Bottom feeders

Date fished 31/8/2026

6.30am until 11am

There are items of tackle that I like, I use because I always have and there are items that I love but have rarely, if ever used.

For example 

I LOVE the bait dropper, but I think it's only met the water once. It makes so much sense, put your bait on the bottom where the big tench and bream are feeding. Ignore the little silvers in the water column. That was the plan. 

I put three droppers of liquidised bread, corn and small pellets in the desired spot. As I got the float rod ready, I noted the fizzing. It was bubbles all morning! 

The float was maybe not the method though. I love to just sit and watch the float, but some days you have to do what you need to.

Time stamp 7.18am

No need to cast. I was fishing a rod length out and I just lowered it carefully in. 

Time stamp 7.22am

A nice 3lb tench.

The bailiff came around and I told him I had caught a tench, he asked how big and I said 3lb. I had not weighed it. 

I caught another one later, it looked the same size, so I gave it a weigh. 2lb 15oz. Phew, 1 oz out!! 

Two 6mm Robin Red durable hookers squished together on the hair doing the business for both the larger tench.

A smaller one on the float fished corn and some roach and rudd kept me entertained. The morning slipped away and I decided to do the same.

Not quite sure what the banks need the holiday for, but my morning on the bank was worth it. 

A picture paints a thousand words (2)

Date fished 19/07/2026

7am until 10am

Hot weather, no school and a son that has joined the workforce. All great reasons to spend a few hours together at the lake. 

 

well, something like that. 

We drove up to the lake, armed not only with tackle but more importantly homemade sausage and cheese muffins and pain au chocolates (not home made.)

Tackle

Two float rods, 1 ledger rod. Sweetcorn, hemp, Robin reds and breadcrumb. Hot juice, choco breaks and munchy bars.

Sometimes words just don't do it justice. I will leave you to write your own. 

Dad 4 tench

Martha 1 rudd

Rupe 2 tench, 1 roach, 1 rudd

My first tench aka Gary

Mr Whippy

Date fished 5/7/2026

5.45am until 8.30am 

The house was quiet, people in the street were snoring softly. I crept out with Mr Whippy and the float rod and headed the short distance to Wydon. 

For those of you that dont know, Mr Whippy was my dads favourite rod. At a little over 5ft, he is diminutive in stature, but he is strong. My dad had caught carp to double figures on him a mere few inches from the bank. He is a perfect stalking opportunist rod, and seeing as most of my Wydon fishing is a few feet from the bank, I paired him with a hybrid feeder to do some close in ledgering for tench. Mr Whippy last featured on the blog in 2020 here. 

I arrived at 5.45am. I feed some hemp at 5.50am, cast ( well dropped in) at 5.51am. At 5.55am the float sailed away, two minutes in the fight and at 5.57am a tench lay in the net.

A roach on the float followed and soon the whole swim was alive with fish. I wanted to catch on Mr Whippy, so I dropped the feeder in the spot. It was 6.57am and Whippy pulled around. A short fight and a bream lay in the net! 

Wanting to get back to the float fishing, I swapped back. Two more tench, another roach and six rudd topped off a great few hours.

Long but skinny

The smallest, but equally welcome

The rain started and as I left a man and boy were just arriving. I told them the swim and where I was feeding, so I hope they could carry on where I left off. 

Getting home at 8.59am, I was annoyed it wasn't 8.57. The daughter was still sat on the sofa in her pyjamas. She said "morning dad, morning Mr Whippy'.

That made me happy! 

No, not really

Date fished 22/6/2026

9.30am until tooth hurty pm

GCSE's completed and one more day of holiday for me was a perfect mix for me to take Rupe to the Swale to see if he could catch his first barbel.

We headed to Topcliffe as we could not leave at the  crack of dawn and he had a dentist appointment (brace tighten) at 4.45pm which could be on our way back North. 

First swim

Second swim

The weir swim looked good, sounded noisy and ate two swim feeders in two casts! We moved downstream 100m.

This swim seemed better, we cast our ledgerd pellets just in the flow and waited. 

I like fishing with pellets, they are:

Easy

Cheap

Last ages

Stay on the hook

Different sizes, flavours

Child friendly

I don't like some boilies that I have. I won them years ago and have never really used them. I take them with me on many trips and they come home again. They smell like vomit to me. I decided they were going in the river or in the bin!! 

Suddenly, Rupe's rod wiggled and I let him know, just incase he didn't see it through his fringe. He was in. A cute little chub his prize.

I cast too close to the far bank and lost more tackle. 

Today's mission was to hopefully get Rupe his first barbel, so I changed my rig to a vomit boilie on a hybrid feeder, no respectful barbel would get caught on that! 

A missed bite on that, it must work. I kept with it. 

My second of the week (ish). Big smiles all round! On the vomit too!!

Another angler came to fish this swim as I was releasing the barbel, he warned us of some snags. We had none in this swim so far. 

We reeled in. Snag! 

Another lost feeder. Am going through feeders quicker than............ (fill your own answer in here)

The sun burst through the clouds and although we liked the warmth, the fishing died. We watched birds, river critters and a little mouse having his lunch.

It was lovely to spend time with the boy. 

Oh, the title. I nearly forgot. Speaking of things that annoy me. Ask my son any question and his reply is usually "No, not really".

It doesn't even make sense!! 

Love him though!! 

What is this hair!?

Bloody Tinca!

Date fished 14/06/2026

7am until 11am

It's so nice to walk to and/or home from fishing. That's kinda why today, I fished Wydon in Hexham. 

Arriving at 7am, I walked to the swim I love to fish in. There was someone already in it! In truth the lake was fairly busy ( great to see). 

Realising I knew the guy in my swim, I chatted with him, George,  and then tackled up in the swim next door. 

George and I have talked about fishing together before but work and life schedules have never aligned, not sure this counts but will have to sort one day mate! 

Short rod, hybrid feeder and I was soon fishing down my left, not one rod length away from the reeds. 20 minutes of nothing and I got the 13ft float rod out. I was still fishing close in, but the length helps! (Stop the sniggering).

The float buried and I was in. An angry tench (assumed, not seen) kept deep and low and messed me up around the left reeds, then out in front and then the right hand reeds. I got the rod down and tried to bully him. It resulted in a hook pull and a lost fish. I was raging!

Am not normally an angry chappie, except when driving, but this annoyed me. Soon, I was back to normal when the offspring arrived. 

There is much more to life than a lost fish. 

1. Sunday breakfast

2. Cute pic of the young offspring 

3. My nephew sorting his fishing gear like I used to when I was young 

4. A nice rudd, both Rupe and I caught a few

5. Early morning at the lake