Henshaws society for the blind

This years charity match in aid of Henshaws via coarse&predator will be held on the 8th June 2013 at Beacon view in wigan.Ive booked 20 pegs for the event which will see 20 anglers competing for a seperate prize fund.As usual we will be having a raffle to raise funds and each angler will complete a sponsor form.I chose this venue because its got a good mixed bag of fish and even though they have matches there it isnt a hammered venue like other fisheries.Ive just recieved the donation jars which ive already located one at Fishing Republic swinton,i will drop the others on my travels.We have already recieved some great prizes up to now.Ill update this as i have more to say.Tight Lines

An Urban River 24-2-13

Arrived at the river at 6am,met up again with kieth and brian.Kieth had been fishing a swim he wanted to try out again,so me and brian headed round the bend and dropped into swims 100 yards apart.This bank is overgrown and doesnt look fished at all.Started on a pat rudd and a ledgered herring.It wasnt long kieth was into a 11-14 and brian went to take pictures,when brian came back we decided to move down river,not an easy task through all the overgrown trees.We arrive at our swims,only two about 50 yards apart.I was on the pat again with smelt and ledgered sardine.Kieth text and said he,d had a 14.Wasnt long before brian was into a jack on a livey.Brian had another run later but the fish dropped off.I decided to change ledger rod to lamprey and keep moving it around the river.At about 3-30 i put the lamprey rod about 4 rod lengths out.At 4-30 had a full blown take and had my first river pike,was well chuffed.The weather today was overcast,tried to snow and the water was only 3 degrees ,but the fish fed and cant wait to go back......
Tight Lines................

The set up.......................................

My first river pike.............................

End of the day....................................

My blog is a year old

I Cannot believe how quick my blog has gone since i started it.With only 6 or 7 weeks to go before my pike season ends im looking forward to returning to an old favourite water and a few more canal sessions.So what lies ahead for this years angling,well i have a memorial match & charity match to look forward to with the bs crew.In between those matches i have the coarse&predator charity match to organise.My early spring angling this year will be tench.I have a new water where the tench go to double figures so looking like some early sessions.Also theres some stonking bream to be had so im excited about that.Also i have my new card which im itching to use,but with work being the way work has been,slow, ive been unable to travel.Any way come june it will be barbel time and loads of new stretches of river to explore.This pike season has been unsuccesful regarding a canal 20,had a good double in december and loads of jacks so cant complain really.Also its time to say goodbye to a local water that hasnt produced whatsoever .Im on the look out now for another card for this season to go with my syndicate card,im 90 percent sure on what it will be so theres a purchase come april.Anyway gotta go.......Tight Lines

Screaming Cormorant 16-2-13

It was an early start today,out for just after 5am to meet up with region 31 for a fish in at a local water.I arrived just after 5-30 and parked up waiting for the others to arrive,unfortunatly for me i was on the wrong car park,lol.drove round to the right car park and just manage to get the van under the barrier.We made our way round to the water and there were on 5 swims,i checked no 5 and opted to fish no 1 swim.I had both baits out for first light,paternostered roach and lamprey on the ledger rod.There was lots of cat ice on the water,nothing to trouble me.Kieth,bri @ bernie bait boated there baits out at range,a few minor problems with the boats,a tangle for bernie and kieths boat wouldnt go further than 90 yards.During the course of the day i moved rods about and changed baits,couldnt find any deeper than 8ft.As the day warmed up and the sun came out, the water was as still as a mill pond,so no movement of fish,and no one had any action,till sefo had a screamer,it was a cormorant,then bri,s rod screamed of,lucky his came off.bernie reeled in this cormorant from over 100 yards and kieth unhooked it.After a few welcomed sausage butties courtesy of kieth,we still hadnt banked a fish.I changd baits again,hoping for some action.It was late afternoon before a run developed,to kieths rod,a jack about 5lb.A good end to the day,fished an hour into dark and not a sniff.Learned some interesting info today and will be back come spring,an enjoyable day spent in good company.

First light....................................

Kieth unhooking the cormorant.........

End of the day,no fish for me

Just a Jack 9-2-13

After finally getting out last sunday and blanking in the process,i decided to head back to the canal.I arrived at first light and dcided to fish under the bridge,smelt on one rod and sardine on the other.I fished for just over an hour and decided i was going into the concrete jungle (town centre),I quickly packed up and was there in 10 minutes,i looked at a few areas from the van and had a drive further into town,turned round and headed to an area id lure fished before xmas.I arrived and to my relief the area i wanted was free and no other pikers in sight.I quickly headed to the area,ame baits as this morning.I put one rod down the middle and the other to the far bank area.Further down from me two others had arrived ,they fished in front of a barge,i noticed they were live baiting,mmm......It wasnt long before my float lay flat on the smelt rod,struck,fish on...small tail walk and in the net,a jack.Once o the mat i noticed my bottom hook was in the scissors,the hook had gone through top and bottom jaw,had to cut hook as i couldnt free it,the flying top treble had caught its gill,which had somehow got inside the gill and had caugt a raker,you can see blood in pic.Fish went back strong.There was a lot of activity during the day with pike striking,big swirls and one pike coming up and diving back down behind my float.The two chaps further down were catching on the liveys,only jacks though.I had no more fish,i stayed till dark then left.Its proving harder than i thought trying for a canal 20,but the pursuit carrys on.Im off to a bigger water nxt weekend so the canal will have to wait for my return.

Cabin Fever

So with the UK covered in snow,some area,s worse than others and what seems like yet another winter where we cant cope with the snow,i could go on,simple really....Learn from the americans and canadiens.Rant over,i need to get out.Having not worked now for 5 weeks im fed up,no money to travel far and limited with waters close by being frozen.Im hoping to get out at weekend,but will it be Chub or Pike,cant make my mind up.with all the salt and snow i think it will make fishing hard and this will put the fish off.Some more sub - zero temps to come before weekend then turning milder with sw winds,sunday looks a good day.So it could either be 2 pints of maggots or back after the pike.Hopefully get out ,blow of the cobwebs and have something to look forward to.I cant post pictures on my blog,this is something i need to sort out,computers can be so annoying......

10th January 2013 Back to Canal

After searching google earth i decided on what looked like two good lengths to go at.I arrived early just as it became light.After a 15min walk i arrived and fished smelt on one rod ,herring on the other.I was in on the smelt rod after 10 mins,a small jack that decided to tail walk.Quick picture and put it back.I worked the length for 4 hours,no more fish.I headed back towards the bridge and dropped in next to a barge for 20 mins.I had nothing there so i walked 10 mins the other way to another area i had researched.A change of bait to mackeral on one rod and stayed with smelt on the other,i worked them till dark.Looking forward till my next session.