Bluemoon Angling Thread

First ever salmon fishing trip yesterday to the Derwent near Cockermouth (as an aside, every time I pass Cockermouth, I text my girlfriend to say "just passing Cockermouth and thought of you", which, for some reason, she doesn't find hilarious) on the Isel Fishings.

Fully expected "beginner's luck" to kick in but it didn't. Fabulous day though, wonderful surroundings and great fisherman's hut with heater, cooker, fridge etc where we could take refuge from the rain and chat to the bailiff. Had an exciting moment when a salmon porpoised about 20 yards below where I was fishing which gave the day some impetus.

Best moment, though, was when my mate, who took me as a guest, shouted me "fish on" which I could just about hear over the sound of the water and the rain on my hood. He was about 30 yards below me and when I looked up his rid was hooped over and he was looking back at me with a grin of triumph on his face. As I watched, the salmon which was below him, leapt about 3 foot in the air and, knowing little about salmon fishing I thought, "that can"t be good". Because he was so busy looking at me, my mate failed to drop his rod and the fish shed the hook.

It was a "dark fish" apparently so he wasn't too upset. I'd have been raging. Anyway, about 5 o'clock I fell in up to my neck which didn't make much difference because I was already piss wet through so we called it a day. Fabulous day though.
 
Newman Noggs said:
First ever salmon fishing trip yesterday to the Derwent near Cockermouth (as an aside, every time I pass Cockermouth, I text my girlfriend to say "just passing Cockermouth and thought of you", which, for some reason, she doesn't find hilarious) on the Isel Fishings.

Fully expected "beginner's luck" to kick in but it didn't. Fabulous day though, wonderful surroundings and great fisherman's hut with heater, cooker, fridge etc where we could take refuge from the rain and chat to the bailiff. Had an exciting moment when a salmon porpoised about 20 yards below where I was fishing which gave the day some impetus.

Best moment, though, was when my mate, who took me as a guest, shouted me "fish on" which I could just about hear over the sound of the water and the rain on my hood. He was about 30 yards below me and when I looked up his rid was hooped over and he was looking back at me with a grin of triumph on his face. As I watched, the salmon which was below him, leapt about 3 foot in the air and, knowing little about salmon fishing I thought, "that can"t be good". Because he was so busy looking at me, my mate failed to drop his rod and the fish shed the hook.

It was a "dark fish" apparently so he wasn't too upset. I'd have been raging. Anyway, about 5 o'clock I fell in up to my neck which didn't make much difference because I was already piss wet through so we called it a day. Fabulous day though.
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Good report mate. Every time I see a cockatoo I say to my Mrs “You’ve has a cockatoo, haven’t you love?” and she hates it.

I’ve got a day free on Sunday and can’t decide what species to target. Conditions could hardly be worse. The temperatures have just plunged, the nights have gone cold, there’s loads of cold rain dropping the water temperatures and the pressure is going to be rising. In my mind I’ve blanked already to be honest.
 
Didsbury Dave said:
Good report mate. Every time I see a cockatoo I say to my Mrs “You’ve has a cockatoo, haven’t you love?” and she hates it.

I’ve got a day free on Sunday and can’t decide what species to target. Conditions could hardly be worse. The temperatures have just plunged, the nights have gone cold, there’s loads of cold rain dropping the water temperatures and the pressure is going to be rising. In my mind I’ve blanked already to be honest.
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The line between "keen fisherman and hopelessly addicted" is about to be crossed......
evidence: chance of catching fish low low low
chance of enjoying the ambience through the curtain of drizzle, lower still....
Have a good trip :)
 
Didsbury Dave said:
Good report mate. Every time I see a cockatoo I say to my Mrs “You’ve has a cockatoo, haven’t you love?” and she hates it.

I’ve got a day free on Sunday and can’t decide what species to target. Conditions could hardly be worse. The temperatures have just plunged, the nights have gone cold, there’s loads of cold rain dropping the water temperatures and the pressure is going to be rising. In my mind I’ve blanked already to be honest.
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Did you get out ? Rivers a bit tricky after the last couple of days I should imagine.
 
Didsbury Dave said:
Good report mate. Every time I see a cockatoo I say to my Mrs “You’ve has a cockatoo, haven’t you love?” and she hates it.

I’ve got a day free on Sunday and can’t decide what species to target. Conditions could hardly be worse. The temperatures have just plunged, the nights have gone cold, there’s loads of cold rain dropping the water temperatures and the pressure is going to be rising. In my mind I’ve blanked already to be honest.
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Good time for winter pike to wake up methinks.
 
Newman Noggs said:
First ever salmon fishing trip yesterday to the Derwent near Cockermouth (as an aside, every time I pass Cockermouth, I text my girlfriend to say "just passing Cockermouth and thought of you", which, for some reason, she doesn't find hilarious) on the Isel Fishings.

Fully expected "beginner's luck" to kick in but it didn't. Fabulous day though, wonderful surroundings and great fisherman's hut with heater, cooker, fridge etc where we could take refuge from the rain and chat to the bailiff. Had an exciting moment when a salmon porpoised about 20 yards below where I was fishing which gave the day some impetus.

Best moment, though, was when my mate, who took me as a guest, shouted me "fish on" which I could just about hear over the sound of the water and the rain on my hood. He was about 30 yards below me and when I looked up his rid was hooped over and he was looking back at me with a grin of triumph on his face. As I watched, the salmon which was below him, leapt about 3 foot in the air and, knowing little about salmon fishing I thought, "that can"t be good". Because he was so busy looking at me, my mate failed to drop his rod and the fish shed the hook.

It was a "dark fish" apparently so he wasn't too upset. I'd have been raging. Anyway, about 5 o'clock I fell in up to my neck which didn't make much difference because I was already piss wet through so we called it a day. Fabulous day though.
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Grew up near there and fished the smaller (cheaper) rivers. Balif on that stretch was the dad of one of mums friends ( long dead now) and he always ended up bringing a fish or two back - usually because his customers had more than they could use. Literally car boot fulls at times. Back in the 70's mind so not sure what it's like now. Always a good autumn run in spate though.
 
Mazzarelli's Swiss Cheese said:
Grew up near there and fished the smaller (cheaper) rivers. Balif on that stretch was the dad of one of mums friends ( long dead now) and he always ended up bringing a fish or two back - usually because his customers had more than they could use. Literally car boot fulls at times. Back in the 70's mind so not sure what it's like now. Always a good autumn run in spate though.
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Was looking at the catch returns from 2011 to 2019 and we're looking at around 10% of what was being caught even in 2011.
 
Newman Noggs said:
Was looking at the catch returns from 2011 to 2019 and we're looking at around 10% of what was being caught even in 2011.
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Such a shame. I wonder what's done it? Over fishing at sea or lice from farms off the west of Scotland? The derwent itself got badly trashed by flooding a few years ago - the fields around where you were looked like the surface of the moon afterwards with all the riverbed rocks covering them. Spawning grounds in the tributarys should have been ok though I think.
 
Newman Noggs said:
First ever salmon fishing trip yesterday to the Derwent near Cockermouth (as an aside, every time I pass Cockermouth, I text my girlfriend to say "just passing Cockermouth and thought of you", which, for some reason, she doesn't find hilarious) on the Isel Fishings.

Fully expected "beginner's luck" to kick in but it didn't. Fabulous day though, wonderful surroundings and great fisherman's hut with heater, cooker, fridge etc where we could take refuge from the rain and chat to the bailiff. Had an exciting moment when a salmon porpoised about 20 yards below where I was fishing which gave the day some impetus.

Best moment, though, was when my mate, who took me as a guest, shouted me "fish on" which I could just about hear over the sound of the water and the rain on my hood. He was about 30 yards below me and when I looked up his rid was hooped over and he was looking back at me with a grin of triumph on his face. As I watched, the salmon which was below him, leapt about 3 foot in the air and, knowing little about salmon fishing I thought, "that can"t be good". Because he was so busy looking at me, my mate failed to drop his rod and the fish shed the hook.

It was a "dark fish" apparently so he wasn't too upset. I'd have been raging. Anyway, about 5 o'clock I fell in up to my neck which didn't make much difference because I was already piss wet through so we called it a day. Fabulous day though.
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That’s why it’s called fishing and not catching!
 
I was out on coldingham Loch last Friday. Light wind and good cloud cover not too cold perfect. As I set up there was a hatch of midge coming off and trout mopping them up on the surface. Good I thought. This is going to be a red letter day. Up until lunch it wasn’t though. I had a couple, one on dry fly and one on a fab but it was clear that I hadn’t worked out the key. Time for a roll. Bbq’d breast of chicken and mayo. By now I had a floating line and washing line set up. That’s a booby on the point, a fab on the top dropper (both these flies have foam tied in so that they hang in the water and sink very slowly), between them suspended were a couple of size 16 buzzers. I put out a cast, laid my rod down so I could eat the roll, 30 seconds later, the rod is nearly out of the boat. Trying to eat a chicken roll and land a 4lb trout is not good for the digestive system. Fish landed, returned safely, Cast out, pick up roll, same thing happened.

One chicken roll later I had landed another three fish. Unusually, the fish were wanting the fly totally static and with the set up I had on, there were four flies all fishing static in the top three or four feet of water. For the next hour it was literally a fish a cast, or at least interest being shown. If I started even a slow slow figure of eight retrieve absolutely nothing. Leave the fly static and bang. They weren’t stockies either., all with full tails between 3 or 4 lb and feisty as hell. Finished the session well into double figures

It just shows the importance of presentation and I guess that applies no matter what method or what species you fish for. A good way to finish the season.
 
Newman Noggs said:
Did you get out ? Rivers a bit tricky after the last couple of days I should imagine.
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Yes, I got out. I’m a football coach and got delayed due to incidents at the match, so I took on a different project as I only had a couple of hours. There’s a pond nearby fished by match type anglers. I saw a photo on their Facebook page of a 3lb 5oz perch, but I don’t think any “specialist” anglers have ever fished it.

I went up in the summer for an hour with lures (that’s all it takes as it’s less than an acre) and within 20 minutes hooked (and lost) what felt like a very big perch.

Today I judged that as all the reservoirs, rivers and canals would be like chocolate this might be my only chance of water clarity for lures. I was wrong. It’s fed by a stream and was muddy as hell and I blanked.

What was interesting was that the bailiff was there and he had never seen anyone target the perch. But had had one of 3.5lb himself that winter and he showed me a pic. He said that 20 perch were introduced 15 years ago and have never spawned, so he thought there might be one, or maybe two, left. There are no pike.

So the rather frustrating conclusion is that I almost certainly hooked and lost a 3.5lb perch there this summer, and may struggle to get another chance.

He did, however tell me of another reservoir I know and have pike fished where his mate caught several 2lbers the other day. So it wasn’t a day wasted.
 
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Out on the Llangollen canal yesterday. Beautiful day and picturesque surroundings but nary a nibble between three of us over 6 hours. Leaves were a bit of a problem but not the cause of the absence of fish I think. Probably just because it's a very shallow canal.

Either way, it's the rivers from now on.
 
I can’t seem to get the time for a “proper” fishing trip, and conditions have been poor for autumn. I got out for my customary afternoon perch fishing/exploring, this time to the reservoir I mentioned above. There were two pikers on who make vlogs (which I watch for “leads”!) blanking, and another two pikers who turned out to be the blokes who caught the 2lb perch the bailiff tipped me off about. They were blanking too.

I did a circuit of the res not feeling confident but in a shady corner, a pike smashed the perch lure right in front of my eyes and gave me a good scrap on ultra light perch gear. It was about 5lb and not a perch but I was pleased with the little trip whist my wife cooked dinner.

I’m really hoping for a soft, mild spell to coincide with a free afternoon/evening, to have a last barbel trip on The Ribble, but I can’t seem to get the weather or the window.
 
A non-frosty night, lower river and slight temperature increase sent me out for a last chance of an autumn barbel. I went on The Ribble for the afternoon and took a roaming approach, fishing three different stretches. Had a few pulls at dusk which I think were chub, but no barbel even though I fished well into darkness.

Fishing is about more than just fishing, though, as I witnessed a rather wonderful sight: tens of thousands of starlings, flock after flock after flock, headed a few yards over my head at dusk to some colossal marmuration just behind me somewhere behind the trees.

Sunday I had a few hours exploring the local canal for perch and didn’t get a touch either. I’ve never known a worse autumn for fishing. We haven’t had an Atlantic storm, warm flood or warm weather spell since September. The rivers have been up and down like Prince Andrew’s arse with cold water, and the fish think it’s january.
 
Had a great day last Sunday. Holmstall Hall Tarporley. 8 carp between 1lb & 8lb all caught on float with a mixture of sweetcorn and bacon lardons(smoked) just getting back into this after a 25 year break, roll on the next international break!!!
 
Now that the biblical floods are receding I judged it time to make my first sortie since I moved down south as I'm going stir crazy. Venue of choice was the Warwickshire Avon at Wasperton. Feeder fished maggots for 5 hours and had some decent roach and dace but, most importantly, got to see some bites.

Banks were fucking teacherous though and more than once I found myself on the slippery slope down to the water. Great day though.
 
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Got out for the second day running yesterday and opted for a different swim on the Avon. I was short of maggots after the previous day, so bought a loaf, rustled up some plain brown crumb groundbait and set out my stall for roach.

Used an open ended feeder plugged with the brown crumb flavoured with some Archie Braddock "spice surprise" which I reckon must be 20 years old. 3.8 lb hooklength with 14s hook and a decent-sized piece of flake pinched onto the hook.

Imagine my surprise when the tip popped straight (I was fishing upstream) and I caught a healthy 4lbs chub first cast. Re-cast and whilst I was texting my mates the glad tidings, back it dropped and there was a good roach in the net.

I've been around long enough to be wary of expecting a bumper day based on the first couple of casts and so it proved again. Plenty of action all day with small stuff but those were the best two fish of the day. Fantastic to be back on the the bank though and I've resolved that anything at 4 degrees or above this winter and I'm out there.
 
My weekly pre-dinner perch search: I went up to the reservoir with the rumours but there were so many pikers on it, and it was flat calm, so I sacked it off after ten minutes and decided to have an hour on a new section of canal nearby which I knew little about but was on the club book. Explored up a few locks and managed one jack pike.
 
I have got to send my salmon catch return to the EA

Rivers fished: Wye
Hours fished: Fuckin hundreds
Salmon caught: Never even saw one you bunch of cunts.
 
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