NOVEMBER - A QUIET MONTH.

A Quiet Month For SENPAC but Chris Caught This One At 15lb.

A very quiet month all round for the lads with only two decent fish being caught. First one fell to the rods of Chris Graham on our monthly club trip to one of our favourite Cumbrian venues. On what turned out to be a beautiful, warm autumnal day Chris also caught a smaller fish at 8lb and fellow angler Bruce Turnbull also caught one weighing in at 7lb. As for the rest of us we just enjoyed our day out. As usual the wildlife took our attention and out came the cameras. One Robin was extremely tame and enjoyed the photoshoot as well as giving us a timely reminder that Christmas was on the way.

"Smile Please"

A Gentle Reminder That Christmas Was On The Way.

Bruce Turnbull and Dave Greally are still having success down in Yorkshire and Bruce came up trumps with this lovely 16lb river fish pictured below.

A Sunday Special For Bruce.

Another successful SENPAC year is nearly over and we look forward to hopefully catching some crackers in December. In closing we would like to wish all our fellow anglers and readers of our blog around the world a very Merry Christmas.

THE CALM AFTER THE STORM.

Eventually The Storm Subsided.

The region's Jolly Boys outing to Scotland was eagerly awaited by those participating but the weather had different ideas. Storm Callum came in big style from the Atlantic and the first two days of our Pike fishing were far from jolly. Extremely strong winds and torrential rain caused flooding and water levels rose dramatically. Finding somewhere to fish proved virtually impossible as water enveloped most of the favourable spots. SENPAC members are hardy guys and it did not stop them from giving it a go. Paul Proctor and Steve Sandiford decided that bank fishing was a no hoper and decided to do a spot of Kayak fishing. They covered a fair distance over water but even after a couple of days they were not to be rewarded for their efforts. Luckily some small Pike were caught by Bruce Turnbull, Dave Greally, Dave Gardner and Peter Armstrong on day one. The first of the Winter Pike matches was due to be fished on the second day but this was quickly cancelled and the other members travelling across on the day were advised not to travel. Highlight of this day was Paul Patterson's first ever Pike weighing in at just under 12lbs. Two members who were going to travel on the day re routed to a Cumbrian fishery with new member Mike Halligan celebrating with his first two Pike. Day three and we started to dry out. We were greeted with blue skies and sunshine. Water levels still high but starting to subside. Paul Patterson, Dave Gardner and Peter Armstrong had a change of venue but still caught while Bruce Turnbull and Mike Bell enjoyed a bit of sunbathing catching a handful of Pike as well.

Paul Celebrates With His First Ever Pike.

One For Mr Turnbull.

Dave Gardener Short On Bank Space.

Peter Armstrong.

As usual everyone enjoyed the outing but hopefully next time the weather will be a little kinder. As for the rest of the month Dave Greally and Bruce Turnbull were back again in Yorkshire catching some nice fish. Peter Armstrong and Dave Gardner returned to Scotland and caught a few fish. We now look forward to the weeks ahead and hopefully some nice Pike will be caught.

Bruce. 

Dave.

SEASON STARTS WELL

It usually takes a couple of weeks for one of our members to come up with an early season 20lb Pike but not for Dave Greally's  son Aaron who got off to a flyer catching this 21lb 10 oz fish. That has set the target for the rest of the lads. Plenty going on in October with our  Jolly Boys outing rapidly approaching together with round one of our Winter Pike series, and in early November a trip to Menteith for those fortunate enough to get drawn out of the hat at the PAC convention. September was a quiet month with a few members on holiday but Dave Gardner's son Wayne caught a nice double figure Carp and Chris Graham continued to catch at a local water. Peter Armstrong took time out to catch some Trout even though the conditions on the day were not favourable.

Nice Double Figure Carp For Wayne.

Chris Carping Again.

Lakeland Heron.

SUMMER DAYS FADING AWAY.

Summer League Match Venue.

The Summer days are now fading away and it is only a few weeks before the new Pike season will commence. The members of the region have had a successful last few months with some good catches of Carp, Bream, Roach etc. Paul Proctor triumphed in lifting the Summer League series. Not even a close run event this year as Paul powered away with a total winning weight of 69lbs 5ozs. Runner up in the event was Mike Bell with Bruce Turnbull claiming third place. 

Paul With Another Nice Carp.

Local waters have been providing some good catches and Bruce Turnbull caught this very dark Bream on one of his latest trips.

Bruce Into The Bream.

Well in a nutshell that was our SENPAC Summer. We are now looking forward and setting our sights on some big Pike. Find out what we have been up to in the weeks ahead and what we have been catching by checking out our blog. 

ANOTHER SENPAC SUMMER - HAPPY DAYS.

A Happy Mike Haligan.

Pictured above  Mike who won round two of the region's Summer series. After two rounds Paul Proctor leads the competition with Dave Greally and Bruce Turnbull sharing second place at the moment. All to play for as we head into August and the final two rounds. 

                                         Mike Bell And A Nice Bream.

You never know what the members get up to during the Summer months. Steve the Salmon and Barbel man has been out in his kayak off the North East coast catching Codling and Pollack. Later in the month Steve was back on the river when he managed to coax out this 10lb fish on a trotted shrimp.

Steve Down On The River Again.

Bruce Turnbull has been down in Yorkshire again  trying to catch a big Barbel which at this time are eluding him. Not that Bruce is complaining as he is catching some nice Chub like the five pounder pictured below.

Peter Waiting For That Elusive Bite.

A Mixed Bag.

ANOTHER SENPAC SUMMER - TICKING ALONG NICELY.

Dave Greally with one of his nice Yorkshire Bream.

The region is now in full swing as the members pursue some quality coarse fish. Some very good Bream, Tench and Carp have been caught this last month by Dave Greally, Bruce Turnbull, Paul Proctor and Chris Graham. Dave Gardner has had good success on some of the local waters and Mike Bell caught some nice Roach and Rudd at a Lake District venue. Steve Sandiford has been trying his luck down on the River Wye with reasonable success.

Bruce and another nice Tench.

New member Mike and his first Tench.

The first of the club's annual Summer matches took place during the month. The highly sought after Golden Maggot trophy was contested by eight of the members at a local water. On the day the weather was extremely warm and the fish were not in a cooperative mood. Low weights all round for those who did catch. The winner on the day was Dave Greally who retained the trophy from the previous year.

Golden Maggot venue.

Dave Greally wins the Golden Maggot trophy.

Our Summer series of matches will be taking place in July and August and we will be reporting on the results of these events in future region updates.

ANOTHER SENPAC SUMMER. - EARLY DAYS.

Still Catching Pike.

April and May got off to a good start with the members catching some nice fish. Some fished close to home whilst others travelled greater distances for their fishing. Dates have now been finalised for the region's Golden Maggot match and the four Summer league matches which we will report on in the blog when the results are known. Looking forward to the future and our plans for the Winter Pike fishing season are already underway planning our next Jolly Boys Piking outing. Lets now see what has been caught by some of our members during the last few weeks.

                                                        

THE SOCIAL

Mid March and the SENPAC squad are on another Piking mission in Scotland. Due to the Siberian weather conditions a fortnight before the trip the fishing proved to be hard at times and the last of the club's championship matches resulted in only six fish being caught. Dave Greally retained his trophy from the previous year with Bruce Turnbull and Paul Proctor sharing the runners up place. The  biggest Pike caught during the championship was caught by Chris Graham.  Even though the majority of the fish caught were small one member did manage to winkle out a couple of the bigger girls. SENPAC Pike Angler Of The Year for 2017  Peter Armstrong weighed in with two fish at 12lb 8ozs and the next day the biggest of the trip at 17lb 4ozs.

Paul Proctor. Better than nothing at all.

For some members the highlight was watching and photographing the wildlife.

The region has again had a very good season Pike fishing. Not so much the quantity of Pike caught but the quality. The lads have had some really nice fish the last few months. We now look forward to next October when we will start all over again in our quest for big Pike. In the meantime the Summer will arrive and hopefully provide us all with  some good fishing for other coarse species.

SENPAC BEING SOCIABLE ??

Another SENPAC outing this time to Scotland........

Time Is Running Out - February 2018

Time is running out, at least as far as the current pike fishing season is concerned. That's how it feels for those of us who haven't, so far, been enjoying the best of seasons. Clearly time, or the lack of it, will not be weighing quite so heavily on the minds of those who have been enjoying success at their fishing. Oh to be in that situation?

SENPAC's February seems to have continued where January left off. Some really nice fish reported by some of our number, a complete lack of fish for many others and perhaps the worst of all, hooked fish refusing to stay hooked for others like me.

The one aspect of SENPAC's results this season that has gradually become apparent as the months have passed is that generally fewer fish are being caught, however, the average size of the fish being caught is increasing. Why that should be I've not a clue. We are fishing the same waters at the same times of the year and most other variables remain fairly constant so I guess it all comes down to the one constant that will always and has always governed our fishing. The influence of TAP. Now the science of the TAP influence is not understood despite the fact that it has an immense effect on all aspects of our everyday lives, not just our fishing. The guy who eventually works out the mechanics of how the TAP influence operates will be a very wealthy man as long as he keeps it to himself and the most unpopular man on earth if he shares his discovery.

The Tap influence, well, Time And Place of course. The difference between getting it right and getting it wrong is immeasurable depending on the circumstances but, as far as the fishing is concerned will always be the defining  influence as far as I'm concerned. Skill, perhaps, TAP certainly.

And so to those that were in the right place at the right time in February. The Region outing in February was north of the border this time and like the January outing was largely fishless for those that attended. Largely is the operative word here as one of our number unlocked the secret of our chosen water just as he did on the January trip ( skill perhaps?) with a belter of a fish. The journey home for Chris Graham will have seemed much shorter than it did for the rest of us with this to look at on his phone.........

Chris Graham's 23lb-12oz Belter 

A week or so later and on a small fishery on our side of the border, one of our lure fishing fans manage to repeat his January success with another lure caught cracker ( not skill surely?) this time using a yellow Spanish jellyworm lure as opposed to his faithful spoon. Spanish, well purchased in Spain on his earlier trip to the Ebro.

                     Dave Gardner's 20lb-8oz Lure Caught Fish

Dave Gardner, fishing for the first time in a long time with Son Wayne also managed a 7lb'er as did Wayne so no doubt an enjoyable bankside reunion for Father and Son.

As for the rest of us, well, the only other notable capture also fell to one of our lure fishing specialists, Steve Sandiford, not so much because of the size of the fish caught but more from where they were caught. Fishing one of our more local waters which has suffered one of its least productive seasons so far ( little or nothing having come out since early December) he managed to extract two fish in a morning session. Hopefully a good sign for the future.

Looking forward to the final month of the season and hopefully a busy month for the SENPAC troops. Menteith to look forward to in a few days for four of our number, weather permitting. As I write this it's snowing hard outside and with meteorological mayhem being predicted in increasingly emotional terms by those who are supposed to know about these things, that outing may well be in doubt.

However we also have our season finale to look forward too with our four day jolly boys outing to Scotland in the middle of next month. Hopefully right time right place will kick-in for all concerned on that trip. If not then I will just have to make do with keeping my new best fishing buddy entertained.....................................................

                          

The Outing - January 2018

Back down to earth with a bump would be a fair description of the Region's January outing. Seven members turned out on the day for, as it transpired, a thankfully modest journey to the chosen venue. Six of those members were grateful for that thankfully modest journey home as their drive was not buoyed by memories of fish caught.

The only fish caught, Chris Graham's 13lb-8oz pictured in the previous blog. As for the rest of us, well, a lot of staring at the water whilst sheltering from a very mean wind and for at least one of our number the opportunity to break out the camera gear.

New Year Ramblings - January 2018

So January came and went in a mishmash of weather fronts, both warm and cold, the odd named storm and in between the occasional day when it seemed just too nice to go fishing. I'm joking of course as well as being confused. Up here in the north we seemed to go from days of sub-zero temperatures and snow, when we struggled to find somewhere to fish which didn't have a lid on, to days of double figure temperatures when the sun shone and the rivers raged and throughout it all you often had to find something to hide behind to avoid being blown into whatever water was in front of you. Definitely not umbrella weather Chris, wouldn't you say?

Despite all this confusion some of the SENPAC lads were out and about and fish were being caught by most, with one or two special fish included. Top of the special fish list for the month has to be Dave Greally's spanker of 22lb-8oz which is now starring on You Tube (see previous blog) and on Dave's toilet wall I understand?

Not far behind in the size stakes and only a week later in the month and our other Dave, Gardner, got in on the act with a Yorkshire lump of 20lb-12 oz from a water that was in the process of trying to freeze.

As for the rest of us well most had to settle for quantity as opposed the obvious quality of the previous fish although Chris Graham set his bar slightly higher than most with a  nice brace of doubles in a week, both from the same venue but on two separate visits. Nice way to avoid blanks that.

First 12lb - 4oz and.......

........second 13lb - 8oz

So all in all not a bad month for the clubs members speaking of which we welcomed a new member to the Jolly Boys during the period, another Geordie piker (ex Lincolnshire, not that any of us will hold that against him) so a warm welcome to Rob Brewis.

All of a sudden we are into the last couple of months of the season and some favourite swims will be on the agenda in the hope of a special fish, January got us off to a good start in 2018, let's hope it continues!