The Tiny River Alne - Death Bridges and Deambulatory

 A rather later start than expected this morning, but with rubbish sleep the night before I woke up at 7.00am rather than my norm which is usually an hour before that. With the recent rain the Alne had risen to over 2 meters in height which would mean it would be teetering over the banks in places, however the Alne drops like a stone so it would be perfectly fishable for this 3 hour session.

Usually when it's coloured the Alne fishes far better than when its clear and especially with some ectra water on. One big problem though with a frost overnight and the daytime temperatures plummeting would the fish be up for a feed ?

It was certainly a rather pleasant morning when making my way through the sodden grass through to the first swim. When the sun rose above the trees thankfully it warmed up a bit because it was rather cold initially I must admit. 

'Jacks' peg was the first port of call for the groundbait feeder approach where bread and lobworms were going to be used as bait secured to a size 12 hook. Usually fish are on the baits straight away but it took an age to get the first sign that there were fish in the swim.

Use maggots in this swim minnows can be a nightmare, however what I didn't expect was after loads of tiny rattles on the tip an unfortunate imposter decided that it wanted to get in on the act. My PB dace of 12 ounces came from this swim however after an hour or so fishing alternating the baits I only had one proper pull and that was it.

So there was only thing for it and that was negotiate the bridge of death to get to the other side of the river where usually the fishing is more productive. 

Again an hour fishing not even a single tap in this swim, the fish just didn't seem to be there or, up for a feed, hmmmmm...So I decided to dump the chair back in the car and get on the rove where after another 4 or 5 swims I was scratching my heads.

Still what a lovely morning though and it's not all about the fishing now is it. Once the sun was glaring down it lifted my spirits even though the fish were not up for playing ball.

In the end I decided to finish the last half an hour in the same swim where I started where after one proper pull on the lobworm, the recast brought another bite within 5 minutes where this time I connect in to a fish.

I initially thought it was another decent dace but it went mad when it broke the surface where a small trout revealed itself. Damn it !!, not what I was after but at least it was a blank saver.

Not even one of the vibrant coloured ones that reside here either, a washed out one that could do with some sun like I was enjoying. That was my lot sadly where I'm sure the drop in water temperature would kill the sport. 

Hopefully with some more settled condition the fish will get accustomed to their new environment and get back to feeding and getting back on the munch. On a positive note at least we now have some colour in the water, that's most welcome I must admit.