After a run of six sessions on six different rivers taking in four counties, I made my first repeat trip. The Anker was the venue and Brian joined me for his first crack at this river for an afternoon / evening session.
On approach to the river my jaw hit the floor. I was greeted with this sight and I can tell you it gave off a right old stench.
Three weeks earlier I had fished that peg and it looked like this.
I continued downstream and fortunately the river started to open up. Clearly there was a blockage in the river, but beyond it there was some flow and a bit of hope. Crucially we feasted our eyes on the clear signs of feeding fish - some of the most intense bubbles I have ever seen. Spirits quickly lifted.
I never really know what to do when fish are clearly grubbing around in your swim. Should I ball it in and risk spooking them, or is a softly, softly approach better? I went on the cautious side and eased the bait in throughout the session.
I started off with corn and switched to maggot, but over 30 minutes in and we were both biteless. I had been laying on with the stick about 6 inches overdepth. I took the extra depth off and tried again. First cast and the float buried.
It didn't feel big to start with but then it started to crank up. I thought it might be a small tench, but it was actually a big and very dark coloured bream which was a pb shaker for sure. I could see it was lip hooked so I took it carefully on the 3lb hooklength and banked my prize.
Brian thought it might push towards eight pounds, but with a hint of pessimism I thought high six. Either way my previous best of 6lb 5oz was definitely beaten. Brian loaded the net and zeroed the scales. I placed the fish in and waited for the verdict. 7lb 9oz was the result, so it was pretty much in the middle of what we guessed.
With a willing photographer available I tested out the arms out effect. I don't usually push my arms out when being photographed, which tends to make even half decent fish look less impressive than you'd imagine them to be.
The following two pictures are of the same fish, but one looks so much bigger, yet I remain in a fairly similar proportion in both.
The rest of the session wasn't prolific for me, but I had some roach and perch, with the best knocking around the pound mark.
Brian was kept busy with plenty of roach on the next peg, but that in turn caused him to acquire a friend in the shape of a feisty jack that kept snaffling fish throughout.
Late in the day I hooked another lump and I confidently predicted tench due to the scale of the battle. Snagged deep in the lily pads I eventually got it out, but it had now turned into a bream! Brian clocked that it was foul hooked and the mystery was solved. Cranking up the pressure it went into the net sideways on and the hook pulled clear just as the net was lifted. It went 5lb 10oz.
With light fading the last action was left to Brian as he finally got one over the pike that had taunted him throughout. The funny part of it being that we could see the pike wasn't hooked, but was stubbornly ho!ding on to its prey. It eventually let go when safely in the net and both fish survived the experience.
An enjoyable session and I'm learning more about the river now. In hindsight I think I should have been more positive to start with and next time I think I'll ball it in from the off.
The good news for me is that I have a bit of time off this week, so I'll be aiming for a couple of midweek sessions amongst my other plans.
I've also had my eye on an estate lake that caught my attention earlier in the year. After a short period on a waiting list my number came up, so I should be in business soon. It's the wrong time of year for me in all honesty, but the plan is to secure my ticket and then I'll have somewhere to target during the next closed season. I have no idea what it holds, but that's all part of the attraction for me.
Only just seen this post, great catch Sean! Lovely old bream there.
ReplyDeleteThat'll be boosting your points for sure.