Catch of the Day

You see, this is one of the exciting things about Fishing ! you never quite know what your gonna find on the end of your hook - there is always that apprehensive moment as you reel the line in to get the first glimpse of the fish breaking the water.  Now I'm sure you've all been there with the 50th roach, the obligatory coke can, the snagged shopping trolley, or various bits of tree branch - but a recent trip to a local Hampshire lake had Fishing Fools seriously confused as we pulled what looked like a small lobster out of the water, with it being firmly attached to a hair rigged boiley ! A quick bit of googling revealed that we had actually been snagged by one of the invaders to our water ways - the American Signal Crayfish !

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Well I've been fishing in earnest now for nearly 9 months, and what a roller coaster it's been so far this season! Lots of highs, and unfortunately a few lows to balance things out...I think that's why I enjoy the sport so much...just when you think you have something sussed, it all changes and you have to start again  Anyway, for me I'm normally very contented to catch "anything" that isn't one of those 1" roaches that seem to be able to fit extreme number of maggots in their mouths! My normal catch would be something in the 1lb-3lb range, with my favourite fish at the moment being the Tench..pound for pound they really put up an enjoyable fight! but....you know how it is  there has been something missing...and that was my desire to catch a fish in the double figures range..It's taken months, but finally at a "very wet" venue in Hampshire, I landed this lovely 12lb Carp to a single boile fished over a groundbait mix...I knew it was gonna be a big-gen, when my rod was nearly at 60' and the landing net handle broke when trying to lift it the fish out the water  To say I was well chuffed would be an understatement ! ! ! I think I had a cheesy grin on my face for the rest of the day... Anyway, there are still lots of fishing challenges ahead, with hopefully August and September giving me the opportunity to experiment more on the rivers, and you never know I might land my first chub / barbell...

Well I'm still grinning from ear to ear after a new personal best landed today at Turcroft Farm Fishery, in the New Forest - A good sized 4 lb Bream fell to maggots fished from a feeder rig using an inset tip polaris float (4-10 feet deep) on a size 16 hook - Photos in the Gallery...

Tried out a new location over the weekend in the new forest called hordle lakes.  Nice venue with some interesting swims, plus two good sized lakes - Bob's lake for the 20lb+ carp and Willow Lake for Silver fish and smaller Carp..

One of the days highlights for me was the landing of an Eel ..It caused great confusion when reeling in this beast, peering down to the water, expecting to see a fin and being confronted with a snake like apparition...I was certainly very apprehensive about lifting it out of the landing net (this was my first Eel encounter) while musing over the "do they have teeth" while cursing at leaving my "A-Z of freshwater species" at home...doh - my apprehension really wasn't helped by the jeering from nearby anglers "good luck with that...your gonna need it"...*gulp*..luckily the hook was lodged on the side, so I had no need to get near the mouth end to find out if they have teeth  however, I can now fully appreciate the saying "as slippery as an Eel" after being in close hand combat with one of these...the amount of slime it produced was truelly gross..by the time it was unhooked and returned back to the lake, most bits of clothing and equipement in a 5 meter radius were covered in a gloopy layer of putrid slime (mainly from the thing protesting and flicking around so much)..nice..

Anyway, I'm pleased to of seen my first Eel, but I really don't want to catch another one anytime again soon