Rub-a-dub-dubs!

Last weekend was a bit of a non-starter with regards to fishing as the only free time i had was spent attending a work party on a couple of our clubs lakes . It was good to meet up with a few familiar faces and we got lots of work done in the process . The Trent looked bang-on and i was left wishing id brought some kit along so that i couldve dropped in after wed got done on the lakes .

Friday 20th January

It was Thursday evening and I had spent all week at work with Chub on the brain and after not fishing last weekend i was really up for a trip somewhere. A Friday after-work session beckoned provided i could get finished early enough so i packed some kit into the car in readiness .
I awoke the next morning and looked outside, rain, quite heavy too by the look of it . All morning at work i kept casting baleful looks outside and the rain never stopped, i was starting to get a little concerned about what all this water would do to the river levels . To top it all off i was involved with a real bugger of a job which meant an early finish would be out of the question too, a fishing trip was looking less and less likely by the minute.
In the end i thought sod it and managed to wind things up and get gone for about half two, a couple of hours later than planned but it still left me with a bit of daylight, certainly enough to put a Chub on the bank . It was still chucking it down and even as i made my way to the Trent i was still in two minds whether to even bother .
Soon enough i found myself pulling into the carpark and then walking across the fields with my gear . My Igloo suit did a good job keeping the rain at bay but i was sweating like mad by the time i got to the waterside . I was slightly put off when i saw that the river was carrying about a foot and starting to colour up a little as this meant my fancied swims were unfishable due to the extra flow on the river.
After walking downstream for a few minutes i came across an area that is usually quite shallow and fast but with the extra water it was actually a lot more steady than normal and there was a nice eddy along the margin with a bit of a bush overhanging. Based on what i knew of the swim at summer level i guestimated there was about 5ft of water in the eddy, plenty deep enough to hold a fish or two.
After casting in it was around 10 minutes before i had an indication, the tip plucked slightly before smoothly pulling around . I struck and soon had a nice winter chub in the net of 4lb4oz.



It was nice to get one so quickly and with the weather being so horrible i decided to stay put in the swim and see what else, if anything, might be lurking down there . I didnt have to wait long to find out as the next bite came on the drop and an identical Chub to the last was landed, another four pounder.



This was starting to shape up into a good session and after missing a bite and then bumping a fish over the next 20 minutes i was confident of catching another. Soon enough another slow pull on the tip met solid resistance on the strike and i soon slid the net under a slightly bigger fish of 4lb10oz.



Three fish from the same swim over such a short time had me convinced they were somewhat stacked up down there and on my very next cast i missed another bite! I recast and was pleasantly surprised to see the tip bounce over on the drop, another fish on . This turned out to be the smallest of the day and missed out on the 4lb mark by 2oz.

By now it was getting dark and i was very damp so i decided to call it a day, id had a good result for just an hours fishing on a wet day in January . That swim has certainly been noted for future reference!