BRYANS ANGLE

Before christmas i manged to grab an afternoons fishing at a small local pond which i,ve heard rumours has produced some big perch to pleasure anglers over the past year or so. I had to work locally to this water in the morning and knew i,d be finished by midday so i sneaked my perch gear in the truck along with my tools and made sure i passed the local tackle shop on my way to work to pick up some maggots and lobworms. The sky was overcast with a little drizzle in the air while i worked which i was very happy with as i like overcast conditions when i predator fish. Unfortunately by the time i had finished what i had to do the sun had come out and the temp had risen a few degrees to make it a lovely day, but unfortunately not what i was after. Nevermind i thought, its my first trip to the water so i,ll just use it as a recon visit. Arriving at the water i was surprised as to how attractive it was, willow trees overhanging the nearside banks with swims in between them and reeds lining...

As most of the country has found out its been raining a bit of late, which has subsequently resulted in many rivers, streams and brooks flooding badly. A couple of local rivers have more water in them than i have ever seen before, flooding across acres of fields as well as flooding some roads making them impassable. I popped into a local area which has two rivers meet before splitting over a weir to see how they were running. I was shocked at the ferocity of the water as it raged and boiled along its track before exploding over the weir. So out with the camera to record what i saw.

Last week i actually managed to get a few fishing sessions in fishing for pike on three different waters, and whats more i actually managed to catch something too. Well the first session was a quick couple of hours fishing on a local syndicate lake. Its a water which hasn,t been fished properly for pike and is over 40 acres so theres plenty of scope there, but as mentioned no one has seen any signs of pike activity let alone seeing any mooching around. Well i did a few hours late one freezing cold afternoon moving from swim to swim around half of the lake float fishing various deadbaits but didn,t even get twitch. The water looks as though it could throw up some good pike as its big, got plenty of weed growth and bankside cover, has plenty of underwater features and is teeming with rudd. I had no luck this time but i,ll give a few more trys over the course of this winter. Ready and waiting The next trip was a dawn trip on a local river for a couple of hours, again after Esox. Th...

 A properly set drop off indicator.  All ready and waiting..   Too close for my liking.  I took these on my iphone today after a walk along a local river. I was getting itchy feet in the office. I,ll be having a go for the pike here when the ice thaws. These two pictures i took on tuesday morning at the field behind WATERBOUYS CENTRAL. You looking at me Guv!!!!!!

The weekend before last i actually managed to blag the day off to go fishing as the other half was working, so excitedly i got my kit together on the saturday afternoon ready for the off 6am the following morning. All tackle was checked, batteries for the bait boat charged, drifter gear sorted out and tea gear prepped. I was ready for a day out at one of my BIG syndicate waters. The morning can around and i loaded up the truck with all my fishing in the freezing darkness, lovely i thought as i do love fishing in a crisp frost first thing in the morning. Watching your breathe as you crunch along the bankside vegetation while you set up your kit is what i love about piking. After a short drive i was pushing the barrow around the lake to the spot i fancied, even though i try and limit the gear i take theres still quite a bit for a days dangling. I arrived at my chosen area and started to set up my rods, first being a close in rod to be lobbed 25 yards out just past the drop off. Sec...

This saturday just gone i sneaked out of the office early to have a couple of hours perch fishing on a local river. I,ve been itching to return after my pike trip there a few weeks back when i mhad a couple of big perch try to take my livebaits meant for old esox. Well i grabbed half a pint of red maggots and a pot of lobworms from the local tackle shop and set of to the river arriving around 2.30pm. I love this little stretch of river, its only about 50ft wide with barely a flow unless its been raining heavily, and has boats moored down both banks creating lots of hiding places for the ambushing perch. There was some big shoals of bleak dimpling the surface just off the boats which i took for a good sign so set about tackling up in their area. My set up for float fishing a lobworm is very simple. I like to use a chubber float as it carries a nice bit of weight as well as being able to hold up a small livebait if i do manage to catch one. This has a float stop either side of ...

Not much to mention on the fishing front lately as the dreaded need to earn a crust has unfortunately been taking presidence. I,m currently trying to complete the  building of a pond which is fighting me every step of the way. Each stage is taking longer than it should and problems abound, but it should be finished in  the next day or so........ I did manage the weekend fishing for pike and zander up the Fens a couple of weeks ago with Ryan, but unfortunately the fish didn,t want to play ball. I think it was probably due to a cold spell which set in the day before. I did manage to bump a double figure pike at the net when we were set up along Ten Mile Bank saturday evening. I also had a dropped run after a couple of thumps when we dropped into fish The Old West for an hour or so before heading for home. The only excitement, if you can call it that, of the weekend was the torrential rain which kept hitting us on numerous occasions saturday afternoon. It was bloody cold as w...

A few days ago i managed to skip work a little early and decided to grab a pike rod and go fishing on a local river for the last couple hours of the evening. The weather was clear skies and actually quite warm, not ideal conditions but to be honest i didn,t really care as i had an itch which needed to be scratched and only a spot of fishing could reach it. Soon as i arrived i set about catching some bait as i,d only brought one pike rod and wanted to walk up the river using a free roving livebait as bait to see if anything would grab hold, as i,d not fished this stretch for pike much i thought this technique would be the way to go to try and help me get a grasp of the river. After half an hour i had 6 nice size baits in the bucket so i stashed the bait catching rod back in the truck and set off up the river. Theres a lot of boats on this stretch and i like to fish a float close to these when i target the perch here, so i did the same with my pike rod thinking that they would be in si...

Well i am allowed to advertise my on-line tackle shop as this is my blog after all............ www.waterbouystackle.co.uk My sites going from strength to strength, i,m getting in more stock weekly from various manufacturers and have recently unpacked the full  PIKE RANGE  from  30 PLUS. I also have adverts going in CARP TALK , COARSE ANGLING TODAY and PIKE AND PREDATORS magazines soon. Tackle brands i have in the shop are: THINKING ANGLERS SOLAR 30 PLUS PALLATRAX ATOMIC TACKLE ULTIMA LINE ENTERPRISE TACKLE KAMASAN EVA As well as lesser known brands. Pop in and have a look as i,m sure you will be impressed with our stocks and pricing. Keep popping in too as i,ll be running some big discount promos soon.

Heres another nice easier recipe for cooking on the bank whilst waiting for a screaming run. RUMP STEAK AND MUSHROOMS IN BRANDY AND PEPPERCORN SAUCE First gently fry some sliced red onions and mushrooms in a little oil until nice and soft. Then tip onto a plate ready for the next stage. I used ready sliced onions and ready sliced mixed mushrooms as it was easier. Next season your steak on both sides with salt and black pepper and chuck in the pan. Have your heat turned high to get a good colour. Cook until its done how you like it, rare medium etc. I like my medium well done so it took about 10 minutes or so. Then tip your onions and mushrooms back in the pan with the steak and let all the flavours mix for a minute. Next pour a packet of the Brandy and peppercorn sauce around the edge of the steak and heat for a few minutes until its bubbling, then stir it all about with the onions and mushrooms. I,ve cheated by using this ready made sauce from asd...

Weekend before last i managed to blag a nights fishing on my syndicate lake as i,d been a good boy and the missus gave me the green light to go. Before she could change her mind i had my gear in the truck and was rumbling my way along the back roads towards the lake on the saturday afternoon, with plans to fish the night and best part of sunday. Weather was bright with patchy clouds and forecast to turn windy and unsettled. Just the way i like it. Eventually after a walk round the lake and a chat with a couple of members i opted to fish a nice comfortable point swim which looks across a lot of water as well as a nice bay area to my right. Up with the carbon compact, gear arranged inside, kettle on, and i was ready to start a nice gentle, methodical set up of the rods. I,d already spent a bit of time locating areas in this swim and had spombed some boilies out on one spot, particles on another, and my third rod was going to be just using an oily stick mix. Stick mix was the first to b...

Its been a hard week at work this week and i,m knackered. Couple that with the fact that my better half is working away for the week and i have to look after and walk the dogs as well as keep the house tidy etc, i am well and truly fooked. Its actually 8.30pm as i write this on my laptop and i,m tucked up in bed with the dogs snuggled up next to me. What a lightweight !!!!!!!!! I could of gone fishing this afternoon as i finished early enough but i was too knackered so sat on the sofa watching a series i recorded from sky called Ultimate Fishing Experience, i think thats what its called. Its a rather over enthusiastic chap from New Zealand who was fishing for great white sharks, then striped marlin followed by giant swordbills. All good adrenaline pumping stuff. This got me day dreamimg about the places i,ve fished abroad and the species i,ve caught. I,ve done the carp fishing in France three times now, once on a small lake in the Loire valley region which was actually not...

At 6.30 this morning i left for work as usual, i generally do this 6 times a week as most of you do. Unfortunately we all have to work to pay for the trappings of modern life. But the past couple of mornings have been different, i,ve felt that slight coolness in the air. You can smell it too, Autumn, that is. It gives a slight cool, musky, fresh smell which re-freshens the senses. I love it............ Some of the trees locally have started to drop some leaves. And as you look across the fields you can see that the colours are starting to dullen as the leaves start to turn. Farmers have been busy harvesting their fields which is always a sign of summer ending. And if you keep watch over these fields you,ll notice that the wood pigeons are started to group together. Autumn is on its way....................

A couple of days ago i was sitting at my desk in the office trying my best to catch up on my ever increasing  paperwork but my head wasn,t in it. All i could think of was sitting in the sun by some water and attempting to catch some fish. I tried in vain to dismiss these thoughts and carry on number crunching but to no avail. Eventually, as always, the uncontrollable desire to wet a line over came me and i downed pen, turned off the computer and toddled of to my tackle room to grab some kit. The problem now was what i actually should fish for and where. Within a 10 mile radius of where i live i have 6 club waters, 1 syndicate water, numerous miles of day ticket river and god knows how many miles of the Crouch and Blackwater estuaries to fish. Decision decisions!!!!! In the end i opted to take the light lure gear to my syndicate water and have a bash as last time i was there i spent an evening watching good size perch smashing through shoals of fry underneath the tips of my carp r...

Well i,ve finally done what i,ve wanted to do for many years. I,ve started my own tackle shop. I know have an on-line tackle shop selling all the terminal tackle that you will need. My aim is to stock as many companies tackle as possible so that you,ll have a one stop shop for whatever you will need. So check out my website and find the items that your local shop doesn,t stock. www.waterbouystackle.co.uk I,m adding new stock weekly so keep popping in to see which manufacturers we have. At the moment i have: KAMASAN ULTIMA THINKING ANGLERS ENTERPRISE TACKLE SOLAR PALLATRAX ATOMIC TACKLE ELITE ANGLING JOHN ROBERTS As well as numerous other small companies.

Since returning from holiday i,ve only managed one over night session on my syndicate water. Unfortunately this didn,t result in any carp on the bank but i did have 6 screaming runs which resulted in 6 good thumps on the rod as lifted into them which then resulted in me reeling in 6 great big balls of weed with no fish hidden inside. This water is a nightmare as there is so much weed in it making it really hard to find a clear spot. And when you find a spot to place a bait when you finally get a run the carp lodge tight in a nearby weedbed as soon as you pick the rod up. I will get to grips with the place, i just need to spend a bit more time there. I did manage this cracking rudd on a zig rig with a small imitation beetle on the hook. First time i,ve used a zig before. Unfortunately it didn,t register a take and i only realised it was there when i reeled in. It has given me a little idea about trying for the rudd with smaller zigs on my lighter gear sometime though. I reckon that...