The caster
The life cycle of the blue bottle fly starts from the egg which hatches into the maggot which then changes into the chrysalis before finally hatching as the fly.The caster is the chrysalis stage of this development and varies from a light, creamy colour initially to almost black just before it hatches. As well as changing colour, crucially from a fishing point of view, its buoyancy also changes. As it gets darker it starts to float making it useless for bait so we have to intercept the development and chill the caster at the right stage before it starts to float. Although the process is a relatively straightforward one it is a time consuming business involving riddling the turning maggots several times a day to catch the casters just when they turn and they are still at the sinking stage. It is a job you can do for yourself, and many serious caster anglers swear by turning their own, all good tackle shops do the hard work for us and produce gallons of top quality casters every week which we can buy by the pint ready to use.
More bait to catch the fish
April 29, 2009
Filed under Bottom Fishing
Tags: angling, bait, Fishing, fishing bait, Fishing. big catch, Grounbait, live bait, Maggots and the angler
Groundbait with Bloodworm
Bloodworms are larvae of the midge family Chironomidae (Order Diptera, Class Insecta). Midges are mosquito-like insects. There may be more than 2000 species but only a small number have been formerly identified. Not all chironomid larvae are red in colour. While the most common ones are red, they can also be green, brown, or black. Also some are transparent and are commonly known as Glassworms. However, only those that contain haemoglobin are red and hence the name Bloodworm.
Chironomidae larvae and pupae are highly nutritious and nourishing and constitute one of the staple food items of many fishes in their natural environment. They are a commonly used live or frozen food source for aquarium fish culture. Almost all fishes will greedily devour them when they are offered. Research has found that most fishes when provided with bloodworms as a supplementary food item have better growth and spawning rates. Their nutritional value is considered very good. Chemical analysis shows that bloodworms contain 9.3% dry matter and of this there is 62.5% crude protein, 10.4% crude fat and 11.6% ash with 15.4% nitrogen free extract. They are also a good source of iron for the fish since they contain haemoglobin.
Chironomidae go through a complete metamorphosis in their life cycle, egg, larva, pupa, and winged adult midge. Each stage has different characteristics. After mating in flight the female releases the eggs while skimming the water surface. Egg numbers can range from 50 to 700. The eggs sink to the bottom where, under tropical conditions, they hatch in 24-48 hours into the next stage – the larva or aquatic stage. The newly hatched larvae are not more than 1 mm long but they can measure up to 10-25 mm when they reach the last stage of the larva period. The larva stage can last from less than 2 weeks up to 7 weeks depending on temperature.
Each larva moults four times before it reaches the pupal stage. This stage of the chironomid forms a large part of a fish’s natural diet as they leave the larval tube and actively swim to the surface of the water. Those that reach the surface emerge into flying adults after a few hours and immediately fly off to mate, living only a few hours or days. The adults do not feed during their adult existence and mating normally occurs during the night. The entire life cycle can be completed in 2 weeks, although it is common for the life cycle to take longer to complete.
Midge larvae can be found in all waters with muddy bottom. They occur in great numbers in ponds, swamps, and streams. Natural breeding sites for chironomid midges are diminishing due to urbanisation, land clearing and other changes to much of the natural environment. However, they are abundant in waste water channels, sewage treatment and settlement ponds, and other man-made water systems. It is these breeding areas that cause a variety of nuisance problems and public health agencies regularly spray these areas with insecticides to control their population and distribution.
If you wish to collect bloodworms the best time to catch them in large numbers is during the night when the larvae leave their self-made tubes and when the dissolved oxygen at the bottom of water is low. They can be caught easily using small mesh netting. Bloodworms can also be obtained by sieving the mud on the spot. The larvae and the coarse particles of detritus will remain in the sieve and then shaken into a bucket filled with water. After a while the larvae will swim to the surface where they can be fished out with a net.
Disable anglers pay more for licence
disabled rod licence rise The Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, was challenged over the huge rise in rod licences for disabled anglers during Prime Ministers Questions in the House of Commons yesterday. The visibly uncomfortable Prime Minister pledged to look into the 37% increase saying: I will look at the facts and see what has happened to bring that about. Leominster MP, Bill Wiggin, raised the issue as part of the Countryside Alliances campaign against the 37% rise in the cost of concessionary rod licences for pensioners and disabled anglers imposed by the Environment Agency and Defra Minister Jonathan Shaw. Mr. Wiggin has promised to follow up his question and get a full response from the Prime Minister. Simon Hart, Chief Executive of the Countryside Alliance, said: It is too late to redress the damage this year, but we are calling of the Government to commit to a five year freeze on concessionary rod licence fees to bring them back down to a sensible level. The Prime Minister was rightly embarrassed when confronted with the huge rise in the cost of rod licences for disabled anglers. Between 2003 and 2007 anglers contributed an extra 4.4 million through rod licence fees yet the Environment Agency was forced to raise fees further in 2008 in the face of Government funding cuts. Whilst budget cuts are beyond the Environment Agencys control, the decision to raise concessionary licence fees by so much was insensitive and misguided. The Agency should not have proposed the 37% rise for pensioner and disabled anglers and the Minister, Jonathan Shaw, should certainly not have agreed it.
Anglian Water fined £150,000 for falsifying information.
January 15, 2009
Filed under 1
Tags: Bream, Fishing, Fishing. big catch, water.catch.maggots.keepnet
Anglian Water fined £150,000 for falsifying information.
The Anglers’ Conservation Association (ACA) congratulates the Environment Agency for investigating and successfully prosecuting Anglian Water for a series of pollution offences in Newmarket. However, the case demonstrates clearly why ‘Operator Self Monitoring’ (OSM) – a proposed new scheme whereby water companies would monitor their own environmental performance – is fundamentally flawed. The company was fined £150,000 for four pollution events from its sewage treatment works in Newmarket to the No 1 Public Drain, on one occasion bringing about the death of 1,200 fish. This level of fine is unusually high and reflects the fact that a manager at the company either by himself, or through other employees of the company, removed, destroyed and falsified information in the site log book which recorded levels of ammonia in the discharge. This internal cover-up was only discovered after an employee blew the whistle on the manager. The ACA believes that this calls into question whether or not water companies can be trusted to produce reliable information under the proposals for OSM. The new scheme would see the water companies monitoring their own discharges, with their records being audited through spot checks by the Environment Agency. The proposals for OSM were opposed by angling and conservation organisations – and even the water companies themselves – when they were put out for consultation in 2007, but the EA has indicated that it intends to press ahead with them anyway. The move is part of the Government’s ‘Better Regulation’ initiative. Mark Lloyd, Executive Director of the ACA said: “In our consultation responses and in meetings with the EA the ACA has vigorously opposed these proposals specifically because site managers might cover up failures in the performance of their works. This is exactly what has happened here and we hope that it will make the Agency and the Government think again about putting privatised water companies in charge of monitoring how much pollution they cause. These companies need to be rigorously regulated and externally monitored to ensure that when they pollute, they pay.”
Big Showcase Site
October 24, 2008
Filed under 1
Tags: Add new tag, big band, Karaoke.music, songs.dj mixes.trance.house, top sounds
DJ Mixing from DJ MIKE SUEDE
Come down and listen to great sounds on a
showcase site want to hear your music there well
scoot on over to
Sir Ian Paul
Great new music every day
New artistic web site
October 8, 2008
Filed under 1
Tags: art, card making, new, paintings, photography, POETRY, web
New artistic web site ubPROUD
Take a trip and view whats on show you will not be disappointed
Joke
KIDS
It was a cold winter day, when an old man walked out onto a frozen lake, cut a hole in the ice, dropped in his fishing line and began waiting for a fish to bite.
He was there for almost an hour without even a nibble when a young boy walked out onto the ice, cut a hole in the ice not too far from the old man and dropped in his fishing line. It only took about a minute and WHAM! a Largemouth Bass hit his hook and the boy pulled in the fish.
The old man couldn’t believe it but figured it was just luck. But, the boy dropped in his line and again within just a few minutes pulled in another one.
This went on and on until finally the old man couldn’t take it any more since he hadn’t caught a thing all this time.
He went to the boy and said, “Son, I’ve been here for over an hour without even a nibble. You have been here only a few minutes and have caught about half a dozen fish! How do you do it?”
The boy responded, “Roo raf roo reep ra rums rrarm.”
“What was that?” the old man asked.
Again the boy responded, “Roo raf roo reep ra rums rarrm.”
“Look,” said the old man, “I can’t understand a word you are saying.”
So, the boy spit into his hand and said,
“You have to keep the worms warm!”
stealing from the river
September 22, 2008
Filed under fish put back into River Don
Tags: Add new tag, BBQ, boats, Fish, nets, thieves, workers
Ruling in Fish Theft Case |
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