It's getting lighter thankfully where dusk is now around 5.15pm so I can arrive at a local stretch sort myself out before dusk and then fish the witching hour which often can bring a bite from something bigger, where fish in the day it can be much more of a lottery.
The predation as we can see with our own eyes is seemingly getting more and more prevalent and the older and wiser bigger fish are unlikely to appear in the mosh with the zoomers, until the light levels go. I don't particularly enjoy fishing in the dark but gear up with the right kit and can make those short sessions in to dark much more palatable.
Now the OMC Head Torch which is a recent purchase offer everything I need really out of a head torch. The rotary twist knob not only switches it on, but it also is the potentiometer for the intensity allowing fine adjustments and also allows from low intensity to high intensity in a split second.
The key feature for me though is the zoom function which is controlled via the twist bezel on the front of the lens itself. On low and fully zoomed in it illuminates the rod top perfectly without being overly intrusive.
There is a sensor that you can switch on or off and that allows switching on and off of the light with the wave of the hand which can be very useful in certain situations. The main light when fully zoomed out and on full intensity is also very bright indeed and perfect for walking over those fields when heading back to the car
Fishing in to dark is all very well but many clubs don't allow this, if they do there is often a curfew where you have to be off half an hour after official dusk. Night fish is very rare indeed on the rivers I fish so you often find you are limited to where you can fish.
The few small syndicates I'm allow fishing in to dark as long as you don't take the pee, which to be honest is perfect for me. I've often found the half an hour leading up to dusk and that hour afterwards the key bite time anyway, and I hate sitting behind a motionless rod so a couple of hours is ideal to keep one's sanity in check.
Anyway for this session I rocked up at the Untrodden and pre baited one swim with some squeezed liquidised bread and then settle down in to a swim around 50 yards away, where I spotted a right old massive chub that teased me and ignored the piece of bread hovering over its rather large noggin. Dusk came and went however and I gave it a good half an hour before deciding to trek over to the pre baited swim.
I gave that 15 minutes however the quivertip didn't budge an inch, hmmmm !!!
So there was only one thing for it and that was to head up to the top of the stretch and get fishing in a slack that was in a swim I've fished quite and few times and it's been rather productive. This time I swapped the bread for a lump of cheesepaste and this was the change that was needed.
A chub must have been in the swim because after a couple of minutes a couple of sharp pulls on the quiver tip which I left, then all hell breaks loose. A barbel esk bite where I lifted into a decent fish that within a split second was already trying to get in to the cover by my feet. After a decent scrap the fish was finally in the net and it looked a nice fish too and the scales confirmed it as 4lb and 8 ounces.
These type of sessions are not for everybody because they can be hassel for such a short session and it certainly helps I'm close to some nice stretches of the Warwickshire Avon and also the River Leam on my commute home. With the gear in the car I'll be doing the same tomorrow !!
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