Upper Michigan U.S.A

I have family who live in ishpeming a small mining town in the upper portion of michigan ,right next to canada.A beautiful place to Hunt and Fish or just sight see.just thought id post a few pics from my last trip,a few catches on lures.I fished from boat and bank and found a nice spot on deer lake that we could go in the evening for a spot of bank fishing.

My first Walleye from Deer Lake.

A cracking take from this small northern pike.

Out on Deer Lake on the boat.

Rock Bass from Lake Angeline.

Yellow Perch from Lake Angeline.

Worked Hard for this Walleye,did a lot of walking also had a pike just before.

Coarse and Predator Feeder Fishing Match 2012

Well how did it go,not very good to be honest.was a really warm day and think it put the fish off.out off 11 anglers taking part only 5 caught,and the weights were terrible.At the end off the day you can blame this or that on why the catch rate wasnt better,due to work being carried out on the other match length which is closed while the repairs are carried out,im sure the fishing would off been better.so there was a trophy for the winner and a Dynamite Baits hamper for 1,2,and 3rd.Thanks to Dynamite for the donation.Heres a few pics,including Mr Cha Cha who came 3rd,well done johnny,top bloke.till the next time.

3rd Place for Mr Cha Cha

2nd Place John

1st Place Woody

Feeder Fishing Match 26th May 2012

Ive organised a feeder match.old school rules,no hair rigs or pellets.just maggot,cage of open ended feeder.Baits,maggot,caster,worm,pinkie,squats and corn.all groundbait to introduced by feeder only,no spods or spombs.ive organised a trophy for the winner,will post pictures after the match.

Tench 22nd May 2012

Well with this warm weather were having, i was itching to get out tench fishing.Decided to fish feeder tactics,preston method feeder,4 inch hook length and micro pellets softened.i got to the water about 6pm.set up and was casting towards a small patch of lillies on the far bank,wasnt long before the bream showed up.after about an hour,i decided to cast to a different spot,still taking bream and skimmers.A change of bait was on the cards,i will reveal more about this if i am succesful with them.Anyway got a small knock then a full wrap round,the fish bolted for the reeds to my right,it weede it self up but soon slid over the net,it was a tench.forgot the scales so didnt weigh .A great end to an evening especially as thats what i went for.Till the next Time.

Not a great self take,must remember the tripod and camera next time.

Saturday 19th May Help For Heroes Charity Match

Im fishing at Bradshaws in bolton on Lake 4.Charity match organised by Breaking Surface forum.Really enjoyed it last year.Arrived at the lake this morning,a very cold ne wind was blowing across the lake.Got in line for the draw and drew peg 25,very pleased.set my stall out to fish the method feeder and pellet waggler.Got of to a good start and had 2 carp early on.The bites were slow.kept casting every 10 minutes,then changed tactics,just used micro pellets and stopped adding groundbait.Decided to leave the hookbait out and this payed off.Finished match with 68 lb and 2nd place.the winner had 71 lb was really chuffed.It was a great day which ended with a raffle which raised over £712,thats not counting the sponsor money from each angler who entered.All for a great charity Help The Heroes.

Charity Farm Wigan 12th May

Went today for a practice for the coarse&predator charity match which is being held 23rd June.Started off on the tip rod and had nothing,i tried different hook baits,and still nothing.Decided to go on the pole,then it was nice catching fish,thank god thought i was goin to blank.Caught plenty of Bream,skimmera,roach,rudd a lovely crucian,shame i never got a picture,me own fault.The bream were about 2lb mark so was really pleased how it went.Finished off with a nice Tench.Til the next time.

There are 4 waters to fish also there is camping,its well maintained and very clean,well worth a visit.

Rig Tweaking

After making the different rigs,i tested them all and ive settled for 4 .Heres the pics.

In the above picture ive used the esp sink braid to a size 10 Drennan Specialist Hook.The top hooklength has 2 fake maggots and a korda sinker to pin the line down,both rigs have the sinker and as you can see they sit like a claw.The rig nearest is set up the same with 3 maggots which lifts the hook more off the bottom.

Now these two rigs are totally different,the one furthest away has 2 fake maggots and a fake caster as a hairstop,same material for hooklength,a nash fang gaper size 10,both these rigs the hooks lie like a bottom bait carp rig would do,a long hair and a short hair,when the fish sucks the bait up,the hook will turn.Ive added a sinker to each as the rigs above,just need to get out now and use them,till the nxt time.

Fishing Line

Well here we go 4 different spools of line all suited to my different styles of fishing.

This line has never let me down,this line breaks a lot higher than its strength,at least two pounds higher than stated.i use this for all my feeder fishing.Buying a bulk spool is the way to go,saves a few quid on smaller spools.Does exactly what it says on the Spool.

I purchased this line last year for my bream fishing.i was using GR60 Insight,i changed because i wanted a sinking line,and this line sinks like a brick.i wasnt happy with the line lay on the GR60,but that doesnt mean i wont use it ,ill explain in next picture,Anyway some people might think that 12lb is too heavy for bream,but being really honest its just right,covers you for all situations,carp and also tench and no chance of being under gunned and chance of losing a decent fish to lower breaking strain line.There is just enough line on this spool to spool up 3x 5000 type reels.It isnt a cheap line at £16-95,but compared to other lines out there this is a excellent line,i use it for barbel aswell

On my river set up i have the GR60 on one reel,i was going to change over to the xt.But im quite happy having them spooled up differently.Think this line suits itself to river fishing,where your not looking for it to sink,its a very abrasion resistant line,slightly thicker diameter than the xt

Last off all is the Power Pro,65lb Braid i use for pike.Its very cheap in the states where i purchased it from.ive had 3 seasons from my last lot,and thats with reversing the line after the seasons finished so your back to new line again.Now some dont like braid,but compared to mono,theres no stretch,its an instant strike,hooks are home.Well what about the fight,the rod bending,the clutch screaming,none of that for me,there coming in as quick as i can get them to the net.Pike can fight really hard earlier in the season,to the point they can wear them selves out and die.your rod still bends,and you can feel all the twists and turns and its exciting too.i only buy 150 yards,and back the spool up,give it a try,you might like it.

Weather

Thought id include this link that i follow for the weather,better than tv,lol
http://www.xcweather.co.uk/

T.B.C

So what do we have here,well this is my style of fishing im doing at the moment,Tench,Bream,Carp.Method Feeders and Maggot Feeders.With the way the weather has been at the moment,some places ive been fishing havnt been fishing that well.Im going to have a short break now from the specimen fishing.ive got 2 matches lined up.Breaking Surface Charity Match for help the heroes at Bradshaws 4 in Bolton 19th may.The feeder fishing challange at upper rivington Horwich 26th may .This weekend see,s me going to Charity Farm for a practice for the coarse & Predator Charity Match,excited about this as i missed it last year due to hurting my back.So will give a full report when i get back,till the next time.

6th May 2012

Well an early start lookes good.Decided to fish both rods over the lillies close in,2 balls of bait over each spot.Nothing really happened,so decided to move both rods,one to the left in front of the big lillies and the other to the right.A change of hook bait saw me landing my first tench of the season,nothing big,but very welcome.

I had quite a few runs which saw the fish come off,one run produced a load of old line.thought it was perfect for them today and was suprised didnt have anymore.

My Swim..........................................................................................................................................

Not a great self take on the mobile,didnt think it was worth setting up the camera.Till the next time.

Sunday 6th May

This is where im goin sunday,early start.Went here last year and had 3 tench.4lb 8,4lb 2 3lb 8.My PB Tench is 4lb 8,so was really pleased.i fished tip rod and pole last time.it isnt a long cast to the lillies so ill feed the swim with 6 balls of bait to start with.It will be a real tenchy mix,probably pellet based,with chopped worm ,dead maggot and liquidied corn,put a nice cloud and lure them out from them lillies.will be using maggot feeders,so till the next time and hopefully some tench.

Finally got to make some New Rigs

These are the two new materials ive used to make my new rigs.ive ditched the super natural after using it sunday,i didnt like it at all.so opted for the sink link,after i inspected it first its supple and the material is easy to work with.Also stripteaze makes a come back,love this stuff,used it for my bream fishing last year.

Ive gone for the mag-aligner on all the rigs,only difference is ive opted to use the Nash Fang Gaper hook in a size 10,love these hooks.

These rigs have the Nash Fang Gaper Hooks,ive opted for different hair arrangements,im confident they,ll all work and dont think they have to be the same.

So here we have some maggot feeders i forgot i had,had to root around to find some ring swivels that fit.im probably going to tape them up so they have a slow release of juicey red maggots.

Hooklength material

I wasnt impressed with the Korda super natural.out of the 3 rigs i tied i had a problem with the hair moving and pricking the hook,im going back to the esp striptease.i will post some new pictures soon and some new rigs and some different maggot feeders ive found in the tackle box,