River Dove Salmon!!! My first 9lb 14oz

Well here is my story of catching my first ever salmon.

I am not a Salmon fisherman and have never tried it but enquired around Scotland this year but never got chance to go but as things turned out i did not need to bother.
I was Grayling fishing last saturday and whilst wading through a deep run i saw a salmon come clean out the water, this fish was around three ft away from me and scared the **** out of me, i was shocked to see how big this fish was, it was around three foot long and had a red glow down the bottom of its body. It seemed unreal to see a fish so big in a small river like the dove but it made me realise that these fish are coming back to the dove around a very good size.
The next day on sunday i went back to have another go at the grayling and hoping to see these salmon again, I took a friend with me who wanted to watch me fish,
As the light started to go i flicked my nymph unpstream where i had seen the fish and when i started to retrieve the bug i saw a huge salmon come out the water again, i thought wow what a nice fish when my friend shouted from the bank 'its took your fly',
I lifted into the fish and felt my rod tighten into the fish, i was using a 8ft 4 weight greys streamflex rod with 5 lb line and i knew i was in for some fun!!
The fish went absolutly nuts when it felt the hook set home and just run downstream, it went through a stong rapid a i could not stop it doing anything, its took me straight onto the backing so it was at least 40 yards down stream and still running,
I knew the only way i would get this fish was to tire it out so i went running down the river to my friends amusement!! I cover at least 60 yards running down the river with the fish still going when my line got caught around the reel, everything went tight and i thought it was going snap but it turned from the pressure and came leaping out of the river making my heart jump, the sheer size of this fish had me shaking like a leaf, my friend was shouting 'dont lose this fish you ****'
I was into a fish of a lifetime and eventually got it to start turning under full pressure, my rod was just doubled over all of the time,
When the fish saw me it made four more big runs but it was starting to tire,
After half a hour i had the fish in full view and she was lumping around like big fish do, so
I had a small trout net on my back and there was no way it would fit in there so i when i got it close to me i threw me rod down and grabbed it with both hands!
I took it onto the bank and me and my friend micky were jumping up and down like we had won the lottery! well to me it felt better than that!!
The fish was a female Hen and was quite dark. the fish measured 34 iches long with a massive tail, i got the scales from my van and it weighed 9lb 14 oz
In fact it was the lenght of my foot to my waist.
When i got home i told the mrs i had had the best night of my life and she said 'better than your first night of sex with me' and i said 'no not that good babe' but i am a great liar and if you are a fisherman you know what i mean!!

Video of me catching a GT

A great day fishing out of Pacific Harbour, Fiji

The forecast for Saturday was beautiful. Plans made and gear readied, time to fish. We leave after eight and decide to make a straight run instead of trolling to the fishing grounds that we want to try today. This of course burns a lot of fuel but saves about two hours.
We get to the bottom end of a reef system called Frigates.
It is a very popular surfing spot for locals and tourists alike.

We set out three lines looking for GT’s or mackerels. Trolling right along the reef edge. This method has a great payoff potential but a very high risk of snags.
Not to worry as we did not get a bite.
As we round the top end of Frigates we decide to try a bit of popper fishing. Rosie’s cousin Paul has not done a lot of poppering and is keen on trying it.
After a fair bit of casting practice, that is what I call it when you get no bites, we decide to move.
The sea is flat and the sun is out, there is no wind and no birds in sight. Sounds like a nice day for a picnic on the water but not for fishing.
Bottom fishing with bait is the consensus. First find the bait then find the spot to fish.
Luckily Paul knows a spot that usually holds bait. Within 10 minutes we have bait and are looking for a spot to drop anchor and fish.
Soon we are baiting hooks and dropping to the bottom.
Now this is where everything changes. Rosie can’t stand it, bait fish are breaking the surface right on the edge of the reef. About as far away as a person can cast. She ties a large popper on and fires a long distance cast using a 30lb set up. One pop, two pop, three pops and the surface explodes. The unmistakable scream of braid being taken at will from a reel along with shouts of excitement was all it took to end the bait fishing. The fight is tough but fair and soon a nice Bluefin Trevally is in the net.
Now the rest of us are trying to get our rigs changed from bottom fishing to popper fishing and Rosie is out there with another cast and another huge explosion. This second Trevally is a Bigeye and manages to break the tip of her fishing rod which is actually my rod because hers was blown apart by a very large GT a few months back. Rosie still manages to boat it and by the look on her face has reached nirvana.
This spot is totally turned on. We can see the Bluefin school swimming along the reef and they are all in the 4-7kg range.
Before any one else is out there popping Rosie has landed another three big Bluefin. By this time the rest of us have gotten sorted out and Paul is now casting a popper at the reef as well as myself. Before long there is a massive explosion and my popper disappears in a churning mass of foam. As my line pulls tight and my drag comes to life I feel the unmistakable rush of adrenalin and a giant smile on my face. This fight is different to the rest, it is deep with very hard repeated runs. Big head shakes and a fair bit longer. When we finally see color the beast lets us know it is a Giant Trevally. Pound for pound one of the hardest fighting fishes in the sea.
This fight is followed immediately by an explosion on the end of Paul’s line and the unmistakable shout of, “I’m on!” This is Paul’s first big fish while popping and it lives up to the reputation. He is over the top with the largest Bluefin of the day. Next up to catch a big on was Natasha, Paul’s wife. Being a first timer this was going to be a challenge. Once she is hooked up and with a bit of coaching and a few breath holding moments a nice Bluefin is netted and has its picture taken. There is still one person left to catch a fish, Rosie’s brother Paul, we call him Baba. After a bit of casting he is hooked up and the fight is on. during the entire fishing frenzy we had been seeing a few sharks but we were not being harassed to much. This time would be different. As soon as we see color on his fish we notice another color right on it tail. It looks as though this shark means business. I am at the back of the boat with the net and start telling Paul to reel as fast as he can. As the shark starts to gain on the Trevally I start to slap the water with the net. This buys us enough time to boat another nice fish and Paul is over the top.A bit more fishing and it is time to head back. With non stop chatter about a great day fishing and when to go again, we arrive at the jetty just before dark safe and sound.
Not a bad day for our first real attempt here in Pacific Harbour.

Tight lines and screaming drags

26/10/08 - Lands End - Johns Lake

Weight – 4lb 8oz
Catch – 7 Roach, 2 Carp, 2 Bream, 1 Perch.
Weather – Rainy start, becoming clearer & breezy.
Match – Open – last!

There are some days, when it just doesn’t happen for whatever reason or you have to hold up your hands and say I got it wrong. Fortunately I very rarely do so badly.

28 anglers turned up for this match on Johns & Sydney’s lake. I drew peg 46, which isn’t ideal, but I fully expected to catch a few, so much so I only set 3 rigs, 2 carp rigs & silvers rig. I soon found myself setting up new rigs to try & catch.

So why such a bad day? I may have overfed the swim and I probably wasn’t patient enough, but either way I should have caught more than I did.

I would rather get it wrong today than in next week’s winter league.

1st 130lb – Bela Bakos - peg 68 - maggot/shallow
2nd 79lb – Rod Wootton - peg 58 – pellet
3rd 61lb – Vince Shipp – peg 70

19/10/08 - Lands End - Johns Lake

Weight – 33lb 9oz
Catch – 15 Roach, 6 Carp, 2 Crucians, 2 Bream, 1 F1, 1 Rudd.
Weather – Bright, sunny & flat calm start. Later became cloudy & cooler.
Match – Veals Winter League – rd 3 (23rd overall, 4th in section)

Everyone wanted to draw Johns or Sydneys Lake and I found myself on peg 68 on Johns Lake. Pressure on! Peg 68 is 1 of the better pegs on the lake and prompted Mike Duckett to say this could be my year to win the league the way I was drawing!

The problem with drawing a good peg is to making sure you take advantage. Initially I set up 3 swims. 6m to my right feeding caster & hemp for silvers, 9m to my left next the reed bed and 14m at the bottom of the shelf by the point of the island.

On the whistle I fed 4mm expanders & corn at 14m and started fishing next to the reed bed with double corn without feed. After 10 mins I caught a 4lb carp. A switch to the long pole line resulted in another carp and a F1, but the action didn’t last long.

A switch to the silvers line only resulted in small roach and I found myself going no where whilst Vince Brown on peg 70, Andy Lloyd and Vince Shipp opposite were catching all be it crucians with the odd carp.
90mins to go and I’m still behind those I can see expect Clayton to my right. I kept rotating baits and managed to snare another couple of carp, but I needed a change.

I had left the island alone so far, but decided to cup a small amount of feed tight to the point of the island and slightly to the right next to a small bush. There was a good depth tight to the island so I was confident of catching, but like on my other lines the bait (pellet or corn) was being nipped by small roach, which made fishing caster pointless.

10 minutes to go, I really needed a carp. A switch back to the point of the island and the float eventually buried, carp on & landed. 5 minutes to go, try the weed bed or back to the point of the island? I decided on the point of the island and the float buried again and I landed a near 9lb carp, which was my biggest of the match.

14lb in last 10mins was a big bonus and proof if needed that you should never give up. The weigh in started with Andy on peg 41, who weighed 30lb, next was Vince Shipp who won the lake with 53lb. As the scales moved round I realised I had done well and wondered whether I would have enough to beat 30lb. When the scales arrived my silvers net weighed 3lb 5oz, which meant I needed my 6 carp to weigh more than 27lb, which they duly did. Vince Brown was last to weigh and missed out on beating Andy by 8oz.

As a team, we continue to struggle, but individually I am now lying 2nd overall, and perhaps Mike was right?

1-Chris Davis-Westerleigh 40
2-Ken Rayner-Maver Veals Red 37
3-Ryan Shipp-Westerleigh 36 (159-5)
4-Mike Nicholls-Charlies Angels 36 (65-9)
5-Rod Wootton-Sartan Club AC 34 (128-7)
6-Eric Fouracre-Sedges Mosella 34 (80-12)
7-Julian Heaven-Norfolking Good 33
8-Vince Brown-Sedges Mosella 31 (108-6)
9-Dave Downton-Team Veals 31 (69-3)
10-Tim Pallant-Maver Veals Blue 30.5

18/10/08 - Lands End - Match Lake

Weight – 6lb 9oz
Catch – 6 Perch, 2 Roach, 1 Tench, 1 Bream, 1 Chub.
Weather – Cool, a little breezy, cloudy periods.
Match – Open (13th overall)

Well I couldn’t believe it when I drew peg 11 again, I nearly ran to the peg. Incredibly Mike drew peg 13 as well.

Like the last couple of times, I decided to largely ignored the silvers and concentrate on the carp. Unfortunately this time the carp didn’t show.

On a separate note, Suzanne has lost her job, which means hards times ahead and a reduction in my fishing activity. As well as forfilling my obligation to the Veals Winter League, I have decided to concentrate on Lands End for the rest of the winter, including fishing the Lands End Winter League, which starts in 2 weeks. Fortunately my bait bill will low, but more importantly I do pick up over 50% of the time when fishing here, so hopefully my trips will pay for themselves.

12/10/08 - Lands End - Specimen Lake

Weight – 18lb 1oz
Catch – 3 Carp, 2 Chub, 2 Perch, 2 Rudd, 1 Bream, 1 Roach.
Weather – Bright, sunny & flat clam.
Match – Open (19th overall, 8th section)

The Specimen and Match Lake were in for this open, which would serve to be a practice for next weeks Winter League.

I drew peg 32 on the Specimen Lake and my main catching area would be 16m down the margin next to an overhanging tree. For this match I decided to ignore setting up a silvers rig and concentrate on the carp.

After 90 mins, things had been going well, with a couple of carp and silvers on double caster, tight to the margin. However as soon as the sun moved around, my swim was no longer in the shade and I began to struggle quite badly.

I tried in the open water and at the bottom of the shelf, trying different baits, but had very little. With an hour to go, my swim started to show signs of life again, with a few foul hooked carp, which I managed loss.

Steve Mayo on peg 31, started to catch tight to the island and eventually won our lake with 60lb.

I was disappointed not to have caught more and losing 6 carp was frustrating, but flat bright conditions meant the carp weren’t feeding properly. My side of the lake fished worse than the other side, so most will want to draw peg 33 to 40 next week.

I don’t think I did too much wrong today, in fact I was really happy with how I set up my rigs.

Diving, Towing and Fishing, all in a days work

I finally got to go out to sea. On Friday one of my in laws, Charlie, asked me if I could help out on his charter boat, the Beqa Princess. He had a group of 11 divers from Russia going out and needed someone to handle tanks and watch the boat while they all were down. Of course I said yes, any chance to be on the sea and I am there. We left Saturday morning at 8am. After much ado of getting all the equipment and people sorted, language barriers exasperated the problems, we make it to the dive site by 9:30am. By 10am all of the divers are down and my cousin Paul and I are left on the boat.
The weather is outstanding, the seas are flat and we decide to have a bit of a fish. Paul lands a small barracuda and a little snapper while I reel in my lure many times over with a whole lotta nothing. That’s all right by me at least I am out on the sea.
Second dive goes smooth and we are back on the jetty by 2:30pm.
Sunday is set to be a repeat of Saturday just a new spot.
By 8am the weather has turned to crap. It is blowing 25knots and threatening to rain. This of course makes our job 10 times harder as the boat is pitching all over the place and some of the divers are getting sea sick.
After we get them all down for the first dive Paul and I decide to fish again. This time it is my turn to catch a few. After a couple of small barracudas I boat a Trumpet fish, a first for me. This is one strange fish. About 3ft long with a long face and a mouth on the end. Not a good eater but not bad for bait. Soon after the divers come up and we are off to the next site. Unfortunately no fishing there. After the second dive it is back to the jetty.

Tuesday morning around 10am I get a call from Charlie again, this time he has to go to an island and tow a sail boat back to the jetty. He says for me to bring my fishing gear and we will troll on the way there. Don’t have to tell me twice.
Before we leave the jetty a guy named Victor and his son Ronny from Australia enquire about a fishing trip before they board their cruise ship at 6pm. Charlie agrees to take them after we tow the sail boat. This being Fiji, they jump on board for the ride.
The trip over is a little choppy but not bad at all. We do not catch anything but once again I am out at sea.
We tow the sail boat to the jetty without much drama and get them secured and squared away. It is time to take Victor out fishing. His son is going to go fishing with Charlie’s son in a small dinghy on the river.
Once we get to the reef where we are going to fish it is down to business. Luckily Victor knows what he is doing and is fishing within minutes of the boat stopping. Time is short for us and Victor lands a nice Job fish followed by a nice jack. Then time runs out and it is a mad dash to get them back to their cruise ship before it leaves. All ends well and we all had a good time. Maybe next time I will get to catch some big fish. Until then tight lines and screaming drags.

11/10/08 - Lands End - Match Lake

Weight – 49lb 10oz (13lb 4oz - silvers)
Catch – 10 Perch, 8 Carp, 2 Tench, 2 Chub, 1 F1, 1 Bream, 1 Roach
Weather – Bright, sunny & flat clam.
Match – Open (3rd overall, 2nd in silvers)

The current financial crisis could be biting very hard, following the announcement of a restructure at Suzanne work, which may mean cutting back on the amount of fishing. Time will tell – soon.

I haven’t fished Lands End for about 7 months, but I usually fish here regularly during the autumn & winter. On some days it can be a bit of a tough nut to crack, but what I like about the place is if you cant catch carp, there are usually a few silvers to target, like roach, rudd, chub, ide, bream and perch.

Today’s match was on Match Lake and I drew peg 11, which won last weeks match with 60lb+.
October is suppose to be the month of change, but here I was sat at my peg in a T-shirt on a bright windless day, which resembled a hot summers day.

Because the peg had some carp form, I decided to concentrate on the carp. I had plenty of water to attack and to be honest had too many options. After plumbing around decided to feed caster/corn and brown atomic cloud to the margin on peg 12, caster/corn at the bottom on the shelf in front of me, micro pellet/corn at the bottom of the shelf in front of peg 10 and finally 4mm expander & corn under the pallet of peg 10.

peg 12 margin

The margin in peg 12 was the best area to start, fishing double caster or corn, feeding via a tosspot. I picked up a couple of small carp, plus some decent silver, but I had to wait for bites and alternated up and down the shelf, but with the bright conditions I was just pleased to be catching.

Mike Duckett was on peg 13 and was getting plenty of liners fishing at the bottom of the shelf by the island. Both of my bottom of the shelf swims, only produced a few liners, but I was sure the swim would pick up later in the session. I kept feeding all my swims with a little bait, but I also started feeding hemp & caster by catapult tight to the island hoping either for carp or chub.

When I tried tight to the island I quickly caught a chub, then a perch, but the swim soon slowed, although I did manage another carp and a chub later on.

With 2 hours left, my bottom of the shelf swim, started to show signs of life and I started to catch a few carp on corn, including a 9lber. Unfortunately, I was also losing a few, most of which were foul hooked, because the fish hadn’t properly settled, probably due to the unseasonably warm day.

After such a long period from when I was last here, I was pleased to come 3rd overall. Rod Wootton won from peg 22 with 63lb, Martin Leneghan was 2nd from peg 6 with 60lb, which included 14lb of silvers. Like me, Martin was targeting the carp and his silvers were tench, crucians, skimmers and 4lb+ bream.

Mike West got the muppet award for chucking back 12lb of silvers, which would have won him the silvers prize by default. However Martin had been winding him up all match and suggested I had 30lb of silvers and Mike knew Martin had more then him.

05/10/08 - Bullock Farm - Carp Lake

Weight – 26lb 0oz
Catch – 7 Roach, 4 Carp.
Weather – Heavy rain to start, later cloudy
Water temp – 12.5c > 12.5c
Match – Veals Winter League – rd 2 (15th overall, 4th in section)

It’s the 2nd round of the Winter League and its absolutely hosing it down. The forecast was for the rain to stay all match.

I wanted to draw Rushcombe or Match Lake, but definitely not Carp Lake, so it was no real surprise when I drew peg 19 on Carp Lake. 3 out of the last 4 years I have been on carp lake and frankly getting a bit fed up with it.

When I arrived at my peg, Clayton Hudson who was fishing peg 6 on Match Lake had already set up his pole rollers in my peg. This is the only problem with the venue, it is a little tight.

I fancied my peg for a few carp. I had the end of an island to target, some open water and the pallet in front of peg 20. The recent heavy rain had an obvious effect on the water, being 2c less than last week, so a cautious approach was required.

At the start I cupped a pinch of 4mm expanders and micro pellet on the end of the island and then fished different areas of my swim hoping for a mug carp, which unfortunately never materialised.

Tim Clark (peg 21) and Steve Fouracre (peg 6) had both landed carp quite quickly either side of the reed bed, but other than that not much was being caught.

I also fed a small ball of groundbait at 4m, plus regularly loose fed caster, hoping for some silvers, if the carp didn’t show. When I switched to this line I started to catch the odd roach on caster, before it went quite and I hooked a carp of about 3lb. After 10 minutes I managed to land it, which was a real bonus. Although I periodically tried to reignite this line it didn’t take off again, probably because there wasn’t enough open water for the roach to settle.

By this time the rain was coming down hard and the wind had increased. Fortunately the forecast rain stopped all together after 2hrs and the wind and dropped away. I had been sparingly cupping caster, micro pellet & 4mm expanders, into my island swim and my open water swim, whilst catapulting 4mm expanders into the left hand pallet swim.

My float was set to a mere dimple and by feeding via toss pot, rotated my open water and island swim, I managed a couple of carp on 6mm expander, as well as losing 2 when the hook pulled.

The last hour was the most frustrating, I thought I needed 1 or 2 more carp to guarantee good points, but it never came. I even tried up the right side of the island, where there were fish moving around up there and I had a few liners, but they simply weren’t taking the bait, despite trying paste, worm, corn, caster & pellet.

Tim Clark on peg 21, managed to hook 18 carp, but landed 2! He should have walked the match, but the fish kept diving into the reed bed. To be honest he was pulling too hard.

In the end I thought I had about 18-20lb and as we were weighing in, there were a few people who had 5/6 carp for 20lb or so and I thought I would finish ½ way in the section. As it happened my 4 carp were closer to the average stamp and went 23lb 9oz, plus my 7 roach (2lb 7oz), meant I finished 4th in the section, as well as winning my 5 peg mini section and collecting £40.

Maver Veals Red finished a disappointed 10th on the day and lay 8th overall. In the individual league I am currently 3rd overall.

25/09/08 - Bullock Farm - Match Lake

Weight – 10lb 14oz
Catch – 9 Roach, 4 Carp, 2 Fantail, 2 Bream, 1 F1
Weather – Foggy start cold start, later warm, sunny and flat calm.
Water temp – 14.5c > 15.0c
Match – Open – (15th out of 24)

I ran a practice open on Bullocks Match Lake in preparation for the 2nd round of the Veals Winter League. All 24 of us were on the 1 lake, which wasn’t ideal, but unfortunately I couldn’t split it over 2 lakes.

I drew peg 6, which again wasn’t ideal. I would have much preferred any of the car park or chicken shed pegs.

I finished the day with a disappointing weight. I couldn’t get the silvers to feed properly, probably because in hindsight and speaking to a few others I could have fed more caster and switched the micro pellet for groundbait. Having said that I wasn’t in the best area for silvers.

Normally you can get a few carp and they are usually bigger than average, but not today. I was glad when the match finished.

24/09/08 - Bullock Farm - North Pool

Weight – 47lb 6oz
Catch – 14 Roach, 12 Carp, 3 Rudd, 1 F1, 1 Crucian, 1 Fantail.
Weather – Foggy start cold start, later warm, sunny and flat calm.
Water temp – 14.5c > 14.5c

Autumn has definitely arrived. A cold foggy started, officially ended what little summer we have had.

Originally wanted to fish the match lake, but this was closed so I settled on North Pool, simply because I fished Rushcombe not that long ago, I don’t like the Carp Lake and I had not fished North Pool for a while.

Being quite busy, I ended up on peg 23, at the back of the complex. I had a spare peg either side of me, so I had a little room to try a few things. My peg is only 10m wide, so I concentrated fishing left and right.

The fishing was generally difficult, with the odd fish being caught from each swim, mostly on pinkie. I couldn’t get a run together, but not many fish being caught anywhere.

I had been feeding both margins. The left margin I feed quite heavily with caster & 4mm expanders, whilst the right margin was feed more cautiously with the same bait.

I had periodically tried my margins without success, but they finally arrived in the last 90 mins, when I had 9 carp, mostly from the right hand margin.

18/09/08 - Trinity Waters - Wildmarsh

Weight – 13lb 12oz
Catch – 12 Roach, 11 Bream
Weather – Warm, sunny & flat calm.
Water temp – 16.0c > 16.5c
Match – Veals Winter League – rd 1 (20th overall, 3rd in section)

15 teams of 4 and most people wanted to draw Woodlands Lake, which is the carp lake.

Personally I fancied an open water draw on Wildmarsh Lake, which had 3 sections of the 4 sections. At the draw my wish was granted and I found myself on peg 30, which was on the end of spit and I had loads of water to attack. I really fancied myself to get good points.

As the match organiser I had to put the time of the match back ½ hour, due to some confusion regarding the pegging, unfortunately a couple of people didn’t understand the pegging.

At the start of the match, the real concern was the weather. It was bright & very calm, so I decided on a cautious approach and only cupped in 1 ball of groundbait, plus a little bit of chopped worm & caster at 13m. I also feed some 6mm expanders and small balls of groundbait at 25m, anticipating that I would catch most of my fish on the waggler, particularly after Wednesdays practice session.

Initially I tried to catch short for some early roach & rudd, but one had 1 bite after 15mins, so I quickly switched to the long pole. I had set up 2 rigs to fish this line. 1 light rig with .10 bottom and size 20 silverfish hook to fish caster & maggot, plus a heavy rig with .11 bottom and a size 18 B911 to fish worm & double maggot.

As the match progressed I caught most of my fish on the light rig with single caster, a few on the heavy rig & worm. I periodically tried the waggler, but only caught 1 skimmer, which was a real surprise.

With 90 mins left, I knew I was doing well, the only anglers I could see catching were Des Shipp on the far bank and Dave Downton to my right. However my swim seemed to have dried up. I tried going to 14m without any real success. I didn’t want to kill my 13m swim completely, so I decided dump a full cup of maggot, caster & chopped worm at 13m at 2 o’clock, hoping to catch a few eels.

20 mins later, 1st drop in with double maggot, the float just kept going under and I caught a biggest fish of the day, a 2½lb skimmer. In fact the last hour I managed another 4 skimmers from both my pole swims and was really confident of good points.

In the end I was 3rd in my section, beaten my anglers who both had single carp to go with their silvers weight. I did try for carp down the margins, but never had a bite and I didn’t waste too much time looking, since there was very few carp being caught on Wildmarsh. All the carp weights came from Woodlands, with the best weight being 61lb.

As well as coming 3rd in my section I was also 3rd in the silvers.