Having returned from Devon on the Saturday, I was already contemplating what mischief to get up to on the Sunday. There was a small river tempting me with the prospect of a gentle rove, a bit of wandering about and perhaps the odd fish if the aquatic residents could be persuaded to cooperate. A rather different proposition to the sea fishing we'd just been enjoying, but variety, as they say, is the spice of life. Although, in fishing terms, variety often means finding several different ways of not catching anything.
Then Sam piped up.
It appeared he had some unfinished business. Before our Devon adventure, he'd encountered a rather sizeable pike in the depths of the Warwickshire Avon. A double-figure specimen, no less, which had decided that his large lure looked sufficiently appetising to warrant an attack. Unfortunately, its aim left something to be desired, and it spectacularly missed the offering.
However, it certainly made up for its lack of accuracy with a dramatic entrance, breaching the surface in a tremendous commotion not far out. The resulting splash was quite something to behold and, judging by Sam's reaction, had very nearly resulted in him requiring a change of underwear. One doesn't expect a fish to launch itself out of the water like an amphibious ballistic missile, particularly when one is simply minding one's own business.
Naturally, this unfinished business needed attending to. Who was I to stand in the way of a man seeking revenge on a fish? Besides, I fancied a bit of lure fishing myself, so packed a lure rod and decided that rather than chucking something the size of a small Labrador into the river, I'd opt for a somewhat more modest offering. After all, I was quite happy to catch a pike, but didn't particularly fancy having to wrestle a crocodile.
We arrived at a deserted stretch of the Warwickshire Avon and made our way up to the scene of Sam's previous encounter. The river looked magnificent, its water remarkably clear but with that dark, moody appearance that makes you wonder what lurks beneath. It was certainly the sort of place where you could imagine a monster pike lying in wait, plotting the downfall of unsuspecting anglers and their expensive tackle.
Out came the lures, and we set about flogging the water. Cast after cast, retrieve after retrieve, we covered the swim from every conceivable angle. I was beginning to wonder whether the pike had all packed up and moved to Devon for a fortnight. We tried different spots, different approaches and generally gave the river a thoroughly good seeing to. But nothing. Not a follow, not a knock, not even the courtesy of a fish showing an interest. The only things being caught were a few passing thoughts about whether we'd have been better off staying in bed.
With a couple of hours of fishing time remaining, I decided enough was enough. There was another option, thankfully, and the syndicate stretch was less than fifteen minutes away. If the Avon wasn't playing ball, perhaps the pike in the other water might be feeling a little more sociable. It was a decision made with the sort of confidence normally reserved for someone who has absolutely no idea what they're doing but is determined to carry on regardless.
We arrived, with Sam performing the honours by opening the gate, and drove along the track towards the first swim. It was a large pool on a bend, carrying a fair bit of depth and, importantly, somewhere we'd previously had some success. The approach here was to allow the lure to sink right down to the bottom before retrieving slowly. Nothing too complicated, although there is always the danger that whilst waiting for the lure to sink, you start thinking about sandwiches, the price of diesel and whether you've actually remembered to put the kettle on at home.
Sam was fishing ahead of me, going through the motions, whilst I positioned myself and began working my smaller lure. I wasn't expecting miracles, particularly after the earlier performance on the Avon, but at least we were giving ourselves a chance.
And then, on literally the fourth or fifth cast, WHACK!
A tremendous bite came on the very first crank of the handle. One minute I was retrieving quite happily, the next I was attached to something with considerably more enthusiasm than I'd anticipated. Fish on!
Now, I was using Sam's baitcaster set-up, which was an interesting experience in itself. The gear ratio wasn't exactly designed for someone in a desperate hurry to recover line, and I found myself winding the handle like a Victorian railway worker trying to get a steam engine moving.
The fish was making its way towards some nearby cover, and I needed to get a move on. Unfortunately, the reel seemed to be operating on the principle that there was absolutely no rush and that we should all take a moment to appreciate the scenery.
Sam had spotted what was happening and came across with the landing net at the ready. There was no time for a lengthy discussion about tactics, tackle or whether I'd remembered to tighten the drag. This was one of those occasions when action was required, preferably before the pike found a nice branch to wrap itself around.
Thankfully, the fish stayed on and Sam did the honours, slipping the net underneath it at the first attempt. Result!
It wasn't a particularly large pike, and certainly not the double-figure monster that had been occupying Sam's thoughts, but it was a welcome capture all the same. More importantly, it meant that the day was no longer heading towards the dreaded blank. There's something rather satisfying about catching a pike on a lure, especially when you've spent the best part of a couple of hours trying to convince an entire stretch of river that your offerings are worth investigating.
On closer inspection, the poor thing looked as though it had been through the wars. There were some rather pronounced marks down its back, resembling claw marks, and it certainly wasn't winning any beauty competitions. Quite what had been having a go at it was anyone's guess, but whatever it was, we'd arrived to interrupt its recovery. Sorry about that, old chap. Just when you thought things couldn't get any worse, along comes an angler with a lure.
I couldn't help thinking that Brian over at Pike Blog couldn't have all the fun, could he? He's been enjoying some rather impressive lure-caught pike of late, including a recent personal best that made my little chap look like it had been brought along as a supporting act. I believe his latest capture was approximately four times the size of mine, give or take a few ounces and a healthy dose of angler's optimism. Still, a pike is a pike, and I'm not one to turn my nose up at a fish simply because it hasn't got the shoulders of a nightclub bouncer.
Besides, it's not always about the size. Although, if Brian from Pike Blog happens to be reading this, I'm sure Brian will be delighted to know that I've caught one too despite being 4 times smaller than his recent 26lb lure caught PB. He can put the kettle on and make room for another trophy photograph.
We carried on fishing, moving to another swim where Sam had enjoyed some success on our previous visit. Surely this would be the place for him to settle his score? The pike had already been given ample opportunity to redeem themselves, and I was quietly hoping Sam would get another chance at the sort of fish that had caused all the excitement in the first place.
But it wasn't to be. Despite further casting, retrieving and general lure-flinging enthusiasm, nothing else materialised. Sam remained fishless, and the elusive double-figure Avon pike was still very much at large, presumably chuckling to itself somewhere in the depths.
So, not quite the grand revenge mission we'd originally envisaged, but certainly a more enjoyable outcome than the alternative. I'd managed a lure-caught pike, Sam had at least had another crack at the water, and we'd enjoyed a couple of hours in good company doing what we enjoy most. You can't ask for much more than that, although I suspect Sam might disagree.
One thing is for certain: Sam's interest in fishing has certainly cranked up a notch recently, and it's great to see. There's nothing quite like seeing someone get the fishing bug, particularly when it involves returning to a water in pursuit of a fish that has already given them the run around. That pike has unfinished business of its own now, whether it knows it or not.
We'll be back, of course. Sam has a score to settle, I have more lures to lose, and somewhere in the Warwickshire Avon there's a double-figure pike that probably thinks it's got away with it.
It hasn't.
Well, not until we've had another go at it anyway. And knowing our luck, it'll probably be caught by Brian from Pike Blog in the meantime!
There are some fishing trips where everything falls beautifully into place. The weather behaves itself, the sea resembles a large ornamental pond and the fish queue up politely to inspect your bait. And then there are trips to Westward Ho! in October half-term, where Mother Nature appears to have taken a personal dislike to you and the sea looks like it's auditioning for a disaster movie.
This particular expedition was brought to us courtesy of Storm Austen, who clearly hadn't received the memo that we were coming down for a relaxing week by the coast. Still, having made the journey from Warwickshire on what turned out to be a surprisingly straightforward Saturday morning, we weren't about to let a bit of weather interfere with our plans.
Saturday seems to be the day to travel south, with the traffic considerably more civilised than during the usual weekday chaos. We left at 7.00am, made excellent progress and, after a brief roadside pit stop to drain the main vein, rolled into Westward Ho! at approximately 10.30am.
Not bad at all. Three and a half hours, a reasonably comfortable journey and only one necessary interruption to proceedings. There's something rather satisfying about arriving at your destination before lunchtime, particularly when the alternative is spending half the morning staring at the back of a white Transit van somewhere near Bristol.
Mind you, the first sight of the sea rather brought us back down to earth. Looking out towards the water opposite the Pier House, it was immediately apparent that the fishing might have to take a back seat for a while.
Jesus Christ, what an angry-looking sea! This wasn't a gentle Atlantic swell rolling in to welcome visitors; this was the North Atlantic looking like it had just received a parking ticket and was determined to take it out on everyone within several hundred yards.
White water everywhere, huge swells and a general impression that anything attempting to fish from the rocks would probably be returning home several miles further down the coast, assuming they returned at all. Still, we'd arrived, the accommodation was ready and there was absolutely no reason to get too excited about the fishing just yet.
We were staying in the same accommodation as our summer visit, largely because it's convenient, comfortable and offers some cracking views across the Bristol Channel. There is something rather special about sitting in the warmth while watching the weather do its worst outside, particularly when you aren't the one standing on a slippery rock with a rod in one hand and a rapidly diminishing sense of self-preservation in the other.
The views were spectacular, although the building itself has rather more pressing matters to attend to. Apparently, the entire Horizon View block is due to have scaffolding erected in January, with the initial scaffolding bill alone reportedly coming in at a staggering £650,000.
And that's before the dodgy cladding is removed and replaced, which is likely to send the overall bill into the sort of territory normally reserved for national infrastructure projects and people with considerably more money than common sense. For the owners, particularly those operating holiday lets, it's an absolute nightmare.
No rental income for the duration of the work, substantial additional costs and, to add a little extra seasoning to an already unpleasant financial dish, owners being asked to contribute towards the pot themselves. It's hardly the sort of business plan that gets the champagne flowing.
Imagine buying a holiday property, calculating your annual income, working out your bookings and looking forward to a nice little return, only to discover that your investment is about to become an expensive metal-framed sculpture for an extended period.
You could hardly blame some owners for looking at the situation and wondering whether they'd accidentally purchased a building project rather than a holiday apartment.
We were fortunate enough to be in the property by midday, so there was no hanging about. Bags unpacked, a look at the views and the official start of a week of doing as little as humanly possible.
Which, as regular readers will appreciate, is something we have become rather good at. One of the great attractions of coming down here is the people, with my brother and his daughters, Chris and the wider Westward Ho! massive all part of what makes these visits so enjoyable.
There's something about arriving in North Devon that makes the outside world seem a very long way away. You could almost describe it as an enclave of its own, where we switch off big time, catch up with everyone, have a few drinks, exchange the usual insults and generally get on with enjoying ourselves.
A few drinks are consumed, naturally, although I'm not going to suggest that we're particularly enthusiastic about this sort of activity. That would be terribly unfair on the pubs and, more importantly, might damage our carefully cultivated reputations as sensible, responsible adults.
The sunsets were another highlight. On a couple of evenings the skies were absolutely spectacular, with those vibrant colours that make you stop whatever you're doing and simply stare.
Whether sitting in the Fairway Buoy, literally yards from the sea, or watching from the accommodation, there was no escaping them. When the sky puts on a performance like that, even the most hardened pub-goer has to pause between drinks and acknowledge that nature occasionally gets something right.
Although, judging by the sea conditions, she was clearly having a bit of a laugh at our expense elsewhere.
We also made another visit to the Crowbar in Northam, where they've really nailed the concept. It's great to see a new business getting things right, creating a place people actually want to visit and providing something that adds to the local community.
I genuinely hope they thrive. It's no secret that hospitality businesses are operating in challenging times, and anyone prepared to put their money, time and energy into opening a new venture deserves a fair crack at it.
The last thing we need is another empty premises with a faded To Let sign in the window. Of course, I have my own opinions about the wider economic situation, and government policy, taxation, fiscal drag and the ever-increasing cost of running a business are all subjects that can get me going, particularly after a couple of pints.
My view is fairly straightforward: if you want people spending money, you need to leave them with enough of it to actually spend.
Taxing businesses and individuals to the hilt and then wondering why everyone is tightening their belts isn't exactly a masterclass in economic genius.
Hospitality needs customers, customers need disposable income and businesses need some encouragement rather than another financial obstacle course.
But enough of that, I hadn't come to Devon to solve the economy, although judging by some of the decisions being made, perhaps I should have packed a calculator and a government policy document alongside the fishing tackle.
I had fish to catch. Or at least that was the general idea.
As already mentioned, the sea was looking rather lively on arrival, and the initial fishing opportunities were somewhat limited. Still, anglers are a stubborn breed, and the prospect of catching something occasionally overrides the perfectly sensible suggestion that perhaps today isn't the day to go anywhere near the water.
Sam and I ventured out with Chris to try the rocks, although conditions were still far from ideal. It was turbulent, the water was moving around considerably and the general feeling was that we were probably a little early in trying to get amongst the fish.
There is a fine line between being determined and being an absolute idiot. We were probably operating somewhere around that boundary.
The following morning Chris kindly picked us up at 7.00am, and we headed off to Greysands to fish approximately an hour before high tide. It was a much more promising proposition, although the fish weren't exactly throwing themselves at us.
We did manage to locate a few small schoolie bass, which seemed to have developed an unhealthy enthusiasm for anything that entered the water. Small they might have been, but they certainly weren't short of appetite.
Anything that came their way was getting nailed, and for a while there was a bit of activity to keep us interested. They were typical school bass, though, and whilst always welcome, they weren't exactly the sort of fish that would have you ringing the local newspaper to announce a major angling achievement.
Still, it was fishing, and after looking at the sea on arrival, we weren't going to complain.
The final opportunity came when Sam and I decided to return to the original rock mark. This time we positioned ourselves approximately 100 yards away, where the water looked a little calmer and, perhaps more importantly, there seemed to be a reasonable opportunity to fish without having to negotiate the sort of conditions normally encountered during a naval training exercise.
We were using crab and squid bombs, and followed the tide down for around an hour and a half. Nothing particularly exciting was happening, and I was beginning to wonder whether the fish had all decided to relocate somewhere considerably more hospitable.
Then, completely out of the blue, something happened.
There was suddenly some interest on the crab and squid offering, and it wasn't the usual little tap that leaves you wondering whether you've got a fish, a crab or a particularly enthusiastic piece of weed attached to the hook. The rod pulled over and, before I had much opportunity to contemplate what was happening, I was into a solid fish.
Now, anyone who has fished this sort of ground will understand why heavy tackle is necessary. This isn't delicate fishing where you spend ten minutes admiring the bend in a light rod and discussing the fish's possible intentions.
It's more a case of lift, haul and hang on. The ground can be unforgiving, the water moves considerably and there is very little room for making mistakes.
But this time there was a decent weight on the end, accompanied by some proper heavy pulls. This was no occasional cluster of seaweed requiring a recast, although I've been fooled by that particular performance often enough to know better than to get too carried away.
Something substantial was attached, and it was giving a good account of itself.
I've fished around this area quite a few times and had been keen to add a smoothhound to the species list. It was one of those fish I'd wanted to catch from this particular coastline, and the persistence was finally about to pay off.
There is always that moment when you're fishing a rough mark and you know you've got something decent, but you haven't yet seen exactly what you're dealing with. Your imagination starts working overtime, your concentration goes through the roof and suddenly every decision seems to have the importance of a military operation.
Then the fish appeared from the depths. A smoothhound!
And not just any smoothhound, but a rather lovely starry smoothhound. Absolutely fantastic.
I had my heart in my mouth, but fortunately I'd chosen the swim with a little thought behind it. I'd identified a vantage point that offered a realistic opportunity to land a decent fish, rather than simply hooking one and then discovering that the only available landing area was a vertical rock face surrounded by several million gallons of angry seawater.
It was all about timing. The next wave would lift the water level sufficiently to allow me to slide the fish towards safety, and that was exactly what I needed.
A little patience, a bit of careful handling and, thankfully, no spectacular swimming demonstration required. Before long, the fish was safely in my hands.
Mission complete!
A beautiful starry smoothhound and another species ticked off the list. You can spend an awful lot of time fishing, trying different marks and experimenting with different baits, but there's nothing quite like finally catching a species you've been after for some time.
And especially when it comes from a mark that has been giving you absolutely nothing but grief. I was delighted.
The fish was returned safely, and I stood there with the sort of grin normally associated with someone who has just discovered they've won the lottery, although unfortunately without the accompanying bank balance. A cracking fish, a great moment and well worth the effort.As if that wasn't enough excitement, the angler positioned further down from me was suddenly into a fish himself. It looked to be a decent huss, which added a little more interest to proceedings.
Then I had another bite after recasting. This time it turned out to be a dogfish, although it provided a slightly unusual landing performance.
At one point it came up on top of a rock before promptly falling off again, apparently having decided that being landed was rather too much commitment. I'm assuming it had simply been clasping onto the bait rather than being properly hooked, although I'm not entirely sure what its long-term strategy was. Perhaps it had spotted the smoothhound being returned and decided it didn't fancy the interview process. Either way, things were certainly becoming lively.
For a brief period it was almost as though the fish had received a group message informing them that there was free food available and everyone should attend immediately. Smooth-hound, possible huss, dogfish and a general sense that something was finally happening.
Of course, it couldn't last. The mark was gradually becoming unfishable as the tide dropped, and the more the water receded, the more apparent it became just how much ground we had actually been fishing over. This is one of the fascinating aspects of fishing from rocks. When you first arrive, you're looking at a mass of water and trying to imagine what lies beneath it.
You might see a few gullies, some rocks and the odd patch of white water, but you don't really appreciate the scale of the underwater landscape until the tide starts to disappear. And disappear it certainly did. With the full moon these were spring tides, with an incredible 9.5 metres of water at high tide and less than a metre at low. The sheer volume of water shifting in and out is genuinely astonishing to watch.
You can stand there and appreciate the power of the wider Atlantic, but when you start seeing the underwater ground that was previously hidden beneath several metres of water, it really brings home what you're dealing with. It's quite incredible. It's also a bit of a nuisance when you're trying to fish. One minute you're casting into what looks like a perfectly reasonable expanse of water, and the next you're wondering whether you should be putting your fishing tackle away and opening a geological survey business.
The mark was becoming increasingly difficult to fish, so eventually it was time to call it a day. But what a result.
After returning the smooth-hound and packing away the gear, there was only one sensible thing left to do. Celebrate.
And what better way than with a pint alongside my brother and his mates? After all, we'd endured the weather, battled the conditions and finally managed to get amongst a decent fish, so it would have been positively irresponsible not to mark the occasion. The conversation was flowing, the usual banter was in full swing and, as is often the case down here, there was no shortage of characters to keep things entertaining. One particular individual deserves a mention.
The one and only Rob Braddick who yet again thought I was Chris before correcting him !!
For those unfamiliar with Rob, he's a prominent local businessman, employing somewhere in the region of 170 people in the area, as well as being a prankster, publican, family man and owner of Westward Ho!'s rather famous haunted house and the car-park and bought and made free.
He's also the owner of the pub we happened to be in, which meant there was always a reasonable chance that proceedings could become slightly unpredictable. Rob is one of those characters who doesn't need much encouragement to get involved in a bit of mischief and made headline news in the USA when he put some toilet rolls in the arcade grabber machines during the COVID hauding madness.
There's always a story, a joke or some form of entertainment lurking around the corner, and this occasion was no exception. Between the banter, the stories and the general nonsense, it was another thoroughly enjoyable evening.
You could spend a fortune trying to organise entertainment of this nature, but sometimes all you need is a local pub, a few familiar faces and someone like Rob wandering about with a mischievous look on his face. Far more effective than most television programmes, and considerably better value.
So there we have it. A week that started with Storm Austen throwing everything at the coastline, a sea that looked positively homicidal, a few fishing sessions that required more optimism than ability and, ultimately, a lovely starry smoothhound to make the whole expedition worthwhile.
We caught up with family, spent time with friends, enjoyed some cracking sunsets, ate some good scran, supported a local business and managed to squeeze in a fair amount of fishing whenever the Atlantic allowed us to do so without requiring a lifeboat.
The fishing wasn't easy, but then it rarely is when you're fishing unfamiliar ground and dealing with enormous spring tides. The schoolie bass at Greysands were welcome, the final session produced some proper excitement and that smoothhound was the icing on the cake.
It's also another reminder that sometimes you just have to keep putting the hours in. You can read the conditions, choose your marks, select your bait and prepare your tackle, but ultimately the fish decide whether they're going to play ball.
And on this occasion, one finally did.
The starry smoothhound was safely returned, the species list gained another tick and I had that very satisfying feeling of having achieved something I'd been wanting to do for a while.
As for Westward Ho!, well, what can I say? We absolutely love the place.
There's something about the whole area that gets under your skin. The coastline, the people, the pubs, the views, the sunsets and the general atmosphere make it somewhere we keep returning to, and I suspect that won't be changing any time soon. Even when the weather is doing its best to discourage us. Even when the accommodation is facing a scaffolding bill that would make a property developer faint. Even when the spring tides are shifting enough water to make the Hoover Dam look like a garden pond. And even when the fishing is so challenging that you begin to wonder whether the fish have all been relocated to another county.
We'll be back, and yes the kids still love bodyboarding despite the chill !! There'll be more fishing, more laughs, more pints, more banter and no doubt another collection of stories that probably sound slightly exaggerated when recounted to people who weren't there. But that's Westward Ho! for you. A cracking place, cracking people and another fantastic escape from the everyday grind.
And if you happen to be reading this from somewhere warm and comfortable, just spare a thought for those of us who occasionally stand on a rock heading towards winter, holding a rather broom like carbon fishing rod while several tonnes of Atlantic Ocean attempt to rearrange our afternoon.
Still, I got my smoothhound. And frankly, that's all that matters!
Now it’s typical, isn’t it? The weather holds itself together in a fragile truce of lukewarm, semi-acceptable mediocrity for weeks, but the exact second the bags are packed for a half-term escape to Devon, Mother Nature summons Storm Austen to blow the roof off the tent and hurl coastal spray directly into your morning brew.
Still, if anyone can find misplaced optimism in a tempest, it’s my twin brother Chris.
He rang me while I was up in Glasgow to detail his latest marine skirmish a gruelling twenty-minute battle with the undisputed leviathan of the deep from the Ho! rock mark.
There he was, bent double under the strain of what was undoubtedly a specimen bass, hound or bull huss, only for the unseen monster to spit the hook right beneath his rod tip, aided and abetted by a floating continent of drifted weed.
Heartbreaking stuff, though deep down we both know the big bass always fancy a feed when the sea looks like a washing machine on full spin. Speaking of Glasgow, my brief escape north 'AGAIN' was precisely the tonic required before confronting the impending autumnal squalls.
The promoters at Emerge put on an absolute masterclass at their brilliant new venue, unleashing legends in the progressive house scene Nick Warren and Hernán Cattáneo for a six-hour back-to-back marathon set that was trying to rattle my fillings out and wobble my belly.
Despite its bad rap, Glasgow has a wonderful way of keeping a ‘graver’ like me, and plenty of others like me, sane. Much of that comes down to its formidable line-up of culinary warmers, both grub and guzzle. Why Glasgow gets so many gigs is anyone’s guess, but let’s just say Glaswegians don’t give a sh*t — much as they didn’t back in the ’90s.
The undisputed standout was a twelve-hour slow-cooked ox cheek at The Iron Duke a dish so rich, dark, and utterly glorious that it positively thawed my soul after waking early to to a nippy Scottish frost. A cracking Sunday Roast at Rye and Porter that included some added bone marrow which I thought was a nice touch. Oh and the Madeira cask from Clydeside Distillery, a really lovely dram, my favourite from the weekend I think.
Three days of bright autumn sunshine couldn't hide the sharp drop in temperature, but over six hours of progressive house and a hearty plate of slow-braised ox will cure almost any chill known to man and give gout to those that suffer with it.
Back home, reality reared its ugly head, forcing me into a rare act of reckless self-indulgence: a payless afternoon off on the syndicate stretch of the River Leam.
With heavy rain slated to tip down by evening and following on the following day a deluge the parched riverbanks desperately needed, I knew it was my absolute last shot at a quick angling fix before heading southwest into Storm Austen’s warm embrace, and whilst work is quite, why not.
Armed with misplaced confidence and a tub of fresh bait, I'd give the river a proper bash before sneaking off to meet old Phippo for a strategic curry and a debrief on life's mysteries.
If Devon proves to be a wash-out of gale-force winds, tangled rigs, and soggy pasties, at least I’d have laid the groundwork with a hit of river time, a belly full of spiced logic, and the comforting thought that somewhere out in the churning froth, a giant bass is waiting for the storm to ring the dinner bell.
Anyway better get fishing hadn't I !! now where are those worms !!
Now as I was off for a curry later I couldn't fish in to dusk so not ideal because I've had some nice roach (pictured below) and chub for that matter here however, we have had some rain of late and hoping a tinge of colour, or heck, even maybe some flow wouldn't be nice wouldn't it.
The plan was my standard light link ledger set-up with a small cage feeder with some groundbait for some smell. It's surprising how deep some of the swims are here I'm sure a bit of Gros Gardons would help the fish wondering what had just entered their domain. Anyway enough of the waffle, how did the session go? Well, as is often the case when one approaches the bank armed with self-assurance and French-named groundbait, the river had other ideas.
The River Leam looked superb on arrival wearing that alluring, pea-soup tinge that usually screams "big roach feeding spell." I picked a nice, slack eddy beneath an overhanging willow, dropped the chair in a patch of stinging nettles with my usual lack of grace, and gently swung out the light feeder rig.
The first cast was met with that breathless anticipation every angler knows, where you stare at the quivertip so intensely your retinas burn. Ten minutes passed.
Then twenty. The river gently slid by, carrying with it a solitary plastic bottle, three wet sheep-drawn thoughts, and absolutely zero indications of life.
It turns out that whatever had entered their domain via the scent of sweet, spicy, and aromatic Gros Gardons had not inspired curiosity, but rather a sharp, collective exit by every scales-bearing resident in the parish.
I re-baited with a plump, juicy half a lob worm, tucked my chin into my collar against a sneaking draught, and tried a subtle tweak in length.
A gentle pluck followed! My heart leaped into my gullet, hand poised over the rod butt like a wild-west gunslinger. I struck with the crisp precision of a man who knows his craft, only to pull up three yards of waterlogged flannel and a dead twig. The river 1, Mick 0.
Now are days when a spot of fishing goes exactly to plan, and then there are days when the plan gets chucked in the river, you see I was concentrating intently on the quiver tip when my phone suddenly pinged into life.
It was Denis, announcing that he’d booked himself into the river’s WhatsApp group and was coming down to join me.
Now, I’m all for a bit of company on the bank, but I’d rather been looking forward to a solitary session where I could enjoy the sort of peace normally associated with a monastery, or at least a household where the television remote has gone missing.
Sure enough, fifteen minutes later, Denis appeared. Now, I’m not one to make personal observations about a fellow angler’s hearing, but Denis would have been an outstanding candidate for one of those magnificent seventeenth-century ear trumpets.
You know the sort, a large brass contraption resembling a Victorian plumbing experiment, designed to help the profoundly hard of hearing participate in everyday conversation. I practically had to shout for him to hear me, which isn’t exactly ideal when fishing a small river where stealth is rather more important than the ability to communicate with shipping in the English Channel. If a chub had been listening, it would have known our entire conversation, my fishing plans and probably what I was having for tea. 😂🙉
Denis was roving the stretch just as I was, which promptly put the kibosh on the carefully laid plans I’d spent all of five minutes formulating. Still, there was enough river to go around without us having to draw straws or resort to a physical altercation involving landing nets.
I decided to carry on regardless, although the thought of moving to another stretch was already forming in the back of my mind. Sometimes a fishing plan needs adapting. Sometimes it needs a minor adjustment. And sometimes it needs putting in a bin and setting fire to before anyone else finds out what it was. The river itself was in a curious mood. Despite the recent rain and a welcome increase in levels, much of it looked almost motionless, with several of the swims smothered in duckweed. The weir, some considerable distance downstream and not somewhere we could fish anyway, was barely managing a trickle.
It was all rather underwhelming, like turning up to a fireworks display and discovering the organisers had brought along a packet of sparklers and a damp box of matches. Nevertheless, I had lobworms, a quiver-tip rod and an optimism that has survived decades of fishing in conditions that would have sent a more sensible individual home to watch television.
I’d been getting the odd sharp pull, the sort of tentative little enquiries that leave you wondering whether a fish is interested in your bait or whether a particularly indecisive piece of weed has developed a taste for worms. Then, completely out of the blue, one of those pulls developed into a proper wrap-round bite. I struck, and immediately knew I was attached to a chub. It was heading straight back towards its lair with all the determination of a man sprinting for the last available pub seat on a Sunday lunchtime.
Fortunately, the tackle held true. I managed to turn the fish away from its intended escape route and coax it out into open water, where it gradually surrendered to the inevitable. A few moments later, it was safely in the landing net. A fish! A fish! A FISH! I told myself, with the sort of restrained dignity normally displayed by a football supporter whose team has just scored in the ninety-sixth minute.
After a succession of unproductive swims, there is something deeply satisfying about seeing a proper fish lying in the net. It doesn't matter that you’re alone, or that the fish isn't going to trouble the record books. For that moment, you're the undisputed champion of the river, and nobody can take that away from you. Except possibly Denis, if he happens to ask you to repeat yourself.
With one chub safely banked and having apparently discovered a patch of river worth fishing, I decided another cast was mandatory. It would have been positively rude not to. After all, if a fish has just given you a clear indication that the swim contains something worth eating, you’d be foolish to pack up and leave. It’s the angling equivalent of discovering a pub does excellent steak pie and deciding to order a salad instead.
Sure enough, lightning struck twice. Another bite developed in exactly the same fashion, and I was into a second chub. This one didn't feel anywhere near as substantial, but after the barren spells I'd endured, I wasn't about to start complaining. I landed it, had another go for a third and then tried a couple of other swims for good measure. Sadly, the river had apparently decided that two fish constituted a generous contribution to the afternoon's entertainment.
I returned to the original swim, tried again and drew a complete blank. The sun had come out, the wind had a bit of a nip to it, and the conditions had that slightly awkward feel of a river that has improved on paper but hasn't yet received the memo that it's supposed to be fishing well. Still, two chub were two more than I'd managed before the first bite, and I wasn't about to start demanding a refund from the Environment Agency.
With the Leam session seemingly done and dusted, it was time to move on to my next destination. But first, a stop at the pub was required. I popped in for a pint of Bass and a portion of what were described as ‘hot’ pork scratchings. Now, the word hot can mean several things in the culinary world. It can mean pleasantly warm, it can mean a gentle chilli-infused tingle, or it can mean that somebody has apparently attempted to manufacture a snack using material normally reserved for resurfacing roads.
These scratchings fell firmly into the latter category. After the first mouthful, I was fairly certain that if I wanted to continue eating them, I would need to contact my bank manager and arrange an extension to the mortgage. My mouth was in financial difficulty, my tongue had entered witness protection and my pint of Bass was being called upon to perform emergency damage limitation.
Events were about to take a turn that would have tested the resolve of a much lesser man. My thoughts had already turned towards the evening's curry, and more specifically to the planned outing with Phippo. Now, Phippo and I have consumed enough curries together over the years to make the owners of several Indian restaurants consider naming a dish after us. We must be well into the hundreds of shared curry outings by now, and that's not counting the occasions when we've ordered enough food to make it look as though we'd invited the entire village round for dinner.
So when a message arrived informing me that he wouldn't be making it later because he was throwing up and suffering from what can only be described, in the interests of delicate company, as a severe case of gastrointestinal turbulence, I knew something was seriously wrong. Phippo cancelling a curry is rather like a salmon refusing to swim upstream. You immediately suspect either a medical emergency or a fundamental breakdown in the laws of nature.
With my dinner companion hors de combat, the evening's arrangements were in ruins. There was only one sensible thing to do: change the fishing plans yet again and head for the River Avon. If the day was going to be unpredictable, I might as well embrace it. Besides, a solitary angler can always find comfort in a river. Rivers don't cancel at the last minute, they don't send you messages about digestive distress and, although they occasionally leave you staring at a motionless quiver tip for hours, at least they don't pretend to have food poisoning when you've booked a table.
I settled into a swim on the Avon and once again presented the lobworm. The response was immediate. The quiver tip began doing things that suggested the local perch population had received an urgent communication about an all-you-can-eat buffet.
There were little rattles, sharp pulls and all manner of indecisive activity. I soon managed to catch a small perch and a couple of chublets, which was encouraging, even if the fish were of a size that suggested they'd been recruited straight from the junior division. Still, I was enjoying myself, and that's the important thing.
You can spend an entire afternoon chasing a specimen and go home miserable, or you can catch a handful of smaller fish and return home happy. Ideally, you do both, but fishing has never been particularly interested in my personal preferences.
I decided to try bread for a change, but the river wasn't having any of it. The fish seemed to regard my offering with the same enthusiasm that a hungry man might display towards a plate of boiled cabbage. Nothing happened.
I returned to the lobworm, of which I had just a couple left, and settled down for another attempt. It was beginning to feel as though the afternoon was winding down, and I wasn't particularly geared up for sitting beside the river in the gathering gloom for another half an hour, followed by an extended session in which I gradually lost the feeling in my toes.
Then, as if the Avon had been listening to my complaints, the quiver tip pulled round properly. This wasn't one of those little tiddler-induced tremors. This was a proper bite, a confident declaration of intent from something with a bit of substance behind it.
I struck and found myself attached to a decent fish. The light quiver rod bent nicely, the centrepin began earning its keep, and for a few glorious moments I was engaged in the sort of battle that makes all the earlier faffing about worthwhile. The fish fought well, using the depth to its advantage, but eventually I guided it towards the waiting net.
A lovely two-pound chub appeared from the depths, looking rather pleased with itself despite having just been persuaded to participate in a photographic opportunity it hadn't requested. It was a cracking way to finish the session, and a timely reminder that the best fish of the day don't always arrive where or when you expect them. Sometimes you have to keep moving, keep adapting and keep a few lobworms in reserve.
With that final fish safely landed, I decided enough was enough. I wasn't equipped for a prolonged dusk session, and there was a more pressing matter to attend to. I had a lamb naga and garlic rice waiting in the future, and I wasn't about to let another unexpected development deprive me of it. So I packed up and headed for the Raj and his excellent team at the Curry Republic, where a takeaway was duly acquired. The lamb naga is always a winner, and after a day involving ear trumpets, aquatic vegetation, financially ruinous pork scratchings and a cancelled curry companion, I felt I'd earned every last mouthful.
Looking back, it had been a thoroughly worthwhile afternoon. Three chub, a couple of chublets, a perch or two, a pint of Bass and a takeaway curry represented a pretty decent return for a few hours away from the day job. More importantly, I'd started the afternoon feeling a little irritable and finished it feeling almost horizontal. Not literally, you understand, although after the lamb naga and garlic rice there was a distinct possibility that getting off the sofa might have required assistance from the emergency services.
That's the beauty of a few hours on the river. You can begin the day with a carefully constructed plan and end up doing something completely different, all the while discovering that the things which went wrong were often the things that made the day memorable.
Denis may have arrived and disrupted my carefully orchestrated solitude, the river may have been reluctant to give up its fish, and Phippo may have been temporarily incapacitated by a digestive catastrophe of biblical proportions, but none of it really mattered in the end. I caught a few fish, enjoyed some fresh air, had a pint, ate a curry and returned home considerably more relaxed than when I'd left.
The fish was making its way towards some nearby cover, and I needed to get a move on. Unfortunately, the reel seemed to be operating on the principle that there was absolutely no rush and that we should all take a moment to appreciate the scenery.
