River Test 8-12-14

I’ve been promising myself a trip to the River Test at Timsbury for years. I fished it one busy Saturday back in 2006 – the weather was awful, the venue was far too busy and I struggled. I did, however, manage a couple of grayling on that visit, which to date have been the only two examples of that species I’ve ever caught. Every year I say I’ll go back, and before I know it we’re in mid-March and the chance is gone. This year was different.

A few days of annual leave left over, a carefully look ahead on the weather forecast and the date was booked (SWMBO had been very accommodating too). Now, could I have a day to remember? Well, judge for yourself.

One of the problems with December is the lack of daylight, so getting up at 0530 was required so I could be away just after 6 o’clock to miss the worst of the M25, then down the M3, onto the A303 and a good breakfast at the Little Chef. This would not be my normal choice (although to be fair the black pudding was quite good), but with a lack of alternatives in the area I decided this would have to do. And then on to Timsbury for 0815.

It looked like I had the place to myself so after the usual kerfuffle of bib and braces, boots and roving gear I girded my loins and headed off to the bridge at the bottom of the beat. Rumour is there are some big roach to be had, so this seemed like a great place to start. A 4BB stick float to 0.10mm hooklength and an 18 barbless hook seemed like a good compromise (something I could adjust for a range of swims) and following a few loosefed maggots I started. 

It was a good few run-throughs before the first bite. Well not so much of a bite as brush with the bottom. A faint resistance and on the retrieve there appeared to be a small leaf on the hook. Closer inspection showed it was no leaf, it was a minnow. This was hardly in the script, but it did mean the blank was avoided – but given the round trip, the day ticket, bait and breakfast, it was scant return. Anyhow, now that I was a little more relaxed I could have a few more runs through. After 20 minutes or so I had clearly perfected my minnow fishing (15 had graced the bank by then) I decided enough was enough and headed upstream for a bit of variety. 

I stopped to try and trot a few swims, but the sun was all wrong - it was low and perfectly aligned with the river. Whatever I did I could not see the float, so I decided it was time to find a different angle.

A quick chat with the bailiff and I tried a spot he recommended trotting towards a small tree on the bend. It took a few runs through and many catches on the bottom but eventually the float dipped and sharp tugs on the rod tip showed a decent fish at last. Duly landed and a gorgeous 8oz grayling was in the net. Superb. 

A few minutes later a repeat with a slightly smaller fish. And then a lull. But I was happy – target fish caught, technically a Personal Best, but not that I had much to beat (4oz), but the whole purpose of the day was now coming together.

I wondered up the carrier stream and on finding a deeper run, set about seeing what else I could find. Second run through and another grayling, then another, and another, then some trout and more trout, some of the trout nudging a couple of pounds  - in all ten fish from a tiny stretch on trotted maggot.

Bites slowed so I headed further up the carrier, there was another deeper section with an inviting looking slack. The slack failed to produce, but just as I was about to move on a fish broke the water in the main flow. I rejigged the rig and started working the flow. Grayling, grayling, trout, trout, grayling almost non-stop for 45 minutes or so, it was fantastic fishing (even if I did pull out of a few). Although the grayling were not large, the trout were good - running to about 3lb. What was amazing was watching the fish compete for the loosefeed as it hit the water, seeing trout and grayling attacking maggots within second of them hitting the surface in December was something else.

I could have stayed in that spot all afternoon, but the grayling were small so I thought a few hours on the main river would be a good bet. Next peg looked like a smooth and slow flowing canal. I didn’t fancy it much it produced a grayling and a brownie. Then onto an area recommended by the bailiff; fishing just a rod length out the fish were showing, again it started with grayling, then more trout and then after about ten fish it went quiet.

I had a quick look at a few spots before having a final half hour on the carrier again. It took a while to get going but two minnows and five grayling were a good return before it was time to think about heading home.

Having begun the session with the hope of a grayling or two I managed a grand total of 25 grayling – well above and beyond what I could have imagined. Ok they weren’t the biggest fish in the world, averaging 4-8oz, but they were an amazing treat and a real session to remember. I’m not sure when I’ll get back to the Test, but I’m looking forward to it already.

Catch List:

Minnows:17

Grayling: 25

Brown Trout:12

Rainbow Trout: 3 

 

Total weight: 30lb

Southend Farm 28-8-14

I’ve fished Southend Farm only once before, this was earlier in the year when things had not warmed up properly. I managed a nice double figure carp on the pole and a couple of smaller fish on the pellet waggler to add to a few skimmers. However armed with only 4 and 6mm pellets had made it difficult to fish. The neighbouring angler who was properly set up was bagging. I hate being outfished in this way, but I put it down to lack of 8mm pellets and duff information. This return visit was an attempt to exorcise these ghosts.

Arriving at 7am ish, I had a quick chat with the owner. It was still dull, but due to brighten up later on. The advice was fish the pole for skimmers and go out on the tip - don’t bother with the pellet waggler.

My peg for the day

I set up the on peg 20 on the main lake near the car park and decided to fish pole at 11m while pinging 8mm pellet at distance. The skimmers soon responded to some cupped in pellets and bites slowly appeared on 8mm banded pellet, small expanders worked too, but there was lots of time wasted from liners and lost soft pellets. A few fish in and I hit something more solid, after a brief but solid fight and 11lb mirror appeared in the landing net –a nice start and a pleasant change from the small carp of the previous day which set off like lunatics when hooked.

More skimmers followed up to about 2lb, but the majority of fish were 4-8oz and I continued to ping out the 8mm pellets. Eventually there were some signs of life and I took the decision to set up the pellet waggler. (I’ve been dying to give my new Drennan puddle chucker a good work out).  

A few casts later, the float disappeared, the lined tightened and I was in. 6lb of mirror in the landing net. Result. 

I should explain at this point that I am not an experienced user of the pellet waggler. This has got something to do with my love of pole fishing and the lack of suitable venues for that method nearby. I’ve given it a blast at Boddingtons a few times, but results have been pretty poor, so this session was very much aligned to catching a few fish and trying to work a few wrinkles out.

More bites followed, but try as I might I was losing fish at an embarrassing rate – at one point losing 2 fish for everyone landed, and there was a moment at 2 rods lengths out when the hook seemed to pull regularly. I was using B911 in a size 14 as the hook, and to be honest despite all the good press about them I don’t have a great deal of confidence in them. Then when one of the fish did me around the water pump and the main line seemed to have lost all of its strength (it snapped whilst I adjusted the float), I decided enough was enough and whipped off the match reel. And put on one of my trusty 6010 baitrunners with stronger line, and a larger hook in a stronger pattern.

This had a small negative effect on bites, but I was landing a lot more fish. And then it went a bit quiet.

It was hard work, I could get the odd bite and twitching worked too – but every now and again it would go dead. And so it was, a little run of fish (including a 1lb goldfish and a 3lb skimmer) and the odd carp. Every so often the weather would brighten and I’d get a few bites, then a lull. If it had been a match I’d have done something else, but this was a pellet waggler session, so the idea setting up a tip rod didn’t really appeal to me.   

By 1 o’clock I’d caught about 60lb of fish and it went very quiet, so I gave the pole and the inside line a look. A few small skimmer showed up, but that didn’t really work, so I went back on the waggler. I gave myself 30 minutes  - If I couldn’t get them going then I’d set up a tip rod for the last 2 hours.

Well, slowly they turned on. I lost a few fish, caught a few bream and for a magic 15 minutes caught three doubles on the bounce – a 15lb common (that fought like a demon and looked a lot bigger in the net),  a 10lb common that came in like a sack of potatoes and a 12lb mirror. I topped that off with a couple of smaller fish and that, was that.   116lb was my final tally, but I probably lost a similar amount due to hook pulls etc. As a proper introduction to pellet waggler fishing I think I did quite well, now I need to get it working on a different venue – maybe another trip to Boddingtons would be a good idea.

15lb Common Carp that fought like an absolute demon

Catch List:

Mirror Carp: 9

Common Carp: 5

Goldfish: 1

Bream: 18

Roach: 1

Total weight: 116lb

Willows Farm 27-8-14

So the local tackle shop had advised me of some changes at Willows Farm. The Deep Lake had been drained, the big fish moved and it had been subsequently restocked as a match lake. A quick look on the web showed lots of photos of small carp and bream with match weights up to nearly 200lb for a six hour match. Clearly, this needed checking out. 

Match results: http://www.willowslakes.com/matches-groups/

I used to fish Willows a fair bit, but it tended to be a bit hit and miss on the main lake – you could bag up one day and struggle the next. So, it’s probably been two years since my last visit.

I arrived before 7am to await the gate to open, only to find 8 cars ahead of me, which is a lot for midweek. Six of those cars belonged to a group planning a knock up match on the lake – I was relieved it was just them and not a lake full. They headed for the near end so I headed to the far car park and based on the match results decided to look for the pegs in the lower thirties.

Peg 30 turned out to be the first peg on the high bank, so I settled for 31 which had options in the margins both sides. It looked deep with a sharp drop off and a high bank behind; it was going to be a long day of high shipping on the pole.

The right side of the peg - I never did get round to trying under the bush

The left hand view, that twig was just the tip of the iceberg - that snag extended out for a couple of yards and cost me two fish

I cupped in some 4mm pellets at 11m and started to set up for pole fishing an 8mm expander; a 0.8g float, 0.19mm line and a size 14 hook (B911). The depth was not as bad as I feared, about 6ft at 11m, a little longer than my top set, but not too bad. I set up just over depth to allow for a little tow.

After 10 mins I had seen no indications of anything (although there were the odd fish topping in the distance) which was a little concerning, when there was a sharp bite and the float sank. No 16 elastic kicked in, and soon an immaculate 3lb mirror carp was in the landing net. Next put in, another fish and so on and so on. It took a while for the bites to come, but it was very much a bite a chuck with a fish most put-ins, varying in size between 2lb and 4lb. All the fish were clean mirrors, with heavy scaling – only a few were fully scaled but most were heavily scaled.

A typical mirror carp from the new match lake

By an hour down I’d had 33lb of fish (all mirrors), but I knew I could do better – if only I could get the bites to come more quickly.

Hour two and the wheels fell off. The bites went iffy with the float dancing but not going fully under and I was striking the expander off the hook more often than not. I tried some other pellets (nothing), smaller soft pellets (striking off) and shallow (nothing). It was very frustrating – I could see bubbles in the swim, but when I did get a bite it was just the odd small carp. It didn’t make sense, I was getting concerned it might be crayfish.

Then after 45 minutes of messing about, in a moment of desperation I tried a banded 8mm hard pellet – this is not my usual weapon of choice, I find expanders get more bites – but it worked. Fished just on the bottom I started to get good solid, hittable bites. And, they were coming quickly. Bingo. Put in, bite, strike, land. You get the picture.

By just after noon, a little over 4 hours after I started fishing, I was up to 120lb. At this point the bailiff appeared and provided some good info on the water. 7500 carp had been stocked along with some bream, there were also a few (and just a few) bigger ones in there, but generally it was feeder that won the matches, but pole worked as well.

I persevered but at about 140lb it slowed up again and bites were harder to come by. As a quick experiment I shallowed up the rig to half depth and changed the feed pattern to a few pellets every 30 seconds or so. 3 quick fish followed to banded 8mm hard pellet, so I set up a dedicated shallow rig and went shallow.

Fishing shallow was productive as I started to put together another run of fish. Each fish needed to be worked for – they weren’t lined up, but they were a slightly better stamp on average (including a 7lber and a 5lb 8oz fish) and the weight climbed further. By 3pm I’d got up to 216lb and it was time to call it quits. Not bad for a first visit, if only I’d sussed it out earlier I think 250lb would have been possible. But still, averaging 30lb an hour with smaller match carp is not to be sniffed out.

Can’t wait to go back once these fish have grown on a bit.

Catch List:

Mirror Carp: 65

Common Carp: 1

Roach: 2

Bream: 2

Total weight: 216lb

Local River 27-7-14

A few hours and a pint of maggots. This is how all good short sessions on the river usually start.

I should be targeting barbel (I fancy a pb this year), but today I wanted a few bites and see what came along.

So, first peg was 'the bend'. The water level was a little lower than my last visit, so wading across in my wellies was easier as I started running the stick float down. It's a pleasant way to spend half an hour or so - small chub and dace followed along with one better lump, a chub of about two and a half pounds.

After the bend I tried the weir pool. I still couldn't get this to trot properly despite going for a heavier float. I'm going to have to have a think about this. Still a few more fish appeared.

Next up, the dog dip swim. Normally this fished well tight under a tree on the inside as the flow swings in close. But not this time - the fish were out in the middle of the flow and readily taking my loose fed maggots. A few chub and small dace followed with one small roach for good measure.

Then I bypassed my usual swims to head up to the confluence where the stream flows in from the far side. This is a desperate swim - it looks full of fish, but normally a few bleak would be a good result. I fish it on the basis that one day I might pick up a bonus fish. But not today. No, today it was a roach a chuck, not huge fish, but a steady stream of fish to 6oz were easily swung to hand. I lost one fish due to a pike attack - I saw the jack concerned, it was no more than a foot long - but other than that it was uneventful.

So last up was a go at the post swim. Normally this is devoid of bites (although the barbel anglers head for it every time). It was hard work - the flow is well over and that meant an awkward cast and the need for the catapult. I thought I'd feed heavy to see if I could trick a chub. I couldn't. But I did bag a fair few quality roach as well. Not as fast as the previous swim. But very encouraging.

So it looks like there a silver fish all the way through where previous there were none. Happy days.

Catch List:
Roach: 30
Chub: 15
Minnow: 1
Bleak: 5
Dace: 10
Perch: 6

Total weight: 8lb

Local River 20-7-14

I know... it's been a while. I have been fishing, just not had the chance to write up the catches. 

So a quick summary of last Sunday. I decided to try for a good fish or two from the weirpool. For three hours I alternated between trotting maggot and legering a big pellet (30 mins on each). Trotting was hard work - the higher than normal water levels, plus a change in the weir lip has made this difficult. You can catch but you cant really trot properly. It's a shame  :-( One of these days I'm going to take all the pole gear down there... but not today.

Nothing showed on the big pellet, but there were some really good telltale plinks on the line - I suspect I need a longer hooklength. 

Trotting worked after a fashion, although it was mostly perch up to 6oz that showed, although three small barbel put in an appearance aswell along with the usual suspects. 

Final half hour (that may have overrun a little) was further upstream above the playground. The pegs that were traditionally devoid of small fish had recently been producing small roach, and this was true on this visit as well. I assume the fish were washed down the river from the canal in the winter floods - but no complaints here. A good few fish before I bagged a six and a half pound pike that took a fancy to a small perch on the way in. 

Duly landed and released 20 metres downstream, I hung around for a few more fish before heading home. Great bag of small fish. 

Catch list:
Barbel: 3
Perch: 25
Roach: 30
Pike: 1
Gudgeon: 1
Bleak: 5
Chub: 10
Dace: 10
Minnow: 1

Total weight: 12lb

Last weekend of the river season (9-3-14)

It's been a while.

I have had a few session out, but this is the first trip down to the river for about 6 months. Following the heavy rains of winter, the river has been nigh on unfishable and a scouting trip yesterday on the mountain bike suggested it was still a bit iffy. However, with one last chance for this season, it was do or die. A pint of maggots and the hope of one fish - avoid the blank in a few hours and go home happy. 

7am and on the bank. A simple float rod, trotting gear (heavy at 4BB) and the hope of finding some fish in a slack or two. 

First peg: the bend. The river was tanking through - at least a foot up and the platform was just above the water, although the coating of mud on top was a little less than ideal. 

I ran the rig through (minus bait) on the near side to check the shotting and it duly buried. Job done, a suicidal minnow and the blank was avoided. So I packed up and went home. 

Well, actually no. I stayed to try and add to the total. 

The next 15 mins added two more minnows, but try as I might I couldn't get the rig to run through anywhere but the near side at anything like the right pace. Time to move on. 

Disabled swim: a flick to the far side, and the usual problem of holding the line out of the flow. As the rig drifted round to the left it bobbled and submerged. A chunky river roach of 3oz was my reward. And that was that. Try as I might nothing else was playing ball. 

The bend (again): I don't usually revisit swims, but I knew that good pegs were limited today. First run down and all went solid and a hulking beast stayed on the bottom and headed across into the flow. It all went solid, and a suspected big barbel was lost. Next put in and a little further down and the float went under and this time a fight ensued that was a little more balanced. Second time round a chub was in the net - 3lb 2oz. Not a barbel, but very welcome. 

Next the weir: I thought I might get lucky on the far side. 10 mins later and I gave up on luck. Nadda. 

The ski hut: Nothing. But nice trotting conditions on what was still a swollen river. 

Peg 12 ish: Lovely trotting conditions, probably the best conditions I've ever seen on this stretch. Shame about the lack of bites though. 

Peg 4 (above the weir): This was last chance saloon, could I tempt some silver fish that had drifted in from the canal? Er no. Despite and depth and reasonable pace, the usually reliable roach and perch were AWOL. 

But, as the float reached the bottom of the run, it buried. Suspecting the usual snag I struck. It went solid with a healthy kick and my quarry stuck to the river bed like a limpet. Convinced it was a big bream, I took my time worked it slowly upstream and a chub appeared. In the net, job done. 3lb 12oz. Another nice fish. 

And that, was that. 

It's a long time since i had two nice fish out the river in the single session, so I went home a happy man. Roll on June 16th.

Catch list:
Minnow 3
Roach 1
Chub 2

Total weight 7lb