The Stillwater - Damp Squibs and Daisy Kickers

What a rubbish end to 2019, the rivers unfishable again, with the rain seemingly falling for months, not weeks. The tangleator and I went to a local pool to try and get the float to dip, the quiver to tremble.

Sadly despite fishing all three of the pools with maggots and bread we didn't even get a bite, the water was cold for sure and having never fished it before I would have expected at least a few silvers or some small perch, but no, not a jot.

After a couple of bite less hours we decided to take the Jimny from the boggy field to find some flooded roads to exploit. The Avon at Charlecote in the fields, the road through Hampton Lucy like a river itself. If I look back over my blog this really has been an awful year.

Ok you only have to look at my blog count to see I've fished more than ever this year, but believe you me, I'm probably 15 to 20 sessions down on where I'd like to be, sadly my hand was forced. I rarely fish stillwaters, just not my thing.

Luckily it wasn't all bad, a highlight of 2019 was catching my PB Warwickshire Avon Barbel in March that went 12lb 14oz's on the scales.

A fish that took a huge chunk of garlic spam just as the light was going.

A couple of initial powerful surges this wise old fish decided to succumb to the bend in the rod earlier than expected.

To add to the 2019 highlights my biggest Warwickshire Avon Chub came from the 'bomb hole' swim, a location given to me by postie Bob who used to fish matches on this stretch many moons ago.

If you've read this blog of mind for a while I'd been struggling to catch a 5lb Chub from this area despite catching hundreds of them. I eventually got the monkey off my back and hopefully I'll start to track down some bigger fish.

Now another highlight is 8 year old Sam, 4 years in to his fishing, really is coming on as an angler. Not only does he love fishing streams and small rivers like I do, but he is also thinking like an experienced fisherman. Apart from recognising species he can also work out where they will likely to be, and also how to tackle up for them.

Very encouraging indeed, and I'm hoping our fishing adventures in the little Suzuki Jimny in 2020 will be to confirm, he really is a chip off the old block.

Oh and 14 species down on the Bloggers Challenge river scorecard, I'm hoping another couple or three will be ticked off before the close season, fingers crossed.

I'm hoping the Alne will drop like a stone like it usually does, because I've a small window of opportunity to try and winkle out a Chub because if not, this session would be my last of 2019, a diary full, not sure if that is good or bad. With the rivers the way they are, probably not a bad thing.