Chubby Boy

With half-term still upon us my little fishing buddy is still accompanying me bank side. This time his order was a Chub, having lost a decent one on the previous trip so armed with a bucket of bronze maggots we headed downstream. 

Again we were feeder fishing but I didn't bank on the volume of tiddlers that reside in this swim. I have fished the swim before but generally with much bigger baits that avoid unwanted tiddler attention and wean out the better fish. Didn't have a clue how many fish actually reside here.

Gudgeon were the main culprits for all manner of twitches, rattles and shakes of the tip and we landed several beauties, another species ticked off Max's quickly expanding list.

Upon retrieval of one of the smaller specimens the rod was nearly wrenched from Max's arms as a Pike snatched it. Unfortunately, despite conciderable careful cajoling the Pike bit through the hooklength before we could land it.

Eventually we landed the target fish, a decent Chub of about two pounds.....

.....resulting in a smiley smug little angler!!

Max's account click here

More Max Fishing

My blog is in danger of being completely taken over by a small boy whose passion for angling is showing no signs of waning. He has however started his own blog now, check it out.
Thursdays (cut short by the weather) afternoon session again at Willow Farm was highlighted by Max's first Carp. A pretty apple slice scaled Mirror that led him a merry dance. Max float fished maggots while I plonked a prawn down by the lilies to give us a back-up option. The Carp picked up the prawn and made the boys day.

His next session was scheduled for Saturday but we gave storm Brian a wide berth and postponed until Sunday morning. The wind was still blowing a hooley so we kept the rod tip as low as possible while feeder fishing maggots. The swim took some getting going but after an hour or so the fish started to oblige.
Ever since our first session Max has had a weird obsession about catching an Eel. I have told him that the time of year meant that it was unlikely and that the numbers of Eels are not what they used to be, trying to soften the blow of disappointment. Well I shouldn't have wasted my breath. We had already landed a quality netful of Perch, Roach, Dace, Chublets and the biggest Bleak I have ever seen, when the rod bent over and stayed bent over. Max laid into the unseen adversary, I thought he was attached to a decent Chub so imagine our surprise when an Eel appeared at the net. Excited high fives followed. It was not going in the keepnet so we weighed and photographed it and put it straight back.

Max insisted he was going to hold it for the trophy shot, he obviously had no idea what is involved in holding an Eel. His expressions speak a thousand words.

Eventually he got it under control.

And it took him about half an hour to get the slime off his hands.

Posing with the biggest Perch of the day was much easier!

Max Bagging Up

Max has got the bug bad. All he has spoken this week is going fishing, different species, places to go. He has always had a passion for animals but that has now transpired to all things fish as well.
This week I planned an action packed morning to add further fuel to the fire in his belly and to give him more experience of casting, playing and also unhooking some fish for himself. As sad as it is a commercial would be the best place but not somewhere catching pasties and mud pigs. A silver pool like the one at Willow Farm was ideal, plenty of bites and a lovely variety of silver fish.

First cast a decent Roach and he insisted the camera came out to record the historic moment. Several more followed along with some decent sized Silver Bream and a few dainty Perch.

When he started to get the hang of things it gave me an opportunity to get the camera out and take some action shots.

A quick learner it was a joy to hear his squeals of delight when he got a fish on.

Biggest fish of the day was this 2lb 2oz Common Bream.

Pleased as punch with a quality netful of Silvers. Back on the river next time....

Solitary Barbel

We were only chatting in the pub the night before about how we are catching Barbel but not in any numbers. One, two in a session at best. Now the fish are obviously there, they tend to live in shoals but the low clear conditions and a struggling fish is possibly spooking the rest of the shoal. Well it's a theory.

I started the session trotting meat, changed to rolling meat but without success. It was hard going so for a break I poured a coffee and changed to a straight lead, pellet and pva bag. A comfort break called and as soon as I turned towards a nearby bush the rod hooped over and it was fish on. I was on the rod in a flash worried that the fish would find sanctuary in what is a quite snaggy swim. Luckily my reactions were quick enough and after a spirited battle I slid the net under a chunky six pounder. 

The hook was quickly removed from the bottom lip and I also removed another hook from its chin, it looked to have been there for quite some time, a sore reminder of its last battle but no harm done.

That was the end of the action despite my best considerable efforts. Next up a weekend session with Max to teach him the finer arts of float fishing in stillwaters, He has the bug bad, won't stop talking about it!

Childhood Enthusiasm Rekindled

Picnic by the river, Max enjoying his ham sandwiches on his first ever Pike fishing trip.
It was hard work, several swims in different stretches, Max's patience started to wain, it is not easy to keep a seven year olds boredom at bay when the fish won't play ball. We tried slow stretches, under willows, dying reed beds, deep holes and shallow glides., every spot that looked likely. Moving swims renewed the lads enthusiasm each time but without results. Eventually we ended up on the edge of a weir pool.
The dead baits remained untouched still so a change of tactic to sink and draw and on the second cast we finally got a take. It was not a monster (thankfully) as the adrenaline got Max in a bit of a panic but with a little coaching he did enough to get the fish to the net. A perfect predator in miniature was bravely held up for the camera and my relief was immense. He was so buzzing with excitement he asked to phone his mum straight away, he couldn't wait to tell her he had caught his first Pike. I had forgotten what that sort of excitement was like but it came flooding back, I'm still buzzing on his infectious enthusiasm. He had the camera out the bag before I even got into the house and the printed photo is pride of place by his bed-until the next time. I gave him a book and now he wants to catch a Catfish- or an Eel-or a Barbel or a...
Wouldn't we all love to be at that discovery age again?!

Dull Session

A sneaky few hours on the Avon. Not a lot to report. No Barbel on the pellet rod but managed to avoid a blank with the smallest Pike I have ever caught and one a bit bigger at 6lb 2oz both taken on Roach deadbaits. River still low and clear. As I said, not a lot to report!