UK NATIONAL FISH VOTE

a lovely brace of River Kennet biggies while filming 'Catching the Impossible' with Martin Bowler - the best went 2lb5oz

I’m going to nail my flag to the mast and vote for the roach because I believe it should be the national fish. Thriving in every sort of water in Britain and available to all, it is not only beautiful but if you’re seeking a big one, a real challenge ... so please excuse me if I show a few too many pics of the rare moments when I got lucky.

a scale perfect roach and close to three pounds

roach live in some beautiful places too

Many of you will be aware that there is a vote in progress that is going to lead to a decision on what is to be the nations favourite fish. It might not be as important as deciding whether to leave Europe or stay but it sure is worth a moment or two of your time.

The idea and initiative has been created by our very own underwater hero Jack Perks. He is masterminding an attempt to raise awareness of our fishy wildlife and we owe it to our watery critters to get behind him and VOTE. After all, the birders among us recently chose the robin as our national bird and we don’t want them to think we don’t care about fish.

So this is the link which will enable you to get behind the venture and make the general public sit up and pay more attention to our fishy wildlife and the places they live ... and who knows, they might even respect us anglers more too.

http://www.btwlfishproject.com/#!uk-national-fish/gus4w

Jack has managed to gain the BBC’s support by having the vote publicised on the ever popular ‘Springwatch’ so several million will be aware of his initiative.

Ely Cathedral was the place I grew up and thanks to the Great Ouse nearby, also became a fanatical roach angler

I chose the roach because it chose me, for when fishing in the Great Ouse at Ely as a child, I caught a big one by design. We normally caught  just small fish, a few roach along with gudgeon and perch off the wall at the Cutter Inn but one day I cast a lump of flake to a large bed of cabbages and fluked a 10oz lump which to this small boy was a monster. I was hooked for life and have been trying to catch big roach ever since.

a Hampshire Avon two from the good old days

Luckily I grew up in the glory days of the H.Avon and Stour when two pounders were the expected catch and I had dozens, even managing a three pounder from both of those rivers and all on trotted bread flake. I even managed two pounders from the Broads, notably from the River Bure and Wroxham Broad, often using cheese paste as bait. This was in the 50’s when it seemed big roach thrived everywhere.

To catch the Broads roach I’d cut up Kraft cheese slices into small particles and scatter them around the float and it worked a treat ... but not before I’d used a quant pole from our cabin cruiser to poke around the bottom to find gravel runs. There was a particular patch on the start line of the sailing club in the middle of Wroxham Broad and though I irritated the sailors at race starts I caught many big roach from the spot, especially in the middle of the day, perched in my little 8ft plywood dingy. Happy days for sure ; I wonder if they’re still there?

2lb6ozs - fat as butter but not taken on cheese

I learnt the cheese technique when fishing with the old boys on the Regents Canal at Paddington in the school holidays. It was good roach fishing and if using cheese paste using a small porcupine quill, we’d avoid the small ones and catch them to over a pound, my best going one pound two.

The bait also worked well on the Serpentine where I caught numerous good roach but never as big as a pound. Unfortunately the bait also attracted eels and when struggling to unhook an above average wriggler, an old lady ran up and angrily telling me I was a cruel boy, beat me over the head with her umbrella!

I’ve tried the cheese technique in notable roach water several times since and never had a bite, though this is one of the joys of roach fishing. You can never be sure where or when you are going to catch a big ‘un, if at all!

good mate Trevor Harrop of Avon Roach Project fame with an Avon two pounder

We all know about the dramatic declines in roach due largely to the invasion of thousands of non-native cormorants but I’ll spare you a rant and simply celebrate the apparent recovery in several rivers, even in the iconic Hampshire Avon, not least because of all the work by the Avon Roach Project.

Trev releasing the future into the H.Avon and hope for keen roach anglers

Britford still produces two pound roach, largely because of the tireless work of river keeper Stuart Wilson in protecting them from the 'black death' .... that's cormorants if you hadn't guessed.

the LAA's river keeper extraordinair Stuart Wilson with one of his precious Britford roach

Still waters are providing some great roaching too, especially when they thrive under the radar, fattening up on carp anglers bait. Sway is just such a water, though Stuart thinks still water roach should only count as half and I kind of agree!

what massive roach those Linch Hill beasts were ... this one went 3lb3oz. caught while fishing with friend Gary Newman

The famous Willow Lake at Linch Hill produced amazing roach, even if they tended to be caught on 'unsporting' bolt rigs. I am guilty of trying the technique there too, just so I could see one of those huge roach you understand! I became known as a ‘jammy bar-steward’ because in only four visits I was lucky enough to catch a three pounder every time. In defence, I did try a sliding float and caught a few two pounders but never a three on the float.

admiring my PB of 3lb5oz - caught on a float too

I had roach to 3lbs4ozs at Linch but my PB came from Sway, just an ounce heavier but caught ‘properly’ on a delicate float. I also had my PB pole caught roach there too, an ounce under three pounds, so a much desired three on the pole is still out there to achieve. However, in my book any roach of a pound or more is a big fish and makes me a happy man and even if I’ve wasted a lot of my life in a quest for big ones I’ve loved every minute of it - well almost!

the pole can be deadly for really big roach

a gorgeous early morning two pounder - what beautiful fish they are

Sadly, a two pounder is now a distant dream on several once famous fisheries but the challenge remains and for me and many of my best pals, roach are still a constant cause of much head scratching and effort. So please get voting ... and if roach are the species that pulls your string, good on you ... but if not then still vote. I could easily have chosen tench or barbel, perch or pike, sea trout, mullet or bass, even carp for I love them all but as the saying goes, my favourite fish is the one I'm fishing for at the time. I just need to go out and fish more often!

beaut. 'nuisance fish' - carp are quite a struggle on roach gear!

As for my wife Sue, she loves tench, as I do ... but she says her favourite fish is the last one she eat!

time for tench

ROACH, WILDLIFE, GARDENING AND TENCH

our wisteria is always a joy but is exceptional this spring

Funny sort of a Spring – wonderful sunny days and beautiful in our garden but cold nights throwing nature into a spin and my fishing plans ‘out the window’.

a vital helping hand for the Avon's beleaguered roach

Firstly roach and the remarkable work friends Trevor Harrop and Budgie Price are doing to help this iconic species. Roach normally spawn on April 25^th  in the Hampshire Avon but as you’ll see if you read the Avon Roach Project blog - and I highly commend it, for they are inspiring others to help roach in other catchments too. http://www.avonroachproject.co.uk/ -  the warm sun and clear chalk stream water encouraged the river’s roach to spawn ten days early. No way that the projects Trevor and Budgie were going to be caught out though, for they had the spawning boards in place and ready for action and as usual, collected prodigious quantities of eggs.

many hundreds of perfect Avon roach were released into the river this spring 

more and more released in several traditionally favourite spots

What followed was again a surprise, for the cold nights caused the roach eggs to delay hatching, something very unusual though not unknown in nature.

‘Delayed implantation’ is a well known strategy for mammals that wait until more favourable conditions before triggering 'egg hatching' … that’s my poor attempt to describe a complex process ; lack of space is my excuse. Anyway, if you want to read more about what happened with the eggs, plus revealing pics, visit the projects Facebook page for regular updates. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Avon-Roach-Project/612983772135291

Sky TV have made a couple of films about their successful attempts to re-instate the legendary populations of Avon roach with Keith Arthur's ‘Tight Lines’ and they can be viewed on their blog too.

Sway on yet another chilly but beautiful dawn

The roach’s breeding schedule was also modified by the glorious weather in still waters, for the roach at Sway Lakes bred early too and scuppered my plans for catching some biggies with friends. They have proved really tricky, even causing me to rescue my swing-tip from the museum to overcome the tentative bites ... and it worked. Sometimes the old ideas are the best ideas.

trying to get a bite that I can connect with using a swing-tip

 

the 'old school' trick did the job, a resistance-free bite indicator

a good one but why are they always an ounce short of that magical number!

spring time is the perfect time to be fishing

I went to try again at Sway yesterday but the violent gale force winds stopped my plans to use a pole and I certainly needed delicate pole tackle to hit the tentative bites. I managed to catch just nine roach, all around a pound from over a hundred bites, all missed, but then I’m good at that.

these three survivors from a brood of nine look as though they might make it, cold nights permitting

The mallard have been breeding well in this warm spring, lots of ducklings paddling about in the sunshine, and in our garden too. I’ve spent a lot of time on projects in our patch this spring, hence the lack of Blogs and fishing, but the work keeps me fit and I love the physical graft involved in creating wildlife habitat and beautiful flowery scenes for Sue and I to share.

our garden is a joy at anytime but particularly when the sun shines ... and not an otter in sight!

The spring sunshine has ensured the flowering shrubs and wisteria have been stunningly flouriferous.

Sue's snakes-head fritillaries in the lawn did well this year

the newly created woodland glade just planted up

about twenty tons of soil went into it's construction with the help of friend David

I did manage a few fishing trips away from the garden. Tim, owner of Sway Lakes kindly took me out into the channel one day and we caught several meal sized fish along with others that I'd never caught before which were returned, including thornback rays, dabs and dogfish. It was all a far cry from shy biting roach and all the better for it. 

I love it out on the ocean waves, the rougher the better, for I once had the pleasure of crossing the Drake Straits from the Falklands to Antarctica in a substantial storm. The size of the waves as they filled the sky and the wandering albatrosses sliding effortlessly past the stern of the boat were most impressive. I was trying to film them for the BBC1 series 'Life in the Freezer' without falling overboard - an unforgettable experience seeing such huge waves but never once did I think I was going to die! 

It was a tad different from a smooth Solent.

a tasty plaice - one of several we caught that sunny day

a perfect day to be out birding in the wilds, even if not ideal weather for roach fishing

In my previous blog about Britford roaching I mentioned that I'd made a bird list, compiled while not catching roach. For those of a twitchy nature, here’s the list. In previous years I could have added goshawk, red kite and most unusual of all perhaps, a couple of hawfinches. But this list is just for the final days of the 2015 fishing season. Nothing remarkable here but you can't beat watching a tree creeper shuffling up a tree alongside you when waiting for a bite.

      
     

A BRITFORD BIRD LIST  - early March 2015

            -   Jackdaw

            -   Rook   

            -   Carrion Crow

-   Magpie

-      Heron

-      Cormorant

-      Grey Wagtail

-      Pied Wagtail

-      Moorhen

-      Little Egret

-      Mallard

-      Teal

-      Gadwall

-      Tufted Duck

-      Kestrel

-      Sparrow Hawk

-      Buzzard

-      Lapwing

-      Chiffchaff

-      Cetti’s Warbler

-      Wren

-      Tree Creeper

-      Goldcrest

-      Chaffinch

-      Bullfinch

-      Goldfinch

-      Blue Tit

-      Great Tit

-      Black-headed Gull

-      Herring Gull

-      GBB Gull

-      Starling

-      Blackbird

-      Song Thrush

-      Mistle Thrush

-      Wood Pigeon

-      Stock Dove

-      Mute Swan

-      Great-spotted Woodpecker

-      Kingfisher

-      Green Sandpiper

-      Meadow Pipit

-      Snipe

-      Water Rail

-      Long-tailed Tit

-      Robin

-      Dunnock

-      Greenfinch

-      Barn Owl

-      Canada Goose

-      Pheasant

                                           

river keeper Stuart with one of his treasured bars of silver

However, just to prove I do occasionally catch some of river keeper Stuart’s prize roach, here’s a cracker from the end of the season. Roll on June16^th!

Just the other day, Hucklesbrook gave me my first sound of cuckoos and my first sighting of hobbies this year. It's a lovely spot, with or without fish

The start of May usually means my focus falls firmly on tench but again, those cold night have meant that the tincas in the big pits I am targeting have not yet ‘switched on’, so I shall have to persevere with the blanks until I get lucky. My target this year is to beat my PB of 8/9 [from five different waters] but what I really desire is a double – don’t we all!

Mike with his perfect lady tench of exactly 9lbs

I was sat alongside friend Mike at Hucklesbrook the other day and as if to show me the way, [he always catches more than me anyway], he caught this lovely nine pounder. I was delighted to be there to witness it and take the happy snap. What a cracking tench and not an ounce of spawn to add weight to it’s long frame.

waiting for a bite ... and there was otter spraint on the big rock in front of me

I’ve decided to give Bradleys a go this year, mainly so that I can share the bank with long time friend and fishing buddy, Mark Woodage. He is something of a local expert and a very tidy angler, precise casting being one of his skills … and he’s caught plenty of tench in the past. So I’ll be picking his brains and trying a trick or two of my own. I’ll keep those secret of course!

Mark trying to keep warm in the 'spring' sunshine. By 'eck that wind was cold

We went there together last week but with two degrees of frost and a cold wind we were on a hiding to nothing … and nothing is exactly what we caught. To save face we called it a recce and left happy that we had spent some time together for a good chat,  shared a beer and a bun and done some good birding. 

these naughty Red Crested Pochard did their best to remove all the bait from my swim

Mallards have done well in this years warm sunshine, in spite of cold nights

Great-crested Grebes mean there must be at least one fish out there somewhere

Bradleys through my Polaroids - a bit of fun but warning of wind on it's way for sure ... and the clouds of cirrus were right

The night had been so cold in the camper van that I wished I’d packed my Arctic sleeping bag, though being awake most of the night was compensated by the nightingale that serenaded me loudly just outside the window. Pure magic.

this nocturnal serenader has got talent and plenty of 'X' factor

PERCH PERFECTION

a perfect perch for a cold winters day, 'only' 3/11 but still beautiful

We’re running out of time … we should be on the river I thought … only two weeks to go ... but if you end up with a perch as perfect as this one then maybe the decision to fish a lake isn’t so bad after all.

Sway on a cold and breezy day

The plan was to fish the Hampshire Avon at Britford but after heavy rain raised and coloured the river and a call to river keeper Stuart confirmed conditions were hopeless, Sway Lakes stood in as the alternative.

Great friend and ultimate Man U supporter Gerry Higham was coming down for an end of season get together so it was important I tried to put him on some fish, though I didn't want to put him in the best swim just in case he caught more than me. After all, I had to keep the Saints above Man U, even if only in the fishing contests. 

Sway can usually be relied upon to produce a few perch, even if a water temperature of 40 didn’t bode well for a roach. Add to that a cold wind blowing down the lake and the ‘banker’ swim too wild to consider, Gerry hid in a bit of shelter and struggled for a bite.

Gerry trying to make it happen

I tried roaching with a waggler and hemp and tares … yes I know it’s a summer technique but this time last year it produced plenty of big roach, so I ignored the rule book and failed to raise a bite!

My back up was perching, using a lovely delicate Drennan IM8 bomb rod with a swan shot paternoster to 1.8 line and an 18 hook baited with two red maggots, dusted in turmeric of course. Trickling just four to six free samples on a regular basis I soon started catching perch, all over a pound to close to two but if I strayed from my baited spot – nothing. The cold weather had shoaled the perch up tightly.

looked like a good 'un

Then at about lunch time it happened, the tip wrapped round and the rod bent double to the fierce head shakes of a good ‘un. I had to backwind as what was obviously a big perch ran for cover but eventually it succumbed to the pressure and I had a lump in the bottom of the landing net.

Weighing in at 3/11, I was told by the owner later that it was not only the largest perch in Sway but a lake record, so how lucky can you get. … [and how do I know it’s the biggest in the lake? Well, the management here net the lake to control stock levels every two years or so and only two months ago completely drained the lake to remove all the pumpkinseed and thin out most of the small roach and perch. One perch that was far bigger than the others was netted and I’d just caught it.] What a jammy sod.

what a cracking perch - they don't get any better looking than this do they?

Gerry did a lovely job with the camera before we settled down for a few more and I ended up with a dozen perch, all over a pound. The big ‘un isn’t big by modern standards but I was well pleased to see such a beautiful creature and it was my second biggest ever, a 4/6 from the Gt. Ouse caught while filming “Catching the Impossible” being my PB.

This fish was more memorable because when the light was too poor for filming I poached it from the tail of Mr.Yates’s swim, much to his chagrin. Chris was joining Gerry and I for one of Sue’s tasty dinners so we had plenty of time to commiserate about our respective teams losing at the weekend’s football while celebrating the capture of such a splendid perch with some excellent French wines. Gerry certainly knows how to pick’ em.

There was plenty of football banter, particularly when Chris reminded Gerry about our team Southampton beating his at Old Trafford. Chris even sent Gerry a sympathy card and to add insult to injury, didn’t put enough postage on it and cost him £1.11!

the shallow end at Sway

looking towards the Lightening Tree

Next day Gerry wanted to have another go for the big roach at Sway and I had a hunch that they might be in the shallower and maybe warmer end. 

Gerry concentrating on catching

I was right, for he caught several nice fat roach and some good perch. 

Gerry with one of several good perch

I also caught a few big roach to a best of 1/15. I need some new scales.

'only' 1/15 and I'm wondering if Gerry has the camera in the right place - of course he did

It had been a most enjoyable get-together … in spite of Gerry’s long drive from Manchester and back. You can’t beat sharing a couple of days on a waterside with a good friend and I hope to do so again at Britford before the end of the season. But until then, I’ll linger a little on the memory of a perfect perch.

the perfect perch and a happy Hugh

Thank you for the company and the splendid happy snaps Gerry … and if any of you are fortunate enough to be out there before March 14^th – be lucky.