Struggling

Not the best couple of weeks for my fishing. Last week saw pretty decent conditions but I made a hash of a short session. Physically I wasn't well and I've suffered for most of the past week. Mentally I was dropped into the wrong place when my boiler packed in just before I was due to leave for fishing.

The result was a scrambled session down the Leam, rescued only by a half pound perch and a pike at last knockings.

This week I've been glued to the weather forecasts and the EA river levels site. With Sunday being my only viable day, I was relieved to see a window of opportunity in the morning. A wet and windy affair was set to wipe out the afternoon.

The river level on the Avon was dropping and was just about on the limit of what I'd want. Most of the platforms were out of bounds though. The temperature was also struggling at -2C.

I baited up a slack and waited patiently for bites. It was tough going so I amused myself by feeding some robins that were demanding attention.

The swans, relishing the easier exit routes from the water, wanted some of the action too.

With nothing happening I started to take more photos.

Finally a bite and a fish on the bank. Now if I'm not mistaken there's a fair chance that it's a silver bream - a big eye and a scale count in the right ball park. It was only a few ounces though, so nothing to get too excited about, but it would be a first for me on this stretch.

I had a small roach to round off a thoroughly uneventful session and called it a day when the first spots of rain began to fall just past midday.

Next week is unsettled again and that could see the rivers struggling to shift the excess water.

Winter Warmer

Well we've finally settled into a period of much cooler, but calmer conditions. It suits me down to the ground - in fact the colder the better, as long as there's no wind involved. I've had a belly full of windy weather in recent trips and it was nice to wake up to something more tranquil.

-1.5C when I left home, it briefly peaked at -0.5C on the A46 before dipping away quickly to -3C as I reached the area where the Avon snakes its way down to Stratford.

After two weeks chasing pike which resulted in meagre pickings and a royal blank, I needed something a little more reliable this week. So it was back to a more familiar club water for a mixed session.

To the right a deadbait, to the left a couple of maggots with a block end feeder.  I really wanted to go for the pike alone, but I bottled it and took half a pint of maggots as a back up. I knew it was low and clear and I was worried that it would be tough going. Blanking again wasn't an option!

The tip didn't stop rattling and bites were just lightning fast and extremely missable. I kept striking into thin air but eventually made contact with a couple of the perpetrators - small dace.

Fortunately the pike float started to move and that signalled an all out effort for predators from then on. A small jack hung on by the narrowest of margins to get me off the mark. A repeat capture of a fish last caught in October.

 I like to keep mobile when I've had a pike so I moved 3 pegs upstream to keep things fresh. Having given up on the maggots I found a friend willing to offer its services.

A patient wait and a few twitches of my lamprey bait saw me eventually connect with a fish. The bite was very delicate though and played out over maybe 30 seconds. I don't like leaving it too late for fear of deep hooking, but I do like to see some positive movement before hitting the bite.

The float didn't dip under but when it started to slowly edge towards a snag  I called time and hit it. The fish bolted away from the snag and into clear water - perfect I thought and moreover it was a good long fish that was taking line.

It turned and then I got that horrible moment where the hooks and bait are ejected. My best pike of the season for sure gone begging. I plugged on for a couple of more casts before moving down a peg for the last hour. Time was against me as I had to finish around noon to dash back for a trip to the vets with a couple of moggies.

Back to a sardine this time and a headless one for a change. It didn't take long to be engulfed and I was into a feisty scrapper that went off like a rocket. I readied the net, turned the fish and saw it was barely hooked again, with just one part of a barbless treble between success and failure.

A last violent shake of the head saw the hook fly clear and there was my net sat next to an unattached pike of around 8lb. I was actually quite calm for a change and opted not to turn the air blue. I'd at least played out most of the battle and it wasn't a huge fish either.

I would normally have considered a move but I had no time and pressed on with a change of bait to a smelt - the smallest of the baits used on the day.

It was picked up in the most aggressive fashion, with no thought required on when to strike. The float was heading for Stratford at a rate of knots! A quick strike was followed by a warm glow when I felt some serious and heavy resistance.

It took line and ended up a further peg downstream on the edge of a snag. It was easier to follow it so I picked up the net and met up with it at the snag. I lifted it clear and popped the net under it.

A nice clean fish that I didn't appreciate until I went to lift it. I then realised it had a decent belly on it after all.

It went 16lb 9oz - my best of the season and my second best ever. More pleasing is that it's a new fish to add to my archives.

I'm not sure where my next stop will take me. I'm not finished with the pike yet - I have too many baits that need clearing out of my freezer. The Leam is also calling and I was hoping for an away day in search of my first grayling. Much to do, but so little time...

With it now being much colder I must give an overdue mention to my winter clobber.

My boots are my pride and joy. They are the Skee-Tex variety and have served me proud for over 15 years. I have changed the liner in recent years but otherwise they remain in fantastic condition. They are a heavy boot and won't be everyone's cup of tea, especially if you walk long distances through muddy land. Warm as toast though and very comfortable, they do exactly what I want and have given great value for money.

I can't say the same for my fishing suit. Until two years ago I'd never had one, but I took the plunge for a birthday present and went for a Pro Logic Comfort Thermo Suit, which came with a few quid off at the time through Go Outdoors.

First impressions were good. It was plenty warm enough, not too heavy and comfortable. The only niggle was the braces which just wouldn't hold their setting - a minor issue though that could easily be overcome.

However, after year one, the stitching on a jacket pocket came loose and I had to repair it. Towards the end of year two, almost simultaneously both legs of the trousers split near the seams. They went around the boot line where the stress is at its greatest when in the sitting position. 

I'm nursing them through the last part of the winter, but I fear a good spin in the washing machine will finish them off. I'm not attempting more repairs, so a new purchase is required. If anyone has any recommendations, I'm all ears.

Another similar week of cooler settled weather lies ahead. Just a possible blip around Friday, before settling down again. 

Hopping Around

Another water on the Warwick & District AS book today. Hopyards was the venue and it was my first visit there since summer 2009.

It's a venue I fished quite a bit over a few years, due to its easy access and high volume of comfortable pegs. Roach used to be the mainstay and I had many a happy session putting a bag of redfins together on the pole or stick.

I wasn't actually sure where I'd fish, but as it was pretty much on the way to my other option, I dropped in for a look. The bitterly cold wind I felt in the car park was totally shielded when I reached the river. That made my mind up instantly. I didn't fancy a day of freezing my dangly bits off, so there was no question of me moving elsewhere.

This was purely a pike session and two rods were deployed. As with the previous week I opted for sardine and lamprey baits.

I hopped from swim to swim covering 5 in total, even trying my perceived banker swim twice. I worked hard but never had the slightest touch. Very few fish were seen topping either in the 5.5c water (I have a device to measure water temperature now - not sure of its accuracy, but the reading seems plausible).

Maybe the extra water along with cooler temperatures has had an impact? Or could this stretch be less predator friendly than it used to be (a fellow blogger only caught one jack in four visits). Or was it just my own lack of skill on this occasion?

Poachers or just plain poor anglers have certainly been on site. Beer cans, pop bottles, foreign cigarette packets, crude tackle more suited to sea fishing lying around and the inevitable shiny lure dangling from a willow.

The girls from the local rowing club entertained me for short periods. A coxless pair even managed to briefly embed themselves in the willow at the end of my swim! I should mention that none of them were engaging in their charity related activities though:

http://www.warwickrowing.org/onlinepurchasing.php?Doc=nakedcalendar

So, a blank start to the month and a cold week lies ahead. The search for a decent river pike will continue next week.

Down the Mill

Last week I suffered an alcohol induced lay off, caused by a little Saturday night over indulgence. Eager to make use of the good river conditions this week, I crammed in a short afternoon predator session down on the Avon.

With time against me I decided to stay a little closer to home and for the first time this season I reached for my Warwick book. It's actually the first time I've held that book during my blogging years. I was a regular in years gone by though so I know their waters pretty well.

Two venues were on my mind for this session and although I wasn't a predator angler the last time I fished them, I had experienced my share of predator problems while fishing for other species at both venues.

In the end it came down to convenience. Saxon Mill was the closest, so it was always going to be tough to drive straight past it.

I have some fond memories of this stretch dating back 20 years. There are lovely swims where you can just hide yourself away from everyone and enjoy the scenery. The only drawback is the access, which isn't always the best.

One peg that would always feature amongst my all time favourites is the one sat in the shadow of the Guy's Cliffe ruins. Aside from the draw of the ghostly and imposing ruins, the peg itself is a classic. A deep nearside back eddy with plenty of overhanging features, a good flow of water just beyond and lots of far bank cover.

I concentrated on the slacker water on the nearside and dropped out a pair of deadbaits. Sardine to my left and lamprey to my right.

It only took the second move of the sardine to trigger a response. At the time I was just clicking off a few photos for the blog when the float twitched. It then dipped under and I was in business. It wasn't the hardest of fights though and I slipped the net under a pike of 7lb 8ozs. As it's the first I've caught from the stretch it set me a target.

The rest of this fairly brief session was a struggle though. I wanted to check out the prolific mill race above the weir. At times it is stuffed with silver fish and that in turn means predators won't be far behind. I recall having some problems here in the past - not from a pike though, but from the biggest perch I've ever laid eyes on.

The promise wasn't fulfilled though and I retired to the weirpool for my last attack. It went totally wrong though, largely due to snag after snag taking its toll. I quit and was left to rue my decision to move away from the area near the ruins. 

It was nice to reacquaint myself with the mill again, but it might be a while before I return. The weeks are slipping by quickly and other venues are still on my to do list.

The week ahead looks set to turn colder and particularly so towards the weekend, when there might even be potential for some of the white stuff. Maybe my snow pike will be on the cards this year after all?

Stalked

I wasn't really sure what to fish for this week or where to go - or if I'd even manage to get out at all. As it turned out the Avon had dropped down much better than I thought it would (to about 6 inches up on my normal stretch), while the Leam was struggling a little more to shift the excess water. I gave the nod to the Avon and headed off for an afternoon session.

With a dropping river that was nicely coloured, reasonable enough temperatures and overcast conditions, I opted to go for bream in a fairly sheltered and deep area. A simple feeder rig fished with a braid main line was the plan of attack, with a bunch of red maggots. Five balls of a fishmeal groundbait spiced up with some liquid molasses was used to kickstart the swim. A sleeper rod for pike was also dropped into the right hand margin

Initially the bites weren't as frequent as I'd hoped and so I scaled back the terminal tackle and lengthened the tail. It seemed to pay off as I started to connect with a few fish. Mostly dace to start with, but then a familiar slow thudding fight signaled that a bream was on the way in. It was actually a venue best for me at 5lb 1oz (ignore the scales in the picture - the net weighed 1lb). Excuse the poor photo - I discovered soon afterwards that the lens needed cleaning.

It was the only bream I had though and I missed far more bites than I managed to catch. No roach showed up at all, which was quite surprising. Just dace and more dace.

A new pike float I made recently was being put through its paces - or rather it was doing a good job of staying above water! I had moved it a couple of times, but it was a third move that did the trick and a fish was on very quickly. I find it's often like that with pike and you need to keep changing positions to make something happen. It's easier when you're actually having a dedicated pike session, but less so when you're also trying your luck with the feeder and hoping to build up a swim.

I made a right clumsy fight of it, managing to snag my landing net on an unseen snag beneath a landing stage. Luckily I freed it and then the fish nearly went under stage too. Eventually I got myself sorted out and netted the pike.

It was another very low double at 10lb 3oz - my third low double in as many sessions and all consecutive fish too. It's a strike rate I'd like to keep going! Many's the time when I've been cursed by jacks and can't get near a double.

Something was niggling me though and when I got home I took a look through past catches. Sure enough this was an old friend last caught on Christmas Eve and previously caught in September too. Now you might think that I caught it from the same swim again, but that's not the case. I caught it in an area that I don't often pike fish and is about 100 yards upstream and around a bend from where I last caught it. I feel like this fish is stalking me! The good news is that it continues to put weight on - 2oz heavier this time.

I dedicated the final hour of the day to pike fishing and moved up to the banker area, but it failed me on this occasion. I did very briefly connect with another fish, but it slipped the hooks quickly and I never saw it. Quite often when this happens you can fool them again soon afterwards, but not this time.

Another unsettled week of weather lies ahead, with temperatures dipping away towards the end of the week and frosts likely for next weekend.

Deja Vu

My first outing of the year was on the Leam. The river was fine and the lowest I've seen it in a while, but the wind was howling through and made for uncomfortable conditions. Thankfully I was able to tether a brolly into position to shield myself from the brunt of it.

In no mood to mess around with float gear, I decided to go for two feeder rods, occasionally sacrificing one for a pike rod. As is usual, fish were topping all across the river while the light levels were low, but they disappeared noticeably as it got brighter.

Bites were never terribly frequent, but all the action took place early in the session. A handful of silver fish were caught (roach and perch), but nothing above 6oz. My first attempt with the pike rod was more successful though and following the first repositioning of the lamprey bait, the float was doing a dance.

A fairly uneventful fight followed and the fish was quickly in the net. It was a long, lean fish that easily has the scope to be a hefty double, but my instincts were that it was still a single figure fish. Brian helped with the weighing and it just sneaked into double figures at 10lb 1oz.  

When I looked back at my blog, I spotted that it was the same fish that I caught back in September when it was 10lb 8oz. It came from the same spot in the same swim - maybe it doesn't get out much?!

Bizarrely, my last post of 2014 also saw me catching a 10lb 1oz pike from the Avon, that I'd previously caught a few months earlier. I'd much rather have caught a completely different fish though - even if it was smaller.

As I'm sure many fellow bloggers do around this time, I've been reflecting over the past year's fishing. It was pretty slender pickings for me in 2014 and I probably spent less time than ever on the bank. A positive that came from the year was discovering the River Leam. I've still barely scratched the surface and have made loads of mistakes in my approach to it, but there's enough promise to keep drawing me back. It's a beautiful location where you can just get totally away from everything and that's how I like it.

One thing that I intend to do in 2015 is to diversify a little more. I spent too much time on the same waters in 2014. So, I've drawn up a list of venues I want to fish and I'll chip away at it throughout the year. Big rivers, chalk streams, canals, lakes and reservoirs are all featured. Many of them will be new to me and that's all part of the fun.

I've also been busy making a few new floats over the festive season, having received a fresh stock of supplies. It's just something I enjoy doing during quiet times when I can't get out fishing and I've done it for about 5 years now. Some are a little bizarre and experimental, but here's a selection of balsa bodied floats that are waiting for their final coats of yacht varnish. They are a mixture of cane and crowquill.

Apart from pike floats and controllers, I only ever use my own floats now. I'm sure the shop bought articles provide greater flexibility and more of a range, but there's nothing better than using a home-made version where every one is unique and built with quality in mind. They also work out cheaper.

Fishing related presents were thin on the ground this year, but one product I received was the Wychwood Solace Bucket Tool Station.

Thanks to Mick Newey for highlighting it in one his past posts. With the handy outer pockets, it's bang on what I needed. I detached the seat cover from mine as I don't really need it.

As I write this, the rivers are now full of cold water again. Hopefully things will settle down during the week and will allow for some decent fishing by next weekend.

Single to Double

Christmas Eve fishing is something I look forward to over the festive period. Last year I couldn't get near the river due to flooding, but conditions were bang on this year down the Avon.

I planned a rare two river attack for a change. The early part of the day was set aside for some piking, to make best use of the low light conditions. It was a beautiful morning, with fish topping everywhere and I felt totally confident of banishing my two previous blank pike sessions from memory.

I only took one rod - a bit of a fun rod too, being just a light six foot lure rod. With time in my mind I went straight for the banker swim.

Around half an hour in I was starting to get twitchy and as I often do at these times, I began taking photos. Perched behind the rod I eyed up a downstream shot and fired away. Then I looked back to the water and my float was bobbing away merrily! You can see the ripples in the photo.

Popping the camera down I waited for their float to slide away and hit the bite. Fish on and a fairly solid one at that, but all too quickly, fish off. It was probably a double, but I always say that when I lose them!

I was a little gutted and wondered if my chance had been blown, but I needn't have worried. The float was soon dancing away again and a long, lean fish of around six pound was given the comfy mat treatment.

Relieved to have broken the duck, I switched to a different part of the peg in search of something bigger. I broke out a lamprey section and hooked it very lightly. I had wrecked my trace on the previous fish and only had smaller trebles available. I wanted to avoid burying the hooks too much.

I saw a typical twitch on the float, which heightened my attention. Then a little bob about 10 seconds later. Any moment now I thought....

But nothing happened. That wasn't part of the plan, so after a couple of minutes I lost patience and reeled in. No bait! The fish must have whipped the lightly held bait off the hook.

Although disappointed, I knew there was a fish in the swim who'd just had a free starter, so I was determined to make the main course count.

Less than five minutes later from the same spot (under my feet really) I was battling another pike. It felt small at first, but the fight got stronger. It was good fun on a lighter outfit and the hooks just about did their job, falling out in the net.

It was just a double - 10lb 1oz. Now I can't help thinking that if, as is highly likely, this was the same fish that gobbled up the lamprey section that was pinched five minutes beforehand, then it wouldn't have been a double had I hooked it first time!

I'm a stickler for keeping photos of my pike and I always try to photograph them in the same direction to help with identification in future. Pike are so unique with their markings.

A quick check through my photos saw that this one had met me before, back at the end of August. Although it was a poor photo last time taken late in the evening, it's clearly the same fish. The good news is that it was bang on 9lb last time, so it's doing very nicely.

August capture at 9lb

I called it a day and headed of for a crack at the Leam. I shouldn't have bothered! I fished it all wrong - like a total amateur if I'm honest. Just a couple of roach and a dace to show for it. Oh well, 50% of the day went right! I just wish I had stayed on the Avon now, but that's fishing I guess. I'll make plenty more bad decisions I'm sure.

Have a good Christmas and I'll hopefully be checking in again with another session before the year ends.