Thames dropshotting

With the river Thames being only a 10 or 15 minute walk from my home, I should really fish it more than I do.

It can be a daunting prospect at times & I've had my fair share of bad days & a few good one's as well through the years.

But I felt it's a great place to walk around & hone my Dropshoting skills (if I had any)

This blog is a amalgamation of two short after work sessions of a few hours each time. So with some basic Dropshot gear I set off after work & met @markramokeea at the riverside around 5pm.

I'm no expert but Mark had never tried this kind of fishing before & I talked him through what I know & we set off looking for the first likely swim to wet a line.

I had a quick go at this method back in March as the season ended & blanked.

So I was very much in need of a confidence booster & a small perch would be a great start.

Twenty minutes later we were still fishless but seeing my shad in shallow water, it looked good & we hoped it would only be a matter of time before we caught.

First few swims didn't produce so we moved on to a larger part of the river where I knew it was deep very close in, around 12ft at the deepest slowly shallowing up to 6ft.

            Deep & dark, it looked perchy

A quick rundown of my gear in picture form....

My 2" Berkley Gotam shad & size 2 Mustad     dropshot hook with 6ft of 10lb Flurocarbon 

           5g Fox tungsten dropshot weight

Savage gear road runner is a great alround travel rod, paired with a small Shimano front drag reel & 20lb power pro mainline

We started at opposite ends of the bank & planned to meet in the middle.

It's a strange feeling as you slowly take pigeon steps & bump the lead just of bottom & down again but you really get a feel for the different surafces on the river bottom, it's a very tactile method.

I had moved only 6ft, very slowly I might add & I felt a bump.....

& again, so I struck & a fish is on.....

My excitement builds in a second & then I'm back reality as I lift in a 3oz Perch, but it's a start & I'm chuffed to know I'm doing it properly at last

Finally a fish on the bank, just a wee baby though

Another few foot along & another small perch in the net, I'm really starting to enjoy this kind of fishing & it almost feels better to close my eyes & all your other senses are highened. But I didn't as I didn't really fancy a swim as it started to rain & was very slippery.

As we moved on from this productive spot I wanted to try a very snaggy area as I know it's produced some very big perch over the years (including an annoying hook pull from huge perch I lost a few winters ago)

With drag set tight I was ready the first cast....

     Fallen trees are Perchy heaven, surely

I wasn't disappointed either, on the drop I felt a take as I tightened the line ready for the retrieve, I struck & a small fish came to the surface quickly & i lifted him in, when I noticed it wasn't a perch but a lovely little Zander, just as I panicked a bit & he let go of my shad & dropped back to his watery home, only a foot from the bank. Arhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I'm still waiting for my first zander & although it was only 6oz or so, I'd have loved to have a look at him & got a pic.

After closer inspection of the lure I guess he must have grabbed the back end & missed the hook, frustrating but that's fishing.

           After a soaking & a lost fish

Many other spots were searched out & no other fish fancied a meal, well not my shad anyways.

       The swims are getting more snaggy 

Mark then called me over & as I get to his swim he's looking even more frustrated than I had been before.

He explained he had hooked a good pike close in & bitten the line after a very short fight. The perils of Dropshoting I guess without a wire trace & I'm on the lookout for some supple & fine wire that knots nicely, I'm sure it would work ok.

With the light fading quickly we call it a day.

The next session was just me retracing my steps & it was a tougher proposition this time with driving rain & 10 or so degrees colder, shouldn't make a difference to the fishing.

I struggled to get a bite but finally in the deep spot I managed to get a couple of perch on the bank.

  Lovely colours but bigger please next time 

No monsters but I'm learning all the time & it's a method I'm loving right now.

I'm sure over the winter I'll be out & about, roving the rivers of Surrey in search of a big old stripy.

So hopefully I'll be writing a blog soon about a few more specimen sized perch.

 

My favourite little urban river

Not full blog worthy, but I had really a cracking few hours down my local urban river the other day.

Earlier in the year I had some beautiful big Dace & Gudgeon, resulting in two pb's of 11oz & 4oz respectively.

I also had a surprise 4lb Chub.

Look up "unknown urban river & two monster pb's" in my previous blogs for all the info, if your interested.

My tactics as you probably will guess for this small fast stream was my favourite centrepin & my Preston 13ft rod.

Used in conjunction with an alloy stick float with a 16 hook & 4lb hooklink. My standard gear for 80% of my river float fishing.

Anyway the river was looking in good nick with a tinge of colour & It looked good for a bite or two.

Plenty of maggots & a small tub of worms were my bait of choice, as before, so I primed the swim with plenty of grubs as I set up.

First cast in this swim can very often produce the best fish of the session so with huge anticipation a swung out my float right into an overhanging tree on the far bank, boll**ks !!!!!!

After the inevitable I hastily retied another hooklink & prayed I hadn't spooked any fish.

Using a 13ft rod in such a small river is a touch cumbersome, but with the fast flowing water close to the bank & the slacker water on the far side I feel that my float presentation will be far better with a longer rod.

So finally first cast made with two maggots, the first hookup follows quickly after with a bite even I couldn't miss.

A short & spirited fight & he's in the net.

I would have bet plenty of wedge this was a good Dace but I was wrong.

              A lovely fin perfect Chub

A good start but a big fat Dace would be even better I thought.

Second cast surprised even me, with a handful of grubs tossed to the far bank I made my cast as quickly as possible.

The float must have only moved downstream a foot or two & I had a similar take, unmissable.

My strike was met with solid resistance, like I'd hooked the bottom as I have many times before with this shallow & weedy swim.

Then it starting moving upstream & the fight started as this powerful fish realized he was hooked.

Barbel, carp or chub was the question in my mind but as he zoomed off right into a weed bed I saw enough of a blunt head & bronze flank to say it's a chub.

Slow & constant pressure extracted the fish quickly but he still had plenty of fight in him, as he continued upstream.

My rod was powerful enough to get him under control & bring him back downstream but he wasn't done just yet. 

Near side snags were his next goal.

I managed to eventually get him & about 4lb of weed into the net.

Parting the weed he was smaller than I expected but still a good'un.

A turbocharged 3lb+ chub that got my blood pumping

I typically struggled to get another bite in the next few casts, so a change was needed.

I decided to just fed maggots for 5 minutes & thus resting the swim a little.

Next cast It proved to be a good choice as another good chub was hooked, again zooming up stream but I was ready for that old trick this time, but as he neared the net I had the dreaded hook pull, arhhhhh.

For peace of mind I changed to a size 14 & with the swim rested again I recast & away the float went.

Another twisting & turning fight upstream but all was under control soon enough & I got him in the net quickly after.

Another 3lber on the bank

Following this method of resting the swim worked well as another chub fell to exactly the same tactics & they were peas in a pod all around 3lb

Three fish from the same hatch year for sure

This quick session ended soon after as the swim died a death. Only a small dace entered my net as I called it a day.

         Where were your bigger brothers ??

A very enjoyable few hours in a great swim & I must remember my keepnet next time as I'm sure some of the fish spooked the rest of the shoal.

I'm sure I could have had a few out on ledgered baits but with feeding the maggots & running a float through the swim definitely helped me to put more fish on the bank.

I never expected in such a shallow swim there could be three or more chub sitting in wait for their next meal & I'll b back soon to find out, that's for sure.

Hopefully the Dace will be back in residence as well.

The chub has 2 be one of my favourite river species !!!