2016 review
The first session the month was on 2 December at Findern, the temperature was around 6 degrees after a few frosty nights earlier in the week and I caught a few small Perch during a short session on worms.
I blanked on the River Derwent at Darley Abbey on 8 December using cheese paste for Chub and worms for...well anything! Cheese isn't a method I've used before and although the weather was really mild I didn't see any signs of fish the whole session. It was a really nice peaceful afternoon though and I'll try cheese paste again another time.
The River Derwent above the weir at Darley Abbey.
On 18 December I was at Stenson Bubble on a very dark, dank day and only managed a few Bream and Perch during a short session.
2016 Review
Looking back at my fishing 'To Do' list for 2016 I haven't done all the things I'd planned, which included more Carp fishing, I only went once and blanked! Pike fishing was something else on my list I haven't done yet. However, I have fished Allestree Lake a few times this year and I've started fishing the River Derwent again - which I haven't done since I was a teenager - and had several river sessions with some success, which I'm sure will improve with practice. Also, I've bought a centre pin reel, as planned and used it with initially frustrating and then positive results!
Going through my blogs for 2016, I've not fished day ticket fisheries as much this year. I've concentrated on fishing the season ticket venues of the Earl and on the cut, with a few more sessions on the canal this year than with the Earl. This was due to the work done near Mill Dam, which is a venue I really enjoy fishing and usually fish a lot throughout the year and also because I haven't fished Woodrows as much as I'd planned. 2016 did include some other firsts, I fished a few charity matches with the Earl, including one fancy dress match where I went as Mr Crabtree, unfortunately without his success! I've really enjoyed fishing the Derwent again for the first time in about 30 years, as a teenager I fished the Derwent further upstream at Belper. The river has made me think a lot more about where the fish are and methods and baits, similarly to when I started fishing the canal.
2016 Stats
This website was created to combine my love of fishing with vintage tackle and my interest in developing a website. I've really enjoyed adding the images, descriptions and updating the blog every month. I've had some great feedback from people about the tackle I use and places I fish. During 2016 the site had 873 visitors and about 20% of those came back to the site throughout the year, with visits increasing gradually every month. The site was more about combining some of my interests rather than getting tens of thousands of visitors. I'm really glad people enjoy the site and I know an angler who's bought himself a Mitchell 300 reel after reading my blog!
2017 To Do List
Plans for 2017 include more Carp fishing and fishing for Pike, fishing the River Derwent more and homing my watercraft using my centre pin reel. I'll predominantly fish Earl waters and the Trent & Mersey canal again, with some visits to my favourite day ticket venues. Also in 2017 I want to film sessions and create videos, but for now here's a video I've created to review 2016.
