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Diary of an average angler

Who favours traditional methods & baits

fisherman

This diary dates back to a holiday in 2003 when I think the urge to get back into fishing took off. From around 2007 the trips became more frequent with 2010/11 probably being the peak of activity.
Things again pick up in 2020 - a sort of rebirth!

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Venues
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Venues & topics
Species
Archive

River Great Ouse - Houghton (8)

Trout Stream
Venue: River Great Ouse |Houghton |Trout Stream

You can view the video on this page or open YouTube by clicking the YouTube icon above.

Arrival time: 08.15
Weather: Bright, sunny and a light breeze, with increasing cloud cover.
Tackle: 9ft Shimano Aero X1 feeder rod with 1oz quiver, Shimano Exage 1000RC reel, 5lb line with simple link leger and a 14 eyed hook tied direct.
Baits: Maggot
Fish: Small dace & perch.

I had about half a pint of maggots left over from my trip to the Offord mill stream and decided to go to Houghton for a few hours to use them up. I went to a spot I had fished once before where one of the main channels feeds the head of the trout stream.

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Species: Dace, Perch

River Great Ouse - Offord (21)

Mill Stream
Venue: River Great Ouse |Offord |Mill Stream

You can view the video on this page or open YouTube by clicking the YouTube icon above.

Arrival time: 07.30
Weather: Overcast & breezy - brightening later
Tackle: 10ft EFGear compact float rod, Speedia centrepin, Drennan stick float, 6lb line with Drennan 4lb pre-tied hook length and 14 'red' hook.
Baits: Maggot, bread flake.
Fish: Small dace & perch and a couple of gudgeon.

I returned to the Mill Stream having the previous week thought that the swim at the head of the stream would be ideal for trotting. In fact the cross-flow of the stream and a cross wind made trotting quite difficult.

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Species: Dace, Perch, Gudgeon

River Great Ouse - Offord (20)

Mill Stream
Venue: River Great Ouse |Offord |Mill Stream

You can view the video on this page or open YouTube by clicking the YouTube icon above.

Arrival time: 08.30
Weather: Overcast & breezy - brightening later
Tackle: 11ft 6" John Wilson Avon quiver, Shimano 5000RE baitrunner, 2/3xSSG link leger, 6lb line direct to 8 eyed hook (14 hook for a while)
Baits: Bread flake, cheese paste, worm.
Fish: Two chub including a PB for the stream + small dace & perch.

After visiting a couple of heavily weeded streams this season, today I went to the Mill Stream at Offord. Weedy, certainly, but nowhere near as bad as those other streams. It was a slow start, a usually reliable swim not offering up anything.

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Species: Chub, Dace, Perch

River Great Ouse - Houghton (7)

Trout Stream
Venue: River Great Ouse |Houghton |Trout Stream

You can view the video on this page or open YouTube by clicking the YouTube icon above.

Arrival time: circa 10.30 at first swim.
Weather: Bright & warm.
Tackle: 12' Korum Multi-feeder, simple SSG link, 6lb line, 8 hook.
Baits: Bread flake, cheese paste & worm.
Fish: one chub

I seem that I forgot to make a diary entry for this trip at the time, so this is based on memory and the video that I posted on YouTube.

Having had a reasonable successful session at the Chubb Stream the previous week I had hoped to repeat this at the Trout Stream. I had assumed that it wouldn't have been as overgrown as the Chubb Stream but I was wrong. It was in fact more challenging because of the beds of 'cabbages' covering the bottom in many places.

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Species: Chub

Exploring Houghton

A walk along The Trout Stream & Ouse back stream
Venue: Exploring |Houghton |Trout Stream |River Great Ouse

You can view the video on this page or open YouTube by clicking the YouTube icon above.

A close season stroll along a back stream of the Ouse and the Trout Stream, checking out parts that I hadn't visited before and others that I had. Swims I had fished in the winter were already looking quite different as the vegetation starts to take hold and it's likely that in places access will be quite difficult in the summer. An hour or so well spent.

River Great Ouse - Offord (19)

Top Stream
Venue: River Great Ouse |Offord

You can view the video on this page or open YouTube by clicking the YouTube icon above.

Arrival time: circa 11.30 at swim
Weather: Bright sun with a chilly SE wind.
Tackle: 14ft Shimano Speedmaster match rod, Rapidex 2400 centre pin with 5lb line, waggler float, 16 to 2½lb hook length.
9ft Shimano Aero X1 Finesse Feeder (1.0oz quiver), maggot feeder/link leger, 5lb line, 16 to 2½lb hook length.
Baits: Maggot with hempseed attractor.
Fish: Blank

The idea was for a fun few hours catching perch or whatever else turned up, based on my catch a few weeks earlier. But things turned out very different today.

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Species: Blank

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