Warwickshire Avon - Galactophagists and Gobiomaniacs

Sam hadn't fished with me for a while mainly because he doesn't deal with the cold weather that well, and to be honest his abstinence probably wasn't a bad thing as he still had the passion from the fishing chats we'd had.

Every time I'd come home from a fishing trip he'd always ask what I caught and would always reply with "Nice !!!" if anything of note had turned up.

For this session the nearest stretch of the Warwickshire Avon was the venue of choice and gudgeon chosen species to try and track down.

Over the years we'd caught some nice gonks here and certain swims seem to hold them year and year however the last couple of times we'd fished for them here the results were to be it bluntly, rubbish !!!!. 

The temperature really had dropped overnight, the skies clear and the moon full.  Still the sun was beating down and it really did feel like spring had sprung despite the frost having to be scraped from the windscreen in the morning. 

Gudgeon have really captivated Sam like they have his Dad because lets face it, they have character in abundance and for their size such bold biters.  

We usually fish the small quiver rod but Sam wanted to fish the float so the 8ft TFG all-rounder was the set-up of choice. 

This section of the Warwickshire Avon is small and winding so a shorted rod is a perfect tool for the job for an 8 year old. I'd have the quiver rod as back-up though as sometimes I've found unless the bait is nailed to the deck the gonks are often not interested. 

It was clear though after being biteless in the banker swim that the fish seemed off. The small fish from roach, bleak and the gudgeon hang out in this deepish 4 to 5 foot swim as there is cover a plenty and they have decent escape room.

Trot after trot though the float didn't dip and even the static bait went unhindered which I was surprised at.

We are rovers though so no point fishing in a biteless swim. The next swim was well worth the move as the first drop in of the float it buried under within seconds.

It is much shallower here but there is a small pool with a crease just off it where the river has a decent lick to it. For a fish waiting for any food morsels to come it's way it's ideal. After about 10 of these down and with no gudgeon showing, again it was time for a move.

The next fish Sam caught in the fourth swim after blanking in the third was a tiny perch but smaller.

This wasn't going well was it....

....there was no target species showing at all and after two more swims with not so much as a minnow or a sucked maggot we ended the session early and vowed to come back again. One of those sessions that promised so much and delivered so little.

The saving grace for Sam I had his favourite snack stashed away on the glovebox for him. 

More biscuit's than bites, probably not a bad thing !!!!