Warwickshire Avon - Pteronarcophobia and Prestigiators

An influx of flies in the Newey household has led many a theory of how they have seemingly turned up from nowhere. Ben has been trying to squish them with his wiggly worm and Sam has been whacking them with his tennis racket, with much success I might add, but still they keep coming.

An undiscovered dead mouse corpse hidden from view ? some rotting food ?, that office window I've been leaving open ? the wormery going wrong ?

Errrrr no, now don't tell the Wife but I came home from fishing the other day to discover the door of the bait fridge was not only open, but what seemed like a good handful of maggots was sitting underneath the fridge and some had already gone on the run and make haste.

The problem was you see the maggots had sweated and I had somehow fitted the wrong lid to the maggot box. That ill-fitting lid combined with the moisture filled maggots lead to the issue that I now needed to contain.

So after a good while collecting the maggots, moving the fridge, lifting the crude loose rubber flooring to reveal more, crisis everted, the Wife none the wiser. 

But then a couple of hours afterwards a return to the garage there were more Goddam it. Not just the odd one either, enough for a gonk session for sure.

Where the heck were they coming from ?

Again another clean up from those I could initially see however this time I also looked behind the washing machine and tumble drier, and yeap, you guessed it, there were more !!!. 

Not a huge amount granted but still they were seemingly scattered everywhere.  

I didn't think much of it until a couple of weeks later it was noticeable there were more flies in the house. These weren't houseflies either, big'uns. Now at least I knew the source and how they came about rather than one of the theories the other house members had come up with.  

The numbers are reducing, my cover not blown, fingers crossed !!! 

For this short in to dusk session and with the weather mild I fancied a go for a Barbus. This short stretch has been kind to me in the past because it's a reliable area to get a bite. 

The river was also expected to rise going forward in to the weekend so with the levels and temps been settled for a couple of days the fish should have been used to the conditions. 

A quick smash and grab of tackle and bait I was hoot-footing it bankside. One rod, a small spicy boilie and a paste wrap, a small bag of pellets in a PVA bag as freebies.

I'm a roving angler at heart but the session wasn't even three hours so I decided to stick to one swim, chill and sit it out after having a busy week at work. 

The weather wasn't brilliant for the duration, the odd bit of rain around, dull and fairly windy. You cannot catch fish sat at home though can you, you need to embrace the conditions especially as the local rivers may well be in a different state altogether in the coming days.

The river looked good, the temperature up 1 degree from a couple of days ago I was hopeful. Now another angler was present when I got there, the only other angler to brave the rough conditions and he had been there most of the day without even a bite. Hmmm not a good sign but catch a feeding spell here often motionless rods can change at the flick of the switch so you just have to do the waiting game.

An hour in though without even a nibble or a pull from a chub I decided to move swims and then return as the light was going. Again after an hour biteless. The river looked perfect for a bite too. So for the final half an hour I found a lovely clear area over gravel right out in front of me, I waited and waited and waited, there was nothing doing at all.

With the light now gone the club rules meant I had to be off, so another blank to add to the list. I'll try and get out for another session though as this time fish some meat. The weather is turning colder as the start of next week  (13 degrees when I left at 4.30pm 😮 ) so the window to catch a Barbel is getting smaller and smaller, I need to make it happen.

Warwickshire Avon - Corinthians and Coronacations

Now my twin brother moved from Coventry down to North Devon quite a few years ago now and despite a few hiccups along the way, he's settled nicely and the move well worth the effort. 

There will be many businesses closing this year never to re-open and many tending to their wounds well in to the New Year I'd imagine. This picture from his 'local' pub of #frostweethesnowman summing up very well indeed what 2020 has been like for the hospitality industry in general. 

As a keyboard basher sorry software infrastructure IT bloke his commute up to Birmingham once in a while has been curtailed almost completely because the rubbish time we are in, and he for one ain't complaining. That 180 mile trip in the morning from Devon cannot be easy especially when the final destination is somewhere I luckily escaped from.

He like many workers in these times can work from home without an issue. Broadband, yeap got that my old mucker ✅, jobs a good'un, you're good to go.

Ok it's not the most affluent area in the world because of the shortage of jobs but staying in Coventry or being able to see the sea, experience magnificent sunsets and walk the dog on the beach at the drop of a hat can do wonder for your wellbeing.

I'm scratching ones scruffy beard wondering if I could make it work too. 

When we make visits down there to meet up with him and his kids the friendships he has made down there clear to see. The locals make it a nice little community when especially when the Grockles have gone AWOL.

He frequents the pub more than I do, and I've probably wet a line longer than he has in the local waters, but still, it's nice to see him in a much better place as it cannot have been easy moving lock-stock with the kids making a new life for themselves too. 

Maybe if my adopted 'local' was in walking distance my allegiances what change somewhat. I do enjoy our yearly pub crawl where there is manner of entertainment going on.  Open mic nights at the Champ in Appledore, with a porter or five, one of life's simple pleasures right there, it really is. 

North Devon is in tier two as I type this and many of the places he frequents having to entice people in by offering a substantial meal and a drink for not much more than a fiver, not far off a pint of beer up this neck of the woods. (wouldn't that be nice)  

So 2020 can do one really, I'll be glad when its been and gone, heck might have to retrieve that bottle of Buckfast on New Years Eve that was chucked in the back of the booze cupboard just so I'm not nodding off leading up to the chimes of Big Ben. I want to still be up to celebrate it, the conclusion that is, and I'm sure the impulse purchase will come good in the end.

Still for me the fishing hasn't been 'that' bad in 2020, I've been out more than ever, bettered my Warwickshire Avon Chub PB back in March with a fish of 5lb 8oz and also managed to register a PB gonk too. 

So what are my plans for 2021, well one of them is to try and catch a Warwickshire Avon 6lb Chub. 

Ok mindful that it took me long enough to catch a Avon 5lber, but having gotten that monkey off my back now, and subsequently caught quite a few more fish over that magic weight.

I see it as a realistic target especially when they are there to catch, well I've seen them with my own eyes which always help. The quest for a canal double figure Zander will start back up in anger again in the close season in March but I've some ideas that will hopefully get me back on track again. I aim to re-join a club I've not been a member of for some years. 

A club where some of the waters I'm sure are harbouring big fish and waters where I've rarely fished for canal Zeds. Sometimes a change of tact can often bring results rather than persistent plundering a stretch time after time. The thing with decent canal Zander is they can appear when you least expect it, that's what so enticing about the quest for me. 

Anyway enough of that, better get fishing....

A short after work session in to dark this, where I'd hopefully winkle out a decent Chub. It's a bit hiss and miss when they are up for a feed here they really are up for it, in the pitch black they can be ravenous, they really can. Bites every 5 or 10 minutes, cheesepaste doing the honours as always in these cold conditions.  

The river had been dropping over the last 24 hours and was a perfect level when I got bankside. With the sun just setting I could set-up before the light went completely. With dusk been and gone there was nothing doing so I tried 2 more swims tight to cover to see if they were any holding up out of the way.

The water temperature had risen a degree from the session a few days ago so maybe Barbel was the better option, the thrive when the rivers are up they really do. 20 minutes in each swim I moved back to the starting swim and gave it another 45 minutes before throwing the towel in and I headed home. 

Still with a chicken curry concocted with a plum porter the fact that the quiver remained biteless was quickly forgotten. So where to go ? what to do the weekend ? decisions decisions. I finish work Friday till the 4th of January so it's not like there won't be much fishing opportunity over the Christmas break. 

Warwickshire Avon - Quagmires and Quicquidlibets

Looking at the weather forecast the evening before I had to prepare for the worst, because rain was going to around the whole day and in the morning it was going to be particularly heavy. Now I did think about a roving around for Chub but for once I felt like a chilled session under an umbrella for a predator.

I did consider returning to the roach and bream swim but I'd not caught a Zander for a while but in this area when the river is up there is some sanctuary away from the flow and turbulence. 

Smelt on both rods and from time to time I had a float rod to try and at least catch something if the Pike and Zander were not biting.

The river was still a nice colour albeit a light green colour not tea coloured I like for Zeds. As expected I had the whole stretch and after walking through a sodden field at dawn I got the umbrella up quick smart and with a kingfisher already patrolling up and down the stretch at least I would have some company. 

There are plenty of features here for predators to hang out and I moved the deadbaits around the various swims for the 4 hours I was there, and the odd twitch here and there to try and provoke a reaction if a fish was wonder wether to take the bait or not.

It's surprising this little trick Sean used to do can often turn a blank session in to a good one.

I'm not one to lug all the gear like I did for this trip out, but it was more necessity than anything else, if I didn't get out, I'd probably only regret it. 

For a couple of hours despite what would seem half decent conditions both float rods remained motionless and the rain didn't let up all the time I was there, and I did wonder leaving a nice warm bed was the best idea. But still got to be in it to win it, at least I decided to give it a go especially when potentially the local rivers could well become unfishable again. 

I sat back away from the river itself because the swim had turned in to a proper quagmire, ones muck boots never seen as much mud, proper thick sucking sticky stuff too, not exactly pleasant.

I'd been chucking maggots straight out in front of me from under the umbrella and eventually after a good while a few fish started to top. Perch were chasing the fry from time to time as well, at least I knew there were fish in the swim.

When there was a break in the weather the float went out but it took a good while to catch the first fish. There are usually dace here and small roach too but even just off the main flow where they tend to be nothing doing at all.

A switch to close in brought a quick bite on the double red maggot and it was quite a nice chunky perch however not exactly what I was after. 

The countdown timer was on now and with the rain getting heavier the sanctuary of Korum's ageing green canopy was unavoidable, what miserable weather, didn't the weather Gods get the email, some of us are stuck working from home during the week. 

Eventually though the left hand float bobs and sails away and the red top of the float disappears from view. The first lunge I knew it wasn't a big fish but I was hoping it was a Zander.  Not in this case though, a small jack that had clearly been on the munch. On that fish and with the rain easing off, it was time for the off and wondered maybe Barbel might have been the better option. 

Till the next time, where it will be out with the secret weapon, watch this space !!!!