Warwickshire Avon - The Untrodden Pt.1

It's worth looking more closely at things floating down the river. They may not be all they seem.

Naturalist Dieter Plage, filming in Indonesia, noticed a leaf moving upstream against the current. He netted it to find it being used by a small fish to protect itself from predatory birds, swimming upside-down and manoeuvring the leaf with its ventral fins.

Pretty smart fish, that, smarter than the birds anyway, who still haven't cottoned on.

A strange floating object nearer home was the artificial leg which came adrift when a bloke fell out of his dinghy at Lancing, in Sussex. Luckily another boat was passing, and the skipper saved the bloke, his boat and his leg. (What do you say at times like that?: 'Excuse me, is this yours?')

Anyway enough of that we've a virgin bit of water to fish for this season, it's around 700 metres in length with some deeper bits, pools, lots of cover and also some nice trottable swims. This untrodden stretch hasn't been fished for years I believe. Before the hymen is broken on this virgin bit of water I went for a nose a couple of days ago to take some pictures for the like-minded.

It was discounted for this year for a reason because there was a pollution incident a year ago that might well have affected this stretch, so we've an opportunity to try and winkle out some fish before committing the hard earned pennies.

Now judging by the size of the bankside Dryad's Saddle or Polyporus squamosus, it's going to an interesting water to explore, because it's so unknown and hasn't seen any angling pressure. Btw John 'Lofty' Wiseman once told me on a survival course I was on as an apprentice, said that any fungi on trees can be eaten, so I might give them a go 🍄

Anyway when I was there the other day for a nose I drifted some bread down in various swims to see if any chub were going to take it off the top but I didn't see any sadly. The water is gin clear at the moment and I could see 6 foot down so not unexpected to be honest.

I did see some flashes of silver and also some fish that were topping that might have been bleak so at least there was some fish activity. 

The stingers are 6ft in places and blocking access to the river however the further you go upstream the access improves and you can get down to the river. So i'll return with the hedge trimmers to make a couple of swims in the area of the river that looks pacier where a barbel might feel at home. 

Anyway for this evening trip in to dusk and in to dark I decided to see if I could at least get a bite from something to put a bend in the rod so chub or barbel were the target. When I came for a reccy the fish didn't rise to take the bread of the surface but what a change for this evening because a swim I couldn't really get to had some fish taking it of the top quite readily.

I followed the unabated bread to the pool swim where it slowed in pace and out of the blue a huge boil on the surface where a chub I assume came up to take it 😎

I derigged the barbel rod and tied a hook directly to the line and cast out a chunk of bread where the nearside flow took the bread in a 20 foot arc skirting the surface, where within seconds a boil on surface and a chub had nailed it.

I was in to a decent chub for the first cast and it was pulling back a bit I must admit and as I teased it in to the landing net the size 6 Korum Grappler hook looked like it had a decent hold. It's an elevated swim so luckily I had the long landing net handle with me as it was a bit of a reach. A cracking first fish of the new venue.

Jacob who was also fishing this evening had arrived just as I had landed it, so I shouted him over for a nose and told him about the fish taking it off the top. He employed similar tactics and also ledgered to catch 2 chub himself during the evening, where his waders came in handy to battle through the stingers as he was fishing the downstream section.

Catching that fish spooked the other fish that were in the pool however I fished another couple of swims and caught another 4 chub on ledgered bread. I baited up one swim with some goodness grenades (© Buffalo Si)  and rested it for an hour, and  as the sun was setting I got the boilie out with a PVA bag of freebies to see if dusk would bring some good fortune.

I couldn't believe the amount of fish activity just in this one swim, it really was quite ridiculous with fry everywhere and bleak breaking the surface and getting chased by perch from time to time. Maggots I'd imagine would get mullered but I might bring Sam sometime to see what we can winkle out.

A lovely evening and with the sun now set it felt a bit nippy with the temperature dropping considerably. The boilie was getting attention from the smaller fish and a few small chublet pulls but generally it was a quiet evening. 

I gave it a good forty minutes after dusk but that rod never hooped over and it didn't for Jacob either as he and I arrived back at the car at the same time. Considering I didn't think I'd manage to get out because with lots of things going on at the moment limiting my time on the bank, I'm glad I decided to go even if it was just for a few hours.

A great start I feel especially when this area was in the pollution zone a year ago, and myself and the members are looking forward to see what we can catch on this stretch. It's summer so the reeds are a hindrance in accessing some swims and I'm sure that will improve as the weeks and months go on.