With a title like that you would think ive gone raving mad. Its been a while since i put pen to paper and to be truthful ive not really had my fishing head on.

Too much has happened over the past 6 months and at this time the Pubchucker boots, hat and camo outfit is firming hung up. I will be out this season but having spent the best part of the last 3 years blanking its now time to take a back seat and relax.

I will post soon about the forthcoming season.

Good luck to all who are out there now battling the wind rain and blanks!

Pubchucker

So the winter has been very mild so far and right now my mind is firmly fixed on the subject of prebaiting.  I`ve picked a few swims on the lake and its just a case of hoping our club working parties do the honours for me.

The problems faced when fishing a nature reserve is that the club has to work with the bird watchers and nature lovers in ensuring we preserve the habits of the birds, so this doesnt always bode too well when an angler tries to cut down a ferw branches of an over grown willow etc

The bait has stored well through winter and will only need soaking for a short time before i can use it.

Will keep you posted as i have a plan of action to follow but dont want to give too much away just yet

The Pubchucker

After a still crap 2011 by all standards im back and ready to go. Bait has been delivered in readiness for an end of season last ditch attempt and im just hoping this milder weather stays with us a bit longer.

So far this winter its been really mild with temperatures not dropped below freezing for much of the winter period.  We have another six to eight weeks of the this season left to im hoping things dont change too much. I want the chance to get on the bank for the last two weeks of the season.

We have a new bait for 2012 and its something completely different which uses an oil not dissimilar from the skunk and geranium used to catch great number of fish from the lake in the past.

Keep you updated and happy new year

Pubchucker

I wanted to say a BIG thankyou to Richard for working tirelessly and restoring this website.  It was discovered that professional Hackers the ‘Z Company’ had totally wrecked a number of websites including this one. A message for them …you are total scum of the earth!

Without the help of Richard i would of never seen this site back again. I foolishly hadnt taken the proper precautions in backing it up but now we are up n running again, and a thousand thankyou’s arent enough so here in virtual format is a present from me to me old pal who has had a crappy year, made this site possible. What a top fella!

Cheers mate!

Yet another weekend is here, the weather forecast for Bonfire night is bloody awful. Driving northerly winds and heavy rain are on the cards according to the good old BBC.

I have a leaving do to attend back at the office so wont be heading down till early Friday evening. This means setting up in the dark, with heavy wind and rain. Will it deter me…will it heck!

The plan is on fishing the same swim as last weekend since I had put a fair bit of bait out, and seeing fish moving about makes me want to give it a second try. The temperatures still continue to defy the odds with highs of 16 on Saturday, and lows of just 10 overnight.

I arrived to the pitch black drizzle and typically the kind of weather id expect for autumn. There were only 2 other cars in the car park – still something im completely shocked about.

The swim I’d wanted and had fished last week was taken by a friend so I moved into a spot further along the lake called the ‘Pamphlets’. Offering an opportunity to fish the channels at extreme range, but with deep marginal areas literally under the rod tip I felt happy with my second choice.

Camp pubchucker was set up within half an hour and I proceeded to go through the motions watching the water for signs of Mr. scalely. I find it’s easier to fish spot at night and especially where the water is flat calm.

Sure enough a few signs of activity presented itself close in, but in extremely deep water at about 30 yards. I know from the past the depth reaches well over 25 ft and the lake bed is silty to the point of the actually drop off around 2 rod lengths out.

Rod one was placed on the edge of the drop off in 9ft of water with a critically balanced snowman rig, size 8 long shank hook to 25Ib kryston mantis green hook length material. A 3oz lead attached via a lead clip to lead core leader completed the set up.

A PVA ball of chili hemp was cast out with both marginal rods and no other feed introduced for the first night. The middle rod was cast at range towards an area in front of the mouth to one of the bird islands. I reckon the cast hit about 150 but really I need to be hitting 170 to be right in the entrance. This was fished using the Chod with a single white pop up. I hope that during the colder months the new Berkeley Whiplash Crystal will add some distance to casts. 

Night time and more motionless rods.

Saturday morning I awoke around 7.30am to a heavy mist, and yet again motionless rods. The only action last night was in the form of fireworks. The rain Howe ever had kept away which at least gave a small bonus to the situation.

After a few cups of tea I proceeded to wind in around 9.30 and go for a walk to see if I could spot anything fishy. On talking to the two other guys on the lake neither had seen anything or caught.

Nothing else of note happened during the session to be honest so it’s not really worth writing about it. On Saturday night the Fireworks continued and apart from the odd Pike in the margins I blanked once again.

I’ve taken the decision based on lack of fish activity to call it quits for this season. If others were catching I may have stayed on but they aren’t. I’ve certainly put in my fair share of time on the bank and it’s proved worthless to a degree. As it stands the statistics state it’s been 1,180 days since the last fish was landed.

The club in its infinite wisdom has decided to close off the toilets due to worries over the pipe work freezing and although I think it’s a bit premature there’s nothing I can do to change their minds.

During the colder months I plan on re-spooling the reels with 20Ib Berkeley Whiplash Crystal, and also planning my 2012 season. I’m aiming at attacking the lake using a campaigning approach. I will be picking 3 swims which I feel offer the best chance of a fish. I’m going to be smart though and look at areas not fished too often. This means stealth and an element of tree cutting involved but im hoping to tag along to one of the working parties early next spring. I’m currently air drying all my older freezer bait and this will be used together with a lot of particle to build up these spots over the course of early 2012, and into the closed season next year.

I will be doing some sea fishing and of course will keep you posted on how that goes. Till then thanks for reading this blog and tight lines for those who are still fishing into winter.

Let’s set the scene. Its Friday afternoon again, the weather forecast is mild with overnight lows of 12 degrees and daytime temperatures of around 17. After a number of phone calls it seems I will be the only fisherman on the lake so what do I do with 80 acres of water?

Decisions, decisions. It’s all about making the right choices, picking the right swim, and at the moment I’ve no idea what to do since the lake just isn’t fishing the same as it had in the past. Nobody is talking so with no knowledge of whets been happening I sometimes feel like im fishing blind. Campaigning a lake on your own isn’t for the faint hearted.

The wind is forecast to change from an Easterly to a South-Westerly which brings the decision of whether to follow the wind or not. Now its cooler I’m less interested in following what would be a warmer wind. I’d prefer to try and look at areas offering deep and shallow spots on the back of that wind. I have a few swims in mind but it all depends if they are available and the ‘feel’ I get once down there.

I’ve purchased some Chill Hemp seed which will substitute the pellet ive been PVA’ing. I’ve also got hold of some paste which I’m going to mold around the leads for some added attraction. Rigs will consist of the snowman variety on two rods with a single chod presentation on the third – nothing new here.

Upon arriving at the lake I was surprised to see only 2 other cars in the car park. It continues to amaze me how a lake containing fish of this standard is given little in the way of ‘man hours’ by the general membership.

By 6pm I’d set up camp going through the motions with a light drizzle making things damp but for this time of year it was extremely mild, around 14 degrees.

I’ve fished this swim a number of times so know the hotspots quite well. Rod one was positioned 40 yards out to my left at 10 O clock in a silty patch in 17 ft of water. The lead had some paste molded around it and I also made up a tangerine sized PVA ball containing the chili hemp. My right hand rod went out on the mouth of the first bird channel and a scattering of boilies fired out, but spread out in an area of roughly 10 feet. Rod three was placed in 12 ft of water just before an underwater road at about 80 yards. This ‘Road’ feature was originally used for gravel extraction. The light was just fading as the last rod was put into position. I’ve said this before with a choddy I do feel you’re ‘fishing’ straight away and it’s certainly a good rig to send out as single hook bait. Using a white pop up of 14mm this is opportunist fishing really.

Saturday morning I awoke to motionless rods once again. This is something I’ve become used to now and sadly with little time left this year to fish I feel the clock is ticking down for me to bag a fish. I always plan to fish to Guy Fawkes Night, and call it quits. Certainly the colder months on my water are particularly unforgiving and going by previous years I’m literally wasting my time once temperatures plummet. Considering the temperatures are still relatively mild im going to carry on for the moment, but time is running out..

On Saturday I was surprised to see fish topping over my left hand rod and it was a much needed confidence booster. Into Saturday night and after repositioning all three rods I sat back in my ‘sitting in the sun (now dark) chair and pondered what the heck I could do to change my fortunes around. Another fish crashed out over the left rod and once again I spent the next hour pacing the bank, watching the rod tip for signs of movement…nothing happened.

I turned in early Saturday night. It was dark by 6.30pm and after a brief visit by a friend of mine I jumped into the bag and was out for the count until Sunday morning where I awoke to another mild morning, complete with light rain. The scene was grim, and on reeling in my rods while packing up I could find nothing wrong with the presentation, or the baits.

Some folks start to pick everything apart when they are blanking but I refuse to do that. The rigs work, and the baits are tried and tested. Sticking with what has worked in the past and keeping things simple are in my opinion keys to long term success.

It’s Guy Fawkes next weekend and I usually enjoy watching the fireworks. Being such an open lake, im certain to get at least some form of entertainment.

Where’s the motivation…i’m the only one left. An empty Car park early Sunday morning.

Ok, its official what with the current heatwave and 30 degree
temperatures around the south east, those Carp have begun spawning…

Just check out the small ones going mental below…