Reel Value II

New replacement general purpose reels - Mitchell Tanager RZ 2000 fd - twenty quid each, and they look pretty good and very smooth. Two spools; one with 8lb line the other with 12lb Berkley, that’s barbel/carp and pike covered. The proof is in the fishing...


I christened one reel with the 18lb 6oz pike a couple of weeks ago, but I wanted to christen the second one. In these flood conditions pike were out - so I targeted the barbel. First up I landed a chub, followed by three little barbel - onward and upward...


For the barbel records: 4lb, 4½lb & 4lb (153)

Dennis Vs The Wye

Soon after Storm Ciara topped up The Wye, Storm Dennis arrived. With the river still up and the water table high the extra rain pushed the water levels up to a new record high level - the gauge is broken but locals have estimated it was about +5.3 meters of extra water.

The river flooded local shops & houses - no one was hurt but there was a lot of damage. And makes me realise just how lucky me and my brother were with our pike trip a couple of weeks ago - but it looks like one last weekend before the season ends isn’t going to happen...

Big Little Fish

Bit of a wander with the stick ‘n’ pin - dace the target species - and 10oz+ the target weight. I struggled to find dace but half a dozen trout, similar number of chub and 3 roach put a nice bend in the rod. Eventually I found my target and landed three to 7.6oz - fairly close!

Still enough season for another crack at a 10oz fish - four weeks left!

Wye: Week On The River

A week picked months in advance, and me and Paulos fished some of the best conditions all winter - pretty lucky, especially as Storm Ciara arrived the day after we left and put The Wye back in the fields!

It wasn’t easy fishing, there are no matches on these sections - the main target is barbel - with no bait going in the baitfish are difficult to locate, are they still here? And are the pike still here in numbers?

It was great to be re-stomping our old beats - and the pressure was soon off the mission when Paulos landed a jack followed by a 15lb 9oz double - worth the trip! And the final scorecard looked like this:

	Pike Caught:	13
	Doubles:	6
	Miles Walked:	71.9
	Nets Broken:	1

Breaking that down Paulos landed 7 pike, including 4 doubles (18lb 3oz, 15lb 9oz, 14lb 4oz & 11lb 7oz). I landed 6 pike, including 2 doubles (18lb 6oz & 15lb 9oz). No twenties - that’s for next time!

I cracking week on the river, the first annual Wye winter trip for me and Paulos I hope (or at least biennial). Massive thanks to Mum & Dad for putting up with us. And Wye pike - we’ll be back...

Wye: Big & Stripey

This perch deserves it’s own post - while the pike favoured the deadbaits, this surprise perch nailed a ledgered bleak livebait. What a beauty - and a new a PB for Paulos at 2lb 2oz - nice one!

Wye: Into The Mist

It hasn’t been easy, we’ve put the hours in and the week has flown by. I’m going to finish typing this, get out of my nice warm bed, give Paulos a shout and we’ll wander out into the cold for one last session (this season) - is there a twenty out there waiting for us?


A couple from yesterday, 18lb 3oz, wobbled smelt. (+1.0)


And 18lb 6oz, ledgered smelt. Full week report to follow...

Wye: Tough Going

Halfway through our week on The Wye; the high water table means the river isn’t dropping as fast as we thought it would and locating the baitfish, and therefore pike, is tough going...


There is some work to do but Paulos is still into the pike, and doubles (11lb 7oz above and 14lb 4oz below). Deadbaits scoring well and livebaits working but difficult to catch...


I missed out - loosing an upper double on a sprat and a jack on a lure. Nearly another double with a 9lb 15oz pike (below). But more to follow I hope, we’ve still got a few days left. (+1.2)

Wye: High Pressure

On the Wye searching for pike and joined by my brother, Paulos - I don’t normally feel any real pressure to catch fish - but he’d travelled 4,127 miles from Georgia to wet a line here - must find a pike!

I needn’t have worried, Paul was soon into a pike about 7lb on a ledgered smelt -phew! A few hours and a bit of searching later a mid-double found the net, 15lb 9oz, on a float fished bleak. (+1.2)

Pressure off the trip we both added a jack each before I landed a mid-double on a ledgered sprat - unfortunately a recapture of Paul’s fifteen (2 hours later). Cracking first day - more to follow I hope...

One Hundred & Fifty

For the records: 5lb & 4lb (150)

The Secret Stream

I haven’t wet a line in this beautiful little chalk stream in over a year, and was really looking forward to wandering the banks, stick ‘n’ pin in hand, hoping to catch my first grayling of the season. Arriving before sunrise we could see the stream had broken it’s banks - but as the sun rose we were relieved see it was still gin clear. It hadn’t been fished in quite some time and we soon discovered the trout were ravenous!

Meeting back at the fishing hut for a nice cup of tea and some breakfast - me, James and Richard realised that although we could spot grayling we couldn’t get through the trout - it was going to be tough going. The trout were always going beat the grayling to the bait, so I scanned the bottom searching for lone grayling. And I found one - a fantastic 2lb 0oz on some shallow gravels. My day was made!

Next I tracked a big grayling upstream for about 40 yards before convincing her to take a bait - great fight - and my second biggest grayling ever at 2lb 4oz - what a brace of fish! Three more grayling including one at 1lb 15oz, a few more trout and three little jacks - turned a tough morning into a proper red letter day. As the light faded it was difficult to drag myself away - can’t wait to return...


2lb 4oz, my second biggest grayling ever.


2lb 0oz, a brace of ‘twos’ - fantastic.


1lb 15oz, nearly a hat-trick!


Thirty one trout, the best two both going about 5lb.


And three micro-pike, look at those markings.