Stuck at home again...

It is hard work trying to find a break in the weather to go fishing when I do not have to work. I had planned to visit my local fishery in Bromley on Saturday, but it was raining all day. I know a lot of you will not be put off by a bit of rain but being cold and wet for hours on end does not excite me too much. Today would have been the perfect day, and in fact, I had planned to go, but as has been the norm lately my plans were scuppered by having to work for a few hours this morning.

When fishing commercials as I do, I like to make a decent day of it. I could have gone later and fished this afternoon, but by the time I had got there, I would only get a few hours in before it got dark. I suppose I could fish on into the dark for an hour or two, but that is something I have not done before and am not geared up for. Either way, I have the cost of travelling and rod fees to consider which amount to the same for a full 12 hour day as they are for a few hours.

We are hoping to move this spring, and that will make life easier as there is plenty of free or club fishing to be had in and around North Kent. This will mean an odd couple of hours on the bank will be far more practical, having lots of water within a short drive or even walking distance if I fancy a spot of sea fishing.

Looking at the weather ahead for the next few days does mean I am not going to get out until Thursday/Friday at the earliest. I have been targeting perch the last couple of times I have been out. This time I think I am going back to just traditional float/feeder fishing for some silvers, and anything else that comes along. If I can get to the venue reasonably early, I should be able to fish for a good eight or nine hours, which is far more like it.

Jeff's Lake - Beaver fishery

In the meantime, we have had a disaster. I had made up several 500g bags of my experimental perch paste mix - Chinese Dog Bite that I had placed in our dry-store. Our dry-store is one of those giant plastic storage 'barrels' with a lid that is secured in place with a circular clamp. This thing is rodent proof as well as being watertight. We use it to store all our dry bird seed and bait-making supplies. It keeps everything bone dry... That is so long as you remember to put the lid back on.

As luck would have it, although I had left the lid off overnight, the contents had not come to any real harm as they are all wrapped in plastic. However, the barrel was wet on the inside, so I decided to empty it and bring it in. So far so good. I put the bag of white crumb in the airing cupboards to make sure it kept dry, and that was that.

Later that night we heard a commotion in the garden. This is nothing unusual with the surprisingly large amount of wildlife we live with here in London. It was not until the morning we realised what had been going on. Four bags of the paste mix and three bags of prawn crackers had been left on the outside windowsill by mistake. The noise we heard turned out to be the foxes making short work of the prawn crackers, after ripping the bags open and then having a go at 2kg of the dry Chinese Dog Bite paste mix. The paste mix contains powdered red food dye that does nothing to change the colour of the dry mix but bleeds bright red once it is in contact with water. It rained that night.The foxes have eaten most of it, but what little remains is slowly getting washed away by the rain.

I will have to make up a new batch of Chinese Dog Bite, once I have collected together a few more bags of prawn crackers. I am in no hurry, I have decided to shelve the experiment for a few months and try it out when the weather warms up.

Where to go

I have been thinking about where to go fishing later this week. I want to make a day of it, and at the moment it looks like Beaver is the favoured destination. I know, maybe I should be a bit more adventurous but at the moment I have very little time to fish, going to beaver is a 'safe' bet as there are eight lakes and ponds to choose from. The other alternative is Oakley Road. That is closer, and I don't mind doing a shorter day there as the cost of travelling and day-ticket will be significantly less than going anywhere else. I will decide later in the week. 

Oakley Road in the summer - it might be a bit different at this time of year

I have been using a nice old 13ft Silstar float rod I was given by a friend, a couple of years ago. At the same time, he also gave me a Silstar feeder rod that I have not yet used. I plan to take that with me and give it a go, as well as the float rod. Cage, block-end and even method feeder fishing are proposed methods of attack with the feeder rod and a touch of light float fishing with the other rod.
I wonder if the magic of the Two Dog groundbait mix will work in the method at Oakley Road at this time of the year? I am tempted to have a go, but the jury is still out on the destination. I will let you know at the end of the week.

Ralph.