Canal Dropshotting

So with my first few Dropshot sessions under my belt & plenty of perch caught. It's time I fished a water with a better stamp of fish to have a go at, with a pants dropshot perch of only 5oz being the biggest so far.

So when Paul (aka @spikydorsalpro)

Invited me down to his local canal I just couldn't say no.

With four huge 3lb+ perch to his name this year & hundreds of smaller ones, he's the man to show me his dropshot skills & the potential to fish a natural water with a high-ish stock of perch is just jigging heaven.

I dragged my weary body out of bed at a still dark 5am on a chilly November day.

With the rain tipping it down on the journey & the wipers were on the fastest setting, I wondered if u should have canceled.

But with the canal in cracking form at the 

moment & thoughts of a big old stripy there was no way I'd cancel, especially as Paul had been kind enough to show me round his perchy stomping ground.

I met Paul in the car park as the cold rain seemed to get even harder, we ran for cover & got the lures in the water as soon as possible.

As we talked away for the first hour or so & the fish chat flowed, I did slightly forget the perch weren't obliging as the sun poked his head over the horizon. 

Sometimes just being out with like minded people is enjoyable enough but I came for perch & as it became brighter with lots of cloud cover, the rain even slowed & I felt our fortunes could change.

I started with my new Sonik rockchamp LRF rod, coupled with my Michell mag pro lite, 12lb braid to 10lb flourocarbon, joined by a very solid & dependable GT knot.

As your reading this you might think this is a bit heavy, esp the flouro.....

I find that it doesn't hamper the chances of catching the smaller perch & I like the stiffness of a thicker than normal leader. I'm find it gives with more jerkiness & a lovely twitchy movement.

All good stuff in my book & hopefully doing something slightly different will put a few more fish on the bank.

Now for the lures, both Paul & I really rate the "Berkley dropshot minnows" with the spilt or shad tails, in one, two & three inch sizes. We've both had great success with these great rubber minnows but of course Paul's catches being in a different league to my tiny perch.

But with the darkness as we arrived I really fancied trying a new lure, a two inch "Ecogear grass minnow" in the colour "midnight glow".

I didn't realise until the sun caught them that they charge via daylight & glow green. Even more suited to a deep dark swim.... Perfect

Having read rave reviews it was time for me to buy a pack to decide for myself now.

I digress anyway, so an hour or so passed & the rain finally stopped, we both hoped that was it for the day.

   Small & shallow, but plenty of surprises 

I finally had a short sharp pluck on a slow retrieve mid water, no fish on the bank but it was a huge boost to my confidence.

Another cast resulted in a wee perch of 3oz & at last they'd switched on the feed.

           I'm off the mark at long last 

Both Paul & I had three or four perch each for the next hour, no biggies but around the same size & fought well on my new super sensitive rod. They were nailing my grass minnow, taking it deep with no hesitation.

All returned none the wiser & fighting fit for another day.

Clear water Perch always have cracking colours 

As we leapfrogged each other along the canal towpath, casting in any likely looking areas, taking extra time to bounce the lures in the margins for a minute or so, as Paul explained the fish follow the lure in & this hesitation gives them a last chance to take the bait, something that the dropshot is perfect for, keeping the movement but staying on a sixpence.

   Paul on the hunt, seeking out the stripys

I jumped out of my skin a couple of times as desent pike has a look at my lure in the shallow margins but as hard as I tried I couldn't induce a take. I'm sure these mini crocs of 10lb+ would be quite a handful on my little rod, but I'll be back to hunt them down another day.

Every bridge is worth extra time & quite often you can see the bottom on this crystal clear water canal. It's great to see these little predators appearing out of know where to munch on the lure.

With a few more perch each, we've still not had any bigger than a pound, but all the same very enjoyable.

               Another mint little perch

 My Grass minnow proved just too tempting

The last bridge has a small surprise in the shape of a small perch each & I had fun with a small jack pike.

A feisty little jack that just wouldn't stay still for his mug shot

As the sun warmed & dried our clothes, We knew that the clock had beaten us. As it gets to 12pm it becomes very hard as all the fish hole up for the day, out of the way from the dog walkers, bankside commotion & moving boats. Paul said they don't come back out till the late evening.

So my introduction to this lovely canal was plenty of fun, the big girls didn't turn up this time but I will be back soon for another try.

I must say a special thank you Paul for showing me round, he's an expert on the skills needed to Dropshot & Texas rig effectively in different conditions. The proof of the pudding is displayed bellow, all his hard work & time bankside has payed off. What a top geezer, cheers matey.

All 3lb+ fish with the biggest at 3lb 8oz

The stuff of my dreams, top angling Paul ! 

As a little foot note Paul went fishing the day after & had this beaut.

      1lb 11oz of bristling beautiful Perch 

As a little add on I went back to the canal 

A week or so later & really filled my boots so to speak, with the same grass minnow catching all the fish.

What a lure !!!

Four hours fishing resulted in 35 Perch, mostly 6oz or less.

Another one in my hand, by the way the gloves are because it was freezing at 8am

       Greedy little blighters & I love'em

Then it got more exciting, four of the perch were close to or over 1lb

              1lb 1oz & it's a dropshot pb 

After a barnstorming fight my new dropshot pb was in the net at 1lb 7oz

A couple of lost fish came next on the agenda, sadly a pike of 10lb+ snagged me & a big perch of 2lb+ that I'm truly gutted about that threw the hook at the net.

My consolation prize came next cast...

A bonus 2lb 6oz jack pike, I thought it might have been a big perch for a second

All in all an unbelievable day, the rain never stopped but neither did the fish.

With all but a few of the fish, the takes were in the margins & the pike takes were spectacular & powerful.

If I'd landed the big pike & perch it would have truly been an unforgettable session.

Thames dropshotting

With the river Thames being only a 10 or 15 minute walk from my home, I should really fish it more than I do.

It can be a daunting prospect at times & I've had my fair share of bad days & a few good one's as well through the years.

But I felt it's a great place to walk around & hone my Dropshoting skills (if I had any)

This blog is a amalgamation of two short after work sessions of a few hours each time. So with some basic Dropshot gear I set off after work & met @markramokeea at the riverside around 5pm.

I'm no expert but Mark had never tried this kind of fishing before & I talked him through what I know & we set off looking for the first likely swim to wet a line.

I had a quick go at this method back in March as the season ended & blanked.

So I was very much in need of a confidence booster & a small perch would be a great start.

Twenty minutes later we were still fishless but seeing my shad in shallow water, it looked good & we hoped it would only be a matter of time before we caught.

First few swims didn't produce so we moved on to a larger part of the river where I knew it was deep very close in, around 12ft at the deepest slowly shallowing up to 6ft.

            Deep & dark, it looked perchy

A quick rundown of my gear in picture form....

My 2" Berkley Gotam shad & size 2 Mustad     dropshot hook with 6ft of 10lb Flurocarbon 

           5g Fox tungsten dropshot weight

Savage gear road runner is a great alround travel rod, paired with a small Shimano front drag reel & 20lb power pro mainline

We started at opposite ends of the bank & planned to meet in the middle.

It's a strange feeling as you slowly take pigeon steps & bump the lead just of bottom & down again but you really get a feel for the different surafces on the river bottom, it's a very tactile method.

I had moved only 6ft, very slowly I might add & I felt a bump.....

& again, so I struck & a fish is on.....

My excitement builds in a second & then I'm back reality as I lift in a 3oz Perch, but it's a start & I'm chuffed to know I'm doing it properly at last

Finally a fish on the bank, just a wee baby though

Another few foot along & another small perch in the net, I'm really starting to enjoy this kind of fishing & it almost feels better to close my eyes & all your other senses are highened. But I didn't as I didn't really fancy a swim as it started to rain & was very slippery.

As we moved on from this productive spot I wanted to try a very snaggy area as I know it's produced some very big perch over the years (including an annoying hook pull from huge perch I lost a few winters ago)

With drag set tight I was ready the first cast....

     Fallen trees are Perchy heaven, surely

I wasn't disappointed either, on the drop I felt a take as I tightened the line ready for the retrieve, I struck & a small fish came to the surface quickly & i lifted him in, when I noticed it wasn't a perch but a lovely little Zander, just as I panicked a bit & he let go of my shad & dropped back to his watery home, only a foot from the bank. Arhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I'm still waiting for my first zander & although it was only 6oz or so, I'd have loved to have a look at him & got a pic.

After closer inspection of the lure I guess he must have grabbed the back end & missed the hook, frustrating but that's fishing.

           After a soaking & a lost fish

Many other spots were searched out & no other fish fancied a meal, well not my shad anyways.

       The swims are getting more snaggy 

Mark then called me over & as I get to his swim he's looking even more frustrated than I had been before.

He explained he had hooked a good pike close in & bitten the line after a very short fight. The perils of Dropshoting I guess without a wire trace & I'm on the lookout for some supple & fine wire that knots nicely, I'm sure it would work ok.

With the light fading quickly we call it a day.

The next session was just me retracing my steps & it was a tougher proposition this time with driving rain & 10 or so degrees colder, shouldn't make a difference to the fishing.

I struggled to get a bite but finally in the deep spot I managed to get a couple of perch on the bank.

  Lovely colours but bigger please next time 

No monsters but I'm learning all the time & it's a method I'm loving right now.

I'm sure over the winter I'll be out & about, roving the rivers of Surrey in search of a big old stripy.

So hopefully I'll be writing a blog soon about a few more specimen sized perch.

 

My favourite little urban river

Not full blog worthy, but I had really a cracking few hours down my local urban river the other day.

Earlier in the year I had some beautiful big Dace & Gudgeon, resulting in two pb's of 11oz & 4oz respectively.

I also had a surprise 4lb Chub.

Look up "unknown urban river & two monster pb's" in my previous blogs for all the info, if your interested.

My tactics as you probably will guess for this small fast stream was my favourite centrepin & my Preston 13ft rod.

Used in conjunction with an alloy stick float with a 16 hook & 4lb hooklink. My standard gear for 80% of my river float fishing.

Anyway the river was looking in good nick with a tinge of colour & It looked good for a bite or two.

Plenty of maggots & a small tub of worms were my bait of choice, as before, so I primed the swim with plenty of grubs as I set up.

First cast in this swim can very often produce the best fish of the session so with huge anticipation a swung out my float right into an overhanging tree on the far bank, boll**ks !!!!!!

After the inevitable I hastily retied another hooklink & prayed I hadn't spooked any fish.

Using a 13ft rod in such a small river is a touch cumbersome, but with the fast flowing water close to the bank & the slacker water on the far side I feel that my float presentation will be far better with a longer rod.

So finally first cast made with two maggots, the first hookup follows quickly after with a bite even I couldn't miss.

A short & spirited fight & he's in the net.

I would have bet plenty of wedge this was a good Dace but I was wrong.

              A lovely fin perfect Chub

A good start but a big fat Dace would be even better I thought.

Second cast surprised even me, with a handful of grubs tossed to the far bank I made my cast as quickly as possible.

The float must have only moved downstream a foot or two & I had a similar take, unmissable.

My strike was met with solid resistance, like I'd hooked the bottom as I have many times before with this shallow & weedy swim.

Then it starting moving upstream & the fight started as this powerful fish realized he was hooked.

Barbel, carp or chub was the question in my mind but as he zoomed off right into a weed bed I saw enough of a blunt head & bronze flank to say it's a chub.

Slow & constant pressure extracted the fish quickly but he still had plenty of fight in him, as he continued upstream.

My rod was powerful enough to get him under control & bring him back downstream but he wasn't done just yet. 

Near side snags were his next goal.

I managed to eventually get him & about 4lb of weed into the net.

Parting the weed he was smaller than I expected but still a good'un.

A turbocharged 3lb+ chub that got my blood pumping

I typically struggled to get another bite in the next few casts, so a change was needed.

I decided to just fed maggots for 5 minutes & thus resting the swim a little.

Next cast It proved to be a good choice as another good chub was hooked, again zooming up stream but I was ready for that old trick this time, but as he neared the net I had the dreaded hook pull, arhhhhh.

For peace of mind I changed to a size 14 & with the swim rested again I recast & away the float went.

Another twisting & turning fight upstream but all was under control soon enough & I got him in the net quickly after.

Another 3lber on the bank

Following this method of resting the swim worked well as another chub fell to exactly the same tactics & they were peas in a pod all around 3lb

Three fish from the same hatch year for sure

This quick session ended soon after as the swim died a death. Only a small dace entered my net as I called it a day.

         Where were your bigger brothers ??

A very enjoyable few hours in a great swim & I must remember my keepnet next time as I'm sure some of the fish spooked the rest of the shoal.

I'm sure I could have had a few out on ledgered baits but with feeding the maggots & running a float through the swim definitely helped me to put more fish on the bank.

I never expected in such a shallow swim there could be three or more chub sitting in wait for their next meal & I'll b back soon to find out, that's for sure.

Hopefully the Dace will be back in residence as well.

The chub has 2 be one of my favourite river species !!!

Bolivia part 3. The Rio Grande

With my girlfriends mum being very ill my fishing time has been hugely limited but finally the Rio Grande is in my sights, as the family organise some local fisherman to take me fishing at first light.

A good nights sleep was impossible as my excitement grew, but with tackle at the ready we set off at dawn.

The journey was a task in itself, weaving up & down the mountains on the back of a flat back truck on bumpy dirt tracks wasn't really my idea of fun & after 2 hours I was feeling rather queasy. Add to that the temperature change was phenomenal, after leaving this morning, about 10 degrees, it was now 30 & it's still before 9am.

     

Thankfully I could see the Rio by now, it's dry season so the river is quite small in comparison with when the rain comes.  After another twenty minutes we had arrived & it's even hotter, but my god what a river, deep pools, fast shallow rapids & very clear.

Daniele the fisherman told me it's around 35 degrees now & that's average for their winter, it gets to 45 in the summer, thank god I'm here at the cooler temperatures.

       The view from the bridge 

Local knowledge is so important, as it is anywhere new that you fish but here even more so, therefore.....

In a combination of my bad Spanish & hand signals Daniele explained to me the plan...

Catch a small fish quickly & use that as bait. One of his pals set off with a net in the shallow parts up stream & we settled down to fish the deep waters close to the bridge.

I used my medium setup with a small jig head mounted with a small fish shaped jelly, bumping it along the sandy bottom.

The locals used hand lines with around 80lb mono & large hooks with maize as bait, it's amazing they ever catch but I guess with the possiblity of a huge fish, needs must.

The depths varied massively from rapids you could walk across to 20ft deep dark pools.

                What a view ! 

The water was clear & very fast, even in the deep sections & I had a few plucks on my lure but I think it was just very small fish, nipping at the tail.

The heat was really getting to me & without a fish spotted by anybody my confidence was low, after trying every lure in the box it was time for an early lunch at 11am.

My fishing buddy explained that the fishing was better at 3 or 4pm as it cooled down.

We walked the mile or so back to the truck & found a tree for some well needed shade, I was drenched in sweat & miserable at the lack of fish, even the net boys had blanked. 

The lads cooked up lunch on an open fire, potatoes, boiled eggs & dried beef, all served up in my cap & eaten with my hands as plates & cutlery is too much hassle.

    Different to what I'm used to

A particularly dry but never the less very tasty lunch I washed it all down with litres upon litres of water & we all relaxed under the tree.

The Bolivians then set out a large tarpaulin in the shade of the truck & slept for a while, the wind cooled us down & I sat & went through all my tackle as I was unable to sleep in the heat.

As we chilled out, I showed my fellow fishing buddies some pictures from my phone of a few descent fish I've had lately & they just refused to believe it's possible to catch such fish on rod & line. But I'm sure I gained their confidence though, that I know what I'm doing if nothing else.

At 2.30pm we set out again, back to the deep spot as I roved about with a small diving Rapala clacking rap as I thought the noisiness of this lure would attract the surrounding bigger fish.

Not a bad place to take a fishing selfie 

After an hour of thrashing the water to a foam, making many casts in every fishy looking area, I saw a good sized fish follow my lure into the shallow margins & then turned away, hard to say what it was as it all happened so quickly but pretty sure it was a golden dorado of around 8 to 10lb, maybe bigger, at last a sign of life. As I cast again in the deep margins he must have  taken the lure on the drop & I was in at last, the rod hooped over to the maximum & the tight drag screamed off.

This dorado's power is incredible, it feels much stronger than anything in England I've hooked.

After taking 40 or 50 yards of braid I just about turned him, he then zoomed off to the left taking yet more line & heading for deepest water when next I feel a vicious head shake & the rod wobbles like crazy in my hand, then for some unknown reason he was off.

Gutted wasn't the word, I wanted to cry..........

What a catch that could have been !

As I reeled in the lure it became apparent what the problem was, one of the hooks from the treble had slightly straightened out.

But thinking back the power of this fish was just not comparable with are uk species these lures are normally used for.

As I trudged back to the other lads to explain my misfortunes I really wanted to just go home & forget the day.

Unbelievably one of the chaps had looked over, just at the time I was playing the dorado & taken a picture on his old Nokia phone, poor quality but here it is below.

This was he took line into deeper water

  

But finally some good news, the net boys had come up trumps, a Sabalo of 2lb.

Unfortunately I didn't get the pic before he was gutted 

A filter feeding fish that's not possible to catch on a hook with the shape of his weird mouth.

My South American pals explained to me they gut the fish & use the entrails on the hook & catch Bagre.

I think the translation is simply catfish, so I'll get back to on the proper name.

Either way this gave me renewed hope.

I didn't fancy the mile or more walk to my big tackle box as I just had my small one with a few lures in it & my big fish gear.

I took a savage gear paddle tailed eel & took off the rubber part to give room for the stinky bait & also the 30g jig head would sink it nicely to the bottom.

They mounted the guts on the hook & secured it with a small elastic band.

We all cast out as the sun disappeared over the mountain tops. This instantly helped because it became 10 or 15 degrees cooler & bearable at last, but the Mosquitos had woken up & now driving me crazy as I was getting bitten just about everywhere.

I put the rod down & tightened the line, quivertip style & loosened off the drag as I went to take a pee.

                Ready & waiting 

The bait must have been in the water a few minutes & typically the drag ticked away as I was ten yards away, my back was turned with my piece in hand.

I tucked the old fella away as quickly as I could & grabbed the rod, tightened the drag & struck to just make sure the hook had a good hold this time.

A jagged & slow fight ends quickly & I have my first fish on the bank at long last.

It's a Bagre, only just under 2lb but I've not blanked when it was on the cards.

      The fish that saved the day

Unhooking this catfish was difficult as the the dorsal & pectoral fins had large spines, inevitably I got spiked as wrestled him & it bled quite at bit, but It wasn't to painful.

Another of the fisherman remarked

"Amazing, the Gringo caught a fish" which did make me smile.

The locals don't let me put it back as it's apparently tasty, I'd have preferred to release him but that's the way out here.

Hook rebaited with a very smelly intestine i cast out, I'm sure because I could cast two or three times the distance of the Bolivian handlines it had helped me get more bites.

Five minutes later I'm in again & it's a carbon copy of the first one in size & fight, after a hard day a bend in ur rod of any kind is most welcome.

                 Bagre-tastic !

I ask the locals how big do the Bagre get here ???

"Muy grande" woz his response so it was all the incentive I needed for the big rod to be set up.

Very much stepped up pike floating tactics was my plan as I'd found a few big snags earlier in the day.

A big chunk of Sabalo mounted on heavy treble trace casted out into the weir-pool so it kept it moving in a circular motion, in  the flow to cover more ground & hopefully find a hungry lump.

With an hour or so before we has to leave I was desperate to catch something else but it wasn't to be, the fish bait didn't attract any interest & the other rod was quiet too.

With fish now topping everywhere & a few good sized ones rolling, it was with a heavy heart I knew we had to leave before darkness fell.

I've got now doubt we would have caught something decent had we stayed longer but it wasn't to be this time & to beat the locals was a good feeling.

I'm sure I'll have nightmares about that dorado for quite a while but hey you can't win them all !

I knew I wouldn't have time to fish here again this trip so the long & bumpy journey home was a bitter pill to swallow.

We were heading back to Santa Cruz in a day or two where I had a few more fish based options so hopefully this wasn't the last fish Bolivia had to offer me & I'll be writing part 4 & 5 very soon, fingers crossed.

Bolivia part 2, putting theory into practice

So after a long & bumpy seven hour drive from Santa Cruz we arrived at a small village where my girlfriend grew up.

After meeting her lovely mum & dad plus many other relatives we get some well deserved food & rest.

This place is halfway up the mountain at 1500m above sea level so the weather can go to either extremes, around 25 degrees in the sun with a nice cool breeze, much colder in the shade & down to 5 degrees at night.

With the air being thin up here everything becomes a struggle & no doubt it's quite a tough life these people lead.

The streets are quite a tricky walk

The next day started with breakfast of cheese empanadas & strong coffees.

Her family have lots of land & livestock, with a few small watering holes for their cows.

One of these have some small carp grown for the table. 

At last I can cast a line, if only for some small South American carp.

A short & bumpy car ride on a dirt track & we arrive at the stew pond, it's basically a hole in the ground but the amazing surrounding mountains & rough terrain more than make up for the uninspiring pool.

             Stuffed full of fish

Bread is classic place to start to tempt a few & as the free offerings are gobbled down by a few good sized mouths my excitement builds.

The big problem here is that some unsavoury bloke from the town netted the lake & ate most of the good sized carp, up to 15lb or bigger, so now there are a few larger ones that escaped the net & hundreds of tiny carp.

My plan is to catch as much possible & release them in to a more hidden pond & hopefully have a chance to grow to decent size for the pot.

It's not something I agree with but who am I to question another way of life.

I set up a small float & 14 hook with bread paste mounted.....

No bites at all after 10 mins so freelined crust is the way to go I guess, as I can still see plenty of fish topping.

This soon proved me right & a pristine yet small mirror is hooked & my god did he fight for his size. 

I honestly thought I had a 5lb-er.

These mini carp were turbo charged on my 7ft light spinning rod & when I landed it I saw why, for it's frame it had a huge tail & mouth, the warm sun must make them grow quickly & well proportioned. 

Many more followed & the bucket filled up quickly, ready for re homing.

      Beautifully proportioned fish

An enjoyiable hour or three later the bucket was crammed full of carp & it was time to stock the hidden pond.

It's a real shame the few bigger carp hadn't found my bait but that's life.

The fish were released in a more suitable home with some nice tree cover & plenty of weed to hide in.

I returned home with a smile on my face & the respect of the family as a half descent fisherman, I think anyway.

So that's the starter & I just can't wait for the main course in a few days, the Rio Grande.... 

Its about a two hour drive & over the next few days I'll try & get a family member to take me, I hope to get started on the real big'uns.

I'm told there is a bridge where many locals go with fish to be had including big Surubi, Dorado & Sabalo (the Sabalo is a smallish carp like fish, max size 6lb) no doubt a 8oz fish will be great live bait size for the lumps.

So the planning begins & I hope part 3 will be worth reading with a few good pics

Bolivia part 1.... The theory lesson

Well after a killer three flights & 27 hours traveling via Miami & La Paz, we arrived at the hotel at 7am, feeling as u'd expect drained.

After a shower & siesta I'm ready to explore this vibrant & exciting place that is Santa Cruz del a Sierra, one of the biggest cities in Bolivia.

Of course this is a family trip for me to meet my girlfriends family, she's not been back for three years. 

Also it's a prime opportunity for me to cast a line for some exotic species, after all this is a fishing not travel blog.

Just to make it clear Ive never done this type of fishing before but this is what I've learnt talking to locals "in my very limited Spanish" & using good old google, so don't shoot me down in flames if I'm not 100% factually correct haha.

These rivers are full of some amazing species of fish,after my research, here's a list of a few that I just can't wait to pit my wits against....

The Surubi aka Tiger shovel-nosed               catfish

Very tasty 2 eat I've heard & my No1 target fish. Strangely can be hooked on lures & that's not common for catfish, but for this species it's a real possibility.

More commonly caught on live or deadbaits & I figure an extra large pike float will do the job well & keep the bait from the unknown & plentyful snags that I'm sure inhabit the river bed.

 These beasts reportedly grow to 120lb, so extreme gear is definitely needed & I'll chat in more detail about that later on.

    The peacock bass or tucunare

I've encountered these amazing sport fish before, once in the many canals of Miami, they drove me crazy by crusing around, close to my lures totally ingnoring them all day in the crystal clear waters.

I had slightly more success in Peru catching many small peacocks up to a couple of pounds on freelined worms & fine tackle.

Big bass are much more aggressive & hopefully more willing to snaffle my lures this time.

    The black Pacu or Tambaqui

These stout, strong fish are just solid muscle & hence the fight should be amazing with deep powerful runs.

Sizes once again are crazy, with a 50lb not unheard of & a max of 70lb

These fish are largely vegetarian but can be caught on fish or meat baits as well as any fruits or nuts.

           The golden dorado

A spectacular fish that looks like a beautiful painting. I wasn't sure that where I'm going would have these amazing fish but I'm told there here for sure.

Again growing to huge sizes around 70lb this highly predatory fish will take just about anything in the water, fish insects & even small mammals.

Along with these fish the reality is there are hundreds of species I could catch & as a result of that I don't think "as a fisherman" it get anymore thrilling than that, never knowing what could turn up next !

On the other hand the proof is in the pudding & until I get a bait in the water who knows what fish will take my bait, maybe I won't find any of the above fish willing to give me a tussle & only catch a completely different species, who knows.

Gear & tactics.......

Having to travel light limits your amount of gear & multi section rods can be so good now, it's the only way in my book for easy travel

So I decided on three rods.....

Light - Savage Gear roadrunner 7ft with a Shimano 2500 reel, one spool with 10lb line & the other with 20lb braid.

For float fishing with the 10lb line & smallish hooks up to a size 6

& the 20lb braid for the lure fishing.

Medium - BlackRock 9ft 2.25TC with an Okuma reel 35lb braid.

Heavy spinning for fish to around the 20lb mark maximum

Heavy - Fox tarpon trek rod with a matching Fox 750 reel with 80lb braid for the big catfish

Lure fishing or float fished live or deadbaits with 1/0 trebles or 2/0 circle hooks 

Also plenty of wire traces from 30lb up to 100lb industrial, heavy duty shark tackle.

I'm not sure what kind of waters I will encounter, so as it's winter here the rivers will be low & maybe some landlocked lakes as well.

I'll be trying to find inlets or outlets, two rivers converging, weirpools & eddys.

Typical fish holding areas in any country or water but I hope I can find some smaller rivers as that will be much easier fish from the bank. 

As I know these small backwaters have the possiblity of holding very large fish as long as I get there before the caiman do. 

I'm off early tomorrow & hopefully fishing in the next few days so let's hope I don't blank & have a few pics for part 2.

Until then, hasta luego !

Stick float river fishing on a new water

I've missed river fishing lately & I'm feeling the need for running water again.

As I've said before on my blog, river fish stocks in my local rivers are nothing like what they used to be, such a shame as my closest small stream had lots of beefy sized chub & all manner of silvers & perch.

But this river now is low & clear with the only one swim worth casting a line.

So on to a new river for me, a lovely Thames tributary that's 45 mins drive from my house, apparently stocks are low (as with most at the moment) but there are silvers & good chub with a sprinkling of barbel as well.

On first impression is a small river, shallow, but very fast & streamy with many deeper parts with over hanging trees & plenty of cover.

Could this be a productive swim ??

So with my ever faithful 13ft Preston carbonactive float rod & minimal gear I walk down to the first fishy looking swim in full roving mode.

With a hand full of maggots chucked in I made my first cast.

No bites after 10 or so casts & it's on to the next likely spot.

This happened for the next 7 or 8 places, it's a strange old river.

Next I found a lovely deep weirpool of sorts & it screamed of fish to me, I must be able 2 get some kind of bite here.

A few twitches of the float in the slack areas & the first fish is hooked, a minnow !!

For the next 30 minutes I proceed to catch a hatfull of gudgeon & minnows.

All very disappointing but there are so many fish holding areas to cast to every 5 meters or so downstream, I'm still feeling confident.

Next up is a nice glide, on the inside bend is a deep hole so that looks as good as any spot to cast to.

Could I find something worth catching here ??

Plenty of loosefeed into the fast flowing water & first cast is made.........

Something different has taken my double maggot this time.

Twisting & turning in the fast flow I see a silvery flank, a lovely small dace is swung to hand, the day could be picking up a wee bit.

Only 4 or so ounces but it's a start 

Next cast in the same fast water & I've hooked a much stronger fish that shoots off upstream, only a descent fish could do that....

My mind was thinking a wild brown trout as I know this stretch has a few dotted about but once again I see a silvery sided fish.

A bit stumped at what this could be but as I readied the net I could see it was a small barbel, lovely stuff !

Less than a pound but great fun on the float 

As you can see in the picture no wonder he fought well, look at the paddle on it !

I knew the river contained small barbel that were stocked 2 years ago & it's great to see these fish feeding well & growing a bit too.

Next up was a small chub & the bites kept on coming, along with more gudgeon & minnows but thankfully not too many.

             Small but pristine 

After quite a few small roach, dace & chublets I decided to keep moving with plenty of river still to explore.

I had also avoided the dredded blank so it's time to relax & try to catch something a wee bit bigger, hopefully !

After retying a size 14 & switching to a fat worm on the hook I proceeded to drop the float down into the deep margins under an overhanging tree.

Straight away the float started to bob about & I thought here's a pesky gudgeon trying to get the whole worm in his mouth.

I don't know why but I left it just a touch longer & that proved to be a good plan as the float shot under & the clutch slowly ticked away.

It's a heavy fish thats burrowing away for the near side snags & I thought it's a good chub.

It twisted & turned in the deep, dark water, first left & then right. What a great scrap.

I'm glad I had enough power in my rod to just about turn him in the fast water but the overhead branches meant I couldn't get the rod high enough to land it just yet.

Net at the ready & THEN my legs turned to jelly as I saw the fish for the first time.

A big black back with stripes, it's a perch !!!

Luckily his in the net first time, I'm so glad I brought my long landing net handle, I would have been "up a creek" without it.

It's a pb for sure as I've never held let alone seen a stripy of this size before & a big perch is a magnificent beast, bristling & proud with the dorsal fin up & beautifully coloured.

As I get the scales ready, my hands are shaking, my estimate as always is on the high side but "it's gotta be 3lb+" I said to myself

Sadly it was 2lb 10oz but I couldn't really be happier, another pb for 2014 !

Beautifully coloured & look at the  stripes, my new pb at 2lb 12oz

A better picture & what a fat belly !

So I put my prized fish back upstream in a spot where I could get to the waters edge & hold him in the flow till he recovers well enough. Essential after a storming fight on a very hot & sunny day.

Cheekily I thought what's the harm in trying that swim again, you never know what else might be lurking under the big tree.

Crazy but true, after I recast the float started twitching again but no bite developed so I struck anyway, that was met with resistance but it was just a dead weight.

The culprit quickly came 2 the suface & I had been told they can be a right pain on this river.

    The worm snatching crayfish !

After a huge crayfish induced tangle I decided to cut my losses & call it a day, what a day it had turned out to be.

Next on my list is a barbel pb, although that's gonna be quite a tough one.

Thanks for reading as always & I'll be writing a fish based blog or two while I'm on holiday in South America. I'll be after the monster catfish and anything else that swims of course in the amazon basin.

Fingers crossed I catch something to write about.