Opening Week

Opening week has been and gone and it was great to have a few sessions on both the Avon and Leam. The Leam in particular was a breath of fresh air and it reminded me of many happy hours I spent down on the Warwickshire Stour many moons ago.

It wasn't a massively prolific week but I did most of what I set out do - to fish lots of swims (many of them new to me) to build up some knowledge for the season ahead.

Pike were a pest on the Avon. They were never far away from anything being reeled in. I love 'em though and hope they fatten up nicely for when I target them later in the season.

The Leam is a more intimate river with many interesting pegs packed with features.

First chub of the season at 2lb 7ozs.

A few inquisitive spectators turned up!

For a brief moment I dared to dream that I might be playing a decent roach from the Leam but it was most definitely a hybrid.

I'm already looking forward to the next session. I'm not sure which river will get the nod but if it's the Avon I think the perch will get some attention (I spotted a decent one on my last session). Chub are a likely target for the Leam as I haven't really tested out the shallower more oxygenated areas yet.

Something Old, Something New ...

The new season is now within touching distance and it will signal the end of what turned out to be a 2 month lay off for me - the longest break I've had for many a year. I didn't intentionally mean to take such a long break, but it's given me a chance to do a few other things and to recharge my batteries for the new season.

Some new purchases are being readied for action and a few extra hand-made floats are nearing completion. The hemp is cooked and in the freezer. Some left over loaves are due to be ground up in the next day or so. A trip to the Wye is also in the bag.



Smells lovely!

Licences are mostly in place too. The Alveston book gets another renewal - I'm on the committee, so it would be rude not to! Aside from it being very peaceful, it's very reliable for winter pike fishing, with fish over 20lb on offer. There's plenty of fish throughout the whole section.

I've also joined the Coventry Godiva Angling Society, who run a 2 mile stretch of the Leam between Marton and Eathorpe. I don't know much about this river at all, but I've walked the entire stretch and it looks very interesting. It should offer plenty of options for winter chubbing and maybe a nice alternative venue for some piking. It sounds like some nice roach and perch might also be present.

The main thing I'm looking forward to is getting in some leg work and trying out as much of the river as possible. All too often I take the matchman approach and just extract what I can from a single peg, but this river looks like it will need a more mobile approach and I've put together an alternative set of kit to allow me to do that.

I'm also planning a return to the Warwick book for the first time in around 5 years. Saxon Mill and Hopyards are sections that I enjoyed previously and aside from general sport, both also have plenty of pike potential for the winter months. The main driver for switching back though is the lack of any backup stillwaters on my other club books and Warwick offers the racecourse reservoir. I know it's available on a day ticket (at a higher price), but I figure that I might as well get the book and have the extra river options throughout the season. It will be a useful back up in times of flood and also for when the season closes, when I'll be looking for some of those perch that it holds.

I didn't renew my Leamington book this time around, having used up my month's grace period a while back now. I like to switch things around from time to time and although I'll miss some of the waters (College Pool and Snitterfield Rese spring to mind), it's time for a change. I have more than enough options across the other books (as long as the rivers don't flood too much!), so I don't think I'd get the value from taking on anything else.

I have a bit of final bankwork planned for the weekend on the Alveston section and then a full week of fishing indulgence beckons, starting from the 16th. I always like to be off work during the opening week and this year it has worked out spot on. The weather forecast doesn't appear to be a concern and the local rivers are currently in decent nick according to the EA site.

I'm itching to get back on running water again and it's fingers crossed for a prolific season ahead. Good luck to all of you heading to a river next week.

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.