The Last Cold Day In May

 Well there's a bold statement in the title but given it will soon be June and it's warming up at last I thought I'd go out on a limb. We will look back at this month in future years and remember the cold May we had in 2021.  We'll probably be wearing T-shirts and getting carp off the top, thinking how the hell could we possibly be wearing our winter gear this time of year.

I had my winter jacket on Tuesday and it didn't come off as I positioned myself in a sheltered corner of the pond, once again picking a swim I had never fished before on the basis that it offered some protection from the wind. I viewed all the other anglers who were pretty motionless aside from two chaps with poles shipping them out to the maximum, no one was catching as I set up my stool next to my rucksack and filled my bait bib up with reds, these maggots will get bites, I knew that much.

There is part of me that likes this weather as going out on single maggot on a size 18 usually gets plagued by small stuff but the fish were still in winter mode and bites were rewarding. Simply fishing a rod and a half out got a bite, either on the drop or just within 5 seconds of my tiny pole float settling, this saw a succession of quality roach hit the landing net. Then I get my first real bend in the rod and it's a tench, it may have been missing half it's tail but it was my first of the year and it went well.

Then the only carp of the morning lead me a merry dance on 0.12mm but it lead to enquiries from others as to what bait I was using, as I sat there with a well earned first coffee of the day, warming up nicely.

A good mix of species followed before it became cru' O'clock as a succession of crucians appeared (It would appear cru O'clock was 11.15am today) Now these chunky chappies really are fun on this gear.

Ok some of them were brown goldfish but catching is catching and I was having a purple patch which could switch off any minute.

The sun almost came out so I kept feeding and more quality roach came before it was time for lunch.

Lunch was good, I could see eight other anglers most of whom were setting their stall out for carp, one of the pole guys just had his first whilst a couple of old timers had changed to maggot and were catching small perch in the margins, the others were motionless save for the occasional foray to the toilets, it did look colder on their side, it was late May after all.

I fished an hour after lunch trying a different tack to get more cru's and it worked, by feeding two maggots every ten seconds the crucians came back along with some rudd, which no doubt will feed like mad when it warms up. The last fish was a chunky gudgeon, almost as if to remind me the river season is coming. 

I ended the day with 9 species and about 20lb of fish in 3-4 hours. People are saying this pond is fishing hard at the moment but I'll take that any day - Maggot magic!

Now where's my T-Shirt and shorts? I may need them next week

Tales From The 100 - No 83 River Leam

 This is part of a series of short stories recollecting some of my trips around the country fishing 100 rivers, some were good, some brilliant and some just bonkers, there was always something going on. So when things are quiet I'll cast the mind back in no particular order and remember a few of these adventures.

No 83 The River Leam

I can't remember if it was a Saturday or Sunday but we headed up to Leamington to fish the river from which the town is named, it was one of those day ticket stretches that I always had a view to fish even though it wasn't the shallow streamy type that I adore, maybe that's why it took a while to get round to fishing it, mind you I always liked the name Leam, it sounds like it should be good for bream and the unknown as ever was the draw, although I had already reccied the stretch using the wonders of the internet so knew where to park right next to the river - but more of that later.

The river itself was pretty deep and slow but enjoyable to fish although I only did the morning as I promised the missus we'd look round town after lunch. I set up away away from the path and we sat under some trees on what was quite a warm day, the float dipped first cast which is always a good sign as a small roach kicked things off.

I had plenty more bites courtesy of roach and perch and there was one bream, a small one but pretty perfect, pictured here with some lilac flowers providing a nice backdrop.

It was a really nice morning's fishing and a river I would like to fish again one day. However what we will always remember most to this day was the events in the aforementioned car park prior to fishing. 

Having just parked up and set off to the river an officious voice beckoned from behind stating in a bold manner.... "This is for the park and river, the bowls car park is THAT way!" Now it hadn't gone unnoticed by us that the National Bowls Championships were going on, there were signs everywhere so we chose the correct car park. It was just another car driver but maybe he should have noticed my rod and net handle, perhaps he could have seen the net bag and rucksack, or maybe the camo hat, the biggest give away though was I was wearing a fishing waistcoat and flippin' waders! It really hadn't dawned on me it was the ideal attire for lawn bowls. The missus just looked at him and said Duh! at the top of her voice which was quite bold for her, I just looked at her, then looked at my gear and laughed, Captain Oblivious (The nemesis of Captain Obvious no doubt) disappeared, perhaps realizing his folly as we struggled to contain ourselves, it was a priceless moment.

I can't go past a park whilst doing a bit of roving without thinking about that day, thinking about how I'm dressed and most of all thinking.... Anyone for a game of bowls?!

Battling Brawlers

 It's been a hard few weeks on the canal, there's been much better anglers than me struggling down there so I've been grateful to fall back on the knowledge gained during the winter and early spring when the water was clear and I did some fish spotting. Today it had some colour so I hoped to get a few more bites and a bit more variety.

I headed straight for the perch swim hoping to get a stripey or two forsaking setting up in the secret chub swim, In doing so I also headed past the second secret chub swim and skipped past the 'not so' secret chub swim (ok I didn't skip, that would look weird) A mile later I'm set up with the cold wind on my back and in the shade. First cast it's typical I get a small chub not a perch but I'm not complaining, I then had a decent perch so it looked like it could be a good day as I waited for the sun to come round and warm me up.

However it went dead, I tried on the deck but nothing showed and going shallow again saw the odd bleak, the perch weren't playing ball, neither were any roach so I snuck along to secret chub swim version 3.0.  After a bit of feeding my float dips and it's a chub, a proper one too and it's going like stink. I hold fast and 'walk' it away from the snags, get it into open water and after far too many more runs slip the net under a chunky canal chevin. It drew an audience of what looked like a veterans version of the Tour de Hertfordshire who paused their cycle along the towpath to watch, like many who are always curious to see a fish landed, this made a change from dog walkers and families.

At 4lb 6oz it was a cracking fish and once again the chub save the day, I love the way the chub fill out when they get above 4lb and this one bent my size 18 slightly, no doubt during the hit and hold process. After I slipped the battle scared beast back I returned the bend of the hook to it's original angle gently with forceps, something I often do as when done correctly the hook is usually just as strong. I looked at my phone to see if it was lunchtime, it wasn't quite so there was time for another cast.

Despite feeling hungry, once more I find myself crouching along, creeping, all creaky joint ninja. I gently cast the float amongst the feed and I'm in again. I repeat the hit and hold process walking the fish away from trouble or trying to as this one was well on the limit, it must have been so close to the snags, I eventually get it in open water and it then tries to run under my feet before taking off to the middle, I'm conscious that my hook could bend once more and it made several more lunges, before I slid the strange looking chub over the net, what a brute, it looked slightly bigger and it was, just 1oz under 5lb

This chub was even more of an urban brawler, blind in one eye and covered in lice on the head (naturally I photographed it's good side) and despite these ailments it was strong, I don't know if it's the time of year or the extra fresh water from last nights rain but I'm not sure I've ever had chub fight as well as these two canal chub, even on fast rivers, oh and for the record the hook held well and didn't bend at all. I had to have a bite to eat after that one, the sun was finally on me and it was a really great end to the morning.

After lunch things go slow following a boat but after a few more bleak I'm into another good chub, however this time I get beaten fair and square, I thought the hook had bent this time but it was a snap off out in the middle just when I had the initiative or at least thought I did, but this chub must have found another snag as I was in a slightly different position and goes to show the fine lines (pardon the pun) of getting these chub in. Perhaps this one was bigger as it felt just as heavy or maybe just badder, I'll never know but it whets the appetite for the next installment of Chub Wars as I know they sure have some force.

It was soon time to pack up as the bleak showed in numbers almost as if they knew that one eyed bruiser chub wasn't going to hassle them for their pocket money. A black cloud blocked the warmth from the sun and I walked briskly home staying one step away from the forecast rain, of course a heavy shower got me just before I got through the door but it didn't dampen the spirits, I was too busy hailing those chub to worry about a hailstorm after all it was a good morning's fishing.