Warwickshire Avon – Wading Places

I bumped in to a couple of scythe wavers the other evening who were clearing some pegs of weed and reeds prior to a large match that was going to take place on the stretch of the Avon I’m fishing, during a natter they mentioned a peg they had recently cut which would require wading....

....a peg B so to speak.

I’d noticed the bank disturbance during a previous roving session but didn’t realise what it was for. I thought one of the horses might have been chomping on it because of the large heap of manure I stepped in.

So I just had to fish it….

The preferred evening session in to dusk was out so at least I might get a bend in the rod as the anglers I’ve spoken to here are finding it tough going at the minute.

I initially started upstream in one of my favourite pegs where there is no need to wade as you can fish from the bank but there is a lovely channel of water where I’d seen some clonking Chub last time. They were properly tucked out the way though and very cagey so I only managed some small'uns.

I could see them and they could see me….

Simple tactics, a centrepin, a stick float and a banded pellet.

There was a little extra water here though after some recent rain so the levels were up but the water still clear.

I’d drip feed the pellets in and let the float run down to try and intercept any fish coming up in the water. There is some streamer weed here too so I’m sure there would be some Barbel milling around. By switching swims I’d hopefully follow the fish downstream.

The first few runs went through unhindered but then as the float got the end of the swim it sailed under, yeap the first fish.

A small Chub but because there is plenty of cover here and the fish uses the flow to its advantage it’s great sport. A 2 lb Chub feels like a 4lber.

In a couple of hours I’d managed 6 or 7 Chub and after I hooked in to a much larger fish that I lost to a hook pull I donned the waders and I was peg B bound.

From an elevated position the swim only looked 2ft or so deep and after getting in the water it felt even shallower. I’d change tactics a little too as I need to mask the hook, the stream weed was much thicker here to an exposed point would quickly get snagged it.

So I snipped off the bait band and the hard pellet was changed for a squidgy hooker pellet. I also changed the float to a small crystal chubber as it would suit the shallow swim better.

Two channels flow in to one here so the water has some proper pace to it but the float was flowing through nicely and I was quickly in to a small Chub, again a good sporting fight where if fishing static I might be sat behind motionless rods.

The swim went quiet for a while, but I kept on trickling the pellets in hope there were bigger fish in wait. 

One plus point about fishing in the water is this area has some of the most vibrant Kingfishers I’ve ever seen, the tell tale chirping sound giving their location away, I don’t think I’ll ever tire of seeing them in flight, visually stunning.

Anyway, with 20 minutes of the session to go I noticed the flickering golden flanks of a Barbel at the end of the swim.

I decided to keep on drip feeding the pellets for a while and keep the float out of the water to try and give the fish(s) some confidence in feeding.

A couple of MAMIL’s stopped on the bridge to have a nose at the river and give themselves a much needed rest so I’m sure they were delighted to see an angler bent in to a fish.

Because a Barbel was on, a proper powerful lunging take and it started to power-off downstream, I initially couldn’t do much with it but after a couple more lunges the rod was getting on top of the fight. I turned the fish and felt in control of it but then all went solid….

….wtf

I let the line go slack but nothing doing….

Another couple of pulls, arrrrrrhhhhhhhhh. I’m sure I’ve lost the fish.

With the rod elevated I get back on the bank and walked downstream to track where the line went, sure enough, the culprit.

A submerged log nailed to the bed not only that but what looks like a dumped road sign….I managed to recover the hooklink intact but by now the swim was buggered.

So back in the water, with both snags removed hopefully I’ll do better next time. I don’t think it was a monster Barbel, but hey, any Barbel at the moment would be nice.The walk back to car it seemed I was the only one catching, at least it wasn't a blank.

Luckily the belated weekly Sunday roast made up for the loss....

The Shanghai AC have a match here Friday afternoon, albeit upstream so it will be interesting to see what turns up. I makes a change from a commercial water anyway. I'm going for a fishmeal groundbait feeder approach with worm and caster. There has to be some bream about.

I'm hoping to squeeze a quick dusk session in as it will be the best time to get them off guard.

Warwickshire Avon – Paranormal Fragility

The Wife and I and two other couples sailed the seas of the British Virgin Islands for a couple of weeks on a Lagoon 440 Catamaran. Amongst the islands visited on our journey of discovery was a long sail to mere tree high Anegada where I tucked in to fresh caught Lobster, we got stuck on a one palm tree sand bar opposite Richard Bransons Necker Island and the snorkeling around Dead Chest Island where the first turn of my head beneath the surface I spotted 3 rather large barracuda laying in wait like Pike do.

I even caught a small Tuna off the back of the boat in waters that couldn’t be bluer....

....but it was the Soggy Dollar Bar visit on White Bay on Jost Van Dyke (the merciless Dutch pirate) that stuck in my mind though, because after mooring the catamaran and whizzing over to the white sands on the dingy we got stuck in to the infamous.

‘Pain Killer Cocktail’

The easy drinking concoction of pineapple juice and orange juice, coconut cream and grated nutmeg masked the huge hit of the Navy strength Pussers’s rum. So after a couple or five of these it’s only when one attempted to stand up and having to sit down again I realised the strength of them.

So why oh why did I make a few the night before using some Goslings 151 proof Black Seal Rum, let’s just say I was a little fragile. Its hit cannot be scientifically explained, because as a drinker of all manner of alcoholic beverages this has some paranormal effect on me. Give one a try, they are moorish when you get going with them.

So my planned roving session was out of the question and a more static approach was needed.

Hey, I know what….River Carp

I’ve targeted them the past but it’s mostly been off the surface where I’ve spotted them through ones cocoons under the waters surface, however a surprise PB carp turned up on a bottom bait at the very end of the bloggers challenge that got me thinking about targeting carp from other areas of the Avon I fish where there would likely be a similar patrol route.

The (new to me )area I intended to try for this session is very deep you see so unless they are sunning themselves they would be nigh on impossible to spot. Then again spend the amount of hours I do on the canal for example big carp can turn up in the most unlikely of places but they only tend to reveal themselves when they are off guard. There are thick lilies in abundance here but watch, study and stare long enough you’d end up spotting some no doubt.

I haven’t the time, or the patience….

So plan B it was….

If these large and lengthy marginal nymphaeaceae provide one of their natural patrol routes then leaving a snare, well a boilie and a few freebies via a bolt rig I might be able to intercept one, which is exactly what happened much further downstream when the surprise mud sifter turned up.

I fancied a bit of double dipping though, so a Zander rod was also deployed, again possibly a patrol route, but pedestrian pace, deep and plenty of cover, I’m sure there are some milling about in this area.

Unless you’re a pole and keepnet user, this area is largely uncharted me thinks and I’m looking forward to seeing what I can pick up.

Problem as always though, is so much of the stretch to cover , and not enough time.

I tried 2 swims, 2 hours each without even a nibble on either rod and there didn't appear to be many fish moving or topping either.  Even some freebee floaters remained untouched. It's a big expanse of river though so bit like the canal, there must be areas that are largely devoid of fish. I'm surprised there were not takers of the deadbait though as apparently apart from the Zander there are Pike here too.

I got back to the car after a blank with the fresh air clearing my head and and then I remembered my lure rod was stuck at the bottom of the boot so with a rattling diving lure fitted I decided to have another half hour on the first peg.

The third cast, bang something nailed it....

I thought it was a Perch at first, but nope a small Zander that impaled itself.

Another 40 or 50 casts, nothing....

Warwickshire Avon – Suicidal Pie Avoiders

Luckily I’m an early riser, well, to be fair, It’s not by choice….

….after starting work at 6.00am for many a year, my body clock is beyond knackered and hence I’ve never used an alarm for years.

I’m usually bolt upright before the dawn chorus, the Wife miraculously still in another one of her deep sleeps.

I just cannot stay in bed, I get restless....

....so it’s out of bed I go.

However for fishing early mornings as we do, my buggered body clock is ideal but I’ve noticed the mornings getting darker since returning from holiday and that dusk is also getting closer so the knock on effect is that is my after work sessions are getting shorter.

It’s got its plus point though as my commute to work is a breeze, with the average speed pretty ridiculous, and nearly twice the speed of the return journey.

There are also far less numbers pigeons on the road and the commute to work is more pleasant as I’ve now not got to run the gauntlet with the suicidal pie avoiders.

2.7 millions pairs in the UK apparently, yeap, they are all over the shop and hard to avoid.

Apart from an air hostess from Coventry who I had a brief liaison with back in my youth, Is there a more vacuous bird?, I don’t think so.

To be fair, she was extremely good to look at….I’ll give her that, the Pigeon not so, ten a penny.

Ok, I’ve brushed over their long distance navigating ability, but then again, there isn’t much to hit in the sky is there. Well apart from planes which they do from time to time.

Maybe I’m a little hard on this humble bird, after all, it has a 340 degree field of view and processes the surroundings in 74fps so ‘apparently’ only needs to take avoiding action until absolutely necessary.

So why then after many an interrupted fffff’ing and blinding journeys in to work with slowing and braking heavily for large numbers of these seemingly flying lemmings the first time I decided to keep my toe in prodding and poking the 300 raging horses….

….yeap, you guessed it, I hit the unfortunate short straw picking bird turning it in to....

....a visual explosion of feathers and claret which the result of, marked VW’s not very durable water based paint.

More fool coo….

So the days and nights are drawing in, and my favourite seasons, autumn and winter are on the way.

Sometimes a static five hour session is too much for me these days so a short one like this one is ideal, two to three hours, job’s a good’un.

The Barbel were not playing ball on the last session so I was back on the Zander hunt, this time Martin Roberts fancied trying for one of these intriguing fishes, to try and better his PB of 3.8lb. So before the pub decided to ring the beer bell, prior to dusk, we were river bound.

There is so much to go at here but I decided to concentrate on an area I’d caught Zander before. I’ve caught hundreds of canal Zander but fish from flowing water is still relatively new to me.

I’m still learning the ropes you see….

Luckily certain principals from my experience from the fishing the cut can be transferred to fishing for them in this completely different environment, so despite only fishing a handful of sessions on two entirely different rivers I’d been reasonably successful using some of the lessons learnt and those would be implied here.

There was one significant change in my canal verses river set-up which seems to work brilliantly, but….

….is that the time, better crack on.

One thing I've learnt about my canal jaunts is that cold weather is far better when targeting Zander, there was a notable difference in my catch rate when it warmed up. It was humid and very close for this session and I knew it might be tough.

With the swim chosen I fished to the right, Martin to the left. There is plenty of cover here so even when it's midday with the sun high there are some nice shady spots for predators to hide. The first cast of my float within seconds it went under and with a slightly premature strike and a strike in to thin air I could see the flanks of a small Zander.

And that's how the session continued, plenty of bites particularly for Martin but tricky to hook up, eventually Martin winkled one out at around a couple or three pound, fairly hollow which considering the amount of feed for these fish quite a surprise.

Yeap, a swim full of schoolies which if you've ever discovered a shoal of them on the cut they can be hugely frustrating and often gets you questioning ones rig choice.

The method works fine, but the time must be right....this time conditions were against us.