River Wye - How Caple Court

When Nic asked me at short notice if I fancied tagging along with him to the Wye it didn't take me long to say yes !!! Now I had planned to stay locally to try and winkle out a cold water barbel because fellow syndicate member Dave had managed a 7lber when most of the barbel anglers would still be sipping cups of tea and cleaning their tackle.

Where the heck are the other anglers ? a certainly stretch opposite the syndicate waters sees anglers throughout the year, but when that extra layer of clothing is needed, they vanish. 

Still I'm not complaining as it means I've got many stretches to myself in these testing conditions, but for me, this is often when the fish want to be caught, because they are hungry after all. That energy they need to save can often mean drop a bait on a fished head the instinct is not of caution but of the complete opposite. 

That means roving is the key generally which I'm sure puts some anglers off, because many are happy to sit behind motionless rods despite the fish shouting from their hidey-holes "When the heck are you going to move, my tummy is rumbling here ?" 

The last trip here the 3rd of November  I managed my first Wye barbel and they were the target for today. Often a by-product of barbel fishing can be that a chub or two are that determined to get the bait from the hair eventually they hook themselves, but for this session I also had some meat with me not just boilies, where I could mount the meat directly to the hook to at least bank a fish or two. 

A quick butchers at the water temperature hmmm, barbel might be a struggle but as I said before if you're lucky you never know, the drop of the feeder might wake the fish up from their slumber.  

An hour in the first 'pool' swim which was far longer than I usually fish a swim without a bite it was time to get on the move.

Nic was in the 'gully' swim and he'd managed a 4lb chub that was determined to become aquatinted with him but I was really struggling moving from swim to swim. It was lower than I fished it last time, maybe a foot or two but plenty of fishable swim being 2 metres on.

So it was out with the big-guns, you see I wanted to flavour some meat ready for a barbel session and when I was in Aldi the other day, this ghost chilli flavouring was on the random as ever shelves.

Now a wing roulette is a platter of chicken wings that culminate in something rather spicy hot, lets put it that way, and yes as soon as I opened the packet I sneezed from the pungent chilli aroma, where I'd happily eat a wing doused in this, but the Wife well, she'd be looking for the mango lassi. 

When fishing coloured water for barbel especially, something pungent sat on a hard bottom confidence is gained because you know for well, something with a strong smell means that any fish in the area have at least something to home in on.

That's why garlic spam I loved as a bait its a shame that it has now been discontinued. Dynamite Baits now do a version though and to be fair it isn't a bad substitution but it's still not quite what SPAM® used to supply. 

Anyway Nic caught his chub on his usual Hot Fish and GLM boilie with matching paste but for me I didn't even have a pull or a tap. 

When I fish for chub I like to use balanced tackle but when fishing meat especially on the Wye, a barbel can often turn up so gear that can handle one of those is needed to. 

So my 1.75TC rod will have to suffice and it didn't take long to get a bite either, when a 3lber decided it fancied trying its lips on the Bhut Jolokia. Something that seemed to work to get bites was to make sure the feeder and bait hit a nice firm bottom. It just seemed to bring bites quicker that if I hit a soft bit of ground. 

As least the meat worked, in-fact it did for 2 further fish. Nic was struggling like I was and ended up on two chub for the session. The barbel didn't show whatsoever sadly and my last gasp effort in the pool swim on a paste wrapped boilie brought the biggest chub of the day which was this 4lber, I should have stayed on the Avon !!!

It's an hour and twenty minutes from door to door in good company and fantastic scenery and with the Wife and kids still coughing all the time after recovering from the lurgy, some peace and quiet works wonders for the mind, got to love fishing it's a great tonic. 

Warwickshire Avon - Yabbies and Yarnwindles

I didn't really have long for this session, in-fact by the time I got out only 2.5 hours bankside which isn't a fat lot, but enough to winkle out a fish. I'd have only regretted it, that fishing fix is needed more than ever these days !!!

Now the Avon was on the rise and would continue to do so for a while, so not exactly brilliant conditions but with the driving stretch of convenience chosen, once the rods are made they can be strapped to the car and, I could move from swim to swim and drop in to a swim with relative ease. 

Chub with the initial target but I also packed a barbel rod because the temperature was no well over 7 degrees and with the colour the way it is, they may well venture out for a munch.

Dynamite bait Hot Fish and GLM with a matching paste wrap has proven a decent bait for me, so with a feeder full of the shrimp and krill groundbait that should be pungent enough to try and get any barbel feeding in the area to home in on the bait.   

What I didn't expect with bread fished on a light link ledger in the swim in the video produced the only bite of the day, when after the 3 SSG's settled and the flake was wafting about around 5 minutes later as line bite turned in to a few plucks and then a full on decent bite.

I don't think the fish knew what was going on at first but once it realised it was hooked it went off on a mad one and I was trying to get in and amongst the bush to my right. 

It felt a decent fish and once the fight was over it looked a 5lber all day long and sure enough after putting it on the scaled it went 5lb and 5 ounces. 

Another cracking Warwickshire Avon chub bare in mind I've been struggling to catch anything over 4lb for ages so a 6lber and then this 5lber a cracking 24 hours. With the fish retained in the deep landing net no more bites, so I moved to the next swim up and nothing in there so I decided to up the gear and try for a barbel, giving the swim more time than I usually do.

The river was motoring through and despite it being up to similar levels not long ago the amount of debris coming down was frustrating at times. 

The feeder hit a lovely hard bottom so any fish could find the bait easily but sometimes the rod was only out for 5 minutes before the amount of debris wrapped round the line, meant a recast. At one point the bait was out for a good half an hour before repeating the aforementioned, but the fish were having other ideas.

Curfew came round too quick but taking the afternoon shift was fellow syndicate member Dave who had barbel on the mind, but he was suffering with the same issues as me.

He was on for a blank, but thankfully a crayfish came along to 😀 save the day. I've caught quite a few crayfish on the Avon over the years and it was on this stretch when something had not only taken a boilie bait on a previous session but had also taken the hair with it !!!

Eric was on a WBAS syndicate water not a million of miles away and he blanked too. Considering I've fished over 10 swims over the past couple of days only 2 produced bites and I think I was lucky with those.

Conditions are not getting any easier but there are still some fish to caught, you just need to be on the fish and that can often be by chance. 

Just look at the 6lb chub I caught that wouldn't have happen if it wasn't for the decision I made and also the fact I had a quiver rod and lobworms left in the car., spooky !!! but that's fishing for you and why we love it !!! 

RIP Terry Hall, I'd seen the specials a few times, the last time they were warming up for the Levellers. What he went through as a kid must have been horrendous, there really are evil people in this world. 

Warwickshire Avon - Bulging Bellies and Buckminsterfullerene (PB Content)

It was barely above freezing yesterday and yet 24 hours later it was a barmy 14 degrees, gone was the frozen fields, the lingering snow, the black ice, now trudging over the fields the wellies were sinking in to the mush. The change is all linked to where our air is coming from apparently replacing the bitterly cold Arctic air with something much milder from the Atlantic.

The wind would be gusting up to 40mph for this session where I'd fish the same stretch but this time rove around with the pike rods deadbaits, as not exactly brilliant conditions to trot a float or stare at a quivertip. 

Now there is plenty of cover here and also some of the swims have some depth as well perfect for a predator to hide out, so I was hoping the change in weather would wake the fish up from their slumber.

What I didn't expect was the 2.8 degree jump in water temperature where it was now over five, I'm sure that would help matters. It's a nice roving stretch this and despite being near a main road once your bankside especially the upper reaches the traffic noise in minimal.  

I can only assume the water going in to the river from the dramatic ground thaw and also the rain that we had boosted the river to almost barbel biting temperatures. 

After 4 swims down though with around half an hour in each swim the pike were not interested in the smelt whatsoever which surprised me as some of the swims looked perfect for a bite. The Avon had got some colour as well, in-fact it looked absolutely perfect for all and sundry, let alone Mr Snappy. 

... then an idea, as I'm bored of this !!!!

You see I had the quiver rod on the car and a few lobworms left so heck, why not try for a chub. Ok the quiver will be bouncing all over the shop like Elon Musk's Net Worth but I've got to try something to avoid a blank, I NEED to make things happen. 

So I headed back to the car got my rod and decided on a perfect looking swim that ironically I fished yesterday without a bite. Some feed went in there though, I'm sure that would help. What I didn't expect to cut a long story short was after a 3lber literally as the bait hit the bottom and then after that was released upstream, another quick bite I'm playing something quite a bit bigger.

It bolted off upstream at first towards a snag but I managed to bully it out from there and then it decided to try and get under my feet which was a mess of reeds. Again I had to show it was boss and after a further abated run I had it under control.

Nic from Avon Angling Uk had left me a WhatsApp voice message just before this and asked how I was getting on and not long after I replied, with "I've just caught a 5lber, a cracking fish". When I lifted it clear of the water the length of the fish was as long as my 60cm landing net, and its budging belly was there to see, hmmm I might need a rethink on this. 

What I didn't expect was that the dial when way past, 5lb, then past my PB of 5lb and 15 ounces and settled at 6lb 2 ounces. WTF, I didn't expect that. Wow a Warwickshire Avon 6lber, an awesome fish indeed and one I thought I'd struggle to tick off my most wanted list. Effort often equals reward though and considering the amount of Warwickshire Avon chub I have caught over the years, a fish I've wanted for so long decided to show today.

The fish had some filling out to do as well so I dread to think what it would go in March, a 7lber ? quite possibly. I was already past my curfew at this point so rather than try for yet another fish, I decided to end the session on a high, a massive high in-fact as you can see from my smile.

A good fish off any river, but the Warwickshire Avon it's a proper specimen and one of those sessions I will remember for a good while, awesome stuff if I say so myself !!! The 5lb was one of the hardest monkeys to get off my back and I've caught plenty of 5's now, but a 6, wow. Great for the Warwickshire Avon because ok the barbel numbers are not like what they used to be, but given the choice to only fish for barbel or chub, it would be chub every time, probably my favourite species.