Angling

RING THE CHANGES FOR PREDATORS

WELL, THAT’S SUMMER OVER. FOR THOSE OF YOU WITH SHORT MEMORIES, SUMMER WAS THREE DAYS IN EARLY AUGUST!

By Clive Kenyon

So, what do I talk about this year given that normally October heralds cooler weather and prompts a pre-winter feeding frenzy for some species? I can’t see that happening this year. Many of us regard the onset of winter with predator fishing. Pike anglers would look to October as the start of their season when it comes to dead baiting and live baiting for pike. French anglers however are keen to get started lure fishing for predators as soon as the season opens at the end of April. If you have never been on a river in this region early in a morning you will not be aware of just how many lure fishers there are in these parts. They seem to favour early mornings and will be off the water by 10 o’clock. Most of them are very mobile, covering a long stretch of bank using light lure rods armed with jig-heads. These are latex lures mounted on a long hook with a lead head. This puts me off using the same type of lure for perch, pike and zander as by this time of year any fish remaining that haven’t already been cooked and eaten will have seen every latex lure in the Decathlon catalogue. I prefer to use old-fashioned spinners such as Ondex and good quality plugs made by Rapala. The fish won’t have seen many, if any, of these lures and I have had good success with them. My most successful lure to date is an old Voblex that I found stuck onto an old submerged branch at the side of the River Vienne. I have no idea how long that spinner had been in the river, but the treble hook needed replacing as they were almost rusted through. The rest of the lure, the brass blade and rubber head were sound. Once the hooks had been changed the old lure has accounted for numerous catfish up to around 25lb as well as the perch and pike that it had been designed for. Another favourite is a lure of mine made from an old desert spoon. You can pick up spoons of different weights, colours, thicknesses, profiles and sizes cheaply at vide greniers or brocantes as well as the charity shops. Once the handle is cut off a couple of drilled holes allows the swivel and hooks to be fitted using split rings, all available online. These homemade spoon lures are brilliant for pike fishing. There is no point showing the fish the same old lures they have so far avoided all year. Another tactic that isn’t used by many local predator anglers is drift fishing dead baits. French pêcheurs tend to put up a predator rod as an afterthought when fishing for roach or other silvers. In most cases the dead bait or live bait is left anchored to the bottom to fish for itself a few metres away from the pêcheur who is usually concentrating on his other rod. Fishing a dead bait under a float so that the bait is suspended just above the bottom allows the wind to take the float over a much larger area and is more likely to come to the attention of any pike that might be present. Again, this method is unlikely to have been used much and may well entice the wise old brochet into taking your bait. Zander seem to be on the increase in the local rivers. Small zander can be seen in many parts of the middle Charente and they are regularly caught in the Vienne. Zander have some of the characteristics of perch in that they will harry shoals of small fish and strike into the shoal to wound and disable as many fish as possible before mopping up the casualties. The larger ones however tend to be more like pike and are found lurking near to the bottom waiting to pounce on any small fish that comes their way. As the water temperature cools they are less likely to be actively chasing prey and more likely to lay in ambush. A couple of years ago I fished for zander using normal barbel quiver tip gear, but with a wire trace, small treble hook and small fish such as a sardine as bait. Casting to the deeper parts of the river or under bridges brought some results especially when using a cage feeder filled with a mixture of mashed sardines and bread crumbs. Any twitch or knock on the quiver tip should be struck immediately. If you can obtain a quantity of lobworms then you could try for a large perch using a roving approach. Being ambush specialists, perch can be found near to cover such as weed beds, pilings and under trees. They also lurk at the edge of faster currents where the water flows slower and deeper. Where fishing is allowed, lock gates and the high walls of locks, bridge pilings and weirs may also hold large perch, but check the regulations before fishing there.

My most successful lure to date is an old Voblex that I found stuck onto an old submerged branch at the side of the River Vienne

Last Gasp Silure

Continuing the predator theme I have found October to be the most likely month for some zoo creature to make a monkey of me and my carp or barbel tackle. The sheer power of a large silure, or wels catfish is something to behold when you only have a 6lb hook link and 1.5lb test curve rod. I still wince at the thought of my thumb burning as I tried to stop one whilst using an old centrepin reel. In all cases the hook bait that attracted the unwanted silures were cubes of luncheon meat or prawn tails. Not the conventional 3lb carp or bream dead baits normally associated with these monster predators. In August I failed in my quest for a large silure due to weather, work and other commitments, managing just one fruitless trip afloat using a large dead bait on one rod and a massive squid lure that would be more at home on a charter boat out of Brixham on the other. Half of September is written off due to holidays and work so from the last week of September to the end of October I shall be all out to beat my personal best catfish weight and hopefully get my own back on one of the tackle robbing pests that have plagued my previous October fishing sessions.