I started a thread a few months ago bemoaning summer. I don't normally fish much but couldn't believe how unpredictable and rubbish it was. Whilst I personally don't have much of a summer benchmark, it seemed many had similar experiences.
I now wonder if it is a dodgy year, a lot of my friends on different watt seem to have had an unprecedented surge of natural food, starting June and showing little signs of stopping yet. Spawn, fry, snails - has the country seen a boom this year or is it just a convenient excuse for my noddy results?
I now wonder if it is a dodgy year, a lot of my friends on different watt seem to have had an unprecedented surge of natural food, starting June and showing little signs of stopping yet. Spawn, fry, snails - has the country seen a boom this year or is it just a convenient excuse for my noddy results?
In reply to Post #1
It's swings and roundabouts mate. The two waters I've fished this year have been unusually good for bites. Loads been out starting v early in spring when the water warmed up nicely before that weird cold period we had. People moan about poor weather but imo it's been great carp conditions for the most part.
It's swings and roundabouts mate. The two waters I've fished this year have been unusually good for bites. Loads been out starting v early in spring when the water warmed up nicely before that weird cold period we had. People moan about poor weather but imo it's been great carp conditions for the most part.
In reply to Post #1
Flooding has definitely been a challenge this year on a few waters, was very late spring when I could even get onto one of my syndicates and it's closed again now after the rain in the past week. That also condensed the period people fished it so was much busier than normal.
Flooding has definitely been a challenge this year on a few waters, was very late spring when I could even get onto one of my syndicates and it's closed again now after the rain in the past week. That also condensed the period people fished it so was much busier than normal.
In reply to Post #1
Fishing, what little I've done of it has been very good but the water table has been all over the place, oddly enough mostly up, even the summer had little effect!
Fishing, what little I've done of it has been very good but the water table has been all over the place, oddly enough mostly up, even the summer had little effect!
In reply to Post #1
This season has been pants for me - missed spring (as usual) and early summer was met with significant flooding which meant lots of big fish going on holiday into adjacent lakes (otter fencing not high enough) and a general disturbance of the main lakes ecosystem. Weights have been down and fishing a lot harder . . less anglers and less bait sounds ideal on paper but has completely changed the game (for the worse) . . . winter is almost upon us; hopefully the rivers will reignite my desire . . .
This season has been pants for me - missed spring (as usual) and early summer was met with significant flooding which meant lots of big fish going on holiday into adjacent lakes (otter fencing not high enough) and a general disturbance of the main lakes ecosystem. Weights have been down and fishing a lot harder . . less anglers and less bait sounds ideal on paper but has completely changed the game (for the worse) . . . winter is almost upon us; hopefully the rivers will reignite my desire . . .
In reply to Post #5
started really well in march, lots of decent fish, by May and the tadpoles are out and my catch rate has fallen off a cliff. 2 fish fri night gives me hope for a decent autumn but the zander & chub are calling me hard
started really well in march, lots of decent fish, by May and the tadpoles are out and my catch rate has fallen off a cliff. 2 fish fri night gives me hope for a decent autumn but the zander & chub are calling me hard
Only had 5 sessions this year due to other commitments and blanked the lot (after 1.5 year of not blanking once lol)
Thought turned a corner last week went for 4 day session at Bluebells. Inside 2 hours of setting up on Mallard had 2 x fully scaled mirrors thought my luck has finally changed. Short lived as the bailiff on Thursday evening chucked us all off due to river banks bursting and complex flooding. 2hrs pack up in torrential rain and dark. to cap the year off for me lol
Thought turned a corner last week went for 4 day session at Bluebells. Inside 2 hours of setting up on Mallard had 2 x fully scaled mirrors thought my luck has finally changed. Short lived as the bailiff on Thursday evening chucked us all off due to river banks bursting and complex flooding. 2hrs pack up in torrential rain and dark. to cap the year off for me lol
In reply to Post #1
I've caught less overall but at a much higher average weight than last year, including my 1st UK 40. Due to flooding there has been a lot less weed in one of my syndicates which meant I struggled at the start and had to adapt, but since then I've been doing well by catching a number of the A team and a decent number of other 30's and stunning linears
I've caught less overall but at a much higher average weight than last year, including my 1st UK 40. Due to flooding there has been a lot less weed in one of my syndicates which meant I struggled at the start and had to adapt, but since then I've been doing well by catching a number of the A team and a decent number of other 30's and stunning linears
I had some quality sessions over summer on my water. I know of many people that have struggled and a few of us on the lake have caught on our sessions opposed to not.
Bite time is still very unpredictable, times when you think you will struggle you catch and other times, low air pressure, warm, south easternly wind, few anglers on the water and we dont even get a knock
Bite time is still very unpredictable, times when you think you will struggle you catch and other times, low air pressure, warm, south easternly wind, few anglers on the water and we dont even get a knock
In reply to Post #1
It has definitely been a tough year on my place.
Many, many times fish are seen feeding but no bites are forthcoming.
The fish that have been caught have been in tip top condition, so they're definitely feeding regularly.
It has definitely been a tough year on my place.
Many, many times fish are seen feeding but no bites are forthcoming.
The fish that have been caught have been in tip top condition, so they're definitely feeding regularly.
In reply to Post #10
Could it be with all the pellet, particles, chops, liquids and crumb we spod out we've conditioned fish to feed on smaller and smaller items, making life so much harder for ourselves? Naturals seem to keep going later - partly climate and maybe because we're feeding the substrate - so fish don't need our bait as much as they used to. Get on the 30mm'ers!
Winter fishing is so much worse than it used to be, and you don't seem to get that big winter feed up that you used to?
Could it be with all the pellet, particles, chops, liquids and crumb we spod out we've conditioned fish to feed on smaller and smaller items, making life so much harder for ourselves? Naturals seem to keep going later - partly climate and maybe because we're feeding the substrate - so fish don't need our bait as much as they used to. Get on the 30mm'ers!
Winter fishing is so much worse than it used to be, and you don't seem to get that big winter feed up that you used to?
In reply to Post #11
I think on a lot of waters you'd be spot on, I've thought along
those lines for years.
My place is really lightly fished, an average of no more
than two anglers per week, so baiting patterns have little
negative effect IMO. I do supplementary feed them with
17mm pellets and I believe that these are feeding the
lake in general, not just the fish.
Nothing much has changed from last year, just fewer
fish have ended up on the bank and I've heard of a fair
few other waters having a similar year.
I think on a lot of waters you'd be spot on, I've thought along
those lines for years.
My place is really lightly fished, an average of no more
than two anglers per week, so baiting patterns have little
negative effect IMO. I do supplementary feed them with
17mm pellets and I believe that these are feeding the
lake in general, not just the fish.
Nothing much has changed from last year, just fewer
fish have ended up on the bank and I've heard of a fair
few other waters having a similar year.
In reply to Post #11
I think his is spot on too, especially with pellets. The fish in one lake I fish are regularly bulk fed pellets and they would get on them within 20mins. They now seem to back off any bulk food for a good few hours and then move in and mop up for days on end. And the pellets have certainly changed the natural larders. It's almost as if the pellet has taught them how to harvest spots to extinction, spots that haven't seen any bait or pellets regularly have mudding and bubbling.
There are a good group of anglers on there and we've gone down the scalded pellet, naturals, hemp and bits fishing route but to no avail. Occasionally, a few fish will get caught form a spot but on traditional approaches - yet other days a cast can send them scattering.
This lake hasn't become hard over a few months, but what I am thinking is that they have learnt safe food which is in plentiful supply and only when hunger takes over will they slip into their old ways.
I hadn't really thought about the correlation between climate change and baits impacting the other goodies the water used to hold for shorter time periods. It shocked me with recent outbreaks of KHV - these outbreaks happening in sept (I think but am no expert) I have not heard of before.
I think his is spot on too, especially with pellets. The fish in one lake I fish are regularly bulk fed pellets and they would get on them within 20mins. They now seem to back off any bulk food for a good few hours and then move in and mop up for days on end. And the pellets have certainly changed the natural larders. It's almost as if the pellet has taught them how to harvest spots to extinction, spots that haven't seen any bait or pellets regularly have mudding and bubbling.
There are a good group of anglers on there and we've gone down the scalded pellet, naturals, hemp and bits fishing route but to no avail. Occasionally, a few fish will get caught form a spot but on traditional approaches - yet other days a cast can send them scattering.
This lake hasn't become hard over a few months, but what I am thinking is that they have learnt safe food which is in plentiful supply and only when hunger takes over will they slip into their old ways.
I hadn't really thought about the correlation between climate change and baits impacting the other goodies the water used to hold for shorter time periods. It shocked me with recent outbreaks of KHV - these outbreaks happening in sept (I think but am no expert) I have not heard of before.
In reply to Post #13
The fish in my place have been acting particularly weird for the last week or. They've been laying in the upper layers and just moving every few minutes. I took a water sample in a clear bottle and the water looks like a plankton soup. They're just feeding on this pretty much 24/7 and seem pretty much uncatchable at present. They don't even acknowledged chopped worm going in around them.
The fish in my place have been acting particularly weird for the last week or. They've been laying in the upper layers and just moving every few minutes. I took a water sample in a clear bottle and the water looks like a plankton soup. They're just feeding on this pretty much 24/7 and seem pretty much uncatchable at present. They don't even acknowledged chopped worm going in around them.