Winter river fishing & a possible hatrick ??

As I open my eyes at 7am & look out of the window, it's the first frost in ages.

I better get my gear together & get moving, I've got fish to catch & a windscreen to scrape, the former been the main reason I need to hurry up, of course.

It's a cold morning, but I'm full of optimism that the flood waters are receding now, ie the rivers are in a fishable state.

It's just a short 10 minute drive to a little Thames tributary that was probably one of the first rivers I ever fished.

It's a tiny river that used to throw up many surprises over the years but in the last 5 I've not really fished it much as the depth as been so low & clear you can see the bottom in most of the swims.

But with this extra water & colour, I've heard some lovely bags of roach have been caught, even some very close to the magical 2lb mark.

That's music to my ears as my Roach pb is 1lb 4oz I think but that was years ago, so I couldn't wait to run a stick float through the swim with the potential of a big lumpy Roach.

As I arrive to my chosen swim, many memories come back to me, I spent so many summer holidays down here & almost every swim here holds a story for me.

I'm fishing a deep glide with an eddy on the far side, it's the deepest swim on this small river & I suspect it should hold a few fish.

    My swim for the day & the level is slowly dropping

The water level is 2ft up & the flow is not too fast at all, the coloured water also looks good as it's quite deep very close in & if I creep about I could catch only a rod length out.

Simple stick & pin tactics & fine wire hooks are my first plan of action.

As I feed the swim little & often with maggots & casters the bites begin to come.

Many very small roach, bleak & perch are swung to hand but it's a good start, the keepnet is put out so the caught fish don't spook the small swim.

A few of my freebee casters float on the top & travel down river, only to be taken off the top with gusto !

I can't resist.... i take my float off & freeline a caster just to satisfy my curiosity, shortly followed by the capure of a small bleak. Who knew that these tiny fish could make such big tail patterns on the surface.

I still fed my original swim & first run though with double red maggot produced a lovely fat roach of 10oz, great start & I'm getting a bite a cast now.

                                            A greedy but very welcome 10oz roach

The bites are now coming thick & fast but nothing really close to the 10oz-er

Then I hear in the next peg a big splash & I realize what's happening...

The bleak topping down stream have caught the attention of a pike & he's hungry by the looks of it.

Thankfully I had come prepared with a my Greys barbel rod, set up with a pike float & treble trace.

When there are plenty of roach about you know that the predators won't be far behind. 

So the bleak are getting hammered every few minutes & I'm itching to get a livebait out there before this pike is no longer hungry.

A 3oz roach is caught on a maggot & lip hooked on a sharp treble & the cast is made with a splash. 

It's been a while since I've fished for pike & my excitement builds as I see the roach pulling the float left & right but still nothing !

I put the baitrunner on & keep the rod very close to me while I carry on with the stick float. I barely make a second cast & I hear a large splash from the vicinity of my pike float, as I turn my head I catch a glimpse of a small duck scrambling away in fear, trying to get back on the bank asap, just as a large tail breaks the surface & my baitrunner spins into life.

Excuse my cheesy Americanism as I say to myself "FISH ON !!!"

I strike & set the hooks, the fish reacts with a powerful run downstream.....
"Relax Mark" I say to myself as my heart pounds away, easier said than done of course.

After I turn the beast he comes back towards me & I get the first glimpse of this fish, it's a good'un alright for such a small river.

After a couple more strong runs he's safely in the net & I sigh, now I can relax 😉

It feels a good weight as I lift him out of the water I've got the forceps at the ready but the hook has fallen out in the net, lucky me.

I unfold the net & as I look at my prize, it's a good size & as I zero the scales & slip the fish into my weigh sling, this could be a pb !

It reads 12lb 9oz & the sling is 6oz

So a 12lb 3oz it is then & I'm chuffed to bits

                                          12lb 3oz of apex predator & in lovely condition

Sadly not a pb but a great fish none the less. I try to jog my memory & I remember a Thames fish of 13lb 5oz, caught maybe 10 years ago & I'm not even sure if i have any pictures.

So i was close but no pb

  Goodbye Mr Esox Lucius, see you again in a few years

I returned the fish way downstream & got back to my roach hunt.

Again a few nice fish were caught but nothing over 8oz, I shouldn't complain really but where are the 2lbers ???

Once again my head is turned by a commotion in the middle of my swim, bleak are jumping for freedom, surely my pike didn't come up to my swim again & start to feed, did it ???

Another small roach was cast out & this time there was no hesitation & he's taken that on the drop but was it my 12lb-er again ????

This fish feels stronger & keeps deep, I would say it's bigger than the first, my mind is well & truly boggled as I struggle to tame this lovely pike.

After a frantic 2 minutes it's in the net, it's defo not the same fish, it's the bigger brother of my first but not by much. 

                            Just about a new pb at 14lb 1oz, but hey every ounce counts haha

The scales read 14lb 7oz, withdrawing the sling weight it's a a new pb of 14lb 1oz & this is turning out to be a great few hours fishing.

After accosting a lady dog walker to take a picture.....
"I'll never forget the look on her face when she saw the fish for the first time, her mouth was open & her eyes were on stalks, it got even funnier when I showed her the large mouth & razor sharp teeth she even let out a scared little squeal, so very funny"

The fish went back fine after being held in the shallows for a bit, In my now called " pike release swim" haha

Again back to the roach swim but after 30 minutes & a few more small fish, the light fading fast I decided to empty the keepnet & put another roach out while I packed up, why not when it's your lucky day & I have the possibly of a hatrick of double figure pike.

Well "Stone the Crows" after 10 minutes the float shot under again & Im battling another good sized pike, this fish is smaller than the first two & after a short fight he's mine.

It's altogether a different fish with a damaged mouth, it had been in the wars for sure but was it going to make 10lb ???

I knew it wasn't but you can understand my excitement haha

                                  A old manky warrior at 7lb

So with the release of that fish it was time to go home & till now I'm still smiling.

2014 has started well for me & fingers crossed a few more pb's will be broken in the next 12 months.

Tight lines & wet nets my fish loving friends.

Back to find the Mr Wild Brownie

So now is the time, I have the chance to sneak a few hours in... Down the river, stick & pin styley.

It's been raining like crazy in my county these last few weeks over Xmas & New Year. 

The many Surrey rivers are all in flood, but the urge to wet a line is just too strong.

Last time I went was 22nd of December, an exploratory trip to Old Bury Hills. My quarry this time was the elusive Zander, a fish I've never caught & as I write this now, it still evades me.

                    Where are all the predators at Bury Hills

It all looked so good at first light, but the only bite of the day was lost after 5 seconds or so, a slow, strong, weighty fish that that could well have been a good sized aforementioned toothy beast. Well & truly gutted.

The only plus of the trip really was a catch up with an old fishing ( & DJ buddy) Mark. 

It had been 10 years or so since we last went fishing & it's great to be back in contact with him, many trips were discussed & planned for 2014 over the long & mostly biteless session.

Our fingers many have been cold but our jaw muscles certanly were not as we shared many old memories & plenty of jokes.

So back to stick & pin business....

I'm off to the river that started off all this blog thing for me (via "tiny urban rivers"). 

I had a meeting with a big wild brown trout... I hope !!

It's shocking weather as I drive 45mins to my destination, crazy rain & even hail & then strangely bright sunshine, it's not like we need anymore rain !!!

I've got no idea what state the river will be in, it's been a while since I've been & no doubt it's in flood but I hope no more than a couple of foot up.

30 mins in to the drive & I see many other rivers in a terrible state, with nearby fields looking like huge swimming pools, it's not looking good thus far.

Upon arrival it's typically not good news, it's only a tiny river & it's maybe 3ft up..... But I think it's fishable, but only just, inevitable really in this conditions but hey ho, lets get cracking & give it a bash.

                       Fishable ? Let's find out

I had 4 or 5 options or favourite swims, but as I get very wet walking a couple of miles upstream, I'm left with only 1 swim that I could present a bait properly. 

A big back eddy under a large tree, funnily the same swim I lost the now infamous big brownie.

With these conditions I'm gonna do well to even get a bite, let alone catch anything.

That brings me to bait, I've had a mare with that as well, my local tackle shop has had problems with deliveries & he didn't have any maggots at all 😳

I bought his last half pint bag of casters & a tub of dendrobenas, far from perfect.

Id be missing valuable daylight time if I traveled another 7 miles to the next bait shop... Arhhhh Dam it.

The wind & rain got stronger as my

first dodgy cast was made in the swirling water, along with a handful of freebees & half a worm on the hook.

Not a sniff by the 20th cast, should I have stayed "on the sofa with a brew ?"

In the favorite words of my 4yr old daughter "Nooooo Way"

Right a change is needed......

I'm sure most of the fish in the river are deep in the bankside reeds or in undercut banks, thus not really catchable on rod & line in these conditions.

Anyway let's try right close in the margins to my right, it's a bit snag-tastic & shallow but worth a punt.

Single caster was my hookbait choice & a storming bite met with a strike, but then my heart sinks as a tiny minnow is swung to hand, well at a least blank is avoided.

Then memories flood back (sorry about the pun) to my days on the river mole as a 12 year old, livebait time !

I can remember running with excitement from 1 swim to another with a minnow lip hooked & catching many angry little perch over the years.

Right my diminutive minnow is recast in the centre of the raging flow & as it whisks my bait right to the back of the eddy.

Bang the float disappears from sight in the coloured water, the rod bends fully as the clutch starts to click & the spool spins into life... 

I slowed it down a little with my index finger & my adrenalin starts pumping.

I think this could be a descent pike (great fun on light tackle, if his razor sharp teeth don't stop the fight prematurely) or a huge British record Perch.... Ok probably not a record shattering stripy but these thoughts pop into any anglers mind at these times.

What a fight in the extremely fast water, twisting left & right, hunting out every snag in the swim. 

I apply as much pressure as I dare with a 16 hook & 2lb hooklink, time to just hold on & hope for the best !!!

As the fish rolls on the top it's a big Chub, so fat it almost resembles a rugby ball, could it be common carp ?? (there are a few that call this little river home)

But no, it's a Chub alright & a big old lump, so just as I ready the landing net, the hook looses it's grip on his rubbery lips... My tackle flies across the swim & left me tangled in the tree branches above, just as I had a last glimpse of this beast, as he shoots back to the murky depths. 

Not again, this swim as not been kind to me lately.

Many expletives left my mouth ! So loud infact that I scared a dog walker 30 yards away.

After a quick apology to the startled woman, I compemplated the size of the fish, my pb is around 6lb & it must have close to that size.

With that I'm sure the swim has been spooked by all the commotion & the daylight was fading fast.

As I trudged back to the car feeling melancholy. With hindsight to lose a fish is better than never hooking at all, of course. It's proved to me, my tactics & presentation tricked a wise old fish if nothing else.

So completely soaked I drove home & I mulled  over my next fishy conquest in a couple of weeks with @dangriff75.

Let's hope the rains stopped by then & Lady Luck is on my side !

Sorry for the lack of fish pics this time but I feel it's better to write about the good & bad days to prove I blank just as much as the next fish fanatic.

Your thoughts or recommendations are most welcome people (contact me on Twitter @chapsoutmark if you have time) & thanks for reading my fish related waffle to the end. 

Tight lines to you all for 2014 & i hope next time i'll have something decent on the bank & photographed to share with you.

In the mean time here is a retro pic to cheer me up, back in the day when I used to catch loadsa big chub haha