I don't know what happened to the beginning of 2016, but for some reason it hasn't involved a lot of fishing. Or, to be more correct, any fishing. Until today.
The last weekend of the river season rolled around again, and armed with a pint of maggots it was time to spend a few pleasant hours trying to tempt a bite or two. It's not been easy on the equivalent day for the last few years, but I've always managed to wrinkle out a fish or two, so I was reasonably confident.
Heavy rain earlier in the week (Tuesday night I think) meant that there was some extra water on to add to the fairly wet winter we'd already had. So arriving at my first peg, the bend swim, it didn't look good. Whereas I would normally managed to stand in the middle of the river in my wellies and trot the far bank, the extra water put paid to that idea.
On went a 1 gram stick float, 3 no.1 shot and a size 18 hook to 0.10mm line. Ten minutes later and nothing but a few drags on the bottom. It was time to move on.
Next was the disabled swim. I had a sneaking feeling I might get some bites here, the river slows down a bit and there is a slack area on the far side which offers refuge for the fish out of the main flow. Today the fish were unaware of this. Still no bites.
Back now to the weir pool. This is a fabulous place to spend a few hours in the summer, but in the winter with extra water it can be a challenge. Today, it was a challenge - by the time the boils on the surface had settled down the float was well down the swim where the water shallows, and the fish were not there. I tried a few different variations, but frankly on a day like today I needed to be on the tip, and I wasn't planning to do that. So desperate to tempt something I tried the inside slack - I'd had some perch there before. The float bobbled and sank briefly. It looked to all intents and purposes like the bottom, so I lifted into it and a minnow dropped off the hook. Back in, another lost minnow. Back in, caught minnow (blank avoided). Back in snagged, lost hooklength, so I swapped down to a size 20 hook (more minnow friendly). Back in, minnow, minnow, roach (3oz), minnow. So five fish, but apart from the roach, it didn't feel like it would produce. I headed upstream.
Inside bend. A few casts here, but it was too pacey and I really couldn't see me getting a bite. I was correct.
The doctors swim. This has been a really good peg for me this year. Trot through on the inside under the tree and pick up all sort of silver fish. But not today. Nada. Nothing. El Zilcho.
Further up, one of the deep swims by the canoe. I never seem to get any bites here. Today was no different.
Above the foot bridge and there were fallen trees up and down stream. This pushed the flow way over and made trotting too difficult. This was not a swim to hang around in.
The confluence. This is one of those swims that screams fish, but to date I've only done well there on one occasion. First put in and the float had gone about 20 metres when it dipped. I struck and a 3oz dace came in. Very encouraging. I trickled in a few more maggots and repeated the cast and trot, and again, and again, and again. But no more bites came. One day I will suss this peg out, but on a cool day in March moving on sounded like a better idea.
I moved up to my banker swim above the sluice. This is the swim that often produces in difficult conditions. (It produced my only fish on the equivalent day last year). It is much deeper (6ft at least) so has a very slow flow and will usually produce a few bites as you let the rig meander down for 15 metres or so. I meandered, held back, trotted my heart out, but nothing.
And that, as they say, was that. A pleasant few hours spent exploring the bank. Six small fish, some fresh air, a glimpse of a kingfisher and the end of the river season. Roll on June 16th.
Catch List:
Roach: 1
Dace: 1
Minnows: 4
Total weight: 8 ounces
