Today represented the last day of my xmas hols and as such i planned a whole day on the bank in the company of my old mate Phil. The plan was to spend the day roving about for Chub, dropping in likely looking holes, giving it an hour and hopefully catching a few. The area we had in mind was one neither of us had targetted for Chub before so it was something of the unknown for us both.
The river was carrying about 3inches and was a nice greeny colour. The air temperature was surprisingly cool with the car reading minus1 as we drove down, my numb fingers when i arrived at my first swim confirmed the subzero reading!
The fishing began slower than expected and it was over an hour before i finally got a bite and put a 3.8 on the bank. The fish bore a nasty looking scar on its side (not shown in pic) which looked like it had been inflicted by a cormorant. Ive seen several of these birds on the river each time ive been down in recent weeks and today was no different. I suspect the frozen stillwaters have had something to do with the sudden upsurge in their numbers on our rivers.
As we fished on through the morning butes proved pretty tough to come by although Phil managed 3 Chub to 4.8 and lost another. As i reached the bottom of the stretch i came upon the inviting looking spot in the pic below, that tangle of roots had to hold a chevin or two!
And hold them it did! after casting just upstream and baiting with a steady stream of tiny balls of mashed bread, the tipped walloped around and a pristine fish of 3.12 was duly banked.
After banking that fish i was headed for another similar spot upstream when i came face to face with the spanish armada, a fleet of about 40 canoes and kayaks! The stretch is supposed to be non-navigable and despite trying a couple more spots it was pretty obvious the area was well and truly buggered, the Chub had vanished. A new plan was called for cos i certainly wasnt ready to go home yet and after a quick consultation with Phil we found ourselves headed for the mighty Trent.
Again the area we headed for was another new one for us from a Chub perspective but even so it didnt take us long to get a couple of bites. The first i had practically ripped the rod off its rest but i wasnt quick enough and the tip sprang straight before i even picked the rod up. I missed another bite shortly afterwards but made it third time lucky as i connected with a trent bruiser of 4.8.
Eventually the darkness began to close in and it was time to pack up. I didnt realise just how cold it had become until i picked up my landing net and it was frozen to the ground! the car said minus3 but at least it was still warmer than what is was a couple of weeks back!
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