Catch fish with Mike Ladle.

Catch Fish with
Mike Ladle

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Freshwater 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).

Thinlips again.

After my recent experiments with baited Devon minnows I decided to have another dabble. This time I resorted to my 'old fashioned' Mepps-type, plastic-bead-bodied spinner with a Pennel rig behind it. In fact the first thing that became obvious was that the spinner worked just as well or better than the Devons. It spun in the slightest flow and even in the slack water it proved easy to keep it working. The mullet were much thinner on the ground (=riverbed) than last time I tried but those that were present were mad keen on the spinner (a size 4, plain silver blade). They chased it upstream, they chased it downstream and they chased it across the stream. However, they found it difficult to get hold of the hooks again. In the clear water it was easy to see that the fish were struggling to locate the baited hooks. I think that, with their eyes at the side of their heads the mullet have a blind spot dead ahead and close to their snouts. They can follow the twirling blade, no bother, but once they get within an inch or two it's all guesswork.

The outcome was that in a couple of hour's spinning I managed to land four nice thinlips (the best perhaps 3lb). I had at least as many which pricked themselves and twisted off the hook as they took. A great many more nuzzled the spinner without any real contact being made. A couple of trout (?seatrout) in the 2-3lb category took, jumped and threw the spinner and a five minute switch to a small plug resulted in a bite from a big trout (conservative estimate 8lb) which also failed to hook itself. "Bother!" I said.

An excellent session and if the weather stays good one that I shall probably repeat soon.

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

Got one!

A nicely hooked thinlip is drawn towards the bank.

Landed.

I love these streamlined beauties.

The lure.

Note the tiny barrel weight body which helps keep the lure down a tiny bit.