As the title of this weeks entry suggests, my most recent trip out was a bloody cold one! I'm getting so fed up with the cold now, there just doesn't seem to be any let up in it!
It's that time of year when pretty much every blogger and his dog are out there chasing either Chub, Perch, Pike or Grayling and I guess I'm no exception, I mean what else is there to fish for when its brass monkeys? I had Grayling in mind as I headed to the Dove once again and I was hoping river conditions would me more favourable than my last trip there.
I was delighted to find the river looking fantastic, normal level and carrying a lovely bottle green colour, I couldn't wait to get started. Phil was my partner in crime for today's trip and we both went our separate ways from the car. I headed straight to the scene of my Chub catch last time out. As I walked to my swim I couldn't believe how the recent floods have altered the appearance of the river. Huge silt and sand banks had formed especially on the inside of bends and the pics below show how even trees have been swamped by the stuff. The spots below were clear gravel runs under overhanging trees last winter!
New gravel bars have appeared where before there were none and trees have collapsed into the water creating some fantastic looking new swims. The Dove seems to change so much year on year, far more so than some of the other local rivers to me, hotspots are different every season and it certainly makes for some interesting fishing.
The swim above screamed Chub especially with a nice 6-7ft of water under those branches but after sitting there for over an hour without a twitch I soon moved on.
Two swims into the session I eventually found some fish but they were very shy biting. I was only getting tiny taps but eventually I managed to hit a couple and landed some nice Grayling the highlight of which being the pretty fish pictured below which went 1lb10oz. Not a monster but very welcome as the weather decided to try and snow on me.
Bites soon dried up and I moved on once again. Bites were proving very hard to come by and despite fishing hard over the next three hours i only managed a couple more pulls. After catching a small brownie I decided to give it best and head back upstream to see how Phil was faring.
Phil too had been moving about and after catching a couple of nice Trout elsewhere he had settled in a nice swim near the car and was getting a few bites on his favoured long trotting tactics.
I never bothered casting back in and was quite content to sit back and watch Phil get a few. Soon enough it was hometime and another weekends fishing drew to a close. I hope this weather gets milder soon cos my end of season plans are in a fair state of disarray. I've booked a bit of time off work during the last week of the season so I'm sure there's still a chance or two waiting for me out there ;-)
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