A bit of good fortune

[Anderoo]

That stretch of water certainly holds a good stamp of chub !

 

I think the whole of the Thames is like it Tigger, although it does seem like there are areas that produce slightly bigger fish. You soon find them though, once you start working at a particular stretch. I'm very lucky in that I live pretty close to the river, so I can nip down there easily, if I had to travel it would be a lot more difficult. I think next winter I'll try a completely different bit, just to see what happens.

[Tigger]

I think next winter I'll try a completely different bit, just to see what happens.

 

 

I'd persivere in those usual stretches, by this time next year those very same fish(your largest) could have bulked up even more and who knows what's lurking there that you've not hooked up with yet !!

[Anderoo]

I'd persivere in those usual stretches, by this time next year those very same fish(your largest) could have bulked up even more and who knows what's lurking there that you've not hooked up with yet !!

 

Maybe... I think they get big quickly because of their diet and then stay at that weight for ages, with the usual seasonal fluctuations. Once I feel like I've sussed somewhere I get itchy feet!

[Anderoo]

Just to let you all know it's not all hauling in 6lbers like mackeral! Today was a total blank, not a touch. I tried everything and everywhere but nothing worked. Nature's really waking up though, the trees are coming into blossom, the air had that fresh, spring note to it, and the squirrels and rabbits were very bouncy The red kites and buzzards suggest other little scurrying things were also out and about.

[Steve Burke]

I've often found the same. Early in spring the conditions seem ideal but you struggle to catch, chub in particular.

 

However years ago, on my local waters at least, I found an answer. Simply stay well after dark on those days. For some unknown reason my chub used to come on the feed only then. Why, with seemingly ideal conditions during the whole of the day, I've no idea.

 

It just might work on the Thames. It's worth a try anyhow....

[davedave]

I found the conditions really odd today as well, i was on an estate pond which i fish quite a bit, there were five other anglers at one point in the day which doesn't sound much but it's the most i have ever seen down there and i'm there most weekends.

 

Anyway i think the sun and the milder weather brought them out. There were two on the pole, two on the float, one on the ledger and me also on the ledger, i could see 3 of them as they were opposite me and the other two were to my left and right hand side so i could see everybody fishing and everybody blanked. I spoke to 3 of them and only one had had a bite! I found it really odd that with milder weather, a fairly warm sunny day, fish topping yet every one of us blanked, that's not a coincidence!

 

How strange. Never mind- like you say, it's nice to see all the wildlife and things coming out, it's starting to feel a bit more springy and little less wintery

[Anderoo]

Strange you saw the same thing today Dave. There were 3 other people of 'my' stretch today, and no-one had anything at all (one was lure fishing, 2 were fishing match style).

 

Steve, thanks for that idea. Yes, it does make sense. The water is very clear still and it was a bright day, so I had put the difficulty down to that mainly, plus a slight drop in temperature (that's why I had the day off yesterday, and I'm glad I did now!). So far, I haven't caught any Thames chub in the dark, but I haven't stayed on very long, just an hour or so, and now I go home at dusk as this usually signals the end of the day's fishing. On other local rivers the first hour of darkness is a really hot time, and I was very surprised when it turned out to be a big disappointment at the Thames!

 

When you fish for chub after dark do you do anything differently, or just fish as you would in daylight?

[Steve Burke]

When you fish for chub after dark do you do anything differently, or just fish as you would in daylight?

 

Exactly the same.

 

The only thing I'd mention is that in these very mild conditions I tended to do better with small baits.

[JV44]

Just to let you all know it's not all hauling in 6lbers like mackeral! Today was a total blank, not a touch. I tried everything and everywhere but nothing worked. Nature's really waking up though, the trees are coming into blossom, the air had that fresh, spring note to it, and the squirrels and rabbits were very bouncy The red kites and buzzards suggest other little scurrying things were also out and about.

Blimey Anderoo you are human after all ,Twas a great day to be out for sure i travelled a fair bit of the river and all the usual Pike spots didnt produce although i did manage 4 small jacks to shad lures and one to a big S but the biggest iof these maybe scraped 2lb .

Met 4 other boats out Piking and they had nothing to so maybe they have started early ?? .

Pair of Kingfishers entertained me fliting back and forth at mach 5 chasing each other as i deadbaited in vain ,the Grebes were doing there courtship dance thing and Spring was in the air great day out .

[davedave]

Yep spring seems to have made a polite entrance, but this evening went cold after 5pm on the the beautiful Arrow. The day was warm(ish) and bright and the river very low, which surprised me as the Arrow rises in the Welsh hills which was been awash of late.

 

So it was going to be a stick maggot and caster approach, for the chub and perhaps if I was lucky the odd roach too. I settled into a swim that has a deeper run just downstream, the second trot was met with solid resistence, just a deep plodding sort of fight, but mindful of a 2lb b.s hooklength I tried to cajole the unseen lump to the net, but the hooklength gave way and it was gone.

 

I made up my mind it was a big perch but by then the sun was so bright and in my eyes even with Polaroids I couldn't see the float, so I moved and promised to return when the sun had dipped to see just what broke me.

 

I did and with a stronger hooklength I resumed where I had left off, and again the float dipped and the same dogged fight occured, but I had it on longer this time and despite a plodding upstream meander I had it beat, and slipped the net under a pristine 6lb winter barbel

 

Not a big fish, but my first Arrow fish, my first of 2011, and my first on the float.

 

A splendid River if there ever was one

 

Nice one! Was it the same fish that broke you off then?