Bow Waves

 

Up early again and at the river before 6am, the fish were really on it and I watched fish after fish create bow waves as they chased a lure worked slowly on the surface - absolutely fantastic fun.
All caught in very shallow water and for every fish I caught I probably had three hit and miss or get briefly hooked then drop off. I probably would have landed more if I had worked sub surface lures but you don't get many days when they are quite so enthusiastic about taking right off the top so how could I resist?

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

£350 Chub

I intended to dash home from work today, grab my gear and get a few hours in on the river. However on the way to work this morning the brakes on my car started making a horrendous grating noise so I drove straight to the garage to see if they could sort the problem. An hour and a half later, 4 new discs and pads all round and £350 poorer I was definitely in need of some time by the water.
I'd had a few 2-3lb fish and was 'waking' my crank bait across the surface when this old warrior obliged at 5lb 2oz. It looked like it had been through the wars and whilst not the prettiest of fish it provided a much needed boost. By 8.30 I was being bitten to death by the midges and retreated home to feed myself.



Opening Day

Having enjoyed last season chasing chub in my local rivers, I was unreasonably excited about the opening day of the new season today. I spent several hours on Saturday sorting my river chubbing tackle and lures and set the alarm for 3am. As ever I found it hard to sleep knowing I had an early start and was awake at two! I decided I might as well use the time to fuel up with strong coffee and walk to the far end of the stretch I intended to start from, and fish my way back to the car.
Even having a leisurely drive and walk I was still there far too early!

There were a couple of guys fishing with bait for the barbel close to where I parked but the rest of the beat was my own. I didn't want to be fishing in the pitch black and sat back to wait for a bit more daylight. I was happily watching the bats when a splash in the water caught my attention and I was amazed to see an otter swim past. I know they are now common in some areas but I've never seen one on this river.
It was very dull and overcast and it seemed to take an age before it was light enough to fish comfortably. I had a fish slash at the lure very early on and a few minutes later was very briefly attached to a fish that managed to shake the hooks. I was half way down the pool when, at around 4.30am I had my first chub of the river season, small but nonetheless special.

I had been worried about the recent rain putting too much water into the river but I was wishing we had had a bit more, the river was choked with filamentous weed that was clogging the hooks on my crank baits on almost every cast. The fishing was slow and it was about half an hour later when I had the second fish, a little bit bigger so things were moving in the right direction.

I had carefully fished the entire pool with only a couple of small fish to show for my efforts and decided to move. As I walked passed the water I had fished the martins were feeding on an early hatch and a few chub started slashing at the emerging insects. The whole head of the pool was alive with fish. I thought it has to be worth fishing through it again. A few casts later I had an arm wrenching take and after  a few hairy moments when it dived for the reeds just below me I was rewarded with a new Personal Best of 5lb 4oz.

I rarely go fishing without a pork pie (or two) in my bag so decided this was a good time for a celebratory breakfast - 'the food of Kings'.

Just  a little further up stream I had another good fish at a shade over 5lb.



 

The return shot gives you some idea how solidly built these fish are - they are like breeze blocks!



I was getting lots of action with fish hitting and missing my lures, some sticking on briefly before letting go and some making it to the net. I had a good number of two and three pound fish which were good sport in the fast water before I had another nice fish at just over 4lb.



It was disappointing to see clear evidence that people had been fishing all along the bank - there were worn swims, the usual bait tins, beer cans and bottles strewn everywhere and piles of dried out weed that looked several days old. I think it's a real shame that the sense of excitement I felt about fishing for relatively undisturbed fish was tarnished by selfish anglers unable to abide by the legal close season
By 10 o'clock I had fished all the water on this part of the river and decided on a move upstream to a section on another club card. This is a bit of a drive and a long walk and I hoped it would be quiet but when I got there two roving 'stick float trotters' had waded through all the prime pools and not surprisingly the fish had been spooked and were proving very uncooperative. By now the weather was improving and the sky brightening which probably didn't help. I did manage to winkle one out from a piece of undisturbed water.

By early afternoon I had been out for nearly twelve hours and need a quick break so returned home to fill my flask with fresh coffee. I wanted to return to the scene of my big trout capture as in a couple of spots I had moved big fish. I didn't really see if they were trout or chub but had noted their address for a future visit! This small river is desperately low at the moment and like all the local rivers needs a good flush through. I did manage a nice chub from one of the spots and a few nice little brownies but didn't see the big fish I had been looking for.

 

 

At tea time I decided enough was enough - you can only have so much of a good thing and headed home to download the pictures and write the report before tiredness completely fuddled my brain.
A fantastic start to my season and I'm looking forward to beating my new personal best. I found out last night that there are fish pushing 8lb being caught in the river - I'd like to see one of those on the line.



Magic Beans

Today I decided to some more exploring and as the small streams are so low decided to try a small river I haven't fished for a few years. This river was the scene of my first river brown trout on the fly.
Arriving at the first deep pool I caught three small trout with my first three casts! However they were all 6-8oz and whilst they were beautiful fish I was hoping to find something a little larger.
Having had a frustrating time fishing with Matt I took my time, wading carefully and trying to put myself in the best position to make a first cast in each likely spot. I still managed to find a few trees but definitely got more in the right place. Fishing with Matt had taught me you often only get one good chance in each swim.
The river was very low and I was having to remove weed from my lures every time the lure nicked the bottom, it was driving me mad! A quick rummage through my box produced one of Mark Houghtons custom made Snap Beans (see 'Links'), the last one of what was a small shoal before a variety of snags claimed them.  They are buoyant and run nice and shallow and it is easy to control the depth they run by varying the speed of retrieve.
I found a long pool with some slightly deeper water, maybe a couple of feet, and ignored the sluggish tail and walked to the head of the pool where the flow was faster and the water more oxygenated.
Luckily the first cast landed in the tongue of faster water and after a couple of turns of the reel handle all hell broke lose! The fish leapt straight out about two feet in the air and my legs went to jelly at the sight of it. This fish was clearly in a different class to most I've seen in rivers locally. It went on a blistering run down the pool, leaping and cartwheeling as it went and I was praying for the hooks to hold. I played it back to my feet and it then tore off to the head of the pool before suddenly turning and swimming straight towards me. Everything went slack and I thought for one horrible moment that I'd blown it and lost the fish. Winding furiously I was suddenly back in touch. I was a few feet up the bank and I grabbed the net which was behind me and threw it into the water and slid down the bank on my backside. Eventually I guided it over the net and breathed a huge sigh of relief. It looked enormous in the net. After such an epic battle I decided to rest the fish in the water while I quickly sorted the scales and camera out. I settled on a weight of 4lb 8oz and took a few quick pictures before returning the fish to the net. I have the camera set up with a short time delay and then it takes three pictures a couple of seconds apart. I quickly carried the fish in the net to the head of the pool so I could cradle it in the faster water to aid its recovery. After a few minutes I felt the strength return and with a kick of its tail it was gone. I was shaking from the excitement and sat down to recover myself! I had to tell someone so rang Matt as I knew he would know what it meant to me.
A four and a half pound wild brown trout is a good fish from any water in the country and I felt very lucky to have found one in a small local river. After contacting Mark and asking him for a few more magic beans the next task is to consult the maps and explore some more of this little gem.

One of Marks Magic Beans!

Field Repairs

Initially I thought I was only going to be able to snatch a few hours fishing on Wednesday morning and went to a lake where the perch often feed early. I had caught a few before receiving a message saying the work I had planned to do in the afternoon had been cancelled. A change of plan was required and I decided to check a new section of a small stream. Water levels are very low and I thought there might be a little more flow further downstream.

I spotted a few nice chub in a deep pool and was about to walk past them as they are out of season when I saw three brownies move from under the shade of an overhanging tree. The biggest of the three I estimated to be 2 or 3lb which is enormous for this stream. Big fish however, rarely get big by being stupid and the largest of the group vanished with the first plop of a lure cast to the head of the pool. I did manage to tempt one of the smaller fish, an absolutely gorgeous fish with textbook trout markings and colouration.

I  then broke the top 2'' of my rod off whilst untangling my line from around a branch stuck out low over the water. I had walked a few miles away from the car and was wading upstream and heading back and didn't want to spend the time needed to go home and collect another rod - field repairs were needed!

I used my scissors to scrape through the epoxy and whipping on top of the tip ring and then peeled the whole lot off. I then pushed the eye over the rod tip - a bit of a squeeze as the tip section is tapered but it went in nice and solidly. I then cut a few inches of braid off and used my fly tying skills to whip the eye on - I'm really glad I learned to do a whip finish by hand rather than using a tool. A dab of superglue and I was ready to go. A little further upstream this spirited fish gave the repair its first workout as it went air-born two or three times before being netted.

This fish is typical of some of the bigger trout in these Northern streams, really long and skinny with an out sized head - the consequence of scratching out a meagre existence in waters without a rich food supply.

Down to its bare bones.

I ended up with a dozen or so and enjoyed strolling through the buttercup meadows in the hot sunshine.

I'm looking forward to a return visit when there is a bit more water in. Weedy streams are fairly rare in my area but this has a healthy growth of Rannunculus in places - not quite chalk stream but very pretty.

The evening saw me chasing perch for a couple of hours and in the first thirty minutes had only managed a couple of small fish on rubber shads. A switch to a spinner (a lure I rarely use) saw a complete transformation as I had a hectic hour and a half where barely a cast went by without some kind of interest. The perch were chasing the spinner down often taking very near the surface. The fish were all of a decent size ranging from 12oz to a pound and a half. I went home and added some more spinners to my lure box!

Esthwaite Pike Cup

Today saw me fishing on Esthwaite in The Lake District. Not much finesse about today's fishing as this was to compete for the Lure Anglers Society 'Pike Cup' - this year sponsored by Fox Tackle. It's a pairs event with the winner being the team with the highest combined weight of the best three fish. Fish have  to weigh 6lb or over to count.
This is primarily a trout fishery but the LAS have held this exclusive lure fishing event here for a number of years.
I set of early off nice and early to make the 7.30 am start and I was lucky enough to see a herd of deer ghosting across the road that skirts lake shore. This is possibly one of the most beautiful lakes in the country.

A breathless dawn and the view across the lake from the boathouse.

Looking South from the same spot..

...and North.

Hazy early morning



20 anglers load a veritable mountain of tackle into ten boats!

Our boat, loaded and ready to go!

I really enjoyed last years event and had a couple of nice fish but hoped today was the day for one of the really big fish resident in this lake!

Last years fish.

Alas it was not to be as, despite fishing hard all day, I only managed this modest specimen.

Other anglers fared much better and there were several big fish caught and some amazing combined weights. Thanks to James Sherrigton, my boat partner for the day, for the excellent company and for spotting the pair of Osprey circling above us, as I was so intent on the fishing, I may have missed them!!

Antony's 19lb fish!

Antony and his boat partner Phil did the North-West Chapter proud by placing third in the competition with a combined total of 28lb. Second were another North-West pair Baz and Alex who had a big haul of fish with their best three totalling over 37lb. A fantastic days fishing..

Baz's 17lb

One from the winning pair - Rons first lure caught 20lb 2oz Pike!

..and his 16lb fish - this has to be the biggest 16lb fish I've ever seen!

..and his boat partner Waynes 13lb fish