Warwickshire Avon - Padlocks and Palaeoanthropology

The angling club is a great British institution, even though the first recorded one was the Schuylkill Fishing Company, Philadelphia, Pa, USA, formed as long ago as 1732. British fishing clubs as we know them, devoted mainly to coarse fishing, came into existence early in the nineteenth century after the Industrial Revolution.

The notion held by many anglers' wives that they were formed for the sole purpose of lying and boozing is, in fact, correct. The early clubs were less concerned with fishing rights than with just getting together for an hour or so of convivial chat and boasting over a few jars.

Today, however, the club is a far more complex organisation. Though members often take its existence for granted, it does not run itself: its smooth operation depends on a dedicated bunch of officials, willing to give their time and expertise for the benefit of their fellow men and in the hope of the occasional free pint. 

Each club has their own rules, Leamington Angling Association for example you need to always set the combination lock back to 0000 when you leave the venue, that's difficult for me especially when I'm always checking my pockets to find out where my reading glasses are. 

Thankfully there are less rules with syndicates, in-fact in the couple I'm in, errr naff all. Anyway with no rules to break and get my collar felt I hadn't been down to the syndicate stretch for ages, so with the nights drawing in work getting in the way those venues I can fish in to dark are ideal to get that fishing fix. 

The last time was the end of June were I managed a chub on maggots as well as the usual small maggot munchers.

The big rod had very little attention even in to dark but I fancied another go to try and intercept any fish passing through. 

The thoughts from the other syndicate members are the same as mine, that we are not entirely convinced that many big fish reside there just passing through at different times of the year perhaps.

There are going to be more surprises to be had here I'm sure as up to now >5lb Chub, double figure Barbel, a 14lb carp and 6lb bream have all been caught by me despite not fishing it in anger, and therein lies the problem. It's just not fished enough really, would a campaign be worth doing ?  Quite possibly but the adjacent road is very busy and the noise puts me off spending much more time fishing down there.

Not only that but looking back at my blog and through the WhatsApp messages on the syndicate group, well, errrr lets be honest here, it's not been that productive for not just me, but the others that chose to fish it too. There is a much nicer looking stretch upstream which if we can add that to the portfolio it may well keep me paying the syndicate fee. It's my closet stretch by far, the others are often a venue to visit on the way back home from work.   

Now some goodness grenades (® Buffalo Si - Youtube, subscribe if you haven't already) went in literally half an hour before dusk and it was just one of those pleasant evenings where a fish would be a bonus. There were some small fish topping when I got there but come dusk for some reason they seemed to vanish leaving a lovely undisturbed mirrored surface.

The rods remained undisturbed too and a good hour and a half in to dark without even a nibble or a chub pull I decided to knock the session on ones head, because I could have probably stayed there all night with the same outcome.

It's not just me that is finding it tough though it seems but then high pressure and clear rivers is not a good combo. Maybe a visit to one of the two hot pegs on the Warwickshire Avon is worth a go maybe. Anyway I might fish maggot here next time and trot a float. There is a nice flow to it at the moment or maybe just go to the well trodden to get a few bites, decisions decisions.