After the stunning experience on day 1, I had a tinge of regret going into day 2. We had opted to fish the Hereford & District AA waters near the town, opposite Belmont golf course. This stretch has a pedigree for throwing up big weights if conditions are right, but reports suggested it can be a moody customer. Today it was in a mood!
Access to pegs was difficult (mostly steep banks), albeit if it had a few more feet of water on, it would actually be a lot easier. We settled on a long double peg that looked inviting enough, but I had a bad vibe from the off.
We tried everything throughout the course of the session (even pulling out the Pike gear), but the fish weren't having it. All we could catch were tiny Dace and Minnows that were plentiful in the margins and Brian decided to fill his boots with the latter to earn a point for the challenge. I forgot to mention on my day 1 report that I sneaked a Minnow out, much to Brian's annoyance. He took great pleasure in ticking it off the list!
Despite only being about 8 miles away from where we were the previous day, it felt like we were fishing a different river. Other anglers trudged past reporting similarly poor catches, so at least we weren't alone. The main excitement was the occasional stray golf ball plopping into the river a few yards downstream. A busy Kingfisher gave some entertainment though and the sunny conditions made for a fairly pleasant day. Just a pity the fish weren't interested!
Next time we won't make the same mistake - we'll go for 2 days on the WUF waters. There's no guarantee that they will fish well, but the whole experience was just that bit more private and special. Although day 2 was hardly a hellish experience, I can get the whole dog walking, gate slamming, "caught anything mate?" experience quite easily on the Avon if I want it.
Hear hear Sean. There's something special about someone giving you the key to a beat and then having it to yourself rather than parking your car with the rest once in a while.
ReplyDeleteThere are some mixed opinions about the Wye and Usk amongst the locals down there but there's no doubt they opened up the river significantly to visiting anglers.
Funny you mention the locals. The beat we fished wasn't totally exclusive - the book said that a small syndicate also fished it, but there was ample water for all.
ReplyDeleteA few other anglers showed up after we had arrived, the first of which gave the impression he'd rather we weren't there. Maybe it was the white transit van and the wheelbarrow that irked him - he probably thought we were of Eastern European origin stocking up the freezer!
He enquired what club we were from, but without any pleasantries at all. He didn't even say "Morning peasants"! Tosser. I hope he blanked!
Sean, you should have told him that you were having a break from your Tweed beat!
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