Smelly Pike, Nice Pike, Warks Avon

Today was an 'all's well that ends well' kind of day. It did not look that way for most of it. The rods were static for hours on end and it did not matter what bait I tried or flavour I added the Pike were not playing ball. In fact the river looked devoid of life. Around midday I decided to chop up some deadbaits, throw them in and then give the swim a rest while I tried to catch a Chub or two. The result was no different after an hour so back for the Pike I went.
The first cast I was not happy with so I started to retrieve and suddenly it felt heavy like a clump of weed. What I brought in was disgusting! A Pike of about four pounds. I would guess it had been dead since last year and the smell was like nothing I have smelt before and hopefully never will again. I can still smell it now as I type this and I have showered! Might go for another wash. It was bloated and too heavy to lift out so I netted it, I have thrown the net away. I think it is likely that the fish were steering clear of it and that is why I was blanking. I apologise to anyone who is eating while reading this.

I did not fancy weighing it for the challenge! Thankfully I did not have too. Within an hour of landing the lump of rot I had a proper fish on, hooked from the very same spot. After a bit of a song and dance near the snags I had her in the net. A solid looking Pike weighing 17lb 7oz. A slow difficult couple of weeks by the river all forgotten in a moment. 

Double Blank, Avon and Willow

We all have days when the fish do not play ball and today was not cricket. I am lucky that my journey to work every day takes me over the Avon which means I can keep an eye on it's levels and fluctuations. All week I have been watching it rise and rise until it finally peaked sometime yesterday evening. The recent rise in temperatures coupled with a slightly falling river meant I set off this morning with confidence. Three hours without a bite except false ones from the flow and debris flying down the river zapped it. The gale force winds did not help either.
An afternoon change of venue and tactics did not produce a change of fortune. Willow farm fishery with worms for Roach was the plan B and at least a couple of bites were forthcoming but they were tentative and lightning fast and ultimately unhittable. The fact that the fish had been under six weeks worth of ice until only a day ago is my reasoning for another failure.
Never mind there is always next week.

Chub, Warks Avon.

Most of the snow melt is out of the river and it looks perfect but looks can be deceptive. A difficult long day but I was pleased with a brace of Chub. I did expect a lot more but maybe the river or the fish take a lot longer to recover than anticipated. It has been cold for a very long time.
I headed for my Chub banker swim and it did not let me down. Cheese paste did the trick as ever and I was the only angler of five using it today and the other four all banked so maybe I had a lucky choice.

The Chub weighed 3lb 13oz and 3lb 10oz.