One weekend left!

[Rusty]

3lb 1oz, and a new PB by a clear pound! I will have that as a last fish and last cast of the river season.

 

Well done Steve, I too have a new PB although I'm a year behind you. Was yours almost as broad as it was long by any chance? Every Perch I caught today (except the tiddlers) was a real fatty.

[JV44]

Great perch Steve well done on the new PB ,Set my stall out for Pike but they didnt want to play and i missed the only take of the day and then after switching to Perch watched Rusty empty the swim next to me as my lobworm remained stubornly untouched ,did save a blank with some small Perch and Roach though .

[Steve Walker]

Thanks chaps, I'm really pleased with the perch - and yes, it was like a finned football!

[Kappa]

3lb 1oz, and a new PB by a clear pound! I will have that as a last fish and last cast of the river season.

 

Wow well done! Tried another new bit of the Thames this morning after I unexpectedly had a free morning. Lots of perch but only little ones, however I know there were alot of monsters there a couple of weeks back so I'll be back next winter!

 

Rich

[Anderoo]

Well done Steve - what a fantastic end to the season!

 

I had another day of two halves today. The first half was trotting maggots at my favourite little tributary, which was all-action stuff. Lots of chub of all sizes, two huge and mental brownies and a few little but very fat perch. Pick of the fish was a stunning chub of 4lb 2oz which is a very big fish for there and took a bit of persuading on my light trotting gear!

 

The second half was a final shot at a decent chub from the Thames with Chris. It's a fish that's eluded me since moving here. The tributaries and smaller rivers have been very kind, but the main river has always proved more difficult. It was still low and very clear today, so we spent our time baiting swims up with bread mash and waiting for dusk. Chris sat it out in one spot (a lovely near bank crease) and I hedged my bets and baited up two spots - one the upper extremity of the crease Chris was baiting and the other a slow, deep near bank run under the branches of an old tree.

 

Every half an hour each spot got another couple of handfuls of mash.

 

As the sun started to set, it was a lovely scene.

 

A short time later I looked round to see Chris battling with a good fish - wahaay! It was ready for the net by the time I got there, and proved to be a cracking chub in excellent condition - 5lb 6oz! Fantastic!

 

I went back to my tree spot and swung out a huge lump of flake. Just a couple of minutes later the tip pulled round into one of those confident unmissable bites and after a short but hair-raising fight (where the fish nearly got stuck in the marginal reeds and Chris got a bit stuck in the horrible mud) I was finally weighing my first proper Thames chub - 5lb 11oz It was a bit of an old warrior, but I'm so chuffed. As it turned out, that was the last fish of the season for me, and it's great to go out on such a highlight. That chub is the best fish I've had this season.

 

With a 5lber each we couldn't really ask for much more, but after dark the ghostly figure of Chris appeared in my swim and said, I've gt another 5lber in the net! And he had too, another superbly conditioned big chub, this one 5lb 4oz.

 

So 3 chub for a little over 16lb - what a great final day. Tinged with sadness too as another season passes.

Edited March 15, 2010 by Anderoo

[Steve Walker]

Wow, some cracking chub there, well done! I think maybe a big chub will be my target next winter. I know what you mean about feeling sad as another season closes, but of course a new one is opening, and soon there will be trout and tench - can't wait!

[JV44]

Great session Anderoo you and Chris certainly finished the season in Style Steve.

[Tigger]

Some great photo's and posts and a few very nice fish n'all ! I had an hours trotting on my local river but unfortunatly I didn't finnish the season with any monsters....just two chub, both of just over 3lb each but they where in great nick and put a bend in my rod so I suppose I can't complain.

Lets hope the warmer weather kicks in soon and we can target Barron von green back lol !

[D_Heaps]

On the last afternoon I tried to get a 6lb chub from the Cherwell to beat the 5lb-11 one I got last week. Got a 4lb one and then endured several hours without a bite.

The last bit of light was draining from the sky and I was throwing all my bait in and preparing to leave as it would be too dark to see my tip in a couple minutes. The cheese paste was sitting unmolested in what I knew to be a good chub swim and I was desperate for a bite. I was even talking to myself 'one last chub' 'C'mon please' etc. A little knock and then a gentle shuddering pull round on the tip was met with a fast strike and my prayers were answered. A decent chub was hooked. After getting snagged in the left hand side of this swim a couple times previously I took several steps to my right to fight the fish and after a minute it was slowly coming my way and clear of the snag. Trouble was it was too dark to see which way the fish was heading and I finally saw it swirl dangerously close to the right bank. I piled on more pressure to keep its head up out of the bottom but it turned and headed powerfully down and with a 'ping' my chub and rig were gone.

I confess I did swear quite a lot as it seemed like it was going to be the perfect end to my season but it was not to be. Once I stopped swearing and became philosophical about it I felt a perverse sort of pleasure at having the anticipation, excitement and frequent heartbreak of angling distilled into a couple of minutes albeit with an unhappy ending. I should have re-tied my rig at the start of the session having caught a couple decent chub on it but didn't bother and that probably cost me this fish. Its been an up and down season and that pretty much summed it up.

I'll still be back next season. There's more to fishing than catching fish.

[Neil G]

Some great reports & pics...bit of a pain the weather has finally decided to sort itself out just as the close season begins!

 

Can't say a great deal about my last weekend...livebaited and had a couple of jacks and a friend had a nice 2lb plus perch which is always nice to see. Sun brought out the morons though and it was like fishing in the middle of a flippin' playground (people feeding ducks, chucking rocks in etc. etc.).

 

Roll on summer & the barbel fishing