Thursday 19 January 2012

Wednesday 18th January 2012

Weather  +4c - +9c later.


Venue   River Yare Postwick




After Sundays poor result myself and Dean are fishing again today but decide on a leisurely start, with a nice cooked breakfast on the way. I collect Dean around 7am and we are soon in the cafe devouring a full English  each. With the temp much milder today after 3 days of freezing temperatures overnight, prospects look good. The boat looks much happier without its white frost covered top and the gear is soon loaded and we are off. As its only a fairly short session today we decide to only venture as far as the outfall at Postwick. This journey is literally 5 minutes from the mooring. We are soon set up with one live and one dead bait on two rods each. Positioning the dead baits just off the flow and searching round with roving live baits. The weather could not be more different than Sunday with a nice overcast sky but already around +8c. 
Again Dean is the first one in. His live Roach is taken after 45 minutes. This fish gives him a really good scrap and its no surprise when i slip the net under it looks like a "Double"  . The scales confirm the fish as 12lb 13oz which is a new PB for Dean. Unfortunately the camera is refusing to work so its slipped back straight away. After its returned we realised we could have used the phones camera but its too late. With such a good start we both look forward to the next few hours. Unfortunately as with any fishing, the plan does not always come off. We try everything we can to attract another take but nothing. Just as a change of scenery we decide to move downstream in an area to be know after today as, Cormorant Bay. We are positioned and fishing within 10 mins but again, its very slow. I finally get a few "Twitches" on my dead bait float, but nothing develops. I reel in to check the bait bit its un marked. I replace it in the same spot and 15 minutes later the same thing happens. Very strange but gets us on our toes expecting at take at any time. Dean then gets a proper running take on his live bait but misses that too. With time running out, my float again quivers and jerks on the surface.I pick up the rod in anticipation but instead of the float sailing off, there is a massive swirl next to it and a full grown Cormorant surfaces with a Bream of about One pound clamped in its beak ! With one big gulp,its gone and the bird dives under again. A few seconds later it surfaces 25 meters from us, climbs out onto a branch and settles down to digest the meal its just had. Its sitting no more than 2 mtrs from Deans float !

Cormorant Bay 

After about 5 minutes we cant believe what we see next. The Cormorant dives back in and within 10 seconds surfaces again with another Bream, this one slightly bigger, and gulps that down too. Thats about Two and a half pounds of Bream in 5 minutes. At this rate there may well be a fish shortage on the broads in the near future. Several other Cormorants can be seen "Roosting" all along the river. 
We decide to pack up half an hour early and head back to the mooring. 
Although ive had my second blank in a row, im still happy with my recent "20" and wouldn't really mind if i didn't catch another Pike this season.  
Bloody Liar ! 

Sunday 15th January 2012

Weather  -3c Start rising to +6c during the day


Venue     River Wensum Norwich City Centre


With a rock hard white frost and temp at -3c it took a bit more care and attention to load the gear onto the boat and get under way. I had already collected the live baits on Saturday afternoon to save time and we left the mooring in the dark with all the nav lights on display. As usual we set up most of the rods on the journey into the city so we are ready to go as soon as we get there. We have decided to try another swim today, not far from the law courts.
As we tie up to the bank ironwork around 8am, there are fish "topping" all over the river which hopefully is a good sign.
We soon have one rod each out, Dean and Neil fishing live baits off the back and i position a dead "Bluey" slightly up stream.
Its 50 minutes before Deans Roach is taken and a small but lively 5lb fish is boated. Despite trying different baits and tactics, nothing more materialises from this swim, so we decide to move back towards the Turning Basin area.
The move does not take long and we are all fishing again by 11am in the new spot near the Novi Sad bridge. Dean has stuck to his live Roach while myself and Neil fish float ledgered Smelt and Bluey.
Again its Deans live bait that goes, this time a slightly smaller 4lb Jack is the culprit. Lunch time comes and goes without any further action, all three of us trying different baits and set ups to no avail. 
We finally admit defeat around half 2, heading back to the marina in bright sunshine as we go. Im not really sure why we struggled today, apart from the freezing start the river looked ok and there was plenty of bait fish active too.
Still cant complain as it was a fairly relaxing day in the end. Just time for a few hours sleep and im into work later tonight.