red letter day

[Guest lurchers&terriers]

i used to be into fishing in a big way when i was in my teens. Used to log all my gear on to the bus at 7am and then get the last bus home at 11pm. I used to fish a wee stretch of water that used to be part of a canal. most of it got filled in but a 500 yard stretch was left. A fishing club was formed in the 1980s but didnt last long but they did stock it. Anyway it would of been the 1990s when i was fishing it. It had common carp mirror carp grass carp roach chum bream bloody perch and my favorite tench. I used to get good bags of roach and bream on every visit and got a little bored of it so i thought i would go all out and attack the tench. Id never caught one of these elusive tench so i went all out. On the Tuesday i picked a nice spot full of weeds and cleard a nice bit of it with a rake attached to a bit of roap. it took me a bit to master but i made a nice clearance and left it at that. On the wednesday i went and bought a load of ground bait maggots and bloodworm and headed to the spot. I was expecting bubbles and signs of feeding when i got there but there was none. So i slung half of my bait into the cleared area and headed for home. The next morning i was up at 3am got my kit together and started the 4 mile walk to the water (no buses early enough) anyway i got to the water and it was fizzing away. Fish were feeding on my bait so i rigged up as fast as i could and casted my 5lb mainline 3lb hook length just behind it and gently reeled until the float was sitting above the bubbles. Straight away the float sunk and i struck. It wa quite a good fight but it wasn't a tench. it was a chub, a nice one at about 3 to 4lb but i wanted tench. Another cast and the float must of just sat there for at least two hours with out a bite. The fight off the chub must of spooked them i thought. Si bated the area up and moved down the water for some roach bashing. I gathered if i bait it up again then leave it for a while they would gain confidence. Time was getting on, it was 7;30 pm so i decided to go back for a wee look. They were fizzing away again but this time seemed they were feeding even more than the morning. So i casted out and let the float settle. It slid side WAyS very slowly and i struck. I was in and this was a different fight to the last, right enough it was a tench weighed it 5lb spot on. i was so chuffed. I continued fishing until 10:30 and caught a further 6. The heaviest was 5lb and the smallest was 3lb. I will never forget that day.

 

Ps. please note i was a young lad and self taught so please don't question my tactics. I dont fish now as i hit some hard times not to long ago and had to sell my gear to live.

[ferretville 69]

Sounds like it was a smashing day pity times have changed for you having to sell your gear. You never no it might happen again untill that day aleast you have your memories of it atb FV

[Guest lurchers&terriers]

to true mate. im back on my feet now so im going to build my gear up graduly. Iv had many nights and days hunting with the dogs but none compares to a good day on the bank

[droid 11]

Nowt wrong with your tactics if you got a bag like that, mate.

And a stillwater chub....supposed to be pretty cagy those buggers.....

 

Well done.