Little ado and nothing happening either!

Time for another update - largely to let others know I am still struggling!

I had an unsuccesful afternoon session a couple of weeks ago with Brian on a stillwater near Wolvey. I don't know the name of it (and failed to ask either!) - but it's none of the mainstream venues I've visited over the years.

It wasn't a pleasant day weather wise, or noise wise. A small pool immediately behind us was being used by a group of dog handlers and about a dozen of their noisy mutts of the Newfoundland variety - those huge great things they use for rescuing people. It was a training day.

To be honest I don't think this bunch were up to much, but judging by their continual yapping, they were having a great time. I was talking about the owners there and not the dogs! The dogs were just barking their heads off the whole time.

We stuck it out and neither of us had anything to show beyond small fish. The only thing of interest was a goldfish!

I went away for a few days down the south coast with my better half. Although pleasant enough, there was a tinge of Jim Bowen's old Bullseye catchphrase niggling at me - "Look at what you could have won!"

For a couple of days we stayed near Christchurch and were pretty much equidistant from the Dorset Stour and the Hampshire Avon. Continually passing hallowed ground (river) like this and not being able to fish it, is just painful. I'll share a few pics of my trip though.

We saw a few of these cute looking creatures:

They are pretty good at making fish, mince and small chicks disappear quickly though!



This is the largest water lily I've ever seen by a country mile. Lurking in the water behind it is something you wouldn't want to hook up with though!




The final image is very appealing though. It's taken from a road bridge in the centre of Christchurch, looking down to where a tidal section of the Hampshire Avon runs into the harbour.

The punt is available for hire - which I didn't actually realise until I'd researched it. I recall having seen it on an old Go Fishing episode many years ago. Seems like a pleasant way to spend a day!



On my return I had a session with Brian and Charlie on the Avon at Alveston. We all struggled and the river was still suffering with weed and lack of flow. With Brian suffering more than most (he'd left his sandwiches in the fridge!), we opted to switch to Snitterfield Reservoir (via a sandwich stop!) for the afternoon/evening to see if we could find some points scoring fish for the challenge.

We failed though! Annoyingly I did hook up with a Crucian that looked well over a pound, but it slipped the hook just as it hit the surface. I had a pleasant few hours though catching silver fish.

My other session was on a South Warwickshire stillwater, which saw me catching plenty of Perch to no great size on a variety of baits. I even managed one on bread and several on meat, while trying to prize out a decent Roach or Crucian. Of the four fish I caught that weren't Perch, the best I managed was a Crucian bang on 1lb, which equals my best for the year.

I'd like to think the back part of the month will see an upturn in fortunes, but there doesn't appear to be much rain on the horizon in the forecasts I've looked at so far. I'm going to need a bumper October at this rate.

End Of Month Catch Up

I've been a bit economical with my posts in recent times, but I have been out a few times during the back end of August. The lack of posts is largely down to a lack of things to crow about.

In all honesty I've hit a rare patch of despondency. Normally at this time of the year I can't get enough of my fishing, but this year I've become a bit subdued. The reason is largely down to a lack of the wet stuff falling from the skies. I'm a river man first and foremost and it's been painful to see the rivers in such poor looking states.

In terms of the blogger's challenge, I have some plans in place for some of the typical river species in a few week's time. I'm pinning my hopes of getting a vaguely respectable looking score on another Wye visit - Barbel, Chub, Grayling and Dace will be the target, with the possibility of a decent Eel maybe.

With that in mind, I've left the Avon alone recently on the basis that if the Wye is playing ball, I can hopefully nail all of my river targets in one weekend. I've therefore been looking at stillwaters to try and pick off some of the summer targets I've fallen short of.

I had another visit to Jubilee pools in search of Rudd, Roach or Carp. I found some of each, but nowhere near the required size. The only Carp I banked looked more like an old strain of Carp and was around 5lb. Poor photo - sorry.

I tried fishing floaters, but the only fish I tempted on that method was a Rudd of about half a pound.

The other sessions since then were all on Snitterfield Reservoir, with Crucians and Roach in mind. The first two attempts were very similar affairs and the fishing was fantastic. I didn't use a keepnet, but I'm confident that I had 20-25lb of fish on each visit, made up mainly of Bream. No Crucians though.

On both visits i was left frustrated by some of the larger Carp. At one stage I had 2 decent looking fish feeding right under my rod tip together, but I just couldn't fool them into taking my bait.

A third visit saw me hooking up with Brian after almost a 2 month absence and things were slightly slower this time. I still had a bag of fish that was in low to mid double figures, but once again the Crucians were absent for me.

All in all, not the most succesful couple of weeks towards challenge points, but certainly at Snitterfield the fishing was very pleasant. It's as good as I've ever seen it and anyone wanting a pleasant day fishing for quality silvers need look no further.

It was so tranquil that Brian once again entered the land of nod! :

Somerset 2011

Last week saw me down in Somerset for a family holiday. I managed to squeeze in 4 shortish sessions around family duties, although none of them were particularly succesful. I did manage to winkle out a couple of my target species (subject to scrutiny!), but neither of them are much to write home about - but I will anyway.

The first session saw me on the River Brue. This stretch is a standing dish for me on the Sunday of any Somerset break, as it's always quiet and you can practically fish from out of your car. At £2 a day it's a steal and on this occasion the farmer failed to show so it was a freebie.

The fishing was unusually tricky and the Silver Bream I was hoping to find didn't show up. Another species I was hoping to catch at some point during the break did show up though - Eels. I had a couple of them, with the best one weighed in at 14oz.

The second session was on the River Axe on a wide, deep, man made section just above a now defunct sluice gate.

I had plenty of fish over the first couple of hours, but nothing above half a pound. Lots of different species though, with 7 in total, so it made for a bit of variety. The last couple of hours were very slow though. I saw a Pike top in the middle of my swim and quickly engaged the telescopic rod I keep in the bag for these opportune moments. I ran some lures through but the Pike wasn't having any of it.

The next session was on the River Tone. I diverted away from my intended stgretch due to a brisk wind that would have made presentation that bit more difficult on an exposed section. I consulted the map and drove to an idyllic and more sheltered piece of the river in a village further upstream. I could also park on my peg again, which was a bonus. My scout was on hand to check it out for me - Murphy the springer spaniel. He's now 13 years old, but going on 13 months old at times and it didn't take long for him to hurl himself into the swim.

The fishing was pretty poor though and I will blame it on the river this time. It was very clear and weedy, making life altogether difficult - memories of recent struggles on the upper Avon were fresh in my mind! I did winkle out some small fish, but I was taken in by a big Pike that I saw leaping clear of the surface on 3 separate occasions. The telescopic lure kit was soon in action, but I couldn't tempt it. I did briefly connect with a nice Perch though, but it slipped off the hook shortly after the take.

The last session was on the King's Sedgemoor Drain. Yet again, I managed to find another spot to fish from the car. This was a fish a chuck session, but only for small fish.

I did catch what I thought was a very small Silver Bream quite early on, so I was quite happy to go for volumes to see if others were around - and I do believe I got one. At 4oz I know it's still very small, but it's a few more points to my challenge tally if it's the genuine article. It seems to stack up in terms of the eye size and scale counts, but I'll leave it to Dr Hatt to give a final verdict.

Not the most productive holiday fishing I've ever had, but it's always nice to fish on the Somerset levels. There's miles and miles of natural waters with excellent bank access and hardly another angler in sight for the most part. As it's the place where I first caught a fish some 30 odd years ago, it always brings back fond memories.

July Update

I've had a couple of short sessions in the past week. The first one took me to Jubilee Pools, where I decided on the Horseshoe Pool.

I decided to hedge my bets, using two straight lead set ups - one for a maggot/corn approach and the other with pellet. The Perch took a liking to the maggots and they began to do my head in. I did manage a skimmer amongst them though, as well as a more mature Bream of about 4lb. No photo of it though, as it performed a backflip out of my net, shedding the hook in the process!


As I moved into the last hour of the session I started to see ever increasing volumes of bubbles appearing over the area I'd baited up at the start of the session. It felt like something better was around the corner and I was constantly getting line bites. When the bobbin shot up and stayed firmly in place on the pellet rig, I thought my moment had come. The resistance wasn't quite as hard as I'd hoped for though.

After a brief "battle" I landed a Roach which was bang on 1lb. It had taken a hair rigged 12mm pellet on a size 12 to 8lb bottom - a classic Roach set up!

My other session was on College Pool, which was more by accident than design. I had planned to target Coombe Pool, but when push came to shove, I aborted that idea.

Initially I gave College Pool similar treatment to the approach used at Jubilee. The Perch were an even bigger menace though and almost without exception, whenever a maggot was used on the hook, a Perch was there to snaffle it. The shoals of Perch were vast and whenever I threw in a few maggots, hoardes of fish appeared out of nowhere, competing in a frenzy to get there share of the food.

As a result, I quickly banished the maggots in favour of bread flake, while the other rod had a pellet set up. Apart from foulhooking a Bream of about 4lb, nothing really happened on the straight lead set ups. I'd spotted the odd Carp at the end of the pool, so a quick conversion of the pellet rod, saw me trying to fool a Carp with floating bread. I'm not a lover of Carp fishing and it's something I rarely bother to attempt. Stalking fish with floating bread is something I can make an exception for though - I just love the thrill of watching the take.

The first cast wasn't quite as accurate as I'd hoped for, but a little drift with the wind helped the bait into the right area. Up popped a pair of lips, the bait disappeared and then all hell broke loose. As anyone who's fished the pool knows, the Carp in there aren't massive but they do seem to pack one hell of a punch. Fortunately, I gave it sufficient stick after the initial take to clear it from the snags and then it was just a case of being patient. I eventually won the day and banked my best Carp so far from this pool of 10lb 15oz.
The Carp have really done well for themselves since being stocked in there a few years go at around 3lbs. I managed a further one on similar tactics towards the end of the session. I didn't weigh or photo that one, but it was in the 6-7lb stamp.

Back on the bank...briefly

I haven't had much to report recently. A fortnight ago I suffered a poor session on the Avon with Brian and last week I accompanied my better half to Silverstone for the Grand Prix. Needless to say I was itching to get fishing again and I sniffed a chance to end the working week at Friday lunchtime for once.

I only had a few hours to play with and after tossing a few thoughts around in my head, I opted for a very lightly fished, slightly mysterious stillwater. The idea was simply to remember what catching fish felt like again and to have a relaxed afternoon, making the most of the glorious weather. I'd seen the weather forecast and it seemed that any further weekend adventures would be somewhat wetter and windier.

The fish obliged in numbers - as they always do on this pool once they realise some bait is going in. Nothing big showed up, but I had a mix of Rudd, Crucians and lots of Perch (of which quite a few were on corn!). The best of the bunch were:

The Perch and the Crucian were bang on 1lb, while the Rudd tipped the scales a smidgeon further to 1lb 1oz - a personal best.

The Best Laid Plans...

Since my last post I've managed 6 sessions. Being honest, I've turned up for 6 sessions and the fish have largely had a ball at my expense. At a time of the year when I was expecting a bit of a bonanza, it's been the total opposite.

The first session on an untapped stillwater threw up plenty of fish though, but to no great size. It was a pleasant session though and the Crucians decided to show up. The half a dozen I caught were of a similar stamp, but I only weighed the first one, which went exactly 1lb. Aside from that I had plenty of Perch to a shade over 1lb, along with some Rudd and Roach. This was about as good as it got all week!

The second session on a Hinckley stillwater threw up a fair number of small fish, but nothing over 6oz. It's a water that probably needs a bolder approach than I gave it, but as a first session it's given me a better idea of what to expect next time.

The third effort saw me back on the Avon at Alveston for a short session. I had a real shocker this time on a peg I am confident with. The problem is that I hadn't tackled it in the summer before and the bottom weed was worse than I'd imagined. Memories of early season sessions from last season on other pegs, sprung to mind. The whole stretch seems to suffer badly with weed and I need to do some more groundwork. I had a few Perch up to 12oz when I changed to a trotting approach, but it wasn't a wasted day, as I spent a fair bit of time bank clearing to open up some pegs on the faster water upstream.

Part four saw me back on the same stretch of river the following day in the faster water. I had a pleasant couple of hours trotting a stick float and catching mainly Dace, with a few Roach, Perch and Chublets thrown in. When the bites dried up I switched to the lead and found weed again! I concocted a rig to get the bait above the weed and winkled some more bits out. Eventually it became hard work, so for the last hour I nipped back to peg 5 where I'd had a Carp the previous week. I'd dropped a bit of feed in earlier in the day and was hoping something big might show up. I was wrong of course, but I had a fun hour catching more Dace, Perch, Roach and Chublets on the float.

Next up was the one I'd been waiting for - the River Wye. It turned out to be a total disaster for me as I blanked. I did briefly make contact with a fish, but the hook pulled. I have no idea what went wrong on the day and it wasn't down to a lack of effort, planning or mobility. I can't really blame the conditions either - the river was rising, but not exactly at an alarming rate. Having achieved the magic ton on this river (different stretch) last year with similar tactics, I left very puzzled.

Still, it was a lovely place to be and blanking is a lot less painful in such inspiring surroundings. I was with Brian for this trip and he wasn't having much luck either.

The final move of the day just before the heavens opened, proved to be the crucial one, as it resulted in Brian connecting with a fish.

After a fair old scrap, he won the day and banked himself a personal best Barbel of 7lb 3oz. Well done that man!

Then it was back to the camp site to spend what was left of the evening trying to cook food and have a beer under a couple of fishing umbrellas, while it totally pissed it down with rain. The joys of angling!

The less said about the next day the better. Double blank for both us on the River Lugg. Again, I was left scratching my head, as the river looked good and I was totally confident with the swims I tried.

I now have a few days to contemplate my failings before tackling the Avon again.

The Glorious 16th

I've been a bit quiet with my fishing recently, but I've been busy behind the scenes making plans and giving my tackle a much needed tidy up. However, June 16th saw me kick off a hectic 10 day spell which sees me spending more days on the bank than off it.

I only had a short morning session to play with and it also had to be worked around a 7-45am drop off at Coventry station. Still, 3-4 hours of fishing time was worth the effort and I knew the Alveston Club section (which I've rejoined again), would be fairly quiet.

The pegs in the area I usally head for were occupied, but I had the choice of pegs 1-7, so I settled on peg 5 which is feature packed peg I've managed to overlook in the past. There's a fair depth close in, with plenty of lily pads and an overhanging bush. There's no flow on the inside, but it moves at a steady pace down the middle and there's the bonus of a far bank tree along with more lily pads.

I caught a few small fish quickly on the inside using a home made stickfloat and centre pin set up. Bites dried up quickly though and I needed a rethink. I fed in some groundbait on 2 lines and set up a straight lead rig. After a barren half hour mid river on the lead, I noticed that the inside line I'd baited up beyond the pads, was bubbling away like a witches cauldron. I switched the lead to the inside line, but nothing seemed interested.

I decided to change the presentation and within a minute I'd hooked something that felt quite decent and bolted off into mid river. I was cursing at this point, as the straight lead rod I had just discarded had a slightly beefier set up. Instead I was now left to play a hard fighting fish on a lightish hooklength in a snaggy swim with a size 17 hook. The fish was a strong favourite to win this battle.

With a dose of luck, a bit of skill (?!) and a lot of patience, I won the battle and netted one of the resident Carp - a Common of 6lb 6oz. A rather ordinary fish in Carp terms, but only my second ever from a river, so I was more than happy with it.


I had a few Perch up to about 12oz to round off a short but pleasant morning.