Big Pussy!

No!!! the title isn't a listing for a new porn site! It is however the story behind the last 2 seasons fishing for catfish. 

Prior to 2020 my catfishing had mainly been just a side line next to foreign carp trips and more often than not the fish I caught were just by catch from not being carp obviously. 

I was made aware of a club water down in the South of England that I currently had a ticket for. 

I wasn't overly sure of the fish stocks or size but rumours of cats to 70lbs had been going round on forums, Face Book accounts and word of mouth for a while. 

I paid a trip to see Richy and Ash in Ringwood Tackle and they confirmed the presence of some pretty good fish in the venue. 

That was enough for me, gear was loaded and I made my first visit to the venue just after the covid 19 lockdown and we were once again allowed to travel outside our localized areas. My first trip coincided with some time off due to a bad back and to be honest I went half heartedly at it with my approach more aimed at carp than cats. 

Needless to say that things went as I had predicted in my own head prior to the trip and I blanked. I then didn't feel the want to return for some time as I just couldn't get to grips with the angling pressure on the venue and not knowing much about it left me unstuck on arrival due to the lack of swims available. 

Post covid I had a little free time again and just prior to the 2021 season I booked a good 3 week period off work to coincide with the glorious June 16th. 

I ventured down South on the 12th June and left the majority of my kit at my good friends house. I spent my first day of the holiday down Tanners Lane in Lymington, Hants. I took my Kayak out and met up with 4 lovely guys from the Sussex Kayak Fishers group. 

We headed out into the Solent and I was very lucky to catch some wonderful fish that day.....Thornbacks, smoothound, black bream, bass and a few mackerel were brought aboard the yak. After that I had some decisions to make about how I was going to spend the next 48 hours before the 16th started and my summer river season commenced. 

I decided I'd have another go at the cats at the big pit. I ventured back to my buddies house and picked up my 12ft 3.5lb tc carp rods and this time I had loaded the reels up with some 30lb mono to hopefully cope with anything I might catch up there. 

I arrived late afternoon and chose a very easy access swim that I could fish from out of my van! I got three rods out and using my baiting pole I was able to present them tight to features with a good helping of pellets and broken krill and squid boilies. 

I sat back with a barbecue on and enjoyed a wonderful summer sunset over the Ringwood valley. It was just after 11pm, I was just tidying up after tea and the right hand rod literally screamed into life. I'm not sure I've ever heard a Delkim sound so over-loaded....the fish put the set up into meltdown.  

I picked up the rod and lent into an extremely powerful fish. Knowing I had an endless amount of marginal snags to avoid, all around the swim, I held on for grim death and tried my hardest to not give the fish much line. 

The fight was absolutely brutal and every inch of my body was in agony as the fished used it's incredible power to make me look stupid! 

After a good 10 minutes of arguing over who was boss, I finally netted my first cat from the venue. I was absolutely made up! Finally it had happened for me. The fish went 43lb 8oz. What a way to start my holiday down south! The rest of the trip was spent on the Stour and Avon chasing big chub. It was to be one of the finest starts to any fishing season I had ever had! But that's a story for another blog entry! 

My next trip over the valley for the cats was later in September 2021 ands after struggling with controlling the last fish I caught, something had to be done to improve my chances of landed a bigger fish. I purchased three mad cat 12ft 5lb tc catfish rods and three Okuma 2K big pit reels loaded with 80lb braided main line. I was taking no prisoners this time round. 

I was lucky enough to have the chance to fish a point swim which gave great access to an open area of the middle of the lake. I found some nice hard gravel at 10 wraps and placed 3 rods in a line on the drop off. 

Lots of pellet and boilies were spombed over the top of the rods and I sat back in contemplation, hoping for an evening bite. My good buddies Stuart and his brother Joe turned up that evening for a social and around 10.30pm we heard a large tail slap right over my baited area. We all sat quietly listening and just waiting for something to happen. 

Well, it didn't take long....the middle rod went into absolute melt down! Bare in mind it was only 10 wraps out and the fish was on a mission to unspool me! 

Off it went like a bullet from a gun. The drag was set to a very tight setting but the fish was just pulling it off like it was set on the lightest setting. 

3 very powerful runs were had before I managed to get the fish under some level of control. 

Joe was ready with the net and Stuey did some video footage of some of the capture. On the scales it was 53lbs 4oz. Yet another great fish and a moment I shall treasure in my angling career for ever, Such an amazing moment to share with my best friends. That night produced another 2 fish of just over 28lbs and a small one of 18lbs.

My next trip was late September and I hooked up with my good mate Wayne Grey from Bournemouth Fishing Lodge. Wayne had had a wonderful season on the venue landing something like 11 different cats over 70lbs including a new club best. I chose to fish a very popular swim that had excellent form for producing big fish. Wayne dropped in 2 swims below me. 

This time around I was going for it all out and spent 2 hours spombing a very large bed of pellets, boilies and fish guts at around 19-20 wraps. Wayne had pointed me in the direction of changing my tactics for the bigger fish and this time round I opted to fish as if I were after carp but on a much stronger and larger scale. The rigs featured 4oz leads, 10" 80lb bs catfish pro hook link to a size 2 Korda Wide Gape XX hook, 18" Pacific tuna bottom bait and 16mm pop up on top snowman style. 

Wayne and I sat drinking tea till late that night and he headed back to his bivvy around 11pm so we could settle down for some sleep. That never happened as minutes later my right hand rod bleeped a few times.....then it went berserk! 

The spool was yet again in melt down mode! I called Wayne over and he said instantly that it looked like it was a good one. 'I'll get my chesties on' he said. 

He went back to his bivvy, got his waders on and came back to witness the fish still taking line some 3-4 minutes later! I just couldn't budge this thing! He shone his head lamp up at my line and it was literally horizontal out towards the far side of the lake. The fish had taken at a guess some 150 yards or more of line before I managed to stop it and gain some line back. Phenomenal and not something I had ever witnessed in my angling career before. I gained about 70 meters before the fish turned tail and once again went on yet another mental run. Same again and finally turned it round. One more powerful run ensued before I felt like I was finally winning the battle. 

After a good 20 minutes Wayne finally sunk the net under the largest catfish I had ever seen! It looked colossal....with a pb of 65lb 8oz this thing looked a fair bit bigger than that! Wayne was fantastic with helping and did some great pictures for me. 

The fish tipped the scales at 74lb 8oz! What an incredible creature! I thought that would probably be it for my session but I had a further 2 fish of 48lb and 28lb that session. 

I managed one further session that year which produced another 3 nice cats to 47lbs from another swim on the complex. I used the same approach as before with a large bed of broken boilies, pellets and fish parts. My last trip to the venue was in May 22 after a bit of a break from the cats. I fished the swim with easy access from the van and set out as before with 3 spread around the swim.

Around 10.40pm that night and just after Stuey had left me from a social, I was just getting into my sleeping bag when the right hand rod tore into action. This fish was yet again something else! 

The battle was utterly epic and the fish was hell bent of completely f'ing up my whole swim. It managed to tangle all three of my lines up before finally succumbing to the net. 

I held the fish in the net for a bit while I tried to sort out the mixture of all three lines as I was worried about getting another take whilst in a mess. I unhooked the fish and it lay silently in the net as I unfolded the carnage. Eventually I was sorted and I got the mats and camera ready for some pics and a weigh in.

I strolled down to the net where the fish was patiently sat waiting and looked down on my prize! Another colossal fish of at least 65lb or more. I don't think it was as bit as my biggest of the season but it wasn't far off! 

I lifted the net and as I did I heard the net rip! I couldn't believe my eyes as the cat just gently slid out a huge tare in the mesh from an exposed bolder that projected from the near side bank. 

I fell to the floor in despair. I was utterly gutted! I haven't been back to the venue since not because I don't want to but just because I became preoccupied with French trips last year and also a heavy feeling to chase big Hants Avon Roach. I have a lot on this year so I can't see me chasing cats again for at least one more season but with the venue now producing fish knocking 90 lbs, I will be back when it produces the first 100 pounder!  

What an exciting final week to my 22-23 fishing season! 

I've just finished talking to the guys over at Rod Hutchinson tackle and bait and after a little deliberating I have been invited on to Team Rod Hutchinson! I am incredibly excited to be involved with RH as they have such a great long standing name within the fishing industry. 

I grew up reading Rods fantastic articles, books and watching endless incredible videos he made fishing around the globe for carp! 

He was a major influence in my angling career from an early age and much of my angling success is due to his advice and teachings . Such a shame he's no longer with us but his legacy lives on through his company.

I will continue to write on here in the same format as before but with lots more exciting things happening! I look forward to bringing my own little something to Team Rod Hutchinson. 

Rod Hutchinson have a fantastic and growing range of bait and tackle which I will be showcasing on here in future posts. 

I'll keep you up to date with any new and exciting products and our media and social side too. There's lots happening, so watch this space as they say! 

My season to come is very exciting! I have a new club water with numerous lakes on it and some unknown quantity and sizes of fish. This is the kind of angling I enjoy most and a great opportunity to test new bait and equipment out. 

I also have a couple of foreign adventures in the diary and a few others to be sussed out so to speak. My first trip over seas is in just 2 weeks time to my friends lake near to Le Mans.

It's a venue that I visited twice last year with friends Chris and Barry. Both occasions produced lots of fish despite struggling with spawning during the first trip and then exceptional hot weather in the mid forties centigrade on our second trip.

Despite the difficulties we caught some cracking carp to 38lbs, sturgeon to 20lbs and stalked many under marginal snags and cover. 

Great fishing on freelined and floats etc too. I'm hoping we can replicate some of this in two weeks time but the weather may have other ideas on what we can and can't achieve!

Whilst at the venue we have other duties to do including some fishery management works, snag removal, bankside repairs, grass cutting etc. Hopefully we can get the majority of the works done early on and enjoy the fishing and great social between our team of four that are attending. 

I'm hoping to take a trip to fish either the Meuse or the Vien with old friend Bob near the end of May if all goes to plan as well. Bob is an old hand at these rivers and caught a fair few fish to over 60lbs from their waters.

I'll continue with odd guiding sessions and a few random river trips over here too but my main concentration will be on the new club complex. 

We have some great deals on at the moment at Rod Hutchinson including our CP Rod Range which are available in:

6' 3.5lb tc £59.99

8' 3lb tc £64.99

10' 3.5lb tc £69.99

12' 3.5lb tc 

You can purchase online at www.rodhutchinson.co.uk

We also have a great deal on our Sceptre range! Buy 2 and you'll get a third rod FREE! Get yourself over to the main website at Rod Hutchinson for a look at their fantastic range of tackle and bait!

Rod Hutchinson – Don’t Stop Pushing Limits

Winter and Spring carp busted!

snow in March!

I thought I'd put this little piece together this morning whilst I look out the window on my day off and see over 4 inches of snow sat on my car! In mid March as well! I'm sure the seasons are changing radically each year....wither comes later, we have extremely short springs and autumnal seasons and radically hot summers! 

Is it global warming from greenhouse gases, cows, diesel cars etc or just yet another global shift in temps as has happened throughout the Earths past? I'll let you dwell on that one yourselves as I have much more interesting things to discuss....Carp in winter.....where are they? 

Deep down in holes on the bottom in 15 feet, mid water? Well, I found out where they were in 3 different waters last year and all showed the exact same behaviour, expelling many myths I had heard throughout my angling career. 

Even after 40 years I had never seen anything like what I witnessed last year. So what was so different and amazing I hear you ask....I will divulge now. So my first piece of strange behaviour was witnessed at Orchard Lakes near New Milton in Hampshire last January. 

I used to fish the lakes there as a teenager into my early twenties but they now have a specimen lake called 'Jimmys' as well, which holds some rather pretty mirrors and commons. 

My friends Barry and Chris joined me on two  separate occasions on 48 hr sessions in late Jan and early Feb 2022. The weather was nothing short of bloody brutal on both occasions with bitterly cold Easterly winds and severe frosts down to minus 5 over night. 

It was bitter out there!

Cat Ice formed in the margins and it was tough going. I hadn't used my drone since August at a private venue near London I fished with another good mate. 

I got some incredible footage of carp taking floaters and even hooked one whilst filming! 

I wondered whether the drone would pick up any fish in the colder months and give us an idea where they were sitting? 

Well, to say we had our minds blown was an understatement. 

The next few trips out really changed my views about how I would approach my winter and early spring fishing for carp. Jimmys lake lends itself to the use of the drone brilliantly as the water quality is exceptional and clarity is fantastic. 

I sent the drone up mid afternoon on Barry and I's first day and filmed as I put my first bait out with my Nash Bushwacker pole at around 35M. 

I shipped the pole out to a nice clear area in around 4 feet of water just off an island and watched intently as numerous carp actually came to investigate the pole and then the bait and rig which fell from the baiting cup on the end. 

One fish even went straight down to feed on the particles that had just left the cup! Seeing them so active despite the really cold water, had me wondering where the rest of the stock were in the lake? So, I took the drone up to around 50M and instantly found them all! 

They were packed into just a few spots...but they weren't anywhere near the lake bed, they were literally inches below the surface and even breaking the surface film with their backs. None of this could be witnessed at eye level and it really got me thinking about my approach. 

I've never done well on Zig rigs or to be honest even liked them. I thought they were just a gimmick for the best part, a way to sell products but now I firmly believe they are a very significant step forward in catching winter/spring cold water carp.

The fish were all very active, mooching across shallows, cruising in and out of Lilly pads and bumping each other playfully! We watched them for nearly 2 hours after which my batteries went flat on the drone. 

I decided to try a pair of zigs fished 3 inches below the surface in the area the fish had been seen. That afternoon I had 9 indications but never landed a thing! It really blew my mind. 

My next trip was over to Farlows Lake near Iver in Bucks to see my old mate Charlie and have a little winter social. I fished the smaller of the 2 lakes hoping to bag a winter carp. 

I was met with what appeared to be a lake devoid of any fish! I spent hours with the drone up looking for the fish and placed baits in areas Charly had caught from in recent sessions prior to my arrival. 

On the second morning of my trip Charly and I took the drone over to the main lake behind the Angling Direct shop where Charly thought a few might be sat up sulking in the cold water. 

We were in for yet another shock as the drone took flight to 35M. I rotated the camera 90 degrees to look straight down and there they were....not just a handful of fish but we reckon the majority of the lakes fish stock. Sat there inches below the surface one after another, surrounding each other and on top too. 

There appeared to be no reason for this other than angling pressure, increased daylight surface area and an obvious warmer patch of water. With a rule of no zig fishing in place, it was incredibly frustrating to see them all bunched up like that and no way to fish for them. 

The only real conclusion I can come to regarding this behaviour is that the fish are looking for the warmer layers in the water. The Thermocline. Finding this magical zone is the key to catching Carp during the colder months in my opinion. 

The only issue I have is locating that area exactly as at Jimmy's I had 9 takes and landed nothing. 

I put that down to cruising fish and not having the bait presented exactly at the correct depth. 

I think that an inch can literally make all the difference when it's that cold. 

Anyway, have a look at the video footage and pics and make up your own mind, but certainly give the zigs a go as I really do think it's your best chance of a bite in tough wintery conditions! 

It really did make me rethink my approach during the colder months and now my tackle bag has always got some made up zig rigs in it. 

I purchased a Fox Zig Disc and I have to say, it's excellent! I can store 36 ready tied zigs in there ranging in hook sizes and length of line! Perfect!

Hampshire trip day 4

The iconic school bridge at Throop

Well, the final day of the trip arrived and with yet another chilly start to the day, I arose at 5.30am to get on the river for 6.30! The kettle was boiled and a nice flask of hot coffee brewed for the days onslaught. I had high hopes for an area that appeared to be producing an odd fish or two and my mate Mark had caught a couple from there last week. 

I still had in the back of my mind though, the fact that the venue had been pretty unkind to me this summer as opposed to years passed where I had been extremely lucky on there! 

My last 4-5 trips have been blanks or at best, extremely poor in producing anything of value. As I unloaded the van by School bridge gate, another angler turned up. 

Basic loafer float rig

We chatted for a bit as we had half hour before we could venture on to the fishery. I gave him a few pointers on where had been producing of recent and we went off to start fishing. My chosen swim isn't that popular due to it's awkwardness, odd current flows and shallow section of water. There is a shallow run of 12-18" deep that extends some 100 yards and then the water drops off into around 8 feet near the lower section of the swim. 

The swim from above

I decided to set up slap bang in the middle which gave me a good water coverage above and below. I started off using the feeder rod with a black cap and heli rig and red maggots for hook baits. The first few casts were made into the slower section of water in the middle behind a weed/gravel bed in around 6-8 feet of water. 

My trot and where bites came from

The first 40 minutes passed without any action and then suddenly I received a good drop back bite and a good hooked chub. The battle was pretty good in the strong currents and it took a few minutes to subdue the fish. It was a nice chub of 5lb 8oz! A great way to start proceedings.....I made a few more casts into the area but nothing else occurred on the feeder and it was as if the swim was empty! 

first up a nice upper five

I had a brew and decided to put a couple of bait droppers into the swim with some maggot, caster, hemp and a bit of loose damp groundbait. I left the swim for half an hour and went up to see Sean who I had met in the morning to see how he was getting on. There were 5 other anglers on and all were struggling to get so much as a bite from what looked like a pretty tasty few swims. Sean had moved a couple of times and was really struggling too. 

no 2

We chatted a bit then I headed back to see if the dropper had worked its magic and drawn a few fish into the swim. 

The feeder was repositioned back on the money but after half an hour of fruitless activity I felt it was time to change tact and try a new spot. When I say a new spot I mean a spot within a spot.....

So, I set up my 14ft Drennan Acolyte Plus float rod with a very simple Crystal loafer float of 2AA and a 4lb to 14 hook. This was set to around 4 feet and then cast to the head of the swim over the far side. 

It was a bloody tricky little trot in all honesty though and getting the float to perform correctly and not draw across the swim was a real bastard! To top it off there was also a down stream wind beginning to start, which made the whole thing even tougher. Despite the awkwardness of the situation and swim, I soldiered on for a bit and finally I got a cast to run through so perfectly that I felt in my bones I was going to get a bite! I did! 

The float buried and I struck into what felt like the bottom of the river! Once it started to move off slowly I switched the back wind off as it felt fairly heavy on such light weight kit. 

The fish kitted all over the swim in the fast flow and my god was it awkward to net! 

Every attempt was masked by the flow and light gear, as soon as the fish opened its mouth at the surface, it basically became a heavy raft that I just couldn't budge in the flow. 

I watched each time as it rose up and got pulled back into the flow and out of reach of my net handle! I decided to play it differently and went for a low rod approach, drawing the fish above me with each wind of the reel handle. As the fish rose back up to the surface I would then release pressure and net the fish from down stream and behind....It worked! Thank God for that.....Pics taken of another high five and I spent another half hour of the day without so much as a bite. 

I re-tried  the feeder to no avail and felt like I was missing something. I sat with a coffee and 'no cigarette' as I gave up nearly 2 weeks ago and debated the options in my head. Right, next plan.....

I grabbed the rod and headed some 50 yards up stream to the shallow section above me and put my polaroid's on. I couldn't see much under the turbulent surface water but I was adamant I saw a fish turn just down from me in about 3 feet of fast water. 

I had nothing to lose so started spraying red maggots upstream into the fast, shallow stream of water. I did this for about 15 minutes before making my first cast. The actual trot was about 20 yards but it ended up taking me slap bang over the area I had been fishing earlier on the feeder. The swim deepened from 18" to 2 feet to 4 feet to 6 feet to finally 8 or 9 feet at the tail end. The current was boisterous as best and with the growing down stream gusts, it was bloody hard to keep the float in a steady and straight line without lots over mending. 

They kept coming!

And coming

About 5 casts in and just at the end of the swim, the float just disappeared! I struck into a solid lump of fish and had to immediately run down stream with the rod and net in hand. The fish trashed the swim from top to bottom before finally causing me as much grief as the last one to net. The same approach was taken and after 5 minutes of arguing I netted another nice chub of around 4lbs. I was keen to see if the fish had all moved up just above me so went back for another go. 

7 trots later I was yet again into a nice chub of 5lbs. By this point I was feeling rather pleased with myself and thought that would probably be my lot from such a small area. 

Boy, how wrong was I! I put a few pouch fulls of red maggot through without trotting and went back up to see Sean who was still struggling above me. The other anglers had all moved on without so much as a bite and I was feeling rather cocky about my current winning streak. 

Sean wanted to know about the feeder rig I had been using on the Avon this week for the Roach so I gave him some elastic and got him set up with the 'Rupert' self hooking rig. I then ventured back down to the swim to try once more before probably moving to another section of the river. A couple more pouch fulls of reds went out and then I ran the float through. 

First trot produced a nice 3lb 11oz chub and this one was keen on the weed bed! I had to play all sorts of games with it to keep its head out the weed. 

I took a few pics and went back up to the spot. A few more maggot pouches out then the float went through....nothing....and again....nothing....this went on for about 10 casts. 

Had I had everything out the swim? 4 fish was it? Surely not. No maggots for a few trots was the next decision made and the float went through the swim on its own. 

Two trots later and the float buried. Another great fight saw me running back down stream to get below the fish and stop it from weeding me up. Yet another nice low five pounder in the net. What a great mornings fishing, five good chub bagged. 

I went back up to the honey pot and did the same again. Same tactic, same result, another 4 pounder! The saying 'like buses' was now on my tongue and to be honest I was feeling quite elated at the days current results behind what I'd had from the Avon this week too. 

Well, to say it was hectic was an understatement, it continued to produce chub, one after another all day long! 

It was literally stuffed full of fish!

Don't get me wrong, I had to work for them, by upping the feed then stopping it, casting a little further across, dropping shorter. 

It all worked at some point and by close of play at 5pm, I had had 16 fish on, lost two to the snaggy weed island in the middle and landed 14 others to 5lb 12oz! 

What a day, I was physically and mentally exhausted and still had a three and a half hour drive home to complete. 

That didn't really matter though as I had had one of the best few days angling of my life! Utterly incredible experiences that I may never get the chance to repeat again! Tight lines everyone and I hope some of you had as good an end to the season as I did!

Hampshire trip day 3

Day 3 was upon me and I arose at 4am and made a flask at the back of the van whilst donning a load of clothing as it felt pretty cold out. As I was sorting myself out Rupert and Jim turned up in the layby and we spent the next 45 minutes talking fishing, work and family life.....great to catch up with them both before starting our fishing day. 

Danny and I last saw each other over 20 years ago

I opted to fish the same swim one more time as it had just fished so well the day prior. I started the day off with the same approach as day 2 with a dozen balls of groundbait and dropped the feeder set up onto the money spot. 

Bites were far less becoming this morning and I sat for a good half hour before receiving my first indications of fish within the swim. Two chaps I had met at the tail end of last season turned up around 7am Paul and Chris. 

Two lovely fellas and Chris asked if I minded him dropping in just above me. Of course I didn't mind and it was great to have a little company for a change. 

He had a slow start too on the flat float method but eventually started to catch a few dace and roach up to 1'10. My y old friend Danny Taylor who works as media manager for Rod Hutchinson turned up to fish and we had a wonderful catchup as it had been over twenty years since last seeing each other!

Amazing dace!

My day was much slower and despite introducing plenty of fresh bait at regular intervals, it was a much less productive day. It seemed the case throughout the fishery with many blanks and odd sporadic fish appearing. 

I had around 25 fish by the end of the day but within that were 2 lovely fish. One which was rather special! Around 1pm I cast the feeder down the swim as I had seen fish rising regularly at the tail end. As the feeder was falling through the water column on a semi tight line, I felt a few strong bites through the rod. 

I decided to strike and was met with a good solid resistance. The fish darted around and felt a lot faster than the usual roach fight. It was a dace.....I called over to Chris as he asked what had I got on and I replied 'just a bloody dace, not what I'm after'! 

Well, I have to be honest it wasn't quite the dace I expected and I decided it might just be worth weighing as it looked rather thick across the back and quite tubby round the belly! I readied the scales and a bag and took a reading.....1lb! What? a POUND DACE! I called Chris over to witness the fish and we weighed it on his more accurate scales at exactly 1lb 0oz 2 drams! A new PB! I was over the moon and to top it off I had another of 12oz too! The roach fishing continued to be very slow but just as I was thinking about calling it a day the tip went round with a better roach on. 

A very spirited scrap ensued and after a couple of hairy moments with the fish making its way towards some inside margin weed and roots, I finally bagged a better one. On the scales she tipped 1lb 15oz. What a cracking way to end my 2022/23 River Avon Roach season! I decided I'd pop off a bit earlier and drop into Ringwood Tackle and grab a bit more bait for my final day at Britford on the Avon chasing a chub or two. 

The lads informed me that it was no longer day ticket and that I was basically stuffed! Oh well, home or Throop? I debated the idea of going home a day early and getting some much needed rest, a decent hot meal and my own bed or the potential of another blank on a very patchy Dorset Stour.....I chewed the cud for a few more minutes then decided I'd give it one last chance to give me a good day out. Maggots were purchased and I headed over to Throop Mill where I had a huge tidy up of the van before settling down for an earlier night! I had a swim in mind for the final day and a two pronged attack that would suit the situation if I got the swim I wanted......Alarm was set for 5.30 with a view to going onto the fishery as per the rules at 6.30am in the morning. I laid my head down and got some rest dreaming about a big bag of chub......or a blank!

Hampshire trip day 2

So, out the van I crawled at 4.30am on day 2 and was met by a lovely fella called Rob who I had met a week or two prior. 

It was great to catch up for a bit before we started fishing and at half five we ventured on to the fishery and headed to our respective chosen swims. 

I opted to fish the same swim as on day 1 only because I had put a good head of bait in and it appeared to be the going swim producing every day at present. 

Last week I picked up a new feeder chair from Daiwa. It's an N'zon feeder chair which I have to say is rather good! 

I own lots of chairs including the Korum accessory chair which is great but has too low a back for me as I suffer from neck pain. The N'zon has a lovely high back and deep seating area which is really comfortable. 

The front legs have a huge range of extension for use in awkward swims and there is a flat seating position for summer sun bathing if required! My favourite feature is the front leg knobs are fully rotatable through 180 degrees which makes it really easy to use with feeder arms etc! I'm a little sceptical as to whether the rear legs will last that well as the locking mechanism is not as good or strong as the front but we'll see how it goes! 

I also purchased a pair of new Drennan Acolyte Feeder rods in 14ft Distance Plus and 12ft standard plus. Both are lovely rods and being a true advocate of the range already, these had to be added to the vast selection I already own! The 12ft was to be my weapon of choice today as I decided to completely stick to a single feeder rod all day rather than the float etc which I felt spread the feed around the swim a little too much the day prior. 

My other tactic for the day was to do something totally off the cuff and introduce a large pile of groundbait to my chosen spot. I'm not sure many or even anybody has fished it with this approach, so it was shit or bust to be honest. 

The groundbait was a combination of Sensas River 3000 Noir with Brown crumb, crushed hemp seed, Dynamite Chilli hemp and a good helping of red maggots and some caster. 

I initially introduced 10 balls into the swim and to be honest they made a hellish noise going in and I wondered if it would ruin my chances or just piss all the other anglers off? Well, we were about to find out! 

I set up the feeder rod with a new rig that I had been shown by a good mate Rupert, who is an amazing Roach angler! He's had more big roach than I've had hot dinners and if he says it's the way forward I'll listen! 

The rig is basically a converted Kamasan Black Cap feeder with a small hole drilled or melted into the base of the plastic. 

A piece of no 8 black elastic is positioned through the centre of the feeder and the top swivel tied on to the elastic with a 3 turn grinner knot (well lubricated). 

The elastic is passed through the new lower hole and a bead pulled up onto the elastic. 

Then a quick link is tied on at the base using the same 3 turn grinner knot I used above. 

The hooklink is a very short 3 inch section of 5lb fluorocarbon to a size 12 hook. 

I put the helicopter set up above obviously with no hook link on, this gives me two rig options depending on the feeding of the fish and whether they are very wary or not. 

The new set up is very aggressive and bites are literally a case of just wait till the fish nails itself! I started the session off with the new approach and didn't really expect much to happen straight away due to the introduction of all the groundbait but to my surprise my first cast ended up with a hooked fish and a roach of 12-13oz finding the net. 

The bite was epic on my 12ft acolyte with the new feeder rig.....it was just a few taps then the rod went round like it had a barbel attached! 

I rebaited the hook and went straight back out with a feeder full of reds. It took about 3 more casts before the next fish came in and at 1lb 15oz it was a cracking start to day 2! 

As the morning progressed I made my way through the shoal of fish that were seeming to be grouping up in front of me and by midday I had 30 plus roach in the net! 

I decided it was time for some more groundbait as the bites were starting to fizzle out. A further 6 balls were distributed around the spot and within minutes they were back with gusto. I couldn't really believe what happened next as there seemed to be a good head of larger fish suddenly turn up. Each cast yielded a better fish than the previous cast! 

Another 1lb 15oz fish, then a 1lb 13oz, 1lb 11oz, 1lb 14oz, 1lb 14oz, 1lb 12oz, 1lb 10oz, 1lb 15oz.....they just kept coming! I introduced another 4 balls of groundbait and the swim died off for about an hour. Another 4 balls were introduced and around 3.30pm the fish were back again! 

A few nice dace to 12oz to start with then a nice couple of roach around the pound mark. My next cast went slightly past the baited spot towards the back of the swim to see if anything had dropped back at all.....

Well, within a few seconds the tip hooped round and I felt the strain of a much better fish. This one hung low in the water and did all the right things. I kept my cool and held the rod low to the water applying just a light amount of pressure to avoid a hook pull and gently played her out. 

After about 2 minutes I saw the fish roll just past my net and it looked a decent roach. 

Eventually she tired and I was able to sneak the net rim under her, gasping a sigh of relief! 

On the scales she went 2lb 1oz! My second two plus in two days! 

What a day this was turning into. A further 3 of 1'11, 1'14 and 1'12 made the tally up and I left the day elated with the finest roach fishing experience of my life! 

Surely I couldn't repeat the same again on my last day at the venue tomorrow?