The Tiny River Alne - MOT's and Morphinomania

The tiny Suzuki Jimny SZ5 is 3 years old this weekend and the car was booked in for a MOT (passed with flying colours) so that meant I had to fold the rear seats back to their original position, and also refit the rear head restraints.

The seat are down 99% of the time but you realise just how small the boot is, a small bag and a couple of trainers and that's you lot.

Not an issue for me but 4 up in an off licence ram raid you'd be looking for the cigarettes and blackjacks and not the bottles of vodka. It suits me perfectly though and hence I've still got hold of it because it is still worth more than what I paid for it believe it or not. Also unlike many modern cars still has the character of old, like a familiar mistress you want to become reacquainted with.

There is a 4 door hybrid on the way apparently so who knows that could well be its replacement as even though I rarely fill the boot with tackle, some extra space wouldn't go amiss.

I fancied getting out with my new lure set-up though however I had a curfew sadly so it sort of limited the options somewhat, so the convenient Alne was chosen as it's the closest river to me and also offers some predator potential.

The Alne was low as expected and to be honest when I got bankside seemed a little out of sorts. Not only gin clear which is unusual for the Alne but lots of still and stagnant looking swims, and even some Algae around, which as we know consumes nutrients from the water along with dissolved oxygen causing negative effects on the ecosystem of the river. 

Literally the first chuck of the shallow diving Salmo minnow lure with trout colours I had a hit, however I didn't realise I had a fish on the end till the lure broke surface and there was a fish hanging on for dear life. 

A tiny chub not much bigger than the lure decided to show it who was boss and regretted its decision when it saw ones ugly mug. Oddly no more bites in the weir swim where at one point somehow I managed to get the lure caught at the back of my t-shirt and needed to disrobe to remove the crankbait affliction. 

With the countdown of the sessions firmly kicking in I had to get on the rove the find the fish however at least I christened the rod albeit in rather lacklustre fashion.

I fancied a trout though but it was clear the way they were hitting the lure they were not properly on it. I reckon I had 8-10 proper hits with no hook-ups and a similar amount of follows. At least the other predators were up for a snatch and I caught some nice chublets and even a rare perch for here. 

The lure has a completely difference action to the Hornet, from a Tasmanian devil to almost a lethargic dace like action moving from side to side, in a tantalising fashion.    

I just couldn't work out how I didn't manage to land any trout though, because many would have felt the sharp trebles I've no doubt about that. So an odd session really but a few bites in a lovely quiet environment and the new setup was a joy to use I just need to test it on bigger fish now.