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More paddling


Rusty

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River Kennet, Newbury, Sunday 19th September 2010

 

After Saturday’s mouth watering discoveries I re-visited the venue where chub and barbel could be observed taking cover in their sanctuary.

 

I was hoping that Saturday night’s curry, merlot and mindless X Factor entertainment would shed some light on the best way to get to them but sadly inspiration wasn’t to be found in a chicken madras. The Merlot was a different matter, halfway through the bottle I was convinced that I possessed the trotting skills to get the bait right to them, this proved to be a temporary illusion however, reality and a rotten headache dawned the following morning.

 

Undeterred and two Anadins later I arrived at 9:00am and bid the chub good morning (through clenched teeth). The more I watched and thought about it the more obvious it became that trotting wasn’t a realistic option for me. It would have to be static bait, a large lump of smelly cheesepaste gently dropped in from the opposite bank via Avon rod and fixed spool reel, the river at that point can only be 15 yards wide. That would have to wait until Winter, I didn’t have any of the kit with me and besides it would surely end up as a Signal encounter as this time of year.

 

So off to the swim where I lost a decent fish on Saturday, this was along the far side of a small island which can only be accessed from mid-river. The nearside can be trotted from the bank but it’s still better from the water. Similar result to Saturday with a fish being lost first trot, it was only on briefly before the hook lost hold and it could’ve been a trout but it was an indication that fish were present. Alas it was the only indication, whereas on Saturday the perch stepped up to the plate on this occasion nothing was tempted during the next couple of hours.

 

With the rest of the venue being too deep and silty to wade I decided to try a different stretch further down towards Thatcham. The chosen swim has been a reliable chub spot in the past but only from a particular place and even then usually just one fish. It’s almost as if there’s only room for one chub and sure enough a 2lb 8oz specimen was in residence. I thought it was a larger at first but as it neared the net I could see that its huge mouth was wide open creating a lot of drag.

 

Chub caught I wandered off to the far end of this club stretch to explore a wooded area not often fished. It was a bit like jungle warfare getting there but worth it for the entertainment that a shoal of dace and roach provided. I suppose the biggest roach was only 6oz but holding back the float and trying to hit the lightening fast plucks was very enjoyable and testing, on balance the fish got the better of me.

 

That rounded off a pleasant days trotting, still more thought required for the first venue but seeing the potential rewards is encouraging.

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