Mojo Returning

Blue skies and beautiful sunshine but blimey was it cold!
I seem to be getting my fishing mojo back with a second session in under a week, the first a disappointing blank but undeterred I grabbed what was left of my cheese paste and headed back to the river.
The sudden overnight drop in temperature made me feel that Chub were probably the only viable target.
An hour fishing and the cold was beginning to get through my thermals, just the one Chub to show for my efforts and not a biggie.

I needed to move to warm up the bones and hopefully find a bit more action.

Found the perfect spot. First cast fish on and that one was followed by several others at regular intervals.

I managed a respectable bag of Chub all falling for the paste before I ran out of bait, coffee and the will to brave the elements any longer.

We made our way back along the beautiful river to the comfort of the car. A thoroughly enjoyable peaceful little session.

A Tough 'Test' of Tackle

I have definitely lost my fishing mojo this year having only been out on a handful of sessions but, Martin and Andy persuaded me that the annual end of year trip to the wonderful chalk streams of Hampshire was an absolute must. I'm glad they succeeded.

This year we changed venue but we were still on the famous river Test, the Godfather of all the chalk streams. Much lower downstream than last year so as well as the Grayling and Trout there was the chance of some good coarse fish. 

I plonked myself into the first likely looking swim, dispatched a few handfuls of mashed bread and when the float dipped on the second trot through I struck in almost misbelief. I expected bottom as I was still working out the various depths but the rod bucked and a powerful fish in the strong flow gave me quite a scrap. As it is a new venue I had no idea what I was attached to but when it made several bids for the nearside snags the culprit could only be a Chub.

What a start to the day, 5lb 1oz of chunky Chub, I collared Martin in the next peg for photo duties.

The big man was soon back in my swim with a large Brownie worthy of a mugshot, out of season so it went back unweighed.

What followed was a fabulous day's sport with four more Chub all over four pounds...

A surprising amount of river Bream the biggest of which I weighed at 4lb 4oz...

The unavoidable Trout, all Brownies and a pb which I shouldn't have weighed but it was over four pounds

A couple of deer grazed nonchalantly over the far side...

when the float dipped and I struck into something completely different from anything previously hooked during the day.

My first thoughts were Salmon but it stayed low so I changed my mind to Barbel....

Martin went click-happy with the camera taking plenty of shots of the fight...

and finally after more than twenty minutes I slipped the net under a stunning Carp. Not what I suspected in this fast flowing river, they really are everywhere!

The smile hides the relief

Not the biggest Carp I have ever caught but a stunner in all her winter glory and she 'test'ed all my skills on three pound line, a trotting rod and fast water. 

One of New Years resolution is definitely more Angling like this!!

Catch-up Winter

Just the one session in November. Again Max was with me so we feeder-fished maggots to make sure there was enough action to keep him interested.

The first swim was dead so we moved to the ever productive weir pool. Max was happy with a succession of Chub, Roach and Perch.

The smile says it all!

Catch-up Summer and Autumn

Summer 2018

A couple of sessions over the ridiculously busy summer with Max in tow. A short evening session blanking on the river and an enjoyable afternoon session targeting silver fish initially...

and then we changed pools to chase the Carp in the glorious afternoon sunshine. 

Dog biscuits floating across the surface is my favourite way of catching Carp and is fast becoming Max's favourite too, so much so I recently bought him a 9' stalking rod at the local auction which will also be good for much of his other fishing.

Autumn 2018

A rare afternoon off the week before the Parish Games saw me heading off to the Avon for a practice session. A couple of pints of maggots were dispatched into a watery grave and I helped myself to a quality bag of Perch and roach. A pleasant pleasure session getting my eye back in ready for the match.

The annual Parish games, the only match I ever fish. Previous visitors to the blog will recall how frustrating this has become to our team of three, three second places and a creditable fourth in the last four years has given us a feeling that we might never get our hands on what is a spectacular trophy.

Not the most salubrious of pegs but for once I had been put in a decent place for fish. A decent net of Chublets. Perch and Roach, most caught in the first couple of hours and I knew I would frame in my section.

A section win for me and the same for Don plus a creditable fourth place for Ady in a barren stretch meant that finally we had our hands on the trophy that has eluded us for so long.

Cue the Celebrations!!

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.

Happy Sunshine Boy

By the time we got to the river it was already late morning, the sun was shining and felt lovely and warm on our backs. I had intended to would wander upstream towards the weir but Max liked the look of the car park swims so we dropped into the first one and it proved a good decision. 

Within minutes the quiver tip rattled and he landed a small Dace. Only the one rod out so I kept myself amused with the camera while the lad fished.

Fellow fisherman

'It was this big'

 The boy likes to talk and talk, mostly about fish and whilst I prefer a bit of peace and quiet I am not about to curb his enthusiasm.
It didn't take long before another fish found the red maggots to its liking and with some skill Max landed a new pb Chub weighing 2lb 9oz. He played it beautifully avoiding the nearside vegetation. With the hook removed I showed the boy the contents of the fish's mouth, he was amazed that the greedy blighter had literally hundreds of maggots down its throat.

A decent Chub that was followed very next cast with a cracking Perch. He has now started to realise that some fish cannot be bullied and need a bit more gentle persuasion- a valuable lesson.
I was nearly as excited netting these fish as Max was catching them and the winter sunshine really shows them off.

Not a lot more action followed and we soon left just after lunch, a satisfied gillie/photographer and a content angler.

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