Winter Chubbing on The Severn

At last my first winter trip to The Severn as in the past something has always come up to thwart that three hour journey, although I didn't get up there at all last year so imagine my excitement on arriving at a beautiful looking river on a cloudy February morning, not early morning mind, I can't warp time but good things come to those who wait.

I was under no illusion that things could be hard but optimistic that it could also be the opposite, a middle ground of a few dace and enough bites to keep that float running through with gusto was my mindset as I donned the chest waders, took out my rod, net and rucksack and ventured up river with a spring in my step, even though it didn't quite feel as though spring was in the air.

There were a few people there in the usual spots by the car park but once I passed them it was wonderfully peaceful save for the cackle from the odd pheasant in the meadow behind, the river itself looked great with a perfect bit of flow, a touch of colour and there was no wind, I knew I had to catch today, if not it would really put a dampener on any future winter road trips here.

I set up in a spot that screamed fish but naturally was really awkward, with submerged trees either side and a slippery bank to perch on. I used the 4no4 stick from a few trips back that took almost double and run it along a crease to where the water slowed, with nothing to show for the first half hour I was about to move on, when the float went under and the most wonderful thud of something heavy on the end rewarded me for my 'three more casts' rule when roving. This fish powering upstream was what I came for, a magical feeling until I noticed the confines of the swim were now well in play, I bullied it across as much as I could with a 3lb hooklength and held firm as it tried to get into the tree upstream, choosing option B from the appetizing snag menu, the result was my size 18 hook almost bent straight but thankfully after I had slid the net under the culprit, a stunning scale perfect chub bang on 5lb and a wonderful start.

I bent my hook back into shape and persisted a little longer here to no avail before the awkwardness of the swim and the thought of falling in outweighed the need to catch another, plus I wanted to try somewhere faster, to explore further. I went upstream and settled on a more comfortable swim, a pacy 4-5 foot deep run pushing through well, the tip of my float barely visible among the ripples, froth and reflection on the water's surface, however it didn't take me long to find out what was below. 

The float went under right at the bottom of the swim no doubt where my loosefeed was finally getting down, once again another chub although despite being much smaller at around 2-3lb it took longer to bring up through the fast water, a slow controlled battle unlike the ones you get near snags, another nice looking fish.

I then had better one at around 4lb before stopping to put a new hook on as it was bending every time with the first three chub, whilst this was handy when hooking submerged rocks of which I knew there were plenty it was an accident waiting to happen with the fish. With a new hook on another couple of good chub took the tally to five before lunch was needed, it was a fun morning's fishing which surpassed my expectations.

From my vantage point (a mound of dry grass as I forgot my stool) I watched as the mallards proceeded in diving for my bait, there's no way they could find my maggots I thought and sure enough they kept popping up with what looked like donkey choker pellets or large boilies off the bottom, worked into feeding by my actions and finding something else.

My lunch was gobbled down as quickly as the mallards had theirs as I was eager to get back fishing. Then the sun came out for half an hour, the water twinkled and looked magical although this meant I could barely see my float at all and there was a good ten metres of trot where the eyes were shielded, I still managed another nice chub which I didn't weigh but looked around 5lb like the first.

I should have waited to have lunch then as the sun made things too hard, but it was a good time to just sit down and have a rest, my arm was aching as it turns out tennis elbow is actually quite painful. I popped a painkiller and watched the birds do their thing, nothing out of the ordinary just the usual suspects you get in the garden, breaking the silence which is usually the job of the steam trains which don't run this time of year, the tracks opposite me in full view laying eerily dormant. 

With the cloud cover returning I carried on and finally had something smaller which had me wondering what it was, expecting a small chub but hoping for a dace the compromise was a more than welcome roach.

Whilst it was the only roach of the day it does show they can handle the fast water in winter if they want to. I then finally got my dace, a large but tatty looking thing, plus a bleak before the last couple of hard fighting chub, also good fish which took the tally to eight chevins, far exceeding my expectations.

With time now pushing on and a good half hour without a bite I made my way back to the car park where I pottered about for a few more silvers in a shallow swim before finishing with a little gudgeon.

It was another cracking day's fishing, with typical February chub action, I managed not to lose a single fish (somehow) and I was so glad to have done well on the long awaited winter trip here, doing the sort of trotting with small hook and single maggot that you can't really do in summer here due to small dace and bleak, it's opened up a new chapter in exploring this river and a new option for when the conditions align to be perfect, as when that happens in fishing and things go well it's a marriage made in heaven.

It was my first winter trip to The Severn and it will stay in the memory for a while, hopefully it won't be the last.