Kennet barbel at last.

The picturesque weirpool swim at Lower Benyons on the Kennet

Hot on the heels of the last glum post I'm back from the Kennet on Reading DAA.  I have caught my first barbel from the Kennet.

Mid August fishing report.

I have not been going fishing as much as I would have liked due to holidays, work etc.  I've done very little proper fishing with baits either as it is the season for crayfish and bleak and I hate them both.   To be honest it has been a struggle.  I've been getting a few lure fishing trips in to the Thames with only a few small pike and perch to show for it.  Barbel fishing in the Kennet near Reading has produced 4 or 5 blanks.  The rivers, both Kennet and Thames seem to be in poor shape with hardly any flow in the Thames and both rivers having an ugly brown colour which must be an algae bloom of some kind.

I did get a chub around 5lb last night on a 5" pike plug (Salmo executor 12 in Real Roach).  It was the first cast with the large plug and the chub nailed it as soon as I began the retrieve.  It appears chub eat roach now as this is the 2nd chub I've caught on a pike-sized lure in photorealistic Roach pattern.  Given the lack of pike action and numerous perch follows I'm tempted to try ultra-lite lure fishing to try and bank more of the smaller perch and chub.  Goodbye money....

I'm off for another crack at the Kennet in a moment but am not seriously anticipating catching anything.  We've still had no significant rain since winter.

Au revoir.  Heaps

Tech review: the iPhone 4. A nice phone but I still hate Apple.

Shiny and clean look.

I've always maintained that Apple sell overpriced form-over-function style-over-content gizmos to an army of monied iMugs. Due to this stance I was secretly saddened by the launch of the original iPhone because I couldn't have one of the wonderful things without being a hypocrite.

Tackle review: Knot2kinky leader wire.

Small jack pike sulking after being returned to father Thames

A nice close look at the striped camouflage markings of a small jack pike. This one sulked after I had it out of the Thames on my small firetiger pikie plug.
Eventually its lack of movement worried me so I poked it with my net handle and it shot off, splashing me as it departed.

Another fish using my rather ace home made wire traces. A word on those. 
I make them 12-14" long out of 35lb 'knot 2 kinky' wire with light snaps and swivels.

http://www.agmdiscountfishing.co.uk/knot2kinky-nickeltitanium-wire-35lb-159kg-p-1853.html

This wire is amazing single strand nickel titanium that does stretch by 10% or more and is stiff, springy and cannot kink or twist. It is very thin and far less visible than the 30lb braid I use. The stretch is uncanny but means it naturally gets thinner as it does so and can pull out of crimps so must be doubled over through the crimp. This is tricky to do but the end result is the best lure trace I've used. When it stretches there is a strange crunching feeling and sound but a bit of stretch has got to be a good thing as the braid mainline has none.  You can even knot the wire but I prefer crimps as its expensive stuff and I don't want to waste an inch. Drennan slim crimps attaching dinky swivel at one end and 30lb crosslock snap at t'other give an almost invisible setup that must give an edge in clear water.

Gig review: And you will know us by the trail of dead & The Rock of Travolta

What better on a Friday night than some extreme guitar noize.  Having got myself on the Rock of Travolta's list I made the trip to the top of my road to the O2 academy (Formerly the Zodiac) to see tRoT supporting Texas art rock/post punk act And you will know us by the trail of dead.  Not familiar with the work of either of these acts I didn't really know what to expect.  What I got was ROCK.

Mahseer fishing Part 1. Karnataka, India. November 2010.

It is time I wrote of my best fishing adventure to date.  An unforgettable trip to South India to fish for the legendary Mahseer.  This was my second attempt at mahseer fishing in India. The first having been in February 2010 and probably subject of a post to come.  This time I actually got to see a mahseer.

Lure review: Savage gear soft 4-play ready-to-fish. First impressions.

A shoal of soft 4-plays

The arrival of the Savage gear soft 4-play was hotly anticipated by lure fans. Combining the sinuous swimming action of the popular hard 4-play with the fishbiting economy & versatility of softbaits, these new lures sold out all over the place.

Dead man's plugs & Hands across the canal.



Top to bottom:  Savage-Gear 13cm soft 4-play, Bagley Kill-R BII, Heddon Zara Spook,
Chub Creek Pikie (note Teeth marks by middle hook), Mepps Lusox.

 I nipped into Predator tackle shop in Kidlington for some maggots and Tony was selling off the lure collection of an angler who had passed away. Presumably on behalf of the widow.
Never one to pass up a lure bargain I picked out...
a Mepps Lusox (brilliant French spinner)
a Heddon Zara Spook topwater lure, small Creek chub pikie & a Bagleys Kill-R B.(all classic US lures)
All mint for £12! Ace.

The halfway house, Pitney, Somerset. Best pub in England?

Halfway house for dinner last night. Beer - superb. Food fantastic as ever. I've been all over the world and eaten a lot of chips. Nowhere do the chips come close to the chips here.

My best pike. 21lb. Late July 2010

Here's the story of the biggest pike I ever caught.   Probably my best angling achievement because it was proper skill and a fitting pay off for thinking angling.