Last swim pays off. 26-11-13

With the forecasted  possible

-4, I decided to stay in bed 

a couple of hours.

So getting up to Lacock at 10am

 I walked a couple of fields to a stretch

  I had not tried before.

With the frost still on the ground

set up with the usual baits but

decided to go lighter.

 The first swim was a straight flow down to a couple of overhangs.

On the far bank was a slack back eddie,

with the flow down the near bank.

Well I had a few knocks and taps but nothing

took the bait. After an hour and half I moved on to

swim 2.

This was a sweeping curve with flow

around the near bank. Again

I put one over the far bank and 

the other on the near side.

I also tried the center line.

Well all I can say about this one,  

was I slipped and nearly ended up

in 10ft of water.

Enough of that one.

So one to number 3.

Again a sweeping curve

but this time there was a good over hang on the near side.

One rod was dropped down almost under

my feet.

The other was sent down stream and pulled under the

overhang.

Once again some knocks and pulls

but no takes.

 On to swim 4 and the same story

except no plinks or tugs and

with two hours till dark,

I moved on.

So on to lucky 5,

This time the far bank was shallow

so I put one long down the middle

and the other under bushes on the near side.

I was using the my own boillie mix all day,

so I was a bit reluctant to keep using it.

Glad I did use it. Almost straight away I had a good pull on the long cast

but it pulled under the bushes and caught in a snag.

Lost that one.

Straight out again to the same spot.

Bingo! I pulled that one in a 1.lb 9.oz Chub.

Back out to the same spot.

By now the one under my feet was showing signs of interest.

I put my bait on and with in 3 minutes the rod had wizzed

off and this nice 2.lb 11.oz was in the net.

My boillie can be seen in the net.

Well I managed three more Chub to 3.lb 5.oz.

But it was too dark by now so I packed up.

As Wallace likes to say "What a grand day out".

First visit to Limpley Stoke 24-11-13

Jason's tree trunks and egg whisks.

More suited to Carp fishing,

me thinks.

Jason my middle son dragged me

off to his favorite venue.

We arrived just as it was light enough to

to tackle up. We walked to the second field

and picked our spots.

As I've said, this was my first visit.

So as it was quite low lights 

it was a bit of a guess where to set up.

I chose a spot with a row of over hanging

trees to my right and a good over hang

on the far bank.

Setting up with my first rod under the trees 

to my right, baited up with pellets, and small stocking of freebies. 

I was just baiting up the second rod with luncheon meat,

when the tip of my first rod nodded then swung round.

This produced a good tug and the line pulled out

further under the trees.

It was now that I noticed the log and branches

almost under my feet. Well after a short

tug of war, I netted a plump

2lb 9oz Chub. (Below).

So my first produced a  fish in around two

minutes.

Grand I thought in for a good day.

Well it was not to be fish wise.

I failed to get more than a couple of

rattles. I tried three more swims with out attracting

any thing.

I'm not sure if it was the frost or the brilliant late

autumn sunshine that put them off

the feed. Everything was very white when we got there

so I was expecting the Chub to feed.

Eventually I for the last hour I 

popped into a cracking swim with a good flush

down the middle.

This spot Jason told me was a good Chub swim.

So with on rig cast straight across

and the other diagonally down stream,

I was very expectant of a fish.

So around 13.45 I the now classic 

rattles and then the pull down, this produced

a lovely 3lb 3oz Chub, this one also

took the pellet bait.

 I do like Chub but I am starting to miss

the smaller species.

Especially Roach.

I found that I had a better presentation 

by having a the rods high, this

helped stop the few leaves that were

in water from pulling the line. I

also used Lob worms and a couple 

of home made paste's I had

made.

Jason managed a Chub around the same

size as mine. He is getting

desperate for a Barbel.

Scale down your tackle

Jay. The smaller weights worked.

The bird life was amazing, and I will

 take a pair of binoculars with me. Also

with the railway line on the other bank 

it was good to see the steam engine

"Britannia" Heading for Bath and Bristol.

Shame I did not have my better camera

with me.

Lacock 19-11-13

Well I could not handle the lack

of fresh air any longer.

With the cold or what ever

else I've got still not getting

better, I decided it had to be kill or cure.

So packed the kit into the car and 

legged it up the M4 to Lacock.

There was a good frost on the ground

and no wind.

So fed a few swims as I headed up stream.

First cast was at  07.00 with luncheon meat.

The other rod had worm or pellet baits.

What a grand morning it turned out

to be.

As can be seen, a light mist lifted off the river

 while the bank was very muddy.

The water was much clearer than I expected,

with more than 3 feet visibility.

I cast one rod over to the far bank under an

over hanging tree.

The second rod was cast down the near side to a

recently fallen tree.

Unfortunately the fishing did not come

up to my hopes. 

 The first swim produced a few rattles

but nothing was landed.

By 9am I moved up to the next swim

one I had had some good bites on previous

visits.

This time I didn't get any knocks,

 but I did have a nice

cup of tea in the sun shine.

As the morning got older

the breeze started up, so

the left over leaves started to

come down.

Around 11.00 I headed

down river and looked at some swims

that looked good but very slippery so had to

be missed out.

I should be able to fish a few more swims next month,

as the Misses is getting me a longer

landing net handle for 55th.

Well I fished two further swims, 

both under big trees, with the same results.

So for the last 20 minutes I put a size 14 hook on

and fished worm under the near bank

with worm.

Well that saved the blank,

a Dace, bigger than the Codling I 

caught during my last sea fishing trips,

and a few Minnows were caught.

I was on my way home by 2pm.

Well I do feel a bit better

and looking forward to

my next trip.

Not fishing?

Oh eck!

I've picked up a bug from some where

so no fishing just yet. 

Should get out later next week.

All being well.

Nice spot to cast from. New Passage 10-11-13

Decided to head a little up channel today.

So went to a spot just up stream of the 

Second Severn Bridge.

Starting fishing at 08.30 I set a set of long and short

Pennel Pulley rigs.

With left over worm and squid I had to cast 

full length to get over some tackle hungry ground.

Those granite  boulders are very

slippery when wet, so when I wound in I was 

very careful walking on them.

I cast from on the prom its self,

as the safer footing allows for better casting. 

 As can be seen the recent big tides and wind 

had thrown plenty of rubbish and tree trunks

on to the prom.

Also I found some small rocks and

placed them at the bottom of the tripod

feet to stop them slipping.

It can also be seen that the weather was

brilliant.

A light northerly at first soon calmed

and then after the tide turned

became a light southwester.

Lovely and warm it was a magic

morning.

Shame the fishing was very good. 

Four Silvers and a tiny Codling were all

that I caught. Every cast had a Silver

Eel one it but thankfully they fell off,

leaving the hook lengths in a right tangle.

Plenty of rigs will be worked on to

repair them.

There were also some lovely people stopping

by for a chat.

WOW! That was a great session for

November.

The weather is looking good at the moment 

after Monday so hopefully

a river trip later in the week,

unless my son decides to fish some where.

A rainy morning on the grass bank. 09-11-13

With a good coat and leggings

I set up at Rockingham 

with rag, lug and squid.

The tide was a 12 meter at 10.59.

I used long drop pennel pulley rigs

and wishbone rigs.

The rain was light at 09.00 and

only got heavier till just after high water.

Thankfully the wind was almost none existent

so bit detection was great.

Once again the the first cast

was snapped up by two greedy

little Codling.  As the tide was still around 20 yards

out, I  had to put the little fish in a fresh water. 

Pool at the bottom of the bank.

They both swam off when the tide reached them.

I ended up with 17 fish, 2 were Whiting the rest Codling. 

One of which was just over 2lb. 

All bar 20 fish took the Lugworm.

I packed up at 12.15 as the tide had reached the bottom of the

bank and the mud was showing.

So off I went to dry out.

Portishead Shingle bank 02-11-13

Having some left over bait

and with the forecast this time being

very correct. I decided that this spot on a 13 meter tide was the 

spot to try.

It is usually a good spot to get out of the worst of the wind

but it was not to be.

Getting down there at around 3.30 pm. 

I used the same rigs as before.

Well with the wind bomb bursting over the 

hill it got pretty bad quickly.

Weed was a problem from the off.

It dragged 190 gram gripper leads

with ease. So straight off I lost a rig.

This spot does not usually get that bad.

After a while  the wind started blowing the 

rods and rest over in very strong gusts.

After another two rigs being lost, and

the tide rising faster than expected I decided 

that was enough. I packed up

at 4.30, high water was at 6.15pm.

Just as well, as by the time I was 

going through Portishead the heavens opened

and it got very wet. 

Only the 2nd time I have chickened out

during a session.

Rockingham 01-11-13

Thankfully the original weather forecast

of wind and rain was very wrong.

It was another lovely autumn day.

I arrived at 3pm with lug, rag and squid baits.

I set up one rod with long

drop pennel pulley rigs, with 4/0 hooks.

The other was set up with a wish bone pulley rig alternating

with a short drop pennel pulley rig. 

Well I finished fishing at 7pm with the mud starting to show.

I had eight fish all before high water at 5.30.

Two Whiting and  Six Codling

but nothing to eat as they were all

under 6 inches. Yep 6 inch fish still taking

4/0 hooks and they all preferred

lugworm. 

The was a 12.4 meter and thankfully not much weed 

around. 

Lacock blank, 29-10-13

Back to the Avon at 09.15 to a

lovely morning.

The river was 3ft up and brown with a good pace.

It had been around 3ft higher and was dropping.

I thought I would catch but unfortunately

that was not to be.

Heading down stream I fed half a dozen swims

with six or seven bait droppers each.

My usual mix of pellets were used.

Well I enjoyed the session, the wind steadily 

picked up during the day. The sun stayed out

but the fish did not come out to play.

I decided to go in to the Abbey Fields

to see what the swims were like with the extra water

running through.

An angler in the second field was seen releasing a fish

but I did not have time to go and have a chat.

I fished a couple more swims but still no bites.

Another angler passed by and said he was

also blanking.

I was a bit hacked off because I

had left the lob worms behind.

Another glorious autumn day.