Bridge pool

Dawn view from the bridge

After a couple of small chub the next evening I wanted a change. It was my last day of my holiday and I had a plan. I was going to revisit a stretch that I’d only given a couple of hours a few weeks before without success. Using a float rod baited with maggots, hemp and my chub rod with the usual boilies. If the float didn’t produce I’d have a go for the chub off the small weir sill at the tail of the pool.

I arrived before first light. Stood on the bridge looking down toward the sill, nothing stirred, while I decided what to do. As I dropped off my gear I headed to the top of the sill, where I proceeded to put quite a few baits in a slack created behind a weed bed where a clean-bottomed gravel depression had formed downstream. I’d watched chub that sat in this swim in the past but never had any luck from the one swim one is able to fish from the near bank. I felt I now had the advantage, as I was going to fish from above the sill casting down to the feature.

When I returned to the bridge I dropped half a dozen big handfuls of chilli hemp over the edge, this was on the line I was going to trot. Setting up a 4BB stick float with a strung out shot pattern, down to a 2lb 12oz size 16 hook link. Baiting with three red maggots. The first run through produced a roach, then I caught dace after dace. There was a little pike trouble, but I managed to hook and land two jacks on the float gear which I released downstream so they wouldn’t be a pain anymore. I hadn’t fed a single maggot those first two hours, the dace were having it; as bites dried up and the odd minnow started to make an appearance I started pinging maggot in and stopped feeding hemp. The dace responded and it was a fish a chuck again. It was an amazing session on the float. I knew I had a good bag. After four hours the dog walkers were out in abundance and starting to annoy me with sticks being thrown in for the dogs to fetch just downstream. I was done.

My best net on the float 21lb 10oz in four hours September 2016

Having packed away the float gear, I’d thought I would try my luck for a chub off the sill that I’d baited it earlier. I had a 5lb 11oz on the first cast! In the next few hours, I landed another five with including a brace of 4lbers. After trying off the sill in the past with lobworm I’d only caught the big trout. A lovely end to a the hoilday

Best of six capped off a great holiday on the river 5lb 11oz September 2016