A new river season

[tiddlertamer]

I’m going back to the first day of the season but I hope the following write-up may still be of some interest. I certainly learnt a lesson from my day by the river.

 

I was fishing the Hampshire Avon. My tactics were simple – trotting an Avon float on 4lb line fished straight through to a size 18 hook with double maggot bait.

The first swim threw up a couple of splashy wild brown trout up to a pound but that wasn’t my target species so I moved on.

The next swim offered nothing despite an hour’s efforts.

 

Walking along the river bank, armed with some new polaroids, combined with a crystal clear river, I was suddenly stopped in my tracks by a beguiling sight.

Five or six large river bream were moving around a swim, with some chub edging nervously around them, flittering in and out of the same swim.

I crouched down on all fours and flicked out my float which drifted down the swim whilst simultaneously offering some free offerings of red and white maggots.

And, watching through my polaroids, I observed how the fish didn’t take the slightest bit of notice. The swim itself was like a fish tank in its clarity. I’m sure the fish knew I was there but they were used to fishermen and their tricks and went about their own business without fear of falling foul of their ploys.

Again and again I let the float run through the swim but without any success.

 

Now I am a stubborn mule at times and have often persevered with tactics much longer than any sane man really should when those tactics are proving so unsuccessful. But even I knew it was time for something different.

I cursed myself for fishing 4lb line when 3lb line was the choice of many other anglers trotting on the same stretch of river. I bit the bullet and set up again, switching reels so I could trot on the lighter line

After 15 minutes of fiddling around (Yes, yes, – I know that is ten minutes longer than it should have took – is it just me that is all fingers and thumbs?) I was ready to let the float run through again. And?

Nothing...

And again I let the float run through. And?

Nothing...

OK – time to switch bait.

Sweetcorn.

I threw out some free offerings and the bream came in eagerly to feed.

Interesting. Very interesting.

I let the float trot though.

Nothing...

OK – now I’m perplexed and confused.

 

It’s time to abandon everything I practice in fishing. 99 per cent of my fishing is trotting a float down a swim.

But perhaps catching is more important than the method.

The float was removed. A drilled bullet and ledger stop was added about four/five foot from the hook.

The size 18 hook was banished to the tackle box and a size 6 hook attached to the line.

On this, a lobworm was attached.

This was then lobbed out itself to the middle of the swim to where the bream were feeding, their heads pointed down towards the river bed.

The line was tightened and I began an attempt at touch ledgering.

A ledgering expert I am not.

 

Less than two minutes later though, and the tip of my entirely unsuitable 13 ft Hardys float rod began to tremble and the line twitch in my fingers. Even I cottoned on to the fact that this just must be a fish.

Strike!

And lo and behold a large fish began to crash around under my rod tip.

Now bream have a reputation as poor fighters.

But river bream, perhaps used to fighting constantly against a current, fight more than their still water bound brothers and sisters.

Ok – it didn’t rip off 50 yards of line but a lively and interesting bout of wrestling ensued before I enveloped it in my net.

Look below and you'll find a photo – a rather wonderful 5lb 10 oz bream.

 

I was happy to have caught it. But even happier in the way I caught it – the change of tactics and way in which I moved away from my ingrained fishing habits.

 

What did I do next? Thinking the swim may have been disturbed I moved on. Ridiculous really – any good angler would have attempted to bag the shoal. Me, thinking that the disturbance of the previous fight would have scared away the rest of the shoal, moved on. I did in fairness hang around for twenty minutes or so and snaffled a small but plucky perch but it wasn’t long before I had moved upstream.

Back to trotting in another swim. And with what success?

Two dace and three gudgeon, none more than an ounce!

Edited July 2, 2009 by tiddlertamer

[tincatinca]

Smashing write up TT which typifies what it is all about. It looks as if there will be no stopping you now.

[richjones]

Cracking read.

 

Highlights the importance of polaroids. Without them you may never have even noticed the bream were there.

 

Keep up the reports

[Guest tigger]

I enjoyed that !

[Andy Macfarlane]

A drilled bullet and ledger stop was added about four/five foot from the hook.

The size 18 hook was banished to the tackle box and a size 6 hook attached to the line.

On this, a lobworm was attached.

This was then lobbed out itself to the middle of the swim to where the bream were feeding, their heads pointed down towards the river bed.

The line was tightened and I began an attempt at touch ledgering.

A ledgering expert I am not.

 

Very good write up but touch legering, as you've said, is not your forte. Try using split-shot in a chain, link-legered, which is enough to hold the bottom but easier to lift and drop again. It's less likely to spook fish and you're far less likely to find snags. For or five feet from your weight is also waaaay too much for touch legering. Try somewhere between 6" and 18". The point of touch legering is to lift your bait, move it, drop it and feel for bites as you trot your way down a running piece of water. 4-5 feet of line has an enormous range of movement that could so easily miss you fish and bites and even lead to serious deep-hooking. Touch legering is also about casting into some extremely tight fish-holding spots. With a hooklength that long, you could so easily be missing the most vital fishy areas for fear of snagging your hooklength. You want to be able to accurately plop you bait right into some tight swims and a hooklength that long isn't going to allow for it.

 

Shorten up.....by a long way.....

 

Give it a bash. It might seem woefully short but it's touch-legering. It's a contact application and 4-5 feet is waaaay to much in my mind.

 

I touch leger any time I'm on a river and my local river is 5 mins walk away. It's what I did for years.

[tiddlertamer]

Very good write up but touch legering, as you've said, is not your forte. Try using split-shot in a chain, link-legered, which is enough to hold the bottom but easier to lift and drop again. It's less likely to spook fish and you're far less likely to find snags. For or five feet from your weight is also waaaay too much for touch legering. Try somewhere between 6" and 18". The point of touch legering is to lift your bait, move it, drop it and feel for bites as you trot your way down a running piece of water. 4-5 feet of line has an enormous range of movement that could so easily miss you fish and bites and even lead to serious deep-hooking. Touch legering is also about casting into some extremely tight fish-holding spots. With a hooklength that long, you could so easily be missing the most vital fishy areas for fear of snagging your hooklength. You want to be able to accurately plop you bait right into some tight swims and a hooklength that long isn't going to allow for it.

 

Shorten up.....by a long way.....

 

Give it a bash. It might seem woefully short but it's touch-legering. It's a contact application and 4-5 feet is waaaay to much in my mind.

 

I touch leger any time I'm on a river and my local river is 5 mins walk away. It's what I did for years.

 

 

Cheers Andy - a string of useful tips that I look forward to putting into action next time I'm back on the riverbank. And hopefully that will be very soon.

[Anderoo]

Thanks for that TT It makes you wonder how often we give up on an 'empty' swim and move on when it's full of fish...

 

Keep em coming!

[tiddlertamer]

Anybody else care to share any tales of a day by the riverbank where you learnt a great deal, perhaps discarding many old routines and habits you had developed over your fishing lifetime, before going on to catch a large bag of fish or perhaps a real whopper.

What was it that sparked your change in tactics and what were the results?