A Rich Tapestry

Where to start ? I've just come back from the tidal river, where I got within touching distance of a harbour porpoise, which had ( almost ) stranded itself in a few inches of water, no doubt after becoming pre occupied chasing mullet.

Thankfully,  the flooding tide saved him.

Yesterday,  I met Ben Norrington,  EA man and all round good egg, who was carrying out an eel survey at the weir. I recorded our conversation for the podcast, it's well worth a listen and I'll put a link up when it's uploaded.

It's amazing, these little three inch "glass eels" are three or four years old and still look like a recently hatched fry. Incredible life storey of an interesting fish I dont want to catch.

I recorded fifty two species of bird on the walk to meet Ben yesterday, falling a few short of "the record", which will fall very shortly I reckon.

Heard a cuckoo for the first time this year and there's whitethroat, blackcap, several nightingales, swallow and warblers too. Swifts a few weeks away I guess. 

I've been doing well on the mullet, having a fish most trips, even if there just twenty or thirty minute sessions. I'm tempted to say I've got it sussed....but won't tempt fate.

In the week I spied a decent bass in a few inches of water by some "structure", more specifically a shopping trolley. It's very attractive to the mullet too , which feed off the algae that's built up on the metal.

A session on the lures after the bass is forthcoming, if I can put down the fly rod.

Good Times

Sunshine, no rain, more and more light, the good times are here again.

Bit of fossil hunting the other day which resulted in a decent haul,

then a big walk and poke about along the estuary and woods with The Chubmeister General. Bloody lovely day.

Wood anemones, bluebells, cuckoo flower, wild garlic, it's all out now. Get out there and enjoy every last drop of the spring. 

Somehow I'm in the groove with the mullet already. 

Another one this evening on a super short session and a good one too, 4lb 10oz.  Fought like a demon.

Bit of work tomorrow morning then I might have another quick go if the weather is OK. Love it.

Almost forgot, to cap it Ipswich beat Norwich and those Arsenal turds lost. Perfect.

Smart Arse

I did a little garden job first thing in the morning for an old lady and on my drive back went over the bridge and stopped for a recce. 

Nothing. Bit strange.

I went a mile upstream and got the bins out. Difficult to see with a light south easterly blowing. Was that a fish? Focusing in on the spot, another movement. Definitely a fish.

Wellies and jacket on, rod grabbed and a couple of minutes later my fly lands in exactly the right spot, about two foot from the shore. It happens sometimes !

Less than five minutes later I was admiring a nice thin lip. One cast is all it took.

Home for coffee by 10.00 , with a few quid and a fish in the bag. I wish every day would start like that.

In The Bag

The wind dropped. Me and Bazza walked along the upper tidal, on the look out for mullet and here and there were pockets of fish in good numbers.

I returned in the evening and wangled the first fish of the year out on the fly, the fight slow, long and relentless. 

A very young looking fish of around 3.5lb.

A good start. We just need some good weather now and it'll be perfect.

Carnage

The wind swung round to the south west and increased in strength.  Nothing too bad and combined with hazy skies what you would think were perfect fishing conditions. 

I'll keep it short.

A bream to start, then a big ide. Nice, we're going to have a mixed bag ? Wrong.

After that, a large proportion of the bream population of the entire Rhine system took up residence in mine and Bully's swims. Fished long, come in short, the result was the same.

No roach anywhere. Not surprising, who'd want to be in the middle of that lot ?

It was fun seeing the tip go round and playing the fish, some went quite well. The unhooking, less so, balancing on the rocks with a big snotty lump.

As the light faded they switched off. Same as yesterday. 

For a while it was totally dead, but just before it was pitch black I had a mad ten minutes, landing roach of a pound, just over 2lb and 2lb 5oz. 

It had been a mad day. Twenty six bream between 7 and 8lb, two big ide and three roach to 2lb 5oz. Bully had around twenty big bream and a fish he said looked like a rudd but had two spikey spurs on the dorsal fin. I reckon he's been shaamokin' da big fat Dutch doobie.

We calculated that lot came to well over 300lb.

Crashed out in the van drinking beer and eating bread, cheese, nuts, chocolate and anything that didn't need cooking. We were wiped out and fished out.

Ah Mr Bream....

I've been expecting you ( apologies to Ian Fleming ).

After seeing all those roach rolling last night and nabbing two of them, we were looking forward to more of the same.

But fishing doesn't work like that does it ?

We started fishing mid afternoon and after a few casts with the feeder, the tip dropped back and something big, heavy and slimey was on. Yes, a bream. Decent one too.

Then another and so it continued. Now, I don't mind one or two but this was ridiculous, all bloody great things. The one I weighed went 8lb 5 oz. It certainly wasn't doing the roach fishing any good, they were everywhere.

At this time I was fishing about twenty five yards out, on the edge of the crease, where big swan and zebra mussel beds gave way to a clear, sandy bottom. I still can't decide whether the fish like feeding over the mussels, but they certainly are a pain in the arse.

It was calm and sunny and we we sitting at the bottom of the bank that was sheltering us from lightest of northerly winds. 

The breamy action continued until dusk, then surprisingly stopped. A while later I saw a couple of fish rolling close in, they looked like roach, so the feeder was lobbed fifteen yards out on to shallow water. Bite straight away,  roach around the pound mark, then an ide, then more roach.

Bully also had an ide, a nice one, going just under 5lb.

We sat there in the dark, the river now quiet and as flat as the proverbial mill pond, albeit on six hundred yards wide river. Not a breath of wind, the sounds of geese and oystercatcher in the distance and just the occasional ship rumbling by.

I managed to wangle out one more big roach just over 2lb and ended up with seven, plus four good ide and about fifteen bream, all seven to well over 8lb. Bully had a similar haul.

It surprised me that the roach switched on well in to proper darkness,  maybe a response to the bream departing ? You just never know in this game.

We walked the thankfully short walk back to the van, knackered but happy. Again.

Chilling and Opportunism

We had two good days on the roach at the "new" spot, a free park up and in a stunning environment too.

 However, we were out of water and the bog was full, so we headed a few miles down river to a old town where two canals feed in to the Waal. Fishing right on your doorstep too.

After a idy up and a shower we headed into town for a meal, but not before Bully was kitted out in one of my T shirts, socks and skids ( washed ), as he'd somehow lost his clothes. It was a bit like when you forgot your PE kit at school and had to choose stuff from the lost property box and ended up wearing hideous black plimsolls and shorts three sizes too big.

A great alfresco meal in the sun, then back to the van for a kip, then out zandering.

We tried with lure rods for an hour with no success, both spotted fish rolling a hundred yards upriver. Lots of them and they looked roachy to me.

Quick dash back to the van, luckily only two minutes away, grabbed the gear and just as the sun was setting made the first cast.

Four feeder fulls of bait and next cast a bite. Lovely roach around the pound. 

Next cast something bigger. It felt very, very heavy and as it surfaced the red fins gave the game away. In the net it went, scales out and Bully on the camera.

2lb 14oz and a reward for observation and being a hungry bastard.

I can't wait to give it a proper go tomorrow evening.