A clearing river 22-02-14

Well the call of the river bank was calling,

so I trundled up the M4 to Lacock.

The Avon was well down and clearing fast,

the flow was steady.

I decided to head up stream and fish a couple of new swims.

The first was a total waste of time as it was

full of snags. So with four hook lengths left behind,

I moved down stream to a swim I had fished before.

This one did show a bit of life

and after 45 minutes

I landed this 4lb 14 1/4oz

Chub.

That breeze was a bit chilly at times

I then moved down stream

fishing 4 further swims with out even a touch.

All these swims had produced before 

but not a touch.

This photo is another swim I had not tried before

which proved to be quite shallow.

Again nothing showed any interest.

So for the last hour I popped into the swim I caught

my Barbel in the summer.

This proved empty as well,

but did show that the floods have

cleared a lot of the rubbish and cover.

A break in the weather. 19-02-14

A break in the weather coincided

with an other chance for a longer break from caring. 

 So off to the Avon I went.

Fishing from midday till 6pm.

I was using boilies, (shock and horror,) this time.

When I got there I found the the Avon in a lot better

condition then I expected.

So using P.V.A. Stocking and string to

add some free bits and pieces to each

swim.

 In the first swim I had a few

knock and pulls before

a proper pull and a nice plump

3lb 7oz Chub came to the net.

More pulls and cloncks 

only produced a lost hook length

to a hidden snag.

In total I fished 4 other swims 

which give e any more sings of

activity,

so I headed back to the first swim

for the last hour.

This swim continued show some

fish were still active.

This included a really good

take, this was a Barbel 

which pulled really well

and used the flow to good effect.

Unfortunately some how it managed to escape the hook.

I think I will go

back to using the back wind

method instead of the drag.

Since I changed styles,

I have lost too many fish. 

Frosty Frome. 10-02-14

Trudged my way up

to my favored peg.

With frost on the car and on the ground

it did feel colder and the river felt cold as well.

I guess the hail yesterday

cooled it down.

Still, feeding a couple of balls

 of ground bait, and then

setting up my pole, I

used a ground bait feeder

with size 18 hook to 1lb hook length.

A Roach was on the hook straight away,

quickly followed by a Minnow.

I felt that I was in for a good day now,

BUT!

How wrong could I have been.

That was it for over an hour,

the bites were few and far between

and in the end, I ended up with

4 Roach, 3 Dace 1 Gudgeon

and 6 Minnows.

Total weight was 2lb 13oz.

In the end a maggot feeder was

slightly better at picking off the

hungry fish!!!!!

I did loose 12 hooklengths

to a snag that was not there on my last

visit.

On a positive note 

I saw a Dipper fly past,

The first I have seen since 1998! 

Where next!

I think its time to

to take the pole down

to the Frome again

on Monday.

Looks great this afternoon.

River Frome 03-02-14

With a window in the weather

this morning,

I went down to the Frome

for a few hours of pole feeder float fishing.

I spent the first fourty minutes

 with a six gram float

trying to trott the swim.

This did not work,

so on went the feeder float rig.

This a standard pole float rig except

the feeder is attached where the hook

usually goes and the hook

length is attached above

the feeder. Either patternoster style

or running hook length style.

 I used a ground bait feeder

with maggot and caster 

mixed in.

I had a size 18 hook on running 1 1/2lb

hook length, main line was 4lb.

Any float can be used as it just a maker

to show you depth of water and not really for bite indication.

The idea is for the feeder to stay still and the

hook length to pull through

pulley style.

 I used red and white maggots and caster

plus a mix of them.

 I gave it about four minutes
between each put in, unless I had a bite.
After about 1/2 an hour the first
rattle and pull on the elastic,
Resulted in a plump Dace.

This 1lb 4oz Roach was next in the bag,
Really pulling out the number 5 elastic.

I packed up at 12 noon
having had a four hour session.
This produced  10 Minnows,
4 Roach, 4 Dace
and a Skimmer.

The river had fined down nicely,
but the dogs were there usual
pain in the neck.
Some of the owners were even
worse.
But I did have a good chat with others.
Another really nice short session.

WET! WET! WET!

It was 04.30 this morning

and I had just woken up.

WHAT DID I HEAR?

Drip, Drip, Drop!

Yep it was raining again.

I got out of bed at 05.00

and looked out of the window.

Raining still falling and the wind rattling 

the chimney pot.

Still not good.

Its now 06.50

and still the rain is coming down,

this means that the Frome will start rising again.

So I won't be going there.

I won't be going to Duchess

either as that is a horrible

mud hole at this time of the year.

I can't fish Baltic Wharf

as the wind is a bit strong.

I don't have any 

sea baits 

because the forecast had been for

much stronger winds,

which with the 14.5mtr tides

would have been a

bit to rough for my liking.

So that's out the

window as well.

So off to Tesco

at 10.00.

I'll try again tomorrow morning.

So I'll have to unpack

the car when it gets light.