Warwickshire Avon – Steady Eddy

A change of tactics for this trip to the Warwickshire Avon, and another introductory session at Lucy’s Mill. I had planned to use up a gallon of red maggots as they were getting past their best, but as per usual with the wet and windy weather predicted that plan was short-lived . I intended to fish a feeder full of the ammonia oozing wrigglers with a couple on the size 16 hook tied to a short hook-length, which is secured to the line helicopter style.

It’s a great set-up this, and from time to time when the fish are on the feed the tip has barely time to settle before it’s on the move again. Most of the time it’s a self-hooking set-up, you just need to make sure the hook is properly sharp and wait till the tip properly bends round.

However difficult when sat under ones umbrella...clinging to the guy ropes....

The currents in weir pools are complex and have to be understood and if such areas are to be fished successfully. Lucy’s Mill has two weirs and over a couple or three hundred yards a water with hugely differing currents, depths and bed.

I’m a novice here, so be patient….

The session was originally planned as a game of two halves, the first port of call for the initial drowning of the stinky maggots was in and amongst the food carrying large static(ish) eddy which is the result of the downstream weir. Then then I’d move and fish the second swim which would be at the tail end of the ‘dead arm’ which is located in-between the two weirs before it hits the turbulent water. I’d had a look-see here over Christmas and even when the river is in flood with the water lapping midway up the benches it appears to be perfectly fishable and a likely spot for those that prefer it a little calmer Pike and Perch, Silver Bream and Tench (apparently there are some here)

I found a nice shelf here last time so for this session the small pike float equipped sleeper rod would be four meters or so out with a small deadbait fished over depth just on the edge of the drop-off to try and pick up a patrolling Zander.

So all that was very well but it was travel light and out with plan B.....

The deadbait remained but it was presented on a light running set-up and the maggot feeder set-up was replaced with a light lure rod.

Now little did I realise the rain that started overnight and continued for the whole day would cause so many problems. The Wife and I had been at Cheal's of Henley for the evening and it had more or less shut Wootton Wawen off when we returned, the Stour hovering around 0.6 metres had increased to well over 2 metres.

Now I needed my fishing fix but at one point the rain was that heavy no matter how waterproof my trousers were they were penetrating the fabric, not particularly pleasant I must say.

I managed a Perch fairly quickly and a Pike of around 7lb on the chunk of Roach but luckily for me it wasn't a Zander as it subsequently made a bit for freedom when I was sorting the camera out and it flipped itself back in to the river.

Over the 4 wet hours in plenty of swims with a nice colour to the water, the fishing was disappointing maybe as I had the place to myself others know something I don't. With more rain on the way I'm fast running out of time, I may try a later session in to dusk to see if that gives me better results but the rivers may well be out of action.

Fingers crossed...now need to get on to Ebay, I need a Poncho.

Warwickshire Avon – It’s Not Cricket

River fishing for Roach is a gentleman’s game and usually fair play is paramount however sometimes you have to flirt with your best friends Wife, a little underhand but ultimately there’s no harm done, it keeps the blood flowing and life’s interest ticking over. The Roach, particularly the large and rare ones are a fish to be treasured, they deserve respect and therefore balanced tackle that goes with it.

In the early 17th century, it was decided by English aristocrats that cricket would be played in a ‘gentlemanly manner'!

Often, the phrase, ‘gentleman’s game’ is used to describe cricket. When we think of cricket, we think of mild-mannered men in white flannels, with their shirts tucked in and their neatly parted hair. A pat on the back, a gentle handshake or sharing a joke while walking back to the pavilion are also the images that pop up in our mind. It is a game that, so they say, segregates the classy from the crude, and ‘the boorish from the benign’.

Historically, the standard of sportsmanship was considered so high that the phrase "it's just not cricket" was coined in the 19th century to describe unfair or underhanded behaviour in any walks of life.

However, in recent time and the changing game this phrase is surely debatable….

So for this session I was bolt rigging for Roach….

You What!!!!!!

I had planned to use bread discs exclusively but with a little more colour in the water than expected it was out with the Lobworms. Roach love them you see and particularly when fishing a bait static it does seem to single out the larger stamp of fish, the problem is, the bites come thick and fast…

Bang, twang, thump, rattle

The problem is despite it being a Barbel bite in miniature more often than not you are striking in to thin air. The size of the bait certainly has an influence in bites received, on one session I had Roach feeding uncontrollably and violently on whole lobworms but recast a half eaten one and they largely avoided it the crafty beggars, try and feed a kid a broken biscuit, they will burst in to tears.

The bites received are proper fast snatch and grab after a few tip rattles and a missed strike the lobworm is bruised and battered and the Roach has a full stomach.

I tried the usual helicopter set-up which is a bolt rig as such as eventually the fish is hooked on the weight of the feeder but for some reason it didn’t have the same effect when a larger hook was used and the maggots swopped for a lobworm. Roach have small mouths and lobs are a gobstopper so bites are missed because the hook isn’t anywhere near the intended target despite the fish sucking in the worm Perch esk and registering the bite. I’ve changed, modified, swopped and adapted my rig over those frustrating sessions and now have something that works reasonably well.

It’s a little like the Chub Poka-Yoke rig in that ignore the sharp twangs and rattles and wait till the rod is properly wrapped over, no real need to strike either.

One of the biggest changes was the hook pattern, I now use a Guru QM1 hook in size 10 (The largest available and just about the right size), it looks like a miniature circle hook, heavily swept shape a short shank and beaked point, it gives fantastic hook-ups.

Despite being barbless the shape helps to retain a wriggly lobworm and being PTFE coated that sharpness is retained which is a must for the rig to work effectively. The hook is tied to a 2ft hooklink and secured to the main line with a quick change bead. A small Drennan gripmesh feeder is largely inconspicuous and it runs up and down the line and stopped in its tracks with a moveable grippa stop, the beauty of this is as it’s adjustable if the bolt effect isn’t working correctly you can make modifications to improve the self hooking rate.

The feeder is filled with liquidised bread and to keep the Roach in a feeding mood, the bread is combined with aniseed flavoured hemp seed and a few red maggots…

hemp to Roach is a little like Haribo Tangfastics to a 4 year old, they love the stuff and gets them in a feeding frenzy, and when they discover it the bites are quick and aplenty.

Having ‘misplaced’ my newly purchased Salter Scales I decided to retrace my steps and head to the same swim that I know has some nice Roach in residence to try and bypass the humdrum see if there were some larger specimens within the shoal. Roach are in pockets along the length of the Warwickshire Avon but its surprising just how localised they are and many areas are completely devoid of them. I didn’t give the swim nearly enough time in the previous session so the plan was to set my stall out for an extended session. Rod properly secured with front and back rest and also my rucksack seat to provide some luxurious backside support.

As a roving angler in the main, sat on ones backside it feels alien to me, but from time to time depending on the session it works.

Now I found the scales pretty quickly and upon settling in to the swim bites were some forthcoming and most bites resulted in fish. They properly give the worm a right doing over but ignore the sharp pulls and rattles and as I said before wait till it properly hoops over. After an hour or so with Roach up to 14oz's the rain started, now it was the rain that gets you wet, you know the horrible stuff, so I went for a wander to the wilds past the bridge.

I fished a couple of swims in and around the bridge and then walked upstream as far as the thicket allowed. There was signs of a vagrant sleeping rough, makeshift bed, fire and even a sofa and a couple of whicker chairs but he wasn't home today, to be honest it looked like he's moved on a long time ago.

The last swim was chock full of Roach, and most were half decent too, 7 oz's and over and again they loved the lobworm. The rain had started again in anger so I headed back after an enjoyable day.

I'm sure there are much bigger fish to be had here but as I'm not renewing the book for the new season, I may never know for sure.

Warwickshire Avon – The Chubby Dace Chase

I’d fished this stretch a few times last winter and discovered a swim full of roach and dace that were tightly shoaled up as either side of the swim was baron and fishless. There were encouraging specimen potential signs and in particular the dace, which were by far bigger than the usual stamp of Avon fish I regularly catch. Previous sessions (a year or so ago) I’d sat behind a quivertip and ledgered a worm or bread disc but for this morning trip I decided to trot a float with either bread disc or a couple of maggots as hookbait. It’s pretty deep here around 7 to 11ft and with it being reasonably wide with long runs you can give the float a proper run through.

Feed a few maggots each trot, jobs a good’s….

A nice plump Warwickshire Avon Roach

Before the first frosts the largely untapped upper reaches are out of bounds because of the huge and dense herbaceous pain in the arse perennials but there is still plenty to go at. I’m not planning to renew this book for next season having decided to fish pastures new but before I confine it to the bin for a future session I’m planning to go past the bridge to the end of the stretch and work my way down.

I’m sure there are some surprises to be had….anyone fancy a trip?

Dace shoals generally hold a variety of sizes so it pays to keep fishing a swim even if you’re catching only small dace to start with, I’ve made that mistake before, persevere and get through the plebeians and eventually the bigger fish will appear. The smash and grabbers are notorious for giving quick sharp bites and unless you are in direct contact with the float then bites can be missed.

Another issue I’ve found when trotting a float, is that even the Lilliputian fish can dunk a float and more often you are striking in to thin air. Using a 2oz quiver you get the knocks and taps but it’s only when you get a proper pull round that you need to lift the rod, they register properly too, like a Barbel bite in miniature, I’m a rover though, it’s more my thing, I also need to do more trotting, I’m sure I’ve been missing a trick.

The usual set-up for dace is as light as possible but I prefer the opposite, these days I like to use a fairly hefty self cocking and highly visible Righyni float as I’ve found even with a bow in the line leave the float can act as a self-hooking mechanism, a bolt rig in effect, you just need to be patient...

.…and get in to the mindset of the bladderated, and the delayed reaction time that goes with it….

Hey, maybe that’s why our Eastern European guests like a drink when they are fishing, maybe a couple of cans of tramp juice prior to commencing battle is the way forward. I wait till the float goes properly under and then just lift the 14ft rod to pick up the line, 9 out of 10 times a fish is hooked.

For my inaugural Grayling session at the Itchen I used a Guru QM1 hook and they impressed me so much they will feature in nearly all my trotting now. The smaller sizes particularly, the circle type pattern just seems to give fantastic hook-ups, being barbless they are also very easy to remove. Before fitting one of the Righyni floats a Drennan Avon was already rigged up so I'd persevere with that and only change if necessary and I was missing bites. 

Now the session was weird, I couldn't for the life of me catch a Dace. I started at the top of the stretch and trotted in more or less every swim without a touch, there were hardly any signs of fish either, the odd fish topped that was it.

When I arrived at the familiar banker I had to battle through the bone dry thicket and eventually had a fishable swim. I fed maggots with each trot and after about fifteen minutes or so eventually I managed a Roach...

..and another Roach, and another, and ....., and it went on like that till I ran out of maggots, I could have built up a reasonable weight if I had a keepnet. I had a few lobworms with me so I upped the hook size and fished a slack a little over depth, again, fish after fish, till the bait ran out.

The fish were not the biggest, but the average stamp of fish was high with most fish over 7 or 8 oz's up to 13 or so.

When I returned home the Salter scales were nowhere to be seen (must have left them), so I might sneak in short session after work and return to the same swim, next time though, I'll fish the quiver and go 'bread' handed....