The rough with the smooth

I ventured to the lower Severn on Saturday evening. I was in no rush to cast a line as most bites have been coming late on. I eventually settled into a swim just as the rain began. For the next few hours it tipped it down. Meanwhile my downstream meat rod and upstream boilie rig lay motionless. I also discovered my umbrella had a leak to compound what was turning into quite a miserable affair. As 11 o'clock approached the upstream rod took off completely out of the blue. A powerful fish took off towards mid-river before the line parted. Gutted was an understatement. I gave it another half hour before a break in the rain saw me escape feeling very deflated.

I had agreed to take my son fishing the next morning . I have to be honest, I wasn't exactly feeling enthusiastic but a promise is a promise. We arrived on the Warks Avon mid-morning with a view to a few hours until lunch. We used a 4m whip and maggots to catch a selection of species including gudgeon, dace, perch, bleak, roach and skimmers. I had also cast a boilie baited rig complete with a PVA bag of offerings mid-river. This bait had sat undisturbed for hours when without warning it jumped into life. A barbel was on. It took me by surprise as daytime barbel have become thin on the ground in these low conditions. Although not a huge fish it offered me some redemption following the previous evening's disappointment. My son also had an enjoyable morning so it was smiles all round.

Around 6lb or so

Lower Seven Barbel and some good news

After managing two double figure barbel in my last two Avon sessions, I was keen to see if I could complete the hat-trick. However, although it would be tempting to return to scene of my recent success I do like a challenge. With that in mind, the enigma that is the lower Severn was my chosen venue.

I arrived just after 6pm with the plan to stay out until midnight or when I got too tired, whichever came first. Tactics were an upstream groundbait feeder with pellet together with the downstream meat rod over some droppered pellet and hemp. About 60 minutes in, the upstream rod started nodding with a 4lb bream banked. With the blank averted, it was a case of plodding on. As 9pm approached, the downstream rod showed some signs of life. By 9pm, it had wrapped around and I was into a barbel. It started slowly but woke up as it came closer to the bank. Was it going to be my third double in a row? Well, it was a decent fish as it lay in the net. I had doubts however that it would be double and so it proved. The scales read 9lb 4oz of pristinely conditioned barbel. Whilst it wasn't the double I had hoped, it was hard to be disappointed at such a great looking fish. I added a bream of between 5-6lb at around 10pm but it then went very quiet so I ended the session twenty minutes earlier than planned.

Not quite the double but a great fish anyway

An enjoyable afternoon

Before my Severn trip, my 3 year old son had asked to go fishing. I explained he couldn't come on this occasion due to it being a late night and promised him a trip another day. He replied stating it had to be 'fishing with maggots'. So the following, we visited the B'ham-Worcs canal with 'the maggots' and a 2m whip to fish the inside. A string of perch, with a smattering of gudgeon and a rudd kept us busy throughout the afternoon. It was a pleasure to share a fishing session with my son. We even lost two better fish, one to a snap so perhaps I need to return with some stouter tackle.

Finally, the reason this blog is a little late being published is because of the eventful weekend. Early Sunday morning saw the arrival of my second child, a little girl. So we are all back at home with the family complete. I'm guessing my big fish sessions may be a little thin on the ground whilst the dust settles but please continue to visit and look at the other posts that I've published since my blog started. Thanks.

Tales of the Unexpected

If you're clicking this hoping to read Roald Dahl's collection of short stories then you'll be sadly disappointed. However, 'Tales of the Unexpected' was an apt way to describe my latest session on the Warwickshire Avon. The river has given me many surprises over the years. Indeed, I have caught over 12 different species from the river so it has always kept me captivated. My latest session took me to my favourite Avon venue. It's one I don't visit as often as I once did since I have other venues closer to home but following such a slow start to the river season I felt familiarity was the way forward.

The first small barbel

My number one swim was occupied so I settled a little further downstream where the river's increased pace was still evident. I decided to start by rolling some meat, a favourite method in
difficult summer conditions. It's a method that can result in a fish when all else fails. After ten minutes, there was a subtle tap on the line and a swift strike was met with a fish. I expected a chub to surface but the first surprise of the day resulted in a juvenile barbel. These are rare, in fact fish under a pound are caught less often than double figure specimens. It was, of course, in perfect condition.

After this, I then reverted to regular straight ledger tactics with PVA pags and pellet hookbaits. The tip soon went round and I was connected to what I believed to be another chub. Again, I was wrong.

Variety in the shape of a tench

This time the golden flanks belonged to a tench of about 3lbs. What was more surprising was the speed of the flow it had been happy to feed in given they prefer sluggish water and ponds. A gudgeon managed to hook itself before another young barbel put in a spirited appearance. This fish probably approached a pound and with it I had caught my two smallest barbel in almost 30 years of fishing in space of 90 minutes.

It was beginning to become a thoroughly enjoyable session so it was inevitable that some bad luck would be sent my way to balance proceedings. The rod tip once again rapped around savagely and I was connected to

The future

something much more substantial. Undoubtedly a barbel, it moved upstream before surging across river towards the far bank. This is when disaster struck and the hooked pinged free. It was a disappointment as experience tells me you rarely get a second chance on the Avon. A chub of about 3lb did follow before another of similar proportions managed to escape my clutches by finding sanctuary in some near bank reeds. As sunset came and went, the chub raps continued but unfortunately another barbel could not be persuaded to return.

Although the fish I caught were not of specimen proportions, they certainly showed off the variety of species the river holds. More importantly, it proved the future of the river is looking rosy and those small barbel of today could be tomorrow's front page news. As always, thank you for reading and please add your comments or visit my Facebook page.

A trip to the canal

My location for a few hours

With a week off work, I was determined to fit in a fishing trip. Apart from a failed tench mission a few weeks ago, it's been a quiet on the angling front. A new job, a pregnant wife and a host of other things have pushed fishing way down the pecking order. With all this mind, I decided that I would rather catch and stay busy than sit it out for one larger specimen and this mindset took me to the Birmingham-Worcester canal near Droitwich.

 It's been a few years since I last fished the canal in this style. Armed with some brown crumb and a £1 worth of maggots, I then took my pole out of its bag for the first time in years. I plumbed up to fish the bottom of the far shelf and then started fishing just after 4pm. Bites were slow to begin with and I lost a few fish due to being a bit rusty. However after about an hour the fishing became

Roach and what, I wonder?

incredibly easy with a fish every minute or so.This lasted for about 40 mins before sport tailed off again. Majority of the catch was made up of perch although roach, a couple of hybrids and gudgeon including a 2oz specimen also made an appearance. On the subject of the hybrids - they certainly contained some roach but their upturned lip made me question their true make up. They weren't bream-like in their appearance so any suggestions would be welcomed in the comments box.

I called an end to the session at 7.30 having lost count at 50-odd fish. Although none of the fish were big, it was an enjoyable way to spend a few hours on a deserted and peaceful stretch of the canal. As June approaches then my attention will begin to turn towards the opening of the river season. Meanwhile I cannot let a spring pass without a tench or two so my next trip will have them as my quarry.

A cracking 2oz gudgeon

The final catch

Putting in the hard yards

Next Saturday sees me participating in the Wychavon Parish Games on the Avon at Evesham. I have to admit that I haven't fished a match since the 1990s and the reason for that is that it is everything that I'm not when it comes to fishing. However, I'll be representing my village next week so with that in mind I had a few hours on the Warks Avon today in an attempt to reacquaint myself with a few different styles. With the river running low and clear I expected sport to be slow but the next few hours proved to be very frustrating. Bites weren't difficult to get but they were occurring as soon as the bait hit the surface and the culprits were small Dace. As a result, they were lightening quick, difficult to hit and led to me missing more than I hit. Even heavy baiting couldn't see them off so I just had to plough on.

Typical of the size caught

The fish were tiny - averaging three to the ounce. A fish of a couple of ounces was a bonus fish. I ended with 47 fish for 1lb which meant a lot of effort for very little return. I also have to admit to not actually enjoying it all that much. Hopefully, next week's match will be a bit more profitable and I can then return to normality.

This swan managed to divert my attention

On the bank at last

Where has August gone? It seems ages since I last blogged and it's been a tricky month. Fishing has been tough for most over the past few weeks although I've barely made it to the water's edge. A combination of a family holiday coupled with a bug that not only made the flight home a long one but kept me out of action for the following week. Last Thursday saw me finally feel well enough to make a fishing trip. My destination of choice was the middle Severn. I used to fish the Severn a lot between Bridgnorth and Bewdley but since moving to south Worcestershire it's a good hour's drive and I have the Avon, Teme and lower Severn much closer. However, I wanted some bites and decided the extra drive would be worth it.

A typical middle Severn stretch

 I tried to keep my options open. I would wander slowly to my target area, rolling some meat in the streamy runs in the hope of a bonus barbel or chub. Eventually, my plan was to settle in some deeper water and fish two rods. One with groundbait feeder with maggot hookbait and then a more specialist setup cast 20 yards further downstream. I tried several areas but could not tempt a fish on the rolling meat. I must admit this surprised me a little as it's been a good method for me this season and I'm sure the swims contained a few of my target species. However, this was only a pre-cursor for the main event so I finally settled in an area that I fished before. As mentioned, my main attack would be three maggots mounted on a size 14 hook to 6lb hooklink to guard against any possible barbel breakages. My usual barbel setup was prepared on my other rod with a pva bag to entice any wandering fish hanging away from the main feed towards my bait.

I started to get indications quite quickly that some fish were present and after a few missed bites I eventually started to connect with some small roach. This fish were in absolute mint condition and I

A pristine roach

Variety in the shape of a perch

very much doubt they had been caught before. It was quite pleasant to get amongst some fish rather than wait for one wrap around bite that may never arrive. Although the roach were not huge, probably in the 4oz range, they kept on coming before all went quiet. Quite often this can be as a result of a different species muscling in on the feed and pushing the smaller fish away. I also suspected a predator was in the area as I had seen small fish jumping for freedom on a few occasions. Soon after a much more positive pull registered on the quiver tip. My strike met with something bigger than the roach I had become accustomed to, before a nice perch just shy of a pound was drawn over the landing net. A few more similar sized perch followed before the roach returned together with a few dace and gudgeon.

Meanwhile, my barbel rod had not returned anything other than the occasional tremble. I changed baits to two 8mm Source boilies. The bait was recast with another pva bag of pellets. An angler on the opposite bank, some 100 yards downstream had been enjoying some barbel action with four fish already netted. I had to hope that my regular feeding would bring some fish to my swim. Eventually, without warning the rod hooped around. The unmistakable run of a barbel commenced with the fish surging some 30-40 yards downstream despite a tight clutch. Finally, the fish was forced to turn and I was able to gain some line and bring the fish towards me.  An exhilarating battle ended with a fine looking barbel of 7.5lb gracing the bank. It looked a deep fish that I thought may have been a little larger but it was most welcome as it was the only barbel to come my way during the month of August. The next cast saw another positive bite with a nice chub of 3-4lb safely netted. This two larger fish capped an enjoyable session that saw lots of bites and no less that six species caught. Perhaps I should make the effort to drive that bit further more often?