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).

Mixed fortunes.

I've had a couple of short sessions on the river recently. The first time I went on my own for an hour. I decided to spin with a small plug with a view to catching perch or chub. In fact I had neither but if I cast into the faster water there seemed to be no lack of trout. In an hour I had four takes/follows, one of which was either a big trout or a small salmon. This one was in the shallow tail of a big pool just upstream of where the water broke into rapids. It bow-waved after the lure almost to where I stood but I just glimpsed the pinkish flank as it snatched at the lure. The only fish I landed was a small, beautifully coloured brown trout. Of course these fish are out of season so it was carefully returned and swam strongly away.

My next trip was with Nigel. He opted to trot the stream for grayling but it was a bright sunny day and all he caught was one small trout. I used my big Slandra in hopes of pike but they were not cooperating either. After a while I cast too far and hung my lure up in reeds on the far bank. Eventually, after lots of tugging and heaving, the line broke at the trace knot. I muttered a few words and began to walk back up to where my pal was fishing. In order to keep me occupied I tied on the little plug I'd been using on my previous trip. First cast I was into a fish and, at first, I thought it might be a pike but it turned out to be an out of season salmon which I unhooked and released at the water's edge.

I could see the writing on the wall so I took off the plug, crossed the bridge and tramped the half mile downstream to try and retrieve my Slandra. After a bit of mud plodging I managed to get it back and tied it on again. Not long afterwards I missed a small pike and then, as I wiggled it back across the bottom of a deeper stretch I saw a green flash as the lure was taken. This turned out to be a fat six pound pike which, as usual with these weedless lures, was nicely hooked in the jaw. After landing it and taking a couple of pictures the pike was released to grow bigger. Excellent stuff!

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

Small trout.

Slandra'd.

The lure.