Not tried them yet, but they look like they will do the job. However it seems they have been painted with some toxic paint, they have given me a headache as they bleeding stink.
Saturday, 14 February 2015
All the way from China....
I've been after some small highly visible floats to use whilst Zander fishing down the cut. 5 floats and 5 packets of light sticks all the way from China for less than £5 all in.
Not tried them yet, but they look like they will do the job. However it seems they have been painted with some toxic paint, they have given me a headache as they bleeding stink.
Not tried them yet, but they look like they will do the job. However it seems they have been painted with some toxic paint, they have given me a headache as they bleeding stink.
Monday, 9 February 2015
Avon Chub Chasing – Guttle Shuffle
For this morning’s fish pursuit I was after big Chub, easily the greediest fish in the river and certainly not shy round the buffet. Their gluttony and pursuit of a full belly means they can be caught in the hottest of summers and the coldest of winters. They have an unmistakeable fight that makes them right up that as one of my favourite species to catch, proper scrappers and snag seekers. My PB is a mediocre 4lb 9oz, and I want to catch a Warwickshire Avon quintuple.
The Avon Chub I’ve caught are long but not as tumified as their Southern cousins, so despite catching literally hundreds of them I’ve struggled to achieve my goal, less food available, more active who knows ? Maybe I should target them exclusively for a whole winter, a carpet bombing approach so to speak. I could take to my car and find a better stamp of fish in an entirely different river and county. I prefer to catch fish on my doorstep though, it suits my limited free time and I find it more of a challenge.
They do exist because I’ve seen them and other anglers have caught them. One day last summer when the water was low and gin clear I witnessed a couple of Chub in one particular swim through my polarised cocoons that would have been closer to 6 than 5. They were easily spooked though and any hint of the presence of an angler (ie heavy footy me) or a baited rig, vamoose nowhere to be seen, gone, back to their thick cover and sanctuary. Trotting fared better than a static bait in terms of numbers of fish caught but a static bait seemed to always bring the bigger fish. Come winter time and with a bit of colour in the water though, the fish feel more confident, far less easy to spook and there is a better chance of catching a good’un.
My usual tactics were used for this session. Cheese paste, maggots and worms for hookbait, liquidised bread as feed and my favoured roving approach. Before fishing the first swim a few potential swims were pre-baited on route with marble sized cheese paste balls and these baited swims would be fished on the return. For keeping cheese paste on I tie a small hair with a bait spike attached and use a small cork ball which gives the paste something to grip on to. You get savage bites too so as a rig it work well. Size 12 hooks seem to be just about right.
As one particular swim I was planning to fish also contains Gudgeon I brought along my trusty 8ft TFG super light quiver rod with a light link ledger set-up and planned to fish a small section of worm or a couple of maggots. These were not battery wasters either as I’ve caught some right lunkers, strangely when I’ve had a large pellet out for Barbel. I’m sure there would be a possibility of clonkers of specimen proportion too as in this relatively short 20 meter stretch of river where it’s fast flowing with a bed of gravel they seem to thrive and don’t venture too far, bit like those from Southam.
Best laid plans and all that as weirdly they were not there today; the river was low and clear but had a decent flow to it. Maybe that put them off. The weather is settling down by the looks of it so with the close season fast approaching I’ll give it another go in a couple of weeks.
At least the Chub were paying ball, the 2nd swim I managed a 2lber and the last swim a hard fighting one that went 3lb 6oz’s on the scales. Certainly not the best conditions to fish for big Chub but an enjoyable short session all the same.
 |
| 3lb 6oz |
They do exist because I’ve seen them and other anglers have caught them. One day last summer when the water was low and gin clear I witnessed a couple of Chub in one particular swim through my polarised cocoons that would have been closer to 6 than 5. They were easily spooked though and any hint of the presence of an angler (ie heavy footy me) or a baited rig, vamoose nowhere to be seen, gone, back to their thick cover and sanctuary. Trotting fared better than a static bait in terms of numbers of fish caught but a static bait seemed to always bring the bigger fish. Come winter time and with a bit of colour in the water though, the fish feel more confident, far less easy to spook and there is a better chance of catching a good’un.
My usual tactics were used for this session. Cheese paste, maggots and worms for hookbait, liquidised bread as feed and my favoured roving approach. Before fishing the first swim a few potential swims were pre-baited on route with marble sized cheese paste balls and these baited swims would be fished on the return. For keeping cheese paste on I tie a small hair with a bait spike attached and use a small cork ball which gives the paste something to grip on to. You get savage bites too so as a rig it work well. Size 12 hooks seem to be just about right.
 |
| No more overhang :( |
As one particular swim I was planning to fish also contains Gudgeon I brought along my trusty 8ft TFG super light quiver rod with a light link ledger set-up and planned to fish a small section of worm or a couple of maggots. These were not battery wasters either as I’ve caught some right lunkers, strangely when I’ve had a large pellet out for Barbel. I’m sure there would be a possibility of clonkers of specimen proportion too as in this relatively short 20 meter stretch of river where it’s fast flowing with a bed of gravel they seem to thrive and don’t venture too far, bit like those from Southam.
Best laid plans and all that as weirdly they were not there today; the river was low and clear but had a decent flow to it. Maybe that put them off. The weather is settling down by the looks of it so with the close season fast approaching I’ll give it another go in a couple of weeks.
 |
| Blurry, a bit how my head felt after a night at the Champions. |
Monday, 2 February 2015
An act of meddlesomeness….
Am I mad ?, a disappointing reccy session at Guy’s Cliffe the previous week and yet I left my warm and overly mammiferous bed at first light to trudge up a thicket riddled path to hopefully fulfil my inquisitiveness and find a roach sanctorum. To be honest I probably set myself up for a blank session as it’s been bitterly cold, fishing shouldn’t be easy though should it. I’m not one to park feet from my fishing peg from a carp plethoric pool. I prefer adventure and possible untapped big fish fortuity. (well, within <15 minutes of my house anyway ).
Old Milverton is ideal for this as a fisherman seeking detachment and remoteness from everyday life. The hamlet is situated on the bend of the Warwickshire Avon, situated upstream of the parish of Guy’s Cliffe where the swims are denser and the city sniffers more prevalent. Here the northern reaches are more barren and inhabited and don’t suit the sluggard. The only issue is the road noise from the A46, it ain’t the best.
Wintertime seemed to be the best time to tackle this stretch, I love to seek solitude, but if that means tackling 7ft nettles in the process that’s a no goer. With a couple of tearaways who need constant attention and with a limited time to fish my time is precious.
I was also hoping a longish trek in the cold would help with the grog-blossom, port and stilton the night before wasn’t an ideal belly filler for a fishing trip the next day and to be honest I didn’t feel the best but I battled on. I dreamt of big roach and dace utopia ( btw a good series on 4oD if you haven’t watched it. ) and was hoping I would find it.
Anyway back to the fishing, compared to last week I scaled down for this session, a smaller cage feeder, lower diameter line and a finer gauge hook (Kamasan B983). Lobs were exchanged for dendrobena tails and once again maggots would also be used as hookbait. As the clarity of water would likely to be pretty good I also decided to bring some 12mm diameter bread discs. Liquidised bread and maggot filled the feeder. To give myself even more chance of catching a fish I brought along a trotting set-up to try and find the fish if they were not accepting of a static bait.
The second swim produced a nice Roach of about 5oz’s on worm and the first trot through the swim on bread I caught another Roach of similar size. The swim went quiet for 15 minutes and as soon as the 15 mph winds were becoming unpleasant I decided to look for some other swims downstream. Most swims I tried produced fish but the static bait easily out fished the moving bait. In the last swim I just used the feeder rod and had 10 fish in half an hour or so, the biggest Roach went 8oz's.
Strangely I didn’t miss many bites, the B983’s doing a grand job. No big Roach for this morning’s session, or Perch for that matter, but compared to last week certainly encouraging. It’s cold again this week and with the close season getting nearer I might have a session for Chub, I’ve neglected them of late and need a proper bend in the rod.
Old Milverton is ideal for this as a fisherman seeking detachment and remoteness from everyday life. The hamlet is situated on the bend of the Warwickshire Avon, situated upstream of the parish of Guy’s Cliffe where the swims are denser and the city sniffers more prevalent. Here the northern reaches are more barren and inhabited and don’t suit the sluggard. The only issue is the road noise from the A46, it ain’t the best.
Wintertime seemed to be the best time to tackle this stretch, I love to seek solitude, but if that means tackling 7ft nettles in the process that’s a no goer. With a couple of tearaways who need constant attention and with a limited time to fish my time is precious.
I was also hoping a longish trek in the cold would help with the grog-blossom, port and stilton the night before wasn’t an ideal belly filler for a fishing trip the next day and to be honest I didn’t feel the best but I battled on. I dreamt of big roach and dace utopia ( btw a good series on 4oD if you haven’t watched it. ) and was hoping I would find it.
Anyway back to the fishing, compared to last week I scaled down for this session, a smaller cage feeder, lower diameter line and a finer gauge hook (Kamasan B983). Lobs were exchanged for dendrobena tails and once again maggots would also be used as hookbait. As the clarity of water would likely to be pretty good I also decided to bring some 12mm diameter bread discs. Liquidised bread and maggot filled the feeder. To give myself even more chance of catching a fish I brought along a trotting set-up to try and find the fish if they were not accepting of a static bait.
The second swim produced a nice Roach of about 5oz’s on worm and the first trot through the swim on bread I caught another Roach of similar size. The swim went quiet for 15 minutes and as soon as the 15 mph winds were becoming unpleasant I decided to look for some other swims downstream. Most swims I tried produced fish but the static bait easily out fished the moving bait. In the last swim I just used the feeder rod and had 10 fish in half an hour or so, the biggest Roach went 8oz's.
Strangely I didn’t miss many bites, the B983’s doing a grand job. No big Roach for this morning’s session, or Perch for that matter, but compared to last week certainly encouraging. It’s cold again this week and with the close season getting nearer I might have a session for Chub, I’ve neglected them of late and need a proper bend in the rod.
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