Made Me Laugh

Reading my Angling Times today as per my usual Tuesday lunchtime routine. The article on estate lakes grabbed my attention and I had a look through their list of must try venues to see what was on offer locally that I might have overlooked in the past.

This made me laugh:

Similar to our local Coombe Abbey Lake, Blenheim observes the traditional closed season! Oops!

Close But No Cigar

I haven't done much fishing in recent weeks. A poor session at Snitterfield Reservoir a couple of weeks ago was the only outing since my last post. I had a morning slot available this Saturday and decided to give it a go.

College Pool was my choice to get back amongst a few fish and I planned to get there for 7am. Everything was going to order and I was sweeping my way southwards through the Warwickshire countryside. It was only when I reached The Pheasant Hotel at Charlecote that I realised my daydreaming had perhaps gone a little too far!

Seeing a dreamy looking river at Barford had sent me into autopilot and I was happily heading off to my club stretch on the Avon. Oh well, only a couple of months to wait! A quick U turn and I was back on the right track and heading towards Wasperton.

Arriving at 7-05, I was the first on site and I headed off down the far end of the pool. I figured that I'd be nicely out of the way down there. Wrong! Three chaps arrived just after I'd balled in and with the whole pool to choose from, they plonked themselves directly opposite me. In fairness, they were no trouble, but having other anglers in my eyeline all session is not my idea of a pleasant day. It's always a possibility on this water though.

I gave the bolo rod another outing and it caused a puzzled look from one of the onlookers. "What the hell's that?" and "That bloke's got a rod as long as your pole", were a couple of the remarks from one of the seasoned onlookers. Whilst perhaps not the most obvious choice of the masses, I quite like the control I can get from it when fishing a water like this (very deep close in). It's a little less subtle than a pole, but with a bit more peace of mind courtesy of the running line.

The set up was a homemade float fished 19ft deep, with a bulk of 4AAA shot 18 inches from the hook, with a number 6 about 9 inches from the hook. The hook was a Kamasan size 15 b711 attached to a 3lb bottom and baited with 3 red maggots. Main line was 5lb Maxima on a centre pin reel. Around 8 balls of groundbait were introduced (laced with half a pint of caster, some micro pellets and a dollop of liquid molasses) into a tight area.

It was a slow start but a couple of small roach and a perch got me off the mark, before a decent roach turned up. It was the best I've had from the pool by quite some way and at 1lb 3oz, it was only a couple of ounces shy of my pb.

Fish weren't exactly crawling up my rod though and it was the same amongst those opposite me. One had managed a bream while the other pair were blanking.

Eventually I managed another bite and this felt more substantial. Definitely a bream I thought, but then I couldn't seem to do anything with it, so maybe it was something else? With a 3lb bottom I couldn't give it too much stick, but to be honest the fish was battering me all ends up every time I tried to apply any pressure. For well over 5 minutes I had a strange battle and then when I saw a brief glimpse of the fish, I knew the score.

It was foul hooked in the pectoral fin and was an absolute nightmare to control. Every time I threatened to get top side of it, it would power off again. Eventually I managed to bank it in a clumsy manner, with it darting around, missing the net and pretty much beaching itself, with me smothering it with the net. It went 5lb 2oz and was sporting spawning tubercles.

Ten minutes later I was in again and this fish gave more of a stereotypical bream fight, finding its way into the net fairly swiftly. This was a better fish and at 6lb 1oz, was also just a few ounces shy of a pb.

I bumped off one other small fish and that was it for the action. Four hours after arriving I packed up and headed home. The three anglers opposite, all using poles, still had more keepnets between them than fish.

Like many others, it seems I'm not alone in waiting for my EA rod licence to show up. I renewed over 2 weeks ago and it's yet to find its way through my letter box. Some who renewed after me have received theirs, but some others who renewed before me are also still waiting. It sounds like a bizarre system to me.

Peace and Quiet

The chance to fish last week didn't materialise in the end and that signalled an early end to my river season (although it pretty much ended in mid December if I'm honest). To rub salt into the wounds I drove out into the Warwickshire countryside this morning and the Avon at Barford was looking in great nick - a far cry from the flooded scenes of recent months.

I only had a shortish 4 hour session planned for today and I was mulling over my options, but settled for College Pool in the end. With its deep water, it was the perfect place to try out a new rod I'd bought a few weeks ago. I'm gradually building up an arsenal of rods to cover various situations and I couldn't resist grabbing a bargain deal of a Stillwater bolo rod (£59.99) which came with a free baitrunner reel and was also sent free of charge. The reel was loaded with braid and was put through its paces a few weeks ago on a couple of pike sessions. It coped well enough.

The rod (just shy of 20ft) was teamed up with a centre pin reel. It allowed me to float fish with a fixed set up rather than having to use a slider approach. Some might question why I don't just pole fish to allow for greater comfort and flexibility, but I've been bitten with those tactics before. The pool contains some hard fighting carp and if you hook one on pole gear, you either need some very substantial gear or a huge dose of luck to get them out.

I prefer to have the back up of rod and line wherever possible and this is where the bolo rod gives me another option. I can fish a relatively light set up in a similar way to how I'd fish the pole, with excellent presentation. The difference is that any bonus carp or barbel would probably smash the same set up fished on a pole, but with the bolo I have a fighting chance.

Although I'd turned up with the rod already equipped, I took my time to get started. I balled out some groundbait not too far out (but still into 19ft of water!) and took time to have a wander around the pool, before taking in a coffee, then making some final adjustments to my set up. With no-one around it was just peaceful and relaxing on a gorgeously mild March morning.

It was a difficult start, with a few roach and perch showing, but with no great enthusiasm and bites were slow to come by. I was pondering whether my tactics were right and considering maybe reaching for the quiver tip rod. Then the float buried with more purpose and I bumped off a better fish. That was the signal that bream had finally found the bait and with it my confidence went up a few notches.

I patiently stuck to my guns and managed to catch four bream over the next couple of hours. None of them monsters - all between 4lb and 4lb 9oz.

It was a pleasant few hours and I had the place to myself for the whole session - just how I like it. I assume that Jubilee Pools reopening after their winter shut down, perhaps saw a few people taking that option instead. The rod performed well enough on its first outing and it's more than adequate for my needs in this type of situation.

I'm hoping to get down to Snitterfield soon to see how things are warming up down there, while I still have a ticket. I'm reviewing my plans for the season ahead and it's likely that some of my current haunts will have to bite the dust. I'm looking to expand my river fishing to include more of the Avon, along with other local rivers such as the Leam possibly. I just need to acquire a stillwater ticket for back up. Enquiries are ongoing...

Final Act?

A couple of downpours in the latter part of the week saw the river on the rise again. Nothing too serious though, but an extra 4 inches or so on top of last week's conditions - thankfully it was on the drop during my Sunday session. The forecasters predicted some wet and windy conditions for the afternoon, so I headed off at 7am with the intention of packing in when the rain set in.

It has been a strange old season this time around. Mostly mild throughout, very dry for the first part and then horribly wet for the back end. Winter has decided to have a year off and we seem to have retained a very much Autumnal feel to our weather for months on end now.  

For what is possibly my last shot at the river this year I decided to go for roach. With some colour in the water, I figured I'd have a go at putting togehter a bag of redfins. I even brought my keepnet out of retirement - it hasn't seen the light of day for a few seasons now.

I picked a peg where I was both comfortable on the bank and also had a bit of slacker water to aim for. My first choice peg was just too muddy and unsafe, but this peg left me with plenty of water to go at.

I went for a positive approach and boshed out a few balls of groundbait into about 10 foot of water and kept it topped up with an open ended feeder throughout the session. I opted for braid to help with seeing and hitting the bites.

Fish came at regular intervals but were of a small stamp. It was mostly roach, with the odd dace thrown in. I missed a lot of bites that I just couldn't connect with. A more solid thump followed one of my strikes, but a hook pull soon afterwards left me cursing and knowing that bream were now probably in the swim. I managed to winkle one out in the last hour or so - a welcome fish of about 3lb.

I popped out a deadbait for about half an hour at the very end of the session, but had no takers.

Next week we have some mild weather moving in toward the back end of the week and the river should be fining down again very nicely. It looks like it could be bang on for the last weekend of the season - just a shame that I'm mostly tied up already! There's half a chance that I might get out for a quick session though and I'll be doing everything I can to make it happen. It will be pike for sure if it does happen. I need to use up some deadbaits pretty quickly.

The Ricoh Arena fishing show is also in town again next week - be rude not to pop down!

Return of the River

Finally after a 10 week nature induced lay off, I was able to get back on the river. After such a long break from running water, it almost felt like June 16th all over again! The only difference was that I don't have any thoughts of pike fishing come the opening day in June.

I was torn in two minds - predators or silver fish. Which one would be more willing? I hedged my bets and proceeded to take a ton of gear to cover every eventuality. It wasn't helped by the fact that Christmas and a birthday have come and gone since I last graced the river and I had some new kit to try out. The apparent need to try it all out as soon as possible, probably meant that I didn't really get my plan of attack right.

I really wished I'd travelled lighter. The banks were treacherous and muddy, which meant that I was restricted to a few pegs that were easier and safer to get to. The river was looking good though - about 6 inches up and nicely coloured.

 

For my pike rig I opted to leger a deadbait for a change, rather than using a float. I also ditched the mono for a 30lb braid mainline. The starter bait was my personal banker choice of smelt - no change there!

The first cast saw a fish on the bank, which came as a relief because I hadn't seen any fishy indications. It weighed in at 8lb 11oz.

I set up another leger rod for silver fish, but to be honest I never really gave it a proper go. I was too preoccupied with the pike. I had a few roach and dace though, but missed loads of bites. I'm sure a good bag of silver fish was on the cards if I had gone all out for them on the stick float with lighter gear. It's something I should really do more often because the roach are definitely there to anyone tackling it in the right manner. Bags to over 25lb have been reported in the recent past.

The pike continued to oblige throughout the day and I ended up with five in total. A couple were around 6lb, with the other pair going 8lb 13oz and 11lb 14oz. I have a new camera and I clearly need to do some work on the settings - hence some pretty awful shots on this occasion.

Grumpy git!

I had a wander down the section to assess the damage of the floods on the pegs that I'd repaired during the last closed season. Fortunately only one peg had been damaged and even that wasn't catastrophic - it just needs a little realignment. I'll leave it until the spring now though.

Thoughts are already turning to next season now and I'm hatching a few plans for some new waters (running and still). Some of my existing memberships will have to bite the dust, but it's time to tackle something different for a change.

Small But Welcome

The weather kept me out of action last week. I was hoping to rekindle things with the river again this week, but the heavens had other ideas. It was looking better until the very back end of the week, but things then went downhill Friday evening. A quick look at the EA river levels site on Saturday morning confirmed that it was back to a stillwater again for me.

With rain due in the afternoon I settled for a quick morning session at Ryton. It's a venue that I haven't fished since last winter and although I've had my share of good days in the warmer months, it has always been rock hard during my winter visits in the past.

This year we don't seem to be having a winter at all. It's been largely frost free and relatively mild, but all too much of the wet stuff for my liking since mid December. Time, or lack of it, was the key to today though, so it had to be Ryton for a spot of piking.

Three previous attempts to catch a pike at Ryton had all resulted in royal blanks, so I set off with one target in mind - to catch anything.

I took up position on the road bank on the old information desk peg, which is now part of the new purpose built bank that was added a year or so ago. It's the first time I've fished off that area since it was redeveloped.

A couple of deadbaits were plopped into place. I twitched them around the swim at various times to help cover as much water as possible. Expectations were low, but about 30 minutes into the session the left hand float bobbed and slid away. A fish was on!

The pike have been known to top 20lb in this pool, so with great expectation I struck into the fish. It was quickly obvious that this one wasn't going to trouble even 2lb though! I didn't really care though - I was just happy to catch my first pike from the venue.

And that was it. I didn't get any more bites over the next couple of hours. The resident male swan (which is a well known psycho) shows no sign of mellowing. A couple of young swans (possibly its offspring from last year) were taking the brunt of his rage. My swim saw some of that action.

I'm itching to get back on the river, but I'm already doubting things for next week. More heavy rain is due tomorrow and we won't need much more during next week to wipe out another weekend. Time is running short for the river season and January has now been totally washed out for me.

Two's Company, Eleven's a Crowd!

With the rivers still carrying plenty of water, I headed back for another crack at College Pool this week. I went for a complete change, ditching the straight lead gear and going for a float approach in much shallower water.

Most of the pool is very deep, but the end pegs are a lot shallower and offer a bit of variety, along with some cover in places. Having seen fish up in water the previous week I fancied trying one of the end pegs and took the easy option of the car park end - not that I had a choice as the far end (my preferred choice) had already gone.  

It was a slow start but bites eventually started to come. They were pretty difficult to hit though. In hindsight I'm sure a pole would have given me a better success rate, but mine hasn't seem the light of day for a few seasons now. I hate those moments when you hook a decent fish on light pole gear and you know which way it's going to end. This pool has its share of hard fighting carp that now run into double figures, along with the odd barbel, so I prefer to stick to a running line to give me a fighting chance.

Bonus fish didn't show though and like others around me I had to settle for a few roach and perch. For once it was easy to know how others were doing, as there were 11 of them to keep me company. That's about the same number of people I've seen all year down on the river! I think it was a case of decent weather and people desperate to get back on the bank again. It's not my cup of tea when it's like that.

It was a good excuse to test out a new centre pin reel that was bought for me for Christmas - the Matt Hayes version marketed by Dragon Carp. I'd previously gambled on their Marco Cortesi version a couple of years ago and I've been quite impressed by it for what it is. It's not a top notch big name pin, but it spins very freely and does the job pretty well for me. For £40 it was a decent buy.

The Matt Hayes version costs an extra £20 and doesn't spin anywhere near as freely (or have I got a duff one?), but with a line guard and adjustable drag it makes for better handling. The acid test will be when I get to try a spot of trotting with it to see if it will spin well enough. I'm sure it will be fine.

Once again I was kept company by the local wildlife - two robins this time from the off. One of them seemed to be looking down on me every time I looked over my shoulder.

A very friendly chaffinch also popped by and wanted a piece of the action, seemingly refusing to budge until I surrendered some of my red maggots in its direction.

Once again this week we are in the lap of the gods as to whether the rivers will be fishable come the weekend. My gut feeling is that I might be disappointed again...