Wednesday Blues

A visit to the river had been planned with my brother for yesterday (he's not wet a line since last Sept).

Chub or perch were to be the main quarry and on arrival at the waters edge our first instinct was "it looks good for a bite",with slight colour and a little bit of extra pace.

The day was mild and overcast with hardly a breath of wind and after a walk of around fifteen minutes or so we arrived in the top field, plonked our kit down and set about a quick recce to see what might take our fancy.

Each swim would get half hour/forty minutes or so depending on tip action?

We tried, tried and tried some more with only the very odd tap occurring until eventually in the last swim where slack water resides due to dying rushes, Paul placed his hookbait right on the crease of the fast water and the slack and soon after his tip banged over and resulted in a nice sized chub.

I blanked in perfect style, and it wasn't until the evening that i began to smile once again as my beloved reds knocked Man City out of the cup, blues beaten on a Wednesday..........I love it.

JANUARY DOUBLE.

Have just received a phone call from a friend who today has been and bagged himself two chub and two barbel about a mile away from the above, with the biggest going 11lb 6oz and a hundred yards from him was an otter feeding/playing!!
A BIG well done mate, best I dig the barbel gear out again ;-)

Out of sorts

The weather changed to milder conditions on Wednesday so a day off from the shop was booked for Thursday.
As I was loading the gear into the truck, the heavens opened and to be fair it had been forecast and was set to fizzle out by midday.

Twenty minutes later I was un doing the padlock and entering the fishery.
It soon become apparent that something did not feel right, the river seemed very quiet, the wind felt cold and all just seemed outta sorts!

Second cast in and the two big juicy lobworms I had flicked out towards the end of a crease were sucked in and it was fish on. Thirty seconds later and it was fish off!!
The hook had pulled and just maybe had been masked by one of the worms?
That turned out to be the only bite of the morning and it wasn't until 3pm after a couple of more moves that another bite was forthcoming.

I had just moved back down the stretch into what is probably the deepest pool. Fast water coming from some shallows while hitting the far bank and forming a nice crease before dropping into deeper water just before a far bank tree at the end of the run.
Two lobs were placed right on the end of the crease and almost straight away the tip pulled round. A fish of around four pound and looking a little rough around the edges had hit the net and saved a blank day.
A few more casts were had but nothing else could be tempted, not even a perch had wanted to play.

The day/hours leading upto this trip I was full of confidence and felt I might of got it right but it was not to be and for whatever reason it all seemed a little lifeless?
I shall keep my eye on the weather and try again soon.

Quick Post

A husband and wife came for counselling after 15 years of marriage.

When asked what the problem was, the wife went into a passionate, painful tirade listing every problem they had ever had in the 15 years they had been married.

She went on and on and on: neglect, lack of intimacy, emptiness, loneliness, feeling unloved and unlovable, an entire laundry list of un-met needs she had endured over the course of their marriage.

Finally, after allowing this to go on for a sufficient length of time, the therapist got up, walked around the desk and, after asking the wife to stand, embraced and kissed her passionately.

The woman shut up and quietly sat down as though in a daze. The therapist turned to the husband and said, "This is what your wife needs at least three times a week. Can you do this?"

The husband thought for a moment and replied ... "Well, I can drop her off here on Mondays and Wednesdays, but on Fridays, I fish."

A January day

I headed for the river this morning, it was my day off and the weatherman said it was going to be a mild one and guess what? He was right.

I'd been hatching a plan in my head for the last few days and stuck to it, a bait tactic which is certainly no secret and one that i had been meaning to try before now but just hadn't got round to it. (last weeks Angling times had reminded me)
A 10gm cage feeder was to be filled with mince and a prime piece of steak was to compliment it for a hookbait. Although I did take my trusty lobworms as back up!
A 6lb mainline and a 5lb hooklink to a size 8 hook completed the setup.

I had decided to walk to the furthest swim from the car and bait a few on my way there, just a couple of small balls of mince were placed in some likely looking areas, I intended to give each swim around forty minutes or so depending on what had occurred?
Swim one produced a small chub of about a pound, and one other bite that saw me hit fresh air! but at least i was no longer a meat virgin.One thing i noticed was just how savage the bites were using this method with the rod nearly being pulled from the rest in an aggressive manner!
Then all went quiet, so off i trotted .

Swim two (pictured above) is one that I usually walk past as in general its very shallow and although it was normal level today, the water had a nice colour to it and the bottom could not be seen.

Just to the left of the swim there is a slight bend and the water rushes round over the pebbles and rocks and kicks off of a far bank bush which in turn forms a crease in about two ft of water. It was on this crease that I flicked the baited hook.

Thirty or so seconds later, just as i was positioning the lowchair, the tip on the rod flew round and it was fish on!

A spirited fight was had in the faster water and soon after a chub of 4.07 was in the net, full of winter colours that were reflecting off the sunlight from behind me.

I decided to have one more cast in the said swim while I had a brew from the flask and a smoke, not really expecting another bite due to the commotion that had previously happened. Then just as I had taken my eye off the tip to watch a kingfisher go flashing past the rod wrapped round and sprung back just as quick, I'd failed to set the hook and a lucky chevin had just got away with it!!

That was the last of the activity in the swim, so again I upped sticks and set off for another.

The third swim failed with no action at all, and it was one of those situations when only other anglers would understand, that it didn't feel right, so after thirty minutes it was time to take a stroll.

Although i had taken the odd barbel from the next swim, today they were not on the wanted list, although if I'd have hooked one I'd of needed a lot of lady luck on my side with the tackle I was using.

The swim was a fair bit deeper with a sluggish pace to it and looks like a classic perch swim, so off with meat and on with three large lobworms, off came the feeder and  replaced it with a light arlesey bomb, a gentle flick out and all was set.

Three small perch up to a pound(ish) were taken in as many casts then all went quiet for twenty minutes or so, I wound in, cleaned a few strands of weed off the hook that was masking the point and once again flicked it back into position.

On sitting back into the chair, the rod pulled round and on connecting with the fish I knew that this felt different, a heavy plodding sensation was coming back at me, it felt like a chub.

Just to the right of me was a branch that had come down in last weeks winds, the fish had managed to gain enough line from me to reach its safety and after what seemed like a couple of minutes of trying every trick in the book, the rod fell slack as the hooklink had parted. This battle I had just lost, I gave the swim a further half hour or so and managed another chub of around a pound and a half and that as they say was that.

The day had been a total pleasure, the kingfishers, the woodpecker and the chub in its winter coat, I would have liked to have seen the one that didn't want to see me but there's always next time

We had...................

As we pulled into the car park, on opening the door it was nearly taken from the hinges!
I knew from that point on that we would be in for an uncomfortable session.

Carl had not previously seen this short little stretch, and although it looks pretty as a picture in the summer months, come the winter it can be bleak as hell, open fields and not much cover from the elements can cause the angler some challenging fishing to say the least.

We walked to the far end of the fishery more for the fact of showing him the complete section, while at the same time viewing the swims that might be worth a try on the way back.
To be fair it looked quite good as the water had risen at least a 1ft from the previous days rainfall and had a nice tinge of colour to it.
 I settled him into a few nice swims that i have had the odd pull in, while i dropped in and around him.
Simple link loop tactics were the order of the day with a couple of fat lobby's on with a gentle spray of maggots over the top every now and then.

The tip was moving around ok but this was only to be caused by the now ever increasing wind, don't get me wrong, it was nice to be out and for a change and it was nice to have some company  and share a chat and a brew.
We fished around five swims each and all we caught for our efforts was a chublet which fell to Carl's rod and that turned out to be smaller than the worms he was drowning!

I have promised to get him back there again before the season ends.
There in there mate and it could be a special one so keep your gear on alert I'll ring ya.

Out with a Lob on........

As I write this, the winds are blowing and the rain is lashing down, on sipping my tea i wounder if tomorrow i can tempt anything into taking the bait?

A day session to the Gt Ouse has been planned with my eldest lad Carl. The plan is to wander a nice little section that has been known to throw up the odd little gem.
Chub and perch will be the main targets, but failing that then anything that fancies a couple of juicy lobworms will suffice.
If nothing else then this rain will at least put some colour in the water. Like most waters at present they are extremely low and have been all year, a good flush through is needed as blanket weed is still gripping on to the riverbed.
 Anyway........I'm muttering on and i have the tackle to sort out.

I'll inform you as to how we get on........................

It's been a funny old year

My blog time has been quiet to say the least, with a change of home life, work life and just life in general something had to take a back seat for a while, hence a quiet blog.

Fishing time is now limited, but when i do manage to get out i'm enjoying as much as I always have and long may that continue.

This past year has seen me fishing my usual haunts on the Great Ouse, odd trips to the River Teme and River Severn and occasional visits to a couple of local lakes in search of roach that may or may not be there?

No personal bests have been captured but a few nice fish have graced the waiting net from time to time.
Perch, barbel and chub being the main stay of my captures.

Today is the 2nd of January 2012 and i would just like to say..........HAPPY NEW YEAR to those who take the time to read my blog.
I endeavour to continue my writing as and when things happen or if i think they  maybe of slight interest.

Have a good year, enjoy and hopefully achieve your goals.

Derren