Super light this time
After Sunday’s blank session I decided to have another roving session. This time I would take only 1 rod, 1 bankstick and my landing net (no keepnet). I also used a bait pouch that attaches around my waist (like a bum-bag) and has several different sized pouches that all seal with velcro. In the pouch I took: -
- Mix of hemp, micro halibut pellet, micro luncheon meat cubes and micro cheese cubes for loose feed
- Cheese paste
- Larger strips of luncheon meat for hook bait
- 1cm cubes of luncheon meat for free offerings
- 3 slices of thick white bread
- A steak strip (more of that later)
I prepared an evening meal yesterday that included beef steak strips. I decided to keep one for fishing. My idea was to find a peg where the Chub were pecking at my normal bait and then try a piece of steak to see if that induced a quick bite.
I had a very comfortable walk down to the river in reasonably nice weather. It had rained quite a lot earlier today.
River level up but falling
I had been monitoring the EA river levels website and the level should have remained low despite the recent rains. However, when I got there I could see the customary white foam that flows down the main channel when the level has been up. I also had a chat to a couple of anglers that had been there all day and they said that level had been higher and flowing very fast earlier in the day.
New pegs
I decided to try a few new pegs this evening. The plan was to start on peg 6 (I had already fished pegs 1 to 5 quite a bit) and work my way down to spend the last hour or so in my favourite peg 14. I would spend roughly 20 minutes in each peg after having baited up the next peg in turn. I would fish next to nearside bushes/trees and should get quick bites if there are any Chub around.
I made a note of pegs 6, 7 and 9 as these all had sizeable bays behind or between large trees that should provide excellent slower water when the river is in flood. This is where the Chub and Barbel would be likely to rest.
Pegs 7 & 8 had been fished during the day so I spoke to the anglers before they left to see where they had been feeding their swims. I would spend a few minutes in each just in case anything bigger has moved onto their feed.
The first bite
I had a light knock on luncheon meat in peg 7. I therefore decided to try the steak. I was able to cut the steak strip into 3 hook sized pieces. The steak actually stayed on the hook very well so allowed me several casts. However it did not result in any bites.
On peg 9 I had an overhanging tree upstream of me and nothing downstream. I fished near that tree with cheese paste and got a bite and my first fish within a few minutes. It was a Chub of around 2.5lb. I tried the steak again but to no avail.
I skipped peg 10 because I couldn’t actually find it. So onto peg 11. I had fished this earlier in the season when I was blanking every session. It has a very comfortable plateau just above the water line and there is a submerged bush just downstram of it. The flow was quite strong on the nearside bank and I had to put on more lead to avoid being pulled into the submerged bush. I did get a quick pull on the rod tip after about 10 minutes but it did not amount to anything else.
My favourite
I got to peg 14 just after 8pm. I fished next to the downstream bush as usual and got a bite almost straight away on cheese paste but missed it. I then tried steak again - to no avail. Next was a piece of luncheon meat. This was soon snapped up by a small Chub of about a pound. It amazes me how they can take such a large piece of meat! As I did not have my keepnet I would have to return the Chub and just hope it didn’t spook the swim.
I then missed another bite before getting into a nice Chub of 3lb. This was a very strong fish and took me into the bush. I had to alternately apply pressure and then release the pressure to encourage the fish to leave the bush. Eventually this worked and I got it into clear water so I could net it.
Darkness approaches
It was now getting dark. I got, and missed, another bite before hitting one that took off like only a Barbel can. Once it woke and started a proper run, my hooklink snapped and I lost the fish. I was kicking myself as I hadn’t learned my previous lesson when a Chub had frayed my line when trying to free it from the bush and I had lost a Barbel as a result. This had obviously happened again because the hooklink snapped a couple of inches from the hook.
So I put on another hook/hooklength and hoped there might still another Barbel around. The previous one had gone straight for mid river so I hoped it hadn’t spooked any fish near the bush. Sure enough, another 10 minutes later and my rod tip shot round with another Barbel. This one was quite relaxed (but heavy) for the first few minutes before it got it’s head down and gave a very good fight. The end result was this lovely 9lb 14oz Barbel: -
So I ended up with 3 Chub (1lb, 2.5lb and 3lb) and a nice Barbel. Even though most of the fish/action was on peg 14 I still enjoyed getting to know more pegs and enjoyed moving around a bit.
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