River Colne 23-6-13

There are several River Colnes in the UK. One, rises in Hertfordshire and flows down towards Heathrow airport. It is surrounded by crystal clear gravel pits containing many secret specimens and guarded by even more secret societies. Another is a small tributary flowing through deepest, darkest Essex, choked with prematurely discarded white stilettos and sparking with recently removed vajazzles, it is rarely the topic of fishing stories. And then there is the great northern Colne, easily distinguished by the dead whippets floating past, the semi-digested local delicacies on the bank (pies and black puddings) and the occasional sighting of a flat-capped angler impersonating Andy Capp on the bank.

Today, I fished one of these rivers. I will leave it to you to guess which one. 

Arriving at about 6am I had a few hours to explore the river. A pint of maggot, some trotting gear and some time – that’s about as good as it gets on a June morning. I was hoping to pick up a few fish on the stick float. I was not in the mood to sit it out for a big fish, just to get out, get busy and relax.

First task was to find a good peg – there are three good trotting pegs on this stretch and I wanted to have a go in at least two of them, hopefully they wouldn’t be occupied, but you never know.

Peg  1, the bottom weir, was free. A 3BB stick float, 18 hook, single maggot and I was up and running. The water level was a bit high and flowing heavier than I’d like, but I was soon ready to go. A few trots through found a clear run and a small dace appeared (maybe 3oz). Next run through and a strange bottom hugging fight produced this little fella.

I’ve said this before – I could catch baby barbel all day, this is a great sign for the river. Over the next hour I had the chase the fish around a bit. I kept them coming, (including another baby barbel), but there were gaps too and quite a few fish shed the barbless hook early on. I tried a 16, but this didn’t seem to help.

So having caught chub, dace, barbel, roach, I moved on. Thankfully the bleak and minnows had not shown that often.

Peg 2, the disabled swim. There are two ways to fish this peg, trot the flow or fish over in the slack water. Trotting did nothing (it rarely does) and over produced a few small fish and a 6oz perch. And that was that.

Peg 3, the bend. The last of the good trotting swims. This peg had been transformed since last year; the heavy rains had re-distributed the gravel banks and the runs and depths were completely different. Adding in the extra water and it was difficult to see how this could be fished. I tried a several lines and picked up the odd fish, but it was not obvious where the fish would be or how to present the bait. I was just running through the lower stretch where it shallowed up when I made contact with this. 

Another little barbel. I’d only ever caught one on this stretch in many visits, so three in the space of a few hours is very good news indeed.

Peg 4, the inside bend. A couple of chublets and a bleak of the inside. Much better than the previous season where this peg failed to produce.

Peg 5, the pub. I looked at this, but the extra water on the river meant I couldn’t stand out from the bank and trot properly. I moved on quickly.

Peg 6, the waterwheel. I never do any good here, despite the rumours of bream and barbel. Today was no different.

Peg 7, the playground. A small roach first run through. Then nothing. One day I must attack this properly with pole gear and present tight to the cover on the far bank.

So, my three hours was up. Plenty of small fish and three barbel (my best Colne haul ever). 

Next time I’m going back for some mommies and daddies. 

Catch List:

Barbel 3

Roach 8

Chub 10

Dace 8

Perch 1

Minnow 7

Bleak 3

Total weight 5lb

No fishing today :-(

So the bait was bought, the tackle prepared and the local stretch of river had been surveyed. However at 0530 in the morning, on the first day of the river season fishing was not meant to be.

Ill health on two fronts put paid to that.

Disappointment reigns.

Hopefully another chance next weekend.

Fancott Fishery 30-5-13

Every year I set myself a target – fish three venues that I’ve not been to before. This might sound a bit odd, but it forces me to get out and about and stops me going to the same old comfortable places. 

So, with a few days to myself, a trip to Fancott was called for. I knew very little about the place, except what could be gleaned from its website http://www.fancottfishery.co.uk/ so with a mixed forecast (light rain to start, giving way to drier conditions) I set off up the M1 leaving at junction 12.

I found the fishery easily enough and found myself in the car park a few minutes before it opened, a quick read through the extensive noticeboard, get the gear loaded and pull the willies on (it was a bit wet underfoot) and I was good to go.

The lake itself is a reasonable size, with 20-odd pegs and absolutely packed with features. From the map on the website I fancied peg 23 fishing out to the island on the pole. However, when I got there it was clear that this was not such a good idea, the island was only about 5 metres away and shipping back looked a challenge, so I set off further around the lake settling on peg 13/14.

What attracted me to this peg was the island a long pole range, an extensive inlet margin on the right and the dozen small carp sat on the top.

The bottom was fairly even across from the edge of the platform out to 11 metres it was an even 3 foot or so, then it rose up steadily to about half that tight to the island. However, the sight of a pole float tethered tight to the island suggested the tight was not necessarily a good thing. 

So, I decided to start just short of the island on the pole, large expander pellet style and see what happened, I might have a look at the far right margin at some point, but shipping looked rather more complex than I would have liked due to a tree at 2 o’clock. I also flicked a few pellets at the carp – they melted away as expected but at least I was in a fishy corner (or at least I hoped I was).

Second put in and the float buried, but a 3oz roach was not the desired outcome. In fact another 5 similar roach that followed was not ideal before a stocky mirror of 12 ounce or so made it to the landing net.

After about 30 mins I pushed over to the island at 13 metres and again started getting touches on the float, and eventually a proper bite. Yellow no. 22 elastic streamed from the pole tip as at last I’d made contact. I gently applied some pressure as the fish (presumably a good carp) shot off away to the right side of the island towards a moorhen’s nest. In a second it was in the roots and the 0.15mm line parted. Bugger.

Re-rigged with 0.19mm line I pushed back out to the island – although it was shallow, so unlikely to hold a lot of fish at the same time, it might be good for another fish.

A few more knocks and another good fish on. This time I steered it clear of the island and it went left. And promptly shed the hook. Then it went quiet.

I alternated lines for a while, and fed tight with the cad pot and managed eventually to hook two more carp. Which both also shed the hook. It was clearly going to be one of those days.

Then, I hooked a good fish and the hook stayed in. I played it out gently, got the pole halfway back to keep it away from the island, when suddenly it swam round to the right and straight under the platform. Securely wedged (the hook had long since been transferred to the timber structure) I pulled for a break. It was 5-0 to the carp, and I hadn’t actually fished that badly.

I tried a few different things, picking up some more roach on smaller pellet and a couple more stockie carp, but a proper lump evaded me. Bites on the far side seemed to be a bit hit and miss so I thought I’d cut my losses and set up a dedicated roach line and switch between the two.

A size 16 hook and a soft 4mm or 6mm pellet produced a bite a chuck at 6 metres and more immaculate roach followed.  After 10 roach I tried the far line again – a few quick bites but no carp, then back to the roach. And so it continued for a little while.

Every now and again there was proper bubbling on the roach line, but these looked a little like skimmer bubbles so I let in run.

I was finally hooked a decent fish on the island line (a tench of about a pound and a half) when the owner wandered round the lake and we had a chat. He was extremely helpful in understanding the water, the pegs and the best tactics to use and also confirming there were no skimmers in the lake (maybe two, but no more) so the bubbles might well be carp.

To cut a long story short, I carried on alternating lines and eventually hooked a 5lb mirror carp on the roach line. It led me a pretty dance on no. 10 elastic, but was netted without too much drama. The bubbles continued, so I decided to drop in a proper carp rig (to keep the roach at bay) and see what would happen.

Well, an hour later and I’d had a few knocks, a lot of bubbles, but no fish with neither big pellet nor paste doing any good.

So mid-afternoon, I called it quits. It had been a frustrating day – I suspect the low temperatures and the fact that the carp were yet to spawn were major factors in the day. This is definitely a venue that could deliver a great day out, but not on an unusually cold day in May.

On balance however, the fishery was well worth a visit, tucked away, it’s a mature lake with loads of features and fantastically conditioned fish. The owner is clearly a keen angler passionate about his venue and extremely knowledgeable about every peg and tactic. I can see me going back at some point.

Catch List:

Common Carp 1

Mirror Carp 4

Roach 50

Total weight 20lb