Dream Team back Together 20-12-20

 Well it’s nearly 9 months since me and Chris have fished together since the end of the river season in March and havnt been out since due to Chris becoming a Dad to a Son and obviously Covid .So we managed to get a roach session in before Xmas. We fished a big double peg fishing two rods on maggot feeder helicopter rigs . It was a slow start and then the fish came to me and not Chris .I had lots of small roach, skimmers, a couple of roach knocking on the pound mark and only a bream for Chris . A great catch up having been so long , felt like an eternity , but yes the Dream team are back 

My New pod A Chris Brown 2 rod pod, don’t think Chris noticed , must be my 15th or 116th pod I’ve owned, who knows I hate rod pods LOL.

Have a great Christmas , stay safe ,and more from the Drwam team soon .

Moss Farm Fisheries 25-10-20

 So I got invited to another match at moss farm with crescent angling club .I drew an end peg so was happy with that . Tactics would be pole and maggot and bomb and pellet. I plumber up 2 swims and clipped up the tip for the aerator .The weather forecast was sunshine and showers with a strong wind at times throughout the day . I started of on the pole knowing I probably should start on the tip, may regret that later .First put in and I had a small F1 followed by another and the wind was blowing and making presentation on the float difficult .

My swim peg 1 we flat calm before all in .I now switched to the bomb rod and wasn’t long before I was catching only small F1,s. After about an hour I switched to just right of the aerator towards corner of the island and landed over the rope holding it , I managed to get my bomb back but later on it happened and again and had to pull for a break. I concentrated on casting to the aerator for the rest of the match catching slowly and building a weight .

My bait tray , Maggot and pellet 6 & 8 mm.As the match progressed I heard the far end peg was catching well but I had 19 carp now with 30 minutes to go .Id lost 5 carp to hook pulls considering some of the carps mouths I knew why .In the last half hour I managed 4 more carp for a total of 23 carp.

1st place Mark 28 lb 12

2nd Place Me   28lb. 8

3 rd place.         13lb 

So I ended up bridesmaid again in 2 place and losing by 4 ounces , those lost fish cost me . Really enjoyed it and that’s it for matches .

We fished Lily’s lake and was ideal as you can park behind your peg.

Till the next time , Stay safe .

Moss Farm Fishery 4-10-20

 So today was another match with crescent angling club on April’s . I drew Peg 5 and funny eddie drew peg 1 that I fished the other week . I started the match fishing down the track .First put in and I hooked a carp of which the hook pulled and I had to sort another rig due to it getting a knot around the float, always wondered how that happens . I started catching steady with quite a few skimmers and a crucian .The wind was blowing down the lake and even though it was overcast most of the day it wasn’t cold at all.

This was my peg and as you can see the far bank was cut out and I’d set up at 13 m but the wind was bad so I carried on down the track till lunch netting a perch and lovely ide before going on the feeder .

The plan now was to fish bomb and pellet, pinging 8mm pellets into the gap .Over the next two hours I took 5 carp and decided to rest it and go back on the pole .I managed another ide , skimmer and roach on the pole line .At 3 pm I decided the last hour to get me a better weight I’d go back on the bomb .I managed 2 more carp and lost a good fish to a hook pull.

Results 

1st Place Kevin 22 lb 9

2nd Me 19lb 13

3rd 12 lb 12 

So I came 2nd again and those two fish probably cost me the match . Really enjoyed it for a change .

One of two ide I had today , would of loved more.

Tight aliens till I’m out next , Stay safe .

Moss Farm Fishery Irlam 13-9-20

 After a recent conversation with my mate eddie he sorted it for me to fish the match her on April’s Lake with Crescent Angling Club . Upon arrival I couldn’t believe how much it’s changed since I last fished this lake .

The Top picture is the side of the lake we fished and bottom picture is the other side of the lake.Its so mature now it looks really good .Anyway back to the match , I drew peg 1 and would be fishing the pole at 7metres and 10 metres .Bait today would be my favourite chop worm and castor .Once all in was called I was catching from the off on my 7metre line nothing big ,Roach ide skimmers Tench and plenty of small perch .It was a really warm day blue sky’s and the wind was blowing down into my end of the lake .I switched over to the 10 metre line but couldn’t buy a bite . So I went back over to the 7 metre line and I was being inundated with small perch.

A change of plan was needed the feeder rod, bomb and pellet was the tactic .

A nice set of Lily’s to the left of the island would be my attack pinging 8mm pellets over the top.I took two mirror carp straight away in 2 casts , then bumped a bream and then was snapped by a carp that tried to take me in the Lily’s .i kept looking at my pole line and thought you know what I’m going for it on the feeder .As the afternoon wore on it got hotter and the carp were still coming , I’d netted 9 now followed by 2 more and a bream .Then around 3-30 I got snapped again of another good carp.As all in was called I was confident I’d got around 30 lb .

A Pole shot and feeder Shot .

So when it came to the weigh in I knew I’d get in the top 3 as I was hearing further down nor much had happened .

1st place 54lb He wins every week

2nd Place Me 29 Lb 8

3rd Place 20 Lb 10

Eddie finished with 10 lb on the dot.

A really enjoyable day and a nice change for me .

Tight Lines , Till I’m out again , Stay Safe 

It’s Been Too Long 6-9-20

It’s handy having my own blog because I can look back at previous sessions and I did just that.The reason behind me looking back was I was looking for another area to target for barbel and couldn’t believe it’s been seven years since I last fish this area .I arrived at the river just before 7pm giving me plenty of time to get set up and get the rods out.It was a lovely evening and the river had dropped so it was low and clear .There was a nice crease running mid river and my left hand rod would be across river and the right hand rod down stream. Still on the PVA bags with pellet and Boilie . Id just poured a coffee and my left hand rod hopped over ,Nice chub around 3lb.My next bite came at darkness fell.A lovely chub around 5lb at least , I Un hooked it In the river and left it in the net while I set the camera up, I returned and it had escaped from the net . My right hand rod went next with a small chublet . Love fishing this area as you can hear the owls in the trees opposite bank .My next bite was a barbel just before 9pm , not massive but most welcome .

Just a splasher but fought well .
The mist was rolling down the river now as the temps dropped even though it felt quite warm .My right hand rod was off again and another small barbel.

Nice to catch 2 barbel , thought it was gonna be a chubtastic kind of night . I will be back at sometime. Something different this weekend.
Till the next time , stay safe .

Got it all Wrong 30-8-20

With all the rain we had last week the river was up and my only chance was Sunday evening to get out .I decided to go back to a stretch I’d fished earlier in the season where I blanked. The river was low and clear and tactics would be PVA bags again . I took the long walk looking at swims along the way I need to try out at some point . As I came round the bend I noticed a few things that put me of those swims, anglers on opposite bank . I carried on walking and found there was someone in the swim I wanted .I carried on walking and found 4 more anglers , now at this point I should of turned round and walked back .I decided as I was there and not much light left I wasn’t walking back .I decided to drop in between , now this is where I’d got it wrong , 2 anglers above and 2 anglers below and me piggy in the middle . I started off fishing downstream , but as the light faded I decided to upstream one rod and downstream the other rod. I’d fished this swim once before and caught there so I knew I had a slim chance . As darkness fell the temp dropped dramatically , my feet were toast but my hands were like ice. I stayed till 10-45 pm and decided I’d had enough. I should of gone round the bend , but we all make mistakes and l knew my fishing was over for a week.

Tight lines , stay safe x

One Bite 20-8-20

With the weather changing to showers over the weekend I decided to go on Thursday evening.I arrived at the river at around 7pm and went on a walk looking for a peg not near anyone as there was a few fishing . After getting down to the river bank I poured a coffee and made some PVA bags with a mix of 6mm halibut and some elepticals.I decided to fish one rod mid river and the other rod downstream. It was a warm evening with a slight breeze .Both rods were out fishing by 7-40 so now to wait and re cast each rod after 30-40 minutes .The River was carrying a couple of extra foot but was dropping throughout the evening.As darkness fell I was wondering when I was gonna get a pull a twitch or a full 3ft twitch , but at this point I’d not even had a knock .The coffee was going down and the evening was wearing away .At around 10pm I decided fresh bags on each rod, I put a smaller bag on the down stream rod which I found in my bag and a larger bag on middle rod. I sat back and poured a coffee. Typical first sip and I get a full on 3 ft twitch on the Boilie rod . This was defo a barbel and was fighting like a double , my clutch was melting a few times and at the second attempt I netted my prize . After resting  the fish for a while I lifted the net and was shocked at the size of it , it wasn’t a double but omg the power.

Kind of says it all the smile, well pleased and time to go.
Tight lines and stay safe

2 sessions No Barbel August 2020

9th August
What a lovely weekend it was , I arrived to a busy river and walked till I found a peg.I hadn’t fished this area before and was looking to fish just short of some faster water as the river was low.Different tactics this time I’d fish the feeder .The wind picked up maybe 30 minutes in and it now wasn’t warm at all.At around 8-15 I lost a barbel to a hook pull as I was trying to put too much pressure on as it headed for a boulder .The wind got worse and with no indications I left at 10 pm.
16 August

After another nice week I headed to the river with a chance of rain on the cards.I decided to try a peg that was in between two pegs I’d fished before .I tied up PVA bags and the rain came , not for long though.I fished one rod upstream and one down stream . My first bite came to pellet in day light hours, a lovely chub .Into darkness all the action came on my left hand rod , all chub again .My last bite was a Dace on my right hand rod. Plenty of bats out and another slight shower I packed up at 11pm and even though no barbel it was a decent session .
Hope everyone is well,  Stay safe x

Homemade scoop Feeders 4-8-20

I decided to make a few more 4oz feeders up for the river . I normally use hair curlers but wanted something more robust.I have used just normal waste pipe in 28mm which was less than £5 for a 3 metre length ,the swivels and inline lead inserts I purchased of eBay in bulk .I just use pike wire for the boom section and crimp it.i prefer thicker pike wire as I can’t see the uncoated wire lasting very
Long .My last batch I made had various holes in for slow or faster release .The idea behind these got me thinking of match fishing and pellet feeders .I wanted to be able to come up with a feeder where I could load it quicker and came up with this idea .

All I did was cut them at 45 Degree angle, no Holes and I’ve called them Scoop Feeders.

Tight lines ,will be using them when the river has a bit more water , will post a review .

Stay safe

Friday Barbel Saturday Chub

Last Friday I made it up to the river for a short session .The weather forcast was heavy rain from 10 pm onwards .The River was spot on and had dropped to a perfect level it looked fantastic .Usual tactics bomb and bag, Boilie and pellet.It wasn’t long before my rod went over and a lovely chub hit the net .At around 8ish I had a massive 3 foot twitch and what a fight from a powerful fish taking line and going on good runs in the flow.Once I had her under control I netted her at the second attempt.

Was fluctuating between 10 and 10-2 so settled for 10 lb , What a lovely barbel two tone.I should of packed up and gone home really but sat there in the rain for at least 10 minutes before it cleared .I had one more bite and a lovely chub .I packed up at 9 and by the time I’d walked back to the van and loaded up the heavens open. Turned out a perfect window of opportunity .

1st August 2020
Arrived at around 7-30 pm and found the river to be lower but a nice colour and some flow.It was a lovely evening and actually warm to fish without a jacket on. I started of with a chub followed by 3 more in to dark , Two were good sizes and the other two were small, Boilie 2 pellet 2 . I fished till 11-30 and with no further action packed up.

Tight lines and Stay Safe x

First Double of the season 17-7-20

After a hard day at work I’d made my decision to head to the river .I arrived just after 7pm to a packed out car park and even though I had a few places I’d like to fish they were all taken .I decided to fish a peg I’ve fished before and to be honest I wasn’t really feeling it .Tactics we’re going to be different from the norm, I made my mind up to try a rod a few rod lengths out in a deep hole .I fed Boilie and pellet on the spot and left it there for the duration hoping for a big un .My other rod would be PVA bag and pellet upstream .It was a cloudy evening with a bit of spitting rain at times . At around 8pm I recast the upstream rod .I was now getting a few pulls then one big 3 foot pull and I was into a good fish that decided to head down river under a melting clutch .I had a few scary moments as it headed towards a near bank snag and after guiding it away at the second attempt and netted my Prize .

11lb 1 and a new PB for this stretch .As darkness fell and the bats were out in force flying in and out of my rods I managed a lovely chub .As the evening wore on apart from a few twitches and nothing on the close in rod I packed up at 11pm happy and headed home.
Tight Lines and Stay Safe everyone x

No Barbel , Just Chub 12-7-20

Glad to be back out on the river, this was my second session .I went couple of weeks ago and fish a low and clear river wishing I hadn’t gone to be honest .So tonight would see me at a different stretch with a bit of water on due to the last 2 weeks of wet weather we’ve had . Plan of attack was PVA bag filled with pellet and crush boilie ,Hook baits pellet & Boilie . At around 7pm I had my first bite and it was a chub which fell to the Boilie .As I sat there I was thinking I should of fished a feeder , but plugged away with regular 30 minute casts .It was a lovely evening sat there away from other anglers on what can be a busy stretch .As the evening wore on I was getting plucks and knocks and at around 9pm I re positioned both rods and sat back with a coffee taking in the wild life .

The chub I had around 7pm .Just before darkness fell I took a few snaps of downstream of where I was .

Who wouldn’t want not to be sat here looking at the sun going down.A great evening but I’m afraid only a chub and no Barbel.
Till the next time ,Stay safe

Back After Tinca,s 20-6-20

After last weeks session I thought I’d go and have another go for the Tench.Im keen to get on the river but I thought I’d let things settle first before I get out .I booked the same peg as last time .The wind was pushing into the peg like last time it was lovely today , a bit mixed though nice and cool then a little rain then hot sunshine .

View from my peg, lovely isn’t it .I started with 3 balls of groundbait over the float followed by some corn and loose fed maggot.My first bite was a Rudd I was getting really pestered by them pulling and plucking at the corn .I kept feeding a few maggots little and often to keep the Rudd at bay.It wouldn’t be long before my first tench came , my pin was screaming as I fought to keep it out of the long reeds either side of me .

It wouldn’t be long before my next bite as the float lifted and sailed under and another great fight .Was suprised I didn’t lose the fish as it fought that hard it bent the hook.

Another lovely Tinca .

Never had a Drennan hook bend before .My next bite was a roach .It started to cloud over a little and by the time I put my coat on the rain stopped and my float sailed away and another great fight on the pin .

My last and final tench .I managed a Rudd not long after and the sun came out blazing and I called it a day .

Tight Lines , Stay safe .

I Had A Bream 13-6-20

Well today’s session would see me fish my third different water since we’ve been allowed to fish again.I fancied a bream session so tactics would be using my 10 ft 9 super feeder rod, flat bed method feeder and various hook baits and bait for the feeder would be Ringers micros.It was a lovely day , a cross wind most of the day with the sun making an appearance which at time’s was hot .

I fished 2 lines , one at 35 yards and one at 20 yards .After quite a few casts without a bite using either bandums or wafters I couldn’t buy a bite .Soon as I changed too corn , Bream on .

There a good stamp of bream in this water , I didn’t weigh any today but there around 3-5 lb size.So by the time lunch time had arrived I had only managed 2 bream , both a good stamp .I decided to have an hour on the short line.Apart from a couple of slow pulls and a missed bite I had nothing.I went back on to the longer line and as I had quite a lot of micros left I decided to carry on till I had no bait left .

The ringers micros I was using , they mix perfect and are probably the best I’ve used .
So occasionally changing hookbaits I went back to corn and as the afternoon progressed I managed 5 more bream, all good quality Fish .

Biggest bream of the day, just went in the net .Worked hard today and was pleased in the end even though I was frustrated at times , River season is days away and I best get prepared .
Tight Lines stay safe

Saturday evening /Sunday day

Well I decided to grab a few hours Saturday night just armed with With the float rod and pin.I chose a peg that had a deep margin.My idea was a maggot attack but took corn as a back up hook bait . I balled in two nice sized micro pellets .After being plagued by perch I decided to change to corn and wasn’t long before I had a good bream around 4lb .Considering all the rain we had off and on all day the evening was lovely up till 9 when the temps started to drop. Then just as the light faded my float went straight under , Tench On.

Last bite of the evening sesh.

Sunday Day
I was in two minds what to fish for and armed with 2 pints of maggot, corn and micros I headed to the crucian area of the lake . I decided to fish feeder set up helicopter with maggot feeder and maggot hook bait . It was a lovely over cast day with light wind blowing into the bank .I was casting every 5-8 minutes to a spot around 30 yards out .My first bite was a Roach .It would be around 10 when I had my first crucian .

Lovely crueys in this lake . After another hour biteless I came in 10 yards and managed another at 12

It was turning out to be a difficult day. I switched to the float and pin on corn and fed balls of pellet.
After two hours with not a touch I went back on the feeder and switched to corn instead of maggot .An hour later I called it a day .
As the river season approaches I think I will turn my attention to something else now .
Tight Lines Stay safe

You Know what time it is , Tinca Time 31-5-20

So finally I managed to book on a water that’s experienced problems and hence I’ve not fished it enough due to it being busy in the past.Tactics were Float rod , Corn hook bait as there’s a big population of Rudd so maggot would be a night mare .I Put 3 Balls of Sonubaits Super feeder over the spot and wasn’t long before plenty of action on the float dipping and waving as fish moved in and out of the baited spot .I managed a couple of Rudd, Then at 9am my float was off pushing my Drennan power float Rod to a big bend and after a few hairy moments putting the brakes on the pin I netted my first tench of the day.

I Re fed my swim and a couple more nice Rudd took the corn .The weather was lovely blue skies in stunning surroundings, the wind was pushing down this end of the lake and I just screamed Tench .At 11am my next bite came and a similar scrap on the float rod and tench No 2 hit the net .

The next Hour saw the wind move and the sun was blazing so I rested the swim and went on my light feeder to have some fun with those Rudd on maggot feeder fished Helicopter. Well it was one a chuck, as fast as the feeder had hit the bottom the tip pulled round. I also managed a small tench aswell. Easy went through nearly a pint of maggots .Back on the float now and the wind was pushing towards me and I managed two more smaller tench. The sun was blazing now and decided to pack up at 3-30, would of loved to stay late. It had to collect Julie from work .
A real enjoyable days fishing .
Tight Lines and Stay Safe Bloggers .

Bank Holiday Blues 25-5-20

Well with tench on my mind I headed out to the same lake I fished last Thursday .I decided to fish a peg I’d not fished for a while .Same tactics as last week , Float rod and corn and pellet . It was real warm today with bright blue skies and hoping that the tench had woke up properly .Well after nearly 4 hours and not a touch I switched to the feeder rod.

If you look closely you can see my float.

I’d made up Balls with the Nash Ball maker with Sonubaits super feeder, smells really sweet.
So back to the feeder rod I’d not fished a flat bed method feeder on this water so this would be my approach with micro pellets and Either wafters or Bandums.

Loaded and ready to cast. It took just over an hour to get my first bite ,  a nice Bream.

A good size to start with.I carried on for just over 2 hours and waiting for bites took longer before I had 2 more good sized bream.

By now it was just after 3 pm and was even warmer so I packed up.Not a great session , frustrating but nice to be out.Dont think this lake has switched on yet and will be back .

Tight Lines , Stay Safe

Tench on my mind. 21-5-20

Well it’s been a long time since I went fishing . With what’s going on in the world right now with this Damn Virus I managed to get back out amongst nature sat by a lake doing what I thought I may never see again for sometime.Grateful to be out and my condolences to all the family’s who’ve lost a life to Covid 19.
My main plan was to fish a lake for tench , but not being able to get information on whether or not I could fish it.Plan B came in to effect and I went elsewhere armed with only hemp pellet and corn so it was a suck it and see moment whether it would work .Where I wanted to go maggots are a NO No due to high population of Rudd.I chose my peg and baited with 3 small balls of groundbait , it was going to be slow .I was feeding small pellet little and often .

I was fishing really close in with the centrepin and float rod .First bite was a nice bream.
Then what a came for ripped the float straight under .

A lovely tench and was well pleased . My next two bites were lovely bars of Gold .

I managed 2 crucians put up a great fight .

After bites dried up I went on the feeder rod and couldn’t buy a bite the sun was blazing hot by now

I decided to pack up and go home , not a bagging by any means but lovely day and some nice fish all falling to corn hook baits . Love catching on the centre pin it’s awesome .

Don’t forget keep it safe out there for fellow anglers in these times of uncertainty .

Tight Lines,Stay safe 

Last River session of the season .

Me and Chris headed up to the river hoping for Barbel. Upon arrival it looked like a walk down river of which you could see the devestation of the last flood.We set up and conditions were very windy, river was up slightly and pushing through, I fished one rod close in and one mid river, As the evening wore on the winds were getting stronger and watching the rod tips were hard work .

Chris was recasting and mid cast his right hand rod was twitching , by the time he put his rod down and Picked the other rod up the fish had gone. I was getting a few slight twitches on my short rod and was hoping for a big Twitch . At around 9-30 we had to call it a day the rain was coming and it was unpleasant .Glad we gave it ago , what a rubbish season it’s been either the Weather or floods have done all the damage. Anyways looking forward to June.
Tight lines Bloggers .

Making Homemade River Feeders 8-3-2020

With the river season coming to an end and it hasn’t been good due to all the rain I’ve not fished the river as much this season . I decided to make some more feeders , I normally use hair curlers but on this occasion I decided on 32mm waste pipe .I ordered some cow leads of lower weights .

The pipe cost me £2-20 and I used a pipe slice to cut them 50 55 60 65 and 75 mm.

I bought 20 cow leads in total in weights of 30 40 and 50 Grams, £10-10

I already had the trace wire , you can use any . The swivels and the in-line lead inserts for 100 of each
Cost £9.60.

To make the boom cut 6-8inches of wire and slide swivel on

Slide the wire through the insert.

Slide on a crimp and pull tag ends to form a loop the crimp with a crimping tool to finish the boom.

The finished feeders, I used an old hinge for the holes , going to make a template for them for future drilling as I don’t have a work bench . Total cost works out at 68 pence compared to shop bought or someone that makes them . No big deal if you lose one. And if you catch it’s on your homemade feeders .Tight lines till I’m out again .