Robins Love Cheese Paste

Well it wouldn't be Christmas without a Robin pictured on a rod, scrounging maggots or in this case a lump of cheese paste. It kept us merrily entertained during a slow period. 

Max and I were back down by the Warwickshire Avon, the lad legering the aforementioned paste and I trying to lure a toothy creature on a Roach dead bait. 

A resounding three-nil victory for Max with a two pounder (above) and two three's (below) both weighing exactly the same 3lb 2oz.

A new pb as most fish are when you are just beginning your angling journey. I did manage to hook one small Jack but it spat the hook before we had chance to land it.

A Rant and some Chub

The Warwickshire Avon at Marlcliffe looking her resplendent tree-lined best in the height of Summer. The banks lined with colourful trees, bushes and reeds full of wildlife and plenty of Willows helping to combat erosion.

A short amble downstream and we reach the lock island, another haven for wildlife. I have seen Kingfishers aplenty down here feeding on the fry that take shelter in the roots and reeds, Swans nesting and nurturing their ugly ducklings, and even a family of Mink.  

2015

Even in the depths of Winter it is still a lovely place to be, maybe even more so when the banks are less crowded.

2015

2016

So who's idea was it clear the whole far bank of every tree and the whole island as well!! Rumour has it that the Avon navigation trust are trying to make the river deeper to enable bigger boats to be able to travel upstream to Stratford. I'm no expert but surely the bankside clearing will only increase erosion and therefore the widen the river making it shallower? or is it not that simple?

2016

The weir height has been increased with loads of rocks added to the slope. This will increase the depth of the water above but surely it can only be a temporary measure as the first few floods will soon wash these down the slope.

Rocks on the weir

The island is now a shadow of its former self. It is not easy to tell from the photo but the bank is now a bolder-strewn wasteland with sharp rocks stretching well out into the water. I am sure the Barbel will return to spawn as they always do but I implore anyone fishing for them in these swims to use really strong tackle. Any fish that are landed will probably have mouths full of hooks from lost battles where the hooklink has sheared on the rocks. This whole exercise has not been done without any thought on fish safety whatsoever. A beautiful area has been decimated and cannot be the haven for wildlife it has been. I will be looking for pastures new come next season. Rant over!

My (former) favourite swim

Anyhow I did manage to wet a line in a banker swim much further downstream. Chub were the target and I landed a couple of them.

One four pounder and a smaller one fell to a lump of last years cheesepaste. An enjoyable bit of fun in the Winter sun.

Short Chub Session

The sun was shining and with the river back to its beautiful Winter best, I just had to sneak off for a couple of hours Chubbing. I grabbed some smelly cheese paste from the freezer and headed to a banker swim for Chub. With only two hours at my disposal this was not a session for exploring, just a chance to get a bend in the rod and fix the itch.
The ever faithful Chub didn't let me down. The bites were quite finicky but once I had worked out that I was not going to get big twangs and pulls I managed to hit a few fish. No monsters landed but some good fun in the resplendent Winter sunshine.

Car update: It is still there and is looking pretty sorry for itself, the floods have not done it any favours!!

December Surprises

When I made my first cast this morning there was more hope than expectation. Over night temperatures were hovering around 5 degrees centigrade and the river level was on the rise. I decided to play it safe fishing two rods, a 'sleeping' Pike bait chucked along the margin and maggot feeder deployed towards the far bank willows. I settled back preparing to build a swim hoping to nail a few Roach, Dace and maybe the odd bonus.
My coffee flew everywhere when the rod tip almost immediately jumped in the rest, bent down towards the water and just kept on going in a manner that could only be produced by an angry Barbel.  The anti reverse was clicked off just in time to allow the fish some line and the battle commenced. What was obviously a reasonable fish used the strong flow to its full advantage and the 3lb hook-link rendered me fairly helpless to do anything but hang on. Gently and carefully I coaxed the fish back upstream and with an aching arm I breathed a sigh of relief as it slid into the net. A short immaculate specimen that was as fat as butter. Curiosity got the better of me and I put it on the scales, 8lb 6oz.

I thought to myself that it was a one off and so stuck with the light hook-link and size 16 hook but it turned out to be a mistake. It didn't take long before another Barbel was hooked but this time the fish found a snag and with it its freedom.
Hint taken I tied on a new hook but this time using eight pound line. Surprisingly the Barbel were really having it and in no time at all I was attached to another. With more power at my disposal the battle was short-lived and soon enough I was slipping the net under another fat Barbel, this time weighing in at 9lb 6oz.

Normally I would have made the effort to take a decent photo but with a sloppy sliding bank side and a dodgy knee I settled for another 'net' shot rather than risking more damage to my painful joint.
Having never caught a Barbel in December before (I don't see the point in trying) I was made up with the mornings fishing so far. It didn't last though and following a quiet spell the maggot bait was swapped for cheese paste. The air temperature had noticeably fallen and felt much more 'Chubby'. The change of tack worked and a brace of Chub were landed, weirdly both weighed exactly the same, 3lb 12oz.

In between I also managed to land a small Jack Pike to round off a pretty good Winters day by the river.

Chub on the Cheese

The recent drop in temperatures had me reaching into the freezer for some home made cheese paste and I headed off down the Warwickshire Avon in search of some big Chub. My target every Winter is to break the six pound mark (my pb being just short of that). A tall order on the river locally with the majority of the fish weighing three or four pounds and a five being a good fish. I know I could venture further afield to give myself more chance of hitting the target but the satisfaction would not be the same so I'll stay local until I crack it.

I love Winter fishing for the solitude. My only company on the whole stretch was a pair of nearly fully grown cygnets and the now common Kingfisher. Call me a miserable Yorkshireman but I go fishing to get away from people(apart from a few fishy buddies), not to be sociable with strangers.

Miserable Yorkshireman!!

 The fish were finicky but I did manage to land three Chub, all peas in a pod and all weighing virtually the same, just short of the four pound mark. Good sport as always in the conditions.

Still miserable!!

P.S The car is still there!!

More Avon Chubbing

The Snowdrops have blossomed and the Daffodils are poking through, Spring is on its way and I for one can't wait. The river still looked distinctly Winterish when I landed on its banks this morning.

The smattering of overnight snow had all but disappeared replaced by a freezing cold Northerly wind. As per last week the target was Chub and I wandered the banks armed with a fresh lump of stinky home-made cheese paste. Travelling light I baited up half a dozen swims and meandered back upstream to the first one. I fished a free running paternoster rig with a 'rotten bottom', six pound mainline and four pound hook length.

For a couple of years now I have used Owner paste hooks for my chubbing, usually a size eight, and they have never let me down. They have never been easy to get hold of but I have always found a supply apart from this week when I searched and scoured the internet and came up dry, any suggestions gratefully welcome!

The first hour passed with very little action and I was just contemplating a move when the rod tip finally twitched. It twitched again and I decided to hit it and thankfully I did because I landed what turned out to be the best Chub of the day, 4lb 5oz.
Three of its brethren quickly followed before the swim seemed to die, still a decent bag for a couple of hours work.

Tazzy seemed impressed!

My roving approach to the downstream baited areas ended up fruitless. A Barbel angler had dropped in to one of the swims (the one I really wanted to fish!) and he borrowed my scales for the one specimen he landed, a nine pounder taken on maggots.

By now the wind was really cutting through me and the dog was tired and had started shivering so we made our way home. Can't wait 'til the weather warms up.

Chub and Deer

An extremely sharp overnight frost and all the still waters were frozen over. Not that that bothered me in the slightest because the rivers had dropped back to normal levels and although I enjoy fishing lakes and ponds my true love is the river, especially my regular mistress the Warwickshire Avon.

Bright blue skies and not a drop of wind, stunning scenery and not a sole in sight, whats not to like about Winter fishing-as long as you wear enough layers!!

I wandered the crisp banks looking for a likely place to start satisfying my photography urge as I went. My plan today was two-pronged, a slow deep steady swim would give me the chance of Roach and overhanging trees where I could maybe winkle out a Chub or two.

Having picked a likely looking spot I mashed some bread and fed the central line fishing with an open cage feeder and a chunk of flake on the hook. A lump of cheese was cast towards the cover along with a few free offerings to try and tempt the Chub out from their snaggy lair.

Tazzy in the meantime explored the area sniffing at nothing discernible and keeping a close eye on the wildlife, namely a busy Moorhen and a friendly Robin.

I thought the plan was a good one. I didn't expect the fish to crawl up the line but thought the first couple of hours would amount to more than just a couple of twitches on the flake and a lunge on the cheese all of which amounted to nothing in the net. Lunchtime arrived and while Tazzy munched on her biscuits I decided to instigate plan B, a roving approach. I downscaled my amount of tackle to one rod, a net and one bag and wandered off downstream.

The fishing remained tough but eventually in swim four or five I connected to a decent Chub that used the flow to its full advantage. Thankfully the hook and tackle held firm and the relief was tangible when I eventually slid the net under a rather pale 4lb 3oz fish. I thought I had cracked it and more would follow but sadly that was it, still at least a blank had been avoided.

Spotted a trio of Roe deer on the way home, one of our native species and very rare to see them out in the open in the middle of the day.

They allowed me to take quite a few shots while I was still in the car but as soon as I tried to get closer they flashed me a big white moony and shot off for cover-charming!