Off the mark!

After a disappointing opening day on the Severn which saw me blank, I changed rivers for a trip to the Warwickshire Avon. Upon arrival I was hardly filled with optimism to hear that those already fishing were struggling. However, it was half expected. The stretch has been unnervingly quiet during the opening few days, which means it's not fishing well.

I opened by rolling some meat in a pacier run but failed to entice any of the barbel and chub that frequent the stretch. Ever the opportunist, I did cast a spinner and I thought I had hooked a perch first cast only to see it escape. A few more casts failed to muster anymore interest so I gathered my things and moved off downstream before settling in a familiar area. With maggots still remaining from previous trip coupled with the lack of action I felt this was as good an approach as any. However, despite a few tentative knocks nothing really happened until the sun dipped. A more

This chub saved another blank

confident bite saw me connect with my first fish of the season. Unfortunately, it wasn't big and a chub of about a pound was brought to the net. That said, it was in pristine condition and swam away strongly. It all went quiet for about 30 minutes when another bite resulted in an almost identical fish. As the light faded my downstream rod, baited with meat, started to register some interest. Although I persevered until about 10.30pm nothing definite resulted leading me to believe they were tentative chub.

So a bit of a mixed session. On one hand, it was a relief to get off the mark as two blanks at the start of the season would have been rather uninspiring, although the lack of form on our rivers so far seems to be a familiar story. Is it simply that the fish, following their close season break, just need a bit of time to become accustomed to our baits again or has the hopelessly late spring had an effect? It does make me doubt whether a river or stillwater trip will be the best option next time out. It would be good to hear how others are fairing on the rivers. Thank you for reading.