Two Trips To The Warwickshire Avon

My first trip of the week was to the Warks Avon above Bidford but given there were only two swims on the weir I wasn't surprised to see them both taken so I set up downstream on a low clear river, but one that offered more water than my perilously low rivers closer to home.

The clear water bought the small stuff out and I was struggling to get through tiny dace and bleak and had a sorry tally of countable fish by the time I stopped for a late lunch. An hour later I noticed one of the weir anglers going which was surprisingly early, I caught him in time to ask whether his early departure was down to a terrific day or a struggle, sadly it was the latter, half an hour later the other angler left, also beaten so I had the weir to myself. 

Even though I knew it would be hard there's always optimism isn't there? Although the small swirls on the surface among the froth indicated maggot would be suicidal, so I went on pellet straight away, the water was certainly clear enough even if following a couple of anglers so quickly wasn't ideal.

Suffice to say I struggled despite giving the pellet a good hard go, a few roach barely big enough to take my 6mm offering were followed by one good chub at around 3lb which put a good old bend in the rod. I'll take that I thought. Even though I put a shift in on the pellet I could only tempt a few more roach and ended up with 7 in total on a day saved by that lone chub.

At the weekend I am back out with the missus who wanted a piece of the green Warwickshire countryside as did everyone else as we made our way through a picnic site where it seemed everyone was blowing up a cheap inflatable of some sort. It was hot and sunny although crossing a bridge in the village I spotted a large barbel in the clear water which put a spring in my step.

We found a spot with shade and I was under no illusion that anything would do today, it was basically a picnic with the fishing included at a venue chosen in no small part for the toilets for 'er outdoors. The bonus of having the missus in tow is I get cool photos of an angler just wiling away a few hours, there was worse places we could be for sure.

The river was really clear in the sun and I could see down a good 8 feet, I scanned the bottom for anything large and even put down a handful of pellets in case a tench or barbel ghosted in but I saw nothing but small roach near the surface and even they were letting my maggots fall through, barely mouthing the odd one here and there.

I was having fun getting a few fish where it deepened when I heard "Is that a fish?" the wife eagerly pointing out to me with a raised voice, I scanned the bottom only to be disappointed by what I saw. It was a fish alright and a fine barbel too, much like the one I saw from the bridge, sadly it was belly up drifting down the river on the surface, it looked dead although I did try casting to it with the idea of foulhooking it and righting it in my net where the fish could be nursed back to health, however my light waggler fell short and maybe it was just as well as it was probably already gone and with so many Joe public about putting a dead fish back into the water wouldn't have looked good.

It dampened things a touch as it had been an enjoyable day, I had a few perch and it was quite an achievement to get 29 of them plus a handful of roach and dace given that everyone and everything came floating down the river as the afternoon wore on. 

We stopped off at the chippy and sampled the chaos of the picnic area once more before heading back on a hot drive home.

Last Minute Improvisation Tricks A 2lb Roach

I had all but packed up, my makeshift float removed and my mat was drying on the fence behind me, it had been a good day, the roach were on the pellet today and I had 31 alternating between stick float and matchstick as the water was so low and clear, all netters but nothing over a pound. Stretching my legs after sitting on the floor close to the water's edge all day I had a sip of water, picked up some of what was left of my pellets and fed the swim one last time, standing right at the edge like Captain Skyline* peering in just to see what was down there, just to observe. Then she came into view and took one right under my nose. Typical I thought.

*Captain Skyline is of course the worlds worst superhero but how that big roach was readily feeding in front of me in full view shows how much it must have been picking at my feed all day.

I had seen this roach fleetingly drift in and out of the swim amongst it's smaller (but by no means small) kith and kin and could I get it to take? Not a chance as it was quick to reject anything I had to offer, so now she was there doing the usual big roach thing of taking one pellet on the drop knowing full well I wasn't fishing. I fed another pinch of feed and it took another pellet. Even though I had been trying for this fish all day I couldn't resist a little longer could I? 

I could muster another ten minutes fishing that's for sure.

After a couple of attempts I finally caught the end of my line which had been flapping about and tied a size 20 hook on, with no shot and no float I tried to flick out my banded pellet into what was a troublesome wind for such fine tackle, even my matchstick was ditched for this one last hurrah. Naturally the first attempt saw my freelined offering land closer to me than the target fish, when it did land in the right area nothing happened, this roach would only come up if there was multiple offerings to choose from and had no doubt clocked me trying to hide by some rushes as I didn't have my camo hat on.*

*Camo hats make you invisible, everyone knows that.

Now it is hard to catch a fish feeding a few inches from the surface that will only take one pellet at a time and only when it's accompanied closely by others, so there was a few nervy moments as I timed my feed to hit the water at the same time as my freelined bait. I couldn't tell if my pellet was being taken so several thin air strikes got the pulse racing and ten minutes soon turned into twenty. 

I then had the idea of trying a red pellet on the hook and I could instantly see the difference as I watched the little red dot drop down through the gin clear water, why didn't I think of this sooner I thought as next cast the roach seemed to head for it high in the water before turning away. I could see the red of it's eyes and it's scales seemed to sparkle in the sun at this moment, anticipation was now at an all time high even if I have had this scenario before and knew full well the roach was still favourite to elude me.

A bit of cloud cover came over and the next plop in saw that familiar shape drift up so effortlessly towards my bait once more, it must have been around ten inches from the surface. It's lips seemed to pinch at my pellet so I struck. I'm not sure if I said it out loud or in my head but the phrases "Got it" and "It's on" instinctively filled my mind as it spun on the top instantly, it was a magical moment. The roach was on although it was just sitting there on the surface seemingly doing nothing, they do this sometimes and I knew my size 20 to 2lb line would be no match for a big roach's turn of speed, I expected a run and it didn't disappoint, twice, I just let it go before bringing it back each time and over the net. Get in!

The roach went 2lb 3oz and I had a feeling I have been acquainted with this fish before and sure enough after checking the photos at home it was the same fish I had late last February on maggot which is this blog post for March - 2lb Roach Caps Redfin Red Letter Day

I have a feeling that there are less big fish than we think in some waters and they are often repeat captures, this one was caught in a different area from the last time round an ounce lighter. I walked most the stretch today with the old polaroids on and this was the only big roach I saw all day in the clear water. I think I need to look back at some old photos as I'm sure repeats are there with other roach. To get this fish twice in the calendar year is pretty special.

Hey it's only just turned July, so three times in year would be pushing it right? Seriously though I could well go three years before the next big roach, perhaps longer, some folk go a whole lifetime. I won't be taking this fish for granted, so here's to the ol' Red Eye and lets not forget that red pellet.

Edit - These were some of the roach that, before the 'two' came along were the highlight of the day, all pristine netters with the smallest around 8oz, once again the pellet provided the sort of fishing hemp does, I could have easily doubled the 31 that I had, were it not for quite a few coming off,  a few barbel turning up and constant changing between matchstick,float and freelining, trying to trick that wily old one.

A fantastic day.