Michael Sparks

Fishing Diary

[getyourtackleout]

(Various fishing trips between September and December 2014) 

Collectively I have found that over all small popped up baits such as double hair rigged corn (synthetic pop-up corn) or Cell Fluro Pop-up/ wafters have been the most effective for attracting the Bream this year for me. I have mainly fished a local lake for bream this year; Staunton Country Park. I have been catching them ranging from 1lb up to 5lb 9zo. My main method for catching the bream this year has been on a flat bed method feeder with a short hair rig.

Equipment used:

1x Carp Kinetics Fusion Expert 2.5lb Test Curve Rod

1x JW Mirage John Wilson 10ft Float Rod

1x Quantum Hypercast Browning RCF740 Reel 

1x Crivit AF-1457 Reel

1x Flatbed Method feeder + Size 8 gator hook. 

1x Bolt Rig with a Fox flat pear inline weight + Size 8 gator hook.

Bait used:

Cell Pop-up dumbbell wafters

Sweet corn/ real and synthetic pop up sweet corn.

Mainline Cell boilies

(TIP: I have found that fishing bright coloured pop-ups over a method feeder of either 'Red Crumb' or 'Fishmeal' with betaine pellets has been most effective)      

[getyourtackleout]

(Various Fishing trips between October and December 2014) 

This year I thought I would do a post or two on Perch fishing as I have had a few good ones in the last few months, not all big but all quality fish. I have been fishing my local lake 'Staunton Country Park' and having good fun catching the perch while the carp have gone a bit dormant. I have even been catching some great perch on my 'Pen Rod' from E-bay. (It's brilliant fun and copes perfectly with various fish to 3lb) My main method for catching these perch is float fishing a single chopped up worm (maggot size pieces x 3 or 4 per hook) I have had good success with this bait and method fishing tight to the bank and no further out than 4ft. Worms are a good choice of bait for perch fishing because firstly they are inexpensive, secondly unlike maggots they are easy to keep alive for long periods of time and last but not least you get to decide on the length of to piece you use. 

Equipment used: 

1x JW Mirage John Wilson 10ft Float Rod

1x Crivit AF-1457 Reel

4lb monofilament line

(Pen rod and Reel)

Various Size 12 barbless hooks

Standard 3BB waggler Float

Bait used:

Worms (chopped)

Fishmeal Method Mix

(TIP: I found that the key was to fish tight into the bank with the float set roughly 4 inches over depth, (under-shot the float, but over-shot the line about 5 inches from the hook. This enables the float to plumb its own depth) Also keep a steady flow of ground bait going into your swim to keep the fish busy. (I was chopping up the worms into 1 or 2 mil pieces and then adding the method mix and water to roll into balls; so it all got to the bottom of the lake).  

[getyourtackleout]

16/12/2014

Today I went fishing with my granddad to a lake neither of us had fished before so we were keen to get a line wet. The lake we fished is called 'Hambrook Lakes Centre' in West-Sussex. This is a nice little lake with a good head of fish but being the winter months we found that the carp were shoaling up along the margins, taking cover under over-hung tree roots and washed away banks. After arriving at this lake in the morning we chose a peg each and began to fish, however after a while with no bites and a distinct lake of fishy presence we decided to have a walk around the lake further; which is when we began to find the shoals under the far banks. After a stroll with a rod and net I managed to stalk out a couple of beautifully coloured winter carp. Unfortunately we were unable to weigh these fish but either way they were a pleasure to catch.

Equipment used:

1x Carp Kinetics Fusion Expert 2.5lb Test Curve Rod

1x JW Mirage John Wilson 10ft Float Rod

1x Quantum Hypercast Browning RCF740 Reel 

1x Crivit AF-1457 Reel

1x Flatbed Method feeder + Size 8 gator hook. 

1x Bolt Rig with a Fox flat pear inline weight + Size 8 gator hook.

Bait used:

2x Mainline Cell Boilies. 

(TIP: In the winter months, the carp shoal along the banks under the over hung tree roots, using a method feeder/ bolt rig lower the bait tight in to the margins and roots and hold the rod (almost touch-ledgering) to feel for gentle plucks and then just lean into the bite) 

[getyourtackleout]

30/09/2014

Quick morning session down the local canal at Chichester today with my cousin, the day started out completely overcast but around 10am the sun burst through and the day was beautifully sunny. Just a quick session throwing some lures down the canal, but I managed to pull out this little Pike of 2lb 2oz at noon. Good fun on light tackle, this is quickly becoming one of my favorite places to come for a little escapism.

Equipment used:

1x Shakespeare In 2 6ft Spin Rod

1x Qunhai SG-2000 Reel

1x white soft plastic 5Inch shad

(TIP: At this location I have found that a steady retrieve works best for the pike, and last light seems to bring more takes) 

[getyourtackleout]

14/09/2014

This was a quick spur of the moment evening session fishing a local water at Staunton Country Park, I arrived at around 4pm and fished until last light, this session was more of a test than anything, I just wanted to see if this lake still had fish in it as the catch reports were few and far between. I only had little bites all day, and then towards last light i managed to catch this bream at around 2 - 2.5lb. 

Equipment used:

1x JW Mirage John Wilson 10ft Float Rod

1x Crivit AF-1457 Reel

1x Method feeder + size 8 gator hook

Bait used:

Coconut + Scopex Boilie

(Tip: This water fishes well towards last light but find a swim that has good features, a lot of the carp seem to be tucked under the Lilly pads.)

[getyourtackleout]

21/09/2014

Today was another early session fishing with my eldest brother at Vale Farm in Andover, we got up and left the house at 04:30AM. We did the usual thing, turn up, reccy the lake, then set up and fish. By the time we got to the swims we selected it was still dark out, but the sun was just breaking through. At first light we could already hear that the carp were splashing around and showing loads of signs in our swim. Being new to this water I decided to try out a few different techniques and baits to begin with but I was only getting bites from little bream and roach. At 07:20AM I managed to catch my first carp of the day off the surface using a home made floating surface bait, this was a Common Carp of just under 5.5lb, after this the carp went off the feed from the surface in my swim. The next carp I managed to get was at 09:00 AM and this was a Mirror Carp which weighed exactly 5lb and I caught this on a soft halibut pellet. Although I'd had these two fish and lots of bites, they were few and far between and my brother had already had a lot of carp out. So as instructed by him I changed my tactics and on both rods I put a method feeder and fished close in the margins using a single Robbin Red Pellet and using only pellets as ground bait. This was a deadly combination for the day! As the day progressed I managed to pull out 7 carp and 1 bream, the biggest carp being my current personal best of 11lb 6oz. (as seen above) My brother also caught a Carp of 11lb 6oz this day as you can also see above. Overall a fantastic day fishing, and we plan to fish this venue again very soon!

Equipment used:

 1x Carp Kinetics Fusion Expert 2.5lb Test Curve Rod 

1x JW Mirage John Wilson 10ft Float Rod

1x Quantum Hypercast Browning RCF740 Reel

1x Crivit AF-1457 Reel

2x Flatbed Method feeder + Kamasan Size 8 hook + Gator hook size 8

Bait used:

- Home made pop up and boilies

- Browning Chewies (Halibut)

- Robbing Red Pellets (Bait of the day)

(TIP: At this venue you have to arrive early in order to get a swim, its a very active water so never leave your rod unattended. Fishing as close in to the margins and fishing a pellet only approach here is deadly).

[getyourtackleout]

01/09/2014

Today was a bit of an all round adventure/ reccy day for one of my brothers and I, we decided to take a trip to Chichester to fish the canal. We had read a few different posts online about this venue but no where really specified to much detail; so we thought we would give it a go and turn up blind and try a few different things.

We started the day with our match set ups hoping to pick up anything that we could to get an idea of what was in the water. We started by having one rod out with a method feeder using pellets and the other a float set up for maybe some smaller fish. We tried many different tactics and also tried changing swims a few times however, the only thing that we managed to pull out was a few tiny perch and roach on very small pinches of bread. After trying various different tactics, baits & swims, nothing seemed to work. What also didn't help was that the canal boat kept passing us and turning clear water into a mud-slick; So we decided to pack up our rods and move on to our final tactic. We each packed down to one rod each and decided to go for a soft plastic lure approach, this turned out to be very effective for the pike. We each had a few takes on our lures and managed to land a pike each before the day was out. I managed to land one of around the 4lb mark and my brother landed one around 2lb, but we have seen pike in this water a lot bigger. 

Equipment used:

1x Mitchell Tradition 6ft Baitcaster Spinning Rod

1x Crivit AF-1457 Reel

Various Soft plastic Lures.

(TIP: Lure fishing here is effective with soft plastics, we found that bright green lures, and white lures to be good but anything with stripes like a mackerel or perch are deadly!)

[getyourtackleout]

31/08/2014

Today I went for a morning fishing trip with my brother, to a lake called 'Golden Pond' in Andover. We got up early and arrived at the lake around 6AM, the sun was just breaking through the clouds as we arrived and there was still a cool mist over the lake. After taking a quick reccy around the lake, we selected our swims and then gathered our gear from the car and set up. I went for a method feeder on one rod and free-lined surface baits on the other. Although we didn't land lots of fish all day,our rods were consistently active throughout the trip. I managed to land three fish this trip, the biggest being an 8lb Common Carp caught on a single floated dog biscuit, I also caught a Roach of just over 1lb and a new fish for me which was a Fantail Carp which was also around 1lb. As we only fished until noon I only managed to capture the one pic but this lake is well worth fishing again. 

Equipment used: 

1 x JW Mirage John Wilson 10ft Float Rod

1x Mitchell Tradition 1pc 6ft Baitcaster Spinning rod

1x Quantum Hypercast Browning RCF740 Reel

1x Crivit AF-1457 Reel

1 x Flatbed Method Feeder + Drennen size 12 Hook

1 x Kamasan B981 Size 8 Hook (free lined)

Bait Used:

Browning Hybrid Paste Pellet 'Chewies' (Halibut)

Pedigree Chum Dog Biscuits

Dynamite baits - Red Crum Groundbait

(TIP: I found that fishing sweetcorn and small pellets at this venue will only lead to catching small bream and roach. However, if you double up the baits then you stand a good chance of hooking bigger fish in the margins) 

[getyourtackleout]

After not updating my blog for a while I have a few fishing trips backlogged to i'll start updating again now. 

12/08/14

Today I went for a fishing trip to a local water about half an hours drive from my house, I have never been to this water before but my brother and granddad who I went with assured me that it is a good water. The lake is called 'The Pump Station', which is a part of a leisure complex called 'MBK Leisures'. Upon arrival at this venue the sky was quite clear and the sun was up, so it was a fairly warm august day, however as the day progressed there were light showers on and off all day. 

I started the day float fishing pellets at about 10ft off the bank where I saw fish moving around, but after a few attempts with various baits I never got a single bite. I did however see some carp beginning to surface in the sun at about 20ft off the bank of my swim, so i threw some dog biscuits out, little and often to lure them in closer. After I started seeing them taking the biscuits regularly I took all the shots off my float rod so that it works like a surface controller, I then hooked some pre-soaked biscuits onto my hook and cast out. This method turned out to be very effective for the day and in total I managed to pull out 12 carp (mirrors and commons) ranging from 3lb up to 9lb which was real good fun. 

Equipment used:

1x JW Mirage John Wilson 10ft Float Rod

1x Quantum Hypercast Browning RCF 740 Reel

1x Kamasan B981 Size 8 Hook

1x Premier Loaded 3BB Waggler Float

Bait used: 

Pedigree Chum Dog Biscuits

(Tips: I found that instead of drilling and hair rigging the biscuits, it was much more effective when I soaked a few biscuits for about an hour and then allowed them to dry back out for another half an hour; then you can use them as a hook bait and pull the hook straight into the carps mouth) 

[talkstotheanimals]

Now this, this truly is amazing! A National Graphic photographer recollects his experience photographing Leopard seals in the Antarctic. Just comes to show how wrong our traditional idea of ‘Nature read in tooth and claw’ can be. Plus the fact that Leopard seals rock harder than a boulder.

[r0flc0p73rb07-deactivated201901]

This is such an incredible story I just can’t even handle where all of my feelings went.

[songbirdoftyran]

HOOMAN WATER U DOIN U NEED EATZ

[robotsandfrippary]

She’s a leopard seal gramma.  “YOU NEED TO EAT, BABY.  EAT.” 

[roseroyalty-moving]

this is my dream job

[veritasunae]

this dude was on adam hills tonight. he’s rad.

[getyourtackleout]

27/08/2013

Yesterday was a last minute decision to get out fishing, but so worth it! overall it was a very productive day of fishing with my cousin Jay, We fished a few different marks around Portsmouth but found that fishing next to the round tower in old-Portsmouth was the most productive. We each had a few nice fish my biggest wrasse of the day was at about a pound.

Equipment used:

6ft Shakespeare spin rod

Rovex Verona spinning reel

20lb Red Ice mono line

Size 4 hooks 

1oz weights

Rag-worm

TIP: Today we arrived at the mark just before high-tide and at first glance it seemed perfect for our usual methods however it was very still to begin with.. it wasn't until the tide started to ebb that we found casting about 30yrd out and letting our lines drift with the current we managed to find the fish; and they were biting hard.

[getyourtackleout]

21/08/2013 Can't think of a better way to start a morning than a spot of bass fishing n light tackle. The weather this morning was baking hot and I have the sun burn to prove it. I fished the tide up for 2 hours and then down again for 3 hours at Chichester Harbour. There was a northerly wind blowing this morning which brought a lot of seaweed towards me so lure fishing was out of the picture unfortunately so i just stuck to using bait. Above are a few lovely little bass I caught and released this morning. Equipment used: 1. 10ft Jarvis Walker Devil Rod 2. Jarvis Walker Devil reel 3. 20lb red ice mono line 4. Running ledger rig 5. Size 2/0 hook 6. 3oz weight 7. Rag-worm TIP: Today I found that the fish were feeding very far out so I had to cast as far as I possibly could, also I found that the bites were very sharp and inconsistent so I had to hold the rod after the first bite and try and set the hook quickly when the fish were biting.

[getyourtackleout]

19/08/2013 Yesterday was a very enjoyable days fishing for wrasse in Portsmouth. The day started with rain but soon cleared up into bright sun shine. On this trip I was joined by my cousin Jay who I fish with on a regular basis, we started fishing just after high tide and then fished the tide down off of the rocks beside the round tower in old Portsmouth. Between us we managed to hook and land many wrasse, blennys, pouting and Jay even had a small bass which was a nice surprise. Over all a very fun day of fishing.

Equipment used: 1. 9ft Mitchell spin premium 272 rod + 6ft Shakespeare spin rod 2. Rovex Varona fixed spool reel + Jarvis Walker devil reel 3. 20lb red ice mono line 4. Paternoster rig 5. Size 4 hooks 6. 1oz weights

TIP: I found that as the tide was running off quick today that instead of fishing just off the rocks it was more productive to cast about 20ft out.

[getyourtackleout]

Hopefully if the weather holds out for me I'll have another good day of wrasse fishing tomorrow :)

[getyourtackleout]

17/08/2013 An early morning wrasse session with a good friend is always worth getting out of bed for. Today we took a trip down to old Portsmouth to do some light weight wrasse fishing using crab and left over rag worm, nothing big was caught but over all a good morning. Although the morning started a little bit chilly the day soon warmed up with odd patches of sun. I caught a few nice little wrasse and blennys and my good friend Tom caught some wrasse and a pouting.

Equipment used: 1. 9ft Mitchell spin premium 272 rod 2. Rovex verona fixed spool reel 3. Red ice 20lb line 4. Size 4 hooks 5. 1oz hooks

TIP: Today I found that using a paternoster so that the hook length is only just about the weight, then using either crab elasticated to the hook or small sections of harbour ragworm just drop the hook length over the edge of a doc side or off of rocks and be sure to strike quick into the wrasse.

[thingsiphotoshopped]

Overfishing

Predators and sea creatures

Seals and cod

Hypoxia and dead zones

Are you finished with finning?

[getyourtackleout]

15/08/2013 Yesterday wasn't the most active of fishing days at Eastney beach with family, but the baby pollock kept me entertained for hours. The day started very overcast so I wasn't expecting much at first but after about half 11am the sun decided to make an appearance. With the intentions of catching the shoals of mackerel again this week I started with my trusty friend the Storm shrimp trace. To begin with it seemed as though no fish were feeding but after a few more casts we found that in close the baby pollock were taking the shrimp traces. Equipment used: 1. 10ft Jarvis Walker Devil rod (overkill for such small fish) 2. Jarvis Walker Devil reel 3. Red Ice 20lb mono line (for the snags) 4. Storm shrimp traces TIP: As for all Pollock fishing, finding features like reefs and kelp beds is a must from the shore. Pollock do not usually like jerking action with lures so whether you use shrimp traces for the babies or synthetic sand eels or jelly worms for the bigger pollock; make sure you keep a nice steady slow retrieve and do not speed up or slow down too much.