Terry’s Travels

Flood on means Gudgeon!

It is that time of year, when the constant flood waters push the smaller fish, and their predators into the back waters, bays and canals for respite from the deluge. Despite the minuscule size of Gudgeon, there is something about them that attracts me to pursue them, and now, with winter rains upon us, it is the season.

Standard little Irish Gudgeon

Yes, one of the main reasons for my interest, is that the Irish Specimen Fish Committee have now recognised Gudgeon as a targetable species, so it has been added to my hit list. But there is something else, something deeper. The happy childhood memories, "winkling" them out of the Minnow-burn Stream, a tributary of the River Lagan whilst on day trip adventures with my parents.

A friend for the day, happy to devour any freebies I throw his way

And there's pleasant thoughts of pleasure fishing days many years ago with friends on the river Blackwater and Lower Bann. The Gudgeon usually  small, but still engulfed baits destined for Bream and Hybrids, and bent the quiver tip round, fooling you into thinking you had something much more substantial showing an interest.

Something new to play with this year

In my teenage years, during a Bream session on the River Blackwater at Bonds Bridge, I had two huge Gudgeon, by Gudgeon standards, both over 2.5 ounces. They had to be Irish Record fish, so I brought them home in a lunch box for verification, only to find there was no category for them. Disappointed, I had to return them, not knowing that one day in the future, Irish Gudgeon karma would come full circle.

This year, Pure Fishing Tackle Company sent me a new quiver-tip kit to try, to see what I thought, and hopefully write a blog. The new Shakespeare Superteam SFX plus feeder rod. They teamed it with the Shakespeare Superteam FRX 4500 front drag reel, loaded with the latest Berkley "Sick" Braid. This is a "beefy" piece of kit, ideally suited to belt big feeders over the horizon, perfect for Bream fishing, Hybrids, or big Roach and Tench. A seriously well put together rod, and the reel is super smooth. The braid is something else, smooth, strong, fine diameter, a pleasure to use.

Having said all that, I took it Gudgeon fishing! Yes, I want to try the gear out against large Bream or Specimen Tench, but I'd missed the season for those species. I have a hot-spot earmarked for that particular adventure in the Spring.

Great bite indication for such a powerful rod

But back to now. At the canal, and settled in, a dozen small balls of feed accurately catapulted into the swim. I know this venue reasonably well by now, and Winter fishing can be fragile, it can be easy to over-feed and ruin the day before you start. Keep things tight, accurate and meagre until you see how it progresses. It's easy to put feed in on the day, impossible to take it back out!

Happily, small Perch and Roach were abundant, and moved on to the feed fast. The new kit is fabulous. Overkill of course, for what I was doing, wanting to punch heavy feeders further, crying out for "lumps" to pick up a bait and test the kit to its limits, but I had to be satisfied with what was in front of me.

Having started off with one and a half pound B/S hook length and size 16 hook, the powerful rod and braid combination didn't cause any concern for hook-pulls or loss of fish. Quiet spells between Roach and Perch gave my target species a chance to nip into the swim and I began to "pick" off a few reasonably sized Gudgeon. Again, the powerful feeder rod gave good tip indication, easily registering this small species.

Keeping the interest going in the swim, with a small ball of particle-laden feed every so often, and a small sprinkle of maggots, hemp and caster catapulted over the area, they kept coming, racking up a respectable bag of fish. A couple of Gudgeon during the session easily beat the 14cm specimen length, and well worth weighing at the end of the day. These were stored seperately and safe in a cooler box of fresh water.

A few decent Bream to properly test the kit

A few larger bonus Perch made an appearance, and eventually a couple of Bream moved into the swim. This was extremely welcome, and a surprise to me for mid-winter coarse fishing. At last, the feeder kit could demonstrate what it was designed for, easily handling these larger fish, bringing them safely to the landing net, despite the fine hook length.

Worth weighing this fat little fellow

By the end of the day with light fading and temperature rapidly falling, fish were still feeding, but I wanted to get some quick photographs and weigh a couple of the larger Gudgeon. The Bream showing up were a lovely surprise, photographed and safely returned, along with the rest of the mixed bag. Last but not least, the two larger Gudgeon on the measure mat, easily qualifying as Irish Specimens, and the big fat one on the scales, breaking the current Irish Record. Karma.

It isn't often that a tackle test produces a potential new Record. Fair enough, it is a mini species, but as a dedicated Specimen hunter, I will take that with gratitude any day of the week! Keep fishing, stay safe, Tight Lines, Tel.