Bob Goes Fishing | Welcome

Please rotate your device

This page is best viewed in Landscape orientation
(or tap anywhere to view in Portrait orientation)

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!

QR code

YouTube channel

Venues
& topics
Species
Archive
Venues & topics
Species
Archive

River Nene - Backwaters (5)

Castor
Venue: River Nene |Nene backwaters

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

Arrival time: 10.30 at swim
Weather: Warm, cloudy with sunny intervals, a light breeze.
Tackle: 11' 6" John Wilson Avon with 1.5oz quiver tip, Shimano 5000RE reel, 6lb line direct to 8 eyed hook with 2xSSG link leger.
Baits: Bread flake, cheese paste and spam.
Fish: One very small roach and a small chub.

This was my first fishing trip to the Castor backwater that I had viewed before the beginning of the season. It's very popular, with a limited number of swims, so I had waited until the early season enthusiasm had died down. But there were a couple of other anglers on the stretch when I arrived.

Read full report

Species: Chub, Roach

The Clay Pit (10)

Side pond
Venue: The Clay Pit

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

Arrival time: 11.00
Weather: Warm with sun & cloud and a possibility of showers.
Tackle: 10ft TFG Compact Float rod, Speedia centrepin, light (5 x no.4) waggler, 6lb line direct to 14 eyed hook.
Baits: Sweetcorn.
Fish: Five tench, a number of crucians, a small carp and two roach.

After a number of trips to the Nene backwaters I fancied a less energetic day so decided to go over to the local Clay Pit to fish the side ponds. I hoped for a tench or two but would have been satisfied with a mixed bag of whatever turned up.

Read full report

Species: Tench, Crucian, Roach, Carp

River Nene - Backwaters (2)

Wellington
Venue: River Nene |Nene backwaters

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

Arrival time: 11.00 at swim
Weather: Very warm becoming hot with a strong wind.
Tackle: 11' 6" John Wilson Avon with 1.5oz quiver tip, Shimano 5000RE reel, 6lb line direct to 8 eyed hook with 2xSSG link leger.
Baits: Bread flake, cheese paste and spam.
Fish: One small roach and one small chub.

I returned to this backwater to explore the upstream section, having only made my way along part the stretch the previous week. But conditions were entirely different, it being much warmer with a strong wind that made fishing difficult at times. The combination of heat and wind was also very tiring, especially since I walked quite a long way during the four hours that I was there.

Read full report

Species: Chub, Roach

Earith (1)

Venue: Earith

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

Arrival time: 09.30
Weather: Sunny and reasonably mild with a light NE wind
Tackle: 12ft Greys Rova Float, Advanta Discovery centre pin with 6lb line direct to 14 eyed hook. Insert waggler.
Baits: Maggot & flavoured luncheon meat.
Fish: Roach & rudd with an unexpected Koi at the end.

Having checked out this new lake the previous day I decided to float-fish a bay containing quite a lot of lily pads. Absolutely delightful surroundings and very quiet. There was only one other angler on the lake.

Read full report

Species: Roach, Rudd, Koi

Fields End (114)

Venue: Fields End

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

Arrival time: 09.00
Weather: Sunny and reasonably mild with a light NE wind
Tackle: 12ft Greys Rova Float, Advanta Discovery centre pin with 6lb line, 3½lb bottom & 16 hook. Insert waggler.
A period on leger with a 10 hook tied direct to the 6lb reel line.
Baits: Maggot & bread flake.
Fish: A good bag of roach/rudd

I decided on another trip to Fields End and was surprised to find the lake almost deserted, with only two other anglers and an empty visitors' car park. I subsequently discovered that there had been problems with travellers on site and that the lake had only just reopened.

Read full report

Species: Roach, Rudd

The Clay Pit (7)

Venue: The Clay Pit

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

Arrival time: circa 10.00
Weather: Bright start clouding over with a few spots of rain
Tackle: 9ft Shimano Aero X1 feeder rod, Shimano Exage 1000RC reel with 5lb line & 12 hook, with a small bomb leger. Changed to 14/4lb hook link for float fishing.
Baits: Bread flake & maggot.
Fish: Small rudd and roach

Once more I took on the challenge of the Clay Pit and once again it defeated me. Starting on leger in a different spot produced nothing other than lost tackle, while changing to the float in a previously fished swim only provided a repeat performance of small rudd and roach.

Read full report

Species: Rudd, Roach

< Previous Page Page 7 / 20 Next Page >

© 2025 Robert Bassett

Report bugs to webmaster

Built in RapidWeaver
with Shaking The Habitual's
Source micro framework

Your privacy
Cookies are only used for the correct functioning of this site and to prevent you seeing this message every time you visit.

Read more about third party cookies ☞

Note that links to third party sites can result in cookies being loaded. For example, there are links to YouTube to display the embedded videos from my channel.