Warwickshire Avon – Recrudescence and Replicant’s

Have a look behind your sofa, you see apparently half a billion old £1 coins remain in pockets, and piggy banks even though cease to be legal tender today.

Boris Becker would love them to sort out his £54,000,000 ‘overdraft’ or maybe gather them up and send them to Brussels HQ with a note saying….

“This is all you’re getting “

Nationwide will take them until December 20 where they will take them for the kids Make-A-Wish Foundation, yeap that’s a better idea me thinks.

Now talking about making a wish….

“Can I start catching some decent fish please”

You see the Avon is a little out of sorts at the minute, low, lifeless and back to clear again and I’m twiddling my thumbs wondering what to fish for.

I could bag a Barbel at dusk, fish the weirs for predators or trot some maggots for the smaller stuff but without Sam for this session I fancied seeing what was up at the deep bit.

Now a friend Dave texted me recently asking where all the Zander were, as we have had some success in the past in a few areas that seem devoid of them now. The thing is they are unlikely to be moving that much at the minute.

Why, well it’s clear, very clear so even deep swims will be like the curtains open for the Zander, the have unbelievable eyesight after all.

As soon as there is some colour in the water then that’s when thing change….

With the net curtains now up they can hunt in packs and surprise even the most wary of fish. Also apart from being clear, it’s still very mild indeed. I’ve found with canal fish, you can catch schoolie after schoolie on deadbait but as soon as the frosts come the water gets cold that’s when the bigger fish start turning up.

I’ve caught them on the lure with a little colour in the water but for this session it was Pike I was after, there are plenty here, the Zander I know where suspicious in their absence.

Dawn, overcast and after about 30 casts I’d already had a few follows from Jack Pike but as the morning went on it they were clearly not having it.

Dan was up here too fishing deads, and despite giving me one of his guaranteed Zander banking soft baits, nothing much doing.

Eventually after swapping to a shallow diver I fished some swims with some vegetation in the margins I eventually picked up a tiny Pike, probably the smallest I’d ever caught.

At least it was a pretty fish, a blank avoided….

Warwickshire Avon – Cabbages and Cardialgia

I blame the Luftwaffe….

I’ve not experienced the Coventry ring road in anger for some time now but having to venture over to the ‘delights’ of the Foleshill Road the other day to meet up with some friends for some catch-up fodder I was looking forward to a nice pint of ale.

You see apart from the unpleasant but controlled chaos this road brings, the lovely council have also turned in to a building site with major road works going on. Probably to something to do with the student accommodation that is seemingly taking over the City over recent years.

So the concrete jungle looked even more concrete.

But I’ve a soft spot for Coventry as it formed a big part of my social and work life, and given the choice to live in Cov or Brum, it would be Cov no question.

People get on in the most part.

Oddly not being over for sometime the demographic of this road has changed in a short period of time, at least I know where do come for a cheap car wash.

Anyway with more luck than judgement I managed to arrive in one piece, a thirst quencher required.

A throwback from the 1970’s the huge TV’s a distraction from looking at the carpet.

Looks at pumps, peers over the bar at the fridge, hmmmm

“Have you got any ales on”

“Sorry only lager and cider, oh and Guinness and Worthington Creamflow”

“Errrr…..I’ll have a coke thanks”

Luckily the food was pretty good, massive sizzling platter of sheek kababs, lamb chops, and tandoori chicken were polished off and the balti’s tasty. Spicier than the usual curry house norm too, no complaints from me.

The cheese, garlic and chilli naan’s particularly good. No short measures here.

About 3.00am I was rudely awoken by a farting fox and oddly seemed to coincide with a bout of heartburn that I experience from time to time.

So after a load of Gaviscon’s finest I couldn’t get back to sleep, so only one thing for it, I’ll make the rods up. You see I’m off to the Lower Severn for a fishing weekend and as a big planner of my fishing trips might as well make hay whilst the Wife sleeps. Targets for the Severn trip, well having caught a Rudd there last time, a trotting set-up but the main line of attack would be for big Zander, big Barbel and Eels.

Two main rods, both running set-ups, big Boilie, Roach deadbait.

So with the rods already made up, might as well give them a bash up a deep area of the Warwickshire Avon.

There is an area of Cabbages where I’d caught Zander from before so this short morning session with Sam, a dead and a big boilie were positioned whilst Sam had his quiver rod with last week’s maggots to use up.

So best laid plans and all that, meticulous planning, never paid off.

So another blank to add to the list....

The conditions are not brilliant at the minute and with a boat equipped with an outboard powering up and down the stretch the wake probably put the fish off.

No bites on maggots either such the dire session.

Wind picked up, Sam got cold, you get the picture. I ended the session early, just nothing doing.

Warwickshire Avon - Barbel and Bestiocracy

I've not managed any beasts from this stretch of the Warwickshire Avon yet, but it's an area where Barbel are in numbers, so for quick session like this after work one, it's ideal.

An angler in a very productive peg was biteless despite moving swims prior and a couple more maggot danglers downstream were not fairing any better it seemed.

The river a little out of sorts to be honest, clear again, dropped like a stone and the fishing ain't easy, especially at a reasonably pressured area.

But, as soon as the light goes headed in to dusk, things change, so with the rod made up, (glugged wafter and a pva of freebies) it was positioned in-between some streamer weed.

So with all but me bankside, after 10 minutes of this short hour and a half session the first indication, a tentative chub pull.

15 minutes till official dusk (well app on phone) another couple of pulls, but this time a Barbel me-thinks. Sure enough, another 5 minutes all hell breaks loose, the centrepins ratchet is screaming an a Barbel is on.

I'm still amazed at the fight they give, rod bend double, tip nearly touching the water, after a couple of premature attempted netting's the fish was eventually in the net, a proper scrap.

Rested in the net to recover and a quick pic the fish went 8lb 8oz for a few more bloggers points.

Now with a Lower Severn trip on the horizon and rods to be made up, next week I'm having a rig reccy at an area I can fish properly in to dark. Big Barbel bait this time though and the other rod will have a deadbait.

Next year I might even give Barbel a proper go to try and bank some bigger fish that I know reside in certain areas, a species that has my utmost respect.