Best plans
I crept into place as stealthily as I could. The river was quite low and clearer than I would normally prefer. Through the surface glare of the early morning sun I could just make out some dark shapes in the shallow water. They were holding in the flow, waiting to pounce on any morsel of food that came their way. I couldn't quite make out what they were but experience told me they were either Roach or Dace, some big ones too.
I trickled some maggots in upstream while setting my float rod up with a small wire-stem stickfloat. The silence was deafening. I was careful to the the extreme, even down to carefully opening boxes and the like. The fish were close and one wrong move would see them scatter. I was hunkered down in my low chair, at the bottom of the bank. They wouldn't see me against the skyline but my movements were still very slow and deliberate. Finally I was ready. Everything was in place and the next lot of maggots would have my hook bait among them. I catapulted a few out and was just ready to cast over the top.............."Caught owt mate?" shouted someone behind me.
I nearly jumped from my chair, bow waves dominated my swim as any fish within ten yards departed, at speed. I turned around to see an old man standing on top of the bank right behind me. Lovely old fella he was. Completely ruined that particular peg but there were plenty more to go at. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise, these happenings occasionally I comfortingly told myself.
An old friend
A late night surf of the Internet saw me stumbled across a photograph of a very large Pike. I recognised the surroundings, a old haunt of mine and one I felt I hadn't paid enough attention to in the past. With the Pike river unresponsive I expectantly awaited my next day off from work to go and re-familiarise myself with the lake. To cut a long story short my first visit was ok, nothing spectacular fish wise but the place was just as special as it always was. Crystal clear and still relatively untouched. I had four Pike, two on lures and two on deadbaits. Nothing massive but good fun.....
The lake was a nightmare to get too and I was lucky not to get my car stuck. The track down to it is as bad as ever. I did have a visit from the bailiff though and he was a great bloke. We chatted for about an hour and he assured me what I already knew, there were some very big Pike present.
My next visit was slightly different. Not wanting to try and negotiate the track I went around the fishery perimeter after paying for my day ticket. I parked up and hopped over the fence. This caused a bit of a furore. Not with Pete the bailiff but a quarry worker and then the owner. I did manage a few hours though and had the same results- four small Pike. After my minor run-in I found Pete's phone number and gave him a ring. He was great about it and assured me I was welcome to go back. It certainly is a fascinating place and in the right light, very pretty too.........
It's also near to one of my favourite Chub spots too. A cheeky half an hour on the way home resulted in two fish, not massive but still nice to catch.........
A reminder
My friend Nate has some massive fish to his name but he is a relative Chub novice. After giving him some advice one day I thought I'd better qualify my credentials. The truth is he got me interested in catching them again after the hangover from my six pounder that I don't think either the river or I will ever better.
As usual I picked up a large chunk of Blue Stilton on my way over to the river to use straight from the packet. A few minutes moulding in warm hands some has it to a hookable consistency. Upon arriving I walked upstream, dropping in a few pieces of cheese in any likely looking spots. Although the weather was atrocious the river was in fine condition and my confidence was high. My first cast produced this magnificent fish of 5lb 8oz and one of my favourite ever photos......
The next two fish came from a different spot and they went completely nuts when I hooked them. The first fish had been dogged but these two were wild, almost Barbel-like, stripping line and charging about all over the place. Fish of 5lb 5oz and 4lb12oz.....
The biggest fish of the day came from the last swim. 5lb 13oz.........
I returned a few days later for another quick session and caught a couple more big fours and these two of 5lb 6oz and 5lb 7oz. Dusk is by far the best time to catch them. They will lay up in snags all day and venture out to feed when the light fades.......
Gobsmacked
After the old chap at the beginning of this blog had completely spoiled my initial efforts I had a wander around to see if I could find some other fish. I had a couple of greedy Chub from another spot before moving again. Big Roach or Dace were my preferred target for the day. I finally settled on a long run down to some sunken tree branches in very shallow water. It was not much more than twelve inches deep. I could see the bottom so I adjusted the depth of my stick float accordingly. As it floated down to the sunken branches I waited nervously for the float to disappear. Remarkably and against my better judgement nothing seemed to be present. Not wanting to go too far down the swim (for fear of hooking something and spooking whatever else was there) I struck to shake the bread off the hook and remarkably something must have just taken my bait at that very moment. The rod bent into a fish and I saw a flash of silver in the water. I initially thought it was a Roach until it came a bit further upstream and realised it was a massive Dace. 15oz in fact...........
I had a couple of Pound Roach after that but my day was made with that one fish. The mind boggles when one thinks how big they might actually go in that area. I've had four now and they have all been over half a pound. Special fish indeed.
My favourite
A winter month without a few visits to my favourite river is unimaginable. As ever I've had a few Hybrids and Perch. No monsters but very welcome fish. These were the best two......
A day spent with Benidorm Dave Piking brought him lots of fish topped off with a brilliant nineteen pound fish. Sadly I was a good distance downstream so I can't show you a photo. You'll have to make do with my near fifteen pounder taken on a two inch lure, a welcome sight after doing my usual and losing a very big fish on deadbait...........
You may notice both the Perch and Pike had bits taken out of their dorsal fins. Quite what is causing this is a mystery to me. Dave had a fish with bit taken from its tail. You would think tail damage is caused by the resident otters. The damaged dorsals have me perplexed though.
Specimen Hunting UK
SHUK news now and James Aris has been catching some very big Chub and some fine Perch.........
While on the subject of Perch, Lee Fletcher had a new lure caught PB with this fish of 2lb 6oz. Well done on the PB Lee.....
That wasn't the only PB for group members this month. Martin headed down south to meet up with Nate to see if they could find some Chub. Martin was never going to better his Pb but he soon found a few fish.......
It was Nate that got his first four though and very well deserved too.......
Neil upped his PB Perch to a very impressive 4lb 1oz. He also had plenty of back up fish too this month. Here he is with a great fish of 3lb 4oz........
Like Nate, Mike Lyddon has a PB list that is the envy of many of us. He hasn't happened upon many really big Chub though and was more than happy to up his best to a creditable 5lb 14oz.....
Next up is midlands based Rob Thompson who had a magnificent fish of 6lb 7oz this month.......
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The two Andy's (Wilson and Loble) made the arduous journey to deepest Scotland for a three day trip targeting some very special Roach. Sadly they weren't in a feeding mood. The best fish fell to Mr Loble who had this fine looking Brownie. As ever Mr Wilson did a fine job with the photograph.............
Last but not least is Jamie and Leo. They travelled to Amsterdam for a Street lure fishing competition. They didn't manage to find many fish (nobody did) but had a great time nonetheless.........
Tackle Talk
There haven't been too many additions to the tackle bag this month but one purchase I have made is these natty little night-light adaptors from Korum. They fit most size quivertips and come supplied with five mini lights. Good value at around £3 and essential for fishing into darkness........
Photography
Just the one from me this month. Taken on a dawn dog walk before heading out for the day. The other two are from Andy's trip to Scotland.........
Till next time...........
