Martin James Welcomes In Another Coarse Fishing Season

It’s amazing that this month’s edition of Raconteurs is being published on June 16th, for me the most important day in the angling calendar, when once again I can go out and target the coarse fish species in still and flowing waters. It’s also the start of my 83rd year of taking part in this wonderful pastime or sport; for me it’s certainly a lifetime of passion.

June 16th That Magic Day

My first June 16th will live on in my memory for ever, as if it was yesterday. I went fishing with my Uncle Len, a sergeant sniper in the Royal West Kent regiment, who often shot at Bisley before the war. I caught seven tiny rudd, a silver-bodied fish with blood red fins. Bait was a small bit of worm. Having caught those rudd our peace was shattered by a large number of German bombers; Dornier’s Heinkels Junkers along with their Messerschmitt fighters roaring overhead on their way to blitz London.

Very quickly the Spitfires and Hurricanes of the Royal Air Force from the local airfields were up and taking the fight to the bombers and their fighter escorts. Without warning my Uncle Len said: “Look! A German bomber has been hit”. I sat there watching it crash into the Thames Estuary. From that memorable day I was an angler. Sadly a few weeks later Uncle Len perished in the sands of North Africa fighting Rommel’s Afrika Korps.

My tackle on that first day was a ball of red wool, a few nuts scrounged from my granddad’s shed and some penny eel hooks from the local pram shop. The shop also sold a few items of tackle; you could buy, for about sixpence, a length of line with a quill float and hook on a cardboard winder. Yes, they were dangerous times, Kent being a front line county in the battle with the Germans, our nights were usually spent in an Anderson air raid shelter where I could watch the searchlights trying to seek out the hated German bombers. Hopefully the ack-ack guns based close to where I lived would try to destroy them. It wasn’t just bombs, the land-mines on a parachute were more deadly, creating far more damage as they exploded above the ground.

During the day the Royal Air force fighter pilots in their Hurricanes and Spitfires who would set about the Luftwaffe bombers and escorting fighters. We boys would clap and shout with joy when the RAF appeared. A big bonus during the war for me and my friends was that we only went to school in the mornings.

Out of school we often fished the stream at Bakers Meadow for sticklebacks or minnows. We would also go out armed with catapults and target the German and Italian POWs working in the fields with well aimed pebbles. None of us were frightened, not even when the V-1 and V-2 rockets were about, known as doodle-bugs or flying bombs. Fishing becomes an obsession for us boys; it was an escape from all the problems faced by our parents.

In 1947 I moved to senior school where I was given my first cycle by my grandfather, my passport to freedom. I would often cycle to fishing venues ten to fifteen miles or more from home.

Catching Big Rudd

One day I chose to fish Windmill clay pit close to where I caught my first fish. Arriving an hour after dawn and float fishing with bread I caught some big rudd, in fact to me, they were giant rudd. I had never seen such big and gorgeous fish. I reckon every one must have weighed over a pound. After a couple of hours I had caught eleven of these big fish; we counted our fish in those days and sadly retained them in a keep net. I was then approached by a very friendly looking man who said: “Can I see your membership card?” I told him I didn’t have one and wanted to buy a permit, offering him half a crown. I was told “its private fishing and you would have to join the club to fish the water”. Membership was two shillings and sixpence, commonly termed half a crown. So I had to leave and made my way to Alpha cement works.

Back to the present time, I have now gone through all my tackle and other accessories. I don’t leave it to the last few days, before the new season starts. For some weeks I’ve been checking through all my gear; all the rods, making sure the guides are in good condition with no cracks in the agate butt and tip guides, my reels are all smooth running, I’ve cleaned and oiled all my centre pins and fixed spool models just after the end of last season. The spooling of the reels with new lines I leave to the beginning of June, usually about ten days before the new season. I will start off spooling my Mitchell 300 with 6lb line, forty yards of 3lb line will be put on my Watermole-crafted centrepin ‘The Beult’.

The Beautifully Crafted & Engineered Beult Centrpin

I’m really looking forward to using this reel with light float tackle for roach, feeding with hemp and baiting with tares. For tench fishing I will have forty yards of 6lb line on my Young & Sons ‘Atom’ centrepin, a strange name for a reel to be used in a quiet pursuit at the waterside. I have to ask myself: ‘Couldn’t the company have picked a better name than a warlike one?’ In my dictionary, the word ‘Atom’ is defined as a tiny particle. The reels are put in protected bags before going in the basket.

Next job was to sort out my bits and pieces box, I have two bait-droppers, one very small, the other medium size. I often use a dropper to put a mixture of crumb, corn and hemp groundbait into the swim, this way it doesn’t attract small fish in the swim, as it often does when you ball it in. I check I have enough tubs of egg shot in various sizes; these shot are very good when trotting, as are olivettes. I have a tub of shot in various sizes in a gravel colour; I find them very useful when fishing over gravel in clear water. Some anglers tell me I’m far too fussy; so be it, if I catch a few more fish.

In my box are several small spools of quality line in breaking strains from 1.5lb to 6lb. There are packets of Cralusso items of tackle, such as fine quick snaps for putting hook-links on to main line, several sizes of beads, from a very tiny ones to stop a tiny in-line olivette where I want it on the line, also some float stops which are ideal when fishing a slider float. I have several made-up pole rigs, some with the modern Cralusso floats, other pole rigs have Avon floats carrying different shotting patterns or olivettes that will cover all conditions and swims.

One of Two float Boxes

I have a set of punches for bread and meat and for picking up slugs I have some silver sugar tongs my grandmother gave me when I was ten years old, probably worth a small fortune today. I have several pairs of forceps with some disgorgers, cleaners for my glasses and binoculars, first-aid plasters along with some antiseptic wipes, float-caps and lengths of tubing in different sizes for making float rubbers. Also in my basket I carry a small wooden board for punched bread or meat, two clean hand towels and a pair of chefs gloves in case I can’t find the sugar tongs when slugging. There is a torch for beaming on the float or rod tip at night; I have never found a torch bothers fish and on many occasions I have proved this to my friends by shining the torch on fish in the margins. I also have two boxes of floats so I can cover all situations when needed. Most important is my thermometer; Dick Walker proved how important a thermometer was when he fished an Essex pit and captured a 20lb plus carp, as did Captain L.A. Parker and his book “This Fishing” is a must read in my opinion. All my bait boxes were cleaned in the first week of the close season.

My bag with all the beverage brewing gear has been checked, new mugs have been added, the old ones thrown out and I have a new box of Yorkshire Gold tea bags, along with some nice coffee for those who enjoy this type of brew.

Refurbished Rods (also My Pole)

All my rods have been checked over, some were given a complete refurbish. My two Milwards Swim Masters are now as new, probably better today than when first made, with modern varnishes etc. Even more spectacular, if that is possible, is the job I have had done on my pole; a complete refurbishment and the first in over 70 years, it could be even longer. I also have another top-joint in cane, the whalebone tip will be used for light work, the cane one for heavier work. The pole really looks stunning, even more so the mahogany butt.

Tony Booker has made me several toppings; in the old days these were made of silk but he has made new toppings with different strengths of elastic. Like many anglers, I always want another rod, despite having around forty-five; most I don’t use these days but I enjoy looking at them in their racks. In the 50s and 60s I would always buy a new rod for the start of the season and it seems I haven’t changed. I have got myself a ‘Youngs of Harrow’ Otter brand twelve-foot rod as new, with a whole cane butt and middle joint with a spliced in built-cane tip. It’s a rod I can use with 6lb line when trotting heavy water for chub.

Salmon Rod To Carp etc.

Last year I had my 13 foot ‘Sharp’s of Aberdeen’ salmon rod cut down with a new handle fitted. I then got David Craine to fit a new set of guides and it’s now the perfect job for carp and barbel. Recently I had a word with David, asking if he could turn my 14 foot ‘Sharp’s of Aberdeen’ cane salmon rod into one suitable for carp and barbel also (I reckon it would also be ideal for pike). In my freezer I have several bags of mashed bread, hemp seed, stewed wheat, fine bread crumb and king size prawns.

A Beautiful Estate Lake Mirror

I’m Fussy about My Hooks

Hooks are a debatable subject; I like a strong eyed hook. For many years I used Allcock’s ‘Model Perfect’. I would search out the London tackle shops during my lunch break and should I be lucky to find a supply of hooks I would often buy up all the stock for me and my friends; sadly these hooks disappeared. I started using Richard Walker hooks from B. James & Son, followed by Partridge hooks from Redditch and I rated these very highly. When I visited the Redditch works it was like going back to Dickensian times. Sadly the factory closed and the hook-making went to Malaysia. Another hook sadly no longer available is the Au Lion D’Or.

Today I’m using Pallatrax barbless hooks and I can’t fault them. An important item I wouldn’t want to be without is a good plummet but I make it a heavy one. I often smear a layer of Vaseline on the base of the plummet. Then you will get a good idea if you’re fishing over small gravel or a mixture of sandy silt and gravel as it will stick to the Vaseline. You often need to counter-balance the weight of the hook.

There are many times when tench can be very finicky, especially when feeding over a bed of small baits such as hemp, corn, caster and gentles. I find it most important to counter-balance the weight of the hook. If I’m using casters I make sure that the casters on the hook are floaters. When fishing corn I dump some grains onto a newspaper, then with a fine needle I take out the inside of the corn, replacing it with a tiny polystyrene ball, keeping these as hook baits. Fishing gentles I often superglue a tiny sliver of rig foam on the shank of the hook. Some anglers tell me it’s too much bother being this fiddly but I don’t think so, if it improves my catch rate. It’s an education watching Phil Chun balance his baits before casting out, his catches tell me it’s well worth the effort in getting it right.              

Get a Good Weed Rake

One item of equipment I wouldn’t want to be without is my double-sided rake; there have been so many times, far too numerous to remember, when I’ve caught tench after raking a swim as other anglers are failing. Lots of times I’ve had tench move in the swim during the raking progress. You don’t even need to bait up, just put a couple of red worms on the hook cast out and you’re likely to get a bite. Raking a swim certainly attracts the fish into your area.

Tench Like Boilies

One bait that really deserves attention is the boily. I’m told a small, sweet flavoured boily is the one to use but I’m not sure. If the bait is fresh and you don’t overload the swim with too many freebies I reckon most flavours will work. I use sausage meat a lot; in fact I used this bait in the early 1950’s on the advice of my granddad. It certainly worked and it still does today. I have used sausage-sizzle flavoured baits for some years so it’s not new. It was in powder form when I first started using it. Early season tench fishing can be very productive but also very exasperating. You can see the fish in the swim but they will not pick up your hook bait. When this happens you must fine tune your set up. Hopefully wherever you start the season it will be a good one.

Not all barbel give a three-foot twitch as many anglers believe. Many of my big barbel come from a slight pluck, often on sausage meat, breadcrust, sometimes a combination of breadcrust and sausage meat or cheese paste moulded around the crust, so I’m fishing a balanced bait.

Groundbait Mix

I have also made up several bags of ground bait; it’s a mix of corn which has been given a quick whisk in the food processor and I then added some hemp followed by a fine crumb. I then knead the mix until I feel for what I want, where the mix will break up near or on the bottom, depending on the depth of water. It’s also ideal for putting in a bait-dropper if a lot of small fish are present in mid-water. Also I prepared four pints of tares, putting half a cup of tares into several small plastic bags. I always cook a lot of tares, as they are not just a summer bait and will work all year round when the water is right for hemp fishing. My season will either start on the River Soar for perch and chub or an estate lake where my target will be carp.

Reconnaissance Has Helped Me Catch Some Good Fish

I suggest you spend time watching your quarry; you will be surprised how much you will learn. I’ve spent hundreds no, thousands, of hours during my lifetime just gazing in the water watching my target fish that are either feeding or motionless behind some water crowfoot, apart from the occasional movement of its fins. Sometimes I’ve watched a fish for an hour or more, then seen it move out from its cover to intercept an item of food. I just know that fish is for catching providing I don’t spook it and then I present a bait as natural as possible. You will learn more by observing than just chucking a bait in the water and waiting.

I well remember one occasion on the river Teme, I’d spotted a good barbel, possibly a double, just below a railway bridge at around 8 o’clock in the morning. Back in the car park my mate Tony was cooking breakfast and as we sat enjoying bacon, eggs and tomatoes Tony said: “Have you seen anything?” I said in reply: “Yes, a good barbel, just below the railway bridge. That’s my target fish today.” This fish was tight to some water crowfoot and a few feet upstream some three feet across from the fish was a chunk of timber half buried in the gravel.

Breakfast over I went downstream, the barbel was still in position, I sat watching the fish for about two hours and not once did it move out of position. Suddenly it moved upstream then across the current where it stuck its head in the soft silt gravel at the back of the half-submerged bit of timber. I had no idea what it was feeding on, assuming it was caddis, dragon or mayfly nymphs. I sat and pondered how I could get the fish to take a bait.

I then dropped a couple of pieces of sausage meat just above the bit of timber. Luck was on my side, the meat slowly moved down towards the timber then got stuck on the downstream side of the wood then got trapped. I just sat watching the area but nothing happened. An hour later I went back for a brew and sandwich.

On my return the meat had gone. A few feet down in the middle of the swim the barbel just remained in the area. I threw in two more bits of meat and as they drifted over the wood they got trapped just downstream in the quiet water. Probably half an hour had passed when the barbel moved upstream, as it closed in on the meat it swished its tail, causing the bait to move slightly. As it did so the barbel took the bait then moved across to take the other free offering.

Martin in traditional first day of the season attire

Back at base camp over some late lunch, I related to Tony what I’d seen, I then said: ”I reckon I might just get that fish.” Half an hour later, Tony joined me in my swim and the barbel was still around so I baited the size 6 hook with a marble size piece of paste. I then tied on eight inches of PVA above the bait and at the other end of the PVA I tied on a small twig about the size of half a matchstick around which I moulded a marble size piece of paste.

I now had to get the two items in the area but I’d only get one chance. Casting out, the bait dropped where I wanted, letting it roll downstream and within a minute it was in place. I sat holding the rod high, then we watched the bait and fish. I can still hear Tony’s words: “The fish is moving towards that free offering”; we watched with bated breath. Two or three minutes later it had taken the free offering, then it backed off a couple of feet. Suddenly it moved forward, sucking in the bait with confidence. As it turned downstream, I set the hook into an angry fish and ten minutes later it was in the net. Not a double but a good fish of 9lb 7 ounces. This was just one of many instances where reconnaissance pays off; last season on the Soar fishing with Mark Sarul I had several good chub by creeping and crawling, often on my stomach, to find the fish.

Enjoy your new season.

Writing & Images Martin James MBE, June 2023