Monday 6 February 2012

'Back' on the Avon

My first chance to go fishing for over four weeks coincided with Winter finally arriving properly. The Vale of Evesham has a different climate to surrounding areas so while we had the snow that blanketed the rest of the country we also had overnight rain and above freezing temperatures which led to the snow quickly melting into the river. I don't want to make excuses but snow melt is not conducive to catching fish. So I have made an excuse!
I have been out of action for the past few weeks with a slipped disc. My own fault, I did not adhere to  the health and safety manual, picking up a (large) log whilst not bending my knees and I felt my back ping instantly. It was agony especially driving. Added to that we have been short staffed at work and hence my bankside time has been severely restricted. I could only manage to get out in the morning this weekend due to Christening and Godfather duties.
I knew the fishing would be difficult Sunday morning but I had to give it a go. I thought my best chance of catching would be Chub so off I went with cheesepaste and flavoured luncheon meat.
The river always looks stunning in the snow. The peace and solitude is refreshing, well it was until the army of dog walkers descended. I lost count of the number of canines that I had to pull out of my bait bucket while their owners came running along the frosty bank apologising profusely.
Talking of bait buckets did anyone lose theirs?
The variety of stuff that floats past when you are fishing is amazing. Every single session a tennis ball floats by along with all other manner of crap. A dead cat is the worst thing I have seen so far, can anyone beat that?
Anyway I tried hard but could not muster a bite let alone a fish, still it was nice to be back on the bank again finally. Next weekend cannot come soon enough.

11 comments:

  1. Not sure if it beats a dead cat but I was fortunate(??) enough to have a johnny float past on Friday, in fact it liked me so much it came back in an eddy several times before saying goodbye! A couple of years back I had a cow drop dead in the margins opposite me, it had been making some pretty horrible noises for an hour or so and then down it went, fortunately that one didn't drift!
    The worst nightmare has to be finding a body hasn't it, I've heard of it happening on the Trent and came close to fishing a swim where a girl who had been murdered washed up on a local lake but thankfully I'd had a late start and someone else found her

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  2. Ah ha, so that's how far my black bucket went down river!

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  3. Once saw a fishermans hat floating down river. Some tine later I found a guy with a very sunburned head, I said nothing?

    Great post John, love the new front cover, don't know were you got that old photo of me however??

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  4. At Evesham, we once saw a crocodile float downstream whilst on a riverside picnic. It had thick dark green scales and wrinkly hide, massive jaws and killing teeth. That it turned out to be a cracked-off oak log with a split in it, was a surprise, because it still looked more like a croc than a log, even after we knew what it really was!

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  5. This weather is not going to stay and it will warm up soon,
    The pictures are always good to see with the ice and snow everywhere,
    All the Best Joe,
    ,,,Paddy,,,

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  6. Struggling to get above zero for the rest of this week at least Paddy, doesn't look like its rivers only for a while longer

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  7. Pretty impressive Rob, a cow dying into the river and a johnny is pretty gross!!
    Love the hat and sunburn story Richard, very funny
    Jeff, I wanna know what you were smoking that day, and can I have some.
    Forecast is a balmy 3 degrees in the 'Sham, It must be Chub again Paddy.
    Thanks for your comments guys

    Joe

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  8. Haven't seen anything horrible yet, but the coconuts on the River Soar always amuse me!

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  9. Whats it all about with the coconuts Ian?! They've been showing up in there as long as I've fished it, I guess they must get dumped in somewhere within Leicester but wherever they come from its consistent!

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  10. A dead sheep followed by a shed roof ! on the teme one winter when it was in flood, I don't think there was a link though?

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    1. Thats pretty gross, I think the shed roof blew onto the sheep and knocked it in the water, did it look like it had been dead long?

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