Saturday 29 June 2019

Warwickshire Avon - Eartha Kitts and Eager-beavers

It’s amazing what you remember when growing up, I lived in South Africa and they used to have these huge drive in outdoor movie theatres. You used to park your car next to a speaker post, unhook the speaker and clip it on your window. The parking spots were angled such that even for a nipper sat in the back you could see the screen no problem. The last film I remember seeing was E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial which had just come out so you can see just how long ago it was.

So that was a time when BMX bikes were all the rage and twin brother Chris and I were part of the ‘scene’. My Dad a precision engineer, made us the most trick ‘trick nuts’ you’d ever seen, the envy of the locals such the quality. The chemical blacking finishing it off, visually they looked superb and lasted the test of time, as did our Diamond Back bikes that took a heck of a pounding.


Now we could do with an outdoor cinema like that around these parts because it would be 31 degrees later, yes you heard right, 31 DEGREES the mercury would rise to those uncomfortable temperatures as we headed in to the afternoon where sod fishing, I’d be lightning the lumpwood and enjoying a rather large glass of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. It was still 18 degrees when I got bankside though and this session was a bit of a reccy.

I’d not been up this end for a while, a rather deep and pedestrian stretch of the Warwickshire Avon where I’m yet to track down its monsters. It’s a huge body of water and in places the deeper registered over 20 foot of water. I’ve only really tried for Zander and Pike and to be fair had some nice fish but I fancied trying for a carp or tench that apparently reside here as well.


I’m trying to tick the species off the Bloggers Challenge Chart and then when I’ve managed to tick off the majority, get back to fishing how I usually do this time of year. Surface fishing for Chub and fishing the smaller waterways and streams for whatever comes along. It’s gone quite well up to now though and the challenge has only just kicked off.

When I’ve been walking the banks here I’ve certainly seen what looks like tench bubbles, but they are most likely to be bream as I’m sure the tincas are few and far between. This time of year though the margins are littered with lily pads and to be honest, you can understand why they would like it here, it just ‘looks’ right for them.


The carp, well there are here as well, to be honest having not fished for them, I haven’t really tried to find where they hang out but I’ve certainly seen them, in-fact the last time I was here, one launched himself out of the water and it looked a cracking fish.

So with the sun out what a better time to have more of a look. Now in the summer months, I’ve done quite well using lures for the Zander here, so this session would be a bit of double dipping. A lure rod and also my scope rod with a method feeder baited with a small pineapple pop-up. It’s very deep even close in so a very visable bait indeed to try and stop a meandering fish in their tracks. The groundbait moulded around it a mix of sweetcorn, krill, fishmeal, a mixed sized handful of pellets and hemp.


The plan because you know I always have one, was to also bait a swim at the start of the session that I’d return to, to see if there were any feeding fish that had found the bait. Now I’d also have my polarised sunglasses to try and see if I could see any carp on the top as well and have some bread as back-up if I stumbled upon any when I was mooching about.

So enough of the preamble, let’s get fishing !!!!

So straight to the point what a tough session, I managed a couple of small bream from one swim but the carp and zander were nowhere to be seen. I moved around a bit as well and in around the lilies I expected to find at least one, but sadly nothing. Even the predators were not having it, a couple of follows that was it.


It was one of those sessions I'd rather forget, now, need to get on and make a jug of Pimms. There were signs of feeding Tench as well, but bites not forthcoming, maybe a float set-up tight to the lilies might have been the better option.

Next session, down the little Alne with Sam.

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