The Tiny River Alne - Earth-Baths and Egocentrism

You know as an angler when you get that feeling that you need to put something right, that sleep disturbing thought that's been playing on your mind since the last attempted rod bending purist, well this one of those sessions.

You see it was a frustrating here at the Alne last time where not only a sizeable trout decided that he might be wise to give me the middle finger and subsequently managed to lose the hook. 

The resident Otter patrolling this small river seemed very comfortable in my presence as do British media and royal family escapees Meghan and Harry seem very comfortable with the worlds media of late, since making the jump that is....

....Funny that !!!! 

I didn't have long though to catch a chub as WFH has become busier than ever but the Alne luckily is so close I could walk to it if need be. 

Now something enjoyable doesn't have to take up much time as I was hoping this session would bring, you see a simple meal concocted the evening before has become a default in the Newey household such the taste-bud booster and mind mender it's become.  

The salt overload, the capsicum kick, the garlic punch ? who knows but it's a combination that just works.

Pan fry some seabass fillets skin down till it's crispy and whilst the skinny fries I commandeered from the kids are browning in the oven (optional) flash fry some red chilli, garlic and fresh ginger matchsticks. 

Top the fillets (sat aside) with the contents of the pan and then garnish with some soy sauce and shredded spring onions. 

A tasty quick and simple dish if ever there was one !!!!

Now luckily for me when I was in-between ones CAD jobs of automotive splendour I had the opportunity to gear up the car prior to the session so in less than ten minutes I could be swimside and had a bait out next to some cover and fingers crossed, Chevin heaven. 

Visual bread would be the bait of choice but I'd also have some lobworms as back-up where if the bread wasn't doing the business I'd fish one just in to dusk as maybe a blank saver, as a change of tactics can bring bites when other methods fail. 

Anyway enough of the preamble, better get fishing !!!!

The river had risen quite a bit in 36 hours and also it had gone from not far off clear to being turbid again. 

This can often called an end to play on the Alne but with the fish being off feeding maybe they would be on the hunt to quell their hunger. I started off on lobworm and with minutes had the first bite. A proper pull round a fish was on. I thought it was a decent roach at first but it was a welcome chublet snaffling up the worm before his mates could get in on the act.

I didn't have to move out of this swim you see, well why would I when I was getting bites. All much of a humdrum though these the smallest chub I've caught for a while on the Alne. Most I catch in the winter here are between 2 and 3.5lb so juveniles this stamp is encouraging despite the predation they must suffer.

Now I had heard about the odd bream that lives in stretch but having never caught one before on numerous sessions I was surprised when it turned up for this short session. The river can vary from 13ft yes really to somewhere where you could take your shoes and socks off and not get your turn-ups wet.

A sloth like 2 inch pull stayed there for a few seconds and I lifted in to a fish on the end, guessing what it was in a split second. Nothing fight like bream, they are easily identifiable, so eventually a fish over a pound after countless tough and mediocre sessions. The last fifteen minutes in to dusk with a lump of Warburton's finest the outcome, biteless. 

I went home happy, the <2 hour visit to my nearest stretch of 'proper' river (5 mins by car) just the tonic that I need at the minute.