Warwickshire Avon – Dudgeons and Decoys

After ones of those days at work there is a tonic that gets one mind back on track, yeap a two hour lure fishing up the deep and pedestrian.

Great this fishing lark isn’t it, despite an active mind you don’t think about anything, and that’s why I love it as a hobby, it’s a much needed tonic.

I don’t mess around when I lure fish especially on the river, 12cm’s or over generally and I get bigger throughout the session.

Now the Avon is low, vey low, and clear, very clear but this area is deep, very deep so there are predators in numbers. I’ve not used deadbaits in anger up here yet, but come winter that will probably be my main attack, you see Zander especially when it’s cold love a Roach and if there are any in residence usually they will take it.

The thing is, it’s big and wide up here so roving is the key to banking a fish, so in winter it will be a matter of trying to find where the fish are holding up, ok fish near visible feature for sure but I’m hoping the deeper will give me an advantage highlighting any troughs for example. I’ve already found a couple and a bait in the hot spot produced fish first cast.

So the session, well, it produced a 6lb Pike first cast and then the heavens opened, for nearly an hour.

It was properly hammering it down too, so I had to seek some shelter, luckily a huge tree provided a massive canopy.

When it past, the next swim produced a Zander that was seeking sanctuary among the lilies and the surface weed, a lovely dark fish that had its fins proud from landing to releasing.

I do love these Zander, no fault of their own found themselves here, but they certainly have made it their home.

The switch to a 6” Kopyto produced a tiny jack first cast that had literally had swallowed it whole, easy to unhook mind you, that’s why I like single hooks for all my predator fishing. I’ve had a few net, fish, treble instances that I’d rather not go through again.

On to the last peg, out with the deadbait and in to dusk, sadly only a small Jack.

There are big Zander here that’s for sure, winter cannot come soon enough.

Warwickshire Avon – Ecdysiasts and Entozoons

The humble lobworm has few equals, a few on the hook.

The sight feeding Chub in a visual trance, in front of it, a lap dancer named Medusa, she enjoying the attention, his wallet about to get raided.

They find them irresistible you see and for fishing a clear river where trotting is difficult because of the snags, reeds and thick streamer reed, static fishing is the order of the day.

A simple link ledger, quiver rod, rove from swim to swim, this is the kind of fishing I love but with the fish tucked up out the way, a visual treat climaxing in a full belly can get them out of their sanctuary, out beyond the cover.

Now talk about wallet being raided, a friend on a skiing trip really did get in to that trace like state whilst visiting a lap dancing establishment on the last night of the trip, private room, two girls, champagne buckets, sparklers, the works.

A moment of madness, a final bill as much as a small countries national dept.

And sadly because of the state of bladderation, a forgotten memory.

I lost BIG Chub here on steak last week so a rig adjustment was made. Gone was the hook link, this time a float stop up the line, the Kamasan B983 tied direct to the line, a SSG shot on a weaker line attached to a running bead.

Simple tactics that have caught me plenty of fish, and yet I'm still to catch a Warwickshire Avon 5 lb'er though and to be honest, I really want to get that Monkey off my Back. The thing is after catching numerous 4lber's it is really only a matter of time, just got to stick at it.

There is a swim I going to fish in the winter in an area away from my usual stomping ground that I know for sure they are there, but as I don't particularly like the venue I'd rather wait till they are at their biggest the banks quieter and if one caught, it would certainly smash my PB.

So the session, well 6 or 7 swims fished, with bites in all but one of those. The first swim where I lost one last week a Chub of around 2.5lb nailed the lobworms as soon as they settled.

It's so, so low and clear at the moment that even with the cocoons donned, bigger fish were properly tucked away and after a big black cormorant was disturbed (never seen one here before) I had to fish close to cover and snags to get anything half decent.

The biggest Chub went 2lb 11oz, a good scrap admittitdly because I like fishing balanced tackle when fishing for them, 1lb 2oz TC TFG River and Stream rod is a great tool for the job, but the fish was well below the stamp that are here in numbers in the winter.

Two chaps who were fishing the weir were biteless after a number of hours so they were on the move too, it's a roving venue that's for sure, or settle in one prior to dusk.

On to the next one then, with a load of lobworms I might get the trotting gear out again and try for a Barbel, especially as I've recently had my Paul4 rod fixed and I've not used it for a while.

Warwickshire Avon – Convenience and Chasmophily

So the early start and the short commute to work is dark, very dark indeed and with the night’s drawing in, well it’s dark at 9.00pm now after all, it’s heading towards the season I really enjoy, Autumn and Winter. By far the most productive seasons for me, but not only that, the banks are far quieter.

More my thing you see….well apart from my SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) which will no doubt start to kick in forthwith.

By the meteorological calendar, the first day of autumn is the 1 September and ends the tail end of November. The meteorological seasons consists of splitting the seasons into four periods made up of three months each. These seasons are split to coincide with our Gregorian calendar making it easier for meteorological observing and forecasting to compare seasonal and monthly statistics.

Then there is the astronomical autumn which begins the third week of September and ends on the third week in December. The astronomical calendar determines the seasons due to the 23.5 degree tilt of the Earth's rotational axis in relation to its orbit around the sun. Both equinoxes and solstices are related to the Earth's orbit around the sun.

Solstices and equinoxes are considered to be the astronomical transition points between the seasons and mark key stages in the astronomical cycle of the earth. In a year there are two equinoxes (spring and autumn) and two solstices (summer and winter). The dates of the The Equinox and Solstice aren't fixed due to the Earth's elliptical orbit of the sun. The Earth's orbit around the sun means that in early January, the sun is closest (known as perihelion) and in early July it is most distant (aphelion).

On the autumn equinox, day and night are of roughly equal length and the nights will become increasingly longer than the days until the spring equinox when the pattern is reversed.

It also marks the time of year when the northern hemisphere begins to tilt away from the sun resulting in less direct sunlight and consequently the cooling temperatures. They were certainly evident yesterday, with lovely clear skies it was 7 degrees when I headed out whilst everyone else in the household was asleep.

Got to put something worth reading in my blog haven’t I….

So with the drop in temperature and limited post tea bank time I fancied a convenient swim with sanctuary and with some form.

Nooks, crevices and crannies this swim has it all, the thing is, it’s nice and handy and idea for a quick after work session, as hardly any drudgery is required.

From front door to rod in the water in less than 15 minutes.

As it has feature in abundance, pedestrian pace and plenty of shady cover, it is home to all manner of fish and after the capture of a Barbel on a sleeper here recently when after Ruffe, it’s not just an ‘If Carling did….’ swim for those fish blessed with teeth.

Seemingly a go for all….

Double dipping is therefore the key for this swim to cover all bases, dead on one, boilie bait and pva bag of freebies on the other.

What will turn up I wonder….?

That’s the good thing about this small stretch it really is a lucky dip.

The thing is what can I expect for a two hour session, a 10lb Zander at big Barbel ? well yes that would be nice but I have to be realistic, they are not waiting to climb up my line.

Not a good start, traveling really light as I do I had to nick the ring of the lucky 8 key ring as I must have lost the clip swivel on the ledger stem on-route. Oh well seemed to work anyway.

So with rods out in to dusk the odd tap and nudge on the boilie and nothing on the deadbait, a dead in winter here usually they jump on it but this evening all very quiet.

So at last light 8.45pm I'd packed the boilie rod away when the deadbait has some interest, the bobbin rises and the rod tip is visibly nodding.

I struck in to the fish and it was clear it was a small'un, yeap a small Zander around 3lb that was quickly unhooked and sent on its way.

So with the nights drawing in and this venue strict on fishing past dusk I might have to switch to another venue not a million miles away where fishing in to dark is allowed.