2011

Well that's another year over (well almost). Not so much to look back on I guess but I do feel I'm at a turning point with my fishing for a variety of reasons. Recent fishing's been a bit dull really but much of that is weather related while the rest is down to the interference from the festive season.
The Big Lake is still fishing very poorly, Denis and I have managed just two fish between us in the last two trips but I do know of a very big fish that fell to a friend around three weeks ago. The rivers have been up and down like a fiddler's elbow and the one day I chanced it on a river it was far higher than I had hoped, leading to an expected blank.

Time to look back I think, let's review 2011, as far as it goes.

First Quarter
This is generally the time of year when I get some big bags of fish and the biggest pike of the season. 2011 was a let-down in this respect. It was a struggle for many after the severe cold that had frozen even the biggest lakes and rivers and I struggled rather myself. Fish came alright but it was hard and slow and the fish were smaller than usual. Upper doubles came to the boat including a fish over nineteen pounds but there were no twenty pounders and when at last it seemed that things were improving I had to stop fishing and start some work. March, April and May were then abandoned while I earned a few bob and later I discovered that I had missed out rather. It seems that the fish really turned on in late March with many big fish being caught - oh well, c'est la vie!

Second Quarter
With April and May mostly turned over to working (see above) I had a small window of opportunity to catch a big tench. I've been chasing a Northwest double for several years now and I believed it was possible at a new venue which I'd discussed with Denis. I was hopeful that Denis would do some work on this new place while I was still working but he chose to stick with our old water instead - and was rewarded with no tench at all.
When I finished wiork I hit this water hard, fishing five mornings a week, starting at dawn each day and moving from swim to swim until I found a spot where I could catch. When I did catch i was quite pleased with the result and as you may recall I took fish to 9lb 7oz with a very high average size. Denis struggled for a while but when he broke his duck he did so quite spectacularly, taking a monster of 11lb 12oz!

Third Quarter
Summertime as a quiet time for me. Mrs Edwards is on holiday during the summer as she is a teacher and I choose to spend my time with her when I can. A complicating factor this year was the marriage of my eldest daughter Sarah which took up a great deal of my time what with the organising and so on. After the wedding I took Mrs Edwards away to Madrid for a break then it was back to blighty, she went back to work and I tried for the Colemere bream.
My season on Colemere was more productive than the previous year with a pike, a perch, an eel, two tench and two bream falling to my rods, along with the ubiquitous roach. The bream are all supposed to be in doubles figures but I did manage to catch one of just five pounds. The other bream I caught was quite a different beast though and at a weight of 17lbs exactly it became my pb by nearly two pounds.

Fourth Quarter
I've been quite pleased with this period. I've been out to many new places and found some good areas on the rivers where I believe I'll go on to catch some big pike. Best fish from the new river so far is 18lbs 1oz but I know there are much bigger fish present and I'll keep plugging away until I get one.
Meanwhile, the trout waters have offered mixed results. Blithfield has been very poor all round and I've caught nothing there while my few days on Chew did at least bring a brace of twenties. It's odd that while I've fished at Chew almost every year, and caught a good number of twenty pounders from there, I've yet to break the 25lb barrier. Meanwhile, others break the 30lb barrier sometimes on their first trip!

So Now What?
Three months of the pike season left now as far as I'm concerned and my targets are clear. First and foremost a twenty from the new river is high on my list and I do feel quite confident about it. I still haven't had a twenty on a lure this season yet so that's another one to go for and there are still some trout water days left to fish.
After that I'm going to try very hard for that double figure tench. I have high hopes there after the past season.
I've dropped Colemere. I can't really justify the membership now that they've increased the cost by 50% and after all, I've had the fish I was after. There's another water appeared on the horizon though - watch this space!

Later in the year I also have new pike fishing venues to concentrate on. Like I said, it's all change this year and the likelihood is I'll either have a fantastic year or a totally dull one. That's ok you know, success or failure each in their own way are better than mediocrity!