Warwickshire Avon - Labtebricole and Lackadaisical

I'm quite spoilt where I live in this current lockdown, the Alne almost walkable, the Avon I can be bankside and fishing in less than 10 minutes. This was a bit of a cobbled together session to be honest but with the weather is mild, the water temperature heading towards nine degrees, a Barbus could be patrolling the gravel, on the mooch, need a meal.

Now ones wormery is not only somewhere to store shop bought lobworms but it's well established now and seems to be producing a huge amount of worms with the minimum of effort. Now talking about minimum of effort Barbel fishing for me has almost become lackadaisical.

No real planning, often turning up an hour before dusk, chucking out a chunk of meat, or a boilie over some hemp and not really that bothered if the rod is bent or not.

Still I've caught some half decent fish that way and to be honest sometimes there is method in my madness because  despite fishing for Barbel in the morning and in the middle of the day my results have been largely mediocre. 

As soon as the light goes swims really can transform, the fish start moving, a motionless rod literally swings in to life when that switch is pressed.

Now I thought the Avon was far more coloured when I got there and to be honest didn't fill me with confidence. The colour had dropped out considerably. I'd have probably fished for roach and had a pike rod out if I'd seen the colour of the water beforehand as I'm sure a hungry Pike would be up a smelt on toast. Certain fish don't venture out till the light goes for a very good reason, they are less vulnerable, they stand out less, less head turning to do.

Still worms are a fish's natural food, and therefore are an excellent bait. Types of worm, from the threadlike creatures which live in the mud at the bottom of lake and river to the solid rounded snakelike creatures which abound in well-manured soil. 

Fresh Water fish will at one time or another accept worm roost readily indeed, there are occasions when worm is the only effective bait. However, worm fishing has its disadvantages and particularly so during the summer months' From June until late September and sometimes even later, to use a worm as bait is almost certainly to invite the attentions of an eel. 

This would not be too bad if the eels were always large, but unfortunately more often than not the eel is likely to be of bootlace proportions. The most efficient part of a lobworm is in my opinion its tail. It looks attractive, moves well in the water and has a deadly fascination for many species. 

The red worm is smaller but is used very 'successfully, as is the brandling which is distinguished by the yellow rings around its body.

Most patches of soil will yield their quota of worms, but the richer the soil is in humus, the more worms it is likely to contain. Old compost heaps often yield good quantities, and stones and logs of wood are always worth turning over. 

If you are fortunate enough to be able to create a `wormery' in your garden, fork in plenty of garden refuse and empty tea-leaves on to the patch during the driest months of the year. Remember to keep the area moist and cover with a damp sack during the summer. 

I just wasn't feeling it, the river looked in decent fettle but I fished 5 or 6 swims and picked up 2 chublets. Even the chublet bites didn't seem overly enthusiastic in-fact the first fish must have grabbed the lobworms on the retrieve.

Gravel ✅ Steady Flow ✅ Barbel ❌

Still with the weather fair for a while I'll hopefully get out in the week and fish in to dark. Not just any old Barbel either I was a PB beater, as much as I enjoy catching barbel, they are well down the list of my favourite species, then then I fish dirty brooks for bullheads and target gonks, I may well be in the minority.

A walk out after the fishing in the village with the family, Sam is back on-board again, the weather transformed his enthusiasm but then from the cold weather we have had, milder conditions are a welcome change for many.

"Sam where do you want to go for your first session back ?"

"Daddy what a stupid question, the 'Gudgeon Swim' the 'Gudgeon Swim'

"Suits Me, got to love the mighty Gonk " !!!!

"Errrrrr, you WHAT !!!"

The Tiny River Alne - Ringworks and Rivulation

Judged purely on a basis of size the dace may appear to be a rather insignificant little fish, and few anglers can boast that they have caught, or even seen, a dace of a pound. 

Its colouring, as well as its size, is modest, lacking the flamboyance of the perch or the richness of a well-coloured roach or rudd, it is just a slim, bright, lively little fish. 

Nevertheless, there are very many anglers who rely on the dace for the bulk of their sport, and there are others who find in the search for the larger dace a fascination which leads them to specialise in hunting for these fish.

I for one love fishing small unforgotten streams and tributaries because these can hold a proper decent stamp of dace that can offer some decent sport when the main river is in flood.

For most anglers, though, the dace is just a shoal fish whose preferences in types of water bring it into competition with roach, and often with chub too, so that often the dace which are caught form part of a mixed bag. 

These fish are very widely distributed in all kinds of rivers and streams, abounding in most of the major rivers, particularly in the higher reaches, but a great deal of the best in dace fishing will be found in quite small waters.

Perhaps the type of river which is ideal both for the welfare of the dace and for the sport of catching them is that which would be thought of as a typical trout water, where there is a good clean flow of varying depth, having a prolific weed growth and a rich crop of fly and larvae. 

There are many such waters where, to put it mildly, dace are regarded as regrettable intruders, but which, if seriously fished, could soon make one-pounders much less notable. Anyone who fishes for roach in any of the normal styles, or even fishes for whatever may chance to come along, will surely catch some dace. 

They will feed on just about any bait whose size is within their capacity, paste, flake, crust, hemp, elderberries, worms, wheat, and, probably the most popular dace baits of all, maggots and chrysalides. 

There are not many occasions when one can confidently anticipate catching dace only; it is likely that there will come to the same baits and methods whatever other species are present and that they will be considerably larger than the dace. One must, therefore, decide beforehand whether to make any concession to this fact in the choice of tackle. 

Dace fishing is a light and delicate sport, and this should be reflected in the float and weight used, bearing in mind that the weight should be chosen first to present the bait properly in what-ever current exists. 

A common error is to use a very small float carrying a shot load so light that the bait streams out in the current instead of being carried at the depth as set on the tackle. A more adequate weight, with a float accurately adjusted, will not only present the bait more effectively but will also give better bite registration. 

But then you have a session like I did this morning where much of the written word goes out the window. You see are rather turbid river a large piece of bread flake no bites ensued but then the switch to half a lobworm on a size 6 the bites came thick and fast on the link ledger.

If I scaled down I would have landed more fish but the fish just kept coming. I tend to retain fish in the landing net when I fish the Alne as returning them bites are definitely not as forthcoming. 

I fished 3 swims only and got bites in each and everyone, one swim in particular was very productive indeed and chub to a nadger over 2lb and dace to 7 ounces all succumbed to the humble worm. A chub session turned in to a dace session almost with some of the dace looking as big as the chub.

Over gunned in the hook department but to be honest the fish didn't seem to mind, they really were on the feed big time. I initially was striking in to nothing because the bites were sharp and fast but the trick was to allow the fish the properly take the bait and sit tight till the light quiver really did do a mad'un.

The fish look bigger in the photo but the landing net is small, the chub not more than a pound and the biggest dace not far off half that. 

Quite a memorable session this because I usually find the Alne tough when it's coloured but this morning couldn't be any more different. I finished up on 14 fish and missed plenty of bites too.

On a light 8ft rod pretty decent sport too, another trout lost on the last cast but other than that it was a very productive session. I'm so lucky to have this small river on my doorstep although it was very mild today, I may well fish for a proper fish in the morning.

Warwickshire Avon - Ghawazi and Gerascophobia

Yes yes, ok, you don't have to warm me but the fact is when working from home, which I don't particularly like by the way, Mixcloud offers me some sanctuary from the locked-up noisy household. 

Now Steve Lawler a DJ I'd grown up with uploaded some mixes he'd compiled over the years with one mass upload. 

Some crackers too, proper club music with beats you'd only appreciate their effect if you'd been a clubber yourself. It took me right to better times, without repetitive beats I think I'd struggle with the daily monotony, lockdown for me with my restless legs is tough going, still I'm healthy and in work, suck it up Mick. 

When I got to the river I really didn't realise just how coloured it had become, it was certainly more turbid than 24 hours earlier and seemingly on the rise.

There are fishable swims here though and a swim made available not far away from a chance conversation with the landowner when Sam was with me meant I'd be able to fish where there is always a decent head of chub. I could see the bread a good 6 inches down so chub would feed providing you could drop a bait in front of their eyes.

It's a swim where in the summer they take bread off the top but are very hard to catch, they are some clonkers as well but I've not managed to better 5lb 4oz if I recall.

I had some lobworms as well but a huge visible bait like bread is hard to beat when there are greedy fish to be caught.

I did alternate to be fair because there are barbel here too my biggest 11lb and 11ounces from a swim upstream. Despite the Southern bloggers catching barbel on bread I've fished bread for years and not caught a barbel on it. 

A few swims down biteless which to be honest wasn't unexpected but I was only here for just over 2 hours so one fish would have been nice.

The last swim I did have a few tentative pulls but I expect there were small roach with eyes bigger than their bellies. 

The weather is becoming much milder next week and we should have more settled condition so I'm hoping for a couple of Barbel sessions, I've not caught one for a while and fancy a proper bend in the rod.

I don't think the water will clear anytime soon so they could well be on the agenda as well as trying for a river Zander which I've not done for a while.