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5.11.22- Hambridge River and Canal

Bayleaf the Gardener

Entry posted by Bayleaf the Gardener in Hambridge

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A change of circumstances meant I grabbed some roving tackle and pinched 3 hours on a wet and windy afternoon at my nearest venue.

I'd bought waders a few months ago and not got them out the box, so a short trip seemed the perfect opportunity to give them a go. Wading out, I realised how uneven the bottom is and what power water has at even at knee height. It opened up the swims behind the clothing warehouse and made me more aware of the comparative water speeds. I trotted along the crease that would not have been possible from the bank and soon had three trout. Not bad, but then the biggest was only 7 ounces. With not much happening after that, i moved downstream towards the bridge. Here I hooked two decent fish. I was wary of the current adding pressure to the fight of the fish so played them as gently as I could, one for a little over a minute, the other maybe three. Neither broke the surface so I'd been hoping they weren't trout. - but on both occasions the hook pulled!  This happens to me on rivers soooo much. I'm still not sure what I'm doing wrong (barbed hook and keeping line tight - maybe the braid mainline having no stretch is putting too much strain on the fish? Any thoughts, readers?) I changed from a 14 hook in case I was asking too much of a 16. But I didn't get the chance to test it as all I connected with was a nice dace and a beautiful gudgeon (Yay!). 

A snag pinched my tackle, and I realised I hadn't brought any spare mono to attach to the braid mainline. Realising I had a box of pole rigs in the boot, I crossed the road to the canal and used my 15ft rod effectively as a whip, looking to see if the shoal of roach I found last winter had balled-up yet. Hmm. Mixed. I had 7, including three around the 4oz mark, plus 8 small dace. 

A fun stint as ever, the waders will definitely get used again, but will I ever overcome this lost fish business?

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Chris Plumb

If there's a reasonable prospect of a chub or 2 - which means pretty much every swim at Hambridge - I always start with a 14 (super spade) tied to 0.18mm dia mono. Pretty agricultural - but I'd rather get less bites than lose a good fish - and I reason that in fast water they haven't got much time to make up their minds and if confidence has been increased by sipping in feebies..... If this doesn't work or bites drop off I'll switch down to a 16 to 0.16mm - which is as low as I'll go in fast water...

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Bayleaf the Gardener

Thanks, Chris. A 14 does look like an anchor with 2 maggots on, but at the speed the current moves I think you're right. The next two chub you catch with size 16s in their mouths are mine, right?

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