A River Pike Treble

It wasnt a classic Pike fishing dawn, the absence of frost under foot, far too many leaves on the trees , however it was a classic Autumn dawn with heavy dew covering the long grass and a soft mist blanketing the field which would lead me to my swim on the river Wye.  The morning had a distinctive chill and the sun was still to rise as I made my way down river.

I was in search of Pike, I chose to fish a slack area due to the river being high and coloured and bringing through lots of debris, I was hoping the prey fish would find sanctuary out of the main flow and in tern the pike would follow.
I intended to fish 2 rods , a float paternoster on 1 and a float leger on the other.  The paternoster rod would be cast to the edge of the main flow, with a deadbait and a small amount of foam inserted inside to make it "swim" about a foot above the river bed.  The second rod would be traditional float leger.  Baits are mainly roach or perch with bait flags for added attraction in the murky water.  With the rods cast out, I grabbed the camera for a couple of scenic shots and as I attempted to take a picture of the misty Wye, I walked into my tackle box with the lid open and managed to empty the entire contents onto the muddy wet grassy bank!  For the next 10 minutes I was on hands and knees salvaging as many beads, run rings, buffers and swivels as I could, I think I got most of them!  Now I was in need of a brew.


Brew in hand waiting for a bite

The paternoster rod fishes itself with the deadbait twisting in the current to attract any nearby Pike, its just a case of casting to different parts of the swim.  With the float leger rod, every so often I will pull it back a foot at a time in the hope of alerting a Pikes attention as the bait twitches along the bottom.  It was on one of these "twitches" that I had my first take.  As I slowly reeled the deadbait it went solid, I let off a little slack line and watched it tighten down and I struck into my first Esox of the day.  The fish put up a spirited fight swimming around in circles then diving for a partly submerged willow tree, before I netted a lean 7lber.  Fishing with braid lets you feel every head shake, lunge and surge the Pike makes its very exciting.



Lean "twitched" 7lber

As the sun began to burn away the mist, it started to feel warmer and the female moorhen that had kept me company decided to leave the sanctuary of a partly submerged tree and venture to the opposite bank in search of breakfast.  Within half an hour the float leger was again showing signs of a take, slight bob on the float, vibrations from beneath causing ripples to emanate.  The float sailed away so I disengaged the Baitrunner and struck into another river Pike.  The fight was a good one with the Pike tail walking several times, lots of heart stopping head shakes on the surface from which I could see it was only hooked with one of the trebles, so I carefully played the Pike into the waiting net.  A chunky looking fish with a small blemish on its flank other than that it was perfect.  I was glad of my new purchase which was the Abu Garcia Pike Net from Harris Sports Mail, the mesh is rubber coated which makes untangling loose trebles a breeze.  The Pike was in the 8lb bracket, a healthy looking fish with strong markings.



8lb Tail Walking Pike

It was nice to have a few early Pike under my belt however, as suspected the fishing went quiet for a while so I had a late breakfast and several cups of tea. The sun was now very strong and this, I think, had an effect on the fishing, I no longer needed my fleece hat or norgie top which had served me well during the colder misty morning.  I placed the fleece hat on the back of my chair upon which a dragonfly took an instant liking, hovering, landing and defending from other winged insects!



Winter hasnt arrived yet

It was now approaching noon and as the minutes ticked by it seemed as though the action was over for the day.  Thankfully there was now some cloud cover which subdued the suns rays onto the river.  If I was a betting man I would normally put money on the paternoster rod to produce a fish, however this was not the case today as the float leger rod which was now cast further down the swim ripped off again, the fish quickly taking the float under followed by a few yards of line off the spool.  I bent into the fish and it instantly felt heavier.  The fish stayed deep as it took line and there was a healthy bend in the rod.  Most river Pike fight like tigers and this one was no different.  As all pike fisherman will be familiar with, its a heart stopping moment when a Pike surfaces, slowly opens its mouth wide then you know the big head shake is imminent and theres nothing you can do about it, so many Pike have thrown the hooks this way, fortunately, the trebles held firm and I slipped the net under a cracking river Pike.  Superb looking fish, these Wye pike are some of the best around, with a fat belly and big fins.  A pleasure to catch.



14lb of River Pike

The Pike went 14lb, a nice start to the "pike season"  3 fish for around 29lb.  It was  an enjoyable and busy session, with the recasting and twitching of baits to induce takes.  I do enjoy a days river piking. 

Suburban Piking

As I approached the canal the the roar of the M4 was very obvious and this would be my background noise for the next couple of hours, it certainly was a far throw from the secluded banks of the Wye.  I decided to fish a short stretch of canal near the city centre which a friend of mine recommended after he had taken some pike earlier in the year on livebaits.
I chose to lure fish, as I had never seen the stretch before I wanted to stay mobile.
It had been raining constantly for the last couple of hours, with no signs of stopping anytime soon so I was resigned to the fact I was in for a soaking! 
The canal was gin clear and the weed was prolific, it wasnt going to be easy to fish, I put on a sub surface lure that had a good wobbling action hoping it would entice a few toothy critters.  I put my lure bag under one of the graffiti daubed benches which was next to a burnt out bin, well I was in the city. 



Not what you call secluded

 The lure came back covered in weed on the first few casts which meant I could only crank it down to about a foot to keep it above the thick weed that carpeted the canal bed.  I was flicking the lure to the far side of the canal just short of the reed beds and floating weed and reeling it back trying to impart a bit of action with every cast.  An hour into the session the rain became heavier and the wind got colder, and with rain running down the back of my neck I had my first follow as a jack pike snatched at the lure falling just short, a quick recast and he followed again however he decided not to commit.  I stayed in this area for a while as I noticed a shoal of roach swimming above a clear patch, some of them looked a decent size certainly worth targetting in a future session.
A familiar face walked down the towpath, it was my mate Josh who had told me about this stretch.  We chatted as I changed lures then carried on casting to the far bank.  As we walked a bit further down the cut I spotted another jack in the margins, I gently lowered the rubber shad in front of the pike and made it dance about right in front of the jacks face!  He didnt move, I even plonked the shad straight onto his head this only made him move a few inches, perhaps he had just eaten!



Rain on the lense

 By now the towpath was littered with puddles, my Goretex jacket had taken a hammering and my summer hat was floppier than ever!  As we walked back up, I cast to likely looking areas then we spotted another of around 6lb I quickly chucked the lure in front of the Pike several times, even changing back to my original lure to try and get a reaction out of him but he just didnt want to play ball.  Time to call it a day, for whatever reason the Pike just werent in the mood, maybe livebaits are a better tactic on this canal.  Even though I didnt manage to persuade one of those Pike to take, they are definately there and in some numbers as we spotted another Pike in the 5-6lb bracket on the way back to the van.  We will return when the weed has died back in the colder months, Ill also be back to target those Roach.

Where have all the Chub gone!

After a productive meeting with my fellow market managers at lunchtime I was soon on my way to a tributary of the Wye hoping to winkle out a few Autumnal Chub.  I really enjoy catching them at this time of year, especially when the fiery orange Autumn sun catches their brassy flanks as you hold them up for a self take.
I chose to fish a stretch of the Monnow that I know intimately although I have not fished it for some years.  One of the reasons I chose to revisit this stretch is that during a conversation with Rob the bailiff a couple of weeks ago he mentioned how the fishing had declined, especially the Chub population, they dont seem to be there in the numbers they were a few years ago.   He explained how patchy the fishing was especially if you fished maggots or worms all you would hook were Brownies.  This seemed hard to believe, I wasn't doubting Robs recent experiences, however I would expect to of caught half a dozen Chub from this stretch a few years ago with relative ease due to the numbers of them.  This sounded like a challenge.



Spam and Bread - Classic

I drove over the small bridge that takes you into the car park, and this instantly brought back vivid memories of all the years I had spent on the river as a lad, stalking Chub in the height of summer, catching a mixed bag on the stick float and lure fishing for Pike, this was where I cut my teeth in river fishing and I learnt alot over those early memorable weekends.
I made my way to the first swim, a slower paced section with over hanging trees on a slight bend, it was one I could normally entice a bite or two.  I was armed with a medium feeder rod, feeder reel loaded with 6lb line, small feeder and a size 6 Drennan Specialist hook.  After all the Barbel fishing Ive been doing recently threading the eyes on the feeder rod felt like threading the eye of a needle with cotton, thin cotton! 
I mashed up a loaf of bread for the feeder and put a 50p sized breadflake on the hook.   I wouldn't normally use bread in the warmer months but I had the Spam as back up.



No one at home.

It looked ideal, big over hanging trees, the fallen leaves slowly making their way down river, the first cast was perfect, under the out stretched branches.  A couple of handfulls of mashed bread were fed slightly upstream and I sat back with the rod in the rest, the butt on my thigh and my finger on the line feeling for any indications.
In the background I could hear water cascading over a small broken weir downstream, a kingfishers high pitched call and about two hundred kids all trying to shout louder than the next one!  I had forgotten about the junior school on the  opposite bank which had obviously just broken for a break releasing what seemed hundreds of kids all rushing and screaming into the playground.  If there were any fish under those over hanging branches im sure it wouldn't of affected them, they hear this almost everyday and it probably bothered me more than the fish.
With no indications after over an hour it was time for a move.  I was travelling light, chair was left behind, I would sit on the unhooking mat, this made it so much easier to move around the river to try and find the fish.



Waiting for a bite.

I walked to a steadier section, not as deep, a nice long glide with several over hanging willow trees on the far bank.  My intention was to fish every 10-15 yards and fish for half hour at a time.  I put on a light leger, baited with luncheon meat and fed a few small balls of mashed bread into each swim just to try and get the Chub going.  After fishing a couple of swims I couldn't believe I was still fishless, I know this stretch like the back of my hand and ten years ago if you asked me to catch a chub I would of made a bee line for this stretch.  Surface activity was minimal too, just the odd dace breaking the surface.  I fed some floating crust and watched them travel the entire glide without any of them being harassed by anything sub surface.
As I waited for a bite I looked down to see 3 big slugs approaching my sliced bread, this was to be my final assault.  I retackled 6lb line straight through to a trusty size 6 and picked a nice sizeable black slug with the intention of rolling it under the over hanging willows.  After another half hour of constantly casting and rolling big fat slugs along the bottom, it started to spit with rain, and as I was travelling light I had no water proofs or brolly so I had to admit defeat.  I was scratching my head, perhaps it was one of those days the fish weren't feeding, however Rob had also struggled to land a Chub recently on a couple of trips.  After so many great memories of this stretch which include my PB Chub, my first river Carp, my PB Roach, it seemed that it was certainly in decline, this might seem harsh after just one session in many years away from the river, so I intend to return during the winter months to target the Chub again, when they will hopefully be shoaled up under those over hanging willows.


A Barbel PB - My Luck Had to Change

I took the opportunity to go fishing this week before my busy work schedule kicks in and I find myself having to plan my fishing sessions around work and family.  As I said in a recent post I'm going to concentrate my autumn/winter efforts on barbel and predators, so with this in mind I found myself on the banks of the Wye just as the sun was rising from behind the trees in a beautiful peaceful Wye Valley dawn. 
Usual tactics were employed of groundbait feeder with fish boilie hookbait.  I donned my BFW hoodie before I locked the van as it felt alot cooler this morning than of late.  I decided to cast the feeder out without a hookbait on to build up some feed in the swim without disturbing the fish that already might be down there feeding for the first several casts.  Once this was done I didn't have to wait too long before my my now baited hook was taken by an eager Barbel after a fishy breakfast and within an hour of fishing my first barbel of the day was in the net.  A long lean fish just over 7lbs, a few quick self takes of which I need more practise and she was back in the water.



A nice start, just over 7lb

The Barbel swam away strongly and the feeder was soon cast out into the swim delivering more groundbait for the hungry Barbel.  As I watched the rod tip I spotted a buzzard in the adjacent field flying low, then it folded in its wings to gain momentum as it swooped down onto its unsuspecting prey probably a rabbit or vole.
The rod tip then wanged backwards as a Barbel disturbed the feeder and I was into my second of the day.  The fight felt different, still powerful but no weight to the fish, I rather hoped it would be a big Chub and I was soon netting then releasing a perfect miniature Barbel of no more than 3lbs.
Over the next few hours I landed one more 7lber, a brace of 6's and a brace of 5's. 


Barbel in the Brambles!

The sun was now high and strong and it certainly was an Indian summer.  The banks on the Wye are often steep, and this swim was no different which makes it difficult for self take shots and with me needing more practise in that area, it certainly provides a challenge.
It was now approaching 12 noon and it had been a decent morning with several Barbel under my belt however the Wye still had one more treat in store for me.
The rod tip pulled down towards the river and my strike was met with a strong fish that confidently took line from my reel as I tried to slow it down and gain control.  I immediately knew this fish was going to be the biggest of the day, it felt heavier and more powerful.  Bigger Barbel tend to be more purposeful in their runs as it attempted to seek the refuge of weed beds or sunken snags.  I got the barbel in front of me after several minutes, I had to give her a bit of stick as I had a sunken branch to my left.  I still hadnt seen the fish as it hugged the river bed as it patrolled up and down the bank, the feeder still hadn't surfaced either.  I slowly pumped the fish up and just as the feeder was about to break the surface it headed down again with a flick of its tail.  Now I was starting to get nervous, I just wanted to get a glimpse of the fish and after a few more heart stopping runs, I could see its golden flanks a foot beneath the rivers surface and realised it was going to be a good Barbel.  I missed the fish on my first attempt to net her then let out a big sigh of relief as I lifted the rim of the net as she lay in the shallows in the soft mesh.  I hauled the fish up the bank with the net held vertical and layed her on the mat and I was quickly zeroing the scales with the landing net head to weigh my fish that was definitely bigger than any other fish that day, but would it go over my personal best.
As always I weighed the fish 3 times each time the scales resting on 9lb 8oz, a new PB, only by a couple of ounces but they all count.  Ill be 50 years old by the time I get a double at this rate!!
I was pleased with a new PB however I wish the pictures were a bit better.



9lb 8oz - just before the rowing boats were out



A few shots of the fish then I let her recover in the net before releasing her.  My fishing was made a little difficult as I continued for a further half hour due to the number of rowing boats that were now out on the river(as you can see in the first photo!) I decided to pack up and go and have a look at another stretch that intend to fish for Chub in the near future, it would be fantastic to catch a Chub PB in this river season as well.

A New PB Barbel - Will it be that Elusive Double...

Had a good session this week, including a new PB Barbel, more to follow tomorrow including pics. 

Roll on Winter....

I really shouldn't be wishing the summer away, if we can call it a summer after the deluge of wet stuff that didn't stop falling, but I am looking forward to waters not being so crowded as the colder weather approaches.  My recent outing was in search of my first Avon Barbel.
I decided to fish a stretch of the Avon on the BAA card with my intention of staying the night in the van and making 2 days of it.  On arrival at this popular stretch I made the decision to walk down river away from the "popular pegs" which just so happen to be the closet to the car park!  I as I approached the river I could see a couple of heads down the bank, then another, then another, then as the river came into view there were anglers in every peg, the length of the river.  I know this is a popular stretch but this is ridiculous!
I spoke to one of the anglers, who happened to be fish less up to now, and he explained how the match had been moved that morning from another stretch of the Avon due to car park being flooded, that was why it wasn't listed on the BAA website.
Only about 2 pegs remained, neither one I would of chosen to fish if I had the choice, however as I made the trip I thought id give it a go, I set up and fished on, not in much confidence of catching.  After 2 hours I was also fish less, not even an indication on the rod tip, so made the decision to fish another stretch, one in fact that I hadn't even seen before.


My view upstream towards the weir

I managed to find the new stretch first time which doesn't normally happen, there was about 10 anglers but I found what looked a reasonable swim and fished 2 rods, both on feeder rigs one cast out into the flow and the second on an inside line.  As this part of the river was narrow the pleasure boats were bit of a problem, but at least I was topping the swim up regular.  I fished on all afternoon until it was almost dark however I remained fish less and still in search of my first Avon Barbel.
I made my way back to the van for some fresh bacon rolls and a cuppa.  On speaking to another angler in the car park he said he had been catching steadily all day, a bag full of Bream upto 3lb, not quite what I was after but at least someone was catching something.  I have noticed on these stretches there seem to be very few anglers specifically fishing for Barbel, the majority seem to fish match style for whatever comes along, which is fine, does this mean the Barbel are a bit thin on the ground.



My Swim on day 2

I was back on the water at first light the following morning on the same stretch as I finished up on the previous evening.  I chose to fish a swim further downstream with a big over hanging tree on the far bank.  I fished with just one rod, casting the feeder as close to the foliage as possible.  I tried to keep casting to a minimum and fed the swim by and only recasting when a boat came through causing me to reel in.  I nicknamed the swim the "Ashtray" due to the amount of cigarette butts that were left by an angler from the previous day, not very pleasant.  This was something  I was noticing more and more on these stretches is the amount of litter left by anglers on the banks.  An anglers upstream of me filled an entire carry bag full of litter he picked up from his swim when he arrived as he just couldn't fish with all that crap around and I don't blame him I would of done the same.  Why are anglers so thoughtless when it comes to taking their rubbish back home with them, they will be the first ones to complain when the land owner doesn't renew his lease to the clubs concerned!
Anyway not much happened over the next couple of hours so I photographed a couple of Canada Geese that came through my swim.



Canada Geese

The longer I fished on, it felt more and more likely I was not going to catch my first Avon Barbel today.  It was still only 10am, and I had fished for 4 hours.  I phoned  Rob the bailiff from my club stretch of the Wye who said the river had dropped a little over night and was looking perfect.  That's all I needed to hear, I packed up headed back to the van and drove to the Wye and hopefully get a bend in my rod.  This sounds a little defeatist but as my fishing has been limited recently due to work commitments I just wanted to get a bend in my rod and hopefully get a Barbel on the bank.
Within 90 minutes I was on the banks of the Wye sat under an umbrella with my feeder rig cast out in hope of a bite.  Over the next 4 hours I caught 4 Barbel biggest going just short of 8lb  It was good to have a fighting fish pull my line and I will definitely be back after those Avon Barbel.



6lb 4oz Wye Barbel in between the showers

 As I said at the start I dont want to wish the longer days and warmer weather away but I do enjoy my fishing when the banks aren't so busy.  Im going to make sure I get out on the banks more often as the winter approaches, im going to concentrate on Predator and Barbel fishing for the most part and my challenges from now until the end of the river season will be either my first Avon or Severn Barbel, improve my Pike and Zander pb and hopefully manage my first double Barbel from any river.

Just when you think it couldn't get any worse...

My latest fishing trip didnt go quite as planned.  I was never going to reach the river at the crack of dawn due to arranging to have a few beers for the Euro Final (congratulations to Spain - a masterclass) on the Sunday evening.  I was up at 8am on the Monday and not in as bad a shape as I expected.  Van was soon loaded up, however I had to make a detour to the tackle shop for some hooks as I only realised I had run out on Sunday morning when I was getting the gear ready after the 3 month lay off.
As I came around the roundabout I indicated to come off the turning, only to be greeted with bollards and a diversion sign!!    Damn it!  I now had to detour all the way via Newport centre through traffic which delayed me even more.
For the past couple of seasons I have been using Korum S3's seamless hooks, I scanned the wall of the tackle shop, I couldnt see any.  On enquiring I got the response that they have now stopped making them!  Whenever a decent product is introduced very often they stop being produced, however some of the more useless ones hang around forever!  Anyway I grabbed a couple packs of Drennan Barbel hooks, very strong and very sharp - as I was about to find out.

The river in question was the Wye after Barbel.  My Dad was already there fishing, so I decided to phone him en-route to see how he was getting on, considering the rain was still persisting since the early hours. The conversation went something like this:
Me:  Hi Dad, how you getting on?
Dad:  Bloody soaking
Me: Have you had any?
Dad: Yeah, one, usual stamp, 'bout 6lb, rivers ripping through, lots of weed and debris
Me; Well that's a good start! 
Dad: Ive been here 4 hours!  I wouldn't bother if I were you son.
Me: Its my only day off in 2 weeks, I got to go fishing, even if it is lashing down.
Dad: OK well you can move in here if you want, I'll wait till you get here then shoot off
Me; Ill be 'bout half an hour, see you soon.

When I arrived, I approached the swim to find Rob (the bailiff) helping my Dad with his gear up the very steep, slippery, mud soaked bank.  The swim would of been more at home at The Isle of Wight Festival!
It was still raining as we chatted and I unloaded the van, wellies on, waterproofs on.  I decided to fish the same swim as Dad, on the reasoning it had been baited up for a few hours this morning.  As I descended the step bank, he lowered my gear down to me, to make it easier. 
I got as comfortable as possible, as I tied up a couple of rigs with the new hooks, the rain seamed to be easing a little, I soon cast out the feeder and sat back.  The river was at least 4 feet above summer level and carrying quite a bit of debris.  It wasn't long before the rain got heavier again, I had no choice but to put the brolly up.  For the next couple of hours I sat there bite less, frustrated and wet.  I couldn't keep the bait in the too long before the tip got pulled round by weed.  Then as I tried to retrieve my rig for another recast it was stuck solid.  All I could do was pull for a break, with the rod in the rest I pulled the mainline, until it parted.
On inspection the hook length was fraid near the swivel.  I sat there and wondered if it was worth putting on a new rig or calling it a day.  As my time on the bank has been limited I decided to stick with surely my determination would be rewarded!!
New rig on, I held the hook in my left hand and reached for the heavy feeder, with everything wet and covered in mud, the feeder slipped out my hand pulling the hook full force into my index finger!



Ouch!  Its deeper than it looks

 Instant pain, a few choice words and worse still I it was past the barb.  My index finger started to throb and I started to sweat as I reached for the forceps.  I tried to tease it back out but I knew it was never going to come out the way it went in, I was delaying the inevitable.  I sat for a few minutes and gathered myself. 
Only thing to do was to pull it all the way through past the barb.  I gripped the hook shank with the forceps, gritted my teeth and started to force the hook round until I could see the hook point below the skins surface, then I had to keep going, the barb was the worse it seemed to take forever to break the skin.  As I had no cutters on me (in the pike bag) I had to flatten the barb as much as possible and hope it went back through the finger, luckily it did,  Then it started to bleed. 
By this time I had had enough, I was fish less, wet, bleeding, sat in mud!  I could of easily packed up there and then.  I decided to bait up the debarbed hook and have another few chucks.  Luck wasn't on my side today, I fished on for a couple of hours but didn't receive a single indication, still id given it a go. 
What an afternoon, diversions, constant rain, Barbelless, a throbbing finger, you gotta laugh or you'd cry!