Warwickshire Avon - Breedbates and Breathalysers

A couple of weeks down without a drop of the moonshine since the Xmas and New Year overindulgence ones resting heat rate has returned to that of a racing snake, a retired athlete. Not only is the bank balance looking a little healthier, ones sleep is much improved too.

Those 5 hours I usually get are now more like 6 or 7 and I'm getting off to sleep much fast too. Shall I continue it on come February ?, errrrrr probably not but having abstained from alcohol for quite a few years in January, its one of those traditions I think I will continue on with. 

To be honest the alcohol free offering these days ain't bad which helps as a weekend palate pleaser. The Guinness 0% is had to come by, but in a blind test I doubt if many could tell the difference. 

Recent start-up companies such as Big Drop and the like, that's all they do. 

So even you're the unfortunate designated driver you can still partake in the stout pleasantries without the fear of a bobby reaching for his breathalyser.

My liver is thanking me anyway, but lets be honest it won't be long before it will need to get active again.

If only the wine offerings could be improved rather then all just ending up down the plughole, there is a gap in the market right there as I've never tried a good one. 

Now as per usual I didn't have much time for fishing but for this morning session I was back down the syndicate stretch of the Warwickshire Avon to try and catch a predator. 

You see there are some good shoals of dace here come winter time and I've not really given the predators a good go If I'm honest. Predators thrive on neglect and there could well be a decent pike to be had here that otherwise would remain undisturbed.  So a full on pike approach, two rods positioned in slacks at the start of the stretch with smelt on one rod, and roach on the other.

Smelt is my default pike bait they jus seem to love it and when they are still frozen they float for a while before defrosting and settling on the river bed.

The depth varies quite a bit here where the norm it is 5 or 6 foot with shallower areas and also on the far size over 10 foot. That's why it throws up some quality fish I'm sure, from big bream, carp, chub and the odd barbel. 

Anyway to the fishing a lovely winter scene greeted me and as I was walking upstream to the start of the stretch where I'd set my stall out I noticed a stag in the next field looking at me intently.

It would have made a cracking picture however by the time I rifled through my bag to get the super zoom camera it had other ideas and bolted off out of sight. The fishing here can be tough but often just being there is enough for me. It's a haven for wildlife and its always nice to just sit and watch sometimes to see what else calls this area their home.

There were a few small fish topping and despite a cormorant I disturbed feeding downstream it looked good for a bite. The river was still carrying a little colour albeit it was clearing fast but an hour in to the prime pike biting time both floats were motionless.

So you know me I went on the rove and dropped in to a few likely looking swims and whilst I was watching the floats I cleared one of the downstream pegs of a fallen tree which had also become overgrown.

I can remember a few good session here trotting the float picking up dace after dace so another session earmarked to add to the numerous I've in the planning stage.

Again nothing doing in the swim and for half an hour and I even tried trotting with a deadbait and also sink and draw. It was clear there was no pike in the area or pike that were not willing to feed. Pike are strange creatures though downstream of here you can almost time the bite with a watch the uncannily  short and in-frequent feeding spells they have. 

So it was back to the starting swim and for the last hour I decided to do what I usually don't do and that is chill out for an hour and watch the world go by.

It was chilly but with the right clothing on and a flask of tea I was toasty warm, it was just a shame that the fish were not playing ball so a blank. To be honest not unexpected as I've been doing ok of late but there are some untapped monsters here I'm sure of it so watch this space. 

Warwickshire Avon - Pallasethesia and Palpebration

Another busy working week, where a trip to the office was most welcome as it not only showed the fruits of ones labour but I got to see the interior I've been working on in its full production buck glory.

A car that I'm sure will rock the industry a little when it surfaces in a couple of years time. Something a little different than the humdrum, which for someone who has worked in the automotive industry for so long, I don't say that lightly.

The CAD bashing as been accompanied with more techno beats this week where its been head down and tick those feasibility boxes off.

Now what hasn't helped those retired type have been making the most of the good fishing weather and have been updating me with every bites via the couple of fishing WhatsApp group I'm a member of. 

The ever increasing workload needs to be forgotten about, and mixes such as this one above really do work wonders for ones noggin. At least I've got a decent view from my makeshift home office where I was eager to get out on the bank as the conditions looked perfect.

Now when you have been fishing as long as I have you do amass quite a bit of gear this picture showing some of it where a section of the garage is dedicated to all things fishy.

Rods in the rafters, quivers in every corner, the bait fridge squeezed in next to the washing machine, your only seeing 50% of it !!! but then nothing should get in the way of a pastime now should it. 

When I installed the racking the purpose of it was that I could still park a Lotus Exige under it, and yes largely a pipe dream I suppose because my money gets swallowed up just to keep the Newey family ticking over.

I could sell the Jimny I suppose but then it would leave me with a car I'd probably only use for pleasure purposes, and lets be honest, to get pleasure from driving these days in the local roads that wouldn't look out of place in war-torn Beirut, I'm sure the enjoyment would be short lived.

Now as anglers we are always looking for the next piece of tackle to acquire but despite there being some decent sales on at the moment, I've been perusing the sale items, trawling through the deals and yet I've not bought anything 😢 

To be honest, I've got all I need really and the rod I wanted to buy which was a 7ft quiver rod for those tight swims was out of stock anyway. 

So I'd only be buying for buying sake and maybe its best to save the pennies till something turns up that I really want. 

To be fair I nearly bought a beachcaster rod that was discounted but then just before pressing the buy it now button I thought what the heck, the odd time that I do go sea fishing my current cheapo set-up would suffice. 

The problem is for insurance purposes when you tot everything up is amounts to a pretty penny and knowing a few people who have had their tackle nicked over the years you'd best to make a list like I have and keep as many receipts as humanly possible. 

I had a suitcase go missing after a sailing trip to the BVI's and the hassle I had to go through just to get paid out from the travel insurance company I don't want to go through that ever again.

The pain in backside was out of all my holidays I'd rather not have lost this particular suitcase as it had items from an area if the world I'm unlikely to see again.  

That's why I have a box full of receipts now for these sort of eventualities, believe you me its worth storing them, because you never know when you might need them.  

The morning mist was still there however look above and the skies were clearing so reasonable conditions but to be honest needs must rather than the likelihood of catching a fish. 

Buy you cannot catch a fish without a bait in the water now can you !!!!

The water was clearing but there was still a little colour so I was hoping that the chub would still be up for a feed and if I'm to catch a Warwickshire Avon 6lber I need to rack the sessions up. 

With the chub gear still in the car it was out with the ever reducing cheesepaste to try and winkle out a post work chub.

There are plenty of swims to go at here and I'm quite lucky that the closest stretch of the Warwickshire Avon I fish is only 10 minutes away. 

Roving is the key here but after 6 swims down in swims that looked perfect for a bite I was wondering where the heck the fish were. The river here was still a little higher than I'd like and not all the swims were fishable but drop a bait on a fishes head you can often be lucky with a bite. 

Eventually two fish succumbed to the stinky paste with both over 4 pound and the biggest heading towards 5lb. The key was to leave to the bait a little longer than I usually do because it was obviously they were not moving around much at all.

I love winter fishing for chub and the first fish gave me a proper fight on balanced tackle where it tried to snag me up twice with the forgiving rod doing the 6lb line justice to soak up the lunges.

And that was a wrap, a few more biteless swims it just goes to show how a roving approach on this sort of river is a must where if I was sat in one swim I'd most likely been looking at a motionless quiver.

The weather really was odd where the mist didn't lift from the ground and above the trees clear blues skies. It was a cold one too with another frost expected overnight and with the conditions similar again in the morning I'll head to the syndicate stretch to see the pike are biting. 

Warwickshire Avon - Burkas and Bruxomania

The little Suzuki Jimny is over 2 years old now and despite adding 17367 miles from new when I picked it up, its only needed its tyres changed this week.

It helps being a light as a feather, where more 'modern' tech means that the bigger SUV's need 600kgs of lithium iron batteries alone just to power their motors and that's without all the added battery management systems and DC/DC invertors that each and everyone one of them requires just to move one of their rather large wheels. 

That's 2/3 of the Jimny's mass right there, but a worn tyre is a worn tyre whatever the car and after a oversteer hold on tight moment when I nearly ditched it recently when an untreated rod fought back, it was time for an upgrade.

The Jimny is RWD 90% of the the time you see, and its only when the 4x4 H/L lever is engaged, all four wheels are driven, so it can be a little lairy when the roads are slippy and before the traction control kicks in, especially when all the weight is at the front. 

Gone are the days when I used to enjoy the thrill of lift-off oversteer in my MG Metro hooning around the back lanes of Meriden at 80mph that I knew like the back of my hand, or the enjoyment I got from the ridiculous speeds seen in my TVR Cerbera without any modern safety aids whatsoever. (before it broke, oh and broke again)

Now its been unstoppable off road, well from the extremely muddy tracks I've driven anyway and that was on 'highway tyres' so I've stuck with the same make Bridgestone and decided to give their AT001 a go. 

A more versatile all terrain tyre that balances on-road and off-road characteristics for a comfortable journey and has a Three-Peak Mountain Snowflake certified for its winter performance. Can we have some snow before winter is over please, I'd love to give them a proper go in the white stuff. 

Anyway enough of that, but then the Jimny is part of my fishing adventures, after all, anyway for this session I wanted to visit the syndicate stretch on the Warwickshire Avon to try and winkle out a chub. It has been more miss than hit of late for me and the other members but with the river at a nice level and a small window available for me to fish I quite fancied a dabble.

Dusk and beyond seemed to bring most of the bites here so that was my plan and I'd only fish one rod, and that would be my dedicated chub rod with cheesepaste. The chub seem to be here or not and when they are here on this small stretch, they have been a good stamp with quite a few 5lbers caught and one 6 lber if I recall. 

Now a Warwickshire Avon 6lber is definitely one of my targets and now is a great time to catch one because they have put on some timber recently judging by the ones I've caught of late. 

I must admit I've struggled to get in and amongst the biggers ones apart from the odd one or two but I was hoping for a change for this session. 

Talking of change you know me I love experimenting with different baits for chub and its well documented that they will happily take a deadbait and having caught one recently on another stretch on a snack sized roach I had out for Zander, I'm going to try a couple of sessions here in to dark using deadbaits to see if I'm missing a trick. 

I've caught chub on deadbait before to be fair and you never know maybe there is untapped Zander potential here, only one way to find out I suppose but that can wait for another session when I've sorted the gear out.

I fished a couple of hours and an hour in without a bite I got restless and moved downstream to a peg with cover and with dusk been and gone I decided to play about with the new phone the Wife got me for Xmas.

My iPhone 7 had done me proud for a number of years but a few pics in low light from one of the front cameras I'm amazed at the result.

This picture no flash, no big fettling and this is the result with only the moon providing the illumination where I assume some software tweakery works its magic. A step up from the old phone so I'm looking forward to seeing what nice pictures I can muster up.

Anyway I was 10 minutes from packing up and not much doing with everything freezing around me when out of the blue a pluck, then another pluck and then the tips pulls round nicely. 

A chub is on !!!!

Not a huge one the way it was pulling back but then when it popped up at the surface it was bigger than I thought. At 4lb 8 ounces a blank saver and I'm sure as I said, there are some much bigger ones lurking in this relatively untapped stretch. This a pic taken with the front camera with flash, not too bad I suppose, but the main camera 👌

I'll be back, oh and my recent purchase a NGT snood I was toasty warm !!!!