In The Groove

Yeah, yeah, I've said it before, but I'm "In The Groove" , this time with the tidal river.

ITG to me means being in tune with what's going on, you know  ( or have a good idea ) where and when the fish are going to be present. The nature of fishing means that it won't last forever, so you have to get out there and fill yer boots while you can

This morning I was in position above the shallows as the tide advanced. I expected big numbers of fish feeding in the shallows, pushing up with flow.

Instead, just a few fish showed and I quickly walked two hundred yards down river where I thought a few fish would be grouped up feeding

There were maybe ten or a dozen fish, feeding leisurely in the silt. I had to wait twenty minutes for a take, but when it came it turned out to be an absolute corker of a thin lip.

I didn't weigh it, but at a guess it would have gone well over four and a half pounds. Again, the deadly Green Lantern doing the business. 

I immediately packed up and went home for breakfast and enjoyed a bacon sandwich and a well deserved coffee sitting in the warm autumn sunshine. That'll do.

Mayhem

Now, where to begin ?

Well, this was a day that will be etched in the memory forever, a day of chaos, a few fish, laughs and lots of mud.  LOTS of mud.

With the river having suddenly switched on, I invited Bully and Waaaak Baines over for a session. Conditions and tide were pretty much spot on and after a coffee and breakfast at the house we made our way to the first mark.

Small bass hammered the baits almost immediately and Wak caught a "bonus eel" 🤣. I let him unhook it.

He hates the mud and refused to walk the ten yards to the water's edge to land fish, so the unfortunate fish were wound through the mud or, if slightly bigger, he'd summon the ghillie to pick them out the water. He'd pay for this dearly later.

It was all quiet with Bully, fishing thirty yards to our right, until we heard a "splosh"....or was it "slopppp" ? Bully was laying in the mud having lost his balance and hit the mud. Luckily he had his chesties on.

Man Down, Number 1.

Wak caught a slightly bigger bass and then five minutes later, as he cast, there was an almighty crack, as the top half of his rod headed seawards. Pure comedy. Broken at the spigot. Shit happens.

A few mullet had begun to appear, not many, but enough for a speculative cast. I managed to position the flies perfectly and after maybe twenty minutes I was in. It looked massive in the water, but was a bit skinny. Nice fish anyway.

Back round mine for tea and then we were on to another mark downstream to ambush the fish as they came up with the tide.

Another old mate, Goozgog, turned up for a look at the spectacle and soon ended up on his arse.

Man Down, Number 2.

We positioned ourselves just above the shallows and right on cue fish appeared. Small 4 to 6 inch bait fish at first and then mullet. Lots of them. Well, fecking loads actually.

I had a nice fish around 3lb before I heard a cry of "I'm stuck !" . It was Wak. OK, I said, carrying on fishing. " No, really, I can't move !" 

Man Down, Number 3.

Oh dear. Bloody inconvenient too, as there were fish everywhere. I handed the rod to Goozgog and went on a mercy mission.

To be fair, he was right, he was properly stuck and panicking a bit. He grabbed on to me in the determined way a drowning man holds on to a rescuer.

He's a big, heavy lump, more so when covered in stinking, sloppy mud. We made it to the bank.

I left him to get himself together and recover a bit.

Bully kept a low profile, feigning concern, but his unmistakable chuckle could be heard across the mudflats.

There were fish everywhere,  you could hear as well as see them. The wind dropped and we just stood quietly in the shallow water, with just the classic autumn sound of starlings calling and squabbling as they gathered to roost.

Back at the van, for the first time, I had a man sitting in the passenger seat in his pants.

His clothes were disgusting, absolutely covered in it and the poor old boy had an hour and a half drive home.

Another unforgettable day that will go down in the annals of history 😂 Shining Times !

Making Hay ( Again )

The fishing locally is picking up. The mullet, which since early June, have been unpredictable and sparse, have re appeared in big numbers. The last few days, huge shoals have pushed upriver on the flooding tide.

I've had a few bass too, so prospects right now are excellent. 

Over the last few days I've had five thin lips on the fly, all on the Green Lantern shrimp pattern, which has produced almost all the fish this year. The flexi worm, on the dropper, did fool a fish, but not the species I was expecting.  A sand [ or perhaps common ) goby. Greedy little sod.

Yesterday, whilst fly fishing, schools of bait fish were being hit. Not being one to pass up an opportunity ,I picked up the lure rod and had one first cast.

Next cast on the fly and a decent mullet was hooked, the third of the day. It was warm, hot even, the sun shone from a cloudless sky and the wind was a gentle south westerly, weather almost too good for October.

As I packed up there was still the odd mullet surfacing and the bait fish were active, clinging tight to the margins in an effort to avoid the predators. 

A perfect autumn day.

I'm going for another session tomorrow as the weather is forecast to hold.