Peace and quiet August 2017
A couple of weeks ago I received the bad news that ‘Carpet’ had passed away after a three-year battle with cancer. I was glad that I was able to take him fishing earlier this year and I know he enjoyed the trip. His funeral was on the day after my last session, which Corli and I both attended. It was a lovely service and I was glad I was able to pay my respects. After the wake, I had a few hours on the ‘upstream’ stretch to clear my head. To be honest, I felt it was a fitting way to end the day; after all, I met ‘Carpet’ back in 2005 while fishing and spent a lot of time with him over the years on various lakes in the local area.
R.I.P John ‘Carpet’ Allen
On arrival, I set about rebaiting the same swims I had fished the previous evening while I made my way along the stretch. It didn’t take long at the first swim for a chub to make a mistake and soon I had a pristine 3lber on the mat.
With the sun starting to set, I made my way down to the swim that had produced the ‘6’ the previous evening. The swim in question is below where I used to try for chub, however, the couple that I did hook in previous seasons all managed to snag me on a sunken tree. This season I decided to try below and it paid off. With a gentle under arm lob, the bait and rig landed in the slightly deeper gully. I put the rod on the rests and watched the tip intently. Within 10 minutes, the tip twitched and then bounced. When I connected it felt another good fish, without giving it the chance to reach any of the snags under my bank, I had my second chub off the evening on the mat. After photos and weighing, I headed home.
5lb 8oz August 2017
Work was busy for the rest of the week so on my next few outings, I decided to continue with my short sessions on the two stretches that were close to home. After an early dinner and watching the football, I headed back to the same stretch for a couple of hours. I decided just to fish two swims on this visit, both of which have been producing bites recently. Settling in the first swim, I hadn’t done the usual ‘bait and leave’, instead I was going to fish it straight away with a few hook bait samples over the top. As the norm, I missed the first confident bite! I was sitting it out so I wasn’t too fussed and with a few more baits in the area, I was soon playing my first chub of the evening. It had got itself caught up in a raft of weed that was floating downstream and it was a challenge to get both fish and debris into the net. When the mass of weed was removed a slightly bigger chub than I first thought was revealed and I was pleased when the scales went past 5lb settling on 5lb 3oz.
5lb 3oz August 2017
With the sun set, it was time to give my new ‘hotspot’ a go. I got myself settled and soon enough I was playing another decent chub in the twilight. After netting the fish and getting it up the high bank, which I was fishing from, I was slightly disappointed when I realised that another recapture was on the mat. Although it was interesting to see that the chub had traveled a far way up river since its last visit to my landing net back in July. After that fish, I dropped some more bait in a couple of spots before heading home.
Another recapture this time weighing 5lb 10oz August 2017
I decided not to fish the following day because I fancied a dawn start for my next session. I arrived well before sunrise and made my way along the stretch dropping in baits as I went. When I settled in my first swim, it was apparent that the river had dropped quite a bit since my last visit. The swans above me were ripping up the weed beds, it was not going to be easy to keep a rig in the water long as debris was hitting the line constantly. Between recasting and cursing, a dog otter then made a quick appearance in my swim. Twenty minutes later there was a commotion upstream, where the swan was peacefully going about its business. Another three otters appeared and made their way downstream, disturbing the swan. They came through my swim and I captured a short video of these apex predators in their natural habitat.
With no bites in my next couple spots, it was time to give a swim, that I’ve been baiting and not fishing for a week, a go. They’d obviously got confident on the bait going in the swim regularly because within 30 minutes I’d had a brace of chub. I decided to head home with the intention of hitting the river again later in the day.
4lb 3oz August 2017
Mid 3lber August 2017
That evening I decided to head ‘downstream’. I’d left the stretch alone for a week or more. I walked the stretch, deciding just to do a single prebait in three areas. I settled in the first swim and on the first cast I was into a chub within 15 minutes. After a short scrap, a pristine upper 4lber was on the mat.
4lb 13oz August 2017
After that fish, I sat it out for another hour although no more fish followed. With the sun low on the horizon, it was time to try my other two prebaited areas. The first has produced a couple of fish this season, but this time there was not a touch. It was time for my final swim on the beat. They can be quite cagey on this particular peg and tonight was no different as I missed the first bite. On the second attempt, I was ready and by moving the rod toward the fish as soon as there was an indication on the tip I connected and after the usual chub battle, a mid-4lber was on the mat. After that fish, I called an end to the session.
4lb 7oz to end the session August 2017
Fish Tales From The Riverbank 