First visit to Snitters of the year...

Sunday myself and Danny decided to meet up at Snitterfield Ressie and target the roach that have in previous seasons fed well in Feb/March, with the average stamp being around 8 oz it makes for some pleasant fishing. We had also heard of some slightly larger fish coming out so might be interesting...

I got there before Danny and started to set up at on e of my favourite pegs, I say set up it was more like a full on fight with my on box which was being decidedly awkward, as the footplate had dropped out and for the life of me I could not get it to set level...sometimes more tackle and kit is more of a pain in the arse, than just a chair and rod! Just as I finished the duel, Danny arrived and set on the peg next to me.

On arrival he said that he had something for me....I thought this was going to be another sample of the cookies that his girlfriend makes for us on a regular basis..but no! He reminded me that on a recent visit to the Windrush when we met up with David to target Grayling, we had agreed on the "pound for the biggest challenge"! On this occasion I won, with what has to be said was a very small specimen but on a hard day was the only one caught..David prior to departing walked over to me and paid he way....but Danny I thought was trying to relent on his bet! This was until he produced "the pound for the biggest award". After receiving this illustrious award from Mr D Everitt from The Lure of Angling, we got down to fishing...for which we agreed the award would be straight back up for grabs with roach being the target!

I had set up my pole with two swims, one at 10 meters with a deep pellet rig consisting of a Drannan 1.0g Lake float, olivette and size 16 G point pellet hook, my tactic on this swim was going to be to cup some 2mm expanders in then fish a 4mm over the top. The second was a top three kit for the inside line, with a Drennan 0.5g pinkie float with number 10 shot shirt button style for on-the-drop fishing to a size 22 team England hook. On this line my tactic was going to be to start with liquidised bread with punch, then introduce pinkies at a later stage.

The other rod I set up was a light feeder with 5lb line onto which I put a Preston Pellet feeder with a long link to a size 16 pellet hook, on which I would use the 2mm in the feeder on the 4mm on the hook as the bream in the ressie love those pellets!

I was struggling to settle on the inside line as it did not quite feel right and though I did snag a few roach after an hour or so, it did not really kick on and bites were extremely quick and finicky.

So, I tried the feeder and had an instant response by bagging a few nice bream which averaged out at about 1lb 8oz and some very hard fighting roach/bream hybrids. But, with roach as the target I knew I would have to do something different to catch them.

Hard fighting hybrid

I changed my light inside line rig for a blob float with only one number 10 shot on, focusing my efforts on bringing the fish up in the water at 10 metres by spraying 5-10 pinkies over the top every 20 seconds. Again this was met with some interesting results as it became evident that the fast bites were Rudd, doing a hit and run on the bait. After a while I had bagged some very pretty fish that were fin perfect. Including a nice Rudd of about 8oz and a roach of 120z, which ended up being this fish that retained, "the pound for the biggest" award!!!!

My best roach of the day

The major award

At dinner time we called it time and though the conditions had been great for roach and silvers we were a little disappointed with our haul, I ended up with just over 10lb of silvers...not bad for march but should have been more! Did not take a bloody picture though!

Strange session on the river and pools

Today I had decided to focus my efforts on the river avon, in an very close to some pools that I fish. I had a fair amount of liquidised bread that i had left over from an earlier river season at Lucys Mill, so not to waste it I opted of a simple running cage feeder and bread flake.

After about 30 mins I had a good tap on the tip then my rod slammed round and I was in to a chub that went berserk trying to and succeeding in running me into the reed bed that was on the near side bank. From the picture that I have included you can see how tight and weedy the small swim is.

As a result I had to let the line go very slack and hope for the very best....which was the fish swimming into mid river all of its own accord! result...

After a short battle a pristine chub was banked. At 3lb 9oz it improved my percentage by a couple of ounces...

After this I knew that the swim would take a while to settle so I decided to go up to the pools and try my luck. After changing the hooklink to a light 3lb bottom and a size 18 I was getting regular bangs on the tip, which evidently where small skimmer bream, of which I netted 5 in a short period of time. As quickly as they came they went...odd I thought, until the tip slammed round and I was into either a carp or tench. Unfortunately I gave this fish to much respect with the light link and it managed to find a snag only metres from my feet...bugger! The fish was lost...c'est la vie!

At this stage it started to rain and the wind got up right into my face..not very pleasant and comfortable, so I moved up onto the middle of the three pools. I set up a float rod to aim for some silvers, which immediately started to show with regular bites from roach and rudd of around 6 - 8 oz. This was until I hit into something that did not want to come in...the culprit was a male tench of 3lb 7oz ... Shortly followed by a fish that could have been his twin brother!

Peas in a pod!

Whilst fishing for the silvers and tench I had thrown some bread in on my left hand side...which was being sucked up at regular intervals by feeding carp....interesting for March! I could not sit and watch this without having a bash. So I changed my feeder rig to a size 8 straight through free line style. It did not take long before I watched a dorsal find breakthrough the surface seconds before my line went tight and I was in to a carp.

5lb 3oz off the top in March !

Though I do hope I catch a larger one for the challenge. It made my day include the following ...chub, perch, roach, rudd, bream, tench and carp. Nice for my last session before the end of the season on the river and the pools.....Unless I can get there for a couple of hours tomorrow, but she might kill me!!

Windrush Grayling Hunt

Danny, David and I had arranged to fish the Windrush in the quintessential Cotswolds, in the search of the grayling that live there. We met at the "Little Thief" for breakfast and a chat about tactics and approaches for bagging some fish, Danny had already printed off maps of the beat, and as he had fished it previously had some good information on various glides and fish holding areas.

We had a spring in our step as we hot footed to the Orvis shop to collect our tickets for the day, where we were met by a Brummy version of Amos Brearly. He went into detail of exactly where we could and could not fish and mentioned that not many Grayling had been caught in recent times.....great!

On arrival at the usually clear river in was very evident that the recent rain had changed the depth and colour quite significantly. We all set up our centre pin trotting tackle, I selected my 13ft Preston Excel rod with a centre pin which was loaded with 4lb Drennan float line, a small chubber float with a bulk shotting pattern and one dropper shot 6 inches from the hook, a Drennan Red maggot size 16 hook. My approach was going to be to regularly feed a long glide with red maggots, looking to trot through at a pace just slower than the normal flow, holding back at intervals to flick the double red up.

Though everything was working perfectly I when bite less in my first swim, in fact we all did. It w\s so annoying as the colour and pace had it seemed pushed the fish into slacker water. With this in mind I moved upstream to a swim on a large bend with a slack eddy at the outer edge. At I would have struggled to cast my float to this areas, I set up a feeder rod, with a small cage feeder and 2ft hook link, this was loaded with liquidised bread and a nice piece of flack. It was in position long before I had a good bang on the tip, which I thought could be a chub. It turned out to be a brown trout of around a pound.

By now Danny and David had moved up towards me, as soon as they did my tip banged round as I was in to a better fish....this though did not last as my link broke....trouts teeth me thinks!

After moving around a few times in the town stretch we decided to cut our losses and move to the stretch which included a small weir pool at it base, where we would later meet up to target at the end of the evening.

Throughout the afternoon I spent time in "fishy looking" areas but was unable to register a bite. I was not alone with this as both Danny and David also failed to land anything on the bank, though David did have a small trout on in one area.

I found myself at the confluence a very shallow winter run off ditch and the main river, in which the river ran away from me towards a bend in the river at about 35 yards away. It was not long before I noticed a fish top in the shallow water to my left. Seeing this I shallowed my rig right down to about 10 inches with a vain hope of tempting what ever it was. Almost immediately I had a bob on the chubber and I was in to what I first though was a dace, but after a short erratic fight, it had transformed into my first every grayling...though no specimen it still ticked a box at 3oz!!!

I continued to fish this glides as I was getting regular bites but I could not seem to connect with the fish, perhaps some minnows had moved in? I did though manage to winkle out a small brown trout prior to joining the others at the weir pool.

With Danny and David both set up I only had one real choice which was a very wet looking peg in the centre of the reed bed, not great but c'est la vie! I put both feeder rods onto the roost which liquidised bread filled cage feeders and a nice piece of flake. An hour later I hit into a bite which transpired into a small chub of around 10oz. Not what I as after but on as day that fishing was extremely difficult, any action was gratefully received.

On last knockings I decided to try a maggot feeder with half a lob worm. As I was seeing to a call of nature I noticed the tip vibrate a bit....bloody great nothing for ages, then whilst I am peeing, i get a bite! Luckily the fish was still on, a short bit of hassle with landing the fish over reeds and A lovely looking roach was bagged.

Davids scales registered 1lb 7oz, a nice way to end a very difficult day. This this was very long for its weight, I am convinced it would go 2lb easily if it had a stomach.

Thanks To Danny and David for a nice day out....just a shame the fish were not really playing out!

First session of 2011 - On the Avon

After having a chat with Dan it was decided that we would venture to the town stretches of the Avon in Stratford, which are target being the roach that have been caught around this area recently. As many know Stratford is a very frustrating place to fish, as though it does have some excellent sport, in fact arguably the best around, it does also have the highest population of visitors and boat traffic.

Due the the amount of boats, canoes and rowers it makes fishing very difficult as though we are both river users some "boat people" seem not to have any sense of consideration towards anyone else using the water for their selected pastime. Some not paying attention to where people maybe fishing and indeed at times deliberately directing their boat towards the areas that anglers may be fishing....more of this later!!!

I picked Dan up prior to first light and headed of up the A46.

On arrival the river looked in great order though carrying some colour and some colour it looked very fishy! I had already prepared a bucket of processed bread, to which I added some caster. With my aim being to fish a cage feeder on a paternoster style set up with a nice piece of flake on the hook, in search of quality roach.

I set up two identical rods onto my newly acquired Korum double rod roost...Merry Christmas!

I cast both rods out to around 3/4 of the way across the river, clipping up to ensure accuracy throughout the morning, with the aim being to get fish feeding in a specific area. Though nothing came in the first hour it did give me a chance to get some bait out due to regular casts.

After a while my right hand rod tip bounced back then twitched forwards and I was hooked into a fish. Due to the jagged head shakes I knew it was a bream and not my target species but all fish are welcome. The net slipped under a fin perfect fish of 3lb 4oz.

I quickly re baited with flake and cast to the clip in the same area, I did not have to wait long before the tip banged again and I was into the second fish of the day, once again the fight gave this away as a bream, in fact it could have been the twin of the previous fish. Slightly smaller at 3lb. Again fin perfect.

This is when my session was interrupted by some extremely annoying rowing club who not only interrupted the catching of fish but also prevented any rhythm from being gained. I think for the next two hours my rods were only in situ for probably 20 mins. I did though managed to hold in place long enough to watch my left hand rod tip twitch and then bend around. Striking into what felt like a better fish. Taking my time I managed to slip my net under a bream of 4lb 4oz, alot older looking than the previous pair, and also a pound heavier.

After a very kind rower ripped me out,without an apology (which was nice!) I eventually managed to snag another bream of 2lb 60z. Once again very pretty fin perfect fish.

My frustration was growing as the rowers, that came down the river at times 3 a breast taking up the whole channel, with their motor boat stopping mind channel directly in front of us, so casting was not possible!!!

This was very annoying as I knew that there were fish feeding on my baited areas but I was unable to get a baited line to them...never fishing here on a Sunday morning again!

It was about an hour before the rowers disappeared and whilst talking to another angler I did managed to strike into a small roach of 9oz. Though it was the species I had targeted, I was sure there was more to be had if circumstances had been different.

Oh well its two species on the board, though not big they were fish..

Snitterfield on the pixie hunt!

On Sunday morning I decided to get up and over to Snitterfield to target my favourite quarry, crucian carp. I have fished Snitterfield a lot over the years and feel that I have a reasonable understanding of the reservoir. It is like no other reservoir that I have fished quite often people simply fish way to far out when in fact the fish are right at your feet feeding off the concrete shelves edge.

I arrived at Snitterfield for about 6am and had the plan of fishing the top end where I have fish a lot or my favourite swim on the road bank....I was amazed when I drove down the road to find 7 anglers already fishing...not only the top but most of the top road pegs! Gutted...but I suppose if I ever fish a match on this water in the future I need to fish more than just the swims that I know and feel happy on. After looking at likely pegs I settled on one towards the end of the road side bank.

On setting up my tackle there were plenty of Roach and Rudd topping with occasional distinctive crucian mixed in between. Great fish in my swim! As well as the Great Crest Greeb.

I set up my pole rigs and plumbed up a line to my rig at about 4 metres and one to the left at 8 metres from the bank, into which I cupped a mixture of soft feed pellets, hemp and a few pinkies. By doing this I hoped the Crucians would follow the silvers onto the bed of feed that I had laid down.

In reserve I also set up my feeder rod (Shimano Beastmaster 9/11'') at its smaller length of just 9ft, I really like this little rod and would highly recommend it. Very strong for its weight and has a very nice soft action whilst still having the backbone to fight back hard. To this I rigged a Preston pellet feeder on a long 3lb hook link to a G point wide gape size 16 pellet hook pattern (very good expander pellet hooks) I set this up as I knew if the Crucians were not feeding the Bream might be??

Not long after Dan arrived and set up in the search of the "pixies" on the corner peg with a the overhanging tree.He had selected to fish a long float rod with a pole float "on the lift"
, with pellet and paste as his bait choices.

I started fishing on my inside line but it did not respond as I thought it usually does...so I tried the 8 metre line...again not real activity..strange for Snitterfield. So in desperation I tried double pinkie on the inside line and got a Roach immediately, but I did not really want to do this as I came to the Ressie to target the golden "pixies". Still no response???? Something was not right, was I fishing ontop of weed, was my shotting pattern incorrect or hook link to heavy? Then when feeding some free expander's the answer became clear...I had messed up my hook baits by not pumping them properly the previous evening, this resulting in them floating or hanging in mid water...so annoyed, massive waste of time and effort! I quickly pumped some new bait and checked my depths were correct by re-plumbing both swims.. The only fish really until now falling to the feeder rig at about 30 meters.

Brace of bream taken on the pellet feeder

Well it was like flicking a switch, bites came straight away but not from my quarry in fact in the whole morning I only managed to bag one! Taking 4 bream on the feeder and one on the inside accompanied by and a few nice roach on the inside was my total catch about 15lb tops...not as good as usual.

Few bars of silver
Whilst I spoke to Dan of my general disappointment with my haul for the morning, an angler from the top section of the lake spoke to us and it appeared that no body else had really caught all day so every cloud un all!

Best Brama of the day...only about 3lb 6oz

I will be back soon to give them another go.