Bluemoon Angling Thread

I went shark fishing about ten years ago on Tenerife. It was a bit of a joke in retrospect to be honest, a tourist trap. The previous trip out had caught one and it's carcass was on the deck with it's teeth and fin removed. Then they just turfed its body over the side. I was disgusted.

I'd hope @mammutly will recount the tale of the marlin on here when he's back. I checked back on his texts and it's taken him 25 years, and it took in the last minute of his last all day trip.
Really was an Aguero moment then! You should get him a 93:20 t shirt!
 
I used to go regularly for a week to fish their big lake for carp and cats. It's a nice place and the carp are piss easy to catch. The other lakes are match lakes if that's your thing. Let me know if you want any tips for the big lake. I didn't fish their Wye stretch but had a morning on their stretch of The Teme. I blanked.

Thanks mate- I'm probably going to focus on the Tench lake to begin with-I've only ever fished a river once so any advice on the Teme would be greatly appreciated.
Was thinking about the method feeder on the big lake but not sure-what do you think?
 
Thanks mate- I'm probably going to focus on the Tench lake to begin with-I've only ever fished a river once so any advice on the Teme would be greatly appreciated.
Was thinking about the method feeder on the big lake but not sure-what do you think?

I chucked a lead in the tench lake once for 10 minutes and I'm sure it isn't hard to catch as it was full of fish. I'd go the pellet route personally.

The big lake is called the Major Bill and standard carp tactics work there. Yes, a method feeder would work but I'd personally make sure you are introducing lots of bait. Everyone fishes up against the island but the fish are everywhere.

I've heard The Teme is a waste of time for barbel these days. Definitely go for the Wye instead!
 
I chucked a lead in the tench lake once for 10 minutes and I'm sure it isn't hard to catch as it was full of fish. I'd go the pellet route personally.

The big lake is called the Major Bill and standard carp tactics work there. Yes, a method feeder would work but I'd personally make sure you are introducing lots of bait. Everyone fishes up against the island but the fish are everywhere.

I've heard The Teme is a waste of time for barbel these days. Definitely go for the Wye instead!

Was going to fish a feeder on the Wye do you think that would be a decent tactic?

Yeah not to worried about catching on the lakes-would you advise using a pole on Major Bill lake?
 
Was going to fish a feeder on the Wye do you think that would be a decent tactic?

Yeah not to worried about catching on the lakes-would you advise using a pole on Major Bill lake?

For chub and barbel on The Wye a big feeder, frequently recast, with pellets, is what you want. Finding the barbel is more important: you need strong flow, deep water and a gravel bottom. The staff in the Docklow shop will tell you the right pegs I'm sure but make sure you aren't undergunned with your rod/line etc, especially if the river is up. Last week, in ultra-low flow, there were pegs where I needed 6oz to hold bottom.

Definitely don't use a pole on the Major Bill lake. The carp are all doubles and there are big cats. You need proper carp tackle, a bolt rig etc. If you haven't done "proper" carp fishing it's a great place to learn as there are loads of them.
 
For chub and barbel on The Wye a big feeder, frequently recast, with pellets, is what you want. Finding the barbel is more important: you need strong flow, deep water and a gravel bottom. The staff in the Docklow shop will tell you the right pegs I'm sure but make sure you aren't undergunned with your rod/line etc, especially if the river is up. Last week, in ultra-low flow, there were pegs where I needed 6oz to hold bottom.

Definitely don't use a pole on the Major Bill lake. The carp are all doubles and there are big cats. You need proper carp tackle, a bolt rig etc. If you haven't done "proper" carp fishing it's a great place to learn as there are loads of them.

Nice one-I've never really done proper carp fishing despite catching a lot of carp including two twenties-definitely going to pick the brains of the angling shop in regards the River though as my last attempt on the Ribble a few years ago was a disaster!

Was going to use my feeder rod on the river but it sounds like I'd better use my carp rod with a 2.5 test curve.

Cheers for the advice mate.
 
Nice one-I've never really done proper carp fishing despite catching a lot of carp including two twenties-definitely going to pick the brains of the angling shop in regards the River though as my last attempt on the Ribble a few years ago was a disaster!

Was going to use my feeder rod on the river but it sounds like I'd better use my carp rod with a 2.5 test curve.

Cheers for the advice mate.

All of the pther lakes will be perfect for the pole, just not the big one.

A standard feeder rod will be too light for the Wye, but a 2.5lb carp rod a bit too heavy. If that's all you have, go for the carp rod. You need 10lb-12lb line, heavy feeders and lots of pellets. Let us know how you get on.
 
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All of the pther lakes will be perfect for the pole, just not the big one.

A standard feeder rod will be too light for the Wye, but a 2.5lb carp rod a bit too heavy. If that's all you have, go for the carp rod. You need 10lb line, heavy feeders and lots of pellets. Let us know how you get on.

Will do mate.
 
All of the pther lakes will be perfect for the pole, just not the big one.

A standard feeder rod will be too light for the Wye, but a 2.5lb carp rod a bit too heavy. If that's all you have, go for the carp rod. You need 10lb-12lb line, heavy feeders and lots of pellets. Let us know how you get on.

Got back from Docklow on Monday after a great weekend-unfortunately not able to get on the rivers due to the awful weather but had a great time fishing the ponds and caught lots of fish and had a great few nights in the Fisherman's Arms would definitely go back mate.
 
Got back from Docklow on Monday after a great weekend-unfortunately not able to get on the rivers due to the awful weather but had a great time fishing the ponds and caught lots of fish and had a great few nights in the Fisherman's Arms would definitely go back mate.

Did you try the "Major Bill" lake? The one with the bigger fish?
 
Did you try the "Major Bill" lake? The one with the bigger fish?

No mate just fished the tench pool, micky mouse, moby dick and farmer jack........nothing massive biggest I had was a 12lb mirror.

Bloody rained all weekend and was very windy but you were right it's a stunning place.
 
I have only dabbled since I last posted, but I will be out for a proper barbel trip later this week.

In a couple of brief local light lure fishing trips I had a 6lb pike and a 1lb perch.
 
So, was out yesterday on the Wye near Ross. My first Barbel fishing in near as damn it 50 years. I was out with a guide to make sure I gave myself best possible chance of some success. Although it was a hard day (mainly due to water temperature dropping significantly in the last few days Graham explained) i had a fantastic time managing 4 Barbel and 4 Chubb. Every fish smashed my previous 50 year old PB's! Barbel were weighed at 10Ib 2oz, 8lb (estimated) 7lb 4oz and 6lb (estimated). The biggest Chubb was 6lb. All fish caught on a feeder rig with pellets. Fantastic day. Just wish there was Barbel fishing closer to home in Scotland.
 
So, was out yesterday on the Wye near Ross. My first Barbel fishing in near as damn it 50 years. I was out with a guide to make sure I gave myself best possible chance of some success. Although it was a hard day (mainly due to water temperature dropping significantly in the last few days Graham explained) i had a fantastic time managing 4 Barbel and 4 Chubb. Every fish smashed my previous 50 year old PB's! Barbel were weighed at 10Ib 2oz, 8lb (estimated) 7lb 4oz and 6lb (estimated). The biggest Chubb was 6lb. All fish caught on a feeder rig with pellets. Fantastic day. Just wish there was Barbel fishing closer to home in Scotland.
Well done: )
 
So, was out yesterday on the Wye near Ross. My first Barbel fishing in near as damn it 50 years. I was out with a guide to make sure I gave myself best possible chance of some success. Although it was a hard day (mainly due to water temperature dropping significantly in the last few days Graham explained) i had a fantastic time managing 4 Barbel and 4 Chubb. Every fish smashed my previous 50 year old PB's! Barbel were weighed at 10Ib 2oz, 8lb (estimated) 7lb 4oz and 6lb (estimated). The biggest Chubb was 6lb. All fish caught on a feeder rig with pellets. Fantastic day. Just wish there was Barbel fishing closer to home in Scotland.

You've done well to get a double so really well done. Which stretch? There is plenty of barbel fishing a lot closer to Scotland, by the way! The Ribble or the North East or Yorkshire Rivers for a start.
 
So, was out yesterday on the Wye near Ross. My first Barbel fishing in near as damn it 50 years. I was out with a guide to make sure I gave myself best possible chance of some success. Although it was a hard day (mainly due to water temperature dropping significantly in the last few days Graham explained) i had a fantastic time managing 4 Barbel and 4 Chubb. Every fish smashed my previous 50 year old PB's! Barbel were weighed at 10Ib 2oz, 8lb (estimated) 7lb 4oz and 6lb (estimated). The biggest Chubb was 6lb. All fish caught on a feeder rig with pellets. Fantastic day. Just wish there was Barbel fishing closer to home in Scotland.

Well in mate.
I just wish there were some more salmon in the Wye. Its been an awful season!
I am coming up to fish the Annan in a few weeks time.
 
Well in mate.
I just wish there were some more salmon in the Wye. Its been an awful season!
I am coming up to fish the Annan in a few weeks time.
The guide I mentioned lives on the river and mentioned he had seen fewer salmon this season the any other. We expected to see some yesterday with the river at a perfect height for them to run but absolutely no sign. My friends in Scotland mainly fish the east coast rivers but they haven't had much of a sniff this season. Good luck on the Annan. Let us know how you get on.
 
The guide I mentioned lives on the river and mentioned he had seen fewer salmon this season the any other. We expected to see some yesterday with the river at a perfect height for them to run but absolutely no sign. My friends in Scotland mainly fish the east coast rivers but they haven't had much of a sniff this season. Good luck on the Annan. Let us know how you get on.

Will do mate.
A friend of mine has had a cracking season on the Dee, mind you the lucky git can afford it!
I went up on the Annan for 3 days a bit back and never even saw a fish, and I was fishing really close to the tide.
We used to fish the Lochy every year till this. Another river with a dramatic decline :(
 
You've done well to get a double so really well done. Which stretch? There is plenty of barbel fishing a lot closer to Scotland, by the way! The Ribble or the North East or Yorkshire Rivers for a start.
So I think the stretch is called Wye Lea. Its a mile or so upstream from Ross. I believe it is the first double figure fish caught on the stretch this season (according to the bailiff) which makes me very fortunate. To be honest, my feet haven't yet touched the ground I enjoyed the day so much. The last hour I had a couple of barbel, lost one and a chub and things were starting to heat up a bit. The guide reckoned we would have had more if we had stayed on but I had a fair drive. Anyway, I was over the moon with the four I caught and any more would have just been greedy ;-). I had forgotten just how hard a Barbel pulls. The strength of them was unbelievable. I really enjoyed the technical aspects of the fishing. Very different from the fly stuff I am used to.

I first fished for Barbel as a lad on the Yorkshire Swale, a couple of miles south of Richmond at a place called Easby Abbey. They were nowhere as large as the Wye fish averaging about 3lb and you were lucky if your chub stretched to 1lb! I suspect it will be a little while before I get the opportunity again.
 

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