Warwickshire Avon - Blanks and Borborology

The half-arsed rainbow should have made me think twice about fishing this recently polluted stretch but I decided to give it a go. To be honest I had intended to fish another stretch for barbel but the river hadn't risen anywhere near like it was reported to, so I decided on a chub session instead.

I had the banks to myself on this stretch because well, since the incident those that have tried have failed to catch anything of note and probably why the banks were deserted. 

It's such a lovely stretch this and you can even access the banks in your car (if capable) if you wanted to but for me I wanted to rove the stretch and try and drop in to every likely looking spot to try and drop on to a fish. Plenty of walking but with a light roving set-up not an issue at all. 

I pre-baited a few spots initially and then went about dropping in to each swim to try and winkle a chub out. 7 or 8 swims down without a nibble it wasn't looking good at all. 

I kept at it though and despite a cold wind I actually enjoyed being out but despite the lack of action I made the right decision to go fishing. There was some fry in the margins and they were jumping out occasionally so that was encouraging I suppose.

It's one of the biggest and widest stretches of the Warwickshire Avon I've fished and you can see why the bigger fish used to like it here because there is a heck of a lot of room to hide up if they wanted to and plenty of new areas to explore if they fancied a holiday away from the norm.

The river was just about trottable I'd say (2 ft of visibility) and maybe that was the better way to search out the fish rather than fishing static. I stuck to my guns though and stuck to my plan where in one swim after a foot pull that didn't develop in to a bite I returned to the swim where after 30 seconds or so, a few plucks and a full on bite that I struck in to prematurely. 

My own fault and sadly the fish felt the point of the hook so not unexpected it didn't return to have another go at the cheesepaste. The other day the same thing happened and a fish after the 5th time was hook due to my incompetence !!

At least I had a bite and a proper one too. Lets hope that the fish start to migrate here from other parts of the river because it really is a nice stretch of the Warwickshire Avon. I stuck it out in that swim far longer than intended and decided to move upstream 20 yards or so where next to a tree within 5 minutes of the cheesepaste being out I was getting small plucks and pulls which was obviously from small fish.

That was the only swim that had happened in and I was expect fishing some maggots on a small hook would get to know what the culprit was. 

So a blank in the end after about 3.5 hours but it didn't deter me from giving it another go. Just that one proper bite that I missed was good enough for that. I probably fished the wrong time of the day as well I suppose and next time I might pre-bait a few more swims with some bread slop and try bread instead rather than cheesepaste.

The clarity wasn't as bad as I thought and a I'm sure bread would have been the better option, so to summarise I'm not disheartened just yet, it's a convenient stretch and that certainly helps.

On a more positive note, the Sunday dinner was enjoyed without worrying about my waistline too much considering how much walking I did. A lovely bit of pork indeed, especially the cracking which was 👌

The local rivers will hopefully settle in to a more stable level going forward and a quick look at the weather report the temperatures are going to drop which hopefully will mean the fish will start to get hungry and bites will come forthcoming. !!

Warwickshire Avon - Paddle Bashers and Pneumatophilosophy

Now I had intended to get the trotting gear out and give the chub a go on the float but with rain predicted 'AGAIN' the link ledger quiver tip set-up was loaded in to the car ready for the morning. 

The river was going to rise as the day progressed so the plan was to rove some other swims where I have been catching some nice chub recently. 

I'd had to make up a new batch of cheesepaste as it's all I've been fishing of late and seems to be doing the trick and I've caught some nice chub on the pungent offering. 

To be honest it helps that the river is carrying some colour at the moment as it certainly helps if a bite is to be had. The cheesepaste as well stands out with not just smell but appearance too.

Anyway don't do what I did a while ago and purchase 'Chasing Chevin' why ? 

Well it will only make your PB as inadequate as it did mine, wow what a collection of huge chub. 

Now my PB chub is currently 6lb and 2 ounces from the Warwickshire Avon caught 11 mths ago and I cannot believe how fast time flies because I remember everything about that session like it was yesterday. 

But this chub and the others I caught on the stretch that were over 5lb and yes there were quite a few of them, sadly might have succumbed to a suspected pollution incident that happen around the start of the season. A huge fish kill that sadly not only effect this stretch but other local stretches too.

I'm hoping to make a return visit in the depths of winter to this stretch and I'm hoping a rest is as good as a change and that fish might have migrated there from others areas after the water has recovered.

 

The reports of the matches on this particular stretch post incident were grim reading I must admit but fingers and toes crossed it's made a recovery.

The chub that used to frequent here were some of the longest chub I'd caught and when a chub reaches >60cm's on the Warwickshire Avon and have been feeding well, catch one you'd be watching those scales like I did with astonishment. 

It took me a while to catch my first 5lb Warwickshire Avon chub, now, well, not rare at all in my experience hence why my target is a 7lb from the area. I've certainly seen them over the summer under my polarised sunglasses but chub this age have seen it all, they are not that easy to catch believe you me. 

The river had dropped quite a bit since I was here last but it was on the rise again so I may well give the barbel a go in the morning. Another two anglers were already on the stretch and beat me to the gate by a couple of minutes as they were just heading down the track to the river.

I managed to get in to the banker swim but there was nothing doing in there whatsoever so I went on the rove to find the fish. It was clear after about 5 or 6 swims though one bite would be a bonus. At the end of the stretch is a nice trottable peg and I regretted not bringing the gear really as the clarity looked just about ok for trotting and it was a nice pace.

I couldn't believe how mild it was and I was overdressed really, especially when roving with the gear in thick mud not exactly easy going. The water temperature was 9.6 degrees too and I would imagine that will rise over the next coming days.

I was running out of swims but returned to one which wasn't exactly a nice swim to fish but within 10 minutes I had a pluck and then a drop back bite, where upon striking I was in to a hard fighting chub that has already made some ground on me. 

A proper battle ensued and it was one of the best dogged fights I've had in a while where at one point I thought I would lose it, because there was a submerged log right by my feet and it was determined to get in to it.  Eventually netted a lovely 4lb on the nose fish and just goes to show how just one bite can make a session. 

That was my lot !!!

One of the other anglers on the stretch was struggling too and he hadn't caught anything but he mentioned that there was a charity canoe race jut about to come through and he was right. Within 5 minutes a constant stream of the webbed foot paddle bashers. Time for the off !!!

Loads of cover removed from the stretch because of one day, nice work fellas !!!

The cheesepaste came to the rescue today, then again it often does 🧀🧀🧀🧀🧀🧀🧀🧀🧀

The Tiny River Alne - Torrents and Torsiographs

As dusk approaches, another angler's many hours by the riverside are about to pay dividends. Having patiently fed the swim during this warm afternoon and evening he now waits for that all-important first bite. As the sun descends behind a big willow tree, surface activity on the swiftly moving river reveals the presence of a shoal of good-sized dace feeding on the insect life. An encouraging sign for the angler, but he will choose to wait for one of the bigger fish to accept his breadflake offering.

The angler hopes this preoccupation with the evening hatch will soon be frustrated and that the dace or roach for that mater will will then turn their attentions to other tasty morsels. 

Much of his bread slop feed will have been washed away by the current, but he hopes that some will have remained in the swim, and that the big dace, with hunger in their gills, will now make it their source of food.

Sitting some 30 yd upstream of the feeding shoal, he carefully casts his Avon float into their path and through deft control of his centre-pin reel he is able to present the bait perfectly. 

Surely his moment of glory will come. In successive casts he lands fish of 8 oz and 10 oz, but he knows bigger fish lie below. However, they are not as easily fooled as their younger cousins. 

On the next cast the bait makes it through to the bottom of the 4-ft glide and a perfect specimen a 1-pounder leaves the sanctuary of the weed-bed. Temptation has proved too much to resist. The float dives under, and after a spirited battle the angler's patience is rewarded when a slivery flank surfaces to reveal his prize. A dream is realised as the fish of a lifetime sparkles in the waxing moonlight.

Then I woke up !!!!

Anyway back to reality, back in August I caught a lovely dace from the Alne that weighed 12 ounces and catching a fish like that, you get to think are there any bigger than that to be had ?. To be honest I answered my own question and it's been on my mind ever since. The gudgeon too, they seem to be getting bigger and bigger down here every time I catch one.

To be honest the Alne and other local rivers have been more miss that hit and the river has been up and down, up and down and not really settled in to a rhythm for a good while now. I would have liked a few pike sessions in my now but that's not going to happen any time soon I'd imagine. There is more heavy rain tomorrow and those river that have just recovered will be going straight back up again because of the amount of rain we have been having. 

So after a busy week at work for that fix I fancied a few hours down the Alne just in to dusk to try and winkle a fish or two out. A small feeder with groundbait and I'd swap between worms, maggots and bread to mix it up. A size 16 specimen hook with enough purchase power to land of the rare bigger chub that reside here. 

Now what I didn't expect was that there was already someone on the stretch when I got there which is very rare indeed as I've usually got the stretch to myself. As I was walking to the bridge of death an anglers appeared from behind a bush and he was heading straight for it too albeit quite a bit closer than me. A quick natter before he settled in the peg I wanted to fish, he'd had a few minnows and that was it.

Hmmm, anyway with that swim out of bounds now I went on the rove to try and find some fish. The sensitive tip amplifying the bites that hopefully might come my way. Those bites that came my way were sadly from minnows too, so a change of tact was needed.

I changed to thumbnail pieces of bread at first and when after fifteen minutes in this newly created raft swim a couple of plucks, a proper bite when the tip pulled all the way round. A decent chub was on but before I could get it under control it headed under the raft and headed straight towards my bank where it did me over good and proper in a snag that it clearly knew was there. 

After that not much happened a few more swims and a couple of small pulls but nothing that could constitute a strike. I fished past dusk and thought that would bring me luck, but nah, nada, zilch, nothing doing whatsoever.