Off to catch a Catfish
After two sessions in May trying to catch my first catfish, my results stood at three runs with just one hook-up which came off. Phil and I decided to have a session at a new venue just down the road from our first one. We were there for 06:30 and found out we could stay until 21:00 and all for £12 for two rods. We had quite a bit of gear with us, when don't we? Luckily there were trolleys to use. So up the ground we went to the catfish lake or pond! It wasn't the biggest of waters but because of how it was shaped and with a reed island, you could see how it held 10 swims. Although if all 10 were occupied it would be a bit tight. Swim discipline would be paramount.
I set up in one swim facing the reed bed, it's nice to have a feature to fish to. On one rod I fished a big piece of free lined bacon grill, on the other a large oily halibut pellet.
A chap who had set up in one of the first swims fishing into the first bay had a run, I went and helped him land it and take some pictures. It weighed 15lb.
Phil was opposite me and was soon swearing and cursing as he missed bites and lost fish. "Note to self" Phil, disengage the baitrunner before striking, it does help.
Finally he struck into one and it held. I trotted round to offer any help and soothing words, the attached cat was beating him up. After much grimacing and verbals from Phil, I slid the net under a sizeble cat. Onto the unhooking mat, hook out (barbless so it was easily done), it weighed 20lb12oz. A new PB, a first cat of the season and one from a new venue.
Not too long after we had a repeat performance, duly landed by Moi, it weighed 15lb03oz. There goes the average, worse was to come! Bless.
I had gone to the Cafe (static burger van) at 08:40 only to be told that the cook was out delivering and would be about an hour. 09:50 I went back, he'll be back in just a few minutes. Back at my swim the peace and serenity (if you could ignore the jet flight path overhead) was shattered by a JCB digger starting up. This was used to start levelling mounds of earth piled up on the bank of the bay where the catcher of the 15lber was fishing. Stoically he fished on. Not so an angler that had set up to Phil's left. He was adamant that the noise from the digger moving and pounding the earth will have put the fish down, so no more bites. He decided to move to another lake. After he had moved, Phil said come and move into his vacated swim. Fish were showing regularly out in front of him. With a bed of lilies between us I would not be poaching, I could fish water he couldn't reach. So I moved.
We finally got our bacon rolls just before midday. With double bacon and brown sauce they were worth waiting for.
The reeds were constantly moving as cats moved past or amongst them. Interestingly the moorhens nesting amongst the reeds never swam up to or away from the reeds. They ran across the water. I watched as a mother moorhen brought her young chicks out of their nest. One by one they swam across the water, their wake the very pattern of disturbance that us predator anglers try to give our surface fished lures. I fully expected to see a large mouth and head come up and engulf a chick. Thankfully it didn't happen.
Within 10 minutes of casting out my baits I had a run. I struck and connected with a hard fighting cat. Phil was dancing about singing "Martin's got his first Pussy!" Then it came off! Chickens, Counting, Not came to mind. Next run, no mistakes, I landed a cat (a kitten really) of 08lb04oz.
Phil had another cat of about the same size as mine, dragging his average down even more. As we were sorting that one out, one of my alarms sounded. I began to run (I can do for very short distances) the few yards to my swim when my foot slipped on the grass down into a slight depression. I was now skidding along on my hands. Cat like (furry type not scaly) I was back up and at my rods. I struck into the fish and played it to the net, duly landed it weighed 08lb09oz, a new PB!!!!!
Phil landed his fourth fish, again about the same size as mine, leaving his average decimated. His first ever catfish had weighed 17lb and 19lb caught at Lakemore Lake near Crewe two years ago. So his first two fish today had maintained a good average. The two smaller fish had dropped it considerably. Oh to have such a dilemma.
Phil continued to get bites, losing a couple of fish in the reeds or not connecting on the strike. The chap on the first peg had caught a second cat of about 10lb. So a total of 8 fish had been caught. A good return for the day.
Then it was time to tackle down, load up the trolleys Phil had fetched, then trudge back to the car. Never the favourite part of a session. The motorways home were friendly and we were back to unload and put everything away within 40 minutes.
I feel another session coming on next week. With the variety of baits I've got I must catch something. Although I haven't got any Bloodied Eel pellets, which is what Phil was getting so many runs on.
Audi R8 Experience
On 04th June I had a supercar (their description) driving experience at DriftLimits, based on part of the old airfield at Bovingdon. My shooting/sometimes fishing buddy Neil bought me this as a birthday present. There are three tracks there, one for single-seater F1000, a drifting track for those that prefer not to see where they are going and the aforementioned supercar track. DriftLimits have a whole range of cars to choose from Evos, Imprezas, M5s, Mach II Mustang, various Porsches, Audi R8, Ferrari F40, Bentley Continental, Dodge Viper and an Aerial Atom (0-60 in 2.5 seconds, more on that later).
After a video describing the track layouts, on track etiquette, what to do/not do, we were given an in car demonstration in a Subaru driven by one of the DL "lads". For 3 laps he showed us the track, the braking points, turning in points, apexes to aim for and passing lanes. On the 4th lap he gave it some welly just to show what he was talking about.
Back at base I was called by a driver called Chris to join him at the R8. He confirmed what we had been told in the demo runs, get the car into 3rd then it's just throttle and brake, at the right points and to the right degree. I started the car, Chris was using the mirrors and he had a brake pedal, most comforting to know. Down the access road we went, waited for the M5 to pass then accelerated onto the track. 10 laps to go. It isn't a long track and it's not very wide, hence it had two "get out of the way" lanes. So it was blip the accelerator and feather the brakes, trying to get the turn in right, hitting the apexes, letting the car use the width of the track in order to carry the speed into the next corner. Then it happened! I came up behind the blisteringly fast Aerial Atom that was doing 20mph if it was lucky. By the time we got to the passing lane, the Ferrari was coming up fast, so I had to follow the Atom into the passing lane, Oh the shame! And so it continued until the next passing lane, where I could stay on the track and press the loud pedal again. By my 10th lap I was almost catching the Atom again, which was now doing maybe 30mph. A great experience, but afterwards I realised, in thinking about the driving around the circuit, I forgot all about the car.
I make no claims here about originality.
When fly fishing for trout, I have previously fished a team of flies, usually two droppers and a point, it's not long before I get the droppers tangling or even knotting around the leader. This is frustrating because it means breaking things down and starting again. Recently I was reading an article on lure fishing for predators that talked about using a Rapalla knot, which is a loop on which the lure can hinge or articulate. It was suggested that this allowed the lure to move more freely and perhaps be more attractive to the target predators.
Something else I was aware of was the twisted loop used by coarse fisherman to create booms to which a feeder or the like can be attached. The doubled line of the boom helps to keep the feeder away from the main line.
So instead of tying in droppers using a Dropper Loop or a Water Knot, would a tied off twisted loop work with the fly on the loop when it is made? The advantages would be that the stiff loop would be more likely to stay away from the leader, if it didn't and fouls the leader it would be easier to untangle and lastly the fly would hinge/articulate on the loop creating more movement (perhaps?).
So I tried it, the twisted loops I made were not very long but that can be set when you make the loop. With the fly threaded onto the leader, place your thumbs and forefingers on the leader at twice the distance that you want the loop to be. Rolling the line between thumb and finger creates the twisted loop. The loop can be made tighter by pulling the two ends apart and twisting again. An overhand knot at the base of the loop ties it off. I know knots are chosen for their strength or to avoid weakening the line. I accept that this may be the weak point of this idea, it's a case of suck it and see!
Pic 1. My leader - The Booby is the Point fly with the Buzzer and Diawl Bach on the twisted loop droppers.
06-06-2018 I fished this on a WF5I fly line. On the cast the Intermediate fly line starts to sink and takes all of the flies, including the buoyant Booby down into the depths. This has the effect of the flies being presented on a "washing line". A varied stripped retrieve it causes the Booby to fall and rise, which also adds action to the dropper flies.
In a short 30 minute session I had a quick pull on one of the droppers. It wasn't on the Booby because I could see it in the clear water. Then I had a trout swim up to and chomp down on the Booby. I watched as the fish chewed on the fly, then I woke up and realised I needed to strike. Too late the trout spat the Booby out with obvious distaste. 15 minutes before I had to go home, I was watching a beautifully coloured Rainbow trout swim slowly past me and was thinking, could I intercept it and present my flies to it? Bang! Another fish had hit one of my flies and proceeded to accelerate around the lake. In doing so it gathered a bunch of slimy green algae on the line. This added weight created an angle in the line, so I wasn't in direct contact with the hooked fish. This can often mean a lost fish, but my luck was in and I landed it. It weighed 2.2lb and swam off strongly when I returned it to the lake. This fish broke my duck of over 5 sessions without a fish landed.
Pic 2. The trout took the Diawl Bach dropper. So far so good.
10-06-2018 After a couple of false starts I have put a toe in the water of writing my own Blog. I often write lengthy pieces on Facebook about my fishing and shooting activities but because many of my family don't share these interests, my efforts are deemed boring. This only spurs me on to write more and unfailingly my detractors continue to read and dismiss me. I have an idea that they are in fact closet fans. I would like to think that I have something to offer, hence my step into the unknown as a Blog writer. A famous Chinese proverb written by Laozi (and not, as often misquoted, including by me, as attributed to Confucius) says " A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step", at the moment for me that is just a toe. "Hold on Cooky, we are in for a bumpy ride".
