Martin Bowler on why the olden ways are still golden ways

02 June 2008 12:32

He might boast a big-fish CV that’s second to none, but Martin Bowler is always willing to learn. Here he joins actor Bernard Cribbins and film-maker Hugh Miles for a few lessons in catching tench and crucian carp…

Perhaps it’s an indictment of how poor our sport is at recruiting youngsters that I don’t fish with anyone my own age or younger. In fact, I don’t fish with many 40 or even 50-year-olds…no, more often than not I find myself in the company of pensioners (although none of them will thank me for saying that)! Yes, I know carp angling brings in its fair share of new recruits, but I’m afraid that the rest of our fish are left for the grey generation to enjoy. Why wouldn’t someone want to learn everything angling has to offer, following the seasons and adapting quarry and techniques to suit? Well, it’s beyond me, so it looks like I’ll have to remain ‘the boy’ for a few more years to come in my circle of friends. God only knows who I’m going to fish with when I’ve got a Bobby Charlton comb-over and a bus pass! At least I’ll have the fish to myself. There is a bonus to being with these more senior anglers, a quality to which there is no short cut – experience. It’s something I’ve had the benefit of soaking up like a sponge. To be a competent all-rounder takes time. Even if you are a good angler you need to have fished through an array of scenarios to earn your stripes. As the saying goes, ‘the more you practise, the better you become’.

Fortunately for me, this senior group of anglers are keen to pass on traditions and tactics that could quite easily be lost in this carp-obsessed world. How many people trot elderberries for autumn roach, or pitch a mussel under a quill for a plump summer tench? Not many, I can tell you.

I’ll make no bones about it while my words are still welcome on these pages – I will endeavour to continue to stoke the fire of nostalgia. Perhaps one day I, too, can pass on tips and tactics of yesteryear. I guarantee that today, as ever, they will help you catch fish.

For now, though, this ‘whipper snapper’ continues to serve his apprenticeship – which brings me to my recent sortie with a pair of golden oldies.

Bernard Cribbins and Hugh Miles need no introduction from me, and it was with these two that I headed into deepest Wiltshire to find out what a couple of old, silty farm ponds had to offer.

The sluice between the two ponds gurgled water back into the river while the original dam sat quiet in its moss overcoat, contemplating a time when eels crawled up its fish ladder – a crop for the master of the estate. Time had passed over the lakes, untouched by platform wielding patrons, and instead nature had been allowed to work her magic, giving each one a coating of lily pads.

While Bernard expressed an interest in the top pond’s golden tench, Hugh had another treasure in mind – crucians. So it was decided that they would fish separate ponds while I divided my time equally between both.

Sat side by side, Bernard and I rigged up similar outfits. One pound test curve rods were combined with 6lb line and a crystal waggler, set up lift method-style. Hordes of hungry roach precluded the use of maggots and the like. If we were to catch a tench, sweetcorn and worms would have to suffice. Our cocktail baits were placed as close to the pads as we dared, while a line of kernels was introduced to draw the quarry towards us.

Tench on such silty venues always give themselves away with a stream of frothy bubbles popping to the surface. My float swayed to and fro amid the cauldron until the inevitable happened. As the float tip buried I struck, and the rod bucked ferociously.

My eagerness to make contact had cost me dear. A float too close to the roots could mean only one thing, sanctuary for the tench. While I pulled this way and that, a smile spread across Bernard’s face – he didn’t need to say anything but I’m sure his thoughts were far away from something about the exuberance of youth!

While I began to re-rig, his float too swayed, as if dancing for a bite. Bernard’s time came, of course, but when it did he wasn’t foolish enough to lose it in the pads. An old head is a calm one, and with me in ghillie mode with the net he steered the orange flank towards it. His prize? A golden tench.

This fish was soon followed by another while I was still tying on a hook, reinforcing the folly of my ways.

For the next couple of hours we sat tenchless and the swim remained calm, with not so much as a single bubble breaking the surface. Instead, the pads offered shade to our quarry against the sun. It was time to leave Bernard and head down to Hugh. Hopefully, crucian fishing would be kinder on me.

I found Hugh standing like a heron in the cow parsley as he waited to strike. A 15ft float rod had been set up with a finely-shotted pole float to combat the kind of shy bites that crucians are infamous for giving.

Like tench, they show a penchant for bubbling, but with a frothier, finer result. By the look of Hugh’s swim he had worked them up into frenzy.

As always, I was keen to get my share and pitched myself in the swim next door. Busily I introduced a scattering of the modern era’s finest micro pellet, ignoring Hugh’s offer of freshly-turned casters. No sooner had my own pole float settled than Hugh was away. A plump pound of butter headed for his net, and the first crucian of the day had fallen.

Pleasingly, bubbles began to pop over my pellets. Something down below was browsing over the bait, attracted by the oily nuggets I had supplied. I swung in my bait and removed the soft pellet, replacing it with a piece of a Meaty Fish Bite. These canned balls of meat that are stored in oil are excellent for playing on any species’ love of pellets. Fished together, they can rarely be ignored.

Sure enough, my float had little time to cock before it vanished and a small crucian popped to the surface. The floodgates were about to open!

Unfortunately, fishing and plans are rarely friends and my hopes vanished like a puff of smoke. Hugh, meanwhile, was faring far better – having taken the time to build up a swim, his investment was beginning to pay dividends.

For the umpteenth time he struck, but this time the carbon bent a little more. Circling as only crucians can, a game of cat and mouse was played out before a bar of gold was raised from the bottom. A farm pond surely had no right to house such a creature, but here it was in all its splendour.

The dial on the scales spun round to 3lb 12oz, once again proving that experience counts for everything.

It will come as no surprise that I was the butt of a few jokes and, in all honesty, I deserved the ribbing I got.

Still, with Hugh’s wife Sue supplying us with a dinner of beef stew and home-made cake, at least I had something to look forward to! Perhaps I need a little more practice.

What a shame – it means I’ll have to go fishing again!

Hugh’s Top 10 crucian tips

1 Pretend to be roach fishing and then be even more delicate.
2 Use the lightest possible line, such as 2lb mainline to a 1lb 8oz hooklength.
3 Swapping from a size 18 down to a size 20 can make all the difference.
4 Dot your float down so only the tiniest of tips is showing.
5 Feed gently so you don’t attract tench or ‘proper’ carp.

6 As when fishing for roach, feed little-and-often.
7 Use small baits, preferably casters. If you do use maggots, introduce some dead ones to prevent them burying in the silt, followed by the crucians.
8 Fish close in – crucians like plenty of cover and warm, shallow water.
9 Strike sideways and low to improve your hook-up rate.
10 Fruit flavours over maggots and caster are deadly at around 1ml per pint