Catch Fish with
Mike Ladle

Information Page

SEA FISHING

For anyone unfamiliar with the site always check the FRESHWATER, SALTWATER and TACK-TICS pages. The Saltwater page now extends back as a record of over several years of (mostly) sea fishing and may be a useful guide as to when to fish. The Freshwater stuff is also up to date now. I keep adding to both. These pages are effectively my diary and the latest will usually be about fishing in the previous day or two. As you see I also add the odd piece from my friends and correspondents if I've not been doing much. The Tactics pages which are chiefly 'how I do it' plus a bit of science are also updated regularly and (I think) worth a read (the earlier ones are mostly tackle and 'how to do it' stuff).

Grayling for Christmas.

Well, my sea fishing has finished for a while and I've now turned to the river for my sport. The weather is awful at present so I'm not even inclined to venture out to the rivers until things improve a bit. For this page I shall cast an eye back over the past year to see some of the friends, family and action that has entertained me over the past twelve months. Later on I expect I shall put a few 'freshwater' pages up in the 'saltwater' section just to keep my hand in. (Most people probably know that I really don't distinguish between coarse, game and sea fishing anyway.)

On the recent pike fishing session with my pal Nigel he switched to floatfished sweetcorn and managed to land some decent grayling. Now grayling don't mind cold water (and we've had our share of that lately) so they're always a good bet in the depths of winter. Nigel's fish were taken by trotting down a nice glide and his best fish was two and a quarter pounds. Unfortunately I'd moved elsehwere in search of pike at the time so there were no pictures.

A couple of days later I had to meet someone on business and by chance it gave me a spare half-hour to go fishing. Grayling were the first thing to come to mind so I set up a simple paternoster with a quarter-ounce weight and a size 12 hook baited with a bunch of white maggots. I'm not proud when it comes to copying my mates, so I made straight for Nigel's glide. I threw in a dozen maggots, swung the gear out into mid-river and plonked the rod down on the bank 'til I sorted out the gear. Fortunately I kept a weather eye on the rod tip because within seconds it arched round as the bait was taken. The writhing twisting pull on the line told me that I was into a decent grayling and after I'd worked my way round a bankside bush I managed to coax it into the net - a wonderful two pounder. In the next half-hour I landed a couple more decent fish but then I had to leave for my meeting. All in all a very satisfactory session and a fair substitute for a spot of bass fishing.

Anyway, have a good Christmas and a happy and healthy 2011. All the best to ALL my fishing pals and aquaintances.

Mike

If you have any comments or questions about fish, methods, tactics or 'what have you!' get in touch with me by sending an E-MAIL to - docladle@hotmail.com

January.

February.

March.

April

May.

June.

July.

August.

September.

October.

November.

December grayling.

December grayling