Amy's first brown

Yesterday evening I got the chance to go fishing for a while with Amy..She has caught everything from 8 pound rainbows to 9 pound Hybrids, but She still hadn't caught and landed a brown trout. Yesterday evening her tables turned and she caught 7! They were all in the 16-18 inch range. As always, it's so much fun to share my passion with the ones I love! It was really cool seeing her kick those browns in the tail...

01/01/11 - Dorset Stour - Fiddleford

Weight – 19lb 6oz
Catch – 91 Roach, 29 Dace, 2 Gudgeon, 1 Perch.
Weather – Mild, but chilly breeze

Today was a proper red letter day, plenty of fish and plenty of bites.

In the last few years, Mark, Nick & I have fished at Timsbury Manor on the river Test on New Years day. I couldn’t make it last year, but Mark & Nick struggled for only a few fish, because there was loads of anglers on the bank and at £20 for a day ticket, that’s a bit expensive not to catch.

This year I suggested the Hampshire Avon or Dorset Stour. Every time I go down to Bournemouth to see to Sue’s family, I drive past the river and keep meaning to give it a try. Nick lives in Shaftsbury and heard that the river at Fiddleford was fishing well around the footbridge, so that’s where we ended up.

Having never seen this part of the river, it looked brilliant. The Fiddleford Mill was a short distance upstream with a large weir pool. The swims around the footbridge are a winter hot spot, because it’s up to 14ft deep, although today the river was still fining down following the snow thaw. The 2 swims either side of the bridge we were told were the best, but we couldn’t decide where to have the 3rd peg. We decided to have a draw, with pegs 1 & 2 either side of the bridge, whilst who ever drew 3, could choose. I drew 3 and decided on the downstream peg, where it shallowed up before the bend. It was then decided who ever had the highest weight won’t have to pay for their £5 day ticket, which I thought Mark & Nick would win, but I was simply looking forward to a days fishing.

When we arrived there were fish topping and all of us were expecting a good day. I set up 2 rigs, a 2.5g carbo to fish at 6m on the pole. The swim shallowed up in front of me from 9ft to 8ft, so I fished the pole upstream and held it back as it shallowed up. My 2nd rig was a 6BB pacemaker (a chunkier version of the stick) to fish the far bank trotting under tree where it was 6ft deep.

I started with 5 balls of groundbait on the pole line and had 2 fish in 2 put ins, then nothing. Mark & Nick both experienced the same problem, however after adjusting my rig I started to catch regularily, including some quality roach. I feed a ball of groundbait every 20-30mins when bites slowed down or when I had a run of tiny dace.

After 2½hrs I was already up to about 50 fish, however Mark & Nick weren’t doing quite as well. Mark unfortunately managed to find a snag that stretched most of the way across the river, which was frustrating and the toys were starting come out of the pram. Speaking to a local, he reckoned the snag is new, which must have washed down when the river flooded. Nick in the meantime was fishing the back eddy, which usually holds some bream up to 8lb, but was struggling for bites and did pull out of a decent fish.

Since the start of the session I had been feeding hemp & caster to the far side and switched to the pacemaker. Initially struggled, but a few adjustments to the rig and it was running though just tripping bottom. For the rest of the session I rotated between the pole and float, finishing with several roach about 12oz topped by a 1lb roach caught on the float.

Nick finished with 6lb, whilst Mark had about 4lb, including a near 2lb perch

Happy New Year...

Happy new year to you all and heres to some good fishing in 2011.

I also want to remind people that we are having a SALE on Friday (7th) Saturday (8th) and Sunday (9th). So be sure to call in to avail of some great offers to be had on rods, reels, lures etc.

Tight lines.

31/12/10 - Bristol Avon - Lower Reybridge

Weight – 2lb 11oz
Catch – 16 Dace, 13 Roach, 1 Chub, 1 Bullhead
Weather – Mild, cloudy, no wind

Today was a spur of the moment session. The weather had finally broken with a few days of mild temperatures which had seen the snow disappear, although some lakes still had a covering of ice. I had considered going down my club lake, but there was likely to still be some ice, plus all that melting ice won’t have done much for the water temperature.

I fancied trying for some chub again, but when I arrived at the river it was still coloured and slightly up. Must admit I did hesitate about getting the kit out of the car, but the pace of the river wasn’t too bad. As I walked down there was already an angler in the peg I wanted to fish, fortunately he was spinning for pike so was likely to move on soon. We chatted for 15mins whist he unsuccessfully worked the swim. Personally thought there was a touch too much colour for the spinner to work.

I started on the bread & lead, whilst setting up a 4BB alloy stick, feeding maggot & hemp. With no bites on the lead, it took 15mins to get my first fish on the float, a 4oz roach, but it felt cold, so obviously the river still had some melted snow in it.

As the session progressed I caught most of my fish in the slacker water on the other side of the river. I tried the inside line, where there was more flow, but could only get bites on the lead fishing 4 maggots on a size 14 looking for chub. Unfortunately only small fish showed including a tiny bullhead and god knows how it managed to stuff the bait & hook it to its mouth.

After losing my float rig on an underwater snag, I decided to set up a heavier 4AAA Avon, but was struggling for bites. So I decided to rest the swim and try a spot further down river for ½ hour, but I didn’t get a bite. When I returned I changed down a hook size on the lead and caught a few more fish, but the fish were generally small, particularly the dace. I had hoped for a few chub, however except for a 4oz chublet none showed.

A bit of a disappointing day.

Eddie Time

Thursday and Friday I got to fish with Eddie. Over time, Eddie has caught a bunch of fish with me as well as some real dandy's. The past few days he boated around a 100 fish. The weather had been kinda hairy all week and it was off and on for us. The water got a little off color but the fish didn't seem to mind. We played with some midges on his bamboo rod "Bambie" and broke in a new Helios..This was a nice brownie he caught yesterday before the storm blew us off the river!

pistakee bay night trip

Sorry for the late report but I made it out fishing Thursday night with Damien to test out my new hummingbird flasher. We targeted crappies on Pistakee Lake after dark. The conditions were treacherous with the temps above freezing and rain falling, the ice had puddles of standing water everywhere. Wind was howling from the south west almost hard enough to push us across the lake. Walking was incredibly difficult after forgetting my creepers at home. With extreme caution we moved from hole to hole fishing all the predrilled ones that were nowhere close to icing over.

first fish on my new flasher

one of damien's crappie

Marking fish was easy, pulling fish off the bottom was no problem, but getting them to commit was close to impossible. They would come up and sniff and even give chase as you move the bait higher but inevitably they would turn and drop back to the lake bottom. Varied presetaions and kept pretty mobile for most of the night. The ever present wind made strike detection even more difficult. Despite our handicaps we still managed half a dozen crappies and a couple sheepshead.

Word of advice is never try to set up a pop up shelter in the blowing wind when the ice is slick and you have zero traction. Chasing Damien and the pop up across the lake was not my most favorite thing to do. He held on tight as the shack carried him nearly 30 yards before I could catch back up to him. Damien, thanks for holding on tight at any cost! After that experience we decide to collapse the shanty and just be outside. These last 2 night trips have been slower then I would like but at least we have found some crappie!

The wind today has been terrible but at least the temps have dropped back down below freezing. The lakes should be completely sealed back up and I’m planning a solo trip for tomorrow morning.

Kayaks the key to fishing success





John Kis of Westchester, N.Y., had a field day on spotted seatrout, catching and releasing more than 50 fish.



I’ve always believed that we catch more fish from kayaks than when fishing from powerboats. It stands to reason because the fish don’t know you’re even there.

Jason Beary of Warren, Pa., with one of his 50 spotted seatrout.



This has been proven time and again. It has been especially true over the last two weeks. While many have struggled, my clients and I have been doing very well.

Despite the cold, we’ve been averaging 50 spotted seatrout per outing over the last two weeks. The trout are ranging from 13 to 22 inches, with most in the slot (15 to 20 inches) and over.

D.O.A.’s 1/16-ounce CAL Jig with a gold paddle tail has been the hot ticket. We’ve also been picking up a few fish on MirrOlure’s Tiny MirrOdine and a gold/glo D.O.A. Shrimp.

Fly anglers have had a tougher time. However, Jason Beary of Warren, Pa., caught several trout on a pink-and-chartreuse Clouser Deep Minnow and my Big Eye Baitfish Fly. The trout are on the bottom, so a slow, deep presentation is necessary. I would imagine a 300-grain sinking line would be a good choice.

Beary switched to spinning tackle in late morning and started getting hits on nearly every cast. The trick is to allow the jig to reach the bottom and then hop it slowly. The fish are cold and don’t want to expend a lot of energy chasing down the lure.

If you miss a hit, the key is to keep working the jig. Usually, you’ll pick up another in short order. I’ve lost as many as four fish on a cast before hooking and landing the fifth.

My wife, Kathy, joined me on New Year’s Day for a short outing. We only fish two hours because the wind started to blow and made things tough. Because of the wind, the incoming tide was really cranking. We anchored on the edge of a channel and worked the deep water. I switched Kathy to a 1/8-ounce CAL Jig in order to make it easier to get to the bottom and stay in contact with the lure. In two hours, we caught and released 20 trout to 21 inches.

Dr. Jon Smalley and his wife, Dr. Sharon Smalley, of Connecticut joined me for a half-day outing on Christmas Eve. The Smalley’s totaled 40 trout to 20 inches on CAL Jigs.

Jon Kis of Westchester, N.Y., fished a six-hour trip and did very well. He caught more than 50 trout to 22 inches on CAL Jigs. In fact, we anchored at the first spot and caught fish or had hits on nearly every cast for two hours.

We’ve found the fish to be extremely sensitive to noise and big boats. Several powerboats have fished the area and we’ve seen very few fish taken. A couple of times, we’ve seen powerboats literally “throw” anchors into the channel. Once anchored, you could hear the waves hitting the underside of their bow.

It was no wonder the fishing slowed noticeably!

Capt. Rick Grassett of Sarasota joined me for a friendly day of fun fishing recently and did well. He caught a few fish on fly before giving in to the wind and picking up a spinning rod. Rick and I totaled more than 80 trout to 22 inches, 12 ladyfish, four small redfish and a couple of flounder – all on D.O.A. CAL Jigs with gold paddle tails.

The cold hasn’t slowed the fishing much. The wind, however, has made it tough to get out on some days.

If you want to get in on this action, give me call. I’ve got a few days open over the next three weeks.

Happy New Year!

Steve Gibson

Southern Drawl Kayak Fishing

www.kayakfishingsarasota.com

(941) 284-3406