Ar*e over tit...

If I look back at my blog January and February have been very kind to me when trying to bank a specimen Perch. My P.B. of 2lb 11oz’s came when there was a sheet of ice moving slowly around the lake and most bites resulted in a specimen.

It’s the 1st of December today and there are still trees full of leaves and still reasonably mild. We had a couple of frosts of late so after staying a mates in Warwick on Friday night after a party in the town with some friends the plan was to try and see if the bigger Perch were biting. I got to the ressi at 7.00am first light and the whole lake was covered in leaves, a lovely sight with the autumn colours but not ideal for fishing.

I settled down in my favourite swim and baited a couple of areas with dead red maggot and chopped worms. Over the top I planned to fish one rod with a Perch bobber and a couple of lobworms on a size 8 hook and on the sleeper rod a krill glugged king prawns on a running rig. I’ve never been successful with king prawns for Perch, lobs and small deadbaits have been more successful but I’ve never really persevered with them. Centerparcs where I lost a 4lber (well it looked that big anyway) never had a touch on king prawn and lobs and deadbait they were jumping in the hook.

 I’m planning to give them more of a go though as within 10 minutes of placing the rod on the rest I had a run. Sadly I struck in to thin air but at least I had a bite. It’s sizeable bait so unlike lobs they will sort out the better stamp of fish. The water was cold but with carp topping and launching themselves out the water it might have been anything.

The float set-up where I fish next to an overhanging bush I had action from the off, catching plenty of Perch, a few small’uns but the most a reasonable stamp and the biggest a nadger over a pound . The leaves started to pee me off so after unhooking my thousandth I decided to go and get a well deserved full English. No specimens today sadly but I’ll be back when it’s much colder.

I went to St Nicholas park Warwick with the family in the afternoon so Sam could ride his balance bike and Ben could feed the ducks and the river had a lovely blue tinge to it, looked so fishy and ideal lobworm colour so Sunday morning I found myself fishing again, who’d have thought it.

Dawn was stunning, the thick mist blanketing the Warwickshire Avon, the abundant bird and wildlife enjoying the fresh clean air like I was. I’ve been a sufferer of Seasonal Affective Disorder as long as I can remember, the nature of my job means come the autumn and winter months I drive to work in the dark and return home in the dark. I really do hate it, and fishing really does help. The thought of going fishing and leaving the warm bed and comforting effects of the Wife ample bosom might sound madness to some people but for me it keeps me sane. If I don’t get a fresh air and vitamin D of a weekend my mood really does change for the worse.

The river was up and motoring through so I planned to fish an area of slack just off the crease. It’s a large open swim so I used two rods again, lobworm and meat with a plug of paste in the gripper lead. The first two bites I had were definitely Chub snatching at the meat and a small Perch and Chublet took a liking to the wriggler. I only planned to fish for a few hours so I refreshed the baits for the last hour and sat back and waited. Just downstream of my swim is an area of artificial slack created to allow the resident deer to cross the river in safety, and what I visual sceptical I was party too, herds of deer crossing from one side of the river to the other. Some with their overly large antlers a contrasting silhouette against the rising morning sun. Stunning…..

The only problem was I didn’t notice the ensuing bite until the centrepins ratchet sprung in to life and there was line screaming from the reel. The ratchet makes a fantastic audible bite alarm and the realisation that I had a decent fish on I quickly sprung up from my chair and proceeded to slip on the mud and go arse over tit, and smack bang on my backside.

I managed to grab the rod in the ensuring calamity but the few seconds it took for me to get things under control the fish had taken yards and yards of line. It felt a decent fish and as soon as it was trying to bury its head amongst the near back cover I realised it was a Chub.

I managed to net it despite the previous tribulation, not the biggest of fish at 4lb 2oz but had plenty of growing to do as it was pretty hollow. It was an old warrior of a fish judging by the Pike wound and easily identifiable should I catch it again.

I love the winter, easily my favourite season.