UKCF Anglers.

[Budgie Smuggler]

Nice fish and an even nicer dinner I'm sure [emoji106]


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[Simon G]

Finally! I can make a post on here and hold my head up high! A 55cm, 3.5lb sea bass caught from the shore using a small light rod and surface lure! BOOM! My first ever fish in this rod, and actually a personal best ever for me...


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[Johnny Thunder]

Thanks Simon.

[Simon Bolivar]

Indeed.Look they even do it from a boat, another 25lb'er. If I lived nearby I be putting in some serious time. He did take me along one Sept but he water level was still very low & we blanked. If you were interested best get in touch with the local PAC region. A 20lb+ river pike would put a bend in your rod & a smile on your face more than a 30lb carp from a small pit.
Teesside RA21 RO: Andy Eland
Email: andyeland@btinternet.com
Website: ra21teessidepac.blogspot.co.uk
Joint RO: Phil Dale
Email: phillip.dale2@btinternet.com
Darlington/Durham RA89

[Johnny Thunder]

That is very impressive. I have been told about big fish coming out of the Tees but information is very thin
on the ground so to speak. Nobody gives anything away.

[Simon Bolivar]

Not quite 30lb but 26 & 28lb from the River Tees, friend of a friend..

[Johnny Thunder]

My local river is the Tees. Flooding tends not to be a problem now unless we have extreme rainfall.
A barrage was constructed on the river a few years back and pretty much takes care of river levels.
The biggest problem the river has now is the Otter. It is a serious problem too. Fish stocks have been
absolutely hammered over the last few years. A lot of the stillwaters in the area have suffered too.

[Simon Bolivar]

What is your local river Johnny? River pike give a spectacular fight & can be fished for in freezing weather when the carp are lying dodo. Know what you mean about the mild winters, we only had a few days of ice up last year, in the past have had the waters frozen for months. Still the main problem with rivers is weed in the summer & flooding, highly coloured water in the winter.

[Johnny Thunder]

I think if I could find more time in the winter months to do more piking, I would look into purchasing a boat.
I would love to cruise up and down my local river looking for the pike. My time is already pretty much taken up
with the shooting season, and carp fishing much longer into the winter months due to our mild winters over the
last few years.

[Simon Bolivar]

Back in Belgium & Holland: Aye Johnny, to give it some perspective, I have never caught half a dozen in a day in Belgium or Holland & probably only done in once or twice in England. So to average 10 per day was quite something. The only thing missing was the big girls but to be honest just catching made the trip worth while & I really did feel that deep relaxation & felt removed from my normal worries of work & family. Bute is a beautiful place, I would highly recommend it to anyone traveling to Glasgow or surrounding area. A weekend on Bute would be enough to see the sights & give you a taste of life on the islands.

In the remaining 5wks of my leave I only managed a couple of trips at my local water with lures & one to Holland with my boat. Blanked every time but at least both my engines started on the boat so I won't be paying for a service on them until later in the season, as they have been used so little in the last year. Just need to get the side view fish finder fitted & spend the summer exploring slipways & marinas in Holland to prepare for this years winter piking.

After my day on the water in Holland on the River Amer, I stopped off en-route home for a coffee & a Marcella 1960's Monotube. You can see my boat parked on the road behind me.

[Johnny Thunder]

71 fish for the trip. That is some angling Simon. That was a cracking holiday.
Great report too. It makes me want to get the piking gear back out.

[Simon Bolivar]

Simon's Fishy Hols4 Cheers Johnny, yep the thumb healed without any problem thanks.
Sun Sun 5th June: Took the morning off & visited St Paul's for the first time & met visiting Bishop Kevin, who had ordained a vicar the previous day, the first ordination at this church in 135yrs. In the congregation I spotted two interesting chaps, who I spoke to afterwards. I was to be rather surprised to our connections. Ed Clark on the Left is an ex USN officer, who after 21 yrs left to join the US Merchant Navy, working in similar ships to our RFA's. He married a local lass & has been stuck here ever since (sounds familiar, that's how I ended up in Antwerp). Cdr Gordon Scott used to be a Medical Assistant in the RN during the WWII & was attached to the RM & was on several opposed Iandings in Borneo. They are now both in the Royal British Legion & Ed runs the museum & shop opposite the Church hall. I dragged them off to the Galatia pub garden for a few beers & a Trini Robusto.
I did fish Sun afternoon, taking the red boat out & trawled up & down but with the sunshine back as relentless as ever & having hit them so hard the day before, runs were hard to come by; finishing with just 6 jacks.

Mon 6th Jun So I started Monday with 60 pike caught so far. My previous best for week on Bute was 70 so a clear target to beat. Possible but 10 pike was more than I had caught all week, except Sat. Soon had one in the net at least I hadn?t blanked then!
Mon evening: With a taxi booked for 22:45 & a target of 11 pike needed to my prev hol PB. I had only 5 & half hrs to catch more than I had caught every day except Sat. Lit a mighty smooth Hoyo des Dieux 2008 & waited for the next run. Started off well enough but slowed down reaching No69 21:50. I lit up a Vegerous Seoane; with two DB's out & had to wait until 22:25 until I broke even with this one for 70, whilst still smoking the cigar. Just one needed for a new PB. I called the taxi company & they agreed to pick me up later. Straight after the call I had a run & landed this near dble. No71 (final fish photo) :O) Time to pack up & head back to the flat. Had to wait ages for the taxi as the original one was written off when it hit red deer stag, the BMW was only a week old, I could almost hear the owners cries from the Lough. From getting back to the flat until 03:00 I was cleaning my gear & packing. Up at 05:30 to catch the 06:25 ferry, train & Eurostar & home by 20:30. Another great holiday on Bute!

[Johnny Thunder]

Unbelievable day Simon. Top angling. That is a cracking haul of pike. Well done.
I hope the finger has healed ok.

[Simon Bolivar]

Simon's fishy hols 3:Sat:4th June 07:54. Having had 3 jacks to the lure this morning this cheeky bugger managed to break the tip of my rod whilst going crazy by the side of the boat. Just cut the tip down to the next rod ring & carried on, was a bit stiffer & although trickier to judge tight casts, did mean I could play them a little harder. By 10:25 I caught my 12th pike of the day, a mean 7lb'er. I was having an amazing morning approx 55lb total already & with the conditions looking set for the day, knew I could be on for the Ton or more. Then a crazy pike that I was playing actually jumped into the boat! It was bashing itself against everything & even though it had thoughtfully landed on my unhooking mat, it still found the things to strike against. I had kept my neoprene waders on to protect from flying hooks & so got astride it to take control, when the flying hook found my thumb before I had a chance to put my hook proof glove on. Still attached to the pike, this could have been rather unpleasant. I first unhooked the pike from the first treble & slipped it over the side. Then cut off the trace & the two cut the two other points off to prevent any chance of hooking myself further. I put my thumb on the boat seat & pulled as hard as I could to extract the hook. Didn't budge. Tried to push it through as hard as I could but it was right into the thumb pad & I just couldn't move it either way. So I resigned myself to having to stop fishing for a while & go & seek help for the Clinic. Put on a couple of plasters to stop it catching whilst I rowed across the wind to the bivvied up visitors & asked Peter who happens to be a nurse, if he could possibly take me to the clinic. He agreed & I was surprised to find it was only a 5min drive away. Two priority cases meant we were there for 2hrs but even though I said Peter didn't need to wait he insisted on staying with me to take me back. Many thanks mate! I explained to the Doctor how I wanted this to go, local anaesthetic & then push the hook through pass the barb, cut the barb & then withdraw, He agreed to the plan but just like the dentist, was keen to start before the thumb was fully numb. When I complained, he replied, it's only the thumb tip that's not numb. Yes, I replied, just where the hook is! The nurse suggested I swing my hand about & encourage the local to circulate & this did the trick. I guess I could only feel 10% when he pushed it through. But as a tip, I was using the sharpest hooks & he still really had to push to get it through so I wouldn't recommend you trying to do that unless the point is just under the surface. Once the barb was exposed I picked up their cutters (I had taken my own just in case!) & cut off the barb so the doctor could remove the hook. A betadine dressing later & a few vinyl gloves in my pocket to keep the dressing dry & we were heading back to the loch.at 04th June: 14:05 Back & fishing again after a 3 1/2 break going to the clinic. Things had obviously hadn't slowed down as I had to wait 5mins for my next run, a nice 9lb'er on Lamprey. 14:45 & I had a 12lb'er, scales having died completely now despite a new 9v battery I borrowed Peter's. Had a few missed runs before crossing the 100lb barrier at 17:10 :O) 16:45 The best of the day @ 12lb 08. I would have assumed it was the same 12lb'er but it jumped out of the water x3 & no way would it have had that energy if it had just been caught. Took a break & smoked an R&J Cazadore 2005, the designed Havana to smoke outdoors.
18:35 went back on the boat & with the breeze still brisk, I rowed up & down across the far bay getting regular hits on trawled pollen & smelt. I was fishing as hard as I could, going now for the 150lb mark. I was at 147lb 21:35, having moved up to the top end for the last hour, I picked up a 6lb jack on a orange mega curly tail, which also was my 25th for the day. So my last targets left were to beat my previous PB for a day at 160lb & get 30 pike. One more at 21:40, & 21:45 took me to 160lb & casting with the Spinnerbait caught me my final fish a 5lb'er taking me to 165lb+ with 29 fish. Fished until 22:15 but couldn't get No30. Finished happy enough to go from 17POB to 29 is a heck of a new PB & still leaves me the target of 30 for another year.

[Johnny Thunder]

Excellent. That is a great day of fishing Simon. A good bag.
Nice smokes again too.