Good Day, Bad Day

I say "day", the first session was for an hour and a half. I was definitely not fishing today. Oh no, a six mile walk-run, a big midday fry up and a relaxing afternoon listening to football on the radio. That's what was happening today.

Great run, even better fry up and I relaxed for, ooh, about twenty minutes before I was bored.

Looked out the window. Wasn't raining. Hmm.

Half hour later I was casting out a big lump of bread flake in a "new" favourite swim. First cast a nice chub, then a couple of smaller ones. 

A couple of rattling bites and I changed to a smaller hook, hoping for a roach. First cast, tip pulled slowly round and a nice roach was on.

I finished with three chub and a roach. A very nice, very short outing.

Yesterday I went to another stretch, baited up and was full of confidence of a few decent fish.

In short, I lost a rod rest ( subsequently found ), a thirty year old pen knife ( subsequently found ) and a leg and foot off a very old lightweight chair ( not found ). How the feck a six inch bit of metal and four inch diameter foot can disappear I don't know.

I fished for three hours and into dark without so much as a touch.

Win some, lose some.

In The Groove

As I've said a million times before, it's not just about the size or quantity of the fish.

It's about going somewhere scenic, or at least peaceful, with a bit of mystery and ideally with no other fecker fishing ( apart from a good mate of course). Sorry, I'm not usually anti social at all, just when I'm fishing.

I've been fishing the local river, the gear and bait always ready to be grabbed for short sessions. Ten minutes from the house, travelling light, nabbing a fish or two, its my type of fishing.

Cooky came along the other day and managed to hook and lose two decent chub through "user error". I could say more but won't. Another time I'll spill the beans.

I used the fifteen footer for a bit of trotting and managed to hook a nice chub. Unfortunately, the strike resulted in the rod getting thoroughly tangled in some brambles. An unholy mess. The chub, of course, was lost

Just before dusk, in the umpteenth swim, the float buried and a beautiful roach surfaced. It was in pristine condition and was probably the biggest I've had from this stretch.

Yesterday, I fished on a gloriously sunny, cold afternoon. One swim produced two nice chub in two casts, but in the other swims I was biteless, except on a sweeping bend, where roach were hitting the bread each cast. I missed most of them. Well, you will do on a size six hook with a quarter slice won't you ?

As soon as the sun disappeared the temperature plummeted and the water meadows were enveloped by a low lying mist, the only sounds being the honking of geese and the gentle calls of teal on the flooded washes.

Oh, and the faint sound of 5Live as I listened to the football on the radio. That's messed up the purple prose, eh ?

Floods and Chubs

I've never seen rain like it this early in the season.

My part of the lower river takes three or four days longer to settle down than stretches only five or six miles upstream, due in part to a couple of tributaries draining in to the main channel.

At the moment a friend fifteen miles upstream tells me it's normal level and now clear. Not here Guvnor.

Today it was going through like a train but with a perfect green tinge that tells you that you will most certainly catch chub.

Fishing any available steady bit of water resulted in a few bites and I finished with four moderately sized chub. Bit of fun on a short session on a sunny afternoon 

I also had a ruffe the other day. I love 'em.

I'm hoping to get back on the "Forbidden" section later in the week if the rain stops and the flow eases.

I'm taking my mate Dicky Boy who wants a decent river bream, so the pressure is on. Wish me luck.

Mixed Bag

In the morning I pre baited my river "bream swim" with about a dozen big balls of groundbait with mixed seed and sweetcorn. The river was still pushing through a bit hard, but the colour was just about perfect.

I returned in the afternoon and half heartedly fished a few other swims before settling down in the baited pitch. Nothing. Not a twitch, so I moved up and down the stretch searching for a bite.

It seemed dead, but this section is not exactly heaving with fish, so not it was not entirely unexpected. 

Oh, the photo above ? Chubby you say ? The chub didn't think so today. 

Back in THE swim and after a short while, a bite ! A nice chub and one who had been gorging on the sweetcorn. 

That's more like it.

As the flow was so quick I used a dropper to get the bait down in the right spot and next cast I was in to a fish that could only be a carp. It fought long and hard and when I netted it I was disappointed to see it was a poor old bugger, ottered and no doubt an escapee from a lake in the recent floods.

More bait introduced, but no further action until dusk, when, as the sky cleared and the mist rolled down into the valley, several fish rolled close in.

A huge full moon rose over the far bank alders throwing out shadows over the flood plain. The tip knocked twice and pulled round, resulting in a smallish bream.

My now it was a bit chilly, I was hungry and there was rugby on TV, so I packed up and headed home.

I'm not going to be breaking any records on the lower river, but it's local, scenic and unfished so ticks alot of boxes for me.

You'll not be surprised to know that I'm going back this evening for another go.

Big Perch

Throughout the 90s and early 2000s I did alot of fishing for big perch.

I had four small waters with two miles of the house that produced fish for me between 2lb 13 oz and a monstrous 4lb 8oz.

They were all really small waters, the biggest being about 1.5 acres and the smallest barely half an acre.

Most of the fish came to decent sized livebaits ( 2 or 3 oz, with perch being best bait ). Plenty on lobs too.

There was one water where dead outfished lives, the only water I've ever experienced this.

One day I'd been fishing lives all morning and for some reason half heartedly tried a dead. Within a short while the float slipped away and a two pounder was in the net.

I finished the day with seven over 2lb, with six to deads and only one to a livebait. This happened again on the next two trips and after that I rarely used lives.

We had dozens of three pounders including a couple from two different rivers.

On my mates little canal like lake we were livebaiting when the float slid away and I was into a clonking fish of 3lb 12oz. Next cast the livebait was hit again and the rod hooped round as what was surely a record breaking perch surged down the lake ( there are no pike in here ). It felt bloody massive and no, I didn't lost it.

It went just over 7lbs. Unfortunately it was a carp. On a perch livebait ! Believe it or not I also had a rudd over 2lb on a sizeable livebait from this water too.

It's been a long while since I had one over 3lb. None of the waters we fished during this time produce fish as big and to be honest I haven't got a clue where to start locally any more.

I am looking though. Ideally a river and ideally not fished by anybody. And while we're at it fish to 4lb plus. We can dream.

Watch this space.

Keeping It Looocal

Forecast was rain and wind, so I sacked off work and went fishing on "The Big Stillwater".

Two pike rods out while I concentrated on the feeder.

I was fishing a deep section, at 35-40 yards I had over twenty five feet of water. Half dozen big feeders of bait and I was fishing. Lazily, I was only winding in when I got a bite.

Couple of small roach at first, then the bream moved in. Decent ones too, averaging around 5lb. I ended up with nine of similar size.

It was ridiculously mild for late October at around 18 degrees and I sat sheltered from the wind in a T shirt. The forecast rain never arrived.

The pike rods remained motionless until I packed up in the afternoon. 

A pleasant lazy day.

Stuff

Been a busy time with the old folks in decline, not nice to see to say the least. No chance of getting on the road in the camper for a while yet.

Nights quickly drawing in now, first frost the other day, ahhhhh shit in a bag and punch it.

I'd forgotten about being cold and how I hate the early darkness. Bollocks.

Anyway.....Nice bit of rain the other day and the local river had a bit of flow. Not a proper flood but it washed away the duckweed at least.

I'd put a bit of bait in the bream spot I fished last winter. I'm interested to see if there's a really big one somewhere. Also, when you bait with a load of mixed seed, the fish root around so much that most of the summer weed and crap gets washed off the bottom, which makes good presentation much easier.

Today I had an hour at dusk to see if there was much about. It was a bit nippy, a nasty easterly wind giving it a wintery feel.

A few trembles on the quiver on the first couple of casts gave me some hope whilst I trickled in some hemp and corn. After half hour or so I got a roachy rattle which morphed into a steady pull and the first river bream of the season was on. It pulled surprisingly well and turned out to be a nice fish of just over 5lb in absolutely immaculate condition.

That'll do for starters.

As is usual here, as soon as you catch one it seems to spook the rest. I gave it half an hour before packing up in the encroaching gloom and walked back towards the twinkling lights of the village.