My Metaphorical Jam Jar!

The Anglers Mail carried an article on a "giant stickleback" caught from Head Fen's Snake Lake of 7 drams, apparently the second largest ever caught in Britain.

So rod and metaphorical jam-jar in hand I set off to find this new mecca for specimen sticklebacks! Eventually I found the lakes and had less than three hours to track down a record breaker.

An hour in and I had caught brown goldfish and loads of tiny common and mirror carp on my float fished maggots or pinkies fished on a size 22 hook.

Another hour and two more swims tried, more brown goldfish and small carp to just over the pound. I was starting to get worried.

I swept the landing net through the margins against the reeds. Yep, the evidence was there loads of stickleback fry so the adults must be around somewhere. Eventually after missing loads of bites I connected with a stickleback of average size just before I had to get off the water, the record breaker would have to wait!

Anyone know a stockist for size 26 hooks and magnifying glasses so that I can see to bait up?

Return to Boyhood

 Every angler should take a break from pursuing monsters and return to boyhood and spend a day float fishing an overstocked little pond where it's a bite a chuck.

At Anglers Paradise the float lake is one such water and Zyg has stocked this lake with a wide variety of ornamental species. I decided to spend a couple of hours float fishing for whatever came along. 

I picked a swim with seven foot of water just off the rod tip next to some reeds. The rules stipulate a minimum beaking strain of 4lb and size 14 hook so I set up a 2BB Insert Waggler with an olivette just above the hooklength and size 10 dropper shot to try and get the hookbait down to the better quality fish.

I decided to fish crucian style initially feeding four walnut sized balls of swim stim groundbait loaded with 3ml pellets, topping up the swim with another ball every twenty minutes or so.

Fishing three maggots it was a bite a cast and often the bait was taken on the drop by a golden rudd. Personally I found golden rudd rather odd looking fish. When the bait got down through the rudd, blue orfe, golden tench, goldfish in all colours, koi and ghost carp responded. A change to a small cube of luncheon meat improved the average size and goldfish in particular responded to this bait.

For many years wild coloured goldfish were sold by unscrupulous fish farmers as crucian carp and stocked into so many fisheries that the true crucians have become quite rare. No such pretence here with golfish being found in all colours and shapes from wild coloured goldlfish to vivid orange fantails. Interestingly goldfish like their cousins the crucian carp are infuriating in that many bites are missed.

 I enjoyed my return to boyhood so much that I did it all again on the last day of the holiday