An old diary

If you want to discuss Catfish, Perch, Zander, Ferox Trout or Eels, this is the place for you
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An old diary

Post by Fentiger01 »

Taking advantage of being cooped up at home to sort some stuff out today, I came across an old diary with some extracts from my Zandering during my early days on the Fens, 1996-2000. Some of the entries made me smile, here's a few (naming no venues):

8 Jul 97
First session of the season, scorching hot weather, turned up around 1900hrs to a venue which produced a few fish to 8lb 6oz last season. Started to catch a few baits once it got dusky. Two rods deployed, one next to a bridge stanchion which produced most runs during the last few trips. Large lily pad on the far bank and what looked like a large Zander striking at fry, a loud clicking noise coming from its jaws and its fins showing as it swirled in and around the lilies. Only one run to a largish deadbait, a real beauty at 9lb 2oz. A very worthwhile session, fish goes into my top 10 at number 5.

23 Sep 97 (New venue 1)
A one-nighter produced Pike of 16lb 4oz, 9lb 9oz and four Zander to 5lb 9oz. Both Pike in the dark, no Zander until it got light! (work that out lol). Last Zander caught in very bright sunny and warm conditions, at 1130hrs. Many missed runs due to small fish, caught last couple on the drop using inch square fish sections on a large single hook. Water very clear. A very, very enjoyable session, much potential.

16 Jun 98 (Same venue)
First night of the season, a quickie one-nighter gave up 2 Zeds and 2 Pike including one at 17lb 6oz. Zeds of 6lb 2oz and 6lb 11oz both at night, first one took the bait at 0047hrs and put up a good scrap. Again, a few missed runs. Used two rods, one 'Popped Down' rig (caught large Pike and 6lb 11oz Zed). Started fishing at 0001hrs and finished at 0630hrs to head home. Lovely warm night.

20 Jun 98 (New venue 2)
Turned up about 8pm and landed a very small Jack from a small bush on the inside line a few minutes later, as soon as it got dark the swim was absolutely run city! Having only taken a few baits, I started running out as I missed a few runs. Finished up using one rod and landed 4 Zander up to 5lb 9oz. Really nice spot and one worth exploring.

24 Jun 98 (Same venue as above)
Turned up expecting runs as soon as darkness fell but none forthcoming, the Zander must've moved on. Things picked up during the night and first run turned up a 5lb 14oz Zed and following that, 2 nice Eels to 2lb 8oz and a 9lb Pike. The best sunrise I've ever seen. A really great swim.

Crikey, those were the days - exploring what the Fens had to offer, whilst trying to stay away from the beaten track. I'd often go out and not see another person throughout the whole session, exactly how I liked it!

Kind regards,
Dave
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Re: An old diary

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Nice one 👍 good read that thanks
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Re: An old diary

Post by Chris Hammond »

Great memories Dave. 😉
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Re: An old diary

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😎 Enjoyed that Dave
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Re: An old diary

Post by Flipflopjoe »

Very nice read that, I’d be well up for hearing more if you’d be happy putting them up !?!
A book published in that sort of format would make a great read imo :thumbs:
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Re: An old diary

Post by Fentiger01 »

Cheers Chaps, appreciate the responses. :thumbs:

Nowt groundbreaking I thought I'd try and help break a bit of the monotony, for me as much as anyone else. :laughs: :laughs: :laughs:

I'll try to bang up another half a dozen short entries later on today. :grin:
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Re: An old diary

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Some more:

26 Oct 1997 - New Venue 3

Agreed to meet up with Nick Clare to fish a venue he'd been fishing. Got to the venue around 1600hrs and met Nick. Handshakes over we started to catch a few baits which came fairly readily from the inside shelf. I fished two rods using my monkey climbers and alarms, Nick fished three rods. As it got dark, Nick had a run and landed a small Pike around 4lbs or so. No sooner had he put it back and my right hand alarm went off. Upon hitting the run, I was instantly aware that I was into a decent fish which was powering around. Got it in the net, unhooked it and Nick weighed it, wow my first Fenland double and biggest Zander for 3 years at 11lb 6oz. It looked a lot longer than the Frisby fish I remembered. Throughout the remainder of the evening, I landed 2 more Zander and Nick also had 2. What a superb session only blighted by the fact that the temperature dropped to -6 degrees overnight and we literally froze in our cheap 3 season sleeping bags. (Nick was to become my best ever fishing friend as we explored the Fens together, sharing information with each other as we went).

25 Nov 1997 - Same Venue but half a mile downstream

Very cold and very, very wet. A very miserable overnight session indeed. Arrived about 1600hrs and fished two rods fished from the inside of a deep bend one with livebait and one with deadbait. A screaming run straight away on a dead Perch, which was unfortunately missed. Absolutely minging weather, the inside of my very cheap bivvy getting a bit waterlogged as the outer skin sagged into the inner skin. Made really good use of my stove and brew kit. Couldn't sleep properly due to the weather and spent most of the night hoping for it all to pass by into morning time. A run at 0330hrs to a headless Roach deadbait had me scampering out of the bivvy to strike into a decent fish. A very good scrap resulted in an 8lb 9oz Zed. Notes: Much potential, deeper water and most Zander I've heard about from this water have reportedly come from this area. Nick had an 11lb 4oz fish here during the daytime in early October.

21 Jan 1998 - New Venue

A one night session planned with Nick on a new and much bigger Fenland venue. I arrived around 1400hrs and got set up, Nick was due to arrive after work, I picked a swim with plenty of space so Nick could get in when he got here. I put the bivvy up and got the rods out and sat down with a cup of coffee. Christ the rod was away within 5 minutes, the monkey climber going straight up the needle. I struck into a Zander which came off at the net - gutted. Nick arrived and we fished through the night with not a single run. Head torches on at night and the shoal of Roach in the deep margins was phenomenal, at least 50m long with literally thousands of fish. The venue pulled through really hard but when it backed up mid-morning, I had another run and pulled out of another Zander. Soul destroyed!

27/28 Jan 1998 - New Venue

A two nighter on a large venue in total solitude, not another angler for miles. Very wide and deep, water gently pulling through. Half a dozen Pike to 10lb 6oz and possibly a Zander lost at midday on the second day. Weather had been freezing for a long time but was beginning to creep up by a degree or two. A young lass from nearby houses popped over on the first afternoon and asked if I needed anything from the shop, really nice of her. Banks good, swim excellent and on the right day/night, there could be good potential for this area. Zander definitely present as recorded in Nev's bible 'Zander'.

16/17 October 1997 - New Venue

Two evening trips to a new venue in another part of the country while attending a course. Weather was very wet and windy on the first evening. I turned up with a few small deadbaits and good job, bait was really hard to catch. 1st evening produced a Pike, 3 x 2lb+ Eels and 3 Zander, all from the same swim! One Zander even chased a paternoster bait right up to the surface as I retrieved it following a missed run! Missed a few schoolie runs. 2nd evening was much calmer weather and only offered 1 dropped run. Only fished sessions of around 3hrs. Very, very deep with much potential this top venue. Visit next season is a definite! (Note: I never actually fished this venue again for over 10 years, which was a mistake. It now has a solid track record of producing big Zander, although like other places it has suffered badly from fish theft and poaching over the last 20 years).
Last edited by Fentiger01 on Mon Mar 30 2020 16:26, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: An old diary

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Have you got the entry when the Venus Fly Trap Portaboat engulfed you at the slipway and you banged your head on the height of river metal sign? :grin:

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Re: An old diary

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Good reading again mate.
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Re: An old diary

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Emma Hamilton wrote: Mon Mar 30 2020 14:17 -
Have you got the entry when the Venus Fly Trap Portaboat engulfed you at the slipway and you banged your head on the height of river metal sign? :grin:

rob
Ha no Rob, I scribbled it out along with the entry where a certain maestro launched his craft and then realised he wasn't holding the tow rope.... :grin:
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Re: An old diary

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Fentiger01 wrote: Mon Mar 30 2020 13:41 -
Some more:

26 Oct 1997 - New Venue 3

Agreed to meet up with Nick Clare to fish a venue he'd been fishing. Got to the venue around 1600hrs and met Nick. Handshakes over we started to catch a few baits which came fairly readily from the inside shelf. I fished two rods using my monkey climbers and alarms, Nick fished three rods. As it got dark, Nick had a run and landed a small Pike around 4lbs or so. No sooner had he put it back and my right hand alarm went off. Upon hitting the run, I was instantly aware that I was into a decent fish which was powering around. Got it in the net, unhooked it and Nick weighed it, wow my first Fenland double and biggest Zander for 3 years at 11lb 6oz. It looked a lot longer than the Frisby fish I remembered. Throughout the remainder of the evening, I landed 2 more Zander and Nick also had 2. What a superb session only blighted by the fact that the temperature dropped to -6 degrees overnight and we literally froze in our cheap 3 season sleeping bags. (Nick was to become my best ever fishing friend as we explored the Fens together, sharing information with each other as we went)

25 Nov 1997 - Same Venue but half a mile downstream

Very cold and very, very wet. A very miserable overnight session indeed. Arrived about 1600hrs and fished two rods fished from the inside of a deep bend one with livebait and one with deadbait. A screaming run straight away on a dead Perch, which was unfortunately missed. Absolutely minging weather, the inside of my very cheap bivvy getting a bit waterlogged as the outer skin sagged into the inner skin. Made really good use of my stove and brew kit. Couldn't sleep properly due to the weather and spent most of the night hoping for it all to pass by into morning time. A run at 0330hrs to a headless Roach deadbait had me scampering out of the bivvy to strike into a decent fish. A very good scrap resulted in an 8lb 9oz Zed. Notes: Much potential, deeper water and most Zander I've heard about from this water have reportedly come from this area. Nick had an 11lb 4oz fish here during the daytime in early October.

21 Jan 1998 - New Venue

A one night session planned with Nick on a new and much bigger Fenland venue. I arrived around 1400hrs and got set up, Nick was due to arrive after work, I picked a swim with plenty of space so Nick could get in when he got here. I put the bivvy up and got the rods out and sat down with a cup of coffee. Christ the rod was away within 5 minutes, the monkey climber going straight up the needle. I struck into a Zander which came off at the net - gutted. Nick arrived and we fished through the night with not a single run. Head torches on at night and the shoal of Roach in the deep margins was phenomenal, at least 50m long with literally thousands of fish. The venue pulled through really hard but when it backed up mid-morning, I had another run and pulled out of another Zander. Soul destroyed!

27/28 Jan 1998 - New Venue

A two nighter on a large venue in total solitude, not another angler for miles. Very wide and deep, water gently pulling through. Half a dozen Pike to 10lb 6oz and possibly a Zander lost at midday on the second day. Weather had been freezing for a long time but was beginning to creep up by a degree or two. A young lass from nearby houses popped over on the first afternoon and asked if I needed anything from the shop, really nice of her. Banks good, swim excellent and on the right day/night, there could be good potential for this area. Zander definitely present as recorded in Nev's bible 'Zander'.

16/17 October 1997 - New Venue

Two evening trips to a new venue in another part of the country while attending a course. Weather was very wet and windy on the first evening. I turned up with a few small deadbaits and good job, bait was really hard to catch. 1st evening produced a Pike, 3 x 2lb+ Eels and 3 Zander, all from the same swim! One Zander even chased a paternoster bait right up to the surface as I retrieved it following a missed run! Missed a few schoolie runs. 2nd evening was much calmer weather and only offered 1 dropped run. Only fished sessions of around 3hrs. Very, very deep with much potential this top venue. Visit next season is a definite! (Note: I never actually fished this venue again for over 10 years, which was a mistake. It now has a solid track record of producing big Zander, although like other places it has suffered badly from fish theft and poaching over the last 20 years.

"16/17 October 1997

, although like other places it has suffered badly from fish theft and poaching over the last 20 years."

Make that 40 years now !!!

Crazy how little has changed
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Re: An old diary

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Hi Duncan sorry mate, that particular comment ref the poaching wasn't an entry from 1997 - it was a footnote comment made today and added on. That particular water suffered badly from poaching from about the same time as Blair & Co opened our borders to all and sundry, criminals or not.
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Re: An old diary

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Fentiger01 wrote: Mon Mar 30 2020 16:25 -
Hi Duncan sorry mate, that particular comment ref the poaching wasn't an entry from 1997 - it was a footnote comment made today and added on. That particular water suffered badly from poaching from about the same time as Blair & Co opened our borders to all and sundry, criminals or not.
Doh, I see it now,

Should really try reading with my reading glasses :laughs:
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Re: An old diary

Post by Danoutdoors »

More great stuff👍 Tell me Dave when you read your entries does it literally take you back there on the bank? Makes me think about starting one for later years, love a bit of nostalgia. Top stuff 👍
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Re: An old diary

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Evocative reading Dave, would have loved to experienced the fens in good times, unfortunately on the period you seem to have been doing well on there I was doing A levels and learning to Drive, and to be honest fishing wasn’t really a priority.maybe when we return to normality I’ll give them a look to experience being there even if not catching much👍
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Re: An old diary

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Danoutdoors wrote: Mon Mar 30 2020 19:03 -
More great stuff👍 Tell me Dave when you read your entries does it literally take you back there on the bank? Makes me think about starting one for later years, love a bit of nostalgia. Top stuff 👍
It does indeed Dan. When I was suffering from acute 'Zedfever' in the late 90's I was actually working outside the country and could only really fish during 3 or 4 periods of leave each year. I used to write up the diary when I got back and couldn't fish. I kept it up for many years with my old website (averagezedheaven.com) but alas as time goes past, I've lost most of the documents that went into it. Funny old thing, great sessions from as far ago as 93, 94 are still in the forefront of my tiny mind. :laughs: :laughs: :laughs:

I'll try to put some more up. :thumbs:
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Re: An old diary

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suffolk si wrote: Mon Mar 30 2020 19:10 -
Evocative reading Dave, would have loved to experienced the fens in good times, unfortunately on the period you seem to have been doing well on there I was doing A levels and learning to Drive, and to be honest fishing wasn’t really a priority.maybe when we return to normality I’ll give them a look to experience being there even if not catching much👍
I was hoping to get back down there this coming summer for some fishing as well Si, as well as a nice drive round some of my old haunts. It might be nice to catch up with you sometime mate? (Once we get over this nightmarish coronavirus business)

Although I did fish them a good bit, I tended to fish away from the main drains and instead put most of my efforts on waters which were less fashionable. I didn't ever worry the specimen counters during that period but I had an awful lot of fun and a good few doubles along the way. Great days (and nights) indeed! I did get down on my bike last June and had a look at some of my old favourite haunts. It was a really lovely sunny and very warm day, the whole Fen was in bloom. :thumbs:
Last edited by Fentiger01 on Tue Mar 31 2020 10:36, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: An old diary

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👍yep if you are over this way Dave give me a yell, Be good to have a beer, been tipped off some nice big Rudd spots, also would be nice to get a Zander from their spiritual home.
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Re: An old diary

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suffolk si wrote: Tue Mar 31 2020 10:23 -
👍yep if you are over this way Dave give me a yell, Be good to have a beer, been tipped off some nice big Rudd spots, also would be nice to get a Zander from their spiritual home.
Deffo mate. :thumbs: Before all this virus stuff kicked off, I was hoping to catch up with my old mate Hammy in the summer for a night or two fishing. Hopefully it'll all have calmed down a bit by then.
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Re: An old diary

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Some chance meetings on the Fen from back in the day.

Aug 98 - Very under fished remote drain

Lying dozing in my chair under the bridge in the very early hours (0200ish) of a summers night, right at the spot where I caught my very first Fenland Zander some two years earlier. I hear a car stop, some scrambling in the bushes at the top of the steep flood bank and all of a sudden, a bloke is sliding down the bank. I kid you not, in the few short seconds it's taken for this to occur, I've shuffled into a position in the long grass at the bottom by the water and am clutching a foot long bowie knife in a firm grip, waiting to see what this is all about. Luckily it turns out that the guy came from nearby Friday Bridge, had seen my car whilst travelling home from work and thought he'd pop down for a chat about the fishing. I asked him if he was mental creeping up on an angler in the middle of the night, in all fairness the chap did see the point. Anyway, I put a brew on and we had a really good chat. The chap was interesting in having a bash at Zandering and despite me being more enthusiastic than knowledgeable, I offered him a bit of information based on my own experiences. He seemed a real decent bloke and I bumped into him once more a few years later in the Heron Pub at Stowbridge. We enjoyed a pint and a chat over our Zedding and the 14lb PB Zed he'd caught in the intervening years (which beat mine at the time btw), I can't remember the guys name but I can remember that he was with one of the most stunning looking women I've ever seen. You could clearly hear the chin of every bloke (and half the women too) in the pub, firmly hit the deck. Only in deepest, darkest Fenland eh! :laughs: :laughs: :laughs:

Oct 2001 - Hard venue

I had the pleasure of meeting the late great Mark Vials who had a monstrous PB of 16.2. He'd travelled all the way from Blandford, Dorset (I know it well) with the intent of fishing a swim only to find me sat in it, halfway through a 2 nighter. We had a great chat for ages, he came across as a really cracking guy. He only brought about 3 or 4 large baits with him and seemed to have a very 's**t or bust' approach. My mate Nick also turned up late afternoon for a quick over-night session. I'd had 4 Zeds of 11.10, 8.12, 8.7 and 6.8 as well as a 14.9 Pike the night before but all was very quiet on the second night with only one small schoolie showing.

Oct 2002 - Same hard venue as above

I remember meeting a geezer and his mate fishing on a main drain in the area that I wanted to get on, I'd seen him previously in the press also with a cracking 16.2 PB. To be honest whilst his mate came across as a decent sort of chap, the superstar came across as a bit of a throbber. They had a bivvy each, as well as another one in the middle of their swims for cooking / admin etc. They visited the Fens once a year to fish the same swim for a fortnight, they didn't catch too much but they did come across some great Zander during their travels, including the 16 and a 13 as well, superb fish as anyone would surely agree. I remember politely declining their suggestion of fishing a little further down the drain and said I preferred to have a bit of water to myself and I'd happily make room and head off to another drain instead, I laughed as the superstar actually queried if the drain in question actually had a Zander population. He may have had a belting PB but he didn't know the first thing about the Fens.... Funny the things you don't forget, that short meeting took place over 20 years ago.
Last edited by Fentiger01 on Tue Mar 31 2020 12:36, edited 13 times in total.
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Re: An old diary

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Really enjoying this thread :thumbs:
Keep em coming Dave :handshake:
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Re: An old diary

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30th Jun 1998

A quick one nighter scheduled on the venue my good mate Nick introduced me too. The weather was wet but very warm, with a good bit of weed covering the inside and far ledges. I had a run not long after dark and landed a cracking Zed of 11lbs 10oz. Nick followed up not long afterwards with a nice fish of 8lbs 8oz. As usual for this venue, we experienced a few dropped runs early morning. Another great session!

Image 11lb 10oz

11th - 14th March 1999 - Hard Drain

Having fluked a 1lb Zed from here in the Summer (my first from this tough water), Nick and I made the decision to fish a whopping 3 nighter to end the season. The weather was pretty normal for March, cold and a bit wet here and there. Arriving mid-afternoon on the Thursday, we got the bivvies up and cracked on with getting the rods out and sorted. Nick soon had a really nice 14lb Pike on the bank and that was all the action until the early hours of Friday when I had a run and landed an 8lb 1oz Zed. Whilst playing the fish and bringing it close to the net, it gave a good account of itself and I recall asking Nick "Is it a double?". Everyone I'd ever spoken to on this water had said "This is the place to get a good double, not so many under 9lbs" lol what a crock that turned out. Anyways, 8lb 1oz the fish went and so was my first half decent Zed from this place. The night turned absolutely freezing, it was really cold with no more fish. In fact despite some superb livebaits, we didn't get another fish between us for the rest of whole entire 3 day/night session!

Image 8lb 1oz

A chap turned up on the 2nd day mid-afternoon (Paul W from Arlesley) and fishing a couple of hundred yards further down the drain, landed 2 lovely Pike of 18lb+ and 16lb+ within a couple of hours of starting, whilst we watched! (Nick and I each losing a little bit of our souls in the process). On the plus side, Paul told me about another small venue which had a bit of Pike potential. Early on the last day of the session (and season), word came through that a compadre of ours (Ian W) had been fishing further down the venue and landed a cracking 15lb Zed! Result (for Ian anyway :-) )

With the night temperature having dropped to minus figures and early morning being very bright and very frosty, I wasted no time at all in packing up very early on Sunday the 14th and with 4 decent baits remaining, I ventured to the venue Paul had been good enough to mention. My intent being to have an hour from the car before ending the season and heading back home. Being alerted to a swirl in the water, I put a bait right on the spot. This was a really good move as I was very shortly connected to a new PB Pike of 19lb 2oz. I stayed for another hour or so to see what else might be in the vicinity and with nothing showing, packed up and ended my 3rd full season on the Fens, driving home with a big cheesy grin following what I considered a great result. Once home, it was a few beers with Dad and a watch of the Evander Holyfield vs Lennox Lewis heavyweight championship bout, that he'd taped from the Saturday night. A great season, with the best Zander a new PB at 11lb 10oz.

(Sorry but try as I might, I cannot lay my hands on a picture of the 19lb Pike.) **Just found 2 good pics of this one. Will scan them later this week (3/8/20)**

23rd Oct 99 - Hard drain as above
A one-nighter short session on a new area of the hard drain. ZAC fish-in the weekend before and Gary (or was it Richard?) W had a 13lb from this swim. Weather was still fairly warm and bait (Rudd) was quite easy to catch as it got a bit dusky. I actually managed to catch them on a 3m whip in the dark for a bit, dropping the rig in the margins and counting to 6 or 8 then lifting out a fish! Bait stocks well sorted. Before dark I managed a lovely double figure Pike of 13lbs 6oz. After settling down in the bivvy, a good run on a far bank bait produced a cracking looking 9lb 3oz Zander - a new best for the venue, so well chuffed with that! Nothing else was caught after this although my mate Nick fished it the week after and landed an 11lb Zed. Clearly the doubles don't follow me about.

Image 9lb 3oz.

Kind regards,
Dave
Last edited by Fentiger01 on Mon Aug 03 2020 22:55, edited 10 times in total.
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Re: An old diary

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Proper fishing mate. Things in so many way don't change much. Good fishing is good fishing and you've likely zed fished more places than most to find the good.

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Re: An old diary

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Emma Hamilton wrote: Wed Apr 01 2020 21:24 -
Proper fishing mate. Things in so many way don't change much. Good fishing is good fishing and you've likely zed fished more places than most to find the good.

rob
I love it Rob, if only I had the time on my hands now that I had 15 - 20 years ago. I'd be living on the bank Zedding somewhere mate. :cool: :thumbs:
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Re: An old diary

Post by Flipflopjoe »

As above, keep em coming :grin:
I know a few have said this already but it’s really making me want to start a diary of my own exploits to look back on further down the line.
Might just be the lock down talking tho :laughs:
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Re: An old diary

Post by Stewlaws »

Just picked up on this Dave, interesting reading ....fishing certainly brings out characters to the banks,hope you're all well mate
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Re: An old diary

Post by Danoutdoors »

More great stuff thanks
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Re: An old diary

Post by Fentiger01 »

17th Sep 1998 - A great, short session on the first Fenland Drain I ever fished.

Now this is a very short tale about what I consider to be and will always remember as, a really, really important catch! Getting on the Fens in March 96 for the very first time, I had a couple of short daytime sessions which resulted in about a dozen Pike up to 9lbs on the first session and a big fat blank on the second. Throughout the closed season, which seemed to stretch on forever and ever all I could think about was getting back on this drain and fishing it for its Zeds proper; and at night! As the new season opened, me and my somewhat primitive gear (strike bobbins, garden chair etc) were on it. It didn't take many nights fishing like this without a single Zander, for me to realise that this wasn't the easiest challenge I'd ever undertaken. The water was moody, sometimes crystal clear and full of weed, sometimes running with a bit of colour. The highlight of the dozen or more nights I spent on it in summer 96 was a 4lb Eel which despite putting up a mega-scrap, was stone dead when I went to take it out of the landing net to unhook. I could not work that out but a more experienced Eel man suggested some time later, that it could have been an old fish which suffered a heart attack. It wasn't even deep hooked or anything and I felt bad about it for quite a long time, I wasn't even fishing for it and therefore that big old Eel should never have crossed my path! Home life was being affected a bit as well, my oldest daughter was 8 months old and I was disappearing for a night or two every set of days off, this wasn't going down too well and I felt like I needed to at least be getting a bit more in the way of results for my efforts. Anyway a quick review of Steve Younger's excellent book 'Zander' (received in Aug 96) and I decided to move on and see if I could have a crack at an easier water and away I went, I felt a bit of a loser to be fair. Anyways, I fished a couple of different venues and I managed to catch a few Zander, including a couple of really nice Fen Doubles but although I'd fished probably another half a dozen nights on my first drain, I still couldn't snag one of its' Zeds. This was becoming a real source of frustration.

Fast forward to Sep 98, I was based over the water but very much looking forward to two weeks of leave which were due in the second half of the month. As it happened, the Boss was on the same transport as me to the airport. He was a cracking bloke, a larger than life character and very hard when he needed to be but he was also very protective of his guys and if you didn't mind grafting and told the truth when caught out, he'd back you to the hilt. Looking back, he was a great Boss and fast forward some 13 years when I left (although in very different environments by then), it was really nice to give him a call on my very last day as a friend and say cheerio. Ha, the last time I saw him he was on TV around 2016/17 escorting Prince Harry to a function! Anyway I digress, back to the transport. The Boss asked what I was up to during my two weeks off and wished me the best of luck with my fishing as he legged it for a different flight. Once landed, my Grandad picked me up from the airport and dropped me at my mums. To be honest, a bit of a hunch had been growing and it was all focused around the very first drain I'd ever fished. The way I looked at it was that I had two weeks off for fishing and so a night or two on the challenging drain would not hurt too much in terms of time. With that in mind, I packed my gear, picked up my car and headed off to the Fens stopping off at my mum's work for a brew and to say hello!

I got to the water mid-afternoon and started about half a mile downstream of my usual area in order to catch some baits. A couple of hours saw me catch about 15 or so little Skimmers, Roach and Hybrids. That was bait sorted and all was good with the world. I turned up at my usual spot about tea-time and got the rods set up and cast out. One on the inside with a nice little livebait kicking off on the shelf, another livebait on the far shelf near a pumping spot and lily bed and a freshly killed deadbait fished splat bang in the middle of the drain. Only about 20 yards or so wide, it was very easy to accurately place my baits with the better rods and tackle I'd purchased in the intervening couple of years since starting on the Fen. All was quiet for the first few hours of darkness as I dozed in my little shelter on a lilo which folded into a surprisingly comfortable chair, when all of a sudden at around 0100hrs I had a screaming run on the deadbait. Upon hitting the run there was a little resistance and before long a very small Zed around 2lbs hit the surface on the way to the net. Nightmare of nightmares occurred as this proper milestone headed towards the draw-string when it suddenly dropped off, loafing on the surface and waving its pectoral fin in the torchlight, as they do...... Not only that but it had tangled my other line as by now, that alarm was going mental too, or had it! I put the middle rod down and realised after a couple of seconds, that there was no tangle and this was indeed a run on the far bank live bait. I struck and immediately felt the thump of a Zander through the 1 3/4tc Bob Roberts blank, it felt impressive and I don't mind saying I was more than a little nervous in case it came off. No need to worry on that score though, as after only a few short minutes the fish was sending up the characteristic Zed boils in front of the net as it did it's impression of a giant Crucian Carp and mowed round in ever decreasing circles before I successfully netted it. It looked like a decent Zander and weighed 9lb 3oz on the scales. To say I was thrilled with that capture after all the effort on that drain, would be underselling things a little. I was ecstatic. I managed another of 6lbs later that night and had well and truly broken my duck on what was to become my favourite ever drain.

That Zander would be my best from the water for some 6 1/2 years afterwards and by the time I'd finished my Fenland chapter in 2011, I'd only beaten that particular drain PB about half a dozen times. Although the drain was to give me a superb 11.6 venue PB Zed nearly 9 years later and a 24.2 PB Pike in a VERY poignant moment on my last ever session there and only 400m away from where I'd had my very first session on it way back in Mar 96, that first venue Zed at 9.3 was a truly great fish to me and one of my all time favourite captures!

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Last edited by Fentiger01 on Thu Apr 09 2020 00:15, edited 8 times in total.
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Re: An old diary

Post by Fentiger01 »

Stewlaws wrote: Thu Apr 02 2020 10:15 -
Just picked up on this Dave, interesting reading ....fishing certainly brings out characters to the banks,hope you're all well mate
Hi Stew, all good here mate. Hope you enjoy the read, gives me something to do in the house rather than watch TV and hopefully is enjoyed by those who read it.

I hope all is good with you and yours mate, we're well overdue a catch-up when all these shenanigans are over...... :thumbs:
Eagles may soar, but Weasels don't get sucked into jet engines!
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Re: An old diary

Post by Fentiger01 »

Danoutdoors wrote: Thu Apr 02 2020 13:20 -
More great stuff thanks
Cheers Dan, appreciate that mate! :thumbs:
Eagles may soar, but Weasels don't get sucked into jet engines!
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