set-up ready for the night and ready for fishing. Nic had already started to fish and managed to wangle out a fish and again learnt lessons previously known "don't use poor and faulty rigs".
The weather good warm; circa 30 degrees Celsius with little recent rain or change in weather and clear skies.
The swims were as follows;
Claire: Field swim
Jim: House swim
Nic: Top bay (small fish corner)
Rich (Me): Point
Paul: Bendy Bivvy
Whilst the following days saw good fishing with the below attached catch list the fishing was, we believe hampered a little by the relentless dry constant heat over 30 degrees Celsius.
Through conversations with other anglers it seems, however, the only lake to be at; it is the most beautiful lake and also when all other lakes switch off (certainly the carp) with the peak heat, Bertie still offers the chance to catch through either stalking or sensible fishing.
My first full night and day saw a 34lb 6oz Mirror fall to Stickybaits Krill boilie and trimmed almond goo fed pop-up critically balanced on a Fox Armo SR size 4 KD rig.
Also a couple of Bertie's gorgeous French commons and an always surprisingly agile sturgeon were caught on Mainline Activ-Maple 8 and Cell Snowman rig respectively.
Fish were regularly landed through the days although it took me a bit of a reminder course from Paul on the skills or stalking before I was able to hook my first on double maize. By Christ was it a steep learning curve following in Paul's footsteps with a cracking fully scaled mirror from near the far end outlet.
Noting this, Maize is, to date, probably the most successful all round bait although it did appear that whenever Activ-Maple 8 or Cell was used with the already successful Tiger Nut flour boilies and extract serious activity wasn't far away.
By far the most enjoyable time was after dusk; often as late as midnight when a sudden random noises came from bite alarms from Nic, Paul and my swims. One night this "crazy time" resulted in a triple hook up and 3 happy lads..... the crazy commons....... (left to right 27lb, 25lb and 26lb I think)
The catfish fishing has progressed immensely since the first year and experience along with true angling has enabled us to draw out some monsters from the water.
Monday, 15 July 2013
HFF Re-run
A 36 hour return visit to HFF Specimen lake (28th - 30th June) saw a dramatic change. Fishing the Bus stop swim again with Mark and again a hot weekend is was time to test Sticky Baits "The Krill".
With an early catch from myself Krill boilie and Clockwork Orange pop up trimmed for neutral buoyancy the pressure was off finally.
Mark arrived earlier (circa. 13:00) and had already landing a 30lb cat and working on more. An update of his catches will hopefully be added as comments to this post.
With an early catch from myself Krill boilie and Clockwork Orange pop up trimmed for neutral buoyancy the pressure was off finally.
Mark arrived earlier (circa. 13:00) and had already landing a 30lb cat and working on more. An update of his catches will hopefully be added as comments to this post.
Friday, 17 May 2013
HFF Spring Madness
Starting on the 10th May for 36 hours with mark and I in the bus stop swim (Mark left and I right) the session begins!
Warm (ish) with a temperature high of 14 degrees Celsius the fish start moving from right to left although I don't get a snif!
Krill'in it!
Mark, with his new found super bait manages to hook into a lovely fish within an hour of baiting up.
Paul arrived @ 19:00 and so the session progresses.
Further updates on catches and bait by Mark and Paul as comments to this post.
Monday, 15 April 2013
HFF Specimen
So, Mark and I (Shorty) are now booked onto HFF Specimen lake on Saturday for a 24 hour session! Thankfully the weather has turned so a bit of action might be seen!
It is expected to be 10 degrees Celsius and overcast so potentially just about right for a feeding session!
There has already been quite a few fish out by other specimen members so I have a positive feeling about it.
I'm not aware of the final number on lake but when booking only a couple were booked on on the Friday and 2 others booked for Saturday! Nevertheless, as is standard practise early arrival bang on 7am is preferable!
It is expected to be 10 degrees Celsius and overcast so potentially just about right for a feeding session!
There has already been quite a few fish out by other specimen members so I have a positive feeling about it.
I'm not aware of the final number on lake but when booking only a couple were booked on on the Friday and 2 others booked for Saturday! Nevertheless, as is standard practise early arrival bang on 7am is preferable!
Saturday, 30 March 2013
Peg 6 @ Kestrel
I arrived @ 07:00 with two swims left. I am fishing peg 6 and Mark is fishing peg 5. We are both set-up and have fishing since 08:00
It has been slowly warming up with it being 3 degrees Celsius now, it is due to rise to 5 degrees Celsius around midday although remaining overcast.
I am fishing both Rods over Viltalin and wheat close to the RHS bank;
Rod 1: Nut mix boilie and loose fees maize.
Rod 2: CC Moore Northern Special Wafter.
Mark has sent his bait boat out in the island bay and RHS point with sweetcorn and Nut mix boilies.
Rod 1: Pop-up Maize.
Rod 2: 15mm mainline Cell and pop-up banoffee corn.
It has been slowly warming up with it being 3 degrees Celsius now, it is due to rise to 5 degrees Celsius around midday although remaining overcast.
I am fishing both Rods over Viltalin and wheat close to the RHS bank;
Rod 1: Nut mix boilie and loose fees maize.
Rod 2: CC Moore Northern Special Wafter.
Mark has sent his bait boat out in the island bay and RHS point with sweetcorn and Nut mix boilies.
Rod 1: Pop-up Maize.
Rod 2: 15mm mainline Cell and pop-up banoffee corn.
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