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

Fields End (124)

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: Overcast with virtually no wind. Quite chilly and becoming colder.
Tackle:
Hardy 11' 6" Marksman Specimen Avon, Speedia centrepin, preloaded waggler, 6lb line direct to 12 eyed hook.
Drennan 1¾ TC 12ft 'Specialist Barbel', Shimano 5000 RE baitrunner, 2SSG link, 8lb line to #8 eyed hook.
Baits: Sweetcorn, luncheon meat & bread flake.
Fish: Blank

I hadn't been out fishing for a month because of a family bereavement, involving some time spent in Durham, and other days were lost because my wife and I both had a number of hospital appointments. On the few days I could have gone out the weather wasn't particularly inviting, cold strong winds not being particularly conducive to sitting by a lake. So, having finally made it, I was hopeful for a bit of sport, anticipating at least a few rudd and perhaps a hungry carp or two. I was to be disappointed.

Read full report

Species: Blank

River Great Ouse - Offord (51)

Mill Stream
Venue: River Great Ouse |Offord |Mill Stream

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

Arrival time: 10.30.
Weather: A beautiful spring day but with a fresh downstream wind.
Tackle: Korum 12ft 'Multi-feeder', Shimano ST2500FB baitrunner, block leger on link, 6lb line to 8 eyed hook..
Baits: Bread Flake & cheese paste.
Fish: Blank

For what was probably going to be my last trip of the season I decided on the Mill Stream, reports suggesting that the river was around four inches over normal level. On arrival I found the stream to be moving through quite quickly and hoped that exploring a few slacks near the far bank might find me a chub. The stream being a fairly straight channel it doesn't offer too many places of refuge for the fish in high water conditions.

Read full report

Species: Blank

River Great Ouse - Houghton (21)

Trout Stream
Venue: River Great Ouse |Houghton |Trout Stream

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

Arrival time: 10.00
Weather: Bright and windy. Not too cold but with increasing wind chill.
Tackle: 10' home-built fibreglass rod with Mitchell 300 reel, block leger on link, 6lb line to 8 eyed hook.
Baits: Bread flake and cheese paste.
Fish: One chub not weighed.

The Trout Stream had been going up and down with the recurring periods of heavy rain but the river level information suggested that it was at last below the normal winter high level mark and steady. So, I thought I'd take a chance. On arrival, however, the stream was well up and at a level well above that when I had fished it in the past. It was likely that my usual favourite chub spots might not deliver on this occasion.

Read full report

Species: Chub

The Clay Pit (25)

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: 09.00
Weather: A bit milder than of late and overcast most of the day, with a light but chilly wind.
Tackle: Greys 12' Prodigy TX Float rod, Allcocks 4" centrepin, 4BB waggler, single shot, 6lb main line to 14 eyed hook.
Baits: Red maggots
Fish: 3 tench and one came off, with a few roach & rudd and a solitary small perch.

My previous trip to the Clay Pit was when the rivers were very low because of lack of rain. This latest trip was because the rivers were over their banks as a result of almost incessant rain. The weather certainly seems to have gone haywire, or should I say the climate? It was a gamble to try the small stock pond because my only other winter visit there had resulted in a blank. But I thought a few days of slightly milder weather might have encouraged the tench to feed. There were a couple of carp anglers on the main lake but it was otherwise pretty deserted.

Read full report

Species: Tench, Rudd, Roach, Perch

Website & Book (2)

A reminder & a bit of a promotion
Venue: BGF website |BGF Book

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

With the weather doing all it can to stop me fishing, and the rivers once again over their banks, I thought that it might be an idea to remind people of a couple of other aspects of Bob Goes Fishing. I did a similar thing a couple of years back (video #116) but since then my subscriber numbers have increased, and I thought that many of the newer visitors to my channel might be unaware of these additional features, namely an associated website and a book that was published in 2021.

See book details

Earith (17)

Venue: Earith

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

Arrival time: 10.00
Weather: Cold with a troublesome easterly breeze. A short sunny spell midday was welcomed.
Tackle: 14ft Shimano match rod, Rapidex II 2400 centrepin, 6lb line, 3.5lb pre-tied Drennan hook length to 16 fine wire hook.
Baits: Maggot & worms.
Fish: A good bag of mainly small roach, a couple of rudd & a bream, possibly hybrid.

With more rain having again caused rivers to rise and in places break their banks, I decided on another trip to a lake. I went to the small lake in Earith that I would normally fish in spring. I hadn't fished it in winter before but a call to the owner confirmed that silvers at least should be feeding. It turned out that I was the only angler on the lake. Exclusive or what!

Read full report

Species: Roach, Rudd, Bream, Perch

Page 1 / 67 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.