Rabbit
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Posts: 7,087
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Post by Rabbit on Nov 28, 2017 16:36:54 GMT
I have a local river which is tiny. So I went down for a 20 minute fishing session following a haircut. Just went while I waited for Helena. First cast and this monster came up. I was on a tiny four foot telescopic rod and had one helluva fight and had to tire this chub out so that it would keep still in order to allow me to lift it out of the river because I had no nets. It was two foot four inches in length and had a very fat belly. I couldn't believe that something this big would live in a tiny little stream. His head was almost as big as mine!! Also caught a little pike on the third cast. I used a little rubber fish to get it and just twitched it along the bottom of the river. You can see the lure in front of the fish in the picture of it on the bank. In all, before I went, I only made four casts before Helena phoned to say that she was waiting in the car!! I put him back after taking some pictures, but I could barely lift him in one hand to take the picture with the other because he was so heavy. It was a very heavy fish and holding it with one hand while the other took the picture was quite difficult as you can see from my face ...... the fishing line was cutting into my hand!!
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Post by marveltone on Nov 28, 2017 21:33:13 GMT
We'll done, Ian! Ultralight gear makes it more challenging and exciting. People around here are waiting for the ice to get thick enough to go ice fishing. Weather has been mild, so the ice is still thin.
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Rabbit
Administrator
Posts: 7,087
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Post by Rabbit on Nov 28, 2017 21:54:26 GMT
Funny thing with fishing gear is just how funny people get about it. (Like hifi gear I guess) Many sitting on big boxes of tackle with huge rods, so when they see this old bugger with a four foot telescopic rod (Kind of like an ice rod but a bit longer) they think I'm a joke. (I do have some serious gear though) Today, I walked along the bank passing people fishing in a traditional way and they kind of sniggered as I walked past. What they don't get though is that I look at the river and its covering, plus the bends and slack water, before I even cast my first lure in. I also look for swirls and shadows. Then it's a question of twitching the lure so that it resembles a real fish in trouble. That seems to trigger the attack response in fish. It's also a lot more fun as you say, with light gear, you get one massive fight and that lovely chub really went for it. They're strong fighters and have powerful muscles with a large tail fin, so boy, they can go. The other guys there couldn't believe that I could lift it out of the water in the end since I played it with the drag on the reel until it calmed down. So I turned up with my tiny rod and one lure and by the time I got the chub in, all of those sniggerers were running down the river to see what I'd got. Many had never seen a chub that big out of the river so suddenly, they all got converted to lure fishing with small tackle!!! Especially after the pike hit on the third throw while some watched. Truth is, I saw his shadow behind the chub even though he was a tiddler of about 18 inches. Funny thing about angling (at least in the UK) is that people have kind of learned to get all the tackle for specialist types of fishing, but they have never learned the way to read a river and actually find the fish. Many sit all day with their rods, patiently waiting for something to make a mistake, where I enjoy actively looking for them much more and the signs of something under the water. I was by the river for 15 to 20 minutes and then went. I've even fly fished for pike at times. I probably caught more than most of the others caught on maggots and a float all day in those twenty minutes. Made a nice break from filming and editing actually. Edit: I've looked up the British record for chub and it's 9lb 5 oz. So that one was a close thing. I didn't have scales but going from its length and just how fat it was, I could have found myself in the angling press!!
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