I have to admit at getting a few rather
strange looks as I made my way along sheer ice paths through Farnham
town centre at first light with my fishing tackle on Sunday morning.
Was I mad or just mad keen, the former I think especially when I felt
my legs go from under me? Luckily my rucksack broke my fall and after
dusting the snow off continued my journey. Settling in the park I
soon had a delicate stick float approach set up and after a few
minutes spent priming the swim with maggots mad my first cast. Half
way down the float buried, however the expected dace turned into a
big chub and as I was just about to net it the hook pulled leaving
the end tackle up a tree. Not a great start, and one sure to kill the
swim, yet a few good dace did grace my net and the artic image I
wanted was captured, although far from perfect as snow flakes were
hitting the lens and all feeling in my fingers were long gone.
Having got my angling fix over the
weekend, Monday and Tuesday were spent in the garage sorting through
the kit. It was a well overdue job and in a way the weather was a
blessing as it allowed me to wade through rods, reels and tackle
boxes. Come Tuesday evening I had at long last managed to sort
different set ups for a number of species including pike, perch,
zander, chub, barbel and roach and for once in my life felt quite
organised.
Wednesday I was thinking about checking
out a venue for some oversized dace, yet with the snow melting and
knowing that this and the salt of the roads would be in the river,
knew that trying to locate these would be almost impossible, so once
again spent the day getting a few overdue house duties out of the
way.
Thursday I was booked in with the Tight
Lines crew. Ide were on my hit list, however with the lakes frozen
headed to the river Wey at Farnham as in such tough conditions needed
a venue that would give me half a chance. Once again the river was
cold and clear and the banker swim in the park produced the goods
with a least a dozen good dace and two trout. Heading upstream I
tried to put a good chub on the bank using bread flake, and for the
second time in a week found myself flat on my back, yet an over
enthusiastic pounder got to it first. A few good dace also came to
the float, so it was a successful day.
Friday the alarm sounded at 6am and
with the conditions still cold finally managed to get a planned
guiding session in. This time it was with a new customer who although
had fished for barbel had never specifically targeted chub. Although
the Loddon was suffering from snow melt and slightly high it was
still relatively clear so we headed straight for the best swim and
with fifteen minutes had a modest chub of around 3lb 8oz in the net.
The next four swim proved fruitless, yet another swim upstream once
again produced the goods with a similar sized chub. Looking back both
swims were the same that l caught from a week or so earlier, seems
the rivers becoming predictable, however its scary that many others
that used to be so good are now fishless! One more swim was tried
without any joy before we headed to the Blackwater. I had four swims
earmarked and although the first failed to produce, the other three
did. The best chub wasn’t quite four pounds, the other an old
warrior and the third unfortunately came off. Trying the first swim
again, the expected bite came but was missed. Chub fishing,
predictable or what!
This weekend the weathers going to
change. My barometer is falling quickly which usually indicates a
short change. In a way I hope this is the case, as the mild air will
defrost the lakes making them fishable and although the rivers will
probably go into flood with the expected rain, once the cold air
return then the fishing should be good. Let’s just hope when the
cold returns it’s not as severe as in previous weeks.
Top tip and lessons learnt.
Bread fishing for chub when it’s
really cold is brilliant, however it is relatively predictable. Nine
times out of ten a bite will come within fifteen minutes of casting
out so make sure everything around you is to hand. I even pour a cup
of tea before casting out as it only takes one hand to drink this,
but two to pour it, and you can bet on the bite coming when your
pouring it. Hold the rod at all times, supporting it on a rest if
needed and never take your eye of the tip. This lesson was learnt
years ago. When it’s really cold small fish aren’t a problem so
the smallest of tremors or taps is usually from a big fish. As soon a
sign is seen be ready as the bite will come soon after.
No comments:
Post a Comment