Back on the rivers

Frustratingly, I've had very limited fishing time since the rivers open due to work. I've really only had one session, a short evening session last week. Barbel was the target, and the river was fining down nicely after some floods. I was using a new Wychwood Rogue Barbel rod, coupled with 12lb Daiwa sensor line. Deciding that it was too early in the season for pellet or boilies (they haven't had any for a while), I chose meat and worms for bait.

It was a smashing evening, but unfortunately I only managed the one knock. As the evening wore on, bats started hitting my line and keeping me interested, and I had a nice surprise from a rat that was intrigued with my luncheon meat. No fish was the end result; i'm told these barbel are difficult to catch, but rewarding when you get one!

Small Spring tinca tinca

I went back to my favourite tench pond on thursday, as spring is here - though it felt like the middle of winter with the wind chill. I was float fishing near an artificial island, i think this acts as a fish refuge against any cormorants (not that i've seen any on this pond), however it seems to attract tench and my best tinca to date came from the very spot. Anyway, I float fished maggot tight to the island using 2lb 8oz drennan double strength and a size 18 super spade, shotted right down to a pin prick on the surface. Rod was a drennan float master in 13ft (great tool) and drennan series 7 float reel finished the tackle. The action was slow going, I only managed a small roach (which showed evidence of black spot?) and a gudgeon. However, the tell tale lift of the float showed a potential tench and i struck into solid resistance, but it was short lived. A small tench of under 2lb graced the net, the first tench of the year - it's always good to catch a spring tench, and hopefully the first of many.

Fly fishing Upper River

I spent a glorious morning on the upper river today, . I'm still a complete novice at fly fishing, but really enjoying learning the art of casting, tying flies, techniques etc. The closest a got to any fish today was seeing some shadows as they bolted off. The water is painfully clear, and i'm told they are notoriously difficult to catch around here when the river is so low. However, a nice 5mile walk, amongst lovely surroundings...

Until next time

I'm going to miss the rivers. Their untame, natural beauty cannot be beaten by any lake and the ever changing character can offer a different challenge everytime. Today I tried a stretch of the River not tried by me before, in the upper reaches. Plenty of shallow stuff, with intermittent pools, some to depths of 10ft. A very interesting place.

It took a while for the fish to bite, but bite they did and after a few minnows had gulped down any baits I could offer, I caught this trout of 1lb 7oz

Ledgered worm resulted in this chub of 4lb 2oz, followed by an 8oz grayling and a decent chub for the old fella.

Goodbye rivers, until next time

A pb chub

I fished the River today with the intention of trying for chub and pike. Conditions were mild, and the river was fining down after a recent spate. Ideal really. I set up my drennan avon quiver with it's 3oz tip (owing to the flow) and using 8lb line straight through to a size 10 drennan wide gape, fished with cheesepaste. The fish were there, and indications were forthcoming, but they clearly knew all about cheesepaste and i didnt receive very confident takes. A switch to luncheon meat brought an immediate response, and the tip wrapped round connecting with a chub, which put up a dogged and determined fight. Eventually landed, i felt it was easy a pb, and probably a 5lber. At 4lb 13oz, though slightly dissapointed at not getting a 5, I was still please to be my pb by 5oz.

I also managed a fish of 4lb 3 oz to cheesepaste / bread crust balanced rig, and went home with a smile on my face. There's only a couple of weeks to go until the close season, and i'm going to miss the rivers.

Chub on steak

Despite there still being snow underfoot, the conditions felt milder today. However, the river was still low, cold and clear and I knew it wouldn't be easy. I decided to fish steak on the hook, with mince in the feeder, using a drennan avon rod with 2oz tip, complete with the new drennan FD 4000 reel (cracking piece of kit!) and 5lb line straight through, with the feeder stopped by a couple of grippa stops. This was cast into the flow and allowed to be pushed back in to the nearside bank, underneath some overhanging willows.

FIrst cast and I was soon into a fish of 3lb ish, which gave a good account of itself.

Next cast produced a couple of plucks, followed by a good wrap round and i connected with something substantially heavier than the first. Unfortunately, despite my attempts to keep it out the willow, I couldnt and that was that! Despite getting a couple more pulls, i didnt connect with any more and went home with just the one fish.

Winter is here!

I knew, after last nights snow, that I just had to get out fishing this morning. I also knew i was unlikely to catch, but I just needed to be there! Bizzarre yes, but we anglers are a bit odd at times.

I got to a very cold, low and clear river, and tried a balanced crust / cheesepaste approach, with a light ledger link, with just the one slight pull offered. I tried pike fishing with some lamprey (hoping the blood would leak in the clear water). This provided me with no success either. Suddenly a flotilla of 25-30 cormorants surfaced - they covered the wolewidth of the river and were just making there way downstream, presumably gobbling all the small, cold, docile fish in their wake. One glance at me and they all flew off - they must have been there as the lakes were frozen. This is a problem with rivers up and down the country.

Back to the fishing, and simplistically I blanked, but I left with plenty of cold, snowy memories...

3 Chub for 12lb

I've just got back from a great morning's fishing. I got to the river at 7am, and the weather was wild with heavy gusts and the odd shower. Walking to my favourite peg, I fed with liquidised bread whilst setting up. Casting out a feeder of liquidised bread, and some smelly cheese paste on the hook, it didn't take long to start getting some indications (i find if the chub are there, they will soon be on your bait). The first proper pull was missed, but second time round I hooked into a nice chub of 3lb 3oz

I could have stayed in the swim and hope for another, but decided to move on. My second choice of swim involved casting out into the middle of the river, and allowing it to swing the bait in to the near bank under some overhanging trees. I the balled the bad in by hand. Again, it wasn't long until I hooked into something, and this time it felt bigger. I had to put a serious curve on the rod to keep the fish out the near bank, but eventually it grudgingly came over the net, and at 4lb 8oz was a new pb for me.

My last swim was a real birdcage, but by squeezing through some branches, I was able to cast out and let the bait swing in again underneath some overhanging trees. Same tactics as before, and this gave me my final chub of the day at 4lb 3oz - the end to a brilliant session.

A Cold winters day on the river

Today was one of those tough days where I knew it would be difficult to catch, but I also knew it would be an achievement just to be out there on a cold crisp morning. I was trying a new stretch of water, one I intend to fish a fair amount this year. With the river cold and clear, I decided (after reading a recent magazine article on the river) to use steak on the hook, with mince in a feeder. It certainly provoked some interest from what was presumably chub but, try as I might, I failed to convert the many knocks and small pulls into a fish. Not suprising really, given the temps. Here are a few photo highlights from a cracking morning...

chub

After last weeks success, and with the mild temperatures and the river dropping off following midweek floods, I decided to go for some River chub again. Tactics were similar to before, with smelly cheese paste (blue stilton of course) and liquidised bread in the feeder, to a size 6 barbless super specialist hook and 8lb Drennan double strength. The cage feeder was stopped with two float stops up the line, so that the line wasnt weakened by any knots (you really have to hit and hold with these chub!). My first peg provided an instant response and i hit into what was obviously a big chub. No matter how hard i pulled, i just couldn't get him out of his snaggy lair, with the inevitable result of the hook springing back. Despite some further touches, i had no more action and decided to move to a new swim..

Using the same tactics, i had to cast out into the middle chanel and allow the bait to be pushed under the tree, which meant hand feedeing liquidised bread. A couple of nudges on the rod indicated some interest, and it wasn't long before the tip pulled right round. I hit into this one and, similar to before, it tried it's best to get to some nice tree roots. Fortunately i managed to hold this one off and despite a little argument with a tree to my left, it eventually came in. The result, a fin perfect 3lb 1oz chub.

First cast of 2012....

Feeling a little despondent with the local, my first cast of 2012 saw me changing venues, with a trip to another river. This is a smashing river, and one i wish i fished more. I've decided to set myself a chub target of 5lb for this year, and decided that cheese paste (the smelliest, garlic flavoured blue cheese paste you can imagine) balanced with crust and feeder fished with liquidised bread would be the tactic. 8lb drennan double strength and a size 8 drennan super specialist hook finished the rig off. First cast in to a likely looking raft of weed underneath a fallen tree showed the odd indication, and i struck at a quick jag of a bite but missed. I decided to let the bite develop, and within 5 mins the rod pulled round confidently, which was met with a strike and solid resistance. I stopped the initial surge for the tree, before playing the fish in open water. This resulted in a satisfing start to 2012, with a 4lb chub the result.

A mention about another recent fishing trip of mine. Between Xmas 2011 and the end of 2011, I had 3 fishing trips that all ended in blanks. The first was a boxing day trip to a small local river. Try as I might, nothing was interested in my float trotted maggots, and the pike did not find my well presented smelt deadbait of interest. Conversely, my brother Jono decided on an interesting little swim with a sunken tree and, using swimfeeder tactics managed to tempt 5 chublets to half a pound topped off by this smashing 2lb brown trout. If it wasn't out of season, i'm sure it would have made a lovely lunch.

Trip no. 2 saw me roving the banks of the middle river  and dropping a smelt into every likely looking spot. Despite being confident, once again i could't buy a bite. Finally, a move to the lower stretches saw me casting a deadbait to the base of the shelf in 25ft of water, a spot which the Pike usually like to roam. However, once more i failed. Prior to these blanks, a night trip to the coast in temps of -3C had me trying for that elusive shore cod. It was a stunning night at, with little wind, clear starry sky and freezing temps. Despite a promosing looking sea, my ragworm / lugworm / razorclam cocktail tempted the one fish only, a whiting, and I left for the comfort of my warm car at 1am. 

A bag of prime winter roach

A quick check to see how the river was faring on the EA website revealed a bit of an issue - it was 7m up and rising, near record height. I briefly considered hunting down some backwater, but thought better of it! Ah well, a trip to a local stillwater was in order, with quality roach the target. Despite all the rain, the day dawned very cold, and this meant match tactics. I scaled right down to a 1lb 8oz bottom, size 22 spade hook and used caster as bait. The float was shotted down to a pin prick, and loose feed kept to a minimum. Some of the loose feed was being eaten by a friend....

By shotting the float down, it was possible to hit the tiny indications i was getting, and most resulted in roach that averaged 6oz or so, with the best probably hitting 12oz. It was enjoyable fishing, but i couldn't cope for more than a few hours with the biting wind. On a seperate note, i was trialling out my new drennan floatmaster, 13ft to 15ft combo - what a cracking piece of kit. Easily deals with fine line, and the 'jag-jag' of a roach run is no longer a problem. I also hit into something bigger on it, probably a carp, which was ultimately lost, but the rod does have some back-bone as well. Anyway, my bag of roach...

A little trick when you have a pint of maggots - riddle them twice a day to seperate the casters. Put these casters in a small amount of water to stop them taking on air (alternatively, seal them in a bag tightly). The day before fishing, dry them off and bag them up. You will find all are sinkers, and perfect for loosefeed.

On the next day i decided to try the river out, which was starting to fine down, but stil a couple of foot up with plenty of colour. Chub and Barbel were the intended species, but despite flogging away in various choice swims, i failed to catch any. The temperatures dropped to -4C the night before, which probably didn't help.

The lady of the Stream

For a change, i decided to leave my pike rods at home today, and head for some fast clear water. Upon getting there, i noticed the river was up a bit and pushing through hard. I attempted to float fish for a short while, but found it difficult. Out came the quiver, a swimfeeder and a pint of maggots. Initially i dropped it in near some weed nearside to see if any chub were interested, unfortunately i got minnowed out...

In the meantime i'd been dropping a constant stream of maggots going in along a crease that had formed in the water, where fast met slow water to see if anything was feeding (see pic)..

Conditions were cold, and my setup was a size 20 on a 1ob 10oz hooklength, to try and breed some confidence into the bites. However my patient feeding provided it's reward, as dropping the swimfeeder into the crease resulted in two instant grayling, a fish which are to my mind the most beautiful around (note the teardrop eye).

It was a nice, cold morning fishing, and in such conditions few fish feed as well as the grayling - the lady of the stream.

A couple more Pike Trips

I've been piking again, on Sunday just gone on the Lower river, and then today on the middle stretches. The first trip resulted in a blank, but there was a lot of water pushing through, with weed (and the barrage was probably open as well), coupled with the wind making it difficult fishing. Still, you learn with all fishing trips and it was good just to be out...

The second trip, to the middle stretches, was a different story. I tried two lines of attack, the first was a float-fished bluey deadbait under a nearside bush, the second was float-fishing maggot for dace. After building up the swim for an hour or so with maggot, i eventually got a couple of small dace, using my new rod - a Drennan Floatmaster, which i would add is an incredible bit of kit. I then hit into something a bit better, near a raft of weed, which was clearly a chub as it knew exactly where to snag me up! Never mind.

Out of the corner of my eye, i noticed my deadbait float started bobbing, and then moving. I hit into it quickly, and felt an initialy resistence followed by nothing. A quick lob back out resulted in a bit instantly, and this time i left it longer. I hit into it once more, and this time it hooked up. But, it then sprung out, and try as i might, the pike never came back.

Back to the float, and a couple more dace later got me thinking. I rigged up a livebait rig (i've never tried this, and felt a twinge of guilt, but it's another option with my piking which i have been consdering trying lately). A dace was swung out to the same position, and within minute the bobbing of the float took a more determined course. I hit into it, and landed this pike, presumably the same that had dropped my deadbaits.

No more fish followe this, but all in all a very interesting day, and i've finally tried and succeeded with livebaiting. Another string to my fishing bow...

It's been a while - River Pike

It's been a while since i updated my blog, mainly because i haven't been that successful! I dedcided on a trip to the river today, with thick fog and after a cold night. Tactics involved fishing towards the middle of the river, in approximately 25 - 30ft of water, and regurlarly twitching the deadbait (smelt) back up the marginal shelf towards me. A simple running ledger completed the rig.

After 15mins or so of fishing, i decided to reel the deadbait towards me with 3 or 4 turns of the reel, and within 5 mins the drop arm indicator sprung free and line was pouring out the reel. I lifted the rod, tightened up and felt a gradual knocking which indicates a pike is on. I hit into the fish, and felt the weight of a nice pike, lip-hooked. It turned out to be just under 8lb...a nice start to the day (especially after a recent run of 5 blanks).

Nothing much more happened, but i was happy with that.

Other recent trips have seen me beach fishing with limited success, mainly a small dab, whiting and a flounder. All good fun though...here's some pics

Rob the Fish' Birds nest (Sorry Rob!!)