An angler's journal

An angler's journal

Monday 30 December 2013

End of another year

This time tomorrow I will be revelling with friends as another year comes to a close. Today however, I managed one last trip to a deserted Warks Avon. It had rained all morning so I didn't rush to the river, finally making a cast just before 1pm. The Avon was about 2ft up with visibility less than a 30cm. Chub were to be my main focus. I had toyed with smelly deadbaits for pike in the slacks but decided I would leave that for the weekend. I didn't really fancy a barbel but I did have a second rod with meat that unsurprisingly failed to catch.

My mobile approach finally found some chub and I was soon into a fish on the trusty cheesepaste. Unfortunately, I played it like a buffoon and the hook pulled resulting in the odd expletive. I was confident the fish were still there so I fished on and sure enough a couple of tentative plucks turned into a positive pull. There were no mistakes this time and decent chub was netted. Winter fish always look stunning and this was no exception.
A winter chub
It all went quiet so I moved on but that was the end of the sport even though I returned to the productive swim.

So that was that for 2013. As far as barbel have been concerned it's been a disappointing year on the stretches I frequent with just the one double this season and that warm June evening seems a long time ago. However, the tough conditions meant new methods and I found success with rolling meat during the summer to keep things ticking over when all else failed. Other highlights were a PB carp caught off the surface in spring and my first zander from the lower Severn, which in turn sparked a long overdue interest in predators.




Hopefully, 2014 will bring more to cheer so on that note I hope that you have a good New Year's Eve and an even better year. All the best.

4 comments:

  1. So true about the difficult fishing this last nine months, up to the Close season everything was normal but since the season started again it's been a real struggle for some reason. Strange how fish were still being caught spawn bound up to the start of December.

    Have a good New Year mate and see you soon

    Mother Hen

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  2. Nice chub Lee, just wish the rivers would settle as I want to run a stick float on the avon.
    Coops

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  3. Indeed Coops, any chance of a river pike seem pretty slim at the moment too. No sign of it getting back to normal either.

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  4. Yes mate it's abysmal! Even the good flood water pegs are to flooded.

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