Aoibheann's First Rudd!!

 So this last week I bought a Total Fishing Gear (TFG) Force 8 Speed Lite Bivvy.  My thoughts were that as I was going to be on holiday this week having a staycation I wanted to get out fishing a few times with Aoibheann but the weather was supposed to be very bad.  The other considerations were that I can't spend half an hour putting the thing up with a 3 nearly four year old.  This tent is excellent I can have it erect in under a minute then peg the back and sides if needed.  As it happened we had a lovely days weather hardly any clouds and no real threat of rain and yet Aoibheann still wanted the tent up lol.

So after I plumbed the depth and Aoibheann mixed up some ground bait we were off fishing in Alders Lake at the Newbury Angling Association.  This time we had settled into Peg 5 mainly due to the fact that the tent, that we didn't need, wouldn't extend and block the path.

As well as the ground bait we were using mixed micro pellets 50/50 course and halibut.  To the ground bait we added some sweetcorn and the left over bits out of the previous sessions from various ground baits.  On the hook we had the trusty Red Maggot.

Full capture pic.

Roach, Perch and Rudd

First Rudd

We had a fantastic 4.5 hour session.  We caught Roach, Perch and for the first time Aoibheann had a Rudd and it was a nice one I think was maybe 1/2 a lb.  Silly daddy forgot to weigh it but at least I remembered to take a picture :)

NAA./EA Teachin Session

So Last Saturday Aoibheann and I went to Alders Lake part of the NAA to have the joint NAA and Environment Agency Teachin session.

So we got there at about 10:30 and it looked well organised with a sign in gazebo.  So even though we had sent in the form we filled in another form and were then told we had to wait until a tutor became available so we had a little mooch about.

They had a 2 ft fish tank on a table with the red signal crayfish that had been caught out of alders which Aoibheann was fascinated by.  They also had a couple of plastic storage containers with some weed and water in where we could see the various small animals including freshwater shrimp, sticklebacks and boatmen.

After about 15 minutes we were guided round to Steve who to be honest was brilliant with Aoibheann.  He asked her to sit on his seat box.  He then proceeded to show her how to attach a maggot etc.

During the 15-20 minutes she was with him she caught 2 little roach and a little perch.  She really enjoyed herself.

What I learned was to use micro pellet to bring the fish into the swim and then maggot as hook bait which i have promptly been and bought so our next session should be better.

I was disappointed though over all as the day was advertised as from 10:30 - 16:30 with a match from 14:00 till 16:00.   However as I say above after the 20 minutes we had with Steve we were then told that was it?  Aoibheann was given a bag with a mini tackle box and a magazine etc but the older kids were given some sort of pole either a fishing pole or landing net pole not sure to be honest which my daughter didn't get which didn't seem fair.

Aoibheann though didn't notice and had a good time which after all was key :).

Blog later....

Aoibheanns First Blank Session

 So today was the first day in two weeks we have been able to go fishing as my wife had her tonsils out a week last Tuesday and then got an infection so she's been too poorly to look after the two little ones.  This afternoon it was supposed to be warm and overcast instead it was boiling and very few clouds but we went anyway after lunch.


We headed off to the NAA and went back to Alders lake.  This time we settled on Peg 4.

Aoibheann wanted to fish on the bottom using  maggots so I setup a simple maggot feeder and hook length.  I tied off the line after the cast I was happy with so I had the length and I also noted a "feature" to align every cast to.  Every 5 minutes or so I reeled in and re-cast to reload the feeder.  As you can see on the left Aoibheann was settled with her Lemon bottle of juice lol.





We weren't getting many bites a few but not many so to keep Aoibheann entertained I got her to mix up some ground bait which she really enjoys.  She likes making up the balls and launching them maybe 3 feet from the bank lol.


Aoibheann also wanted to use her portable potty to go for a wee just before we left but somehow she was managing to wee above the rim so she was weeing over my hand as I was trying to lift the bag up to catch her wee lmao.


I did manage to get this really nice picture of the two of us just before we packed up after just over two hours and no fish in the net.  Which to be honest made my trip.  I think the thing that made Aoibheanns trip was this inch long beetle that was walking along the rod bag :).


At least she wants to go again tomorrow but we will see.




Blog Later...

Cheeky Weekday Session

So my wife has had a tonsillectomy on Tuesday so I was hoping if she was well enough Aoibheann and I would be able to get out to the NAA.  Unfortunately she has an infection and so has been more poorly than we thought she would be.  Never the less my amazing wife insisted Aoibheann and I went this afternoon.

So quickly throwing the things in the car we were of to Warwicks Water again part of the Rawlings Retreat complex.  I have to admit I wasn't particularly organised I forgot the camera and Aoibheanns chair.  Luckily I had my phone on me so I got a couple of pictures :).

 For this session I used some Hemp Oil readily available from Tesco's as "Good Oil".  You can find it with the other cooking oils.  I also had Silver X and sonubaits exploding fishmeal and crushed corn.  I also added some liquid bloodworm flavour.

For today's session Aoibheann wanted to try a rod and reel.  Now I thought this may be problematic as she is only three.  So I fished on the bottom using a method feeder made from the ground bait materials above with two sweetcorn on a hair rig.  This would enable me to help her and forget about my rod.  I just had to wait for the buzzer to go off :).

Aoibheann was fishing just a smidge over depth with one or two red maggots on the size 16 hook.  Typically she was first to catch a small roach.  I then caught an even smaller roach picture right.

After about two hours this was all we caught and to rub it in I could see a good 8 - 10 lb mirror carp rolling on the surface and there were other multiple fish jumping around the lake but Aoibheann wanted to head home to check on mummy so we packed up and headed off.

As I said I don't know if that will be that for this week as when we got home we had to take my wife back to the doctors for more pills and it is supposed to rain all weekend.  Now it wouldn't bother me but I don't think my three year old would enjoy it even if she is nearly four lol.

Blog Later.....

Striking While The Iron Is Hot...

So yesterday was our first proper session and we both really enjoyed it.  After seeing the weather due for this afternoon I didn't think we would be going again so soon but after breakfast Aoibheann asked if we could go fishing again?  So why not we still had the maggots in the fridge and half the ground bait left so we rushed upstairs to get changed and by 9:30 ish we were off back to the NAA lakes.

 This time we went for a walk around Warwick's Water first Aoibheann liked peg 8 but after the success we had on Alders I wanted to go back.  Unfortunately there was a chap on the same swim we had yesterday.  So we settled in on peg 1.

Much harder going today in terms of bites.  We had two in the keep net by the end of the 2 hour session.  One Perch and one roach.  We had another couple on the hook but they fell off before we could land them :(.

On the bright side we did manage to miss any rain!  My wife is in hospital Tuesday to have her tonsils out so I have taken the tuesday to friday off of work if the weather is ok and the wife is up to looking after the younger two Aoibheann and I might be able to get in a cheeky midweek session.  This time it will be Warwick's Water.

Blog later..

First Proper Session With My Daugther

So the weekend finally arrived and we have done everything necessary to get out fishing.  With licenses, tackle and bait in tow Aoibheann and I headed down to Rawlings Retreat to fish Alders Lake.  Now I have never fished Alders before so with me carrying all the gear we started clockwise from the car park entrance.

With the wind blowing across the lake into the south bank I thought it best to go with the wind so off to the south side we went.  The picture on the right shows the swim we ended up setting up in.

So first things first I had my little fisher woman start mixing up the ground bait.  We were using dynamite baits silver x, Van Den Eynde red mix and the Liquid Worm.  We started by adding half of the two ground baits into a mixing bowl then in another bait box I retrieve some lake water and into that added a dose of the liquid worm and gave it a stir.  Once the ground bait was thoroughly mixed we added the water slowly to get the right consistency which should be to be able to squeeze it into a ball but the break it up easily.  We then made up a couple of big balls ready to go in.
I then set up the pole that Aoibheann and I would be using.  The lake at alders is very shallow at the peg to be safe for children so we were fishing approximately 3 meters out.  I plumbed the depth and set up the hook bait to be about 1.8 meters from the surface which would sit the bait on the bottom of the lake.

So I showed Aoibheann how to pass out the pole which she did and I took the opportunity to take the pic to the right.


It didn't take long until the swim was alive with Roach and Perch with seemed to be the order of the day.  You can see from the picture to the left Aoibheann is trying to bring in a small Roach.

 We caught about 20 fish in total that weighed in at a massive 0.88Kg or 1.9lbs.  Aoibheann is holding the biggest perch she caught which was 50g or 2oz

The last two pictures show the final haul and the biggest Roach and Perch.  I caught most of them but she helped land the "big" ones lol.
 The big highlight though to my day was that Aoibheann loved it :).

Blog Later......

Permits Arrive

Permits have arrived for the Newbury Angling Association today :).  Well for Aoibheann at least my application goes to the committee meeting in August but I am able to fish using the letter they have supplied until hopefully approved.

So now we have permission to fish I am planning on taking her at the weekend.  She is really excited about going.  I have told her we'll pop down to Experience Fishing and grab some maggots and pellets in the morning before we go then pop home and have some lunch then head off when her little brother and sister have their afternoon naps.

The plan is to try to catch small silverfish so Perch, Roach, Rudd etc.  The NAA have a few lakes which should be perfect for this either Warwicks or Alders.  I'll choose when we get there.

 

Ground Bait

I have already bought some ground bait aimed at the species we will be trying to catch.  I also have some liquid attractant (worm) which I'll add to the lake water before I add it to the ground bait just to hopefully give the swim a bit of a kick start.  As you can see from the photo I also have Hemp infused with Chilli.  Hopefully this should do the trick along with the hook bait.

Blog later...