tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52658661447958541052024-03-05T00:04:38.747-08:00Mermaid's Fishing BlogMERMAIDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04965366314938315291noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5265866144795854105.post-14097508022744625822012-08-29T10:53:00.000-07:002012-08-29T10:53:16.980-07:0024 Hour Match Saturday 25th AugustGot to the fishery at 6.45 and reported in for breakfast, and whilst the bacon sizzled, myself and a few taking part chose the swims on the specimen lake and set about pegging them out.<br />
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After breakfast, the draw took place at 8am and I drew the peg on the left hand side of the island. The all in was called at 9.30am and after casting out my carp rod on my left into 7ft depth of open water on a large method feeder, I concentrated my efforts fishing a quivertip on my right hand rod within two foot of the island margin.<br />
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During the day, I struggled and the angler across the island from me seemed to be pulling them out.<br />
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On the island, all I was getting was roach, albeit, a good stamp of fish, but the carp seemed to have none of it. On my left hand rod I had caught a few carp and lost a very big cat at the net, but I went into the darkness only having caught about 60lb of fish including a catfish of 10lb, but the angler across the lake from me having well in excess of 130lb.<br />
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Disaster struck when I went to turn on my headlamp which I had tested and put new batteries in only the day before, only to find it now didn't work. I lost the next half a hour trying to find an angler on the lake who had a spare. Luckily, someone had one and very kindly lent it to me.<br />
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Now that I could see, I attached a nightlight to my feeder tip and decided a change needed to be made, but what?...<br />
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I decided to come away from the island margin, and cast out the large method feeder into open water on my right, and to cast my feeder rod over to the left on the spot where I had been casting the large method feeder. The change made the difference and I started catching carp on the quivertip almost immediately and through the night I set about catching 170lb of carp between 10pm and 5am.<br />
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As soon as the dawn broke and the sun began to rise the swim began to slow down but it seemed that a busy night seeing me repeatedly visiting the scales, meant that I ended up winning the match weighing in 238lb and the guy over the lake from me weighed in at 221lb for second place.MERMAIDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04965366314938315291noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5265866144795854105.post-16018563708131831872012-08-29T10:20:00.002-07:002012-08-29T10:23:15.406-07:00Third Cast on a quivertip<br />
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<span style="color: #a2030a;">I caught a catfish on Saturday 18th August using a quivertip using 6lb line and a size 16 hook. The fish was my third and as it turned out, my final cast of the day.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #a2030a;">The fish emptied my spool of 100 mtr line all but for a few turns at the height of the fight, and after an arm wrenching fight that saw my Drennan 11ft Method Feeder rod all but bend round to the handle, the rod broke in 2 places on the top section of the rod when I had to force the issue to get it into the net.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi21SXeYt4pJpc0oNt_KjJkTydQxQ6AQdAhZ1awdqbgJEQ8MNzBIS58BrneRrVpjtjVoefGbvZO2mDWAE1hZRC6ew87CU0yqdPzEfmyRCqES_xD_vnrG473vJrUbFkE31CuhdMvSYl8EWE/s1600/photo+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi21SXeYt4pJpc0oNt_KjJkTydQxQ6AQdAhZ1awdqbgJEQ8MNzBIS58BrneRrVpjtjVoefGbvZO2mDWAE1hZRC6ew87CU0yqdPzEfmyRCqES_xD_vnrG473vJrUbFkE31CuhdMvSYl8EWE/s320/photo+1.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #a2030a;">Although I have caught larger catfish previously when being specifically targeted<var id="yiv613874993yui-ie-cursor"></var>, my record being 209lb for a catfish caught in Spain a few years ago, (reported in Anglers Mail at the time,) I think this must rate as highly as Saturday's capture was made on such light tackle.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #a2030a;">As the capture was made on my mum's birthday, I've named it Mary in her honour!</span></div>
MERMAIDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04965366314938315291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5265866144795854105.post-78300107629265140612011-04-18T14:18:00.000-07:002011-04-18T14:41:56.173-07:00A Day with Bob Nudd<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix5lfB8p55nvfH_1chyw7RmdbH2yYjtTD3h4ppVhq8TFG1Jnwt8_S1JQPHThChIolczosX0ZBTg0OEIKQEUFsjvfOanpFgPnDV8Dmfiby1D39YPFSK1pP-6-k9mxrnkUFuLymyLLcmiP8/s1600/just-part-of-Lindas-fantastic-catch-426x320.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597037036356796786" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix5lfB8p55nvfH_1chyw7RmdbH2yYjtTD3h4ppVhq8TFG1Jnwt8_S1JQPHThChIolczosX0ZBTg0OEIKQEUFsjvfOanpFgPnDV8Dmfiby1D39YPFSK1pP-6-k9mxrnkUFuLymyLLcmiP8/s320/just-part-of-Lindas-fantastic-catch-426x320.jpg" /></a> <br /><div>Had a great days fishing with Bob Nudd at the beginning of the month at Tingrith fishery.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Fished the Fringe lake fishing the pole at about 13 metres putting in a pole cup or 4mm pellets with a few 6mm pellets and fed these into the swim every 30 minutes.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Hook size 16 Kamasan B911 using a Preston 4x14 pole float. For bait I used a size 6mm Ringers expander pellet which I had pumped using gelatine and Marmite. The gelatine to make pellet stay on the hook better and the Marmite to provide more pulling power!</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Later in the session I fished shallow using a Korum blob kept in place with a size 8 Stotz and agin using a 6mm pellet on the hook. Fishing about 18 inches deep and firing in about 6 pellets every few seconds fish were quickly encouraged up in the water to feed.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>The day ended and when the keepnet was hauled out of the water Bob estimated that I had about 130lb of fish in the net! </div><br /><div></div>MERMAIDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04965366314938315291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5265866144795854105.post-28341545883158762502009-08-25T12:22:00.000-07:002009-08-25T13:31:10.452-07:0012hr Match at Tingrith<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjauhPAI8MhjkNpPCmHDCkDfzl0hTaDbNIjRcQ7KZN_xU-pQCTWK3Hg4-5tjUgh3D_AWl9HEaXUfuVxMVefmY4R579Sa-dvzB2CYghklrbc_ywxXBqh3jrygERmPR_aC-luVi6PnzcTx9c/s1600-h/Linda-Billington-2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373986217525310034" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 279px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 306px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjauhPAI8MhjkNpPCmHDCkDfzl0hTaDbNIjRcQ7KZN_xU-pQCTWK3Hg4-5tjUgh3D_AWl9HEaXUfuVxMVefmY4R579Sa-dvzB2CYghklrbc_ywxXBqh3jrygERmPR_aC-luVi6PnzcTx9c/s320/Linda-Billington-2.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>12 hour Fun Match & BBQ Tingrith Fishery</div><br /><div><br />I had a very busy day on Saturday 20th June this year taking part in the first 12 hour match held on Browning Tingrith's Fringe Lake.</div><div></div><div>Normal fishery rules applied with weigh-ins every 4 hours. </div><div></div><div>Although I had broken both tib and fib at the ankle back in January which gave me little chance to practice on my new pole, I decided that what the heck, the pole would be my chosen means of attack. I drew Peg 9 which was bordered on each side by reeds. Due to my inexperience fishing the pole I was very concerned and didn't fancy my chances in keeping the carp out of the reeds if I was lucky to hook one so I decided I would fish very shallow at 14mtrs.</div><div></div><div>I had read somewhere the trick of tying a pellet to a hair and varnishing it so that rather than constantly changing bait, the varnished pellet would allow the same rig to catch many fish and keep the baited line in the water longer. </div><div></div><div>My second line of attack was to fish further over to my right past the reeds to the vacant swim and drop bait just under the unused platform. As the whistle blew for the all in, I emptied a pole cup of 6mm GOT Bait pellets and another cup made up of half and half small cubed luncheon meat and sweetcorn.</div><div></div><div>I then went out at 14mtrs with a shallow rig of 18 inches deep using a Preston Durafloat 10 shot below with a couple of size 10 Stotz to a 6lb Drennan mainline attached loop to loop to a 5lb Drennan hooklink tied to a size 16 Kamasan B911 hair rigged with 6mm varnished GOT Baits 6mm pellet.</div><div></div><div>Using a catapult I fired out around 10 - 12 GOT Baits 6mm pellets every 15 seconds and after 20 minutes the float started to show signs fish nosing a the bait, a few seconds later, and the float buried to the first crucian of the day. As I fought and played each fish to the net I continued to fire out pellets to keep the fish feeding and preoccupied in the swim. I also continued regularly to feed the swim to my right by the vacant platform.</div><div></div><div>At the first weigh in I was the last swim to go to the scales and weighed in 90lbs. </div><div></div><div>Interestingly the second weights weren’t affected a great deal by the emptying of the nets after the first 4 hours. The last 4 hours saw a change in the carp coming on in the evening session to the margin. The work of the regular baiting to the vacant swim platform paid dividends seeing carp to 8lb making their way to the net.</div><div></div><div>My winning weight was 181lb 12oz approx, 80lb of which were crucians and silver fish with the rest carp, all caught on a pole using pellet at 14 mts and GOT Baits Atomic Paste wrapped round luncheon meat in the margin</div><div> </div><div>Runner up was Ricky Stone of Finchley, North London, with 130lb 5oz of roach, rudd & crucians up in the water. A close third was to Pip Bolam, also of Bedford with 103.12 oz in peg 8 and the 4th place went to Vic Jackson with 103lb exactly!The 12 gruelling hours were followed by a very welcome BBQ and refreshments.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div>MERMAIDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04965366314938315291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5265866144795854105.post-72875272303080494092009-03-16T14:49:00.000-07:002009-03-16T15:25:50.481-07:00A Bad Break and a Jammy Jack<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZYkb9VpDb4HyyfhyphenhyphensVoQBYKdNHo64n1DKkNzXSTr68VoUXC6CustT7V7vF-aBk4iCJWmMHhzTRoHFzNJ3g_aT6Zq3jrGAmCRQ6mlDAix1xeZ880QqP_pRXdxGatBrc3XXAlHoDbBVYvg/s1600-h/Image014.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 241px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZYkb9VpDb4HyyfhyphenhyphensVoQBYKdNHo64n1DKkNzXSTr68VoUXC6CustT7V7vF-aBk4iCJWmMHhzTRoHFzNJ3g_aT6Zq3jrGAmCRQ6mlDAix1xeZ880QqP_pRXdxGatBrc3XXAlHoDbBVYvg/s320/Image014.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313915305633552610" border="0" /></a><br />Back in January on a bright Sunday morning following a severe frost I decided it was a little too dangerous to go fishing on the slippery riverbanks and so I opted to go for a healthy walk instead.<br /><br />No more than a quarter of an hour after setting off on a walk at a local beauty spot Sundon Hills I had climbed over a stile and walked down a small hill and slipped towards the bottom and my right leg collapsed underneath me with a sickening crack.<br /><br />After a few moments I decided to crawl back up the embankment towards the stile and tried to see if I could manage to get in a position to climb back over it. The pain unfortunately ruled out that option out before I could try to pull myself up.<br /><br />Later at the hospital after being rescued by paramedics it transpired I had snapped the tibia and fibia right across at the ankle and was destined to spend 3 months in plaster and away from fishing.<br /><br />However, where there's a will, there's a way and due to the help of my husband and with the use of a wheelchair I managed to get back out to the lakes whilst my leg was still in plaster.<br /><br />Patience was at last rewarded and although the pike caught was pretty small it must be said and was caught when reeling in after a last cast, it was just great to be back outside once more.MERMAIDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04965366314938315291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5265866144795854105.post-89337484921118991732009-03-16T14:37:00.000-07:002009-03-16T14:42:47.249-07:00Stuck pole section - with a difference!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjyCogJJqFG7R5Hvv-3LAhtBm0PIAy8YHxJnwdDoV-S65faReh1iEOC3al9GTYcbu5eLZusjkMo_jkP-cudyTYiBXBKYC5FYdz7uPDoh80MmiuuphioqC038QctEqUERNE7OnPDh3nWt0/s1600-h/Method+Feeder+Carp+Tingrith.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjyCogJJqFG7R5Hvv-3LAhtBm0PIAy8YHxJnwdDoV-S65faReh1iEOC3al9GTYcbu5eLZusjkMo_jkP-cudyTYiBXBKYC5FYdz7uPDoh80MmiuuphioqC038QctEqUERNE7OnPDh3nWt0/s320/Method+Feeder+Carp+Tingrith.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313903506513597186" border="0" /></a><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span class="spnmessagetext"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;color:black;" >I don’t normally fish with a pole as a rule but decided to give it a go as I like the simplicity and precision of the discipline. </span></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;color:black;" ><br />I s<span class="spnmessagetext">et up, plumbed up, and caught a few small carp and managed to get myself a bit of a rhythm going regards feeding, shipping out etc.<span> and </span>I was very pleased at how things were progressing and felt that I was really getting the hang of this pole fishing lark.</span><br /><br /><span class="spnmessagetext">Remembering what I had been taught by the fishery bailiff (to put my index finger into the second section of the pole to ensure there was no grit in the top 2 before inserting the third section and thus avoiding a sandpaper effect ruining the snug fit of the sections.) Fine no problem until </span><span class="spnmessagetext">I decided to smear the pellets I was using with Marmite ad I had caught a few carp before using this tactic.</span></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span class="spnmessagetext"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;color:black;" ></span></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span class="spnmessagetext"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;color:black;" >I smeared the pellet and and let the baited line sit in the margin where a good part of my bait had ended up after a mad fit of sneezing earlier and was just about the insert my index finger inside the pole to clean the inside of grit, but realised it might not be a good idea as it was still covered in Marmite, and that this might cause the sections to stick. (I have enough problems getting the lid off when my lads over-tighten and the screw thread on the jar at home when it becomes stuck to the jar better than super glue!.)</span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;color:black;" ><br /><br /><span class="spnmessagetext">In my mind I praised myself for my quick thinking and at once inserted my middle finger instead. Then I was going to catch one more fish and then take a much needed loo break. Just then disaster struck or perhaps more appropriately stuck! </span><br /><br /><span class="spnmessagetext">I couldn’t get my bloody finger out! my knuckle was stuck firm in the ruddy pole section and do as I could it just would'nt budge!!!!</span><br /><br /><span class="spnmessagetext">I was on my own, I'd got this bleedin' long length of carbon stuck fast on my finger, I needed the loo, my mobile phone was yards away and I couldn't move to get it without showing the world my plight, (one bloke I think realised what was going on but to save my blushes I kept pretending to be looking for something in my tackle box until he looked away and frantically again I'd resume my pulling and yanking!) I finally managed to grab hold of my phone but my hand wet with sweat and slime from the last capture could not hold it properly and the phone slipped from my grasp splashing loudly as it plopped into the lake. Kylie’s dulcet ringtone of ‘I should be so lucky’ would alas never be heard again. </span></span><span class="spnmessagetext"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;color:black;" >The ducks on the lake seemed to find the whole episode highly amusing and appeared to be laughing loudly at my expense.</span></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span class="spnmessagetext"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;color:black;" ></span></span> </div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span class="spnmessagetext"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;color:black;" >I was getting seriously worried by this point as I had no contingency plan now as I had no means of cutting off the offending pole if the worse came to the worse, as if I trod on the pole to release my trapped digit, I'd end up breaking my finger not to mention the bank, and I certainly couldn't drive with a 10' long bloody finger nail!!! and then, just then when I thought things couldn’t get much worse, my float dipped abruptly under the water and the biggest carp of the day decided to fall for my Marmite pellet! </span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;color:black;" ><br /><br /><span class="spnmessagetext">For a good few minutes (I know it doesn't sound that long to you but promise me it felt like a ruddy eternity) the pole refused to budge from my finger despite the angry lunges of the hard fighting fish attached as fast as I was to the other end of the pole!!. Why on earth hadn’t I just kept to fishing with rod and line or was back at home at the ironing board?!?</span></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;color:black;" ><span class="spnmessagetext"></span></span> </div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;color:black;" ><span class="spnmessagetext"></span><span class="spnmessagetext">Luckily, at the point when I was just about to blow the whistle for help, I noticed the extra bag of hemp<span> </span>I had brought with me which was still frozen solid waiting at my feet and an old physics lesson popped into my head and I so I placed this on my hand to try to reduce the heat and thus the swelling on my finger. After what seemed to be long enough to have had time to read War and Peace at least 3 times over, my hand had cooled sufficiently for my finger to come free from the section.</span></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span class="spnmessagetext"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;color:black;" ></span></span></div><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;color:black;" >Amazingly and fortunately for me the carp had decided to try to hide its embarrasment also and sulked in the tree roots along the margin from my swim instead of heading for the sanctuary of the centre or other side of the lake and so this allowed me to time to play the fish properly and eventually landed a beautifully carp.<br /></span>MERMAIDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04965366314938315291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5265866144795854105.post-11371033652217122472009-01-13T05:14:00.000-08:002009-01-13T06:00:30.768-08:00Pike Fishing<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaBYkb7tCAWelI8gNHr-8qPrWohRx7CHg0VBPKbOyE9QrbrITkP4PzHy8w1_oIsOuWFz6VC4qbO5iewioN3pml15NVoPldI_f4AP9Uk3qzVIPSgoHfHkc3a6Aep1ENwxwJFwgTgI6Sq1A/s1600-h/10lb+8oz+Pike+-+Park+Farm,+Eaton+Bray%283%29.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 203px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaBYkb7tCAWelI8gNHr-8qPrWohRx7CHg0VBPKbOyE9QrbrITkP4PzHy8w1_oIsOuWFz6VC4qbO5iewioN3pml15NVoPldI_f4AP9Uk3qzVIPSgoHfHkc3a6Aep1ENwxwJFwgTgI6Sq1A/s320/10lb+8oz+Pike+-+Park+Farm,+Eaton+Bray%283%29.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290777178598313890" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUar_j2pLjUSO0QexFWGx1oIxmheLEQA1idVy78fK5ohGDDVk-uRYAEmTn2fKBeBtPFOlt9b6zB8VsIeux1bjhI_lLsbz0LrMXq5-T00-lZXtO9ywFBtr59Ih-xh8ks7vMC-63eB-4chw/s1600-h/ATT68749303.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 120px; height: 90px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUar_j2pLjUSO0QexFWGx1oIxmheLEQA1idVy78fK5ohGDDVk-uRYAEmTn2fKBeBtPFOlt9b6zB8VsIeux1bjhI_lLsbz0LrMXq5-T00-lZXtO9ywFBtr59Ih-xh8ks7vMC-63eB-4chw/s320/ATT68749303.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290776474238728498" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_wAEaunEbJDZV2Y5x9wtPvdajKN1grikHv_Ue8amICWBfltU_iM_CZe8WZ06ynLGV2ibiR3EZcjflS57f74R5g3aYa0vBFzMR9im2b-1D84X8j6spvas7B2_V57PxIqGkRPaYzhkvKFE/s1600-h/ATT68749302.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 120px; height: 91px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_wAEaunEbJDZV2Y5x9wtPvdajKN1grikHv_Ue8amICWBfltU_iM_CZe8WZ06ynLGV2ibiR3EZcjflS57f74R5g3aYa0vBFzMR9im2b-1D84X8j6spvas7B2_V57PxIqGkRPaYzhkvKFE/s320/ATT68749302.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290771982337347426" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Decided not to get up too early so it was a bit of a surprise when we got to a nearby lake at around 9.30am on perfect piking conditions on a Sunday morning that our favorite swims were still available.<br /><br />The conditions were overcast with a light ripple on the water and the day was set fair with a high of 12 degrees expected.<br /><br />A few days previously I had an idea of mincing up some of the deadbaits and freezing them into small balls mixed with oils and brown crumb to use as a groundbait for the pike.<br /><br />I threw out a couple of 'pike bombs' into the margin and far bank and before long we had the rods out. Rigs were simple one was using a deadbait roach on a deadbait pencil float and a normal 2 semi-barbed treble rig the other was again a deadbait pencil cast further out near the far bank but on this rod I was fishing a lamprey 'kebab rig' using 1 large hook and 5 chunks of very bloody lamprey on long hair.<br /><br />We had fished for a few hours when the far margin float bobbed slightly and moved sideways by no more than a few inches. I watched the float carefully and once again the float bobbed before making a more determined sideways motion. I picked up the rod, wound down slowly and then hit it. All hell then broke loose and after a healthy fight I managed to land a rather fiesty 15lb pike.<br /><br />The bites continued and in the end I had 6 pike between 8lb - 15lb in weightMERMAIDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04965366314938315291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5265866144795854105.post-27504300709565787342009-01-13T02:49:00.000-08:002009-01-13T03:49:51.391-08:00Tingrith 24hr Match 9am Sat 12th July to Sun 13th July 2008<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEGZXfPuzMN08q6jdI-hQ8kAQDg9q-I6fWqBeNNYhjBzaYVbdRaNqzchhF1ZekURMIn06LqrPcnP2O7DB8ekEfbFoYY7E9KylNY-GPyoyIGT8XSa4je-8SgmuENaI_RqM60UOJ5ATIamY/s1600-h/Fishing+020.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEGZXfPuzMN08q6jdI-hQ8kAQDg9q-I6fWqBeNNYhjBzaYVbdRaNqzchhF1ZekURMIn06LqrPcnP2O7DB8ekEfbFoYY7E9KylNY-GPyoyIGT8XSa4je-8SgmuENaI_RqM60UOJ5ATIamY/s320/Fishing+020.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290729837122887042" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxcO_eAyGh0P4Dr5nCAes8O-FPGBZqLvNFq3qbE7g3SIjcdOXvThnqBQBFHAg0ABAN6eXLpYlOBgHIuFp6kHVSjqZGaN0CyQuHFcJLzN-Zrlrsn3DyfEOhm0sOOe0NN3ar4A7zhQlnAF4/s1600-h/Fishing+024.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxcO_eAyGh0P4Dr5nCAes8O-FPGBZqLvNFq3qbE7g3SIjcdOXvThnqBQBFHAg0ABAN6eXLpYlOBgHIuFp6kHVSjqZGaN0CyQuHFcJLzN-Zrlrsn3DyfEOhm0sOOe0NN3ar4A7zhQlnAF4/s320/Fishing+024.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290729618366232610" border="0" /></a><br />Chris and I decided to enter the 24hr match being held on the Orchid specimen lake at the Tingrith coarse fishery.<br /><br />Neither of us had any illusions of coming anywhere in the money stakes but as the regulars taking part are a great bunch we knew the fun would be in taking part.<br /><br />As much as we had our rods all but ready to cast in to our respective swims at the time of the starting whistle we were not as well rehersed at getting our swims as organised and ready as we had hoped. We therefore were the last two anglers to cast in at our respective swims.<br /><br />After a hearty breakfast at the onsite cafe and a certain amount of running back and forth to the car for missed bait and tackle, we eventually cast into our swims about 45 mintes later than our fellow competitors.<br /><br />Chris had drawn the peg next to Lee which was oppersite the island and I had drawn peg 14 the far beach swim.<br /><br />Chris was using pineapple and the source boilies close to the island but unusually the fish were not taking at all. The only bites from that part of the lake were being taken by a guy fishing the pole who was using a large amount of chopped worm. He was beginning to empty the lake at a rather alarming rate.<br /><br />At my end of the lake I had managed to get the carp on the feed by using the method with paste on the hook.<br /><br />As the match went on my tactics luckly began to bring the fish to the net.<br /><br />The guy with the pole continued to catch, but others round the lake seemed to be struggling.<br /><br />Included with the price of entry was an evening meal and breakfast on the Sunday morning both of which was hungrily and gratefully received by all competitors shortly after the whistles blew.<br /><br />Luckily, I continued to catch fish through the night through the misty dawn and right up till half an hour to the finishing whistle.<br /><br />I had caught 7 Carp between 7 - 14lb, 3 small Catfish, and 2 Tench giving me a score of 105lb, but how had the others fared? and where would I come?<br /><br />Alas no, the chopped worm pole fished by the guy on the other side of the lake won the match with a weight of 128lb. On a pressured specimen water that really was really good fishing and he was a worthy winner of the trophy and the prize money for first place.<br /><br />Amazingly and very luckily, I managed to come in second place.<br /><br />Chris unfortunately caught only 1 fish but many anglers fared worse and blanked. However, his luck was to change at the next match.MERMAIDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04965366314938315291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5265866144795854105.post-37693038232872899502008-05-01T09:42:00.000-07:002009-01-20T02:38:06.779-08:00A Fisherman's Cake<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvQJPusq7mnaKqvrRR3NrHUhqNCmMd6vzlT8_-lYU2gfWQuld5DiS5x1oPujnFadP6KuQCAsBSK5tQtG7F5D7GpzmVAQB_YsZrRp37Tvr7u3-2AOuYQwsoka-YrW3FfRylGfgXQQQr9R4/s1600-h/Picture+004.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvQJPusq7mnaKqvrRR3NrHUhqNCmMd6vzlT8_-lYU2gfWQuld5DiS5x1oPujnFadP6KuQCAsBSK5tQtG7F5D7GpzmVAQB_YsZrRp37Tvr7u3-2AOuYQwsoka-YrW3FfRylGfgXQQQr9R4/s320/Picture+004.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290475717924411570" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCFATgGjT_shwF4AlTDdiKB_n521whtaO4NaPVGa9iQgn2kdV89KHl2_K9ea0zMGqgYXNai5TDw7XXPiZTKEd-mK22KQoX7349WQXMzvHxj0jykqPvnr4J3XPrOyTCfCa9LD3CnSZW5vY/s1600-h/Picture+011.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCFATgGjT_shwF4AlTDdiKB_n521whtaO4NaPVGa9iQgn2kdV89KHl2_K9ea0zMGqgYXNai5TDw7XXPiZTKEd-mK22KQoX7349WQXMzvHxj0jykqPvnr4J3XPrOyTCfCa9LD3CnSZW5vY/s320/Picture+011.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290471909738001010" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />I was asked by my surrogate daughter, (my work colleagues daughter who calls me her deputy mum), if I would make a birthday cake for her partner.<br /><br />In all honesty I didn't really have much of a clue as to what to do but I thought I'd give it a try.<br /><br />My idea was to bake a round cake and attach to that a little jetty on which a marzipan fisherman would sit with a rod in his hand with a fish attached. The cakeboard itself already being covered in icing which was washed with blue food colouring to look like water.<br /><br />I made a fruit cake a few weeks before the party and had pierced the cake and had been brushing the cake with brandy then allowed it to dry.<br /><br />I was worried about the icing, but as Jo, my surrogate daughter loved marzipan I decided to colour the marzipan and just use that instead.<br /><br />At about the same time as I cooked the cake I modelled the fisherman out of coloured marzipan and in order to prevent it from sagging or falling forward I used spaghetti through several points on the body to hold the parts in place. I also modelled the jetty out of marzipan, 4 fish, several trees, bullrushes, a No Fishing sign and flowers and left them time to dry before they were needed.<br /><br />I was very worried about the rolling of the marzipan and covering the cake and so I decided to cheat and after colouring the marzipan I placed the flattened lump between two sheets of greasproof paper then rolled it as thinly as it needed to be then unpeeled one side of the paper then placed this uncovered side onto the surface of the cake that I had previously brushed with melted apricot jam. It worked a treat!<br /><br />The final decorations were placed on the cake at the hall so that the trees and No Fishing sign would not pull out of the cake (thet were held in place with spaghetti which were inserted into the models when they were made.MERMAIDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04965366314938315291noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5265866144795854105.post-56586068269339261072007-07-30T23:52:00.000-07:002009-01-15T00:07:02.367-08:00Barbel fishing on the Ouse near Bedford<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMYAxd0CvOCAGhRY4sMOTELTko9OUnd6ulWleoFrE9zr70cMfGslEXGRumyUwp-Q9Q0EVi6TtHem7GiZGnlydRciIC7e9I60iryatYLP4cUQprp88SLnCO9VXQ6id3kdl1nZLft1Gdmic/s1600-h/Fishing+008%282%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMYAxd0CvOCAGhRY4sMOTELTko9OUnd6ulWleoFrE9zr70cMfGslEXGRumyUwp-Q9Q0EVi6TtHem7GiZGnlydRciIC7e9I60iryatYLP4cUQprp88SLnCO9VXQ6id3kdl1nZLft1Gdmic/s320/Fishing+008%282%29.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290695002644225954" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiormay_CTUBQksSU6v4gNp0nwFvkFq2GN_-a0cntV0M7TqmIk-RyFSrkzTAbZuKkCXtMDUyBbuy6eR_bDmUwRAVA2QJ1tTGIArh6Uykkz0wrBbQlumCg1qe_uLWCmkXbssfi3S271LtE0/s1600-h/Fishing+040.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiormay_CTUBQksSU6v4gNp0nwFvkFq2GN_-a0cntV0M7TqmIk-RyFSrkzTAbZuKkCXtMDUyBbuy6eR_bDmUwRAVA2QJ1tTGIArh6Uykkz0wrBbQlumCg1qe_uLWCmkXbssfi3S271LtE0/s320/Fishing+040.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290694994816379026" border="0" /></a><br />For as long as I could remember, my other half Chris, had wanted to catch a barbel.<br /><br />With this in mind in late July we had visited our local tackle shop and after seeking their advice we bought a club book some well stocked lakes, canals and a stretch of the Great Ouse just outside Bedford that was known to hold a good head of prime Barbel.<br /><br />The prefered bait was to be a Dynamite Baits 10mm drilled halibut pellet attached by a hair rig with a paste made from crushed halibut pellet and fish oil moulded round the hair rigged pellet.<br /><br />A few weeks previously we had seen a great deal of rain which had seen the river levels rise and throught the evident weed and mud in the trees lining the river, the level had fallen noticably by at least 3 foot.<br /><br />The river was still running freely and was fairly coloured only allowing the occasional glimpse of weed obscuring the gravel bottom of the glide.<br /><br />Before casting out I had made up a small pva mesh bag (no larger than a golf ball) which I had filled with a mixture of smaller halibut pellets. The hook I used was a size 8 Kamasan barbless which was nicked to the small pva bag in order to cast out which allowed for the free offerings to scatter near the hook when the pva bag melted.<br /><br />The rod was then placed in a vertical position against a bank stick with a screwed in horizontal rod rest attached and my eyes began to careful scrutinise the soft quivertip to check for any evidence of the tentative attentions of a barbel.<br /><br />After several nods on the rod tip which resulted in catching a few small chub the rod started to nod violently before whipping round and nearly being pulled from the rest. After a spirited fight my first barbel, a pristine specimen weighing 13lbs was on the unhooking mat.<br /><br />Unfortunately, Chris failed to catch on that day, but a few days later we returned to the same stretch just before dawn and as we made our way towards the mist rolling river we followed in the tracks of a pair of scampering otters than ran past the weirpool and along the bank until they disappeared from sight.<br /><br />Within a few moments of Chris casting in his rod which barely had chance of settling on its rest was rattled violently by the attentions of an Ouse barbel which weighed in at 8lb 6oz.<br /><br />He had at last caught his quarry.MERMAIDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04965366314938315291noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5265866144795854105.post-70160050371775151382007-04-09T19:19:00.000-07:002009-01-20T03:00:11.080-08:00209lb Catfish Easter Monday 2007 River Segre Mequinenza, Spain<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEEvUc-rlP6R4tyRHfhHbLgX9Awdn8nuLJLN5VpogowCV10eNSswk6f1MKRZeCyYrYUrylnazlNfJfhZ8BGOph5knNl8lTpdYuiSwAXRmBzfTTEle5Yk7ASIU3Vd1Ur-Nu0NNaWb88GL4/s1600-h/Spain+Catfish+209lb+Pic+59.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEEvUc-rlP6R4tyRHfhHbLgX9Awdn8nuLJLN5VpogowCV10eNSswk6f1MKRZeCyYrYUrylnazlNfJfhZ8BGOph5knNl8lTpdYuiSwAXRmBzfTTEle5Yk7ASIU3Vd1Ur-Nu0NNaWb88GL4/s320/Spain+Catfish+209lb+Pic+59.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5291210419468841122" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1oQwQnDrYOvA724AkmkcZEgmfk5o-5YuFEb3V1lEiMXHVgn81QPoFVHWJI7AEBgbGUuv5ShD7OfZ4i8gJ57NstF_DBSbLU2tpFZ6JdedoUOf-LT2CTuLnGGIDTNOkRZOysNLCTnTUGpA/s1600-h/Spain+Catfish+209lb+Pic+47.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1oQwQnDrYOvA724AkmkcZEgmfk5o-5YuFEb3V1lEiMXHVgn81QPoFVHWJI7AEBgbGUuv5ShD7OfZ4i8gJ57NstF_DBSbLU2tpFZ6JdedoUOf-LT2CTuLnGGIDTNOkRZOysNLCTnTUGpA/s320/Spain+Catfish+209lb+Pic+47.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290462862256438082" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEUT8FKzxtETpPoF-fl5Z9s9iDmvDK0xwHXWi1enBlmn-Ic97i0ctriQMIkUNk1zuRy3K3cUvkyRbmgl38VtkyaJCbQcSmA6E2wHa2WzqCZLSxX_GsIB9TJEtHf7xUkd_bukxwl0CiijA/s1600-h/Spain+Catfish+209lb+Pic+10.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEUT8FKzxtETpPoF-fl5Z9s9iDmvDK0xwHXWi1enBlmn-Ic97i0ctriQMIkUNk1zuRy3K3cUvkyRbmgl38VtkyaJCbQcSmA6E2wHa2WzqCZLSxX_GsIB9TJEtHf7xUkd_bukxwl0CiijA/s320/Spain+Catfish+209lb+Pic+10.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290462850863629970" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-size:12;">My husband, Chris <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span>and I had decided to book up for a weeks catfishing in Spain targeting the rivers Ebro and Segre both home to monster Wells Catfish (Silurus Glanis).</span></span><br /><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:12;"> The Wells Catfish are not an indigenous species to the Spanish river system but were in fact stocked back in the 1970's and since that short passage of time have managed to establish themselves with nowadays making the capture of specimens 100lb + fairly commomplace.</span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:12;">Hubby Chris and I searched the web looking for the guiding services available and decided to go with Catmaster Tours run by Colin Bunn operating in the town of Mequinenza which stands at the confluence of the Ebro and Segre rivers both noted for their monster catfish. </span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:12;"> </span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:12;">We had booked up the holiday just before Christmas but since booking it I had suffered from 'Golfers elbow' -basically the inflamation of the tendons - the other side of the tendon than 'Tennis elbow'. <span style=""> </span>But in preparation of the holiday, I had taken the precaution of having steriod injections and was dosed up to the eyeballs with Ibuprofen as per my doctors instructions </span><span style="font-size:12;"><br /><br />We flew from Luton to Barcelona and there was met by Colin who then drove us for just under 2 hours through some of the most spectacular Spanish scenery to arrive at the small town of Mequinenza and onto our apartment which was to be our home for the week ahead.<br /><br />After freshening up from our journey and taking a short walk along the river we later met Colin in the Bar Ebro to discuss the fishing and tactics for the week ahead.<br /><br />We were a little anxious at the sight of the river as it seemed to be in full flow with a great deal of weed being swept through in thick rafts along the water’s surface and wondered whether we would in fact catch anything during the forthcoming week.</span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:12;"> </span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:12;">Colin said that although the fishing might be hard going he was still quietly confident that all 4 of our party would catch.</span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:12;">The following day we were collected from our apartment at 6.30am by Gareth who drove us a few miles outside the town to the pumping station to meet our guide for the day Danny Davies who had already set up camp. </span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:12;">When we arrived conditions on the Segre were far from ideal as there was a lot of water rushing through with branches and even trees coming down in the flow and we had been warned that fishing would be tough.</span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:12;">Danny showed us the equipment, and rigs that we would be using and demonstrated the baiting up of the 22 mm halibut pellets, 7 of which were loaded onto each elongated hair rig. Soon we had mastered the setting up of the rods and waited for the cats to hopefully come on the feed.</span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:12;">The first of us to catch was a young lad by the name of Jonathon who after a very spirited battle landed a catfish equal of his size.</span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:12;">Considering the length of the Johnathon’s fight and the exertion I was extremely concerned as to how my golfer’s elbows would stand up to the rigors and thrashing of such a leviathan. Within a few hours I was to find out!</span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:12;">Danny had just kindly gone back into the town to pick up dinner for us all but had shown us how to safely hand and land Johnathon’s fish on the bank it so we know what to do. He had also given us his mobile number if we needed him to return sooner.</span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:12;">Shortly after he left, the alarm screemed off and the vertical tip of the 7lb test curve rod began to violently nod in it rest.</span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:12;">“Fish on! Fish on! HIT IT!!” within seconds I had the rod snatched from its cradle pushed forward the ratchet clip, wound down and hit it hard with all my might. It sure felt different than my previous best catfish which weighed in at 16lb! </span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:12;">The pain in my elbow and shoulder was excruciating and I must admit I thought I was feeling that the pain was due to my infirmity and not the fish (as I couldn't see it at that point) and felt that this would be my first and probably my last fish of the trip and my dreams would be in tatters and my holiday ruined due to my gammy elbow.<br /><br />I fought the fish for about 25 minutes, and on several occasions was fully convinced that I was going to be dragged into the murky depths of the Segre to join my newly attached piscatorial friend. When I first saw the fish I must admit I was’nt sure I wanted to be attached to that monster! but at the same time was relieved as I realised that nothing else would test my arms again that week or perhaps ever again to the same extent as that fish of a lifetime had done!</span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:12;"> </span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:12;">Hubby Chris wadded into the water and grabbed the bottom jaw of the fish with his gloved hand as Danny our guide had shown us, then Chris and Ron then secured the fish as Danny arrived back, (having received a somewhat frantic request for him to do so), and as he looked at the fish for the first time he congratulated me saying that he believed it to be in excess of 200lbs. </span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:12;"> </span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:12;">After a lot of heaving and repositioning by the 3 men, the giant fish was placed into the weighing sling and when held above the ground the needle settled at 209lb. A moment I will never forget for as long as I live.</span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:12;"> </span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:12;">I've since been informed that at 209lb, it is the largest Wels Catfish caught by a woman, and most probably the largest freshwater fish caught by a woman too!</span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:12;"><br />During the week in total I caught 5 Catfish: 103lb, 117lb, 124lb, 150lb & 209lb, managing to lose one other fish that I felt was a very good one to a snag, whilst hubby caught 4 catfish ranging from 85lb - 166lb and his new PB carp of 35lb 2oz. </span></p> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:10;" ><span></span></span>MERMAIDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04965366314938315291noreply@blogger.com0