So Close, No Lies

The sun rises on another new season and I couldn't resist a few pre-work bankside hours. However the fish could resist my pellet offerings and I went home with just a couple of Chub pulls and nothing more to show for my efforts.

Fast forward to the following Wednesday and I was back on the bank. This season I have decided to come away from the manic BAA stretches as much as possible. I have kept the ticket on because they are close to home, ideal for quick sessions but am disillusioned with the actions of several individuals that fish these stretches, lighting fires, the ridiculous amount of litter and the constant flouting of rules. Plus I am not a people person with rod in hand and they are just too busy.

Martin already had a Bream in the net when I arrived, a lovely dark fish of about four pounds. I dropped into the swim above him, a lovely nearside run with overhanging trees that just screamed Chub and Barbel. I baited up with a couple of handfuls of pellets and the pair of us went for a wander. Martin knew of a Kingfisher nest just upstream so we went to see if we could spot the owner and also have a chat with the only two other anglers on the mile and a bit stretch. That's what river fishing should be, plenty of free swims, not full of noddies in every available peg.
No sign of the Kingfisher but one of the other anglers landed a Barbel while we were there, a good sign that the fish were feeding.
Within a half hour of returning to our swims (the Kingfisher was hiding) my rod hooped round and after a cracking battle I landed my first whisker of the season, 8lb 2oz. I thought more would immediately follow but the fight had obviously spooked the swim and an extended period of inactivity ensued.

Martin added a decent Chub to his Bream and then a Barbel of his own of about six pounds as the light started to fade. Darkness was virtually upon us when I finally had my second bite. The fish managed to find a snag but thankfully with a bit of careful cajoling it came free. From there on I was on top of the tug-of-war and Martin slipped the net under a lovely long fish for me. The scales don't lie and neither do we!-9lb 15oz of immaculate Avon Barbel. Martin took a pretty good photo considering an inquisitive horse was nudging him in the shoulder whilst he did so.

Six Sessions, One Post- Close Season Catch Up

Recently it has been a bit of a struggle to find the time to fish and when I have managed to get bankside the results have been poor. I cannot find the motivation to write about fishless sessions or ones involving tiddlers so hence the blog has been quiet.

Several weeks ago I took some floaters to my favourite Carp venue. The avian life were extremely interested in my offerings, especially the goose and swan pictured and I struggled to get the same response from below the surface. One missed bite was all I could muster and I went home cursing our feathered friends.

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Session Two and some very inclement weather gave Tazzy and I a proper soaking.

The cold rain made the sport sporadic to say the least. I was targetting silver Bream but only managed a few small roach and a couple of Bronze Bream and nothing special to boot.

Session Three was good fun, got the fly rod out and chased the Carp in the local puddle. Two small battling Commons landed made for a pleasant evening distraction.

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Session Four was a blank chasing Tench, the weather was still quite chilly and I don't think the Tincas had woken up properly from their Winter slumber. Even Tazzy looked bored that day.

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Session Five and the fly rod came back into play. A social evening with the big man at the picturesque Lenches lakes chucking bits of fluff at rising Trout.

The warmer temperatures have made the fish more active and I managed a brace of Trout up to 2 1/2 pound. The first one fell for a black gnat type pattern with buoyant white wings (I must learn the proper names of these things!), the second a large grasshopper type thing, it was getting dark so needed something big that my old eyes could see in the gloom.

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Session Six saw me back Tenching but this time on a red hot day in glorious sunshine.

The Carp were thrashing around in the margins obviously starting to get amorous and they gave me a constant barrage of line bites making it difficult to tell if I was getting actual bites. The Tench were conspicuous by their absence and after five bite less hours I was beginning to get frustrated.

Finally I had an unmissable run and after a bit of trouble with a weed bed I slipped the net under by far the best fish I have caught this year. A stunning female Tench pulling the scales down to 9lb 3oz. All the frustrations of previous sessions forgotten with one fish- gotta love this sport!!

The Avon and the Car: Update

I half-heartedly cast a line yesterday into a rapidly rising Warwickshire Avon. Thankfully it doesn't look likely to break its banks this time unlike virtually every river in the north of England. My heart goes out to those unfortunate folk who will have a pretty miserable start to 2016.

I didn't expect much action but I wasn't there to empty the place, just an excuse to get out and walk the dog really.

The amount of crap being washed downstream was amazing but made the fishing doubly difficult. On the plus side when the water does recede the river bed will be a lot clearer. 

1pm

Car update: It is still there but probably not for much longer if the river keeps rising. Latest word bank-side is that someone lent it to their friend and the chap that abandoned it has not been seen since! It is not fully insured, only third party and the owner hasn't got any money so cannot get it retrieved. Both the police and environment agency were informed over eight weeks ago. The Avon Navigation Trust won't do anything about it but My betting is that will change when it slides into the river and is sat right in the boat lane entrance to the lock.

2.30pm

What a Difference a Week Makes...

Fishing can be the cruelest of mistresses sometimes!
Following last weeks hugely successful Tench session I headed back to Linear this time with Martin in tow. Excitement was high with the prospect of a few big Tench pulling our strings and armed with worms we felt that we could not fail, but fail we did.
The conditions seemed perfect, Tench rolled in the swim most of the morning but the alarms stayed silent, deafeningly silent. We worked hard baiting up at regular intervals, tactics that have worked dozens of times for me in the past but the fish just hadn't read the script.
We were sent home with our tails firmly between our legs and my personal quest for a double figure Tench continues.....

Too Early for Tench?

The recent spell of warm weather turned my thoughts to Tench, my favourite species to target in the Spring. I think I was a bit premature though. It takes a long time for a huge deep body of water like Hardwick gravel pit to rise in temperature and awaken from its Winter slumber and the crystal clear water was still very cold to the touch.

I worked hard all day but could not manage to generate a bite, the alarms staying silent apart from one line bite mid-afternoon. Give it a couple of weeks and those big Tench will be on the munch, filling up as much as they can before spawning time.
The wildlife was interesting though, I love watching funny looking tufties....

the Red-Crested Pochard

Blue Sunday

With only a small window of opportunity this weekend I needed to fish somewhere local. The Avon was still up and coloured so my choice was limited to stillwater and that meant either Perch or Trout. A sharp overnight frost meant the local Perch puddle was likely to be frozen over so I grabbed a fly rod and headed to the Lenches lakes.

Despite the brilliant sunshine more and more ice was forming in the margins as the day wore on but there was still plenty of spots of open water to fish.

The spring fed water was crystal clear making fish spotting simple but I didn't see a single fish the whole day. There was no lack of effort on my part as I tried several different flies and lures from small and dark to large and bright, I varied the retrieve, I fished shallow and deep in several different areas but I could not even muster a half-hearted follow let alone a bite and therefore ended the day a complete blanker.

That aside it was lovely to spend a few hours in the country at this stunning venue and I wasn't too disheartened to go home fishless, I got some pretty pleasing photos as compensation.

Coot

The fishing hut has seen better days!!

Drop Shot Danny and the Bloggers

The salubrious Coventry canal. A venue packed with Zander but sadly I could not muster even a baby 'Zed'. Still it was an interesting venue to while away a few hours of daylight with a plethora of fellow bloggers some of whom did manage to get their strings pulled.
It was great to meet up with some old acquaintances and some familiar faces that I have never met before but feel I know well anyway.
Also watching Danny putting his drop shot technique to devastating effect landing more fish than the rest of use combined has given us all food for thought. A moving bait is definitely the way forward on this and similar venues for me in the future.

Drop shot Danny

Rain Stops Play

In the interest of blogging balance blanks are always posted, as well as red letter days. Sadly this weekend was the former.
Martin and I took a short road trip down to the Wye valley on the outskirts of Ross on Wye. Our target was Pike and hopefully huge ones. The trip had been booked three weeks previously so obviously weather wise we were completely at the mercy of the gods, they were not kind. The previous day was a wash out across the whole of Wales. Torrential down pours emptied into the river system and when we arrived at our chosen stretch the river looked perfect but it was on the rise. And boy did it rise quickly!
To add to a rapidly rising river(in my opinion the worse possible conditions for Pike) within ten minutes  of our arrival the heavens opened and it did not not up. It was so heavy it caused the river surface to bubble up.
Despite the conditions I did manage to hook a Jack Pike within ten minutes of casting out but sadly it threw the hook just as I was about to net it. That was the some total of the action and after four hours we beat a soggy retreat to the car for an early lunch.
A change of venue was decided upon and we toddled off closer to home and our favourite river Avon. We both knew that the odds were against us again as the Avon was a foot and a bit above normal levels and a lovely chocolate brown, lovely for Barbel not so good for Pike. We gave it our best shot but yet again we were sent home with our tails between our legs, a couple of right blankers!
Did manage to get a nice shot of a pheasant though......

One Opportunity-Missed

Tonight was definitely a case of the one that got away as the title suggests. My face dropped as I pulled into the car park on a granted popular stretch of the Avon, mine was the tenth car to arrive! I wandered upstream to where Martin had set his stall out opposite a tempting run of overhanging willows.
A brief chat and a mooch about and I dropped in three pegs below him. Despite the amount of cars there was still plenty of choice as five anglers were all blanking around the weir pool. I baited the swim liberally with hemp and pellet and settled in for the waiting game

It was slow to say the least with the magnificent summer possibly to blame but as usual I played with the camera and was entertained by the ample variety of wildlife. The damselflies were particularly active flitting and dancing around each other in the fading light. Also the Kingfisher was extremely busy flying up and down and up and down, catching fish and then returning them to an extremely well hidden nest. I tried to get it to pose for a photo but they are way too fast!

When the sun had set and the light had all but faded I finally got the bite I was waiting for. The rod instantly bent double, almost leaping from the rest and it was fish on. I slowed down the initial run only to have it make another equally determined bid for freedom and this time the Barbel got its wish. That gut wrenching moment when the carbon straightens out is heart-breaking to any angler. It happens to us all and the pain never gets any easier to bear. The only consolation I have is that I don't think it was a big fish, the run from a monster is generally more deliberate but of course I will never truly know.
You win this time Mr Barbel but I will be back for revenge!

Blue Sky Blank

A beautiful Winter's day finally, great for photos but rubbish for fishing, well it was for me anyway. I recently invested in some filters for my camera and have also taught myself how to take photos not on auto mode. Highly confusing at first, ISOs, f-numbers, shutter speed, aperture etc but I think I am getting there slowly. Pretty pleased with today's results.

I spent the day at Lechlade Trout fishery, would have loved to have been back on the river but the rain is still incessant, great to see some sunshine but it won't last. 

I tried all sorts of flies, varied the retrieve and depth and cast into lots of different areas but I could not muster a single take. I am not complaining though it was just lovely to be out in the countryside and a ride out though the Cotswolds is always a pleasure. 

Burford(above) and Broadway Tower(below), a couple of jewels of the Cotswolds.