The Flying Tench

I understand pop-up baits, but what is pop-up powder? The cheese paste I bought from HInders hardly pongs at all. Quite disappointing! I've now taken the lid off in the hope that will help it mature. Has anyone used cheese paste on a large river? I can imagine using it on the Kennet where I used to fish, casting all along the far bank under trees etc. But the Thames is quite a large river, and there's so much water to cover. I had a brief go today, but wasn't getting any touches so decided to try maggot with feeder instead. I thought if I could find where any fish were that could give me clues about the chub, though I don't know if that is right. I caught a small roach and a chublet close to the bank, so next mild day will go back and see what else is there.

So this suggests the shoaling up theory applies to chub, not just roach. In fact, where were the roach? Presumably shoaled up somewhere where no-one had a peg? So I'm not sure what I think. In a case like the one I described in my last post today on the Thames, should I go back with finer tackle to the place where got a couple of bites, or keep searching for the shoal? Blackbird, I'm interested that you are into cheese paste. A couple of people have recommended this recently. I've got the paste. Feebly I bought it just for the first time and to see the texture. But when I cast into the middle of the river with no feeder I find I can't believe a fish will find it! Maybe I should use a light maggot feeder to give me confidence if nothing else? Do you use link ledger or straight lead?

So Chesters doesn't believe the shoaling up theory except in a modified way, and I think Keith may be implying the same. The fact that he got a few ounces when that wasn't a key shoaling up point shows there were at least some fish there, and the reason others blanked may have been cos they didn't fish fine enough etc rather than there not being any fish there. I fished somewhere a bit like that today. My plan was to trot along 2-300 yds of bank, moving my chair along from time to time, till I got a bite. On the basis of the shoaling up theory that should have meant I had hit a shoal and it should enable me to bag up either today or in the future. But fairly soon I got a couple of bites, at least the maggots were chewed, so I stayed put. Part of the problem was my eyesight wasn't sharp enough to detect the bites, but it could well be if I'd fished finer or done something different it would have made the difference. Though it was quite mild, not very cold as Keith was remembering.

So Blackbird found the shoaling up theory applied. Martin and Chesters, did you find the same - most people more or less blanking but one or two getting a decent weight?

I've never fished a match, but I think I at least partly understand the appeal. One part of it for me would be learning from other anglers. But one thing I don't understand is match fishing canals or rivers in winter. I admit this is a bit theoretical by me, but as I understand it the fish shoal up so you can have long stretches where there are no fish! This is pain enough for a 'pleasure angler' like me, but at least when I blank I can say 'I won't go there again.' And I can move and try out different bits of river or canal during a session. But in most matches you are stuck where there may be no fish! So what goes on in match anglers heads to take part in this type of fishing?

My trusty fishing chair was bought very cheaply at a garden centre. It's bright blue, which I hope doesn't scare the fish, but it's light to carry and generally suits me well. Except, just occasionally, I fish somewhere where the bank is uneven and I wish I could adjust the legs. And I wish it was slightly higher for float fishing. I'd always assumed until recently that the kind of chairs you can buy specifically for fishing were very low and laid back with carpers in mind. But a bit of judicious surfing the web reveals that you can get a more sit-up kind of chair with adjustable legs for about £100, much more than my existing chair, though could be worth it. So I'd like to try it out, I mean just sit in one for a few seconds, but unfortunately my local fishing shop doesn't have any at present and apparently they are hard to get hold of at the moment. So I need to make a decision from my desk. Can I ask 2 questions for those who have such chairs. Do you find yours is viable for float fishing including trotting? And, on a flat surface, how much can you raise the chair using the leg adjusters? Thanks John

So this all adds some realism as to what can be expected in cold weather. Re the match, presumably the rules said it had to be an NAA water, otherwise a trip to the Lambourne might well have won the match? I hope your foot recovers quickly now.

Tigger, your aquarium experiments are interesting. Did you try casters by any chance?

Thanks both of you. Blackbird, nowadays I do have a bait fridge with a small freezing compartment in the garage. I'm perfectly happy handling live maggots. It was the dead ones that didn't appeal, though I'm sure I'd get used to them if necessity dictated.

I can still remember when they first started talking about dead maggots in the angling press, and it seemed logical to use them for loose feed, at least, so they didn't wriggle away into the silt. I think I tried them once. But it was a problem killing them as I didn't have an available freezer, and I didn't particularly like handling them. So I came to the conclusion that you got the same advantages (and disadvantages) with casters and forgot all about them. Then I didn't hear any more about them for quite a while, but recently I've heard about them a number of times from different people, so here goes. Three questions: 1. Hook bait. Am I right guessing they are comparable with casters, not quite as many bites as with live maggots, slightly bigger fish, and not quite as much bother from bleak etc? 2. Groundbait and loose feed - comparable with casters? 3. Storage and killing them. Do you just put a box of maggots in the freezer or ice box, or is it best to put them in a freezer bag? And once you've defrosted them can you freeze them again?

So presumably you are saying there should not be much light, and there should be a reasonable amount of colour in the water? Incidently, it's interesting that they shoal up near a lock. I wonder if that is often the case. I'm thinking that they might go as far as they can in a given direction until they come to a lock and can't go any further. I'm thinking this might shorten the time needed to find out where they are.

As an ex Newbury person this is fascinating. 20 years, and I never discovered! Though to be fair I didn't try for roach often in the canal. But I knew it was true for perch, and you had to find their 'winter quarters' though I think it wasn't as extreme as you're saying with the roach. I'm not aware that big sections were perchless, and the shoals of perch were quite small. With the roach, would you say the phenomenon is more extreme on the canal than the river or lakes?

There's a swim on the Thames near me where some warm water comes in. When I took the temperature a few days ago it was 10degC warmer than the main river, so I fully expected to bag up. But I blanked!

This is the time of year when, for me at least, the number of blanks increases and I occasionally look for a fishing 'shot in the arm'. 'Do not fear!' say the angling magazines. There are wondrous places, often town centres, where the roach shoal up in winter, and you can't fail to bag up. The reason they shoal up in town centres is not clear to me. Some say it is to get away from cormorants, but that seems to be based on some research in Denmark where it seems the roach from a big lake abscond in winter to the little rivers that flow into the lake - a bit different. But for whatever reason there are places where it seems you can bag up on roach in winter. Not necessarily monsters, but good sport nevertheless: the old river Nene in March; the Wye in Hereford; the Welland in Spalding; the Forty Foot Drain at Ramsey St Mary's, near Huntingdon. Has anyone had any experience of these places, or similar ones, in winter? Is it really as the angling mags say?

OK, but why then is the nice green colour good for fishing? Is it just that the brown mud etc has dropped out?

Someone said to me recently that river fishing would be good when we've had some frosts, we've had some rain to wash the dead weed away, and the river is a nice green colour. I know what they meant about the green colour. There's something about it that tells me instinctively that it will fish well. But does anyone know why?

Roach fishing Chesters with relatively large bits of flake John

Certainly worth a check through, but I don't think they do a fine wire eyed 8 or 10

I forgot to say, unless things have changed, you can only fish that little weir pool for 20 minutes or so. My experience was that I'd get a couple of bites very quickly, would land them or lose them, and then the remaining fish would be spooked and I'd need to move on. It's quite shallow there. In the conditions I fished the chub were at the tail of the weir pool. So I used relatively big baits. If I'd used maggot and caught small fish that might have spooked them earlier. I fished from the south bank.

You can get these from UK sites, but I think they only go up to size 14, whereas our main problem seems to be size 8 and 10

Ian, I checked Mustad out and as far as I can see they just do hooks for lure fishing. John

Was it such a poor day? Conditions were terrible, most people would have blanked, you moved on in your chub hunt with a modest chub banked and 3 good ones hooked (I'm assuming they were chub) and the consolatory trout and bits and bobs. As winter comes on it seems to me we have to be kind to ourselves in our expectations. In my case my last 4 trips weren't blanks, they were valuable experiments!

Thanks, Ian. Yes all makes sense.

Good idea, though may be a few weeks for me. Did I ever mention the little side stream that comes off the Kennet on the north side of the river just below the A339? In the little weir pool where it starts I never had to wait more than 10 minutes for a bite from a chub, though admittedly that was in summer using meat. Then 100 yds further down, fishing from the south side of the stream, there's a pool. One winter a shoal of 1lb roach took up residence there, but there were also chub out towards the streamy water.

Your catches demonstrate that float is best, certainly on your river, but my problem is seeing the float even with the hopefully-very-visible ones I bought recently! But I'm interested in what you say about freelining. Does this involve having maybe one swan shot on the line, where you can allow the bait to trundle through the swim, ie a semi-moving bait? I haven't met anglers on the Thames who float-fish for chub, but several people have said they don't use a feeder cos they think the chub can feel the resistance. So they cast the line, with just one or two swan shot, into the flow and wait to see where it settles, I think on the basis that that is where other food will settle also. Have I got the right end of the stick about how you freeline?