Blogs
How much bait?
With running Dream Fishing Holidays on a day-to-day basis as well as owning Quest Baits Ltd, it is common for me to be asked how much bait to take on an overseas trip. Now with selling bait, I guess you would expect me to be telling you to take as much as you can afford, but that nasty little thing I was born with and never managed to shake off kicks in and all that ever falls out of my mouth is the truth.
Small pockets of bait will always catch carp – fact.
April 2023 Blog Diary
April 2023 was a strange old month. It signified one year since the passing of my Father, followed two days later by my birthday. The two dates are so close that I guess they will forever give me the very mixed emotions I experienced this year. For most of my working life I have tried hard not to work on my birthday. This has been quite easy for a lot of them as it usually falls on or around the Easter bank holiday. This year it was to fall on the Thursday before Good Friday. So, I arranged most of my work around this and made sure I had escaped bricks and mortar and all the rest of the concrete jungle I am forced to live most of my life in by Wednesday evening.
Spring is in the air - everywhere I look around
Yes, spring is in the air, everywhere I look around, but winter doesn’t seem to want to let go just yet. I took some days off over Easter, my birthday fell on the eve of Good Friday, so, beings as I try and catch myself a birthday present on my birthday I ventured to my favourite venue, hopefully for ‘a special one’. I caught but failed to catch on my actual birthday. Some of you may want to take note that April 6th is usually a day that the carp really can be stubborn. In all the years I have tried to catch a birthday carp, I only remember twice having a ‘special catch’. One of those was last year which I put down to my father watching over and ‘having a word’ for me. He had passed away just two days before.
November 2022 Diary Catch Up
October 2022 moved into November and my first weekend of the month I only had the one night to fish as work party duties were calling. I attend a lot of work parties because I’m a member of quite a few waters, some of which it is compulsory to do them, others it is voluntary, but I try and do them whenever possible. Sadly, as always though, it is usually the same old faces and rarely those who do the most moaning about what should or should not be done ever turn up to do their bit.
Anyway, that single night was kind to me with a couple of carp slipping up to my methods which I start tweaking a little more as the water cools and the visibility becomes clearer, but more of which later.
Autumn Baiting
I have said so often before how much I absolutely love this time of the year, my favourite season by a country mile. The cooling weather for me makes me feel much more comfortable. It suits my grabbed moments of outdoor life between my mostly indoor working life. The fresh feel and smell of the often-damp early morning air, the biting insects are almost none-existent, and my pre-work walks more comfortable with an extra layer on that can be removed if required. As for the fishing, well, so long as I can get on them, I know I can really catch them.
Winter bait rambling 2022/23
A question I am asked every year is what bait will I be using this winter?
Although still rather mild out there, I thought I would tap these words out to hopefully get you thinking as well as potentially saving a few more from asking.
Baiting Application in Poor Conditions.
have just got back from a very hot week on a small lake in the Champagne Ardenne region of France. It was originally booked in 2019 for May 2020, but with all the madness in the world, was delayed until now and on a different lake to the one planned.
According to Tony (the lake owner), the lake had a stock of around 50 carp up to around 47lbs. Having a quick look through the catch reports it appeared that the average catch was around 5 or 6 carp per angler / per week (probably due to the really hot weather). With an average weight of over 30lbs.
The fishing was typical of a lot of these types of French Lake, fishing to the gaps in the trees on the far margin. This meant accurate “marking” of the line (and a skyline marker), was critical to prevent casting into the overhanging trees.
Water quality, dissolved oxygen, dying carp,
With the weather how it is, I urge you all to read this. But, before you start reading this, I must stress that the following are not my words. All credit goes to Bernice Brewster who posted this on a Fishery Management page. The information is so important and accurate, I urge you to spread it around anyone with an interest in the well being of their fish.
Shaun Harrison's July 2022 Diary Blog
What a month that one was, here in the U.K. Temperatures hit record levels and our ladies football team did so incredibly well in the football. I am sure the whole nation must be so proud of our amazing Lioness’s. I even packed up fishing early to be able to get home to watch them win the final on a proper screen, rather than the telephone screen on the bank. Oh yes, I also caught a load of carp!
Fire and a Bucket in a Bucket!
With these record-breaking temperatures running over 40 c we have been experiencing here in the U.K. Along with the news last night showing fires spreading out of control, it got me thinking immediately about my outdoor cooking.
Anyone who follows me on social media will know I love to cook over real fire or BBQ coals rather than use gas etc. I have been doing this for around 10 years now, ever since I decided to see if I could get by without gas stoves. I have managed this easily, but it did hit home watching the news of fires spread from barbecues, just how easy it is for people to get things wrong when playing with a lot of heat. Just not thinking things through is the biggest problem.