Outside my front door is a footpath and 50 yards down this is a rarely fished free stretch of the Beult which I visited a few times last season. I had a couple of good days fishing there catching Roach, Chubletts and Perch trotting a little stick float down this narrow but picturesque river but the only time I went for something bigger on the feeder I ended up losing it to a clump of nearside reeds that the unknown culprit buried itself into. And so today’s main objective was to find out what the bigger fish are and how many of them inhabit this stretch.
My hopes were high because as you can see from the photo, this place looks like a proper fish haven and is rarely fished by anyone apart from the odd schoolboy with a lead and tin of corn. The only doubt I had was due to the possible lack of any fish moving in and out of this section because at one end is a water wheel that everything has to go through and at the other end is a shallow ford under the medieval bridge in the village centre. Now last year I saw a Common Carp around the 10lb mark cruising across this ford and this spring I saw some large skimmers drifting around in the sun-warmed shallows so maybe, just maybe, there were some nice fish to be had if I could find them.
One of the problems with fishing a natural venue that is not fished very often is finding an accessible swim. There are probably 6 or 8 swims along the bank but I could only get to a couple through all the nettles. I settled on the same swim where I lost the mysterious lump last year and proceeded to put together my 12’ MACH 3 Medium Feeder rod with a 2oz carbon tip and a medium plastic cage feeder with a size 14 eyed B911 tied to a 12” tale. My bait bucket contained about 4 pints of freshly prepared hemp mixed with a pint of casters, a tin of corn and half a pint of 6mm pellets. This was all mixed up the previous night so the concoction had time to soak and ferment a little……………..yum! I also had some Dendras for hook bait and a bit of dry groundbait in case my aforementioned concoction did not hold well in the feeder. The groundbait was 60% brown crumb, 20% white crumb and 20% crushed hemp. Last year I had tried a mainly groundbait attack for the bigger fish but this brought a lot of nuisance fish in and so this time I wanted to focus on using particles.
So, I set up my comfy carp chair (a bit different from my usual seat box), filled the feeder with bait, popped 2 Dendras on the hook and tipped it with corn and chucked it 25 yards downstream where I had hooked the lump last year. The mysterious fish in question didn’t really feel massive, just quite powerful and very determined to bury itself into the near bank reeds and nettles before I could get it within netting range.
After a few minutes the tip began to bob up and down a bit and then pulled over nicely enabling connection when I struck. The fish darted around a bit and made a good account of itself considering it was only a 10z Chub but at least it was one of the species that I was hoping for. Another similar sized Chub came along soon after and this continued until the tip slammed over and I hooked a fish that headed straight for the near side cover and buried itself in the reeds and nettles. Not again I thought! This was followed by a succession of small Chub but alas, the monster fish did not arrive.
I then started to get bites that were slower but I just couldn’t hit them. I decided to step up to a size 12 hook and increased my tail to 2’ hoping that the fish would have more time to take the bait before feeling any resistance. This worked a treat as the next fish was a 12oz Skimmer followed by it’s brother.
By now I was casting every 5 or 10 minutes which meant that a good bed of feed was going down but without over feeding the swim. The feeder I was using was working ok because it had teeth on the inside of the cage that helped to grip the mash of particles together.
The next few fish were all still Skimmers and then the swim died for a while, no knocks, no nudges, no liners. Had I caught everything in the swim? Had I spooked them off or had something bigger moved in?....Nod…nod...yank! The tip flew round and immediately I felt the familiar pull of a slab hugging the bottom and wondering what the hell was pulling back. River Bream are stronger than still water Bream because they need a bit more muscle to cope with the flow but this one obviously hadn’t ever seen a hook before because it was going bonkers! Well, bonkers in slow motion anyway! I carefully coaxed it up stream and after a bit of messing around among the near side Lillie pads I slid the net under it and admired the bronze beauty with a huge grin of contentment across my chops. 3lb, 4lb at a push.
Although I had achieved my aim of catching something a bit meaty on this river, I was not at all convinced that this was the species that snagged me up last year. A Bream just wouldn’t have the time, muscle or cunning to head for the nearside cover!
I quickly re-loaded the feeder, chucked it to the same spot and within 5 minutes the tip bounced over and another slab was on………..for about 10 seconds. This Bream was bigger and headed straight upstream and into a sunken weed bed whereby it snapped me up at the hook. Not cunning my arse! I was using 6lb reel line and 5lb Fox Micro trace so my only thought was that my hook tying hadn’t been too good. This sort of thing shatters my confidence a bit and I start wondering if all the hooks in my box were tied badly. On went a new trace then and back out with the feeder. 10 minutes later and the tip bounced round………………..and I hooked another slab………………….and the line gave way at the hook end. Bugger! Now I was really disturbed about this. I had tied some hooks using a knotless knot but without a hair, just the knot and I wondered if this knot slips too much if you haven’t got a hair dangling under it to take the slack up.
Now that my confidence in my pre-tied hooks was zero and I was a little suspect of using hi-tech line, I resorted to tying a spade end B911 with 3lb Maxima. I chucked the feeder out and as I settled the rod on the rest I heard an almighty splash over my feeder. As I looked up all I could see was the wake on the surface and wondered what hell it was. 10 minutes had passed and all I had was a couple of tiny knocks so I cast out again and the same thing happened, a big splash but I didn’t see the fish. Another cast and this time I kept my eye on the landing zone. The fish swirled and although I didn’t see it very well I am quite sure it was a Pike probably chasing the small fish that were giving me the little indications.
The sun was high in the sky by now and I was beginning to feel a little bit sleepy and after I munched on a couple of vegetarian sausage rolls I did something that I have never done in the whole of my 40 years on this earth…………….I brought the feeder in, popped the rod on it’s rest, pulled my hat over my eyes and slid down the chair ready for a nice snooze.
Having not seen a soul all day, I awoke to the rustle of the leaves as the breeze started to get a little stronger. I looked at my watch and decided to have another couple of hours fishing before heading home and so on I went, hoping that Mr. Pike had buggered off by now.
First chuck out and the tip went over to the pull of a nice 12oz Chub, good I thought, I was a bit fed up of Skimmers and only wanted slabs, Chub and whatever fish I kept losing to the near side cover. The Chub got a little bigger and then I hooked one around the 1lb mark and it headed straight for the nettles and reeds. I managed to pull it away and net it but something twigged in my head. Another chuck and another Chub of the same size and again it headed straight for the near bank nettles. Now this might not be rocket science but I am willing to bet that the fish I have lost to those nettles and reeds are bigger Chub, maybe not massive but big enough to take you on a merry dance towards a nice place to snag you up. It definitely wasn’t the Bream and I hadn’t caught much else that could have been responsible so I decided it must be Chub.
On then with my plight to hook said beast! Unfortunately the next hour only saw a few Chubletts and Skimmers come to my net. The Bream had buggered off, the Chub were getting smaller and then I went and did something else that I haven’t done since my Dad last tackled me up with a Peacock quill at the age of about 7 years old……………..I caught a bloody Eel! Damn, I hate Eels. They are ugly, difficult to unhook and only Noddies catch Eels so this was the signal for me to pack up, go home and get settled down to watch the footy.
I was quite happy with my day though, my understanding of this beautiful river was getting better, my catches were getting bigger and best of all…………you never know what you are going to catch next. Maybe that 10lb Common I saw, maybe a Tench if the rumours I hear are true? Who knows? I will just have to come back again soon!
I quickly re-loaded the feeder, chucked it to the same spot and within 5 minutes the tip bounced over and another slab was on………..for about 10 seconds. This Bream was bigger and headed straight upstream and into a sunken weed bed whereby it snapped me up at the hook. Not cunning my arse! I was using 6lb reel line and 5lb Fox Micro trace so my only thought was that my hook tying hadn’t been too good. This sort of thing shatters my confidence a bit and I start wondering if all the hooks in my box were tied badly. On went a new trace then and back out with the feeder. 10 minutes later and the tip bounced round………………..and I hooked another slab………………….and the line gave way at the hook end. Bugger! Now I was really disturbed about this. I had tied some hooks using a knotless knot but without a hair, just the knot and I wondered if this knot slips too much if you haven’t got a hair dangling under it to take the slack up.
Now that my confidence in my pre-tied hooks was zero and I was a little suspect of using hi-tech line, I resorted to tying a spade end B911 with 3lb Maxima. I chucked the feeder out and as I settled the rod on the rest I heard an almighty splash over my feeder. As I looked up all I could see was the wake on the surface and wondered what hell it was. 10 minutes had passed and all I had was a couple of tiny knocks so I cast out again and the same thing happened, a big splash but I didn’t see the fish. Another cast and this time I kept my eye on the landing zone. The fish swirled and although I didn’t see it very well I am quite sure it was a Pike probably chasing the small fish that were giving me the little indications.
The sun was high in the sky by now and I was beginning to feel a little bit sleepy and after I munched on a couple of vegetarian sausage rolls I did something that I have never done in the whole of my 40 years on this earth…………….I brought the feeder in, popped the rod on it’s rest, pulled my hat over my eyes and slid down the chair ready for a nice snooze.
Having not seen a soul all day, I awoke to the rustle of the leaves as the breeze started to get a little stronger. I looked at my watch and decided to have another couple of hours fishing before heading home and so on I went, hoping that Mr. Pike had buggered off by now.
First chuck out and the tip went over to the pull of a nice 12oz Chub, good I thought, I was a bit fed up of Skimmers and only wanted slabs, Chub and whatever fish I kept losing to the near side cover. The Chub got a little bigger and then I hooked one around the 1lb mark and it headed straight for the nettles and reeds. I managed to pull it away and net it but something twigged in my head. Another chuck and another Chub of the same size and again it headed straight for the near bank nettles. Now this might not be rocket science but I am willing to bet that the fish I have lost to those nettles and reeds are bigger Chub, maybe not massive but big enough to take you on a merry dance towards a nice place to snag you up. It definitely wasn’t the Bream and I hadn’t caught much else that could have been responsible so I decided it must be Chub.
On then with my plight to hook said beast! Unfortunately the next hour only saw a few Chubletts and Skimmers come to my net. The Bream had buggered off, the Chub were getting smaller and then I went and did something else that I haven’t done since my Dad last tackled me up with a Peacock quill at the age of about 7 years old……………..I caught a bloody Eel! Damn, I hate Eels. They are ugly, difficult to unhook and only Noddies catch Eels so this was the signal for me to pack up, go home and get settled down to watch the footy.
I was quite happy with my day though, my understanding of this beautiful river was getting better, my catches were getting bigger and best of all…………you never know what you are going to catch next. Maybe that 10lb Common I saw, maybe a Tench if the rumours I hear are true? Who knows? I will just have to come back again soon!
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