No fish but a few things learned
Having caught a few fish, I was starting to get a feel for how and where feeding fish could be found. It was therefore time to dispense with carrying everything that I might ever need so that I could adopt a mobile/roving approach.
Recently cheese paste and breadfake seemed to get bites fairly quickly when presented close to an overhanging bush/tree. Therefore I decided to stick to alternating between these baits although I did take some luncheon meat for backup. I did not take any of my usual loosefeed (hemp, caster, micro halibut pellets and micro cubes of meat).
I setup one rod with a 2 swan shot link ledger and one of my size 8 hooks with expanding foam glued to the shank.
I started in peg 2 but first put a few loose offerings near the tree in peg 3. I spent aboyut 40 minutes in peg 2 and had a few tentative plucks at my chesse paste/breadflake baits but nothing positive.
I then moved onto peg 3 but first put a few loose offerings near the bush in peg 4. Another 40 minutes or so with no interest meant it was time to move on.
Again I pre-baited peg 5 before having a go in peg 4. Again, nothing that I could strike at. I think that small fish were attacking the breadflake.
By the time I got to peg 5 I decided to remain there and settled into a snack/drink. There was a nice raft of flotsam near the tree so was very inviting to fish under. I got a few more postive bites but failed to hit the first few. By now I was flicking my bait beyond the tree, into the main flow, then holding it back so that it swung around under the tree before letting it settle. Eventually I got a proper bite just as the bait settled on the bottom - I hadn’t even put the rod on the rest. It shot out into mid river and after several hard fought minutes I realised that I had hooked a small Chub that had once again been taken by a large Pike. This time the Pike won and eventually snapped my line.
I did not get any other bites but that’s not suprising if there were large Pike around. I had also seen an Otter patrolling the far bank which probably didn’t help either.
So, no fish but I developed a way to get my bait under a tree without having to cast dangerously close to the tree. I also modified my kit/load even more by putting my landing net in my folder chair meaning that I only had to carry my rod and landing net pole - everything else attached to my ruck sack. This was very comfortable and allowed me to walk with ease. A final couple of bonuses is that, whilst walking back in near darkness, I saw a family of Deer playing on the river bank. I also saw several big black slugs on my way back so decided to collect a few with some leaves so that I could try them on my next visit.
| Fishing Targets | Fishing Log |