Fishfinders for ice fishing

The ice fishing season is in full swing again in the northern part of the hemisphere and I get many questions about choosing a fish finder for ice fishing so I thought it was a good time to address the topic. Which type? There are two types of ice fishing fish finders. One is the traditional flasher and the other is the more modern fish finder you will find in most boating situations. The Flasher A simple depth and fish finding device that displays the bottom echo and depth as well as any other echos (hopefully fish) and the depth they are holding. Modern fish finder Depending on the model these type of fish finders show everything, including structure and fish. There have been special ice fishing models released fairly recently which are fantastic and can run all day on a battery. Choosing the right one The most important thing about choosing an ice fishing fishfinder is the ability to handle the cold conditions! After this the power of the unit should be the key consideration. If you need your fish finder to penetrate the ice you may need extra power than someone using a transducer in the water. Other important considerations: Battery Life – will it last all day or more? Zoom Mode – can it zoom in on a section of the water column? How much can it zoom and is it adjustable? Color or mono? Can it give readings before you start drilling? Warranty! Hopefully this helps you make your decision when purchasing a depth finder for your ice fishing. If you have any questions feel free to email me or leave a comment.

Posted on December 15, 2008 Filed Under Fish, Fishing | Leave a Comment

Two Hours Later

All morning part of me had wanted to nip off to Pennine fisheries , today was a forum match . I imagined it would be a day of a job and with Christmas now only just over a week away I thought it a bit much to ask . At 10.30am the kids were off with Melanie to a party it’s a works organised thing this gave me until dinner ”be back for one” was the last words as she left !! so as long as I was back before two I’d not be in for much earache. My mind was still thinking of how Phil and Mike were faring as I walked down to the brook but I was soon fishing …… the first cast brought me a little Roach ,this continued and the float dipped and the rod arched at a steady rate . Before long I was into a better fish well over a pound and with the river pushing through it fought well , with them being out of season I play them as quick as I can and take a quick picture , it was cold putting them back I like holding them in the current until I feel them kick and swim off . The next Trout was a good one again it was lean but a good length , on closer inspection it had been marked looked like it may have had an encounter with a Heron. (I hope) What do you think……Heron ? The float dipped again just as I was talking to a bloke who informed me of how polluted the water was 40years back . It felt solid another trout? A red fin broke the surface and I was rewarded with a perfect winter Roach this was the sort of fish I Was after !! Pristine is the only word to describe a fish like that and from such a little Brook . The fishing was good Trout , Roach and so on The Trout were taking the bait so much so that the Roach got pushed out. My hand was now numb with returning Trout and with the Roach drying up I decided to pack up . Two things the Chub… have they gone? and on a more positive note the little closed face reel works a treat it was for this kind of ware I got it and was worth every penny. On my return just after one it was hard to believe some two hours later I had caught so many fish …… and I wasn’t late ahhhhhhhh bliss!!

Posted on December 14, 2008 Filed Under Fish, Fishing | Leave a Comment

Fishing Report: 6th December 2008 – Bateman’s Tower, Brightlingsea

I didn’t really have the time to spare for a proper session this weekend but on the spur of the moment decided to have a few hours on Bateman’s Tower once it got dark. Given that it was a neap tide (which traditionally have not given me good results in the river at this time of the year) and there was likely to be an awful lot of freshwater in the river, courtesy of all the rain we have had lately I wasn’t expecting to catch too much and ultimately my hunch was right. Things were much as I expected. I fished two rods reasonably hard for about 3 hours (1 hour of the flood, about 2 of the ebb) with Frozen Blacks, Squid and Ragworm and struggled for a bite in stark contrast to more recent results at Clacton. Despite the lack of action I stuck at it and eventually, about an hour on the ebb managed to take two fish in quick succession to save my pride, 1 small Whiting about 2 inches long and an equally small Flounder of about 4 inches. Despite having already replaced the camera that died on me during my previous session I was feeling the cold to the point that I really couldn’t be bothered to take photos of my minuscule specimens and by 9pm, quite frankly, I’d had enough and headed home to warm up. On the plus side the session did give me the chance to try out an old 1990 Black ABU 6500CT Ultracast that I have recently added a mag brake upgrade to. Its an old favourite that I’ve hardly used of late simply because I’ve got used to the ease of use of my Mag Elites which give you the opportunity to adjust the braking to suit the conditions, something that centrifugal brakes don’t offer unless you fancy taking the reel apart on the beach. The reel behaved impeccably and the single magnet of the upgrade and two small centrifugal blocks gave me just the right amount of flexibility I needed. Despite having cold hands I had absolutely no problems casting it all night and if the reel is usable in the cold and the wet then I’m unlikely to have problems with it in the warmer weather. As a footnote to this post, a few pals fished a match held at Brightlingsea (in freezing fog!) the following night. Results were similar to mine with only small stuff coming out and I wouldn’t really expect this to change until better tides appear with the freshwater out of the river. If anybody is intending fishing this side of the river over the next week or two I’d suggest targeting the Flatties which should be just starting to gather up now for their pre-spawning feed up – they are probably going to be the only thing of any consequence feeding in the current levels of freshwater with the best bait for them being a good sized bunch of Maddies. Fish in the daylight to target the bigger fish.

Posted on December 12, 2008 Filed Under Fish, Fishing, Sea Holidays | Leave a Comment

Great fishing holidays

Currently I am on the road and am using one of those fancy wireless internet usb connections to post this for you. I have been on some great fishing holidays, The one where I caught my first tarpon was probably my favorite. My dream fishing destination is probably Fiji or Tonga but I would also like to fish New Zealand for the big trout that live in the many great rivers. I also would like to fish the Midway Islands (maybe I just want to fish everywhere). Basically the point of this little post is that I am wondering what was your favorite fishing hoiday or dream destination? Please leave a comment.

Posted on December 12, 2008 Filed Under Fish, Fishing, Sea Fishing | Leave a Comment

Pike fly fishing with Poppers

I’m sure all of you who fly-fish for pike have at least one or two poppers in your ever expanding collection of flies. If not, I highly recommend you invest in a few or if possible make a couple. My fly box primarily consists of 80% surface lures from mid August to the end of September, especially the Popper. Now I’m not suggesting you follow my train of thought in any way, it’s just my preferred line of attack during the autumn months. I still remember the fist pike I caught using the popper like it was yesterday. I had bought a couple in the Netherlands in 98 and had taken them up to Scotland with high hopes of them being everything “Henk” the tackle shop owner had so vehemently promised they would be, and how right the old boy was! The sheer rush I received when I saw the water boil behind it as I stripped it across the surface has stayed with me to this day. I just don’t get the same thrill while fishing with a Streamer, Bunny-wobblers or a Bomber under the surface. To visually watch my lure slowly creeping its way back towards me supersedes by far any other form of Pike fly-fishing. I also tend to concentrate a lot more during a session of popping as well. Coupled with the anticipation & frequent rushes of adrenaline that cause through my veins, I am literally quite drained at the end of the day. Poppers themselves Most fly tackle shops that have a Pike fly-fishing section now supply a range of ready made surface lures from Divers, Skipping bugs, Sliders, Wiggle bugs & off course Poppers. Many also carry a range of finished Popper heads which come in all manner of colours, materials and sizes. Unfortunately though I found that most Popper heads on the market were quite small in comparison with some of the 20cm streamers I had been using and found during a couple of seasons that I was only able to attract Pike in and around the 1kg – 2kg size bracket. This I have attributed to most of these popper heads being developed primarily for the American Bass angling market and not for us Pike fly-fishing enthusiasts. Then Last year while trawling the net I came across a company called Edgewater fly-tying materials that had not one but two separate popper head products. The first being the Boiler Maker Popper Head. Loud poppers that get a big fishes attention! Super durable with a concaved face for good sound! And the Master Blaster Heads, large heads to attract big fish! now armed with larger popper heads I obviously needed a larger hook especially with a longer shank and this I found in the Mustad 3401 4/0 long shank hook. Unfortunately though this hook doesn’t have a kinked shank and after just one or two tussles with a fish I was finding the head would come loose and spin around the shank. Since then I have now changed over to the 4/0 long shank Wapsi Popper Hooks and have found that the foam heads have lasted me several outings before either needing a repair or full overhaul. The Tail Another aspect I found a bit disappointing with Poppers bought from a tackle shop, is the length of the tails tied in behind the popper head. On average they range from between 50mm to 70mm and personally I feel this is too short. (Yet another attribute from the American Bass angling market). I have two specific designs which are now working well for me and catching bigger pike. The first which I call “The grim reaper” gets given a black head. I then tie on top of the remaining section of visible hook shank a 5mm wide 80mm length of white rabbit tail and then on either side of it I tie a black feather so they curl outwards also around 80mm. This whole new popper has now given me a total length from tip to tail of around 135mm for not much extra weight. I always tie in some red hackle directly behind the head, just to finish it off. To say this popper has a wicked action through the water is an understatement. As you strip it forward the feathers pull in tight to the hook but as it stops they swing back outwards coupled with the wobble action from the strip of rabbit fur and the loud popping noise it gives off, I am getting an extremely active surface lure.

Posted on December 9, 2008 Filed Under Diving and Fishing Holidays, Fish, Fishing, Fishing Trips | Leave a Comment

Bonefish fishing video

My last post was dedicated to one of the most sort after sportsfish so I thought I would continue in that vein and post a great little angling video of one of my favorite fish – the bonefish. These great fish are a top angling target because of the fight they offer anglers as well as the great exotic tropical locations they are caught in. They are most often targeted on fly gear, but they can be caught with most of the popular methods of fishing. Bonefish form large schools over the flats where they feed and are targeted by anglers trying to spot the fish (called flats fishing). They are not often taken for food and although they are edible they are quite bony (hence the name). The bonefish can reach 10kg and over 100 cm and feed mainly on small crustaceans and worms living in the sand. Like tarpon, they are also known to be able to breathe air from the surface of the water. Enjoy the video

Posted on December 9, 2008 Filed Under Fish, Fishing, Sea Fishing | Leave a Comment

Muddy Boots

Wrapping up 2007, was actually easier than expected. The Christmass pressure is something I try to avoid as years go by. Avoiding the chaos is easier said than done, much easier in Spain, but on my return to England 21st of December, I found myself thrown back into the grand scale UK shopping mayhem. My chance of escaping the madness was to go fishing, here follows an account of what we did! Extreme Teggy Nosy. Dave Edgerton my UK fishing mate and I decided to get into some fishing on the newly named (by us), Teggs Nose reservoir or as we now call it ‘Extreme Teggy Nosy’. Our remixed name comes from us adding in the mix ‘extreme’, and ‘dura;, from the Spanish Extremadura. Fishing in Extremadura (as I normally do), can be just that Extreme and hard, but Teggs Nose was nothing like, our new name is an ironic one! Actually fishing this time was quite a breeze, all be it, a wet and muddy one. Upon arrival at the reservoir it was raining as forecast, no problem. We popped up our brolleys and got the equipment set-up and under shelter as quickly as we could.. It wasn’t cold, the north of England has actually been very mild over Christmass with night temperatures as warm as 12’Deg. C. This is much warmer than Madrid currently where you can expect to be fishing at night with temperatures as low as –1. As you can imagine I was more than pleased with these temperatures. Bait Dave and I took completely different paths with bait choice. On Rod (1), I opted for a ‘greedy pig’, visual presentation with two red juicy fresh Mistral Crab and Crawfish boilies topped off with an Enterprise Baits Artificial corn. In the Winter in England a large presentation like this I expect is a big no no, but my thinking behind the presentation was I wanted something of size to pick up the bait, I like to contradict the norm, and I was confident this rig works. My other rod was my changeable roving rod, which had a single bait boilie, either a Mistral Isotonic Roship or Crab and Crawfish, or a Korda Maggot Clip, fished Medusa style, in my mind I knew nothing could me more attractive than a small cluster of Maggots in Winter, could it? Dave went the other way with Rod (1) having the very tasty looking Solar 10mm Dayglow Ester and Pinapple pop-up with Cream and Candy Sweetner, and a single Mistral Bait with no name Boilie or ‘clints’, as we now call them. All of which were presented with a nice small walnut or 20mm boilie sized PVA stocking with some Dynamite Baits Swim Stim, hemp, ground boilie and Brazil Nut shavings. This mix made by Dave was actually made up with no water, just natural hemp oil. The effect was like nothing I have seen before, a very active explosive bag, full very fine attraction but little food. Breamer Within 2hr. of us arriving, my left hand rod signaled a drop back, I was slow to the rod, and not sure if I should hit it (I am accustom to Spanish ripper runs), the fact that the alarm indicating the pick-up was also the left rod which was my ‘greedy pig’ rod was a surprise. I spent some time next to the rod/alarm watching the line. Dave told me to tighten the swinger back up, which I did, at that point I knew a fish was on. When I struck I was even more sure, yet reeling in for some time I was doubting if indeed I had a fish on or not. Finally what came to the net was a surprise. I caught a bream of about 3½ lb. Dave and I disagree about Bream, I am happy to catch them and do not consider them a nuisance fish. Dave on the other hand does not care much for them. The photos were taken then the fish returned. For sometime after the capture I was thinking, I couldn’t believe a fish of this size could have picked up my ‘greedy pig’, rig, it took me sometime to get over that fact, but it was a reality and this fish did give us hope. The fished also helped us to believe that out in the 20ft plus water we were fishing, there was indeed more feeding fish. Our reaction to this capture was to apply more bait, a kilo of Mistral baits. Sadly not a great deal more happened, Dave managed to catch a bream on his 10mm Solar Pineapple Pop-up, the fish was about the same size again. Christmass gifts Teggs Nose is a small water, but it was impressive to see so many people out testing what looked like new fishing gear given by Santa. On the bank we witnessed new Solar pods, and Diawa Basias reels which the owners were hoping to christen. Sadly between all 14 rods that must have been fishing that day we saw no other Angler catch. The carp were perhaps holding up in another area what-ever they were doing we couldn’t temp them into a bite and our session ended with the two bream only. As I say for me this was slow but a fine winter session. Time past and time to come (Turners Pool). For the final day of the year we wanted to bag up, and bang it! Teggs had been slow so we went to a water where we could bang plenty of fish, the Cheshire water that could do this would be the small farm pond called Turners Pool. It’s not the easiest place to find in the world, but after an early morning call to Brian the owner we obtained the postcode which was entered into the GPS and we were off… We arrived at about 9.30am, temperature was good about 7 Deg. C mild and dry, no rain expected, perfect. We set-up in a wide swim which Dave already knew, the position was comfortable and allowed us to fish socially together, we also had plenty of water to go at. On our rods we both opted for the same presentations we had adopted on Teggs Nose. Andy: – Rod (1): ‘greedy pig’, rig. – two red juicy looking Mistral Crab and Crawfish with an Enterprise Baits Artificial corn. Rod (2): Single bait (smaller presentation) Mistral Isotonic Roship or Crab and Crawfish, or a Korda Maggot Clip, fished the Medusa style. Dave: – Rod (1): Solar 10mm Dayglow Ester and Pineapple pop-up with Cream and Candy Sweetener. Rod (2): single Mistral Bait with no name Boilie. By 11am Dave had caught 5 fish on his 10mm Solar Day glow Ester pop-up. I had not managed one! My thinking was to hold out for the better bigger fish, in the end, it got me and I gave up, I wanted to catch, I wanted action, so I changed my ‘greedy pig’, rig and scaled down for the tiny single 10mm Solar Day glow Ester pop-up. As a general rule I don’t like pop-ups. I know they are devastating especially the fluro pop-ups. Several Anglers I have fished with use them when the going get’s tuff, and I have seen them get results time after time. I think pop-ups are totally unnatural, but in cold water winter conditions they can really make a big difference. I am positive that if we had not had these pop-ups with us, we would have caught less than 5 fish all day between us. As it ended we caught nearly 30 fish between us.. Instant reaction The Solar floro pop-up created an instant impulsive reaction, when I made the first change I had 2 fish within 10 mins. of casting to the same swim I had been fishing for more than 2 hours previous, without a single pick up! Both the medusa rig / Korda maggot clip and single bottom bait had not triggered a bite! I could never imagine a small pop-up fluro boilie would out-fish a maggot, but it did! Because the fluro success was so instant and obvious, we ended up changing all the baits for them. Actually my last memory and fish of 2007 I will never forget. It was an 11lb common carp and the best fish of the day (see photo). The fished picked up a snowman double floro orange pop-up combo. I remember saying to Dave ‘this is my special Christmass snowman pop-up’, totally festive, luminous Santa bait, the presentation looked like Santa himself. Needless to say the common carp picked the bait up and gave me a really good fight on the light 2lb TC rods I was using. Difference in style of fishing There were big differences between my style of fishing and Dave’s. I suppose this is because I spend most of my time on big open Spanish waters and Dave does not. The fish were attracted to the splash and sound the small PVA/mesh bags going in. My bag mix was not the better mix on the day. I say this because mine contained too many food and big items such as Frolic and corn. ). Dave’s on the other hand was just Dynamite Baits Swim Stim ground baits, lot’s of fine oil and shavings of nuts, hemp and boilies all very, very fine. I think this was crucial in drawing, attracting fish, but not feeding. My mix fed fish which was not the better idea or method to get a bite. The other point of interest was that when Dave was using a flat lead that would not penetrate the silt. Also when he was casting as the bait went in, Dave would pull back. This helped the bag/rig sit up above the silt rather than in it or below it. Fish can find a bait more easily if it’s on the silt rather than in it, a small difference but one that can increase the amount of takes considerably. Memorable end to 2007 In all it was a very memorable day and an excellent way to end 2007, baggin up, and banging plenty of fish in the net. We totally banged it off, and even entertained some of the local math anglers of the water. One of which kept asking ‘what bait are you using?’. It was a day of fun, and not serious fishing, a day where weights of fish was not important but enjoying time out and away was. Plenty of action and laughs to round off 2007. I cannot wait to get back to Spain and catch some Spanish fish using these killer mini Solar floro pop-ups. I know the perfect water to give them a try and hopefully bag up again.. Where-ever you are, and what-ever your doing, I hope your planning to take time and bag up and enjoying your fishing, all the best for 2008. May the fish be with you. Andy Macgregor

Posted on December 9, 2008 Filed Under Fish, Fishing | Leave a Comment

Futbal Fishing (El Vellon) Madrid

Just back in from a hectic Futball fishing session on El Vellon, Madrid. We did the rounds and played against a team called ‘Baby Carp’ from Madrid. Strange name but good local lads. Early on I knew we were fishing for a bite, and in the end the only one that pulled it off and converted was the recent Madrid league winner Jorge. At 16 years old this boy has a very bright future in carp fishing. The young man or ‘Senor Stimulator’, as we like to call him pulled the only fish out of the day out. It’s amazing what a difference a fish can make, this time the fish ment that Baby Carp won the battle and got the goodies from us. The fish was a lovely common carp seen here. The CARPdiem team for want of effort just couldnt get a run, oh Vellon cabron. Well maybe next time, there will be a feature about this futbal fishing session in our next issue of CARPdiem, issue 3 which will be out in December. I hope your all banging the fish out. More soon.

Posted on December 9, 2008 Filed Under Fish, Fishing | Leave a Comment

Floro Pop-ups could save our carp fishing in Spain

It’s been a rather bumpy start to the year, but that goes with the terrain, I cannot say it’s been bad, but it has been with movement. Fish and session wise, there has been some, none of any size, but plenty. Sadly however when-ever I catch a carp for one reason or another the person on the other end of the camera has not the eye for making/taking shots, so those photos wont be appearing here or for that matter anywhere. Nevertheless, plenty of fun and learning has been had, and I have had several opportunity’s to play camera man and so thus far I have been able to snap some of the first years carp photos as you will see here. We have fished 3 waters to date, and on all 3 sessions we have had success. Tony Myers (bottom photo), one of the Ex-pats living in Madrid also managed to winkle his first carp from Valdemayor close to Madrid, on a recomended Fluro Pop-up, nice one matey! Since spending time in the UK over Christmass with my mate Dave Edgerton all the team here have gone floro pop-up a go-go! Those little and large floro’s are seriously in! I have to state and doing the business. The baits working for us are of the Dynamite Baits range and also the smaller 10mm sort from Solar . Until recently I’d never imagine a pop-up would out fish a maggot, but now I am convinced it will and can, and does. So sure am I of pop-ups that if I have not caught a fish within 1 hr. of the bait being in a spot (in winter), I will move it. I think there simply irresistible at this time of year, and almost sure to provoke a bite! The question is will the floro change our winter fishing from being a quiet one too something with much more action as it seems to be going now?? To date in 3 sessions this year myself and the CARPdiem Team have managed no less than 22 Fish. The best of which being 2 scraper 20’s as seen here, one a fully scalled fish, and the other just a lovley looking fish. All in all not bad for the 22nd of Jan. 2008. We have basically had a fish for every day, sofar! Let’s see what the year brings in. As of now movement, come on!

Posted on December 9, 2008 Filed Under Fish, Fishing | Leave a Comment

Filming on Orellana

Last weekend just gone, some filming was done in Extremadura Spain on the Mighty Orellana! Matt at Fat Angling wanted a promotional video made so my good camera man Andy Ferns and recently famed Dave Edgerton or Vida, came over from the UK to haul fish, and we of course managed to grab some of them on film. You can see the video below. We had 2 days to get the job done, so a shirt 48hr. winter Session was on. It was no mean feat, and as always when you’re trying to do film the stars don’t always co-operate! In between the periods of wait, we had many a laugh; the general atmosphere bank side was excellent, really a very high quality session. Actually in final we were quite a motley crew as my mate Tony Myres from Madrid and another UK Angler David Highe decided to join us on the banks. Mission accomplished we can firmly say with lot’s of personal bests and records broken including two by Tony. You can see in these photos some of the lovely fish we caught. The sun blazed and the pop-ups wafted under the nose of fish at 250m range in about 35-37ft of water. We took fish up to the early 30lb mark, and what stunners they were. In the video here you can get a taster of what it’s like to fish this side, but your better off giving it a go, Matt has some belting swims at hand. Sadly no Pike were caught, but my mate Andy Ferns took hold of the rod at one stage and managed to bank a lovely 9.5lb Tench, this was the best ‘specimen’, of the weekend without doubt. It was great to see him with rod and fish in hand after so many years off the gear. I know my mate Dave Edgerton, so much so that I think Dave might give up fishing in the UK and just do 10 sessions here, why not, it’s about as good as it get’s and let’s face it Extremadura is the new mecca of carp fishing. Tony is well and truly hooked on the Spanish carp fishing; I wonder if Andy Ferns will go the same way? Anyhow, watch this space for more info about the full promotional video that’s being made for FAT. It’s sure to be a winner and who knows, maybe that ‘tuna’, or 90lb carp that lurks will put in a show… Enjoying deep and hearty laugh at a lake in Spain Andy Mac

Posted on December 9, 2008 Filed Under Fish, Fishing | Leave a Comment

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