After the Lord Mayor's Show
Posted by Rusty, Jan 28 2012, 10:56 PM
River Thames, Saturday 28th January 2012
“One bite is all it takes”; “I missed a couple of bites”
How often have you read those words in any angler’s account of his fishing day? I’ve written the latter a few times and glibly dismissed them as lost opportunities but driving home after today’s blank I thought about it a bit more. On Thursday I had just one bite and as a result I could take photos of a monstrous chub, everything was good in the world. Tonight I had two bites and didn’t connect with either, no big deal because it was great to meet up with Steve & Alex on the boat and I didn’t lose a fish but what if one of those bites was an even bigger chub than Thursday’s? If I’d hooked and lost it I would have been gutted but because I didn’t hook it I’m none the wiser, should I be just as annoyed at not connecting?
Probably yes but I don’t think I’ll ever be able to approach my angling in that way. I can, however, understand why specimen anglers take missed bites as seriously as lost fish. You might only get one.
That’s it for the philosophy but it was quite a good way of padding out an otherwise sparse blog entry. Tonight we adopted a pre-baiting pattern that ‘Bomber’ Harris would’ve been proud of but despite that we failed to connect with anything that might have been interested in the hookbait, my two bites came just after dusk and we thought we were in for a bumper session but it wasn’t to be. After a further hour of uneventful fishing in the proper dark I coaxed my fingers into life, bade my farewells and scurried off to the curry house for dinner. I think Steve was secretly pleased, it meant he could retreat to the boat, a boat which by this time had taken on a distinct amber hue. Alex had stoked up the wood burner to the extent that wisps of steam were wafting off the hull where it met the water.
Contrary to what you might think I was in high spirits on the way home. The smell from the Rogon Josh had overpowered the blue Christmas tree dangling from the rear view mirror and I’d managed to turn off the radio before the news announced the results of a couple of grudge FA cup ties. I haven’t watched footie for a while and was looking forward to tonight’s MOTD highlights.
Which is why I’m writing this, MOTD isn’t on the telly. What’s happened, aren’t the beeb showing it anymore?
Lost for words
Posted by Rusty, Jan 26 2012, 10:45 PM
River Thames, Thursday 26th January 2012
A short late afternoon session only possible because the training I’d undertaken earlier in the day had finished sooner than anticipated. The course content was learning how to drive a 4x4 vehicle off road and the venue was Salisbury Plain so you can imagine that it had already been a really enjoyable day.
The plan was to ledger breadflake into dark for chub but I could get to the river with an hour of light left and so I decided to take the trotting gear & lobs/maggots in the hope that Mr Perch would show at dusk. Despite my best efforts he didn’t show so I packed up the float gear and set up the quivertip rod just as the sellotaped starlight was becoming very easy to see. Steve had set up downstream in a place where constant finicky bites and the occasional big pull had got him wondering just what was interested in his bait. To date he hasn’t connected but having witnessed a couple of the lightening fast takes I doubt I would even have got my hands to the rod. I was further up in a place which has been painstakingly pre-baited over the last few decades so I didn’t bother with any feed, I just hooked a big piece of flake and gently lobbed it out into a large pocket of slack water. After ten minutes the ‘tip knocked a few times, after ten minutes and 15 seconds it bent sufficiently for me to strike….and I’m glad I did.
I was downstream of the fish but once it got out of the slack water it still powered away from me against the flow. An impressive if relatively shortlived struggle, it wasn’t long before the combination of my rod and the Thames had it beaten and I just had to guide it towards a net wielding Steve (I’d shouted down something like “I say old chap, I think I may have hooked a rather nice chub”). Once in the net the estimating commenced. Steve had first look and described it as “a lump”, a generic term meaning get the scales. I had second look and with all the folds of the net I didn’t think it was that big, the conversation went like this;
Me: “It’s not a six”
Steve: “No but it’s a big chub”
Me: “It might make four so let’s pop it back”
Steve: “If that only makes four then I’ll eat my hat, look at the girth and then go get the scales”
Me: “Ok it’s a fat four maybe a five, let’s put it back”
Steve: “We’ve got to weigh it, I’ll keep it in the water, get the bloody scales will you”
Me: “Ok ok”
Steve kept it in the river until I’d zero’d the Reuben Heatons and was ready to weigh a good ‘five’. On it went and the needle bounced around between six & seven.
Both: “Feckin ‘ell we’d better check that they’ve been zero’d properly”
We did and after re-weighing the needle finally settled on 6lb 7oz, a PB by a country mile. Neither of us could believe our eyes, had Steve not insisted that we weighed the fish it would’ve gone back without a photo as just another good chub.
Steve was as happy as I was, a plan had come together and it didn’t matter who’d caught it;
A couple of fives
Posted by Rusty, Jan 15 2012, 10:47 PM
River Kennet, Sunday 15th January 2012
What a strange day this was, a pretty good one in terms of chub average weight but it was a day of two ends rather than of two halves.
My plan was to pitch up quiver tipping for the morning with breadmash for feed and flake on the hook, the afternoon was to be spent trotting a section I haven’t yet fished. I did wonder when I arrived at my chosen swim whether I’d be able to drag myself away later in the day but that decision could wait.
First job was to make the mash. What a joyous experience that was, extracting my hands from their heated sanctuary so they could squeeze a huge lump of cold wet bread. Not surprisingly it didn’t take long to get rid of the excess water, mulch it up a bit and then throw a few tennis ball sized lumps into the river, on warmer days I take more time over preparing the appetiser. Hands then went back into the pockets for five minutes before they were called upon to put the rod together.
Out went the flake and I snuggled into my chair fully expecting it to be a while before anything happened. I think this is a hangover from my childhood fishing days when I used to turn up with my friends and make loads of noise setting up, we’d then have to wait for ages before the fish came back, we never caught anything straight away. Today was different, no sooner had I sat down than the ‘tip started knocking. It wasn’t a full on chub bite so I waited and tried to time the strike as the ‘tip was bent. The first one I missed but the second was timed perfectly and a chub of a couple of pounds slid into the net;
Next cast the same thing happened but I connected first time. This fish was bigger at around three pounds;
What a start, three casts and two fish, at this rate I’d run out of bread by midday. The next cast resulted in yet another chub, this one felt heavier in the net so it was time to break out the scales. 5lb on the button and beautifully proportioned;
I had to sit down and take stock. Within half an hour of arriving at the swim I‘d caught three chub (one of which was a lump) and I was in danger of running out of bait. My plan was working and surely the 8GB memory card in the camera wasn’t going to be sufficient for all of the fish pics. Out went the bait again and the next bite came………..6½ hours later. Yes, for six and one half hours I sat there with a motionless quivertip. I know that chub were being caught trotting elsewhere so they were feeding, perhaps my group had become wary of my tactics and cleared off. Whatever the reason I couldn’t tempt them with lobs or a feeder full of maggots, I tried pre-baiting a swim 100 yards upstream but no luck when I fished it.
Right, I was in it for the long haul. The time when I should’ve packed up and gone trotting came and went, Harrison & Lythe were left banded against a barbed wire fence as I hunkered down for the duration. If you’re going to sit anywhere for a long time biteless there aren’t many places better than this;
It was four o’clock before the ‘tip was moved by anything other than weed floating downstream. The bites were tentative taps rather than bold knocks so I wondered if they might be small roach, I was still using a size 8 hook and big bait for the chub so I scaled down to a 16 and a smaller piece of flake. It was a change which had an immediate effect, the bites stopped altogether…bugger. Back up to big hooks/bait while I could still see well enough to tie the knots.
So it was chub or bust for the last of the daylight and for the next 30 minutes I was infuriated by taps and knocks which didn’t develop into proper bites. Finally the rod bent round and I got lucky with the strike, at 16:42 this pic of a rather strange shaped 5lb 8oz chub was taken;
This fish equalled my PB and for the first time I’d caught a brace of ‘fives’. I have to say though that the smaller of the two is a much nicer looking fish.
I carried on fishing until about half past five, by that time I could see that the quivertip was indicating bites but couldn’t really tell what it was doing, I couldn’t time a strike. The chub were definitely back and a couple of starlights would’ve seen me fishing well into darkness. It was exhilarating stuff but eventually I had to accept that I couldn’t see well enough, add to that the fact that my kit was covered in a frost and it really was time to go.
My headtorch, which had been fantastic during back garden testing, was suddenly found to be not very bright when called upon to provide illumination on the long spooky walk back to the car. In times of trouble you can always rely on help from friends and Steve provided moral support via text during the closing moments of the session, his text read “Beware the weedrack axe murderer”
Barton Court Trip
Posted by Rusty, Jan 14 2012, 11:02 AM
River Kennet, Barton Court, Friday 13th January 2012
My annual pilgrimage to the venue where I first used a ‘pin and where I first untangled a birdsnest, the two events occurred within seconds of each other if I remember correctly. That was about three years ago and at that time the fishery was still producing a good selection of coarse fish but since then most of my visits have resulted in trout getting to the bait first. When booking the day I was told that the grayling and roach were making a re-appearance so expectations were high….until I saw the weather forecast. The recent mild spell was due to come to an abrupt end with sub-zero temperatures overnight and a frosty start to the following day, the lower temps weren’t the problem it was the sudden change which caused concern.
The forecast was bang on and the car’s thermometer hovered around the zero mark as I gingerly drove to the venue in the dark, yes I’d managed to get up early doors for a change, probably because the day was costing me £15.
On arrival I was reminded why I like fishing at Barton Court;
The manicured banks aren’t everybody’s cup of tea but it’s the network of carriers and all of the nooks and crannies that I find interesting, there was a problem though, a distinct lack of water. The main river looked ok but many of the sluices feeding the carriers were closed and as a consequence some of them were at a standstill, those which were flowing were very low and crystal clear. A forecast bright sunny day was going to make this a tough session so I hatched a plan to target the many pools, I felt that the deeper moving water was my best chance.
The first sortie was to a stream running back towards the road and along the back garden of the rather impressive Barton Court House, it was bloody cold and holding a chunk of aluminium soon had my fingers going numb. I did manage to vindicate my plan by catching a dace and a brown trout from one of the pools along this section but it wasn’t long before I beat a hasty retreat back to base for breakfast. Not a healthy breakfast I’m afraid, the burgers were all I had in the freezer;
I was in no great rush to continue fishing, the sun was inching its way above the horizon with the temperatures gradually increasing as it did so.
I bet the people in this were colder than I was;
Bob the bailiff arrived to check tickets and we chatted about the water levels for a while. He was very concerned about a river that’s been getting lower over the past two or three years, it should be at its highest level now but it’s well down and if we don’t get lots of rain over a sustained period very soon this summer could be a disaster for the Kennet. This swim near the car park used to be good for ‘last knockings’ dace and roach but not any more;
And this is the sluice which feeds Gunters, a small carrier containing coarse fish and usually devoid of trout. Normally this pool will be bubbling away and Gunters will have some flow but the main river can’t afford to lose its water so the sluice is closed and the carrier is stationary;
Once I’d warmed up I bade farewell to Bob and set off in search of the next pool. That was the pattern of the day, walking the river between pools trying any other spots on the way which may have held feeding fish. There was a lot of reed cutting activity and the method of collecting the cuttings was ingenious. The reeds were cut;
And they were left to float off downstream;
Where they all ended up in a side pool to be picked up later (at least I hope they were planning to collect them);
I only added one more brownie to my tally (again from a pool) before the light faded and temperatures started to drop. That was my cue to pack up and leave Barton Court for another year, I just hope that in 12 months time it’s still there as a fishery, here’s the link.
http://www.riverkennet.co.uk/
First chub (and perch) of the year
Posted by Rusty, Jan 10 2012, 05:30 PM
River Kennet, Brimpton, Sunday 8th January 2012
Bit of a backup session this, plans to fish another venue were postponed until this coming Sunday so I needed somewhere else to go. Disappointing but not all bad news, it’s only a few fences, signs and a river keeper’s shotgun which separate that bit of the Kennet from the other sections after all.
Trotting maggot for chub would be the plan and the swim was to be at the far end of the fishery, a spot where I’d caught previously (the only spot come to think of it). I’d spend a couple of hours here and if the chub weren’t in residence then I’d walk back to the car trying other swims as I went;
The plan was executed perfectly, after two hours I hadn’t caught any chub and was getting a little disheartened, to compound matters my legs were feeling cold and I’d got the distinct feeling that the integrity of waders had been compromised. I did, however, catch two grayling of about a pound. These were a real bonus this far downriver and had they been bigger I would’ve waded back to the bank for the camera but as it is no pics I’m afraid.
Those were the only two bites at this venue which frankly was a surprise to me, conditions were perfect being mild and overcast with only a gentle breeze so I was hoping for more activity. On my walk back I noted several newly fallen trees which was a shame as much effort has been put into clearing dead trees at this venue over the past two seasons. Luckily few of the new casualties had fallen into the river so the work party’s efforts haven’t been in vain. I’m glad I wasn’t under this one when it came down;
Despite the lack of bites it was still a nice wander about. I must spend some time here in the summer ledgering for barbel, there are some lovely grassy areas which would be ideal for a leisurely fishing/picnic outing with a bottle of Pinot Grigio cooling in the river.
The final two swims I had in mind were occupied by barbellers so last fling trotting for dace or roach would have to wait until another time. One of the occupants called me over for some advice and I thought for a moment that I must have an invisible barbel expert standing next to me…..nope, he meant me. He was a very polite chap and explained that he’d fished the venue five times with no luck, could I look at his setup and see if he was doing anything wrong? I told him that I wasn’t really the right person to ask but saw no harm in taking a look at the rig he was using. Good job I did, what he reeled in was a tethered fish waiting to happen. 5lb mainline tied directly to a 1oz pear lead, a hooklength of twice the mainline diameter was also tied to the lead and ended in a knotless knot hair rig. I explained the dangers of using such a setup and after a rummage in my bag found a Korda safe lead clip and some 4lb mono for the hooklength. It was still too light and far from ideal but it was an improvement. Once I’d demonstrated how the lead clip worked he could see how much safer the rig was and acknowledged that he should be scaling up the mainline and hooklength if he was targeting barbel. He was very receptive to the advice and certainly not a ‘know it all’, just an inexperienced angler looking for help. With luck he’ll bump into somebody more knowledgeable than me next time. These spectators were obviously impressed with my impromptu teach-in though;
Back to my problem, I still hadn’t caught a chub. I did have an alternative venue where I was more confident of success but hadn’t planned to fish it. Alas, temptation got the better of me and as guilt gnawed away at my conscience (not hard enough seemingly) I lowered the float into the new swim. A couple of trots later and the rod hooped over just as I was about to retrieve the float, what felt like a thumping great chub was putting up a real struggle in the flow. I managed to keep it out of snags with a ridiculous bend in the rod but I was just waiting for the loud crack which would herald the creation of a new four piece Harrison blank. If you’d asked me at the time of this chaotic scene I would’ve bet all my ‘pins on it being a six pounder but as it came into view and [eventually] came into the net it clearly wasn’t. Nevertheless it was a 4lb 15oz chub which gave an extremely good account of itself;
After I’d taken pics and calmed down a bit trotting resumed and two other successes were recorded by my camera, a 3lb 14oz chub and a complete surprise 2lb 8oz perch
What started as a fairly un-eventful session ended as a pretty successful day.
A big fat non-blank!
Posted by Rusty, Jan 7 2012, 09:15 PM
River Lambourn, Saturday 7th January 2012
Probably my best ever session at this venue in terms of numbers of fish caught. I’ve managed larger grayling elsewhere on this river but can’t remember the last time I accounted for 30 fish.
Usual MO, start at the top and work downstream expecting to catch a couple here and there. That’s how it panned out until I got towards the end of the first section where I found a slack water area right next to a fast glide, it was packed with grayling and throwing in loosefeed just resulted in loads of underwater flashes as the fish competed for the bait. Even I could catch here so I filled my boots (literally, I paddled out too far!) until my conscience got the better of me and I moved on.
There was no respite at the next swim, a fast gravely section maybe six inches deep with a significant drop to deeper water at the end. The grayling were shoaled up in the deeper hole and it was a fish a chuck, the best may have nudged the needle to a pound but most were below that. It was great fun at first but after half an hour it just didn’t feel right catching these fish, there was enough water for them to move but they weren’t going anywhere, they stayed fifteen feet from where I was stationed mid river.
By way of penance (and in preference to self flagellation) I shall be back on the Kennet tomorrow trying a beautiful stretch which has never been that kind to me (not Speen). If today is anything to go by I’ll be reporting numerous 6lb chub and a couple of ‘double’ barbel thrown in for good measure.
A big fat blank!
Posted by Rusty, Jan 2 2012, 08:04 PM
Speen Moors, Monday 2nd January 2012
Nothing to report fish wise but at least it saved me the tiresome task of uploading pics to photobucket. It used to be really quick and easy but these days it seems to take an age and more often than not it crashes before all pics have been uploaded.
Anyway, the banker swims didn’t produce and neither did a cracking looking new spot which caught my eye a couple of weeks back, I was ledgering bread again with the ‘pin and a couple of SSG for weight. Bait today was from a home made loaf so maybe the chub prefer supermarket bread with all the additives.
I bumped into Chris Plumb during the afternoon, I was about to leave as he was arriving for a dusk perching session. I thought I’d got the better deal as the heavens opened on the way home but a text from him an hour later suggested that wasn’t the case.
His blog will make interesting reading.
Cheerio 2011
Posted by Rusty, Dec 31 2011, 08:25 PM
You can guess where, Saturday 31st December 2011
The last session of this year and I look back on 2011 with mixed feelings. From a personal point of view the year could’ve been better but from an angling viewpoint it’s been fantastic.
Tenching started in April, fishing during the close season isn’t something that I normally do but I wanted to try bait and tactics in preparation for the Wingham trip. I had some success too with Tincas weighing 4lb 8oz and 5lb 7oz, monster fish for me;
I didn’t know it at the time but I’d stumbled upon a combination which was to provide me with a ‘fish of a lifetime’. A cliché perhaps but I’m beginning to realise that a 10lb 2oz tench is just that for a lot of anglers and it makes me appreciate the fish that much more. I won’t ever forget the May 2011 Wingham event;
Later in the year I was the guest of Steve (JV44) on his narrowboat. We spent four days messing about on the Thames doing all the stuff blokes do when their other half isn’t present, activities included drinking, curry eating, drinking and angling. It was during this trip that I caught my first ever pike drop shotting (a PB, unweighed but it was a lot bigger than any other pike I’ve caught) and a 2lb 8oz perch using the same method;
The perch was blitzed by Steve’s 3lb’er the next day……he was using my rod so it doesn’t really count!
I didn’t have to wait too long before I had my own ‘3’ in the bag. A juicy lobworm presented during an afternoon session on the K&A Canal was too much for this PB 3lb 7oz perch;
A feat recently repeated at the venue where Steve had trumped me some two months earlier, 3lb on the nose;
That’s it for my 2011 angling lucky highlights, other achievements have been a bit more subtle and that brings me to today’s Speen Moors account. I’ve been battling with this venue ever since I joined NAA and I think at last I’m beginning to see a pattern in a couple of swims (famous last words). Today I was using bread as hookbait and whilst trotting it in the large weirpool produce nothing taking off the float and ledgering with a couple of SSG tempted this 2lb 13oz chub; 
I didn’t weigh it but I know it was 2lb 13oz because I caught the same fish on the 22nd December. The conclusion reached is that at least one chub is resident in the large weirpool and he likes bread. Next spot was the Mr Crabtree Designer swim where the same tactics tempted this little beauty;
This is only my third success at this swim but all three chub have been different fish so I’m heartened that it’s still a place where they like to hang out. The swim has been slotted in to my Speen circuit.
I’m now looking forward to 2012 particularly as the new Kylie calendar gets opened tomorrow.
Post Christmas perching (postscript)
Posted by Rusty, Dec 29 2011, 09:26 PM
River Thames, Goring, Thursday 29th December 2011
Just a quickie this one. I popped back to yesterday’s venue (now known to locals as Steve ‘n' Alex’s place) trying the ‘peak time’ trick, i.e. turn up just as the predators were about to feed and then go home an hour later with a fistful of 4lb perch photos. That didn’t happen I’m afraid, the tackle shop had no lobworms and I was down to my last ten rounds of ammo so I had to be conservative with them. As dusk approached I thought a bunch of red maggots on a size 10 hook would be a good substitute and it was……for chub.
Chub are such creatures of habit, once hooked its choice was open water or dive for near bank tree roots, it chose the latter but there were no tree roots on this particular public mooring, just concrete. It soon realised that its attempts to snag me were futile and gave up after a short struggle, a very nice 4lb chub was soon puking maggots and bread all over my landing net. I’m not sure who looks more sombre, me or the fish;
The main event was still to come but as I gradually found it more difficult to see my float it came and went without incident. No big perch this time although Steve did land yet another tiddler pike (on the livebait) which again found its way back into the river before Nikon’s finest could be pointed at it.
Post Christmas perching
Posted by Rusty, Dec 29 2011, 10:45 AM
K&A Canal, Monday 26th December 2011
This was just a short morning session along the canal with a pot of lobs and ½ a pint of maggots. My attempt at an ambitious Christmas dinner hadn’t gone well the previous day and whilst I was keen to fish I wanted to make sure that I had plenty of time in the kitchen to figure out why my orange sauce didn’t taste of oranges despite being loaded with Cointreau.
In terms of the fishing there’s not much to report. It’s a long stretch and conditions were very good (if a little breezy) but all the likely looking spots I tried were fishless, I couldn’t even tempt the tiddlers. Salvation came in the form of just one bite and one perch possibly weighing 2lbs and that was it for the morning;
The trip was also used to try a higher breaking strain of braid. I am a fan of using braid for trotting but I haven’t found a brand that doesn’t have one characteristic that I don’t like. The best of the bunch IMO is Fireline Crystal and I’ve used it in 6 & 8lb BS. Today I’d loaded the Witcher with 10lb BS, it’s supposed to be the same diameter as 4lb mono (0.2mm) so I thought I may as well take advantage of the low diameter and gain some strength. Well if this stuff is 0.2mm diameter then my name’s Chris Yates, it’s like rope compared to the lower breaking strains and caused all sorts of problems by coiling off the reel. I’ll continue with it in a ‘proper’ trotting session (the canal was hardly moving) but first impressions weren’t good.
The day did end on a high note with the identification of a vital missing ingredient in my orange sauce, the zest of two oranges, I can’t believe I missed that.
River Thames, Goring, Tuesday 27th December 2011
A return to the location of the epic boys week away reported in October’s blog.
Steve & Alex had left their Kennet mooring on Boxing Day and were planning to arrive at Goring mid-morning on the Tuesday after an overnight stop. An overheating engine and a jammed lock gate slowed their progress and whilst both problems were fixed it meant that they didn’t arrive until early afternoon. I’d been fishing for an hour before the intrepid boaters arrived with not so much as a touch on maggot, lobs or lures. This was worrying, I was on livebait catching duty and had to confess that I hadn’t caught any. Suitably chastised I went for a walk and a sulk, the route into the village took me over this bridge and I did what all anglers do when the walk or drive over a river…..I looked in;
The sight which greeted me was truly miraculous, I’ve never seen anything like this before, thousands of silvers all shoaled up tightly. A few maggots dropped in confirmed they were feeding and so I walked briskly back to the boat to report the find. Five minutes later a freelined maggot was lowered in with the predictable result, instant livebait;
I didn’t actually see the ‘No Fishing’ sign although I suppose I should’ve expected one to be there. I managed five fish before a resident appeared and gave me a good telling off for fishing on the bridge. I’m 51 years old but I felt like I was 14 again as I apologised and shuffled off.
But, importantly, livebaits were secured and so perching could commence in earnest. It was slow going until about 3:30pm when it seemed like a switch had been flicked. Steve caught a fine 2lb 8oz perch on the livebait which for some reason didn’t get photographed, then a swim we’d been topping up with maggots for silvers switched on and small roach started feeding. Shortly after that small perch move into the swim so that was the signal to switch to lobworms.
It was most unlike a normal perch bite where the float ‘donks’ away. This time the float gently moved on the surface against the direction of the minimal flow. A firm lift into the bite annoyed something at the other end and it screamed off with energy that suggested a pike had taken the lob. It was short lived though, after a couple of runs the fish tired and Steve caught a glimpse confirming that it was a “lump of a perch”. It was as well, 3lb on the nose and it had the characteristic orange fins of Thames perch. Compare it with the fins of the Kennet perch above which are bright red;
That wasn’t quite the end of the action, Steve caught a 2lb jack again in front of an audience. They were quite impressed but Steve wasn’t, while I rushed to get the camera he sneakily slid the fish back not wanting to be photographed;
As the light finally disappeared bites stopped, we’d had about an hour of opportunity and that pattern would be repeated the following day but for now we packed up and I checked in at the John Barleycorn pub where I’d be staying for the night. The dinner, wine & real ale finished me off and I slept very well indeed.
Wednesday 28th December 2011
There was no real rush to start fishing on the Wednesday, indications were that the predators wouldn’t feed until the afternoon so I decided to try tempting the huge shoal of silvers out from their sanctuary under the bridge. I set up further upstream, away from the bridge and safe from prying and authoritative eyes.
It took a while for anything to happen but after trickling in maggots for what felt like ages I started to catch roach, dace and bleak like they were going out of fashion. Steve now had more livebaits than he could use so we released some of the smaller fish and kept the decent roach. Back to the swim and I tried for perch with firstly lobs and then the drop shotting rod, the theory being that the presence of so many prey fish was bound to attract predators. Small perch took the lobs as soon as they hit the water so I switched to drop shotting using a very slow retrieve. This was equally as effective and great fun to boot, I could see the perch following the lure and when they went for it they just engulfed the small dying minnow in one go!
Witching hour approached so I packed up and went back to the swim where yesterday’s 3lb perch had been caught. The livebait rods were out and they were soon followed by float fished lobs, the perfect ambush. Unfortunately the result wasn’t what we were hoping for, a decent perch took my lobworm but instead of powering away it decided to thrash about on the surface, we got a good look at it and estimated it to be a big ‘two’ but never found out as the hook pinged and nearly whacked Steve in the face. Steve has subsequently revised his estimate and the fish will always be known as “the 4lb perch that Rusty lost” It was nowhere near 4lb, honest.
As with the previous day bites stopped abruptly when the light faded and so I said my goodbyes and drove home via the Indian takeaway having had a great couple of days socialising and fishing.
on After the Lord Mayor's Show