Warwickshire Avon - Hunchbacks and Hacktivists

How Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame came about is quite incredible really, it was released 25 years ago this month, and somehow a ratings board made up of parents decided that a film with a musical number about lust and hellfire was a goer. 

Quasimodo was a fictional character and the main protagonist of the 1831 novel by Victor Hugo. The novel has been described as a key text in French literature and has been adapted for film over a dozen times

Telling the story of the disfigured bell ringer Quasimodo who longs for a life on the outside, and a plot that involves the threat of genocide against Gypsies was appropriate for a general audience was nothing to worry about.

Would it be allowed in 2021, I very much doubt it where the wokeists seem to have got a foothold at the moment. 

Now one day, Quasimodo whose only friends are talking gargoyles breaks free and lays his eyes upon local Gypsy girl Esmeralda, and stands up to his tyrant master to help and save Esmeralda.

I'm sure thousands of dollars must have changed hands somewhere I’m sure, because ok this woke world has changed significantly in just a couple of years, but even 25 years ago I thought it would have been difficult to get the tick in the box especially as its an animated movie made for kids.  

....Mick back on topic please, 

....well the last time we went fishing and a paddle at the Arrow at that weekend I'd somehow pulled a back muscle so on the Monday morning I was walking like good old Quasi and like him I needed a change from work and the four home office walls and needed to get outside. 

 

Luckily for me and the fish the heatwave had come to an end whilst I was recovering and we'd had some much needed rain and a nice drop in temperature. 

It almost felt like being in proper lock-down again as I'd barely left the house with work being a welcome distraction. 

With some ibuprofen pills and also gel and not trying to do too much I was feeling a little better a week and a half later so after a well deserved curry and pint with a mate Phippo at the 'Joey' I'd pop in to the syndicate stretch for a once over on bailiff duties.

I did manage to get the odd walk out with the kids who now off school for the summer holidays the Wife has the job of occupying them whilst I work from home and popping in to the office once in a while. 

The last walk out the thunder and lightning was quite incredible and luckily it didn't last long as the kids hate it. Sam changes from wigging his worm happily to a look of fear and Sam, well he has even been know to shed a tear or ten. 

So with the river still being low and clear despite the odd downpour I'll head to the 'bomb hole' which ain't far away to see what I could winkle out. 

If you're new to this blog this swim of significance really is quite an eye opener. My postie Bob put me on to it as it was a big chub haven back in the day and despite fishing here over the years I'd never realised it was here. 

You see there isn't a peg as such to fish here really but the waters surfaces does show that there is something strange going on so I was surprised I didn't twig to get the deeper out before. 

The change in depth is really quite dramatic where 4 to 5 foot all over a sudden becomes 3-4 times that. Even for this trip when the river is a foot or two below normal levels there is still 14ft over their heads.

I'd fished it for Chub initially and had a PB at the time at the first session but then a couple or three subsequent trips were a tad disappointing. I was back though and this time because of the size of the swim I'd fish two rods both for chub.

So on one rod a pungent small cheese and garlic boilie and the other a chunk of chicken liver which had proved a fantastic chub bait that had worked straight from the off when I tried it last season. 

The bites were frankly quite ridiculous but I'd only fished liver in the colder months so I always wonder what it would be like in the summer conditions where again it was another warm evening. 

I would fish a smaller bait this time though, not the donkey choker I'd used before, still a big hook mind you these have got big gobs after-all. 

Just above the 'bomb hole' the water is quite well oxygenated because in complete contrast to this 'feature' it is shallow and pacey.  Fish would feel comfortable here there is no doubt about that and they could easily venture in to the deep bit if they didn't want to be seen out in the open. 

Despite the rain the river is still gin clear so after positioning the bait I didn't expect much action till the sun started to set and I was right. An hour and a half in to the session without even a pluck or a tap I expected as much.

There was other activity though as the sun started to set as the predators became active. A couple of huge pike strikes that were launching in to the shoals of bait fish and the namesake launching themselves out of the water to evade the chasing perch.

Just as the light was almost gone the first sign of chub in the swim when a couple of boils on the surface they were taking stuff off the top.

It can be almost like a switch on the Warwickshire Avon when the chub and barbel start to go on the hunt for food and this session was no exception. 

With my rod tops being illuminated by these battery powered indicators I've been trying out the first indication there were fish about. A proper fast bite that was not far off a 4ft twitch. The liver was getting interest and sure enough a few minutes after the first pull a proper bite developed and a fish was on. 

What I didn't expect though was what I felt on the end, ok it was pulling back but not the stamp of fish I was after. In-fact one of the smallest chub I caught in a while that succumbed to the lambs liver.

It has a more robust texture than chickens liver and therefore stays on the hook better. Unhooked and the liver went out again with only a few more tentative pulls before I called an end to the session. The boilie rod, nothing....

....disappointing, yeap as this swim has so much potential.