Piscatorial Quagswagging

...the diary of a specialist angler in around the Warwickshire Avon and its tributaries.

Thursday 6 October 2022

Warwickshire Avon - Medlars and Masqueraders

This weeks working from home concoction was some rather large prawns with a vindaloo sauce fashioned together from contents of the larder, oh and some fries from the kids freezer draw. When the weather starts to change the sandwiches and yogurt and fruit just won't cut it, so a belly warmer is required and this was rather nice. 

The problem is unlike the Chub I'm putting on weight earlier in the year so I need to get back on the soups again. Especially when one of my favourites watercress is SOOOOoooooo easy to make.

Anyway I digress a snippet of my YouTube watch list which I have in the background whilst bashing the CAD out has been. How to live on Agricultural Land without planning permission and also Sonubaits How I SMASHED My Match PB With 387lb! with the entertaining Jamie Hughes !!!

Did I learn ought ? well yeah, I'm not likely to visit a commercial fishery anytime soon but it's nice to keep up with the sport and what method is 'baggin' up !!!'. Now match fishing apparently is the acme, the epitome, the essence, the peak, the zenith of fine coarse fishing. 


The old-fashioned match angler is a gentleman (insert pronouns) in the truest sense, playing the game for its spirituality, its exacting tests the skill and cunning, its character-building quantities. 

He gives his opponents every chance, every benefit of every doubt. He is noble, generous, unselfish. A true sportsman.

All these qualities add up to one thing, yeap, failure !!!

With the increase in prize money, commercial venues with more fish than water, betting and cash from tackle firms for endorsement of their products, match fishing is Big Business. Because of this, the old sporting approach has become affected by business ethics and morality.

It's a cheaters game too, where certain desperadoes were reputed over years gone by to have brought their own fish to matches, craftily concealed. Tiddlers like gudgeon would fit in a thermos flask, while eels might be contained in pole sections. The mind boggles.

The search for the ultimate bait additive has probably been going on since Jesus said to his disciples: “Fishing’s a bit slow today, isn’t it lads?” However, there’s a big difference between trying a dash of turmeric and raiding a science lab. 

Allegedly, one such experiment involved the use of an illegal hormone, which caused fish to go both randy as hell and eager for any bait going. Jealous finger pointing inferior anglers, yeap, most likely.  

So rules, rules and more rules it seems because of the way match fishing has evolved, and why whenever I've competed in a friendly match I've always been outside of convention. I've got enough of that in my life as it is, I don't need a anymore I really don't, so no self hooking shallow rigs to be seen in this blog. 

Slightly off tangent so please forgive me, but it's all fishing I suppose !!!!


Anyway although I'd not caught a barbel on this new syndicate of mine I was back for some further blanking. Before commencing Operation Disappointment where I'd fish in to dusk and beyond fishing over a prebaited swim, I'd try and temp a chub from its lair using tactics that worked well last time. 

That was to feed some liquidised bread to get any fish in the swim confidence, before carefully lowering a bread flake baited hook via a free running link ledger. Some bread I've been trying of late is from Aldi for 0.75p. A Chub head turner if there ever was one. 


Now I have a theory why the barbel are not showing yet and to be honest it's not a new theory, it's how the Warwickshire Avon had been since I starting fishing it. There are fish here that will break my PB though, no doubt about that. Effort equals reward, and to be honest, my approach is more luck than application. Still not always about catching the big one now is it. 

I couldn't believe the difference a few days had made to the river because not only the lovely tinge of colour had gone, so it was back to gin clear again but also the level had dropped considerably. 


Because of that I knew it would be tough, so a few swims with cover fed with mashed bread and I'd fish those swims in rotation. But it was clear the clarity they were back in hiding again.

Plenty of bites from the smaller fish but not what a wanted really was a tiny gudgeon impaled on a size 6 hook. Eventually a small chub took the large piece of bread tight to some cover, but nothing like the session here last time.


So plan B was put in to operation a little sooner than expected :(

Anyway back in the car heading towards the chosen area I noticed a swim I'd not really looked at before, some nicely cut steps in to the bank and a nice wide swim to park my backside.

It looked perfect for a barbel, a hard bottom, some pace and plenty of cover. It looked so good in-fact I'd earmarked it for future trotting session, as the flow just perfect for it.


I baited dropped some pellets outs, let it rest and returned to one of the bread prebaited pegs for a motionless quivertip. The wind was cold at this point but this swim was sheltered so I dropped the wafter in over the bed of bait only a metre out and watched and waited.

Dusk came and went when at one point an owl came out of nowhere headed straight for me and then last minute made an abrupt turn of direction and skimmed the Jimny's bonnet. Anyway to cut a long story short, not even any chub pulls or plucks despite fishing an hour in to dark. Just one of those tough days on the Avon, I'm getting used to it now 😐

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