Blanks & Bream

On the first day of September, I was on the River Derwent, this time at Darley Abbey, to put into practice some of the lessons I learned at Borrowash a few weeks ago. I had a good session catching plenty of Minnows and Roach. I also saw a Kingfisher and Water Vole at a lovely spot on the river.

On 7 September, feeling a bit adventurous, I tried legering boilies on the canal at Willington, attempting to catch something bigger. Unfortunately, nothing took my bait, but I also had my spinning rod with me and tried a bit of lure fishing; that wasn't very productive either, and I came to the conclusion that I need more practice legering for bigger fish on the canal and lure fishing.

I had a few hours on 8 September, so I went back to the canal, this time at Swarkestone, below the lock, as I hadn't been there this year and never really had much luck on this stretch. This time I had plenty of Silvers and Perch, including good-sized Bream and a Roach.

After finishing work early, I went to Allestree Lake on 13 September under 28-degree heat. I tried a few pegs float-fishing in very humid conditions, and although I saw fish, I didn't tempt them onto my hook. Another blank session, but it gave me time to think about other methods to try at Allestree Lake, as it's a nice place and one of those old estate lakes that any retro angler would love to fish.

Once again, temperatures were in the high 20s on 15 September, and with a few hours spare I went to Mill Dam. Unfortunately, there was a lot of blanket weed or Mermaid Hair as I've also heard it called, which made fishing difficult. Not wanting to give up, I decided to go over the road to Markeaton Park Lake with my half pint of maggots and bread. I cast a float under an overhanging tree and hooked into a Perch on the first cast. I was hoping for some Roach or Bream, but it was Perch for the whole session. At least I didn't blank.

I was on the River Derwent again on 22 September, and after a slow start, lots of Minnows and reshotting my float, I found some Roach. Another enjoyable session on the river, my second attempt, and I'm starting to get the hang of it.

A nice River Derwent Roach.

After work on 28 September, I was back on the Trent & Mersey, below Swakestone Lock with some leftover bait from my river session. I recently bought two 10' rods: a Redmayne & Todd (Nottingham) cane rod with a split cane tip and an extra fibreglass tip. Both tips have attachments for a swing tip, which I think were added later, as I've read the rods were originally for float fishing for Roach. The other rod is an E R Craddock & Co Ltd Goldie with an aluminium butt section and two fibreglass sections. I fished the Redmayne & Todd with my Ambidex 2 reel on the waggler and the Goldie with my Marco Cortesi centre-pin reel, with a light stick float. It was a steady session with plenty of Perch, some nice Skimmers, and a few Roach. I fished an 'Indian Summer' evening in 20-degree temperatures until dusk. A great short session with some practice on the centre-pin reel.