Bad Timing

I'd set my stall out this week for a Saturday session on the river for Pike. I'd been hopeful that the snow would hang around just long enough to avoid the dreaded snow melt entering the river. Right up to Friday evening the river level was perfect, but then the heavens opened and the first stage of the big melt was underway.

I woke up on Saturday morning and loaded up the EA river level site. The Avon had risen 8 inches overnight on my intended stretch and the cold stuff was clearly piling in. I said my goodbyes to my wife, informing her that the river was buggered and that I'd be home by lunch! Nothing like confidence is there?!

The weather was quite glorious actually and it presented a nice sun rise.

The fishing was as dire as I expected it to be. I fished 2 rods in the slackest area I could find, alternating Lamprey, Sardine, Smelt and Roach deadbaits. I never had a sniff.

The river rose a further 6 inches during the short time I was there and by 11am it was obvious that conditions were only going to get much worse. The predicted blank, the first I can recall for a long time, had come to fruition

One positive I can take from the session was that my new winter attire acquired at Christmas performed admirably once again. I was as warm as toast throughout.

As I write this, the river is now over 5ft above normal and still on the rise. With heavy rain forecast for the early part of the week and potentially more rain towards the back end of the working week, the prospects for getting on the river next weekend look very bleak. At least the stillwaters will be back on limits and will be benefitting from the much milder temperatures we have on the cards this week.

Change of Peg - Same Result!

Back to the Avon this week for a short morning session after Pike. The river looked in decent nick and was only a few inches up, still retaining a healthy colour. I was with Brian this week and he decided to set up in peg 3, which I'd fished the week before. I slotted in next door on peg 4.

 

It was somewhat cooler this week with a biting wind at times, coupled with some light showers. Conditions under foot were treacherous, meaning that moving around with gear wasn't exactly desirable.

 

I had an early fish out of peg 4 which took a Lamprey section on the drop. I'd only just put the rod down and picked up my other rod to reposition the Smelt bait, when I saw the float careering off into mid river. It turned out to be a small jack, sporting gill damage from a previous encounter. It didn't seem to bother it though and it was lively enough. 



 

I then decided to have half an hour on peg 9 which has produced for me in the past. No sooner had I left than Brian was into a fish that took a Sardine. Only when he'd banked it, did I realise that I hadn't brought my scales with me this week. I'd swapped my gear around to allow for a more mobile approach and didn't pack them. Fortunately it wasn't a pb shaker, but it was a solid fish and similar in size to one that Charlie caught the previous week (which went just over 9lb).

Peg 9 was a dead duck, so I eventually moved back to peg 4 for the last hour. I had one more fish on Smelt. Again, it was another jack.

 

 

I seem to be cursed with jacks this season and it's becoming a bit of a joke now. I shouldn't moan though because catching anything is better than blanking. I'm sure my time will come and I suffered a similar pattern in January last year before landing a couple of doubles.

Back on the River...At Last!

I kicked off the 2013 campaign by reacquainting myself with the Warwickshire Avon. At long last a period of dry, unseasonably warm and settled weather had taken a grip and it was clear from early in the week that running water fishing was on the cards for me again.

Having been kept off the river for nearly 2 months and knowing that the water level on this stretch had been around 7-8ft up at its recent peak, I was keen to assess the impact. I didn't have to look too far to see a big change to peg 3.

The large snag protruding out from the nearside bank used to be about 12ft nearer to the camera. It's the remnants of an overhanging willow that used to be a feature on peg 3, but has now created an even bulkier feature for peg 2.

I was joined by fellow club member Charlie on this trip and we both decided to hedge our bets by tackling up one rod for Pike and another for anything else that might be feeding. We found it tough going in the main part, but we both found a few Roach and Dace on maggot and caster. I moved on to bread flake and prawns to see if any Chub or Perch would oblige, but nothing showed up. I felt confident of finding a Bream or two in the coloured conditions, but that was totally misplaced.

I managed a couple of Pike, both taken on Smelt deadbait. The usually reliable Lamprey section got zero interest though. Both of my fish were only jacks around the 5lb mark - the story of my winter Pike campaign so far (albeit a very short and interrupted one) .

Charlie is a reluctant Piker, but he still winkled one out himself. It was quite a solid fish and the best of the day at 9lb 2oz. You can see from his handling and the almost pained expression that he's not too keen - although he is a Wolves fan, so sporting a pained expression on a Saturday afternoon is par for the course!

I shouldn't take the mickey about Pike handling though, as I was left sporting some battle scars from one of these feisty buggers! Two months off has left me out of practice - well that's my excuse.

It's good to be fishing a river again. Onwards and upwards from here until March I hope.

The Good, The Bad and the Ugly!

A combination of foul weather and family duties has prevented me from wetting a line this Christmas. The odd days where I have been available to fish, it has bucketed down and I took the easy option of staying at home. The days that had slightly better weather have seen me otherwise enagaged or just far too hungover to venture out.

 

The river has been mostly buggered throughout though, so I haven't missed much really. We have been promised some dry conditions in the week ahead and I hope that bears fruit. I have plenty of deadbait in my freezer that's just screaming out to be used before the season is done. 

 

As I have no reports to post, I thought I'd go back through some of the year's photos and share some of the best and worst. The worst ones are those that never made it on to the blog. Most are self takes and anyone who has attempted these will know how tricky they can be at times. Even when you prepare things properly, if that fish makes a lunge at the wrong moment, then you can end up looking like a right fool!

 

Here's a dozen that went wrong:



Pike Wrestling

 

Sleeping beauty!

 

Pike Wrestling 2 and where did that dog come from?!

A small carp - honest!

An interesting view of my seatbox!

 

An angler has a lobotomy mid photo!

 

An eel is returned - but it was way too quick!

 

Wrong on so many counts!

 

Half a head - a blessing some might say!

Chopped head again!



Bream wrestling!



 

Timing could have been better!

With that dubious selection out of the way, here's a few shots I've taken on my travels throughout 2012:

Winter



 

Spring
 

Summer

 

Autumn
 

Happy New Year and tight lines to you all.

It Never Rains, It Pours!

All week long I'd been monitoring the Avon river level and had been encouraged to see things improving day by day. The drop in level had been very gradual though, with the Avon almost stubbornly refusing to return to normal. By Friday the river was only a few inches up and the temperature was on the rise too. A long overdue return to the river was on the cards surely?

Sadly the big band of rain predicted for Friday became a reality and with the ground still relatively saturated, it wouldn't take long to push the levels beyond comfort. I got up at 6-15am on Saturday and checked the river level. 1.6m (and rising) at Warwick. Relating that figure to my normal stretch would mean that all platforms would be submerged and water would be lapping over the bank.

I decided against the river and instead headed off to College Pool which I last visited back in April. How things have changed for the better down there. On my previous visit the water level was very low. OK, the pool was still bloody deep, but the drop from the neatly laid out pegs to the water was about 4ft and it made things a bit uncomfortable.

All the rain we've had has solved the problem though and if anything it's gone too far! Most of the slabs that make up the pegs were under water. I settled on the end peg which afforded me a bit more shelter from the wind, with the bonus of being fishable from the normal peg position. 
 
I only had a shade over 3 hours of actual fishing time to play with, so I decided to put out two rods with a simple straight lead set up, fished over groundbait. Other preparations included setting up a brolly to keep out the wind and rain, along with donning the winter hat, having first popped in my earpiece for some essential test cricket listening. Soup and coffee were also to hand and I was as happy as a pig in muck. All I needed now was a bite or two!  

It was tough going and bites were hard to come by. Seeing a few fish topping I started to think that I should have gone on the float instead, but I was committed now and decided to stick it out on the lead. A Robin kept me amused, momentarily even perching on one of my rods. It lapped up the many free offerings I threw its way.

Finally the blank was avoided when a Bream of about 3.5lbs obliged.

A couple of small Perch were also caught before I had to call time on this brief session. Hopefully the weather will settle down to allow a return to the river next week. The forecast suggests that might be wishful thinking though, but at least the temperatures are milder.

I'm Starting To Wonder...

... if I'll fish again this year!

The recent floods wiped out my fishing over the past few weekends and I've slipped into a routine of catching up on jobs around the house. Each week I keep convincing myself that next week I'll be able to escape down to the river and it ends up with the same result - more decorating!

I know the Avon is fishable right now, but the level is still tripping on the wrong side of what I'd like it to be. If it was warmer I'd have no qualms with having a dabble with extra water on, but I've no desire to slog it out in colder conditions on a river that's still struggling to offload the extra water.

I know others have mentioned it in their blogs, but it's noticeable that the levels have been almost static - the problem being that for the gauge I use as my reference, they have been static at around 1ft above normal for some time now.

Yesterday's rain is now going through the system and has scuppered any hopes I had of wetting a line this weekend. The levels are pushing up again - only slowly, but it's just more water that the river is going to struggle to expel.

I know I could go and fish a stillwater or a canal, but I'd rather bite the bullet and score some extra points on the home front until the position improves. At this rate I'll have the entire house done before the season ends!

Caught In Two Minds



I didn't post anything last week as there wasn't much to to say. It was a strange old day which started with me clearing a layer of ice off the car just before 7am. By the time I'd reached the A46 barely 15 minutes later it was raining!

The rain eased off but started again just as I was parking up. Thankfully it passed over for just long enough to allow me to walk down to the river and get tackled up. I hate getting soaked before a session starts, but once set up it doesn't bother me - which is a good job because it then chucked it down for a good 2 hours solid.

The river was also pushing through with over a foot of extra water on. I hedged my bets with a straight lead rig and Pike rig. It turned into a gruelling session with no Pike and only a few Roach and Dace to save me from a total blank. I didn't stick it out too long. Sometimes you know when you're beaten and this was a sound thrashing!

On to this week and I'd been anxiously watching the river levels all week. At one point the gauge I use as my reference point was showing about 2.5ft of extra water on. I started to think of other options, but luckily things settled down and by Saturday morning it was just 6 inches up and looking bang on.

Fish were topping throughout the whole section and I started out on the wide section which I've neglected for quite a while. I hedged my bets again between a feeder rod and a Pike rig. As it turned out this was a bit of a mistake. I defintely suffered from trying to do too much on the day and I would have benefitted from concentrating on just one type of fishing.

I had a few Roach on the feeder set up but then hit a patch of missed bited which got me frustrated. Amongst that I landed a small Pike on a Smelt deadbait.

I eventually upped sticks and moved back down to the lower section for the last couple of hours. I spent more time on the Pike fishing after the move and had 3 further runs which resulted in 2 more small Pike on the bank - one on Smelt and the other on Lamprey section.

It's nice to be amongst the Pike again and hopefully one of the big girls is going to put in an appearance soon...