A Long drive for a little fish....

[Greenheart]

Well with time rapidly running out to catch any more species for this years Forum species hunt, I decided to have one last gasp session. Should I head down to the river Nadder to try for a Gudgeon or should I go to a local fishery (Cuckoo’s Rest) & try for a Skimmer Bream & a Pike? I thought that the River Nadder might be a bit high & coloured after yesterdays rain & had decided to go to Cuckoo’s Rest instead. Then Bananna Steve sent me a PM to say that the river level on the Nadder always drops fast after rain & that it should still be fishable. So on a crazy impulse I decided to try both. So it was a case of an early start & off to the Nadder to try for a Gudgeon. Following Steves directions (I’d never fished there before) I arrived at about 09.30 to find a pretty little stream that was still a little on the high side & a bit coloured.

I set up a stick float rig. Size 20 hook & a single maggot. However even though I’d carefully plumbed the depth I still could not get my presentation right & kept snagging on the bottom. I only had one bite & this resulted in a nice little roach of about 6oz.

A change of tactics was called for. So out of my rodbag, I pulled out my little Sigma Wand quivertip rod & set it up with a straight lead. This resulted in an immediate bite. A feisty little Brown Trout.

After this I had a succession of little Roach & Minnows, but no Gudgeon.

Bites were almost instantaneous so when I did’nt get a bite for about 5 minutes I became suspicious. Had something stolen my maggot? So I reeled in to check, only to find this little fellow attached to my hook. Result, a Gudgeon.

The time was now just after 11am So I threw all my gear back into the car & headed off on the 20 mile return trip to Cuckoos Rest Fishery. (A Forty mile round trip for one Gudgeon & one & a half hours fishing, I must be mad) I arrived there just after midday, bought a day ticket & walked over to the lakes to find a match in progress on one lake & the other full of Pike & Carp fishermen.

I set up my small quivertip rod again to try for a skimmer & I also set up a spinning rod to try my assortment of plugs & spinners for a Pike. I would like to report that I caught both, but sadly all I could manage was a few more little roach. I fished on until it got dark & tried virtually every lure in my box for the Pike, but all in vain. However I was not alone. The only other decent fish that I saw caught was an un-seasonal 3lb Tench & a small Jack Pike. So ends this years species hunt for me….

[mithrandir]

well done, glad the effort paid off.

This species hunt does make us do a lot of traveling for small fish!

[Twiddler]

well done Ian....don't worry too much about getting a pike, better luck next year. At least you still managed to get a gudgeon.

[Banana Steve]

Nice one Ian, The nadder looked Perfect, some nice fish in that area of the river, and now again you get a monster chub. Well done on your days fishing.

[Norfolkboy]

Nice one Ian, shame you couldn't get a pike or bream though.

[perch_king]

well done mate nice fish there looks a nice river

[cuckoo]

great report ian , what no ruffe nice selection of fish there mate

lee.

[Vagabond]

When I saw the post title, I thought "He's gotta ruffe!"

...but some interesting and varied fishing nevertheless - I've had trout from the Nadder at Tisbury years ago but never fished it for coarse fish.

[pingu]

nice one ian


dave

[Rob M]

Nice report mate, well done on your tiddlers!