Bluemoon Angling Thread

[BlueMoonRisin’]

Just been looking through some pics, came across this river monster I caught two years ago on the Ebro in Spain. My PB Catfish @ 147lb and around 7 foot long.
Fish this size can pull a 17ft flat bottom boat anywhere in the river off anchor, and they do!

 

[oldtimerdiscopants]

I went angling once with my friend from school when I was 15 it was a competition of sorts. I will never do it again it bored me to tears. But fair play to you lads and lasses who battle on and actually catch something and get the fishing thing.

 

[Newman Noggs]

Currently sitting in 30 degrees on the bank of a private fishery in the Algarve. Not my cup of tea really especially at €50 a day but my mate has had a twenty so he's happy.

Spent the previous 5 days travelling and fishing in various dams up and down the country and in the Guadiana. A couple of low double carp and plenty of small barbel but nothing to write home about. All wild fishing though which is more my style.

 

[BlueMoonRisin’]

Currently sitting in 30 degrees on the bank of a private fishery in the Algarve. Not my cup of tea really especially at €50 a day but my mate has had a twenty so he's happy.

Spent the previous 5 days travelling and fishing in various dams up and down the country and in the Guadiana. A couple of low double carp and plenty of small barbel but nothing to write home about. All wild fishing though which is more my style.

I'm not into carping in the uk, but I did a week a few years back in Extremadura and the lakes and dams are stunning. The fishing was rock hard though, and although we used a guide, he took us on unknown swims on the mighty Orellana. We had a few fish, one or two 20s between us, but the potential was(and still is) there. A mate of mine has been back several times since landing carp over 50lb but the potential in that region is a lot bigger fish.

 

[bluebaja]

My mate had a week on the upper Tyne a couple of weeks ago and had 4 salmon including an 18 pounder. Obviously been in the river a while with a huge kype. It actually looks like a Taimen on the photos.

At the other extreme I had an afternoon on the Ribble last week and caught some very large dace but no barbel. Plenty of bites all afternoon. A salmon fisherman told me that a few salmon were coming out.

Yesterday I fished the Llangollen canal. The fishing was brilliant with perch to 1lb (weighed), skimmers, good roach and chub to 1.5lbs. Unfortunately, the boats were a nightmare which really put a dampener on things. Literally, at no point in the 7 hours we fished was there no boat approaching.

Normally, I don't mind them but this was terrible. Easily the worst I've seen.

On the bright side, off to Portugal Sunday for some carp and barbel exploration.

I haven't fished that Canal in a couple of years. Can I ask which stretch you were on ?

 

[Newman Noggs]

I haven't fished that Canal in a couple of years. Can I ask which stretch you were on ?

The Jack Mitten at Hindford. The pub is abandoned now, apparently the landlord did a runner, which means less walkers and the boats should be dying off now. The roach are top notch in there, I tend to quivertip upstream with a tiny feeder as it's quite fast flowing and look for drop-backs. Think trotting with a stick would be quite good if you feel active.

 

[Didsbury Dave]

Currently sitting in 30 degrees on the bank of a private fishery in the Algarve. Not my cup of tea really especially at €50 a day but my mate has had a twenty so he's happy.

Spent the previous 5 days travelling and fishing in various dams up and down the country and in the Guadiana. A couple of low double carp and plenty of small barbel but nothing to write home about. All wild fishing though which is more my style.

That’s my kind of fishing. Proper fishing.

Conditions have been A1 for big fish this last couple of days with falling pressure, dark days and that big warm wind. The rivers are in full flood so will be bang on for barbel in a day or so. Not wanting to miss out, but not having much time, I fished a Cheshire mere on Thursday for pike and had one jack.

I went out for a couple of hours this afternoon with an ultralight lure set up on the local canal and had a jack pike, 2 perch and a chub.

I’d love to be carp fishing this weekend. Textbook big carp bingeing conditions at exactly the right time of year. There will be some tired and happy carp anglers out there right now I’d wager and I wish I was one of them.

Hope you get an uncaught beauty, Alec.

 

[bluebaja]

The Jack Mitten at Hindford. The pub is abandoned now, apparently the landlord did a runner, which means less walkers and the boats should be dying off now. The roach are top notch in there, I tend to quivertip upstream with a tiny feeder as it's quite fast flowing and look for drop-backs. Think trotting with a stick would be quite good if you feel active.

Thanks for that mate...I will give it a go. I have only ever fished it out of Llangollen towards the Horseshoe falls or at Chirk, and never had much luck in either venue !

 

[Newman Noggs]

Hope you get an uncaught beauty, Alec.

Fishing's a sublime sport. As I said in my last post, spent the last couple of days on a 60 acre private carp water on the Algarve sitting behind buzzers waiting for big ones. Not really my scene so I got bored at one point and decided to change my user-name (I've been re-reading Dickens).

Anyway, it's not a hard water so, over the two days, we'd had a few fish up to the twenty my mate had on the first day. He sets up 4 rods while I potter about making groundbait or tea and then take it in turns to strike the runs. Last day was slow but we'd had three fish up to 17lbs when the owner rocked up at dusk just as we were packing up so we put the kettle on. While we were brewing up he was telling us about the biggest mirror in the place (most are commons) at 33lbs which he'd called "Tyson". The second biggest was un-named at 25lbs so I said I'd rather catch the un-named one at which point the buzzer went and, you guessed it, it was the 25lb fish.

So we're pissing ourselves and my mate, drinking his tea said "what a great note to end the holiday on, we'll go when I've finished this". At that point, a buzzer goes and my mate runs to the rods and strikes into a fish. Whilst playing it I give him his cup of tea and I took a great shot of him playing a carp with a cup of tea in his hand. To cut to the point, the fish was "Tyson" ! And then we went home.

 

[Didsbury Dave]

Fishing's a sublime sport. As I said in my last post, spent the last couple of days on a 60 acre private carp water on the Algarve sitting behind buzzers waiting for big ones. Not really my scene so I got bored at one point and decided to change my user-name (I've been re-reading Dickens).

Anyway, it's not a hard water so, over the two days, we'd had a few fish up to the twenty my mate had on the first day. He sets up 4 rods while I potter about making groundbait or tea and then take it in turns to strike the runs. Last day was slow but we'd had three fish up to 17lbs when the owner rocked up at dusk just as we were packing up so we put the kettle on. While we were brewing up he was telling us about the biggest mirror in the place (most are commons) at 33lbs which he'd called "Tyson". The second biggest was un-named at 25lbs so I said I'd rather catch the un-named one at which point the buzzer went and, you guessed it, it was the 25lb fish.

So we're pissing ourselves and my mate, drinking his tea said "what a great note to end the holiday on, we'll go when I've finished this". At that point, a buzzer goes and my mate runs to the rods and strikes into a fish. Whilst playing it I give him his cup of tea and I took a great shot of him playing a carp with a cup of tea in his hand. To cut to the point, the fish was "Tyson" ! And then we went home.

Haha. Brilliant. Fishing at it's best. Triumph from the jaws of disaster or vice versa.

Your fishing in the Algarve sounds great to me. I used to do loads of long stay carp fishing. My season was always grayling/pike/chub in the winter, carp in the spring and summer, barbel in the summer and Autumn. 18 months ago I finally caught a really big carp - a 46lb mirror from a Southern Gravel Pit. Since then I've not been carp fishing. It's like I scratched the itch. I've focussed more on big fish of other species like perch. However I know the itch will return, probably as we get towards spring next year. Keep up with the reports!

 

[Sir peace frog]

Fishing's a sublime sport. As I said in my last post, spent the last couple of days on a 60 acre private carp water on the Algarve sitting behind buzzers waiting for big ones. Not really my scene so I got bored at one point and decided to change my user-name (I've been re-reading Dickens).

Anyway, it's not a hard water so, over the two days, we'd had a few fish up to the twenty my mate had on the first day. He sets up 4 rods while I potter about making groundbait or tea and then take it in turns to strike the runs. Last day was slow but we'd had three fish up to 17lbs when the owner rocked up at dusk just as we were packing up so we put the kettle on. While we were brewing up he was telling us about the biggest mirror in the place (most are commons) at 33lbs which he'd called "Tyson". The second biggest was un-named at 25lbs so I said I'd rather catch the un-named one at which point the buzzer went and, you guessed it, it was the 25lb fish.

So we're pissing ourselves and my mate, drinking his tea said "what a great note to end the holiday on, we'll go when I've finished this". At that point, a buzzer goes and my mate runs to the rods and strikes into a fish. Whilst playing it I give him his cup of tea and I took a great shot of him playing a carp with a cup of tea in his hand. To cut to the point, the fish was "Tyson" ! And then we went home.

SOUNDS LIKE A FISHERMANS TALE :)

 

[snorky]

Last day of the Salmon season on the Wye tomorrow, and it's still in the fields :(

 

[Sir peace frog]

Haha. Brilliant. Fishing at it's best. Triumph from the jaws of disaster or vice versa.

Your fishing in the Algarve sounds great to me. I used to do loads of long stay carp fishing. My season was always grayling/pike/chub in the winter, carp in the spring and summer, barbel in the summer and Autumn. 18 months ago I finally caught a really big carp - a 46lb mirror from a Southern Gravel Pit. Since then I've not been carp fishing. It's like I scratched the itch. I've focussed more on big fish of other species like perch. However I know the itch will return, probably as we get towards spring next year. Keep up with the reports!

THATS THE PROBLEM WITH FISHING(WEL FOR ME IT IS)OOOPS SORRY ,I used to fish for the love of fishing,then I caught a 5lb carp,then a 5.5lb carp ect ect,the hunt for big carp is on,ive been "proper" carp fishing a couple of time,so relaxing,but most of my fishing is course fishing,so the "big one" has been getting bigger and bigger steadily,im upto 16lb pb at the moment and on the hunt for bigger ,fucking love fishing,boring my arse.

 

[Didsbury Dave]

THATS THE PROBLEM WITH FISHING(WEL FOR ME IT IS)OOOPS SORRY ,I used to fish for the love of fishing,then I caught a 5lb carp,then a 5.5lb carp ect ect,the hunt for big carp is on,ive been "proper" carp fishing a couple of time,so relaxing,but most of my fishing is course fishing,so the "big one" has been getting bigger and bigger steadily,im upto 16lb pb at the moment and on the hunt for bigger ,fucking love fishing,boring my arse.

Agree totally mate. The varieties are endless. You can spend a lifetime changing your style, method, waters and targets. No two trips are ever the same, as long as you challenge yourself. As soon as you have mastered one method, you can go and learn another. Boat fishing for pike, centre pin fishing for chub, night fishing a river for zander...all challenging methods to learn, especially if you have nobody to teach you (which I've never had).

 

[snorky]

Fly fishing at night for sea trout.... Brilliant.

 

[Newman Noggs]

THATS THE PROBLEM WITH FISHING(WEL FOR ME IT IS)OOOPS SORRY ,I used to fish for the love of fishing,then I caught a 5lb carp,then a 5.5lb carp ect ect,the hunt for big carp is on,ive been "proper" carp fishing a couple of time,so relaxing,but most of my fishing is course fishing,so the "big one" has been getting bigger and bigger steadily,im upto 16lb pb at the moment and on the hunt for bigger ,fucking love fishing,boring my arse.

Couldn't agree more. I've been fishing all my 58 years since my dad took me in my carry-cot and avoided falling into the big fish trap. Any good fish I've caught have been more by accident than design. Next year I retire and, at the risk of being labelled "a noddy", here's a list of personal bests I still have left to go at;

Carp 20lbs (the 25 lb fish in Portugal doesn't count as my mate did all the setting up and,I'm not sure I'll pursue this one)

Barbel - 10 lbs (had hundreds but never double figures weighed)

Bream - 7lb
Perch - 3lbs
Roach - 2lbs
Chub - 6lbs
Crucian - 1lb
Tench - 6lbs
Zander - 1 lb
Gudgeon - 4 ozs

All achievable and something I'm really looking forward to. Perch this winter, got a venue in mind.

 

[Didsbury Dave]

Couldn't agree more. I've been fishing all my 58 years since my dad took me in my carry-cot and avoided falling into the big fish trap. Any good fish I've caught have been more by accident than design. Next year I retire and, at the risk of being labelled "a noddy", here's a list of personal bests I still have left to go at;

Carp 20lbs (the 25 lb fish in Portugal doesn't count as my mate did all the setting up and,I'm not sure I'll pursue this one)

Barbel - 10 lbs (had hundreds but never double figures weighed)

Bream - 7lb
Perch - 3lbs
Roach - 2lbs
Chub - 6lbs
Crucian - 1lb
Tench - 6lbs
Zander - 1 lb
Gudgeon - 4 ozs

All achievable and something I'm really looking forward to. Perch this winter, got a venue in mind.

Ah, a good old bit of angling cock waving. As you know, I'm more of a specimen hunter and my PBs are:

Carp 46-4
Barbel 11-1
Perch 2-8
Roach 2-12
Catfish 33
Tench 9-2
Chub 7-10
Dace 14oz
Pike c15lb
Bream c8lb
Grayling 1-12

Never had a zander.

Most of those were from the north of England where the fish are smaller.

 

[Saddleworth2]

For my sins, since I have retired, I organise our angling club match (a well known bank) against our historic rivals (another bank). This match is in its 51st year and is still contested in Scotland and England in alternate years. This year we are on the Lake of Menteith with two days practice and then the match next Friday. We all stay in the same hotel and then there is a dinner and prize giving on the Friday evening so it is very much a social occasion as well as being a competitive event. Last year, the 50th anniversary match was held on Draycote Water and was the closest ever finish. Instead of killing the fish, they are measured and then safely returned. 24 anglers caught 135 fish and we won by 30cm (less than half a fish!). You can imagine the recounts that were required. This week is about finalising accommodation, menu, fishing tactics, flies, partnerships - very like Ryder Cup! We have three Scottish National winners and a total of 5 internationals fishing for us this year so we have a very good chance of doing ok. The other team have brought in a couple of ringers including a well known fishing journalist and an international so it will be no pushover. The scene is set. I will post a report on the result next weekend. One thing is for sure. None of the trout we catch will pull as hard as a Barbel. :-)

So just a quick update. The event went very well and the fishing was absolutely superb in sublime surroundings. The match was fished on Friday last and we managed to retain the trophy by catching 70 rainbow to the English teams 54. A proper thumping. Top rods from each team caught 10 fish each. I was lucky enough to share a boat with the oppositions top rod. A lovely old guy who fished the same method and flies all day. I just about kept up with him taking 7mainly on boobies. Of special note was the quality of fish at Lake of Menteith. We caught a lot of ‘Blue trout’ which are a strain of rainbow that just seem to be more powerful, faster and feistier than the norm. All with huge tails and weighing up to about 4 1/2 lbs.

As organiser of the event, I am obviously pleased that it went well and all the planning worked but glad it’s over for another year. Other than the normal stress of trying to make sure 24 guys whose only interest is drinking beer, are in the right place at the right time, the main worry was the weather. Forecast for Friday had average winds at 25mph and gusts at 50mph. It was touch and go that we would be allowed out on the Lake in conditions like that so as a contingency I lined up a bank fishery. Happily for us but not for Wales, the forecast moved a good bit and although the wind was strong and awkwardly gusty we got out on time and were able to find some shelter. Our only casualty was one boat getting the drogue rope caught in the prop to the extent they had to row back to the lodge. The rain made up for the lighter winds. It was biblical and was a great test of everyone’s waterproofs (mine failed)

When you organise these things you open yourself up to some abuse/ ribbing. Having recently grown a white beard I now rejoice in the nickname of Papa Smurf. I guess it’s slightly better than Captain Birdseye all things considered

 

[BlueMoonRisin’]

I can cast into the Bridgewater canal from my back garden but I hardly fish it. Hardly fish anywhere nowadays tbh. Been an angler 48 years from first going at 6 to Hollingsworth lake with my dad. After a few roach and perch tiddlers, that was it, hooked for life.

I've literally caught many thousands of fish of different species. Most in a day was 397 roach from marple lakes in the early 80s when it was prolific. Had a mini match with my mate and beat him by a single fish, good fun.
I bet it isn' t prolific now though with cormorants scoffing them all.

I'm sorting my gear out, I have far more than i realised. eBay I think.

I will say one thing, the relaxation and scenery outweighs the actual fishing(catching). It's taken me years to think that, but fishing is a fantastic way to de-stress and hear yourself think(if that makes sense). It is great mind therapy to be sat in nature's garden waiting for a bite.

Fishing to me isn't about fishing on a private syndicate water with carp tackle tart snobs hoping to catch a named fish previously caught 3oz lighter/heavier. It isn't about fishing man made donut shape ponds for ravenous F1 with a 16m pole hoping to fill 2 keepnets. Those places are way to monotonous and fuckin' easy.

If I gave some of the top guys a 13ft float stickfloat rod and said trot a float through this river they wouldn't have a clue. Too blinkered from fishing commercials. If those places were the only option, I'd snap my rods over my knee and piss on my tackle: /

Each to their own though. @Didsbury Dave. Do you know how long the waiting list is for prince Albert?

 

[remember arthur mann]

I can cast into the Bridgewater canal from my back garden but I hardly fish it. Hardly fish anywhere nowadays tbh. Been an angler 48 years from first going at 6 to Hollingsworth lake with my dad. After a few roach and perch tiddlers, that was it, hooked for life.

I've literally caught many thousands of fish of different species. Most in a day was 397 roach from marple lakes in the early 80s when it was prolific. Had a mini match with my mate and beat him by a single fish, good fun.
I bet it isn' t prolific now though with cormorants scoffing them all.

I'm sorting my gear out, I have far more than i realised. eBay I think.

I will say one thing, the relaxation and scenery outweighs the actual fishing(catching). It's taken me years to think that, but fishing is a fantastic way to de-stress and hear yourself think(if that makes sense). It is great mind therapy to be sat in nature's garden waiting for a bite.

Fishing to me isn't about fishing on a private syndicate water with carp tackle tart snobs hoping to catch a named fish previously caught 3oz lighter/heavier. It isn't about fishing man made donut shape ponds for ravenous F1 with a 16m pole hoping to fill 2 keepnets. Those places are way to monotonous and fuckin' easy.

If I gave some of the top guys a 13ft float stickfloat rod and said trot a float through this river they wouldn't have a clue. Too blinkered from fishing commercials. If those places were the only option, I'd snap my rods over my knee and piss on my tackle: /

Each to their own though. @Didsbury Dave. Do you know how long the waiting list is for prince Albert?

Nice.
Re waiting list, just say you're a dipper, you'll get straight in !