Warwickshire Avon - Sybarites and Symmetrophobia

A short double dipping session this where the first part there was no fishing whatsoever, you see I'd not visited the syndicate stretch for a good while well because apart from holiday getting in the way I'd been fishing other venues. 

There are going to be some surprises to be had here I'm sure as up to now >5lb Chub, double figure Barbel, a 14lb carp and 6lb bream have all been caught by me despite not fishing it in anger.

With the nights drawing in now though, and ones venues will start to get more and more limited, at least here I could fish in to dark and beyond without the fear of the bailiff arm on my shoulder, or the threat of the piercing eyes from a fellow angler who was leaving the venue and I was still bankside. 

So apart from walking the banks to check the swims over I'd deposit some bait in for a Barbel to hopefully get confident in being in residence. 

I'm sure they go up and down the river here though rather than set-up their home here because me and the other syndicate members have caught Barbel here to over double figures, I'm sure you just need to be bankside at the right time to drop on to them.

This stretch holds bream, some decent ones as well as some clonking chub but the Barbel are the ones that remain a largely unknown quarry. It's not a 'traditional' Barbel holding area in the true sense of the word if I'm honest, because well it's not gravel and pacey for starters. 

It has a relatively soft bottom (don't we all ) with a varying depth where in the main it is 4 to 5 foot deep, with much shallower areas close in and then an area over at the far side that is 10ft plus.

Like most anglers my bait fridge holds all manner of boilie and pellets etc bought over the years and yet I rarely use more than a couple of three go-to baits when targeting Barbel in particular. 

So it was a chance to have a bit of clear-out as well as fattening up some of the fish that swim here and hopefully give them a bit of confidence.

The second part, well like much of my coarse fishing of late was a smash and grab session where I'd fish a spot I lost a Barbel sometime ago when fishing for Chub.

Only a short drive away despite the Avon being really low and clear, here there is some depth just on a bend where in much of it despite being gin clear you cannot see the bottom.

I'd fish a paste wrapped boilie and a PVA bag and fish in to dusk and up till curfew and I'll be off. Hopefully a Barbel but if not, one of the nice chub that frequent here would be nice. 

I have a busy weekend to look forward to you see so a short session under a curfew suited me perfectly where I could get back to pack ones case for the most anticipated weekend in the mediocre social calendar. 

We would be returning to Butlins and Minehead for their Ibiza Legends weekend where a couple of years ago despite not wanting to like it, the weekend we had really was enjoyable and we vowed to go back again to do it all over again.

Obviously COVID got in the way last year but this year it was on again and the first time I've had to show my vaccination passport to enter any event in 2021 let along Butlins ageing and shed like 'accommodation'. 

A likeminded bunch of old >40 year old ravers like me would be partying to some the old skool DJ's we used to see when I was touring the dance clubs. 

An era I'd love to be transported back to if I'm honest. A life so simple, less hands in my ever decreasing coffers and just good times in the 1990's I often reflect on. 

Anyway enough of the guff, better get the rod out !!!!

The problem was the swim I had earmarked was already taken by an angler and his mate just up from him had already caught an 8lb Barbel. They were going to fish in to dusk so despite the angler not catching anything as yet from the swim I wanted to fish that was me scuppered.

Best laid plans and all that, still plenty to go at here so I decided to get back in the car and settle in to one of the swims on the middle of the stretch where I have caught Barbel and decent Chub from before.

Now the farmer a couple of years back had 'landscaped' an area of small river that leads to the Avon. When I saw it first I couldn't believed the devastation with countless trees felled as well to 'open up the river' to get it flowing again.

I was surprised just how well it has recovered though and despite just being a trickle in places this diminutive waterway certainly holds fish and in a couple of swims I could see dace and chublets milling around.

Now the swim I earmarked has some depth but I didn't have that long to try and build up a swim before I'd reach the curfew. As expected the odd rattle and pull came within 10 minutes of the freebies and bait being out but it was only at dusk when the first proper pull came.

A couple of violent ones too and I'm sure if I stayed long enough eventually a chub would have hooked itself. The strict rules here meant before that could happen I has the tail between my legs and I was heading back to the car. Still not all lost as the first part was successfully completed and I'm looking forward to fishing it in to dusk and well beyond as the Avon really turns on when its dark. 

Now where are my glow sticks !!!

Warwickshire Avon - Lead-Swingers and Ligyrophobia

This short session down at the Warwickshire Avon to be honest couldn't come soon enough, you see my work hasn't let up since I started working on this ground up EV I've been working on for the last 2 years. 

The work started in the office as normal and now much of my work as a design engineer is conducted at home like it has for many from 'that' announcement from Boris for the start of the first lockdown. Ups and downs for sure like most people however I dread to think how many lead swingers are taking advantage and playing the system during these times. 

I'm not complaining as I've stayed in work and I'm very lucky but I don't particularly like conducting business by  Microsoft Teams where from the makeshift design office in the kids playroom my background is an entire wall mural of Ironman and his fellow Avengers. 

Luckily more recently I've been going in to the office or prototype build facility one day a week as I'd go insane otherwise, I get some people like working from home, especially those with a >1 hour commute but we as humans are social animals in the main. 

Now we all need a little “me time” now and then, but people vary greatly in how much time they prefer to spend in solitude. Some try to limit their alone time as much as possible, whereas others desire far more than they can fit into their busy schedules.

Although both solitude and loneliness involve being isolated from others, they’re not the same thing. We feel lonely when we don’t get the personal interactions we need, and it’s quite painful. In contrast, solitude is experienced as pleasurable a kind of alone time that we seek out rather than try to avoid.

Solitude gives us a chance to think, to enjoy a good book, or to get some respite from the stresses of an overactive social life or the pressures of work and the daily grind. 

A desire for solitude can also be the hallmark of a mature, intelligent person, since many intellectual pursuits tend to be solitary in nature and fishing for us is a by-product luckily. 

However, a general preference for solitude may come at a price, in that it puts us in danger of feeling lonely after we’ve accomplished our solitary goals. 

Some people prefer solitude because they’ve had unpleasant social experiences in the past. In response, they throw themselves into their work or hobbies, which they find more enjoyable than spending time with people they find tedious or mean-spirited. But at the end of the day, there’s still an unmet need for meaningful connections with others.

A weeks family holiday where 25k daily steps was the norm, then a trip to Alton Towers where 15k was ticked off before even the first ride on the Wicker Man hardly a holiday, well in the true sense of the term. Then a three night Stag Do this weekend for a clubbing event where will my solitude be sought ?

Well luckily just down the road where I'd only fish for a couple of hours but those couple of hours will be enough to reset the piece and quiet neurons. To be fair the rather lacklustre lure sessions at Instow weren't too bad, well until the four legged noisy stick chasers turned up to spoil the sounds of the waves that is.

The Avon needs rain it really does because when it is a gin clear as this it never fishes well in my experience at all. However once the light goes things start to improve no end and this exactly what happened for this session.

Not even a knock for an hour but then as soon as the light started to go the first sigh of fish in the swim. What I didn't expect though was that a Gudgeon would be the first fish to be interested in the hot fish boilie. 

I thought the 'tap tap tap' might have been from an eel at first but no, it was a Gonk that clearly had eyes bigger than its belly. I'd added a PVA bag of hemp and small pellets so maybe after a starter it wanted its main course.

Soon after a couple of decent chub pulls a Barbel bite ensued but this was no Barbel it was a near 4lb Chub that had hooked itself despite the long hair and gave a 4ft twitch a Barbel angler wants to see but not with a chub on the end.  Still a decent fight to be fair and not unexpected here where Barbel numbers seem to be down. 

Conditions are a massive factor though, a soon as there is colour on the Warwickshire Avon fortunes can change significantly, experience tells me that.

A splasher chub came just before the curfew time and that ended the session but for me fish are secondary for much of what I get out of fishing these days. Solitude you cannot beat it. 

Instow - Potlickers and Potamography

Now the bass is the only common representative in British waters of the family of sea perches. It is among the greatest of sportfish, and known in some localities as the sea wolf, or salmon bass.

I caught the bass earlier in the week out of the blue really but because of the fish actively at the time I knew it was only a matter of time. There where quite a few fish that jumped clear out of the water and luckily I was there at the right time.

There were some cracking sunsets from our accommodation and to be honest my mind couldn't get off that fish I caught because having seen it take the lure like it did, what a fearsome predator they really are. The weather for the whole week had been brilliant being 22 / 23 degrees so there was plenty of beach time and even ventured in to the sea at Saunton for a swim. 

The walk to the industrial pier took around 25 minutes and on the way passing the rocks behind the cricket club I would look for any fish topping.

For many probably not a holiday because I clocked up >23k steps for all but one day lots of walking meant I was quite happy to eat food I don't usually do and not worry about the beer I was consuming. 

Now distributed throughout the Mediterranean, ranging west in the Atlantic to Madeira and northwards to the British Isles, the bass is a fish of the warmer waters. Around the British coasts, bass are most common in the south and south-west of England, the south and west coasts of Ireland, and tend to become more thinly distributed the farther north one moves in the North Sea. 

The overall colour is silver, the back ranging from dull grey to olive green, and the flanks showing sheens of blue or green. In some specimens there is a definite bronze sheen to the cheeks and gill covers. These tints fade with death to leave the fish silver to dull grey. 

The dorsal and caudal fins take the colour of the back, the lower fins being transparent or white. Both the tail and the anal fin have a light marking along the free edges. The first dorsal fin contains between seven and nine sharp spines, the second dorsal has two leading spines followed by between eleven and thirteen soft, branched rays. 

The pectoral fins are made up of soft rays, without spines. The pelvic fins below each have one spine at the leading edge, and the anal fin has three sharp spines, followed by between ten and twelve soft, branched rays. 

The spines, in bass of all sizes, are very sharp and can inflict particularly painful wounds. 

Contrary to belief in some circles, these spines do not inject poison, and any resulting inflammation will be due to neglect of the wound. Bass range far and wide, in changing environments, for food. 

They may follow the shoals of whitebait and mackerel, patrol shingle banks for small flatfish, or come right inshore into very shallow water for sand-eels, sand-hoppers, shrimps, and crabs. 

Thus there is contrast in the fishing, with such extremes as Ireland's famous Splaugh Rock or the comparatively quiet, brackish water of a river mouth, and the difference in the venue calls for a corresponding difference in fishing technique. 

Bass are fiercely predatory, but the large fish can be subtle in their feeding habits , but these are huge fish. Sportfish range between 2 and 6lb, and larger bass are in the big-fish class. Those exceeding 10lb are exceptional fish, and are, unfortunately, few and far between. 

Whatever the size, the bass, on suitable tackle, is renowned as a tenacious fighting fish. Could I catch another one ? errrr nope.

My twin brother Chris managed one mind you, albeit a small splasher but hey, it was a fish and I was struggling. The fish just didn't seem to be there in any numbers. Apart from that one morning on low tide where there were fish topping all over the shop from then it was very quiet indeed.

One of the mornings we popped over to the jetty and fished a bait rod with various baits but not even a bite. The wife and kids were happily catching crabs on the high tide though and in around an hour we managed a good 15 or so which took a fancy to the small sandeels and mackerel.

There were mullet mulling around too but they spooked at the sight of bread and despite trying freelining bread a few times in-front of their noses they were not interested at all. 

The Quay Inn public house and restaurant is situated in a most picturesque location with views of Appledore and Bideford the perfect place to watch the sun go down.

I've always wondered why beer is better in Warwickshire or in the Midlands in general, but despite drinking in various establishments in around Cornwall and the South West to me as on average as a cask ale drinker we are blessed with some cracking brewers. 

Even my brother agrees and he's live in this area for 5 years or so. I popped in to Summerlands the excellent fishing tackleshop in Westward Ho !! for some bits and pieces, but I was doing nothing wrong with the bass fishing apart from maybe not trying for them at dusk.

The tide times were against me sadly because this is a family holiday after all not a fishing holiday.

Still I was quite happy with that one fish at the start of the week and with another weeks holiday to Wales this time where I could do some more sea fishing I think this time I might give float fishing a go.

We are off to Saundersfoot and there is a  harbour there that can be fished with float gear apparently. Also the walk towards Wisemans Bridge has areas with rocks as well.

The reality is with such a volume of water to go at experience is key in sea fishing and that local knowledge passed on to others. I got speaking to a boat owner again on on of the crabbing days and maybe the next time I'm down again I will get myself a boat trip sorted. If I lived by the sea I think as an angler a boat is a must especially when it opens up so many more opportunities.

Something this size looked ideal, but then that would be suitable for a few anglers not me and a couple of others so maybe a little overkill.

I suppose its all about budgets isn't it but heck, if I get to the sea in 10 minutes it would be a no brainer. So again another fantastic trip down to Instow and we all thoroughly enjoyed it especially when unlike this time last year the weather was heard to fault really. Even the journey back wasn't so bad either, like British weather the M5 can be a lottery with any problems causing a big issue. 

We'll be back !!!