Just a quick one!

Just a quick one... 

 

It’s been quite some time since I’ve managed to get a blog out which is quite frustrating, but moving house, changing jobs and reacquainting myself with diving all seem to be things which demand a lot of time. Also the house move has taken me well outside walking distance of any river or lake near. In other words, nipping down to the River Aire for an impromptu morning or evening session is now impossible. With that in mind I have done some preliminary research into lakes, canals and streams in the Pudsey area, but unfortunately the information I’ve found so far has been a bit slim. Although I have been told if I can manage a bit of “Jungle warfare” there are trout to be caught from a nearby beck. So I think the only thing to do is to get out there and have a look (at the beck and a nearby lake) for myself.

Trip #28 - Hillcrest Farm/Needless fishery

After being contacted recently by a local angler who told me that Hillcrest Farm/Needless Fishery was throwing out huge bags of carp I decided to get down there and give it a try for myself! I was advised to get there early or all the good pegs would be taken and I’d be left fighting for a peg. So the alarm was set for half 7 and the gear was ready to go straight in the car.

Trip #27 - Non Go Bye Farm - Bottom Lake (2nd Visit)

Easter weekend had arrived and the weather was not living up to my expectations. My brother had arrived and I had promised to take get him out on the bank at least once while he visited. Although Yorkshire has a whole multitude of venues to choose from I wanted a reliable one where I knew fish were going to be caught no matter what the weather was going to throw at us. With that in mind we ventured out as soon as the torrential rain had stopped, packed the car and headed for None Go Bye Farm.

Lots of work has been carried out on the main island.

Crayfish Questionaire

I've been asked by an academic from the University of Leeds to help get anglers to answer a questionnaire about how Crayfish can and have affected angling venues. Please read the below information and give the questionnaire a whirl. It would be greatly appreciated. Theres also the possibility of getting a few quid!

Trip #26 - Kippax Park, Rainbow Lake.

Kippax Park Lakes have featured quite heavily in the press over the last 6 months, and I have read accounts of good weights coming from both Lapwing and Skylark lakes. So with that in mind, I thought it about time that I get round to trying all the lakes on the complex for myself. As they are also partly owned by Leeds DASA it would also mean a cheaper session than on some other commercials in the area. Setting off, rigs tied and car packed I was expecting a carp filled day out on a busy and promising fishery.

The 3 open Kippax Park Lakes

The EA in action!

I’ve lived in Leeds for just under 2 years now and since I have been here there has a huge build up of rubbish gathering behind a disused bridge off Milford Place. I’ve tweeted about it several times previously but nothing to my knowledge had been done about it. The mass of broken trees, rubbish and other debris that the river pushed underneath the bridge was made considerably larger by the torrential rain and storms Yorkshire experienced around the New Year. After checking on the build up recently it was getting perilously close to being a potential flood hazard, so, on meeting with an EA official I decided to visit this section of the river to discuss what, if anything could be done about it.

The rubbish before the storms around the New Year!

Trip #25 - A nice place for a Bike ride and a Picnic

When I wrote recently that I was in need of a greater challenge I thought that this past weekend would be the answer to my prayers. It was the turn one of the many Leeds ASA waters, a stretch of the Aire and Calder Navigation Canal, just off Skelton Grange Road. From a young child my grandfather had told me about matches on venues which resembled this, the Grand Union canal and the Brecon – Monmouth Canal. Scratching for small fish, but still constantly catching, trying to get a bag full of silver bits to get that vital win in the section. Looking at this place on the map as well as my first impressions when I arrived I thought I had hit the nail on the head! Well...

Blog Support!

I am happy to announce that Paul on Coarse Fishing is now supported by Fishtec! Thier website can be visited by the link on the right of my blog page. It also means that I will continue to deliver venue and Tackle store reviews, angling advice and pointers, as well as any other bankside observations which I think may be of interest to anglers!

I hope you've enjoyed my posts so far and I will try to keep the ones in the future as informative and enjoyable as possible!

Trip #24 - Birkin Fishery

My initial plans for where I would be fishing this weekend were scuppered by a fault of my own doing. A careful inspection of the Leeds ASA handbook clearly says a key is needed to access the bolted gate of Sandwath Lake. But in my excitement to leave I had hastily over looked this point and arrived at the lake thoroughly perplexed and slightly frustrated. After speaking to an Angler leaving the lake I discovered that a key was needed and there was no way I would be fishing that lake on this day. So after 10 minutes, a minor melt down and with the help of Google I found that Birkin Fisheries wasn’t that far away and that a few hours fishing was better than no hours fishing.

Fishing Basics - Knot Tying - The Half Blood Knot

Following on from my recent post about tying the 5 Turn Grinner knot, this is another very reliable knot which can be used to attach hooks, swivels and clips to your line. The Half blood is a knot which ties down very small and is a good alternative to the Grinner. What’s more, it is easy to tie. Again for the purposes of post I will be attaching the line to a fairly large swivel.

Fishing Basics - Knot Tying - 5 Turn Grinner.

Following on from one of my most recent posts I thought this time I would highlight how to tie one of the most heavily used knots in fishing. The 5 Turn Grinner knot. Tied correctly it is reliable, has a good knot strength and can be used to attach pretty much anything to your line! For the purposes of this post however I will be demonstrating using a fairly hefty swivel.

Fishing Basics – Loop Tying

While fishing recently I was asked by a young angler if I would tie a hook on to his rig. On handing over his rig, and having a look at his set up I was alarmed at how his whole rig was set up. After a brief conversation I persuaded the young angler that some of the knots I knew may mean when he hooked a fish it was less likely to get away and over the next 5 minutes I slowly deconstructed his rig and then carefully put it all back together in a way which (he assured me) made sense and was helpful. But it got me thinking and on speaking to another of my angling friends I found out that only a few knots were consistently used while fishing. So I thought I may do a few posts, hopefully to try to demonstrate what I find the most useful and practical knots and how to tie them; with the hope that some people will find this information of benefit.

Trip #23 - Dickies Pond, Spring End Farm

As I’m sure I’ve said before fishing a new venue comes with a certain level of excitement. The unknown is a factor which means you usually have to prepare for all methods of fishing, and try what you believe is the best on the day. Having done a bit of research into this venue and thinking I had the measure of it from the help of Google Maps, I arrived at the lake in the late morning and instantly felt over prepared. The lake looked more like an overly large duck pond than a fishery. Never the less there were some people scattered around the pond so I knew I was in the right place. I wheeled my gear around to the conifer side of the lake and before long I was setting up wondering what this little lake was going to throw up.

Dickies Pond on arrival

Trip #22 – An afternoon in the Freezer!

I should have realised when my bottle of squash began to freeze that today was going to be a tough and disparaging day. But I was happy to be on the bank and warm because of the thermal suit which once again I was trying to put through its paces. Setting up on the bank of South Accommodation road (a Leeds ASA stretch) I was unsure of what to expect from the venue. Having never fished it before but being told that this part of the river held big numbers of specimen roach, I set up 2 rods. One I setup with a light line on which I would be fishing a single maggot or caster, and the other, a more “beefy” set up ready for any of the Chub the river held. 

Trip #21 – Third times a Trout!

I was once told that fishing well in winter sorts the wheat from the chaff, and can sometimes require a more refined approach to that of the tactics used in the summer. Having altered my reel lines and tied new lighter hooklinks I decided to put this into practice on a small feeder stream off the River Aire that comes into its own when the river is in flood. Having fished the small stretch of water twice before, I knew it contained fish, but the recent cold snap meant that I was going to have to be a little bit more delicate than I had been previously.

Trip #20 – Highbury Pond

This session was going to be my first experience of fishing on a Leeds ASA water. I have walked around the pond previously, hoping to see some features, some fish moving or even some fish being caught. Given the time of year there were no real features to speak of, no fish (that I could see) moving and only one angler sitting very quietly looking down on to one of his quivertips. On my return visit I decided I would give the maggot feeder a try. The cold weather also gave me an excellent opportunity to fully test my recent winter purchase of an Avanti Cyclotherm Suit.

Cheese Paste made easy!

With the definite onset of winter, we begin to use baits which are generally associated with catching fish in the colder months. Moving away from pellets, meat and worm and using the more traditional baits such as bread, maggots and cheese paste. These baits are also used very effectively during the summer months, but tend to come to prominence during in the colder seasons as they have the potential to pick out the specimen fish, whether your quarry be Chub, sizable Roach or maybe the occasional winter Barbel. However, speaking to one of my friends who often fishes for winter Chub he seemed uncertain on how to make cheese paste. As it is a method I intend to use very shortly in my own fishing trips I thought I’d describe a very cheap and easy way to make bait which is suitable for freezing and will last you for plenty of winter fishing trips to come.

You will need;

This is all you need to make Cheese Paste!

The recent flooding and it's cost

Moving steadily on the from a balmy autumn to a (until recently) mild winter has left the water levels in many of the UK rivers and Lakes precariously low. So the recent storms offered the rivers and lakes a chance to take on some of the water which they may have lost over the summer and autumn months. At the time, the Environment Agency and MetOffice released flood warnings on all rivers in and around Yorkshire. So now the river is back to its usual level I went for a short walk to my nearest nature reserve (Kirkstall Valley Nature Reserve) to see if the recent flooding had an impact bank side.

Trip #19 - Predatory Practice - Take 2!

Having an afternoon spare meant that I was able to get out of the house and down to the canal for a few hours sport chasing an elusive Pike. Being cold it also meant that I could give my new Avanti Cyclotherm suit an outing in the hope of keeping warm and dry.

This is a heavily fished peg, the float in the rushes gave that away!