Bluemoon Angling Thread

my next trip with the lures is down to the river, i was going to have a recce today, but the weather is really shit and the mrs is suffering with vertigo, the river in question is the mickerbrook in cheadle hulme, its near my mums house,if you follow it down it goes to cheadle and a weir, the other way takes you to bramhall park, proper trek, but something that's been on my mind for a bit, i remember seeing rainbow trout in there when i was a kid, and im pretty certain there will be a few perch hanging around, sounds like a good lockdown destination to me :)

 
Had a quick lure session on a local reservoir yesterday afternoon, last couple of hours of daylight. The bank you arrive on had bivvies and four anglers together fishing god knows how many rods between them. Deadbaits, livebaits, feeder rods etc. Usually as you all know anglers are friendly and chat when they meet. This lot were gruff as fuck as I walked past, keeping their eyes down. Maybe they were poachers, I don’t know, but I had to prise from them that they’d been there all day and not had a touch.

I did a quick half lap with a sliding jerk bait with no signs. Changed to a 4D trout soft plastic lure and missed a hit first cast. I started to reverse the circuit and quickly hooked a pike which tail walked pleasingly all over the place. I could feel eyes and binoculars on me. It wasn’t massive, under 10lb, but my first in a while. The light was going fast and I carried on round and had another hit which came off quick. That was it, it was almost dark, so I headed back to the car, triumphantly strolling past the grumpy squad who couldn’t help asking me what lure I’d been using and having a look.

Id have told them if they’d asked: the reason I caught was because I searched for the fish and found the right lure, instead of thrashing one tiny corner of water to death all day whilst making loads of noise and wandering around passing spliffs and beer to each other.
Its very good advice irrespective of the form of angling other than when you are allowed to ground bait. In a boat I will give it 30 - 45 mins. If no action up anchor and move. TBF, I far prefer a drifting boat that is all thats allowed on some fisheries. That way you are covering new water every cast.
 
anyone recommend some braid for river or canal fishing
Not sure about lure fishing but, for quivering I fell out of love with braid some years ago. It's absolutely fantastic for bite indication at distance on an Irish Lough for example.

But whilst braid with a breaking strain of 13lbs sounds a lot, in my, admittedly cack-handed experience, it is very temperamental and snaps on contact with anything remotely sharp. It's also prone to crack-offs on the cast with a decent sized feeder and if a big fish gives a final dash, there's no stretch in it and they can get off. It really needs handling with care so I tend to stick with mono, more so at short range unless I'm fishing at range and the fish are finnicky .
 
thats really shit mate. We aren't allowed to travel outside our council area other than for essential reasons which still included exercising outside. Fly fishing falls into that category fortunately. Hope you get reimbursed.
Thanks mate.
The cottage we were renting say they will be open for business in a weeks time when we planned to travel, so no refund.
Fishpal are showing rods available too. :(
 
Went back to the same res this afternoon. Those “anglers” had left shit everywhere which I cleaned up and took home. First cast I had a hit and missed it. Five minutes later I moved swim and thought I’d hit a snag. Then the snag shook its head and started swimming away and I was into a very big pike. Then it was off. Next cast I nearly filled my underpants when a mid-double pike followed it right to the bank. The it started hammering it down and bites stopped. Lure fishing is useless in the rain.

I did a quick circuit in the rain with nothing, then headed back to the car. There was a lull in the rain as I passed the swim where I’d lost the fish so I had one token cast. Just before I lifted it out of the water a Jack Pike around 5lb grabbed it. I landed it, picked up the litter and legged it to the car as the heavens opened.

A nice one hour smash and grab really but the big pike are eluding me. Get out there if you can, it’s mildish and overcast and the pike are obviously on their pre-winter feed.
 
Went back to the same res this afternoon. Those “anglers” had left shit everywhere which I cleaned up and took home. First cast I had a hit and missed it. Five minutes later I moved swim and thought I’d hit a snag. Then the snag shook its head and started swimming away and I was into a very big pike. Then it was off. Next cast I nearly filled my underpants when a mid-double pike followed it right to the bank. The it started hammering it down and bites stopped. Lure fishing is useless in the rain.

I did a quick circuit in the rain with nothing, then headed back to the car. There was a lull in the rain as I passed the swim where I’d lost the fish so I had one token cast. Just before I lifted it out of the water a Jack Pike around 5lb grabbed it. I landed it, picked up the litter and legged it to the car as the heavens opened.

A nice one hour smash and grab really but the big pike are eluding me. Get out there if you can, it’s mildish and overcast and the pike are obviously on their pre-winter feed.

Keep these coming. You're bound ti crack it soon.
 
Sickener ! You get any out of the Wye this year ?
No mate. Another really poor season for the silver tourist on the Wye I'm afraid.
I have lived on the river over 50 years and have never seen things so bad.
I saw 25 cormorants on my last visit too!
Talked to a guy yesterday who fishes the Towy.... I might be heading that way for a few trips next season!
 
No mate. Another really poor season for the silver tourist on the Wye I'm afraid.
I have lived on the river over 50 years and have never seen things so bad.
I saw 25 cormorants on my last visit too!
Talked to a guy yesterday who fishes the Towy.... I might be heading that way for a few trips next season!

I asked because my mate who fishes the Hodder and Ribble says they have been prolific recently. There were 13 out of his stretch of the Hodder last week alone although apparently they were "black as the ace of spades" whatever that means.

Another, non-fishing, mate was IMG-20201027-WA0018.jpgout walking near Settle and took this photo of the Ribble.
Seems the Wye is badly effected as that article said the other week, more so than other rivers ? It's a crying shame because it's a beautiful river.
 
I asked because my mate who fishes the Hodder and Ribble says they have been prolific recently. There were 13 out of his stretch of the Hodder last week alone although apparently they were "black as the ace of spades" whatever that means.

Another, non-fishing, mate was View attachment 4759out walking near Settle and took this photo of the Ribble.
Seems the Wye is badly effected as that article said the other week, more so than other rivers ? It's a crying shame because it's a beautiful river.
I've got the impression that Cumbrian rivers I used to fish have had a good year too. Also West coast so I wonder what the issue is? The Wye is probably not affected by salmon farming either.
 
There were good salmon catches on several Scottish west coast rivers I think too.

The backend 'black' and red fish have coloured prior to spawning. The males can also get a big hooked jaw known as a 'kype.' In the old days they were still killed and sent to the smokers. Nowadays its frowned upon by most, and rightly so imo! A lot of the fishes flesh has been given over to the production of milt and eggs.... Not good eating!

The way the Wye has been treated with the closures of our hatcheries and SNR ponds, the pollution, predation and other factors is a disgrace.
National Resources Wales are the rags of the salmon fishing world!

On the plus side I caught a couple of rainbows on a nice fishing lake earlier!
 
UPDATE – November 2. Angling Trust staff have been working hard over the weekend to ensure that angling in England can continue during the forthcoming lockdown. Unlike golf and tennis, the government have not asked fisheries to close and their announcement and guidance makes clear that outdoor recreation at ‘parks and gardens’ and at ‘beaches and in the countryside’ is to be deemed a legitimate reason for leaving home from November 5th. The travel guidance was updated yesterday and it seems that short journeys from home for these purposes are to be permitted. There are a number of other issues on which we are seeking clarification and a copy of our letter to the Secretary of State at DCMS can be downloaded here for those wanting to see more. We are hearing that the final regulations will not now be published until Wednesday but we will update everybody the moment we know more. We remain confident that we will still be fishing from Thursday so please be patient!
 

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