Warwickshire Avon – Moons and Marrow Bones

The last session down this small section of the Warwickshire Avon produced a blank for me and a blank for Nic from Avon Angling UK. We were after Zander that reside here but they were just not interested, there was a bitterly cold strong wind which wasn’t exactly pleasant with ones ageing knackered knees and despite fishing a couple of hours in to dark the bobbins, and bite alarms were largely unhindered.

There were a couple or three tentative bites but nothing that resulted in a fish….

I was hoping a change in ones fortunes....

The weather was milder for this session and with a little more rain the levels were up a little as well, it was certainly looking more favourable for a blank avoider. 

Another influence could well be the moon, you see it was ‘near’ full and in a few publications now I’ve seen that there may well be an influence in getting the fish moving and on the feed.

Recently my Zander sessions have been pretty poor to say the least so I’m hanging on to any help I can get, the last glimmer of hope was down at the WBAS syndicate stretch the hook didn’t hold, and the fish parted the hook after a couple of carbon bends.

This was a session to try new things as I’d watched a Zander YouTube video the other day and liked the way they were hooking the deadbait, ok this was a fresh killed dead but the procedure was the same. 

Puncture the swim bladder and use a long baiting needle to feed the hooklink through the fish leaving the large hook nicely exposed.

It just look right and not sure why I didn’t think of it before, I like using big baits for Zander even on the canal (3 to 5”) in the main and rather than lip or tail hook it. 

Using this procedure the hook hangs out about three quarters of the way up the flanks and should in theory, for single hook use anyway, be ideal for the stabbing Zander and as the hook is nicely retained, provide a nice reactionary surface as well. 

Now this session I’d also try out the phosphorescent bobbins I designed in service, and hopefully see how they would perform in action so to speak. Magnets secured with hot melt, they were ready to go. Once the ‘charge’ has gone from the bobbin, a quick blacklight torch charge gets it glowing for a good while again.

And what a moon it was, the picture above was taken with my 63X zoom Sony Camera I use from time to time and it was certainly big and bold. It was blowy up there though and some cloud, so it was in and out during the 3 and a bit hour session. The water was under 8 degrees so the Zeds probably wouldn't be that active but it's a bit of a waiting game and hopefully a pack would move through.

Now that's the odd thing about this section, all the fish caught seem to be the same year group, around 4 to 5 lb but still enough to put a bend in the rod but I'm sure there are some big ladies hanging around.

The moonlight was that bright you could have probably stayed all night without much need for a head torch, even when the moon was shaded the backlit clouds were enough to cast a nice bit of light of the water.

It was notably darker mind you and maybe that was enough to get the fish to move to feed because I received the first bite which in-fact Nic noticed was a couple of bangs on my right hand rod tip. Despite the alarm and bobbin I like to fit a chemical light on the tip because Zed's can mess around with the bait without even a bleep from ones roller alarms.

I lifted the rod on the whole roach set-up and a fish decided that it wanted it before another fish got in on the act.

It was taking line now at a decent rate so I struck in the fish, it felt nicely hooked and was giving a good account for itself. Then for some reason it was carting towards me and decided it wanted to mimic a Chub as it headed for the marginal snags. I thought it was off at first because I couldn't feel the fish in the end and it was properly wedged but I teased it out and luckily it was still there.

It popped up on the top and I netted it quickly. Rested and weighed it went 4lb 14 oz's on the scales and a fantastic conditioned fish. Baits back out and bobbins recharged the fish were very quiet indeed, Nic had a couple of tentative takes on the bluey but smelt and roach remained unhindered so after another hour without much happening so we decided to call it a day.

We'll be back for the big Girl that must me here, I'm sure of it !!!!

Lower Itchen Fishery – Nugging Houses and Nigmenogs

Now truffels, what do they taste like, well mushroomy doesn’t quite cut it. Truffles are utterly intoxicating; a heady scent that if you find yourself hooked will turn you a bit googly-eyed at just the mention of it, like the scent of someone you fancy, or your clothes after the best Bonfire Night bash ever.

Imagine, that deep musky fragrance of a brand-new leather jacket. Now add garlic. Not raw or roasted but just softened slowly and lovingly in a whole heap of butter. Finally, yes, OK, they’re a bit mushroomy but on the rich, damp, autumn leaves side of things, not that forgotten jar of dried porcini.

Now Truffles are almost impossible to cultivate, their weird little tendrils fling out under the ground wherever they like and cannot be steered. Harvesting them requires expertly trained dogs. Pigs were used but they kept eating the truffles, whereas dogs are happy to exchange their findings for a handful of cooked sausages.

All well and good, but there may be an issue, you see…..

Dr Paul Thomas, from the Faculty of Natural Sciences at Stirling University ,led the research, which is the first study to consider the future threat of climate change on European truffle production.

He claimed yesterday that the lucrative truffle industry is set to disappear within a generation.

Yes really !!!! however I’m not quite losing sleep over it at the moment….

Apparently the study, A Risk Assessment of Europe’s Black Truffle Sector under Predicted Climate Change, is published in Science of the Total Environment.

Thomas reports that a warmer and drier climate will be responsible for a decline that will have a “huge economic, ecological and social impact” and could be accelerated by other factors, such as heatwave events, forest fires, pests and diseases.

With the truffle species Tuber melanosporum trading at more than £1000 per kilogramme, the industry is worth hundreds of millions of pounds.

Thomas said: “Our new study predicts that, under the most likely climate change scenario, European truffle production will decline by between 78% and 100% between 2071 and 2100.

What I could lose sleep over though is the chalk streams which are under threat, now chalk streams are a scene of gentle beauty and one unique to this country. There are just 210 such chalk streams to be found anywhere in the world and 160 of them are in England, mostly in the Home Counties but stretching as far as Yorkshire. These softly flowing rivers are entwined with our identity.

On first impressions, the Itchen remains as beautiful as a century ago but this pristine environment is under grave threat.

Not so long ago, a Riverfly survey of England’s chalk streams has revealed some of the rivers are in an “abysmal” state. Of 120 sites sampled in the census commissioned by Salmon and Trout Conservation UK, only 14 were found to be unimpacted by human activity.

Extraction, agricultural and road run off, poorly treated sewage and discharges from watercress and fish farms have caused a collapse in fly life.

On the Itchen (which is designated a special area of conservation and site of special scientific interest), populations of the blue-winged olive fly have been decimated alongside the southern island blue and olive upright. So too, the freshwater shrimp upon which trout feed in the winter months.

Where it all starts, where it all ends....

The flies are the basis on which this complex eco-system thrives....

Make hay and all that, as this was my fourth visit to the Lower Itchen Fishery in as many years, a gin clear chalk stream and flowing water with nothing remotely like it in the Midlands, well certainly in my stomping ground anyway. Nearly a mile and a half of river to roam, with only anglers to bump in to.

A typical stretch....

Oh and it’s chock full of fish !!!!

Dan was taking the journey down with me again this year and after a half decent trip last year where plenty of fish were caught, we were back pounding down the miles back to Hampshire to the joys and noise of Southampton airport and the nearby M27.

That’s the only spoiler an otherwise good day, the noise, be it road, or air, doesn’t befit the setting and location. I love fishing venues where the only noise comes from the wildlife.

To be fair you sort of forget about it when the bites are so plentiful. At least the route is pretty straight forward, a pub dinner to finish things off  and to miss the traffic and then back up the midlands, it's a busy day, but to be honest the angling conversation makes the drive go pretty quick.

I’ve gotten to know it quite well now so I had a plan for the day which was for the first half fish trotting for the Grayling which are in numbers here, and then do something a little different for the remainder,which was to fish a maggot feeder downstream in some of the pools and also where the game shallower runs turns in to predominantly coarse and slower glides.

So 2 set-ups for this trip, my Drennan 14ft Acolyte Plus Float Rod fitted with a TFG classic centrepin and a 1.5TC quiver rod were made up before and would be the only rods in my armoury.

Maggots would feature more for this trip where bread and corn did before, but corn would still be used from time to time when trotting as it did seem to pick up the bigger Grayling when I was here last.

I found that get some confidence up with some freebie maggots first, pick up a fish or two and then a bright bit of corn down often picked up the bigger stamp. The Bait-Tech tutti-fruitti corn is ideal, big pieces and also a bright orange colour which may well make them look a bit more like Salmon eggs.

Tackle and bait slimmed down to the bare essentials, just how I like to fish….

The lower slower reaches you're more likely to pick up chub, roach, even carp and barbel, so headed in to dusk, I'd set my stall out and watch the isotope as we'd head in to proper dark and for the last cast I'd put on a small PVA bag of grubs for a last gasp head turner.

So enough of the preamble how did it go, well it had defiantly seen more foot traffic this year and the road as bad as ever, and with more pressure, certainly the fishing wasn't as productive as it was the previous year. My grayling banker swim where every trot down used to produce fish was seemingly devoid of fish, but with the water low, it is just a matter of roaming around to try and locate some fish.

Dan was exploring one of the feeder streams whilst I concentrated on the pacer water, but this is the Lower Itchen, there is always fish in it. I eventually stumbled on some fish and after bumping off the first two fish and having a trout do me over with a hook pull, eventually I managed a grayling, then more, then another and another, just up from me Dan was catching another nice trout of around 3lb's or so to add to his tally.

After a few more Grayling and Salmon Parr, I decided to get the feeder rod out and head down to the coarse stretch. After a biteless first swim I headed to swim on the outside of a bend and after a few grayling up to a pound or so I hooked in to something that felt like a dead weight as first.

Dan in to another trout....

It wasn't pulling that hard and only when it surfaced I realised it was a bream, a decent size one as well and a lovely golden colour. It was over 5lb but with balance scales only maxing out at that, I couldn't weigh it properly, I didn't think it would beat my PB anyway.

So with an hour to go I decided to go to my final area, and it proved very frustrating, a group of big Roach were spotted, with one huge one the likes of which I'd never seen before. A PB easily, and probably by a pound, maybe even a pound and a half.

They were just not interested, but then they ain't easy to catch these fish, having been fished for on almost a daily basis at this time of year. Dan came down to join me just before a trout got in on the act which I thought might move the fish on, but no, they were still hanging around when we decided to pack up.

Less that 2 hours to get back home, an easy drive back as well. A next time ? most probably but this time maybe in a different month altogether. Those anglers that shared the banks with us, were also struggling with bites, so it wasn't just us finding it tough, the salmon numbers down this year also apparently, which isn't good news. Hopefully it will be back on its feet again.

Sir Jeff Hatt refered to the Itchen as a 'commercial fishery, and it is definitely that, but if you want to get bites and almost guarantee a lady, or two in nice surroundings then this place is worth a try for the price of a few packets of fags.

Warwickshire Avon – Bombs, Bobbins and Bottle Tops

A perfect Zed bobbin or bite indicator I wonder, is there one out there? Barry Mconnell’s rollover indicator from Zandavan Productions came close as I also used them for Perch and Eels but to be honest as someone who travels as light as they can for their fishing, it became a bit of a faff setting them up if I’m honest, especially come sundown when I’d be using them the most.

A big version of the old skool washing up liquid bottle tops would have been perfect with a chemical light stuck up its jacksie, but no such thing exists as far as I’m aware.

Then again the Enterprise ET46 specialist bobbin, was more what I was after….

The Enterprise offering came with a plastic connector that could be removed and replaced with one of three sizes of stainless steel weights, and two hangers. 

White for daytime and luminous green for night use. A UV torch is used to quick charge the bobbin and it could also accommodate Isotopes or chemical lights inside the tubing. A special clip holds the bobbin when casting, playing fish, or simply when roving from swim to swim. The clip can be either whipped permanently to the rod or fixed with insulating tape.

Still a bit of a faff, especially when using it on a variety of different rods potentially….

‘So Mick design your own then’, so that’s exactly what I did….

A few sketches later and half an hour on CAD whilst multitasking as I was also scoffing a beef, onion and horseradish sandwich, here you go, jobs a good’un !!!!

With some spare neodymium magnets to replace the male and female locking detail of the bottle tops. They were to be printed from Phosphorescent TPU, which would mean not only would they be lightweight, but the whole body would glow in dark after being charged up with light and a decent size which is exactly what I wanted.

Baked in to the design were two additional glow stick fitting locations, one at the top, one at the bottom if additional light source was needed or I’d left them in my car and arrived for fishing in the dark.

The style, well I'm an engineer, so basic, a mini underwater naval mine, was a simple Catia pattern took less than it takes to write this to generate. 

Zander don’t mind a little resistance and these weighed around 20 grams even when assembled with the magnets which is about as heavy as a large Nash slaphead. I purposely made them a decent size as well as they would be easier to see moving under the cover of darkness.

My eyes adjust quite well fishing in the dark but I wanted something bigger and easier to see in ones peripheral vision.

Now if you haven’t used phosphorescent material before they need ‘charging’ by a light source. With infinite variations in both applications and glow materials, each situation can have different charging requirements. A good general rule of thumb is that a full charge can be achieved fairly easily using commonly available light sources, once you understand the basics of recharging.

The three most important things to consider when charging glow materials are: recharging strength or light intensity (LUX), the amount of time the glow materials are exposed to a specific light source, and most importantly, the type of light source itself.

The 'Zed Bomb Bobbin'

Light intensity or LUX is a comparable measurement of the strength of individual light sources. The higher the LUX number, the stronger the light output and therefore, the more effective it will be at charging glow material.

To put this another way, a lower LUX rating would require an increase in charging time and if the LUX number is too low the light source would likely not succeed.

Proper exposure time to the light source will also make a difference in your results. The strongest light sources can recharge in less than five minutes.  Dim light sources will take longer.

The quickest results can be obtained from natural daylight or from black lights. Distance from the light source should also be considered. Attempting to recharge materials using a weak light that is too far away will not be effective.

14grams without magnets - very light for the size.

Now Sunlight offers the quickest and most effective recharging method because sunlight includes a larger and stronger UV wavelength spectrum. This gives glow materials their quickest, most effective charge.

Even partial sunlight (such as the more diffused light of a cloudy day) or before the sun goes down at dusk still provides enough light to adequately charge most photo luminescent materials.

So arrive for a session an hour before dusk this should be sufficient enough charge time.

To give the glow effect a boost, or more of a kick though ‘black light’ is another highly effective method for charging glow materials. Black light lamps are the only known source that can both charge and simultaneously enhance viewing of the glow.

This is because it uniquely emits long wave UV illumination with very little visible bright light interference. Black lights highlight glow colours and have been successfully used to enhance the glow during product performance.

A £5 quid black light / UV torch off of Ebay is all you really need to be honest, nothing complicated, nothing technical.

So I need to try them in service so to speak as they have only just arrived after being printed a couple of weeks ago, with some rain on the way and weather going milder, hopefully have another Zander session with Nic to try and at least catch something this time.

Mk2, who knows but they came out better than I expected them to do....