In Session with Duncan – Tuesday 3rd
December 2013.
Venue – River Test, Testwood Pool.
When one of my regular customers called
asking if I would be interested in joining him for an all expenses
paid day on the legendary Testwood Pool on the lower section of the
river Test in Hampshire, well I didn’t have to think for long, a
split second in fact.
I instantly knew where he was referring
to as just a week earlier had watched Matt Hayes fish the venue
during one of his new Rod Race series. It was a bitterly cold day
when Matt fished it, yet after dark he managed a couple of big roach
ledgering in the main pool in front of the river keeper’s house. I
was even fortunate to have a good chat with Martin Salter at the
Sandown Carp Societies show just days prior to my outing. In fact
Martin pinpointed three swims worth trying, two of which turned out
to be right on the money.
Having fished different beats of the
river Itchen over the past decade and having learnt the art of using
a centrepin I really wanted to use the float as much as possible. In
fact I can honestly say that I’ve been missing using a float of any
description over the past couple of seasons so with an ideal
opportunity had packed a 15ft and 13ft float rod as well as loading
the pin with new 3.6lb line and organising an array of floats and
terminal tackle to cover every eventuality. The tip rod was also
packed just in case the currents proved too demanding as well as
prolonging the session with a few hours after dark ledgering. Wanting
to protect the salmon parr maggots are banned so it was to be a bread
and corn approach.
As can be expected I didn’t sleep
well and was lying in bed waiting for the alarm to sound at 5am! Alan
was picking me up at 6am and when he arrived I was ready and waiting.
The journey down went smoothly, apart from pinpointing the entrance
to the fishery, yet we had allowed plenty of time and with the gates
opening at 8am also found time to grab a coffee.
The river keeper arrived bang on time
and after a quick excursion of the pool and facilities we were
eagerly threading line through eyes. Neither of us had much
experience of fishing tidal stretches of river and both agreed that
the prime roach feeding time would probably be high tide, yet even
though it was low tide on arrival were still eager to get fishing.
Knowing that directly in front of the house was a good area for roach
Alan agreed to start here with me heading to the opposite bank as
there was a long steady trot to the bridge, one that Martin had
mentioned that to me screamed fish. By the time I settled down Alan
was into his first trout, one of many that would come his way
throughout the day.
With the run in
front of me steady I didn’t see the point of using a massive float
so opted for a 6 x 4 stick with five number fours and two number six
shot spaced out evenly in a shirt button style. With dace and roach
on my mind I didn’t go for a hook that was too big either or one
with a heavy gauge so settled for a pattern that has served me well
in the past when grayling fishing, a size 14 Kamasan B525. A quick
check of the depth with a large plummet showed around three and a
half foot and I soon had a small handful of liquidised bread slowly
dropping through the swim followed by my float and a small pinch of
bread flake. Around three quarters of the way down the run, probably
thirty five yards the float disappeared and pressing my thumb against
the drum of the pin at the same time as making a short sharp strike
saw the rod bend over. The fish didn’t feel that big, yet knowing
that it could well be a personal best dace took things ever so steady
and when the fish surfaced my heart missed a beat, however as it slid
into the waiting net, what I first thought was a massive dace turned
into a small chub. The next five trots down saw two slightly bigger
chub landed, both bites coming from the same spot. Alan was making
lots of splashing in the pool as trout after trout found his bait and
soon realised that this position was going to be, what’s known as
playing the numbers game, catch as many fish as possible and
hopefully a big roach might turn up. I was in my element and was soon
in the swing of feeding, dropping the float in this and watching the
float head downstream. The swim was doing just enough to stop me
moving, every now and again a bite would come and soon I was once
again playing another small chub, or so I thought as when it graced
my net I once again missed a heart beat as this time it was a big
dace, a definite personal best. Alan popped round to take a few
pictures and as he walked away I punched the air as dace have been on
my mind for a few years, yet catching a big one had eluded me, not
anymore. Knowing that dace are shoal fish I was expecting more yet it
wasn’t to be, a loner for sure.
Looking downstream
and watching the tide come in, then the pool start to back up and the
flow almost stopping and going the opposite direction is a strange
feeling, yet with high tide almost upon us I was sure that a roach
would show. A few trout and small grayling had showed yet the next
fish felt altogether different and by the sheer weight l knew it
couldn’t be a roach and sure enough it wasn’t but a modest bream.
The effects of a
couple of days on decaf coffee as well as concentrating on the float
was having its effect so I decided to pop round to the fishing hut,
make a proper coffee, chat with Alan then resume fishing. My
shoulders, wrist and upper back were also beginning to ache yet I
wasn’t going to stop float fishing and headed back just in time as
I wasn’t expecting the tide to cover the grassy river bank and
found most of my tackle in a few inches of water. This unexpected
swim situation made me move upstream, to the second swim Martin had
mentioned. He even remarked that if a cast three rod lengths out was
made it was possible to guide the float out across the river and into
the pool and he was right, yet this meant holding the rod high and
keeping the line of the near bank torrent, more aggravation on the
shoulders. With the float dragging under on the first few cast I kept
taking a few inches of the depth and for some reason swapped the bait
to corn. Obviously the fishing god was watching as the float
disappeared and I found myself connected to a good fish, yet it was
difficult to say what in the current. Gradually teasing the fish in I
was able to manoeuvre it into the eddy to my left and it was then
that a massive roach showed itself and I went into one of those jelly
leg moments. A few anxious seconds passed before I was waving my arms
like a madman to Alan and admiring what has to be one of the finest
sights in angling, a big river roach. Alan took over my rod, the
float disappeared and thinking it was the bottom just mended the
line, momentarily feeling a fish. It’s something that I also learnt
the hard way when trotting a stick and know strike on everything,
even if I think it’s the bottom! Next cast and he was once again
into a fish, yet it wasn’t to be his day as a trout turned up,
followed by more.
With a feeling
that the roach would be showing in the pool he returned to the feeder
only for myself to drop another couple of quality roach in the net, a
few small grayling and a roach/bream hybrid that had me wishing all
the way to the net. It was then that the trout switched on and
numerous aerobatic sea and brownies plus the odd salmon engulfed
whatever was placed in the river and soon with the water dropping and
the current becoming to fast I decided to take a lunch break.
The fascinating
thing about fishing a tidal pool is its forever changing, your set up
constantly tweaked and the fish within constantly on the move. I
found myself using every ounce of my watercraft, often starring at
the flow and current patterns to keep in touch with the fish.
Alan was eager to
get away from game and into coarse and headed to the far bank with
the float rod, yet it just wasn’t his day as in swims that I g=had
found few trout he seemed to be plagued by them, yet his persistence
did provide him with a few grayling. I tried a few areas, yet the
depth and speed of the flow was more suitable to the feeder more than
the flaot and with limited time headed back to the far bank dropping
into Alan’s swims as he moved out, yet apart from more trout just
two chub came my way. I kept at it till I couldn’t see the float no
longer before sitting next to Alan casting a feeder into the pool and
extracting a small bream, much to his disapproval. When I quality
roach found itself into my net I was expecting to get wet, more so
when a nice chub followed, it was just my day, however Alan did
manage a small chublet and the biggest of chub of the day just before
it was time up.
All in all a day
of mixed emotion. For me it was not only fascinating but hugely
rewarding, for Alan you could probably swap the fascinating with
frustrating, yet he knows every angler has his day and after catching
a 15lb plus barbel this season, one that I couldn’t catch, well
he’s had his day!
Well what’s
happening next week, well it’s a river again this time with big
pike in mind.
I’d just like to say a massive thank
you to Alan for his generosity, I owe you one mate!
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