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Crays aaaagghhh

Neil Smart

Neil Smart

Senior Member
Had some weird 'bites' on the tip the other evening, tip would bend round in a slow arc, and despite all my efforts never hit the dozen or so takes. Bait was maggot and every time the maggot had been removed. The venue was the Mill Avon at Tewkesbury, just wondered if anyone can advise if there are Crays in the system:(
 
Don't think there are crays in that area mate... at least there weren't!

I used to have bites like that when Barbel fishing with meat in the summer further up the WAvon - could never hit them. I think that they might well have been eels...
 
They can give some amazing bites. Two years ago, ultra-light lead fishing a low-water river that, at the time, I didn't know held any / many crays, I kept having my tackle "knockingly" (more continuous tweaks and vibrating draws) edged round from a far-bank "deep" into a now-slow gravel-shallow below me. I kept hitting those bites, at different stages of the "take" until I just gave up and retrieved my tackle to re-bait as soon as the next one began, and found I had something "on"...

A ruddy great crayfish!

Crunch.

I had four more that afternoon.

Boil.
 
i fished a bit of colne that i believed had very few, knock, knock all day, until i realized i was fishing next to a lake that was full of them.
damn things.
 
Ramon San Juan said:
Are we allowed to put nets in for mittens and crays?
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You won't get a licence on the Teme, one of the few rivers with native crays still left.
If you catch any signals from the Teme report it to the EA and whatever you do don't put them back, dead or alive.
 
Neil Smart said:
Had some weird 'bites' on the tip the other evening, tip would bend round in a slow arc, and despite all my efforts never hit the dozen or so takes. Bait was maggot and every time the maggot had been removed. The venue was the Mill Avon at Tewkesbury, just wondered if anyone can advise if there are Crays in the system:(
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Sounds suspiciously like crays I'm afraid Neil
 
Chris Fox said:
Don't think there are crays in that area mate... at least there weren't!

I used to have bites like that when Barbel fishing with meat in the summer further up the WAvon - could never hit them. I think that they might well have been eels...
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Hi Chris:).
Don't start on the eels Chris, I had three the other evening in a short session, and again on the tip, and despite my best efforts I made contact every time:D
I too wasn't aware of of Crays this way (yet), but will ask around and get back...Oh did you know there are Barbel in there now? Some small fish but a 9 plus last season, I do hope this is not the next Adams Mill:)
 
David Hall said:
i fished a bit of colne that i believed had very few, knock, knock all day, until i realized i was fishing next to a lake that was full of them.
damn things.
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Hi Dave,

Had my first outing this year on the Colne on Friday.....from NO crays last year to non stop tugs and rattles this....and I mean NON STOP :eek: It was a nightmare. I had no idea they could infest a stretch that quickly :mad:

I think perhaps the Keith Speer method of barbel fishing may soon become the only way :D

Cheers, Dave.
 
dave, they are in the canal bit of colne down at ricky, there are loads in the pits in denham, harefield has had them for years.
 
Dave,

This was down below the footbridge from the playground at Ricky...well below the canalized bit :(

I had a 17lb carp in the morning, then had nowt else but crays. Within ten minutes a 1" cube of meat was a pea size, then you knew it had gone when all movement stopped. You had to leave it a while when that happened, just in case it was barbel turning up that quietened things down...but it never was :mad:

Odd thing was, it was nowhere near as bad with boilies...which perhaps explains why I didn't catch anything else on my boilies :D

Cheers, Dave.
 
David Hall said:
are they in the lake dave.
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Assume they must be mate. They are in the canal, and now the river, and that is connected to the lake. Mind you, didn't have any probs when I fished the lake in the closed season, but that was only once...must be some in there though.

Cheers, Dave.
 
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