Variety, the spice of life

After what felt like a disappointing session at the weekend, I managed to sneak a couple of hours down on the Warks Avon albeit on a different stretch. With time at a premium, the plan was to try a bit of predator fishing before finishing off the last hour of light in the hope of a barbel.

This Pike gave a spirited fight on light gear

Predator fishing is always a welcome distraction to what I would say my normal approach is. I had a drop shotting rod and a regular lure setup in my armoury so set about trying to find some fish. The river was desperately clear with the bottom clearly visible in over 3ft of water. A variety of spoons and spinners failed to elicit a response so I switched to drop shotting a replica minnow in slacker water just off the flow. I carefully teased the bait, bringing the rubber minnow to life, inching it back to search out the swim. As the bait neared the bank and thump saw a lively fish on. Although I had hoped for a sizeable Perch might put in an appearance, the result was a spirited Pike that put up a fine battle on my braid and 7lb flouro hooklink combination.

It was my first Pike on the method and I had worried about this moment due to drop shotting not using a trace. More experienced users claim that Pike are usually hooked in the lips and therefore the line is not at the mercy of the Pike's razor sharp teeth. Fortunately, this was the case so the hooklink remained unharmed.

I tried another few spots before settling into a new peg. It was in this swim that I decided to cast out a boilie on a simple running ledger rig. I had baited with a few loose offerings earlier on so hoped a fish or two might be on the feed. I continued to drop shot as well. Once again, as the bait neared the bank and hefty whack saw another Pike on the hook.

Perfection in miniature

This fish however was pretty small by Pike standards at about 1lb in weight but was perfect in every way. I was taking a quick snap for this blog when my other rod went round. The Pike saw a hasty return as I grabbed the other rod. It became quickly apparent that this was no Barbel though. Instead a chunky looking Chub of about 4lb was the culprit. It was a distinctive fish with a red lesion on its gill cover. Two fish in the space of a few seconds and then nothing. In all honesty, in the swim I was fishing, catching the Chub probably ruined any hope of a Barbel as it was definitely a one bite situation. That said, it was nice to catch a couple of Pike on a new method and a decent Chub to boot since I hadn't had one for a month or so. Now I need to start planning for my Wychavon Parish Games debut at the weekend.

This Chub had a strange sore on its gill