2014 (the year I became a carper)

CARP CARP CARP!! I'm not really a fan of these commercial, easy to catch fat things but put them in a river and they're a whole new creature. They become a kind of super sized barbel, that'll really test your tackle. A few carp have been caught from the river (from a well known swim) but all in the traditional way with a 1000 rods out and bivvys everywhere, I like more of a challenge! Armed with a little stepped up trotting set up and waders you can explore the river and have fun. I tend to fish with minimal gear; rod, net, bag and waders, this is perfect for my short unplanned trips when I the have time. I gear myself up for roving for some chub with a match/avon rod on the stick with 4lb line and a tub of worms, and if Mr carp comes along I can test my angling skills. In the spring all the roach, bream and chub come up from the turning basin and ship canal to the city centre to spawn and so do some huge carp. I'm not sure if they come to spawn to or if they just follow all the other fish but they allow for some great fun in the summer. Anyway here are a few good fish I've had in 2014 :)

 A cracking slab around 7lb

 



  You don't need fancy carp gear to catch beauties like this!

 



 I actually caught this one with 8lb line and my jw young barbel on freelined crust... cheating!

 

 Caught this one on a quick shopping trip into town, had a little look at the river saw some fish, had some gear in the car... BOOM! one big fish, one pissed of mate

 

 A nice long lean common

 

 Caught my fair share of chub last year.

And one of my best perch 2lb+

 



The Irwell on steroids

The secret to the Irwell...worms! nothing beats simplicity.

 



Chub around 5lb

 



 

Another silver brownie at 3lb, the colour difference in these trout are amazing.



Yet another chub around 5lb

What a surprise this fish was, an 18lb Irwell common caught on a 3lb bottom, expertly netted by The Meddy Man. It was a true powerhouse made of solid muscle unlike its fat commercial brothers. This river will never stop surprising me!

 



Going deeper underground

Roving around the River Medlock in the centre of Manchester might look weird but it has some hidden treasures. Climbing down the river just behind Piccadilly Station, I had to walk for a good five minutes under the ground through pitch black until the river opens back up to this cracking swim.

 

On my journey through the tunnel I managed to spot a few small trout living in that tiny stream, in complete darkness. I was praying that my torch held out for the return trip.

 

 

The swim was alive with fish, this chub of over 3lb came out to play along with 13 other chub all about a pound and a couple of small perch with lovely bright markings. I could see a little yellow ghost carp of around a pound swimming about. It wasn't interested in my bait. I'm guessing somebody had threw it in from one of the apartments by getting to big for a tank.

Off the radar

 

Here are a couple of my latest fish caught just before the season closed.
The brownie was a false alarm, being very silvery in colour sea trout sprung to mind but it isn't.

 

 

My first Mersey fish, caught on a 4 inch swimbait, chub will have ago at anything that'll fit in their gob!

Can you fish at Walt Disney World? The Pecheur can! (A lost post)

Excited for my jollies and meeting Micky Mouse and all the burgers I can eat, but really my mind was set on Mr BigMouth Billy Bass. We arrived at the resort after a pukka flight after being upgraded to premium economy for free, my eyes lit up as fish were topping everywhere in the canal systems. Unfortunately you're not allowed to fish it but we found 'the fishing hole,' a large aerated arm of the canal stocked full of bass, bluegill and catfish. It was $4 for an half hours fishing which included a laughable cane pole armed with about 20lb line and a float and hook suitable for shark fishing, and a tub of worms or hotdog chunks. Luckily I'd brought my rovex travel quiver and dived right into the bluegill with hookable pellets. Like my usual fishing over there, all the Yanks were looking at me like hows he doing that and start to fish on top of me. A few days in after turning back into a little kid and topping up my ginger tan, I was back to my little haunt. Getting bored of the bluegill I fished out a treble and free line one under the jetty and within two minutes a bass flew out and gobbled it up. Chuffed to bits and manged to land half a dozen doing this. With the fishing bug really kicked in and looking into every bit of water in the parks, which were rammed with fish, I thought I'd do abit of poaching as it saved a few dollars. Waiting till the night I snuck under a bridge and set up a starlight and hit the fish straight off including some small catfish. Trying not to move so I wasn't caught by security or scaring kids into thinking theres a troll under the bridge and screaming the place down, I found hard but extremly fun.

 

 

The Mrs wanted to go to the local mall so we took a well earned break from the busy parks. When we got there I found out there was a Bass Pro Shops a fishing and hunting shop the size of Costco! We spent half the day in there, marveling at the giant tank in the middle with double figure bass, catfish, tarpon and a few commons to about 20lb, yes there are carp in florida!

In our hotel we found out you could book a bass excursion in one of the massive disney waters, we booked it there and then! The following morning we were up at 6 to be picked up with the water looking stunning with mist rising everywhere. We set off on the speedboat buzzin our tits off, and rigged up some rubber worms and jigged them in the shallow bays. In the two hours I manged to land 11 bass and our guide 5.

 We had a couple of days left and revelled up the sun and amazing food, knowing we were coming back to Manchester, and the dread for me that at home I'd actually have to work for fish.

The glory of the Irwell!

Having fishing the river for a while now I believe I have unlocked some of its secrets. From a few selected swims I've managed to pluck out these beauties.

 

A nice chunky chub.

4lb 5oz Chub.

4lb Chub.

 

5lb 1oz Chub.

 

5lb 3oz brownie.

 

Nice canal pike from Piccadilly Basin.

I've never chased pike on the Irwell but my first outing rewarded me with this chunky jackie.

Bits and bobs

 I've not been out that much lately but here are some
good fish I've managed to pluck out. The chub on the video was just pushing 5lb it also had some beautiful orange scales dotted about.

 Clonking brownies like these are always a nice surprise on the Irwell, taking you all over the river and battling with all they're might. 

This is urban fishing! The river Medlock  just off Whitworth Street in town. I'd been hoping to fish this for ages only just finding a way down to the bank. The bend here is a big deep hole about 5-6 ft deep but the rest of the river is only about 2ft, a great holding spot boasting big chub and millions of gudgeon, which are always a pleasure to catch.