Season's end and a few fish

It's been a while since I last posted. A combination of poor river conditions and a hectic few weeks have limited my time. With the end of the river season fast approaching I am determined to get a few outings planned and hopefully a bonus of a decent catch or two.

Before our recent cold-snap, I did manage a few hours on a backwater to the Warks Avon. It was a reasonably mild day although the water was very coloured as a result of the high river levels we have experienced over the last few weeks. 

Drop shot debut

I have recently purchased the necessaries required to attempt the 'drop-shot'style of fishing. For those that don't know what I'm going on about, it basically involves a length of line attached to your braid. Tied to this line is a specially designed hook which is baited with a soft rubber lure. This bait is suspended off the bottom using a small weight to keep things straight and then action is imparted in attempt to lure a fish. As with most lure fishing tactics, it's best tackled in clearer conditions but I was eager to give it ago. Unbelievably, my fist cast resulted in a small perch with a few more following as I got the hang of it.

However, with conditions as they were my main attack was a 4m whip, fishing to hand with maggots. I knew the venue would be crammed with small fish sheltering from the high water so it didn't take long before I had fish queuing up. None of them were particularly large but 40+ fish later signalled the end of enjoyable afternoon on the bank with perch, roach, dace and skimmers all succumbing to my bait. The area evidently contains a large head of perch which I am determined to tackle when water conditions lend themselves to lure fishing. However, clear water seems a distant memory so I may have to wait until June before tacking them again. In the meantime, if you're river fishing in the final couple of weeks then good luck.

A mixed bag resulted in an enjoyable afternoon