Floods , floods and more floods

Well theres still no sign of our proper winter weather instead we are getting warm weather and loads of rain , so its still no chubbing chance and getting out has been down to experience of swims at normal level and what they will be like with extra water on . My first session was New Years Day and was just a mid morning til dark one , I drove to my usual chubbing stretch just to get a sense of how the extra water had effected the river level , on arrival I discovered the river as carrying around 5 feet of flood water but more surprising was the fact that there was already a dozen anglers already fishing , as I have said previously , normally at this time of year all these anglers are staying in doors but the mild winter means they are still active . Having had a chat with few of them and watched as those in what should be the best swims in high water and offering advice as those in them were fishing too far out but it seemed to fall on deaf ears . Not fancying any of the remaining swims given the river level , I had a drive to my other club stretch downstream , in contrast to the first stretch there were no other anglers on it but thats not unusual as last winter I fished it all winter and never saw another angler til the end of february , I walked the entire stretch looking at various swims that I knew would be both fishable and likely to produce with the extra water , settling in a swim which had a very deep margin with a gravel bottom with a snag below it and an overhanging tree above that slowed the flow and created a crease that directed all the flotsam coming downstream away from the spot I intended to place my bait . Due to the nature of the swim and the conditions I opted to fish one rod .

My plan was to fish meat and as a baiting plan I put around 2 pints of hemp on the crease and around a dozen small cubes of meat and then leave it for an hour ,having put the bait in I poured a cup of coffee and had a wander down the bank . I returned and put a bait out and sat and waited , watching as various size bite of trees , numerous bottles and even a couple of large water barrels went by . Things were looking a bit bleak when suddenly the rod lunged over and the alarm screamed and the baitrunner gave line , playing barbel in extra water is always a test of your tackle especially your knots but all held firm and I netted what I thought may be my first double of the year but in the scales said 9lb 12oz                                                                                                                                             

I  safely returned the fish in the next swim down and then decided to have a recast and give it another half hour but no further action followed and I returned home . As a side issue if you remember from a previous blog about the butchery they had inflicted on the lake next to this stretch , well with the river been up all the lake swims were under water but due to the work they had done the one swim that would have been fishable in these conditions was now dangerous as anyone who didnt know about the work would be fishing on bricks and rubble or if they went any further than 2 rod lengths out then on retrieving either a fish or their tackle would snag the front of the railway sleepers they sank into the swim , despite been advised not to another knock on from the new swims is the water they have displaced which was close to flooding the track to the river and given the other end of the lake which connects to the river with a small bridge over the inlet would be under water so the river , unless people are willing to wade through water on the track would be now inaccessible.                            

My next session was a bit of a bonus , I dont normally fish sundays but the sunday after New Year my wife Louise and I were supposed to be having a walk round the syndicate lake I am hoping to join unfortunately Louise is having a bout of sciatica and didnt feel like it and asked if I wanted to go fishing for a couple of hours , well after given it a few minutes thought I thought why not , I opened a can of meat and cubed it and set off , now having looked at the EA website for the river levels I knew the river had risen another foot or so and decided it was the first club stretch I had visited New Years Day as the other would have access problems , on arriving I was greeted by the river within a couple of feet of bursting its banks and 3 anglers again in the swims nearest the car park and where the better slack water was , again they were fishing too far out .Having learnt from my previous session I didnt offer any advice . Now knowing this stretch very well and having fished it all conditions over the last 7 years , I knew of one other swim that would give me a good chance of a fish given the river level and thats this cattle drink , arriving at it proved me right as it looked spot on for a fish .                      

  

Now the place to cast in this swim in these conditions is 2 rod lengths beyond bush on the right but upstream where the main flow starts and using just enough lead to hold so that after a few minutes you can lift the rod tip and bounce the bait a few feet downstream , so out went the rod and I walked to the edge of the river on the left and put 4 pieces of meat on the same line the rig had been cast , now most folk think I a little crazy going out in these conditions but more so this day as it had been spitting with rain all morning and now it started pouring down and with me roving I had no brolly .after about an hour and a half the rod pulled over and I was connected to was obviously another barbel but this one did something that in these conditions they rarely do and thats ran for mid river , now given the bush on the right my usual plan is to go to the left and play the fish from there but as this fish hit the flow in mid river it either shot down stream of its own accord or the flow took it , there was no way to play the fish from the left and so had to grab the landing net and head downstream after it , my first problem was to get the line over the bush which meant holding the very end of the rod butt as high as I could , just managing to get the line over the bush and now the fight was on ,pumping the fish back upstream and gaining and losing line but finally I slid the net under her 25 yards downstream of where I hooked her .I carried her back to the swim and rested her in the margins while I got all the unhooking and weighing gear ready , on the scales a very satisfying 8lb 6oz . Having released her and watched her disappear back to where she belonged . I was now soaked through and decided that was it for me and walked back to the van . I stopped off to see how the guys at the first swims had fared and but they had not seen a sign of a fish .                                                  

My final session for this blog was yesterday and the EA site showed the river had risen again but was holding steady , on arrival I unsurprised to find no one else there , I walked the stretch as far as the cattle drink and could see the river had burst its banks and had actually dropped a few inches but was still over them , back to the van and it was to be the cattle drink for the first couple of hours and the same plan as last time , the picture shows the river was a little higher than before , in fact my chair that I took the pic from was actually on the track that vehicles use .                                                      

Now my plan was fish this swim for 2 hours , walk back to van and have some lunch and a coffee and then if no one had turned up drop in the swims at the bottom of the stretch . Well after an hour and a big fish crashed in mid river and that was the start of odd fish showing all over the river for the next half hour including watching decent size perch chase a roach of around 4oz through the cattle drink its self , no seconds after this happened the rod tip sprang back and then wrenched over and the baitrunner went nuts , having already accessed that getting over and round the bush this time was a non starter so went left and out as far as I safely could and the battle was on after a few close calls of runs nearly through the bush and then feeling the line grating on the margin rocks I netted another good barbel , going through the usual weighing process the scales revealed another close to a double at 9lb 7oz .                                                                                                                                               

I didnt fancy another cast and so headed back to the van . dropping my tackle in on the swims I fancied , after a bite to eat and a coffee I went back to my tackle and quickly checked my mainline and found a foot or so of damaged from the fight and grating on the rocks and so cut this off and then checked the swim out , the first thing I noticed was the river was starting to rise again .

Knowing where the actual margin rocks were I cast 2 rod lengths beyond and sat down , within a couple of minutes I noticed a small vibration on the line and rod tip , then nothing about 15 minutes later and the rod started tapping and hitting it thought I had finally hooked a winter chub but when I netted the fish I was surprised to have a small but perfect barbel of 2lb 12oz .                                       

Now while I was happy to have caught I felt something bigger must be about , I recast and when after an hour nothing had happened I reeled in to find the meat had gone but had seen no sign of a bite ,it was now just going dark so out it went again and within seconds the rod shot over and I was attached to something that didnt want to stop running , 10 minutes or so later and the fish is near me and coming upstream , as it got in front of me it dived and the tip sprung back , I was gutted as it was obviously a good fish and on reeling in found the hook link had been cut through , another decision had to be made now pack up having caught and get home earlier than expected or tie another rig up in the dark and have another cast , I just felt it had to be the latter , given the dark I managed to get a bait back in the water fairly quick and to my surprise 5 minutes later and off it went again , this time I took my time and made sure I played the fish longer in the flow away from the bank and this time netted what was obviously my first double of the year and one the scales she went 11lb 1oz , now I had a new problem in that I wanted a pic of me holding the fish but only had the long rod rest I had my rod on as I had left my short ones in the van , I rested the fish in the margin and set the camera best I could , the resulting self takes werent the best but better than nothing .                                        

Well thats it for this write up and my next session is 4 days away , the river is rising slightly again and with the forecast should be still high by the time I go again but there is also a forecast for colder weather so who knows what will happen . Til next time as usual tight lines to you all