Catch Fish with
Mike Ladle

Information Page

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).

Lovely chubbly.

In the morning I'd been down to the coast to try a dawn fishing session only to find the sea so rough that it would have been dangerous to even try and cast a line. I was a bit cheesed off so after lunch I decided to have an hour after chub with the plug. I began by trying the usual spots but there didn't seem to be any fish in residence - at least none that were hungry. Of course I always cover a range of conditions when I'm plugging because 'You never know!' I came to a deep, slack which has only produced small pike and perch in the past. I made a long cast and the little plug splashed down right in the middle of the glassy calm. Before I could even tighten the line there was a boil and the lure disappeared. Chub!

The fish fought well, for a chub, and it was a little while before I managed to slide it into the shallow water to be unhooked. As luck would have it there was a nice gravel bank beside me so I took the bag off., propped the camera up on it and set the automatic timer to take a picture of me and the fish - a four pounder. I was pleased with the catch and plodded on downstream trying various likely chub lies on the way. Nothing! I came to a pool even wider and deeper than the one where I had the fish and made a few casts to various spots without any sign of a fish. Then, on my final retrieve, right in the middle of the pool, there was a flash as the lure was grabbed by a decent fish. My first thought was 'pike' but the gold flank and big,rounded dorsal fin soon revealed it to be a second chub, a bit bigger than the first. I slid down the muddy bank and after taking a couple of pictures, unhoooked it without lifting it out of the water. Time to go for my tea. All in all an excellent session and I learnt not to ignore the middle of dead slack pools.

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

The first chub.

Closer.

Me.

Another good chub.

Closer.