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