Back to the basics

Getting there!
My daughter wants to know what it was like to make proper photographs!
This should do it!


All old tech. My daughter's 'new' darkroom. (XMAS PRESENT)
Ta Glen Pointon for the 6x6. I have added an OM 1 which I got cheap and replaced the seals with closed cell foam.

 

 

Superb Durst Mod 70 enlarger with top lenses, picking up the rest off ebay next week. Happy days to come!!!!

Bullhead!

 

Bullhead. Not Bonehead!

Half term!

I might have to update this tomorrow, but I have had a great couple of days with good friends.

Yesterday we nipped off down to a local river to try to find some difficult bug.gers.

 

I knew where they lived ( 20 minutes from where I live) and Bone managed a good one. Unfortunately I caught another out of season trout which was rather large! Out of season so no photo!

 

Today we were mostly going a piking. 

Different fish...same bloody leaf!

out of season trout

This afternoon, me and Bone nipped down to one of our club venues to trot a river for grayling. We are allowed to do so at this time of the year. In  a short session, I had over 30 trout and grayling from the same peg. The fish, some large, were ravenous and in tip top condition. It is the close season for trout but they are an unavoidable capture.
It is recommended  that you should move pegs if catching trout. I didn't as it would not have mattered. (Bone proved it, catching trout from several areas).
It was suprising to see how many fish there were in such a short run, and there is no way I caught them all!
Things are looking good on this river!
No Pictures sorry!
 

Batman

Ok, so it's blurred but I was determined to get a shot of one of the bats that fly around my back garden. Taken a few weeks ago. I guessed the distance, put my camera on manual focus and shot away in the darkness at barely visible silhouettes.

Anyone know the species? Bet RR does!

PIKE!

We went a piking.

We went with an expert (Phil) to a small lake not 4 miles from where we live. We went with Phil, 'cos we had no idea of how to unhook them. I've put my fingers into some strange things in the past; but sorry, unhooking a pike was something I was seriously worried about.!
Cheers to Phil for making it look so easy. Bone and me unhooked our pike and they went on their way, without damage. Good instructions, unhooking mat, barbless hooks, and some seriously long pliers.

 

A tiddler

 

 

 

Bone has a bigger one than me

 

 

Bone went the next day and caught the SAME fish. Shows how well we looked after them.

The point of this latest post is: Don't go fishing for pike if you are not confident or do not know how to unhook them. They are beautiful fish, give a good account of themselves and deserve the same care as you would with any fish you are releasing.

More carp 'on the fly'

I don't want this to become the most boring blog  ever by showing more pictures of carp caught off the top  but I think it would be a good idea to share some interesting observations. Some would say 'secrets' but that word has no place in my philosophy as for fishing techniques.
 Lots of folk put a great deal of effort into trying out new methods or even honing older ideas, adapting them to modern advances in tackle and our ever changing venues. Some decide to keep it secret but I think it is good to share techniques that you have had good success with.

 

 

My carp floater box. Some are better than others.

 

Wine cork with the hook at the correct angle ( i think )

 

This one was 12lb 11oz

 

 

There are some fellow bloggers who must agree with me like Glen Pointon, RR (dryfly expert) and Mick Martin(Derbyshire on the fly) who all share their experiences in incredible detail.

I have been on a mission.
Carp on the fly is not new by any  means. But it can be the best fun ever if you do it right.
So here we go. My secrets for anyone interested.....
My previous posts show how much I had to learn. I was even tempted to remove them, but no it is progression.

First of all we found that cork had to be the the correct shape and size. Sounds obvious but it is a silhouette the carp see, not colour or even smell.
Just glueing the cork to the hook was not good enough. We missed so many 'takes' you would not believe.
We have now got close to perfect. I t is all down to the angle you glue the hook.
Looks obvious now but it took some working out.

Last weekend I set up the fly rod ( bought some excellent three piece #8 Shakespeare three piece jobbies for £20) and shared them with my mates.
We visited a lake advertised in the Angling Times. Everyone fishing on the bottom. Carp on the top. Bone had two on bread, I had 3 on cork. No one else caught. Enough said!