Jan/Feb

Jan

 6^th

With the rivers in almost continuous flood conditions - chances to get out have been at a premium since the turn of the year and this short morning trip was to the canal in search of perch. Conditions were very unappealing with heavy driving rain and a stiff wind - real “I’ll be glad when I’ve had enough of this” weather. 2 hours was about as much as I could stand - and as soon as bites dried up I was packing up - having brought 6 nice perch to the net. 3 over 2lbs and 3 not far under had taken a liking for my lob worms, but boy was I glad to get back to the car!

15^th

A day off work - and a birthday treat to one of my favourite venues - on the River Itchen. Paul was joining me for our hunt for big grayling - but we spent the whole week before fretting about how much water would be in the river. Thankfully the trip was preceded by 3 dry (ish) days and a call to the bailiff the evening before gave the go-ahead.

On arrival, whilst the river was (just) within its banks - clarity was at best marginal for grayling fishing - and we anticipated a bit of a struggle. And so it proved though both Paul and I had fish from the start - chub to around 4lb to both of us and the odd trout. Thankfully we met the bailiff at lunch time and he was able to put us on a pod of grayling in the afternoon so by the time it was too dark to see our floats we’d had a dozen fish each - with both of us getting fish of 1½lbs.

Feb

2^nd

Groundhog Day? 7^th February 2003 is a day writ large in my angling diary - a real Red Letter day when I caught 3 dace over a 1lb including a PB of 1lb 2oz and a brace of roach of 1lb 15oz and a PB of 2lb 11oz. Feb 2^nd is Groundhog Day in the US and I was hoping for a repeat of my trip 4 years earlier to this upper Kennet venue. Certainly conditions were very similar - lots of water in the river - good water - not coloured, and the day was mild and overcast - identical in fact to what I found on 7/2/03. The results were, alas, far from similar. Of dace and roach there was not a sign! When my float did go under it was always an unwelcome trout or a grayling that was the culprit. By lunchtime I admitted defeat on the dace front and instead had a very pleasant afternoon catching grayling galore. Most of the fish were around 6-8oz with the odd one a bit bigger. I did manage one decent one which tipped the scales at 1lb 9oz. A very pleasant days angling but one that didn’t live up to my (rather high!!!) expectations!

18^th

Another day on a Kennet ‘estate’ water and another venue renowned for it’s big dace. There also big perch here and Paul and I had very much this species on our radar when we arrived at one of the venues known perch hotspots. A couple of seasons ago Paul had a pb of 3lb 10oz from this swim and it’s thrown up the odd 3lber to me as well. We fished it on and off all day - taking turns to spend a bit of time exploring the rest of the fishery. By 4 o’clock we’d both had perch of 2lb+ with Paul also having half a dozen in the 1½lb bracket. The final hour of daylight was when we were hoping for the real biggies to put in an appearance and the final hour started well for me with a 1lb fish. As the gloom gathered I had had just a couple of bites - both of which didn’t result in fish - and in near pitch black Paul had to practically drag me from my fishing to go home. After 2 dozen last casts I reluctantly left the perch for another day. We’re hopefully back here in March for a final fling!

23^rd

The IAC organises a fair few fish-ins amongst its members and the grayling days are some of the most popular. This trip to the Itchen was my last chance of a 2lb Grayling  this season - I was beginning to regret picking it as a joker fish for the IAC species race - and this was my final shot at getting some ‘serious’ points.

However my expectations of a good days angling were miniscule. With heavy rain the day before and overnight I just knew what state the river would be in and as Paul and I scoffed our way through a hearty breakfast at the Little Chef we speculated that if it wasn’t for the social aspect of the trip (and the fact that Paul had organised it) we’d have called it off.

Sure enough my worst fears were realised - the river looked awful - just within its banks and the colour of weak tea - I fully expected to blank!! In fact I was so morose that I didn’t even set up my trotting gear but flicked out a feeder into a slack more in hope than expectation - and for chub at that. Merv had followed me up but had only brought his float rod. He set up some 50m above me and was trotting down to where I was stationed. Incredibly within ½hour he’d had a fish - a grayling as well and a big one, a lovely hen fish of 2lb.

Needless to say my feeder rod was swiftly packed away and I was soon putting a float through my swim. Within 20mins I had an identical result to Merv - a 2lb grayling. I had to wait over an hour for my next bite but when it came it was worth the wait. Fishing a single white maggot my float dragged under at the tail of my swim as it had on numerous occasions - I was tripping the bait along the bottom - this time however the float stayed under and I was into a good grayling. I moved down to where I’d hooked it and brought it gingerly to the surface - by now I had Ritchie as an audience and our first impressions were that it might make 3lbs. Like perch, grayling’s large dorsals rather leads to an exaggeration of their weight - especially whilst still in the water. This was still a substantial fish though and at 2lb 10oz my biggest grayling for 5 years and fingers crossed will be worth 3 bonus points at the end of the season, in our little competition!

Most of our party worked hard for their bites but all managed a few fish. The river fined down throughout the day and  a few nice grayling were caught. I added 3, 3lb chub, a brownie and another 2lb+ grayling before it was off to the pub for dinner and a beer with the lads. A really enjoyable day - a big thanks to Paul for organising it.

This month I planned to do a bit more chub fishing than I have of late. The crayfish population explosion of recent years has seen the chub really pack on the weight - and 5lb+ fish are now fairly common from the Kennet. My biggest so far this season is 4lb 10oz caught trotting back in June and my 1^st trip of the month saw me trying to do something about bettering that. However, when I pulled into Speen Moors at 1^st light and saw the conditions - dull, mild and overcast - I couldn’t resist the pull of the canal!! ‘I’ll just have an hour after the perch’ was what I promised myself.

For once, I stuck to my plan. I had a 2lb perch 1^st cast, quickly followed by one half that size but the next hour was bite-less and it wasn’t long before I was settling into a nice weir-pool swim in search of my original quarry. Unfortunately bites here were at a premium too, though the 3 taps I did connect with, all resulted in chub - the biggest of which was around 3lb.    

An invite to fish the upper reaches of the Kennet is not to be sniffed at - even if it coincides with the 1^st frost in ages. Conditions really were exacting - bright sun, a biting cold wind and a river carrying a surprising amount of colour. I started out after grayling - and managed a 1lb+ fish in the first 20 minutes. Alas, grayling fishing when the water is coloured is always problematic - and this proved to be my only one of the day. The venue holds some specimen perch and quality dace and it was the dace I turned my attention to next! However by the time I met up with Paul for some lunch all I’d managed to hook were half a dozen troublesome brownies. Things improved after my soup, sandwiches and mince pies, and as I worked my way down a carrier in the woods I found some good quality dace. By mid-afternoon I’d accounted for over 2 dozen, half of which were over 8oz - the best a nice fish of 11oz. For the last half hour of daylight I moved onto another carrier that has produced good perch to me in the past. Today the perch weren’t in residence, my worm, however was snaffled by a nice roach - an ounce under 1lb and a 3lb chub to round off the day.

With the high pressure, which had set in the previous week, still dominating the weather, resulting in endless days of freezing fog - my choices of species for my 1^st outing of the Christmas break were limited. I had hoped to go perching but decided to play safe and have a morning after the grayling. And a very pleasant morning’s angling it turned out to be! Despite some incredulous looks (and comments) from dog walkers and refuse collectors I had steady sport resulting in a dozen small roach and 1½ dozen grayling - to 1lb 10oz, from 4 hours spent on the bank. Wrapped up against the elements and keeping mobile kept the circulation going and I was as warm as toast - thank you Damart!

All the rain this autumn has at last put a decent flow in the Kennet and it was time to visit one of my favourite flood water swims. This particular slack is formed by a large willow tree which this year has fallen the victim of bank erosion and collapsed into the river. The result is an even bigger slack behind it! Over the years the swim has produced some fine bags of chub - a couple of years ago I had 5,5lb+ fish in a single session. With the river fining down nicely it looked a cert for good sport.

I made a good start with a chub of 3lb. Alas I couldn’t add to it! A change of tactics and bait brought a brace of goodish perch, but the only other species in the eddy appeared to be dace - dozens and dozens of dace!

For a couple of months Paul and I have had this date pencilled in for a trip down to the Itchen. Merv and a friend were going to join us and in the weeks before, my main concern was where we could get some breakfast at an early hour as our regular haunt would be on ‘Christmas Opening’ (I.e. it would be closed!)

However - the weather forecast forced a last minute change of plans - a southerly gale was predicted and on the exposed banks of the Itchen would have made for an unpleasant day - so after a couple of quick phone calls we switched to a venue on the Kennet.

It was a good move! The rains started minutes after we arrived and the wind got stronger and stronger as the day progressed. Thankfully there’s much more shelter on this venue and Paul, in particular, sought refuge in the woods. Out of the wind he had an enjoyable day bagging up on the dace, while Merv and I headed for a slightly less sheltered swim - but one famous for its Perch. It may have been wet and windy but it was also mild and overcast and the perch were in a feeding mood. Merv and I ended up with a dozen between us, both of us getting fish to the 2¾lb mark. I didn’t spend all day in this swim - we tended to catch 2 or 3 and then rest it - and in between managed a dozen good dace, a 3lb chub and a solitary grayling - with numerous nuisance brownies of course!

November

4^th

Whilst I enjoy my winter fishing immensely, November is my least favourite month. The rivers are usually full of leaf litter and water temperatures can start to yo-yo dramatically. It doesn’t pay to  fix plans too far in advance and as the opening week of the month saw the first frosts of the autumn  a temporary abandonment of my perch campaign was called for. When the weather’s cold there’s one species which are still guaranteed to bite - grayling. (Chub come a close second!) So the morning of the 4^th saw me scrapping ice of my car and heading for a local chalk stream for a few hours trotting maggots. Such tactics require the minimum of gear. Rod and net, with pockets for bits of tackle and a bait smock for a pint of maggots are all that’s required.  You keep warm by moving from swim to swim.

I was soon fishing - and having to contend with frozen rod rings! My first fish were a brace of salmon parr - the EA stock this water as part of their Thames Salmon campaign - and a couple of minutes later my first grayling of the winter.

 Tactics on this shallow stream are always “catch a couple and move on” and after 4 hours fishing I’d dropped into 8 swims for a total of 15 grayling and a couple of brownies. A third of the grayling were a decent enough size (over 10 inches) - the biggest a fish of 1lb 5oz. Another reason for fishing here was I know it contains a good quantity of Bullheads! I was thus delighted to get one -  another point for the IAC species race!

11^th

The cold snap was soon over so the following weekend saw Paul and I heading for the river at Speen Moors. Or rather I headed for the river while Paul started on the canal. I had a trek to the swim I wanted to start in but it was worth the walk as the first 20 minutes of fishing produced 3 perch between 1½ - 2¼lbs. We’d hoped for a dull overcast day (as was forecast!). What we got was a bright and breezy one and I caught no further perch from the 3 other swims I tried. For the last hour or so I switched tactics and changed from worm to trotted maggots - hoping for some quality dace that the venue throws up occasionally. What I got - of course (!) was another 2lb perch along with some dace and small chub. Paul managed a nice bag of perch to just under 2lb on the canal and, unusually for the time of year, (and water temperature) a tench of around 3lb. Like me he had switched back onto the river when conditions got too bright.  He too was hoping for a dace or two but instead had to settle for  3 or 4 nice looking chub.

18^th

A week later we were back and this time I joined Paul on the canal. Whilst this was always the plan, over an inch of rain the previous day merely confirmed it as the river had turned the colour of weak tea. The day promised to be a bright one so a dawn start to maximise low light levels was imperative.

 The first hour or so  brought a dozen perch to the net all between 12oz - 1½lbs. Paul struggled for the first 20mins but was soon catching when he moved down to join me. With the sun on the water bites all but ceased. Rather than switch back onto the river we decided to explore further up the canal - mainly to recce swims for further sessions as we’d concluded that the section we’d been fishing had loads of fish to 1½lb but hadn’t produced anything much bigger.

We ended up walking quite a way - not really doing much fishing, dropping a worm into the odd swim here and there but mainly noting likely looking spots for when conditions were more favourable. I only managed one bite but it produced a good perch of 2lb 10oz. Paul managed a 3lb fish - alas not a perch - instead his worm was snaffled as soon as it hit the water by a rainbow trout which lead him a merry dance up and down the towpath!

My final fish of the morning was rather fortuitous too. Returning to the spot of my earlier biggie my lob was taken by a pike as I twitched it parallel to the reed mace. A fish of over 8lbs put up quite a scrap on my float rod and I expected the line to part at any minute. Thankfully the hook hold was in the scissors and it was eventually landed safely.

25^th

Awoken in the middle of the night by lashing rain on the skylight I had all but abandoned plans for this trip to the canal - however when I woke again a few hours later the rain had stopped. I got up and checked  the Met Office rain radar and concluded that I should get 3-4 hours angling before the next band of rain swept through. Conditions would still be far from ideal with a strong southerly wind make casting on an exposed stretch of canal difficult but with overcast skies and mild conditions I was confident the fish would be feeding.

How right I was!! I actually arrived at my swim too early and had to wait until it was light enough to see my float. Once I was fishing though the perch came thick and fast I had a dozen over 1½lb with 5 over 2lb the best three went 2.12,2.09 & 2.08 and ALL from the same swim - good thing I took the unusual (for me) step of taking a keep net. For the second week running I also had a pike though this one was much smaller than the previous week’s. The fish were still biting when the dark grey clouds rolled up from the South-west. I wasn’t going to let a bit of rain stop me but when a streak of lightening flashed across the sky I thought it prudent to leave. It was a smart move, by the time I’d scuttled back to the car thunder and lightening was crashing all around and the rain fall had reached monsoon like proportions! Still my amateur forecasting was spot on - I’d squeezed in 3 excellent hours fishing when I might otherwise not have bothered.