River Arrow - Brownies and Bromatology

I didn't really know what to do for this session but then a message from Nic from Avon Angling who planned to go to the Arrow later that day meant that made the decision easier for me. Now he'd arrived for 2.00pm and would prime a few swims before I got there post work. It was still chilly but very pleasant in the sun and it certainly felt like spring has sprung. 

He'd trot and ledger later on and I'd have the link ledger rod with me and rove the various swims to try an get a bite. Before I had even set off Nic had already had a nice chub and also a decent sized brownie that gave him a right scrap on the float gear. 3lb 7oz too which is a cracking for for a tributary of the Warwickshire Avon. 

Now when I arrived I headed to where Nic was fishing and it didn't take me long to get in to the action either. You see I let some bread drift down on the surface about 100 yards from where he was fishing and had chub already rising to take it off the top.

For some reason they didn't show again but then after putting in to some bread mash in to a couple of places it didn't take long to get the first bite, when a 3lb 9oz chub decided it would like the breadflake offering.

After that fish we both went on the rove and dropped in to every likely looking swim to try and get another bite. There is plenty of interesting looking swims here and with around a foot of visibility it looked good for another bite too.

Dusk was approaching and after two bitless swims we both decided to head up the stretch again because it just looked better for a bite quite honestly. That proved itself because after dropping in to a deeper swim within 10 minutes I had a bite on breadflake again. This time no loose feed, just the breadflake on its own to flutter in the current.

What I didn't expect was that I was contacted to an out of season brownie myself that after moving like a grayling towards the surface it made one run taking line after realising it was hooked and then decided to give up in the fight !!!

A cracking fish as well albeit out of season so after a quick weigh and picture and a rest I returned it to the water to get back on his way. Now I weighed it at 3lb and 6oz and after a conversation with Nic, was it a coincidence it weighed very similar to his ? 

Well it appears not because after a photo comparison the green gill plate stand outs a mile and it was definitely the same fish caught 2 hours and a couple of hundred meters apart 😂

Now I know trout are not the most intelligent of species a little like the pike but it was having a bad day lets put it that way. I'm not complaining though because after losing decent trout down the Alne in the past this is my PB river brownie from Warwickshire. I've caught bigger down the Itchen but not locally so a memorable catch I must admit.

Anyway we continued on and fished in to dusk and Nic a little beyond that but there was nothing else doing for both of us. Nic missed a few bites but he couldn't connect which was frustrating but we both went away happy, the trout not so.

The local rivers are starting to clear nicely so hopefully I'll get some trotting sessions in before the season end which sadly is coming up far too quickly for my liking especially when after the rivers have been in a terrible fishing state they are now in decent fettle.