Second 4lb chub of the season. 30-07-13

Another couple of hours on the Frome

near Frenchey,

Having feed 4 swims as I

walked up stream

it was good to see a little more flow

and colour.

Also I saw more fish on the surface

so I now have more swims to check out

on another trip.

The first 2 swims produced some

nice small Chub and Roach.

I was using my usual Centre Pin Reel and rod,

5BB Crow Quill Avon float

to size 14 hook and red and white maggot.

The Maggots had been sprinkled in a 

spicy flavouring.

My third swim produced Small Chub, Roach

Minnows and wonderful Rudd.

Then the float just sunk slowly and

trundled out to the far bank.

The ratchet on the centre pin

singing nicely.

The end result was this 4lb 2oz Chub.

Short but chubby fish.  

Nice little Dace

And pretty little Rudd.

Making Crow Quill Avon floats

Having run out of 5BB

floats I decided to make 

some of my own.

I got the the balsa bodies 

from ebay,

the Crow Quills from Eastville Park

crows

and the rest from stock I already had.

Left to right

Crow Quill dressed

Crow Quill undressed.

Balsa body, I'll will make my own during the winter.

Balsa body glued to undressed Quill

Paint pot, Daglo paint and 

Rod eye whipping cotton.

Final product.

After all the Crow Quills had

been undressed

and had their bodies glued on.

Part 2 to follow soon.

River Frome, Eastville and Vassles Park. 24-07-13

Sorry no photos today.

I've been busy at home so no time for fishing

DOH!.

Managed an afternoon out and wanted to try the Eastville lake 

stretch of the Frome. This is just about as far

down stream that can be fished before

it dives under Bristol.

Tried four different swims but only managed

a few Dace and Roach.

Its quite snaggy, I lost 7 hook lenghts, and shallow.

I will try some more of the swims later in the year.

I then went up to the stretch below

Vassles Park and Oldbury Court.

Tried three swims here, including the one

I caught some nice 2lb Chub in the winter.

As expected there were a lot 

of people walking there dogs.

Even so I tried a deep swim under a 

large overhanging tree.

There were no bites at all,

this used to be a cracking spot

for Roach up to 2lb.

Well short story. Blanked in all three swims.

So I headed down stream towards

the Snuff Mill

for 1/2 an hour in 

one of my favourite

Chub swims.

No Chub but plenty

on Dace and a couple of Roach.

All in all a nice 3 1/2 hours fishing. 

Summer sunday at Lacock. 21-070-13

With a little maggot left over

and wanting to try out

my own home made paste.

I tootled up the M4

and arrived around 06.30.

Setting up near a swim I intended to fish latter

I put in some Hemp, loose maggot

and a few bits of paste. 

[I also noticed what looked like

someone sleeping / hiding (from the cows)

under a plastic cover on the opposite bank.

Little did I know how that would change things later.]

Anyway In the swim I had just baited up I noticed some

activity over the free offerings.

Possible Chub I hoped.

Well I fed a few more swims as I walked 

up stream, I fed more swims than I intended to fish

hoping to slowly get the fish to

get used to my flavourings

without being caught..

Time will tell.

Well up in the first field I set up

 and just used a maggot feeder 

and trotting a float.

This produced the usual Dace, Roach

and Chub.

I do really enjoy this style of fishing.

Back to the second swim in the second field

I set up a small running ledger with

an 8m boillie covered with some

of my paste.

Not touch. Not a good start on my flavourings.

Hhhhmmmmm!

I tried to left under that bush and under that tree to 

right.

Same in the second swim,

one rig to the left

and the other  to the right

in the flow between

a mid stream snag and the 

part collapsed bank.

In both of these swims I alternated

to using the float rig, a Crow Quill Avon float

fished over a bed of Maggot and Hemp.

All small fish up to about 1/2lb.

On to swim 3 and this time just the feeder rod

as it was to tight for float fishing.

Same result not a touch.

Now to my (what should have been my final swim)

and the people across the other side

had got up and been for dip.

Yep! a young lady and boy friend

had been in for a swim and were now drying off without a towel?

Clothes on a branch with the cows showing a lot interest 

in them. Very funny to watch.

In this swim is a fallen tree, the raft of rubbish

is growing quickly.

The bank on the other side was covered

with plastic bags, bottles, Pringle tubes

and so on.

I had just cast my first rig into the swim

when  more kids turned up

and that was it swim killed. They jumping in the water 

walking over the top of my baits.

I gave up on that swim

and moved further down, under a big tree

where I caught the 4lb 6oz Chub 

on an earlier trip.

Same result small fish on the float nothing on the ledger rig

A Mink passed under my feet 

carrying a Stoat, what a sight.

By now the other bank was getting

really crowded wit dog walkers

the bites dried up.

So packed up.

Having had a good thunder storm last night,

I hope it freshens up the rivers a bit. 

Frenchay Frome 11-07-13

Despite the Hay Fever I had

a few hours spare

so down to the Frome I popped again.

Fishing 12 noon till 2.30.

Float rod and centre pin in hand

I tried 6 swims.

Baiting the swims while walking up stream.

I then tried each swim on the way down.

Roach were caught in all the swims

which were between 2ft and

8ft deep.

This was a fine 5oz Perch 

that fell for red and white maggot,

which was the only bait taken.

 This 1lb 7oz Trout was caught in

in the final swim.

 It really pleasant down there 

but a bit tight in places.

By 2 pm I was in trouble

with the pollen,

so it was just as well

I had to home.

I  was quite poorly

by then.

Not sure when I'll 

be out again as the 

Hay Fever is a real problem at the moment,

Hay Fever

What the heck is going on 

with the Pollen.

This has to be the worst year for 

Hay Fever in more

than 15 years.

Bait making morning 11-07-13

Decided to try making some

home made baits today.

Below are some

Betane and Spice boillie

bits.

 In this photo below

are three bags of paste.

Left is Spicie Krill

Middle is trout pellet and Spice

Right is Spicie Betane.

I will let you know 

how I get on.

Another visit to Lacock. 02-07-13

Popped back up to the Abbey

for another try for some Chub.

It was a dull warm morning when I 

got to the bank at 06.00.

I fed a few swims in the first two fields

with a mix of hemp, groundbait,

crushed high oil pellets,

casters and maggot.

Then started on an

a swim that had 

a nice flow running into

an over hanging tree 

and raft of debris.

I tried various baits

on the trotted Crow Quill Avon Float

and feeder rod.

Well the result was a number of

small Chub, Roach, Dace

and Minnows.

Unfortunately

That was the same for all my swims.

Don't get me wrong I love

catching these smaller fish.

However I had hoped for something

over a 1/2 pound.

Just being there was great,

Some of the swims looked very fishy

The wildlife was very entertaining.

I guess when there is a bit more flow and colour

the scaly ones will start to show. 

I tried to pull something bigger out from this

mass of fallen tree.

This strange coloured duck

and her ducklings

decided to feed in amongst

the branches.

I also tried fishing under

a couple of large trees

where it was quite dark,

especially as it had started to rain.

Again nothing of any size

showed up

but

around mid day the bites stopped.

Just as well as I had to leave by 1pm.

Another very relaxing morning.