tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54616130264897041302024-02-19T04:43:10.277-08:00The Lure of AnglingA diary of my fishing throughout the year.Daniel Everitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03810934657655675462noreply@blogger.comBlogger408125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461613026489704130.post-22854224230840827542019-06-10T08:54:00.000-07:002019-06-10T08:54:05.717-07:00Top water fun.<br />
With the summer just about here and the plethora of lure matches drying up I can feel the weed festooned lakes calling me. Soon I will able to think of nothing but tench and crucian carp but before it gets too hot I really want to do some surface fishing for pike. Since diving head first into the world of lure fishing I have become somewhat obsessed by that exhilarating moment of the hit. Unlike the slow motion moments of excitement when a float comes to life, the shear savageness and raw anger of a hard hit as a predator falls for your rouse is truly exciting. Take that moment when an unseen fish hits your lure and add to it a fleeting moment of chase with the visual stimulation of a wake appearing behind your bait as something follows to attack and you realise this is even more exciting that the hit. Surface lure fishing is, if you will, hit plus or hit turbo, whatever you chose to call thrill served with a side of excitement.<br />
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I am lucky enough to be able to fish a lake festooned as much with Jack pike as it is with lilies. The water is shallow and clear. The pike love to linger amongst those pads locked and coiled to attack and prey that drops it guard. And for my part I have a box full of tricks I hope to use to trigger attack from pike that think my fakery is a panicked duckling seeking its mother, a struggling frog desperate to climb atop a pad, wet rat heading for its burrow, or an injured fish struggling on the surface.<br />
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Theory and practice as always are two very different things. After arriving early amongst the pines flanking the country estate I worked several fruitless areas where I was sure pike would be hanging out and all I had to show for it was a few puffs of silt where some bog eyed jack had gone off half cocked, missing the lure by metres rather than feet. Things weren't looking good until I followed the wind to a long line of pads emanating from an island, where all hell broke loose. My first cast sailed right over and the rubber frog attached splashed into the ripple beyond. A few turns of the handle and two Jacks burst from their layers charging in for attack. The first one missed but the second smashed so hard into my lure that it literally tore through the rubber skin. A head shake and it was gone... but this was just the start. It took several casts and multiple hits before the hook bit home in one of the teeth filled mouths. From what I could tell they actually seemed to be targeting the lures legs, shaking the lure from side to side and my strikes were pulling the lure from their grasp. All it took was a slower strike and they were soon getting hooked.<br />
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Weirdly of all this massive old lake they could be in, most of the resident pike seemed to be focused on this one quiet corner. Of all the possible explanations for this I think the most likely is that combination of prey following the wind and the thick cover had combined to switch the resident pike into feeding mode. The area probably held no more predators that any other tennis court size section of water, it's just that these were in feeding mode and others probably weren't. Whatever the reason the for their aggression they repeatedly attacked in various different ways from bursting out of the shadows to oddly almost sucking the lure of the surface.</div>
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None of the fish on this occasion were particularly large as ninety percent of the pike in this lake are sub six pounds but what they lack in size they make up for in eagerness. The savage gear 3D reaction frog turned out to be the lure dujour and even full of holes and sinking at the end it still got the interest of these sharp eyed little predators.</div>
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I had so much fun flinging these surface lures around that I can't wait to try this out on a host of other waters including the rivers once they are open and when the weather conditions are favourable and the pike are ready to strike!<br />
<br />Daniel Everitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03810934657655675462noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461613026489704130.post-90446527808218813422019-05-31T05:57:00.000-07:002019-05-31T08:50:34.988-07:00Romanian Angling Club UK spring predator race - Hawksbury junction<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I was really looking forward to this match being put on by the Romanian Angling Club. Along with the Polish anglers I see regularly on the local lure circuit, the Romanians are brilliant lure anglers and therefore there is so much you can learn from fishing with and against them. Knowing how good they are I suspected that this match was going to a really competitive event but once again all the people involved were the most friendly bunch I have had the pleasure of fishing with.<br />
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My only concern was the late start of the match as I knew from previous visits that Hawksbury junction is getting very busy and once that boat traffic started thumping the fishing would only get harder. Luckily with all the rules covered and everyone registered the organizers let us off early and anglers shot off in every conceivable direction.<br />
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With competitors lining the banks as far as the eye could see my early priority was to try and find some space in which to fish. It was on my way to find said space that I happened on my friend Ian Whittaker, who was in the process of landing a large section of plywood that was easily over the 15cm limit but sadly not on the capture list for the day.<br />
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I had it in mind to try and get the pike box ticked as I theorized that that my best chance to do this was early on whilst the canal still had some clarity. For once I did the right thing and not long in I hooked a big pike which held deep in the deep water before turning and powering off, where upon my line parted. Knowing they were about, I quickly tackle up again and began searching; luckily I found a nice 51cm jack hiding under some lily pads. One cast of my J.M Soft baits grubby shads and it attacked.<br />
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From then on though things were very tough. As I expected the sheer volume of anglers was making things harder but by working some cover I routed out a pair of under sized perch which were both only just under the 15cm size limit. With the canal quickly coloured I began targeting known zander spots and a few in I hooked a nice little zander of 29cm.<br />
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With the hard work done I figured my best bet was to scale down and try to bag a perch over the size limit. If I could just get one I would get the 50cm bonus and then any other captures would be extras. I don't think I have ever worked so hard for a single small perch in my entire life. I switched to fishing the dropshot and micro lures down the edge and after a couple of timid attacks and walking an entire length of canal I found just what I was looking for hiding close to my own feet.<br />
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<b>Total = 95cm + 50cm multi species bonus 145cm</b></div>
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After waiting round for the all the sheets to be handed in, the chaps from the club began calling out the winners. How gutted was I to miss out on 3rd place by a mere 2cm. I could have kicked myself as I spent the last hour fishing bigger lures whereas had I stuck with the dropshot I feel sure I could have scratched at least one more perch to push me into the top three. Oh well hind sight is a fine thing, but everyone including myself had a great time and its a match I will certainly look to fish in the future. Well done to the Romanian Angling Club UK for organizing such a great event.</div>
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<br />Daniel Everitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03810934657655675462noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461613026489704130.post-13921087380430459112019-05-17T06:16:00.002-07:002019-05-17T06:16:47.586-07:00Tusses Spro Freestyle League round 2 (Lure Witches)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The second round of the Tusses Spro Freestyle was soon upon us and considering I had made the decision that I couldn't commit to fishing as part of a dedicated team, I was still fishing. At the end of the first match where I had filled in for Greg Bafia on the Realistic Shad team I was recruited to fill in for Bethan Sedgewick Miles on the Lure Witches team fishing with Joanna Davies, AKA Asia. I have met Asia here and there on a couple of other matches but had never fished with her as a partner though she seemed over the moon to have someone along to help her compete on this unfamiliar venue. Saying that, my experience of this stretch was limited to a single practice session where the canal became very murky quickly once the boats began moving.<br />
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After meeting up with Asia in the Pub car park and discussing a rough plan of action we were keen to get going. With Asia pulling the number two card out at registration we were buoyed up with our early position and once the off was sounded we went with our plan to do a decent walk out to an area which had fished well in practice, then work our way back and things went very well indeed!<br />
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After missing a couple of early fish Asia scored first with a small perch to take away the early jitters. After getting hit hard and my lure losing its tail to a good pike, I too put some points on paper with a nice sized zander from exactly the same spot.<br />
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With more competitors now flooding past us we actually went against the tide and began moving back along the stretch; running a lure close to the edge I found a bonus baby pike which although diminutive added vital species bonus points.<br />
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Our next flurry of action came when Asia hooked a very nice perch close to some cover whilst we were touching base with my good friends, Dave Mutton and Ian Whittaker, from Specimen fishing UK team who had just had a small zander. A few moments after releasing Asia's perch I nabbed us another small zander before Asia lost a similar one.<br />
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By late morning things were dire all round. The boat had churned up the silt and any early clarity was long gone. Add to that the now hot sun and most people were struggling. The news on the grapevine was that a couple of teams were building up some better lengths targeting small fish for our part we agreed to just grind it out and push on back towards the start. Somewhere in amongst the thousands of casts we made, Asia hooked and landed a computer tower and I heaved out an old portable TV both of which validated our excellent knot tying skills.<br />
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With an hour to go we headed down into the other half of the stretch to fish water that we were convinced had already been thrashed senseless. Knowing what had already been chucked at any fish in the area, I opted for a big change and began casting a creature bait tight into any cover I could find and BOOM! My gamble paid off when I hooked a powerful and very angry zander which turned out to be our biggest fish of the day, much to Asia's joy.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv5RwIKq_1Q0gvnj30FAQFbwWk2dBf2XAcaweJRCQ5aGhnDqhdUgAYuHOMYl9QyBaRH5eEw0s3fmzlfMGv1wBTjH68SPwdx9jW5qzhkwAlzvPv6ldOymclULvK8AlUHfjxlXvrmS2JeNcM/s1600/c3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1013" data-original-width="1600" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv5RwIKq_1Q0gvnj30FAQFbwWk2dBf2XAcaweJRCQ5aGhnDqhdUgAYuHOMYl9QyBaRH5eEw0s3fmzlfMGv1wBTjH68SPwdx9jW5qzhkwAlzvPv6ldOymclULvK8AlUHfjxlXvrmS2JeNcM/s640/c3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTDv_bwg9hD6KLKITDI3QEq_xxpEflWCPwCSC-SkF_iXCS0m4Y1H8k78afUxm0_ne5SM8dHixNteY_vvoEBzerEIj3-Bant9m-XtLHi-1Az0wK4qYRjmDj2g4raaNaod6l6u8bD-R6b31y/s1600/c2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTDv_bwg9hD6KLKITDI3QEq_xxpEflWCPwCSC-SkF_iXCS0m4Y1H8k78afUxm0_ne5SM8dHixNteY_vvoEBzerEIj3-Bant9m-XtLHi-1Az0wK4qYRjmDj2g4raaNaod6l6u8bD-R6b31y/s640/c2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b>Total 205cm</b> + 3 x species bonus @ 25cm per species = <b>280cm</b><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpd-B4nP2sUbmErEMCOXoIOtrQ7IVXhNNM0CB5y_GgxAMwABYjH5eNczA-GFc4lZazH2zPYaPnUtuVxAYZs0zJtOPZJBUXqYWAO86R9vLExmQzVq81J-8Mr6bP_ap94W8qWw75LNV3Zk6r/s1600/c15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="611" data-original-width="705" height="554" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpd-B4nP2sUbmErEMCOXoIOtrQ7IVXhNNM0CB5y_GgxAMwABYjH5eNczA-GFc4lZazH2zPYaPnUtuVxAYZs0zJtOPZJBUXqYWAO86R9vLExmQzVq81J-8Mr6bP_ap94W8qWw75LNV3Zk6r/s640/c15.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">1st Place = 'No Wasps Here' Steve Wilson/Derek Holmes (435cm)</span></b></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwb39A3Ouut97QSXkpktplVE8FpBJsSX9EXHjyAY9h06Fo2dq4RDldStqK54wrSs_bZngxqeA-kXvffkM-shr8rhrPTQgPuE5o1POaoa5bHED4sRJNltH8Cu7hkvBV9jxYuQNVKxN73XLb/s1600/c14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="622" data-original-width="873" height="454" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwb39A3Ouut97QSXkpktplVE8FpBJsSX9EXHjyAY9h06Fo2dq4RDldStqK54wrSs_bZngxqeA-kXvffkM-shr8rhrPTQgPuE5o1POaoa5bHED4sRJNltH8Cu7hkvBV9jxYuQNVKxN73XLb/s640/c14.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">2nd Place = 'Lures and Oatcakes' Chris Milllward/Mark carter (306cm)</span></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>3rd Place 'Lure Witches' Joanna Davies/Daniel Everitt (280cm)</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4-jaNTWY4Bxzl75pAQ-Fh-c0skTpLbfUFQ9uAMX7MIJd5D4m5h8T0I9GjL3PyL5a6WD_G1ky6WbhjiKb6iJeV_WdBjHH0O65TFDXQ82KfVZI5YYFWh7PzaZlNMcGqm64EQ88ysL89u42X/s1600/r2+pike.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4-jaNTWY4Bxzl75pAQ-Fh-c0skTpLbfUFQ9uAMX7MIJd5D4m5h8T0I9GjL3PyL5a6WD_G1ky6WbhjiKb6iJeV_WdBjHH0O65TFDXQ82KfVZI5YYFWh7PzaZlNMcGqm64EQ88ysL89u42X/s640/r2+pike.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Biggest pike = Silviu Stoica (56cm)</span></b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNcN4tR_Ed7oHcUi1JvF_HSPkkfd2DFvj_d53ram7lrNu-3EY7aacnM5vCcIe71AEmAjvzxY8W5ktJvGwF0Cy2qQfUfw5OlZJlYrSP9qD6EKXuVX4am2qlkjFgovBS4ElidQkyAg1mGOqP/s1600/c10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="948" data-original-width="650" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNcN4tR_Ed7oHcUi1JvF_HSPkkfd2DFvj_d53ram7lrNu-3EY7aacnM5vCcIe71AEmAjvzxY8W5ktJvGwF0Cy2qQfUfw5OlZJlYrSP9qD6EKXuVX4am2qlkjFgovBS4ElidQkyAg1mGOqP/s640/c10.jpg" width="438" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Biggest Zander = Daniel Everitt (55cm)</span></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA97knd0QqIbFWaSqu_j8vxkVR2_bQ8YZMlQVAZWuVIlvZq0rhfDEukCPvm8gBkNvSdjC8Eq68k1looUe3_5OUirbiqfrwo7PajCrZR6ufm3uNySoS0mJaad-e8jer4wfBGaKFyhg9ECj1/s1600/r2+perch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA97knd0QqIbFWaSqu_j8vxkVR2_bQ8YZMlQVAZWuVIlvZq0rhfDEukCPvm8gBkNvSdjC8Eq68k1looUe3_5OUirbiqfrwo7PajCrZR6ufm3uNySoS0mJaad-e8jer4wfBGaKFyhg9ECj1/s640/r2+perch.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Biggest Perch = Stenescu Cristian/Greg Bafia (38cm)</span></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Well what can I say... A third place finish and the biggest zander of the match for me was a great result. We scooped some prizes and our brilliant performance gave the Lure Witches team a fantastic 30 points towards their overall score. I think everyone who fished it would agree it wasn't an easy match, but all those who take part in these league matches seems to have a great time and there is a great vibe on the bank. I suppose all that remains to say is...<br />
<b>"Who needs a substitute for round three"</b><br />
<b><br /></b>Daniel Everitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03810934657655675462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461613026489704130.post-76646308493625322082019-05-09T05:50:00.001-07:002019-05-09T11:38:22.377-07:00Practice sessions (Coventry)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I reckon every lure angler in the country has been waiting for the predators to get out of their spawning funk which seems rather prolonged this year by the up and down weather. I for one have really been looking forward to them getting back on the feed as I have recently freshened up my lure selection with an injection of custom lures from John Maher @ J.M Soft Baits and I have been gagging to throw them at some proper hungry fish. Not in my wildest dreams did I ever think that custom lures would be within my grasp until one of my fellow England CRT team members put me in touch with John who has produced for me a whole load of Grubby shads in special colours that look amazing and just have to catch fish!</div>
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With the upcoming League competition section now out of bounds for a pre-match rest I opted to stick on the Coventry but have a practice for the up coming Romanian Angling Associations spring predator race which I intend to fish in a few weeks time. This seemed the perfect opportunity to road test Mr Mahers handy work..</div>
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<b>Venue = Coventry canal @ Hawksbury</b></div>
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<b>Total = 277cm</b><br />
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Well it turned out to be one of those sessions where you drive home looking like you've taken some kind of smile inducing drug. From the outset I knew it was going to be a good session. I arrived early and the water was in perfect condition. I was instantly into fish with an early zander which I followed up with a hard fighting spawned out perch. Things though were going to go from good to brilliant quickly when I moved into an area I rarely fish. On my second cast I watched as the lure dropped through the layers in the deeper than average area. Suddenly the drooping line tightened and I reactively struck into a big fish which after a suitably epic fight turned out to be chunky 65cm zed. The zeds were back on the feed in a big way and after following up the big one with another chunky 52cm zed I plundered the shoals of little zeds where I could find them All in all it was a great practice session and the mixture of species, large and small fish was very pleasing to see and really left me feeling very buoyant for the upcoming matches.<br />
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<br />Daniel Everitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03810934657655675462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461613026489704130.post-20559967204674253262019-05-02T06:20:00.000-07:002019-05-02T06:20:53.750-07:00Practice sessions (Coventry)<br />
With the second round of the Tusses freestyle league fast approaching and me being a substitute for the Lure Witches team I felt I needed to get in a bit of practice so as to hopefully be of more value than just making up the numbers. Considering how well I know the Coventry canal from the city centre basin through to Hawksbury and beyond into bandit country (Bedworth), I really know very little of it beyond the border into Nuneaton. As a result this was really going to be a venture into the unknown for me to get an idea of where and what possibly, I should be doing once the match commences.<br />
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On this outing I joined up with Ashley Dixon from the Boinging Baggies team as he too wanted to familiarize himself with the water. I think we both knew it wasn't exactly going to be a fish fest and that the reality of the situation was pinning down areas that held fish...any fish.<br />
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<b>Venue = Coventry canal/Hartsill area</b><br />
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<b>Total = 100cm est</b><br />
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After initially deciding to venture in one direction from the starting point we eventually began fishing in some very fishy looking water and early on I pulled up a small sub 20cm zander which let go of the lure once at the surface. We worked that area hard with little to show but a few plucks to Ashley's rod and looking back probably spent a little to much time working the area. Once we moved on though, things changed when a few casts into a new spot a very large pike engulfed my lure and tore of savagely before severing my leader. A little way down the stretch Ash landed a very nice spawned out perch over 30cm and after leap frogging him I rooted out a long lean pike easily over 65cm. Bar few more fruitless hits we didn't land anything else in that productive area.<br />
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Our next bit of action came when Ashley began getting some interest off some tiny zander fishing a marginal feature. By this time though the boats had begun moving and any water clarity we had early on soon went as the shallow canal became more turbid. With the sun high and hot and the water conditionings deteriorating we had to change tactics to stand hope of catching any more fish. Going onto an old faithful lure helped me land another zander this time over 30cm for my final fish of the foray.<br />
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As expected this was a hard session with some of the fish still preoccupied by reproduction. Happily though it seems like little by little the predator spawning is coming to an end and with some ideas of fish holding areas this might mean the upcoming league match might not be as torrid as the last one.<br />
<br />Daniel Everitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03810934657655675462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461613026489704130.post-21132356892935935132019-04-18T00:45:00.002-07:002019-04-18T05:01:05.834-07:00Stuttering spring sessions.<br />
I am not big on making excuses for not catching, but even I have to admit that the lure fishing round these parts is total rubbish at the moment. The pike I am sure have spawned by now, but both the perch and zander seem too have ended up in some kind of limbo due to the temperature first increasing and then dropping again. Literally, I have caught perch that haven't spawned and seen ribbons of eggs clinging to snags. Some zander to are being caught off nests whilst others are still bulging with spawn. I had hoped that after a week away at tropical Burnham-on-Sea I might return to post spawn predators going on the munch but that turned out to be wishful thinking as the low temps and frosty mornings have meant the limbo has persisted even further into April.<br />
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The day after returning from the seaside I was on the bank with my old mate Mick, off of <a href="http://calamitymn.blogspot.com/">Picatorial Quagswagging</a> to check out the zander potential of a semi urban stretch we had both pondered but never fished. It was a great looking bit of canal which I am sure holds its fair share of zander but sadly we were never going to see anywhere near its potential...<br />
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For my part in this adventure I caught very little apart from several substantial branches, a few poo bags and a little zander of 45cm, which I assume was a little male as it showed no signs of spawn or having spawned. Mind Mick caught only two other smaller ones which gave both us very limited information on whether this area was worth a return visit.</div>
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I had to wait ages for my next session and when my chance came I nearly wasted it after going out for a curry with some mates and not crawling into bed until two in the morning. Lucky for me the family were receptive to me re-jigging our plans for the day and chipping off for a short evening session on a shallow water I know is rife with pike.<br />
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Two ideas came to mind re this trip; firstly I wanted to fish some surface/subsurface lures for the pike, secondly I wanted to have my first go fishing the reverse dropshot rig for the huge perch in this water. As this water is painfully shallow I was convinced both the perch and pike should have done with spawning by now and that after a few weeks with little rain the water would be gin clear and those pike couldn't fail to detect the noisy top water lures.<br />
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Sadly the wind was freezing and even after seeing the lake was gin clear I concluded to just fish a subsurface 3D Rad lure which attached by the lower split ring position runs a maximum of a foot under the surface<br />
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Casting the Rad about in the perfectly clear water turned out to be some of the most exciting fishing I've done for years. The little pike although out-sized by the lure would repeatedly charge after it as if they were about to attack, before turning off at the last minute once there realized exactly how much of a mouthful the lure was. It wasn't too long before I cracked out the drop shot rod to fish some highly buoyant worm style lures a foot and half off the weedy bottom. In doing so I quickly found a shoal of small greedy perch were hell bent on eating lures the same length as themselves and bigger.<br />
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Unfortunately the fuss caused by the writhing perch all too quickly got the attention of the hungry jack pike and after stealing a couple of captures I hooked one of the vicious attackers and on my light dropshot outfit in that shallow water, it sent my reel into meltdown. Lucky for me the hook was right in the corner of the cheeky jacks mouth and smashing up the shallows into a muddy soup I netted the hungry little fellow and grabbed myself one last hazy selfie due to my cracked phone screen.<br />
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I do hope the canals and all the other stuttering venues come back into form with the approaching warm temperatures, as I have plenty of practising to do for a couple of up and coming matches and I wouldn't mind actually catching a few of those hungry jacks off the top once their blood boils up and they grow even more savage.<br />
<br />Daniel Everitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03810934657655675462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461613026489704130.post-5808553337804646672019-03-28T05:41:00.000-07:002019-03-28T05:41:39.049-07:00Practice and Tusses Freestyle league round one.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Earlier on in the year when I first heard Tusses Lure Division would be running a league on my local waters I was very keen to take part. However it wasn't until I started looking at the calender and at the upcoming matches I wanted to fish combined with other fishing targets for the year that I concluded it was going to be too much of a commitment for me to make. But even though I was unable to commit I decided that I would still like to be involved even in a much smaller capacity if possible. So I put it out amongst the people I knew that were fishing that I would be more than happy to be a substitute if anyone needed one. Low and behold it turned out that Greg Bafia from Team Realistic shad was going to miss the first match and his partner, my old friend David Warren, soon asked me to fill in.<br />
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Considering I live very close to the stretch this first match was to be on I really don't fish it at all. This is largely to do with it being a bit of a rough urban stretch that is notoriously clear and snaggy. I have done a little bit though here and there and already knew this was by no means going to be an easy event. With little time available my only chance to get out for a practice was for a very short pre-work session the week before the match and surprisingly things went very well...<br />
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<b>Practice - 1 Hour Basin match stretch</b><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVguRiBNOfCoZSJervNyOpSbtqf2UeK_TgiuMtQpLNK3ooA6MkxFIKwu7y-6VZU-VWGO4kpv3oIq9_zqptM24rYDUhGXiXH6sH9ZMtKJy36v9l8ceGya_Co8o7PzLSh43Il1wqXbcGOWSY/s1600/tl8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVguRiBNOfCoZSJervNyOpSbtqf2UeK_TgiuMtQpLNK3ooA6MkxFIKwu7y-6VZU-VWGO4kpv3oIq9_zqptM24rYDUhGXiXH6sH9ZMtKJy36v9l8ceGya_Co8o7PzLSh43Il1wqXbcGOWSY/s640/tl8.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">65cm</span></b></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">30cm (est)</span></b></td></tr>
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<b>Total =95cm</b><br />
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The basin itself proved rather fruitless for me even though it did look good for a few hits, but it wasn't until I went walkies outside it that I found myself a couple of hungry predators. The first was a spawned out young female pike which I found lurking close to the edge and the second was a nice match sized zander which was lingering close to a brick wall. Ninety five centimetres in under and hour was a bit of a shock to be honest, but things would be very different in the match with thirty plus other lure anglers jockeying for position.<br />
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<b><u>Tusses Freestyle League round one.</u></b><br />
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The morning of the match the car park on Leicester row near the basin was full of anglers when I arrived. I recognised most of them from various competitions and events and seeing them all, knowing this stretch to be a hard water thought this was going be a beast of an urban competition. Myself and David had already discussed a rough plan and after the complimentary bacon butties were eaten the event began with a staggered start. Even though we had drawn an early number we were the last team off as David was officiating and that meant we were the last ones away.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpI09MRWh0MdNrHgzSkwpolsgQZKczFnuMynJov6-1o1AkcOrxKNhgHFmw-mh46C3t5FcQHDvwIMil5Kb4XTPRAakYoy1UnEQ5WeIUzIpWjVIs29WZn8ztDgEe5-hUi0WxcahyphenhyphenA-xhGIT9/s1600/tl6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1016" data-original-width="1600" height="406" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpI09MRWh0MdNrHgzSkwpolsgQZKczFnuMynJov6-1o1AkcOrxKNhgHFmw-mh46C3t5FcQHDvwIMil5Kb4XTPRAakYoy1UnEQ5WeIUzIpWjVIs29WZn8ztDgEe5-hUi0WxcahyphenhyphenA-xhGIT9/s640/tl6.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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As predicted it was a torridly hard affair and we searched so much water in vain, catching very little for our efforts. The fish were very cagey all round; the few small perch we winkled out were really on the small side, the bigger ones near impossible to catch as they were still to spawn. My idea to gamble on taking a pike outfit turned out to be a bad decision as the only pike our team encountered came to David's rod, biting him off in an instant and as for my heavy rig, it pulled nothing but large branches out of the canal. Along with that pike bite off I had one better perch follow my lure right to the surface before turning off and we had handful of very unfruitful nibbles.<br />
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The saviour of our match had to be David's spectacular final capture where he dropped a lure straight onto what was obviously a nesting zander which in a savage act of defence tore into the lure and proceeded to jump out of the water like a tarpon. Once landed it was the most magnificent dark fish you're likely to see.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEYMDNC1aB9wYD_gBfPl9wyYslXYF9128bgMAO8Se0nAthMrLAzD-CINJAy2xN5ltVmLhn0SI2wRiiWGoWfYbte-XLIIs_SqlgZUB5L_O5KMCFlrEUYAKJ3DByH_Nt0F1-VvkGNu7GneYx/s1600/tl10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="960" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEYMDNC1aB9wYD_gBfPl9wyYslXYF9128bgMAO8Se0nAthMrLAzD-CINJAy2xN5ltVmLhn0SI2wRiiWGoWfYbte-XLIIs_SqlgZUB5L_O5KMCFlrEUYAKJ3DByH_Nt0F1-VvkGNu7GneYx/s640/tl10.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCCHAyVbVuyB8blM9RRzHwT2oOfnaYcwGpfNLRZdb_LEAIYAIzGBB2_c2VvIvAJI-vXww0LrEbfCzLbiMvifoyjIb6D7ijtHWH-gvMoQTZfomXbd2uTo6zbDEafl6OlX36SkebpeeX6wAw/s1600/tl3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCCHAyVbVuyB8blM9RRzHwT2oOfnaYcwGpfNLRZdb_LEAIYAIzGBB2_c2VvIvAJI-vXww0LrEbfCzLbiMvifoyjIb6D7ijtHWH-gvMoQTZfomXbd2uTo6zbDEafl6OlX36SkebpeeX6wAw/s640/tl3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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At 44cm this fish was very close to turning the biggest zed prize into a three way tie. Even missing out on that it still served to add vital species points to our score just before the sheets had to be handed in.<br />
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<b>Total + species bonuses = 138cm </b><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoYEW0QIsaRtUetcstcxrv33-i3nhD1sAbKgb62vAxW_E5uq6yS2U61g_bFDIOpsuoXGvfqCEkQF9JI7yZ80QjPHiqqZpUieoaEkn5TV1GkmaCeTBHUSgfY_f88edCqrnNRuVWN3ZkOE0W/s1600/tl+1st.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoYEW0QIsaRtUetcstcxrv33-i3nhD1sAbKgb62vAxW_E5uq6yS2U61g_bFDIOpsuoXGvfqCEkQF9JI7yZ80QjPHiqqZpUieoaEkn5TV1GkmaCeTBHUSgfY_f88edCqrnNRuVWN3ZkOE0W/s640/tl+1st.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">1st place - Steve Wilson and Derek Homes (No wasps) = 277cm</span></b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmlddfzAVh-phRfbQ76vCcJAByfE1gwtIHJQtI0qDGYCbgojSXAQ5vEt75nGsTFCrMI8pg1ohWcg__jOqfQ8mOQKoKnhGg6s3N66T9rewhVTf453bH3WmLt0ee3bG9lNQRsyrzR6e2l1TB/s1600/tl+2nd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="734" data-original-width="960" height="488" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmlddfzAVh-phRfbQ76vCcJAByfE1gwtIHJQtI0qDGYCbgojSXAQ5vEt75nGsTFCrMI8pg1ohWcg__jOqfQ8mOQKoKnhGg6s3N66T9rewhVTf453bH3WmLt0ee3bG9lNQRsyrzR6e2l1TB/s640/tl+2nd.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">2nd place - Phil Kenny and Jacob Stone (Bennett Pred pro team) = 258cm </span></b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDWYA6RYHcjR1VaUqu06_p09KMpfS3IgjpKZqGJzgRxmdFDhnzICJD7Y1NrcHxEvoSG3u27eyl-K7Tx8e0miR5PY3xtmN9Z35-H1RNqP26kkvtdl_yAVsY-0Esy4m2NC4k90TABCqTCo7D/s1600/tl3rd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDWYA6RYHcjR1VaUqu06_p09KMpfS3IgjpKZqGJzgRxmdFDhnzICJD7Y1NrcHxEvoSG3u27eyl-K7Tx8e0miR5PY3xtmN9Z35-H1RNqP26kkvtdl_yAVsY-0Esy4m2NC4k90TABCqTCo7D/s640/tl3rd.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">3rd place - Slawomir Mikolajczak and Daniel Osinski = 254cm</span></b></td></tr>
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As for us... we were unlucky to finish in 11th place in this first match just outside the points. Literally one tiny perch could have made the difference for us in this one.<br />
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Personally I think I made a big mistake in taking along that second rod as I feel it distracted me far too much and should I have levelled that concentration on just fishing the light outfit I feel sure we could have added a couple of valuable fish to the score which may have made quite a difference to Team realistic shad rankings (Sorry David and Greg). However I already may have my opportunity at redemption in the Freestyle league after being recruited straight away to fill in for another team in round two - the all female Lure Witches team.<br />
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<br />Daniel Everitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03810934657655675462noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461613026489704130.post-27775468978909796842019-03-22T06:39:00.001-07:002019-03-22T06:39:40.034-07:00PAA Predator Grandprix 2019 - Hawksbury Junction<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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I was nervous about this one to say the least! I had no idea if anyone I knew would be fishing and for all I knew I might be crashing an exclusive club match that didn't want any interlopers. On top of that I knew the canals were in a right state after two weeks of turbulent weather as a couple of storms had passed through. The zander should by all rights be either about spawn or on the nests and the perch had become like ghosts as they too were meant to be spawning soon. If that wasn't enough the weather was predicted to be a mixed bag through the day which for light lure fishing can make things very hard...</div>
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When I arrived into the parking area it was already buzzing with anglers all ready for a day of lure slinging, but from what I could see at first glance I might be the only non-polish competitor in attendance. That was until I spotted Ashley who I'd met a few weeks prior in the Tusses Spro warm up. I needn't have been concerned about being one of the few English lads competing as it quickly became very clear that the members from the Polish Anglers Association were a very friendly lot and welcomed us heartily, every one of them shaking hands upon arrival which would be something nice to see at other matches. It was also somewhat helpful that we knew Greg Bafia from the Tusses lure division who very helpfully translated any important info through the day. After all the greetings were done and the entrance fee was paid, the chaps in charge began paring us up ready for the off and filling us in on the rules for the match.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2qHPvqmmqjaUWTOqTnq4nBypZFEmVF3x9zNflkFPUI7ogtpHHlQCsAscphUqohc1l7sGi7lZ9osiAsXYU8pbEsv24MXO25dTAd287KRpi9DN7FfQes96yCt5kGMDSyFfF6W3Tw_7Axf1h/s1600/pa+8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2qHPvqmmqjaUWTOqTnq4nBypZFEmVF3x9zNflkFPUI7ogtpHHlQCsAscphUqohc1l7sGi7lZ9osiAsXYU8pbEsv24MXO25dTAd287KRpi9DN7FfQes96yCt5kGMDSyFfF6W3Tw_7Axf1h/s640/pa+8.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Having had a little wander around the venue a couple of days prior and seeing what a state the canals were in after the ever blowing gales had kept just about every molecule of sediment suspended in the water, I knew the first few hours of this match would be key. As much as I dislike the Oxford canal it seemed the best option as there was a noticeable colour difference between that and the adjacent Coventry. So with my partner in tow I lead us directly onto the Oxford and this turned out to be a great decision for me as early on I hooked and landed a good size zander which not only settled me down quickly but also put me in a great position early on.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqcI_DbYeel2usSRCS9RIV1XMua5Dc9-DvWCdsXzsuxmIvgHTXdmQUjLkm6cf60e0rZFlhyt85b2PNy9hAks8AspzGTubQEP4AdKqkLNL9V7FZiAMGzQUtRV9TPVdJYO6FmOB6eKdkBF9S/s1600/pa+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1145" data-original-width="1600" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqcI_DbYeel2usSRCS9RIV1XMua5Dc9-DvWCdsXzsuxmIvgHTXdmQUjLkm6cf60e0rZFlhyt85b2PNy9hAks8AspzGTubQEP4AdKqkLNL9V7FZiAMGzQUtRV9TPVdJYO6FmOB6eKdkBF9S/s640/pa+4.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">A great start</span></b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAEkACSP_6Fgj9KrELiS5ogbT-sOfDlNzGXL5avJuW7uQwi0_m_9fnSINQ-flDhFD6N7056RewPAuQRJ4dOhyV0XE5f7z9voipPqUXquDVhpycF2O0Ss7ducr21ut4Ns9NOFV_5fFkSdwI/s1600/pa+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAEkACSP_6Fgj9KrELiS5ogbT-sOfDlNzGXL5avJuW7uQwi0_m_9fnSINQ-flDhFD6N7056RewPAuQRJ4dOhyV0XE5f7z9voipPqUXquDVhpycF2O0Ss7ducr21ut4Ns9NOFV_5fFkSdwI/s640/pa+3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">50cm</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">By now a lot of the competitors who had gone down the Coventry were filtering back up and down onto the Oxford in search of comfort away from the wind and better conditions in general. This meant that most of the water myself and my partner fished would be second hand which was not ideal. Oddly though three or four spots further down the canal I targeted a snaggy narrow area only to quickly get a pluck which soon turned into a second pluck, followed by a proper hit. Luckily I had located a shoal of small zander and quickly landed two perfect match sized fish.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0jwuGafagpPFuI_UYN7SpN9D71o0fOTOmqt8CbPbA8EmgC8K1HPlBnuWAqkEErXXwsQXa_1BHoVXZP9cNAWKWBm9g2DVK2BHW5nWGUVww34VF8aZ3srkgpCzyVR5NT0Ngc8Mm_RXP7MLh/s1600/pa+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0jwuGafagpPFuI_UYN7SpN9D71o0fOTOmqt8CbPbA8EmgC8K1HPlBnuWAqkEErXXwsQXa_1BHoVXZP9cNAWKWBm9g2DVK2BHW5nWGUVww34VF8aZ3srkgpCzyVR5NT0Ngc8Mm_RXP7MLh/s640/pa+5.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>32cm</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIcXIPoUyOdHzMgbJ76NZVQVPqVJbs4kwgxV_r4DATjRjB3z4hGDS3cnMQvFWjtPNKektjjJMLV3FoudlFMfJFThereBL9aD6z4HVDUWvtEUGyyE6MX_9YaFGKSqCCm8QlFvLQ_IhrB5gu/s1600/pa+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIcXIPoUyOdHzMgbJ76NZVQVPqVJbs4kwgxV_r4DATjRjB3z4hGDS3cnMQvFWjtPNKektjjJMLV3FoudlFMfJFThereBL9aD6z4HVDUWvtEUGyyE6MX_9YaFGKSqCCm8QlFvLQ_IhrB5gu/s640/pa+1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">22cm</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Much as expected things got worse as the morning wore on. Early on some fantastic fish had been caught including a rumoured 77cm zander, some decent pike and a big perch, but as soon as the first boats began chugging through, the little clarity we had soon disappeared in the clouds of silt churned up. With three zander on my score card I really wanted to try and root out some small perch and so scaled down my lures specifically to target them, focussing on potential holding spots, but the efforts was in vain as the captures all round deteriorated with the weather. In a two hour period the weather changed from sunny and very windy to raining heavily, then snowing. In a break from the weather we marched back to the most productive area where it promptly began hailing hard. Honestly this sudden influx of cold water did nothing to help the already slow fishing in my opinion.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">After recovering any of the spot where I had found fish, I rolled the dice and dragged my partner off for one last foray onto the abandoned Coventry. It was a real gamble as the wind was hammering down the canal and the water was almost thick, it was that muddy, but if this decision paid off I could have scored some massive perch from one or two haunts I knew. The perch were much as they have been for a while now, conspicuous by their absence! My effort though was rewarded by a single small zed which on a match this hard proved very valuable at 22cm long.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFFK7ESH8u4CN790YaOlam73Kp1PA-FGsfwOVhdCYH6oH-3qlhzXH9MSQN9_RzPg0r80vRqBcPkObbsna4vH4dqS4ntHGEwLLBrq7CU1kfvkO_8Roo9gZUKQzZVN_DlAaMu4DpGJpaAxih/s1600/pa+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFFK7ESH8u4CN790YaOlam73Kp1PA-FGsfwOVhdCYH6oH-3qlhzXH9MSQN9_RzPg0r80vRqBcPkObbsna4vH4dqS4ntHGEwLLBrq7CU1kfvkO_8Roo9gZUKQzZVN_DlAaMu4DpGJpaAxih/s640/pa+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">22cm</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">It had been a hard match all round from what I could tell but this wasn't evident in the high spirits of all the competitors who were laughing and joking about the awful weather and generally enjoying themselves. On a hard day I was happy with the four fish I had caught, but until the sheets were in and the scores tallied up I would have to wait to see how I had done.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: small;">Total = 126cm</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">It wasn't until one of the officials told me to make sure I stuck around that I realised that I had actually done quite well in these terrible conditions. As the officials spoke away in Polish, Greg translated. Prizes for a previous competition were handed out and the juniors were applauded. Then after a while they got onto the top scores of the day and happily my name came out for the 2nd place position.</span></div>
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I was made up to finish in the top three as from what I had seen of my fellow competitors they fished really well and their cast rates are unbelievable. Not only were all the other chaps there great anglers but they made me feel very welcome and they were full of congratulations after the prizes were awarded. I will certainly not think twice before fishing another PAA event in the future should the opportunity arrive as they really were a great bunch to fish along side.<br />
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<br />Daniel Everitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03810934657655675462noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461613026489704130.post-91879815367223197012019-03-15T06:09:00.000-07:002019-03-15T06:09:06.782-07:00Specimen lure fishing. <br />
It seems modern society nowadays is obsessed with identity and this categorising has seeped its way into fishing as well. Once upon a time you were simply an angler, now though we all as anglers seem to want to categorise ourselves; carp anglers, predator anglers, match anglers, specimen anglers, barbel anglers, sea angler, lure anglers and pleasure anglers just to name a few. No doubt as you read those descriptions you quite likely would have put yourself into one of the categories as you read it. For my part though I don't see it this way... I see it like this: I think of myself as the centre of a pie chart where the surrounding sections are made up of the previously mentioned types of angler. Dependant on what I am interested in at any one time the specific sections of that pie chart might be bigger. I suppose by description that make me some kind of all rounder, but being an all rounder has its advantages in that by being informed of methods of many facets of angling you can mix and match what your doing to you're advantage!<br />
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Of late it is not untrue to say that I am leaning more towards lure angling, but its my knowledge as a specimen angler which inspired my most recent outing. You see I have long theorised that there might be some rather generous sized perch lurking in one of my favourite lakes. I actually know there is a large population of perch which are generally very focused on tiny baits like caster and maggot. These fish range up to 2lb in weight or 35cm-40cm if you're a lure angler. My thoughts though were that there must be a few really big mommas around and that maybe targeting them with lures which the smaller fish really don't respond to until later in the year might help target the big girls specifically.<br />
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My idea when I arrived early doors was to target some feature strewn spots using crayfish lures fished on Carolina rigs with which I had been having a lot of success lately. I love the way this set up works! By having the weight of the rig set away from the lure you get these few moments when the weight hits the bottom, the lure is no longer being pulled down by anything and it flutters slowly down - nine times out of ten that's when the perch hit.<br />
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Being as I was after a specimen and I knew the smaller perch were unlikely to make an appearance I wasn't expecting many fish, but after making hundreds of casts in likely areas I had zero to show for my efforts. That was until I began casting into a reedy bay where I hoped the perch could be gathering ready for spawning. On my first cast I watched the rig hit the bottom and then the sagging braided line shot taught and I struck into thin air. I was sure a fish had grabbed the lure and quickly ejected it. Then three casts later I felt a very distinctive thump resonate up the braided line which again came to naught. The wind was actually blowing a little into the bay and this was helping me to cast onto the reed line and fish a bent retrieve along the edge of the reeds where I thought the fish might been holed up. About three or four twitches along the reeds something smashed the lure hard sending a fizz up from the lake bed as it moved off. I really thought it could have been a perch at first but the fish just piled on the pressure and powered off sending my little 500 size reel into melt down. Ten minutes of me retrieving line and it smashing the swim to bits and I got my first sight of a nice looking pike deep down in the clear water. It wasn't until it went into the net that I realised just how much of a pig of a pike it was.<br />
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She might have been only 75cm long but she was probably 80cm round. Even though she obviously hadn't spawned, she was very much still feeding hard and her stomach was very much laden with fish. Other than her obvious weight issues she was a stunning fish all round and catching her more than made up for the lack of target fish on this outing.<br />
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<br />Daniel Everitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03810934657655675462noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461613026489704130.post-84361634763341073092019-02-27T06:03:00.000-08:002019-02-27T08:14:33.593-08:00Tusses Freestyle Warm Up friendly.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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I'd been really looking forward to the Tusses warm up friendly for quite a while. These friendly get together club matches have a great vibe about them with anglers of all nationalities that love lure fishing coming together for a good time. The only fly in my ointment was the fact that nine days prior I'd had some long awaited carpel tunnel surgery on my right hand to cut the transverse carpel ligament and release the pressure on the median nerve. Thus I was left with a stitched up wound at the bottom of my right hand and the ligament that helps the thumbs movement severed. Prior to the event I had a little experiment with a super light lure rod and found that although I was able to fish I couldn't really cast as such. A second experiment with my left hand had me casting like a drunken toddler so I concluded that in the approaching match was going to be strictly limited to fishing under the rod tip dibbling style.</div>
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Luckily for me I was green lit to drive by the quack a few days prior to the event and after a wary drive through dense fog I arrived early to see plenty of competitors readying rods in the car park near the Greyhound pub at Hawksbury junction.<br />
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I think everyone had trepidations about the fishing as the recent wall to wall sunshine and high temperatures had probably had little effect on the water temps, so the fish would probably be quite cagey still. This was even worse for me given my limited range; I would be scrabbling around on the shallower shelf rather than being able to search out the deeper water. With this in mind I opted to travel out a bit to find a spot of unchallenged canal where I knew there was deeper water close in and things initially started very well when I hooked and landed a high scoring jack pike early in the match.<br />
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After that things went very sour for me. I was intermittently locating single fish that I was just about persuading to bite. The problem I was having was with my hand strapped up in a brace for protection I was just that bit too slow to connect with these very subtle fast hits. I missed or lost no less than ten small fish, most of which I felt vibrating for a moment before they just disappeared. Psychologically it was very damaging as I knew that in what was going to be a tight match I lost what could have been a metre of fish. Towards the end of the match I finally found a decent perch lingering in a bank side snag which tore so hard into the lure that even I wasn't going to miss it. At 29cm it was a very welcome addition to the score card.<br />
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My final hope lay in a bridge at the end of the stretch that I had been fishing. Most of the year you can pick one or two fish up around its deep structured margins and I had saved it deliberately till last just in case. My final half an hour saw me work every reachable inch of it again and again until finally I connected with a small zander which looked no bigger than 20cm when it came up to the surface and let go of the lure in one final insult.<br />
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<b>Total = 79cm</b><br />
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Once back at the meet point it became evident things had been hard all round and most people had struggled to return any decent scores. Though a few anglers had done very well and reports of a big pike and a few decent zander helped make the difference between the top three and everyone else when the scores were tallied up.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Ix0Is58sLQ9PHo5DlT-yXVPxPCHJlemVoA1YeGBezfefnutZEsQAz2hhTPK19uksGqj2o6sCuNdMpCTiC5O4_SA5FYina_jW7P9k7yZAjVyJRUtKOvChBHZErMxejv0PusH-xQDOpGLP/s1600/warm+up+6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Ix0Is58sLQ9PHo5DlT-yXVPxPCHJlemVoA1YeGBezfefnutZEsQAz2hhTPK19uksGqj2o6sCuNdMpCTiC5O4_SA5FYina_jW7P9k7yZAjVyJRUtKOvChBHZErMxejv0PusH-xQDOpGLP/s640/warm+up+6.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">1st Place = Stephen Coldicott 261cm + Biggest pike 79cm</span></b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLAuae4g26BsjCOE1znL2QwZQM5pC7ItqcRfhjzoFeAVbccw7jCtySRqt6Hnag_S89lQfjgHH3ElmLljt75D7Emcz5Tsw2KTQfngrpqa5WwT1Nj_FKF7eGkQNt_mxz4uQxOociHS2ZFl-5/s1600/warm+8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="792" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLAuae4g26BsjCOE1znL2QwZQM5pC7ItqcRfhjzoFeAVbccw7jCtySRqt6Hnag_S89lQfjgHH3ElmLljt75D7Emcz5Tsw2KTQfngrpqa5WwT1Nj_FKF7eGkQNt_mxz4uQxOociHS2ZFl-5/s640/warm+8.jpg" width="528" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">2nd Place = Cautis Tiberius 215cm</span></b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhReIQwCGO_dp3N7tnw3UZFNf42YKuQBIGVdQkIKWOepJ28lIaEzwFxVRkKnvSOUa7Z06wSWP-DXTmc4UDXBMi2t3MLYbYW77xrQd6HEqsijSKPNj2903Q7Z0VUI7YFUlavoJGAudLvvy2T/s1600/warm+up+8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhReIQwCGO_dp3N7tnw3UZFNf42YKuQBIGVdQkIKWOepJ28lIaEzwFxVRkKnvSOUa7Z06wSWP-DXTmc4UDXBMi2t3MLYbYW77xrQd6HEqsijSKPNj2903Q7Z0VUI7YFUlavoJGAudLvvy2T/s640/warm+up+8.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">3rd Place = Greg Bafia 132cm</span></b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8HRQlPHjIwBKCdNIK3EywcAqeIJP63H-_QK1SInF7d4gJVJSvoy_EsjoXYTlKJ5ERBQh5jwkf98MlTB7Zc354Z9hXdQQhsXP1hvj6xR-Eghif4wiSUssJwp6FeOTwMfIu4Ec90Kl1VQxj/s1600/warm+up+7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="766" data-original-width="960" height="510" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8HRQlPHjIwBKCdNIK3EywcAqeIJP63H-_QK1SInF7d4gJVJSvoy_EsjoXYTlKJ5ERBQh5jwkf98MlTB7Zc354Z9hXdQQhsXP1hvj6xR-Eghif4wiSUssJwp6FeOTwMfIu4Ec90Kl1VQxj/s640/warm+up+7.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Biggest zander = Salwomir Mikolajczak 55cm</span></b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVq7Z6G_A7mVFyuakD_TuR0zoQ091FyjXwnAw1EALkRHCIYurTpGSu2z-RcTZiPo9QAkhu120QBcH1kvUm9SJzTufQJdf6jTqRWuvitRYvYV7FWxoSJEcFsKuQzkJTNW0_KBXfKlifZLkE/s1600/warm+up+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVq7Z6G_A7mVFyuakD_TuR0zoQ091FyjXwnAw1EALkRHCIYurTpGSu2z-RcTZiPo9QAkhu120QBcH1kvUm9SJzTufQJdf6jTqRWuvitRYvYV7FWxoSJEcFsKuQzkJTNW0_KBXfKlifZLkE/s640/warm+up+5.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Biggest perch = Daniel Everitt 29cm</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">I couldn't be to disappointed with how I'd done as things were really against me on this one with my hand not being one hundred percent. I was a little gutted that I didn't bank at least a few of those small fish to bulk up my score. Had I have been on point then I am sure I could have added close to a meter to my score which might have seen me possibly placing. It was however a nice surprise to get the prize for the largest perch and win a load of Realistic shad lures to try out before the next match.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">At the end of the day though I had a great time as did everyone attending which I must say is down to David Warrens hard work organising the event, and I can't wait until the next open Tusses event in a month or so time when hopefully I will be able to cast further than my rod tip.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqlbD8PIuTVKyHOESHD3M_PbI6QqCvM25Y5gmlXjePBfROn18Duj8nDAK9Gbpr0mdVIfyl7GQJkWDtLSH0mZsjAUNfEW49sx14MR_3kxFN-rwmS6koxlFkqqSZ3nmm8C0SDQcimqvbUEKs/s1600/warm+up+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-size: 12.8px; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqlbD8PIuTVKyHOESHD3M_PbI6QqCvM25Y5gmlXjePBfROn18Duj8nDAK9Gbpr0mdVIfyl7GQJkWDtLSH0mZsjAUNfEW49sx14MR_3kxFN-rwmS6koxlFkqqSZ3nmm8C0SDQcimqvbUEKs/s640/warm+up+4.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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<br />Daniel Everitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03810934657655675462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461613026489704130.post-57256282757702084482019-02-22T06:35:00.001-08:002019-02-22T06:35:45.823-08:00Practice sessions (GU).<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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I've been gagging for a decent canal session for a while and it seems that every time I try to get out during the last few weeks things go bad and I end up having to do something else to get my fix. Well with time ticking away before I was due to have an operation on my right hand which would ultimately see me off the bank for a short while, I was left with no choice but to fish in the worst of conditions as it was the only opportunity I had. For the five days which proceeded it the skies were clear and windy, the morning I was due out it started raining heavily about 2am and did so until I thought I may never be dry again. The session although testing my endurance to be out in the wet, was a good one and in changing conditions above and below the water I coped well and made the necessary changes to keep the fish constantly coming all morning.</div>
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<b>Venue - Grand Union Canal</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4KZpL8R8WatA35Cly02fIgCKwbtJqEX2oJBI_bw9TqHpQ4_zSwv922zHhebTVI7oh0bBd-KuWGKGI007eGq4EYgwz1IgrSMqcQQdMzUmGHeGpAw62VjY6l0niibeed5Co48ZONpAXiy1n/s1600/rain+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4KZpL8R8WatA35Cly02fIgCKwbtJqEX2oJBI_bw9TqHpQ4_zSwv922zHhebTVI7oh0bBd-KuWGKGI007eGq4EYgwz1IgrSMqcQQdMzUmGHeGpAw62VjY6l0niibeed5Co48ZONpAXiy1n/s640/rain+3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIa9XZxdonC1awB7NGiuSwbC5yL-LV2_32107yqDFV3eE0dodgyH_pkt4vDBKC_wR-EVn2hT17nAopyT8No-nzfJVfeoQ6ZJEyEaz_Tt59qheREKQ1fGPyXFiT5kPklTP9Ty5UucDcqcxQ/s1600/rain+7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIa9XZxdonC1awB7NGiuSwbC5yL-LV2_32107yqDFV3eE0dodgyH_pkt4vDBKC_wR-EVn2hT17nAopyT8No-nzfJVfeoQ6ZJEyEaz_Tt59qheREKQ1fGPyXFiT5kPklTP9Ty5UucDcqcxQ/s640/rain+7.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJjaavT7Vxgb3TWcQB0Lhp8Y4g1Oe2sP-zdfya2rfZr8POFO2ZO0ZFD2CN68UXBFab-E4qROKopv-Etg3Vp-1itQgVpmbww23dd6-ePgeQArXDGYv3jpsNkb-WXSTn3uYMxcSoKqpysEnD/s1600/rain+10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1036" data-original-width="1600" height="414" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJjaavT7Vxgb3TWcQB0Lhp8Y4g1Oe2sP-zdfya2rfZr8POFO2ZO0ZFD2CN68UXBFab-E4qROKopv-Etg3Vp-1itQgVpmbww23dd6-ePgeQArXDGYv3jpsNkb-WXSTn3uYMxcSoKqpysEnD/s640/rain+10.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwGviyudwGnzp7FqzqRGpPfyOeEqKEZq4pEBjL24Ce_VdJXZL7fgDwd9Q6V1wSnUAh6fTKf7BLtjpbdUewCIEN5YELLbc9Kdy-3s-ntOnhcANHJervZ-OZ3vt5w9uIYVgLpsBQWJZLisHW/s1600/rain+8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwGviyudwGnzp7FqzqRGpPfyOeEqKEZq4pEBjL24Ce_VdJXZL7fgDwd9Q6V1wSnUAh6fTKf7BLtjpbdUewCIEN5YELLbc9Kdy-3s-ntOnhcANHJervZ-OZ3vt5w9uIYVgLpsBQWJZLisHW/s640/rain+8.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9WUstORxzGEvvuWhkiRrva3tWzmPz0QJBZn2Ebq4jabXMyc-dqUYubpsMGqbfZ6a6fnrG4A8RBT8CiBrb-ku0whwAR27CJfBl5PgbsD6R-j9GBVBiGK1M-4Tv4nY2DNI9Cq9QTZEIZ0Aa/s1600/rain+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9WUstORxzGEvvuWhkiRrva3tWzmPz0QJBZn2Ebq4jabXMyc-dqUYubpsMGqbfZ6a6fnrG4A8RBT8CiBrb-ku0whwAR27CJfBl5PgbsD6R-j9GBVBiGK1M-4Tv4nY2DNI9Cq9QTZEIZ0Aa/s640/rain+1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRwEwkxR0swo8f4WzXmmSWxma-DE2-wC90QMbcEDj03HSw7yiz6ztecYTvHm-0K9aFP_nEV-MHnNRD85isUqDSZkYL-GFqYwC0GK3fBiIzav-lNkApWR0H8fUrz1Hkf6WGJiUXSK3HrQLs/s1600/rain+6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRwEwkxR0swo8f4WzXmmSWxma-DE2-wC90QMbcEDj03HSw7yiz6ztecYTvHm-0K9aFP_nEV-MHnNRD85isUqDSZkYL-GFqYwC0GK3fBiIzav-lNkApWR0H8fUrz1Hkf6WGJiUXSK3HrQLs/s640/rain+6.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb7A4BNXNVH_7C6ohHaGlkXdTGHpqTN9tGhWifIJyl7IQyBBzKJRpn9blU_tlphTBkpn3Ou9_PUBdKlBy1t2gmKZPd46E0AJxfPo8jforiepQZB1B08sb_On3V4BVaRoYP_gUZBO0MyXbo/s1600/rain+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb7A4BNXNVH_7C6ohHaGlkXdTGHpqTN9tGhWifIJyl7IQyBBzKJRpn9blU_tlphTBkpn3Ou9_PUBdKlBy1t2gmKZPd46E0AJxfPo8jforiepQZB1B08sb_On3V4BVaRoYP_gUZBO0MyXbo/s640/rain+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b>Total = 264</b><br />
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I fished two different rigs on this practice session, using only bigger lures though. Firstly I fished the dropshot as I suspected early on that the perch would be hugging the cover in the clearer water. This turned out to be correct and although few in numbers the larger lures seemed to help keep the average size up. Secondly I fished a Texas rig so as to twitch a lure across the bottom; this turned out to be very successful in tempting a couple of zander and another decent perch which seemed to be lingering in the deeper channel of the canal. Changing to a bright coloured shad with a very active tail finalised this successful outing with yet another canal pike which seems to become a regular occurrence on most sessions for me this year.<br />
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<br />Daniel Everitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03810934657655675462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461613026489704130.post-17257242021999012992019-02-13T05:56:00.002-08:002019-02-13T05:56:32.525-08:00What was I saying.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Who was it that was banging on about the weather being rather mild for this time of year...Oh yeah, it was me! I should have known better than to start whacking on about such things by now as fate has a way of making you look a bit foolish when you make statements like that. In the week that followed that rash sentence the weather here in old Blighty went from hints of spring to practically Arctic in an instant. One day we were thinking the daffodils would soon be out and the next the rivers froze over. It was almost like some kind of promotional stunt for the upcoming final season of Game of Thrones where they had got the actual Night King to come and touch the UK with his icy finger, and freeze it. That or Donald Tusk had turned off the heating to punish us for daring to have our own will and voting for Brexit. Whatever the cause it was cold, very cold and thus the fishing was not going to be easy.</div>
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Before I'd even left the house to scrape the ice from the car I knew finding liquid water might be a slight issue. As I chipped away the hard frost I considered that every lake and canal in the county would be out of action so rivers were my only option. Not fancying the Avon I concluded to chip over to the Leam to fish some urban spots where I know the fish shoal up in winter.</div>
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Upon arriving I found...</div>
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Section 1 - Very frozen</div>
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Section 2 - Faster water but still very frozen</div>
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Section 3 - I didn't bother with section 3 as I knew it would be frozen</div>
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With only a few viable options I headed homeward thinking to check out somewhere on the way just in case it was fishable. Although free of ice when I arrived it turned out I was a bit too late to the party and a group of lads were camped out by the weir I intended to fish. So on I went to my final last chance spot way out in the country where the Upper Avon crawls silently through the potato fields.</div>
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Finally my luck was in, the river was flowing and the stretch was vacant. Although there was no more than a couple of hours worth of casting in this field, that seemed a perfect amount of time considering it was currently minus five Celsius.</div>
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Between the two freezing margins the river ran winter green. I knew the slower water just off the flow was a known haunt for a perch and chub so I set up a Texas rigged finesse shad from Z-man and flicked the rig tight to the far margin. It took a few casts to find a taker, but all of a sudden I felt a definite thump resonate back along the taught braided line. Suddenly a powerful fish was heading for the far side reed bed and all that I had to stop it was seven feet of lightweight carbon and thirty feet of six pound braid.</div>
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I really wanted this unseen fish to be a big chub which this area is renowned for and from the way it kept trying to do me in the bank side vegetation I had high hopes of a five pound rubber lips soon going in my net. Deep down through the winter water I could see a pale fish shape struggling against me for freedom. A few more dives and the fish rolled on the surface and I thought for a moment a pike was attacking my chub. One last surge of power and the fish surfaced. A pike! For a moment I was confused to whether a pike had gone for my chub and somehow the chub had got away and the pike got hooked in the process. It wasn't until I looked and found the size one worm hook driven clean through the roof of the pikes mouth that it clicked that I had been playing a pike all along, no matter how much I wanted it to be a chub!</div>
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Really on one of the coldest days of the year so far I couldn't have been happier with this capture even though it wasn't a chub. All the effort I made to actually find a venue on a day when most normal people left the fishing well alone, was worth it, and I continue my unbroken pike run since Xmas.<br />
<br />Daniel Everitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03810934657655675462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461613026489704130.post-36848236162020961122019-02-08T05:56:00.001-08:002019-02-08T05:56:29.669-08:00Two days, two rivers and more pike.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I keep having to remind myself that its actually January as my brain and reality ain't quite linking up. The problem is that January is meant to be cold isn't it and to me it just don't feel that cold right now, hence the disconnect. It's at this time of year that I normally let opportunities pass me by with the rivers but this time round I am, or should say was, determined to make the most of the back end of the river season by getting in some sessions when I can.<br />
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A few weeks ago I was actually fishing two days back to back on two different rivers and I was determined to get the best out of both sessions no matter what the date and what the conditions. And so on yet another mild January morning I walked across the fields towards the quiet stretch of the Upper Avon with dreams of eager predators waiting for my lure to tempt them into attack.<br />
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I have thought long and hard about how to put this and concluded that simply is best! It was January and the fishing was hard...very hard! I worked through two huge entire sections casting in just about every spot possible, reaping very little considering the effort I put in, and landed two perch in a weir pool...<br />
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...and two jack pike from some very heavy cover in a dark back water.<br />
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Even though I caught I actually went home a bit disappointed as this section produces zander so well in the late summer and early autumn, but once winter kicks in those zander seem to just disappear. I am sure there are some really big ones hiding somewhere on this stretch.<br />
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The day after I found myself heading out with my good friend Martin Oxley to fish the diminutive River Windrush in Oxfordshire. It's both underrated and overrated if that makes any sense. It's overrated in the way that the controlling club portray the fish stocks as there's not a huge amount of fish in the river, but I know for a fact that it does throw up the odd insane capture here and there which probably makes it underrated.<br />
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Martin had Grayling in mind of which there is a small population on this river; as for me it was all about trying to locate a humongous perch from a tiny river. Through the morning we worked one section on the river hard. I was either presenting lob worms around any perchy looking features or combing the deeper areas using Z-man TRD craws to try and replicate the crayfish that the Windrush is rife with. Apart from an errant chublet which grabbed my trotted worm as it passed a overhanging blackberry bush, all I had to show for my morning was a tiny little baby jack pike which was so small it hadn't developed spots yet and was still stripy.<br />
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My afternoon fared no better and on the open runs and deep glides I failed to locate any of the Windrush monsters, even after prebaiting several swims and fishing every likely looking spot with both bait and lure even as good as the water looked.<br />
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The highlight of my trip had to be the tiny run of fish I got towards the end of the day. Between the two of us we'd fished every possible swim available to us. I ended up fishing the quiet and sheltered mill race where I caught a small dace and tiny trout trotting maggots in the shadows of the trees. Thinking I had finally found a group of fish I rolled the dice that there might be some predators around and cracked out the lure rod. After diligently fan casting the whole area I got a hit right at the end of the run as the lure dropped into deeper water. I really thought I'd found a good perch judging from the power the first showed on that first run. That was until it came flying out of the water like a rocket two or three times before performing a perfect flip on its last jump. Even once I knew it was a trout I wasn't disappointed as on this light outfit it was the perfect capture on which to end this winter foray.<br />
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<br />Daniel Everitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03810934657655675462noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461613026489704130.post-89128603141138360722019-02-01T06:51:00.001-08:002019-02-01T06:54:02.377-08:00Jack.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Well after a recent session I am considering launching my own aftershave aimed at the modern lure angler called, "Jack", as I seem to be emitting something that attracts Jack pike under any circumstances. I can see the advert now... With moody clouds rolling overhead, Johnny Depp is standing topless in waist deep water surrounded by sexy water nymphs, he reaches down into the water and pulls out a writhing Jack pike and rubs it all around his neck and face before turning moodily towards the camera. He holds his stare for a moment as pike slime drips off his chin and says simply, "Jack". Hopefully I can have that in stock at every Savers and Poundland by next Xmas.</div>
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Back to the point, I actually went out perch fishing on this session armed with a light eight foot outfit. My hope was that I could fish small, fly under the rampant jack pikes radar and target the perch which grow to big proportions in this off the grid water. I also had a load of new Z-man lures I wanted to try out so I pitched up to the bank quite early to try and target the perch before the pike got in the swing of things.</div>
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After wading out to edge of the reeds close to a deep holding spot known to produce these big sargents, I threaded a Z-man finesse shadz onto my worm hook Texas rigged on 18lb fluro. Eighteen pound fluro is not what I would normally use, but given the pike population I was hoping it would be stealthy yet stand up to the pikes savage teeth if they became aware of my lure.</div>
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First cast I punch the rig out over the deep area which is often inhabited by the monster perch. I watched the tight bright green line as the lure sank down to the bottom and the line fell slack. I gave a gentle pull followed by two slight knocks and then repeated the same routine again before BANG! A pike was on! And it was to be the first of many...</div>
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The morning was bonkers! The Jack pike were switched on and my idea of fishing so small as not to register on their radar was out of the window; I very quickly discarded the fluro trace in favour of a very light wire one to prevent any unneeded cut off's. What made things even more interesting was the fact I was fishing with a super light rod and 400 sized reel and these little pike tested that to it very extreme. But saying that, I landed twelve and lost a few others through poor hook sets.<br />
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On the perch front I did actually find a few amongst the ravenous pike as I persisted. How none of these little fellows didn't get nobbled by those pike I will never know as they were mostly perfect pike size snacks.<br />
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About the best of the day was a near 30cm fish which I found lurking close to some structure as I sank a little beyond the edge of my wellies in a particularly stinky silt filled reed bed.<br />
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Sadly I do think at one point I may have had one of those massive old mother perch on towards the end of the session. Something hit the lure as I was raising it up in the water to recast. At first I thought it was another pike as it shot off along the reed bed. After getting it back it managed to slip the hook and I saw a large green flank turn in the swirls as it sank back into the cover. At the time I wasn't sure if it was a pike or a big perch, but having seen how silvery all the pike are in the above pictures and how coloured the perch are there is no doubt that that lost beast was a big perch. Hopefully I will get the opportunity to go back and try again to work through the hordes of pike to try and winkle out a perch before the season closes.<br />
<br />Daniel Everitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03810934657655675462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461613026489704130.post-81806781445366378772019-01-30T07:18:00.001-08:002019-01-30T07:18:58.574-08:00Practice sessions (Coventry canal).<br />
I had a spare session on my hands so I headed to the Coventry Canal to try and keep abreast of the ever changing fishscape ready for any new year matches and I was about to find out that although winter is mild this year, the fish are beginning to get into winter quarters.<br />
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<b>Venue = Coventry canal - 5hrs</b><br />
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Halfway through this session I got the impression I was being watched even though I was all alone. As you do, I had nervous look round the trees lining both banks of the canal only to see this staring at me from behind. I don't mind admitting the sight of this eerie black silhouette got the old ticker thumping and it took me a few moments to comprehend it wasn't some giant demon hound eyeing its next meal but was instead a black pony!</div>
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<b>Total =170cm</b><br />
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Now this session has me wondering if fish populations move or if the topography of the surrounding area combined with the weather is the major factor on fish feeding. You see I worked a very large section of canal that had a month or so ago been very productive, only to catch nothing. Then after getting super mobile and working lots of water and catching only a single oversized jack pike, I located loads of feeding fish in a very sheltered section of canal. Now I can't figure if that previously encountered population of perch has moved into this sheltered section or if there are fish in both areas and only the ones in the sheltered area were feeding.<br />
<br />Daniel Everitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03810934657655675462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461613026489704130.post-21453617025913688002019-01-25T06:23:00.001-08:002019-01-25T06:23:53.443-08:00Half frozen success and river zip.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I can remember my first ever cast of a rod when I was about twelve years old; it was on a tuning circle on the Coventry canal on a summer day. This session lasted all of half an hour as I was so keen to get fishing that I hurriedly set up (which in retrospect took twenty five minutes) and then prepared to make my first cast, took aim and let rip sending the float all of five feet. The wiry line on my cheap Argos reel though carried on spilling from my spool onto the floor. My reaction to this was to flick over the bale arm and reel frantically thus causing my first ever cast to become my first ever tangle, which sent me home in tears to try and get my mum to untangle the mess (she never did).<br />
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My recollection of this traumatic moment has been caused by me having received a bait caster set up for xmas from JB. For quite some time I've been considering one to use with heavier lures and so when asked what I wanted by way of gifts I opted for an ABU combo to began my journey to pro Bass angler.<br />
So it was that as soon as I could get out with it I found myself walking towards a lake with this sparkling outfit all spooled up with brand new braid, after watching several Youtube videos to educate myself on using a baitcaster.<br />
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It actually went very well apart from I'd chosen a freezing cold day for my first outing with it. I did as instructed and using a heavier lure with the magnetic brake system and cast control set a bit on the hard side, went about gently building my confidence with small casts first and it worked, apart from the water freezing in the guides as I reeled the lures in. After a good hour messing around firing different lures out across the lake I was looking like a seasoned pro and now all I wanted was to score a hit on my new toy.<br />
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Having already cast various lures I knew where I had to go to get a hit. Having fished this particular lake many times I know the pike have a deep love for hitting white Lake fork frog lures mid water in the shallow depth. I like to fish them on wide gape worm hooks so as they ride through any of the many snags in the clear water, but after setting one up I quickly realised that the lure, although heavy, was a bit on the light side for this outfit. After struggling on for a while and only scoring one jack on the new outfit I opted to head back to the car to get a lighter 7-25g outfit which I knew could punch these frogs right over the lake and increase my range by 100%+ <br />
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On this second lighter set up I soon got into the fish with pike practically coming to the surface to hit the lures, even though half the lake was cover in ice. I love fishing this shallow water in the winter as the clear water gives you a great view as pike come after the lures. Sometimes all you see is a flash of gills as they engulf the lure and other times you can spot a dark missile tracking the lure, it's great fun.<br />
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Even in the cold the hits are violent and legs are quite often ripped off by attacking pike.<br />
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With half the water under a lid of ice I had limited options and after scratching a pair of average sized fish from some swims I wouldn't normally bother with, I left the lake intending to plunder the river Avon with my new outfit.<br />
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A short car journey later I was on a section of the Avon that in the summer fishes amazingly well for zander. Using 10gram jig heads and various shads I can normally rely on this area for a few hard hits. My romance with the baitcaster continued as before and the lures were flying over the river. The fish though were nowhere to be seen and very perplexed I gave up after fishing every spot along the stretch.<br />
<br />Daniel Everitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03810934657655675462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461613026489704130.post-20088670757429153522019-01-24T05:47:00.000-08:002019-01-24T05:47:11.156-08:00Practice sessions (GU)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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I am endeavouring to keep practicing as if I were fishing Light lure matches for a couple of reasons; firstly although there are no matches yet on the horizon, I want to stay sharp for when they start and secondly it's a great way to scope out new sections of canal for potential specimen hunting trips over the closed season. With both the aforementioned reasons in mind I dropped onto a new section of the Grand Union canal over the holidays to test the waters.</div>
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<b>Venue = Grand Union - 5hrs</b></div>
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It was evident from very early on that the perch were not going to play ball and I suspect the reason was the clarity. A few days of rain and the warm temps, combined with the agricultural nature of the surrounding area and still active boating population had turned the canal to the consistency of butter nut squash soup. Literally a few croutons, a swirl of yoghurt and it would have looked the part.</div>
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<b>Total = 142cm</b><br />
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In retrospect I worked the smaller lures for far too long at the start of this session under the deluded impression that it was just a case of locating fish. Once it had dawned on me to fish bigger, brighter lures close to the cover, most of the session had passed. But once I made the change to fishing an 8cm Realistic shad split tail gudgeon in the gaudy yellow/pink pattern I call rhubarb and custard I was finally in contact with some fish. For all my hard work and some results by way of better quality fish, I wouldn't say I had located any focal points that would warrant a follow up specimen trip, as the fish were randomly here and there and could quite likely not be in these spots on a return trip.<br />
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<br />Daniel Everitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03810934657655675462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461613026489704130.post-65660035471466575702019-01-17T06:04:00.000-08:002019-01-17T06:04:10.672-08:00Yearly Itch.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Me and the lower Itchen fishery are by now old friends. Frankly I know this bit of the Itchen better than I know many parts of my local river Avon and I now when I go find myself looking for really different targets. Initially when I first made this pilgrimage with Good old Keith 'jobbers' Jobling and old Jeff 'man' Hatt all those years ago my target fish was out and out grayling as prior to that I had only caught one. A few hundred down the line and unless they're big I ain't bothered and so I find myself more focused on trying to catch fish like dace or that giant gudgeon that haunts my dreams. Thus after an easy journey south with Mick Newey in the driving seat, I ventured off onto the feeder streams searching for dace whilst Mick went off to plunder the main river.<br />
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From the off it was obvious the grayling were for once not having it. As an example my personal best catch for the first hour on the Lower Itchen fishery was over thirty grayling, whereas on this trip I landed merely two grayling in the first hour. I fished just about every decent run over the first four hours of the day with little more to show for my efforts than a small grayling, a better fish and a chub that got away after it dived deep into a bed of rushes and I was unable to extract it.<br />
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With no luck on the feeder stream I slipped back on the main beat to check out a few holding spots where I'd spotted dace before. With dull skies overhead even my brilliant Fortis polaroids were struggling to help me pick out any fish in the clear shallow water so I concluded to trust fate and after feeding maggots for a while began trotting the runs quickly as the speed of the water seemed faster than ever. Two or three trots down the run something powerful sank my float as it raced amongst the flowing weeds beds and now I was stood atop a croy with my fifteen foot float rod hooped right over as fish used the flow, to its advantage. After the culprit ripped the swim apart and I faffed around trying to haul it up the flow Mick helpfully stepped in downstream to bundle a chunky brown trout into the net below me.<br />
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After that initial one, the trout flood gates seemed to open and in every swim I cast into the first thing the find my hook bait was another trout. The little buggers were ruining every swim I fished and on several occasions I saw grayling scattering from all the fuss. Not that it mattered because we practically had the beat to ourselves and through the morning we worked down following the twists and turns of the river fishing any likely looking swims.<br />
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One of my highlights of the trip had to be whilst playing a trout in a deep bend swim. The fish was making a bit of monkey of me in the pacey water. I repeatedly worked it upstream again and again in the gin clear water until a third party a entered the fray. Out of the depths rose a big old Itchen pike attracted by the battle and it had half a mind to have a pop at the trout on my line and I had half a mind to let it. I think on this occasion curiosity was what drew it near rather than viscous hunger as after thrashing straight past its nose the pike sank back to the depths. Luckily my net seemed a better option than the pikes teeth and the trout soon gave up and freely posed for its picture before being released in the gravelly shallows. </div>
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All to soon the day got away from us and with barely a few hours light left before we had to away back north both myself and Mick opted to dig in with the feeders and see what the static baits could do. On the penultimate swims Mick caught a whopping bream from a deep bend swim. Fishing above him I managed three nibbles and a large snag which snapped me off.<br />
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My final swim produced a decent run of below average grayling for me but not the roach or chub I was hoping for. Mick however had disappeared and it took me a while to locate him fishing below the weir at the bottom of the fishery. I have to say what he angled after would have made any anglers eyes bulge clean out their heads. He had located a shoal of roach tight too his own bank which he pointed out to me in the half light. What I saw was wondrous...the smallest fish were pound plus fish and the biggest was easily over two and here they were just feet away holding off the flow no bother by a thing. I hung round as Mick tried his best to catch one of those amazing roach but sadly it was not to be as they were never going to feed. Once again even though I have become very blase about the Lower Itchen fishery it has pulled something amazing out of the bag and of course I will be back again.<br />
<br />Daniel Everitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03810934657655675462noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461613026489704130.post-31191615309147668322019-01-10T06:18:00.001-08:002019-01-10T06:18:52.821-08:00New spots and night pike.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Happy New year to any long time followers and I hope you had great holiday and made much merry. Luckily for me I have been fishing quite a lot over the last few weeks leading up to the holidays and thus I have much to catch up on over the next few write ups. My camera phones picture gallery reminds me of all the sessions I've been on and about the furthest one back was a investigation adventure.<br />
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I am constantly looking for fresh spots on the midland canal network for the off season when I become pretty much totally focused on canal fishing for zander. As I was driving to another fishing spot on a far away lake I passed over a section of canal which peaked my attention. A bit of research confirmed no discernible ownership and soon enough I dropped by for a proper bit of investigation.<br />
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Rather than plonk myself down in one spot I opted to rove around with a lure set-up to try and pinpoint any holding areas. By doing this you never really catch loads of fish, but it does reveal any obvious better areas. At first I thought I'd struck gold when I hooked into a hard fighting fish on a heavily structured bank. It turned out to be a nice perch of 30cm or so. Sadly it was only a speck of gold as I worked the whole area hard with the captured perch retained in the net, hoping to find any shoal mates but in the end concluded it to be a single fish or I had spooked a shoal away.<br />
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Bar a few more random small perch caught of obvious features the morning went by very quietly until I randomly discovered a shoal of small zander in the most featureless area I have ever seen. Normally I like the heavy bank side cover sort of areas for zeds but these were right out in the open on a section of hard bank canal with no cover at all, in a raised section. Honestly I'd have missed them if I weren't working the drop with a lure as I walked slowly down the tow path. The first fish was a high thirty centimetre fish as was the one that got off after it.<br />
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After working further up I turned back for a second pass which provoked a few more plucks and a second fish over thirty centimetres. Should I have been in a match or practising for one I would have dug in a worked some different methods to ring out as many fish as I could from this bland area but I was investigating a stretch, not just this one spot, so I moved on.<br />
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The only other noteworthy action came towards the end of this foray when I got spanked by some monster I suspect was a pike but hope was a perch. I got a really hard hit as I worked a bank side reed bed. The clutch was singing and the super light rod buckled over worryingly as the beast shot across the canal. A single change of direction and the fish was gone, sending my lure flying through the air.<br />
I wasn't a great recce in my opinion but considering the conditions all round of late I might have been over critical of my returns. I think this new stretch warrants some more investigation once the weather warms a little and the preds get moving a bit more.<br />
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<b>Night pike</b><br />
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Myself and my old friend Andy Lewis find it hard to get together to fish nowadays. He's got a boy and I've got a boy and both do plenty of extracurricular activities which means that although we both get out to fish it's hard to line both our times up. But wanting to spend some time with my old mate we both worked extra hard to line up a session to go and fish a quite section of the Avon I personally hadn't fished before.<br />
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Not knowing the stretch we were about to fish I brought tackle to flexible on target species. Andy was out for a barbel or chub in the fast water below the weir and had pitched up in likely looking spot. The still calm water above the weir appealed to me as I'd seen several small fish topping and I had it in mind that they might be shoaled up here. If the prey fish were as I suspected shoaled up then the predators wouldn't be far away and I happened to have a lure outfit in my quiver just in case. So as Andy waited for the witching hour downstream I began to work the water above the weir. I'd only made a few casts before I got hit by a small jack close to some rushes.<br />
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Having bought some barbel and chub gear with me it seemed like I should have at least a few casts and after priming up swim in the eddy of the weir I snuck in place a bait close to the bank. Embarrassingly I sat on this cast for half and hour until the light died away. Thinking a recast was in order I reeled in to find I had my rig in a very bad snag the whole time and was promptly snapped off. Unwilling to start again I decided my time might be better served trying to fulfill a long time ambition to catch a pike on a lure in the dark.<br />
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The bank side above the weir was civilized enough for me to not fall in and so I set up a 15cm fox pearl spikey shad on a 10g jig head and began punching it out into the dark. It's quite odd lure fishing in the dark as with your sight being limited your other sense become heightened and thus you seem to focus on the sensations coming back up the braided line through the rod. You can literally feel every bump on the lure and every movement of the vibrating tail; it was bizarre and it almost has me thinking I should close my eyes once I've cast out a lure during the day. BANG! I instantly felt the pike rip into the lure and it shake its head three or four times as the hook point bit home. My heart was racing, I've caught hundreds of fish in the dark but this was my first pike and it was scrapping hard out in the pitch black. Once in the net it was revealed to not be the biggest pike I've had but honestly, I was so happy with the capture on a lure in the dark, it really made this session a special one.<br />
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<br />Daniel Everitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03810934657655675462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461613026489704130.post-89223605358668516422018-12-19T08:00:00.000-08:002018-12-19T08:00:25.426-08:00LACC pairs open and a epiphany.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I was a little late deciding to enter this event and after making my mind up that I wanted to fish it I initially struggled to find a partner. It wasn't until I made an appeal to the chaps on the CRT England Facebook page that I finally found one in Ian Whittaker, and am I ever glad he stepped in. I'd met Ian previously on a Tusses match and at the CRT event and from what I had seen he was a methodical and competent, accurate lure angler with a fair bit of experience on the water. Little did I know that not only was he going to prove to be a brilliant partner but he was also going to change the way I thought about canal lure fishing all round...<br />
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The LACC pairs open is arguably becoming one of the best canal events in the country. Not only do the LACC run a superb event but it attracts loads of great lure anglers from up and down the country and this was very evident when I looked around the hordes of anglers tackling up for what was to be a very competitive event. If haven't built up a proper picture of the field of this event already I should make it clear that some of the best canal light lure anglers were there and of them many were proper specialists that do this week in and week out. This was going to be hard...very hard.<br />
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As we touched base with friends enjoying the inclusive bacon butty and cup of tea, we nattered loose plans for the day ahead. I'd located Ian getting ready and we quickly ran over our idea of what to do. Ian, having much more experience of this stretch than I, suggested we head to a section that had produced for him in the past where we could work our way along to try and locate fish.<br />
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Registration done we all stood listening to the expectations of the organizers before being released at ten second intervals. This staggered kick off was intended to stop a melee ensuing at the start of the match. The conception and realization of this were two totally different things and even under the instructions that there was to be no running, the actual fact was that there was plenty of unsavory jockeying for position as at least two thirds of the competitors were heading the same way down a narrow tow path. Eventually the hordes thinned out as anglers stopped at spots they fancied and soon enough we to came to the area where Ian thought we should begin.<br />
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The fishing for our pair went very well considering my poor start. Whether nerves or my unfamiliarity was effecting my performance I couldn't say, but initially I struggled to settle and thus switched from lure to lure and from method to method trying to get that key and settling first pluck.<br />
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<b>The epiphany</b><br />
Literally I had gone through a very large part of my go to lure fishing armoury and had not had a single dink, pluck or enquiry. Ian, on the other hand had lost one zander and landed two perch as he covered the water. It was at this point that Ian stepped in to get me dialled in for the sake of our team. As he ran through exactly what he was doing that was making all the difference and showed me it working in the clear water it was like a switch had been thrown in my mind. I am by my own admission an aggressive angler in many of the facets of my fishing and obviously to me now I was being very aggressive in how I was fishing lures. Ian on the other hand was being very subtle and this subtly was inclining fish that would not go near my aggressively fished lures to strike. The epiphany that struck me was how many opportunities I had probably missed in some amazing spots by being too aggressive and how many times had I been on fish and just assumed they wouldn't feed, when in actual fact they would have taken if it weren't for the fact I was being too aggressive!<br />
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To say the change was dramatic was an understatement. Matching the method and the way it was fished quickly brought me into the foray and in no time at all we had gone from a few fish on our score sheet to having a full quota of zander and most of the perch. With both of us working close together we quickly pinned down some shoals of small zander and worked them into a frenzy where they were chasing our lures right up to the surface and snatching them before we could recast.<br />
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By 11am we had the full quota for both the perch and zander and a rough tally had us just over two meters. Therefore we were both in agreement that as we needed to just up-grade, we should up-scale our tactics. This actually worked and intermittently as we worked along the tow path we found and caught fish here and there, upgrading our scores by a couple of centimeters. The one concern for us both was or lack of any decent sized zander. Our perch average was as we expected 25+, but the zander were a bit on the small side with most of them being around 25-30cm. If we were in a unlimited competition we would have been in heaven as we were throwing back small zander at an alarming rate as they were not big enough to improve our score.<br />
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With so many anglers battering the water senseless I suppose there had to be a point where the pressure took its toll and the latter few hours of the match the whole water seemed to shut off; it kind of makes sense with so many chaps stomping up and down the tow path, lots of yelling and coloured lures flying here there and everywhere. In the later stages we scratched a few perch here and there but our morning's scores were ultimately our best and we hoped it would be enough to get us up into the top half of the rankings.<br />
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In the end the finish was tight and the four best perch and four best zander limits did as it was probably intended and stopped any one team from running away with the lead. The top eighteen teams scored over two meters and in the end mine and Ian's team, 'Nothing to see here', placed 13th overall with some great teams above and below us.<br />
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I have thought about our performance again and again and truthfully I wouldn't change a thing about it. We caught fish and filled the quotas! I suppose our main problem was the lack of length in the zander we caught, but you can't always chose the fish you catch. We did lose a decent fish each which might have made some difference, but I reckon nether would have jumped us into a placing position.<br />
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This turned out to be a really enjoyable well run event by the LACC and one I am penciling in on next year's calendar already. If it keeps growing in popularity and size it should quickly become the premier open event in the UK for canal lure fishing and the organizers should be very happy with what they have done.<br />
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Really, I have to end this write up by thanking Ian. You were an amazing partner for this event and the thing's I learnt from fishing with you will have further reaching effects than you will ever know. You have actually changed how I perceive predators feeding and hopefully this will help me in any future competitive endeavors and certainly will help chasing specimens in the future. If ever you need a partner for anything you know how to contact me and thanks again mate.<br />
<br />Daniel Everitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03810934657655675462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461613026489704130.post-9967984715305017562018-12-10T01:41:00.000-08:002018-12-10T01:41:08.554-08:00Practice sessions (Coventry)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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With little more than seven days to go before the LACC pairs match I really wanted to sharpen up. It's hard to explain this to non lure anglers but I will try my best to explain. Unlike say with float fishing where you watch a float in anticipation of some kind of movement that indicates a biting fish under it, with lure fishing and more specifically light lure fishing, you feel for the bite or hit. Now at its most savage a hit can mean the rod literally torn from your hands, but when the fish are not really in a very aggressive mood a hit can vary from a solid feeling, to a tug on the line, to the very extreme tiniest tap. As far as I can figure these tiny hits are quite often fish taking the lure into their mouth before spitting it out again, so striking at any suspicious tap can often result in a hooked fish. This is why sensitive rods and non stretch lines are vital to the capture of fish in this light lure world. But no matter how super sensitive your gear is, it means nothing if you're not dialed into hitting those tiny indications and by sharpening up I mean being on the ball and striking those tiny hits quickly enough to convert a half chance into a fish. Rather than use this practice opportunity to try and find fish I instead went to a known hotspot to try a tune up my reaction times.<br />
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<b>Venue = Coventry canal - 4hrs</b><br />
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The canal when I walked down the tow path was a state and I very nearly turned tail and went to another venue as the entire surface for miles was littered with oak leaves. What stopped me was the thought if this canal was like it then any other would be as well and it could be that on the Grand union in a week's time I would have to compete with lots of leaf debris, so I pushed on and battled it out.<br />
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<b>Total =181cm</b><br />
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This wasn't an easy session by any means. Literally I barely made any actual casts and in the end resorted to simply fishing under the rod tip down the edge as the floating leaves were ruining any casts I made. After covering quite a large section of canal with no results I found the fish tightly shoaled up and random section with no discernible features. I had to work very hard for 181cm of perch and small zander, though the capture of a 51cm jack pike was a very nice way to kick off the action especially on a super light 1-7gram outfit and 4lb line. The hardness of this session was almost a blessing as the lack of action really focused me on hitting every possible chance of a bite and literally I only lost one small zander and a tiny perch all morning.<br />
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<br />Daniel Everitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03810934657655675462noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461613026489704130.post-81614254370316078282018-12-07T08:06:00.000-08:002018-12-07T08:06:52.495-08:00Practice session (GU - Leamington Spa) - A case of cat and mouse.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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With the LACC pairs open quickly approaching I was in desperate need to tune into the Grand Union canal where it was going to be held. The only problem was that competitors were asked to keep off the canal for a good period before to let the venue have a rest before it got smashed to pieces by sixty odd anglers thrashing the living hell out of it. So this in mind I opted to fish the same canal just off the match stretch so as I could try and tune into the conditions and methods ready for the upcoming match. Why it is that I have never fished this stretch of canal is beyond me as I live a very short journey away. Anyway with a short session available the weekend prior to the match I headed down to the very urban Leamington town section to try a get myself in sync with this unknown bit of water.<br />
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<b>Venue = Grand union - Leamington Spa town sections - 3hrs</b><br />
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<b>perch 22cm</b><br />
<b>perch 26cm</b><br />
<b>perch 18cm</b><br />
<b>perch 28cm</b><br />
<b>Total = 94cm</b><br />
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As the catch for the LACC pairs comp is only four perch and four zander I only included the four best perch that I caught. I did actually catch quite a few more though which leads me to the conclusion that the perch quota of the catch for the competition should be easy enough to fill. The zander on the other hand I feel will be the key to this match. Firstly I struggled to find them in the clear leaf filled water and the two I did encounter on this occasion were small and not that into attacking judging from the way they were just holding onto the tail of the lures.<br />
As for what I learned about the Grand union canal in urban Leamington it pretty simple, it's clear, its lined with dog shit, it used by the local addicts to shoot up, there's loads of cool graffiti on and it's not a place to take the family for a walk after Sunday lunch.<br />
<br />Daniel Everitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03810934657655675462noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461613026489704130.post-44118772746315745902018-12-06T06:00:00.000-08:002018-12-06T06:00:06.041-08:00Practice sessions (Ashby).<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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With the lure fishing match season well under way I really wanted to start focusing on pinpointing some good areas on the local canals for any upcoming matches in the near future. Hopefully by keeping abreast of the areas that are more prevalent I can save time on searching out good areas and concentrate on catching fish instead on the match day. With this in mind I went to the Ashby canal for a practice session to try and confirm if it has any potential. I should say at this point that I have actively avoided the Ashby as it's a local focus point of the ill founded attempts to stem the spread the local zander population (something you will see is totally pointless later).</div>
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<b>Venue = Ashby canal - Marston junction up - 4hrs</b></div>
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<b>Total = 278cm</b></div>
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This little foray was very surprising to me. Certainly there was distinct lack of zander on this heavily persecuted SSSI area, but what it lacked in zander it certainly made up for in quality perch and on a searching foray I was over the moon with nearly three meters of fish. It has definitely given me a few areas to target and a bit more concentration on those areas in the future could make some very nice lengths in the future. As for the zander zapping you can see I caught one little zander and I should mention two other similar size one came adrift before I had chance to land them and given that those three are probably just the tip of the ice berg, you can see how little effect culling them has as this area was supposedly cleared less than a year ago.</div>
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Daniel Everitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03810934657655675462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461613026489704130.post-79394467423822031432018-11-30T06:32:00.000-08:002018-11-30T06:32:15.220-08:00 Late season catch up.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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Ah, alas once again I find myself writing a catch up blog to bridge some of the larger gaps that have appeared in this fishing diary of late. The reason for catch up is simple yet sad, as I have felt little like writing after the passing of a dearly loved family member has left me feeling somewhat introspective. Although throughout this difficult time I have continued to fish, the fact remains that the ripples caused by this period in my life have taken a long time to dissipate, but now the waters of life are settling and I once again feel the need to leave behind civilian life and re-enter the fishing blogosphere and fill in the blanks in my tome.</div>
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<b>The silver incident!</b></div>
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I've tried quite a few times over the years to try and catch a silver bream by design, only to basically fall flat on my face into a mire of roach, bream and hybrids. This year was no different and early season forays achieved little more than me stinking like a bream. Then a while ago I was out dropshotting for predators trying to locate some hotspots on a local canal when I struck into what I naturally assumed would be a average perch as I was using a small black leech intimation. This perch soon turned into a hybrid then in my net and on the bank it became clear I had actually caught my first silver bream of the year on a lure and therefore not by design... </div>
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Maybe next spring I will save some time and just go out after them using lures as this is the second one I've caught on the dropshot on the same section of canal.<br />
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<b>A trip to the Wye.</b><br />
It's been a few years since I've trod the banks of the Wye and normally I'd head over to a friend's private beat, which was initially the plan when my good friend Martin Oxley asked if I fancied going. Unfortunately though our friends beat became unavailable when the late running croy repairs were rescheduled for when our trip was organized. After a panic to try and find another venue we settled on the Letton Court fishery which has three beats available to day ticket anglers along with a very interesting oxbow lake.<br />
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The river as always was stunning but beautiful as it was, the fishing was hard. Recent rains and the lack of weed meant we were faced with a fast and potent Wye that I don't mind admitting I struggled to cope with.<br />
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We choose to fish the middle beat where the river dropped away in depth after a field length run of riffles. I was hopeful that even with the cold temperatures and clear water that we might be lucky enough to find a few barbel laying up in this sort of area. Even after nearly losing my rod once to my single savage bite I was unable to return anything for my efforts on the river. Martin faired a little better and winkled out some chub.<br />
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All too soon my feet started to itch and after mooching the entire available length of the river I discovered little to move for as the other three chaps on the upper and lower beats had nothing whatsoever to show for their efforts. Now the oxbow lake that flanked the river started to seem rather appealing to me as I had brought along a medium weight lure outfit and as sure ducks like bread, I knew that lake had to have a few pike in it.<br />
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What met me when I began snooping around the lake was shocking to say the least. The bank that divided the river from the lake was at least six meters high and as I walked along the bank I could see that the recent flood water had left debris hung all over the trees surrounding the lake; thus the Wye had actually gone up more than six meters and filled the lake with dirty cold river water which left the lake murky with sediment. All that aside a single turn up and down the bank resulted in a couple of follows from some jacks and one hard hit from a tiny pike. The highlight had to be when I offered Martin my rod for a few casts whilst I went down to try and find a path through the trees, only to go back and find Martin with the rod doubled over and a huge pike thrashing around in the margins. Sadly though the monster came off just before it was ready for the net, much to our disappointment.<br />
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So simply put this was all I caught on that trip to the Wye...<br />
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<b>Return to the CRT match stretch.</b></div>
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During the recent CRT match there was a few decent zander caught and the areas of these captures were duly noted and filed away for a return visit in the company of the equally zander mad Mick off of <a href="http://calamitymn.blogspot.com/">Piscatorial Quagswagging</a>. Once we finally got a date we could both make we met up early doors at the parking area just off the canal.</div>
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Armed with a pair of dead bait rods, Mick chose to wait it out whilst I fished a single dead bait and a lure rod as well to try and find the fish as my bait rod stewed away. Early on we thought we'd struck gold when Mick connected with a good fish after a stuttering run. The bend in the rod had both of our arses squeaking until what we hoped was a big zander morphed into a better than average canal pike.</div>
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For my part my incessant working of a gaudy lure up and down the trench soon rooted out a small zander which threw the hook, but was followed by one which nailed the lure so hard it was never coming off.</div>
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Myself and Mick are very much of the same mind when it comes to zander fishing and after more than the average amount of time in the first swim we were off searching for active fish. This actually works brilliantly for me as not only is my bait rod always fishing in fresh spots but I always have new areas to work lures. We struggled to find zander but the occasional perch took umbridge to my rhythmical gyrating of rubber and through the deteriorating morning I scratched a few stripys here and there.<br />
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Those beast zander never did turn up and I will sure as hell be back to have another go. Interestingly I took note of the rough sizes of the few fish on caught on this occasion back on the rock hard section where the CRT match was held just to see how I might have fared with this nominal catch. Surprisingly The rough 80cm+ catch would have put me somewhere 13th or 14th out of 125 odd anglers which would have still been a decent score in that very hard match.<br />
<br />Daniel Everitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03810934657655675462noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461613026489704130.post-36650445584630471342018-10-12T05:54:00.000-07:002018-10-12T05:54:44.202-07:00A competitive foray #3<b><u><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></u></b>
<b><u><span style="font-size: large;">Match day</span></u></b><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">When I walked out the door into the dark at six in the morning I was met by the sight of sparkling cars reflecting the street lights. I knew it had been cold but this seemed a bit more than a sharp frost. Sitting there as the ice melted from the car window screen I was nervous, this was a big event I was going to and it had been playing on my mind for a few days now that this was only my third ever lure fishing match and frankly I didn't want to make a fool of myself. To sooth my nerves I just kept repeating over and over again in my head my mantra of the day 'just get something on the sheet'. Soon enough though I was speeding through the frosty countryside headed to the McDonalds on the A45 near rugby where Dave Mutton, the team captain, had called us for a team meeting and breakfast.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">If I had felt a little out of my depth before I left then now I felt worse. Most of my team mates were seasoned competitors and the mix of lure branded kit indicated they did this regularly or a manufacturer had faith in them. There was me in my bobbly fishing hoody and hat looking like I was going flipping paint balling not fishing. A few of them I knew from the Tusses match a few weeks prior, a couple I knew via Facebook but for most they were all new to me, happily though we all spoke the same language of fishing. Talking about our practices and sharing snippets of knowledge served to settle me and soon enough Dave stood up and began his captains talk. He went through the does and don'ts and ultimately made it clear this was first of all a team event and thus helping out each other was paramount to the general effort, which made a lot of sense.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">On the road again the sun was now rising and I was bleeding lost like an idiot! Some of the team had come half way across the country and here I was travelling through my own county lost looking for a village I have driven through hundreds of times this year alone. Soon enough I was back on track and found myself queuing to drive onto a half frozen half fallow field filling with keen rubber chuckers of various nationalities</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">It seemed to take ages to get ready to be set free by the CRT chaps in charge and people were getting very impatient to be off after registration. After discussing plans with many of my team mates I had just about decided on where to go. Of the three sections the match stretch could be divided into I liked the look of the middle heavily featured lock section or the more distant top section. The bottom section from the start down to the welsh road bridge held no appeal at all as I knew this section was a royal pain in the arse once the locks opened and I wanted no part of that. From what I could see there were a lot of people intending to hit the locks so I made the decision to go for space over features and head up to the top in order to have more water to fish. This in mind I never took my gear out of the car and instead lingered on the periphery of the crowds looking for my pre-assigned Bulgarian partner for the day, Svetoslav Ognyanov, whom I had already contacted via Facebook. With the initial parings officially brought together they gave the milling crowed some final instructions before they cut us all loose to fish. As we had previously agreed I headed back to my car, partner in tow, to zoom up to the top of the match stretch and get fishing...</span><br />
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<b><u>The CRT international friendly</u></b></div>
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<b>Venue = The Grand Union Canal bridges 18-30</b></div>
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The first hour was hard! The colour had dropped out of the water overnight with the cold and visibility was good, but this made the fish nervous to begin with. I had several slight enquiries early on fishing tight to features but nothing was prepared to commit. To make matters worse I saw some of the other competitors catching, which made me panicky. It wasn't till we all started spreading out along the stretch that I caught my first small perch just off the shelf which served to settle me down. All I needed was another one and a few zeds and that would do.</div>
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Quickly me and my partner developed a method of working together. I continually moved at a snail's pace working the inside hard as he picked spots he liked the look of and fished them before catching me up, either choosing a spot in front or behind of me to cast across the canal. For quite a while I felt like we were in a fishless void and was wondering if I had made a mistake coming up the top.</div>
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Pluck...I was sure something snatched at my lure then bang! I was into a fish which was straight away pulling line off my lightly set clutch. I have never been so scared of a fish coming off as I was this one. My heart was beating fast; I was fumbling with the net. This had to be a good zander I thought just before a mottled head broke the surface. At the first opportunity I salmon scooped it up and was proper on the board now with this 57cm pike...</div>
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Reports were now coming in via the whatsApp group that things were very hard all over and everyone was experiencing the same with odd fish here and there. Myself and my partner pushed on until we came across one of my Team mates, Gary Coulson, and his polish partner who were dug in hard on a spot where Gary's partner had caught two zander. Although invited to jump in quite close the spot produced nothing for us and we carried on up the stretch. Literally we covered probably half a mile before I snagged a small zander in the lea of a bridge which brought me so close to a metre of fish.</div>
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With that metre score now in sight I was working harder than ever making sure I had every chance to get another fish. After heading to the top of the match stretch and coming back again I doubled my efforts to cover the area where I'd had the small zander from, but the spot now seemed barren. With lots of other competitors all around us all the features were getting hammered. A quick chat and myself and Svetoslav agreed to work our way back to the car, stopping at any spots that had produced fish. Not long after, as my partner fished a very fishy looking reed bed feature, I hooked a second small perch tight to the edge which came up in tandem with a copy of itself. At 17cm I knew I was over the metre with this valuable little gem.</div>
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<b>A change of tack...</b></div>
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On the way back up the stretch we again came across Gary and his partner who were still holding firm on the spot that had produced now three zander. As I chatted to Gary he hooked a zander on a jig in the centre of the trench. It was then that it occurred to me changing tack might bring me those few zander I now wanted so much. I'd already covered all the margin I was about to fish with the dropshot on the way down, so why not change things just a bit to see if it might work. The micro jig was moving much quicker than I had worked the dropshot and as a few boats were now chugging down the canal I opted to work the lure off the marginal shelf just on the edge of the trench and this plan worked perfectly, producing my best zander of the day by way of a very pleasing 42cm fish to top off my catch.</div>
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Having a decent length on the sheet I was mindful to get back with plenty of time to hand in my score; I was sure under the difficult conditions of the match I had done pretty well and being late back would be a stupid thing to do with a good score. Soon enough we pulled back into the field with all the other cars to find out how things had gone. With my sheet handed in and my length added up by an official and double checked by myself I was happy to confirm I had attained a little more than my target of 150cm with a satisfying 154cm. I then went about locating some team mates to try and figure how we had done. It seemed I had done well as had a few others in our team, but most of all it seemed as a team we had just about all caught fish.</div>
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I had it half in mind that I might have been in the running for the biggest fish with my 57cm pike but news of a few bigger fish soon came in. One chap had caught a 70cm zander on his first cast, rolling the dice with a humongous lure and one of my team mates was rumoured to of had a 68cm zander as well. From what I could tell only Jacob Stone had scored over a metre with 155cm, so I was chuffed to be up there with him.</div>
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After a long wait the officials finally had the results ready to announce, the team was all together and we were hopeful that we had done well. Dave, our captain, was just about ready to explode with nerves. They first announced the biggest fish was, as we suspected, the Romanian competitor with a huge 70cm zander then they quickly moved onto the individual winners. When the third place winner was called out as Daniel Everitt with 154cm I could hardly believe it was me. Then they called out Jacob Stone with 155cm was second, much to his amazement, and not long after that Richard Haines with 165cm was first. We could barely believe it at all, we had done a clean sweep of first, second and third, and better was still to come. We all thought it and a few mumbled it, we had to have won if we'd done all the top places. And when the called out that the England team had won the overall competition we all went bonkers! Dave the captain was beaming as the bottle of champagne was sprayed all over him. What a result for team England on such a hard venue in competition with some really great teams. As for me, I still can barely believe that all my hard work paid off and on my third ever lure match I was lucky enough to get my hands on some silverware!</div>
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<b>Total Length = 154cm</b><br />
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<b>Finish position = 3rd</b><br />
<b>Team finish position = England 1st with 1435 point and an average legnth per angler of 57.4cm</b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzRXqJw8hA4W8qZAGF6b7MHOMHV_rw-MhtRxrrM6UoGRwEwK2AdW56k6xWc0rmk7CdOY0nCFV4I2P5xcy7hA7kXu24-MeDwKz4NF-q6nHJZ4whr_GWh1YxRiLkM2Hj6Mw8dgXuX3oQg6UK/s1600/m+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1403" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzRXqJw8hA4W8qZAGF6b7MHOMHV_rw-MhtRxrrM6UoGRwEwK2AdW56k6xWc0rmk7CdOY0nCFV4I2P5xcy7hA7kXu24-MeDwKz4NF-q6nHJZ4whr_GWh1YxRiLkM2Hj6Mw8dgXuX3oQg6UK/s640/m+1.jpg" width="560" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFLf9J2a_ozp1r3IaaiHsxl6tVoMoVE9TO3c-qwIkI1aPPC8cZYjNgyt880T19aS07PlOxMO3MZcAgE0afRHG_RGnwE-6J_zE7-8IgI62YsqtL5xar09jNZa23WxxeQy0fat-i9n1Ypctt/s1600/m4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1457" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFLf9J2a_ozp1r3IaaiHsxl6tVoMoVE9TO3c-qwIkI1aPPC8cZYjNgyt880T19aS07PlOxMO3MZcAgE0afRHG_RGnwE-6J_zE7-8IgI62YsqtL5xar09jNZa23WxxeQy0fat-i9n1Ypctt/s640/m4.jpg" width="582" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Me and my new friend and brilliant partner, <span style="text-align: start;">Svetoslav Ognyanov.</span></b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1LMmd8dKr2hr-DzLXS9JB6aEs5eRsZwNs_JI_u4ZMZk7HrdesXrTvwHqgvumz9EZhWVHrQmDlh5M32VEFfaWPD5HHEqTN88wLRJxEdTfDb2zVXEOa05WNjgS2s_szkX8bx1kkEDSPJUN2/s1600/m+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1095" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1LMmd8dKr2hr-DzLXS9JB6aEs5eRsZwNs_JI_u4ZMZk7HrdesXrTvwHqgvumz9EZhWVHrQmDlh5M32VEFfaWPD5HHEqTN88wLRJxEdTfDb2zVXEOa05WNjgS2s_szkX8bx1kkEDSPJUN2/s640/m+2.jpg" width="438" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Dave couldn't stop smiling after such a brilliant victory.</b></span></td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">and neither could this lot!</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYWDnWtYs059eCyQkml4yLSreMdQEWQM_rvkoX0yQ2b-T4lHYiMmBTzwEsfevmI9_nfv-PGhm7gJJCzuboIchMUcKHLw3u4C7fKVxT7gGuyOj3mRCpHtv-0WDRWEvJRWI-1ZNgo9EQM6Cd/s1600/the+team.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="509" data-original-width="948" height="342" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYWDnWtYs059eCyQkml4yLSreMdQEWQM_rvkoX0yQ2b-T4lHYiMmBTzwEsfevmI9_nfv-PGhm7gJJCzuboIchMUcKHLw3u4C7fKVxT7gGuyOj3mRCpHtv-0WDRWEvJRWI-1ZNgo9EQM6Cd/s640/the+team.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<b><u><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></u></b><span style="font-size: medium;">Well done again chaps on a great overall performance and victory. I had a brilliant day and made loads of new friends that I hope to fish with again and again in the future.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span>Daniel Everitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03810934657655675462noreply@blogger.com3