Warwickshire Avon - Monsters and Monopsychisms

THE UNCATCHABLE MONSTERS ? 

I'm sure you like me have seen chub that would easily smash your own PB (mine is 6lb 2oz) by a mile and the most recent sighting was the same time Sam and I spotted 'Barbara the Barbel' another fish that would smash my 12lb 14oz PB, I tried and failed to catch that as well despite putting the effort in (thus far). 

This chub was massive however it was circling the piece of bread on the surface without taking it just to tease me I'm sure. Two fins and all that. 😁

What do these monster chub eat? Do they feed exclusively on vegetable matter, upon minute organisms like daphnia or upon larvae or nymphs of various kinds? Do they consume molluscs, beetles and other insects? Or do they eat other smaller fish, including their own fry?

Quite probably, they feed-as all fish do-mainly upon the type of food naturally available to them and variations in their feeding habits are related not only to the availability of such food in different rivers but are also influenced by seasonal variations in the abundance of different foods. 

The indifference with which chub often regard an angler's baits can almost certainly be attributed to an abundance of natural foods or to a process of 'education' as the result of being hooked once or twice during their early years of growth.

Some idea of how difficult it is to catch one of these monster chub can be gained from the experiences of Richard Walker who once found an 8lb 2oz chub floating dead in the river Ouse.

'It was difficult,' he said, 'to know why it had died. Perhaps it was old age; there was certainly nothing starved-looking about it. It had reached an enormous size in a river that has been fished by some of the best anglers in the country.'

Another monster, he reported, could sometimes be seen cruising slowly to and fro through the clear sunlit water but no- one could catch it. 'What it lives on,' he said, 'I really do not know.'

And there perhaps is the kernel of the problem. What do these monster chub eat? Do they feed exclusively on vegetable matter, upon minute organisms like daphnia or upon larvae or nymphs of various kinds? Do they consume molluscs, beetles and other insects? Or do they eat other smaller fish, including their own fry?

Quite probably, they feed-as all fish do-mainly upon the type of food naturally available to them and variations in their feeding habits are related not only to the availability of such food in different rivers but are also influenced by seasonal variations in the abundance of different foods. The indifference with which chub often regard an angler's baits can almost certainly be attributed to an abundance of natural foods or to a process of 'education' as the result of being hooked once or twice during their early years of growth.

So why, it could be asked, do some of these monsters eventually succumb to an angler's bait? Old age and loss of ability to find food probably bring about the downfall of some of them, while others are caught when a shortage of natural foods, brought about by over-population of the water or pollution, causes them to turn temporarily to angler's baits. 

Yet others are caught when an abundance of offerings from anglers in the form of maggots or other baits results in a temporary loss of their natural caution. Instinctive reaction, similar to that shown by a salmon when it seizes a fly or spinner, may also account for a few succumbing to various baits, but whatever the explanation may be, certainly far more remain uncaught than are ever landed.

There begs the question by accident or design, you see study of catches of specimen chub reveals that a high proportion are caught by anglers who were not fishing exclusively for chub, which might suggest that the angler who relies upon luck alone is just as likely to catch a specimen as he who seeks them deliberately. 

Such a conclusion would however be false, as for every angler who catches a specimen by luck there are many thousands who fish their whole lives through without catching one, and many others who sometimes hook one, only to lose it through using inadequate tackle. In contrast, the angler who deliberately seeks specimens not only finds them more consistently but is also more likely to land them successfully because he is using tackle of appropriate strength.

The odds against any angler catching a real monster are very great but it is possible to reduce them by a considered approach to the task. 

The first step is obviously to attempt to locate them by sight but if the colour and depth of the water makes this difficult or impossible it is a good plan to fish all likely swims patiently and methodically, using only those baits that are least attractive to small fish. 

Really big chub can be found in many different types of swim but are seldom far away from a hiding-place. The overgrown snaggy swims that are so often passed by are the kind that big chub favour more than any other.

If chub show signs of wariness to the common baits an unusual one should be tried (look back at my blog I've tried a fair few of them 😁); either one that can be found in and around the water, such as a small frog or crayfish, or a bait that is completely strange to them such as one of the seed-baits or a meat-bait. 

A sucker fish ? Pahhhhh !!! already a proven chub bait !!

This will sometimes bring success when all else has failed.In those waters where night fishing is allowed the possibility that specimen chub might be caught more easily after dark is worth experiment, especially in rivers that are very clear. There is a definite increase of feeding activity at dusk and the specimen-sized chub are then more likely to be feeding in open water.

Anyway for this session, I was going to go fishing after all so stop with the waffle, anyway I was down at an area I've not fished for a good while. I didn't have long sadly before curfew time but 1. I wanted to christen my new rod which I will be using for bigger baits for chub, oh and it has got a nice glowing white tip which I like, and 2. I wanted to check out some of the trotting swims for some future sessions. 

So a roving session this which was rather quite productive as the further I got down the stretch the fish were getting bigger and the bites more frequent. The best went 4lb 2 ounces and I had something like 7 in total in less than a few hours, sadly no MONSTERS for me today, just the humdrum and one decent one on the bread. 

Nic from Avon Angling was bagging up trotting maggots on another section of the Avon and to be honest one of the swims I would have rather being doing that instead. Sadly my fishing time has been curtailed of late and that's not going to improve any time soon with work as it is. I would like to build up a swim but those sessions are few and far between these days, however this roving session was most welcome I must admit even though it wasn't nearly long enough. 

Still I shouldn't complain I do get out more than most, anyway heading back to the car I fished the little stream after scaling down and despite the clear stream and the fact I could see the bottom, a few maggot munchers in ten minutes finished the session off. The Avon is a cracking colour at the minute and a nice height, 'make hay' and all that, fill your boots.

Warwickshire Avon - Beef Cubes and Bedswervers

The CAD was flowing at it usually does on a work day but today working from the office, I had to pull the blind down a little because the sun was particularly strong and whiting out the screen. The skies were blue  and that lunchtime walk around the industrial estate to see my carp friends was rather nice I must admit.

Then within half an hour and to rub it in I had a WhatsApp from my brother who was walking Miguel his staffy on the rather lovely Westward Ho! beach and then a message from Buffalo Si who was keeping me in the loop of his fishing, as I was hoping to join him later to try and catch a chub. 

Then Nic Avon Angling left me a voice message where after struggling for bites, was bagging up on the Avon, and Dave Williams from the WBAS syndicate was on the trent sunning himself as well in a tropical 11 degrees. 

 😭  

I wonder what I've done wrong in life 🤔

Sadly my 'lot' to get that fishing fix after packing the gear in the car the night before was when I was heading home was to drop in to one of my favorite sections of the Avon and try and winkle out a fish. So after and early start at 4.00pm I was on-route to the Avon for that quick smash and grab session.

I'd some chinese treats to try which wasn't going down well in work so I thought I'd try then for chub. They are small beef cubes, slight smaller than oxo cubes, but perfect to try for the fish that will literally eat anything, and you know what I'm like for trying different baits for chub. 

Obviously I had some bread and cheesepaste for backup. I tried them, and yeah, maybe if they were the only food left on earth, not the best. 

Anyway around Kenilworth where a HS2 14,500-tonne box structure is being built, out of nowhere a thick blanket of mist could be seen in the distance. The structure which will carry the railway underneath, will be moved into place. The structure has been built next to the carriageway and I've watched its construction since they broke ground. 

Nearly every day when I've driven by there has been hundreds of orange clad works on-site building the construction even in sub zero temperatures, which I must admit is rather impressive.

Anyway with the mist seemingly was getting worse and worse however when I eventually got the tackle out the car and hot-footed it to the river it was a rather nice setting I must admit.

Si wasn't where I thought he would be but there was an angler I've had many a conversations with over the last couple of seasons and he was just about to leave.

He had blanked and was just heading home, hmm not a good omen, anyway when I eventually found Buffalo Si who had fished all day with the same result this didn't bode well for me now did it.

This time of year dusk turns in to dark very quickly doesn't it, so after choosing a often productive swim I put on the beefy cubes as a starter for ten and got fishing.

With small swims like this if there isn't fish home there is no point staying put however after twenty minutes I decided to put some cheesepaste on instead as even the gluttonous chub didn't fancy these Chinese delights. 😁 (to be fair these individually wrapped 'treats' are destined for the landfill)  

Anyway after 5 mins I missed a classic chub bite where I could actually feel through the rod the line pull through the paste and actually prick the fish. 

Damn it 😬 that could have been my only chance as the curfew was only half an hour away.

I re-baited and cast out again hoping the chub would come back for more, but sadly that never happened so I decided on a last gasp salon and get fishing the next peg downstream which has a nice slack close in. The river was still high but that lovely green winter colour so I was sure there was another bite to be had as it was the witching hour after all. 

So the ever dependable cheesepaste went out and it played out as I wanted it to, because after the 3/4 ounce quivertip settled nicely within five minutes a couple of sharp plucks on the tip I received a drop back bite where I hooked in to a solid fish. It was giving me the run around for a bit but then it decided to play ball after its initial heroics and it was landed safely in the net.

Buffalo Si had left by this point maybe not a bad thing as I didn't want to rub his nose in it !!, but the 3lb 15oz chub was my reward for this whistlestop session. You often don't need a whole day to bank a fish, often fishing at the right time is key to success. 

The Tiny River Alne - Madmen and Maderization

In sports such as athletics and football there is need for a high degree of physical fitness. This fitness is very important, for it affects not only strength and stamina, but the athlete's skill and ability also.

Angling, though seemingly less demanding, still requires a reasonable degree of fitness, and although, at first glance, it gives the impression that 'know-how' is the only factor controlling success, this is not so. To the expert, be he matchman or specimen hunter, angling is an all-consuming sport, which burns up a lot of energy and requires undivided attention.

The opinion so widely held by members of the general public that angling is a relaxing sport, is absolute rubbish! Perhaps to the chap who just wants to 'get away from it all' it is relaxing, but he is not an angler, nor even a sportsman. 

The majority of sports are basically competitive, whether you are trying to outwit a fish, bird, animal or a fellow human, and I've never heard of anyone yet who could successfully compete and relax at the same time!

#HWBT

Consider the purely physical side of angling. We can see that fitness affects things like how early we can get up in the morning, how far we are prepared to walk or cycle to obtain a good swim and privacy from other anglers, how much tackle and bait we can carry over these distances and how long we can endure adverse climatic conditions. 

If you consider these points carefully, you will see that each one could make a big difference to your catches. For example: Mick is always tired and can't get up in the morning. One Sunday he arrives at the water, at his usual time of eight o'clock, finds the roach feeding, and takes six or seven good fish before they go off at about nine-thirty. 

Had he arrived earlier his bag of roach would probably have been a lot larger. Another example is the angler who considers carrying a lot of groundbait very hard work. He is the type who sets off bream fishing with only five or six pounds of dry bait; not because he can't afford any more, but because carrying it is too big an effort. Although a small amount is often quite adequate, there are other occasions when twenty or thirty pounds are necessary.

But these purely physical aspects although very serious are of minor importance compared with the effect being unfit has on one's ability to concentrate for long periods.Before discussing concentration, it should be pointed out that certain types of angling require a high degree of attention to practice successfully. 

These are, generally speaking, those which produce a small bite and those which produce very few bites. It must be obvious that if a bite is very small- that is, of short duration and/or little movement-it is going to be much more difficult to strike and hook successfully than a big prolonged pull or tug, because there is much less to see and much less time in which to react.

It must also be obvious that, if bites are few and far between it is going to be more difficult still. We can see from this that the poor old specimen hunter gets it both ways. 

Firstly, he gets fewer bites than ordinary anglers, secondly, most of his fishing will be done with the leger, a method which requires a greater degree of concentration than the float. Float fishing is basically a physical effort and, because control of the tackle is not generally strenuous work, it is well within our capabilities. 

The leger, however, needs little or no controlling, only prolonged concentration to detect a bite and sufficient alertness to strike and hook it. The float gives one much more time to strike than the leger, because it presents much less resistance to a taking fish.

To the specimen hunter, the ability to concentrate for long periods is, in my opinion, one of the most important factors controlling success or failure. Concentration in angling is putting in 100% effort to catch fish. You must work hard at every single aspect of the bait presentation, bite detection, ground-baiting and, most important at all, you must be thinking all the time of ways to catch more and better fish.

If you are a good angler, and have confidence in your ability, you will find that obtaining the desired amount of concentration is quite easy. Maintaining it, however, is much more difficult, especially if you are not experiencing much success. 

In order to make the best of your fishing time, therefore you must concentrate for long periods and because of this burns up so much energy, you have to be reasonably fit. If you are not, you will quickly tire and your concentration will disappear.   As with other sports, physical fitness plays a very important part, affecting one's performance much more than is generally appreciated. 

Take this morning down at the handy BAA section of the Alne (5mins away) that I rarely fish, the air temperature was -4 the water temperature a barassic 2.5 degrees, but it was a lovely foggy winters morning where fishing 8 or 9 swims I managed nearly 10k steps. It didn't help I had to retrace my steps to try and find my rod rest and bankstick 😀, but plenty of walking both sides of the bridge to try and catch something in testing conditions.

Thankfully a nice chub fancied the bread and that came from the swim when the river is at its widest. It wasn't that deep but maybe the fact there is plenty of escape routes the chub felt safe there. Not a huge chub for the Alne as I've caught them to over 4lb a short drive away, but a welcome sight I must admit because that was the only bite I had. One bite one fish, mission complete.