Welcome to my fishing blog… November 2023
26th November – Riverside Drive, Chippenham – One of Those ‘Not A Hope In Hell’ Kind Of Days
Well, after a good few years, we were back on the river at Chippenham, more specifically the Riverside Drive stretch. We had abandoned this stretch in favour of Monkton Park and Barton Farm mainly because come the summer months, the water level here is reduced to a trickle. However, it’s fine in the winter if you can catch it just right, between the floods, which is exactly how it was today. The river was unfishable just a couple of weeks ago but on this day it was fishable but only just, in places.
Coming into this match I was riding high on top of the individual league table and together with my ‘pairs’ partner, we were sitting pretty in second place in the Pairs Challenge. I was also one of the last 3 contestants left in the knockout and so today was a 3-way fish-off to find a winner for that particular trophy. I hadn’t seen any of the pegs on the river beforehand and so my fate was firmly in the hands of the river Gods once again. We were well down on numbers, having just 11 anglers competing so not too much walking whatever number I was to draw, which happened to be peg 8.
The pegs were well spread out so I was in for a little jaunt but at least I would be on one of the purpose-built platforms. When I got to my peg, I wasn’t too impressed. From the bank to about 6 metres out, the water was about a foot deep, and crystal clear. The only part I would be able to fish was down the middle in some very fast-flowing water and so the only tool for the job today would be a feeder rod. It didn’t take long to get set up, which left me with plenty of time to scan every inch of water as far as I could see. At about 200 yards downstream there was a bend to the left and I imagined the water would have slowed down considerably after this point.
I couldn’t see any other anglers anywhere around me so I wouldn’t have any idea about what might be working and whether anyone was catching today. It would simply be a case of trying everything and just hoping for the best. My feeder rod was set up with a maggle feeder, with which I would start and then continue for the first hour. Then if that didn’t work, plan B was to change to an open-ended feeder and fish bread on the hook and liquidised bread in the feeder. The rain was a bit of a nuisance and although it wasn’t raining particularly hard, I was under a large willow tree and getting continually bombarded by large drops of rainwater so I had to put the brolly up. As casting was just a simple underarm job, the brolly didn’t really cause any hindrance.
Well, the hour came and went, and before I realised, 90 minutes had gone by but not a sign of a fish anywhere. So, it was time to change to bread. I suppose it was about 20 minutes before I noticed a little twitch on the rod tip. My concentration level immediately increased 10-fold and soon a small chub was on its way to my waiting landing net. Phew! What a relief it was to just catch a fish. I plugged away for another hour but no further bites so I went back onto the maggle feeder for another hour and… nothing. Next, I tried a straight lead with worm, maggle and worm, pinkle and worm, 2 maggles, a single maggle, and a large piece of bread but there was no response.
With just an hour to go, I went back onto the bread feeder with a pinch of bread on the hook as this is how I caught my only fish. Within minutes I got an indication but struck too soon and missed it. On the very next cast, I had another tentative bite and managed to hook another small chub. That was to be my last fish of the day. I don’t think I could have done any more than what I had done, so I just had to accept the result, get over it and move on. I finished up with just 9 ounces and the match was won with 15lb of chub from an end peg. Well, despondency is the only word I can think of to describe my feelings today… moving on.
Well, after that little episode, I needed to try and restore my self-esteem and so I booked in for the cost-cutter match at Windmill Fisheries on Thursday 30th November. It was f*cking freezing and the temperature didn’t rise above zero all day. There was a constant icy wind blowing from the North East right up the lake and I’m so glad I had all my thermals on and bought a new thermal hat. I drew peg 18, which is a peg I have fished before and not done very well on. I would have much preferred peg 11 or 12 as the wind was off your back on those pegs. Nevermind, I still had a job to do.
So, with numerous reminders, chuckles and leg-pulling about me falling in on my last visit still ringing in my ears, I set up a feeder rod with a maggle feeder for fishing the gap between the 2 islands. I also set up a rig for fishing at 9-10 metres down the middle in the deepest water I could find. Finally, I also set up a rig for fishing short at about 3 metres out from the edge of some dying reeds to my right, although I wouldn’t be spending too much time, if any on this line. Baits today were maggles, pinkles, worms, corn and expander pellets.
On the all-in, I used my cadpot to put out a tiny ball of groundbait and micros slightly to my right at 9 metres. Then a few loose-fed maggles went in at 10 metres to my left. I left both swims to settle while I chucked out the maggle feeder into the gap between the islands. This was the only area that was partly sheltered from the arctic winds and I thought there might be a chance of a carp from here. My plan was to give this 30 minutes and then take a look over the pole lines. So, after 30 minutes I had a liner, which meant there was fish in the area at least but it was now time to try the pole lines.
First, a look at the 9-metre line to my right. On the second put-in with a soft pellet on the hook, I latched onto a hefty fish, which after about 10 seconds came off. Judging by the size of the scale that was left on my hook I think it was a large skimmer. It’s annoying and costly to lose fish at any time but on such a cold day, when bites are going to be scarce… you just need it. Anyway, after that I cupped in some more groundbait and micros and then went over to take a quick look at the other pole line to my left. I had only fed maggles here so I baited up with 2 red maggles and lowered in the rig.
After about 5 minutes and with no signs, I gently lifted the rig, let it go and then the float ducked under. This was definitely a carp and a big one too. It stayed down deep for a few minutes, shaking its head violently before deciding to make a run for it… it’s still going! F*ck! F*ck F*ck! I really needed that fish and I was sure he was well and truly hooked but what do I know? Probably was a foul-hooker. Anyway, I hadn’t seen anything else caught at this point so all was not lost, although was just back to square one. I dropped in some more maggles on that line and picked up the feeder rod again. I cast out to exactly the same spot that I had the liner from earlier and I had some indications right away.
Then next, the tip flew right round and I was in. With a nice carp of about 6 lbs duly netted, I stayed on this line for another 30 minutes but there were no more signs. So, back onto the pole lines but absolutely nothing on the right-hand swim with soft pellet or anything else. However, a single red maggle dropped into the left-hand swim produced another carp although this one was probably all of 3lbs. I still hadn’t seen anything else caught but by now my feet were freezing and I needed to stretch my legs. I went down to peg 16 and had a chat with John Smith (real name) who hadn’t had a bite at this point but he had seen someone opposite net a few fish from peg 10.
So, I got back to my peg and half-heartedly tried the pole lines again but there were no signs of life and so I decided to focus on the maggle feeder for the rest of the match. Meanwhile, Leyton Palmer, who was on peg 20 to my left had caught a carp on the pole and soon after he had 2 more. I managed 2 more carp on the feeder, which were about 5-6lbs each from the gap between the islands and I finished up with 4 carp for just shy of 20lbs. The top weight was 58lb from peg 10 with 31lb coming from peg 11 taking second place. That put me in 7th position from a field of 13 anglers… was my confidence restored? No, not really but the session did help me overcome any fears I might have had about fishing Windmill again after my last ordeal.
Well, I’ll be back at Whitehouse Farm on Sunday for the second round of the Winter League. I have some major work to do to stay in contention… however… I do have a cunning plan. Keep you posted!
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12th – RBL Poppy Appeal Open, River Avon
19th – Alcove Winter League #1, Margarets Lake
26th – River Avon, Riverside Dr, Chippenham
December 2023
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