Jammy Shit.....

Putsborough Childrens

Charity match 2008

well we headed up to Putsborough for some Ray bashing for the Bristol childrens hospital charity Match.

with 45 anglers Turning up all from the WSF and most of us knowing each other from the forum, it was a good Bunch of Lads mostly local with a few from Cornwall and a chap from wales.... nearly everyone caught EXCEPT me..... didnt even get a soddin bite! :-( with Bass being caught mostly and the odd Ray showing, the conditions wer spot on! a hour before low water and i was ready and eager to wack into some Raymonds....

Then the good old sky cleared and ruined the fishing, the moon was shining and you didnt even need a head lamp! this killed the ary fishing with only schoolys and a sly smoothound showing, that was it! a lad next to me sneaked a tiny 6oz red gurnard!

My Dad on the other hand managed to blag himself a 6lb conger which happened to b the biggest fish caught winning him the biggest fish cup.... was not happy! well the match finished with everyone having a great night even though i didnt even ahve a bite! never mind next time hay

Exeter showing its true Colours...

Big Pike showing again!!

My Pikin partner Tezo (the crafty Sod)

has had some amazing action fishing lures on the exeter canal again recently....

with over twenty big doubles showing and a 15-20lber being caught on every session! its a dirty job but someones gotta do it!! iv not fished exeter in a while and we both no its picked in monsters, none of the locals get much luck but we have always done VERY well!

the Biggest pike he's had in the last few weeks has been 23lb 6oz..... a very tidy Pike this time of year considering the weed you have to deal with on that venue!! very hit and hold fishing!

cant wait to get out there again ASAP!

North Devon Rays

Small eyed Ray and Bass!!

Im a bit of a sucker for Raymond bashing up north Devon..... something to do with standing in the surf with ya waders on and being really part of the fishing!! we fish mostly Putsborough as its a fantastic venue for Small eyed, blonde and Spotted Ray! its very simple fishing as long as ya have cloud cover as moon light will kill ya fishing.... the ray bashing up here is low water only with the bottom 2hours, 1hour slack and 3hours up the only time your get rays from the beach.

All you need is 12-13ft 4-6oz beach casters, and 25lb line. pully rigs are prefured with either a 4-5/0 single or two 4/0 pennel rigs! bait wise, the prime is fresh sandeel or frozen. with squid and mak sometimes workin well!

Iv done ok-ish ray fishin this season with plenty of small eyed to 9lb! most fish bein around 5lb though.... its good fishing with the bites bein really confident, always big rattles of the rod tip then monster slack liners! with the Bass always showing there faces for fun! also the good old Putsborough Poodle!! (dog fish!) but more and more recently lots of medium sized Congers!! right from the beach, i kid you not, cathcing conger in the surf!! with big bates like squid or mak your garrentied!

our last session seing 4 ray to me and two to my Dad, also 6 Bass, 4 Dogs and a small conger! always good fun on lighter gear

River Bashing!

River Culm Madness

Anyone who no's me No's i LOVE river piking......

me and Terry headed out to the Killerton section of the river Culm where we hav some really decent small floodland river fishing! this river twists and turns through some beautifull devon countryside and is my Fav venue to just stroll around and poke ya lures in all the little nooks and crannys!! with a massive head of Pike, Chub, Perch as well as the usual coarse fish.

this really is wild fishing at its best!! i was like a child in a sweet shop! ha ha

there really is allot of features here on this wicked river, you are spoilt for choice on swims to throw a plug or jelly into!

we walked across the field to our "secret" deep swims..... with fish strate away..... nothing massive biggest bein only seven pound but on a tiny river and full of snags, dont they HANG ON ha ha. with fish coming from every little snag we had 6 pike from one swim...! its a stretch around a mile long with bays, corners deep holes and a cracking old Mill wier pool!

we headed down to the mill pool where there was action on the first cast! again nothing massive but really enjoyable fishing on Bass gear from the states! we had 7-8 fish from the pool and a decent perch!

i cant tell you how wild and beautifull these small rivers are and crackin fun to fish, i recomend hittin the small rivers near you, your be amazed by the fish you can catch! we completed the big THREE Pike,Perch,Chub. all in one day on a small venue and good fun it was tooo!

One sunny evening!

managed a few hours out on the canal!

Me and tezo headed out for a few hours surface lure fishin, with poppers, walkers, chuggers u name it we tried it! the one lure that came out on top by far was the SwampFox in medium size! i stuck to wacky colours and tezo stuck to natural frog and mouse!

It was very hot and conditions got worse and worse, i no i cant complain about a bit of sun here in the lovely british summer but it was sooooooo hot! the fish just didnt want to play! with a few tiny jacks and perch showing! but all good fun all the same, as the afternoon went on we saw some more decent fish chasing and showing but still no decent hits..... i found a little over hanging hedge and banged my SwampFox under the branches with two winds on reel, BANG a fish of around 7-8lb! smashed my lure! with a head shake it was off, then again it charged and hit again! but....... with no luck this fish didnt want to no afterwards! GUTTIN

Time passed and things never really picked up! we started to head back to see wot our best swims had to offer now the light was fading we headed to a Bay thats full chocka block of lillies and there always fish over 15lb cruising the edges grabbin the hundreds of Rud and Roach, it looked amazing conditions couldnt get any better!! it screamed Pike! i chucked my lure over to the back of the bay and started twitchin it back slowely..... all of a sudden you could see thew lillies shake and swirl and thyen this massive wave swirled up behind the lure! this huge head just slammed my lure! this time it was on! and things went mental.... it screamed through the lillies tryin to tail walk and smash me into the snags! i only had my light USA bassin rod and tiny Baitcaster (shimano Chronarch 101bsv) things wer gettin hairy!

after 10mins or so of tug and war with this obvious double figure pike thing looked up on my side i was deffo winning this ultra light battle! i managed to turn it so it headed to the bank where Tezo was waitin to land her, we knew strate away it was a gooden when i saw terry struggle to pull her out! i lent over and tezo handed me this impressive summer beast! it was stunnin and even though it was not in the best condition it still looked crackin! once i returned it it swam off as if nothing had happend!

with the very next cast Terry had yet another double slam his lure and this one was well hooked as well! after 5mins of bullien this fish to stop it snaggin in the lillies it came off! guttin for terry but we had a wicked evenin! i just love summer surface lure bashing......

Been a while....

Not posted in a while, but had allot of fun out on the water!!

over recent months iv bin luck enough to get allot of different styles of fishing done, from my usual Lure antics to Ray fishing off the north devon coastline.
ill hopefully get on here allot over the next day or two, so ill keep the posts coming......

Pike and a Pint

just some more piccys from a good session

Pike and a Pint

Pike and a Pint!!

Yes i did fail to resist the pub!!

cracking couple of summer sessions on the Exeter canal recently, no real monsters for me but Tezo has had a couple high teens and a 24lb 8oz!! well done mate.

well that 24lb 8oz fish for Tezo was my excuse for me hitting the pub Twice in our sessions! tut tut, i no im a bad infuence ha ha

The fishing was the usuall exeter standard, hard fightin fish that really do go mad for the lures u use! it was crazy for the most of the afternoon, lots of fish around the 7-9lb mark all really good fun on lighter rod settups. the problem with living here in the Wild wild southwest is that we get allot of weed growth! im talkin a 30ft deep canal and only 3ft of water in the summer!!....... so fishing can be hard specially wen ya have a 20lb+er crashing through the weed heart stoppin stuff!

We had allot of attention from fairly big Perch so thats my next target!! wink wink

well cheers, and remember kids stay away from alcohol ha ha

Danny

Chubbin the culm

Some Chub action at last

finally had some decent Chub on the surface lures!!

it was a very good couple sessions, very cloak and dagger stuff in and out of the hedges creepin up on these wild chub from the Culm. didnt manage any monsters but biggest was just over 5lb had 13 chub in a two day session. we are odff again this weekend hopefully as the water has dropped after the recent rain! so a better report will be posted next time,

ill leave ya with a few photos hope ya like it

Danny

Taunton Canal...

the usuall start, i got my ass kicked!!

Me and Tezo fished taunton on the first day after the spring!! as always i went with a rucksack full of goodies 4 chub, pike, perch! started off surface fishing with Renoski frogs on the toepath, on my first cast i had a massive slam off the top by a couple pound chub..... it got us all ready 4 action! we could see chub everywhere! some where well over 7lb!!

Every cast u had 3-4 BIG chub follow ya lure in with fish hittin the left right and centre! but do u think i could hook them!!!! it was really doin my nut in.... u should of hurd the language flyin out my mouth!! ha ha

we fished about a mile and a half of the free stretch with chub everywhere! we even had some fairly decent trout smashing the lures! by this point i was getting very assy because no matter wot lure i chucked on..... Tezo just kept on laughing!! he had some very decent fish hittin Zara Spooks (not really ya normal chub lure!!) the more i could see him getting decent hits the more i seemed to get sod all!! ha ha

after about 3 hours of fishing i finally struck home!!....... it was a monster, the water exploded and my heart stopped! i admit it was only a pound and a half, if that!!! ha ha but hay its a chub!!

better than nothing hay!! Tezo managed to still get decent fish hittin his lures most of the day! by lunch time we really did hav enough of bein made to look like fools by these chub!!

We ended up fishing the canal, this canal is shockin..... u really would not believe it unless u saw this place!! rough as F$@K!! shoppin trolleys, prams, bikes u mention it, its in here!! its a proper gutter! full of small fish, mainly roach, rudd and small jack pike! as iv posted on here b4 a 6-7lb pike on here is consindered a monster, the last time i fished it i pulled out a massive 2o+er which is soooooo rare!

We plugged away getting the usuall jacks around a pound mark one after another!! as if the day couldnt get any worse, a soddin boat chugs around the corner!!! this canal is 2ft deep so any action like that kills the place for the rest of the day!! "well thats it Tezo, im off to KFC....." i really had given up now!! Terry agreed and we started the walk of shame back. Tezo sed come on Dan, one more cast under this tree, so he blasted out one of our own custom deadly shads and BANG he's in!! i could see this wasnt a tacker..... and yes it wasnt, we had done it again caught pike over the magic 3lb mark ha ha.

a very good end to a hard days fishing!! iv bin told that its fishing its head off 4 chub at the mo!! so hopefully fingers crossed better luck next time! ill leave ya with a piccy of Tezo's final Pike

Danny

Bin a while but.....

Been a while.....

but i have bin very busy, but here we go!! new posts!!

alrite guys....

bin ages since i posted on here, bin soooooo busy!! well ill b posting my newest adventures up as we speak

cheers Danny

Bassing away!!

Almost got there!!

Managed to get out and proper try do do some damage with my lures on the local Bass this weekend, Headed down to the south Devon coast where things didnt exactly go to plan!!

the Easterly winds didnt do me any favours at all..... with all the main beaches blown out completely!! i ended up fishing the dunes with a bit of luck, but nothing to write home about!!

i managed to beast a small Gar out off the rocks and had a few small Pollack chase me in!

Me and my Dad are off sea fishing again the weekend so hopefully pull some decent fish out as we are heading to a well known rock mark where ill be targeting Big Wrasse and pollack on the light gear, but will also take my Beach caster's out to see whats swimming around at the moment! ill post on here to tell the tales....

What a Pike.....

It went a bit Crazy

some days i go out for a few hours and really enjoy just being out!! then there are days that had loads of planning to make them work, they all show up special memories either funny moments, Big fish, not so funny moments etc.

I was fishing the exeter canal, it was all going really well lots of fairly decent fish, lots of action it was turning up to be a good mission! in the afternoon it always goes a bit slow, and time just passes by! its always nice to just be out on the side of the canal, i was winding in a shad past some fairly big snags when a fish around 5-6lb's grabs my lure, it was going really well a bit of tail walking, head shaking then all of a sudden it went solid..... i could feel it still moving and it was gettin quicker and quicker, now it was clear another pike had grabbed my pike! the water was fairly muddy after some rain a couple days before so couldnt really see what was going on! then the two pike rolled on the surface!! i instantly knew this was a beast of a pike. around 25lb+ i reckon!! the pike i actually hooked was not fighting anymore, this other pike was completely over powering my Jack!

After around 5mins i actually thought this fish maybe hooked on my lure too as it was still on..... normally they let go after a min or so!! i managed to get the fish fairly close to the net when it let the pike go!! "guttin" so i managed to land my first pike, it was kind of a dissapointment!! as would of loved to had a photo of the two pike! well this is what Exeter pike fishing is all about, insane moments! ill leave you with a picture, clearly showing where the Big pike grabbed it!

what a mouthfull!!....

Yum Yum.....

Can Jacks get any more greedy...... this Spinnerbait "Slop Master/Jackson Lures" its more than half the size of the silly little Pike that chewed on it..... "Big Lures ='s Big pike hay!!??....."

Bassing

Plugging for Bass!!

This is something i love doing whenever i get the chance!! im lucky enough to live only half hours drive from some decent Bassing marks the shallow warm beaches or south Devon are ace for these prized fish....
Tackle wise its fairly simple, just a nine foot spinning rod matched with a 4000fb stradic! i use a 100g casting weight as i prefer a faster heavier rod coming from a piking background as this allows me to impart more action to my lures.....
Me and Henry www.henry-gilbey.co.uk will be sorting a trip maybe this week, ill post on here if it all goes well, as have been told of some ok-ish fish turning up already

Bream on the Lure??!!...

Bream turning up here and there!!

Over the years me and my Brother have caught the odd bream on lures in our local canal! some of them nearly double figures..... but recently we hav had loads, im not on about foul hooking the Bream, actually catching them on lures!

in late spring most coarse fish go a bit crazy and chase lures and other fish due to spawning etc.

We cant pin point a style of lure or time of day but recently we have caught loads.... it makes a nice change from the usuall Pike/Perch. and even though pike tackle is a bit powerfull for these fish, they actually do give a wicked fight!! anyone else catching other unusuall fish recently??

Me and Henry in the RAIN!!!

Pike Fishing at its Wettest!!

few weeks back me and Henry Gilbey decided on having a piking mission on the exeter canal, It had been ages since Henry had chucked lures for pike so we couldnt wait!!

the weather forecast was horrible and Henry phoned me the day before just to check we were both mad enough to go out in this almost storm conditions!! it was horrible...... but we got up on the tues morning and the weather cleared, the forecast was still crap but for a few hours at least it looked ok-ish!!

we headed out at 7am to a fine weather start it was actually warm, but we knew it would end up getting a bit dodgey later on! it looked great for fishing and conditions couldnt be better, BUT the first few swims that normally produce a fair few decent fish didnt even produce a follow! we fished for a couple hours at the key side with nothing to show for our troubles, at least it was'nt raining yet......

Well things didnt improve at the first sections so we upped and moved to the Turf, personally my favorate pike area of all time, after being spotted by some of the local anglers we managed to escape from all the chit chat of anglers who reconised us, Henry was well impressed with the next few swims he got a aggresive chase on his first cast! things looked good, and hopefully he could get some decent stills for his website http://www.henry-gilbey.co.uk/ "check his blog!" instantly i had a big double chase me in right to my feet but i ran out of water the pike rolled over lookin for my lure, i cast again and smash, it hit me like a ton of bricks..... it was well aggresive and threw the hooks back in my face!! Henry then got another Jack chase him to the bank "how frustrating was this!!" we could see the pike but they just wouldnt hit the lures properly!! i had another 4-5 decent fish between 6-10lbs hit or chase the lures, then the weather came in!! we could see it coming up the Ex estuary like a wall of water...... it was a awsome sight.

We headed upto the turf where instantly the rain smashed us we were getting hammered, it was horrible but we continued to plug away! i struck into a good pike, i couldnt really see it but Henry tells me he saw a fish around 15-16lb it was putting up a fight, but came off 3ft from the bank..... i was feeling down now, the elements were against us today, the next swim saw another fish well into the twentys follow me right to the bank but nothing it just looked at me and rolled away!! i looked at Henry and we both knew we had taken on more than we could chew!! poor old Jess (Henrys Dog) was soaked to the bone!! so we called it a day! we are currently sorting another trip out on the canal, but sooner rather than later we have some bass fishing to do......

Back in Action

Cracking Time!

A few weeks ago i managed to snap my Brute big gun rod!! god knows how, but it smashed into pieces out on a trip to Turf lock, not even halfway through the day :-( and i was winning by 6 fish!! just my luck!!
So i ended up just taking stills of the day out, the weather was ace so i didnt mind! and Terry seemed to love the fact i was out of action, the sod!! BUT i got it sent off to the manufacturer the same day and as its got a life time warrenty i got a brand new one a week later! I'v taken it out 3 times and already had 25+ fish on it and its still in good nick!! hopefully this time i can keep it a 2 piece!! fingers crossed!

Surface action

heartstopping!!

Well its that time of year again where the water is warming up and the bait fish are getting frisky!! Wish i could wright here now telling you of a few great days out fishing surface lures, but only had 2 pike off the top so far this season, as not really fished waters that produce well off the top recently!! but as the sun is heating up ill soon be dusting off my "Skitterpops, crawlers, Frogs and buzzerz, poppers" Over the last few seasons me and Terry have had some Crazy top water action on rubber frogs etc, light tackle is all you need!! so go on get out there!! i had a 22lb 6oz two seasons ago on a frog so who knows a beast could have its eyes locked on your lure!

Trouting about!!

Tiddler Bashing. . .

We all went out trouting! iv been out a few times chucking small lure and spinners out for these little critters, nothing serious but just a few hours out with Terry!

We did really well, loads off fish around half a pound to a pound smashing our RAPALA CD3's

cant believe how much fun these trout are when using Ultra light gear!! i used a GREYS G-light spin rod which only casts upto 6gms!! my rod was making alsorts of shapes thought i was going to snap it ha ha!! we only caught 12 brown trout but was worth every single one as it was a nice light change to throwing 4ounce plugs and shads around!! role on the next time we have some after work trouting about!!.....

Reel's......

Are you a Baitcaster, or Fixed spool??

Wow!! Again where the hell do you start??

I mostly use Baitcasters for 90% of my fishing, but do use Fixed spools for my ultra light missions! i use a small 1000 size SHIMANO Catana, great for chucking small spinners and plugs into small streams and canals. I also use Shimano Stradics for my other lure work, i mostly use 4000FA front drags with a 6000FG for my sea fishing! these reels are very smooth and work in all conditions!! not even salt water stops these cranking tools......

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Baitcaster's are my passion, i have loads and use all of them whenever i get the chance to use different kit. But the two reels that really do get a hammering are my SHIMANO Calais DC201b and Chronarch 101psv both of which are SHIMANO JAPAN imports, these are made of superiour materials than standard shimano kit and have lots of quality features that are exclusive to these Japan models..... My Chronarch is a very small all rounder with 7ball bearings and full Titanium build (screwless bodys) this is the true meaning of smooth casting!! its silent and is a joy to use.

My Calais DC is in a league of its own!...... this reel is SHIMANO's flagship top shelf baitcaster!! 11ball bearings full mirror finish, power grip2 the whole works! it has four electric braking modes, with eight settings for each mode! it really is top of the game when it comes down to lure fishing.... nothing else any where in the world comes close to what this reel does! check pictures of this reel in my other posts. but as i say its all totally a personal choice as to what you use and when! this is my style, you have your own and i bet it works for you just as well!!

Super Duper Shads

Weapon's of choice!

I have used sooooo many lures over the years and there is so many i can go back to which have all done me proud!! but...... if all else fails, you can do allot worse than crack out the RAPALA Super Shad Rap!! ill post allot on hear about various lure etc. but love or hate this lure its caught them all! every serious lure angler from weekend warrior to pro own's one of these lures, or all of the range if you have no sence like me! ha ha

Now this beauty is on the shelfs in floating and countdown, meaning we can exploit these masters of big fish catching lures to our best!! the colours are endless natural and wacky.... so dust it off and wack it on ya trace!! who knows that monster may show up and Super Shad rap is Deffo on the menu.......

April Hols....

First week in April, Bring it on!!

Every year me and Terry take the the first week in april off for some well earned after spawning preditor action!!

This year being one of the best, we did'nt catch any reall donkeys but had more than our share of decent doubles..... we mostly fished the Exeter canal, from start to finish! This canal is a real killer at times! you can fish it one day and rip the place apart then on the other hand some missions can see only a few chases!! but we have always done very well!! my biggest fish in recent april sessions being a cracking 30lb 4oz!! with plenty of big teen's and the odd twenty showing its croc head! fishing this water needs to be approached with a very open mind!! most anglers turn there noses up at exeter canal due to its frustrating ability to make ever angler think he/she must have forgot to put the hooks on there tackle.... these pike are mean and very aggressive, and will smash you very close in and chase like a cat with a toy!!

Lure choice is a very personal thing, but we have caught on most stlyes and patterns!! but anything that has a bait fish profile will do the trick!! just keep working them fast/slow, deep/shallow..... think like a fish ha ha.

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Through the week.

We caught plenty of fish all through the day, between us we averaged 7-8 pike each day. most fish bein around 7lb to 9lb with fish that size chasing all day long!! if we caught every pike that chased of hit out lures we would of bagged 20-25 fish every day..... we fished exeter basin at the quay, on the wednesday fishing some of the shallow stretches finding our way to a mooring bay that is allot deeper than the previous stretch, we have caught well here before and strate away Terry hits into a fish that storms off going crazy! i crack open the net, expecting a beast to be shocked by a fish of 10lb 2oz!! what a fight!! After seing that i was ready for action, but struggled to get a fish! with only one strike!! while ill entertained the tackers Terry was in AGAIN with another good fish this time it stormed for the weeds and roots, tailwalking head shaking making a good show for its self..... it took some power to stop and once tamed it was in the net! another double this time dead on 11lb. Then very next cast he wacked on a FISH-TECH pike 9inch, i then realised that i was in trouble as i didnt have this beast of a lure!! and on this very next cast his rod smashed over, line peeled off the baitcaster then i saw this massive head shaking! this pike was very pissed off! it bolted off to the left where a lovely bush waited to snag the braid! so it was action time i got the net ready and only had a couple chances to net this fish as this was a horrible swim..... Terry put the brakes on and got the pike to the surface and i managed to get the net in place, we got her on the first attempt "few!"

once we got the weigh sling out and scales ready we new it was going to be the biggest of the week, it was'nt the 20+ but i knew we had a 15lber in my arms and yes, it was 14lb 12oz..... once the pictures had been taken it was slipped back! i kid you not i had not even managed to sort the net out when Terry shouted again!!....... the sod! this time blagging a 10lber again! all from one swim..... hat off to you Tezo, you done us proud and really showed me i cant always get all the luck!! ha ha