Catch Fish with
Mike Ladle

Information Page

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 four 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. 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 so if you are new to fly fishing or spinning these are the ones for you).

06 November 2008.

Maggot fishing.

For years I've been using an ancient, twelve-foot coarse rod for my maggot fishing, when I need to catch a few live or deadbaits. To be honest, it's a nightmare, it has sliding reel fittings that I have to bind with tape to avoid the reel falling off and it is so long that it often tangles in the bushes when I'm fishing in restricted spaces (usually what I do). I decided last week that it was time for change. I looked at my rods and noticed that I had an old Daiwa Sensor spinning rod, shortish and fairly light in the tip. Perfect! I don't use it for spinning any more so it is redundant. I dismantled the 'coarse' gear, transferred it to the 'new' rod and set off to the river.

It was the last day of trout fishing on my river. First cast I had a small dace - no problems with the bushes overhanging my swim - excellent! After that I caught fish after fish in the slack pool that I had started in, all of them were small dace or roach - good potential perch baits I noted. After catching a dozen or two I decided to move to a spot of flowing water. First trot down produced a small trout, then a big dace then more smaller dace and a salmon parr. I cast across to the slacker water under some low hanging branches, down went the float and the rod whanged over to the pull of a better fish. It turned out to be a seatrout of a couple of pounds which I put straight back. All in all a very satisfactory test for the rod. I'll be chucking the old one away in the near future - what a relief!

Stonking dace.

Salmon parr.

Trout.

Seatrout.