Todays session was to be a bit of a fact finding trip to a top secret bit of river with form for some monster Roach. The idea was to go down and get the lie of the land for possible future trips over the winter, swim depths, layout and features would all be noted. The venue is very close to a town centre (hence the cryptic title of this entry) and fishing isnt strictly allowed as far as i know so a covert early morning strike was to be the order of the Day.
I was joined by my mate Paul and both of us knew the rewards were there but with everything against us it wasnt going to be easy. After negotiating some railings and parking our gear on a narrow ledge on top of the steep bank we quickly commenced fishing.The water was painfully clear and even in the dawn halflight the bottom was quite visible over much of the area.
We both caught several Perch to around a pound fairly quickly but no Roach even though they were topping fairly regularly out there. The sun was coming up rapidly and one or two people were starting to appear ,dog walkers and joggers, time was running out. Paul decided on a quick move downstream and i stayed put hoping my mashed bread would attract a monster redfin. Pauls move paid off somewhat with two chunky Roach falling to his breadflake almost straight away, in my swim however the minnows had moved in with a vengeance.
With the raised light levels it was plain to see that the big Roach werent in residence today apart from one that looked about 2lb which soon melted away to wherever its brothers and sisters were hiding. The public were out in force by now so we decided to head for home with quite a bit to ponder on. Wed only been fishing for about 3 hours but it was plenty of time to find out what we needed.
This was to be my only chance of a trip this weekend due to various commitments but it was most enjoyable fishing in the complete unkown and tempting a bite or two with the added danger of being chucked off at any minute!
Below is a pic i took earlier in the summer of a couple of Roach in the stretch, i know its a bit crappy but the pic does give some idea of how clear and shallow the water is. Both fish were 2lb+.
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